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April 2009
August’s summer movies: GI Joe, Tarantino
Summer’s final month usually contains a decent prospect or two in the first couple of weeks, then tails off as we enter the no-man’s-land of early fall. This year, however, August is a bit better than usual - though there’s still more than enough junk.
Look back at May, June and July.
AUGUST 7
The pitch: Highly trained military fighters battle an evil force named after a scary-looking snake. It is what it is, ya know?
The buzz: The trailer has some neat visuals, but the director is Stephen Sommers, who was last seen trashing the Universal monsters in the awful
Van Helsing. I’m … scared.
The prospect: C
The pitch: Meryl Streep plays the legendary cook, Julia Child, Amy Adams plays a woman trying to cook all 524 recipes in her book.
The buzz: As previously demonstrated, I’ll watch anything with Adams, and Streep’s no slouch herself. They’ve got me hooked, even though writer-director Nora Ephron is sometimes good (Sleepless in Seattle), sometimes not (Bewitched)
The prospect: A
The pitch: A wish-granting rock causes a stir and major trouble when adults get hold of it.
The buzz: The director is Robert Rodriguez, but is this The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl or Spy Kids?
The prospect: C
The pitch: Kristen Bell is unlucky in love (!) until she steals some coins from a supposed fountain of love, and finds herself surrounded by prospects.
The buzz: Seems to me Bell has potential as movie star, but hasn’t found the right vehicle. Could this be it?
The prospect: B
AUGUST 14
The pitch: A couple form a band and enter their group in a battle of the bands. Vanessa Hudgens co-stars.
The buzz: Todd Graff has mined similar material before in Camp, but it’s too early to tell how this will fare.
The prospect: C
The pitch: A sci-fi/action story set in South Africa, where extraterrestrials are refugees.
The buzz: Looks like a stab at low-budget sci-fi, and Peter Jackson is a producer, so this has potential.
The prospect: B
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
The pitch: Used-car liquidator Jeremy Piven is hired by a car dealership to turn their Fourth of July sale into a hit.
The buzz: Fourth of July sale? Isn’t that a bit late? At any rate, no read on this one yet.
The prospect: C
The pitch: Two couples, who include Steve Zahn, Milla Jovovich, and Timothy Olyphant, go on a tropical vacation and discover someone is murdering the tourists. One is tempted to add, “Of course.”
The buzz: The premise sounds dull, but the director is David Twohy, who can be either lean and mean (Pitch Black) or bloated and dull (The Chronicles of Riddick.)
The prospect: C
The pitch: The best-seller comes to the screen with Eric Bana playing a librarian with a gene that causes him to time travel. Rachel McAdams is the love interest.
The buzz: I’m in if McAdams is.
The prospect: B
AUGUST 21
The pitch: Quentin Tarantino makes his World War II flick, with the help of one Brad Pitt.
The buzz: This could be great and I hope it is, but note my use of the word “flick.” That was deliberate. Tarantino’s recent career trajectory tells me he’s less interested in being a great director period then in being the ultimate B-moviemaker. That has its rewards, but after two Kill Bills and the overindulgent Death Proof, the method has become a bit stale.
The prospect: B
The pitch: Alexis Bledel plays a recent college graduate who can’t find a job, so she moves back in with her family.
The buzz: I always believed Bledel had the potential to break into bigger stardom. With Michael Keaton and Carol Burnett in the film, the comic possibilities are certainly there.
The prospect: B
AUGUST 28
The pitch: Love Actually writer-director Richard Curtis returns with a 1960’s comedy about a pirate radio station run by a band of rogue DJs.
The buzz: Early reviews have been less than kind, but I can’t help but be interested in a film by this director, with actors as funny as Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Nick Frost around.
The prospect: B
Final Destination: Death Trip 3D
The pitch: Last time it was a roller coaster. This time it’s a race track.
The buzz: You know, I thought this series was kind of imaginative the first time around, but as so many horror franchises do, it wore out its welcome. Will this series ever actually be final? What’s next, an aquarium?
The prospect: D
H2 (Halloween 2)
The pitch: The guy in the William Shatner mask is back. Personally, I prefer Shatner.
The buzz: I gave Rob Zombie a chance the first time around, only to find him totally strip the chills form Michael Meyers until he become just another gross, misunderstood killer. Bor-ing. I’m not getting suckered again. Even the abbreviated title is stupid.
The prospect: F
And that’s a wrap. Wolverine review posts tomorrow once I burn the midnight oil. How does the August lineup look?
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July’s Summer Movies: Johnny Depp as Dillinger!
Our summer movie preview reaches the halfway point, with July being much more interesting at the cinema than the rather tepid June was. Here are the May and June lists.
JULY 1 (Wednesday)
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
The pitch: Our prehistoric buddies encounter some rather nasty reptilian types.
The buzz: I always thought this series was overrated, and the sequel flat-out stunk, but I must admit the trailers for this one made me laugh. I still think a movie with just Scrat would be a good idea.
The prospect: B
The pitch: Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and Christian Bale is in it too? I want to see this yesterday.
The buzz: Outside of Up, this looks like the one summer movie that has a shot at major Oscar nominations, and it’s the live action film I’m hottest to see.
The prospect: A
JULY 10
The pitch: Sacha Baron Cohen (AKA Borat) rubs many a person a wrong way with another one of his alter egos.
The buzz: I wasn’t as high on Borat as a lot of people were, but I understood why people loved it. I hope this time I can join the chorus.
The prospect: B
Trailer can be seen here. (NSFW)
The pitch: A geek declares his love for hottie cheerleader Hayden Panettiere in his graduation speech.
The buzz: Seemed pretty nondescript, until I saw the director was one Chris Columbus. The trailer isn’t that funny, but Columbus did cut his directorial teeth on a teen comedy called Adventures in Babysitting.
The prospect: B
JULY 15 (Wednesday)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The pitch: Some wizard kid learns more about the past of his arch-enemy Volde-something-or-other. I think this will make some money, don’t you?
The buzz: Now let me remove my tongue from my cheek and say the most recent trailer highly impressed me - enough to make me forget about the curious PG-rating, when the last two were PG-13.
The prospect: A
JULY 24
The pitch: Jeffrey Dean Morgan begins to unravel a missing-persons case that might mean trouble for the heir to a real estate dynasty (Ryan Gosling), who fell for a young woman from the wrong side of the tracks (Kirsten Dunst).
The buzz: Strong cast and a good director in Andrew Jarecki, who made an outstanding documentary called Capturing the Friedmans. Let’s hope his fiction skills are as good.
The prospect: B
The pitch: A specially trained squad of guinea pigs … oh come on!
The buzz: Guinea pigs? CGI GUINEA PIGS?? Oy. And I thought the dancing Chihuahuas from last year were scary.
The prospect: F
Orphan
The pitch: Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard adopt a child, but the kid turns out to be creepy.
The buzz: From the director of the “House of Wax” remake. Oh. Joy. Isn’t this basically The Omen in a dress?
The prospect: D
The Ugly Truth
The pitch: Gerard Butler plays a boorish TV host who matches wits with his tough producer, Katherine Heigl.
The buzz: I like the leads, but the trailer looks utterly formulaic. Still, this did get moved from spring to summer, so the studio thinks it has something. We’ll see if they’re right.
The prospect: C
JULY 31
The pitch: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann star in the latest film from Judd Apatow (Knocked Up), who goes in a serious vein by daring to have cancer as a subject matter.
The buzz: It’s a calculated risk, but early word says this is Apatow’s best effort yet, and some are even suggesting it’s Oscar-worthy. In any case, I’m in, even though I’m not an Adam Sandler fan.
The prospect: A
The pitch: Teenagers must protect their vacation home from the aliens who have taken over the top floor of the dwelling. Ashley Tisdale stars.
The buzz: Ooooookaaaayyyy … Sounds wild, but other than that, I just can’t say.
The prospect: C
How does the July roster look to you?
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June’s Summer Movies: Transformers and more
It used to be that June was the start of the summer season, both on the calendar and in the movie theater. Now June seems more like a way station at the cinema, sandwiched between the behemoths of May and July, but there are a few interesting prospects this month.
Check back here for May’s list.
JUNE 5
The pitch: Three groomsmen (Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha) lose their about-to-be-wed buddy when they get wasted, forcing them to find him before the church bells ring.
The buzz: Supposedly attracted some good buzz, but the director, Todd Phillips (School for Scoundrels, Road Trip), has an uneven track record. I’ll withhold judgment until I read reviews.
The prospect: C
The pitch: Will Ferrell and the gang bring the fondly remembered TV show to the megaplex.
The buzz: The obnoxious trailer shows Will Ferrell being chased by a T-Rex. I’m rooting for the T-Rex.
The prospect: F
The pitch: Nia Vardalos of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame actually goes to Greece this time, playing a travel guide.
The buzz: Vardalos needs this movie to prove that she’s not a one-hit wonder. I’m hopeful she has the chops to do it.
The prospect: B
JUNE 12
Imagine That
The pitch: Eddie Murphy takes a trip into his daughter’s imaginary world, having been a washout as a dad.
The buzz: Man. Dreamgirls aside, Eddie’s just not trying anymore, is he?
The prospect: D
The pitch: Criminals hijack a New York City subway train, pitting the mastermind (John Travolta) and a subway dispatcher (Denzel Washington) against each other.
The buzz: The 1974 original with Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw is a taut little thriller. I’m confident that with these stars, and director Tony Scott at the helm, this remake might actually be even better.
The prospect: A
JUNE 19
The pitch: Sandra Bullock forces Ryan Reynolds to marry her so she isn’t deported back to Canada.
The buzz: The trailer is actually kind of charming, making this look like Bullock’s first halfway decent vehicle in awhile. The director, Anne Fletcher, made the halfway decent 27 Dresses.
The prospect: B
The pitch: Jack Black and Michael Cera play comic cavemen.
The buzz: The initial ad was unimpressive, but more recent trailers have been funnier. With Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day) directing, benefit of the doubt must be granted.
The prospect: B
JUNE 26
The pitch: When Abigail Breslin learns the truth about her birth, she enlists lawyer Alec Baldwin to emancipate her from parents Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric.
The buzz: Could be terribly saccharine, terribly heartwarming or both. Hard to tell, but I’m curious. And does it weird you out too to see Diaz playing a mom?
The prospect: B
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The pitch: Robots make movie theater go boom. Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox are back.
The buzz: Yeah, I know, a lot of people loved the first one, but I’m convinced most of that love was based on nostalgia rather than anything in the movie itself. I still don’t trust Michael Bay. I just don’t. That said, I still hope he surprises me.
The prospect: C
What are your thoughts on June’s slate?
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May’s Summer Movies: Wolverine, Trek, Up, etc.
For once, the start of Hollywood’s summer coincides with the weather around here. With the arrival of temperatures above 80 comes this year’s batch of summer movies. I’m here to help you separate the popcorn from the burnt kernels. Each day this week, I’ll preview the movies one month at a time, followed by my Wolverine review Friday.
I will give each movie a prospect grade that breaks down as follows:
A = Chomping at the bit
B = Eager/curious. but not dying to see it
C = Take it or leave it
D = Leave it
F = Burn the negative
MAY 1
The pitch: A space explorer (Luke Wilson) crash-lands on the planet Terra and tries to prevent his people from invading the planet where he has new friends., voiced by Evan Rachel Wood and Justin Long.
The buzz: Has developed not much heat yet, but hey. it’s gotta be better than Delgo. You remember Delgo, right? No?
The prospect: C
The pitch: Player Matthew McConaughey gets a chance to visit his past relationships as a ghost, attempting to one his one true love, Jennifer Garner. Good choice.
The buzz: Some will hold their noses because of McConaughey, but I’ll give this one a chance, thanks to Garner and underrated director Mark Waters, who made the similarly themed and underrated Just Like Heaven.
The prospect: B
The pitch: We see how he of the long claws (Hugh Jackman) came to be.
The buzz: Internet leak or not, the ads haven’t impressed me. I just don’t get the sense this delivers the goods. I hope I’m wrong.
The prospect: C
MAY 8
The pitch: A delivery man leaves a package containing bricks of cocaine at the wrong address. Stars Mos Def and Mike Epps.
The buzz: The previews haven’t sparked my interest.
The prospect: C
The pitch: JJ Abrams reboots the Trek franchise, essentially telling the origin story of Kirk, Spock and company.
The buzz: Sky-high. Early reviews have been ecstatic, and the studio is so confident it’s already approved a sequel. This is my top live-action pick for May.
The prospect: A
MAY 15
The pitch: Tom Hanks chases more spooky religious artifacts. Although the book was written before The Da Vinci Code, this film is being treated as a sequel, not a prequel.
The buzz: I hated the sloppy, turgid mess that was Da Vinci, finding it one of the worst films Hanks or Ron Howard has ever made. I’m hopeful this follow-up is at least tolerable.
The prospect: C
MAY 22
The pitch: The Wayans clan spoofs the likes of You Got Served and Save the Last Dance.
The buzz: I’m really, really tired of the Wayans clan, whom I still haven’t forgiven for inflicting the Little Man ads (among other things) on me, and I’m also really, really tired of those multiple movie spoofs.
The prospect: F
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
The pitch: Ben Stiller finds his museum coming to life yet again, and this time it’s that famous group of them in Washington.
The buzz: I found the first film obvious and uninspired, but I’ll give this sequel a look for one reason only: Amy Adams plays Amelia Earhart.
The prospect: B
Terminator Salvation (on May 21)
The pitch: A grown-up John Conner (Christian Bale) fights lots and lots and lots of robots.
The buzz: I’m torn. The trailers look impressive, but the idea of Charlie’s Angels director McG running the show scares me to death. Still, I’ll give him a chance, since his last film, We Are Marshall, showed he was capable of calming down and telling a story.
The prospect: B
MAY 29
The pitch: A woman (Alison Lohman) is afflicted with a supernatural curse that threatens to (see title).
The buzz: Director Sam Raimi had clearly burned himself out directing the Spider-Man movies, given the uneven third one, so it’s nice to see him getting back to his Evil Dead-like roots.
The prospect: B
The pitch: A widower (Ed Asner) ties a bunch of balloons on his house, taking a journey he has long desired, unwittingly taking along a boy-scout type.
The buzz: It’s Pixar. If that’s not good enough for you, I will also say early word on the film is nothing less than stellar, suggesting the studio’s amazing streak remains unbroken. This is the summer movie I most want to see.
The prospect: A
What do you think of May’s crop?
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‘The Soloist’ scores but overplays its hand
The Soloist too often cranks up the volume to 11.
Many films these days make the mistake of not trying hard enough, but this movie tries too hard, overselling a true story that should be told more simply and directly.
Based on the book by LA Times columnist Steve Lopez, The Soloist casts Robert Downey Jr. in that part, showing how the writer has fallen down on his luck, not caring about much of anything except himself. Then one day, he hears someone playing the violin beautifully, which is all the more remarkable, considering the instrument has only two strings.
The musician is Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a profoundly gifted musical prodigy who bears the burden of schizophrenia. Steve writes about him in his column, which gets Nathaniel a brand new cello. However, Steve is frustrated when he finds Nathaniel is unable or unwilling to accept his help.
This could have been Lifetime movie of the week material, and the filmmakers were determined not to fall into that trap — so determined they erred too far in the other direction. Director Joe Wright undercuts the movie by over-directing it. Wright made his name by bringing striking visual flair to period pieces like Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, but this time, he has gotten carried away with his gifts.
Individual scenes work very well. The best scene of the film is the one in which Steve and Nathaniel attend a classical music concert, and Wright splashes the screen with bursts of color, representing what Nathaniel sees when he hears music. It’s not unlike one of the more abstract sequences in Disney’s Fantasia, and it’s marvelously effective. The problem with The Soloist is that almost every scene has a similar over-the-top visual flourish.
One scene starts from the point of view of a digital camcorder for no apparent reason. Other times Wright uses a visual of birds in flight to depict how music affects Nathaniel, but by the third or fourth overhead shot of the city, I was wondering if this was a movie or an ad for Google Maps.
On top of all that, the movie boasts no fewer than two scenes of Steve having unfortunate run-ins with urine. I got the idea that his life was a mess, I didn’t need repeated urine references to drive the point home.
One could be forgiven for thinking I didn’t like The Soloist, but I actually did, thanks mainly to the strong leads. Foxx and Downey cut to the heart of the story, which is about the healing power of friendship. Downey is perfectly cast as a man who is acerbic and caustic, but never oversells his funk. Foxx, as he does so well when he doesn’t get too carried away with himself, disappears into his part, creating an affecting character without relying solely on tricks and mannerisms - a real feat in portraying mental illness.
Downey and Foxx make the film worth seeing, and to its credit, the movie doesn’t go the way its ads might make it seem. I only wish The Soloist weren’t such a show-off.
GRADE: B
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What weird double features have you seen?
It’s not uncommon for a movie buff like me to mix and match genres in the films I watch. At home recently, I’ve seen everything from acclaimed vampire movie Let the Right One In, to the 1939 version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame to the 70s thriller Three Days of the Condor.
I didn’t see those movies back to back, though. A few times I’ve pulled strange double features in theaters that made even me blink.
The undisputed king of all weird double features has to be the time my best friend and I saw Seven and Showgirls back to back, in that order, on opening weekend. Having experienced Seven, my friend and I were already fairly well wiped out when Showgirls started unreeling - and unraveling.
When Elizabeth Berkley pulled a knife on a guy, with the stupidest steely-eyed expression you’ve ever seen, my friend leaned over to me and whispered “We’re in deeeeeeep trouble.”
The movie wasn’t even 10 minutes old at that point. You can only imagine what we were like by the time the whole ordeal was over.
Then there’s the Columbus sci-fi marathon the same friend and I usually attend together. That marathon always has an interesting mix of movies, but by far, the strangest one-two punch was the brain-melting MST3K-worthy combination of Fire Maidens from Outer Space and The Apple.
What made that duo memorable was the audience reaction. The titular Fire Maidens were a gaggle of girls in short skirts that trotted onscreen every 10 minutes or so. Each time they did, the audience broke out in a fit of purposeful giggles. “hehehehehehehehe.”
But by the time The Apple was under way, however, the stunning awfulness rose to new heights (or sunk to new depths, depending on how you look at it.) This cheesy sci-fi musical made Xanadu look like Singin in the fricken Rain. By the time the insufferable twit of a male lead was warbling a song about lost love from a high window, the audience started chanting “JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!”
So those are just two of the odder doubles I’ve pulled. Now, as ever, it’s your turn to share. What bizarre double (or more) features have you pulled, in the theater or at home?
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What’s opening Friday. April 24?
The last week of spring (on Hollywood’s calendar, anyway) brings us a rather strange mix of movies with only one truly decent new prospect.
Fighting: A young counterfeiter (Channing Tatum) is introduced to the world of underground street fighting by a seasoned scam artist (Terrence Howard) Some say this holds promise because of the two leads and director Dito Montiel, who directed Tatum to good notices in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. Reviews are none too encouraging.
Obsessed. A successful business man (Idris Elba) with a beautiful wife (Beyonce Knowles) becomes the target of a female stalker (Ali Larter). The movie may be called Obsessed, but I am called Actively Disinterested.
The Soloist: Jamie Foxx plays a schizophrenic musician taken under the wing of a troubled reporter for the Los Angeles Times (Robert Downey Jr.) True story. Review posts Friday.
At the arthouses
Neon opens Che, Steven Soderbergh’s four-hour-plus opus about the man who helped lead the Cuban revolution. The film is only occasionally excellent, as the director’s reach exceeds his grasp. The first half, about the Cuban experiences is much more energetic and involving than the second half, which becomes monotonous and lethargic as Che devolves in Bolivia. Benicio Del Toro’s outstanding performance holds it together, but the enterprise as a whole is more ambitious than effective. Part 1: B+ Part 2: C+
The Little Art opens the underrated Sunshine Cleaning, with Amy Adams and Emily Blunt.
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Do you want to see Disney’s ‘Earth’?
On this Earth Day, it’s only too appropriate to ask if you want see Earth or not.
That would be Earth as in the new nature film Disney is releasing to theaters today.
Those of you who read me regularly know well my love for almost all things Disney (the trailer for Beverly Hills Chihuahua aside). So it might surprise you to learn I’m kind of on the fence about seeing the movie. And I surprise myself typing that.
It’s also surprising because I’ve seen and enjoyed a lot of nature/outoor documentaries in the theater, ranging from Everest to Winged Migration to March of the Penguins.
And therein lies the reason for my doubt right there, I think. Disney’s rather late to the party on this one. The footage in the trailer does look gorgeous …
… but what is Earth adding to the Nature experience I haven’t seen already? I also find it a little dispiriting that whereas Disney once set trends with their classic True Life Adventure series, now they’re following trends, which I (and Frank Carpa) lamented about in my post Monday. The prospect might have been more inviting if that had been, say, an IMAX release.
And besides all that, Disney already released a really great “green” movie. It was called WALL-E.
Maybe I’m being too skeptical. Am I missing something here? Are you anxious to see Disney’s Earth? Why or why not?
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Is this the Beaver Valley movie theater sign?
There’s a fun site out there called Fail Blog that shows amusing pictures of messed-up signs and the like - sort of an Internet version of Jay Leno’s “Headlines.”
The picture above (click to make it larger) was on the site recently, appearing in this post. It also was referred to on Hollywood Elsewhere. Not much of a fail, if you ask me, but still, pretty amusing. Then I took a closer look at it …
Say … isn’t that the marquee of the Beaver Valley movie theater in Beavercreek, right outside of Lofino’s? The one that’s been a dollarplex the past few years? I’m almost sure it is.
And if it is, hey - that’s DEFInITELY a way to have, um … your name in lights, isn’t it?
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Today’s DVDs: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler
The best bets for today’s DVDs are two outstanding Oscar contenders.
Frost/Nixon: The story behind the talking-head television interviews between President Nixon and British talk show host David Frost may not seem like an exciting story for a movie, but in the hands of writer Peter Morgan and director Ron Howard, the film is intensely fascinating and even kinetic. The performances, especially by the leads Frank Langella and Michael Sheen, are riveting. Howard gets too little credit for his direction; this film is a bracing reminder that at his best, he is one of the most confident, intelligent directors we’ve got. This is his best film since Apollo 13. GRADE: A
Notorious: This biopic of the Notorious BIG earned some decent notices, but never broke out beyond its first week. DVD is where it will really take off.
The Wrestler: I’ve never been any kind of a wrestling fan, so that this movie moved me as much as it did speaks volumes about how effective it is. Mickey Rourke deserves every pound of praise he has received (including an Oscar nomination for Best Actor) as a once great wrestler who let his personal life turn into shambles. Director Darren Aronofsky uses a gritty, fly-on-the-wall style that makes the film feel lived-in and utterly convincing. GRADE: A
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Why aren’t movies as good as they used to be?
If I had a dollar for every time someone watched an old movie and they said “They don’t make em like that anymore,” I could finance my own blockbuster.
That oft-heard lamentation begs the question, though: WHY don’t they make them like that anymore?
Talk to most any movie fan these days, and they will tell you the movies seem to have lost something. That’s not to say great ones aren’t being made; it’s more that Hollywood by and large doesn’t seem to be trying. At least that’s the impression one gets when reading Variety and finding almost every new movie to be a remake, a sequel, or an adaptation of a comic book or old TV show.
But why is all this? The reason I bring this up is that I read a couple of items recently that address this very topic.
First, director Norman Jewison, who made In the Heat of the Night, Fiddler on the Roof, Moonstruck and The Hurricane, among many, many others, made headlines recently when he said: “Art missing — a lot of it. When you look back 15 years at any type of awards that are given, you will find that there are very few major Hollywood films honored. I don’t know how to change that.”
That same story paraphrases Jewison as likening the drop in quality to “linked the drop in quality to the rise of corporate-owned Hollywood studios focused on bottom line profits.”
And then there was this interiview I read with the great Frank Capra in the book Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age at the American Film Institute. He identified another problem studios have:
“When you go into go into the subject of change, you get into a subject that’s very dear to my heart: trends. It’s the dirtiest word in films. Don’t follow trends. Start trends. First of all, it’s unethical. What you’re doing is trying to capitalize on somebody else’s creation, and you’re starting with two strikes morally against you. Secondly, audiences do not want to see cheap copies of an original. Just because audiences liked a picture about a building on fire once doesn’t mean they’re going to like pictures about buildings on fire all the time. You make automobiles on an assembly line, but it’s not how you make pictures. And as for ‘What do the people like now?’ - the people don’t know that until they see it. There is no trend. So be individuals, be mavericks, swim upstream. Never float down the tide with the rest of the people.”
Thought-provoking stuff, and I think there’s a great deal of validity to what both men say. My short answer to my own question is that studios are dominated not so much by people who love movies, but by business majors obsessed with spreadsheets. Hollywood as a whole is so risk-averse, that too many movies feel safe, prepackaged and preordained.
At least that’s one way to look at it? Why do you think movies are lacking these days? Or do you think they’re lacking at all?
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‘17 again’ isn’t big enough to be good
I didn’t expect to like 17 Again, and indeed I didn’t, but I was surprised at how much it almost won me over.
When I saw the ads for this movie, I thought, “Criminy - wasn’t this genre done to death 20 years ago when movies such as Like Father Like Son, Vice Versa and the similarly titled 18 Again crowded theaters?”
Yes, it was, but I guess it’s time for a new generation to get its rash of body-changing movies. The new generation could do a lot worse than 17 Again - but it could do a lot better too.
17 Again is sort of the inverse of Big and Back to the Future. This time the idea is that a 30-something man named Mike (Matthew Perry), who has wrecked his life since his high school years, gets a chance to relive his glory days as the hot 17-year-old he once was (Zac Efron). One day, courtesy of a mysterious mystical man (isn’t that always the way?), he finds himself looking exactly like he did when he was 17 , but still retaining the memories and experiences of his adult years.
When he gets to his old high school, he finds that his son Alex (Sterling Knight) is the class doormat who is regularly terrorized by the basketball team. Worse yet, his daughter Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg) is dating one of the snotty jocks on the team. Mike sets about trying to make things better for them, and to improve his relationship with his wife (Leslie Mann), who is divorcing him.
When 17 Again works, it’s because of the leads. Say what you will about High School Musical star Efron, who spends the opening scenes of the movie with his shirt off (the filmmakers know what the target audience wants to see), but the kid can actually act.
He takes moments that could have been ham-handed, like him trying to fight off his amorous daughter, and makes them work. He also has good chemistry with the ever-watchable Mann, who’s touching as the woman who thinks there’s something funny about this teen who looks exactly her husband once did.
As effective as Efron and Mann are, the movie as a whole doesn’t live up to them, for two reasons. First, writer Jason Filardi and director Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down [!]) unwisely keep returning to the unfunny romance between Mike’s best adult friend (Thomas Lennon) and the high school principal (Melora Hardin), bringing the movie to a screeching halt.
Secondly, even with its occasional charm, 17 Again mostly recycles material used by better movies. Maybe it’s unrealistic to expect this movie to be as good as Back to the Future or Big, but it would be nice if it were even as funny as either version of Freaky Friday. Just as a 17-year-old is almost an adult but not quite, 17 Again is almost a good movie, but not quite.
GRADE: C+
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Heckling a movie - via text message??
Normally, texting during a movie is considered very rude. Even if you have your sound turned off, the glow of the screen can be more than a little annoying to people who are trying to concentrate on that bigger screen in the room.
Now, however, there is a kind of theatrical moviegoing experience in the Chicago area where texting is not only allowed, it’s essential to the experience. It’s called MuVChat, where people enter their snarky little comments via text message and they’re displayed on screen to movies as campy as Zoolander or as cult-loved as Office Space. Here’s a story in the Chicago Tribune about it.
What do I think of this idea? I’m not against it in principle - I love the idea of heckling bombs like Gigli or Glitter as suggested in the story. Thing is, I’m not much of a texter. I’m a little bit outside that “Millennial to Gen Y demographic” this concept caters to. And even if I weren’t, I’d still be too darn slow on the keypad to make it work for me!
My only question is, what would Statler and Waldorf make of all this?
Actually, that’s not my only question. What do you think of this idea? Would you do it? And what movies deserve the texting/trashing treatment?
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What’s opening Friday, April 17?
Friday brings an … interesting mix of movies to the megaplexes. Interesting is the only word I can think of.
Crank: High Voltage: I always meant to get around to the first Crank, which looked like good brain-dead fun, but I never did. Does that mean I would be hopelessly lost if I saw this sequel first? Somehow I’m thinking no.
State of Play: A newspaper drama starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren would be enough to hook me, but it’s also directed by the talented Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void, The Last King of Scotland) and the writers include Matthew Michael Carnahan (the underrated The Kingdom) Tony Gilroy (the Bourne moves) and Billy Ray (Shattered Glass). Sold. Unfortunately, I couldn’t review it because of scheduling conflicts.
17 Again: Matthew Perry turns into Zac Efron. For some people that’s a plus, for others a minus. Review posts Friday.
At the arthouses
The Neon hangs on to its Emily Blunt double feature, Sunshine Cleaning and The Great Buck Howard. Lunafest, a national traveling festival of short films by and about women, will have its first ever showing on Sunday, April 19, from 3 to 4:45 p.m This year’s program includes 10 short films. The Dayton Jewish International Film Festival kicks off next Thursday with Love & Dance.
Earlier I noted that Che was opening today; apologies, that was a mistake on my part. It opens next Friday.
The Little Art opens I Love You, Man.
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Are these the 15 most infuential films of all time?
Turner Classic Movies, the best TV channel in the entire world, in celebration of its 15th anniversary, has put together a list (referenced here at that other list-maker, Entertainment Weekly) of what they consider the 15 most influential movies.
Their picks, and my commentary:
The Birth of a Nation (1915): Absolutely. This was the original blockbuster, and it defined or solidified filmmaking language.
Battleship Potemkin (1925): Its justly famous staircase sequence has been ripped off or referenced in everything from The Untouchables to Beauty and the Beast.
Metropolis (1927): Prime mind-blowing example of German expressionism, and quite possibly the first truly important sci-fi movie.
42nd Street (1933): If you have to pick a musical (and you do), this is the one, because it was the film that proved movie musicals could be much more than filmed plays.
It Happened One Night (1934): You know those cliches you find in so many romantic comedies? They all started in this Frank Capra classic with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937): It’s not Disney’s best movie, but the first full-length animated film has to be the most influential.
Gone with the Wind (1939): I’ve always felt this movie was overrated, but its impossible to deny its place in film history. Adjusted for inflation, its still the biggest hit of all time.
Stagecoach (1939): If I had to pick a movie and call it the quintessential Western, this would be it.
Citizen Kane (1941): What else is there to say, really?
Bicycle Thieves (1947): Heartbreaking tale that showed just how emotionally raw and elegantly simple filmmaking could be.
Rashomon (1950): One of Kurosawa’s masterpieces famously shows how the same event can look completely different depending on your vantage point.
The Searchers (1956): This is an undeniably great movie and one of my favorite Westerns, but I’m not sure I would include it with Stagecoach already representing the genre. If it’s one or the other, it has to be Stagecoach.
Breathless (1959): The French new wave reinvents film language by bending time with devices like jump cuts.
Psycho (1960): The shrieking score alone is massively influential.
Star Wars (1977): Many people have “blamed” this film for killing the Great American Movie and ushering in the age of the Great American Hit. But I don’t blame George Lucas. He made a great movie. I blame the Hollywood executives that started chasing its money.
And that’s where the list ends. I think it’s quite solid, although I might throw out The Searchers for something that reflects the modern digital age. But even there, what do you pick? Terminator 2? Jurassic Park? Titanic?
What do you think? What got left out?
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Today’s DVDs: The Reader, The Spirit
This week’s DVD slate is awfully thin, with only two offerings, and neither one is all that appealing.
The Reader: This drama about a young boy who falls for a woman who turns out to be a Nazi benefits from a fine performance from Kate Winslet, who won an Oscar for her work, although she should have won for her superior turn in Revolutionary Road. This film’s sense of its own self-importance is so pervasive, it sucks the life out of the story. An overdose of repressed emotions left me cold. The picture is dedicated to the memory of producers Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella - either of whom would have directed a much better movie than Stephen Daldry did. GRADE: C-
The Spirit: Having partly helmed Sin City, Frank Miller takes a solo turn behind the camera with this adaptation of the Will Eisner comic that failed to please even the geeks.
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I’m back with a bevy of reviews. What have you seen?
What does a film critic do when he goes on vacation?
Watches more movies, of course. Or at least this one does, since I stayed close to home most of last week.
In theaters
I Love You, Man: It’s never too difficult to guess where this comedy is going, but there are lots of laughs in this story of a groom searching for his best man, thanks mostly to funny performances by Jason Segel and especially Paul Rudd, who would get a Golden Globe comedy nomination in a just world. GRADE: B+
Observe and Report: Reviews have been all over the map for this divisive film, with some calling it an inspired piece of comedy, and others calling it simply an offensive POS. I take more of a middle ground stance. Seth Rogen has one of his best roles as a mall security guard suffering delusions of grandeur, and I admire the movie’s willingness to go out on a limb for a laugh. At the same time, I’m not sure the movie always knows whether it’s rooting for or against its lead character. The ending in particular, is a cop-out, pun slightly intended. Still, it’s funny enough to recommend it - but maybe I feel that way because I saw it immediately after the film below. GRADE: B
Paul Blart: Mall Cop: This made $143 million? Wow. Some people are easy. To give the movie its due, it’s much better than its asinine ads, mainly because it’s pretty well impossible to root against an actor as appealing as Kevin James. He makes the title character very likable, which helps up to a point, but I didn’t laugh much because I could see nine out of 10 gags coming a mile away. I just can’t get into most movies made by Adam Sandler’s company, Happy Madison, AKA Films by and for People Who are Perpetually 12 Years Old. GRADE: C
Check the jump for the DVDs I watched.
Gun Grazy: Absolutely terrific film noir with energetic, striking direction - sort of a prototype to Bonnie and Clyde. I first heard about this film when Martin Scorsese included it in his Personal Journey through American Movies documentary. The man can pick ‘em. Gripping throughout. GRADE: A
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939): Features exciting old Hollywood filmmaking, with some great performances, but is a little uneven in characterization. Call me a heretic, but on balance, I think the Disney version is a bit more successful. GRADE: B+
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978): Surprisingly effective remake that holds up very well with some strong scares and good performances. Threatens to slide into cheesy exploitation at times, but that’s part of the fun. Not as good as the 50s original, of course, but it whips the Abel Ferrara remake. GRADE: B+
I was a Male War Bride: An underrated entry from Howard Hawks. Great banter between Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan. Loses a bit of momentum in the second half when it focuses more on the “male bride” dilemma and less on the couple, but still, I laughed a lot. GRADE: A-
Serpico: Outstanding police procedural that fully deserves its reputation, with a great performance from Al Pacino and great direction by Sidney Lumet; the pair went on to make the classic Dog Day Afternoon. GRADE: A
You Can’t Take It With You: Not QUITE top tier Frank Capra, but it misses by very little - affecting and ultimately irresistible, with especially appealing performances by a cast including James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore and a very young Ann Miller. It does play better on stage, however, as evidenced by my high school’s production my senior year. GRADE: A-
So that’s what I saw. What do you think? And what have you seen lately?
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Some reviews/previews while I’m away
I’ll be away from work the rest of this week, so while I’m gone here are some reviews and previews I’ve concocted for the interim.
Duplicity: A few weeks ago on this blog, I wondered why this movie was getting such a cold reception from some moviegoers. Now, having seen the movie, I understand - but I’m very disappointed the movie has not done very well. Regular reader Kim S pegged it exactly right, calling it “too complicated for people who don’t want to pay attention.” If you go on expecting a mindless lark, this movie is going to throw you. But I loved the fact that the movie engaged me and kept me on my toes,as Julia Roberts and Clive Owen engaged in games of one-upmanship, and writer-director Tony Gilroy deftly assembled the pieces of the puzzle. This is my favorite movie of the spring. The day a movie like this is “too smart” is the day we’re all in trouble. GRADE: A
Sunshine Cleaning: Probably because it has the word “Sunshine” in the title, and because Alan Arkin again plays a crusty father figure, this film has been talked up as this year’s Little Miss Sunshine, but the two films really are very different. Cleaning is a much more serious film than its ads make it look, it reveals the uneasy lives of two sisters who start a crime scene cleaning business. Amy Adams and Emily Blunt are both excellent, and ideally cast. Adams is the optimistic one, trying to live up to her golden image, and Blunt is the more caustic one, trying to live down her image as the screw-up. The movie occasionally gets a touch precious, but it’s still an affecting portrait with a subject area that’s nothing if not unique. GRADE: A-
On DVD Tuesday
Bedtime Stories: No thanks. Adam Sandler reading me bedtime stories would give me nightmares.
The Day the Earth Stood Still: Speaking of nightmares …. Full review: GRADE: D
Doubt: More fun with Amy Adams! Well, not exactly “fun,” but this was one of the best movies of last year, with Meryl Streep playing a nun who is convinced that priest Philip Seymour Hoffman has done something illicit with a student. Adams plays the nun who sets the controversy in motion. GRADE: A
No Country for Old Men: The fine folks at Disney put out a new extras-laden version of this great movie, thoroughly ticking off those of us who already bought the older disc with only a few extras. It’s enough to bring out the Anton Chigurh in me …
Not Easily Broken: A car accident tears asunder the lives of Clarice Johnson (Taraji P Henson) and her husband, Dave (Morris Chestnut) — then begin to develop feelings for other people. This sure made it to DVD quick, it came out in theaters in January.
The Tale of Desperaux: I never got to this one in theaters and I regret that - I’ve heard this was a charming movie that should have found a bigger audience. Now if only Emma Watson (who provided a voice in this movie) would land a live action gig outside of Harry Potter …
Yes Man: Sort of a more genteel version of Liar, Liar, this Jim Carrey comedy leans a bit too heavily on his rubber-mugging, as so many of his comedies do. What ultimately puts the movie over is not the comedy, but the romance between Carrey and the delightfully offbeat Zooey Deschanel. She’s Carrey’s best match next to Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. GRADE: B
In theaters this Friday
Dragonball Evolution: Emmy Rossum is really talented. She can’t get better gigs than this? That sounds more like devolution to me.
Hannah Montana the Movie: So will this gross more like Hannah’s concert movie or like the Jonas’ concert movie? I’m guessing somewhere in between.
Observe and Report: Starring Seth Rogen and directed by Jody Hill who made The Foot Fist Way, this is apparently Paul Blart with a brain, so it’ll probably not do well, but I’m curious.
I’ll be back here on Monday April 13, so in the meantime feel free to comment on anything here or whatever else tickles your fancy.
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‘Adventureland’ a sweet, fun ride
No jungle cruise or pirates of the Caribbean can be found in the new movie Adventureland, but it captures the roller coaster of teenage angst remarkably well, making this one of the best movies of the spring.
The movie is the creation of writer-director Greg Mottola, who scored a hit with Superbad but got almost no credit for it, with most of the kudos being reserved for the ubiquitous comedy maestro Judd Apatow, who produced that film.
This time out, however, Apatow is nowhere to be found except under thank-yous in the closing credits. This is all Mottola’s show, and Adventureland proves he’s a real talent, outshining Superbad. The new movie reveals that Mottola has a keen eye for detail, a great ear for dialogue, and a strong feeling for how teens think.
The film is set in 1987, when James (Jesse Eiesenberg, of The Squid and the Whale) has graduated from high school and is looking forward to a trip to a Europe. Hard times dash those plans when James’ dad is forced to take a lower-paying job, so James is forced to find the lowest of the low-rent work at Adventureland, a midway-style amusement park where the employees wear T-shirts that say “Rides Rides Rides” and “Games Games Games.”
James’ miserable existence enlivens when he meets and quickly develops a crush on Em (Kristen Stewart), a girl who also works in games. Em likes James, but she’s carrying on an affair with the park’s maintenance guy, Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds), who’s a married man.
The cast is one of the movie’s best assets. Eisenberg is endearingly nervous as James, and Stewart’s performance ought to remind our celebrity cult that she’s not just the girl from Twilight who doesn’t interview well. Stewart gives the best performance in the film, revealing striking and touching layers of complexity to her character, making her much more than an object of desire.
Even Ryan Reynolds, who made his name in smarmy comedies like National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, gives his second performance I liked, after his strong turn in Definitely, Maybe. Saturday Night Live veterans Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig play off each other hilariously as the slightly daffy couple who operate the park.
What made Adventureland work for me more than anything else was the writing. The characters, for the most part, aren’t stereotypes, but three-dimensional people. I particularly related to Jesse, because I also was a well-read, well-meaning geek who was incredibly awkward around girls. I liked these characters and rooted for them. As an added bonus for local residents who remember the amusement park LeSourdsville Lake/Americana, Adventureland is bound to recall many memories.
The movie runs a touch longer than it should, and is overloaded with one-joke supporting players who don’t add much to the story. What Mottola has made, though, amounts to the one of the best John Hughes movies Hughes never made. Mottola’s even smart enough to know that “Rock Me Amadeus” is indeed annoying when you hear it 5,000 times a day.
GRADE: A-
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What’s opening Friday, April 3?
The first week of April brings us three new films, but the one sure to gross the most at the box office is the one I am interested in the least.
Adventureland: No, it’s not a Disney movie based on one of their theme parks, but a coming-of-age comedy from the director of Superbad. Review posts Friday.
Fast and Furious: The hot wheels (notice the lack of capitalization) return for a fourth go-round, with the original cast back, but without articles in the title. (Showing off my grammarian side there.) I’ve never been into this series, though, thinking it lived up to neither adjective in the title. I’lll admit the ads are fairly impressive - but reviews so far are not.
Sunshine Cleaning: Amy Adams stars, so this is an automatic for me. She and Emily Blunt play sisters who operate a business cleaning up crime scenes. It’s been said to be in the vein of Little Miss Sunshine - Alan Arkin pops up here too - but the movie supposedly has more bite than its lighthearted trailer suggests.
At the arthouses
Neon opens Sunshine Cleaning, which finally displaces the long-running Slumdog Millionaire. Neon also hangs on to Two Lovers and The Class.
Little Art plays Kate Winslet’s vastly underrated Revolutionary Road, and Kate Winslet’s vastly overrated The Reader. It also offers the Indian animated film Sita Sings the Blues.
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What movies would you use to punish criminals?
I’m not very good at cracking April Fool’s jokes, nor at detecting them, but I am good at being silly, and April Fool’s Day is a great time to be a little lighthearted, shall we say.
Along those lines, my regular reader Kim S. emailed me with a very creative question: “What movie should criminals watch that would be so bad a punishment the crime rate would go down?”
Hmmm. Well, my favorite whipping boy is Michael Bay’s Bad Boys 2, but given the taste of most criminal types, watching that movie would probably be a reward rather than a punishment, frightening as that may be. Scratch that.
The infamously inept Plan 9 from Outer Space? Nah. Too unintentionally hilarious.
The Hottie & the Nottie? This might work for some white-collar criminals, I suppose, but some of them might have poor enough taste to find Paris Hilton attractive. Brrrr.
Ah ha! I’ve got it! The movie I would force criminals to watch, Clockwork Orange-style, The Hours, starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore!
What, you say? The movie that won Nicole Kidman her Oscar? From where I sit, it’s perfect. It’s suffocatingly pretentious, not to most criminals’ taste, and best of all, it’s S-L-O-W enough to make the passage of time seem like real torture. (The movie would more accurately be titled The Centuries) As an added bonus, Phillip Glass’ numbing, repetitive score is annoying enough to drill its way through the thickest skull! (Insert evil laughter here)
That’s my choice, anyway. What are some of yours?
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