Angry Talkbacker Movie News and Reviews

Top 10 Movies of 2008

2008-12-30T11:39:00.000-08:00

It’s funny how things come full circle sometimes. 2007 was a year proclaimed by many critics to be a landmark period in cinema, and I can’t really disagree. The art-house films released were indisputably great, but as a connoisseur of summer blockbusters, I can’t deny a little feeling of disappointment last year. Well 2008 took things in the complete opposite direction with a ho-hum awards season and a fantastic lineup of summer spectacle including 2 films I already consider all-time classics that I expect to be watching regularly with my kids and grandkids.

10 The Wackness
This Sundance sensation, turned little-seen gem proved to be a fairly standard coming-of-age indie flick, but it won me over by dripping with two things I can’t get enough of: early 90’s hip hop and New York City. I also thought they did a great job selling the love story, which is something many many movies attempt and fail miserably at. Add to that a great performance by Sir Ben Kingsley as an aging pothead, and you get a movie that easily squeezes into my top 10 for the year.

9 Mongol
The first of a planned trilogy of films chronicling the rise and fall of Genghis Kahn, Mongol is a great example of how to properly do a historical epic. I wish I’d gotten to see this film on the big screen, because my 20 inch Polaroid did not do the kick-ass battle scenes justice, but I will be getting this on blu-ray soon enough. Now let’s just hope they get around to making the other two parts of this story.

8 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
At this point, I think it’s pretty well settled that David Fincher is one of the great filmmakers of this generation. Benjamin Button is certainly a departure for him, but his style lends itself just as well to a sentimental love story as it does for the dark and cynical movies he’s made. The story does bear a heavy resemblance to Forrest Gump, which admittedly dropped it a few slots for me, but I know which one of those is going to be getting more re-plays in my house.

7 JCVD
Oddly enough, I went to see this one as a bit of a novelty, when the Angelika promised a post-screening Q&A with Van Damme himself, but alas, the Muscles from Brussels did not show. To my pleasant surprise however, the movie turned out to be great. The film, which stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as washed up direct-to-video action hero, Jean-Claude Van Damme is funny, suspenseful, and surprisingly touching (i.e. everything you don’t expect out of a Van Damme movie). While I don’t expect this to resurrect any careers, it’s nice to see that great movies can sometimes come from unexpected places.

6-5 Iron Man & The Incredible Hulk (tie)
I know that Iron Man is the one that gets all the acclaim, but I thought Incredible Hulk did just as good a job bringing the Marvel Universe to the big screen. Both pictures give you exactly what you want from a movie starring their respective heroes and both were perfectly cast. I absolutely can’t wait to see what Marvel Studios does next and how they continue to build on this universe they’ve created.

4 Milk
Gus Van Sant’s biopic for the first gay man elected to a major public office in America is certainly conventional, but it does conventional very very well. The issues brought up by the film are both timely and (for some reason) divisive, but the central message of standing up for what you believe in and not crumbling to “the way things are” is one that Hollywood will never tire of making, and I’ll never tire of watching.

3 Let the Right One In
I find myself going back and forth on the genre of horror a lot. The overwhelming majority of the time I find myself somewhere between disinterested and completely bored by horror movies, but when I find one I like, I really tend to flip for it. Such was the case with this Swedish vampire flick. I love it when a director really nails the atmosphere in a horror movie, and Let the Right One In oozes atmosphere like a freshly gnawed open neck. Then there’s that finale that simultaneously made me want to recoil and jump up and cheer.

2 Wall E
I have to admit, in most years this would be my #1. The level of craft on display here is so far beyond just about anything I’ve seen in an animated picture (or any picture for that matter), and there are scenes and moments in the film that are absolutely breathtaking to behold. The movie is without a doubt the best love story and the best sci-fi film I’ve seen in years, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I found myself favorably comparing the film to classics like Star Wars and 2001 more than once as I watched it that first time. Am I gushing a little? Well brace yourself….

1 The Dark Knight
Ok, so this was pretty much the least suspenseful list I’ve ever written. If you’ve known me at least an hour, you know that I am hopelessly in love with comics, and The Dark Knight served as the genre’s magnum opus. I could go on and on about Heath Ledger’s singular performance, the choreography and staging of the highway chase, the note-perfect ending, and a million other things, but what really floors me about the film is the way that super-hero movies represented one thing before it was released, and now they represent something else. I have little doubt that the film does not have an Oscar prayer, but I am equally confident that years from now The Dark Knight will be remembered as THE movie that 2008 produced and one of the essential films of the decade.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2009

2008-12-30T11:34:00.000-08:00

So will 2009 produce anything that I go as nuts for as The Dark Knight and Wall-E? Probably not, but it’s always fun to speculate. Here’s what I’m looking forward to next year.

10 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Hmmm, this is familiar. I seem to remember writing something about this one last year. You know the drill. Harry Potter, most consistent film series currently running, love the books, awesome cast, and so on and so forth.

9 Green Zone
This year, Generation Kill proved that it’s not impossible to make a great film about the still-in-progress Iraq War (just very unlikely). That said, I’m very interested to see what Paul Greengrass, the man behind United 93 and the Bourne series, has cooked up. Considering what he did with 9/11, I’m confident that he’s more than equipped to handle material just as tough.

8 Public Enemies
Michael Mann’s new film about the hunt for John Dillinger, starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Uh, yes please.

7 Shutter Island
Is there any need to explain why I’d be excited for a new Scorsese film? How about mentioning that it marks his fourth collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, a partnership that brought us The Aviator and The Departed. Yeah, I think that’ll do it.

6 Star Trek
I have a lot of respect for the original 1960’s Star Trek series as a groundbreaking and tremendously influential work of science fiction, but I’m at best lukewarm on the franchise in general, and I’m not a fan of the director, J.J. Abrams by any stretch of the imagination. So why am I excited for Star Trek? Well that trailer was pretty fantastic, and with Hollywood all franchise-crazy right now, my hope is that these movies can do what the Star Wars prequels failed with, and we’ll have a new series to look forward to every few summers.

5 The Lovely Bones
I’m a sucker for popcorn movies, and Peter Jackson is arguably the reigning king of popcorn cinema. His next film, The Lovely Bones, isn’t popcorn at all (it’s an adaptation of a novel about a young girl who is murdered and watches her family from heaven), but I’m still looking forward to seeing what the man who brought us Lord of the Rings and King Kong has up his sleeve.

4 Up
Pixar’s next film, Up seems like it has an almost Miyazaki-like vibe to it, and if that awesome trailer is any indication, the movie should be another homerun for the makers of the best animated movies in… well, pretty much ever.

3 Inglorious Basterds
2009 promises many movies that we thought would never be released, including Inglorious Basterds (no, that’s not a typo), Quentin Tarantino’s WW2 epic that I believe we first heard about sometime around the release of Pulp Fiction. Tarantino’s movies have gotten increasingly fetishistic, but if he can do for the war movie what he did for the samurai flick, then we are in for a treat.

2 Watchmen
A year ago I would’ve given a brief (yeah, probably not) primer of Watchmen for people who weren’t familiar, but things have changed in the past 12 months. I’ll just reiterate what everyone already knows. A film adaptation of the greatest comic book story of all time is finally being released in theaters (we hope), and as New York’s self-proclaimed #1 comic geek, you can be sure I will have my opening night tickets a month in advance and request that day off from work.

1 Avatar
Avatar marks the first major motion picture from director James Cameron since directing the biggest movie of all time over 10 years ago. I’m not the biggest fan of that boat movie, but Aliens? Terminator? The man is a geek-movie god. So all this alone would be enough to entice me, but the fact that the film is being made with technology that he has been developing in that decade span that’s even got guys like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas excited gives this one just enough of a push to top the greatest comic book ever written.

Top 10 Movies of 2007

2007-12-30T20:28:00.000-08:00

Well here we are again. 2007 is drawing to a close, and as usual the foremost thing on my mind is discussing my favorite movies of the year. This particular year featured an unusually strong art-house, disappointing blockbusters, and any comedy worth seeing had Judd Apatow’s name on it. I saw just shy of 50 movies this year, and the following was the cream of the crop. (All entries subject to change a week after I write this, yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill)

10 Eastern Promises
The first film on my list is the second collaboration between director David Cronenberg and star Viggo Mortensen. I enjoyed their first, History of Violence, but wasn’t really knocked out by it. Eastern Promises on the other hand did a much better job of sucking me in. As you watch it, you just want to know more about Mortensen’s mysterious Russian mobster, and when you do start to learn more, it’s not at all what you were thinking. And I certainly can’t go on without mentioning the steam-room fight, which might be the most badass moment on a list filled with them. I’m sure most of us could do without seeing Viggo naked, but when he’s kicking asses (and taking names) in that state, it’s kind of hard to cry foul.

9 300
The big criticism that people level at this one is that it’s style over substance. Do I plan to argue that one? Not at all. Does it still get a spot on my top ten? Hells yeah. 300 builds on many of the filmmaking advancements brought about by Sin City in 2005, and for good or ill, this is a style that will only continue to grow, especially considering the return on investment for this one. The acting is dialed up to 11 at all times, but I can forgive that when you have some of the best action of the decade. I mean, how much did overacting hurt Predator?

8 American Gangster
Although this movie didn’t inspire me to go record an album about it, I still had a lot of fun watching it. The film effectively blends the glamour and action of Scarface (grossly overrated) with the realism of The Wire (grossly underrated), with a standout performance by Denzel Washington. The film tries to place equal focus on the 2 leads, but Denzel’s arc is considerably more compelling than Russell Crowe’s, which is probably my only real complaint. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the third lead: 1970’s era New York. Equal parts glitz and grime, the setting plays a huge part in the film’s success, and though I never got to experience it for myself, after leaving the theater, I felt like I had.

7 Zodiac
Director David Fincher has been responsible for 2 of the best films of the past few years, so my expectations for Zodiac were sky-high. After leaving the theater I couldn’t help feeling somewhat underwhelmed. My mind wasn’t blown the way it was following Se7en, and in an odd sort of way, Fincher had me exactly where he wanted me. The film isn’t about some grand revelation. It’s about being taken aback by some shocking events and then being slowly frustrated as you feel yourself getting closer to answers only to have things fall apart as leads go cold. In the end there are no answers, and you never quite get a handle on what really happened, which puts you in the same boat as the people investigating the case. The other truly remarkable aspect to Zodiac is Fincher’s ability to put CGI to use in ways that no one else seems to even consider. Rather than using the technology for showy effects, Fincher uses it to intricately recreate 1970’s San Francisco down to the smallest detail without the audience even having the slightest clue they’re looking at non-existent sets. Fincher seems to be getting into a rhythm lately after taking some time off. I hope he stays this productive, because I really see him turning into one of the greats.

6 Juno
Every year features a quirky indie-breakout and well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a sucker for them. That honor belongs to Juno in 2007, the second film from director Jason Reitman (yes, the son of the guy who made Ghostbusters) and the debut from next-big-screenwriter, Diablo Cody. The film features a stellar cast that includes 2 former Arrested Development cast-members, but it lives and dies on the performance of former X-Man Ellen Page, who shows that she’s more than up to the task of being a leading lady. If I had a complaint, it would be that the hipster dialogue can be a little overly clever at times (though some have suggested that Cody purposely botched some of Juno’s pop culture references to bring her down to earth), but the hit-to-miss ratio is definitely in its favor, and it has enough heart in it to forgive any minor quibbles.

5 Michael Clayton
I’ve often stated that the 1970’s are in my opinion the greatest decade in the history of cinema, and the films of 2007 featured plenty of nods to said decade. Michael Clayton, while being set in present day, felt closer to a 70’s style thriller than any film I’ve seen in a long time. It’s shocking in how plausible it feels and how quickly it all gets out of control. Tilda Swinton in particular gives an amazing and scary performance as the villain of the piece. The thriller is becoming dangerously cookie-cutter these days, so it’s refreshing to see one that feels so unique by taking its cues from the classics.

4 Ratatouille
We all know by now that Pixar, not unlike Wolverine, is the best there is at what they do. It’s gotten to the point where no one bats an eye when they release an amazing movie. What’s truly remarkable however is when Pixar releases a film that makes you go “Oh man, this might be the best thing they’ve ever done”. Few movies this year (animated or otherwise) were as touching, funny, and inspiring as Ratatouille which makes director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) 2 for 2 on blowing me away. I’d love to see the guy tackle live action sometime, but if he keeps making animated films at this caliber I won’t complain.

3 No Country for Old Men
Of all the films on this list, this modern-day western has gotten the most hype and awards buzz, but it’s well-deserved. I spent the months preceding No Country’s release devouring the works of the Coen brothers, and as much as I loved most of their films, I’d have to rate this one near the top. The cat-and-mouse game between Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin was easily the most exciting thing in the theater this year, and didn’t use a single shot of CGI, which is saying something in this day and age. The ending is anticlimactic to say the least, but anyone who lets that ruin their opinion of the rest of the movie probably dismissed 7 years of The Sopranos after 10 seconds of black screen.

2 Superbad
Between this and Knocked Up, Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen ruled the box office this summer, and any time 2 movies that have so much in common find so much success, it’s practically required that everyone pick a side and argue about which one is better. While I love Knocked Up, I have to go with Superbad in that match-up. This may shock a lot of my female readers, but the dialogue between the teenage boys in Superbad is so dead-on, it’s scary. It’s vulgar, disgusting and yes, hilarious, but what’s so amazing is that it sounds exactly like my friends and I do whenever we get a chance to turn off the censors (in a friend’s living room, on a crowded train, at Friendly’s, etc). The movie is also filled with memorable performances from Michael Cera’s star making role, to Seth Rogen’s ever-expanding resume of awesomeness, to possibly the most memorable character of the year. Yes, I am referring to McLovin. 2 years after Apatow and Rogen’s first film, I still laugh myself silly every time I watch The 40 Year Old Virgin, and I fully expect to say the same thing about Superbad in 2009.

1 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
I honestly don’t know what happened here. One day, I’m watching the red carpet of the premiere out of my New York hotel window and trying to spot Brad Pitt (yes, I caught the back of his head), the next day I’m waiting for it to get a wide release. And waiting. And waiting. Finally I got a chance to see it at a run down theater in Ocean City (which is a complete ghost town after Labor Day), and was knocked on my ass. This film was one of the most stunning westerns I’ve ever seen, and stars, Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck both knocked it out of the park. If you read the title, you know how the story ends, but every second of the movie is filled with tension as you get closer and closer to the inevitable conclusion. That tension is amplified any time a character is holding a gun. In a time when shootouts are as disposable as kisses on the big screen, Jesse James achieves some of the most shocking gunshots I’ve seen in a film, by knowing how to make the audience wait. It depresses me that a film this great managed to slip through the cracks, but I intend to sing the praises of this one for years to come to anyone who’ll listen.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2008

2007-12-30T20:25:00.000-08:00

You may notice that this list tends to skew a little more toward blockbusters than my top ten for 2007. What can I say? I never learn.

10 Pineapple Express
2008 promises lots of movies featuring Judd Apatow in the producer’s chair, but this is the only one that was written by Superbad scribes Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. This one is a stoner comedy, which doesn’t exactly speak to me personally, but I have no doubt there will be tons of laughs.

9 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Watching Order of the Phoenix tonight, I was amazed at how much improvement the series has displayed from its humble beginnings. Book 5 was my least favorite book, and so far represents my second favorite of the movies. Book 6 is one of the best books (7 tops that list), so I can’t wait to see what Phoenix director David Yates does with that one.

8 Valkyrie
This is the first film Bryan Singer has made without superheroes since 1998, and while I love the man’s work on the X-Men and Superman films, I love his debut, The Usual Suspects just as much. Valkyrie concerns a German plot to kill Hitler during WWII, which sounds like a good change of pace, so Bryan can come back refreshed and knock our socks off with a second Superman.

7 Synecdoche, New York
Synecdoche, New York marks the directorial debut of my favorite screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman. The man wrote one of my favorite movies ever in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so I can’t wait to see how he does behind the camera. I have a hunch it will be incredibly bizarre and hilarious.

6 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
This is the first re-teaming of David Fincher and Brad Pitt since Fight Club. For those with short memories, that’s the director of my #7 favorite movie of 2007 and the star of my #1. And it also stars one of my favorite actresses, Cate Blanchett. Yeah, I’d say I’m looking forward to this one.

5 Wall-E
So I’m sure you’re all wondering when I became such a Pixar fanboy. Do a quick search and watch the trailer for Wall-E and you’ll understand. This one has the earmarkings of potentially being this generation’s E.T., which is ludicrously high speculation for me, but there it is. I defy you to tell me that this little robot isn’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, and if the wizards at Pixar can do for Sci-Fi what they did for superheroes, this will be one phenomenal experience.

4 Bond 22
No, that’s not the name of the next James Bond movie. They’re pulling a JJ Abrams and not telling us (which I guess would imply that it was the name), but that’s what we’re all calling it right now. Casino Royale was one of the best Bond movies ever, and far and away the best one that didn’t star Sean Connery, so the sequel can’t get here fast enough for me. Hollywood is very franchise-oriented these days, and the Bond franchise is the granddaddy of them all. I’d like to see it leading the pack in terms of quality too, and so far it’s off to a great start.

3 Iron Man
With both the Spider-man and X-Men series showing signs of fading enthusiasm, it’s tremendously exciting to see a new Marvel hero taking the stage. They’ve had mixed results with their characters in the past aside from the 2 mentioned above, but the casting choice of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark is absolutely perfect in this fan’s opinion, so I’m with them so far. They’ve also done a great job courting the fans thus far (reminiscent of 300 and Batman Begins), so signs are pointing toward success, but I want to remain cautiously optimistic for the time being. Oh, who am I kidding? It’s freakin Iron Man!!!

2 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Now this one I’m not so sure about. Steven Spielberg is my favorite director ever (and in my opinion he’s on a pretty good streak), and the Indiana Jones series is one of my favorites, but I just don’t know if they can recapture the magic of the originals. Come next summer it will be a full 20 years since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (which is 4 years more than the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace). So yeah, this could certainly go either way, but once I get in that theater and hear that music I’ll probably be about ready to jump through the roof.

1 The Dark Knight
With Spidey and the mutants winding down, Batman seems poised to take over as the superhero film series, and since Batman Begins was just about perfect in every way, I’d say it stands a good chance of doing just that. And then there’s the bad guy. Ra’s al Ghul and Scarecrow are pretty sweet villains, but they have nothing on the one Dark Knight boasts. I am speaking of course of the best comic book supervillain ever written. The one, the only Joker. Anyone who’s seen the trailer can sense the insanity Heath Ledger has brought to the character, which may even rival Jack Nicholson’s classic performance that changed the Hollywood blockbuster forever. But then, after watching Spider-man 3, we all know there’s no such thing as a sure thing.

Top 10 Movies of 2006

2006-12-31T10:48:00.000-08:00

Well another year has gone by, and not much has changed except that I’ve seen a whole lot more movies than I had 12 months ago. The first half of 2006 had its share of disappointments, but the latter 6 months proved that good things come to those who wait. As always I didn’t get to see everything I wanted to, so the following list is subject to change (I saw my favorite film of 2005, Munich, 2 weeks after making my top ten list last year), but of the 40 movies I saw this year, these were the cream of the crop.

Honorable Mention: The Wire
I’m not really one for honorable mentions, and rest assured that the only reason I’m making an exception for The Wire instead of putting it at the top of the list with a #1 next to it is because it is a TV show. Simply put, season 4 of The Wire is both the highest achievement in filmed entertainment of 2006 and the greatest season of television ever produced. I know this is high praise, and I know us Wire-fanatics can be annoying with our overwhelming love for the show, but it’s 100% deserved. I have never in my life felt more personally invested in fictional characters than I did with the 4 Baltimore 8th graders who were the focus of this season. When one of them achieves a small victory you feel it yourself, and when one suffers a crushing defeat you feel that too. There’s a scene near the end of the season where a character takes out his frustration by beating the hell out of his steering wheel, and I could only laugh because I had done the same thing to my sofa cushion minutes earlier. Believe the hype on this one folks. You’ve never seen television like this before.

10 Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
In 20 years 2006 will be remembered for 2 things: pirates (more on them in a bit) and Borat. More than just a movie, Sacha Baron Cohen’s horny, racist reporter from Kazakhstan became a full blown pop-culture phenomenon. It’s not hard to see why though, as the film is one of the funniest and most thought-provoking comedies in a decade or more. Many comedies claim to push the envelope with shocking humor you’ll have to see to believe, but Borat actually delivered with scenes that this jaded movie-goer could not believe they got away with.

9 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
I’m not sure how many people reading this list have actually seen this one. If this movie slipped under your radar though, I’d recommend checking it out. In all seriousness, the film wasn’t perfect (I personally could have done without the whole island natives sequence), but it was definitely the best of this year’s summer blockbusters. The scenes of the Kraken’s attacks were some of the most stunning action sequences I’ve ever seen, and Davey Jones is easily one of the most impressive CG creations to date. I know a lot of people are getting sick of all the sequels these days (though box office receipts suggest otherwise), but if they continue to make them as quality as PotC, I say keep ‘em coming.

8 The Science of Sleep
Michel Gondry is kind of a weird guy, but he makes some great, quirky films. His last effort, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of my all time favorites, so I was interested to see how he followed that one up, although I knew a big piece of the puzzle was missing in the form of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Turns out I didn’t have anything to worry about though, as The Science of Sleep ended up being every bit as funny and touching as I’d hoped. I was also very impressed with the star, Gael Garcia Bernal (who I believe is the only actor to appear in 2 films on this list). Like Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine, he plays a character with plenty of flaws, but you can’t help but understand what he’s going through and root for the guy. Much as I loved it, the film isn’t for everyone, but if you’re up for a strange and challenging film, Science of Sleep definitely fits the bill.

7 Casino Royale
I’ve been a fan of James Bond movies since I was 12, but somewhere over the years I lost interest in the series aside from occasionally revisiting the Connery originals. Casino Royale reminded me what was so great about those films, and why the post Connery installments didn’t quite measure up. The film has its share of action movie spectacle with sequences that should excite any action junkie, but it’s the suspense and intrigue that sets Casino Royale out from the Bond pack. There were scenes that made me sit up and go “That’s why it would be so cool to be a spy!”, as well as the series’ most cringe-worthy torture scene since Goldfinger’s laser. And of course no Bond movie would be complete without the Bond-girl. Eva Green is gorgeous as expected, but she also adds more to the movie as a character than any Bond-girl I can remember. If they can keep the series at this level for future installments, consider me very happy to be a Bond-fan again.

6 Brick
Over the past year or so I’ve gotten very into film noir (Thank you Frank Miller), which is a genre that I couldn’t explain if I tried, but if you watch Brick, I think you’ll walk away with a good idea. Pretty much every trademark of noir is present in the film, except in this case it’s set in a contemporary high school. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whom you might remember from 3rd Rock From the Sun. He’s come a long way since those days, knocking out several indie performances in the last few years. The guy has obvious talent and I expect him to blow up in a big way in the near future. And if you’re not interested yet, I should mention that it has Tavon from FX’s The Shield in it.

5 The Proposition
I’m not generally a big western guy, but there are some big exceptions including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Deadwood, Unforgiven, and Once Upon a Time in the West. Well you can add the Proposition to that exclusive list. The film set in the Australian outback is absolutely brutal. It starts out very slow, but that just makes it all the more shocking when the blood and guts start flying. You don’t see a lot of movies like this anymore, but I’m glad they’re still making them.

4 Children of Men
Now THIS is what I’d like to see more of in Hollywood, a completely original science fiction movie that spends less time throwing special effects at you and more time making you think. While so many movies struggle to accomplish one theme, Children of Men creates an effective cautionary vision of the future, a message of hope, and a window to the world around us by holding a mirror up to ourselves. The film comes from director Alfonso Cuaron whom I’ve been singing the praises of since his addition to the Harry Potter series in 2004. Seems I picked the right horse to bet on, because the film is beautiful to look at, but you’re so drawn in by the story the first time around that you need to watch it a second time just to see the amazing filmmaking on display.

3 Babel
I frequently have trouble getting into ensemble films because you are given so little time to connect with the characters and often there’s 1 or 2 standout storylines that you wish were on screen whenever they focus on the others. Thankfully that does not happen with Babel. There are 4 (or 3 depending on who you ask) parallel stories that are equally compelling, and the acting is stellar across the board (particularly Brad Pitt who gives a career-best performance). There was no point during the film where I found myself wishing that they’d cut back to another character, and that is no easy feat. Another thing that separates Babel from other ensemble pictures is how hard it is to nail down the theme of the film. When you see it you have an understanding of what ties the stories together but explaining it is another matter entirely. A far cry from simply going “This movie’s about x”.

2 The Departed
Here’s a movie that I can’t imagine anyone not liking. Martin Scorcese is one of my top 3 favorite directors ever, and I consider The Departed one of his best films (yes, I’d even rate it above Goodfellas). There were a lot of movies this year with all-star casts, but The Departed tops them all, with every single major actor in the film absolutely killing whenever they’re on screen. Are you a Leonardo DiCaprio fan? You have to see this movie. A Mark Wahlberg fan? You have to see this movie. Jack Nicholson fan? See this movie. Perhaps the best thing about the film though is that at its heart it’s really just a popcorn crime thriller. The movie sets out to do one thing, and that is entertain. I can’t think of another movie I saw this year that I had as much fun watching.

1 United 93
I know most people really don’t like the idea of a movie about the tragedy of 9/11, and when these films were first announced, I was in the same boat as you. Then I saw United 93 (not Flight 93 which was a made for TV movie) opening weekend in Times Square, and I can honestly say it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Check any preconceived notions you have at the door. There is nothing manipulative or exploitative about this film. It is simply a reminder of one of the greatest acts of heroism of the 21st century with a finale that is one of the most inspiring movie-moments I’ve ever seen. It’s not an easy film to watch, but if you are an American or a lover of film or both, you owe it to yourself to see it.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2007

2006-12-31T10:43:00.000-08:00

10 Brief Interviews With Hideous Men
I suppose you could call this film my “sleeper” for this list. It’s written and directed by John Krasinski who plays Jim on The Office (TV’s best comedy). That may not sound like much to excite you, and I’ll admit that I have no idea if the guy can write or direct, but the last time a down-to-earth, twentysomething, indie-rock-loving actor from one of my favorite TV shows decided to make a movie, we got Garden State. So if history repeats itself, expect a lot of gloating from me at this time next year.

9 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
In a time when we’re increasingly getting the same thing over and over from Hollywood, the Pirates films have been unlike anything we’ve seen before, and it’s apparent that audiences are responding to that originality in a big way. They’ve sort of followed the Matrix formula, with a stand-alone film followed by 2 back-to-back sequels, but in this case it seems that they got it right. I’m really excited to see how the 3 films stand as a trilogy once the series is complete. Between this, Transformers, Fantastic Four 2, Shrek 3, and two others on this list, next summer could easily be the biggest summer in box office history.

8 The Simpsons Movie
OK, so The Simpsons hasn’t been too great for the last 7 or 8 years, I admit. But every fan of the show’s heyday has been wondering if we would ever see that long promised theatrical movie. We finally find out if it’s been worth the wait next summer. They’ve recruited many of the writers from the show’s best seasons, and so far the trailers I’ve seen have been hilarious, so I’m cautiously optimistic right now.

7 300
You might remember seeing this on my list last year (along with 2 others below). Well we finally get to see the finished product this March. Seems like every year there’s a little-known comic movie released in the spring (Sin City, V for Vendetta, Hellboy), and this year is no different. Based on the work of Frank Miller, expect this one to be similar to an ancient version of Sin City (with more action, if that’s possible).

6 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Harry Potter series is possibly the most ambitious project in Hollywood history. I really can’t get over the fact that they’ve managed to build such an epic saga with a young cast and not fall prey to diminishing returns. The fifth installment (of 7) will see its release this year, and the series has only gotten better over time (both in the films and the books). The director is an unknown quantity, but hopefully he can keep up the high standard set by Alfonso Cuaron and Michael Newell. Anyone avoiding these movies is missing out on the Star Wars of our generation.

5 Zodiac
Another holdover from last year’s list. It’s still directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club). It still stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. It still marks the director’s return to the serial killer genre. And I still can’t wait to see it.

4 Beowulf
The great thing about the movies these days is that technology has allowed for stories that could never be done justice on film to finally make it to the big screen. As you all know, Beowulf is one of the oldest works of literature still being read today, but it’s never gotten the proper movie treatment. Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) is directing from a script by Neil Gaiman (Sandman) and Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction), with the film to be entirely CG. So far the attempts to do a realistic looking movie with computer animated visuals have been mixed, but the set reports I’ve heard so far have me confident that this film could be the one to pull it off. And if you’re not sold yet, there is going to be an NC-17 cut getting a limited release.

3 Knocked Up
I’m of the opinion that The 40 Year Old Virgin is the best comedy of the 00s, so I can’t wait to see writer/director Judd Apatow’s follow-up. Judd also created the shows, Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, both of which would be on many of your favorite TV show lists, had they come out in the age of iTunes and Tivo (unfortunately both only lasted 1 season). Knocked Up stars Apatow-regular, Seth Rogen (the bearded guy from 40YOV) who us fans of the above shows know is hilarious in everything he does.

2 Grind House
What started out as a pair of short horror movies has morphed into a full-on double feature with 2 full-length films. One is a zombie movie from Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City), while the other is a slasher flick from Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs). I’m a big fan of Robert, but QT is one of my top 3 favorite directors, so I’m chomping at the bit to see his follow-up to the awesome Kill Bill series. This one is definitely not going to be for everyone, but it should be a dream come true for any fan of either filmmaker.

1 Spider-man 3
Duh.

X-Men 3 Review

2006-05-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

Well, after flirting with moving up to a bigger and better movie website, I’ve decided to stay here where I’m the boss (read: they hired someone else, ahem). Anyway, it’s the start of my favorite time of year: summer-movie season, and I’ve just seen the first big movie that I was really looking forward to. I am of course speaking of X-Men: The Last Stand. As anyone who knows me is well aware, I am quite the comic geek. What most probably do not know, is that my level of obsession for X-Men easily dwarfs any other super-hero franchise. That’s right. That attention to detail witnessed in my Batman and Fantastic Four reviews amounts to a passing interest in comparison to my X-attachment. So where do I stand on the new film (the third and “final” installment in a series I have loved so far)? First let’s borrow a trick they’ve yet to allow in the movies and go back in time a few years. It’s summer of 2000 and I’m driving to the Midway Theater to see the first X-Men movie in the middle of a thunderstorm with bolts of lightning cracking down on the horizon. On the drive I was thinking about the irony of the storm and wondering if some African weather goddess wasn’t responsible. Turns out I had the symbolism of the storm all wrong though. It didn’t represent a character in the movie I was about to see, but rather an era in filmmaking that was beginning that night. I don’t need to tell you that X-Men became a huge hit and drove studios everywhere to scoop up every comic property they could get their hands on, turning the super-hero genre (along with “sword and sorcery”) into the defining film genre of the decade. Quite appropriate that the team that started my comic addiction would spawn the very same affliction in Hollywood. So it was a bit of odd symmetry Friday night standing outside the theater waiting to see the X-Men’s big finale while hearing light thunder off in the distance behind me. But I’ve rambled enough. How’s the movie already? Pretty damn great to be honest.

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, the third X-movie marks a change in director from Bryan Singer (who defected to DC with Superman Returns) to Rush Hour helmsman, Brett Ratner (or “the Rat” as he’s not-so-affectionately referred to by the internet “fan” community). There was quite a bit of doubt (to put it lightly) as to whether Ratner could make a successful sequel for our merry mutants. Fans needn’t have worried though, as Ratner preserves the established look and tone of the series while escalating the action. Oh man, does he escalate that action. Fans clamoring for mutant mayhem on a large scale have finally been given their wish. War is declared, powers rage out of control, and casualties mount. We also get to meet some new mutants along the way. First and foremost, there is Hank McCoy or the Beast, one of the most popular X-Men and a character fans having been begging for since day one. Here he’s played by Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer, who disappears under that blue fur and make-up. I was worried I was going to see a blue Frasier, since he has become such a recognizable television personality over the past 25 years or so, but my fears were unfounded. He simply is the Beast on that screen, and when you finally hear his lifelong catch-phrase, it’s one of those moments us geeks dream about. Also new is Kitty Pryde (a.k.a. Shadowcat) who had small cameos in the last two, but appears here with a fully fleshed out role for the first time. Ellen Page is yet another great casting choice in a series that has been pretty much spot-on for 3 movies now. I was initially a little worried about the love triangle they’d set up with, her, but it’s actually handled very well. Unfortunately the other new mutants do not get nearly enough screen time. Angel has a role much smaller than what I expected and Colossus basically amounts to a recurring cameo, as do the new members of the Brotherhood. I can understand this decision though. These characters do fulfill necessary roles and if these roles were given to nameless generic mutants, the fan complaints would be coming through just as loudly. Besides, the last two did the same thing, with recognizable characters introduced in small parts and expanded in subsequent movies. Anyway, it’s hard to complain about the small characters when the big ones are handled so well. Jean in particular takes a wonderfully dark turn in this installment and the depiction of her raw power at its fullest makes for 2 of the coolest moments in the series. Speaking of dark turns, is there any better actor working today than Ian McKellen? His Magneto is one of the best movie villains I can remember and as usual they give him most of the best lines in this one. And he’s earned them. I can think of no other actor who makes gesturing and pointing so dramatic. Of course, I can’t run through the villains without mentioning Mystique who while given a reduced role is still a blast to watch when she’s there (when has Rebecca Romijn ever been so good outside this particular series?). I had somewhat of a love-hate relationship though with the Juggernaut, going back and forth between thinking he looked pretty cool and finding him silly. On the heroes’ side, Storm is much better in this one than the past two, and we get to see better displays of her powers. Halle Berry is still the film’s weakest actor (unusual for an Oscar-winner), but she’s certainly more believable here than she was in the first one. Xavier is presented to be a little bit less saintly in this one, and I think it’s a good change. He’s certainly made some questionable decisions in the comics over the years, and I’d say his depiction here is consistent with that. Wolverine as you may have guessed is his usual badass self. Some have complained that we get the PG-13 sissified version of Logan here. Let’s think for a moment about the likelihood of getting a hard R version of Wolverine complete with Kill Bill style fight scenes littered in blood and severed limbs. To me this is just the complaint of those upset that the movie was not made for them specifically and I think it reflects the whining of a lot of the fans out there. Like the other two films, they got the important stuff right and made a pretty exciting movie that can be enjoyed by experts and novices alike. Quibbling over the fact that the Juggernaut isn’t given his powers from the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak is just petty at best. This isn’t to say that the film is without criticism however. I really wish they didn’t sideline Cyclops the way they did. They’ve been shrinking his part since the first movie, because most viewers seem to hate him out of some irrelevant loyalty to his rival, Wolverine. This is unfortunate though, because he really is one of the essential X-characters. There were also a few scenes where the utter ridiculousness of the situation came through with cheesy deliveries and less-than-ideal shots (particularly during the present-day scene at Jean’s childhood home). Luckily these things are kept to a minimum for the most part, so there were only a few moments where I was pulled out of the movie. Also at an hour and forty-fiveish, I wish the movie was a bit longer, giving more time to breathe in between action sequences and develop some of the characters more. However, I’m aware that I’m the kind of fan who could sit through a 4 hour X-Men movie without checking my watch once, so I can appreciate the desire to keep the film brisk and succinct for the rest of the audience. Finally, after re-watching the original X-Men movie last night, I did find that I somewhat missed the realism they had in that film, which was traded for action-movie spectacle in this one. But these are mostly small complaints. This is a very nice way to wrap up the trilogy and the principle characters all reach satisfying conclusions (now would probably be a good time to suggest staying until after the credits roll). Plus I have to admit I was totally jazzed to see an almost completely new line-up of X-Men at the film’s final battle which should nicely set up the next movie. What? You didn’t think this was gonna be the last one did you?

Top 10 Movies of 2005

2005-12-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

Well this was certainly an interesting year at the theater. Overall ticket sales took a big hit this year as DVD and home theater sales soared to new heights, while studio executives continued to bury their heads in the sand from an evolving industry and assume that the product simply wasn’t up to snuff. Well I’m here to present a list of ten films that pose a pretty big argument against that sentiment. Without further ado, I give to you my top 10 movies of the year.

10 Walk the Line
I’ve never really been that into Johnny Cash’s music, and biopics do not usually top my must-see list, so although I was interested to see the reportedly phenomenal performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, I did not expect to like Walk the Line as much as last year’s Ray. What the promotion didn’t tell me was that this film forgoes the usual “greatest hits” approach to biopics and is instead a love story. Few on-screen romances feel as earned as the one presented here, and I felt genuinely happy when Johnny and June finally work things out.

9 Jarhead
Despite what you may have heard, this movie is not anti-war or pro-war, and it takes no overt political stances. It’s simply one man’s account of his experiences during the first Gulf War. What you bring away from it depends entirely on what you bring with you into the theater in the first place. Myself, I saw a very eye-opening discussion on what happens when a person is trained to be a killer and how that affects them when they have nothing to kill. It’s also one hell of a beautifully shot film. Who knew there was so much to see in the middle of the desert?

8 Elizabethtown
The most critically lambasted film on my list. I’ll be the first to admit that Elizabethtown is self-indulgent and completely unrealistic, but it’s also the most honest and personal film I saw this year. This one tanked at the box office, but I’m willing to bet that anyone who watches this movie with un-jaded eyes will fall as hopelessly in love with it as director Cameron Crowe is with his record collection.

7 War of the Worlds
Somewhere in the past few months it became fashionable to trash this film even though it was widely praised by critics and scored the summer’s second highest box office take. It might not hold up quite as well outside of the visceral theater experience, and yeah the ending sucks, but this is classic Spielberg here, which even on an off day tops pretty much every other blockbuster filmmaker ever. I see this one becoming for kids today what Jurassic Park was for my generation.

6 Sin City
If you took a quick look at all the films on this list, you’ll notice that I have a predilection towards movies that are visually stimulating. If I was making the list solely on that criteria, there’s a good chance this one would top it. Put simply, this is the coolest movie I’ve seen in a long time, and while it might not have the depth of say Schindler’s List, I’ll bet you find yourself revisiting it quite a bit more. For anyone with a love of classic cinema and a strong stomach.

5 The Constant Gardener
By far the best of this year’s smart, political films, The Constant Gardener is much more than your run of the mill Oscar-baiting Hollywood “liberal porn”. It’s equal parts murder mystery, love story, and scathing criticism of the world’s military industrial complex (in this case focusing on the prescription drug industry), which if I’ve done my math right should provide something of interest for just about everyone. While other recent films mining similar material had me checking the time and fidgeting in my seat, this one kept my eyes glued to the screen the entire time and offered incentive for me to keep up with it.

4 Oldboy
The first of two cheats on my list. It opened in the US in 2005, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s eligible. This movie is a hand grenade. It goes off without warning leaving death and devastation in its wake. The less you know about it going in, the better. Just know that you are not prepared for this movie (which is what makes for such a great experience). Imagine David Fincher’s Korean counterpart directing a revenge movie that would make the Bride’s roaring rampage of revenge from Kill Bill look about as vicious as a housecat. I’ll say no more, just trust me on this one. (note: The DVD default is dubbed English audio. I highly recommend switching to Korean audio with English subtitles).

3 Batman Begins
Anyone that knows me knows that I’m a huge comic book fan. Well, in this fan’s opinion, this is about as perfect a superhero movie as you can make. First forget everything you remember from the last two Batman movies. Then forget everything you remember from the first two. This one trumps them all. I still love the operatic take on Batman from Tim Burton’s 1989 film, but Begins does a much better job of capturing the character and the world of the comic. Anyone who’s getting sick of the comic movies, but liked the Spider-man and X-Men movies should definitely put this on their list to see.

2 Layer Cake
If you like Guy Ritchie’s gangster films (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch), chances are you’ll like the directorial debut of his producer, Matthew Vaughn. What I did not see coming was how much better I’d like Layer Cake than those films. Since Reservoir Dogs, there have been more Tarantino clones than you can shake a severed ear at. Vaughn is the first follower I’ve seen who actually approaches QT’s flash and style without overtly ripping him off. Before seeing Layer Cake I was disappointed that Vaughn left the production of the third X-Men movie. After seeing it, I was downright devastated. On the bright side, my favorite movie mutants are not going to be needed to have me eagerly awaiting this young director’s next effort.

1 Corpse Bride
When I reviewed this in September, I called it the best movie I had seen all year, but to be perfectly honest I did not expect it to top this list. Admittedly Corpse Bride probably has the most narrow appeal of any film on this list, so as far as recommendations go, I’d feel more comfortable steering people towards the other movies on here. In all honesty I don’t even remember the film that well, but I do know that there was no other movie this year that I walked away from as head-over-heels in love with. After watching The Nightmare Before Christmas again this past Halloween and enjoying it every bit as much as I did the first time, I have little doubt that Tim Burton’s latest masterpiece will see the inside of my DVD player just as much. What can I say? I’m just a sucker for dead girls constructed out of clay dancing to Danny Elfman music.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2006

2005-12-22T15:02:00.000-08:00

So now that you know what my favorite movies were this year, what am I looking forward to for next year? You might want to grab a pen, because these are 10 films you are not going to want to miss (Angry Talkbacker takes no responsibility for movies that should be cool and end up sucking).

10 The Da Vinci Code
As of right now I know nothing about this movie beyond the basic premise and the fantastic team they have working on it (director: Ron Howard, stars: Tom Hanks, Amelie Tautou, Ian McKellan). I also know that it’s based on the most popular book of the century not starring a boy wizard, but I’m hoping to find out as little else as I can before it hits theaters in May.

9 Sin City 2
It’s not often you see a sequel released the year after the original, but if anyone can do it, it’s the fastest man in Hollywood: Robert Rodriguez (with 2 films in between no less). Like the first one, I know pretty much the whole thing going in, but hopefully there are still a few surprises in store. If nothing else, I just want to see another beautiful picture in glorious black and white with splashes of red in all the right (and wrong) places.

8 300
300 is another Frank Miller adaptation (like the aforementioned Sin City), this time set in ancient Greece. The film is being directed by Dawn of the Dead helmer, Zack Snyder and is being shot in a style similar to that other Frank Miller movie. I doubt it will top Sin City, but I’m intrigued to see how they use the techniques developed there, as I think there will be quite a future with filmmaking of this type. Plus it’s got a great story to work from.

7 The Departed
Martin Scorcese’s latest marks his return to the gangster genre with a cast that just screams all-star (Leonardo Dicaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, and Jack Nicholson among others). Over the past year I’ve become a big Scorcese fan, and I’m hoping that this one finally gets him that statue he’s more than earned.

6 V for Vendetta
I was skeptical about this one at first since past adaptations of Alan Moore’s work has been beyond abysmal (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell), but the early word on V has been ecstatic. By all accounts, first time director James McTeigue and the Wachowski Brothers (officially listed as producers, but rumored to be taking a very active part in production) hit this one out of the park. This is going to be a political firebomb when it’s released, and will be the topic of endless debate, and I for one can’t wait.

5 Grind House
This is actually 2 short horror films directed by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez (think Four Rooms meets From Dusk Till Dawn) with several fake trailers in between. What the final product is gonna look like is anyone’s guess, but any new material from QT (not counting that “presented by” crap) always has me excited.

4 Southland Tales
This is the second film from Donnie Darko director, Richard Kelly. I have no idea what it’s about (despite my best efforts to find out), and it seems that no one else does either. That shouldn’t sound too surprising to anyone who’s seen Donnie Darko though as Kelly’s work defies any description. It seems that Kelly has gone out of his way to cast actors against type in this film (The Rock, Sean William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, the list goes on), so I expect a lot of people will dismiss this one outright when they see who’s in it. From what I’ve heard from people who read the script however, this will be one of the most revolutionary films to come out of Hollywood in years. Or it could just be a big mess, I’ll be eager to find out either way.

3 Zodiac
Director David Fincher’s first film since Panic Room sees him return to the subject of serial killers. Fincher’s last foray into that subject matter, Se7en is one of my favorite films ever, and supposedly this one makes that movie look like a bucket of sunshine and kisses, which makes my head spin just thinking about it. It also sports a great cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo.

2 X3
OK, so the buzz on this one has not been the greatest, but it’s X-Men dammit. Of course it’s gonna be high on my list. Despite reservations regarding the director and script, we already know we’re starting out with a dead-on perfect cast, and I for one thought the trailer that was recently released looked awesome. Besides, we’re getting Beast and Dark Phoenix. How cool is that?

1 Superman Returns
A quick tally shows that 5 of this top 10 represent adaptations of comic books, so was it any surprise that this would top the list? Watchmen aside, this represents the holy grail of super-hero movies. Sure we’ve already had 4 Superman movies (including 2 great ones), but this is the first movie in the era of modern blockbuster filmmaking to star the greatest pop culture icon of all time. Not only that, but we have the director of arguably the best super-hero movie ever at the helm in Bryan Singer. Add that to the fact that they seemingly read the collective fandom’s minds with the casting of an unknown in the role of Clark and Kevin Spacey as criminal mastermind, Lex Luthor, and you have a recipe for a film that seems destined to make the list of all-time top grossing movies.

King Kong Review

2005-12-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

First things first, I’d like to apologize for not coming through with a Narnia review. My life became considerably busier the week it opened and I simply didn’t have time to write one up. In any case, it is a wonderful adaptation and I would highly recommend it to any fan of the book, especially those who read it as a child. As for the subject of this review, I’m starting to wonder if the gods of cinema heard my mocking of this seemingly imaginary box-office slump in my Harry Potter review and answered with King Kong. Before Kong had even been released media outlets were proclaiming it the savior of the film industry. If the initial figures are any indication however, those proclamations were a bit premature. As I type this, film industry analysts and studio executives are waiting for the final weekend tally to see if it’s a modest disappointment or an out and out flop. The sad thing is that this wouldn’t even be such a big deal if the picture wasn’t so damn good. Don’t act so surprised. It’s true, remakes usually suck. A good general rule is the better the original movie, the worse the remake will be, and the 1933 King Kong was and is one of the greatest films of all time. Well forget all you know about remakes, because Peter (Lord of the Rings) Jackson’s Kong is a more than worthy re-imagining even if it falls short of the film-nirvana of the original Kong and the Lord of the Rings series.

Right now analysts are scrambling everywhere to figure out the reason for the shockingly low opening, and like most I’m going to throw my own two cents in. For whatever reason, Kong is drawing awful audiences. I’ve seen the film twice now and both times the theater was filled (though it was far from full) with loud, obnoxious theater-goers that would seem more at home watching 2 Fast 2 Furious or whatever terrible teen-horror movie was out that week. I had such a bad time opening night that I had to wait until I had seen it a second time to write a review, because I knew that I couldn’t honestly rate the movie based on that experience. If this has anything to do with why more and more people are skipping the theater and waiting for DVD, then I can totally understand. The thing is, the film really does demand to be seen on the big screen, so if you’re like me and get annoyed by people who can’t keep their mouths shut (no, I most certainly do not expect a silent theater), go to a mid-week matinee or see it three weeks from now when the crowds have died down, but do not blow the film off. But enough about that stuff, let’s get into some specifics. The thing most people seem to be hung up on is the length. At 187 minutes, Kong 2005 is about twice the length of Kong 1933, but in this critic’s opinion the film does not drag and keeps a brisk pace throughout. Sure there’s plenty I would cut (Mr. Hayes and Jimmy’s storyline in particular adds nothing to the movie and pretty much goes nowhere), but I never found myself getting bored, even during the long voyage to Skull Island. I’d be lying though if I didn’t say that the film really gets going once they do get to the island. While the first act is certainly entertaining, the rest of the film is just non-stop excitement straight through to the closing credits. I remember thinking that they showed a little more than I wanted to see in the promotional clips they give to talk shows, but the truth is no matter how much you see in the trailers and clips, you’ve only scratched the surface. Still not convinced? Oh, I get it. Yeah, I was a little taken aback when they cast Jack Black as film producer, Carl Denham too. This isn’t manic funny-man Jack Black though, this is the less seen dramatic actor Jack Black, and he honestly does a damn good job. However, the character didn’t quite land with me the way I wanted him to (through no fault of Jack’s). This problem lies with Jackson and his script-writers, who made Denham a little campy at times and ultimately unlikable when his true colors are revealed. Now I’ve heard both sides on this issue, but when you get down to it, the Denham in the original was just a driven showman. Jack Black’s Denham is a complete and utter bastard, which effectively robs his final line of any resonance since you loathe the source so much (the line was scripted for the original Anne Darrow, Fay Wray before her death). If Denham was a bit of a step down from the ’33 version, Adrien Brody’s Jack Driscoll is a huge upgrade. While the original Driscoll was a chauvinist pig and a cardboard cutout of a character (who even gets the girl in the end), the character we get here is much more sympathetic and heroic. If you’ve seen The Pianist, you already know how great an actor Brody is, so I won’t dwell too much, except to say he’s as good here as you’d expect. The real revelation is Naomi Watts. She’s been deservedly gaining more and more notoriety in recent years, but with this performance, we’ll be seeing her take off into the stratosphere. Like the two previously mentioned, Watts’ Darrow is a bit of a departure from the original character. In this case I wouldn’t call the tack they take better or worse, simply different. Whereas the original Anne Darrow saw Kong as a monster to the very end, Watts’ Darrow develops a symbiotic relationship with him over the course of the film. This choice changes the whole dynamic of the film’s conclusion, and though I can’t say that it tops the original, it certainly works here. And I can’t go through the major characters without hitting upon the star of the show. I am of course talking about the titular character, the 3000 pound gorilla, King Kong. Gollum may have held the trophy for “most lifelike special effect” for a few years now, but I can say without a doubt, that title now belongs to Kong. There is not a second that Kong is on screen where you don’t 100 percent believe he is there, and there are a couple scenes where if you don’t feel sorry for that monkey, you’re reading the wrong blog. Kong isn’t the only fantastic special effect in this film though (just the best one). The dinosaurs (particularly the V-Rexes) look as good or better than the ones in the Jurassic Park series, and the Kong/V-Rex battle is one of the best action sequences ever put to film. I might also let anyone who has bug-issues know that there are going to be some scenes in there that you absolutely hate. While the effects may not be perfect 100% of the time (the humans aren’t blended in so well in a few scenes), they are certainly among the best I’ve seen in a film so far. One visual I wasn’t as taken with was the slow motion “Jackson-cam” shots, which show up at least once too often. I’m all for directors bringing their own style to a film, but in this case I feel it works against the movie and takes the viewer out of the moment. There’s one scene in particular where we get a slow-mo montage of the characters accompanied by a voice-over that not-so-subtly mirrors them, where I could’ve sworn we were listening to Gandalf talking about elves and hobbits. Thankfully none of these complaints touched the finale in New York. If the film takes off when it gets to Skull Island, New York is where it finally touches the greatness I was waiting for. I really can’t describe what it was about the New York sequence that hit me just right. It’s simply a great payoff for a long ride (though the Empire State Building scene runs a tad long). So there you have it. Is it a perfect film? No, far from it, but it’s easily worth $9 and 187 minutes of your life.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Review

2005-11-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

$101 million opening weekend (the second highest of the year and fourth all time). What’s this box office slump people keep talking about again? Ok, so these are business concerns and that’s not what this blog’s about. How’s the actual movie? Pretty freaking fantastic if I do say so myself. As with most of the movies I’ve reviewed for this site, I am a fan of the material and find it impossible to review in a vacuum, so I feel obligated to state that right up front. However Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is one film that I feel will be enjoyed by the most die-hard of Potterphiles as well as people who frequently confuse Harry Potter with Frodo.

Based on the above financial figure and the Bookscan numbers on the Harry Potter series, there probably are not many people left who don’t know the story, but I always like to cover my bases, and I hate spoiling things, so if you want to go in fresh, stop reading now. GoF has quite possibly the darkest opening of any family film I’ve ever seen which reflects the PG-13 rating (a first for the series). I wouldn’t worry about kids being too scared to watch it though. I read another review that called it “the good kind of scary”, and that feels like the perfect description. Tim Burton likes to say that children have a better idea of what they can and can’t handle than adults do, and I think he has a good point. I often wonder how long I am going to have to wait to show my kids some of my favorite movies, but when I think about how old I was when I first saw similar movies, it seems that I will not have that long of a wait. Speaking of things coming a little earlier than I expected, the first use of the words “Avada Kedavra”, a very important phrase in the HP series first pops up before the audience knows its significance, a fact that I hadn’t noticed while reading the book. For us fans of the book, hearing these words so early in the movie gives an unexpected moment in a movie that we all thought we knew inside out before seeing. My jaw literally dropped when that phrase was spoken and I can’t wait to hear it come from a few other characters as the series progresses. After this introduction we are thrust back into the world of muggles, mud-bloods, and squibs and can start making direct comparisons to the films that came before. This marks the third director for the series, and many of us were wary that Mike Newell would be able to live up to the standard Alfonso Cuaron set with Prisoner of Azkaban. Consider those fears quickly quelled, as Newell is more than up to the challenge. After the second movie I found myself getting rather bored with the Quidditch scenes in each movie and hoping that they would be trimmed in future installments. With Azkaban, Cuaron managed to make the sport feel fresh and exciting again, but GoF marks the first movie where I wanted more Quidditch. The Quidditch World Cup stadium is simply too damn cool-looking to be used so briefly. That’s a good complaint to have, especially since GoF features the effects team used in the first two films, which I thought looked inferior to Azkaban. It seems that they learned quite a bit since Chamber of Secrets, since every last effect shot looks extraordinary in this movie, a feat even Azkaban fell short of. The visual effects pinnacle of course is the first challenge of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, featuring a particularly nasty dragon. The end of this sequence produced the most bathroom breaks of the movie, as I’m sure a large amount of soda-drinkers found themselves unable to leave their seats no matter how uncomfortable they became. This is a shame though, since the segment in between the first two challenges is probably my favorite piece of the movie. This is where the film morphs into a John Hughes-style 80’s movie complete with a school dance featuring a new wave band (and if you’ve been listening to the radio lately, you know that what was old wave is now new wave again) and teenage girls crying in the hallways. It’s here that we really get to see the young actors show how far they’ve come. Each has their own little moments of both humor and angst (especially Ron Weasley played to perfection by Rupert Grint) as the sexual tension that had been relegated to metaphors up until now, begins to come to the forefront in some hilarious and unexpected ways. This all serves to help us appreciate how blessed the production has been to be able to keep such a large cast together for so long. I can’t imagine getting the same feeling when Hermione laments being Ron’s “back-up plan” if I wasn’t watching Emma Watson cry over Rupert Grint. I remember being amazed at how perfectly cast the original Harry Potter was. To have a cast that dead-on for four (and fingers crossed, seven) films where you can literally watch characters grow up over the course of an epic is something truly special. The next two challenges are similarly strong, although I wish that they could have sustained the tension between the second and third challenges a little better. As it stands, the third challenge just sort of jumps up on you without much build-up. It is here that the film (and the series) takes a dark turn and we are formally introduced to the Darth Vader to Harry’s Luke Skywalker. Interestingly enough Ralph Fiennes is easily recognizable under the Voldemort make-up while at the same time looking exactly how we’ve always pictured “He-who-must-not-be-named”. Fiennes does a good job with Voldemort’s menace, but is saddled with one aspect of the Harry Potter series that’s always bugged me a little. You see, J.K. Rowling can be a little long-winded with her exposition at times, and while characters explaining what just happened or what is going to happen reads alright in a book (except in Azkaban where it seems to go on for chapters and chapters), it tends to bring a movie to a screeching halt (again Azkaban being the exception, where this problem was handled relatively well). This is by no means a deal-breaker, but it’s something that’s popped up a few times in the series, and usually slows the film down right in the middle of the climax. Another thing I’d like to see in future installments is a way to make the wand duels a little more exciting. It works ok here, but there are quite a few of them in the next two books, and I hope they involve more than just standing and pointing. Following this, we have the film’s denouement which demonstrates that this series can effectively handle real human emotion, which is quite encouraging, considering what the next two books bring with them. We are also given the best line of dialogue of the series, and one of my favorite film quotes of the decade, when Dumbledore tells Harry “Dark and difficult times lie ahead, Harry. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy”. Now THAT is compelling writing for a 5 year old or a 50 year old, and to anyone still holding a snobbish attitude toward this series, well I just feel sorry for you. Let the killjoys complain about how movies aren’t any good anymore, while the rest of us sit back and enjoy an era where film has advanced to the point where any story the mind can conceive can now be put to screen.

Corpse Bride Review

2005-09-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first of my fall movie reviews. Historically my forte has been the summer blockbusters, whereas fall is the home of Oscar-bait and indies which i enjoy quite a bit, but they certainly don't carry the same "hype factor" that gets me chomping at the bit to see them. More recently however studios have increasingly scheduled their tent-pole releases for this season (a trend that started a few years ago with Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter), and I couldn’t be happier. While I love summer movie season, clustering all the big releases together has always somewhat taken away that electricity from the rest of the year. With films like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Chronicles of Narnia, and King Kong on the horizon though (not to mention those Oscar-bait movies like Spielberg’s Munich and Mendes’ Jarhead), it appears that fall 2005 could very well top an especially strong summer.

Opening the fall movie season is Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride which sets the bar incredibly high right out of the gate. For the sake of full disclosure I should tell you that Burton’s last foray into stop motion animation, The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my all time favorite movies. Ever since I was a kid, Halloween has been my favorite holiday and Nightmare has been like my It’s a Wonderful Life. So knowing this one can see that while Corpse Bride had big shoes to fill, it should also be noted that if you aren’t a fan of Nightmare, you shouldn’t expect to have the same reaction I did to Corpse Bride. Now that that’s out of the way, I can properly start my gushing. This is the best movie I have seen this year. There are so many things to love about this film that I barely know where to start. The visuals are absolutely stunning. Burton has resuscitated for the second time a form of animation long thought to be deceased. It’s ironic that in a time where 2-D animation is falling by the wayside in favor of 3-D animation that a film shot in an even more “primitive” form of animation comes along and blows the so-called “wave of the future” animated movies out the water. I can say with confidence that Corpse Bride looks better than any non-Disney animated movie I’ve ever seen. As awesome as the visuals are however, the real star of the show (as with Nightmare) is the music. While the songs themselves aren’t quite on the level of Nightmare’s best (with the exception of the phenomenal ballad sung by the titular character and two of the smaller characters in the film), the score is absolutely transcendent. When it comes to film composers, there are only two names that matter: John Williams and Danny Elfman. Although it had been a while since Elfman really came through with a score as outstanding as his most memorable efforts, he completely nails it here. So here I’ve painted a picture of a movie that is visually breathtaking and beautiful musically, but I’m not even done yet. Corpse Bride is also very funny. It may not be fall-out-of-your-chair hilarious (that would be The 40 Year Old Virgin), but I certainly found myself laughing out loud as much as I did during Wedding Crashers. I could go on and on, but if you’ve gotten this far, you’ve seen that I love the film and I’ve told you why I love it, so much like the movie itself my review may not be overly long, but it’s as long as it needed to be. I’ll see you again in November with my review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Fantastic Four Review

2005-07-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

I should preface this review by saying I’m a big Fantastic Four fan. I’ve been reading the comics for nine years now and after the X-Men and Spider-man, they’re probably my third favorite comic book franchise. You can take that statement two ways. You can think “he must know what he’s talking about then” or “the less I know about the comic, the less I’ll care about how the film compares”. So how does the film compare? Well, not so good. While the Fantastic Four comic has seen some of the most exciting, groundbreaking, and mind-bending comics of the past 40 years, the Fantastic Four movie seems like a retread of those that came before with concessions made in all the wrong places.

So now you’re wondering what works and what doesn’t. I can point to two problems that I spotted at the beginning of production: a lack of marquee actors and an unremarkable director. The big problem though was one I couldn’t see, a bland script that does comic’s greatest family little justice. Ioan Gruffudd’s Mr. Fantastic is the most boring lead character I’ve ever seen in a super-hero movie. It’s true that Johnny and Ben have always been the fan favorites, but Gruffudd just flounders in the role, and as the group’s leader that’s a big problem whether it’s the character you came to see or not. People may root for Wolverine over Cyclops, but that conflict would fall apart if the audience had complete disinterest in Cyclops. Complaints about Gruffudd’s screen presence aside, I can think of nothing Reed has in the movie that would have been exciting with any actor. As for his love interest, the Invisible Girl, Jessica Alba brings the T&A but not much else. Jessica Alba as a stripper? Great choice. Jessica Alba as a physicist? Come again? Ok, so the scientist aspect isn’t an integral part of the character (in fact it was only recently added in the Fantastic Four modernization), but the other things that make Sue unique don’t show up either. They try to make her maternal, but it just isn’t believable coming from the current hottie of the month. It’s even suggested that she’s the weakest member of the group during the final battle when she falters under the pressure. This is a huge insult to the character (and pretty sexist if you ask me), as Sue has always been considered the most powerful member in the comic in every sense of the word. Jessica may be the only name bringing people into the theater, but they pretty much just lucked into that with Sin City making her a star a mere three months ago. Michael Chiklis does what he can with the material given, and if nothing else I’m happy to see him come out relatively unscathed. It’d be tough to watch Vic Mackey kick ass every week in the Shield if he looked like a complete fool in this, but thankfully that doesn’t happen. I still do not really like the visuals of the Thing though. He really didn’t seem to have any real weight onscreen. Sure, they told us that he did and they even showed bar stools collapsing under him, but he still seemed like a guy in a suit to me, a guy that could barely make a fist or move his arms for that matter. Chris Evans as the Human Torch is the one real standout in the movie. Along with Alba as the Invisible Girl (trust me, I hate writing that as much as you hate reading it. She’s the Invisible WOMAN dammit) Evans was the casting choice I was most skeptical of, but he really did a great job at bringing the Torch to life. The best bits of the movie come from Evan’s interactions with Chiklis, which really makes me wish they’d had a better movie to put these parts in. But what about the villain? Dr. Doom is possibly the greatest super-villain of all time but you wouldn’t know it from this movie. Everything that makes the character so cool has either disappeared or been half-assed. He should be the second smartest man in the world with the power of a country behind him, but instead that’s stripped away for a lame Green Goblin origin and electric powers. I did like the costume to my surprise, as I always thought that would be one of the tougher elements to bring to the screen, but I hated the actor in it. Julian McMahon does ok with the with the egotistical billionaire stuff, but as Doom, he’s laughable. Right now, my vote for worst moment of the movie goes to Doom playing Marco Polo as he searches for the Invisible Girl. To get a hint of what Doom should be like, watch the original Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back. Darth Vader was largely inspired by Dr. Doom, and while there are significant differences between the characters, Vader is a lot closer to what I’ve always imagined than the Doom we get here. Character complaints aside (and as you’ve seen, there’s a lot of them) the biggest problem I had with the movie was that there was nothing fantastic about it. There’s only two action scenes in the entire movie, neither of which is all that impressive. If you’ve been watching TV for the past month, chances are you’ve seen the commercials (this movie has seen a media blitz the likes of which I haven’t seen in years), and if you’ve seen them, you’ve seen everything in the movie. The funny thing is I never felt like I’d seen too much from the trailers and tv-spots. If anything I came away from the trailers (particularly the first one) thinking that there really wasn’t enough cool stuff going on in them and hoping that we just had more saved for the movie. Well now we know why at least. The last time I was this disappointed by a “comic” movie was the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. By the end of that movie I was slumped over into the chair next to me, mentally begging the movie to end. This time when we got to the climax, I was shocked that it was happening already and thinking “There’s no way it’s ending now. When are we going to see all the great Fantastic Four stuff?”. Sadly I didn’t get an answer to that question. The final battle ended as quickly as the rest of the movie did. The whole fight can probably be pieced together by editing the commercials together. Marvel Films really needs to get its act together. Their initial promise of a golden age of comic book film has not delivered beyond the two franchises that started their reign, one of which seems to be in major trouble right now if the internet rumors are to be believed. DC and Warner Brothers have stepped up and delivered one of the best superhero movies ever this summer, with what looks to be another one set to be released next year. It’s time that Marvel realized that their days at the top are numbered and if this is the kind of material they’re going to give us than we’ll just be buying tickets from the Distinguished Competition.

So this brings a close to my summer movie reviews. There’s still a few left that I’m excited to see, but nothing that I feel demands my particular brand of critique. There’s always the chance that I’ll be blindsided by a smaller picture the way we all were with Garden State last year, in which case I’d be required to write something both to get the word out and use as evidence that I was there first. I should probably spend the rest of my time until then job hunting though, as this blog ain’t exactly paying the bills and that degree is just collecting dust right now.

War of the Worlds Review

2005-07-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like we have a winner here. Over the years Steven Spielberg’s name has become synonymous with summer blockbusters and with good reason. He pretty much invented the genre with Jaws in 1975, which to this day stands as arguably the greatest summer movie of all time. 18 years later he released Jurassic Park which ushered in the modern era of event movies where CGI finally reached maturity and became a staple of blockbuster filmmaking. In my last review when I stated that Batman was my favorite movie from 1989 to 2002, I may have misspoken a little. In fact it was my favorite movie on and off for that period. When Jurassic Park hit it was like an atomic blast. As far as I was concerned there were no other movies worth speaking of. Jurassic Park was THE movie. Of course after a little while my interest in dinosaurs waned and superheroes became king once more. Spielberg then took a step back from event movies focusing on more personal films like Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. He made a return in recent years with AI and Minority Report with limited success. Minority Report was a good movie but lacked that Spielbergian touch, feeling more like the works of James Cameron or Ridley Scott. AI on the other hand was a complete mess. To be fair though, AI was originally planned as a collaboration between Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, a filmmaker who I consider to be one of the most overrated directors of all time. With War of the Worlds we see the triumphant return of the Steven Spielberg that has given us the most compelling films of the last 30 years.

I realize this may all seem like pretty lofty praise for a movie that looks like a rehashing of Independence Day and the numerous other invasion epics we’ve seen in recent years. After all, this is the man who brought us Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Calling a movie one of Spielberg’s better pictures is higher praise than the vast majority of films deserve, but I feel that it is entirely justified. The excitement I had coming out of that theater is not something I feel often. I had it after Kill Bill and I had it after the first Spider-man, but I can’t think of too many others in recent memory. You know that feeling. The idea that you’ve just witnessed something that you’ll be enjoying again and again for the rest of your life. The moments you can’t stop thinking about and the exhilaration of being on the ground floor of something special. It’s moments like these that are the reason I spend hours every day browsing movie sites, and the thought of having a part (how ever small) in bringing people these moments is what makes me want to work in the film industry. And as for that Independence Day comparison? Trust me, after seeing War of the Worlds, you’ll never feel the need to watch that movie again. So what makes the movie work so well? For starters this is without a doubt Spielberg’s scariest movie ever. I really don’t think anyone is anticipating the level of terror to be found in this movie. I know I didn’t. This isn’t Jaws scary where you get a few truly terrifying moments that you know are coming when you hear that familiar music. This is two hours of the absolute grimmest material you can imagine. And as scary as those aliens are, they’ve got nothing on the horror that we see come out of human nature. What about the performances you say? Well Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise. He’s a great actor, but he doesn’t really disappear into his role the way you want him to, and I think the enormous amount of press he’s been (let’s face it) bringing on himself for the past month didn’t exactly help him. When you watch the movie 10 years from now though, you won’t be thinking about any of that, so thankfully it’s just a temporary problem. As for Dakota Fanning, what can I say? To add to my hyperbole I will say that Dakota Fanning is the greatest child actor of all time. It’s a bold statement, I know, but she is just the epitome of the word “prodigy”. How many child actors can consistently steal scenes from Oscar winner after Oscar winner? I just hope she doesn’t self destruct the way so many other child actors unfortunately have in the past. Then of course there’s Morgan Freeman who lends his voice to the opening and denouement of the film, because if you’re going to have narration in a movie you might as well go with the best. He’s great as usual and just makes me wish that in the future there will be technology that can change my inner monologue to his voice. I’ve heard more than a few complaints about the end of the movie, but I felt that it worked perfectly and is really the only way the film could have ended. The entire movie follows the perspective of a civilian so I doubt that those complaining would have been happy with any ending where the invaders weren’t defeated by the star of the show. I will say that there is one element of the ending that I could have done with out. You’ll know it when you see it. It’s the cheesiest element of the film, but I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. Other than that though I loved everything about the movie (as you may have guessed by now). I give it two thumbs up, four stars, and any other recommendation critics tend to write. The only question remaining is whether or not it will be topped by that other remake coming out this December. I am of course speaking of the one that previewed before WOTW in most theaters (not mine sadly). I’d be lying if I said that Mr. Jackson didn’t stand a fighting chance, but at this point he certainly has his work cut out for him.

Batman Begins Review

2005-06-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should start this review at the most logical place: the beginning. I was 6 years old when Tim Burton’s Batman opened in theaters and fell in love with the film and character immediately. I’d seen the TV show from the 60’s before that, but this was something completely different. For the first time outside of the comic books Batman was taken seriously and portrayed as a true creature of the night. The film remained my favorite movie for over a decade until Spider-man was released in 2002. So how does Batman Begins compare to the Batman film I’ve loved for so many years? It is still a little early to say whether I like this one better or if it will hold the title as my new favorite bat-flick, but I can say with confidence that this is a better movie. For the first time the Batman (and Bruce Wayne for that matter) on the big screen is a fully fleshed out character with motivations and flaws that we can actually see. For the first time Batman is the star of the picture, rather than a member (or members) of his rogues gallery. For the first time actors have been cast instead of stars, including three Oscar nominees and two Oscar winners. And for the first time we get a film that captures the greatness of the character that had thus far eluded Hollywood.

So now that you have my official opinion of the film, I’d like to get into the specifics of the movie. Just like last time I feel the need to warn readers that I’ll be discussing details about the movie’s plot and you should not read the rest of the review before seeing the film. But just in case you’re scanning through without paying attention, here’s the caution sign: SPOILERS AHEAD. Before the titles, we get DC’s new film logo. Although I wish they’d gone with something a little different than Marvel’s this is a great moment for comic fans, as it marks DC’s return to movies and shows that they plan to give Marvel Films some much needed competition. From there we get the quickest titles sequence I’ve ever seen in a superhero movie, as the faintest bat symbol can be made out from within a swarm (flock?) of bats. The actual title of the film is not presented until the very end which is a choice that I think can be very cool when appropriate and absolutely works perfectly here. The next hour or so of the film follows Bruce’s origin (pssst, his parents get shot) and training. Superhero movies walk a fine line when it comes to extended origin stories, because if you don’t care about the character this can become incredibly (no pun intended) tedious. Thankfully the first half of Batman Begins falls on the side with Spider-man rather than the Hulk. At no point in the movie did I find myself going “put the damn suit on already”, and I feel that a lot of the most exciting and engrossing parts of the film come from the first half. Particularly good is Bruce’s ninja training in the Far East. Here we find Liam Neeson again in the mentor role that he plays so well. However the film uses the audience’s familiarity with Neeson in this role to play with their perceptions of the character. I won’t get too specific, but it makes for some very cool surprise moments in the movie. As long as we’re talking actors let me say that Christian Bale is far and away the best Bruce Wayne I’ve ever seen. We see more sides of the character in this film than all the others combined and Bale handles all of them perfectly. As the film shifts settings to Gotham City, we’re introduced to the rest of the principle cast. This is the first Batman movie where Alfred is not played by Michael Gough, who was the most consistently good part about the last four. This time around another British Michael, Michael Caine takes over in a much expanded role and does a very good job. The spark of a father figure that we saw in the first Batman is fully developed here, making the character much more interesting. We also get Morgan Freeman playing a lesser known supporting character, Lucius Fox. What can be said about Morgan? I’ve yet to see a movie with him in it where he wasn’t one of the best parts (or the best part) about it, and this is no exception. Admittedly Fox isn’t one of the more interesting characters in the film, but Morgan does such a good job of drawing you in and making you want him back on screen whenever he leaves. Then there’s future commissioner James Gordon, who has always been huge in the comics but relegated to a bit part in the movies. Gordon is finally given his due in the form of Gary Oldman in a dead-on performance. His part is still a little smaller than I would have liked but there were so many characters vying for screen time in this origin story, it’s understandable. I have a feeling he will be taking a much more active part in the next one as we start to see more of Batman’s detective skills. Speaking of those skills, I hope we see a lot more detective work in the next movie. I understand that he’s just starting out in this one and that worked fine for a first movie, but in the next one I want to see more Sherlock Holmes and less Vic Mackey. He’s called the world’s greatest detective for a reason and if the rumors are true and the Joker is the villain in the next picture, it’s important to show the dichotomy between Batman’s analytical nature and Joker’s fractured psyche. That’s what’s always made the Joker the perfect foil and it would be a shame if they do not capture that. As far as the villains for this movie go, both are phenomenal. Cillian Murphy is perfect as the Scarecrow and the effects of his fear toxin are absolutely stunning. I really doubted that they could make the Scarecrow scary but they pulled it off in spades. Ra’s Al Ghul is one of my favorite villains from the comic and he is flawlessly translated here. The immortality of the comics is only hinted at though and it will be interesting to see if he turns up again. To the fans wondering if they changed his character too much, all I can tell you is that they didn’t change him as much as you think. If I had to make any complaints about the film, I would say that I’m still not completely sold on the costume. Most of the time it looked good to great, but once in a while there would be a long shot of it where it just looked awkward. Much of the film is shot in a horror movie style with quick glimpses of the monster (or bat). This is a very interesting directorial choice that works well with the theme of fear in the film and probably comes close to what the perception of Batman would be to those unfortunate enough to encounter him. It also works well as the suit looks best in small doses. My other complaint would be that too many people find out Bruce’s secret. I know, I know, you could say the same thing about Spider-man (particularly the second one) but Bruce has always been more careful about his secret identity than Peter Parker has. One complaint I have been hearing a lot that I would like to dispute however, is Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes. Her acting is fine and the criticism that her character is unnecessary is unfounded. Although the love interest subplot could have been cut out, Rachel is very important to the film as a utility character. She gives voice to Bruce’s superego throughout the film and introduces both Jonathan Crane and crime-boss, Carmine Falcone. These are all necessary things that without Rachel, various bit characters would have to fulfill. Instead they decided to combine them all into one character, which works fine. There are also plenty of scenes in the film that I felt Rachel was integral to and I do not believe would have worked without her.

I think this was a great start to what will hopefully be a very successful series. Screenwriter, David Goyer has shown that he absolutely understands the character of Batman as well as the other Gotham regulars, so hopefully he’ll have time to write a sequel as well as bring the Flash to the big screen. Director, Christopher Nolan brings that city to life with the most realistic portrayal of a comic book world I’ve ever seen. It’s a breath of fresh air to see a summer blockbuster (and a superhero movie at that) with minimal CGI, and I think that devotion to realism really paid off. Here’s hoping they hire everyone back for the next one and get started right away. I have a feeling we might be getting a few more laughs next time around.

Star Wars Episode III Review

2005-05-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are. The last Star Wars movie opened my freshman year, and was the first movie I ever saw at Regal’s People’s Plaza, which became the theater of choice for my friends and I, so it’s appropriate enough that Star Wars Episode III close out my career both at this college and at that theater. It’s funny the way things come full circle like that. I recently saw my 2nd favorite band, Weezer for the second time at the Electric Factory in Philly. They were the first live band I saw in college and also the last, so I’m on a roll right now for weird symmetry. But let’s cut to the chase. You guys want to hear an opinion, because 1) I’m a movie freak and 2) I’m a Star Wars freak. This is gonna be kind of tough to do without getting into specifics about the film, but here’s my non-spoiler review of Episode III: tremendously entertaining, a huge step up for the franchise in recent years, but ultimately flawed. Go see it, you’ll have a great time, but don’t expect it to approach the glory of the original trilogy. In particular I’m speaking to those of you who hold the original three in holy grail status. Watch the last two prequels, set your expectations around that level and it’ll blow them away. If you’re expecting “Luke, I am your father”, well you’ll just be disappointed. Ok, so now that you’ve read that, go see the movie, come back, and I’ll start discussing movie specifics. It’s cool, I’ll wait. Trust me, you don’t want to read this stuff before you’ve seen it.

You’re back? Good. I’m guessing there are 3 people reading this article right now. One loved the movie and can’t understand what I wanted out of it that would have disappointed me. The second one had some reservations and wanted to see if I had the same issues he/she did. And the third just thought it was complete garbage and can’t understand how I possibly liked any of it. So here goes (and before I start, for those of you that have discarded my warnings so far, this is your last chance, SPOILERS AHEAD). At the opening of the film we get one of the two trademarks of the series: the space battle. This was an absolutely fantastic sequence and kicked the film off wonderfully. This is probably my second favorite space battle in the series, after the assault on the Death Star in Jedi. It’s clear that Lucas and ILM have finally mastered the look of CGI in this film, and we finally get effects that look as good as the miniatures from the original films. Even the digital characters for the most part look entirely believable. Yoda (who turned from a muppet into CG in between ep’s 1 and 2) in particular looks great and his fight sequences look much better than the last film. Before long we get to the second Star Wars trademark: the lightsaber battle. This is where we find one of my biggest issues with the film. Ok I loved Darth Maul in the first prequel, but I personally blame Ray Park for making Lucas think that all Jedis need to do flips and spins in the air. Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker’s battles were incredibly cool without the acrobatics, so why do we need to see decrepit old men like Christopher Lee and Emperor Palpatine jumping around like Spider-man? It bothered me enough when Yoda did it in Episode II and it looks even worse with these characters. It just sucks when your favorite element of a film series gets turned into Cirque de Solei. The battle does end on a high note however when we see Anakin’s evil start to emerge for the first time. Skipping ahead a little, we come to another great scene between Palpatine and Anakin where the origins of the Sith, Palpatine, and Anakin are revealed. This is very well executed and creates three satisfying origins in a series of unsatisfying ones. There’s one problem though: the return of Medi-chlorians. I really thought Lucas had abandoned them, as they were the biggest complaint of all (except for Jar Jar) about the prequel series. It’s an incredibly stupid idea to have a measurable biological trait for the Force, turning spirituality into science, and I really thought someone in Lucas’s camp would have realized that after the initial fan outrage. Next we have Obi Wan’s assault on the droid army which has some incredibly cool elements and some incredibly lame ones. Noticing a trend here? The cool part is the kick-ass battle between Obi Wan and General Grevious which adds another sweet lightsaber battle to a movie that has already had one and promises at least three more. The bad part is this covert assault being carried out, riding a giant CGI gecko (no, not that one) yelping its head off the whole way. But yet again, the good outweighs the bad so I’m willing to let my minor problems go and enjoy the movie. About this point is where the tide turns in the other direction though. The scene between Mace Windu, Palpatine, and Anakin is played so incredibly broad and over-the-top, that it elicits unintended laughter in a movie where questionable acting and dialogue are already expected. When you see an actor as talented as Samuel L Jackson struggle with material, you know something’s up. This was supposed to be one of THE scenes of the movie and it disappointed me so much that I just felt my enthusiasm for the film drain away. This was compounded when all the Jedi are killed in a matter of moments by Stormtroopers. Stormtroopers!!!! These things can’t even hit R2D2 after his side-rockets have mysteriously disappeared, yet they can slaughter the most powerful force in the galaxy without breaking a sweat. Did the clone pool get contaminated between the trilogies? This brings us to the big 2 fights of the movie (and perhaps the series): Anakin vs Obi Wan and Yoda vs Palpatine. The Anakin/Obi Wan fight is spectacular and completely lives up to the epic promise that was first made in 1977 (minus a little logic on the effects of lava, but that’s just nit-picking). Yoda’s battle with the newly appointed Emperor is also pretty cool, aside from a little of the aforementioned flipping and unintentional humor. Finally we come to the end of the film, which gives us some of the coolest moments of the movie and some of the most infuriating. So I’ve already told you the whole movie, but this is the end so MAJOR ENDING SPOILERS: the creation of Darth Vader is an incredibly cool Frankenstein-esque scene and hearing the breathing again got me back to the excitement level I had at the opening. So what went wrong? Vader’s howl. Is it out of character for Anakin? No. Is it out of character for Darth Vader? Hell yes it is. I realize this may just seem like semantics to most, but when he puts that suit on, he damn well better start acting like the coolest villain to ever grace the silver screen and the Vader I know would never show that kind of emotion. The other problem with the end is Padme’s death. This could have been so easy to execute and they still find a way to cheese it up and induce groans. Dying of a broken heart? Give me a break. From there we get to my favorite part of the movie. No, not the credits. I’m not that negative. Darth Vader is standing next to the Emperor on a Star Destroyer observing construction of the Death Star while Luke Skywalker is on Tatooine in the orange glow of two simultaneous sunsets and all is right in the galaxy far far away again.

Well that’s it from me for a while. I’ve had a lot of fun making this blog, but my class is over, so I no longer have that weekly quota anymore. I’ll be back periodically with reviews on Batman Begins, War of the Worlds, Fantastic Four, and any other movie that I really want to talk about. Until then, in the immortal words of Garden State’s Titembay: peace out playa.

Watchmen Report

2005-05-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

Moriarty of Ain't It Cool News recently posted a report from London on how things are progressing on the Watchmen film currently in pre-production. The movie is an adaptation of the 1986 comic series which is popularly considered the greatest superhero story of all time, and has consistently topped sales charts at both comic shops and book stores since it was released. There's been recent question as to what the status of the film was after the management at Paramount got shifted around. Although they're still unsure at this point whether the film will stay at Paramount or not, there seems to be no question from producers as to whether or not the film will actually be made. I've always had a certain amount of skepticism on how Watchmen would work as a movie, but Moriarty, who is one of my most trusted film journalists/critics seems to be really enthusiastic about the film and has a lot of faith in the people working on it. He also posted a rave script review (HUGE SPOILER ALERT) a little while back, so for now, that's good enough for me. The biggest thing in the report though is the hints dropped about casting at the end, the most blatant one being Hillary Swank as a candidate for Silk Spectre (which I'd hate, but at this stage it's just a rumor).

Chronicles of Narnia Trailer

2005-05-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

Wierd, less than 24 hours later we get the trailer to this year's other highly anticipated children's fantasy movie. The first trailer for the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe can be viewed right here, and I personally think it looks great. The creatures(and in particular Aslan the lion) all look fantastic and it really seems like they found the right tone. Of course, there's going to be the obvious comparisons to Lord of the Rings, but I think the two are different enough for this series to stand apart. Plus this one will have much more family appeal, since so many kids read the books in grade school (and having the Disney logo at the beginning helps too).

Harry Potter Trailer and Poster

2005-05-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

hp4
Originally uploaded by waggy182.

The teaser trailer for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has made its way online and can be viewed here. Also if you look to the left of this post, you can see the teaser poster for the film too. The great thing about the Harry Potter movie series is that they've gotten better with each installment. Couple that with the fact that GoF is my favorite of the books and you can see why I can't wait to see this film. That teaser is really great too. I usually hate it when they put scenes from earlier movies in sequel trailers, but they did it absolutely perfectly in this one. I wish they'd brought Alfonso Cuaron back to direct again, but it looks like Mike Newell may be just as good.

Marvel's Avi Arad Speaks on Upcoming Films

2005-05-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

Empire Online has a new feature interview up with Marvel Films president, Avi Arad where he speaks about pretty much every film currently in development. Of particular interest is his mention of Dawn of the Dead director, Zak Snyder and Shaun of the Dead director, Edgar Wright working with Marvel in the future. This is the first I've heard about this, and I'm interested in what they would do, considering Marvel's first attempt at horror (Man-Thing, don't ask) was a complete failure and went straight to the Sci-Fi Channel. He also drops a few intriguing tidbits on X3 and Spider-man 3. And he says that Black Widow will have a harder edge similar to the Punisher, which is surprising considering the recent press release said that all future Mavel Films will be PG or PG-13. I'd be really happy to find out this wasn't the case, since there's material even in Spider-man comics that wouldn't make it into a PG-13 movie.

Hustle and Flow Trailer

2005-05-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

Ok so I've been kinda slackin on the indie movie side of this blog and focusing primarily on geek movies. Cut me some slack though. Sundance was right before I started the blog, and most of those movies don't hit theaters until late summer/early fall. Anyway, you can view the trailer for the winner of the American Dramatic Audience Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Hustle and Flow right here. Ain't It Cool News webmaster, Harry Knowles recently raved about the film, calling it the best movie he'd seen yet this year. I'm not too into rap music (not current mainstream rap at least) but I'm interested in seeing this one. I like 8 Mile and Anthony Anderson has been great in the cop-drama, the Shield this season.

Chronicles of Narnia Report

2005-05-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

USA Today has a new article on their site about the first film in Disney's Chronicles of Narnia series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The film directed by Andrew Adamson (Shreks 1 and 2) will open December 9th, and Disney is banking on it being their Lord of the Rings. The only problem is the 300 pound gorilla (pun definitely intended) they'll be going up against, King Kong. I'm really excited to see this one, as I was a huge fan of the books when I was a kid. So far all the photos and production videos I've seen look great. This could turn out to be the first good non-Pixar thing Disney has done in quite a long time.

Marvel Deal With Paramount: Captain America, Nick Fury Movies Planned

2005-04-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

Wow. Huge news broke today for comic fans like myself. Marvel Comics' film division has evolved into a production company which means that they will no longer license out their characters for other companies to make movies with, but instead they will make their own movies and partner up with studios for marketing only. The first such deal is with Paramount, which accounts for 10 films, including a Captain America movie and one for super-spy, Nick Fury. Basically what this means is that Marvel will finance their movies on their own and bear the brunt of the risk involved, but stand to make much more money should the film and subsequent dvd release be a success. This also gives them greater creative control and the chance to use more characters in one movie, whereas before characters could only be used by the studio they were licensed to (which is why we could never see Spider-man fight the Kingpin or Captain America and Iron Man together in an Avengers movie). So what does this mean to the average movie-goer? Not a whole lot. For us comic fans however, this is a very stirring story as it brings up a lot of questions about a company we care a great deal about, including what happens if it doesn't work out, and more importantly how this is going to affect the publishing division which is the backbone of both the company and the entire comic book industry. More on this story including the press release and quotes from Marvel can be read here and here.

Full Batman Trailer

2005-04-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

MTV.com has switched their abridged trailer with the full Batman trailer. It's pretty much the same as the other one, but there's much more backstory stuff at the beginning. After the one minute mark it turns into the one they had a few days ago, which is where all the cool stuff is. If you're having trouble watching it, make sure you're using Internet Explorer (remember, Microsoft is the devil) and that your Windows Media Player is updated.

UPDATE: the trailer is now available on Apple.com in glorious quicktime and various sizes, so if you haven't seen it yet(or feel compelled to watch it over and over like me) go there instead.

Serenity Trailer

2005-04-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

Apple has just posted the Serenity trailer. The movie is the directorial debut of Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and writer/director of the upcoming Wonder Woman feature film. He also writes the monthly Astonishing X-Men comic, which as I've said before is my favorite comic book currently being published. Serenity is a continuation of Whedon's short-lived TV series, Firefly, but it was made so that anyone could watch it whether they were familiar with the show or not. I've been interested in this movie since I first heard about it, even though I've never seen Firefly. The trailer's cool, but nothing in it really made me jump up and go "Oh man, I've gotta see that!". Being such a big AXM fan and recently getting into Buffy has already got me pretty excited for this film though.

Batman Begins Trailer

2005-04-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

MTV.com has an exclusive look at the new Batman Begins trailer. I'm not sure if this is the full trailer that will be appearing in theaters next week or not, because this one is only 1:09 and that trailer is supposed to be twice that long. Either way, whatever it is that they have on their site is amazing. The first teaser was a big disappointment, not even showing the dark knight in motion. This one on the other hand has a ton of great shots of Bats as well as the two villains. The Scarecrow in particular looks very creepy and really cool too. We also get two very long looks at the future Mrs. Greg Luther, Katie Holmes and the always great Morgan Freeman. I knew all along that this movie would blow away the last two Batman movies (bet you blocked those out of your memories), but it's looking like this one will even top the two good Batman films as well.

UPDATE: according to Superherohype.com the trailer appearing on MTV.com was specially made for MTV's TRL. So we should be seeing something totally different in theaters and online very soon.

Amityville Horror Review

2005-04-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

I've never been a big fan of horror movies. They scared the hell out of me when I was a kid but somewhere in between they stopped producing any reaction whatsoever out of me. They can also frequently be some of the most poorly made movies out there. That said, there are a few films in that genre I greatly enjoy. I love movies like the Sixth Sense and the Others that try to unsettle the audience rather than shock them. I also really like zombie movies for some reason and I thought 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake were both great. But my favorite horror flick is the one that started the slasher genre and is responsible for more bad movies than any other single film, Halloween. It's probably the only movie I've seen since starting high school that legitimately scared me and I can see why it inspired so many copycats. So why did I see the Amityville Horror knowing how much I dislike the genre? Did I think that it might hold a place among those movies as being the exception that elevates horror to a level that we can all respect? Well, no. I really like Ryan Reynolds (although I'd only previously seen him in comedic roles) and I was pretty sure I could get in for free thanks to my theater manager roommate. I'm really glad I went though. Although I didn't find the film particularly scary, I did find it very suspenseful. My friend Melissa on the other hand (who loves horror movies) was really scared of the film and jumped out of her seat several times. Of course I had to exploit this after the film and make her jump one more time while leaving the theater. So basically what I'm trying to say is that if horror movies usually frighten you, you'll find plenty of scares here, but if not there's still an entertaining film to be found here. As with everything I've seen with him in it, Ryan Reynolds is the best part of the movie, even without the use of his greatest strength, his dead-on comedic timing. The direction by Andrew Douglas is really good too and I'd look out for future horror movies from this guy, since he seems to have all the tricks for making people jump nailed. So if you're looking for a film to tide you over until Star Wars Episode 3 opens (only 3 weeks left!!!!) you could do a lot worse than the Amityville Horror.

Corpse Bride Set Report

2005-04-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

Ain't It Cool News's Moriarty has posted a very detailed set report from the London set of Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride. The Corpse Bride is Tim Burton's second stop motion feature film and will be opening this Fall. His first stop motion film, The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies ever, and I've been a fan from long before it became subsidized by the trendy goth crowd. From the report it sounds like they've improved upon the techniques used in that movie exponentially which is scary to think about considering how revolutionary Nightmare was when it came out. Needless to say I'm very excited to see the Corpse Bride and this set report just kicked that excitment level up to 11.

In related news, rumor has it that while Moriarty was in London visiting this set, he also made a trip over to the Watchmen set, so keep an eye out for that report to surface within the next week.

X3 Director Speaks

2005-04-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

Comingsoon.net has posted a great interview with X3 director, Matthew Vaughn which can be read here. In it he confirms that he is working on an adaptation of the Neil Gaiman graphic novel, Stardust. He also seems to confirm that Vinnie Jones (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) will most likely be playing the Juggernaut. He definitely looks the part but I'm not sure how I feel about Juggy being British. It also sounds like they will not be using the "Dark Phoenix" storyline, which is a shame, but I can see how that would be really tough to translate into a movie.

Superman costume

2005-04-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

Superman costume
Originally uploaded by waggy182.

Ok, so Warner Brothers released the first official photo of Brandon Routh in the Superman costume to be used in Superman Returns today (click here for a larger version) and I gotta say I'm pretty disappointed. I've loved everything else I've seen from this film so far, but that costume just doesn't do it for me. The red is all wrong, the colors don't go together, and the insignia is too small. But the biggest problem is the intangible one. He just doesn't look "super" in it. I'm sure it'll look a lot better in the context of the movie, but for now this is the first major hit my faith in this adaptation has taken.

In other news, that other DC superhero film (Batman Begins) has been pushed up two days and will now be opening Wednesday, June 15th. That's another costume that can look good or bad depending on the shot, but aside from that the film looks incredible, so maybe this Superman thing will turn out the same way. I'll be back later this weekend with a quick review of the Amityville Horror.

3 Actors Cast in Fincher's Zodiac

2005-04-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

Normally this blog focuses primarily on geek and indie movies, but every once in a while some news comes along about a favorite filmmaker of mine that I just have to post. This is one of those occasions. Director, David Fincher (best known for Fight Club and one of my top 5 all-time favorite movies, Se7en) has just cast three of the lead roles in his first film since 2002, Zodiac. The actors in question are Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, and another favorite of mine, Jake Gyllenhaal of Donnie Darko fame. The film is based on two novels from author, Robert Graysmith that chronicle the period of 1966-1978 when at least 37 people in the San Francisco area were murdered by the Zodiac serial killer. Fincher's already directed pretty much the best serial killer movie of all time, so I'm excited to see how he plans to top himself with this one.

Superman Set Photos and Video

2005-04-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a pretty slow week for movie news, and there's not really anything good coming out until Star Wars next month, so I haven't had much to post about lately. Still not much earth-shattering to report, but i have found a few things that are pretty cool. First off this website has the first pictures anywhere of Superman Returns star, Brandon Routh in costume as Clark Kent. I've always been in favor of casting an unknown in the role, and seeing those pictures just proves my point. That IS Clark Kent. Any known actor would've just looked like himself dressed as Clark, and even more so as Superman. The only time I saw anyone aside from Clark in those pics is when i noticed a slight resemblance to Christopher Reeve, which is far from a bad thing.

There's also videos on Bluetights.net and Kongisking.net that I thought were pretty funny. This might be the first time in Internet history that two video blogs for movies in production have crossed over. Could Bryan Singer be taking over the King Kong production? We'll see. The videos in quetion are "video 7" on Blue Tights and "day 131" on Kong is King.

Night Watch Trailer

2005-04-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

The trailer for the Russian sci-fi/horror movie, Night Watch is now online here. I know very little about this film, but that trailer absolutely blew me away. The tone seems to be somewhere in between Underworld and The Matrix with a side of Donnie Darko. I also can't wait to see how they did the subtitles. That's right, the subtitles. Apparently they created a totally new method for subtitle presentation for this film that incorporoates them into the style of the picture, rather than just placing boring text at the bottom of the screen. I've never seen a Russian film before, but if Night Watch is even 1/10th as cool as that trailer makes it look, I suspect we'll be seeing a lot more in the future.

Sin City Review

2005-04-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it's been a little while since I've posted so I decided to make my return from Las Vegas a big one with my first major movie review. The problem with reviewing Sin City is trying to express how much I like the film without putting expectations too high or coming across as negative because I've used too much restraint. The feeling I had leaving the theater was somewhat new for me because I followed this film more closely prior to release than I have with any other movie. I read updates on the film almost daily since the day it was announced just about a year ago. I also read 2 of the 3 graphic novels the film was translated from before seeing the movie, meaning I knew 2/3rds of the movie going in. I now realize this was a mistake, as it stopped me from getting excited about the film the way I would have otherwise. I loved the movie but didn't walk out with that same feeling of overwhelming excitement that I did from Kill Bill or X2 or Spider-man. I did however, have a lot more fun watching the final act of the film, which was the one story I wasn't familiar with.

Now that that's out of the way, let me start talking about the film itself. For those of you who don't know, Sin City is the first film ever to be directly translated from a comic book. Unlike films such as Batman and Spider-man, the film you see on the screen is exactly what was written and drawn in the comic book. No screenplay was written. They simply took the comic books and shot from there. While that may not seem too exciting to most of you, for comic fans this is huge. This film's existence presents a near limitless amount of possibilites for future movies based on the comics we love. This fact is not the only thing that separates Sin City from other comic movies however. There are no superheroes in this film. In fact, there are very few heroes in this film period. It's basically a gritty reimagining of classic film noir (or gangster films) with all the things you couldn't see on the silver screen back then. All this is done with a visual style that harkens back to classic film but with effects that could never be done even five years ago. The visuals of this film are simply phenomenal. The film, shot entirely in color on green screen, had all the sets and black and white effects added in post production. This marks a huge leap forward in film technology and I would expect to see a lot more movies very soon using similar techniques. But how's the story? Well, apart from the fact that I already knew it going in, great. I found the first third to be the weakest (something most fans would skin me alive for saying), but the second two (the third in particular) were fantastic. Bruce Willis owns the role of Hartigan, and in my opinion, it's the best thing he's done since Unbreakable. Elijah Wood is super-creepy and further proves that he's going to have a long life after Frodo. Clive Owen is quickly becoming one of the coolest actors in Hollywood and may soon give Jude and Colin a run for their money as the British actor that everyone wants to work with. Then there's the women. OH MAN. This movie may have the highest count of attractive young actresses wearing little to nothing ever. Rosario Dawson in particular is amazing as prostitute queen, Gail. And of course there's the lovely (and frequently naked) Carla Gugino as Lucille who puts in her best effort to be the most memorable image in a film packed to the gills with memorable images. Let me say though, that this is not a sexist film. Many of the strongest characters in the movie are women, and half of the titular Sin City has been taken over by a legion of prostitutes who effectively protect themselves against pimps, the mob, and the corrupt police force. One thing the movie is however, is absolutely brutal. The stylized nature of the film helped it get an R rating, but I'm still shocked at everything they slipped past the MPAA. This is not a film for the weak of stomach, and it really pushes the boundaries of the level of violence accepted in film as far as it has gone thus far. So to wrap things up, I wholeheartedly recommend Sin City to anyone who's looking to have a good time and some laughs, and has been sorely disappointed at the selection at their local cineplex in recent times. Just try to go in without knowing the whole movie first.

Thomas Hayden Church to Star in Spider-Man 3

2005-03-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

Today it was reported by the Hollywood Reporter that Thomas Hayden Church, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar this year for Sideways, will be starring in Spider-Man 3 as the villain. It was not revealed who that villain will be however, sending the fan community into a flurry of speculation. The top 2 names being thrown around right now are Venom and the Sandman. Director, Sam Raimi has said before that he didn't want to do Venom, but an effects supervisor from the film has recently been quoted as saying they've done preliminary work on Venom effects. Tobey Maguire has also been quoted several times as wanting to see the Sandman in a future movie. Previously, the most rumored villains were Hobgoblin and the Lizard, but there are already actors in both of those characters' alter-egos' roles in the first two films, making Church an unlikely candidate for either of those 2. Personally I really like Church, but I'll reserve my judgement on how appropriate he is until I hear who he will be playing.

The Island Trailer

2005-03-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

The trailer for director, Michael Bay's new sci-fi action movie, The Island is now online at Apple Trailers. I think it looks really cool, even though I usually hate Michael Bay movies (but I LOVE Scarlett Johansson). One thing I will give him is that his films usually make for cool trailers, so hopefully there's more to this one than that. This summer's packed with high profile movies, so we'll see how The Island stacks up against the sure to be stiff competition then. If nothing else, I'll be happy to stare at Scarlett for two hours.

War of the Worlds Trailer and Batman Begins Poster

2005-03-18T09:59:00.000-08:00

Batman Begins poster
Originally uploaded by waggy182.

Today I have news on my two most anticipated movies of the summer.

War of the Worlds: The new teaser is up at Apple Trailers and can be viewed here. I am so psyched for this film. You don't see too much in this trailer besides a lot of character moments with Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. The end has some great action shots, but just barely enough to whet your appetite. This looks like it could easily be Speilberg's best film since Saving Private Ryan, and should mark the return to his crazy spectacle film-making that AI and Minority Report fell short of.

Batman Begins: Pictured above is the new Batman one-sheet (click here for a larger version). Very cool shot. So far the costume has always looked great to me in context, and not so good out of context (like set photos and stuff). Hopefully it will look great in the film. They're starting the series over with this one, so everyone that hated the more recent Batman movies can come back. All the script reviews I've read so far have been through the roof, and you can't beat that cast. I could not be more excited for this movie to hit.

Joss Whedon to Write and Direct Wonder Woman

2005-03-17T14:47:00.000-08:00

Wonder Woman teaser poster
Originally uploaded by waggy182.

Today the official announcement was made on a rumor that's been flying around the web for a while now. The Wonder Woman feature film will be written and directed by none other than Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and writer of the Astonishing X-men comic book series. Whedon also did some limited work on the script for the first X-Men movie. This is great news. I love Whedon's take on superheroes and I'm sure he'll do great with Wonder Woman. WW can be a tough character to nail down. She is probably the third most well known superhero in the world after Superman and Batman, but has never had a feature film or a truly defining storyline. This should give Whedon plenty of room to play around, since people recognize the character but don't have as many preconceived ideas on what a Wonder Woman movie should be, as they did with Batman or Spider-man. Now they just have to sign Catherine Zeta Jones to star and I'll be overjoyed. Click the image above to see a bigger version of the teaser poster by fan-favorite artist, Adam Hughes, and go here for more info on the movie.

Paul Greengrass Talks Watchmen

2005-03-15T14:52:00.000-08:00

Chud.com has a very good interview up with Paul Greengrass, the director of the upcoming Watchmen movie. You can read the first half of that here. I think the author of the article really sums up the fan community's feelings on the film well. We're excited about it, but we also fear it. Watchmen is largely considered the greatest comic series of all time and personally is my favorite book ever (yes I describe it as a "book"), so we are all more than a little worried they'll screw it up. I like the way Greengrass comes off here though. He seems very reverant of the material, but he comes at it from a film perspective instead of a comic perspective, which should help him figure out what works in a movie and what doesn't, whereas most comic fans would try to jam everything in there. I'm still a little unsure of how this would work set today, as opposed to being a 1980's period piece. I understand that it has to be done, but I hope bringing the story to 2005 doesn't harm the material. Can't wait till they start announcing some casting decisions on this one. Watchmen can be purchased at Amazon.com for the bargain price of $13.57.

Matthew Vaughn to Direct X3

2005-03-14T10:56:00.000-08:00

Late last night it was reported at Ain't It Cool News that the third movie in the X-Men series will be helmed by Matthew Vaughn, the director of Layer Cake, a British crime movie that is set to come to the United States soon. Vaughn also produced Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch. Rumors have been flying about who would direct the film ever since Bryan Singer left the franchise to restart Superman, usually hovering around Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator, Joss Whedon, who is currently writing the Astonishing X-Men comic series (my favorite comic on the shelves right now). While I would have loved to see Joss do it, I am very pleased with this news. I've heard nothing but good things about Layer Cake, and I find it interesting that they've gone with another crime director with a visual flair, much like they did with Singer who had just come off the Usual Suspects. It is widely believed that this next film would cover the "Dark Phoenix" plotline, which is generally considered the greatest X-Men storyline ever.

In other news, rumors of Quentin Tarantino directing a Friday the 13th movie have been debunked by the man himself. He says he'd love to do a horror movie but not one in that particular series. At the moment he is still planning to film Inglorious Bastards next.

Star Wars trailer reactions, Fantastic Four poster, and Zathura trailer

2005-03-12T10:57:00.000-08:00

Fantastic Four Poster
Originally uploaded by waggy182.

Lots of stuff to talk about today, so let's get started.

Star Wars: Hopefully everyone caught the Star Wars trailer on thursday night. If you missed it, you can view it through a couple of links here. It's funny the way I went through the series of emotions during this trailer that I've had about the first two prequels so far, albeit in a different order. The first minute or so is the boring politics and bad dialogue that has been the prequel trilogy's biggest criticism so far. I remember thinking "Wow did they drop the ball on this one". Then the action starts.... HOLY CRAP, this movie is gonna be ridiculous. There were SO many cool shots in the montage that takes up pretty much the whole second half of the trailer (some of which I actually considered to be significant spoiler material, so consider yourselves warned). Then we come to the "money shot". That final image of Darth Vader and the emperor.... Wow, I'm speechless. If the movie itself gets me excited the way the latter half of this preview did, then I'd definitely have to take back all the harsh comments I've made about George Lucas over the last few years (well, most of them at least).

Fantastic Four: The new Fantastic Four one-sheet (or poster for non-movie geeks) is pictured above. Click it for a larger version. Pretty cool shot. Basically the same poster that we saw before except they added some "power" effects. I still haven't been really wowed by anything I've seen from this one, which really disappoints me because I am a huge fan of the Fantastic Four comics. Right now I'm just hoping this turns out to be one of those movies that completely blows away expectations, like 2000's X-Men did.

Zathura: I'm sure very few people reading this have heard of this movie. It's a new sci-fi/fantasy picture from Jon Favreau, who directed Elf. He also wrote and starred in one of my favorite movies, Swingers which brought the world Vince Vaughn (trust me, it's money). The teaser trailer was just released and can be viewed here. You don't see too much here, but I liked what I saw. If the premise seems a little like Jumanji, that's not a coincidence. It's based on a novel from the same author. This looks like it could be a really fun kids' movie that adults could enjoy too, much like Elf was.

Star Wars Episode 3 poster and trailer

2005-03-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

Here is the new Star Wars Episode 3 poster (if it's not coming up, go here). The original Star Wars trilogy are 3 of my favorite movies ever, but I haven't been too big on the Star Wars prequels. I love that poster though. It's about a million times better than the first one they released which looked like a bad photoshop job. The full trailer will be on TV Thursday night during The OC which is on Fox at 8 PM. Yeah, I hate that show too (how can everyone in that county be so hot?), but I'll have to suck it up for 2 minutes of Star Wars goodness. I'll be back Friday morning with my thoughts.

Final Sin City Trailer Online

2005-03-07T14:40:00.000-08:00

Wow, lots of news this week. Moviefone has the final Sin City trailer up for viewing in quicktime format. This movie looks more incredible every time I see something new from it. Less than a month left before this one opens. I can't wait! Check out the official site for more info.

Tarantino to write and direct new Friday the 13th?

2005-03-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

IGN Filmforce is reporting that my favorite director, Quentin Tarantino is in talks to write and direct the next movie in the Friday the 13th series which is being referred to as the "Ultimate Jason Vorhees Movie". Right now I'd take this with a huge grain of salt, as QT likes to throw his name in the hat for movies all the time that he really has no intention of making (most of you probably don't know this but he was rumored a few months ago to be directing the next James Bond movie). I personally hope this doesn't happen. I've never seen a Jason movie (not all the way through at least) and I don't particularly like the genre of slasher films, with the exception of Halloween and Scream. I think QT's talents would be much better put to use on either his WW2 epic, Inglorious Bastards or his as-yet-untitled Mandarin samurai film. But we'll see what happens. If this does turn out to be his next film, I guess it'll be the first time I'm first in line for a horror flick.

V For Vendetta press conference

2005-03-05T17:42:00.000-08:00

The press conference for the V For Vendetta movie was held on friday with producers Joel Silver and Grant Hill, stars Natalie Portman and James Purefoy, and director James McTeigue. For those unfamiliar with the book (probably the vast majority), it's about a freedom fighter dressed as Guy Fawkes in a totalitarian version the United Kingdom who uses terrorism to stand up against the oppressive government. For a full report on the conference you can go here. I'm definitely looking forward to this movie. With the team behind the Matrix trilogy: Joel Silver and the Wachowskis producing, this will definitely be a high profile release, and from the way the interviews sounded, it seems like this will be much more character driven than those movies were. Natalie Portman is perfect for the role of Evey, and this will definitely be her most disturbing performance yet. I'm also very happy that they didn't cast a "star" for the part of V and the fact that he will in fact be masked for the whole movie is very encouraging. The jury's still out on director James McTeigue who is making his directorial debut with this movie, but he was the first assistant director on all three Matrix movies (Matrices?), and love them or hate them, you have to admit they were wonderfully shot. There are still a few things however that leave me unsure about this film. For one, if they did in fact change the backstory so that it takes place in a world where Germany won World War 2 (as was reported by Rich Johnston here), then I think that takes a lot of the satirical teeth out of the picture. I agree with the stance that a big part of the weight of the story comes from the fact that the people essentially brought this government on themselves. This change might make the film a little less controversial, especially at a time like this where artists are forced to look over their shoulders so much. When making a film like this though, shying away from any controversy is essentially admitting defeat. I'm also a little concerned with Silver's remarks about visual effects and CGI. It's been a long time since I read the book but I don't remember too much that would warrant an expensive effects budget or any CGI at all. For the most part though, I am cautiously optimistic at this point. There has still not yet been a movie adapted from works by Alan Moore that has even come close to the source material. Constantine was the best one yet, but miles away from Moore's brilliance. I guess we'll find out within the next year if V For Vendetta is the one.

Oh and I'd be remiss if I did not point you toward Amazon.com where you can pick up a copy of the book. Right now you can get it together with Moore's greatest work, Watchmen (also currently in pre-production at Paramount) for just $27.14.

Oscar results

2005-03-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post this time. I figure I oughta comment on the how things went at the Oscars Sunday. If you have been living under a rock (or just aren't that into movies), you can check out the results here. 8 for 10 ain't too bad, but I missed the 2 big ones. I would've preferred to see the Aviator or Sideways win over Million Dollar Baby, but I'm very happy about Charlie Kaufman and Morgan Freeman's wins for best original screenplay and best supporting actor respectively. Oh and I'd also like to give huge props to Zach Braff for winning best first feature for Garden State at the Independent Spirit Awards the other night. Well, that's it for my boring commentary for a little while. This blog should be straight news until Sin City comes out next month.

Oscars

2005-02-26T17:35:00.000-08:00

So tomorrow is the big night. I'm missing a Say Anything show in Philly to see this so I'd better be pleased with the results. I can't wait to see what Chris Rock has to say, as I'm a HUGE fan of his. I'm sure he'll drop a few controversial remarks and some organization somewhere is sure to be pissed at him on Monday morning. But the reason for this post is my picks, so if there's any last minute pools you want to enter, here's what you need to know.
Best Animated Feature: The Incredibles
I absolutely loved this movie. Best animated movie since the Nightmare Before Christmas.
Best Visual Effects: Spider-man 2
Only reason I care about this category is so I can see my favorite movie of the year win something.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Sideways
I'm guessing this will follow last year's big indie picture, Lost in Translation and only win in the screenplay category. I'm not sure why. Maybe the Academy just values originality more in writing than film.
Best Original Screenplay: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
How this is not nominated for Best Picture is beyond me. The best film of 2004 had damn well better win SOMETHING. Oh yeah and Charlie Kaufman's a genius.
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett
She was phenomenal in the Aviator, and between this, the Life Aquatic, and Lord of the Rings, she's quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses (even though I'm almost always annoyed by her character when she first appears in a movie)
Best Supporting Actor: Morgan Freeman
Yeah he's been better in other things, but this is his fourth nomination without a win yet and he's getting up in years so I think they'll give it to him this time since there's not really a stand-out in this category.
Best Actress: Hillary Swank
Her performance in Million Dollar Baby has Oscar written all over it. I'd go into further details but that'd give away too much of the movie. Just trust me on this one if you haven't seen it. (Personally I'd love to see Kate Winslet win this one but the smart money's on Swank)
Best Actor: Jamie Foxx
Biggest no-brainer of the night. He's probably already got a spot on the mantle cleared for it. Aside from Clint, every nominee in this category is playing a real person. Where Foxx stands out is that unlike the rest you don't once think of him as anyone aside from the person he's playing over the course of the movie. Add to that the fact that he's playing a blind heroin addict and you start to see why pretty much everyone's written this one off already.
Best Director: Martin Scorcese
I don't care that most people are calling Clint the favorite here. I don't care about the criticisms of the film being a little long and needing some of the fat trimmed. It is a CRIME that Marty has not won this award yet and I think this year they've got a good enough reason to finally give it to him (as opposed to 02's Gangs of New York).
Best Picture: The Aviator
My favorite of the films nominated. Ray and Finding Neverland are great films but not considered big contenders and Sideways is a little too offbeat and indie for the less hip members of the Academy. The biggest competition comes from Million Dollar Baby, but I think the Aviator's got the edge here.
So there you have it, and unlike Entertainment Weekly i won't even ask for a cut of the winnings.

DVD Shelf

2005-02-21T19:33:00.000-08:00

If anyone's interested in checking my credentials as a film connoisseur, you can take a look at my dvd collection here. This should give you some insight to my tastes and what you can expect me to post about.

Hi

2005-02-21T18:11:00.000-08:00

Well, this is my first post on here so I should probably lay out exactly what this blog will entail. Basically I'm just gonna provide news and reviews for any movie that interests me. Generally that includes movies that fall into the somewhat broad category of "Geek Movies" which ranges from everything from sci-fi flicks like Star Wars and Spider-man to low budget indie fare like Garden State and Sideways, and maybe the occasional horror movie (although that's not really my area of expertise). I'll also address upcoming films from my favorite actors and directors that might not necessarily be considered "indie" (seriously what does indie even mean anymore anyway?). To answer the obvious question, no I am not one of those guys that goes on movie sites and trashes everything in the talkback. I just figured it'd be a funny, ironic title that would give people an idea of the content I was going for.

To start with I'd like to take a brief look at 2 movies I've seen recently. If you take a look at the upcoming release schedule you can see how this will quickly turn into a blog focusing on future movies while the reviews will mostly take a backseat (yeah, this year's winter line-up is pathetic). So if you hate my review style, you won't have to see it again for a while. First up is this past weekend's release, Constantine. I was actually fortunate enough to see this in an advance screening conducted by the University a week before its release, and had the somewhat unique experience of seeing a movie before the reviews had come in, allowing me to completely take the movie as it was. As probably few people reading this know, Constantine is based on the comic series, Hellblazer. I admit, I've never read Hellblazer, even though many of my favorite writers have worked on the title. This is probably for the best, as many of the fans of the comic seem to be pretty disappointed by the film. Personally I had a great time and thought it was a thoroughly entertaining picture, with several jump-out-of-your-seat moments. It kinda drags a little at the end, but overall I thought it was very well done, if a little over-directed at times. The whole cast gives very good performances, including Keanu Reeves who is generally a questionable actor at best. For me the highlight of the movie was the unique and irreverant take on religous themes (think the Exorcist meets the Matrix meets Indiana Jones) and probably the best vision of Hell I've ever seen in a movie. Oh and that Vertigo logo at the beginning floored me. Hope we see that again.

Next up is Million Dollar Baby which I finally saw last night. Ok, this movie's been out for a while now, but with the Oscars next week, I wanted to comment on it since I always try to see all the Best Picture nominated films (still haven't seen Finding Neverland, but 4 out of 5 ain't bad). I really thought I had this movie figured out before even seeing it, but that turn in the third act completely hit me in the gut. I read plenty of reviews telling me that would happen, but I still didn't think it would. I was underwhelmed by Mystic River last year and expected the same reaction to Million Dollar Baby, so I was pleasantly surprised to be so affected by a movie that I really wasn't all that jazzed about going into. The 3 principle cast members give outstanding performances and I'm pretty sure now that Hillary Swank has that Best Actress Oscar in the bag (sorry Annette). Then there's Morgan Freeman, who I'd be happy to seen in any movie whether his role belongs in there or not (Robin Hood anyone?). He delivers another solid performance that's a little grittier than he normally plays. Overall I still think I'd give Best Picture to the Aviator (well, in a perfect world it would go to Eternal Sunshine), but the race in my mind at least is now a lot tighter.