Cinema Crespodiso

A weekly talk show hosted by film critic Christopher Crespo

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Review: ‘St. Vincent’

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“St. Vincent” is one of those movies that starts out ostensibly as a comedy, and how can it not with Bill Murray playing the lead role, but then makes its way into heavier themes and moments, leaving most of the comedy behind for the anguish and tragedy, you know, the rest of the stuff that makes up this crazy thing we call life. The resulting thing is the ugly word “dramady,” which we should replace with another word so as not to have to use that stupid word ever again, because what exactly is the laughs-to-scene ration needed to tip a film’s scales from “comedy” to “dramady,” if not into straight up “drama?” Can we just call these movies “true to life?” Because like life, it is often hilarious and often sad and sometimes both at once. That is “St. Vincent.”

Vincent (Murray) is a drunk. His only “friends” are the nameless fellow regular patrons at his favorite bar and the Russian prostitute (Naomi Watts) who is pregnant with what may or may not be Vincent’s child. He is mean to everyone, has no money, and is much debt thanks to a bad gambling habit. Suffice to say, the dude has issues. And then one day a new neighbor moves in to the house next door, a single mom named Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) and her 12-year old runt of a son Oliver (newcomer Jaeden Lieberher), and before long old Vincent finds himself hanging out with impressionable Oliver, and they become buddies. Vincent shows Oliver how to gamble and how to break someone’s nose (for self defense purposes, of course) and Oliver, like, helps Vincent how to feel again. And stuff.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Let’s Be Cops’

lets-be-cops-posterLet’s not and say we did.

Seriously though, it couldn’t be worse timing for a movie like “Let’s Be Cops” to come out right now. Thanks to recent current events, and really due to the historical actions of police departments around this country, a comedy about a white guy getting a huge ego trip via abuse of power that can be afforded to him thanks to having a badge and a gun is just not appealing right now.

It doesn’t help that this feels like a movie straight out of the 1990s. It really is as hacky and unoriginal as it gets.Continue Reading …

Review: ’22 Jump Street’

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The comedy sequel is a tough nut to crack. It is nearly impossible to recapture the magic that makes a comedy so memorable and fun to begin with, as if there is some sort of blueprint to making a great comedic film, and usually we are left with at best pale imitations of the great comedy that we all remember fondly or at worst an abomination of a film that would even make us question why we liked the original movie in the first place. So where does “22 Jump Street,” the sequel to the surprise comedy hit, fit on this spectrum of disappointing and sub par comedy sequels?

Well, nowhere really. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, I wouldn’t have believed that a comedy sequel could have been so funny and enjoyable and downright comparable to the original, but I DID see it, I DID hear it, and believe me when I tell you that I did laugh. And I laughed and I laughed, because “22 Jump Street” is damn funny front start to finish.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’

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“A Million Ways to Die in the West” is a long title for a movie that should just be called “Seth MacFarlane Slapstick Romantic Comedy Western.” I guess that’s pretty long too. How about “New Timey Jokes in Old Timey West?” Nope that one stinks too. “Old West Gross Out?” “A Million Jokes Die in the West?” “Sophomore Slump?” Eh. I guess the original title is okay enough.

So in “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” writer/director Seth MacFarlane plays Albert, a sheep farmer living just outside of a small town called Old Stump, and the movie starts with him weaseling his way out of a gunfight and then losing his girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried) to the local successful businessman stereotype (Neil Patrick Harris), so he’s down in the dumps when he meets Anna (Charlize Theron), a foxy stranger who befriends Albert and tries to help him turn things around. Little does Albert know that Anna is actually the wife of a feared gunfighter (Liam Neeson) and that is going to be a problem for Albert.

And the crux of the movie is Albert’s lack of self confidence and abundance of self doubt and how he gradually tips those scales in the opposite direction, again thanks to the help of super foxy Anna. So even though this is a comedy with some gross out gags and over the top humor, there is a surprising amount of tears shed in this thing by different characters, as they tried to get actual emotions and character development in there between the jokes about uncontrollable diarrhea and sloppy prostitutes.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Chef’

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“Chef” is Jon Favreau’s answer to the corporate-backed, big budgeted, special effects laden behemoth blockbusters which seem to choke the multiplexes every summer, a couple of which he had his own hand in creating. But like many artists he longed to get back to his more humble roots in order to express more creative and artistic freedom and he was able to do so with this movie about a renowned chef who gets his own second chance at being happy with his work.

In “Chef,” Favreau plays Carl Casper, a chef who made a splash in his younger days with some daring food but who has hit a rut in his later years, having worked in the same restaurant making the same food for the same pain in the ass owner (Dustin Hoffman) for too many years, and when he tries to change the menu and do something a little different and daring, he gets push back from the owner and finds himself out the door.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Neighbors’

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“Neighbors” is a comedy about a young family being subjugated to the horror that is living next door to a college frat house, and how the young family struggles to stay young, while the frat bros struggle with being fratty and what they need to do next with their lives. Plenty of dick jokes abound throughout, but it is tempered quite well with character arcs and emotional story beats, and it all blends together for a fun, funny and still somewhat touching movie.

The movie starts with married couple Mac and Kelly (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) trying to have “spontaneous” sex in their new home. What makes this such a feat for the two of them is the fact that it is happening while they have a precious little baby girl, and not only is this happening shortly after the birth (since the kid can’t even stumble around yet on its own) but with the kid in the room, watching them. How can people have fun, spontaneous sex while also debating whether or not their infant child can understand that they are having sex or if she only sees shapes?

And while this scene is obviously meant to be a funny joke, it also importantly sets up a main theme of the movie, which is how this couple wants to stay young and vibrant like they were when they met in college, as opposed to the old, boring fogies they are threatening to become. Later on we see them climb into bed to go to sleep and they have to put in sleep apnea mouth guards and shit, and they try to kiss each other goodnight and it is just ridiculous. They don’t want to admit it, but they’re all grown up, their relationship has arrived at a very comfortable place, and they can’t hang with the kids anymore.Continue Reading …

Florida Film Festival 2014 review: ‘Crimes Against Humanity’

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Boy let me tell you. Film festivals are tricky to program. Well over 100 movies in a ten day span, including both short films and features? That’s a lot of movies. And there really is no way possible for each movie to be a winner. Some of them aren’t going to be so hot, for various reasons. But they’ll have redeeming qualities about them, variables that make them worthwhile in one way, shape or form. Unfortunately I don’t think “Crimes Against Humanity” meets even that criteria.Continue Reading …

Florida Film Festival 2014 review: ‘Dom Hemingway’

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“Dom Hemingway” is mostly a showcase of Jude Law, who gets to put on some weight and play an over the top character with a penchant for cussing and long monologues, and while he knocks his portion of the movie pretty much out of the park, the rest of the movie around him is merely good, with some flash and style to go along with a little bit of substance, but ultimately not really saying anything new or unique with the story and characters.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘The Lego Movie’

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Boom. Insta-classic. Just like that. If only it was as easy as these guys make it seem, but here we are with “The Lego Movie,” a film that traffics in both hilarity and profundity and never at the expense of either one. How did this happen? This really does not make much sense. This should not be. No one has been able to take plot-less toys and games and turn them into truly great movies, let alone good ones (we’re looking at you “G.I. Joes” and “Transformers” and “Battleship“). Yet here we are.

“The Lego Movie” is about Emmet Brickowoski (Chris Pratt), who is a very bland and featureless construction worker Lego guy (in a sentient, active, awesome looking Lego world) and he goes about his day to day routine super happy to be bland and follow the instructions and fit in like he’s supposed to. And then he literally stumbles ass backwards into an ancient prophecy, in which he is told he is actually the most special and unique person in the universe, and as such he will save the Lego universe from Lord Business (Will Ferrell), who seeks to end the Lego world as they know it by using a secret weapon to make all the world’s pieces permanently stuck together, as per the instructions.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’

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“Inside Llewyn Davis” may be the Coen Brothers most character-driven and intimate movie yet, and that says quite a bit coming from the fellas that brought us “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” “Barton Fink” and “A Serious Man.” Taking inspiration from a memoir by a 1960’s folk singer, “Inside Llewyn Davis” shows us one week in the life of a folk singer struggling to make it while simultaneously painting a portrait of the 60’s New York City folk scene, all centered on one guy who is pretty talented but also kind of an ass. Ahh the Coens.

Llewyn Davis (Oscar Issac) is indeed talented and throughout the movie we get a few glimpses of that talent when he performs, and during these moments we can see an idealized Llewyn Davis, using his skills to try to reach his full potential, and he’s actually bringing joy and pleasure to those around him through his folk singing and guitar playing.

This all stands in stark contrast to the rest of his waking life, in which he goes around couch surfing on different friends’ sofas night after night, he curses in front of his sister’s kid and insults her and their own father when he suggests that a life working a “normal job” would be merely “existing,” he constantly judges the musical output of others (obviously seeing himself as superior to everyone around him), he gets drunk and becomes loud and belligerent, and he’s also a bit of a sourpuss, which makes him even less pleasant to be around.Continue Reading …

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