This is a trend that has been bugging me for a few years now. The first time it annoyed me was with 1998's Antz, a DreamWorks animation pic that decided to include one ant calling another ant an "a--hole." Then there was 2000's Titan A.E., where you had a butt shot of the main character. Don't get me started on the Shrek series.
I bring this up because of two things I heard about. 1.) Monsters vs. Aliens. My wife was offended because there's a scene in the preview where a guy has to get his butt scanned to be admitted into a secret government room. That scan would presumably include his privates. Isn't that sexual harrassment? What if it was a woman who had to have her naked butt scanned to get into a government room?
Then there's Coraline, which I was looking forward to taking my older kids to, but we were warned there's a scene of a grandma who has breasts bigger than her head, and she does a dance with just pasties on. Why oh why did the filmmakers find it necessary to include this?
Pixar finds a way to make great family movies that includes humor adults can appreciate without resorting to the potty humor these other studios keep inserting into their work. It's like sneaking in a fly or two into the stew. Why put a fly in there at all?
Monday, February 9, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Vicky Cristina Barcelona - DVD Review
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (***) - Starring Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, Patricia Clarkson, Craig Messina and Kevin Dunn.
Directed by Woody Allen.
Woody Allen is so much easier to take when he's not in the movie. It's probably been a good decade since I liked a movie that he's in, but when he gets out of the way for other actors, like in Match Point or this one, he can still write good stories. And when his neurotic dialogue is spoken in a Spanish accent, it feels new and alive.
Penelope Cruz is getting the hype for Best Supporting Actress for this movie, and she is really good. It helps that a third of her dialogue is in her native tongue, and the soft tones of the cinematography around Barcelona give it the look and feel of a Pedro Almodovar movie.
The movie centers on two friends, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Christina (Scarlett Johnasson). They're Americans vacationing in Spain, and they get propositioned by a Don Juan local (Javier Bardem) to come to his place for the weekend and maybe enjoy a menage a trois. Vicky's appalled, but Christina's intrigued by his frankness. At different point in the movie, both women wonder if they're in love with him, but things get further complicated by the return of his unstable ex-wife (Cruz).
Javier Bardem is a great stand-in for Woody, it turns out. Others have tried to varying success. I liked John Cusack in Bullets Over Broadway, and Kenneth Branagh in Celebrity (which was otherwise a terrible movie). Will Ferrell in Melinda & Melinda, not so much. Bardem has many of the Woody Character flaws, but his natural charisma makes it easier to swallow that women would overlook those and his not-so-classic looks.
As for Cruz, I'd be okay if she won, but I'm still pulling for Taraji P. Henson from Benjamin Button.
Directed by Woody Allen.
Woody Allen is so much easier to take when he's not in the movie. It's probably been a good decade since I liked a movie that he's in, but when he gets out of the way for other actors, like in Match Point or this one, he can still write good stories. And when his neurotic dialogue is spoken in a Spanish accent, it feels new and alive.
Penelope Cruz is getting the hype for Best Supporting Actress for this movie, and she is really good. It helps that a third of her dialogue is in her native tongue, and the soft tones of the cinematography around Barcelona give it the look and feel of a Pedro Almodovar movie.
The movie centers on two friends, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Christina (Scarlett Johnasson). They're Americans vacationing in Spain, and they get propositioned by a Don Juan local (Javier Bardem) to come to his place for the weekend and maybe enjoy a menage a trois. Vicky's appalled, but Christina's intrigued by his frankness. At different point in the movie, both women wonder if they're in love with him, but things get further complicated by the return of his unstable ex-wife (Cruz).
Javier Bardem is a great stand-in for Woody, it turns out. Others have tried to varying success. I liked John Cusack in Bullets Over Broadway, and Kenneth Branagh in Celebrity (which was otherwise a terrible movie). Will Ferrell in Melinda & Melinda, not so much. Bardem has many of the Woody Character flaws, but his natural charisma makes it easier to swallow that women would overlook those and his not-so-classic looks.
As for Cruz, I'd be okay if she won, but I'm still pulling for Taraji P. Henson from Benjamin Button.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Lakeview Terrace - DVD Review
LAKEVIEW TERRACE (**1/2) - Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington, Ron Glass, Jay Hernandez, Justin Chambers, Regine Nehy, Jaishon Fisher and Robert Pine.
Written by David Loughery & Howard Korder.
Directed by Neil LaBute.
This was a three-star movie until the last ten minutes. Then it becomes less and less Changing Lanes and more and more Unlawful Entry. Despite this, there's still an effective slow-burn performance from Samuel L. Jackson who's just a little bit off, and a slightly unstable Sam Jackson is scarier than a maniacal one.
Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are the new neighbors in town, and Jackson's a strict widower who's old school when it comes to attitudes on interracial marriage. He's also a cop, and he's not stereotypical the way many Hollywood movies tend to be with bad cops. It's believable he's popular among his peers. He seems good at his job with one or two issues. He's a guy who just doesn't want this new couple living next to him, and the more he subtlely tries to get them to leave, the more angry he becomes when they don't.
It's not so much about race after a while as it is about machismo, two men who don't want to look weak by conceding. Then it all falls apart in a simplistic, over-the-top ending that has been done in so many other movies. That's what makes Changing Lanes so enduring, when it just came down to the two men confronting each other and diffusing things before they went beyond the point of no return. This ending, filmwise, is too easy.
Written by David Loughery & Howard Korder.
Directed by Neil LaBute.
This was a three-star movie until the last ten minutes. Then it becomes less and less Changing Lanes and more and more Unlawful Entry. Despite this, there's still an effective slow-burn performance from Samuel L. Jackson who's just a little bit off, and a slightly unstable Sam Jackson is scarier than a maniacal one.
Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are the new neighbors in town, and Jackson's a strict widower who's old school when it comes to attitudes on interracial marriage. He's also a cop, and he's not stereotypical the way many Hollywood movies tend to be with bad cops. It's believable he's popular among his peers. He seems good at his job with one or two issues. He's a guy who just doesn't want this new couple living next to him, and the more he subtlely tries to get them to leave, the more angry he becomes when they don't.
It's not so much about race after a while as it is about machismo, two men who don't want to look weak by conceding. Then it all falls apart in a simplistic, over-the-top ending that has been done in so many other movies. That's what makes Changing Lanes so enduring, when it just came down to the two men confronting each other and diffusing things before they went beyond the point of no return. This ending, filmwise, is too easy.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Gran Torino - Movie Review
GRAN TORINO (****) - Starring Clint Eastwood, Ahney Her and Bee Vang.
Directed by Clint Eastwood.
Man, I love Clint. He's been all about deconstruction lately. Here he deconstructs the tough guy. He may be playing a man named Walter Kowalski, but this could be what Dirty Harry would be like at 78, assuming he just became more racist as he got older.
This movie is more about the human drama than the trailer may show. Yes, the danger of gang violence lingers on the edge, and eventually there must be a showdown, but it's more about an old man stuck in his ways finally letting his grinchy heart grow as he gets to know the "gooks" next door.
You could say it's like About Schmidt in many ways. Schmidt was a mid-level man his whole life, and now retired and suddenly widowed, he doesn't know what to do with himself. Walter is in a similar boat. He's tough and grizzled, and after his wife dies no one knows how to relate to him. You can tell his never-seen wife was his buffer to people and sociability and all that crap. It's funny to watch Clint squint and grunt an old-man grunt whenever someone steps on his lawn.
What do you know. Another movie more worthy of a Best Picture nod than The Reader or Frost/Nixon.
Directed by Clint Eastwood.
Man, I love Clint. He's been all about deconstruction lately. Here he deconstructs the tough guy. He may be playing a man named Walter Kowalski, but this could be what Dirty Harry would be like at 78, assuming he just became more racist as he got older.
This movie is more about the human drama than the trailer may show. Yes, the danger of gang violence lingers on the edge, and eventually there must be a showdown, but it's more about an old man stuck in his ways finally letting his grinchy heart grow as he gets to know the "gooks" next door.
You could say it's like About Schmidt in many ways. Schmidt was a mid-level man his whole life, and now retired and suddenly widowed, he doesn't know what to do with himself. Walter is in a similar boat. He's tough and grizzled, and after his wife dies no one knows how to relate to him. You can tell his never-seen wife was his buffer to people and sociability and all that crap. It's funny to watch Clint squint and grunt an old-man grunt whenever someone steps on his lawn.
What do you know. Another movie more worthy of a Best Picture nod than The Reader or Frost/Nixon.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Current Summer 2009 Release Dates
Here's how the summer's shaping up.
MAY
The big month. Last year you had the hits Iron Man and Indiana Jones 4, surprise-hit Sex & the City, underperforming Prince Caspian, flat-out bomb Speed Racer, and decent successes of What Happens in Vegas and The Strangers.
This month looks even bigger.
May 1 sees the opening of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, a prequel that will see Logan deal with Gambit and Deadpool and battle with Sabretooth, who is now a foot shorter in the body of Liev Schreiber. It also has GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST, a counter-programming romantic comedy starring himbo Matthew McConaughey.
May 8 is when JJ Abrams STAR TREK launches, and I know it will not suffer Speed Racer's fate. Right now, I expect it to beat Wolverine box-office wise. Nia Vardalos will parlay her Big Fat Greek Wedding karma into MY LIFE IN RUINS; Emma Roberts continues her slew of kid movies with WILD CHILD, and Mos Def and Mike Epps team up for NEXT DAY AIR.
May 15 is when the Da Vinci Code sequel ANGELS & DEMONS opens. (I know the book is a prequel but they made adjustments). Tom Hanks and Ron Howard re-unite, and A&D is a slightly better story than Da Vinci, so this has a chance to be okay. Also, Sacha Baron Cohen's BRUNO was scheduled to open here, but I think I read recently it was going tob e moved back to July.
May 22 is the site of the first blockbuster showdown. In this corner is Christian Bale in TERMINATOR: SALVATION, which hopes to be the first of a trilogy. In this corner is Ben Stiller returning for NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2, with Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart.
May 29 has the next Pixar movie UP. I predict a handful of reviews whining that Wall-E was better. Also, Sam Raimi's horror flick DRAG ME TO HELL opens here, taking advantage of The Strangers' old opening spot.
JUNE
Last year this month featured two CG-animated movies that passed $200 million each, three more movies that crossed $130 million (The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, Get Smart), an okay Sandler outing with You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and Razzie nominees The Happening and The Love Guru.
This summer has some questions marks.
June 5 will have LAND OF THE LOST, with the classic Krofft series getting the Will Ferrell treatment. So far it looks like it's being marketed as Jurassic Park: The Comedy.
June 12 has THE PROPOSAL, where Sandra Bullock bribes her employee (Ryan Reynolds) into getting engaged to her so she won't get deported. John Travolta's the bad guy that Denzel Washington is trying to stop in the remake of THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3. Eddie Murphy goes for family comedy again with IMAGINE THAT, and there's the potential comedy sleeper THE HANGOVER with Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms.
June 19 has the prehistoric comedy THE YEAR ONE, starring Jack Black and Michael Cera, who aspire to be at least funnier than Ringo Starr and Dennis Quaid in Caveman. There's also the PG-13 horror flick THE HAUNTING OF CONNECTICUT starring Virginia Madsen.
June 26 answers the question "Where are the sequels?" with TRANSFORMERS 2. Also, the cloning drama MY SISTER'S KEEPER opens, with Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin.
JULY
Last year this month had The Dark Knight. Opening the same day, Mamma Mia! found a way to get its own $143 million. That month also featured Hancock ($227.9), Journey to the Center of the Earth ($100.8), Step brothers ($100.4) and Hellboy II ($75.8) , which did a little better than its predecessor. It also saw the bombs Meet Dave, Space Chimps, and The X-Files 2.
July 1 will have a showdown between family-friendly ICE AGE 3, and Michael Mann's period gangster movie PUBLIC ENEMIES with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. (Bale's poised to have another good summer.)
July 10 so far only has the romantic comedy I LOVE YOU BETH COOPER, starring Heroes' Hayden Panetierre. it wouldn't surprise me if something else moves here soon. Maybe this is where Bruno's going.
July 17 will launch HARRY POTTER & THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE in The Dark Knight's old spot Looking at this month, this has the potential to be one of the highest-grossing Potter flicks yet. Order of the Phoenix did pretty good and it was the weakest book in the series.
July 24 has a lot of question marks. There's G-FORCE, which is different than the Gatchaman movie also coming soon. This is an animated film about commando guinea pigs. Katherine Heigl returns to rom-com territory for THE UGLY TRUTH, as she takes the slovenly advice of Gerard Butler on how to win a guy. There's also the rom-com 500 DAYS OF SUMMER with the more indie-oriented cast of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. There's also ALL GOOD THINGS with Ryan Gosling, and ORPHAN with Peter Sarsgaard but those could wind up being limited releases.
July 31's big movie is Judd Apatow's FUNNY PEOPLE, with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen as stand-up comics, but this movie plans to be as dramatic as it is comedic. There's also the High School Musical alum showdown with the thriller THEY CAME FROM UPSTAIRS with Ashley Tisdale, and the competitive BANDSLAM with Vanessa Hudgens.
AUGUST
The first half of this month is still summer; the second half is when the dross is released. Last year two movies from this month passed $100 million (Tropic Thunder, The Mummy 3), and Pineapple Express did pretty good too. This is also the month that saw Swing Vote, Mirrors, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Death Race, The Rocker, The Longshots, Babylon A.D., Disaster Movie, College, etc. That's what you get when August has five Fridays.
August 7 will feature the big-screen G.I. JOE movie, which did not get good buzz when its trailer debuted. This one's smelled for months. It also has JULIE & JULIA, a comedy with Amy Adams working her way through Julia Child's cookbook, with Meryl Streep as the ghost o' Ms. Child. This is the chick flick I can see being a hit. Hm, not a lot of chick flicks coming this summer; is the lesson of Sex & the City and Mamma Mia! so quickly forgotten? There's also the ensemble comedy SHORTS, reuniting Pretty in Pink co-stars Jon Cryer and James Spader.
August 14 has DANCE FLICK, a dance-movie parody from the Wayans family. POST GRAD, which I think is a coming-of-age comedy with Alexis Bledel and Carol Burnett. Then there's DISTRICT 9, which sounds like a horror flick.
August 21 will see Quentin Tarantino's 2-1/2 hour WWII comedy INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS starring Brad Pitt. It'll be interesting to see what Pitt does in QT Land. There's also FINAL DESTINATION: DEATH TRIP, the fourth and hopefully last in the series. Still on the schedule is THE GOODS: THE DON READY STORY starring Jeremy Piven as a character that what-do-you-bet has a lot in common with Ari Gold. GIVE 'EM HELL MALONE was penciled in here at one point, a revenge flick with Thomas Jane, but I think it's been since yanked.
August 28 welcomes H2, sequel to Rob Zombie's Halloween. I guess Zombie needs the money. There's also a movie here called MAX'S MARDI GRAS, which hopes to do better here than College did last year.
That's the current slate for summer. Some may move out, and new ones may move in (maybe the roller-derby comedy Whip It! with Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore).
MAY
The big month. Last year you had the hits Iron Man and Indiana Jones 4, surprise-hit Sex & the City, underperforming Prince Caspian, flat-out bomb Speed Racer, and decent successes of What Happens in Vegas and The Strangers.
This month looks even bigger.
May 1 sees the opening of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, a prequel that will see Logan deal with Gambit and Deadpool and battle with Sabretooth, who is now a foot shorter in the body of Liev Schreiber. It also has GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST, a counter-programming romantic comedy starring himbo Matthew McConaughey.
May 8 is when JJ Abrams STAR TREK launches, and I know it will not suffer Speed Racer's fate. Right now, I expect it to beat Wolverine box-office wise. Nia Vardalos will parlay her Big Fat Greek Wedding karma into MY LIFE IN RUINS; Emma Roberts continues her slew of kid movies with WILD CHILD, and Mos Def and Mike Epps team up for NEXT DAY AIR.
May 15 is when the Da Vinci Code sequel ANGELS & DEMONS opens. (I know the book is a prequel but they made adjustments). Tom Hanks and Ron Howard re-unite, and A&D is a slightly better story than Da Vinci, so this has a chance to be okay. Also, Sacha Baron Cohen's BRUNO was scheduled to open here, but I think I read recently it was going tob e moved back to July.
May 22 is the site of the first blockbuster showdown. In this corner is Christian Bale in TERMINATOR: SALVATION, which hopes to be the first of a trilogy. In this corner is Ben Stiller returning for NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2, with Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart.
May 29 has the next Pixar movie UP. I predict a handful of reviews whining that Wall-E was better. Also, Sam Raimi's horror flick DRAG ME TO HELL opens here, taking advantage of The Strangers' old opening spot.
JUNE
Last year this month featured two CG-animated movies that passed $200 million each, three more movies that crossed $130 million (The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, Get Smart), an okay Sandler outing with You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and Razzie nominees The Happening and The Love Guru.
This summer has some questions marks.
June 5 will have LAND OF THE LOST, with the classic Krofft series getting the Will Ferrell treatment. So far it looks like it's being marketed as Jurassic Park: The Comedy.
June 12 has THE PROPOSAL, where Sandra Bullock bribes her employee (Ryan Reynolds) into getting engaged to her so she won't get deported. John Travolta's the bad guy that Denzel Washington is trying to stop in the remake of THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3. Eddie Murphy goes for family comedy again with IMAGINE THAT, and there's the potential comedy sleeper THE HANGOVER with Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms.
June 19 has the prehistoric comedy THE YEAR ONE, starring Jack Black and Michael Cera, who aspire to be at least funnier than Ringo Starr and Dennis Quaid in Caveman. There's also the PG-13 horror flick THE HAUNTING OF CONNECTICUT starring Virginia Madsen.
June 26 answers the question "Where are the sequels?" with TRANSFORMERS 2. Also, the cloning drama MY SISTER'S KEEPER opens, with Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin.
JULY
Last year this month had The Dark Knight. Opening the same day, Mamma Mia! found a way to get its own $143 million. That month also featured Hancock ($227.9), Journey to the Center of the Earth ($100.8), Step brothers ($100.4) and Hellboy II ($75.8) , which did a little better than its predecessor. It also saw the bombs Meet Dave, Space Chimps, and The X-Files 2.
July 1 will have a showdown between family-friendly ICE AGE 3, and Michael Mann's period gangster movie PUBLIC ENEMIES with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. (Bale's poised to have another good summer.)
July 10 so far only has the romantic comedy I LOVE YOU BETH COOPER, starring Heroes' Hayden Panetierre. it wouldn't surprise me if something else moves here soon. Maybe this is where Bruno's going.
July 17 will launch HARRY POTTER & THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE in The Dark Knight's old spot Looking at this month, this has the potential to be one of the highest-grossing Potter flicks yet. Order of the Phoenix did pretty good and it was the weakest book in the series.
July 24 has a lot of question marks. There's G-FORCE, which is different than the Gatchaman movie also coming soon. This is an animated film about commando guinea pigs. Katherine Heigl returns to rom-com territory for THE UGLY TRUTH, as she takes the slovenly advice of Gerard Butler on how to win a guy. There's also the rom-com 500 DAYS OF SUMMER with the more indie-oriented cast of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. There's also ALL GOOD THINGS with Ryan Gosling, and ORPHAN with Peter Sarsgaard but those could wind up being limited releases.
July 31's big movie is Judd Apatow's FUNNY PEOPLE, with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen as stand-up comics, but this movie plans to be as dramatic as it is comedic. There's also the High School Musical alum showdown with the thriller THEY CAME FROM UPSTAIRS with Ashley Tisdale, and the competitive BANDSLAM with Vanessa Hudgens.
AUGUST
The first half of this month is still summer; the second half is when the dross is released. Last year two movies from this month passed $100 million (Tropic Thunder, The Mummy 3), and Pineapple Express did pretty good too. This is also the month that saw Swing Vote, Mirrors, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Death Race, The Rocker, The Longshots, Babylon A.D., Disaster Movie, College, etc. That's what you get when August has five Fridays.
August 7 will feature the big-screen G.I. JOE movie, which did not get good buzz when its trailer debuted. This one's smelled for months. It also has JULIE & JULIA, a comedy with Amy Adams working her way through Julia Child's cookbook, with Meryl Streep as the ghost o' Ms. Child. This is the chick flick I can see being a hit. Hm, not a lot of chick flicks coming this summer; is the lesson of Sex & the City and Mamma Mia! so quickly forgotten? There's also the ensemble comedy SHORTS, reuniting Pretty in Pink co-stars Jon Cryer and James Spader.
August 14 has DANCE FLICK, a dance-movie parody from the Wayans family. POST GRAD, which I think is a coming-of-age comedy with Alexis Bledel and Carol Burnett. Then there's DISTRICT 9, which sounds like a horror flick.
August 21 will see Quentin Tarantino's 2-1/2 hour WWII comedy INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS starring Brad Pitt. It'll be interesting to see what Pitt does in QT Land. There's also FINAL DESTINATION: DEATH TRIP, the fourth and hopefully last in the series. Still on the schedule is THE GOODS: THE DON READY STORY starring Jeremy Piven as a character that what-do-you-bet has a lot in common with Ari Gold. GIVE 'EM HELL MALONE was penciled in here at one point, a revenge flick with Thomas Jane, but I think it's been since yanked.
August 28 welcomes H2, sequel to Rob Zombie's Halloween. I guess Zombie needs the money. There's also a movie here called MAX'S MARDI GRAS, which hopes to do better here than College did last year.
That's the current slate for summer. Some may move out, and new ones may move in (maybe the roller-derby comedy Whip It! with Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore).
Monday, January 26, 2009
My Academy Award Predictions
Here's where I see the race now. This isn't necessarily who I want to win, but who I think will actually win.
Best Picture
1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Milk
4. Frost/Nixon
5. The Reader
Best Director
1. Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
2. Gus Van Sant, Milk
3. David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4. Stephen Daldry, The Reader
5. Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Best Actor
1. Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
2. Sean Penn, Milk
3. Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
4. Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
5. Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Actress
1. Kate Winslet, The Reader
2. Meryl Streep, Doubt
3. Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
4. Melissa Leo, Frozen River
5. Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Best Supporting Actor
1. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
2. Josh Brolin, Milk
3. Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
4. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
5. Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
Best Supporting Actress
1. Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
2. Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Viola Davis, Doubt
4. Amy Adams, Doubt
5. Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Best Original Screenplay
1. Milk
2. WALL-E
3. Happy Go Lucky
4. Frozen River
5. In Bruges
Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. Frost/Nixon
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4. Doubt
5. The Reader
I think the closest race is between Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke for Best Actor. There've been a few years where movies will landslide all awards (Titanic, Return of the King, etc.) but I see this as a wealth-spreading year, where Slumdog gets Picture/Director, and then Milk gets screenplay here, The Reader gets Actress there, Ben Button and Dark Knight split the technicals, and so on.
If Ben Button had less than 9 nominations, I'd rank it third in Best Picture odds, but since it has 13 nominations, that might be a signal.
I still haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire but I plan to this week.
Best Picture
1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Milk
4. Frost/Nixon
5. The Reader
Best Director
1. Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
2. Gus Van Sant, Milk
3. David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4. Stephen Daldry, The Reader
5. Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Best Actor
1. Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
2. Sean Penn, Milk
3. Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
4. Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
5. Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Actress
1. Kate Winslet, The Reader
2. Meryl Streep, Doubt
3. Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
4. Melissa Leo, Frozen River
5. Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Best Supporting Actor
1. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
2. Josh Brolin, Milk
3. Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
4. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
5. Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
Best Supporting Actress
1. Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
2. Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Viola Davis, Doubt
4. Amy Adams, Doubt
5. Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Best Original Screenplay
1. Milk
2. WALL-E
3. Happy Go Lucky
4. Frozen River
5. In Bruges
Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. Frost/Nixon
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4. Doubt
5. The Reader
I think the closest race is between Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke for Best Actor. There've been a few years where movies will landslide all awards (Titanic, Return of the King, etc.) but I see this as a wealth-spreading year, where Slumdog gets Picture/Director, and then Milk gets screenplay here, The Reader gets Actress there, Ben Button and Dark Knight split the technicals, and so on.
If Ben Button had less than 9 nominations, I'd rank it third in Best Picture odds, but since it has 13 nominations, that might be a signal.
I still haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire but I plan to this week.
Ghost Town - DVD Review
GHOST TOWN (***) - Starring Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Tea Leoni, Billy Campbell, Aasif Mandvi, Kristen Wiig, Alan Ruck and Dana Ivey.
Directed by David Koepp.
The right star can elevate an average script into a good movie. I could see any number of mid-level comedians starring in this and failing, but Ricky Gervais specializes in playing characters like this, which makes it work. He's a dentist who doesn't really care for people, but after he "dies" in the dentist chair for six minutes, he can see dead people.
It is definitely similar to supernatural comedies you've seen before, but Gervais is such an insecure grump that it's a hoot to watch. Greg Kinnear is the main ghost who convinces Gervais to get his widow to break up with her new boyfriend. Naturally the more Gervais gets to know her, the more he falls for her, and the more he realizes he needs to give up his selfish ways.
This flopped in theaters, likely due to Gervais not being a real A-list star, but it deserves to be discovered on DVD.
Directed by David Koepp.
The right star can elevate an average script into a good movie. I could see any number of mid-level comedians starring in this and failing, but Ricky Gervais specializes in playing characters like this, which makes it work. He's a dentist who doesn't really care for people, but after he "dies" in the dentist chair for six minutes, he can see dead people.
It is definitely similar to supernatural comedies you've seen before, but Gervais is such an insecure grump that it's a hoot to watch. Greg Kinnear is the main ghost who convinces Gervais to get his widow to break up with her new boyfriend. Naturally the more Gervais gets to know her, the more he falls for her, and the more he realizes he needs to give up his selfish ways.
This flopped in theaters, likely due to Gervais not being a real A-list star, but it deserves to be discovered on DVD.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Frost/Nixon - Movie Review
FROST/NIXON (***) - Starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Matthew Macfayden, Rebecca Hall and Toby Jones.
Directed by Ron Howard.
This movie is okay but I found it very underwhelming. I'm trying to separate the hype around it from what it actually is. At the center is two men in an interview, with good acting from both sides, with two actors ill-served by the framing devices thrust upon them. The boxing metaphor for their verbal pugilism is hammered home repeatedly. Ron Howard's device of interviewing supporting players like this is a documentary reeked of narrative laziness. As for history, well, the more I read on it, the more I see how much dramatic license the filmmakers took.
Maybe I'm jaded, but after living through sixteen years of (fairly or unfairly) presidential scandals every other month, what Nixon did doesn't seem like that big a deal. His crime is that he tried covering it up and got caught. I know it's more than that, and I appreciated how this movie illuminated that Watergate was really the second offense. Nixon's main crime seemed to be how he managed Vietnam. The movie's argument, from bitter leftie James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell) is that JFK and LBJ got us into Vietnam but RMN made it worse.
For me the star of the show was Michael Sheen as David Frost. Frost is portrayed as a lightweight talk-show host who dabbles in journalism, a man who puts his personal fortune on the line for the big story. Frank Langella's Nixon was fine, but sometimes he's sympathetic and sometimes he's a boogeyman gargoyle.
There's a key scene late in the movie, when a drunken Nixon calls Frost. That call never happened, but it's the dramatic thrust that makes Frost dig in on his research and hammer at Nixon for the fourth of four interviews.
I did enjoy the war of words, the dance of discussions, between Frost and Nixon. The power of conversation is becoming a lost art in our dumbed-down text-message society, and it was interesting to see how wily Nixon could be. This didn't feel like an adapted stage play, and that's a credit to Peter Morgan, who wrote the play and screenplay.
When it comes to Nixon movies, I prefer Oliver Stone's Nixon. Forget that it's nominated for all these awards. It's a decent movie, but it's far from great and wouldn't make my top 20. I wavered between two-and-a-half stars and three, but had I seen this five months ago before awards season, it would have been three. So...
Directed by Ron Howard.
This movie is okay but I found it very underwhelming. I'm trying to separate the hype around it from what it actually is. At the center is two men in an interview, with good acting from both sides, with two actors ill-served by the framing devices thrust upon them. The boxing metaphor for their verbal pugilism is hammered home repeatedly. Ron Howard's device of interviewing supporting players like this is a documentary reeked of narrative laziness. As for history, well, the more I read on it, the more I see how much dramatic license the filmmakers took.
Maybe I'm jaded, but after living through sixteen years of (fairly or unfairly) presidential scandals every other month, what Nixon did doesn't seem like that big a deal. His crime is that he tried covering it up and got caught. I know it's more than that, and I appreciated how this movie illuminated that Watergate was really the second offense. Nixon's main crime seemed to be how he managed Vietnam. The movie's argument, from bitter leftie James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell) is that JFK and LBJ got us into Vietnam but RMN made it worse.
For me the star of the show was Michael Sheen as David Frost. Frost is portrayed as a lightweight talk-show host who dabbles in journalism, a man who puts his personal fortune on the line for the big story. Frank Langella's Nixon was fine, but sometimes he's sympathetic and sometimes he's a boogeyman gargoyle.
There's a key scene late in the movie, when a drunken Nixon calls Frost. That call never happened, but it's the dramatic thrust that makes Frost dig in on his research and hammer at Nixon for the fourth of four interviews.
I did enjoy the war of words, the dance of discussions, between Frost and Nixon. The power of conversation is becoming a lost art in our dumbed-down text-message society, and it was interesting to see how wily Nixon could be. This didn't feel like an adapted stage play, and that's a credit to Peter Morgan, who wrote the play and screenplay.
When it comes to Nixon movies, I prefer Oliver Stone's Nixon. Forget that it's nominated for all these awards. It's a decent movie, but it's far from great and wouldn't make my top 20. I wavered between two-and-a-half stars and three, but had I seen this five months ago before awards season, it would have been three. So...
Dark Knight snubbed
The Dark Knight was the biggest movie of the year and scored higher on critics' top-ten lists than any other movie this year besides WALL-E, yet no Best Picture or Director nomination. I don't think I've ever been this bugged that a movie missed out on a Best Picture nomination. To say Frost/Nixon or The Reader is a better movie is a joke to me.
Academy Award Nominatons
BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
BEST ACTOR
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Frozen River
Happy Go Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
WALL-E
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Curious Case of Benajmin Button
Doubt
Frost
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
BEST ACTOR
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Frozen River
Happy Go Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
WALL-E
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Curious Case of Benajmin Button
Doubt
Frost
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Igor - DVD Review
IGOR (**1/2) - Starring the voices of John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, Sean Hayes, Eddie Izzard, Jennifer Coolidge, Jay Leno, John Cleese, James Lipton, Arsenio Hall and Christian Slater.
Directed by Tony Leondis.
This movie was just funny enough that it disappointed me it couldn't figure out how to be funnier, if that makes sense.
Plot: In the kingdom of Malaria, dark clouds constantly encompass the sky. The king's idea to save the economy is to have his best evil scientists create inventions of destruction, and then blackmail neighboring countries to pay them to not unleash them. Also in this kingdom, if you're born with a hunchback, you are an igor. Apparently all igors are named Igor, and they train to be helpers of mad scientists. Said help usually amounts to pulling the switch when the mad scientist commands it.
Our Igor, voiced by John Cusack, happens to be smart and dreams of becoming a mad scientist. After his master suffers an accident, Igor does what no one else in Malaria has ever done - he creates life, putting together a Bride-of-Frankenstein creation. Only problem is, she's not evil. She's actually nice.
Pros: Steve Buscemi voices Scamper, a rabbit that Igor made immortal. This rabbit hates his life and wishes he were dead, but he can't die. Scamper has all the funny lines and the best sight gags. The other sidekick is Brain, a not-too-smart brain in a jar, voiced by Sean Hayes, and he gets some smiles in his own right.
Cons: The look borrows heavily - heavily! - from The Nightmare Before Christmas. The king here is a doppleganger for TNBC's mayor. The soundtrack relies way too much on oldies' tunes. The humor is Shrekian, with a couple vulgar gags and a lot of self-aware pop-culture humor. Where is this magical kingdom where their TV reception can pick up Inside the Actors Studio?
So there we are. I enjoyed Scamper and wanted him to have even more lines. The rest of it's fairly forgettable.
Directed by Tony Leondis.
This movie was just funny enough that it disappointed me it couldn't figure out how to be funnier, if that makes sense.
Plot: In the kingdom of Malaria, dark clouds constantly encompass the sky. The king's idea to save the economy is to have his best evil scientists create inventions of destruction, and then blackmail neighboring countries to pay them to not unleash them. Also in this kingdom, if you're born with a hunchback, you are an igor. Apparently all igors are named Igor, and they train to be helpers of mad scientists. Said help usually amounts to pulling the switch when the mad scientist commands it.
Our Igor, voiced by John Cusack, happens to be smart and dreams of becoming a mad scientist. After his master suffers an accident, Igor does what no one else in Malaria has ever done - he creates life, putting together a Bride-of-Frankenstein creation. Only problem is, she's not evil. She's actually nice.
Pros: Steve Buscemi voices Scamper, a rabbit that Igor made immortal. This rabbit hates his life and wishes he were dead, but he can't die. Scamper has all the funny lines and the best sight gags. The other sidekick is Brain, a not-too-smart brain in a jar, voiced by Sean Hayes, and he gets some smiles in his own right.
Cons: The look borrows heavily - heavily! - from The Nightmare Before Christmas. The king here is a doppleganger for TNBC's mayor. The soundtrack relies way too much on oldies' tunes. The humor is Shrekian, with a couple vulgar gags and a lot of self-aware pop-culture humor. Where is this magical kingdom where their TV reception can pick up Inside the Actors Studio?
So there we are. I enjoyed Scamper and wanted him to have even more lines. The rest of it's fairly forgettable.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Swing Vote - DVD Review
SWING VOTE (**) - Starring Kevin Costner, Paula Patton, Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, Nathan Lane, Stanley Tucci, Madeline Carroll, George Lopez, Judge Reinhold, Willie Nelson, Mare Winningham, Chip Esten, Mark Moses and Nana Visitor.
Directed by Joshua Michael Stern.
I watched this hours after Barack Obama gave his inauguration speech. Oh, how dated it has already become.
Kevin Costner plays a moron named Bud, a redneck hayseed unemployed bum who seems borderline mentally disabled. The relationship between him and his daughter was somewhere between Homer & Lisa Simpson and I Am Sam's Sean Penn & Dakota Fanning.
The parts of the movie where I laughed came from the Republican president (Kelsey Grammer) and his campaign manager (Stanley Tucci) and the Democratic challenger (Dennis Hopper) and his campaign manager (Nathan Lane) compromising everything they believe in to win Bud's vote. It turns out that the electoral college is in limbo over New Mexico's vote, and New Mexico came down to a tie, except Bud's vote didn't count. New Mexico law allows Bud to recast his vote in ten days, and so in that time, both parties pull no punches in trying to persuade Bud to vote their way.
Except Bud is such a loser and his daughter is civic-minded enough that while Bud was passed out drunk, his daughter snuck in and cast his vote for him. You'd think this was a Larry the Cable Guy vehicle where the studio said, "Naw, we can do better than that."
Just as the movie was starting to win me over, it ends in a cop-out. Not as jarringly terrible as Rat Race, but a cop-out nonetheless.
Directed by Joshua Michael Stern.
I watched this hours after Barack Obama gave his inauguration speech. Oh, how dated it has already become.
Kevin Costner plays a moron named Bud, a redneck hayseed unemployed bum who seems borderline mentally disabled. The relationship between him and his daughter was somewhere between Homer & Lisa Simpson and I Am Sam's Sean Penn & Dakota Fanning.
The parts of the movie where I laughed came from the Republican president (Kelsey Grammer) and his campaign manager (Stanley Tucci) and the Democratic challenger (Dennis Hopper) and his campaign manager (Nathan Lane) compromising everything they believe in to win Bud's vote. It turns out that the electoral college is in limbo over New Mexico's vote, and New Mexico came down to a tie, except Bud's vote didn't count. New Mexico law allows Bud to recast his vote in ten days, and so in that time, both parties pull no punches in trying to persuade Bud to vote their way.
Except Bud is such a loser and his daughter is civic-minded enough that while Bud was passed out drunk, his daughter snuck in and cast his vote for him. You'd think this was a Larry the Cable Guy vehicle where the studio said, "Naw, we can do better than that."
Just as the movie was starting to win me over, it ends in a cop-out. Not as jarringly terrible as Rat Race, but a cop-out nonetheless.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Death Race - DVD Review
DEATH RACE (**) - Starring Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane, Joan Allen, Jason Clarke, Max Ryan, Jacob Vargas, Natalie Martinez and Robin Shou.
Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson
I can't believe Jason Statham worked with Uwe Boll and Paul W.S. Anderson in the same year. If he signs on for an Aaron Seltzer-Jason Friedberg parody movie, his trifecta of the worst working directors will be complete.
This movie isn't that bad. I actually rented it because it made Stephen King's top-ten list. King ain't the most trustworthy movie critic, but I figured there had to be something to it. I haven't seen the original so I can't comment on that, but what we have here is a fairly generic slightly-futuristic prisoners-fight-to-the-death movie, except they do it in cars. It reminded me more of The Running Man than anything else, and maybe that is why King liked it so much.
Jason Statham is our hero, wrongfully accused of murdering his wife and sentenced to life in prison. This is the future however, (not too far, maybe twenty years), where prisons are run by corporations for profit, and one way this prison makes money is Pay-Per-Viewing of their death races, where prisoners race in tricked-up cars and try to kill each other before they cross the finish line. If you win five times, you get your freedom. No one has ever lived long enough to win five times.
Now the slight-future can create great movies (Blade Runner), great pulp movies (RoboCop) or absolute junk (the Rollerball remake). This is far from great, but I give it a leg above Rollerball. For one thing, the rules make sense, even when they're being broken. The driving sequences are well-choreographed, like watching a Fast & Furious sequel where everyone drives their version of the Batmobile. The set-up is perfunctory, the characters are stock, and I kept wondering what the heck Joan Allen is doing here. Her character is written like a comic-book villain, but Joan performs her like she might be a real person. Never worked for me. Richard Dawson's Killian was better.
I got a kick out of seeing Deadwood's Ian McShane as the wise old mechanic, and Brotherhood's Jason Clarke here as a toadie guard. Paychecks for everyone!
Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson
I can't believe Jason Statham worked with Uwe Boll and Paul W.S. Anderson in the same year. If he signs on for an Aaron Seltzer-Jason Friedberg parody movie, his trifecta of the worst working directors will be complete.
This movie isn't that bad. I actually rented it because it made Stephen King's top-ten list. King ain't the most trustworthy movie critic, but I figured there had to be something to it. I haven't seen the original so I can't comment on that, but what we have here is a fairly generic slightly-futuristic prisoners-fight-to-the-death movie, except they do it in cars. It reminded me more of The Running Man than anything else, and maybe that is why King liked it so much.
Jason Statham is our hero, wrongfully accused of murdering his wife and sentenced to life in prison. This is the future however, (not too far, maybe twenty years), where prisons are run by corporations for profit, and one way this prison makes money is Pay-Per-Viewing of their death races, where prisoners race in tricked-up cars and try to kill each other before they cross the finish line. If you win five times, you get your freedom. No one has ever lived long enough to win five times.
Now the slight-future can create great movies (Blade Runner), great pulp movies (RoboCop) or absolute junk (the Rollerball remake). This is far from great, but I give it a leg above Rollerball. For one thing, the rules make sense, even when they're being broken. The driving sequences are well-choreographed, like watching a Fast & Furious sequel where everyone drives their version of the Batmobile. The set-up is perfunctory, the characters are stock, and I kept wondering what the heck Joan Allen is doing here. Her character is written like a comic-book villain, but Joan performs her like she might be a real person. Never worked for me. Richard Dawson's Killian was better.
I got a kick out of seeing Deadwood's Ian McShane as the wise old mechanic, and Brotherhood's Jason Clarke here as a toadie guard. Paychecks for everyone!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Pro-Wrestling Deaths
PRO-WRESTLING DEATHS - Just a few of note I found online.
Name (age) - cause of death
Brian "Crush" Adams (44) - drug overdose
Adrian Adonis (34) - auto accident
Rodney "Yokozuna" Anoia (34) - heart attack
Mike Awesome (42) - suicide
Chris Benoit (40) - suicide
Nancy "Woman" Benoit (43) - murdered
Bam Bam Bigelow (45) - drug overdose
Dino Bravo (44) - murdered
Haystack Calhoun (55) - diabetes
Big Dick Dudley (34) - kidney failure
Bobby Duncum Jr. (34) - drug overdose
Eddie Gilbert (33) - heart attack
Terry Gordy (40) - heart attack
Eddie Guerrero (38) - heart failure
Owen Hart (33) - accidental fall
Road Warrior Hawk (46) - heart attack
"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig (44) - drug overdose
Hercules Hernandez (45) - heart attack
Miss Elizabeth (42) - drug overdose
Shane Shamrock (23) - shot by police
Mephisto Lephanto (31) - heart attack in ring
Mike "Crash Holly" Lockwood (32) - asphyxiation
"Sensational" Sherri Martel (49) - drug overdose
Ted "Rocco Rock" Petty (49) - heart attack
Brian Pillman (35) - heart disease
Sylvester "Junkyard Dog" Ritter (45) - auto accident
"Andre the Giant" Rousimoff (46) - heart failure
"Ravishing" Rick Rude (41) - heart attack
Big E. Sleaze (22) - suicide
"British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith (39) - heart attack
Louie Spiccoli (27) - drug overdose
Big John Studd (46) - Hodgkins disease
"Earthquake" John Tenta (42) - bladder cancer
Ray "Big Bossman" Traylor (42) - heart attack
Jerry "Malice" Tuite (36) - heart attack
Chris Von Erich (21) - suicide
David Von Erich (25) - enteritis
Kerry Von Erich (32) - suicide
Mike Von Erich (23) - suicide
"Renegade" Rick Williams (23) - suicide
Name (age) - cause of death
Brian "Crush" Adams (44) - drug overdose
Adrian Adonis (34) - auto accident
Rodney "Yokozuna" Anoia (34) - heart attack
Mike Awesome (42) - suicide
Chris Benoit (40) - suicide
Nancy "Woman" Benoit (43) - murdered
Bam Bam Bigelow (45) - drug overdose
Dino Bravo (44) - murdered
Haystack Calhoun (55) - diabetes
Big Dick Dudley (34) - kidney failure
Bobby Duncum Jr. (34) - drug overdose
Eddie Gilbert (33) - heart attack
Terry Gordy (40) - heart attack
Eddie Guerrero (38) - heart failure
Owen Hart (33) - accidental fall
Road Warrior Hawk (46) - heart attack
"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig (44) - drug overdose
Hercules Hernandez (45) - heart attack
Miss Elizabeth (42) - drug overdose
Shane Shamrock (23) - shot by police
Mephisto Lephanto (31) - heart attack in ring
Mike "Crash Holly" Lockwood (32) - asphyxiation
"Sensational" Sherri Martel (49) - drug overdose
Ted "Rocco Rock" Petty (49) - heart attack
Brian Pillman (35) - heart disease
Sylvester "Junkyard Dog" Ritter (45) - auto accident
"Andre the Giant" Rousimoff (46) - heart failure
"Ravishing" Rick Rude (41) - heart attack
Big E. Sleaze (22) - suicide
"British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith (39) - heart attack
Louie Spiccoli (27) - drug overdose
Big John Studd (46) - Hodgkins disease
"Earthquake" John Tenta (42) - bladder cancer
Ray "Big Bossman" Traylor (42) - heart attack
Jerry "Malice" Tuite (36) - heart attack
Chris Von Erich (21) - suicide
David Von Erich (25) - enteritis
Kerry Von Erich (32) - suicide
Mike Von Erich (23) - suicide
"Renegade" Rick Williams (23) - suicide
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Wrestler - Movie Review
THE WRESTLER (***1/2) - Starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis, Judah Friedlander and Ernest Miller.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky.
In 1999, there was this documentary called Beyond the Mat. It gave behind-the-scenes access to pro-wrestling like never before. It followed guys like Mick Foley and The Rock, but there was this detour the movie took when it caught up to Jake"The Snake" Roberts, whose personal demons had consumed him and he was now living out a tragedy.
I thought of Jake "The Snake" over and over as I watched the story unfold of Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Robinson typifies the wrestling-icon of the 1980's whose career fizzled out in the 1990's. Now he's reduced to wrestling local matches in gyms with audiences of a few dozen people. He goes to an autograph signing where only a handful of people show up. He plays 20-year-old video games of himself. He's a man who relies on his body for a living and his body is breaking down, and still he has to scrape by working at the local grocery store just to be able to afford rent on his trailer.
Randy befriends local stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), a 40-ish woman who relies on her body for a living, but her years make her less desirable than her younger co-workers. The two of them suffer the indignities of aging, of being washed up with plenty of decades of them, but no future.
After suffering a heart attack, Randy decides to reconnect with his estranged daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood). It's also probably the weakest element of the movie. Rourke's very good at conveying the pain of a father who's too late in trying to make amends, but every estranged-daughter cliche is there, and nothing ever surprised me with that supbplot.
This is Rourke's movie. I thought his comeback would be ushered along quicker when he stole the show in Sin City, but now he's truly back on the map. There's a maturity he didn't have in his glory days, and while Sean Penn was great in Milk, and Brad Pitt did well in Benjamin Button, this is the performance of 2008.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky.
In 1999, there was this documentary called Beyond the Mat. It gave behind-the-scenes access to pro-wrestling like never before. It followed guys like Mick Foley and The Rock, but there was this detour the movie took when it caught up to Jake"The Snake" Roberts, whose personal demons had consumed him and he was now living out a tragedy.
I thought of Jake "The Snake" over and over as I watched the story unfold of Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Robinson typifies the wrestling-icon of the 1980's whose career fizzled out in the 1990's. Now he's reduced to wrestling local matches in gyms with audiences of a few dozen people. He goes to an autograph signing where only a handful of people show up. He plays 20-year-old video games of himself. He's a man who relies on his body for a living and his body is breaking down, and still he has to scrape by working at the local grocery store just to be able to afford rent on his trailer.
Randy befriends local stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), a 40-ish woman who relies on her body for a living, but her years make her less desirable than her younger co-workers. The two of them suffer the indignities of aging, of being washed up with plenty of decades of them, but no future.
After suffering a heart attack, Randy decides to reconnect with his estranged daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood). It's also probably the weakest element of the movie. Rourke's very good at conveying the pain of a father who's too late in trying to make amends, but every estranged-daughter cliche is there, and nothing ever surprised me with that supbplot.
This is Rourke's movie. I thought his comeback would be ushered along quicker when he stole the show in Sin City, but now he's truly back on the map. There's a maturity he didn't have in his glory days, and while Sean Penn was great in Milk, and Brad Pitt did well in Benjamin Button, this is the performance of 2008.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Babylon A.D. - DVD Review
BABYLON A.D. (*) - Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry, Gerard Depardieu, Charlotte Rampling, Lambert Wilson and Mark Strong.
Directed by Matheiu Kassovitz.
I love futuristic movies. Even if done wrong, they can be atrociously entertaining. This movie creates a future that is a cross between The Children of Men, The Fifth Element, and any random 1970's sci-fi TV-movie starring Jack Palance wearing a tin-foil space suit.
What stinks about this one is it's so dull. Vin Diesel has rarely looked less interested in being there on-screen, and even some of his line reads feel like in his head he's saying, "Do you I really have to say this?"
The plot is murky at best. He's some sort of bounty hunter / bodyguard / smuggler type who gets a job of moving a girl from futureRussia to futureAmerica. There's something special about her, and it might be that she carries within her a biological weapon.
Talented folks have signed on for supporting roles, though their first tip-off to this being a disaster was that Vin Diesel got the lead. The director, Mathieu Kassovitz, publicly disowned the movie the week before it opened, and my guess is the script he signed on for wound up being butchered. As bad as The Chronicles of Riddick was, it was still a better movie than this.
And it has one of the lamest last lines of a movie in years.
Directed by Matheiu Kassovitz.
I love futuristic movies. Even if done wrong, they can be atrociously entertaining. This movie creates a future that is a cross between The Children of Men, The Fifth Element, and any random 1970's sci-fi TV-movie starring Jack Palance wearing a tin-foil space suit.
What stinks about this one is it's so dull. Vin Diesel has rarely looked less interested in being there on-screen, and even some of his line reads feel like in his head he's saying, "Do you I really have to say this?"
The plot is murky at best. He's some sort of bounty hunter / bodyguard / smuggler type who gets a job of moving a girl from futureRussia to futureAmerica. There's something special about her, and it might be that she carries within her a biological weapon.
Talented folks have signed on for supporting roles, though their first tip-off to this being a disaster was that Vin Diesel got the lead. The director, Mathieu Kassovitz, publicly disowned the movie the week before it opened, and my guess is the script he signed on for wound up being butchered. As bad as The Chronicles of Riddick was, it was still a better movie than this.
And it has one of the lamest last lines of a movie in years.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Golden Globe Winners
Movies
BEST DRAMA - Slumdog Millionaire
BEST COMEDY - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
BEST DIRECTOR - Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ACTOR DRAMA - Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
BEST ACTRESS DRAMA - Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
BEST ACTOR COMEDY - Colin Farrell, In Bruges
BEST ACTRESS COMEDY - Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Kate Winslet, The Reader
BEST FOREIGN FILM - Waltz with Bashir
BEST ANIMATED FILM - Wall-E
BEST SCREENPLAY - Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
BEST SONG - "The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen, The Wrestler
Television
BEST DRAMA - Mad Men
BEST COMEDY - 30 Rock
BEST ACTOR DRAMA - Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
BEST ACTRESS DRAMA - Anna Paquin, True Blood
BEST ACTOR COMEDY - Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
BEST ACTRESS COMEDY - Tina Fey, 30 Rock
BEST TV-MOVIE/MINISERIES - John Adams
BEST ACTOR TV-MOVIE/MINISERIES - Paul Giamatti, John Adams
BEST ACTRESS TV-MOVIE/MINISERIES - Laura Linney, John Adams
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Tom Wilkinson, John Adams
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Laura Dern, Recount
CECIL B. DeMILLE AWARD - Steven Spielberg
BEST DRAMA - Slumdog Millionaire
BEST COMEDY - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
BEST DIRECTOR - Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ACTOR DRAMA - Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
BEST ACTRESS DRAMA - Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
BEST ACTOR COMEDY - Colin Farrell, In Bruges
BEST ACTRESS COMEDY - Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Kate Winslet, The Reader
BEST FOREIGN FILM - Waltz with Bashir
BEST ANIMATED FILM - Wall-E
BEST SCREENPLAY - Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
BEST SONG - "The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen, The Wrestler
Television
BEST DRAMA - Mad Men
BEST COMEDY - 30 Rock
BEST ACTOR DRAMA - Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
BEST ACTRESS DRAMA - Anna Paquin, True Blood
BEST ACTOR COMEDY - Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
BEST ACTRESS COMEDY - Tina Fey, 30 Rock
BEST TV-MOVIE/MINISERIES - John Adams
BEST ACTOR TV-MOVIE/MINISERIES - Paul Giamatti, John Adams
BEST ACTRESS TV-MOVIE/MINISERIES - Laura Linney, John Adams
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Tom Wilkinson, John Adams
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Laura Dern, Recount
CECIL B. DeMILLE AWARD - Steven Spielberg
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Movie Review
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (****) - Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond, Jason Flemyng and Jared Harris.
Directed by David Fincher.
This emotional epic, the type of movie that doesn't get made too often in Hollywood because it's too risky, is a triumph of the marriage of technical advancements with old-school Hollywood sentiment. I'm amazed someone greenlit this budget but I'm glad they did.
It's the story of a man who is born old and ages backward throughout his life. This "what if" premise must start us on the journey with a wrinkled old baby, a creature his father can't love, so Mr. Button abandons the child at an old-folks home, where he is found by the sympathetic Queenie (Hustle & Flow's Taraji P. Henson). Turns out this is the perfect place for Benjamin to grow up.
While there he befreidns a little girl named Daisy. As Benjamin goes from an inform to a merely elderly man, Daisy grows up, and their lives intertwine through the decades until they eventually meet in the middle, when their bodies are the same age.
The movie has plenty of time to ponder the choices we make in life, with a running time of 165 minutes. And while it might seem great to go through a difficult youth trapped in that body to be able to grow younger as an adult, eventually Benjamin's trajectory becomes a curse to pursuing a normal life.
Pitt's been a good actor for a long time, and while it might be easy to forget he's a good actor when he cashes paychecks for fare like Troy, he's able to demonstrate his skills here, with the makeup and CG-enhancement helping rather than distracting.
So, yeah, I'll be adjusting my top-ten list.
Directed by David Fincher.
This emotional epic, the type of movie that doesn't get made too often in Hollywood because it's too risky, is a triumph of the marriage of technical advancements with old-school Hollywood sentiment. I'm amazed someone greenlit this budget but I'm glad they did.
It's the story of a man who is born old and ages backward throughout his life. This "what if" premise must start us on the journey with a wrinkled old baby, a creature his father can't love, so Mr. Button abandons the child at an old-folks home, where he is found by the sympathetic Queenie (Hustle & Flow's Taraji P. Henson). Turns out this is the perfect place for Benjamin to grow up.
While there he befreidns a little girl named Daisy. As Benjamin goes from an inform to a merely elderly man, Daisy grows up, and their lives intertwine through the decades until they eventually meet in the middle, when their bodies are the same age.
The movie has plenty of time to ponder the choices we make in life, with a running time of 165 minutes. And while it might seem great to go through a difficult youth trapped in that body to be able to grow younger as an adult, eventually Benjamin's trajectory becomes a curse to pursuing a normal life.
Pitt's been a good actor for a long time, and while it might be easy to forget he's a good actor when he cashes paychecks for fare like Troy, he's able to demonstrate his skills here, with the makeup and CG-enhancement helping rather than distracting.
So, yeah, I'll be adjusting my top-ten list.
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