Taken 2

Director: Olivier Megaton

Starring: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, and Maggie Grace

In 2008, Taken became a huge crowd pleaser and box office smash. With a modest budget of $25 million, it grossed over $200 million world wide.  The movie about a father with a particular set of skills, rescuing his daughter, was a well crafted suspense story.

Director

Olivier Megaton (Colombiana and Transporter 3)

has his highest profile job to date with

Taken 2

.  Action sequels very rarely exceed the original.  The story moves fast in this short action adventure, roughly 90 minutes long.  The formula is exactly the same as the first film:  a trip to an international destination, a kidnapping, and ass kickery.  Regurgitating the successful formula of the original film will make a fast buck, but the quality will certainly diminsh.  Remember how hard you laughed when you first saw

The Hangover

and then didn't laugh at the exact same jokes, told in a different city, in

The Hangover II

?

Oscar nominee

Liam Neeson (Schindler's List and

The Grey

)

does just fine reprising his role but is

fine

the benchmark?   His intensity from the first film is missing the second time around.  

Famke Janssen  (X-Men Parts 1-3)

has an expanded  role as Neeson's ex wife from the first fim.  Neeson and Janssen are  actually the ones taken in part two.  Disappointingly, she is simply the helpless victim waiting to be rescued.  For me, I am turned off by the helpless woman cliche.  

Maggie Grace (Lockout),

the abducted daughter from part one, is actually the highlight in Taken 2. Her character gets to come full circle from victim to hero.  After her parents are kidnapped in Istanbul, it is up to her to assist her dad in rescuing her mother.

The Bourne Supremacy

,

Lethal Weapon 2

, and

Terminator 2

are all examples of sequels that surpassed the original.  Taken 2 will not be joining those ranks.  But for those of you who love this series do not be disheartened.  The door is wide open for Taken 3.  I am a huge fan of Liam Neeson and his films.  I just wasn't taken with this one.

fashionado

film

score 5 out of 10

fashionado

film

Jamie Clemons

End of Watch

Director: David Ayer

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña and Anna Kendrick

It may be hard to get excited about another cop movie. Television and film bombard us with the boys in blue, and more often than not the results are less than stellar.   End of Watch is a gritty and dark cop drama that manages to stand apart from the typical Hollywood fare.  The film focuses on two LAPD officers who bite off more than they can chew by unknowingly interfering with a Mexican drug cartel.

Director David Ayer (Street Kings)

is quite comfortable in the cop genre.  He wrote two underwhelming cop dramas

S.W.A.T.

and

Dark Blue

, and the  exceptional Oscar winning

Training Day

.  Ayer's affinity for law enforcement will continue with his next endeavor,

Breacher

,  which  supports the return of

Arnold Schwarzenegger

as a leading man.

Oscar nominee

Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain and The Source Code)

proves why he is one of the top actors of his generation.  A future Oscar win is not an" if" but just a matter of "when" for Gyllenhaal.  There is not a moment of screen time where you do not fully believe that he is an ambitious LAPD officer.  Oscar nominee

Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air and The Twilight Saga)

gives an impressive performance, albeit brief,  as Gyllenhaal’s love interest.  This relationship grounds the movie to a large extent.  The stress and violence of the film would eventually make an audience numb.  The tenderness of their relationship is a reminder that, amidst the violence, there is a life to be had once the badge is removed at the end of watch.

Michael Peña (Crash and Battle Los Angeles)

is Gyllenhaal’s partner.  Peña and Gyllenhaal’s chemistry on screen is close to perfect.  Both men spent five months riding along with real LAPD officers. That five months was well spent.  There are several  improvised scenes in the film which feel effortless in the framework of the story.  That effortlessness is a testament to the talent of these two actors.  The film blends the officer's personal and work lives over a period of several months; culminating in a violent confrontation that changes both of their lives.  I will not say that this film offered anything new to the cop genre, but I will say that End of Watch does it better than most.  This is a solid effort full of tension, tenderness  and violence. Well worth an afternoon at the movies.

fashionadof

ilm

7 out of 10

fashionado

film

Jamie Clemons

2011 Fashionadofilm's Fall Movie Preview

One of the hottest summers I can remember is finally coming to an end here in Atlanta.  The Summer movie season sizzled as well with massive hits like

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2, Transformers 3 and Thor. The Fall season hopes to repeat this box office magic, and the deck is stacked with potential hits and award contenders.

So as the weather cools down and we all start getting ready for the holiday season marathon take some time to be entertained.  I am not implying that all of these films will be

Oscar

contenders, a few will be for sure, but these are the five I know I will not miss.

FIVE

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I

Director: Bill Condon

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner

Release Date: November 18th

Ok, so once you have finished snickering let me say that I can not help myself.  I know these movies are mediocre at best and based on poorly written fiction, but I just can’t help myself.  

Twilight

movies are like the Mr. Pibb to Harry Potter’s Coca-Cola.  

Director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls)

is helming the final installment of this franchise.   The love triangle is pretty much over with the wedding of Bella and Edward.  But those pesky European vampires are not done with the Cullens.  It is no secret that Bella becomes pregnant with a hybrid baby.  I am dying to see how the filmmakers will put the birth scene on screen.  It is a bloody-nasty mess in the book.

Summit Entertainment

is well aware that their cash cow is coming to an end and has decided to split the final book in to two parts.  The Twilight Saga will conclude with

Breaking Dawn Part 2

in 2012.

[caption id="attachment_9667" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart: Breaking Dawn Part I"]

[/caption]

FOUR

50/50

Director: Johnathan Levine

Starring: Joseph Gordan-Levitt, Seth Rogan, Anna Kendrick, and Bryce Dallas Howard

Release Date: September 30th

So at first glance a movie about a 25 year old battling cancer does not seem like the way you might want to spend a Friday night.  

Seth Rogan (Zach and Miri Make a Porno)

produces and stars in the film based on his real life friend's struggle with cancer.  

Joseph Gordan-Levitt (Inception)

portrays the 25 year old with spinal cancer.  Levitt is the reason that I will be watching this.  He is an amazing actor with a stellar resume in indie cinema.  

Inception

was a blockbuster that put him on a larger stage and next summer Levitt will be co-starring in the most highly anticipated sequel in years,

The Dark Knight Rises

.

[caption id="attachment_9669" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogan: 50/50"]

[/caption]

THREE

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Director: David Fincher

Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, and Christopher Plummer

Release Date: December 21st

Stieg Larsson's

international bestseller has become a phenomenon.  The Millennium Trilogy:  

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

,

The Girl Who Played With Fire

, and

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest

have sold over 30 million copies worldwide.  It has already been made into a trilogy of international films.  Two time Oscar nominee  

Director David Fincher (The Social Network)

is behind the updated version.

Rooney Mara (The Social Network)

is portraying Lisbeth Salander who teams up with a journalist played by

Daniel Craig (007)

to solve a murder mystery. Fincher has plenty of experince dealing with the darker side of humanity from his work on

Seven

and

Fight Club

.  I could not put the book down so I have high hopes for the movie.

[caption id="attachment_9684" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"]

[/caption]

TWO

J. Edgar

Director: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio

Release Date: November 9th

Four time

Academy Award

winner

Clint Eastwood (Invictus and

Hereafter

)

is a genius. The man could make a movie about irritable bowel syndrome and I would be there opening night.  This film has the makings of Oscar gold.   

Leonardo  DiCaprio (Shutter Island)

is still Oscarless after an impressive decade of work.  A strong performance as the controversial J. Edgar Hoover  could earn him the much deserved award.  When it comes to an Eastwood film I want to go in knowing as little as possible.  His last eight films have been stellar.  You would have to go back to 2002's

Blood Work

to see a dud.  This would have been my number one pick, but there is only one other filmmaker that ranks higher for me.

[caption id="attachment_9687" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Leonardo DiCaprio: J. Edgar"]

[/caption]

ONE

War Horse

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Tom Hiddleston and Jeremy Irvine

Release Date: December 28th

Three time Oscar winner

Steven Spielberg

has kept a low profile from directing since the visual assault that was 

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

.  In a career that has spanned decades, and films that have literally chaptered my life I can forgive him for that abomination.  I am routing for 

War Horse

.  The movie follows a horse's journey through

World War I

and the young man searching for him.  Wartime films have been good for Spielberg's career in the past:

Schindlers List

,

Saving Private Ryan

, and

Empire of the Sun

were all set during

WWII

.  This is another film that just SCREAMS for an Oscar.

[caption id="attachment_9694" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Jeremy Irvine: War Horse"]

[/caption]

fashionado

film:

Jamie Clemons

Final Destination 5: 3D

Director: Steven Quale

Starring: Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Tony Todd, and Courtney B. Vance

The Final Destination

films are about as complex as chewing bubble gum.  The formula is the same each time. The opening sequence finds one person having a horrific premonition of an impending accident.  Everyone they know is either smashed, shocked, or torn to bits.  The main character then warns everyone to get out just in time.  After the accident, death begins to stalk each survivor one by one.  The series has tackled a plane crash, car crash, roller coaster accident, and a race track collision.  For this fifth installment, it is a terrifying bridge collapse that starts the carnage.  Eleven years is a long time for a franchise to exist in Hollywood and surprisingly the 5th movie actually manages to improve upon the last few sequels.

Acting in these films is not important, but the two leads

Nicholas D’Agosto (Dirty Girl)

and

Emma Bell (AMC’s The Walking Dead)

do a nice job portraying horrified and disgusted.  Horror staple

Tony Todd (Candyman and Final Destination Part 1)

reprises his role from the earlier films.  C

ourtney B. Vance (TNT’s The Closer)

is the detective who thinks there is more to these seemingly random deaths.  

Director Steven Quale

has solid experience working on films like

Avatar

and

Terminator 2

, and he managed to sneak in a fantastic surprise ending.  For any fans of the franchise, it is the highlight of the entire movie.

[caption id="attachment_9601" align="alignright" width="300" caption="I'll just wear glasses"]

[/caption]

Only horror fans will find this type of film entertaining.  The tension leading up to each kill is intense. The  

acupuncture incident

and the

lasik surgery mishap

were particularly grueling to sit through.   This is definitely a movie to enjoy with  friends.  

Fashionado’s

own

Vincent Martinez

accompanied me to the theatre, and I can tell you by the bruises on my arms and ribs that the suspense got the best of him!  Had I known I was going to take a beating I would have slipped a xanax in his bag of Skittles.  I will make one recommendation to the producers when they make part 6. They might want to give thought to changing the title... considering they just made part 5 there is obviously nothing

final

about it.

fashionado

film

score 6 out 10

fashionado

film

Jamie Clemons

FACE 2 FACE with Katherine Brooks

You may know her from the award winning (Atlanta Film Festival, L.A. Outfest, Paris Cinema Festival) and controversial film, Loving Annabelle. You will know her from her current film, a thriller, starring Sarah Roemer, Elizabeth Shue, Taryn Manning and Will Patton, released last week titled

Waking Madison

. AND you definitely know her from the Emmy Award winning MTV hit shows The Real World, The Osbournes, Newlyweds and The Simple Life (to name a few) where she served as director/producer. BUT now, you will know filmmaker/director/producer 

Katherine Brooks

through a very personal and intimate journey as she takes on the most challenging and possibly most important project of her life, about the

reality

of her life, in a film currently in production titled

FACE 2 FACE

.

In a passionate, spirited and revealing 40 minutes, Kat, as she likes to be called, got up close and personal with me about her new film, life, gay marriage and Lady Gaga.

So Kat, you have packed your life into a vehicle for the next three months and you're spending it on the road traveling to meet 50 of your virtual friends to make a film about the experience. Can you talk about how you conceptualized this?

I was recovering from surgery and was heading back to L.A. to work on reality shows. When I returned home to New Orleans I swore off working on reality tv... I felt disconnected and alone. While surfing on Facebook, I was staring at this huge number of friends and it started to trip me out. How can I have 5,000 and have no one to call a real friend? I needed to connect, to reach out and be face to face with other people. Why the need for so many Facebook friends/fans? Is it like high school, to feel popular? I wanted followers because I thought it made me feel better but instead, I felt invisible.

You're halfway through your journey. What can you say about the Face 2 Face experience so far?

I wasn't expecting to connect as deeply. I wasn't expecting

it

be so much about

them

. [I know] it seems narcissistic because it was all about what I needed. But all of a sudden, these people, these virtual friends, shared their life with me and suddenly it became really about them!

This has been emotionally challenging also because I'm connecting so deeply with my new friends and then I have to leave. They are in my heart, I carry them with me and then I meet the next person and I want to give them all. I am a part of their life for a day and whatever they're going through... AND that's what has been so surprising... not one person has been camera shy or not shared something monumental.

Why do you think this is?

I came into this project 100% authentic, nothing fake. I believe they see that, pick up on it and are being real.

What impact on you is it having to meet these Facebook friends?

This experience is bringing me in touch with humanity.

I've quit smoking after one of my new friends on this journey died from cancer.

This trip has empowered me a little bit. Life means more to me now. And to truly connect with people now has become more genuine.  [I've learned] that you really can't know someone until you meet them face to face. You need to smell them and see them to really connect - you can't do it through a computer!

I know you're an activist, especially when it comes to the matter of equality, so what do you think about the recent same-sex ruling in New York?

Finally! I always try and think very positively about change and it keeps getting better... its inspiring. New York is the hub of all of us and it represents a lot of what we are as a culture in America. [Hopefully] this will set a fire under people's asses and stop being so silly.

Let's talk GAGA? I've been following your tweets about her. They're crazy fun! What's going on? [At this point, Kat revealed a secret!]

People think I'm a super fan, obsessed with Lady GAGA.  [But really] I have been researching Lady GAGA from when she first came on the seen. She is the most original, complex and fascinating individual. There is something about her that is absolutely, without a doubt intriguing. I am doing the research for my next film. Its about a music journalist and her relationship with a mega-pop star. [Its about the] exploration of fame and how someone can be one of the most famous people in the world and still feel very alone and misunderstood.

When is Face 2 Face slated for completion and release?

My main goal is to get it to the 2012 

Sundance Film Festival

.  I hope to be done in October and if all goes as planned it will be screened in January.

Kat is brilliant and engaging. Speaking with her was so comfortable. It felt more like a conversation with a friend rather than an interview. I was moved by her sincerity and openness. There were a couple of times when Kat even got emotional when talking about the experiences of meeting her new friends. She feels (about Facebook/Twitter) "technology is not bad if used in a way to connect with people," explaining that it "gets dangerous when used as a bandaid for loneliness."

What I found so beautifully cosmic about Kat Brooks is that her life seems to have come full circle in such a meaningful way - from reality tv, to scripted, disappointing unreality, to finding fulfillment in making a movie about her personal reality. With this, Kat has embraced humanity and now has a greater, deeper appreciation for life - her own and others'. She hopes through her film that people will become inspired to get out more and socialize with one another, FACE 2 FACE.

Finally, the FACE 2 FACE movie trailer is about as

REAL

as you can get. Its powerful, moving and inspiring:

fashionado

The Hangover Part II

Director: Todd Phillips

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, and Ken Jeong

In 2009, The Hangover became the highest grossing R rated comedy ever.  So it is no suprise that Hollywood has produced the sequel.  The original film featured four friends heading to Sin City for a bachelor party.  They get roofied, the night becomes a blur, and they wake up in the morning missing the groom.  High jinks and crude humor ensue until the end of the movie.  Their friend is found and of course they get back just in time for the wedding.  This was so succesful that the film makers decided not to stray far from the formula.  In fact, The Hangover Part II is so similar to the original that if it was not set in a different city you would easily think it was the same film.

This time around

Ed Helms (The Office)

is the one getting married (his stripper wife/girlfriend from the first movie and her baby are out of the picture).  The boys travel to Thailand for the ceremony and of course they have bachelor party plans in the works.  They get drugged again (exactly how I will not spoil)  and wake up the next morning unable to recall the night before.  This time they are the missing the groomsman's 16 year old, soon to be brother-in-law.  The guys must race around Bangcock to find the kid and get to the wedding on time.  Along the way they face a variety of obscene situations: gun fire, a smoking monkey, sexual assault, physical assault, amputation, and Mr. Chow.

Comedy is without a doubt the hardest genre of film to make.  A bad action movie at least has special effects to distract the audience.  Most comedies fail miserably, but The Hangover series manages to bring the laughs in the tradition of

Porky’s

and

American Pie

.  It is not that the movie is actually funny; we laugh because we are uncomfortable witnessing the outrageous situations.  The chemistry between the cast is still there this time around.  

Bradley Cooper (The A-Team)

is not only amazing to look at but the guy has swagger.  

Zack Galifianakis (Due Date)

is just crazy and you can not take your eyes off of his awkwardness.  

Ed Helms

is the perfect straight man dealing with over the top situations.  

Justin Bartha (National Treasure)

again does not get much screen time and does not really add anything to the sequel.  

Ken Jeong (Role Models)

almost steals the movie as Mr. Chow and thanks to him you will never look at a mushroom the same.

Bottom line this is not a great movie.  There is zero originality and it is a complete photo copy of the original film with just a different back drop.  But it is summer and this is not the season for serious drama.  So if you want to see funny guys in really awkward situations this is your film.  The opening weekend was a huge success so be prepared to be hungover for a third time.  Rumor has it that The Wolfpack might be headed to Amsterdam.  I will hope that some fresh ideas go with them across the Atlantic.

fashionado

film

score 5 out of 10

fashionado

film

Jamie Clemons