Yesterday, I was traveling by air to my new school in Beppu, Japan. As a big chunk of that journey I got to spend about twelve and a half hours squeezed inside an economy class seat on a direct flight from Chicago O'Hare to Tokyo Narita. If any of you have been on one of those flights before then you know that the only things to do are watch movies, try to sleep, and get up and stretch every once and a while. Well, sleeping proved to be a futile attempt, and as the guy sitting next to me was apparently afflicted by some form of African sleeping sickness, (he slept for eleven hours of the flight) I didn't get to get up that often either. So, that left movies. Twelve and a half hours worth.
United's wonderful roster of in fight movies included Leatherheads, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and The Visitor. As you can imagine, I spent a lot of time listening to my Ipod. However, I had never seen The Visitor, so I decided to give it a fair shake. Here's what I thought.
The Skinny: The Visitor is a Canadian film that made it's debut at TIFF 2007. It features actor Richard Jenkins in his typical role as a successful but fundamentally unhappy middle-aged man, (See Burn After Reading) this time as college economics professor Walter Vale. Upon returning to his seldom-used New York City apartment for an economics conference, he finds two Senegalese illegal immigrants, husband and wife, who are squatting in his place. At first he kicks them out, but ultimately allows them to stay and forms a strong friendship with the husband Tarek, who begins to teach Walter how to play the African drums. When Tarek is arrested by immigration officials, Walter's commitment to the the couple is put to the test. The movie has all the markings of a hearfelt independent drama, but somehow it comes out feeling a little derivative. Ultimately, it's the conveniences of the plot that serve to make the film less believable. As the Japanese man two seats down from me put it, "Why the hell didn't he just kick those people out of the his house? Also, why would he want to start playing drums in the park like a hobo?" I think that about sums it up. Yes, it's fairly entertaining, but no, I don't think I would neccessarily seek it out if I wasn't trapped in a plane for twelve hours.
More news from Japan as it comes.
With the four high-profile contenders Focus Features’ Burn After Reading(above), Lionsgate’s Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys, Overture’s Righteous Kill and Picturehouse’s The Women, the box office is a bit crowded this weekend as far as adult's wallets are concerned. After a summer full of kid-friendly blockbusters and raunchy comedy it's refreshing to finally be moving into the more meaty fall dramas, but it remains to be seen which of the lot will pass the quality test.
My early take on Burn After Reading is that fans of the darker side of the Coen Brothers' twisted sense of humor will be pleased but that the trailer definitely sells the movie as a lot more light-hearted than it actually is. Also, newly indoctrinated fans from last year's sobering No Country for Old Men may find themselves likewise confused by the level of absurdity found here. Overall, I think you'll find some pretty divisive reactions. Check back on Monday for our full review.
Righteous Kill stars the reanimated corpses of Al Pacino and Robert De Nero as two cops who just don't give a fuck. Guess what, neither does your audience.
Another summer has officially come to an end, and another summer blockbuster movie season with it. Please allow us to present our comprehensive summer review, featuring the best and worst of the season. The reviews will be broken into three parts and featured in chronological order of release, and followed up with our choices for the top five movies of the summer. Part two of our reviews continues with a most unfortunate 'happening', and rounds things out with Guillermo Del Toro's ultimate wet dream.
The HappeningGone are the days of 1999’s The Sixth Sense and even 2000’s criminally underrated Unbreakable. Hell, we thought The Village was bad. But with his first R-rated movie director M. Night Shyamalan seems to be trying to figure out just how far he can push it before people say he’s lost it. The Happening is a rambling eco-horror film with a mind-numbingly boring new twist... the plants are trying to kill us! On top of that gimmicky but not irredeemable concept, Shyamalan stacks a cast of forgettable characters headed up by school teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), and sends them on an exceedingly absurd attempt at an edge-of-your-seat thriller. In the end, The Happening succeeds in making wind about as scary as it can be.... not very much at all.
The Incredible HulkThis summer saw the big green guy 's return to the screen in smashing fashion. I'm immensely pleased to report that the newest incarnation of the Hulk franchise has almost completely erased the terrible taste that Ang Lee left in my mouth with his 2003 travesty. Edward Norton portrays a much more authentic Bruce Banner and the inclusion of Tim Roth as the Abomination at least provides some entertainment as a competitive villain. Hulk stories in the past have failed to escape the 'Hulk against the world' mentality, ultimately making him more of a villain than a hero. This film returned Bruce Banner to his roots as the wandering hero and thankfully skipped the unnecessary origin story. The dialogue is campy at times but this is definitely a superhero movie done well.
Love GuruCrass, unfunny, repetitive, obnoxious, gross, thin, fucking terrible. The love guru has been referred to as all of above, as well as a career killer for star Mike Myers, and even has the dubious ability to make you wonder if you'll ever laugh again. Just in case there were those doubting the utter totality of his fall from grace, Mike Myers has now quieted any lingering hope of a comeback. The only redeeming feature is Steven Colbert as Jay Kell, a drug addicted sex fiend of a hockey broadcaster. However, you're best left just watching that bit on youtube, as this film should be avoided at all costs. If you happen to walk into a friend's house and they are watching it, not only should you leave but you should no longer be friends with that person.
Get Smart
A remake of the 1960s Mel Brooks spy parody TV series, Get Smart makes for an enjoyable yet unenthusiastically positive experience. Steve Carell is perfectly cast as agent Maxwell Smart, while the film’s over-reliance on his endearing sense of wit and charm is both a positive and negative overall. His partner and would-be love interest Agent 99 (Ann Hathaway) serves as a fitting foil to Smart’s bumbling yet oddly effective style of espionage, while Dwyane “The Rock” Jonhson’s Agent 23 once again demonstrates an acting talent that greatly exceeds the level for which he has any right. If you’re looking for a charmingly entertaining light-hearted adventure with a couple of laughs along the way, then you can’t go wrong with Get Smart.
Wall-EBeautiful, stunning, heartwarming, WALL-E was all of these and much more. The story of a trash compacting robot doomed to spend eternity cleaning the world's mess doesn't seam all too appealing at first glance, but the charisma and character instilled in the cute little R2-D2-esque trash compactor makes him very endearing. The story alone makes this film a great kid's flick with a good message, but what really steals the show is the sheer visual beauty of the film. The Pixar team truly out did their previous work with Wall-E. There were multiple moments in the film when I caught myself just starring at the screen with my mouth ajar in awe at the scope and beauty of the images with which I found myself transfixed. It becomes an exercise in artistic exhibition. I heard complaints that the message of the story was "leftist propaganda", but I thought the message was well intertwined within the story and I didn't feel like they were trying to push anything upon me. WALL-E is one of the must-see movies of the summer, and not just if you have kids. I did feel a little strange going into a theater full of children, but the sense of complete satisfaction that had enveloped me by the end of the movie made up for any awkwardness.
HancockWill Smith + 4th of July weekend = $$$$. It is as simple as that. I was very excited about Hancock but I always felt like they were trying to hide something in the previews. The idea of a derelict super hero seemed like a fresh and interesting take on the genre and I was excited to see what Peter Berg would do with the film. Well, the first 2/3 of this film are great. Will Smith plays an asshole with a heart of gold to a T. About an hour into the film it seemed like the story had pretty much wrapped up and I was left asking myself "Where are they going to take it from here?" That is when shit gets weird. The last 30-40 minutes of the film appear as if the script pages were meant for a different film but somebody fucked up and stuck them on to Hancock instead. I would love to explain it to you but I simply can't express it into words. It was like watching a train wreck, I wanted to get up and leave but I had to stay and see how bad it got. There was a scene of statutory rape that was removed from the final cut for the sake of a PG-13 rating. That scene could have been looped 20 times over the last 30 minutes of the movie and it would have made for a much better ending. My recommendation is that if you watch the film and simply turn it off after Hancock foils the bank robbery. At least then you'll have a good albeit short film. Trust me, youll save yourself a lot of confusion and disgust.
WantedHeralded as "visually revolutionary", Wanted actually left me a bit wanting. The film follows a young man named Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) working at a dead-end job with an overbearing boss and all the various accoutrement that come with the quintessential twenty-something shitty life: cheating girlfriend, worthless best friend etc. Gibson soon becomes entangled in an international assassin's association in which his recently slain absentee father was a member. While this film is a fine action movie with very appealing special effects and a decent storyline, labeling it "revolutionary" and comparing it to The Matrix is a bit over the top. If you go in expecting an entertaining hour and a half with plenty of violence you will be pleased. If you are looking for a masterpiece you will be severely disappointed.
Hell Boy 2Unfortunately, Hell Boy 2 got lost in the sea of summer movies. I like the Hellboy series quite a bit but even I was shocked when I found out about HB2's ambitious summer release date. It was really a shame, as HB2 not only had a better story than the first, but Guillermo Del Toro was allowed much freedom this time around to flex his directorial muscles. The stories delves much deeper into the mythic underground and plays heavily on Hellboy's alliances. The movie has its fair share of cheesy moments but remains in the same vein as the previous installment. My biggest complaint was that at times I felt like this was just a showcase of special effects and puppetry. I enjoy Del Torro's use of special effects, the Pan's Labryinth-inspired creature aesthetic employed here is an arguable triumph, but in some instances it just seemed masturbatory.
Check back next Friday for the third and final installment of our Summer in Review, to be followed up by our announcement of the top-five films of Summer 2008.
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Surreelfilm's Summer in Review Part 1
A fair amount of questionable material has been floating around the intrawebs the last couple of days, so much so that I am going to try and sort out the completely ridiculous from the just slightly ridiculous.
Will Smith is Cpt. America
Will Smith is Cpt. America
Rumors have been flying that Will Smith has been offered the role of the beloved propaganda piece Captain America. This role would suit Smith's tastes for the big budget blockbuster but with Smith just coming off of Hancock I can't imagine him jumping right back into the same genre. I am also a little skeptical of the quote from Derek Luke that ignited this rumor. I find it hard to swallow that such a small time actor would be breaking such big time news. I would still love to see Smith suit up in the red white and blue and sling that gigantic shield around the screen but Marvel is keeping it tight-lipped. This rumor is only slightly ridiculous.Live Action TMNT
Can it be true? My beloved transmorphic adolescent reptiles are heading back to the big screen with actual live-action actors? A teenage mutant ninja turtle's live-action reboot is a very exciting, albeit scary proposition. The success of the of the 2007 computer animated movie garnered enough box office clout to warrant a sequel, but I know a lot of children of the 80's that are dying to see a reboot of the 1990 children's classic. Well there is hope, sorta. This rumor took the internet by storm only to be stomped out by TMNT creator Kevin Eastman. All hope is not lost though. With all the positive buzz on the internet Peter Baird (co-creator of TMNT) has been contacted by several parties interested in the idea of a new live-action TMNT movie. So this rumor is only slightly ridiculous.Batman 3 villains
Johny Depp as the Riddler, Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin, Cher as Catwoman, Nic Cage as King Tut. Alright I made up that last one, but the other three have been floating around the internet. Johny Depp seems like the most willing to step into the villain shoes. Depp has expressed his interest through several sites saying, "it would be a fun gig". Depp's affinity for eccentric characters makes a step into the question mark suit a logical move. Unfortunately, Cher seems the next most likely candidate as one of Gotham's scum. Cher is reportedly Nolan's 'first choice'. I hope to god this doesn't happen. I just can't imagine Cher's portrayal of Catwoman fitting into the Nolanverse. Plus she hasn't been in a movie since Moonstruck. The most interesting of the 3 is Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin. I think this is a perfect fit and he was rumored to be portraying the penguin before The Dark Knight as well. Unfortunately Hoffman himself has squashed these rumors saying, "I don't know if I'd be a good penguin to be quite honest". Well Seymour you are going to make a lot of Batman fans very disappointed if you don't even consider it. I can easily image you slurping down sardines and wearing a monocle. At least think about it. With all the Batman 3 rumours floating around, this whole ;casting before a script' thing seems completely ridiculous.
After his latest effort with the Che Guevara biopic staring Benicio Del Toro, it appears that director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Ocean's Eleven) is in the initial stages of another ambitious biopic, Liberace! According to Variety, actor Michael Douglas is already in place to star as the film's titular flamboyant pianist, while Matt Damon is apparently in talks to play Scott Thorson, who sued Liberace in the early eighties, claiming to have been his former partner.
Soderbergh's Che Guevara biopic recently debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival as a four hour piece entitled Che, where it was picked up by IFC films. In order to qualify for a potential Oscar nomination, IFC will present Che in its entirety for a one-week run in New York and Los Angeles. This will be followed with a wider release of Che Part One (The Argentine) in January, while Part Two (The Guerilla) will be held until after Oscar nomination announcements.
Del Toro as Guevara
I’ve been taking shit from a friend and fellow blogger about this one for quite some time. We have fairly similar taste in movies, but apparently I’m bat shit crazy for liking Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report. So, as I’d been listening to his crap for so long that I was actually starting to believe him, I recently decided to revisit Minority Report for another viewing with all the benefits of hindsight. Guess what? I think he needs to lighten the fuck up, and here’s why:
The Good
1. Philip K. Dick -- One of the best science fiction writers of the twentieth century, it’s an absolute travesty that Mr. Dick’s stories have been butchered just as often as they have been done justice to. (See Impostor, Paycheck, and Screamers) While not up to the caliber of Blade Runner, Minority Report is a fairly faithful update to the themes of the original PKD story, and at the expense of nostalgia, I would put it above Total Recall.
2. Steven Spielberg -- Two reasons. First, Steven did his homework. In order to make the near-future tech of the film as realistic as possible he actually assembled a crack team of doctorate-wielding experts to brainstorm ideas. Second, the film was shot and produced to give the picture a very unique hyper-desaturated look.
3. Self-fulfilling prophecy -- The premise of the movie provides for an interesting exploration of the ideas of fate and determinism. Not only is the validity of the pre-cogs questioned, but it’s Tom Cruise’s accusation that serves as the catalyst that sends him down the path of murder in the first place. Welcome to paradox ladies and gentlemen.
4. A strong third act -- I don’t know what it is with movies in recent years that we can’t seem to figure out a good way to draw them to a conclusion. Will Smith I’m looking at you. Minority Report’s final act is both exciting and satisfying.
5. Colin Farrell gets shot -- Haha. No but seriously, it’s actually one of his least annoying roles of all time. That alone makes it worth seeing just for proof positive that he’s not 100% douche bag.
+/- OK..... So it wasn’t perfect
Fuck you Pat.
With Quentin Tarantino's Word War II epic Inglorious Bastards set for a 2009 release, the internet has been abuzz this summer over castings news and rumors. Known for his daring casting choices, it's seems that QT's lastest will be no exception. Bastards follows the exploits of a group of Jewish-American soldiers dubbed "The Basterds" [sic] as they attempt to strike fear into the hearts of the Third Reich by scalping and killing as many Nazis as they can get their hands on. Look for updates as more casting news becomes available.
Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine, leader of the "Bastards". Click here for an awesome monologue released last week.
+/- The rest of the bastards
Mike Myers as General Ed Fenech.
Horror Director Eli Roth (Hostel, Hostel: Part II) as Sgt. Donnie Donowitz.
Samm Levine (Freaks and Geeks)
Writer/Producer B. J. Novak (The Office) as Pfc. Utivich.
Michael Fassbender (300) as Lt. Archie Hicox.
Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa, aka "the Jew Hunter". Leonardo Dicaprio was previously rumored for this role but QT opted to go for a real-life German instead.
Diane Kruger (best known from the National Treasure movies) as Bridget Von Hammersmark.
Another summer has officially come to an end, and another summer blockbuster movie season with it. Please allow us to present our comprehensive summer review, featuring the best and worst of the season. The reviews will be broken into three parts and featured in chronological order of release, and followed up with our choices for the top five movies of the summer. Part one of the review starts today with Hollywood's other 'man of steel', and ends with a big furry Panda with a mean right-hand chop.
Iron ManDirector Jon Favreau’s Iron Man made for a decently entertaining distraction, but not much else. The film is a step in the right direction in terms of overall comic-book film quality, but it still suffers from the usual trappings of sacrificing plot and character development for the sake of eye candy and failing to utilize its cast properly. Gwyneth Paltrow is completely wasted as unnecessary damsel Pepper Potts, while Terrence Howard’s Col. James Rhodes exists only to plug the inevitable sequel, and a bald Jeff Bridges is awkwardly miss-casted as villain Obadiah Stane. Tack on an unoriginal plot and a Robert Downey Jr. that's not nearly as likable as he should be, (see 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and you’ve got a juvenile and underwhelming experience that fails to live up to the hype despite a handful of really engaging action sequences.
Speed RacerI cringe whenever nostalgic cartoon franchises are made into live action movies. Before finally being put down by tranquilizer dart, Brendan Fraser almost single-handedly made me lose all faith in the genre, (see George of the Jungle, Dudley Do-Right, Looney Toons Back in Action) but I still had hope for Speed Racer. I walked out of Speed Racer with a smile on my face and a pep in my step, but I new it wasn't for everyone. As far as eye candy goes, the film is simply beautiful. The sugar-coated visual style that the Wachowski brothers have brought to the screen is peerless. At times overwhelmed by the vibrancy of the sometimes dizzying race sequences, it's unfortunate that they vastly overshadowed any semblance of plot. Speed Racer has a completely outrageous and unbelievable story, but what do you expect with a source material that regularly depicts children and simians stowing away in futuristic racecars? The film tries to appeal to both families and fanboys, but fails at both. Perhaps its box office crash and burn could have been prevented with a more decisive driver behind the wheel.
Prince CaspianI feel like this movie should have been labeled "The Death of Disney". Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia looked to be the golden prospect for Disney's live action department and with The Lion, the witch, and the Wardrobe hauling in big money and exciting Christian zealots everywhere, Prince Caspian should have been a slam dunk. Instead, someone in the marketing department dropped the ball big time. The surprising thing is that the film is good, much better than the previous installment. Floundering box office returns combined with the aging of its main actors most certainly spells doom for the C. S. Lewis Narnia series. Unfortunately, this will most likely be the final installment of the franchise, but if you liked the first one this is definitely one of the better films of the summer that no one saw. Oh well, there's always DVD sales.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal SkullIt’s not often that I feel embarrassed while watching a film. The final cut of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull represents the compromise from a never-ending argument between director Steven Spielberg on the one hand, and an increasingly bat-shit crazy George Lucas on the other. The result is an absurd caricature of Indiana Jones consisting of a plot that never seems to know where it’s going and some of the most forgettable characters of the entire franchise. Not only does Indiana Jones survive a nuclear explosion but he does so while hiding inside a lead-lined refrigerator which is magically propelled to a safe distance, even though everything else within the blast zone, lead or otherwise, is completely vaporized. Shia LaBeouf is supposed to be a 50s greaser a la Rebel Without a Cause, but he comes off as a bi-curious punk while Cate Blanchett portrays one of the most boring villains ever, who may have psychic powers, although she never actually gets them to work. An utter dissapointment.
You Don’t Mess with the ZohanZohan will most certainly please the army of Adam Sandler die-hards and pre-pubescent teenage boys that make up his fan base, but doesn’t make for an easy recommendation to just about anyone else. The plot focuses on top-secret Israeli commando Zohan Dvir (Sandler), who fakes his own death in order to travel to New York and pursue his lifelong dream of being a hairdresser. As can be said for most Sandler outings, the story quickly wears thin from there and the plot devolves into a mess of scenes desperately struggling to fill up the allotted time for the movie. There are a number of sincere laughs to be found here but you’ll have to be very patient, as you’ll be required to sit through approximately ten minutes of horribly crude comedy between each one. If you’ve read this far and it still sounds good to you...... fuck it, maybe you’ll like it. I’ve seen stranger things.
Kung Fu PandaCreated by DreamWorks animation, Kung Fu Panda is a delightful surprise of a movie that combines some of the most beautiful animation ever created, a compelling storyline full of laughs and adventure, and an excellent voice cast. An aspiring Kung Fu practicing Panda named Po (Jack Black) finds himself the reluctant hero when the evil snow leopard warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane) once again threatens the Valley of Peace. The incredibly strong cast is rounded out by the voices of Angelina Jolee, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, and David Cross. This film burst onto the scene after an excellent premiere at the 61st Cannes Film Festival, and it’s easily recommendable for fans of the Shrek series or any of the Pixar films. Combined with Pixar’s Wall-E, it was a great summer for animated features.
Check back this Friday for Sureelfilm's Summer in Review Part 2.
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Surreelfilm's Summer in Review Part 2
For his upcoming 2009 release Fantastic Mr. Fox Wes Anderson will attempt his first foray into a full length animated feature. Based on the Roald Dahl story of the same name, Mr. Fox will be done utilizing a stop-motion style similar to the one utilized briefly in his previous film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. He recently told MTV Movies Blog, “The settings will be very natural. We want to use real trees and real sand, but it’s all miniature.”
George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Angelica Houston have all been confirmed for voice work. Speaking of the recording process, Anderson told Rotten Tomatoes, "Well for this film we recorded all the voices on locations. We went out in a forest, we went in an attic, we went in a stable. We went underground for some things. There was a great spontaneity in the recordings because of that, I think."
Sounds like another strange adventure in the making. Many will probably feel their worst fears of Anderson's mental condition validated with this one, but count me in a cautiously optimistic for now.
This will mark Murray's fifth straight collaboration with Anderson
T. Boone Pickens and his partner H.W. have a plan to save the world. It involves a straw, a milkshake, and a whole lot of blowing.
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The Bad
1. Holes -- Two noticeable plot holes. First, Cruise’s act of murder turns out to be kind of a cop out, as the other guy pretty much pulls the trigger for him. Second, at the beginning of the third act Cruise’s wife breaks him out of the jail containing all of the pre-crime criminals by strolling in and holding up the jailer with a hand gun.
2. Steven Spielberg -- As good as he is, Steven once again managed to Spielberg the ending by making it a little too warm and fuzzy, and thereby avoiding any conclusion to the powerful questions of fate and consequence that had been building throughout the entire movie. Thanks for the Disney ending Steven.
3. Stanley Kubrick -- Through no fault of his own, Stanley Kubrick’s untimely death lead Spielberg to postpone the original filming of Minority Report in order to finish Kubrick’s AI. (talk about Spielberging the ending) Unfortunately, all of the major roles had to be recast with the exception of Cruise’s. So who did we lose? How about Matt Damon as Witwer, Meryl Streep as Iris Hineman, Ian McKellen as Burgess, Cate Blanchett as Agatha, and Jenna Elfman as Lara. Ouch.