Stranger Than Fiction
April 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Stranger Than Fiction is a romantic comedy in that there is a romance, and it is a comedy… but that classification just doesn’t seem right to me. Maybe it’s because it’s really not very funny, and it’s not that much of a romance either. Let’s call it a Fantasy / Dramedy?
Will Ferrell is Harold Crick, an IRS agent by day and.. well.. IRS agent by night. Other than work his schedule is pretty much open. He gets up at the same time every day, follows an exacting schedule (including precise breaks for coffee) and goes to bed at the exact same time each night. We assume he does something boring on the weekends, but it’s never mentioned in the movie. One morning while brushing his teeth Harold hears a voice… talking about him brushing his teeth. He hears it again while getting dressed… talking about him tying his tie.
After a few days (and a few amusing outbursts) he goes to see a shrink. She says he’s a schizophrenic while he just thinks he has a narrator. To that end she suggests he talk with someone versed in literature, so he ends up visiting a college literature professor (Dustin Hoffman.) At this point you’d be forgiven for thinking “yeah right, like the shrink would have suggested that.. and the professor would actually believe him!” and you’re right, neither thing would really happen. But Will manages to play Harold in such a sympathetic “everyman” fashion that for a moment you do think people would want to believe him just because he’s such a nice guy.
His narrator turns out to be Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), a noted author who is trying to get past a bad case of writers block on her current novel. She of course has no idea that everything she writes concerning Harold Crick actually happens to him, and she’s currently trying to figure out how to kill him off.
Oh yeah, the romance. Harold is in the process of auditing Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a local baker who decided she didn’t want to fund the war in Iraq so she reduced her tax payment by the amount that would have gone to the defense budget. On a side note, I really like this idea… a line item veto on your taxes! I’d fund defense, but I’d really like to skip payment on the various entitlement programs and pork barrel projects that Congress keeps spending my money on. ANYWAY, Harold becomes smitten with Ana and since learning from his narrator that he is destined to die soon he decides to pursue her.
At this point it’s the typical “live for today cause you don’t know what tomorrow holds” type of story line, a little sappy but it’s interesting to watch Harold come out of his shell to pursue his interests. Usually a movie will go over the top at this point with the main character doing really stupid things, but in keeping with the low key nature of Harold, his desires are much more realistic and obtainable. This is also the point of the movie where you’ll say to yourself “damn, Will Ferrell can actually act!” You read that correctly.. Will Ferrell can act. Do NOT be surprised if he starts getting non-comedy roles at some point.
Stranger Than Fiction is a date movie, one that will certainly increase your odds of getting a little action on the couch. Even if you don’t have someone to watch this one with I think it’s worth seeing, it’s just a darn good movie. A solid 4 stars.
Popularity: 19% [?]
Nochnoi Dozor (Night Watch)
April 23, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Russian-born novelist Vladimir Nabokov once said, “Style and structure are the essence of a book; great ideas are hogwash.” Night Watch director Timur Bekmambetov apparently tried to take this idea to heart, but he became fixated on the ’style’ part and forgot about the rest.
As a result, Night Watch is a veritable cornucopia of stylistic editing, visual effects, and creatively imagined phenomena. At the same time, however, it is confusing, slow to develop, and a bit loose with its continuity.
The story is constructed around a very familiar outline: Forces of Good and Evil have been waging an evenly matched war against each other for centuries when, suddenly, someone particularly powerful comes along that can upset the balance. Both sides vie to control that power and the drama of this struggle unfolds on the screen.
Most humans are blissfully ignorant of this struggle but a few are very different. They choose to call themselves “Others”. You can be a “good Other” and fight for all that is pure and ideal, or you can choose to be a “bad Other” and attempt to wreak havoc across the world. If you are an “Other” you might have been created from a normal human (a la the vampires), or you naturally could be gifted with an unusual power, or you could even be a sorceror or witch.
I won’t bother trying to explain it further since I’m not 100% sure of anything beyond what you’ve just read. But that’s ok, though. There’s a lot of stylish things happening on screen that will keep your mind occupied through all the confusion.
The acting, such as it was, seemed adequate enough. The subtitles were a nice touch as they weren’t just your normal white lines of text. They changed colors and were often animated (one of the many clever things done in the movie to help set a proper mood). Likewise, the sets were very well picked. All the buildings, streets, rooms, etc., gave a sense of age, decline, and shoddy workmanship. Of course, the movie was filmed in Moscow so it may just be that *every* place there has that look to it.
All in all, this first movie in the trilogy (yes, there will be two more) was well on the road to a two-star rating from me but, at the end, it salvaged another star (barely) thanks to a very clever plot twist that was especially twisted. This gives me at least a little hope for the next two in the series.
Popularity: 19% [?]
The Prestige
April 23, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Director Christopher Nolan put together some very fine ingredients, stirred them up a bit, and has now presented us with a delicious looking movie called “The Prestige”. On paper, this should be a slam dunk of a film. Firstly, you take two popular movie stars that are beginning to show the world that, yes, they can act, too (Jackman & Bale); add in a hot babe (Johansson); mix in some salty old veteran performers (Caine, William Morgan Sheppard); toss them all into a story involving magic, murder, science, and science fiction…and you’d have a movie that should suck in just about every demographic you can name.
But…while it’s not a bad movie, it’s not great. Indeed, here’s a prime example of a movie that is way less than the sum of its parts. It works on some levels quite well, but fails miserably on others.
The story, as we see it unfolding in some jarring flash-back and flash-forward scenes, involves two young magicians: Rupert Angiers (Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Bale). They are friends but after a tragic accident resulting in the death of Rupert’s wife, the friendship is over and a rivalry begins. Both men obsess over the other one’s magic tricks as well as their own.
The rivalry escalates over time and becomes reasonably violent until…until Rupert witnesses a new trick performed by Alfred that, as he describes it, is the greatest magic trick ever performed. From then on, the race for supremacy becomes total and all-consuming. Some of the most wicked, dirty tricks ever conceived are then brought to bear. As for what happens then, you’ll just have to see it for yourself.
On the plus side, the casting was about as good as you could ask for and everyone involved turned in some nice performances. Most notable in my eyes were Michael Caine, who nearly steals every scene he’s in, and David Bowie who turns in a surprisingly good job as famous (and infamous) scientific maverick Nikola Tesla.
The visual effects were quite good as well. The use of some of Tesla’s monster machines was a very nice touch and I can only imagine that the production crews were just a bit intimidated while trying to work nearby while they crackled and spat lightning bolts all around.
Nolan’s directing, however, is where I start to have a couple of problems. Or, more specifically, his editting (or lack thereof). This movie DRAGS in more than a few places. It is eight minutes over two hours long but it feels closer to two and half hours or more. Several scenes could have been (and should have been) cut down or cut entirely and it would have made for a much better flow.
Additionally, there is a major plot point that will, if you’re not ready for it, cause you to sit up in your seat and yell, “Aw, that’s HORSESHIT!” at the screen. I’m all about suspending belief, but one of the major points of the movie at the end requires you to completely throw any science you know out the window and accept something that makes about as much sense as claiming that pouring water over someone’s head will cause them to sprout extra arms.
These very bad areas balance out a lot that is good in the movie and, as such, I can only say that I marginally enjoyed watching it. Thankfully, there’s not much room for a sequel, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a spin-off movie wherein Bowie reprises his role as Tesla and builds some more amazing machines. In the mean time, don’t go out of your way to see this one and just wait for the DVD.
Popularity: 19% [?]
Shaft
April 23, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Who’s the black private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks? SHAFT! They say this cat Shaft is a bad mother… SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I’m only talkin’ ’bout Shaft. THEN WE CAN DIG IT!
So sayeth the lyrics from the ultra funky smooth theme from Shaft by Isaac Hayes. However in the year 2000 John Shaft is actually a cop, and although he alludes to the LD there are no sex scenes. But he is definitely one bad mother.
Samuel L. Jackson gives us a Y2K version of John Shaft. And you’ll never find a cooler cat. He’s smooth with the ladies, has a snappy comeback for any insult and will have a clever solution for any problem. Although he wears nothing but black, he’s definitely a good guy, and the bad guys do not stand a chance. They can empty entire clips of automatic weapons at him, and he’ll just cooly duck out of the way and then take them out with a single returned shot.
And all of this is good! If it sounds predictable and cliche, it is, but it works. And it works well, mainly because Shaft is just so cool. If there’s any question about Samuel L. Jackson being able to play this role, they’ve been answered as he’s spectacular.
As for the movie, it has almost everything we look for in a movie. We get tons of gun play, a quality car chase, outstanding one liners and some major ass whippings. It need only add some large explosions and large tah tahs to be the perfect movie. However, this is one of those movies that virtually the entire review staff wanted to see, and the concensus was that it is definitely a 5 star movie.
Should you go see this movie on the big screen? You damn right!
Popularity: 20% [?]
Children of Men
April 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I’m about to reach a point where if Hollywood directors/writers don’t stop trying to preach politics to me, I’m going to just quit watching movies all together. I’m sick and tired of all the subtle (and not so subtle) messages telling me that socialism is good and capitalism is evil; that war is never an answer to anything; that nations that claim to be based on freedom are actually just fascist oppressors. I’m SICK of it!
As you hopefully have surmised by now, Children of Men has been laced with a lot of left-wing political messages. To be fair, there are a lot of potential messages in this movie that are not on either side of the idealogical scale, but all the ones that do fit on the scale are all on the side that Lenin preferred.
But politics aside, is the movie any good? Actually, yes. The story itself is not one you see every day: in the year 2027 it has been 18 years since the last human was born. Women worldwide inexplicably become infertile, damning humanity to a long, slow death. Predictably, the social order of the world degrades and chaos begins to reign supreme. In the UK, however, they continue to stand tall and proud…or so the FASCIST capitalistic government would have you believe. In reality, the government is bombing civilians and blaming the “good” resistance groups which even director Alfonso Cuarón acknowledges will have their own bad seeds.
Theo Faron (Owen) is a low-level government bureaucrat who, like the millions of other human survivors, is just going through the motions of life. After nearly being blown up by one of the aforementioned “government” bombs, he is kidnapped by a resistance group lead by his ex-wife, Julian (Moore), who apologizes for the “ruse” and asks him to help her group escort a young woman to a secretive group of scientists who are reportedly working to “save” the world.
From here, the movie shifts gears and becomes a not-so-original ‘desperate run for life while caught between warring factions’ flick. Even here, however, it manages to stand out from the pack via some spectacular cinematography reminiscent of the beginning of Saving Private Ryan.
The casting in Children of Men is also rather commendable. Owen and Moore are suited to their roles and Michael Caine, as usual, steals all of his scenes. As well, relative newcomer Claire-Hope Ashitey is very credible as the young woman. The only glitch is Ejiofor who, given his talent, is very underutilized.
The biggest problem with the movie, politics aside, is the tone. All the good points mentioned above, put together, are only marginally able to overcome the hopelessness of everyone in the movie – INCLUDING the main characters. When your protagonist is lacking energy and bereft of any hope for the future, how can you expect the audience to really care what happens to him and the people around him? I mean, hell, I was contemplating slicing my OWN wrists by the time the credits rolled!
Add the distasteful politics into the mix and the end result is a very middle-of-the-road rating of 3 stars.
NOTE: If you watch this movie and are doubtful as to the political leanings, be sure to listen to the lyrics of the first two songs in the closing credits.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Disturbia
April 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
This movie is going to be endlessly compared to Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW. It’s a better movie than a straight remake of REAR WINDOW would be. It anticipates some of the problems of telling a modern version of that story and comes up with inventive solutions.
Christopher Reeve made a remake of REAR WINDOW, but for anyone else to try it, they need a different gimmick.
And these days, you have to be more explicit in the voyeurism, but then you run the risk of your protagonist being too creepy.
One way might be to have the voyeur be female. That angle comes in too, but first, they start off with the voyeur being a horny teenage boy.
In this age of YouTube and camera phones, we’ve all become voyeurs.
Shia LeBeouf (who was in HOLES, and was rumored to be playing Indiana Jones’s son in the next Indy flick) plays a basically good teenager, who, due to an unfortunate incident of Unmanaged Anger, is now under house arrest in his suburban home, with a GPS electronic ankle bracelet.
His mom (Carrie-Anne Moss) works most of the time; she’s holding down a trinity of jobs to make ends meet. Stuck in the house all day and night, he’s got cabin fever, and so uses binoculars and a video camera to spy on various neighbors.
One of the Heavenly Bodies he sees through his ground-based astronomy is the girl next door, who eventually catches him at his Peeping Tom routine, and, somewhat to the surprise of both of them, takes up his voyeurism hobby.
Eventually they start to suspect that one neighbor (David Morse) may be a serial killer.
What’s clever about this is, due to the ankle bracelet alerting the police if he leaves his yard, it’s actually a lot more suspenseful than Jimmy Stewart being confined to a wheelchair in REAR WINDOW; because he can get up and go at any time… it’s just that the threat of jail hangs over him like a mental force field.
This is a surprisingly smart thriller.
Popularity: 22% [?]
Hot Fuzz
April 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment
HOT FUZZ is the new comedy by the guys who made SHAWN OF THE DEAD. Directed and co-written by Edgar Wright, it’s an action movie, cop buddy film.
Sergeant Nick Angel (Simon Pegg, also co-writer) is a top London cop, who is so good at his job that he’s making the other police officers look bad. So they banish him to a sleepy rural village. There he’s partnered with Police Constable Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), who’s bored living in a village with no crime, but dreams of Life Imitating Art… in this case, the Art being movies like POINT BREAK and BAD BOYS 2.
At first, police-work in Nick’s new home seems to consist of catching underage drinkers and tracking down wayward swans.
But something sinister is afoot in the village of Sanford, and soon Angel & Butterman are combating a tsunami of a crime wave. Angel begins to suspect that a series of grisly accidents are really murders.
In the same way that SHAWN OF THE DEAD manages to be both a comedy and a good zombie horror movie, HOT FUZZ is funny… but it’s also a respectable action cop-buddy movie which builds up to a crescendo of gunplay, car chases, and explosions.
That it takes place in Wales just makes it funnier.
It’s also a spoof of another English movie, but to mention it by title would be to reveal too much.
However, a hint might be found here: Actors in it include Timothy Dalton, Edward Woodward, and Bill Nighy. Also Peter Jackson makes a cameo.
This is a movie that recognizes that, as ridiculous as movies like POINT BREAK and BAD BOYS 2 are, they’re strangely satisfying viewing experiences.
Also, there are plenty of British gangster movies, but I can’t think of any British police movies. This is a great one!
Popularity: 24% [?]
Batman Beyond: The Complete Third Season
April 6, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Bruce Wayne, unlike most other heroes, is just a man. He’s a very well trained and is in great shape, but he’s still just a normal man…with wonderful toys. So it’s only logical that as the years pass, the man behind Batman will become old and frail. But Gotham can’t be without the Batman! There would be chaos! What’s a crime-fighting bat to do? Why, you find a replacement for yourself and tutor him, of course!
When the first episode of Batman Beyond saw the light of day, we quickly got a glimpse into the big “what if…” of Batman’s future. The series opened a few decades from now and Bruce Wayne is…well, let’s face it, an old man. But he has found someone that can take his place in the person of young Terry McGinnis. With the nagging voice of Bruce in his earpiece at all times, Terry struggles and, ultimately, triumphs as the new Batman.
In the third season, we find that Batman Beyond has shaken the dreaded “sophomore curse” that has afflicted so many other shows. The excitement was ramped up by the return of Ra’s Al Ghul…sort of. And then there was that little matter of the Justice League Unlimited recruiting him to ferret out a traitor in their midst. Zoinks!
The animation is, for the budget they had to work with, quite interesting and well done. The acting is surprisingly good with Kevin Controy voicing the role of the aging Bruce Wayne and Will Friedle doing excellent work as Terry.
This third and final season was the best of the three and it is only the lack of blood and T&A that prevents it from that coveted 5th star. In my humble opinion, it is the best of the three seasons of BB so it would definitely make an excellent addition to your collection.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Grindhouse
April 5, 2007 | 1 Comment
My GOD! Look at the Vital Stats for this one! Have we ever had a film that scored so high on all the important stats here at Movies for Guys? I haven’t looked to be sure, but I highly doubt it!
The eagerly anticipated “double feature” from Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino is here and it delivers everything as promised…and then some! As you should be aware by now, Grindhouse is a double feature that pays homage to the old 1970s exploitation flicks. And what did those old trashy movies have in them? Just look back over to the stats again, man! Explosions, body parts, car chases, sex and even a few laughs! It’s all here!
There’s no need whatsoever to analyze Grindhouse as you might normally do with a film. None of the normal rules apply. The normal rules, in fact, would tell you that this is a really horrible movie when, in fact, the exact opposite is true.
It is obvious that both Rodriguez and Tarantino not only have a thorough knowledge of their source material, but also a deep affection for it. The reproductions here are very precise and completely dead-on perfect. Everything that annoyed you about seeing movies in a cheap, run-down theater or drive in 30 years ago is back again. Only this time, you don’t mind it at all because its all intentional and its there merely to send you back down memory lane.
Grindhouse starts off with a fake trailer (of which there are several in the movie…all priceless gems in and of themselves). Next up is Rodriguez’s feature, Planet Terror. Nothing fancy here; just a standard zombie movie plot with some very entertaining and hilarious characters thrown into the mix. After its over, more fake trailers are shown. I think my favorites of the evening were for movies named Machete and Werewolf Women of the SS. And last up is Tarantino’s segment entitled Death Proof. The story here centers around Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), a hollywood stuntman (duh!) and loner who enjoys murdering women…and this time he’s picked on the wrong women.
Yay I say unto thee: Grindhouse has come down upon us from on high and the time of the reckoning is nigh! So I reckon I’ll head on down to the local Regal and watch this thing a few more times!
Popularity: 26% [?]
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Gun Play
Blood & Gore Car Chases T&A Chuckles |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
