Quick Cut Review: "Fury"

World War 2 films have reached this point where there are still a lot of stories to tell but not too many new ways to tell them thus making the focus on the theme and the characters paramount to trying to give a different perspective on the many horrors of war. Not to sound unsympathetic but once you have seen a film about a group of soldiers dying selflessly in a number of graphic and needless ways you have seen them all and director David Ayer's film Fury is no different with the focus this time around a column of tanks heading into Germany at the tail end of the war. Read the full review after the break.

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Quick Cut Review: "Burnt"

Movies about chefs, restaurants or just food in general can be quantified into one of two categories. Either they are focused on the creation and consumption of the food or they are about the people who make the food, rarely if ever are they about both with one of the few exceptions being something like Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman which was more about how the elaborate food the father would make broke his family apart and eventually brought them together. At the outset Burnt, the new film starring Bradley Cooper seems poised to head down that same path as we watch him systematically pick out his kitchen crew like he is recruiting them for a bank heist (Cooper's Eleven?) but quickly degrades into a narrowly focused story about a man seeking redemption any way he can. Read the full review after the break.

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Quick Cut Review: "Knock Knock"

I'm going out on a limb here but Knock Knock may well be writer/director Eli Roth's best film to date. Now hold on, put those flaming torches down for a second, this isn't to say that it is a great or even good film but considering we are talking about the guy who gave such classics as Cabin Fever, Hostel and...Hostel 2?, you should at least consider the possibility that my statement may be in some way true. Don't believe me? Alright then, let's take a second and delve into the film itself and try to determine whether or not it is Roth's best work yet. Read the full review after the break.

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Quick Cut Review: "Ex Machina"

Very few filmmakers have a resume quite as robust with such a small amount of credited works. Acting as screenwriter for films such as Sunshine, 28 Days/Weeks Later, Never Let Me Go and probably one of the biggest cult hits in the past decade Dredd, Alex Garland has worked on what can be considered some of the most under appreciated films to come out in the past decade. With Ex Machina Garland has finally made the leap to the director's chair and his Freshman effort falls right in line with all of his previous work when it comes to its ambitions but feels a little more conventional in comparison.

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Quick Cut Review: "Pitch Perfect 2"

I never wrote a review for the first Pitch Perfect. It was a fun little film in the vein of other girl power films such as Bring It On and A League of Their Own but by no means did I ever believe it would gain the cult following it did. Well it is a good thing I never wrote that review because if I had then it would have just been a simple copy and paste job into the review for its plainly named sequel, Pitch Perfect 2. It is nothing but a carbon copy of the first film which may or not be a good thing depending on your expectations. Read the full review after the break.

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Quick Cut Review: "Maggie"

Once upon a time action fans everywhere would have jumped at the chance to see someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger star in a zombie movie. Imagine it, Arnold ripping through the undead spouting one liners such as "Be Ghoul!" or "I eat zombies for breakfast and right now I am very hungry!" as he single-handedly saves the entire world from the apocalypse. Well, action fans should keep on dreaming as the zombie movie Arnold has decided to star in is as about far removed from what many would expect as it possibly can be. His new film Maggie may not have the body count but it makes up for it with one of the more surprisingly sentimental zombie films to come around in quite some time. Read the full review after the break.

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Quick Cut Review: "How I Live Now"

Films that depict war are often times caught up in the how's and the why's so much that they glance over the impact such a traumatic event has on the everyday people caught in the middle who have no vested interest in who wins or loses aside from simply staying alive. It is even more rare when a film shows the effects of war on children, a demographic that is usually forgotten about but is no less impacted by the horrors of war. The film How I Live Now, from acclaimed director Kevin MacDonald and based off the 2004 novel of the same name delves headfirst into that neglected thematic subject matter and reminds us that the true victims of war are often those we leave behind. Read the full review after the break.

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Quick Cut Review: "Would You Rather"

This is what I like to call a High Concept movie. It's not so much about the characters as it is more based around a single idea and throwing a bunch of different characters with personality disorders into the mix and seeing how they react. It can almost be viewed as an experiment and indeed watching the film does feel like some sort of twisted game not unlike the one the characters are forced to play. Would you rather turn it off or would you rather sit there and watch these people torture themselves and others for sake of our own entertainment? Read the full review after the break.

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Quick Cut Revew: "Bandslam"

You could be forgiven for assuming upon first glance that Bandslam is based on one of the dozens of interchangeable Disney Channel kids shows like Girl Meets World, Austin and Ally or Jessie or any other show featuring overly pampered kids who live in perfect worlds and teach life lessons through twenty minute episodes filled with false conflicts and overly neat resolutions. While those types of shows are fine for what they are and have their hearts in the right place, the characters that populate them often feel as artificial as the stories they find themselves in.

Imagine if you will a show (or film in this case) that dealt with all those same subjects but with characters who feel real and actually denounce the usual stereotyping that those other programs lovingly embrace. That is Bandslam, a film that deceptively lures you in with low expectations based off its cast and their reputations but reveals itself to be a refreshingly honest look at the joy and hardships that come with growing up. Read the full review after the break.

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Quick Cut Review - "Fun Size"

Directed by: Josh Schwartz
Starring: Victoria Justice, Jane Levy, Thomas Mann and Thomas Middlemitch 
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour 26 minutes  
Release Date: October 26, 2012

Jane Levy is just too cute to play a bitch.

When it comes down to it, there just aren't that many good family friendly Halloween movies out there. The short list includes such no-brainers as Hocus Pocus, The Monster Squad and A Nightmare Before Christmas while the long list is sadly only comprised of the exact same movies. You can find plenty of  R rated Halloween fare out there but sometimes you just want something to watch and have fun with that doesn't necessitate machete's, creepy music and/or dead bodies littering the pavement.

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Quick Cut Review: "Chef"

Directed by: Jon Favreau
Starring: Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr.
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes  
Release Date: May 9, 2014

2014 was surprisingly free of the so called “Feel good movie of the year”. Well, at least there wasn’t any film labeled as such. Probably the closest we got was with writer/director/star Jon Favreau’s heartfelt love letter to the culinary world, Chef. While at first it may not appear to hold all the qualities we look for in our feel good movies, Chef proves to be the little indie movie that could early on as Favreau expertly establishes (in a short amount of time) the world of the professional chef or as most of us refer to them, the faceless guy (or girl) who makes our food.

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Quick Cut Review: "Horns"

Directed by: Alexendre Aja
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, Max Minghella and Joe Anderson
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 hour 3 minutes  
Release Date: October 31, 2014

For anyone that is still having trouble divorcing Daniel Radcliffe from his Harry Potter persona, his new film Horns may just be the thing that finally sways you. Radcliffe has been on a seemingly never ending quest to rid himself of the Harry Potter stigma, something that will always be a part of his life and career whether he likes it or not. Taking on projects like The Woman in Black, Little Darlings as well as his latest film Horns felt like desperation at first, trying to find anything that could separate him from Hogwarts as much as possible and he comes closer to that goal here than ever before. Read the full review after the break.

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Quick Cut Review: "Life After Beth"

Directed by: Jeff Baena
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Dane Dehaan, John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes  
Release Date: August 15, 2014

Last year’s Warm Bodies was the perfect example of a great idea and horrible execution. The number one problem with Warm Bodies (amongst many) was that it just wasn’t a good zombie movie. It was a decent enough romance and an alright comedy, but when your entire premise is based on zombies you better get the zombie part right. Fast forward a year later and we have Life After Beth, another attempt at pairing a romantic comedy with the zombie genre, but unlike that other festering carcass this one has plenty of bite with to go along with its heart. With zombie movies are a dime a dozen now days there are greater expectations for new films introduced into the genre and with greater expectations comes grave disappointments. Life After Beth meets those expectations head on and easily establishes itself as the premiere zom com. Read the full review after the break.

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Quick Cut Review: "Nights of Badassdom"

Directed by: Joe Lynch
Starring: Steve Zahn, Ryan Kwanten, Summer Glau, Jimmie Simpson and Peter Dinklage
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour 26 minutes  
Release Date: January 21, 2014

I really wanted to like this film because on paper this sounds like one of the greatest ideas for a comedy ever. You take the insane geek culture known as LARPing (that is Live Action Role Playing), mix in some real magic and demons, throw in a bit of Peter Dinklage for some added kick and toss it all together and what you should get is a movie that blends the best bits of Evil Dead, Game of Thrones, Ghostbusters and a number of other geektastic franchises together to make a fun adventure through the realm of the geek. But sadly Knights of Badassdom is nothing more than a series of ill-conceived ideas, lame jokes and barely decent effects that amounts to little more than a passing oddity that will be forgotten quicker than it was over. Read the full review after the break.

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Quick Cut Review - "3 Days To Kill"

Directed by: McG
Starring: Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld and Connie Nielsen
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour 57 minutes  
Release Date: February 21, 2014

Costner gets his next target from his mysterious handler.

Kevin Costner is one of my favorite actors of his generation. Something about his ability to portray a character that combines the dickish nature of a guy who secretly yearns to have those human connections we all need to make our lives worth living really makes him extremely endearing to me. Films such as Robin Hood, Dances with Wolves, Waterworld, Upside of Anger and even The Postman have all provided him with roles that have those qualities, each to varying degrees of course, and they all prove that it's more than just a role he fits, but it's something he excels at.

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Quick Cut Review - "House at the End of the Street"

Directed by: Mark Tonderai
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue and Max Thieriot
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour 41 minutes  
Release Date: September 21, 2012

Oh JLaw, what are you doing in this thing?

Before Jennifer Lawrence became a household name thanks to the one-two punch of The Hunger Games and her Oscar win for Silver Linings Playbook (IN THE SAME YEAR), she was relegated to (as most actors just starting out) playing in schlocky B level horror movies. Sure she got her first Oscar nod for her role in The Winter's Bone, but she was nowhere near the box office gold she is now (despite The Hunger Games and X-Men: First Class both being released shortly thereafter).

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Quick Cut Review - "The Family"

Directed by: Luc Besson
Starring: Robert De Niro,  Michelle Pfieffer and Tommy Lee Jones
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour 51 minutes  
Release Date: September 13, 2013

This family functions more like a well oiled machine than one of love.

Movies about the mob are a dime a dozen. You have your Godfathers, your Goodfellas and your Untouchables and a slew of others that have covered just about every inch of the genre, even including film's like Innocent Blood which feature vampire mobsters!  This of course begs the question; what else is there left to cover? In the case of writer/director Luc Besson's film The Family, not a whole lot. But by implementing some rather clever and even obvious changes or updates to the an old formula, it is possible to give it a new lease on life.

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Quick Cut Review - "Sinister"

Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance and Fred Dalton Thompson
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour 50 minutes  
Release Date: October 12, 2012

Before watching Sinsiter you should ask yourself one question. Do you like your horror movies slow, methodical and completely predictable? If so then Sinister will be right up your alley and if not, you might want to skip it and seek out something more traditional like a Saw, Friday the 13th or Scream. It's not so much that the film will bore you, well...maybe, but more about how the end just doesn't justify the means getting there.

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Quck Cut Review - "Escape Plan"

Directed by: Mikael Håfström
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Caviezel 
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes  
Release Date: October 18, 2013

This is the most ridiculous prison since Face-Off.

Hollywood's attempt at resurrecting the careers of aging 80's action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger has been one of the biggest mishaps in recent history. Apparently it is much easier to reboot the franchises they were a part of than it is rebooting their careers. It's not for a lack of trying though, as both Stallone (Expendables 1-3, Bullet to the Head, Grudge Match) and Schwarzenegger (Last Stand, Expendables 1-3, Sabotage) have released a number of films that just haven't caught on with modern day movie goers. It doesn't help that most of their recent efforts have been slightly lacking in the quality department either.

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Quick Cut Review - "The Call"

Directed by: Brad Anderson
Starring: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin and Morris Chestnut 
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour 34 minutes  
Release Date: March 15, 2013

The Call is one of those films that I skipped merely because the trailer for it showed everything that happened. In the trailer we saw the set up, all the important action beats and the final showdown which left absolutely nothing to look forward to other than filling in the gaps of the by-the-numbers thriller story. It was sad, because that trailer showed what looked like a very effective looking thriller and probably one of Halle Berry's most silly haircuts to date (that's including her ever changing hair in the X-Men series).

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