for crude and sexual content, language and brief nudity
Guy Trilby is an arrogant, foul mouthed, bad tempered, emotionally scarred 40 year old alcoholic with an ax to grind; he also just happens to be a total genius. Trilby’s tool of choice for achieving the revenge he is after; the national spelling bee circuit
Right from the start, Bad Words goes for the jugular in an effort to surprise the audience with the levels that a vengeful man will stoop to for that revenge. The shock and awe campaign of dialogue will both make you uncomfortable and cause you to laugh out loud. The sheer complexity of the insults that are doled out will keep your jaw hanging in disbelief.
“Why don’t you take your potty mouth, go locate your pre-teen cock sucker son and stuff him back up that old blown out sweat sock of a vagina and screw it off to whatever shit-kicking town you came from?”
(Trilby to the mother of a kid he just crushed)
Jason Bateman plays the role of Guy Trilby, a man who has been granted a near photographic memory but also cursed with an inner anger that dictates his every action and word. The portrayal of Trilby by Bateman solidifies his stature as a high caliber comedic actor. I say that hoping and praying that Bateman had to really try to be that outright mean as he delivered some of the most vitriol insults ever said on film. If that type of thing came naturally, then Kent and Victoria Bateman have to come to grips with the fact that they may be the parents of the Anti-Christ.
Trilby is a spelling genius; he could easily win any spelling bee with just his skill alone. Even though he doesn’t need them, he uses some of the cruelest, most underhanded tactics imaginable to make his path to the win over the fellow competitors as easy as possible. The 10 year olds that share the stage with him during competitions are subjected to psychological warfare that would easily take down adults.
Trilby is bad enough on his own, but he does have help in his mission in reporter Jenny Widgeon. Kathryn Hahn plays the role of Trilby’s sponsor and pseudo-willing accomplice. She aids him in his quest with the hope that he will give her the access she needs to write the story that can make her career.
Rohan Chand plays the role of 10 year old Chaitanya Chopra. Chopra is one of the many children that Guy is out to crush in his quest. Along the way, Chopra tries to befriend Guy and a relationship is formed that you know is not going to go well.
In addition to playing a starring role, Bateman also directed this film. He did an excellent job of emphasizing just how morally bankrupt the characters of this movie are. At no point in the movie are you ever allowed to settle in on a character being “good” or “bad”. All that is constant with Bad Words is that it is shocking and very funny. Leave the kiddies at home and go out and see this movie for a good night of guilty pleasure funny.
for sequences of reckless street racing, disturbing crash scenes, nudity and crude language
In 1994 Electronic Arts unleashed on the world one of the most successful video-game franchises of all time. The Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn and 3DO were the first platforms to take on the title that would eventually spawn 22 sequels. Need for Speed set the standard for what racing based video games were to be going forward. Over time the gameplay was modified, the graphics improved and the physics of cars included but always true to the core; go as hard and fast as you can to win the race in some of the most iconic exotic cars ever made by man.
There are few things as exciting or iconic in movies as the car chase. A good chase scene can elevate an okay movie to the good or great level pretty quickly. Good use of high-speed cars engaged in precision driving and performing, often impossible, stunts can make up for most any flaw an action movie has. The car chase is what Need for Speed used to get through to audiences and successfully adapt an iconic video-game into a feature film.
The movie is about a street racer, Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul), who lives in upstate New York. Marshall is betrayed by a former rival turned business partner, Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper), and left to go to prison for the consequences of a street race that went horribly wrong. When Marshall is paroled, upon completing his sentence, he sets out on a mission to get revenge by taking out Brewster on the biggest stage in street racing, The DeLeon.
The stars of this movie are billed as; Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper and Scott Mescudi (Kid Kudi) but I would dare to say that the real stars are listed here under the heading “Stunts.” The 40+ men and women that made up the stunt and precision driving teams are what made this movie as thrilling as it is. In an effort to be as real as possible, most of the racing scenes in the movie are done on closed courses with real cars being driven to their limits by these amazing professionals.
If the stuntmen and women are the stars, then the best supporting nod has to go to the menu of amazing vehicles used in the story. In one scene the head of the DeLeon race, The Monarch (Michael Keaton), states that the combined value of the cars in his race is around $6 million and average 200mph. Yeah right! Maybe if you are getting some major discounts from the manufacturers and ride the brakes!
Bugatti Veyron Super Sport – $2.5 million and a verified top speed of 265mph
Koenigsegg Agera R – $1.7 million and an estimated top speed of over 270mph
Lamborghini Sesto Elemento – $2.9 million and a verified top speed of 205mph
McLaren P1 – $1.3 million and its top speed is electronically capped at 220mph (It’s also a hybrid!)
Saleen S7 – $500,000 and a verified top speed of 248mph
GTA Spano – $725,000 and an estimated top speed of 220mph
Add all those up and you get… (Drumroll please) a whopping $9.65 million dollars in cars with an average top speed of around 240mph! Thank God the ones that were abused and wrecked were all replicas.
As impressive as that list of cars is, they are not all that appears. A modified 2014 Ford Mustang GT 500, that is rated at 900hp with a top end of 236mph, is the central car figure for most of the movie. There is also a bevy of classic muscle cars from the 60s and 70s that make appearances.
With the sheer volume of cars that are featured in this movie it is easy to jump to the conclusion that this is just another Fast and Furious style movie; ”show a bunch of cars driving fast and add some special effects and hope it works.” The makers of Need for Speed went in a different direction with the way they portrayed the street racing scene and driving in general. The developers took the time to make sure this movie honors the great car chases of the past by focusing on realism as much as possible. Aside from two scenes where I shook my head and thought, “was that really necessary,” the movie uses driving skills and stunts that are very believable and realistic.
As a part of the respect to car chases from the past, you see Bullitt playing at a drive in an early scene, the Pontiac Trans-Am from Smokey and the Bandit makes an appearance, there is even a nod to the Blue Brothers movie. One of the more obscure references is a scene where the Mustang being driven by Marshall is being chased around and around a traffic circle a la The Dukes of Hazzard. Homages to Thelma and Louise and The Great Gatsby are also cool if you catch them and appreciate them. There are countless other subtle references to car chase movies from the past that appear in the dialogue as well.
One of the most important aspects of this movie that I found the most refreshing is in the way the story does not insult you intelligence or seem to be “on the take” from a car manufacturer. An example of what I mean is in the car chase in last year’s The Last Stand, there is no way on this round earth that a bone stock Camaro is going to run down an 1100hp Corvette Blue Demon. Need for Speed, delightfully, chooses to respect the knowledge of the fan base that this movie will appeal to most and not slap them in the face by having a Mustang torch the Veyron SS or anything absurd like that.
I would be remiss if I wrapped this up without really mentioning the various actors and acting. They all played their various roles well with no one really standing out as a positive or negative. I get the impression that they all accepted the fact that they were in a video game movie that was all about the driving and not about them. Aaron Paul as the hero, the brooding Tobey Marshall was a good fit. Dominic Cooper as the manipulative Dino Brewster was also easy to accept. Michael Keaton as The Monarch was fun. I specifically enjoyed the character Julie Maddon played by Imogen Poots, maybe it is just a screen crush or infatuation with the accent.
For the first time in 2014 I am going to put my seal of approval on a movie with no restrictions or caveats. Need for Speed is fun and worth the trip to the theatres, no questions asked.
for intense sequences of action and violence, some language, sensuality and drug references
Since the tragic events of 9/11 the United States has used a lot of resources to upgrade the security in and around air travel. One of the ways that this was accomplished was in the expansion and further development of the Federal Air Marshal Service. The FAMs are tasked with blending in with the everyday passengers flying the skies over the United States to watch over the flights and ensure that no acts like what occurred in 2001 will be repeated. The threats they face on a day to day basis can range from frisky couples joining the “mile-high” club to plots to hijack a plane mid-flight.
In the last few years Liam Neeson has re-emerged as somewhat of an action star. In the early 90s he cut his action movie teeth playing the role of Peyton Westlake / Darkman in the Darkman. In 1999 he landed the role of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jin in the first Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace. From there he drifted into roles that were a bit less action oriented. In 2008 he burst back onto the action scene with the surprise hit Taken. Since that time he has become the actor to get if you are looking for an “older” guy to be your movie badass; see The A-Team, The Grey, Taken 2, and The Dark Knight Rises.Non-Stop is the next installment of Liam Neeson as the older, but old-man strong, hero.
This time, Neeson plays the role of Federal Air Marshal Bill Marks. Marks is not your polished hero type character that you are used to out of Neeson, he is a very troubled man. Marks battles a drinking problem and is very anti-social, to say the least. You could easily seem him as the type of guy who would wake up one morning and say, “F*** it, I’m gonna waste those fools today,” and then go postal. The story told in Non-Stop rests on the shoulders of Neeson and his ability to portray a drunk, depressed, anti-social guy, who also just happens to be a highly trained Federal Agent.
The story told in Non-Stop is an interesting one that will keep your attention if you enjoy a good “whodunit”. Marks begins to receive mysterious text messages describing a plot to kill a passenger on board the plane every 20 minutes until a ransom of $150 million is paid. Marks puts all of his training into action as he methodically goes about the business of tracking down the threat without alerting the passengers as to the danger they are in. Along the way he is faced with hurdles and challenges that seem to implicate him as the real threat.
The story is complicated and requires a little more attention than some movie goers like to give; a poorly timed restroom break in the middle of the movie or a talker sitting next to you can ruin this movie’s fun. It also doesn’t move at a very fast pace; this is ironic considering the plot is that someone dies every 20 minutes. It develops in a very deliberate and methodical way with the viewer never really knowing what is fully going on at any given time. The emotions of the movie also build in a very slow and deliberate way so that by the time the movie build to its climax, the tension is at its highest point.
At the climax, the story goes off the rails a little. Throughout the movie you are wondering if what is happening is a personal attack against the airline, a terrorist attack, or even a personal vendetta against Marks. When the baddy and motive are actually revealed, don’t be surprised if you find yourself scratching your head. The motive that is given just doesn’t fit the story and the characters that are provided.
The other two main characters in Non-Stop provide balance and the emotions that the story needs, if not the actual details. The row mate to Marks is a woman named Jen (Julianne Moore) and she adds a bit of levity to offset the always serious and brooding Marks. The flight attendant, Nancy (Michelle Dockery), is the rock that Marks leans on when his paranoia won’t allow him to trust anyone else. The rest of the cast consists of your stereotypical figures that always seem to make their way into these types of movies; I won’t ruin your fun here.
Liam Neeson continues with his trend of grizzled hero movies in a story that is a bit complicated with a somewhat unfulfilled ending.Overall, Non-Stop is a good second choice movie if you insist on going to the theater this weekend and you have seen everything else. I won’t say that I didn’t like it, but I also won’t commit to saying I did.
ecsguestwriter
MichaelSmithNC
Melissa Anne Cain
Eastern Carolina Style 