This'll change next week, and the week after, but...
BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Dark Horse: Revolutionary Road
BEST ACTOR
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Frank Langhella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Dark Horse: Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
Dark Horse: Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long
BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Dark Horse: Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, Milk
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
Dark Horse: Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Kate Winslet, The Reader
Dark Horse: Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Bolt - Movie Review
BOLT (***1/2) - Starring the voices of John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell, James Lipton and Greg Germann.
Directed by Chris Williams.
Pixar's John Lasseter served as executive producer on this, and I can see his touch. The story is more solid than Chicken Little, if not more familiar, and yet it has its own flavor.
I have a hard time counting the CGI animation movies as part of the Disney animated classics. To me, Disney animation stopped with Home on the Range (a bad note on which to end) and it will be revived with The Princess & the Frog next year. Meanwhile this is the best of the Disney CGI flicks, and actually the best non-Pixar animated film to come from Disney since Lilo & Stitch.
John Travolta voices Bolt, a Hollywood action dog who isn't aware that he has super powers and he's just on a TV show. When an episode ends in a cliffhanger, bolt still fears his person Penny is in danger. He escapes but accidentally gets shipped to New York, so he must trek back to L.A. to save her. Along the way he picks up a declawed cat and a fat hamster in a roller ball as traveling companions.
I counted three subplots from the Toy Story movies in here, but the characters are likeable enough that it's easily forgiven and forgotten. Right now for me, it rivals Kung Fu Panda as to what was the second-best animated movie of the year.
Directed by Chris Williams.
Pixar's John Lasseter served as executive producer on this, and I can see his touch. The story is more solid than Chicken Little, if not more familiar, and yet it has its own flavor.
I have a hard time counting the CGI animation movies as part of the Disney animated classics. To me, Disney animation stopped with Home on the Range (a bad note on which to end) and it will be revived with The Princess & the Frog next year. Meanwhile this is the best of the Disney CGI flicks, and actually the best non-Pixar animated film to come from Disney since Lilo & Stitch.
John Travolta voices Bolt, a Hollywood action dog who isn't aware that he has super powers and he's just on a TV show. When an episode ends in a cliffhanger, bolt still fears his person Penny is in danger. He escapes but accidentally gets shipped to New York, so he must trek back to L.A. to save her. Along the way he picks up a declawed cat and a fat hamster in a roller ball as traveling companions.
I counted three subplots from the Toy Story movies in here, but the characters are likeable enough that it's easily forgiven and forgotten. Right now for me, it rivals Kung Fu Panda as to what was the second-best animated movie of the year.
What We Do Is Secret - DVD Review
WHAT WE DO IS SECRET (**) - Starring Shane West, Bijou Phillips, Rick Gonzalez, Noah Segan, Ashton Holmes, Tina Majorino, Ray Park and Azura Skye.
Written & directed by Rodger Grossmann.
I got into listening to late-1970's punk for a bit in the late 1980's. Sex Pistols, X, Black Flag... I don't remember the Germs. Nevertheless, we get a biopic of Germs lead singer Darby Crash, who died from a drug overdose at age 22 in 1980. It's not a very long story to tell if it starts in high school and his band rises and falls so quickly.
Darby is played by Shane West, previously known to me as Tom Sawyer in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and one of the prime suspects on why that movie was so bad. He also played the punk doctor Ray on ER, and his first season was the year I finally stopped watching ER. So here he is. And he wasn't half bad.
The movie's problem is that it, like its subject matter, is so shallow. Darby Crash was a jerkwad whose music wasn't special or unique. None of the music played in the movie really stood out of any other punk song. The Germs might have been able to get big if they didn't get banned from every venue they played in, as they and their fans were prone to destruction, vandalism and violence.
And they were so young. There's no wisdom to benefit from knowing them, other than drugs kill. Gee, really? So it was interesting to see Reaper's Rick Gonzalez as a punk rocker, and it was nice to see that West can be a decent actor, but it doesn't do anything to shed light on the punk movement, thus rendering the story fairly pointless.
Written & directed by Rodger Grossmann.
I got into listening to late-1970's punk for a bit in the late 1980's. Sex Pistols, X, Black Flag... I don't remember the Germs. Nevertheless, we get a biopic of Germs lead singer Darby Crash, who died from a drug overdose at age 22 in 1980. It's not a very long story to tell if it starts in high school and his band rises and falls so quickly.
Darby is played by Shane West, previously known to me as Tom Sawyer in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and one of the prime suspects on why that movie was so bad. He also played the punk doctor Ray on ER, and his first season was the year I finally stopped watching ER. So here he is. And he wasn't half bad.
The movie's problem is that it, like its subject matter, is so shallow. Darby Crash was a jerkwad whose music wasn't special or unique. None of the music played in the movie really stood out of any other punk song. The Germs might have been able to get big if they didn't get banned from every venue they played in, as they and their fans were prone to destruction, vandalism and violence.
And they were so young. There's no wisdom to benefit from knowing them, other than drugs kill. Gee, really? So it was interesting to see Reaper's Rick Gonzalez as a punk rocker, and it was nice to see that West can be a decent actor, but it doesn't do anything to shed light on the punk movement, thus rendering the story fairly pointless.
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Day The Earth Stood Still - Movie Review
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (**) - Starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith, John Cleese, Jon Hamm, Kyle Chandler and Robert Knepper.
Directed by Scott Derrickson.
This sci-fi remake updates the 1951 original for today's times, which means its message couldn't have been any less subtle if the robot Gort was played by Al Gore. It keeps the Cold War paranoia vibe, which made me wonder if in the filmmaker's heads, Dick Cheney was somehow president.
I'd like to think our society wouldn't be as arrogant and shoot-first as it's portrayed here, but to be faithful, Klaatu has to get shot when he gets off his ship, and the plot needs to unfold from there.
An alien ship lands in Central Park. When a being steps off, he's greeted by a handful of scientists and a hundred machine-gun-toting soldiers. One of the itchy-fingered soldiers accidentally fires, and Klaatu needs surgery, stat! He's a being of light but he morphs fairly quickly into Keanu Reeves. I think it's a great idea to have Keanu play an alien. I think he'd be a good terminator too. Any of those roles where he seems disjointed and doesn't talk much, he can do. Look how well he broods in Much Ado About Nothing.
Jennifer Connelly, who really needs to find a non-downer role, is a microbiologist named Helen who must fight to save mankind when the Secretary of Defense (Kathy Bates) decides that the aliens must be dealt with like al-Qaeda. Klaatu, Helen, and Helen's annoying stepson (Jaden Smith, who was better in The Pursuit of Happyness) go on the run, away from the government but to get back to Klaatu's ship. As they run, Helen tries to convince Klaatu to call off the planned annihilation of the human race.
I was looking most forward to seeing Jon Hamm and John Cleese in this movie, but Hamm's role is so underwritten it could have been played by anyone, and Cleese only has one scene. His scene made me lean forward in my chair and look forward to his character's integration into the movie, as a thoughtful professor who tries to reason with Klaatu why the humans deserve another chance, but then he's gone.
I wasn't expecting much going in, so I didn't think it was that bad. The logic of the destructive force in the final act wavers (the outrunning-an-explosion type of logic-wavering), and while we mercifully don't get a final speech spelling out today's lesson, it still ends on a cold and empty note. So, all technology is bad? Klaatu, can't we compromise?
Directed by Scott Derrickson.
This sci-fi remake updates the 1951 original for today's times, which means its message couldn't have been any less subtle if the robot Gort was played by Al Gore. It keeps the Cold War paranoia vibe, which made me wonder if in the filmmaker's heads, Dick Cheney was somehow president.
I'd like to think our society wouldn't be as arrogant and shoot-first as it's portrayed here, but to be faithful, Klaatu has to get shot when he gets off his ship, and the plot needs to unfold from there.
An alien ship lands in Central Park. When a being steps off, he's greeted by a handful of scientists and a hundred machine-gun-toting soldiers. One of the itchy-fingered soldiers accidentally fires, and Klaatu needs surgery, stat! He's a being of light but he morphs fairly quickly into Keanu Reeves. I think it's a great idea to have Keanu play an alien. I think he'd be a good terminator too. Any of those roles where he seems disjointed and doesn't talk much, he can do. Look how well he broods in Much Ado About Nothing.
Jennifer Connelly, who really needs to find a non-downer role, is a microbiologist named Helen who must fight to save mankind when the Secretary of Defense (Kathy Bates) decides that the aliens must be dealt with like al-Qaeda. Klaatu, Helen, and Helen's annoying stepson (Jaden Smith, who was better in The Pursuit of Happyness) go on the run, away from the government but to get back to Klaatu's ship. As they run, Helen tries to convince Klaatu to call off the planned annihilation of the human race.
I was looking most forward to seeing Jon Hamm and John Cleese in this movie, but Hamm's role is so underwritten it could have been played by anyone, and Cleese only has one scene. His scene made me lean forward in my chair and look forward to his character's integration into the movie, as a thoughtful professor who tries to reason with Klaatu why the humans deserve another chance, but then he's gone.
I wasn't expecting much going in, so I didn't think it was that bad. The logic of the destructive force in the final act wavers (the outrunning-an-explosion type of logic-wavering), and while we mercifully don't get a final speech spelling out today's lesson, it still ends on a cold and empty note. So, all technology is bad? Klaatu, can't we compromise?
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Golden Globes Nominees Film Acting...
Movies
BEST ACTRESS DRAMA
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Meryl Streep, Doubt
kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
BEST ACTRESS COMEDY
Rebecca Hall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand, Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson, Last Chance Harvey
BEST ACTOR DRAMA
Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road
Frank Langhella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
BEST ACTOR COMEDY
Javier Bardem, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell, In Bruges
James Franco, Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman, Last Chance Harvey
BEST ACTRESS DRAMA
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Meryl Streep, Doubt
kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
BEST ACTRESS COMEDY
Rebecca Hall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand, Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson, Last Chance Harvey
BEST ACTOR DRAMA
Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road
Frank Langhella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
BEST ACTOR COMEDY
Javier Bardem, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell, In Bruges
James Franco, Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman, Last Chance Harvey
Golden Globe Best Picture Nominees
BEST PICTURE DRAMA
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST PICTURE COMEDY
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST PICTURE COMEDY
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Blockbuster vs. Netflix
I've been going back and forth between Blockbuster and Netflix recently. I suspended both of them for a month after switching to DirecTv and getting tons o' movie channels for a few months. I'm back on Blockbuster, but they can be frustrating.
Netflix gives you 3-at-a-time DVD's for $16.99 a month. Blockbuster does the same at $15.99. The advantage of Netflix is they're faster about sending the DVD's to your home. The advantage of Blockbuster is that they have some titles that are exclusive to them the first couple months, titles like Miss Potter and Superhero Movie.
Blockbuster has a policy to limit Monday mailings. They told me the post office requested this; Netflix has no such policy so I wonder about that. Both of them used to be good about same-day turnaround with DVDs shipped. Netflix is still good at that, but Blockbuster only seems to be good about that on certain days. For instance, when I reinstated my Blockbuster account on December 1st, they only mailed out one title. Even though I'm paying for three-at-a-time, they didn't mail the other two titles until the 3rd. I emailed a complaint but got the usual explanation:
"To avoid shipping delay, may I suggest that you maintain 15 or more 'Available' titles at the top of your queue at all times."
Now when I talked to a live person a couple months ago I was told that when they receive a DVD in the morning, the system checks your top three titles and if one of them is Available, it will send it out that day. I've had too many examples of that not being the case. The lady also told me that on Day 2, it checks further down the list, I want to say 8.
So I mailed two DVDs on Friday. They received them Monday. I had 15 'Available' titles at the top of my queues, even though some of the titles I really wanted next were designed as Short Wait, Long Wait and Very Long Wait. Monday they sent me a title from around position 30 of the 40 in my queue. Huh? Weird. Well, at least they mailed something. Tuesday came to a close without the other DVD being sent. I called a live person. She told me that even though the title may say 'Available' it may not be Available at the distribution center near me. Really. Man on Wire was #1 on my list, and yesterday was its first day being Available. How could my center not have it in stock? She apologized and sent me an e-coupon for a free in-store rental, which I appreciate and will use. The next title sent came from somewhere around 26 of the 40 in my queue. Okay, why did it skip the 25 titles above it?
I'm paying $19.99 for the 5 in-store exchanges a month. I think it's worth it for the month, even though Blockbuster can only be counted on mailing out DVD's Wednesday through Friday. I can always check out Insideredbox.com on Mondays and see what the free rental code and get something from there.
Netflix gives you 3-at-a-time DVD's for $16.99 a month. Blockbuster does the same at $15.99. The advantage of Netflix is they're faster about sending the DVD's to your home. The advantage of Blockbuster is that they have some titles that are exclusive to them the first couple months, titles like Miss Potter and Superhero Movie.
Blockbuster has a policy to limit Monday mailings. They told me the post office requested this; Netflix has no such policy so I wonder about that. Both of them used to be good about same-day turnaround with DVDs shipped. Netflix is still good at that, but Blockbuster only seems to be good about that on certain days. For instance, when I reinstated my Blockbuster account on December 1st, they only mailed out one title. Even though I'm paying for three-at-a-time, they didn't mail the other two titles until the 3rd. I emailed a complaint but got the usual explanation:
"To avoid shipping delay, may I suggest that you maintain 15 or more 'Available' titles at the top of your queue at all times."
Now when I talked to a live person a couple months ago I was told that when they receive a DVD in the morning, the system checks your top three titles and if one of them is Available, it will send it out that day. I've had too many examples of that not being the case. The lady also told me that on Day 2, it checks further down the list, I want to say 8.
So I mailed two DVDs on Friday. They received them Monday. I had 15 'Available' titles at the top of my queues, even though some of the titles I really wanted next were designed as Short Wait, Long Wait and Very Long Wait. Monday they sent me a title from around position 30 of the 40 in my queue. Huh? Weird. Well, at least they mailed something. Tuesday came to a close without the other DVD being sent. I called a live person. She told me that even though the title may say 'Available' it may not be Available at the distribution center near me. Really. Man on Wire was #1 on my list, and yesterday was its first day being Available. How could my center not have it in stock? She apologized and sent me an e-coupon for a free in-store rental, which I appreciate and will use. The next title sent came from somewhere around 26 of the 40 in my queue. Okay, why did it skip the 25 titles above it?
I'm paying $19.99 for the 5 in-store exchanges a month. I think it's worth it for the month, even though Blockbuster can only be counted on mailing out DVD's Wednesday through Friday. I can always check out Insideredbox.com on Mondays and see what the free rental code and get something from there.
Wanted - DVD Review
WANTED (***) - Starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann and Common.
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov.
This wild ride of a movie is based on a comic book series, and if you didn't already know that the first few minutes into the movie, you'd know it based on how stylized the whole thing is. The movie isn't trying to be realistic, but it is trying to be fun, putting Fight Club, Matrix and Harry Potter in a blender and hitting Frappe.
James McAvoy, a long way from Mr. Tumnus, is our hero Welsey Gibson, such a loser than his name in Google gets no hits. Although my theory is that the Fraternity was rigging his computer to do that, because Welsey Gibson actually yields 142,000 hits (the first few related to the 'Wanted' character, but if the movie addressed that, it would be eating its own tail.)
He finds out his long-lost father died yesterday, and he was one of the best assassins in the world. He finds this out from a beautiful woman named Fox (wink!) who instantly gets into a gun fight with the man who killed his father. She then brings him to the Fraternity, a secret organization of assassins run by a mellifluous man named Sloan, played by the almighty Morgan Freeman.
Bullets fly in this movie like they have a mind of their own, like they could hover in mid-air and then change direction in a Looney Tunes cartoon. Blood splatters nicely against white walls, and the action scenes get the blood pumping.
This movie dared bill McAvoy first even though Jolie and Freeman are the big names, but this is where McAvoy really comes into his own, for my taste, as a movie star. Yes, he was very good in Atonement, and he was very different in Narnia, but I can remember him better from this. It's fun to watch him go from pathetic office drone to top-notch rootin'-tootin' shooter.
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov.
This wild ride of a movie is based on a comic book series, and if you didn't already know that the first few minutes into the movie, you'd know it based on how stylized the whole thing is. The movie isn't trying to be realistic, but it is trying to be fun, putting Fight Club, Matrix and Harry Potter in a blender and hitting Frappe.
James McAvoy, a long way from Mr. Tumnus, is our hero Welsey Gibson, such a loser than his name in Google gets no hits. Although my theory is that the Fraternity was rigging his computer to do that, because Welsey Gibson actually yields 142,000 hits (the first few related to the 'Wanted' character, but if the movie addressed that, it would be eating its own tail.)
He finds out his long-lost father died yesterday, and he was one of the best assassins in the world. He finds this out from a beautiful woman named Fox (wink!) who instantly gets into a gun fight with the man who killed his father. She then brings him to the Fraternity, a secret organization of assassins run by a mellifluous man named Sloan, played by the almighty Morgan Freeman.
Bullets fly in this movie like they have a mind of their own, like they could hover in mid-air and then change direction in a Looney Tunes cartoon. Blood splatters nicely against white walls, and the action scenes get the blood pumping.
This movie dared bill McAvoy first even though Jolie and Freeman are the big names, but this is where McAvoy really comes into his own, for my taste, as a movie star. Yes, he was very good in Atonement, and he was very different in Narnia, but I can remember him better from this. It's fun to watch him go from pathetic office drone to top-notch rootin'-tootin' shooter.
Monday, December 8, 2008
I snoozed, I losed
I voted for the new Mountain Dew flavor. I saw the winner was the Wild Berry flavor (Revolution?), and that my local store had it in 12-pack form. The next week I went in to buy it and it was already gone. Not sold out. The store decided they didn't move enough its first month to justify keeping it in stock. That came and went faster than Black Cherry Mountain Dew.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - DVD Review
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (**) - Starring the voices of Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Anthony Daniels, Ian Abercrombie and Tom Kane.
Directed by Dave Filoni.
This was originally intended as the first three episodes of the Cartoon Network TV show, but George Lucas loved it so much, it went to the big screen.
The cartoon is fine, but I can't imagine paying theater prices to see it. I do not consider this the seventh Star Wars movie. It has more in common with the two Ewok TV-movies than either trilogy.
It takes place between Episodes II & III, and before the rest of the episodes airing on Cartoon Network, so the only new thing we know we're going to get is the introduction of Anakin's new padawan, and Dooku's new apprentice. We also get to meet more of the Hutt family family. There's Jabba's baby son Stinky, and his gay uncle Zero. (And I don't mean subtle T.R. Knight gay; we're talking Liberace gay. Anyone dying for a drag-queeny Hutt with Truman Capote's voice? Your prayers are answered!)
The movie makes Lucas's world less and less magical. "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." used to inspire dreams. Now it inspires toy lines and video-game spin-offs. And it's weird how it keeps building up this band-of-brothers feel about the clone troops that you know are just going to turn around and slaughter the Jedi.
Directed by Dave Filoni.
This was originally intended as the first three episodes of the Cartoon Network TV show, but George Lucas loved it so much, it went to the big screen.
The cartoon is fine, but I can't imagine paying theater prices to see it. I do not consider this the seventh Star Wars movie. It has more in common with the two Ewok TV-movies than either trilogy.
It takes place between Episodes II & III, and before the rest of the episodes airing on Cartoon Network, so the only new thing we know we're going to get is the introduction of Anakin's new padawan, and Dooku's new apprentice. We also get to meet more of the Hutt family family. There's Jabba's baby son Stinky, and his gay uncle Zero. (And I don't mean subtle T.R. Knight gay; we're talking Liberace gay. Anyone dying for a drag-queeny Hutt with Truman Capote's voice? Your prayers are answered!)
The movie makes Lucas's world less and less magical. "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." used to inspire dreams. Now it inspires toy lines and video-game spin-offs. And it's weird how it keeps building up this band-of-brothers feel about the clone troops that you know are just going to turn around and slaughter the Jedi.
Friday, December 5, 2008
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - DVD Review
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN (**1/2) - Starring Georgie Hendley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Ben Barnes, Peter Dinklage, Sergio Castellitto, Warwick Davis, Pierfrancisco Favina, Tilda Swinton, and the voices of Eddie Izzard, Ian McShane and Liam Neeson.
Directed by Andrew Adamson.
I reread the seven Narnia books right before the first movie came out, and I can't say I remember how all the stories went but Prince Caspian was one of the weakest. The book is about 200 pages long in small paperback format, and it sends the four Pevensie kids back to Narnia, where it takes them about 30 pages of exploring to figure out centuries have passed there. Then they meet a dwarf who tells them about Prince Caspian, and we get 70 pages or so strictly on him. So we're halfway through the book at that point. Then they figure out how to meet up with the prince, they prepare for a battle with the Telmarines (the human race that has since banned the magical creatures of Narnia), the actual battle is about 10 pages, and then we get denouement.
The movie's first half handles this the best possible way, cutting back and forth between the two stories. The second half is about 30 minutes longer than it needed to be due to the fetishizing of big fantastical battle scenes somewhere between Braveheart and Lord of the Rings. If I'm swept up in the battle, great, but I couldn't help but think a kids movie should have a little more magic and a little less killing.
On its own merits, the attention to detail is scrumptious. The sets, the creatures, the scope, all of that works. Acting-wise, I didn't find Ben Barnes that compelling a protagonist. He's a prince denied his throne by a scheming uncle. Got it. He's Hamlet. Or Simba. Maybe it's because his long, thick hair was always perfect that I felt Caspian was more about posing than motivation.
I found it shrewd of the director to cast all the Telmarines with French or Italian actors. They have a vague Eurotrash sense about them without being overtly against any particular ethnicity. Sergio Castellitto is the main villain Miraz, but when we get Tilda Swinton back in a cameo as the White Witch, we get a taste of what a real movie villain should feel like. The White Witch is Malificent meets Cruella De Vil. Miraz is a poor man's Jean Reno.
I liked a lot of it. I thought the first 75 minutes or so were perfectly paced, but at that point I realized we still had an hour to go in what took the book about 40 pages to tell. I am encouraged that the next chapter in Narnia's tale will have a different director.
Directed by Andrew Adamson.
I reread the seven Narnia books right before the first movie came out, and I can't say I remember how all the stories went but Prince Caspian was one of the weakest. The book is about 200 pages long in small paperback format, and it sends the four Pevensie kids back to Narnia, where it takes them about 30 pages of exploring to figure out centuries have passed there. Then they meet a dwarf who tells them about Prince Caspian, and we get 70 pages or so strictly on him. So we're halfway through the book at that point. Then they figure out how to meet up with the prince, they prepare for a battle with the Telmarines (the human race that has since banned the magical creatures of Narnia), the actual battle is about 10 pages, and then we get denouement.
The movie's first half handles this the best possible way, cutting back and forth between the two stories. The second half is about 30 minutes longer than it needed to be due to the fetishizing of big fantastical battle scenes somewhere between Braveheart and Lord of the Rings. If I'm swept up in the battle, great, but I couldn't help but think a kids movie should have a little more magic and a little less killing.
On its own merits, the attention to detail is scrumptious. The sets, the creatures, the scope, all of that works. Acting-wise, I didn't find Ben Barnes that compelling a protagonist. He's a prince denied his throne by a scheming uncle. Got it. He's Hamlet. Or Simba. Maybe it's because his long, thick hair was always perfect that I felt Caspian was more about posing than motivation.
I found it shrewd of the director to cast all the Telmarines with French or Italian actors. They have a vague Eurotrash sense about them without being overtly against any particular ethnicity. Sergio Castellitto is the main villain Miraz, but when we get Tilda Swinton back in a cameo as the White Witch, we get a taste of what a real movie villain should feel like. The White Witch is Malificent meets Cruella De Vil. Miraz is a poor man's Jean Reno.
I liked a lot of it. I thought the first 75 minutes or so were perfectly paced, but at that point I realized we still had an hour to go in what took the book about 40 pages to tell. I am encouraged that the next chapter in Narnia's tale will have a different director.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Happening - DVD Review
THE HAPPENING (*1/2) - Starring Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Betty Buckley, Spencer Breslin, Ashlyn Sanchez, Frank Collison and Alan Ruck.
Directed M. Night Shyamalan.
Oh, M. Night Shyamalan. I can't think of a single other filmmaker out there who has had such a steady decline. You can list his movies in order from when he made them and see each one is not as good as the one before it. The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, Lady in the Water, and now The Happening. At least The Last Airbender, his next, is in no way a thriller and doesn't have a twist ending.
What's the scary thing here? Not ghosts, not aliens, not monsters in the woods. The movie doesn't reveal what the danger is here until 45 minutes in, so until then we get some nuttily self-aware dialogue like "Why are you only telling me little pieces of information at a time?" The second half is a band of survivors on the run, and while talented filmmakers could make the most mundane things scary, I simply felt no suspense when Mark Wahlberg tries to outrun the wind. Aagh, the wind! Run!
Some of Night's tricks really fail when Betty Buckley enters the scene as a weirdo isolationist. Someone suddenly there, speaking in strange cadence... making me rest comfortably in the back of my seat rather than putting me on the edge. Night's failing his actors. He did great with Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson, and even Paul Giamatti in a lost cause, but Wahlberg seems lost. I almost wanted him to break into self-parody. ("Hey, tree, how's it going? Say hi to your mother for me.")
So yeah, being on Last Airbender, and hopefully another movie or two he doesn't write himself.
Directed M. Night Shyamalan.
Oh, M. Night Shyamalan. I can't think of a single other filmmaker out there who has had such a steady decline. You can list his movies in order from when he made them and see each one is not as good as the one before it. The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, Lady in the Water, and now The Happening. At least The Last Airbender, his next, is in no way a thriller and doesn't have a twist ending.
What's the scary thing here? Not ghosts, not aliens, not monsters in the woods. The movie doesn't reveal what the danger is here until 45 minutes in, so until then we get some nuttily self-aware dialogue like "Why are you only telling me little pieces of information at a time?" The second half is a band of survivors on the run, and while talented filmmakers could make the most mundane things scary, I simply felt no suspense when Mark Wahlberg tries to outrun the wind. Aagh, the wind! Run!
Some of Night's tricks really fail when Betty Buckley enters the scene as a weirdo isolationist. Someone suddenly there, speaking in strange cadence... making me rest comfortably in the back of my seat rather than putting me on the edge. Night's failing his actors. He did great with Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson, and even Paul Giamatti in a lost cause, but Wahlberg seems lost. I almost wanted him to break into self-parody. ("Hey, tree, how's it going? Say hi to your mother for me.")
So yeah, being on Last Airbender, and hopefully another movie or two he doesn't write himself.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Twilight - Movie Review
My wife and I went to the Carmike-12 theater near us, as I have four passes I need to use before the end of the year. I was shocked our chosen title was not there, so we raced to the nearby, just-opened Cinemark-14, which had our chosen title on three screens. This was around 6:00, so I got tickets for the 7:30, and then we went out to eat.
It's not reserved so I wanted to make sure we were back by 7:10 to be in line for when seating started. Now this is when I learned that of the 14 screens, 7 of them only seat 112. That ain't big. Had I known that, I might have gone for a different showtime, to see it in one of the 207 or 293 seaters. So they'd already let people into our theater, and we wound up on the third row. Fifth row center is my favorite, but it was fine.
Previews:
FIRED UP - This formula comedy could have easily been made in 1984 starring Andrew McCarthy and Rob Morrow. Two buddies decide to got o cheerleading school to be amongst all the hot chicks. The two guys are Nicolas D'Agastino and Eric Christian Olsen. Not sure who D'Agastino is but Olsen played young Harry in Dumb & Dumberer. I think they're supposed to be college-age but Olsen looks like he's 30. Sexual hijinks ensue. Looks awful. Opens March 20.
BRIDE WARS - Best friends Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway have dreamed of their perfect wedding since they were little girls, at the Plaza. Then due to a scheduling mishap by Candice Bergen, they get booked on the same day. Each tries to sabotage the other's wedding so they can be the one who has it at the Plaza. Both actresses are doing the formula paycheck thing so they can keep doing their indie projects I'm sure. One scene has Hathaway in full bridal gear bursting on Hudson walking down the aisel with her father, and Hathaway tackles her. No thanks. Opens January 9.
CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC - Isla Fisher, who stole the show in Wedding Crashers, gets the starring role as a shopaholic who must now figure out how to be thrifty once all her cards are maxed out and she finds herself in mountains of debt. In these tought economic times, I don;t really feel like seeing a spoiled rich girl charm her way into getting all her debt paid off. Opens February 13.
DANCE FLICK - This parody movie from the Wayans actually made me laugh out loud a couple times. It's a send-up of Save the Last Dance, Step Up, How She Move, and their matriarch Flashdance, and unlike those Epic Movie yahoos, the Wayans have a plot in mind and clever twists on what they're satirizing. I look forward to renting it. Opens February 6.
PUSH - Heroes: The Movie. Chris Evans can move objects with his mind. Dakota Fanning can see the future. Djimon Hounsou is the big baddie who wants to exploit their abilities. It looks like junky, guilty-pleasure fun, with the potential to be terrible. Opens February 6.
VALKYRIE - Finally we get a genuinely promising movie. I've seen the preview a few times, and I'm already sold on seeing Tom Cruise, Ken Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, et al, plotting to kill Hitler for director Bryan Singer. This is Branagh's third time playing a Nazi that I can think of, but the first time he's one of the good ones. Opens December 26.
And then we got to our feature presentation.
TWILIGHT (***) - Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elisabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Taylor Lautner, Cam Gigandot and Sarah Chalke.
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke.
My advanced knowledge: I read the first 140 pages of the book, so I had an idea how the first act would go.
Twilight is The Notebook of 2008, a shamelessly schmaltzy romance that is nevertheless entertaining on its own merits. It success hinges on its leads, and I wouldn't say Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward) equal Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, but each inhabits their character with just the right amount of quirk and conviction.
17-year-old Bella has moved to Forks, Washington, the most overcast town in the continental US. Her dad is Chief o' Police of this little town, and she has moved here to free up her mother to travel with her new husband. It's a rare movie that shows the teen daughter genuinely getting along with her divorced parents and her new stepdad. Bella suffers new-girl-in-school syndrome, but she makes friends easy enough, except for one exception, the pale Edward Cullen, who acts like he despises her.
After a few days, Edward reintroduces himself, and they start to get along, but when Edward miraculously saves her from getting hit by a van, Bella's mind starts to swim. Who is this guy really?
Those expecting the sex and/or violence associated with recent vampire flicks will be disappointed. Most deaths appear off-screen or cut away right before the killer vampires strike, some of it due to budget and some to keep it in PG-13 bounds so as not to alienate its core audience. It's mainly a relationship melodrama, with two people getting to know each other, where one of them happens to be a vampire.
I look forward to seeing what the bigger-budgeted sequel will do, mostly because my wife enjoyed it so much. Guys, bring a date. Don't be the guy who sees Twilight by himself.
It's not reserved so I wanted to make sure we were back by 7:10 to be in line for when seating started. Now this is when I learned that of the 14 screens, 7 of them only seat 112. That ain't big. Had I known that, I might have gone for a different showtime, to see it in one of the 207 or 293 seaters. So they'd already let people into our theater, and we wound up on the third row. Fifth row center is my favorite, but it was fine.
Previews:
FIRED UP - This formula comedy could have easily been made in 1984 starring Andrew McCarthy and Rob Morrow. Two buddies decide to got o cheerleading school to be amongst all the hot chicks. The two guys are Nicolas D'Agastino and Eric Christian Olsen. Not sure who D'Agastino is but Olsen played young Harry in Dumb & Dumberer. I think they're supposed to be college-age but Olsen looks like he's 30. Sexual hijinks ensue. Looks awful. Opens March 20.
BRIDE WARS - Best friends Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway have dreamed of their perfect wedding since they were little girls, at the Plaza. Then due to a scheduling mishap by Candice Bergen, they get booked on the same day. Each tries to sabotage the other's wedding so they can be the one who has it at the Plaza. Both actresses are doing the formula paycheck thing so they can keep doing their indie projects I'm sure. One scene has Hathaway in full bridal gear bursting on Hudson walking down the aisel with her father, and Hathaway tackles her. No thanks. Opens January 9.
CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC - Isla Fisher, who stole the show in Wedding Crashers, gets the starring role as a shopaholic who must now figure out how to be thrifty once all her cards are maxed out and she finds herself in mountains of debt. In these tought economic times, I don;t really feel like seeing a spoiled rich girl charm her way into getting all her debt paid off. Opens February 13.
DANCE FLICK - This parody movie from the Wayans actually made me laugh out loud a couple times. It's a send-up of Save the Last Dance, Step Up, How She Move, and their matriarch Flashdance, and unlike those Epic Movie yahoos, the Wayans have a plot in mind and clever twists on what they're satirizing. I look forward to renting it. Opens February 6.
PUSH - Heroes: The Movie. Chris Evans can move objects with his mind. Dakota Fanning can see the future. Djimon Hounsou is the big baddie who wants to exploit their abilities. It looks like junky, guilty-pleasure fun, with the potential to be terrible. Opens February 6.
VALKYRIE - Finally we get a genuinely promising movie. I've seen the preview a few times, and I'm already sold on seeing Tom Cruise, Ken Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, et al, plotting to kill Hitler for director Bryan Singer. This is Branagh's third time playing a Nazi that I can think of, but the first time he's one of the good ones. Opens December 26.
And then we got to our feature presentation.
TWILIGHT (***) - Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elisabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Taylor Lautner, Cam Gigandot and Sarah Chalke.
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke.
My advanced knowledge: I read the first 140 pages of the book, so I had an idea how the first act would go.
Twilight is The Notebook of 2008, a shamelessly schmaltzy romance that is nevertheless entertaining on its own merits. It success hinges on its leads, and I wouldn't say Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward) equal Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, but each inhabits their character with just the right amount of quirk and conviction.
17-year-old Bella has moved to Forks, Washington, the most overcast town in the continental US. Her dad is Chief o' Police of this little town, and she has moved here to free up her mother to travel with her new husband. It's a rare movie that shows the teen daughter genuinely getting along with her divorced parents and her new stepdad. Bella suffers new-girl-in-school syndrome, but she makes friends easy enough, except for one exception, the pale Edward Cullen, who acts like he despises her.
After a few days, Edward reintroduces himself, and they start to get along, but when Edward miraculously saves her from getting hit by a van, Bella's mind starts to swim. Who is this guy really?
Those expecting the sex and/or violence associated with recent vampire flicks will be disappointed. Most deaths appear off-screen or cut away right before the killer vampires strike, some of it due to budget and some to keep it in PG-13 bounds so as not to alienate its core audience. It's mainly a relationship melodrama, with two people getting to know each other, where one of them happens to be a vampire.
I look forward to seeing what the bigger-budgeted sequel will do, mostly because my wife enjoyed it so much. Guys, bring a date. Don't be the guy who sees Twilight by himself.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Hellboy II - DVD Review
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY (**1/2) - Starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Luke Goss, John Hurt, Anna Walton, James Dodd and Seth MacFarlane.
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.
Some changes are in place for this sequel, free of the shackles of origin-establishing. Gone is John Myers, the through-his-eyes character from the first one that might have been in the sequel if he'd been played by an actor more famous than Rupert Evans. Gone is David Hyde Pierce's voice for Abe Sapien, for now bodymaster Doug Jones can do it himself. Added to the mix are more goblins and creatures that would have been equally at home in Pan's Labyrinth.
Hellboy's still got working-man troubles, but his agency is under more pressure to keep their existance secret, as YouTube is really making cover-ups difficult. Meanwhile the Prince of the underground creatures has decided that enough hiding, it's time to conquer the surface and the ungrateful humans who walk the Earth.
The movie turns into a colorful explosion of CGI, like a better-produced Spy Kids after a while. The gooey fluidity of it all made me lose interest. If the movie's effects are making me think of Spy Kids movies, that's not a good thing.
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.
Some changes are in place for this sequel, free of the shackles of origin-establishing. Gone is John Myers, the through-his-eyes character from the first one that might have been in the sequel if he'd been played by an actor more famous than Rupert Evans. Gone is David Hyde Pierce's voice for Abe Sapien, for now bodymaster Doug Jones can do it himself. Added to the mix are more goblins and creatures that would have been equally at home in Pan's Labyrinth.
Hellboy's still got working-man troubles, but his agency is under more pressure to keep their existance secret, as YouTube is really making cover-ups difficult. Meanwhile the Prince of the underground creatures has decided that enough hiding, it's time to conquer the surface and the ungrateful humans who walk the Earth.
The movie turns into a colorful explosion of CGI, like a better-produced Spy Kids after a while. The gooey fluidity of it all made me lose interest. If the movie's effects are making me think of Spy Kids movies, that's not a good thing.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed - DVD Review
EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED (**1/2) - Starring Ben Stein.
Directed by Nathan Frankowski.
If you've ever wondered what a right-wing Michael Moore movie would look like, this is a fairly decent example. Moore loves to play fast and loose with facts, inserting snippets of movie scenes or propaganda pieces to invoke an emotional reaction, and so do Stein & Frankowski. Moore likes to be coy and pretend to be a rube, and so does Stein. So why should I take Stein's arguments any more seriously than I do Moore's?
The movie starts out as an examination of how the science community is shunning and firing professors who are open-minded about intelligent design. It slowly builds its case that Darwinists are closed-minded atheist fascists, often showing the Berlin Wall as its metaphor. Darwinists are Soviets guarding East Germany from the evil capitalists of West Germany.
I think an argument could be made for Darwinism and intelligent design overlapping somewhere, but this movie isn't interested in making that argument. It pokes holes in Darwinism without really explaining how intelligent design works. Like Moore's, this movie preaches to its choir, and my skepticism on what Stein was really trying to do came early, when he said mainstream scientists were adamantly opposed to even broaching the subject, and then he has a series of one-liner dismissives. But one of them was Christopher Hitchens, a noted columnist and best-selling author of "God Is Not Great" (an argument for atheism), but I would not call Hitchens an establishment scientist.
So Stein's point ultimately boils down to Darwinists are atheists with their own agenda of killing God, and he's not above comparing how Hitler used elements of Darwinism to support his own Master-Race propaganda. In fact, the Jewish Stein tours a concentration camp site, pondering the Holocaust, and then interviews the author of "From Darwin to Hitler" to talk about eugenics. Yeah, not subtle. It also leads to Darwinist theories justifying abortion, euthenasia, etc. By the time Stein visits Darwin's home, the soundtrack suggests it might as well be Auschwitz.
It was gigantically unfair for Moore to try to blame Charlton Heston for the Columbine shootings in his movie, and even Moore fans pointed that out. I'd say it's equally unfair of Stein to blame Darwin for the Holocaust. And then he loops it back to the scientists, those close-minded liberal fascists who trample anyone who whispers "I.D." Academic Freedom in America is Dead! Da da dummmmm.
But then the real killers comes in, the final interview with atheist Darwinian scientist Richard Dawkins. It's an amiable chat, and if more of the movie had been this, it would have been a better movie. It also reminded me of one of Moore's strengths: his interviews. They're gotcha interviews, but it's always interesting to see who will allow themselves to get caught how. Stein gets a gotcha on Dawkins, where Dawkins admits intelligent design would certainly explain some things (as long as it's not God!)
I tend to like Moore's movies in spite of themselves, and I liked a lot about this movie. But it is what it is, a seriously stacked deck, which seems to be what more and more documentaries are becoming in order to make money.
Directed by Nathan Frankowski.
If you've ever wondered what a right-wing Michael Moore movie would look like, this is a fairly decent example. Moore loves to play fast and loose with facts, inserting snippets of movie scenes or propaganda pieces to invoke an emotional reaction, and so do Stein & Frankowski. Moore likes to be coy and pretend to be a rube, and so does Stein. So why should I take Stein's arguments any more seriously than I do Moore's?
The movie starts out as an examination of how the science community is shunning and firing professors who are open-minded about intelligent design. It slowly builds its case that Darwinists are closed-minded atheist fascists, often showing the Berlin Wall as its metaphor. Darwinists are Soviets guarding East Germany from the evil capitalists of West Germany.
I think an argument could be made for Darwinism and intelligent design overlapping somewhere, but this movie isn't interested in making that argument. It pokes holes in Darwinism without really explaining how intelligent design works. Like Moore's, this movie preaches to its choir, and my skepticism on what Stein was really trying to do came early, when he said mainstream scientists were adamantly opposed to even broaching the subject, and then he has a series of one-liner dismissives. But one of them was Christopher Hitchens, a noted columnist and best-selling author of "God Is Not Great" (an argument for atheism), but I would not call Hitchens an establishment scientist.
So Stein's point ultimately boils down to Darwinists are atheists with their own agenda of killing God, and he's not above comparing how Hitler used elements of Darwinism to support his own Master-Race propaganda. In fact, the Jewish Stein tours a concentration camp site, pondering the Holocaust, and then interviews the author of "From Darwin to Hitler" to talk about eugenics. Yeah, not subtle. It also leads to Darwinist theories justifying abortion, euthenasia, etc. By the time Stein visits Darwin's home, the soundtrack suggests it might as well be Auschwitz.
It was gigantically unfair for Moore to try to blame Charlton Heston for the Columbine shootings in his movie, and even Moore fans pointed that out. I'd say it's equally unfair of Stein to blame Darwin for the Holocaust. And then he loops it back to the scientists, those close-minded liberal fascists who trample anyone who whispers "I.D." Academic Freedom in America is Dead! Da da dummmmm.
But then the real killers comes in, the final interview with atheist Darwinian scientist Richard Dawkins. It's an amiable chat, and if more of the movie had been this, it would have been a better movie. It also reminded me of one of Moore's strengths: his interviews. They're gotcha interviews, but it's always interesting to see who will allow themselves to get caught how. Stein gets a gotcha on Dawkins, where Dawkins admits intelligent design would certainly explain some things (as long as it's not God!)
I tend to like Moore's movies in spite of themselves, and I liked a lot about this movie. But it is what it is, a seriously stacked deck, which seems to be what more and more documentaries are becoming in order to make money.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Quantum of Solace - Movie Review
QUANTUM OF SOLACE (**1/2) - Starring Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, and Giancarlo Giannini.
Directed by Marc Forster.
I'm a big Bond fan. In 1999, for lead-up to The World Is Not Enough, my friend and I watched every Bond movie in order within a month's time. They had to be the Broccoli Bonds, which meant we skipped Woody Allen's Casino Royale and Sean Connery's Never Say Never Again, which was basically a remake of Thunderball. My wife has hated Bond ever since, but it was a great pop-culture overloading experience. (I eventually saw the wacky Casino Royale version. Never saw the black-and-white Jimmy Bond made for American TV in the 1950's.)
Now of Pierce Brosnan's four movies, I consider GoldenEye the best and The World Is Not Enough the worst, although Die Another Day was the movie that had the shark-jumping moment of Bond riding the wave with obvious help from CGI. Bond stunts should always be primarily done by stuntmen so we can believe people could do this. Once CGI-Bond surfed, Brosnan's time as Bond was over.
Which means Quantum of Solace will likely be to Craig what Tomorrow Never Dies is to Brosnan, what Thunderball is to Connery, what The Man with the Golden Gun is to Moore. Not the best of his Bonds, but not his worst, and an easily forgettable chapter in the library. Craig's only had two, and Casino Royale was better, and if QoS winds up being Craig's worst Bond movie, good for him.
This Bond is still bitter over the betrayal and death of his one true love Vespa, and in seeking revenge, he stumbles across an international conspiracy by a multi-fingered power-ring called QUANTUM, which is the 21st century's SPECTRE. We don't know who the head is but I do hope in a couple more movies we learn it's a cat-stroking bald guy named Blofeld. But I digress.
Marc Forster seems like a good, quirky choice to direct a Bond film, and you'd think he'd bring to Bond what Paul Greengrass brings to the Jason Bourne series. Good direction on the acting parts, and quick-choppy editing on the action parts. But for my taste, the action scenes were too choppy and too quickly-edited. Many times I couldn't tell what was going on, to the point that I wished the movie had one or two less action sequences than it did.
The Bond-girl here is a generic model/actress type named Olga Kurylenko. I'd put her on the same memorable level as Carole Bouquet. Who? Exactly. (For Your Eyes Only.) Mathieu Amalric, brilliant in The Diving Bell & the Butterfly, plays the villainous Dominic Greene, who's the corporate backer of a military coup in Bolivia. I thought he did well. I can see why Amalric asked if he could have a scar or something, but his eyes are memorable enough.
As for Bond, my hope for the third movie is he gets his sense of fun back. Craig's Bond is an angry cold-blooded killer, and that's cool and all, but I'd like to see Q show up, see Bond crack a smile here and there. Bourne can be Bourne; now let Bond be Bond.
Directed by Marc Forster.
I'm a big Bond fan. In 1999, for lead-up to The World Is Not Enough, my friend and I watched every Bond movie in order within a month's time. They had to be the Broccoli Bonds, which meant we skipped Woody Allen's Casino Royale and Sean Connery's Never Say Never Again, which was basically a remake of Thunderball. My wife has hated Bond ever since, but it was a great pop-culture overloading experience. (I eventually saw the wacky Casino Royale version. Never saw the black-and-white Jimmy Bond made for American TV in the 1950's.)
Now of Pierce Brosnan's four movies, I consider GoldenEye the best and The World Is Not Enough the worst, although Die Another Day was the movie that had the shark-jumping moment of Bond riding the wave with obvious help from CGI. Bond stunts should always be primarily done by stuntmen so we can believe people could do this. Once CGI-Bond surfed, Brosnan's time as Bond was over.
Which means Quantum of Solace will likely be to Craig what Tomorrow Never Dies is to Brosnan, what Thunderball is to Connery, what The Man with the Golden Gun is to Moore. Not the best of his Bonds, but not his worst, and an easily forgettable chapter in the library. Craig's only had two, and Casino Royale was better, and if QoS winds up being Craig's worst Bond movie, good for him.
This Bond is still bitter over the betrayal and death of his one true love Vespa, and in seeking revenge, he stumbles across an international conspiracy by a multi-fingered power-ring called QUANTUM, which is the 21st century's SPECTRE. We don't know who the head is but I do hope in a couple more movies we learn it's a cat-stroking bald guy named Blofeld. But I digress.
Marc Forster seems like a good, quirky choice to direct a Bond film, and you'd think he'd bring to Bond what Paul Greengrass brings to the Jason Bourne series. Good direction on the acting parts, and quick-choppy editing on the action parts. But for my taste, the action scenes were too choppy and too quickly-edited. Many times I couldn't tell what was going on, to the point that I wished the movie had one or two less action sequences than it did.
The Bond-girl here is a generic model/actress type named Olga Kurylenko. I'd put her on the same memorable level as Carole Bouquet. Who? Exactly. (For Your Eyes Only.) Mathieu Amalric, brilliant in The Diving Bell & the Butterfly, plays the villainous Dominic Greene, who's the corporate backer of a military coup in Bolivia. I thought he did well. I can see why Amalric asked if he could have a scar or something, but his eyes are memorable enough.
As for Bond, my hope for the third movie is he gets his sense of fun back. Craig's Bond is an angry cold-blooded killer, and that's cool and all, but I'd like to see Q show up, see Bond crack a smile here and there. Bourne can be Bourne; now let Bond be Bond.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
War, Inc. - DVD Review
WAR, INC. (**) - Starring John Cusack, Hilary Duff, Marisa Tomei, Joan Cusack, Dan Aykroyd and Ben Kingsley.
Directed by Joshua Seftel.
This satire isn't as clever or timely as it thinks it is. Maybe three years ago it would have felt more so, but its targets are obvious, and the dark humor doesn't translate to laughs very often.
John Cusack works for a company called Tamerline (which seems to be what Halliburton and Blackwater would be if they merged). They're a private company that the US contracts out to conduct their wars for them, and they're run by a former US president, played by Dan Aykroyd, who uses facial tics somewhere between Dick Cheney and Jonathan Winters. Tamerline has conquered the Middle East country of Turaqistan, and Cusack is the assassin/manager running the place.
There's some Dr. Strangelove aims of madness here, but it reminded me more Southland Tales, another ambitiously messy movie. Some ideas work better as ideas than actually acted out, and some are just bad ideas.
Directed by Joshua Seftel.
This satire isn't as clever or timely as it thinks it is. Maybe three years ago it would have felt more so, but its targets are obvious, and the dark humor doesn't translate to laughs very often.
John Cusack works for a company called Tamerline (which seems to be what Halliburton and Blackwater would be if they merged). They're a private company that the US contracts out to conduct their wars for them, and they're run by a former US president, played by Dan Aykroyd, who uses facial tics somewhere between Dick Cheney and Jonathan Winters. Tamerline has conquered the Middle East country of Turaqistan, and Cusack is the assassin/manager running the place.
There's some Dr. Strangelove aims of madness here, but it reminded me more Southland Tales, another ambitiously messy movie. Some ideas work better as ideas than actually acted out, and some are just bad ideas.
Kung Fu Panda - DVD Review
KUNG FU PANDA (***) - Starring Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross and Randall Duk Kim.
DreamWorks's bright and zippy CG-animated tale may have looked slight compared to Wall-E, but I'll take Po the Panda over Shrek any day.
Jack Black is the front-and-center vocal star of this amiable send-up of kung fu movies. Somehow Po stumbles into the middle of a prophecy, and master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) must train this inept, doughy thing into a martial-arts master so he can fulfill said prophecy.
The message - "Believe in yourself" - is simplistic, but I enjoyed Po's unflappable optimism, even as Shifu and all his students are trying to get Po to quit. There's plenty of laughs from the physical humor, in grand Looney Tunes tradition. The budget exceeded $100 million, so the animation is lush and vivid, much better than the quick cheapies like Happily N'Ever After.
DreamWorks's bright and zippy CG-animated tale may have looked slight compared to Wall-E, but I'll take Po the Panda over Shrek any day.
Jack Black is the front-and-center vocal star of this amiable send-up of kung fu movies. Somehow Po stumbles into the middle of a prophecy, and master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) must train this inept, doughy thing into a martial-arts master so he can fulfill said prophecy.
The message - "Believe in yourself" - is simplistic, but I enjoyed Po's unflappable optimism, even as Shifu and all his students are trying to get Po to quit. There's plenty of laughs from the physical humor, in grand Looney Tunes tradition. The budget exceeded $100 million, so the animation is lush and vivid, much better than the quick cheapies like Happily N'Ever After.
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