Knights of Badassdom (2013)

Directed by Joe Lynch
Written by Kevin Dreyfuss and Matt Wall
Starring Ryan Kwanten, Steve Zahn, Peter Dinklage and Jimmi Simpson

Live-action role players conjure up a demon from Hell by mistake and they must deal with the consequences.

A comedy for proud nerds everywhere, "Knights of Badassdom" puts a group of LARPers…. LARPists? LARPephiles? People who like LARPing in a real life medieval magic scenario in which they are confronted with a violent succubus!

Falling somewhere between over-the-top and too-tame, this film fluctuates in entertainment. Some scenes are amazing and hilarious, while others are slow moving and boring. However, this is a movie that looks like the cast and crew had fun making, which gives it bonus points.

My Rating: 5.5/10

The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014)

Directed by Phil Alden Robinson
Written by Daniel Taplitz, based on the film "The 92 Minutes of Mr. Baum" written by Assi Dayan
Starring Robin Williams, Mila Kunis, Peter Dinklage and Melissa Leo

A perpetually angry man is informed he has 90 minutes to live and promptly sets out to reconcile with his family and friends in the short time he has left.

Throughout the 83 minutes that this movie plays, the quality goes up and down from being bad, then flirting with the line of being good, only to fall back down again. It never fully satisfies with it's story telling.

Opening with a nice, picturesque scene of a family having a picnic, your image of the father is immediately shattered when they cut to him stuck in traffic 25 years later. It is obvious that this was done on purpose, but I felt that Robin Williams character never fully goes back to that original state of happiness, rendering the entire movie meaningless.

Why would you go to the hospital without a shirt?

With little humor and a lot of yelling, perhaps this film was made more for those who actually live in New York and could relate to the protagonists experiences. But to the rest of us, at least for myself, it fell flat.

That's the perfect word to describe this movie. It wasn't good or bad. It was just flat. Although some scenes peaked my interest and others pushed me away, my emotional connection with the film stayed the same throughout, never changing from the "Yeah… I'm watching a movie…" emotion.

The best part about the movie was seeing Robin Williams. Perhaps this is a new phenomena since his death, but it is quite enjoyable just to see him on screen. It's hard to miss him, even when he's yelling at everyone.

My Rating: 5/10

The Station Agent (2003)

Written and Directed by Tom McCarthy
Starring Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson, Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Williams

When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.

This quirky, independent comedy gives itself a unique voice straight from the get-go. The world of train hobbyists as well as the mockery and ridicule endured from the perspective of the main character for being different makes for an infuriating yet awkwardly comedic picture.

In my life, I don't think I have ever seen a movie filled with this many characters who were terrible at picking up on social cues. There were also an obscene amount of people who had no idea how rude and intrusive they were being to Dinklage's character. It's sad to think there are people in this world like that, who have no idea how to behave around people with dwarfism.

I can't be sure if it was a directing choice or Dinklage's personal choice, but I found his character to be very flat and uninteresting in the beginning. He grew into a more three-dimensional character as the film went on, however, I found the enthusiasm to which Bobby Cannavale's character had wanted to get to know him was forced. Perhaps with him being a New Yorker stuck in a small, lowly populated town was enough to make him want to speak with anyone, regardless of mutual interest.

Strangeness and eccentricities aside, this was a great movie about two lonely people who wanted friends and one lonely person who didn't know he needed friends. It is as heartwarming as it is quirky, making for an entertaining film.

My Rating: 7.5/10