James Franco & Jonah Hill Go Comically Grim in 'True Story' (Review)

James Franco and Jonah Hill are best known for their comedies including Pineapple Express, Superbad and This is the End. While James Franco has kept a balance between comedies and more serious films, Jonah Hill only recently dabbled in other genres namely in Bennett Miller's Moneyball (which happens to be my favorite film of 2011). Separately, it's not hard to separate their dramatic work from their bro-comedies. But as seen together, it's tough not to be reminded of the films that made them popular.

True Story is, essentially, a true story (at least based on one). The film is directed by Rupert Goold, an English theatre and TV director making his feature debut. The script is by Goold and David Kajganich, based on the memoirs of writer Michael Finkel. The film stars Hill as Finkel, Franco as serial killer Christian Longo and Felicity Jones as Finkel's wife Jill.

New York Times journalist Finkel is fired after fabricating parts of a story he wrote about child slaves in Africa. He goes to Minnesota where his wife lives, attempting to get another job. But then a reporter from The Oregonian contacts him, telling that a man accused of killing his family was picked up in Mexico. The guy, Christian Longo, used Finkel's identity as an alias. Intrigued, Finkel goes to Oregon to visit Longo in jail and the two make a deal: Longo will tell Finkel the truth about what happened to his family if Finkel will teach him to write.

Scarlett Johansson, Misfit Movie Star (part 1)

Tony winner. BAFTA winner. Twice named Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive. Marvel Cinematic Universe's Black Widow. Scarlett Johansson is definitely an A-list movie star. But there's something about her that rebels against the Hollywood hype machine. Is Scarlett a Hollywood sex symbol? Or do the media and the public project that image onto her? Is Scarlett Johansson the anti A-list star?

Obviously, I don't know Scarlett Johansson personally. But her choice of films reveal a deeper relationship to her sex symbol status. She challenges it. Here's what I find interesting: Scarlett Johansson's characters are always the outlier, the misfit. She plays displaced characters, alienated sometimes by her voluptuous beauty, by her nationality, even by her lack of corporal form. My theory is that Johansson views her A list status ironically and spends her career breaking it down.

In this multi-part blog series, I'm going to look at some of Scarlett Johansson's performances, ranging from some of her best films to some of her more flawed (but still interesting) films.

OK, Can We Stop Acting So Surprised That Kristen Stewart is a Good Actress?

Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria

Here is a Hollywood trend that really annoys me: false comeback narratives. The media suddenly realizes that an actor is actually worth their time and journalists/bloggers act as if they discovered what a hidden gem the actor is. Most of the time, however, it's just that the media has major short term memory loss and its good favor can't withstand an actor's more rocky period.

This is happening with Kristen Stewart. Ever since she finished her run in the blockbuster Twilight Saga as Bella Swan in 2012, Stewart has been refocusing her career. She's choosing interesting projects, she's working with talented actors and directors, and she's getting some major notices. But all I've been seeing online is stuff like "OMG Kristen Stewart can act!" and lots of vaguely misogynistic backhanded compliments. Look, I don't know how Stewart feels about her years in the Twilight movies. I'd like to imagine that she's grateful for the fans she won over, for the gonzo money she made and for the fact that she starred in a film series that played directly to the hungry but oft-ignored female audience. The Twilight movies had their issues but we can thank them for Hunger Games, Pitch Perfect and other female-oriented blockbusters.

100th Post Spectacular-Spectacular!: Top 10 Films of All Time with Special Guest Zade Constantine!!

I'VE REACHED 100 POSTS PEOPLE! This is clearly the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life! I just want to thank my followers, the people who have liked my blog on Facebook. In the past few months, I've tried to up my game on here and having your support means everything. So merci beaucoup as they say in places where French is spoken.

So for this special occasion, I've decided to compose my top 10 films of all time. I've asked my good friend and fellow film enthusiast Zade Constantine to contribute as well because he is awesome and has an exceptional taste in films.

ZADE:

10. A Face in the Crowd (1957) - Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan directed several films often cited as some of the greatest works of all time. Films such as On the Waterfront and East of Eden are part of his remarkable body of work and controversial legacy. A Face in the Crowd, however, remains my favorite film by Kazan. Lead by a maniacal performance from Andy Griffith, A Face in the Crowd foreshadowed the frightening state of our current media institutions and figures.

9.    The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) - John Ford

John Ford takes his favorite themes and iconography and distills them here. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance pins John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart against one another and plays with our perceptions of these two stars. There are many films that alter the confines of their respective genres, but The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance stands as the greatest “revisionist” achievement.

8. The Wages of Fear (1953) - Henri-Georges Clouzot

The setup for this one is simple: destitute workers looking to escape a hellish South American town agree to drive nitroglycerine across perilous terrain. Every bump in the road has the potential to set off the nitro and blow them all up. The Wages of Fear, after repeated views, remains an unbearably suspenseful and stressful viewing experience.

The Spy Who Thrilled Me: My Definitive Ranking of the James Bond 007 Movies

I love James Bond. It's one of the most interesting film franchises because it keeps chugging along. There are some highs yes but the series has managed to survive even its most cringe-worthy lows. The 007 films have had a huge impact on culture. For every loser guy like myself who orders a James Bond Martini (actually called a Vesper Lynd!!), there's some product whose sophistication went up because Bond used it (how sexy are Heinekens right?). So for my 99th blog post, I've compiled my ranking of the 007 Bond movies (Eon Productions movies only so all you crazy Never Say Never Again fans can just get out of here!).

My favorite parts of any Bond movie are the Bond Girl and the Bond Song. So I'll be pointing out each for each movie. And I also track what I call the "Oh, James!" where the Bond Girl suddenly becomes useless after kissing Bond. It's my favorite Bond trope.

23. Die Another Day (2002)
I grew up with the Pierce Brosnan Bond movies. I remember seeing most of them in the movie theater. I especially remember seeing this one back in 2002. I'm sure back then, I was totally into the invisible car or whatever. But now that stuff just seems...pathetic and desperate. This movie has early 2000s written all over it. I can barely follow the plot. The dialogue tries to be clever but it's way overwritten. And it's just not very fun. I can't even remember who the villain is or what he wants. Just not very memorable.
The song: Madonna's Die Another Day is so bad. Weird, techno nonsense with dumb references to Frued.
The girls: Halle Berry (awful) and Rosamund Pike (fine)

22. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Aside from Christopher Lee's on point performance as the villain Scaramanga, Golden Gun is just too over the top. Between bad sound effects, lame side characters and the totally dated and vaguely racist kung fu backdrop, the movie just does not work and it even fails at going into so-bad-it's-good territory.
The song: Lulu's song is decent but just not very memorable or sensual.
The girls: Maud Adams is fine but will be better and poor Britt Ekland is given the worst written character in Bond history. She's the queen of the "Oh, James!" syndrome.

21. A View to a Kill (1985)
Roger Moore's last film is such a slog to get through. At 57, the poor guy looks like he is huffung and puffing through the movie, romancing actresses who could be his daughter. The action scenes are laborious and not even a maniacal Christopher Walken can save the film. Let's not even talk about how like thousands of people die in collateral damage. Bond movies just aren't supposed to have real world consequences unless that's what they're going for. This is not going for real world.
The song: Duran Duran actually had a pretty good song, though it's a little too 80s for my taste.
The girls: I shudder to think of Roger Moore with helpless Tanya Roberts but Grace Jones is totally cool in this movie.

'John Wick' and 7 Other Great Action Movies That Are Really Beautiful

Action movies are often overlooked when it comes to onscreen beauty. Part of that has to do with what we consider to be "art" and maybe part of it is that an action movie's target audience isn't too concerned with how pretty the movie looks. Though now that I think about it, whenever an action gets bad reviews, most people say "oh, it looks great" as the stock positive note. But I am talking about action films that are simply gorgeous and especially how they use violence artistically,

The list is in alphabetical order and is a mix between "duh!" and "say what?"

300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
So I love this movie, which is a sort of side-quel to 300. The battle scenes display an elegant masculinity that is all too rare in modern action movies. The film is restrained in its use of the color red and the fight choreography is almost dance-like. 300: Rise of an Empire is a pretty gory movie and it is basks in its own grotesque beauty. The film is chaotic and frantic, and the direction is stylish. This movie knows what it wants to be and is precisely that.