Posts Tagged ‘ben’
She Deviant || The Lucky One: Review
Lety Gallegos was gracious enough to review and provide her insight on this film for Cinema Deviant:
The Lucky One is based on the book of the same name written by author Nicholas Sparks. This film is directed by Scott Hicks and the screenplay written by Will Fetters. The story centers around a US marine, Logan Thibault (Zac Efron), that finds a picture of a smiling woman amongst the ashes and ruin of Iraq. He is immediately drawn to the woman in the picture and decides to hang on to it and return it to its rightful owner. However, his attempts to locate the owner are futile. During his tours in Iraq, Logan experiences several near-death experiences and starts to believe that maybe the woman in the picture is his guardian angel. When he returns home he is lost and dealing with survivor’s guilt. He can’t seem to make an easy transition into normal civilian life. Logan decides he must find the woman in the photo and thank her for keeping him safe. He leaves town along with his faithful German shepherd, Zeus and embarks on this unexpected journey. When he finally meets this woman, Beth Green (Taylor Schilling), he is at a loss for words and cannot seem to express his gratitude and explain the reason for his visit. There seems to be an immediate spark between them but for Beth it quickly turns into mistrust. Beth happens to be a troubled divorcee and is instantly suspect of what his true intentions might be. Logan ends up landing a job at Beth’s dog boarding business, due mostly in part by Beth’s mother’s meddling . Soon enough we meet Beth’s possessive ex-husband, Keith (Jay R. Ferguson) who instantly dislikes Logan. On the contrary, Beth and Keith’s son Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart) befriends Logan without hesitation. The story begins to unfold and we find out what demons seem to be haunting Beth and what impact Logan’s presence has on Beth and Ben’s life.
Logan’s character is a deeply tormented individual with a calm and collected exterior and a brooding demeanor. He is a ticking time bomb of sorts (pun intended) that Zac Efron seems to embody quite well. I have seen Zac Efron take on this type of role before in Charlie St. Cloud and he does an excellent job portraying this sort of character. The on-screen chemistry between Zac and Taylor was truly electric and made the film that much better. Beth Green is still coping with things from her past that she is trying to come to terms with so it is no surprise that these two tortured souls seem to be drawn to each other. I might also add the Louisiana scenery we get to witness as the story develops is pretty amazing. Though there were some slight differences from the book, the movie stayed true to the main storyline with the exception of the ending. I will not spoil the movie for you so I won’t give you details, but I will say that I was not completely put off by the movie ending.
This is one of several Nicholas Sparks’ books that have been adapted to the big screen. Being a fan of these novels, I have never been disappointed with the movie adaptations and I was not disappointed in this one. Though the initial storyline might appear a bit on the cheesy side (okay super cheesy) it is still nice to dream that maybe things like destiny and fate still exist. I’d recommend this movie to any of my fellow hopeless romantics (I know you’re out there don’t be shy). Happy chick-flicking!
The Lucky One is now available on Bluray and DVD from Warner Home Entertainment
Savages: Review
Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson star in this film directed by Oliver Stone from the novel written by Don Winslow. Chon (Kitsch) and Ben (Taylor-Johnson) are best friends that decide to go into the marijuana distribution business after Chon smuggles rare seeds from Afghanistan during his duty as a soldier in the military. Soon after their business takes off and start to develop a wide customer base. This of course grabs the attention of a cartel in Mexico. The cartel sends them a video of several people being decapitated and lets them know that they are aware of their operations and would like to meet with them. After meeting with them and denying their offer for a partnership they kidnap Chon and Ben’s girlfriend O (Blake Lively) and threaten to kill her if they don’t do what the cartel wants. Chon and Ben decide to take them head on and get their girlfriend back and nothing will stand in their way.
I was made aware of this movie by Bruce Cook (Editor-in-Chief at Gonzogeek.com) and showed me the novel that it is based on. He asked me to read the first chapter and I did. “Fuck You” were the two words that were on the page. I flipped the page over and there started chapter two and after seeing that I was sold on it. I went in hoping that Kitsch was going to really shine in this. I think he’s really talented and I want to see him to his full potential. He really hasn’t been in the best movies recently (We’ll just forget about Wolverine and Battleship). I still feel like some of his best work was in Friday Night Lights (TV show) so usually everything he’s in, I compare to that. He didn’t disappoint one bit. I’m just really glad that Stone pulled the best performance from him. Hopefully this will turn things around for him a bit. Taylor-Johnson was fantastic in this as well. He has such a different look to him that I pretty much didn’t recognize him until the end of the movie (If you don’t know, he is the title character in Kick-Ass). His character is the Ying to Kitsch’s Yang. They complete and balance each other out nicely. Then there’s Lively who is the reason for the guys going on this “mission”. She played the usual damsel in distress role…..only she’s a pothead. Like I said, she is an integral part of the movie but I feel like she could’ve been an bit more lively (total pun intended) and not just gliding along through scenes. Benicio Del Toro makes his appearance as a enforcer for the cartel named Lado. All of Del Toro’s roles seem to be the same and this one is pretty much no different…..except he has a horrible mexican accent that sounds like he’s trying to imitate George Lopez. John Travolta plays a corrupt DEA agent and he plays it well. There’s something about his demeanor and delivery of some of the dialogue that makes you feel like he’s such a scumbag. Finally, Salma Hayek plays Elena, the cartel leader. She was extraordinary! Her intensity in the role was great and really made you believe that she could kill someone on the spot for crossing her. She has always been a favorite of mine and this cemented her spot. On top of the great story comes the great camera work and editing. Lots of angles and various types of cameras used. Classic Oliver Stone style and I really can’t wait to see the next thing he does. Go check it out
Short: Project S.E.R.A
This short written and directed by Benjamin Howdeshell this is apparently a small prequel story inspired by the Jill Valentine character from the Resident Evil movies according to Milla Jovavich via her twitter page. This is a great little film and I guarantee you that if you are a fan of the RE films of just a fan of zombies period you WILL love this! Great job Ben and congrats on all the hard work you put into this!
You can follow Benjamin Howdeshell on twitter here
