Archive for March, 2009
Sudden Thought
I don’t like Kristen Stewart. I remember her as being the worst part of Panic Room, and that’s saying something. She just looks a little off. Anyway, that’s why I don’t feel the need to see Twilight. That and the fact that it’s aimed at teens too young to have gone through Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And middle-aged knuckleheads who live with their moms who were actually around for BtVS.
So I’m a little torn about Adventureland, which comes out this coming weekend, because it looks really funny. Maybe if I pretend Kristen Stewart’s not in it. It does have Bill Hader, who’s funny without trying, and it has that early-80s look about it that feels mocking and authentic at the same time..
443 – Monsters versus Aliens
Posted by frothy in Monsters versus Aliens on March 29, 2009
Who do you root for when it’s aliens versus monsters, anyway? This isn’t like Aliens versus Predator, where no matter who won, we lost. Ok, time’s up – it’s monsters. The monsters – the Missing Link, Dr. Cockroach, Ginormica, B.O.B., and Insectosaurus – are on our side, helping to defend Earth from the dastardly intentions of one Gallaxahar.
Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) is searching for an element called quantonium, which he believes will make him superpowerful or something. Some quantonium has landed on Earth in the form of a meteorite. A meteorite that lands on Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) right before her wedding, causing her to grow to enormous proportions! Soon the military catches her and imprisons her with other caught monsters from over the past fifty years. And then when Gallaxhar sends a massive robot probe to Earth, a probe that is invulnerable to all attacks, only one group of mostly inhumanoids can save the day!
In addition to Susan, now known as Ginormica, there’s B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), a gelatinous blob; Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie) , a roach-human hybrid; The Missing Link (Will Arnett), a gill-man; and Insectosaurus, a giant – and I mean giant – grub. Bound together by a thirst for justice and fresh air, they “agree” to fight back against the robot probe.
Couple of things to note here. First, although this is a PG-rated film, there’s a notable use of the word “boobies.” As a male adult, I think it’s awesome that such a word has finally made into kiddie fare, although the fact that I have no kids probably plays into that a little bit. Still, I don’t think it bothered the sold-out crowd in the theater; at least there were no audible gasps. Also, the violence, because it’s in 3D – yes!! – is a little more intense than for a 2D movie, since it’s all in your face and such. Again, I don’t think it affected the kidlets negatively.
Another thing to note is that Seth Rogen is a comedic genius. Fans of his live-action stuff have known that for a while, of course, and now the kids will, too, if they know he’s the voice behind B.O.B., who falls for a plate of Jell-O at one point. Rogen’s comic timing is hilariously on key, and he always sounds as if he’s having the time of his life.
Reese Witherspoon (like Rene Zellweger in Bee Movie), as Susan, is a sweet, engaging voice actress as well. Her bemusement as she struggles with her sudden height – she uses cars as roller skates – is entertaining. There are also some slight nods to other movies; the President (played memorably by Stephen Colbert) plays the famouns five notes from Close Encounters of the Third Kind before showing the Vulcan hand sign. And when the military attacks the probe, one plane has “ET GO HOME” painted on its side.
This is definitely a movie that makes good use of 3D technology, and it’s one that viewed in 2D would seem pedestrian. It’s not quite a classic, but there are plenty of good jokes – particularly from Rogen – and it’s well cast. The kids will enjoy it, and it’s another in a line of enjoyable DreamWorks animated features.
***
442 – RocknRolla
Posted by frothy in RocknRolla on March 29, 2009
Sometimes film critics, amateurs and pros alike, will use a certain trope to draw in their readers, such as “If you liked X, you’ll love Y!” Since this can be applied to virtually any movie ever made, it’s viewed as sort of a crutch.
So if you liked Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch., you’ll like RocknRolla, yet another gangster movie set in London featuring guns, mayhem, and bad guys with sometimes-indecipherable accents. The good news about the latter is that the violence is so intense and exhilirating that the actual dialog often is inconsequential.
Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson) is a low-level mob boss in London who thinks he’s The Man. His scams involve real estate holdings. One Two (Gerard Butler of 300) and Mumbles (Idris Elba) owe Lenny some money, which he needs to help close a deal. Also involved with the deal is the Russian Uri (Karel Roden), who is helping to grease the deal’s skids by providing bribery money. Only he doesn’t have the money – because One Two and Mumbles, along with Handome Bob (Tom Hardy) keep stealing it, at the behest of Uri’s accountant, Stella (Thandie Newton).
To keep the deal afloat for the time being, Uri loans a painting to Lenny as a token of trust. The painting is almost immediately stolen from Lenny, and for the rest of the movie, seemingly everyone in London tries to track it down; all the while, Lenny desperately tries to keep the fact that it’s been stolen from Uri.
And finally, alongside all of this manic chaos is Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell), a drug-addled, philosophizing rock star who also happens to be Lenny’s son. He’s died several times, often just so he can lay low and do more drugs.
As always, Ritchie has populated his movie with a colorful array of wacky, oddly named characters. If you’re not attuned to the Cockney accents, you might find the dialog a little tough to follow at times, but you get swept up rather easily in the action. Ritchie’s gangster flicks are simply a tidal wave of what’s cool and stylish. RocknRolla is solid mindless entertainment, although if you actually wish to follow the intricate plot (who has the painting, who’s ratted out whom), you might stumble at times. Wilkinson and Butler are standouts.
***
441 – 12 Rounds
In 12 Rounds, an intrepid cop/detective (John Cena) matches wits with an Irish killer (Aidan Gillen) who’s holding his girlfriend hostage in New Orleans. Danny Fisher must go the distance with the madman via “rounds” – that is, challenges – in order to save his girl. Think of it as Saw meets Die Hard, without the profanity and gore.
Now, this is a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) production, so I assumed that it would be kind of action heavy, something that Stallone might have done in the eighties, something with Mack-truck-sized plot holes. But it’s not nearly as disappointing; it has an actual plot and throws in enough turns to keep you riveted. Sometimes it helps to have low expectations.
First, here’s the good stuff. There are a LOT of explosions. The movie’s one big explosion, come to think of it. And of course it is, it’s directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger). Now, you might think that a movie that’s just one big explosion would get tedious eventually, but the movie’s tone harkens back to those mindless star-powered action movies of yesteryear – that is, the Hero is more superhero than actual guy, and that gives it a little more appeal.
Then there’s Cena. For a pro wrestler, he’s a very good action star. He’s believable and sincere, and since he’s in peak physical condition you get the impression that he actually can do the grueling feats he’s attempting. His likability here saves the movie, at least to some extent. Cena’s not a character I’ve thought of as particularly charismatic, at least not in the sense that Roddy Piper was/is charismatic, but he’s a Git R Done, meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. He’s no frills action, a man you could see playing a cop, like here, or a fireman, or an astronaut.
Fisher’s adversary, played by Adian Gillen, is a master planner, a meticulous scholar of revenge. The impetus for his kidnapping of Fisher’s girl is that Miles Jackson’s girl was accidentally killed in a hit and run while they were attempting to flee Fisher a year previously (to the day, of course). Obviously, the girl’s death was all Danny Fisher’s fault, so Jackson escapes from prison and hatches his elaborate scheme.
The challenges are pretty nifty, too. In one, Fisher has two safety deposit boxes. One has a bomb in it, whereas the other one has info about the next challenge “round.” He has to bring the contents of one of them to a location at least 20 minutes away – in about seven minutes, or the bomb will go off. He has to figure out a) exactly where the other location is and b) which of the two boxes is the bomb. In another challenge, Fisher’s action in an earlier challenge has deactivated the brakes in a trolley car, which is now building up amazing speed (for a trolley car); somehow, Fisher needs to stop the trolley. Sort of reminiscent – or derivative – of Speed, but still.
Now some of the bad stuff. The endgame is easy to spot, certainly, but that might not be a debit for the most diehard (pun) fan of action movies. I didn’t think the actress playing Fisher’s gal, Ashley Scott, was all that good – not really hot, as you want your damsel in distress to be, and not really believable, as you want any character to be. At least I wasn’t openly rooting for her to perish.
12 Rounds reminds me of that surge of action films that came out post-Die Hard. You know, Die Hard on a plane, Die Hard on a boat, and so on. It’s derivative of just about any action movie you can think of, really, with some of the dialog bordering on the highly laughable. But for me, I was able to ignore those obvious flaws and concentrate on the intrepid heroism of John Cena, just as the producers intended me to do. So yes, it’s manipulative fluff that will appeal to only a small audience.
**1/2
It’s That Guy.
You know That Guy. You’re watching a movie, and suddenly there he is. “Hey, it’s That Guy!” you exclaim, even though you live at home on account of no one likes it when you exclaim for no good reason.
That Guy is usually some dude you recognize, but you can’t remember his name. Sometimes That Guy is a woman, too. You’re all, I know him/her. Where have I seen him/her before? Oh, it’ll come to me, whoever him/her is.
Empire Online gives us a list! Now you’ll know That Guy!
WTH computers don’t work that way OMGLOL
UGO.com picks on the movies in which computers are used in ways that defy logic and technology. I mean, you could argue that you’re supposed to suspend your disbelief BLAH BLAH BLAH but gee whilikers Aunt Bea, they sort of have to make sense, dontcha know?
As an added bonus, you can read the user comments by professional nerdos.
Dastardly film noir, midget cowboys, and thou.
Posted by frothy in Devil and Miss Jones (1941), Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007), Peeping Tom (1960), Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970), Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), Reckless Moment (1949), Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980), Terror in Tiny Town (1938), Three Strangers (1946), Vanishing (1988) on March 21, 2009
My most recent reviews have been of current (or sort of current) movies, but I’ve also seen a slew of older ones. Rather than bore you with pointless supersize yakkings, I’ll just do snippets. Blurbs, if you will. That’s what the cool kids call them, right?
The Reckless Moment (1949, ***1/2): Greatly overlooked film noir about an upper-middle-class mom (Joan Bennett) who mistakenly thinks her daughter has killed her much-older boyfriend; the mom hides the body, but she’s soon extorted by a shady Irishman (James Mason with a thick brogue, only a couple years after Odd Man Out). Tense thriller is exceptionally well shot.
Mr. Bean’s Holiday (2007, **). Even if you liked the first film, you’d have to look long and hard to find something appealing about this tale. Rowan Atkinson returns as Mr. Bean, who somehow wins a trip to Paris, with all the expected difficulties along the way. Something about his inadvertently causing a father and son to get separated and then having to reuinite them against the odds. Bean’s just stupid and annoying, symbolic of the film as a whole.
Three Strangers (1946, ***1/2): Excellent film noir about the titular trio who share a lottery ticket under mysterious circumstances. Stars noir favorites Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet plus Geraldine Fitzgerald. Well crafted and engaging, keeping its ending a secret to, well, the end.
Peeping Tom (1960, ****): Brilliant, ahead-of-its-time thriller about a reclusive movie photographer (KarlHeinz Bohm) who murders young women, filming them as they die. It’s absolutely not for all tastes, but it avoids being grisly or overtly nasty; what frightens you the most is what you don’t see. Legendary actress Moira Shearer appears in a brief scene. This film was so poorly received when it was released that it effectively ended the career of its director, Michael Powel, who had collaborated with Emric Pressburger to give us such classics as Stairway to Heaven, All that Heaven Allows, and The Red Shoes (also with Shearer).
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002, ***1/2): Gripping story about three very young Aborigines who escape from a government home in Austrtalia and trek over 1,500 miles to return to their families. (Back in the 1930s – and as recently as 1970 – half-caste kids were taken from their homes by the government and raised separately.) Kenneth Branagh is the Chief Protector of the Aborignes who steadfastly pursues the girls. The fence of the title (three of them, actually) bisects Australia, sea to shining sea, and the girls make use of it as a landmark. Not to be missed.
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941, ***1/2): Screwball comedy about the world’s richest man (Charles Coburn, who was nominated for an Oscar) who gets a job in one of his own department stores (remember them?) incognito so he can rout out agitators, only to sympathize with them. Jean Arthur, Spring Byington, and Robert Cummings also star.
Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980, ***): Excellent first feature from writer-director John Sayles about a group of old friends reuniting for a weekend. It’s a precursor to The Big Chill, and in many ways it’s its superior, with subtle acting and less reliance on a period soundtrack. Ambiguous ending might bother you, but this is funny and a lot of fun.
Terror in Tiny Town (1938, **): Yes, it’s midget cowboys. If we pretend for a moment that everyone in the cast is of normal height, it’s still a dumb oater, even for 1938, but the novelty of the little people pushes it over the edge. Amusingly enough, when the cowpokes sing they sound like Gene Autry.
Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970, ***): Gene Wilder as a sweet Irish lad who collects manure (to sell, not as a hobby), falls for an American student (Margot Kidder). Wilder’s brogue sounds really good, surprisingly enough – not overdone at all. Overlooked slice-of-life comedy; great early Wilder.
The Vanishing (1988, ***1/2): Dutch psychological thriller about a woman who’s abducted at a gas station – and whose friend spends three years obsessively looking for her, even to the detriment of his new relationship. The ending is not for the faint of heart. Later remade with Jeff Bridges and Kiefer Sutherland; this one outshines it.
Natasha Richardson dies after skiing accident
Posted by frothy in News/Rumors on March 18, 2009
She was quite an actress with a unique pedigree, and now Natasha Richardson has died at age 45 from injuries sustained in a skiing accident in Canada.
Her mom is Vanessa Redgrave. Her dad, the late Tony Richardson. Her sister, Joely Richardson. Her aunt, Lynn Redgrave. And Liam Neeson, whom she’d met during the filming of Nell, was her husband.
Notable films:
Patty Hearst (1988)
Fat Man and Little Boy (1988)
The Handmaid’s Tale (1990)
Nell (1994)
Waking up in Reno (2002)
Maid in Manhattan (2002)
If you haven’t seen it, The Handmaid’s Tale is very good, a bit underrated. It’s a sci-fi piece about a distant future in which most women are barren, so those who can bear kids are coveted by rich folks. Richardson is the handmaid to Robert Duvall. Faye Dunaway is Duvall’s jealous, seething wife, and Aidan Quinn is the handsome lad who takes a fancy to the virtual-prisoner Richardson.
Disturbing
Because I like lists, I give you IGN’s 15 Most Disturbing Films.
For those really into this kind of thing, you might not find too many surprises. For those who don’t like disturbing films, now you know what to stay away from.
I’ve seen a lot of the movies on this list, and there aren’t any I disagree with. And I think #1, which I wrote about here, deserves its spot.
Clever allusions in Watchmen
The opening sequence to Watchmen is one of the most complicated and rewarding ever put on celluloid. Since the 1985 of the movie is, well, an alternate 1985, world events leading up to the present may not have played out the same way they did in our 1985. (To wit, The Comedian and Dr. Manhattan are both involved with the Vietnam conflict.) So what the opening sequence does is give you a taste of the history of the Watchmen (and their predecessors, the Minutemen), intertwining it with world events.
Even if you were really looking hard, it’d be tough to come up with all the subtle allusions in the opener, so the fine folks at io9 have done it for you.
Man wants camera in eye, barred from attending film screenings
Ok, I made that last part up. But a Canadian filmmaker does want a camera implanted in his (nonworking) eye, which he lost in an accident as a teenager. Sort of a full-throttle cinema verite.
Not the kind of thing I’d want to do, available eye socket or not. But man, if this guy never told anyone he had a cyborg eye, how cool would that be? He could record everyone! Hilarity would be sure to ensue.
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