The Perfect Family (C)

In times of moral, emotional, or physical distress, a support system is near absolutely necessary to prevent the person from entering depression, or any type of psychological arrest. Many turn to their existing relationships, whether with friends or family, for assistance in these times of need; knowing that their help is near assured. However, whether it's simply due to a lack of strong relationships, some turn to a force outside of their control give hope and confidence; a divine being whose very existence is to protect those who need protecting. Putting faith into this "higher power" can be done with the strongest intentions, but often, leads the person to merely wait for the optimism and happiness to return to life, rather than solve the problems themselves. This is not intended to be a slander of religion, or believing in a God, but when entire faith is put into a power that is intended to solve near anything, the chance of acting to benefit oneself diminishes at least slightly. With this belief in a "higher power" acting as the support system rather than developed relationships, when faith is tested, there's no fallback plan. Your support system cannot have a support system of its own.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits (B+)

Often considered to be the most unnecessarily abused form of punctuation, an easily avoidable way to add far too much enthusiasm to the conclusion of a sentence, there's always the powerful allure to include the slightly destructive exclamation point whenever possible! However, occasionally, even greater than the temptation of using one exclamation point (!), is the temptation of using two (!!), or three (!!!)! It's the writer's equivalent to an illicit, and highly dangerous drug! Though it's incredibly entertaining to use, it nearly demolishes the credibility and significance of the article it's featured in! For example, let's examine the exact paragraph you're currently reading! Sentence flow is extremely choppy, each newly established point seems slightly disconnected from the last, and everything seems to be in the written equivalent of an yell! Simply out of coincidence, the only two movies whose titles are exciting enough to feature an exclamation point (the other being the Norwegian teen comedy Turn Me On, Dammit!) ever to be reviewed on this site, are being published back-to-back! Is this much energy on "Film Crazy" at once a bad idea?! Maybe, but at least there's another quality movie to discuss!

Turn Me On, Dammit! (A-)

Over the last several days, a rousing, near universally acclaimed comedic adventure targeted at the general public has been demolishing the box office record books; conquering one seemingly unobtainable achievement after the other in an unrelenting bid for eternal box office infamy. In a mere weekend in the U.S alone, it amassed a trailblazing $207,000,000; almost $50 million more than the previous record holder. On its second weekend, it only dropped 50%, obtaining $103,000,000; also a record. It has grossed approximately $375 million dollars domestic: Almost dethroning 2012's biggest movie so far, The Hunger Games, in less than two whole weeks. It's the cinematic equivalent to an unstoppable force of nature; a medieval warlord with enough power to have complete dominance over foes; the brick home the three little pigs used to protect themselves from the big bad wolf. Its absolute supremacy at the theater was tested last weekend with the release of Tim Burton's highly anticipated adaptation of the cult TV series Dark Shadows, but even this seemingly worthy opponent was stopped in its tracks. The Avengers has taken such absolute precedence at the box office that nearly every alternative has been eclipsed, and overshadowed. Grossing a worldwide total of $61,446, the Norwegian coming-of-age story Turn Me On, Dammit could, without any second guessing, be considered the anti-Avengers. 

30 Second Reviews: We Have a Pope (C+), Declaration of War (B+), The Cabin in the Woods (A-), The Last Screening (D)

When around a month passes, and I'm still struggling to put out a review, I try to cut losses by writing a quick one in only a couple of sentences so at least something related to the film gets posted. It's time for a couple of mildly disappointing 30 Second Reviews! Also, one year Film Crazy anniversary! Wahoo! Thanks for a great first year everybody, and hope the second is gonna be just as amazing!

We Have a Pope

Michel Piccoli stars as a self-doubting Vatican cardinal, who against all odds is elected to become the pope, in this surprisingly secular Italian comedy, directed by and costarring Nanni Moretti (The Son's Room). Essentially the anti-underdog film, Moretti uses the great majority of the film as a light character study into Piccoli's newly appointed pope; a man who feels he is undoubtably the wrong choice for the position, and cannot fathom as to why God chose him. However, rather than using the narrative opportunity to examine this character's relationship with his faith, thus giving more insight as to why he struggles to accept the occupation God chose him for, Moretti instead chooses turn the film into an offbeat fish-out-of-water comedy as Piccoli escapes the Vatican, and wonders about Rome. Though there're some memorable comedic bits (an opening scene depicting a fictional pope election works particularly well), the film keeps disregarding any attempts at real drama; favoring wholesome "Let's see what happens when the uptight cardinals do this modern activity!" comedy instead. At best a lukewarm comedy with an occasional memorable scene; at worst a blown opportunity to portray an internal crisis far beyond normal self-doubt.

Grade: C+