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MOVIE REVIEWS
THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE NEW LINE CINEMA ∙ 100 MINUTES ∙ PG-13 BY
Left to right: Tina Fey, Nat Wolf and Paul Rudd star in Admission
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he Incredible Burt Wonderstone is one of those movies that just looks terrible. Its trailer kills any chance of proving that the film is naturally funny.
Instead it gives the impression of just another strange Steve Carell movie void of anything but dumb slapstick jokes. But for The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, strange and dumb just happens to work. After performing the same show for 15 years, famous magician Burt Wonderstone (Carell) has a falling out with his partner and best friend of 30 years, Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi). Burt tries to sustain his career solo, but soon discovers he’s not only lost his shine, but also all of his money, his show and his best
MORGAN BAIN
friend. When Burt unexpectedly meets his childhood inspiration, famous magician Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin), he is inspired to rekindle his love for magic and his friendship with Anton in order to defeat his competition and earn back his performance at the fabulous Aztec Casino in Las Vegas. The plot isn’t filled with any unpredicted twists and turns, but remains interesting enough to scrape by. It certainly helped that the majority of the jokes made were original and unique, unlike the slapstick comedy that
OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN FILM DISTRICT 120 MINUTES ∙ R BY
photo used with paid permission from mctcampus
EDITOR’S
CHOICE BY CHRIS BOWLING
ADMISSION
FOCUS FEATURES
117 MINUTES ∙ PG-13
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ina Fey is the funniest woman in televison. Her work on 30 Rock, which is easily a contender for one of the funniest shows ever made, and her writing on Saturday Night Live (SNL) that gave wit to an otherwise lifeless show is a testament to that, by all accounts. But when it comes to movies, she
52 | Spark | April 9, 2013
struggles to establish herself, and it’s really apparent throughout Admission.
coming to terms with her motherly instincts and doing whatever she can to get her son into college.
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ortia Nathan (Fey) is an admissions officer for Princeton University who’s given up on her love life, social life and any other notion of fun to marry her job in hopes of one day getting promoted to head of admissions. She’s constantly vying for the spot with coworker Corinne (Gloria Rueben) and is also in a loveless relationship with her boyfriend Mark (Michael Sheen) who breaks up with her after revealing he not only cheated on her but is also expecting twins. Nothing’s going right for her until she meets teacher John Pressman (Paul Rudd) whom she starts to fall for until he reveals to her that a prodigal student, Jeremiah (Nat Wolf), who he wants for her to highly consider for Princeton, is actually her son. The remainder consists of her
n the surface, Admission seems like a genuine movie. It has an original premise and doesn’t appear to follow the same beaten path of other movies in its genre of chick flicks and date movies. But after the first 10 minutes, it’s undeniable that this film was only written for people over 40. The humor is completely nonexistent except when randomly inserted in the middle of the movie’s lethargic plot, and the characters are so flat that it makes Fey seem like the only one who had prior acting experience. Fey carries the movie but even she provides a disheartening performance. It feels like she’s being held back, which is something no one would expect from the same woman who is so well-known for having mocked people weekly on 30 Rock and SNL.
The cliché writing and hackneyed nuances aren’t things that fans expect from Fey, but that probably has to do with the fact she had nothing to do with the writing process. Even so, her usual wit and humor are expected from anything that she’s willing to put her name on, and the script is just as lifeless as that of any other write-off movie—and that’s exactly what Admission is.
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atching it isn’t awful. There are some endearing moments and some moments that provide genuine laughter, but the film is shrouded with unoriginal writing and subpar acting. Fey’s still the master of television but she needs to stick to that because whether she’s behind the making of movies like Admission or not, it’s starting to call to question whether or not she still has the genius approach to writing that made things like SNL and 30 Rock so outrageously hilarious. SM
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ometimes I wonder what it would be like if terrorists from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or maybe even the People’s Republic of Al-Qaeda were to take the president hostage. And now, having watched Olympus Has Fallen, a film where the president is taken hostage by North Korean terrorists, I am definitely still wondering what that would be like. When Kang Yeonsak (Rick Yune), takes control of the White House with the President (Aaron Eckhart) as his hostage in order to force the Speaker of the House (Morgan Freeman) to remove American troops from the 38th Parallel, Michael Banning (Gerard Butler), a secret service agent who 18 months earlier had to let the First Lady die in order to save him,
THE CROODS 20TH CENTURY FOX 98 MINUTES ∙ PG
ONUR EROGLU
happens to be the only living agent in the building and thus America’s only hope. None of it is believable. There’s no way the White House would be that unprepared for an assault of this kind. And even if terrorists were to be able to take control, there is no reason to believe that the Pentagon wouldn’t just let the president die. But this isn’t supposed to be an accurate story. What it should be called is Die Hard With Gerard Butler in the White House. It thrives on Antoine Fuqua’s fast-paced direction and its action sequences. The writing is there, but only to fill in the gaps where there aren’t explosions. Action usually isn’t enough to redeem a movie that lacks in other more-important areas, and this film is no different. But I admire the effort because Olympus Has Fallen is particularly uncompromising in its devotion to violence. And not the type that begets a message. No, this is orgiastic movie violence. It’s so blunt and meaningless that it’s funny. SM
is overused in most movies. Burt and Anton’s new rival, street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), is the main source of much of the comedy. Holding the title “Brain Rapist,” Steve Gray is an allusion to real-life magician and illusionist Criss Angel. But past the hilarious mix of wit and stupidity, Burt’s story is quite touching. The movie balances comedic and emotional writing, offering a way to connect to the lovable characters while still letting the audience in on all of the ridiculous jokes. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone isn’t mind-blowing by any stretch, but it definitely deserves some recognition for exceeding expectations, if only for the fact that they somehow made a funnier Criss Angel than Criss Angel. SM
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ay hello to the Croods, “the world’s first modern family.” This animated adventurecomedy film follows the journey of the titular cave family. The Croods focuses on the group and their ability to live due to the father’s smart, yet overly paranoid, survival tactics, which include shunning anything new and hustling back to their cave home before night comes. The family must change their ways when their home is threatened by “The End,” an apocalypse theorized by Guy (Ryan Reynolds), an intelligent nomad, who is found by rebellious teen daughter Eep (Emma Stone). With his help, the family voyages across many bizarre lands until they reach safety on a mountain. Throughout their journey, Guy introduces the clan to many new
DIANA BUCHERT
concepts like fire, shoes and different ways of surviving. Although it appears to be solely about a comedic cave family, The Crood’s underlying message is the importance of family love and not fearing the world, as shown through their near-death experiences and fright of new things. An unexpected tear-jerking moment comes when Eep, certain that her father, Grug (Nicolas Cage), is about to meet his demise, begins to regret not telling him how much she loved him. The comedic elements, such as the hybrid animals, like flying birdturtles or mice-elephants, and the oddball nature of the Croods gives the film a light tone. The adorable add-ins from Guy’s pet sloth, Belt (part-time pet, part-time belt), and the dog-like baby, Sandy, definitely makes the movie worth seeing. Although it is a kid’s movie, it isn’t overly annoying and is a perfect fit for this prehistoric family. The Croods it’s a fun film that’s great for the all ages of cave dwellers to enjoy. SM
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