A little late to the party...

During my recent trip to Los Angeles, I skipped the FM radio and kept the tunes streaming in from the satellite via Sirius XM U. Phoenix, which Firecracker George posted about awhile back got some pretty heavy play, as did plenty of other slightly less mainstream bands including this group, Animal Collective. I downloaded the rest of the album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, at it's got some pretty awesome tracks that incorporate that synthesized wall of sound rave-like kind of atmosphere. Kind of interesting to me that we're getting back to that 80's style of processed electronica after a decade or so of acoustic, "unplugged" music in the 90's.

Anywho, give this album a listen if you get the chance. Apparently, it's already been out for a few months. By the time I catch up with all these new bands, the pendulum will swing back to bare folk music. I am so not hip.

It's only true love if she loves you back...

When do you know you've met "the one?" It is asked throughout the ages, yet I can't find anyone that can give a definitive answer to what seems like a simple question. Countless movies have been made about such feelings of destiny and fate. (500) Days of Summer adds to the catalog of these romantic comedies, but uses a somewhat unconventional way to get to the answer by telling us straight out at the beginning of the film--"You should know up front this is not a love story."

Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a hopeless romantic who believes in the classical Hollywood conceit of love at first sight. When he sees Summer (Zooey Deschanel), the new worker at the greeting card company where he works, he is instantly smitten and convinced he's met his soulmate. Summer seems oblivious to Tom's interests until her feelings are revealed in a makeout session in the copy room. From there, it's pure bliss for Tom, although we know unhappiness is likely on the horizon when Summer admits early on that she isn't a believer in true romance.
(500) Days of Summer skips back and forth in the timeline to give us various glimpses of what the 500 days of their relationship was like. But rather than being disjointed and confusing, this approach gives us a better understanding of events to compare and contrast. The peak of giddiness Tom feels after consumating their relationship is portrayed in a wonderful satire on a mainstay of the romantic comedy formula that combines a glimpse of Han Solo and a classic Hall and Oates track. Contrast to the loneliness and betrayal felt after their breakup when he is invited to a party thrown by Summer where he finds out some unsettling news. Casting Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel in the lead roles is wonderful. Although neither is what may be considered the epitome of beauty, they are mesmerizing, especially Zooey Deschanel whose blue eyes are enhanced by use of the color blue throughout the movie. The chemistry between the two is pitch-perfect as two individuals who seemed destined for each other and all the more painful to watch. We see the entire movie essentially from Tom's point of view, and sympathize completely with the heartbreak we know is about to unfold before our eyes.

So is this a downer of a film? Does this completely dispel the myth of fated love and destiny? Far from it, strangely enough. In deconstructing the relationship of Tom and Summer, we actually find some hope at the end of this movie that "the one" is truly out there somewhere.

The Clone Wars Animated Series

Last fall the Cartoon Network started a series on the Clone Wars. I am sure that everyone was aware of it, but I have been surprised that I haven't heard from anyone else in the gang that they are watching it. So ... I decided to put up a review about it.

Each episode is a short 30 minutes, which translates to about 22 minutes of actual show time. Star Wars the Clone Wars is set in between Episodes II and III as far as I can tell, and the shows are a much more thorough set-up to Episode III than the iconic scrolling words you find at the beginning of that movie.

You get much more exposure to other characters that you hoped for from the films. While I enjoyed the movies, I felt like they lacked significantly. There didn't seem to be the mysterious element found in Episodes IV and V. General Grevious had so much potential, but didn't really do it for me. In the series on TV, however, you get a deeper look into who Grevious was and is. I have only watched the first 10 episodes, and the last one was entitled Lair of Grevious which reveals some fascinating character history. This was the sort of thing I loved about Boba Fett and his Mandalorian armor. There was some character history there, but not enough to give you the whole story. Plus what was there often had to be read between lines. In the Lair of Grevious you get glimpses at statues of ancient warriors in battle. Each successive statue looks to be a transforming version of the previous one, and each one has similarities to what Grevious looks like. Interesting indeed. You also get to watch other Jedis in battle and on missions. Its like being a kid all over agian in the Star Wars universe.

Most of the episodes have been very enjoyable. They all start in a similar fashion to the movies. Instead of scrolling text to set up the current story, they start with a one line proverb of sorts. Then each episode reveals the truth behind the proverb. There are times where it is a little too hokey with the padawan learners or newly knighted masters still showing there immaturity. This really has been my biggest if not my only disappointment to the shows. I can't imagine that you would make it into the jedi fold with such undisciplined thoughts and actions, but maybe this is just the writers way of showing the jedi losing there ability.

I would highly recommend watching the series. In a strange sort of way it has given me some of that excitement I was missing from the movies. From what I understand you can watch episodes on the Cartoon Network. Let me know what you think.

Hells yeah.

When I saw that a sequel to Hellboy was coming out, I figured that I'd finally Netflix the original. I remember seeing the Mike Mignola comic back in the day, and it looked pretty cool though I never read it.

Anywho, I figured that I'd give Hellboy a look, and it was a good movie. Good story, good acting, very visually well done. So, I was eager for the sequel, especially considering it touted it's lineage with Pan's Labyrinth, which was a great story and an absolutely stunning film, visually.

I'm moved to a new office with no known co-workers, and I literally have nothing to do. Monday morning I get an email from the boss - "I forgot to tell everyone, but I'm on vacation until Thursday."

Oh yeah, I'm playing hooky.

A Monday afternoon seemed the perfect time to catch Hellboy 2. No crowds + matinee price = awesomesauce. I can say that it was as good as if not better than the original. It was certainly more daring in terms of how much fantasy they tried to make reality. In a comic of course you are pretty much unencumbered by how fantastic you make the artwork. In movies however, it's much tougher, and wasn't even close to possible until the advent of high grade CGI (which now that I think about it, makes those 80's Superman movies even more impressive.) Anywho, Hellboy 2 does on film as well as any high-art comic book. Imagine if someone could actually port a Moebius comic over to film without losing anything, and you'll get the gist of how beautifully done Hellboy 2 is. Guillermo del Toro is a skilled mofo.

On top of that, the story is likeable and the pace is very good. It's not frantic but it moves along nicely. The characters are also surprisingly beliveable, given that they are demon raised to be good, his pyrokinetic girlfriend, and a clairvoyant fishman. The acting is also surprisingly good (well, so was the previous movie) particularly considering the amount of make-up and foam rubber these actors wear.

Lastly, the villain in this one is awesome. I don't know if it was the actor himself or a stunt double, but his fight scenes were friggin awesome. True, there was wire work (but plausible reason to suspend disbelief), but this cat's Wu Shu (Kung Fu) was impressive.

So I wondered why I didn't feel more sucked in by this film. So far my best guess is that there is just too much to take in. I'll be buying these on DVD. I think once Del Toro gets to do his third film, this series will get the credit it deserves.

One last thing for Wander; Seth MacFarlane is in the movie. Go see it and try to guess who he is.

A viewing you won't need sunglasses or SPF to watch...

Sometime today, NASA's Messenger spacecraft, which left the Earth over two years ago, shot right past Mercury to give us a glimpse of the innermost planet for the first time in 30 years.  This is only part of Messenger's journey, as it has to make a few more swings around the universe to slow down enough to be able to park itself into orbit around Mercury in 2011.  Imagine the planning it must take to figure out how to accurately position a satellite that won't get to it's destination for another six years from when it initially lifted off.  Get just the most minute angle wrong, and instead of a great opportunity for scientific discovery, you've got space junk.  It's a formidable task to put the shear immensity of our solar system into a scale we can comprehend.  Sunshine, a film directed by Danny Boyle that's out on DVD now, takes advantage of this as it's focal plot point.  

Wander posted a trailer for this film back in the summer, but I never got the chance to see it in the theaters.  To refresh your memories about the basic premise, fifty years in the future, the human race discovers that the Sun is literally burning out, and has sent a last ditch effort in the form of Icarus II and it's crew to our life-giving star in hopes of delivering a fissile payload "the size of the island of Manhattan" to reignite it.  Of course, the Sun is a long way from home, and the crew doesn't have the luxury of calling home for directions when problems arise along the way.  A distress beacon from Icarus I, the original mission to the Sun that was presumed to have failed, creates a fork in the road that can lead to a better chance for success or a recipe for disaster.  

I find that there are two types of science fiction.  The first is the preposterous movies that defy any logic or sense of the laws of physics to present an over-the-top action flick.  These popcorn flicks are all well and good, but I tend to enjoy the second kind of sci-fi movie instead--the "what if?" scenarios grounded in actual science that create a backdrop for explorations of the deeper issues of the human condition.  Sunshine falls into this second category.  What do you do when the survival of humanity is literally on the line?  How will you react when you have no hope of returning home?  If God's creation is literally flaming out, is it truly the place for mere mortals to interfere?  These are some of the questions posed in the film that I think Danny Boyle does a good job of presenting in the form of conflicts between the crew of Icarus II. 

 

The cast does a pretty good job of creating a realistic environment of a crew out on their own with no one to depend on but each other, but perhaps the greatest quality of this movie is the utilization of the Sun as a vehicle for tension and action.  Sitting out in the Arizona desert seems like a dip in the cold plunge in comparison to getting stuck out in space fully exposed to the Sun's rays in the proximity the Icarus II must get to in the film.  

All in all, Sunshine is an excellent movie that's worth a viewing in the comfort of your own home.  

It makes The Omega Man look like some crappy old Chuck Heston movie.

I saw I Am Legend Friday night, and I was surprised at how good it was. Honestly, I was expecting something more along the lines of I, Robot, which was a moderately entertaining, two-hour long advertisement. I think this picture from The Best Page in The Universe sums up the gist of that movie.



Anywho, back to the good movie. I've seen The Omega Man (1971), which is a good lying-on-the-couch-watching-old-sci-fi-after-I-mowed-the-lawn movie. I didn't see The Last Man on Earth (1964), which was the first of the three movies made from the 1954 Richard Matheson novel, I Am Legend. I don't plan on seeing it, either. It stars Vincent Price, who although is famous for his horror work, I don't think was a particularly good actor. That and Matheson wrote the script for the movie, but then insisting he be credited as Logan Swanson because they rewrote the script in his absence and butchered it. He didn't want that stinker attributed to him, hence the nom de plume.

Apparently this latest incarnation with Smith is closer to the original story than the previous films, and even if it isn't, it's certainly much better. It's somewhat plot, but much more performance driven, and it takes an actor of Smith's caliber to make this movie as good as it is. His acting (which is probably 90% or more of the screen time) is convincing yet subtle, and probably lost on many laypeople (including myself, somewhat.) Like DeNiro, his facial expressions and body language are what really sell it, although his spoken parts are fantastic as well. He plays the military mind-set (won't leave his post), the loneliness, the fear, the despair, and the rage (I won't say why) all equally well.

I thought the telling of the story was well-paced, although that could have been because I knew the story in a nut-shell already. The friend I saw it with actually said half-way through, "Dood, this is boring." As I said though, the strength of the movie was the performance. I think if you don't get sucked in by that, and are expecting a faster pace, you might not dig it. Luckily, however, that wasn't me.

Another facet I really enjoyed about this movie was the message. It doesn't really show up until the end, but it's a good one. It reminds us why it's important to keep fighting the good fight, even if you look sure to lose. It really beats the pants of the allegory in The Omega, which was just a hammy Passion Play, with Heston playing the allegorical Christ. I tells ya, first Moses, then Jesus. Chucky baby had to be eating that up.

*** A little digression here. I rip on Charleton Heston quite a bit, yet I watch The Omega Man, Soylent Green, and the first two Planet of The Apes movies whenever they're on TV. I have even rented most of them from Netflicks. It's funny that he's done so much classic sci-fi - I wonder if he laments not getting to be in Logan's Run. (DAMN MICHAEL YORK! DAMN HIM ALL TO HELL!) I swear that cat smiles upside down. It's creepy. Anyway, I like all these movies, but I think I can say with confidence that Charleton Heston being in them had nothing to do with my enjoyment. You could have cast many other actors and gotten movies just as good if not better. The same can't be said for I Am Legend. ***

The only criticisms I have are the CGI bad guys, and the main character's reaction to seeing real people again. As for the later, I wasn't 100% sold on his reaction, but honestly there are a couple of good reasons why he might act the way he did (but I won't go into them for spoiler sake). I personally can't fathom being completely alone in the world, save for vampiric monster people trying to kill me, and then running into other real people, so maybe that reaction was completely appropriate.

As for the CGI critters, their movement was actually superb, but up close they didn't look opaque and three dimensional enough, and their physiology was too skewed to look real (possibly to make them look scarier, but if that's the case I think it backfired). Ten years ago they would have been the bomb-diggity, but in comparison to Spider-Man and other fantastic CGI work nowadays, it was lacking.

The last negative on this movie was that Smith has a female German Shepard as his only companion, and Samantha looked awfully like my Gretel. It was a strange experience mourning my pooch again while watching the movie, but actually may be a small part of why I got so deep into it.

Hopefully with this movie and Ali, Smith will leave stuff like Bad Boys and Independence Day for his early career. In keeping with the Kool-Aid Gang's metrics, I rate this movie Very Cheesy, bearing in mind that I would reserve Dangerously Cheesy for life-changing movies, such as Forrest Gump, American Beauty, and The Green Mile.

When little white lies blow up in your face...

Aaaaaah, Keira Knightley. She hasn't been in all that many films yet, but I think she's slowly becoming one of my favorite actresses on the screen these days. I came out of the closet (owning up to my love of the romantic drama or comedy, not that I'm gay, not that there's anything wrong with that) awhile back and admitted my enjoyment of her last sappy chick flick Pride and Prejudice. Considering she teamed up with director Joe Wright for another go in the movie Atonement, I figured this would be right up my alley.

Cecilia (Keira Knightley) is the eldest daughter of the Tallis family who has an antagonistic relationship with Robbie (James McEvoy), the son of one of the estate's kitchen help. As in most love stories, antagonism really means love, and Robbie chooses to confess his love to Cecilia via a letter during a formal dinner party he was invited to. Thrown in the mix is Cecilia's younger sister Briony, who has a slight crush on Robbie herself. A small mix-up in the letter Robbie has delivered to Cecilia, and the misconceptions of a very young Briony turn what should have been a simple love affair with a happy ending into something completely disasterous for Robbie and his future with Cecilia. Robbie ends up jailed for a crime he didn't commit, and eventually finds himself fighting the Nazis in France as a plea bargain to get out of prison. Meanwhile, Cecilia waits patiently for her love to return from war.

Based on what some call a modern literary classic by Ian McEwan, Atonement is a sweeping story of emotions, perceptions, and heartache. What I thought would be another weepy love story ends up being more a tale of regret. Over the course of events, we watch an older Briony as she recounts what she did in the past, trying to atone for her sins.  The romance angle is somewhat underdeveloped, as it's really just the underpinnings to set up a tragic ending.  Give credit to some great acting by Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, though, to get us believing in the passionate love between their characters.  Rather than the drawn out longing of Pride and Prejudice, we get less than the first act of the movie to empathize with what's going on with Cecilia and Robert.  This may be one of the few instances where I thought a steamy sex scene was vital to a movie.

Joe Wright again proves himself to be a fine director, all summed up in a five minute panning one-shot sequence towards the middle of the film that follows Robbie walking the beaches of France while awaiting evacuation with his thousands of other retreating British soldiers in what seems to be limbo on Earth as men devolve into their more basic instincts of survival.  A big pet peeve of movies these days is also answered in this film with a memorable and unique orchestral score that utilizes the clicks of a typewriter as its main instrument.  Who knew you could create so much tension with an old manual Corona portable?

Overall, a fine movie that deserves all the accolades it's received so far from the critics.  Here's hoping for more of Keira Knightley and Joe Wright in the future.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

It might not come as a shock to any of the Kool-Aid Gang that I went to see this movie. I have long been a fan of both alien species and the suspense they have brought to the big screen in the past. The original Predator movie was a great flick for any teen-age guy or any other simple minded male for that matter. Aliens (the second Alien movie) was probably even better entertainment. It is the only movie that could be considered suspense/horror that I even like, and interestingly I like it a whole lot.

One of the main draws to both species is their mystique. I will never forget in Predator 2 seeing the alien skull in the trophy room and getting all excited about it. The weaponry of the Predator is also fascinating to me as well. I am not afraid to admit that when the first Aliens vs. Predator movie came out, I went to see it. It might have been an empty theater (and for good reason), but I was still their hoping to see if the writers and directors revealed any more of the mystique. They didn't, and their formula for having the predator befriend the heroine was lame.

This however is not a review of that movie, it is a review of Requiem. I walked into this theater with very low expectations. Heck the movie isn't even 90 minutes long, so how much cool stuff could there be. Surprisingly there was enough to satisfy me. Revealed in the invisitext are some things that I found interesting, and even some things that I found confusing but cool all the same. The Predator species transfer of previously seen visual images through liquid was the one that I thought was cool but I am still not sure that is what was happening. There were also some wicked laser nets that the predator set up to flush the aliens toward him (or her for that matter - who knows what sex they are - based on one glimpse of their planet they are probably asexual). One thing that dawned on me in this movie that hasn't in any of the others concerns the mask of the Predator. While it is not overtly revealed in this movie, I did wonder if their mask design helps to keep impregnation of an alien from getting into their throats. There were other things that I found cool, but one that I am not too fond of is how the alien seems to take on the form of its host. This adaptation in the latter Alien movies was one that I always thought was stupid, and I still do for that matter. This movie, however, was able to at least make it less stupid.

The best way for me to describe this movie is to say that it is good entertainment. It was predominantly formulaic. It has a very "Gremlins" type feel to it which made it feel even more right for the Christmas time. Gremlins, at the age that I saw it, was a fun movie. Watching this made me feel like a teen-age boy again. Afterwards, I wanted to go to Firecracker George's house, sit on the couch, and waste the rest of the night away. Where this installment of the Aliens vs Predator movies comes out on top is its ability to use the formulaic plot to reveal more of the creatures' mystique. Also, the first AVP made some connections to the original Aliens movies but the connection that AVP:R made was much more of an "oooh that is kind of cool" thought than I felt like the first one did. My biggest complaint about this movie was the camera proximity to the aliens. We all know what the aliens look like so trying to create some suspense by having the camera inches from the head or mouth just doesn't work. As a matter of fact, it just pissed me off. I think I would have enjoyed some wider angles that allow me to see more of what is going on. Overall, I would recommend this movie to the Kool-Aid gang, but I would say leave your wives at home. My rating hits the very cheesy mark, but it should also be known that this bag of Cheetos is one of those that is mostly just cheesy but every so often you pull one out of the bag that is very cheesy.

Alas, it's not a lesbian porn film either...

I've probably mentioned this before, but I'm sort of a sucker for any movie with Meg Ryan.  Romantic comedy (Sleepless In Seattle, French Kiss), action war drama (Courage Under Fire), suspenseful thriller (The Presidio, In the Cut)--if she's in it, I'll watch it.  Even an ensemble chick flick like Hanging Up and it's threat of the ubiquitous girlie sing-a-long--yup, endured it, watched it, liked Meg Ryan in it.  You could almost say, I have a crush on her.  So, of course, I had to watch her last movie on DVD, In the Land of Women.  

Oddly, the movie studios marketed this movie with posters like that to the left, screaming Generation Y romance.  Watch Adam Brody, straight from that hipster show The O.C., and emerging young star Kristin Stewart make out, fall in love, have babies, etc.  In reality, that kiss lasted all of five seconds, and really had nothing to do with a romantic coupling in the making at all.  This is not bad, though.  Instead, the debut film of young director Jonathan Kasdan is something much less formulaic, telling the story of Carter Webb (Adam Brody), an aspiring writer and softcore porn scripter from LA who gets dumped by his pretty Hollywood starlet girlfriend, and subsequently volunteers to take care of his senile grandmother in Michigan as an excuse to nurse his broken heart and figure out what's going on his life.  While there, he meets the Hardwickes across the street, who are dealing with their own heartaches, as well.  Sarah (Meg Ryan) is wrestling with regrets as she struggles with a new diagnosis of breast cancer and the realization of her own mortality, while her daughter Lucy (Kristen Stewart) tries to understand her own anger towards her mother as she maneuvers through the challenges of her teenage years.  The end product is a touching without being too sweet story of relationships between Carter and the Hardwicke women that helps them all heal and move on.  

This is the sort of movie that seems to beg for formula pieces.  Forbidden love affair between Carter and Lucy.  Abrupt reentrance of old girlfriend at some inopportune moment after Carter finds true love.   The Hardwicke girls breaking out into song using wooden spatulas as faux microphones to sing in.  Emo hipster soundtrack.  Luckily, it has none of that, and doesn't rely on any of the typical crutches.  Perhaps to illustrate this point is a scene where Carter, who went to private school in LA, asks Lucy to tell him about the usual normal high school stuff he probably missed out on like football games, prom, "You know, all that John Hughes stuff."  Lucy's reply, "Who's John Hughes?"  

This isn't Oscar-winning type stuff, but it's a solid DVD rental, and a fulfilling way to spend an hour and a half some evening.  Meg Ryan gives a pretty strong performance that may tell us what kind of movie roles we'll see her in now that she's getting past that typical romantic comedy leading lady age.  Kristen Stewart is believable as a sweet, yet confused teenage girl.  And Adam Brody shows some promising charisma that will probably have him emerge as the lone successful thing to come out of The O.C. cast.  If this was a film I rated in the theater, I'd probably call it "Cheesy."  But for a DVD, I'm willing to say it's...

Love will tear us apart...

I'm only a casual New Order fan, and truth be told, I haven't listened to all that much of their earlier work as Joy Division. So I was more than surprised to have enjoyed Control as much as I did, a tragic biopic film of the late Ian Curtis.

As the lead singer of a band emerging from the Manchester music scene that followed the influences of David Bowie, Lou Reed, and The Sex Pistols, life for Ian Curtis seemed to be coming together. But internally, he felt his life was falling apart. Trapped in a life married to a woman he cared for but didn't passionately love, Curtis struggled with his desires to pursue true love in the form of a beautiful Belgian journalist while still trying to figure out how not to hurt his own wife and child in the process. His struggles epilepsy and the pressures of fame attached to the rising success of his band Joy Division only add to his troubles, leading to the eventual tragic end when he hangs himself in his kitchen only a day before his band was to embark on their first American tour.

This is the debut film for Anton Corbijn, previously known for his music videos and photography work. Pull out the album cover for U2's The Joshua Tree, and you'll know what imagery he can capture on film. It is said that the gritty industrial surroundings of Manchester, UK were essential to the musical underpinnings that born bands such as Joy Division, Buzz Cocks, and The Smiths as well as their contemporaries Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses. Perhaps to capture this bleak environment Curtis' grew up and lived in, Control is shot in black and white. The cinematography that results is moody and spectacular, adding a whole new dimension to the depression and conflicts Curtis was trapped in. This is expected from a director whose background is in photography. However, Corbijn's treatment with the camera is additive to the overall product, and never overwhelms or distracts from the story. Sam Riley, playing the title role, is good in his role, although I'm not quite sure how much he truly embodies Ian Curtis given my lack of knowledge about the late singer. Samantha Morton, as his wife Deborah, probably gives the strongest performance, though, and you feel all sorts of sympathy for the situation she's left with. The formation of Joy Division plays a minor background part to the movie, and you almost want to learn a bit more about the other members of the band Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris.

Ian Curtis seems to have an almost cult following by fans of the post-punk Manchester music scene that may rival those for Jim Morrison or Kurt Cobain. The interesting approach Corbijn takes to Curtis in this film, though, is not to idolize his life and add to the mythology, but instead to paint a grim picture of a man with tangible struggles that we might all perhaps relate. It probably goes without saying that Wander and any other Joy Division/New Order fanatic would have loved this movie, and earned the highest rating possible on this blog. I'm not sure I'm ready to call it "Dangerously Cheesy," but it's pretty close in my book.

It ain't easy doing the right thing...

Taking the moral high ground seems to be a thankless job. No one seems to take notice of the good guy who follows the rules and lets his conscience dictate the choices of his life. Some might actually find such a man naive and downright stupid. In 3:10 to Yuma, we see the life of Dan Evans (Christian Bale) whose choices, led by being the dutiful man, has left him with a dying Arizona cattle ranch and a teenage son who look upon him in shame and embarrassment. To make matters worse, Dan is a cripple after having lost his leg in the Civil War, and his wife (Gretchen Mol) indirectly seems to regard her husband as such. The capture of the infamous outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) provides Dan with the opportunity to earn a little dignity in the eyes of his family, if not some extra money to pay off a bullying land developer who would like nothing more than for Dan's ranch to fail so he can make way for a railroad. Ben is Dan's polar opposite, having no virtues to speak of and a seemingly low threshold for killing his fellow man. The task is to escort Ben to the 3:10 train in a neighboring town that will take him to the prison at Yuma, all the while being chased by Ben's gang led by his right hand man, Charlie Prince (Ben Foster, who played Warren Worthington III/Angel in X-Men 3). The journey provides the backdrop for both Dan and Ben to learn a little more about themselves through each other.

The acting is top notch, although I doubt any of it will be recognized come Oscar time due to the subtleness of it all and a lack of over-the-top dramatic scenes. As I've commented on this blog before, I think Christian Bale is becoming one of the best actors of his generation, and this film is no exception to his growing body of incredible work. He conveys the shame and conflicted feelings of Dan well, and you just want him to succeed knowing he's such a beaten down man. Unfortunately, it's easy to be overshadowed when you're playing the good guy, especially when the charismatic villain is portrayed by Russell Crowe who makes his job look effortless. Is there anyone who can play both sides of the coin better than him? Ben Foster has also been getting quite a bit of praise in the press for his portrayal of the vengeful evil sidekick, and I agree he does strike a pretty scary presence on the screen which seems completely against type for this young up and coming actor.

This being a western, I thought I'd be looking forward to the landscapes of the Old West and the shootouts. But oddly, I found I kept wanting more dialogue time between the Dan and Ben. The final gun fight almost seems to come too quickly, as I felt I wanted to learn more about the two main characters. In fact, if there was any major flaw in this movie, it's that the action isn't all that exciting (although the gun shots are realistically nice and loud). Another minor flaw was a distracting cameo by Luke Wilson in a role that really wasn't that important at all. It's odd that the director would have picked such a recognizable actor for such a small part.

The inclusion of Dan's son William and Charlie Prince also provided a nice contrast to the battle of morals going on with Dan and Ben. William was ashamed of Dan almost to the point of hatred while Charlie seemed to idolize Ben and was determined to free him at any cost. William secretly tags along with the posse on it's way to Yuma not because he cares about his dad's safety, but because he's convinced Dan will be unsuccessful yet again. He's not afraid of facing life on his own because he's felt he's had to already to make up for his father's failures. Charlie, meanwhile, chases after Ben because he's afraid of being alone and can't fathom life without his own "father" leading the group.

In the end, though, this is a tragedy. Even Dan is not immune to what happens when one succumbs to the pressure of one's own pride. His son grows to learn what it is to be a real man, but at a terrible price. Charlie Prince learns his own lesson the hard way. And Ben Wade finally finds his soul. The ending is how it should be, and I walked out of the theater feeling pretty satisfied.

Shooting up on celluloid epinephrine...

The Bourne Identity was a fresh take on the espionage thriller back when Doug Liman helmed the first part of the franchise based loosely (extremely loosely) on Robert Ludlum's trilogy of books. What seemed like an odd casting choice at the time with Good Will Hunting himself, Matt Damon, seemed even stranger when a guy known only for a sleeper hit comedy Swingers was placed in the director's chair to bring this roller coaster action film to life. Lucky for us. Instead of the glitzy, gadget-laden spy world of James Bond or the suspension-of-disbelief scenarios of Mission: Impossible, Liman relied on old-fashioned suspense, tension, non-stop pacing, and pure action to keep the audience enthralled. Jason Bourne is on the run from his assassins using modern day technology, martial arts, his brain, and lots of natural adrenaline as his tools of escape instead of Q-division laser watches or explosive bubble gum. By the second film, The Bourne Supremacy, Paul Greengrass took over the franchise, and somehow made a movie even more kinetic than its predecessor. And to prove that was no fluke, they brought him in for the third installment of the franchise, The Bourne Ultimatum.

As the first two films, The Bourne Ultimatum really uses nothing from the source material its title comes from. It's actually a bit surprising they chose to continue using the titles for these films considering how far the plot deviates from the books. Instead of the book plot where Jason Bourne is being hunted down by Carlos the Jackal, the movie version takes place shortly after the events of the film version of The Bourne Supremacy. Bourne uncovers more information that may lead him to learn more about his true identity. As a result, the sinister underworkings of a CIA black-ops division are in danger of being compromised, and Jason Bourne finds himself being hunted down yet again.

To say Paul Greengrass likes to keep things moving is an understatement--this flick flies like a supersonic jet. Jason Bourne is perpetually on the run, and you'd have to be asleep or dead not to feel like you're running with him. And it's not just a trick of placing action sequence after action sequence together. Michael Bay tries to do that with all his movies, and all it manages to do is make me slightly nauseous most of the time. Instead, Greengrass manages to give you just the right shots to keep you fully engrossed in the scene without making you dizzy and somehow convinces you that you're actually standing in the midst of the action. He's really becoming one of the greats in this action genre. Owen Gleiberman from Entertainment Weekly really sums it up well in the introductory paragraph of his own review of the film:

Marveling at the uncanny off-center camera technique of Jaws, Alfred Hitchcock, during a TV interview late in his life, offered the following description of the director he referred to as ''young Spielberg '': ''He's the first one of us who doesn't see the proscenium arch.'' Spielberg, in other words, was the first mainstream filmmaker whose visual awareness didn't derive from the classic spatial dynamics of the theater. Watching The Bourne Ultimatum, with its swervy, headlong, you are there images of a man on the run from forces he senses yet cannot see, I remembered Hitchcock's words, and I thought: If Spielberg doesn't see the proscenium arch, then Paul Greengrass barely even sees the stage. He's that live-wire and intoxicating a wizard of suspense.

Film scores always separate the great movies from the so-so ones, and familiar musical themes used in all the previous Bourne films written by composer John Powell further aid in keeping the adrenaline levels high throughout the movie, and Moby's "Extreme Ways" to finish it out as it always does has you leaving the theater thoroughly pumped up.

Matt Damon reprises his role as Jason Bourne, and seems to have really grown into this role. David Straithairn, portraying director of the black-ops division, is the newest cast member to be introduced in this film as the leading baddie. Joan Allen comes back from her role in the second sequel as CIA deputy director Pamela Landy. Also returning is Nicky Parsons, played by Julia Stiles, and proves that all great action films can still be ruined by the presence of one unneeded woman. I have yet to understand what vital piece of this puzzle the character of Nicky fills, and I'm not sure The Bourne Ultimatum has come up with one either. After every Bourne film so far, I've walked out of the theater wondering if the majority of the scenes with Julia Stiles are on the cutting room floor because the insistence of keeping her around never makes sense. So as not to give out any spoilers whatsoever, there's a little bit at the end of this post in Invisotext telling you what happens to Nicky Parsons, although it doesn't really give away anything vital.

In a summer that gave me some mild disappointments with Spiderman 3 and Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End, it was a delight to find that they saved the best for the end of the season--this was truly the most satisfying film I've seen all summer long. Robert Ludlum stopped writing additional sequels to the Bourne series after The Bourne Ultimatum--let's hope the movie studios have other plans.

I was tempted to give The Bourne Ultimatum the "Dangerously Cheesy" rating, and probably would have if they killed off Julia Stiles' character, but alas, she lives on to perhaps costar in another Bourne sequel. And for that, I must give this film my downgraded rating of:

Feeling like a kid in a toy store again...

Giant f*ckin' robots! That was Michael Bay's unofficial tagline for Transformers, and that's exactly what he delivered, exclamation point included. You'd had to have been a hermit to not have felt the bombardsdment of hype and advertising for this film. This blog even added a few posts on the topic. So with me being in between jobs, and my wife showing absolutely no interest in watching this movie, I went and caught the first showing of Transformers today at noon. I had my reservations of a Bay-helmed adaptation of this project, but I've got to admit that no one blows up stuff and catches it on film like Michael Bay. Adding Steven Spielberg to the mix as executive producer, too, made me a bit more comfortable that bringing the Transformers to the big screen might actually work.

To summarize the plot in a nutshell, Sam Witwicky (Shia Labouf) is a teenager on the lower rungs of the social ladder who desperately wants to get his hands on his first car. The beat-up Camaro that he finds turns out to be a robot named Bumblebee, part of an alien race of transforming robots at war over the search for a cube of ultimate power called the All-Spark. Sam, unwittingly, holds the map leading to the cube and becomes wrapped up in the battle against the Decepticons as he, with the help of the Autobots, fight to save Earth.

So what did I think of it all? In one word--awesome. Yup, you read that right. I thought Transformers was awesome. I can't even believe I'm using that word to describe a Michael Bay movie, but his distinctive over-the-top style fit perfectly with big ol' robots battling out on the silver screen. Perhaps I should be thanking George Lucas and Industrial Lights and Magic instead, because the special effects were just seamless. Never in the movie did I think that the Transformers didn't look real.

Even on an emotional level, I felt something, which is odd considering that this is, again, a Michael Bay movie. Typically, he uses human storylines as an excuse to essentially show some stylized music video within the movie, but here I thought I got just a faint connection between Sam and Bumblebee by the end, and that's an accomplishment. I mean, really, who thought Bumblebee was cool back when you played with the toys? I only remember him because he was the cheapest one in the store. After this movie, though, you'll think he was the coolest Autobot of them all. Maybe credit should be given to Shia Labouf for giving the audience a viable human connection to all that was going on in the movie or perhaps it was just nostalgia for the old cartoon from the 80's, I don't know. I mean, when we're actually introduced to the rest of the Autobots for the first time, I actually got giddy. Peter Cullen reprising his voice-over roles for Optimus Prime? I think I got chills.

Obviously, there's some things not to like in this movie. The generic musical score by Steve Jablonsky is pure over-the-top Michael Bay, and ends up giving me flashbacks of films I'd rather forget. Some of the dialogue, although it didn't have me cringing in my seat and feeling embarrased to even be sitting in the theater watching, was a bit corny. Characters, other than Sam, weren't well developed at all. We only get a glimpse of the relationship between the Autobots, and even less about the Decepticons. Even when Megatron is finally revealed, we never really grasp his level of ultimate evil, so the showdown between him and Optimus Prime doesn't carry the sense of urgency that it does to be considered a real climax.

But all those things are minor when you consider what this movie is--a summer blockbuster popcorn flick. To expect Oscar-worthy drama would be raising the bar for a film based on a line of toys, for Pete's sake, way too high. This movie was a spectacle, pure eye candy, and still a lot of fun.

Finally, I didn't mention anything about the non-technological eye candy. I learned two things about women while watching this movie:

1. Male computer nerds will always look just like that--male computer nerds. Overweight, messy hair, goattees, appear to have not bathed in a couple of days. Hugh Jackman in Swordfish is perhaps the only time this hasn't been the case. Female computer nerds, however, will always be smoking hot. Always. Any movie. However, they'll usually have a piercing or tattoo to signify that they're smarter than they look.
2. No matter what they tell you or what you read, remember this--women dig fast cars.

**** (out of *****) although I don't know if I'm giving it high marks because its the only movie of the summer that's lived up to the hype, or if I'll still like it this much after a second viewing. Speaking of which, I already found a pirated copy streaming over the internet tonight. Maybe I'll watch it again right now! ;-)

It's not exactly like being there, but it sure is cheaper than the airfare...

Say what you will about the Frogs and some of our cultural differences. They'll always be able to say at least one thing that is indisputable--Paris is and will always be the most romantic city in the world.

The city of Paris is broken up into 20 districts, or arrondissements, and the film Paris, je t'aime tells separate short stories for each of these sectors from the perspective of 20 different directors. Well, actually only 18 since two of the segments didn't make it into the movie. Advertised as an opportunity for each director to send their own "love letter" to Paris, we get to see the City of Love through the eyes of a global array of critically acclaimed, but not quite widely known, filmmakers ranging from Americans such as the Coen Brothers to Mexican Alfonso Cuoron to a native countryman Gerard Depardieu.

Two or three of the segments didn't work for me at all. Christopher Doyle, who typically helms the cinematography duties for Wong Kar-Wai and other Chinese directors, goes out on his own to direct one truly bizarre story about a Chinese hair salon that convinced me he should leave writing and directing to the experts. And another segment directed by Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville) revolved around the story of mimes finding love. Mimes--'nuff said. Ugh.

The rest of the film, however, effectively evokes a full spectrum of emotions and truly captures the spirit of the City of Love. A few easily recognizable actors, such as Nick Nolte, Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Bob Hoskins, Willem Dafoe and Steve Buscemi among others, make appearances, but never overshadow the charm of each story being told. Buscemi, in a short about an American tourist falling victim to his poor understanding of French language and customs in the Paris Metro, is the quirky comic relief for the movie, as would be expected by anything directed by the Coen Brothers. In another effective segment, Dafoe steps in as a heaven-sent cowboy to help a grieving mother deal with the death of her son. Perhaps the best segment, though, by Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways) involves a Denver postal woman reporting about her trip to Paris, accurately capturing the loneliness that any typical American might feel when first stepping foot in the streets of Paris, and following her journey as she finds the joys of not only Paris, but also life itself.

Now don't expect some Pulp Fiction/Crash like ending, where you find out that all these stories intersect--they don't. Each one is a gem to enjoy on its own terms. Treat it like reading a good collection of short stories. It may not be your typical movie-fare during this season of exploding robots, swashbuckling pirates, and web-slinging superheroes, but it's certainly something to consider on a rainy weekend afternoon or a romantic night out with your lady.

Love hurts...

Fairy tales about love at first sight, falling in love, and living happily ever after make for a good romantic story, but never tell the whole truth. We all have our faults which are well hidden in the passions of budding love and in our hopes of who the other is and what they'll become. To most of us, genuine romance is only found after enduring a lot of pain, forgiveness, and acceptance. The Painted Veil, a new film based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, develops this less than idealistic view of love using the relationship of Walter and Kitty Fane as they struggle to find love and forgiveness in a marriage that probably shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Walter (Edward Norton), an English bacteriologist posted in Shanghai who is used to understanding things from observation rather than interaction, falls in love with Kitty from afar during a trip back to London. Kitty, being immature and naive, accepts a hasty marriage proposal to escape from her mother and societal pressure of being a single woman during that time, and is subsequently whisked away to Shanghai. Walter's inability to show his affections combined with his ignorance of what real intimacy is leads Kitty to embark in an affair that she mistakes for true love. Instead, she is heartbroken, and is forced to join Walter in rural China where he volunteers to help fight a deadly epidemic of cholera. It is in this backdrop of poverty, death, and disease where the heart of this film takes place, as Walter and Kitty mature and grow to genuinely love each other. We also learn a bit about China in the 1920's along the way, and get some glimpses into the conflicts between the rural peasant class and ruling government that seem to still exist today.

Naomi Watts puts in a solid performance that surprisingly hasn't generated much media buzz so far. Even more remarkable, though, is the lack of recognition for Edward Norton who also gives a very subtle but incredibly effective performance as Walter. It's certainly not an obvious role to garner awards praise (i.e. he doesn't play someone mentally challenged or do a lot of screaming, crying, etc.), but you always seem to get a sense of the brewing dissatisfaction and resentment in him throughout the film that's wholly understandable and believable. Diana Rigg makes an appearance as a nun working in the Chinese village, who is completely unrecognizable from her former days as a Bond girl. The cinematography is also top notch, and I didn't really appreciate what a challenge it must have been to get permission to film an American-produced movie entirely in China until I left the theater.

This isn't your typical sappy "chick-flick" period piece kind of romance drama. Word is that Ed Norton struggled for years to get this picture made. Unfortunately, if the Golden Globes are any indication, this movie won't be decorated with any trophies to reward his effort. It's kind of a shame--this is a good film that many people will probably overlook because of it's lack of Oscar buzz. Don't miss out.

**** (out of *****)

A pedophile gets his due...

It's been awhile since I've stepped into a real live video store. We've been using Netflix for the past two years, but I guess since the DVDs seemed to be perched on top of the TV longer than they were ever in our DVD player, my wife finally canceled our account.

Anywho, I picked up this smaller movie that came out in the fall called Hard Candy. The movie's subject matter about a child predator and the teenager he picks up in a chat room online may discourage many of you from renting this, but this is quite a good, although very disturbing, psychological thriller. The film involves only two characters (including Ellen Page who was Kitty Pryde in X-Men 3), but manages to stay completely engrossing.

Despite the premise, there isn't any weird sexual scenes, nudity, or exploitation that would make you feel uncomfortable. It's really the whole psychological interplay between predator and prey that will make you squirm in your seat. I think to tell you more would ruin the film for you. Just give it a watch--it's good.

**** (out of *****)