Cinematical Originals: From Beastly Rangos to Molly Ringwald and Epic School Parties

Zip out for the weekend before our great Friday night content? Miss a day of movie coverage? Check here every Friday afternoon for all the great original content Cinematical published over the last week and play catch up!

Reviews

'Rango' Review: Must Be Something in the Water
Eric Snider reviews 'Rango' and reveals that it's more than meets the eye:"The whole thing feels like the Coen brothers made a Tex Avery cartoon set in the Old West, ran it through a Pixar filter, and then dipped it in LSD."

'The Adjustment Bureau' Review: Defying Expectations
Getting a little Matt Damon, Emily Blunt adjustment, Peter Hall attempts to review"a movie so defiant of the Hollywood norms we're used to that it's impossible to market it accurately."He concludes:"even if 'The Adjustment Bureau' does have a few permanent bruises from running the Hollywood gauntlet, it's still a valiant effort about reconciling destiny and desire that pays off in intelligent, playful and memorable ways."

'Take Me Home Tonight' Review: Topher Grace in That '80s Show'
William Goss wasn't all that thrilled with the '80s-based comedy, noting:"The film starts out with big hair, skinny ties, and hit song after hit song after hit song, eager to capitalize on every possible pop-culture signpost early on before settling into a slack rhythm of sitcom setpieces interrupted by stale emotional conflict."

'Beastly' Review: Dramatically Inert and Technically Incompetent
Todd Gilchrist wasn't impressed by the film, writing:"'Beastly' is the kind of melodramatic, moralizing tripe that absolutely no one can relate to, because it exploits primitive, one-dimensional archetypes in a story that isn't even smart enough to follow the long-since-hackneyed formulas from which it is stealing."

'happythankyoumoreplease' Review
Erik Davis writes about this festival favorite and how it's an instant crowd pleaser, especially for New Yorkers: Its strange title isn't the only reason why people have been buzzing about happythankyoumoreplease. Josh Radnor's (How I Met Your Mother) directorial debut is extremely accessible and relatable with its cute, hip New York vibe and believable, well-written dialogue that doesn't force out stupid MySpace/Twitter/Facebook jokes in order to remind young audiences of how relevant it is.

'Red State' Review: Kevin Smith Preaches a New Tune
Kevin Smith's latest begins its national tour this weekend with a stop at New York's famed Radio City Music Hall. Here, Erik Davis reports on the film's Sundance premiere:"'Red State' isn't actually the type of horror film you expect. There's blood, violence and a lot of people getting shot in the head, but the horror comes from a different place; a place that's scared of how much hate can run through a person's soul; of how government can wipe out entire families by simply changing the definition of a situation. The problem with 'Red State,' though, is that all the politics, preaching and gotta-slide-them-in-there sex jokes sort of overwhelm the movie to the point that it feels scattered and a little unfocused.

'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives' Review: Yes, The Monkey Gods Must Be Crazy
David Ehrlich on last year's Cannes Film Festival winner:"'Uncle Boonmee' plays like an apotheosis of his previous work - individual sequences could connect even with children, but as a whole this is the film he's been teaching his acolytes how to read for years. And while it may not hit with the full immediacy of Joe's last two features, 'Uncle Boonmee' is a film to buy (on Blu-ray, I'd hope) and savor for years to come - it won't transform you, but it will transform with you.




Original Columns

Girls on Film: Molly Ringwald and the Modern Teen Heroine
Monika Bartyzel discusses the evolution of the modern teen heroine in the wake of the partnership between Molly Ringwald and John Hughes:"It was as if John Hughes unlocked the door to high school life, and the '90s dug into it every which way. Instead of one, there was a group to define the generation with spunk, smarts and awesome uniqueness. By the 2000s, however, the magic was gone."

Blu-ray Picks: 'Bambi,' 'Out of Sight,' 'The Cable Guy'
According to Peter Martin, you should nab 'Out of Sight' on Blu-ray because"the romance doesn't stand alone; it's part and parcel of the larger narrative, which covers the escapades of the hard-luck Jack Foley (Clooney), who never seems to catch a break. That's reflective of the realistic, hard-bitten criminal world of Elmore Leonard, who wrote the original novel."

Shelf Life: Out of Sight
If you needed to read more love for the film, Todd Gilchrist offers it up with this week's Shelf Life."I kind of don't think anything doesn't work in 'Out of Sight,' but if there's anything that doesn't quite maintain the same punch it did when the film was first released, it's the freeze-frame editing."

The Week In Geek: The Likeliest Genre Academy Award Bait of 2011
John Gholson muses over which 2011 genre films could get Oscar recognition next year. The list includes 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.'"Considering the content of 'Deathly Hallows Part 2' and David Yates' surehanded, soulful handling of 'Part 1,' I think we're in for a conclusion on the level of 'Return of the King.' We all know what happened tothatlittle film..."

Doc Talk: Oscar Winners vs. Classic Documentaries
When some docs win, which are left in the dust? Christopher Campbell looks into that question with films like 'The Sorrow and the Pity,'"which is much more famous and much more widely seen. People argue that 'Sorrow' probably wouldn't be as well known were it not for 'Annie Hall.' Regardless, I think many would still claim it was more deserving {than 'The Hellstrom Chronicle'}."

Framed: La belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast)
Alison Nastasi digs into a frame from Jean Cocteau's classic, noting:"We are instantly transported into a visual and emotional tableaux of romantic and fantastical wonder. The first fifteen minutes of the film are nearly forgettable in comparison, but hints of stylistic choices help set the tone for the grandiose vision that lies ahead."



Original Features

Cult Director Alex Cox On Hollywood Filmmaking: The Studios Have Won
Todd Gilchrist talks to Alex Cox, who talks about his career and the ending of one of his most popular films:"I find the end of 'Sid and Nancy' to be troubling and very sentimental, and I think that it would be wonderful to be able to recreate that and do the ending again so it isn't so soppy and wishy-washy, because junkies aren't really like that. It would be better to have a more cruel ending. But, that said, we probably wouldn't have got the money to make the film if we'd made it a more cruel and realistic ending - but it would be a better film."

Actors We Miss: Steve McQueen
Peter Martin gushes over the self-control of Steve McQueen."McQueen did his own driving in 'Bullitt' and he was never angry. He was always cool under pressure; when he lost his temper on screen, it was apparent in the tightening of his facial features and the straightening of his posture. More often, he communicated disappointment with others or frustration with himself, rather then boiling anger. He exercised self-control; his emotions flowed most often from his eyes."

Marathon Man: The Blaxploitation Essentials
Setting off on a journey through blaxploitation flicks, Jacob Hall writes of 'Shaft':"'Shaft' is all about attitude, a good thing since the film's plotting is a little muddled and it's"cop-on-the-edge"storyline is something we've seen a thousand time before and since. In its opening moments, the film shows us exactly where we are: New York city of the early 1970s, dirty and gray, but teeming with life and a dangerous vibrancy."

Stars in Rewind: The 2011 Oscar Winners
As Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Melissa Leo and Colin Firth celebrated their Oscar wins, Jacob Hall looked into their first roles. Of Firth's 'Another Country,' he wrote that it's"Firth already doing what he does best: being ridiculously, awesomely British in every sense of the word. As young as Firth looks, his one-of-a-kind voice sounds the same as it always has."

12 Fun (and Depressing) Stats From The 83rd Academy Awards
Erik Childress digs into some Oscar stats after Sunday's broadcast, like:"Rick Baker won his seventh Oscar for'The Wolfman'on the 30th anniversary of him winning the inaugural award for Best Makeup for 'An American Werewolf In London.'"

Scenes We Love: 'Go'
Just as we gear up for the latest one-night romp, Marina Zogbi heads back to the 1999 classic 'Go' -- specifically, the scene at Burke's house. She writes:"{William} Fichtner is tremendous as a creepy, trying-to-be-cool cop, almost bursting with enthusiasm about his ridiculous proposition."

Set Visit: 10 Reasons 'Bridesmaids' Is the Female 'Hangover'
Jen Yamato hits the set of 'Bridesmaids' and offers up a bunch of pre-release goodies, including castmember Wendi McClendon-Covey gushing about the uniqueness of the film:"That's really what spoke to me about this; the fact that it's not a girly-girl script. There are no catfights. I hadn't seen it done this honestly before."

'Sucker Punch': A Film That Lives Up to Its Title
Meanwhile, Todd Gilchrist hit up the set of 'Sucker Punch,' where director Zack Snyder said,"I love adapting things and I love making those pictures real, but I felt like I was ready to not have anyone to {judge} whether the canon was correctly represented -- other than myself."

Their Best Role: Johnny Depp in 'Ed Wood'
As Depp's 'Rango' hits screens, David Ehrlich looks at 'Ed Wood,' writing:"Depp inhabits Ed Wood like a jump scare. In other words, Depp understands that Wood was -- at first blush -- a rather silly guy, and he wants you to laugh at him. He wants you to laugh at him early and laugh at him hard, to laugh at his affected high-pitched voice and his giddy dreams and the sad fact that he's dating someone who looks alarmingly like Carrie Bradshaw."

Can Charlie Sheen Bounce Back?: A Look at the Lows of 5 Hollywood Actors
Monika Bartyzel dug into Sheen's media whirlwind:"At this point, one has to wonder if he has any chance in hell of a comeback ... that is, if his increasingly erratic behavior doesn't end him before he has a shot. His personal and professional life is racked with tabloid gold, but he's certainly not the first. Though his tabloid trajectory might be unique, he's not alone in his image chaos."

Hollywood Scandals Turned Successes on Screen
On the flip-side of plagued actors, Alison Nastasi looks at the films that made art from Hollywood scandal, including 'Star 80' --"based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Village Voice article by Teresa Carpenter, 'Death of a Playmate,' which criticized {Hugh} Hefner and {Peter} Bogdanovich for victimizing {Dorothy} Stratten as much as {Paul} Snider did."

Cinematical Seven: Epic School Parties
Considering the party atmosphere of 'Take Me Home Tonight,' Perri Nemiroff tackles epic school parties on the big screen. Of 'Empire Records,' she writes:"don't forget to get Renee Zellweger to belt out the chorus of 'Sugar High' on the roof, otherwise, the party is bound to be a bust."

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