Superbad (***1/2)
In the same year as the similarly brilliant Knocked Up, comes Superbad, another movie from Judd Apatow's production company. The film isn't directed by Apatow, but it's co-written by Seth Rogan, who starred in Knocked Up, and the movie has the same sort of dialog that's over the top vulgar, yet more accurate to real life than that of most any other movie. The movie is essentially a chronicle of high school seniors being high school seniors on their last big weekend before graduation. They're horny, they want to get trashed, and they don't really care what ridiculous measures they have to go to accomplish either of those two goals.
Michael Cera, who was absolutely brilliant as George Michael in "Arrested Development" is amazing here as Evan for the same reasons. He has excellent comedic timing, and has one of the best "wow, this is awkward" type of expressions around. Jonah Hill (the guy from Knocked Up who used a hospital wheelchair to do a Steven Hawking impression, among other things) is hilarious as well and complements Evan, who is more of the straight man, very well.
Futurama: Bender's Big Score (***)
The first of what is to be four direct-to-DVD Futurama films tells a great story, and has several memorable bits, though at the same time a fair share of bits fall flat. Enough of them work to make it worth a buy, and if you liked the series you'll like this.
Capote (***)
Had this for a while but just watched it recently. May do a write up soon. Lazy right now.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Beowulf
Beowulf (**1/2)
Firstly, I saw this in I-Max 3D and, if you ask me, any novelty in the 3D effect wears off pretty quickly and eventually just gets distracting. As for the movie itself, Beowulf has some elaborate and satisfying fight scenes, but doesn't really have enough supporting these fight scenes to be anything more than a run of the mill action movie. Neil Gaiman co-wrote the script, and at some points his knack for successfully combining myth with history-- which he does so well in his graphic novels like Sandman-- is able to come through, but at other times its unevenly paced and awkward. There isn't much character development, which is in part due to the fact that the movie is based on the centuries old epic poem, but more still needed to be done to make Beowulf a protagonist worth caring about. There is a big jump ahead in time midway through the film after which point Beowulf becomes much more of a two-dimensional character, and this half of the film is much more enjoyable. Almost no effort is made to establish the origins or motives of the villains: the grotesque zombie-like Grendel and his Siren-like mother, played by a very naked Angelina Jolie. Again, this is party due to the fact that this is based on an epic poem which has more room for ambiguity, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating watching characters battle demons whose reasons for being haven't really been established whatsoever. The animation is far superior to the genuinely creepy animation of Robert Zemekis's last animated film, The Polar Express, but some of the character's motions are still a bit stiff looking, and there is definitely some degree of an Uncanny Valley effect still going on.
Firstly, I saw this in I-Max 3D and, if you ask me, any novelty in the 3D effect wears off pretty quickly and eventually just gets distracting. As for the movie itself, Beowulf has some elaborate and satisfying fight scenes, but doesn't really have enough supporting these fight scenes to be anything more than a run of the mill action movie. Neil Gaiman co-wrote the script, and at some points his knack for successfully combining myth with history-- which he does so well in his graphic novels like Sandman-- is able to come through, but at other times its unevenly paced and awkward. There isn't much character development, which is in part due to the fact that the movie is based on the centuries old epic poem, but more still needed to be done to make Beowulf a protagonist worth caring about. There is a big jump ahead in time midway through the film after which point Beowulf becomes much more of a two-dimensional character, and this half of the film is much more enjoyable. Almost no effort is made to establish the origins or motives of the villains: the grotesque zombie-like Grendel and his Siren-like mother, played by a very naked Angelina Jolie. Again, this is party due to the fact that this is based on an epic poem which has more room for ambiguity, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating watching characters battle demons whose reasons for being haven't really been established whatsoever. The animation is far superior to the genuinely creepy animation of Robert Zemekis's last animated film, The Polar Express, but some of the character's motions are still a bit stiff looking, and there is definitely some degree of an Uncanny Valley effect still going on.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Knocked Up & American Gangster
Knocked Up (****)
One of the best comedies in recent years which, like The Forty Year Old Virgin shows Judd Apatow's ability to combine edgy-- but not overly crass-- comedy with a well-written and intelligent story. Seth Rogan is very good as Ben, the well meaning but lazy and uncultured stoner, as is Katherine Heigl, the woman who gets "knocked up," as well as Paul Rudd, as a married guy wishing he was still single. There are brilliant examples of satire involving all of these characters, combined by some hilarious bits from Ben's cast of stoner friends. An excellent comedy.
American Gangster (***1/2)
A very enjoyable crime drama from Ridley Scott, based on the true story of Frank Lucas, a black man who beat the Italian mafia at its own game selling heroin in New York City. Denzel Washington is very good as the unassuming, but methodical and calculating Lucas, and the way his plan to undercut the mob comes to fruition is interesting to watch, but the best half of the movie may be the other half. On the opposite side of things, a cop played by Russel Crowe tries to discover the source of the new heroin while constantly trying to dodge entanglements with others in the police force who are corrupt and don't like people butting in on their jurisdiction. His performance is very good as well. There's an epilogue that's sort of necessary to tie of the story, but doesn't quite fit with the rest of the film, and some other sections throughout that probably could've benefited from better pacing. Still, this is a movie that runs near three hours and remains pretty engrossing throughout. A very good movie that might see a few Oscar nods.
One of the best comedies in recent years which, like The Forty Year Old Virgin shows Judd Apatow's ability to combine edgy-- but not overly crass-- comedy with a well-written and intelligent story. Seth Rogan is very good as Ben, the well meaning but lazy and uncultured stoner, as is Katherine Heigl, the woman who gets "knocked up," as well as Paul Rudd, as a married guy wishing he was still single. There are brilliant examples of satire involving all of these characters, combined by some hilarious bits from Ben's cast of stoner friends. An excellent comedy.
American Gangster (***1/2)
A very enjoyable crime drama from Ridley Scott, based on the true story of Frank Lucas, a black man who beat the Italian mafia at its own game selling heroin in New York City. Denzel Washington is very good as the unassuming, but methodical and calculating Lucas, and the way his plan to undercut the mob comes to fruition is interesting to watch, but the best half of the movie may be the other half. On the opposite side of things, a cop played by Russel Crowe tries to discover the source of the new heroin while constantly trying to dodge entanglements with others in the police force who are corrupt and don't like people butting in on their jurisdiction. His performance is very good as well. There's an epilogue that's sort of necessary to tie of the story, but doesn't quite fit with the rest of the film, and some other sections throughout that probably could've benefited from better pacing. Still, this is a movie that runs near three hours and remains pretty engrossing throughout. A very good movie that might see a few Oscar nods.
Monday, October 22, 2007
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Bourne Ultimatum (***1/2)
A perfect final installment in the Bourne trilogy (although it might not actually be final), The Bourne Ultimatum's frantic action sequences manage to capture the same excitement that the first two provided without feeling redundant nor jumping the shark. Matt Damon gives another very good performance as Jason Bourne, a man who has a stoic resolve but is deeply internally haunted by the fragments of the memories he has of his entry into the "Treadstone" program. Joan Allen reprises her role from Supremacy as Pamela Landy, a woman trying to balance the responsibility of her government job with her sympathy and understanding of Bourne's plight. Paul Greengrass Ultimatum as he did Supremacy and he directs it in the same sort of ground level, "shaky camera" documentary style. This is sometimes distracting and can make it difficult to follow the action, but at the same time it captures the every-second-counts nature of Bourne's pursuit. The Bourne series provides some of the best action films in recent years and this entry is no exception.
A perfect final installment in the Bourne trilogy (although it might not actually be final), The Bourne Ultimatum's frantic action sequences manage to capture the same excitement that the first two provided without feeling redundant nor jumping the shark. Matt Damon gives another very good performance as Jason Bourne, a man who has a stoic resolve but is deeply internally haunted by the fragments of the memories he has of his entry into the "Treadstone" program. Joan Allen reprises her role from Supremacy as Pamela Landy, a woman trying to balance the responsibility of her government job with her sympathy and understanding of Bourne's plight. Paul Greengrass Ultimatum as he did Supremacy and he directs it in the same sort of ground level, "shaky camera" documentary style. This is sometimes distracting and can make it difficult to follow the action, but at the same time it captures the every-second-counts nature of Bourne's pursuit. The Bourne series provides some of the best action films in recent years and this entry is no exception.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Another half-assed update
Still too lazy to write reviews as long as I'd been writing them before, but I don't want to totally abandon this.
Zodiac (***)
Based on the true story of the Zodiac killer, this film details the lives of those trying to solve the case, notably Jake Gyllinhall's character, a newspaper cartoonist with no expertise except for a personal interest in the cyphers used by the Zodiac. Gyllinhall gives a very good performance, as does Robert Downey Jr. While it lacks the atmosphere of Seven or the raw intensity of Fight Club, David Fincher does another solid job of directing here. The film does have some pacing problems, mostly because of the nature of the real life case, in which there were several long stretches of time during which the Zodiac didn't communicate with the media or police nor had any known victims. Still the case is one of the more intriguing unsolved mysteries out there, and Fincher clearly took great effort in adapting the real-life events for the screen.
Children of Men (****)
This film is probably best classified as science fiction, as it is set in a dystopian vision of the near future, but at its heart its a very focused and human drama. The film follows Clive Owen, a former political activist who is now too cynical, burned out, and alcoholic to care, who stumbles into the role of guarding a pregnant woman -- the first woman to become pregnant in almost 20 years. The film makes some very pointed political commentaries about present day reality. Britain,--which proclaims itself to be "soldiering on" amidst the chaos the infertility crisis brought upon the world--is seen as oppressive and jingoistic, and scenes of imprisoned illegal immigrants recall images from Guantanamo Bay. Still more than anything, the story at its heart is a story of human perseverance. Clive Owen's character, Theo, despite the depression he'd sunken into, finds something worth fighting for, and Children of Men is the account of how far he's willing to go to accomplish it. Despite some of the grandiose battle scenes and the near-future setting, the film is directed with a pretty minimalist style, using long, documentary like takes. And as I explained, the story is really a very simple and focused one and this simple style suits it perfectly. Even though its plot is quite different, I could see this being remembered in much the same way Blade Runner was remembered, in that its a story set in the future, but which is more about the people than the setting.
Zodiac (***)
Based on the true story of the Zodiac killer, this film details the lives of those trying to solve the case, notably Jake Gyllinhall's character, a newspaper cartoonist with no expertise except for a personal interest in the cyphers used by the Zodiac. Gyllinhall gives a very good performance, as does Robert Downey Jr. While it lacks the atmosphere of Seven or the raw intensity of Fight Club, David Fincher does another solid job of directing here. The film does have some pacing problems, mostly because of the nature of the real life case, in which there were several long stretches of time during which the Zodiac didn't communicate with the media or police nor had any known victims. Still the case is one of the more intriguing unsolved mysteries out there, and Fincher clearly took great effort in adapting the real-life events for the screen.
Children of Men (****)
This film is probably best classified as science fiction, as it is set in a dystopian vision of the near future, but at its heart its a very focused and human drama. The film follows Clive Owen, a former political activist who is now too cynical, burned out, and alcoholic to care, who stumbles into the role of guarding a pregnant woman -- the first woman to become pregnant in almost 20 years. The film makes some very pointed political commentaries about present day reality. Britain,--which proclaims itself to be "soldiering on" amidst the chaos the infertility crisis brought upon the world--is seen as oppressive and jingoistic, and scenes of imprisoned illegal immigrants recall images from Guantanamo Bay. Still more than anything, the story at its heart is a story of human perseverance. Clive Owen's character, Theo, despite the depression he'd sunken into, finds something worth fighting for, and Children of Men is the account of how far he's willing to go to accomplish it. Despite some of the grandiose battle scenes and the near-future setting, the film is directed with a pretty minimalist style, using long, documentary like takes. And as I explained, the story is really a very simple and focused one and this simple style suits it perfectly. Even though its plot is quite different, I could see this being remembered in much the same way Blade Runner was remembered, in that its a story set in the future, but which is more about the people than the setting.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Half-assed update
I've neglected this for a little while, but here's a couple movies I've seen recently.
Pan's Labyrinth (****)
Deserving of every bit of the praise it's received, this is a brilliant movie from Guillermo Del Toro intertwining a dark fantasy story with a period drama set in the Spanish Civil War. The story follows a young girl as she migrates between the real girl and the fantasy world which may or may not exist outside of her own head. The visuals are amazing, and the story is effectively and beautifully simple.
Transformers (***)
It has many of the trademarks of a Michael Bay movie in that its obnoxiously loud and more than a little bit cliche, but I have to admit that it was fun to watch. The Transformers are great to look at, and the movie has a number of amazing action sequences. Despite the inherent campyness of a movie based on '80s action figures and the one-dimensional nature of a lot of the characters, the movie can be touching in some parts. A decent popcorn movie.
Pan's Labyrinth (****)
Deserving of every bit of the praise it's received, this is a brilliant movie from Guillermo Del Toro intertwining a dark fantasy story with a period drama set in the Spanish Civil War. The story follows a young girl as she migrates between the real girl and the fantasy world which may or may not exist outside of her own head. The visuals are amazing, and the story is effectively and beautifully simple.
Transformers (***)
It has many of the trademarks of a Michael Bay movie in that its obnoxiously loud and more than a little bit cliche, but I have to admit that it was fun to watch. The Transformers are great to look at, and the movie has a number of amazing action sequences. Despite the inherent campyness of a movie based on '80s action figures and the one-dimensional nature of a lot of the characters, the movie can be touching in some parts. A decent popcorn movie.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Black Book
Black Book (***1/2)
(Zwartboek)
It's been about a week and a half now since I saw this, so it's not completely fresh in my mind, but this is in World War II era espionage-type triller directed by Paul Verhoeven, aka the dude who made Robocop. All of the characters speak their native languages, and so the film is subtitled with English, Dutch, German, and Hebrew all being spoken.
The film's protagonist is Rachel Stein, a Jewish woman hiding out in the countryside in the Netherlands during German occupation. She decides to flee on a boat which takes passengers to liberated territory under cover of darkness. The boat, however, is quickly discovered by a German patrol boat and its passengers are gunned down, with only Rachel escaping. The remainder of the film follows Rachel as she attempts to aid the Dutch resistance movement, while also trying to discover what happened the night the boat was discovered. As part of this effort, she seduces a German S.S. officer and begins working at the local Gestapo headquarters under an assumed name.
The film is probably not the most profound movie ever made about World War II, but it does do an excellent job of painting a portrait of the Netherlands during and immediately after World War II, and makes a number of interesting social commentaries. But moreso than that, the film really works as a thriller, and Rachel's elaborate double agent role leads to a number of tremendously tense scenes. Black Book is easily worth a watch.
(Zwartboek)
It's been about a week and a half now since I saw this, so it's not completely fresh in my mind, but this is in World War II era espionage-type triller directed by Paul Verhoeven, aka the dude who made Robocop. All of the characters speak their native languages, and so the film is subtitled with English, Dutch, German, and Hebrew all being spoken.
The film's protagonist is Rachel Stein, a Jewish woman hiding out in the countryside in the Netherlands during German occupation. She decides to flee on a boat which takes passengers to liberated territory under cover of darkness. The boat, however, is quickly discovered by a German patrol boat and its passengers are gunned down, with only Rachel escaping. The remainder of the film follows Rachel as she attempts to aid the Dutch resistance movement, while also trying to discover what happened the night the boat was discovered. As part of this effort, she seduces a German S.S. officer and begins working at the local Gestapo headquarters under an assumed name.
The film is probably not the most profound movie ever made about World War II, but it does do an excellent job of painting a portrait of the Netherlands during and immediately after World War II, and makes a number of interesting social commentaries. But moreso than that, the film really works as a thriller, and Rachel's elaborate double agent role leads to a number of tremendously tense scenes. Black Book is easily worth a watch.
Monday, June 04, 2007
PotC: At World's End
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (**)
The Pirates movies have been perhaps not the most important movies made as of late, but they have worked as entertaining escapist adventure movies. The third leg of the trilogy, At World's End, however tries to do way too much, and ends up being more exhausting than anything else. Even though there was a significant cliffhanger at the end of the second film leading into At World's End, in many ways the first two films were basically self-contained. Curse of the Black Pearl centered around Jack Sparrow and company facing off against Barbosa's crew for the cursed Aztec treasure, while Dead Man's Chest centered around Jack's debt to Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman. In contrast, At World's End's plot is incredibly complex, incorporating characters from both of the two films, who create a number of entangling and changing alliances with each other. I don't know if the last two films were planned out when the first was created, but watching this movie, some of the new things revealed about the characters certainly seem forced to try and fit them into this web of intrigue. All this would be well and good if it added up to something great at the end, but the film's climax, nor any other part of it, is really any more exciting than the sequences that the first two movies culminated with after much less set-up.
If you've seen the first movie you know that (highlight) Jack is dead, and that Barbosa and company are setting out to find him and bring him back. The movie begins with them in Singapore stealing maps to "Davy Jones' locker" to accomplish this task. They meet Chow-Yun Fat, who is sort of wasted as a largely uninteresting pirate captain local to Singapore. They, of course, eventually find Jack, but not before a surrealistic scene of Jack in a sort of purgatory which is mildly amusing but which goes on for way too long. The movie gets more ridiculous from there, as the British navy and the East India Company tries to use Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman as an enforcer for their own aims. Barbosa and Jack decide that a conference needs to be held with the nine Pirate captains from all over the world to try and stop them, lest pirates become extinct. The entire notion of a pirate council seems too far over the top. The series obviously never attempted to be realistic, but when all the pirates gather around a table in their own crazy looking, stereotypical ethic costumes it almost reaches self-parody (and yes, Keith Richards is in it).
Jack is still funny, the action is still visually cool, and there are a lot of moments which put a smile on your face, but the attempt at adding multiple plot twists and creating a huge web of entangling alliances between the characters is just a bad idea. What results is a convoluted plot that detracts from the simple sense of adventure which is the reason why the series is popular for people other than the 13-year old Jack Sparrow demographic. The movie's run time is three hours, which was fine for an epic like Lord of the Rings, but just exhausting in this case.
The Pirates movies have been perhaps not the most important movies made as of late, but they have worked as entertaining escapist adventure movies. The third leg of the trilogy, At World's End, however tries to do way too much, and ends up being more exhausting than anything else. Even though there was a significant cliffhanger at the end of the second film leading into At World's End, in many ways the first two films were basically self-contained. Curse of the Black Pearl centered around Jack Sparrow and company facing off against Barbosa's crew for the cursed Aztec treasure, while Dead Man's Chest centered around Jack's debt to Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman. In contrast, At World's End's plot is incredibly complex, incorporating characters from both of the two films, who create a number of entangling and changing alliances with each other. I don't know if the last two films were planned out when the first was created, but watching this movie, some of the new things revealed about the characters certainly seem forced to try and fit them into this web of intrigue. All this would be well and good if it added up to something great at the end, but the film's climax, nor any other part of it, is really any more exciting than the sequences that the first two movies culminated with after much less set-up.
If you've seen the first movie you know that (highlight) Jack is dead, and that Barbosa and company are setting out to find him and bring him back. The movie begins with them in Singapore stealing maps to "Davy Jones' locker" to accomplish this task. They meet Chow-Yun Fat, who is sort of wasted as a largely uninteresting pirate captain local to Singapore. They, of course, eventually find Jack, but not before a surrealistic scene of Jack in a sort of purgatory which is mildly amusing but which goes on for way too long. The movie gets more ridiculous from there, as the British navy and the East India Company tries to use Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman as an enforcer for their own aims. Barbosa and Jack decide that a conference needs to be held with the nine Pirate captains from all over the world to try and stop them, lest pirates become extinct. The entire notion of a pirate council seems too far over the top. The series obviously never attempted to be realistic, but when all the pirates gather around a table in their own crazy looking, stereotypical ethic costumes it almost reaches self-parody (and yes, Keith Richards is in it).
Jack is still funny, the action is still visually cool, and there are a lot of moments which put a smile on your face, but the attempt at adding multiple plot twists and creating a huge web of entangling alliances between the characters is just a bad idea. What results is a convoluted plot that detracts from the simple sense of adventure which is the reason why the series is popular for people other than the 13-year old Jack Sparrow demographic. The movie's run time is three hours, which was fine for an epic like Lord of the Rings, but just exhausting in this case.
Stranger than Fiction
Stranger than Fiction (***1/2)
If Stranger than Fiction is remembered years from now, it'll probably be because of Will Ferrell's performance. Ferrell, known more for his loud, over-the-top, performances like in Ancorman shows that he can still be funny without yelling and running to walls, and is capable of very serious moments as well. In the film Ferrell plays Harold Crick. He works for the IRS and, even though he's quite good at it, he doesn't seem to care much for his job. He seems to aspire for more in his life, but is too timid to take any sort of initiative. Really, he's not very interesting as a movie character except for the fact that he hears a voice in his head. Not just a voice, however, but a female voice narrating his own life as it happens.
The early part of the film explores this idea. What would it be like if your life was being constantly narrated? How would it be described even when you were doing the most mundane of things? How could you possible concentrate on your life when you heard someone narrating it, and then how would your ensuing frustration be addressed by the narrator? All of this leads to some very funny scenes which, again, show that Ferrell has potential beyond some of the obnoxious characters he's famous for.
The film's real hook comes when the narrator mentions Harold's "imminent death." She doesn't mention how or why he's going to die, only that he is going to die, and soon. Harold goes to see a psychologist who tells him he's schizophrenic, leading to this exchange:
"Mr. Crick, you have a voice speaking to you."
"No, no to me. About me."
And so Harold decides that he has to find someone whose expertise is in stories. He finds English professor Jules Hilbert, played by Dustin Hoffman, who is just eccentric enough and just enough into literature to think that helping Harold might actually be possible. He suggests that Harold try and determine whether the story being narrated about him is a comedy or a tragedy, leading to some funny scenes where Harold awkwardly attempts to get to know Ana Pascal, played by Maggie Gyllenhal, a woman who Harold is enthralled with but is in many ways his opposite.
Over the course of the film it becomes apparent that the narrator in Harold's head is an actual writer named Karen Eiffel, who was once critically acclaimed, but is now trying to overcome writer's block and finish her first novel in a number of years. The movie's ending raises questions about writing, and about death in fictional stories that would seem crazy to even consider, but somewhat seem to make perfect sense in the context of the film. Would we place the same importance on art if people actually died when art portrays death? It's an interesting question.
The film's ingenious plot is what stands out most about the film, but also of note are some of the visual effects used in the film. Harold, being very much left-brained, thinks entirely about math, and as we see him go about his day, we see things he encounters and interacts with overlayed with a mosaic of numbers and diagrams. On the bonus material of the DVD, the artists who created it called it a GUI, as in the GUI of an operating system. It is a unique effect and my only complaint about it is that it isn't used consistently throughout the film, and at times when it crops up it detracts from the dialogue going on at the same time.
Stanger than Fiction is one of the more interesting comedies in recent years. Its strange but enthralling plot let's Will Ferrell create a memorable character that is both very funny and at times a genuinely sympathetic figure.
If Stranger than Fiction is remembered years from now, it'll probably be because of Will Ferrell's performance. Ferrell, known more for his loud, over-the-top, performances like in Ancorman shows that he can still be funny without yelling and running to walls, and is capable of very serious moments as well. In the film Ferrell plays Harold Crick. He works for the IRS and, even though he's quite good at it, he doesn't seem to care much for his job. He seems to aspire for more in his life, but is too timid to take any sort of initiative. Really, he's not very interesting as a movie character except for the fact that he hears a voice in his head. Not just a voice, however, but a female voice narrating his own life as it happens.
The early part of the film explores this idea. What would it be like if your life was being constantly narrated? How would it be described even when you were doing the most mundane of things? How could you possible concentrate on your life when you heard someone narrating it, and then how would your ensuing frustration be addressed by the narrator? All of this leads to some very funny scenes which, again, show that Ferrell has potential beyond some of the obnoxious characters he's famous for.
The film's real hook comes when the narrator mentions Harold's "imminent death." She doesn't mention how or why he's going to die, only that he is going to die, and soon. Harold goes to see a psychologist who tells him he's schizophrenic, leading to this exchange:
"Mr. Crick, you have a voice speaking to you."
"No, no to me. About me."
And so Harold decides that he has to find someone whose expertise is in stories. He finds English professor Jules Hilbert, played by Dustin Hoffman, who is just eccentric enough and just enough into literature to think that helping Harold might actually be possible. He suggests that Harold try and determine whether the story being narrated about him is a comedy or a tragedy, leading to some funny scenes where Harold awkwardly attempts to get to know Ana Pascal, played by Maggie Gyllenhal, a woman who Harold is enthralled with but is in many ways his opposite.
Over the course of the film it becomes apparent that the narrator in Harold's head is an actual writer named Karen Eiffel, who was once critically acclaimed, but is now trying to overcome writer's block and finish her first novel in a number of years. The movie's ending raises questions about writing, and about death in fictional stories that would seem crazy to even consider, but somewhat seem to make perfect sense in the context of the film. Would we place the same importance on art if people actually died when art portrays death? It's an interesting question.
The film's ingenious plot is what stands out most about the film, but also of note are some of the visual effects used in the film. Harold, being very much left-brained, thinks entirely about math, and as we see him go about his day, we see things he encounters and interacts with overlayed with a mosaic of numbers and diagrams. On the bonus material of the DVD, the artists who created it called it a GUI, as in the GUI of an operating system. It is a unique effect and my only complaint about it is that it isn't used consistently throughout the film, and at times when it crops up it detracts from the dialogue going on at the same time.
Stanger than Fiction is one of the more interesting comedies in recent years. Its strange but enthralling plot let's Will Ferrell create a memorable character that is both very funny and at times a genuinely sympathetic figure.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Spiderman 3
Spiderman 3 (***)
The Spiderman trilogy (although it sounds like its going end up as more than a trilogy) as a whole is a lot of fun and a worthy adaptation of the long running comic book series. The third installment, however, is the weakest of the three and more erratic and less focused than the previous two. The first two movies were fairly simple, giving Spiderman one main villain to contend with and allowing plenty of time for Peter Parker to grow as a character and his relationships with Mary Jane and Harry Osborn to develop. These relationships are in no way abandoned in Spiderman 3, but they aren't as interesting because the movie simply has too much going on.
Chief amongst my complaints is the fact that the movie has one too many villains. Where the first film had the original Green Goblin and the second had Doctor Octopus, Spiderman 3 meanders between storylines involving Harry becoming the new Green Goblin, Flint Marko (Thomas Hayden Church) becoming The Sandman, and Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) becoming Venom. None of them are really given enough time to be truly memorable, except maybe for Harry, who has had a conflict with Spiderman/Peter building since the end of the first film. Even still, Harry's part in the film seems somewhat thrown together. In his first confrontation with Peter in early the movie Harry is thrown from his glider and suffers head trauma that manages to cause him to lose his memory of most everything past the death of his father. Afterwards, Peter tries to rekindle his friendship with him, and Mary Jane comes to confide in him regarding issues with her relationship with Peter. In this way, Harry is kept close to both Peter and M.J. for the remainder of the film. This seems too convenient, even for a comic book movie.
The main players in the Venom storyline: Eddie Brock, Gwen Stacy, and the black suit that eventually becomes the entity that is Venom are all introduced fairly early in the film, but are then mostly set aside while The Sandman's origin is told and he faces Spiderman in a visually cool but somewhat anti-climactic battle. The plot then shifts back again, as Peter begins to don the black suit, date Gwen Stacy and embrace his "dark side" in a sequence that's already led to thousands of emo jokes across the internet. The bottom line is that the lack of focus on any one of these characters means that their sum total doesn't add up to anything as interesting as the grand sum of the first two movies. We learn a little about The Sandman's motivations, and certain scenes cast him in a somewhat sympathetic light, but we don't see enough of him to truly care about his characters fate, nor does he really get a chance to develop much of a personality.
Meanwhile, the creation of Venom, while true to the comics, is similarly rushed and there isn't enough tension built before the inevitable battle. The film's ending does have some emotion to it, and while room for a sequel is definitely left open, there are significant developments and it does work as the closing to a trilogy. I was bothered, however, with some of the events leading up to the climax. There is an alliance made at the end of the film that seems to have a shaky justification based on what we're shown as an audience. It seems like a scene is missing. Again, the film seems to be rushing too much and trying to hastily find connections for multiple complicated story arcs. At times it felt like the filmmakers were trying to create Spiderman 3 & 4 at the same time. There is a rumor that Sam Raimi, who directed all 3 of the films, wanted to continue focusing on villains from the early period of the comic book series and originally wanted to include the Sandman, and only the Sandman in the film. Producer Avi Arad, allegedly, then more or less forced Raimi to write in Venom to appease the fans, many of which grew up reading Venom in comics during the 1990s and saw him in the cartoon show during the same period. I'm in no position to know if this is true or false, but it certainly seems plausible.
I have laid out some major problems I had with the movie, but I don't want to act as if I completely hated it. The humor that was in the first two films is still there (including another great Bruce Campbell cameo), the action is still both technically impressive and exciting to watch, and there are still a lot of moments that put a smile on your face. Even though I feel it is a step backward I don't think it destroys what the first two films began, nor does it do injustice to the characters or to the original series. All of the films have been worth the price of admission, and the series stands at the forefront of the recent trend of comic book movies, though it may soon be overtaken when the successors to the excellent Batman Begins are released.
The Spiderman trilogy (although it sounds like its going end up as more than a trilogy) as a whole is a lot of fun and a worthy adaptation of the long running comic book series. The third installment, however, is the weakest of the three and more erratic and less focused than the previous two. The first two movies were fairly simple, giving Spiderman one main villain to contend with and allowing plenty of time for Peter Parker to grow as a character and his relationships with Mary Jane and Harry Osborn to develop. These relationships are in no way abandoned in Spiderman 3, but they aren't as interesting because the movie simply has too much going on.
Chief amongst my complaints is the fact that the movie has one too many villains. Where the first film had the original Green Goblin and the second had Doctor Octopus, Spiderman 3 meanders between storylines involving Harry becoming the new Green Goblin, Flint Marko (Thomas Hayden Church) becoming The Sandman, and Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) becoming Venom. None of them are really given enough time to be truly memorable, except maybe for Harry, who has had a conflict with Spiderman/Peter building since the end of the first film. Even still, Harry's part in the film seems somewhat thrown together. In his first confrontation with Peter in early the movie Harry is thrown from his glider and suffers head trauma that manages to cause him to lose his memory of most everything past the death of his father. Afterwards, Peter tries to rekindle his friendship with him, and Mary Jane comes to confide in him regarding issues with her relationship with Peter. In this way, Harry is kept close to both Peter and M.J. for the remainder of the film. This seems too convenient, even for a comic book movie.
The main players in the Venom storyline: Eddie Brock, Gwen Stacy, and the black suit that eventually becomes the entity that is Venom are all introduced fairly early in the film, but are then mostly set aside while The Sandman's origin is told and he faces Spiderman in a visually cool but somewhat anti-climactic battle. The plot then shifts back again, as Peter begins to don the black suit, date Gwen Stacy and embrace his "dark side" in a sequence that's already led to thousands of emo jokes across the internet. The bottom line is that the lack of focus on any one of these characters means that their sum total doesn't add up to anything as interesting as the grand sum of the first two movies. We learn a little about The Sandman's motivations, and certain scenes cast him in a somewhat sympathetic light, but we don't see enough of him to truly care about his characters fate, nor does he really get a chance to develop much of a personality.
Meanwhile, the creation of Venom, while true to the comics, is similarly rushed and there isn't enough tension built before the inevitable battle. The film's ending does have some emotion to it, and while room for a sequel is definitely left open, there are significant developments and it does work as the closing to a trilogy. I was bothered, however, with some of the events leading up to the climax. There is an alliance made at the end of the film that seems to have a shaky justification based on what we're shown as an audience. It seems like a scene is missing. Again, the film seems to be rushing too much and trying to hastily find connections for multiple complicated story arcs. At times it felt like the filmmakers were trying to create Spiderman 3 & 4 at the same time. There is a rumor that Sam Raimi, who directed all 3 of the films, wanted to continue focusing on villains from the early period of the comic book series and originally wanted to include the Sandman, and only the Sandman in the film. Producer Avi Arad, allegedly, then more or less forced Raimi to write in Venom to appease the fans, many of which grew up reading Venom in comics during the 1990s and saw him in the cartoon show during the same period. I'm in no position to know if this is true or false, but it certainly seems plausible.
I have laid out some major problems I had with the movie, but I don't want to act as if I completely hated it. The humor that was in the first two films is still there (including another great Bruce Campbell cameo), the action is still both technically impressive and exciting to watch, and there are still a lot of moments that put a smile on your face. Even though I feel it is a step backward I don't think it destroys what the first two films began, nor does it do injustice to the characters or to the original series. All of the films have been worth the price of admission, and the series stands at the forefront of the recent trend of comic book movies, though it may soon be overtaken when the successors to the excellent Batman Begins are released.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Hot Fuzz plus 2 other short reviews
Hot Fuzz (***1/2)
Hot Fuzz is a loving tribute to the genre of over-the-top, Michael Bay style, explosive-filled cop dramas. The type of movie where physics and probability are of little to no consequence, and the main character always winds up the hero despite usually recklessly endangering dozens of people. It does for these sorts of movies what Shaun of the Dead did for zombie movies, which makes sense because it was written, directed, and acted by many of the same people.
The movie centers around Nicolas Angel, a cop in London who gets transferred to a one-horse down out in the country, simply because he's too good. He has a tireless devotion to his job and the best arrest record on the force, so much so that he's making everyone else looks bad. As the film begins, he tries to get accustomed to his new home of Sandford, meeting the various folksy inhabitants and his new co-workers. The police force in Sandford is much more lackadaisical, and understandably so, as there isn't much to do in the small town. Nicolas tries to shake off being such a fish out of water, and applies his knowledge from his London beat to his new assignment but it really doesn't work well. Where he used to be chasing down fleeing criminals, he now finds himself chasing around escaped swans. Futhermore, he finds himself frustrated with his well intentioned but mostly incompetent new parter, Danny.
The beginning of the movie is funny in its own right. Nicolas and Danny play off each other well, and all of the eccentric townspeople are-- one of which is a mustached Timothy Dalton--are great. But what the movie is going to be remembered for is its last half hour, where it intentionally becomes every bit as ridiculous as Bad Boys II and all the other movies its parodying with a series of preposterous action scenes. Nicolas eventually finds something is amiss in Sandford, and he has to set things right in the traditional Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer fashion. In a mere half hour, there are countless quotable one-liners and applause-inducing "Oh ****!" moments. It is absolutely spot on as a parody and is going to be referenced for years to come as one of the funniest sequences to any movie.
I think the last half hour really works because the movie up to that point is so docile. It's the payoff at the end after we've gotten to know some of the characters, and their relationships have been developed a little bit. They could've made the entire movie as ridiculous as the ending and created sort of a new Naked Gun, but while the Naked Gun movies are hilarious in their own right, I don't think it would've worked as well in this case. The fact that the premise of the movie is initially more or less plausible makes the shenanigans at the end that much funnier. The entire movie builds to the end, and it delivers in every way. Hot Fuzz is a smart, well-written comedy that's probably going to become a cult classic alongside it's predecessor Shaun of the Dead.
The Weather Man (**1/2)
This is a movie starring Nicolas Cage as a David Spritz, a downtrodden, recently divorced, middle-aged man working as a TV weather man in Chicago. Some parts of the movie are written better than others. There's a few memorable lines and Nicolas Cage's narration in particular is great, but there are a few scenes where conversations seem kind of forced and awkward. Probably the strongest point of the movie is a great performance by Michael Caine as David's father.
Attack the Gas Station! (**1/2)
Uh... yeah, I wasn't really sure what to make of this. This is a Korean film from 1999 about a group of teenagers who, quite literally, attack a gas station. They rob it and hold people hostage, but more as a sign of rebellion against society than for any sort of monetary gain. There are a few flashbacks explaining how each of them were somehow wronged by a parent or an authority figure, or somehow had their dreams crushed. But really, beyond this, the movie basically just documents what happens as these four people try and torment the legitimate employees (and gang members who inexplicable show up) while trying to maintain the illusion that they're actually running the gas station themselves. Some of this is pretty amusing and it's an enjoyable watch, I'm just not sure if the broader stuff about the troubled past of each of the characters really adds up to anything except a flimsy pretext for why they're attacking a gas station.
Hot Fuzz is a loving tribute to the genre of over-the-top, Michael Bay style, explosive-filled cop dramas. The type of movie where physics and probability are of little to no consequence, and the main character always winds up the hero despite usually recklessly endangering dozens of people. It does for these sorts of movies what Shaun of the Dead did for zombie movies, which makes sense because it was written, directed, and acted by many of the same people.
The movie centers around Nicolas Angel, a cop in London who gets transferred to a one-horse down out in the country, simply because he's too good. He has a tireless devotion to his job and the best arrest record on the force, so much so that he's making everyone else looks bad. As the film begins, he tries to get accustomed to his new home of Sandford, meeting the various folksy inhabitants and his new co-workers. The police force in Sandford is much more lackadaisical, and understandably so, as there isn't much to do in the small town. Nicolas tries to shake off being such a fish out of water, and applies his knowledge from his London beat to his new assignment but it really doesn't work well. Where he used to be chasing down fleeing criminals, he now finds himself chasing around escaped swans. Futhermore, he finds himself frustrated with his well intentioned but mostly incompetent new parter, Danny.
The beginning of the movie is funny in its own right. Nicolas and Danny play off each other well, and all of the eccentric townspeople are-- one of which is a mustached Timothy Dalton--are great. But what the movie is going to be remembered for is its last half hour, where it intentionally becomes every bit as ridiculous as Bad Boys II and all the other movies its parodying with a series of preposterous action scenes. Nicolas eventually finds something is amiss in Sandford, and he has to set things right in the traditional Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer fashion. In a mere half hour, there are countless quotable one-liners and applause-inducing "Oh ****!" moments. It is absolutely spot on as a parody and is going to be referenced for years to come as one of the funniest sequences to any movie.
I think the last half hour really works because the movie up to that point is so docile. It's the payoff at the end after we've gotten to know some of the characters, and their relationships have been developed a little bit. They could've made the entire movie as ridiculous as the ending and created sort of a new Naked Gun, but while the Naked Gun movies are hilarious in their own right, I don't think it would've worked as well in this case. The fact that the premise of the movie is initially more or less plausible makes the shenanigans at the end that much funnier. The entire movie builds to the end, and it delivers in every way. Hot Fuzz is a smart, well-written comedy that's probably going to become a cult classic alongside it's predecessor Shaun of the Dead.
The Weather Man (**1/2)
This is a movie starring Nicolas Cage as a David Spritz, a downtrodden, recently divorced, middle-aged man working as a TV weather man in Chicago. Some parts of the movie are written better than others. There's a few memorable lines and Nicolas Cage's narration in particular is great, but there are a few scenes where conversations seem kind of forced and awkward. Probably the strongest point of the movie is a great performance by Michael Caine as David's father.
Attack the Gas Station! (**1/2)
Uh... yeah, I wasn't really sure what to make of this. This is a Korean film from 1999 about a group of teenagers who, quite literally, attack a gas station. They rob it and hold people hostage, but more as a sign of rebellion against society than for any sort of monetary gain. There are a few flashbacks explaining how each of them were somehow wronged by a parent or an authority figure, or somehow had their dreams crushed. But really, beyond this, the movie basically just documents what happens as these four people try and torment the legitimate employees (and gang members who inexplicable show up) while trying to maintain the illusion that they're actually running the gas station themselves. Some of this is pretty amusing and it's an enjoyable watch, I'm just not sure if the broader stuff about the troubled past of each of the characters really adds up to anything except a flimsy pretext for why they're attacking a gas station.
Monday, April 02, 2007
300
300 (***)
I don't really feel the need to write a huge review for this. The story is more or less based on the historical battle of Thermopylae, but the story is basically a loose outline between huge, stylized fight scenes. Like the trailer, characters yell a lot of stuff dramatically, but the dialogue is really not all that important. Visually, the movie is amazing. Like Sin City, it's a testament to how CGI can be used to create otherwise impossible settings, without being loud and obnoxious and distracting from the human performances.
300 is in no way as deep of a work as Sin City. Sin City was just as stylized and violent, but each of its main characters went through a tremendous amount of development throughout their respective stories. While 300 follows its hero Leonitis, from his childhood up to his famous last stand, it's first and foremost about the battle itself and not about giving any deep insights about his character. But it's impossible not to find the fighting badass, and in the end that's really all you need for a movie to be entertaining enough to be worth the price of admission. If you like action movies, you'll like 300.
I don't really feel the need to write a huge review for this. The story is more or less based on the historical battle of Thermopylae, but the story is basically a loose outline between huge, stylized fight scenes. Like the trailer, characters yell a lot of stuff dramatically, but the dialogue is really not all that important. Visually, the movie is amazing. Like Sin City, it's a testament to how CGI can be used to create otherwise impossible settings, without being loud and obnoxious and distracting from the human performances.
300 is in no way as deep of a work as Sin City. Sin City was just as stylized and violent, but each of its main characters went through a tremendous amount of development throughout their respective stories. While 300 follows its hero Leonitis, from his childhood up to his famous last stand, it's first and foremost about the battle itself and not about giving any deep insights about his character. But it's impossible not to find the fighting badass, and in the end that's really all you need for a movie to be entertaining enough to be worth the price of admission. If you like action movies, you'll like 300.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Breach
Breach (***)
Breach is based on a true story, and follows the investigation and eventual arrest of Robert Hanssen, "the worst spy in U.S. history" as he is described in the movie. Before a case was finally built against him in 2001, Hanssen worked in the FBI, and sold huge amounts of classified information to which he had access. The movie begins with a young FBI agent, played by Ryan Phillippe, getting the assignment of posing as his new clerk, essentially distracting him enough to allow for his possessions to be sifted through for evidence.
Hanssen is played by Chris Cooper, who portrays him as an arrogant, controlling, super type-A personality sort of figure. He constantly talks down to Phillippe's character, Eric O'Neill, treating him as an errand boy, despite seeming to have a certain respect for his talents. At the same time, Hanssen is (or at least seems to be) a very pious and traditional Catholic. A good part of the film deals with Hanssen attempting to become sort of a father figure and spiritual advisor to O'Neill, which puts him at odds with O'Neill's non-practicing wife, who knows Hanssen only as O'Neill's boss and not as a man under investigation.
Over the course of the movie, the FBI attmpts several ploys using O'Neill to gather evidence from Hanssen's car and his PDA, amoung other things. Gradually, O'Neill becomes frustrated and somewhat paranoid of the constantly suspicious Hanssen. The film's biggest moments of suspense are examples of O'Neill having to think on his toes to weave through precarious situations where he has to stay in character as Hanssen's loyal assistant and yet at the same constantly distract him from the searches taking place around him.
The movie is worthwhile because Hanssen is an interesting character and Chris Cooper's performance is very good, but the film never really builds a tremendous amount of tension, despite the espianoge and spy games that are central to the story. The movie never seems to make up its mind as to whether it's trying to be a triller and focus on the actual circumstances of Hanssen's treason and O'Neill's investigation, or to be a movie focused on the subtleties of Hanssen's character. At many times it seems to be the latter. There are several scenes of Hanssen in mass, which he claims he goes to on a daily basis, which would seem to suggest that the movie is trying to focus on the apparent hypocracy of his character. But in the last act of the film there are two scenes which seem like they're trying to be climax of a Jason Bourne, Jack Ryan type of espionage movie. Because so much of the film before this point has been so introspective of Hanssen, they don't have the tension you would expect them to have. The movie as a whole seems somewhat slow-going and unexciting, especially considering the gravity of what both main characters are involved in. The film is interesting, but doesn't seem to exact all the potential from the true story on which it is based.
--EK
Breach is based on a true story, and follows the investigation and eventual arrest of Robert Hanssen, "the worst spy in U.S. history" as he is described in the movie. Before a case was finally built against him in 2001, Hanssen worked in the FBI, and sold huge amounts of classified information to which he had access. The movie begins with a young FBI agent, played by Ryan Phillippe, getting the assignment of posing as his new clerk, essentially distracting him enough to allow for his possessions to be sifted through for evidence.
Hanssen is played by Chris Cooper, who portrays him as an arrogant, controlling, super type-A personality sort of figure. He constantly talks down to Phillippe's character, Eric O'Neill, treating him as an errand boy, despite seeming to have a certain respect for his talents. At the same time, Hanssen is (or at least seems to be) a very pious and traditional Catholic. A good part of the film deals with Hanssen attempting to become sort of a father figure and spiritual advisor to O'Neill, which puts him at odds with O'Neill's non-practicing wife, who knows Hanssen only as O'Neill's boss and not as a man under investigation.
Over the course of the movie, the FBI attmpts several ploys using O'Neill to gather evidence from Hanssen's car and his PDA, amoung other things. Gradually, O'Neill becomes frustrated and somewhat paranoid of the constantly suspicious Hanssen. The film's biggest moments of suspense are examples of O'Neill having to think on his toes to weave through precarious situations where he has to stay in character as Hanssen's loyal assistant and yet at the same constantly distract him from the searches taking place around him.
The movie is worthwhile because Hanssen is an interesting character and Chris Cooper's performance is very good, but the film never really builds a tremendous amount of tension, despite the espianoge and spy games that are central to the story. The movie never seems to make up its mind as to whether it's trying to be a triller and focus on the actual circumstances of Hanssen's treason and O'Neill's investigation, or to be a movie focused on the subtleties of Hanssen's character. At many times it seems to be the latter. There are several scenes of Hanssen in mass, which he claims he goes to on a daily basis, which would seem to suggest that the movie is trying to focus on the apparent hypocracy of his character. But in the last act of the film there are two scenes which seem like they're trying to be climax of a Jason Bourne, Jack Ryan type of espionage movie. Because so much of the film before this point has been so introspective of Hanssen, they don't have the tension you would expect them to have. The movie as a whole seems somewhat slow-going and unexciting, especially considering the gravity of what both main characters are involved in. The film is interesting, but doesn't seem to exact all the potential from the true story on which it is based.
--EK
Monday, March 19, 2007
The Prestige
The Prestige (****)
Off the heels of directing the excellent Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan directed The Prestige, a film with a very different subject, but which not only has the same dark visuals, but is equally enticing. The film follows magicians in 1890s London, played by Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, who are somewhat different in technique, but are both at the top of their profession. Jackman's character has mastered the acting and the showmanship required to hook an audience, while Christian Bale's character has mastered the actual innerworkings of the illusions, in part because of his total devotion to his craft.
The two men are connected by a man named Cutter, played by the always ridiculously cool Michael Caine, who serves as a mentor and maybe a bit of a father figure to both of them. An incident occurs causing the illusionists to dispise each other. They engage in a riviarly where each sabotage's the other's performances, in part to physically hurt the other, and in part to show their superiority in sleight of hand. The rivialry comes to a head when Christian Bale's character, Alfred Borden, debuts his "The Transported Man" trick, where he is seemingly able to walk through a door and walk through another on the opposite side of the stage within a fraction of a second. Robert Angier, Jackman's character, becomes obsessed with the seemingly flawless illusion, dismissing Cutter's claim that the man who emerges from the second door is simply an excellent body double.
Angier's obessive quest for the secret of the illusion leads him across the pond to America, and more specifcally to Colorado Springs. It is against this snowy backdrop that Nolan displays some hauntingly beautiful visuals, which represent the very best of the film's overall excellent cinematography. Angier travels to Colorado to visit the eccentric scientist Nikola Tesla, played by the homo superior himself, David Bowie. Angier presses him about the possibilities of teleportation, convinced that Borden's illusion is rooted in science, and not just deception. It is here that the film takes a turn towards science fiction. This could've been extremely campy and ruined the entire film, but Nolan's direction and the screenplay (which was written by Nolan and his brother, Johnathan) gives it a sense of legitimacy and makes it all work.
At the beginning of the film, Cutter explains in a voice over that a magic trick consists of three parts: the pledge, the turn, and the prestige. These scenes with Tesla would certainly represent the film's "turn" if it can be said to have one. What began as a film about two men in a professional and personal rivalry, becomes a deeply philosophical film with much more universal themes. The film's "prestige" then, is its revealing ending, which again, could have played out in a very B-movie way, but is handled excellently. Some people probably won't be thrown off by the end reveal (I don't consider myself that good at guessing plots before they play out and I partially predicted the events of the ending correctly, though I didn't have an explanation for them) but I think most everyone will find it compelling regardless.
Simply, The Prestige is a film which, on the surface follows a figurative chess match between two bitter rivals, and on quite another level provides a study of depecption and of human nature. Either way you choose to look at it, it is exellent, and anyone who felt what Nolan did for Batman was a breath of fresh air for the character will certainly love his latest work.
--EK
Off the heels of directing the excellent Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan directed The Prestige, a film with a very different subject, but which not only has the same dark visuals, but is equally enticing. The film follows magicians in 1890s London, played by Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, who are somewhat different in technique, but are both at the top of their profession. Jackman's character has mastered the acting and the showmanship required to hook an audience, while Christian Bale's character has mastered the actual innerworkings of the illusions, in part because of his total devotion to his craft.
The two men are connected by a man named Cutter, played by the always ridiculously cool Michael Caine, who serves as a mentor and maybe a bit of a father figure to both of them. An incident occurs causing the illusionists to dispise each other. They engage in a riviarly where each sabotage's the other's performances, in part to physically hurt the other, and in part to show their superiority in sleight of hand. The rivialry comes to a head when Christian Bale's character, Alfred Borden, debuts his "The Transported Man" trick, where he is seemingly able to walk through a door and walk through another on the opposite side of the stage within a fraction of a second. Robert Angier, Jackman's character, becomes obsessed with the seemingly flawless illusion, dismissing Cutter's claim that the man who emerges from the second door is simply an excellent body double.
Angier's obessive quest for the secret of the illusion leads him across the pond to America, and more specifcally to Colorado Springs. It is against this snowy backdrop that Nolan displays some hauntingly beautiful visuals, which represent the very best of the film's overall excellent cinematography. Angier travels to Colorado to visit the eccentric scientist Nikola Tesla, played by the homo superior himself, David Bowie. Angier presses him about the possibilities of teleportation, convinced that Borden's illusion is rooted in science, and not just deception. It is here that the film takes a turn towards science fiction. This could've been extremely campy and ruined the entire film, but Nolan's direction and the screenplay (which was written by Nolan and his brother, Johnathan) gives it a sense of legitimacy and makes it all work.
At the beginning of the film, Cutter explains in a voice over that a magic trick consists of three parts: the pledge, the turn, and the prestige. These scenes with Tesla would certainly represent the film's "turn" if it can be said to have one. What began as a film about two men in a professional and personal rivalry, becomes a deeply philosophical film with much more universal themes. The film's "prestige" then, is its revealing ending, which again, could have played out in a very B-movie way, but is handled excellently. Some people probably won't be thrown off by the end reveal (I don't consider myself that good at guessing plots before they play out and I partially predicted the events of the ending correctly, though I didn't have an explanation for them) but I think most everyone will find it compelling regardless.
Simply, The Prestige is a film which, on the surface follows a figurative chess match between two bitter rivals, and on quite another level provides a study of depecption and of human nature. Either way you choose to look at it, it is exellent, and anyone who felt what Nolan did for Batman was a breath of fresh air for the character will certainly love his latest work.
--EK
The Last King of Scotland
The Last King of Scotland (***1/2)
The Last King of Scotland begins with Nicolas Gerrigan, a recently graduated med student in Scotland, perhaps unwilling to follow in his father's footsteps as a physician, deciding to travel somewhere at random. He ends up picking Uganda, follows through with it, and ends up working as a doctor at a mission there. He meets a married woman working there, played by Gillian Anderson, and nearly seduces her into an affair. But his travels take a drastic turn shorter thereafter, as he treats Idi Amin, the new Ugandan president (read: oppressive dictator), who injures his hand in a car accident. Distracted while treating the injury, Gerrigan shoots and kills a noisy and apparently injured cow using Amin's own pistol. Amin, impressed by his initiative and fearlessness, oppoints Gerrigan as his personal physician.
Slowly, Gerrigan's job as Amin's physician morphs into a job as his political advisior, as Amin becomes increasingly impressed with Gerrigan's character as he gets to know him more. Amin puts a great amount of trust in Gerrigan, partly because, being from Scotland, Amin feels Gerrigan somehow shares a distrust of the British, a feeling Amin developed as a boy growing up under British occupation. Gerrigan is, at first, a loyal lackey, hinging on every word Amin says about improving Uganda's infastructure, and gratefully accepting Amin's lavish gifts. It is only late in the film, and after Gerrigan has made several crucial mistakes, that he begins to piece together the gruesome reality of Amin's Ugandan revolution.
Forrest Whittaker won an Oscar for the film, and his performance is clearly the strong point. Whittaker at times shows Amin's charismatic facade that drew Gerrigan in, and at other times is nothing short of terrifying. Near the end of the film, as world opinion is turning sharply against Amin, and Gerrigan is administering him uppers to get him through the day, Whittaker simultaneously shows his almost pathetic state of frustration, and his enduring and frightening vengefullness.
The movie's main weakness is Gerrigan's character. It has nothing to do with the performance of James McAvoy who does a very good job opposite of Whittaker. But the film doesn't do a great job selling Gerrigan and how he gets into such a tumultuous position. The Gerrigan character is ficticious and a composite of several characters from the novel of which the film is based. At times it seems like this composite was never fully fleshed out. The film never really establishes why Gerrigan so brashly steals Amin's gun to shoot a cow and yet at other times seems as nervous and uncertain as you would expect a man barely out of college to act in unfamiliar territory. It never establishes how Gerrigan appears to be as well-studied and composed as a seasoned doctor, and yet seems so naive and oblivious to much of anything else going on. I've never read the novel, but judging by the issues with Gerrigan's character, I can guess that the film may have benefitted from staying closer to the original work.
The Last King of Scotland clearly is not flawless, but Forrest Whittaker's performance alone makes the film worth watching. Furthermore, the film does an excellent job of documenting the rise and fall of Amin, one of many figures in Africa who caused the deaths of many, and yet is much less infamous than he would be had he existed in the "first world." In this way, The Last King of Scotland is invaluable.
--EK
The Last King of Scotland begins with Nicolas Gerrigan, a recently graduated med student in Scotland, perhaps unwilling to follow in his father's footsteps as a physician, deciding to travel somewhere at random. He ends up picking Uganda, follows through with it, and ends up working as a doctor at a mission there. He meets a married woman working there, played by Gillian Anderson, and nearly seduces her into an affair. But his travels take a drastic turn shorter thereafter, as he treats Idi Amin, the new Ugandan president (read: oppressive dictator), who injures his hand in a car accident. Distracted while treating the injury, Gerrigan shoots and kills a noisy and apparently injured cow using Amin's own pistol. Amin, impressed by his initiative and fearlessness, oppoints Gerrigan as his personal physician.
Slowly, Gerrigan's job as Amin's physician morphs into a job as his political advisior, as Amin becomes increasingly impressed with Gerrigan's character as he gets to know him more. Amin puts a great amount of trust in Gerrigan, partly because, being from Scotland, Amin feels Gerrigan somehow shares a distrust of the British, a feeling Amin developed as a boy growing up under British occupation. Gerrigan is, at first, a loyal lackey, hinging on every word Amin says about improving Uganda's infastructure, and gratefully accepting Amin's lavish gifts. It is only late in the film, and after Gerrigan has made several crucial mistakes, that he begins to piece together the gruesome reality of Amin's Ugandan revolution.
Forrest Whittaker won an Oscar for the film, and his performance is clearly the strong point. Whittaker at times shows Amin's charismatic facade that drew Gerrigan in, and at other times is nothing short of terrifying. Near the end of the film, as world opinion is turning sharply against Amin, and Gerrigan is administering him uppers to get him through the day, Whittaker simultaneously shows his almost pathetic state of frustration, and his enduring and frightening vengefullness.
The movie's main weakness is Gerrigan's character. It has nothing to do with the performance of James McAvoy who does a very good job opposite of Whittaker. But the film doesn't do a great job selling Gerrigan and how he gets into such a tumultuous position. The Gerrigan character is ficticious and a composite of several characters from the novel of which the film is based. At times it seems like this composite was never fully fleshed out. The film never really establishes why Gerrigan so brashly steals Amin's gun to shoot a cow and yet at other times seems as nervous and uncertain as you would expect a man barely out of college to act in unfamiliar territory. It never establishes how Gerrigan appears to be as well-studied and composed as a seasoned doctor, and yet seems so naive and oblivious to much of anything else going on. I've never read the novel, but judging by the issues with Gerrigan's character, I can guess that the film may have benefitted from staying closer to the original work.
The Last King of Scotland clearly is not flawless, but Forrest Whittaker's performance alone makes the film worth watching. Furthermore, the film does an excellent job of documenting the rise and fall of Amin, one of many figures in Africa who caused the deaths of many, and yet is much less infamous than he would be had he existed in the "first world." In this way, The Last King of Scotland is invaluable.
--EK
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Bad song lyrics of the day #2
"It's like a deadly game of freeze tag,
I touch you with a 44 mag and you're frozen inside a body bag"
--Dr. Dre and Ice Cube - "Natural Born Killers"
I touch you with a 44 mag and you're frozen inside a body bag"
--Dr. Dre and Ice Cube - "Natural Born Killers"
Monday, March 05, 2007
Bad song lyrics of the day #1
"Invisible kid
Locked away in his brain
From the shame and the pain
World down the drain
Invisible kid
Suspious of your touch
Don't want no crutch
But it's all too much"
--Metallica - Invisible Kid
I fully intend on making this a recurring thing for some reason. Most of them are probably going to be from this album.
Locked away in his brain
From the shame and the pain
World down the drain
Invisible kid
Suspious of your touch
Don't want no crutch
But it's all too much"
--Metallica - Invisible Kid
I fully intend on making this a recurring thing for some reason. Most of them are probably going to be from this album.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Fearless
Fearless (***1/2)
Fearless tells the story of Huo Yuan Jia (which is actually the film's original title), a renowned Chinese wushu master who competed during the beginning of the 20th century and formed a school which still exists internationally today. Huo Yuan Jia is played by Jet Li, supposedly acting in his final martial arts film at the age of 44. The film follows Huo from early in his life up until his death, and in this way is a very focused and personal film. At the same time, however, the film ties Huo's rise to national fame to China's desperate need for national pride, during a time when foreign governments had begun openly exploiting the country, and its once subservient neighbor of Japan had begun to force its will upon it.
The first half of the film begins with Huo as a youth aspiring to be like his father-- also a wushu mater-- and following him as he gains notoriety as a fighter himself and founds his martial arts school. This first act culminates in a bloody confruntation with another wushu master who injured one of his students. After this, the film transitions into a more relaxed interlude where Huo goes into a self-imposed exile in a rural farming community. This segment has no fighting and very little dialogue, but still contains some of the more poignant scenes in the film, as Huo meets a blind woman with whom he seems to develop an unspoken bond.
As beautiful as some of these scenes are, Fearless is clearly going to be remembered first and foremost for its fighting. Supposedly, very few wires were used in Fearless's filming, and its evident. The fighting is raw, fast, and intense and the full range of Jet Li's martial arts prowess is shown. The movie culminates in a scene in which Jet Li fights four different international fighters with four different fighting styles, with each fight having at least one "That kicked ass" moment. The film is going to be remembered for a long time amongst fans of martial arts movies.
Fearless is only a little over an hour and a half long, and the scenes setting up the political intrigue and cultural backdrop surrounding the fighting seem sort of barebones. There aren't any exchanges of dialogue that are going to be incredibly memorable-- save perhaps a scene where Huo philosophizes with a Japanese sword fighter-- and the vilification of the foreign characters seems somewhat over the top even in their limited time on screen. Still, the film's incredible fight sequences and beautiful fight scenes speak volumes even if the dialogue sometimes does not. And indeed, the most powerful statement of the film during the climactic fight requires no words whatsoever.
If Fearless is indeed Jet Li's last martial arts film, it is a good way to go out.
Fearless tells the story of Huo Yuan Jia (which is actually the film's original title), a renowned Chinese wushu master who competed during the beginning of the 20th century and formed a school which still exists internationally today. Huo Yuan Jia is played by Jet Li, supposedly acting in his final martial arts film at the age of 44. The film follows Huo from early in his life up until his death, and in this way is a very focused and personal film. At the same time, however, the film ties Huo's rise to national fame to China's desperate need for national pride, during a time when foreign governments had begun openly exploiting the country, and its once subservient neighbor of Japan had begun to force its will upon it.
The first half of the film begins with Huo as a youth aspiring to be like his father-- also a wushu mater-- and following him as he gains notoriety as a fighter himself and founds his martial arts school. This first act culminates in a bloody confruntation with another wushu master who injured one of his students. After this, the film transitions into a more relaxed interlude where Huo goes into a self-imposed exile in a rural farming community. This segment has no fighting and very little dialogue, but still contains some of the more poignant scenes in the film, as Huo meets a blind woman with whom he seems to develop an unspoken bond.
As beautiful as some of these scenes are, Fearless is clearly going to be remembered first and foremost for its fighting. Supposedly, very few wires were used in Fearless's filming, and its evident. The fighting is raw, fast, and intense and the full range of Jet Li's martial arts prowess is shown. The movie culminates in a scene in which Jet Li fights four different international fighters with four different fighting styles, with each fight having at least one "That kicked ass" moment. The film is going to be remembered for a long time amongst fans of martial arts movies.
Fearless is only a little over an hour and a half long, and the scenes setting up the political intrigue and cultural backdrop surrounding the fighting seem sort of barebones. There aren't any exchanges of dialogue that are going to be incredibly memorable-- save perhaps a scene where Huo philosophizes with a Japanese sword fighter-- and the vilification of the foreign characters seems somewhat over the top even in their limited time on screen. Still, the film's incredible fight sequences and beautiful fight scenes speak volumes even if the dialogue sometimes does not. And indeed, the most powerful statement of the film during the climactic fight requires no words whatsoever.
If Fearless is indeed Jet Li's last martial arts film, it is a good way to go out.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Movies I saw in 2006
The following are lists ranking all the films that have been released in the past 3 years. It'll be updated periodically.
2006 Movies
1. The Departed
2. V for Vendetta
3. Casino Royale
4. Thank You for Smoking
5. The Prestige
6. Inside Man
7. An Inconveinent Truth
8. A Scanner Darkly
9. Stranger than Fiction
10. Borat
11. Clerks II
12. Little Miss Sunshine
13. The Last King of Scotland
14. Fearless
15. Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest
Superman Returns
Lucky Number Slevin
Crank
Nacho Libre
X-Men: The Last Stand
2005 Movies
1. Good Night and Good Luck
2. Crash
3. Downfall
4. Sin City
5. Batman Begins
6. Oldboy
7. King Kong
8. Kung Fu Hustle
9. Syriana
10. A History of Violence
11. Millions
12. Proof
13. Star Wars: Episode III
14. Kicking & Screaming
15. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Producers
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
War of the Worlds
The Pacifier
2004 Movies
1. Million Dollar Baby
T-2. House of Flying Daggers
T-2. Hero
3. The Aviator
4. Kill Bill 2
5. The Life Aquatic
6. Ray
7. The Terminal
8. Spiderman 2
9. Collateral
10. The Bourne Supremacy
11. Hellboy
12. Garden State
13. Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
14. Anchorman
15. Napolean Dynomite
16. Supersize Me
17. Fahrenheit 9\11
18. Dodgeball
19. Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
20. Team America
Starsky and Hutch
Van Helsing
Alien vs. Predator
Saw
2006 Movies
1. The Departed
2. V for Vendetta
3. Casino Royale
4. Thank You for Smoking
5. The Prestige
6. Inside Man
7. An Inconveinent Truth
8. A Scanner Darkly
9. Stranger than Fiction
10. Borat
11. Clerks II
12. Little Miss Sunshine
13. The Last King of Scotland
14. Fearless
15. Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest
Superman Returns
Lucky Number Slevin
Crank
Nacho Libre
X-Men: The Last Stand
2005 Movies
1. Good Night and Good Luck
2. Crash
3. Downfall
4. Sin City
5. Batman Begins
6. Oldboy
7. King Kong
8. Kung Fu Hustle
9. Syriana
10. A History of Violence
11. Millions
12. Proof
13. Star Wars: Episode III
14. Kicking & Screaming
15. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Producers
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
War of the Worlds
The Pacifier
2004 Movies
1. Million Dollar Baby
T-2. House of Flying Daggers
T-2. Hero
3. The Aviator
4. Kill Bill 2
5. The Life Aquatic
6. Ray
7. The Terminal
8. Spiderman 2
9. Collateral
10. The Bourne Supremacy
11. Hellboy
12. Garden State
13. Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
14. Anchorman
15. Napolean Dynomite
16. Supersize Me
17. Fahrenheit 9\11
18. Dodgeball
19. Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
20. Team America
Starsky and Hutch
Van Helsing
Alien vs. Predator
Saw
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