Film School Rejects » Rob Hunter

Review: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Rob Hunter — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:27:37 +0000

Remember Nicolas Cage? He doesn’t work very often so the name may not immediately ring a bell, but maybe some of his films might jar your memory… Birdy, Raising Arizona, Wild At Heart, Adaptation? (Not to be confused with Nicholas Z. Kage, an “actor” who sleepwalks through roles and films like Fire Birds, Trapped In Paradise, Snake Eyes, Gone In Sixty Seconds, National Treasure, Ghost Rider, Next, Bangkok Dangerous, and many, many more.) He’s an actor who craves odd and interesting characters but manages to shape them into real, fully developed people that sometimes outshine the films they inhabit. Where other actors just present an idiosyncratic caricature he crafts people who are more than simply the sum of their quirks. So as I said earlier, Cage doesn’t make a lot of movies. The good news though is that after a multi-year absence from movie screens he’s finally returned in Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

Detective Terence McDonagh (Cage) stands in a rapidly flooding New Orleans jail with his partner Stevie Pruit (Val Kilmer). Flood waters from Hurricane Katrina are rising and a lone prisoner is trapped in a cell mere moments away from drowning. Pruit votes to leave him for the coroner, but McDonagh is a better cop than that and decides to jump in to save the felon. The leap wrenches his back out and one year later that good cop now has an addiction to pain pills, a prostitute girlfriend (Eva Mendes), and the moral compass of a Water Moccasin. He and Pruit are tasked with finding the killers of an entire family of Senegalese immigrants, and the search leads them to a drug dealer named Big Fate (Xzibit). When not working on the case, McDonagh spends his time harassing night-club patrons for drugs and the occasional quickie as well as interfering with his girlfriend’s business. It’s not long before McDonagh finds himself in trouble with the drug dealers, some low level mobsters, and Internal Affairs. What’s a morally bankrupt cop have to do to survive in a post-Katrina Big Easy anyway?

Bad Lieutenant:PoCNO is Cage’s film from start to finish, and he proves himself more than capable of crafting not only an original and engaging character but one that manages to be both despicable and likable at the same time. Cage’s McDonagh is entirely unpredictable and capable of anything. He finds himself presented with options and choices, and Cage visibly struggles with the decision. It’s not that we ever think he may veer towards the correct choice of course, but Cage’s face shows an awareness of what sits before him and what’s to follow. A scene where he interrogates an old woman and her nurse at a retirement home is priceless for both the humor and intensity, and while I would obviously never wish for an old lady’s oxygen supply to be cut off if it has to happen Cage is the one I want to see standing over her wearing an expression of pure maniacal glee.

The problem is McDonagh is likable purely as a source of entertainment (a script issue as opposed to an acting one). Aside from the very brief introduction we’ve only known him as an immoral prick, so we have no reason to pull for his transition into anything else. He doesn’t grow or change throughout the film as much as he exists on the edge of believability and comedic relief.

Herzog’s past films were often identifiable by the presence of his preferred muse, Klaus Kinski. The blue-eyed, wild-maned actor was erratic and crazy in every role, but with Herzog he would drop even the slightest restraint and just go nuts. I can easily see Cage picking up the mantle of Herzog’s new go-to madman. In fact, if Herzog’s oft-mentioned plans for a remake of Robin Williams’ RV (tentatively titled Fitzcarraldo’s RV) actually get the green-light I fully expect Cage to star as the man trying to move an intact Winnebago up the Amazon on his family vacation.

Cage is joined here by a pretty eclectic supporting cast including the already mentioned Kilmer, Mendes, and Xzibit. Of the three, Mendes comes off the best as she actually has some real meat to her role. Kilmer just pops up occasionally to remind us that he’s in the damn movie. Other recognizable faces include Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Coolidge (more serious and dialed-down than she normally is), Shawn Hatosy, and the always wonderful Brad Dourif.

Just as much of a character in the film is director Werner Herzog’s camera. But where Cage makes his character’s actions seem natural, Herzog’s choices stand out from the rest of the film. McDonagh comes upon a traffic accident involving a dead alligator in the road, and Herzog leaves the action to present (almost) a POV shot from a second alligator off in the brush. It watches its dead mate for a minute or so, but while it seems like an ode to a similar scene in Orca the gator never does come back for revenge. (I was hopeful it would show up and bite off Mendes’ leg though…) McDonagh also finds himself enamored with a pair of iguanas at one point that only he can see. Again Herzog pauses the film’s action and narrative to bring the camera down to their level for two long minutes after which we never see them (or anything like it) again.

These two scenes are the only ones like it in the film and they stand out for being so unusual, but that’s not to say there aren’t any other weird bits. The infamous “Shoot him again… his soul’s still dancing” line from the trailer is actually followed by a scene of the dead man break dancing. Cage spends about twenty minutes in the middle of the film speaking in an absurdly nasally voice that sounds like a coked-up version of his character from Peggy Sue Got Married. The problem is these bits of oddness are too few and far between for a two-hour film. Couple that with a dirty cop whose worst offense is accepting sex from a woman he’s harassing and forcing the boyfriend to watch… that’s bad obviously, but it’s not as over-the-top terrible as he should have gone. Instead it’s just one briefly enjoyable crazy punctuation out of a handful spread across a so-so film.

Bad Lieutenant:PoCNO is an interesting film but not really a successful one. That said it’s still worth watching for a few reasons. It’s very funny at times, and even with the reptile POV shots it’s probably Herzog’s most accessible film. He doesn’t seem to be saying much with the movie (in fact the opening shot of a snake swimming lazily in between jail-cell bars as a metaphor for Cage’s character moving between both sides of the law is as deep as the movie gets), but it almost works as pure entertainment. Almost because it isn’t really about very much at all. The case is simply there as a plot marker since details are glossed over and it’s never really a mystery as to what’s going on or who’s responsible. And the film isn’t a true character piece as there’s no true character arc on display.

Laughs and partial craziness aside, the biggest reason to see it is for Cage’s performance. As an actor he’s dug as big of a hole for himself as his character has in this film. Role after role where his talents are either not on display or at the very least hidden beneath hilarious hair-pieces have done major damage to his respectability and likability, but he earns a partial redemption here channeling his endless energy, quirks, and innate zaniness into his most entertaining performance in years. And yes, I do mean intentionally entertaining…

The Upside: Cage’s best performance in years; offbeat and sometimes very funny; unlike any other film you’ll see this year

The Downside: Not nearly as edgy or odd as it needed to be; too long with dry spells between the quirks

On the Side: This is remake in name (and very basic theme) only to Abel Ferrara’s 1992 film starring Harvey Keitel. The producers of this new film approached Herzog and insisted he keep the name as they’re hoping to create a franchise of “Bad Lieutenant” films if this one does well enough.

‘Road Train’ Trailer Is Hell On Wheels, Australian Style

Rob Hunter — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:29:07 +0000

Road trip movies are fairly common and often mundane, but there’s a subset within the genre that has a greater appeal to someone like me… and that’s road trips gone bad. I’m a sucker for terror on the asphalt films like The Hitcher (original), Joy Ride, and Duel. There’s something about being away from home and driving in an unfamiliar place with death right behind you. It’s harder to do in US films these days thanks to cell phones, GPS, and Stuckey’s, but none of those conveniences are a guarantee in the harsh outback of Australia. Which is where the latest horror on wheels film comes from… check out the trailer for Road Train.

I like the look of this one. It could easily have gone the route of a Wolf Creek/Roadgames mash-up, but director Dean Francis and writer Clive Hopkins have added a little something extra into their monster truck tale. Is the devil involved, and does he even have an HC Class license? Is the truck delivering damned souls to hell? If so, shouldn’t they have called the movie Soul Train? The synopsis from Road Train’s official site is below, and even though a few of the descriptions seem to differ with the trailer it still sounds pretty cool.

Four young friends on a camping adventure in outback Australia are run off the road by an erratically driven road train – a massive three-trailer truck. With their own vehicle wrecked, and the road train stopped, the friends march off to remonstrate with the drivers. But mysteriously, there is no one to be found. Suddenly, the silence is broken by the sound of gunshots. A distant figure in the bush screams and runs towards them. Have they become witnesses to a murder? There’s no time to discuss it. The friends commandeer the road train. The next town is only three hours away. But the next town is somewhere they will never reach. And what they discover inside the vehicle’s trailers proves more terrifying than anything out there on that lonely road.”

Road Train is currently in post production, and no US release has yet been announced. Thanks to 24Framespersecond for the heads up on the trailer.

What do you think?

This Week In DVD: November 17th

Rob Hunter — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:41:33 +0000

Rob Hunter loves movies. He also loves his job as a CPA who occasionally finds a little mystery thrown his way. These two joys come together in the form of cash money payments that he receives every week and immediately uses to buy more DVDs. So join us each week as he takes a look at new DVD releases and gives his highly unqualified opinion as to which titles are worth BUYing, which are better off as RENTals, and which should be AVOIDed at all costs.

Click on any of the titles below to magically head over to Amazon.com and pick up the DVD. And don’t forget to check out Neil Miller’s hilariously titled This Week In Blu-ray column for reviews on the latest high definition Blu-ray releases!

Andy Barker P.I.: The Complete Series

Pitch: The short-lived adventures of a late-night talk show sidekick who gets mistaken for a detective…

Why Buy? Andy Richter is a funny guy, but he’s had more failed TV series than Nathan Fillion. One of those commercial failures featured Richter as a CPA who becomes an amateur detective. With a stellar supporting cast including Tony Hale, Harve Presnell, and Clea Lewis, the show managed to be hilarious each and every episode. Sadly, there were only six episodes… Shout Factory’s new DVD set includes all six along with some impressive extras for such a short-lived series. The gag reel alone is priceless just to see the clean-cut Richter say “fuck!” many, many times.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Commentaries, featurettes, gag reel

Moon (UK)

Pitch: Who knew the Brits would reach the Moon almost two months before the US…

Why Buy? Some of you may be checking your release date calendars right now and wondering what exactly I’m smoking as I write up this column. The US release of Moon (both DVD and Blu-ray) isn’t until January 12th, 2010, but the Brits got it yesterday! The good news is that you can too if you don’t mind a few extra bucks shipping to get it across the ocean. The UK blu-ray is an all-region release meaning it will play on any Blu-ray player including a Playstation3. This is a fantastic little sci-fi debut from writer/director Duncan Jones and anchored by another stellar performance from Sam Rockwell. Neil Miller loved it way back in January (review here), and now you can too.

Blu-ray? This is my Blu-ray Pick of the Week!

Extra Features? Commentary, featurettes

Star Trek

Pitch: For every 1,701 remakes/reboots that get released each year, there’s always at least one that stands out as being even better than the original. This is that film for 2009…

Why Buy? This flick ended up being one of my favorite cinematic surprises this year. There were several better films, but few I expected so little of before seeing. There’s almost universal acclaim for the film from critics (FSR’s review here) and fans alike (KangarooBeStoned being one of the rare exceptions). Sure you can nitpick little details here and there, but there’s just no getting around how damn entertaining the movie is. JJ Abrams has crafted a fantastic piece of pop entertainment that bodes very well indeed for the future of the franchise. (If I hadn’t already picked my Blu-ray of the week above, this would have been it. Check out Neil Miller’s exhaustive Blu-ray review here.)

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Deleted scenes, commentary, featurettes, gag reel

The Steve Coogan Collection

Pitch: Think you’ve seen all of Steve Coogan’s comedic glory? Think again…

Why Buy? Who knew this guy had a career before Tropic Thunder? Kidding. I knew, but I just didn’t realize it was so damn extensive. This extremely comprehensive set covers pretty much his entire BBC career from Paul & Pauline Calf’s Video Diaries to his most famous creation, talk show host Alan partridge. Eight TV series and several hours worth of bonus material are spread across fourteen (!) dvds guaranteeing even the most devoted Coogan fan will find something new here. Of course, all the content in England wouldn’t matter if it was all shite… luckily Coogan is funny as hell in almost everything he does.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Commentaries, featurettes

Thirst

Pitch: A stylish and bloody vampire film for adults. Kinky, fun-loving adults…

Why Buy? In a world besieged by sparkling vampires that do more moping and sulking than ravishing and blood sucking, Park Chan-wook’s ode to those who crave the sticky red stuff is a breath of fresh air. Park’s style and dark sense of humor are all over this film about a priest who becomes a vampire. As if dealing with a newly discovered thirst for blood wasn’t bad enough, he’s also developed a fairly strong libido… luckily he meets a very attractive married woman. Unluckily she may be even more dangerous than he is. (My review here)

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? None

Bruno

Pitch: A gay, Austrian fashionista comes to America solely to piss off Harrison Ford…

Why Rent? This is an odd bird. I saw a sneak preview of about twenty minutes of footage back at SXSW (here) and it was hilarious. I literally had tears in my eyes from laughing. But when the movie actually released this past summer something had changed. Maybe it was the fact that the scenes we saw had been trimmed down for the feature. Maybe the humor just wasn’t as funny the second time around. Or maybe the film’s overly planned structure and screenplay didn’t feature enough raw and unpredictable moments. Watching the movie now I can only manage a few laughs, but your mileage may vary. The extras add a few more laughs as well, so it’s worth a rental.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Deleted scenes, commentary, featurette

Downhill Racer (Criterion Collection)

Pitch: It’s no Better Off Dead, but it’s still a fascinating look into the world of competitive skiing…

Why Rent? Maybe ‘fascinating’ is a bit too strong, but it is interesting at least. Robert Redford plays a cocky Olympic skier and Gene Hackman is his coach. Both men are incredible actors so you can watch it for them alone, but director Michael Ritchie also manages to make downhill skiing look exciting and dangerous. It’s a movie worth watching, and if you’re going to watch it may as well be the Criterion.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Featurettes

Evilution

Pitch: Zombies and a clever combination of two words mashed together into a brand new one? Irresistible…

Why Rent? Maybe I’m being nicer to this movie than I normally would, but thanks to last night’s arrival of Left4Dead 2 on my PC I’m in a zombie-loving (and zombie-killing) mood. There’s nothing new here, but the zombies and the carnage they wreak look good and bloody. What more could you want? Sure, sure, a better script, better actors, blah blah blah. Just enjoy the zombie mayhem!

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? None

Franklyn

Pitch: Real-world drama concerning three Londoners dealing with depression, loss, and suicidal thoughts. Oh, and there’s a masked vigilante in a Dystopian alternate reality too…

Why Rent? This is an example of great concept/poor execution, but the concept is enough to make it worth watching. The story moves between a London we recognize where we meet a suicidal woman, a depressed man, and an older man searching for his missing son. But there’s also an alternate London, one where religion has become mandatory, atheism is outlawed, and a masked avenger stalks the streets looking to beat the snot out of some club-carrying priests. Interesting, odd, and often beautiful to look at, the film doesn’t manage to to pull it all together cohesively.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? None

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas

Pitch: The gang explores the meaning of Christmas, and no part of the holiday is safe. Especially Santa Claus…

Why Rent? This show continues to be one of the funniest on TV, and I would normally have recommended any release from it as a Buy… but this lists at $27 for what amounts to a 43 minute extended episode. So rent this one and wait for the next full season DVD release which will most likely include this as well.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? None

My Sister’s Keeper

Pitch: Parents with a dying daughter choose to bring a second child into the world to act as a living organ donor…

Why Rent? I didn’t really like this movie all that much, but the premise is incredibly interesting. Sure it’s played more for the melodrama than the ethical debate, but it’s still a pretty good conversation starter. If you can handle the emotional manipulation and the atrocious acting of Cameron Diaz then you may want to give it a shot. Or as Kevin Carr says in his review (here), you’ll like it if you “looooooooooove tear-jerkers.”

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Deleted scenes

The Open Road

Pitch: A father and son who’ve grown apart embark on a cross-country road trip! Two cliches for the price of one…

Why Rent? Jeff Bridges gives yet another thoughtful and impressive performance here as a famous retired baseball player who had let the game and the fame steer him away from his family. Justin Timberlake isn’t bad as his son trying to get him across the country to see their wife/mother in the hospital. A few laughs and a bit of heart make for an okay little film.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Commentary, featurettes

Rome: The Complete Series

Pitch: Swords and sandals and sex! It was an HBO series after all…

Why Rent? I didn’t catch this show when it actually ran on HBO, but catching up with it now I can finally see what the critical fuss was all about. Engaging characters, fantastic acting, beautiful set design and CGI work, and some very deep and detailed story lines make this a show that will capture your attention.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Commentaries, featurettes

Vampire Party

Pitch: We know the French can do hardcore horror better than most, but how about the horror/comedy…

Why Rent? Turns out they’re pretty good at this too. A group of friends worm their way into a high class party in a large mansion outside of town, but soon discover the revelers are divided into two groups… party guests and party snacks. One guess which group are friends are on. The laughs are solid, the effects are limited but well done, and the great Tcheky Karyo stars as the lead vampire. Side note, the French title translates to The Teeth of the Night which is a lot better than the generic American one.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? None

Basement Jack

Pitch: An abused child grows up to become a serial killer. He gets points for killing sans mask though like most movie psychos…

Why Avoid? But he loses those points two-thirds of the way in when he inexplicably starts wearing a mask anyway. That’s a quibble, but the film’s major flaw that I can’t forgive is the use and abuse of CGI. A stabbing should never be accomplished via CGI, yet every single knife attack here is done with a computer. Knife through the head? CGI. Knife through the chest? CGI. So sad. There’s only a handful of practical effects visible here, and that’s inexcusable Mr. Jack.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? None

Hanger

Pitch: The product of a motel abortion is tossed in a dumpster and comes back for revenge eighteen years later…

Why Avoid? Ugh. The director of one of my least favorite Canadian films (Ryan Nicholson, Gutterballs) returns with another lowest common denominator flick filled with bad acting, explicit behaviors, and solid effects. A prostitute is given an abortion by her pimp, the fetus grows up and goes looking for the pimp, prosthetically ugly people fill the screen… blech. Skip it.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Deleted scenes, commentary, featurettes

Humpday

Pitch: Two guy friends grow bored in their search for the clitoris and decide to go for the easy O instead…

Why Avoid? Two guys ramble on and on to each other. Occasionally other characters join in on the rambling. Miller liked it (review here) a lot more than I did, but that probably says more about him than anything else.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Deleted scenes, commentary, featurette

The Limits of Control

Pitch: A mysterious man meets other mysterious people in Spain. The real mystery though is how this movie could be so incredibly boring…

Why Avoid? Seriously, it’s mind boggling how boring this film is. It’s basically a character going from A to B by way of the rest of the alphabet. (My review here) It looks beautiful thanks to cinematographer Christopher Doyle, and the talent on display is fairly hefty including Bill Murray, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, and Gael Garcia Bernal. One of the film’s few saving graces is a bespectacled and naked Paz De La Huarte as one of the many oddballs Isaach De Bankole meets as he walks his way towards a somewhat obvious conclusion.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Featurette

Samurai Princess

Pitch: Scantily-clad Asian chick kicks ass. On a budget of $12 US…

Why Avoid? With that pitch above you may be surprised to see me recommend you avoid it. But I have some standards people, and one of them is that a movie shouldn’t look like it’s budget came from the coins found underneath couch cushions.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? None

Taintlight

Pitch: High-brow satire this is not…

Why Avoid? There’s exactly one gag that works in this spoof of the Twilight franchise, and it involves a mime pretending to talk on an imaginary cell phone while driving an imaginary car. It’s funny, and I laughed, but it was a lonely chuckle with nothing but silence and sighs to keep it company for the rest of the run time. That gag aside, the creativity and humor in this amateurish (but sincere) movie starts and stops with the title.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Commentary, featurettes

Train

Pitch: Some American Turistas mistake a moving train for a Hostel…

Why Avoid? Thora Birch is the weakest link on an American wrestling team traveling in Eastern Europe, and when the group misses their train out of town they’re forced to settle for a less luxurious form of rail transport. Cue massive amounts of blood, gore, and stupidity… the first two are actually the only things this dumb movie has going for it. From the opening credits to the final scenes we’re witness to copious amounts of the red stuff and some very well done practical gore effects. But the characters are impossible to like or care for, the plot is simply Hostel on wheels, and the predictable survivor does so by using an inexplicably effective wrestling move.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? None

10 Great Films That Prove Slow Isn’t Always Boring

Rob Hunter — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:00:09 +0000

I’m not a constant reader of Landon Palmer’s Culture Warrior column for various reasons. For one thing, there’s not enough time in the day to parse my way through his weekly post and have it make even the slightest bit of sense. (There’s a whole world outside and I’d rather be out there enjoying the sunshine!) Believe me I try, but I simply can’t stay focused long enough to find his cleverly hidden thesis and watch it play out throughout the seventy-four paragraphs that follow… and I kid obviously, but it’s no joke to say Palmer’s columns are an education unto themselves and have a lot more to say about film than my usual posts about hot Asian chicks taking baths and fighting the Yakuza.

Once in a while though, Palmer chooses a Culture Warrior topic that’s compelling enough for me to force myself to slog through his dense prose from beginning to end, and I’m almost always happy to have done so. Last week’s installment is one such example, and it got me thinking about intentionally ’slow’ films that work exactly as their creators intended. I asked Palmer if he wanted to help put together a quick list of ten perfect examples of effective slow-paced films. We were going to do five each, but then Cole Abaius found out what we were up to and demanded a seat at the table. He played the ‘managing editor’ card so we had to let him join in the fun.

Le Jour se lève (1939)

Alongside Jean Renoir and Jean Vigo, Marcel Carné was part of the pre-WWII French film movement called Poetic Realism. While these filmmakers may not have invented mise en scène, they certainly perfected it, employing a style dominated by a wide frame that, theoretically, allowed audience eyes to explore where they please rather than be dictated by the intent of the filmmaker, resulting in a rare democratic form of classic filmgoing. In a way, this style invented great slow filmmaking. And Carné’s Le Jour se lève (Daybreak) is one of the best of the pack. A (now) familiar and simple story, the film opens with a disgruntled factory worker (Jean Gabin) committing murder then flashes back chronicling his involvement in a toxic love triangle. The width and depth of the Poetic Realism’s iconic long focus shots are complemented here by Carné’s deliberate pacing, and the end result is a film that can’t help but enrapture you in its dense, unforgiving tone. The visual and storytelling style are both interesting from a historical perspective, but at its core Le Jour se lève is just a damn good heartbreak of a movie. It’s shockingly dark and pessimistic, and proof that one hardly needs any fast-paced action to make a trilling and suspenseful mystery pre-noir noir. - Landon Palmer

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

While fully covered in Old Ass Movies, Treasure is a film that’s more about what’s not being said, what’s not being done, than it is about the actions of the characters. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart), Howard (Walter Huston), and Curtin (Tim Holt) are three men that all want the same thing, and they’ll spend the entire run time of the movie plotting to get it and keep it for themselves. With the setting in the grizzly, gold-filled dust, there’s already an exotic danger, a death by the elements that looms over them, but the real action is in the struggle to find fortune and smuggle it all out without necessarily having to kill two other men in the process. Through the dialog, the revelation of past lives, and the prize at the end of the tunnel, these three men captivate with a dark intent and a finger that is trembling on the trigger for the entire run time. It might feel like nothing is happening, but the sweat running down your back while watching it should tell you differently. – Cole Abaius

Diary of a Country Priest (1951)

Only Robert Bresson would be able to take the slow exploration of faith and its failures and spin it into something intense. Granted, there’s the harsh treatment of the young Priest, who comes to the village completely unwelcome, that gives a lot of life to the movie, but for the most part it is the epitome of a slow burn. The girls torment him, his lifestyle is mocked openly, and his health worsens. That’s about it for two hours, but what’s fascinating is the study of an outcast, the look into the mind of a man who is not really part of this world. It moves with intensity and was certainly intriguing enough to influence Scorsese in making Taxi Driver. - Cole Abaius

Barry Lyndon (1975)

In another Scorsese connection, the iconic director has called it his favorite of fellow-iconic director Stanley Kubrick’s entire body of work. It’s a period piece recounting the whole life of an Irish adventurer in the 18th century. There’s a few duels, some incestuous seduction, some highway robbery, and some military careering, but make no mistake – this is Kubrick being the methodical director he loved being. Images and scenarios are lingered on to beautiful effect, and the charisma of Ryan O’Neal carries a lot of that attention. The ennui of high society is a major theme, but the film is absolutely never boring – maintaining a quiet, brooding interest that lasts a lifetime. Or almost two and a half hours. - Cole Abaius

Stalker (1979)

I just can’t let a list like this go out there without mentioning at least one film by the late, great Russian time sculptor Andrei Tarkovsky. I’ve discussed his filmmaking in depth in two CW posts so far, and it seems that he more than any other filmmaker has perfected the art of deliberate pacing. In Stalker Tarkovsky revisits science-fiction (after his sci-fi epic Solaris), but here he sticks to Earth as his palette instead of the reaches of space. Stalker portrays an oppressive, antiquated, inferentially fascist dystopian future. But emancipation exists in the mysterious Zone, a cordoned-off strip of land that supposedly defies the laws of physics and grants its visitors their innermost desires. Professional “Stalkers” (the term here meaning something along the lines of “hunting guide”) lead citizens into the Zone for a large sum of money, and this film concerns the journey of one Stalker leading a scientist and a writer into the mysterious Zone. The film’s ambient, experimental score (you can’t tell where the music ends and sound design begins) and astounding long shots make for a totally immersive experience, ratcheting up the mystery of what supernatural force lies in the Zone. Tarkovsky doesn’t just slow time—he temporarily halts the experience of time and space, potentially transcending his audience towards a new, revelatory plane of cinematic perception. - Landon Palmer

Afraid of the Dark (1991)

Creating a “slow” film that doesn’t bore or lose the audience in its deliberate pacing is difficult enough for traditional films, but it’s an incredible feat when it comes to thrillers. Writer/director Mark Peploe’s moody ode to childhood fears accomplishes this through a combination of quality acting, smart writing, and a game-changing event halfway through the film. A psychotic slasher is attacking blind women, and a young boy fears his mother may be next. He wanders his small town collecting clues to the identity of the madman and soon finds himself face to face with what he fears most… and it’s not exactly what you’d expect. The film puts the viewer right in the middle of one boy’s world, one where everyone may be bigger and smarter, but only he knows the truth that can save them all. - Rob Hunter

The Pledge (2001)

Sean Penn gets a lot of flack for a lot of things, but few can find fault with the man’s directorial skills. His third film (and I would argue his best) stars Jack Nicholson as Jerry Black, a newly retired detective with one unsolved case haunting him. A child had disappeared and he promised to never quit searching for the truth. Black enters into retirement but never forgets his promise, and instead turns his investigation into a hobby. But what happens when the hobby becomes obsession? Nicholson is fantastic and surprisingly understated, and he’s joined by an equally compelling cast including Benicio Del Toro as a suspect, Aaron Eckhart as a fellow cop, and Robin Wright Penn as a single mother with her own pains to bear. Black’s daily life begins to include more and more of Penn and her daughter, but are they they family he never had or are they simply part of his hobby? Penn moves his film methodically and purposefully towards a devastating truth, and it is mesmerizing. - Rob Hunter

3-Iron (2004)

Writer/director Kim Ki-duk has built a career on films that move slower than a bowl of kimchi on my dinner table (see, I don’t like kimchi). Films like Samaritan Girl and The Isle are brilliant explorations of lives that linger day in day out until brief bursts of violence reshape them (usually for the worse) into something new. 3-Iron is a different beast all together… it’s instead one of the most beautiful and romantic films I’ve seen. Tae-suk breaks into homes when the owners are away, but it isn’t theft he has on his mind. Instead he cleans up, fixes broken clocks and appliances, and does the laundry. His pattern is interrupted when he finds himself in a house that isn’t as empty as he first presumed. A battered wife named Sun-hwa has gone unnoticed, and as she watches his routine an odd relationship begins to develop. Not only is the film leisurely paced, but it’s also almost dialogue-free. Tae-suk never speaks a word, and Sun-hwa says barely a sentence or two, yet the couple find find themselves falling in love anyway. Their growing bond is evident solely through their expressions, glances, and minute actions, and yet it still manages to be an incredibly believable on-screen romance. The film plays like a dream, and is both beautiful and fascinating to watch. - Rob Hunter

The Clearing (2004)

Like two of my other three picks above, this is a thriller in every way except for traditional pacing. A high-powered executive (Robert Redford) is kidnapped and forced to fight for his life, not through violence but with reasoning and negotiation. His struggle is mirrored by his wife’s as she tries to come to terms with his disappearance and all of the truths that come to light in his absence. Writer/director Pieter Jan Brugge presents a film about a kidnapping that eschews chase scenes and explosive SWAT team rescues in favor of something more introspective. The husband has to revisit the choices in his life while his wife (Helen Mirren) reflects on the marriage she thought she had. Willem Dafoe stars as the kidnapper who may just bring the couple closer together if he doesn’t tear them apart forever first. - Rob Hunter

Caché (2005)

You see what looks like a banal, prolonged, uncut shot of a Parisian house. Suddenly, the images speed up and slow down, jumping forward and backward. You quickly realize this is not the filmmaker’s establishing shot, but a voyeuristic secret video made by a character within the film. Probably Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke’s strongest work to date (I haven’t yet seen his recent Cannes Palme d’Or winner The White Ribbon), Caché uses Haneke’s typical long shots and slow pacing throughout; but the brilliance of this film lies in its ability to make the audience continuously question whether anything they are seeing is the work of the filmmaker or the mysterious voyeur terrorizing the nuclear family at the film’s center. Coupled with a shocking on-screen moment that changes the name of the game entirely, the viewer becomes entirely on edge, knowing the filmmaker is always one giant step ahead of us. Haneke here turns the banal and the ordinary into something incredibly suspenseful and discomfiting, and the film’s meticulous pacing is central to achieving this effect. Caché is also a thematically heavy film, touching on issues regarding bourgeois cultural consumption, the long-term effects of imperialism, and privacy in the digital era, but the film thankfully provides few answers for the many questions it asks, instead showing how sometimes we often end up knowing a lot less about something the closer we look at it. - Landon Palmer

What are some of your favorite slow, but not boring films?

New ‘Rambo’ Film Gives Illegal Aliens A Pass, Targets Evil Canadians Instead

Rob Hunter — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:01:51 +0000

A couple of months ago we reported that the plot for the upcoming Rambo sequel had taken on a sci-fi angle involving John Rambo hunting space aliens in the Pacific Northwest. The reaction here at FSR was decidedly mixed with some of us thinking the idea was beyond ridiculous and others popping immediate chemically-enhanced boners. (Hi Fure!)

Well you can forget we ever mentioned it in the first place.

Sylvester Stallone has apparently dropped a line to Craig Zablo over at the Stallone Zone and he updated the direction Rambo V will be taking. He isn’t abandoning the plot-line all together, but he’s apparently moving it away from the Rambo franchise and into a separate stand-alone film.

I’m letting you know that Rambo has changed course and the story about hunting the man/beast will be done using another character in the lead. RAMBO himself will be heading over the border to a violent city where many young women have vanished. There will be blood.”

Stallone doesn’t provide any further details, but it’s clear the “border” in question is the US/Canadian one. There aren’t any obviously violent cities across the US/Mexican one, but up north there’s no shortage of dangerous urban areas. Toronto, Vancouver, Windsor… all death traps.

So are you happy Stallone has dropped the sci-fi angle? Or do prefer it over the generic one it’s been replaced with?

Review: 2012

Rob Hunter — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:29:07 +0000

You know how movies with ticking bombs almost always have the climactic scene where the good guys work feverishly to disarm the explosives before they detonate? They’re sweating and frantic, the music is pumping, the countdown clock is only a second or two away from zero, and… they deactivate the bomb right before it would have exploded. Timer stops at 00:00:01. Everybody breathes a sigh of relief. The end.

Roland Emmerich’s 2012 is twenty-seven of those scenes stretched across two and a half hours.

It’s 2009 (that’s right, it’s now!), and a young Indian scientist notifies his American counterpart that evil neutrinos from the Sun are heating up the Earth’s core at an alarming rate. Dr. Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) rushes back to Washington and warns his superiors that the world is heading towards an unavoidable, Emmerichian event that will “cause life as we know it to cease to exist.” As the Earth gets hotter, the crust will begin to liquefy and eventually the landmasses will start shifting around the globe like a game of seven-continent Monty. The president’s head science geek, Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt), takes Helmsley under his wing and… we jump ahead to 2012 where Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) is running late for work. He’ll spend the next two hours running late for everything, and all the while death will be nipping at his heels.

And I don’t use the phrase “nipping at his heels” flippantly either… Curtis moves from one set-piece to the next just barely escaping death each time. If you’ve watched the trailer then you’ve already seen some of his close calls. He outruns cracks in the Earth with his limo, he outruns fireballs with his Winnebago, he outruns an enormous fire-filled explosion on foot, he outruns deadly smoke clouds, collapsing buildings, and falling subway trains (?) with a plane… always by inches, always by seconds. Each. And. Every. Time. And he’s not alone either. All of the characters marked as survivors (always easily identifiable in an Emmerich disaster film) continuously escape death’s computer animated talons with barely a moment to spare. It’s exciting the first dozen times or so, but eventually the suspense grows tedious and the scenes become as pedestrian as a shot of someone getting up to change the TV channel.

Almost as common and egregious as the nick-of-time escapes are the sheer number of coincidences required to bring the story together. Curtis wrote a science fiction book a long time ago that only a few hundred people have ever read (we know this because it gets repeated four times), so now he drives limousines for a living. One of his biggest fans is Dr. Helmsley, something we discover when the two meet by chance in Yellowstone National Park while Curtis is camping with his kids and Helmsley is there monitoring the world’s largest inactive volcano for activity! The doctor’s entourage includes armed soldiers which piques Curtis’ curiosity, but the government isn’t very forthcoming with more information. Luckily, Yellowstone also happens to be home to radio host/conspiracy theorist Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson) who meets Curtis and happily fills in all of the blanks! He even offers a map to humanity’s only chance for survival, a map that leads to the same mysterious destination Helmsley is bound for. But how will Curtis get there? Hmm, maybe it has something to do with his most recent limo client, a wealthy Russian with plans to be among the .01% of humanity who survive this cataclysm. What are the odds…?

Emmerich is perhaps best-known for his subtle handling of character emotions and relationships. That was a pretty bold lie wasn’t it? You probably read it with a much straighter face than I wrote it too. But seriously, these characters wear their plastic emotions on their sleeves and pant legs to an extraordinary degree. They make heartfelt speeches at the drop of a building about the value and definition of humanity, and every single one of them makes a tearful phone call to a doomed love one (unless they themselves are the doomed one). Each time it’s played for maximum emotional effect and each time it falls flat. And for some reason it’s also only the dads who seem to care enough to make this last minute call. There’s a father who drifted apart from his son, a father who stopped speaking to his son because he married a (very hot) Japanese woman, a father who raised his daughter single-handedly after his wife passed away… I don’t recall a single mother calling her child to say goodbye. That may or may not say something about German women, I don’t know.

But let’s be honest, this is a Roland Emmerich film so does any of this really matter (or surprise anyone)? You don’t come to his films for the character development and nuance, you come for destruction on an epic scale. And 2012 does not disappoint on that front. Emmerich destroys more buildings, vehicles, and landmarks here than he has in all of his previous films, and he does it beautifully. Emmerich lets his camera (and our eyes) linger on the utter decimation for extended periods of time too. He doesn’t use close crops or Michael Bay-style editing to appease the ADD crowd and instead trusts in the work of his digital artists. One shot flies over a neighborhood as streets open up and swallow houses, cars, and people alike, and it’s a definite ‘wow’ scene. And there are actually several more like it, all equally impressive. The downside is that you often have too much to look at. I know, it’s a weak complaint, but some of the wide shots actually give you too much to take in making the overall effect feel muted.

Emmerich also kills more people onscreen in 2012 than probably every other film released this year combined. Unnamed humans are crushed, burned, drowned, trampled, blown up, run over, washed away, swallowed up by the Earth… the scene where the plane narrowly avoids two collapsing buildings by flying between them has upset some people for it’s supposed 9/11 connotations, and that was just from the trailer. The film pushes the visual connection even further as Emmerich zooms closer to one of the towers and shows people clinging for their life and falling to their deaths. There’s an argument to be made about films like these deserving an R-rating simply due to the sheer amount of death and carnage depicted onscreen, or maybe that should just be reserved for movies that use dirty words.

There are no shortage of recognizable faces amongst the death, destruction, and melodrama. Cusack is obviously the biggest name, and I can’t help but picture him standing in his agent’s office laughing at the script for 2012 he’s holding in one hand while keeping a curious eye on his potential paycheck in the other. Aside from the others already mentioned, Cusack is joined in his quest to save humanity by George Segal (Carbon Copy) as a seafaring jazz singer, Thandie Newton (Mission: Impossible II) as the U.S. President’s daughter, Stephen McHattie (Pontypool) as a futuristic ship’s captain, Danny Glover (Gone Fishin’) as Thandie Newton’s father, Amanda Peet (”Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”) as Curtis’ ex-wife, and Beverly Elliot (Walking Tall) as Cruise Ship Lady #3.

2012 is exactly what you think it is, and either you enjoy Emmerich’s particular brand of mass slaughter or you don’t. The dialogue is as lactose-filled as a sedan-sized cheese wheel, the science is wonky, the logic is absent, the characters are one dimensional, their fates are predictable, the film is probably thirty minutes too long… and it still manages to look pretty damn amazing from beginning to end. The CGI work here is often stunning, occasionally breathtaking, and constantly offering impressive visuals to leave you slack-jawed. High praise? Not really, but for a brainless, effects-driven blockbuster film you could definitely do somewhat worse than 2012.

The Upside: As you’d expect from Emmerich… the effects and devastation are awe-inspiring, the laughs are frequent and often unintentional, and the dog lives

The Downside: As you’d also expect from Emmerich… the dialogue is aurally abusive, the emotional manipulation is blatant and flagrant, the adherence to real-world physics is non-existent, the screenplay consists of coincidence followed by CGI event followed by coincidence followed by CGI event and so on, and the dog lives

On the Side: Of all the unanswered questions you’re left with at the end of 2012, none are more mysterious than the reasoning behind Cusack’s character name. Jackson Curtis? You know what that spells backwards? 50 Cent. Craaaazy!

Watch the 2012 trailer below:

David Koepp Will Write/Direct That ‘Quicksilver’ Remake You’ve Been Wanting

Rob Hunter — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:31:00 +0000

That may not be technically accurate…

Per Variety, David Koepp will write and direct a new film called Premium Rush about a bike messenger with a valuable package who gets chased throughout New York City by a dirty cop. The film “is being conceived as a big-budget actioner, much like the films Koepp is known for penning, and will feature the kind of elaborate chases associated with a William Friedkin pic.”

Koepp is “known for penning” quite a few films, but his big actioner ones include Angels & Demons, Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, War of the Worlds, Spider-Man, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park. That’s an incredibly mixed bag quality-wise, so there’s no telling if the new film will be any good. Koepp has directed before, but all of those films (including the under-rated Ghost Town) have been much lower-budgeted affairs.

It’s obviously way too early in the process to seriously question Koepp’s intention here, but I have a few thoughts anyway. For one thing, can the bike messenger bit last the entire movie or is that just the character’s job description? I can see maybe one or two action scenes with him on a bike being chased through a construction site or maybe the Guggenheim Museum, but an entire film where no one can catch a bicyclist? Can you really have a big-budget action film with bicycle chases? And is this some kind of liberal, anti-oil propaganda piece where the hero is the guy with the least carbon emissions? Pedal now or paddle later! (Yes, I’m kidding.) But I was serious about the Quicksilver thing. Perhaps Kevin Bacon can play the dirty cop…

And finally, Premium Rush is the title you’re going with here? Really? Pair this with the recently announced Duncan Jones film Source Code and you’re halfway to programming an early-nineties action film festival.

What do you think? Can you picture a big budget chase film with the protagonist on a bicycle?

Have Spielberg And Smith Said Goodbye To Remaking Old Boy?

Rob Hunter — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:31:24 +0000

Word on the web is that the answer to that question is a big old fat Hell Yeah!

Latino Review is reporting that the oft-discussed, continuously derided pairing of director Steven Spielberg and megastar Will Smith on a remake of Park Chan-wook’s film Old Boy is officially DOA. News of the planned remake was revealed almost a year ago and was met with immediate criticism. Everytime we covered it on FSR (here, here, and here) the comment sections were over-whelmingly anti-remake (and anti-Spielberg/Smith). Well now everyone can relax because Dreamworks will not be getting their hands on the film’s rights.

Per the LR post, Dreamworks was in negotiations with their Korean production counterpart, Mandate, but “didn’t see eye to eye therefore DreamWorks has apparently walked away.” Without Dreamworks there’s little to no chance of Spielberg’s involvement. And without Spielberg the assumption is that Smith will drop it as well. LR states “No Spielberg. No Will Smith. THEY’RE OUT! Hence no stateside Oldboy remake…” So cue the celebration right?

Except for one thing.

This doesn’t mean there won’t be a remake of Old Boy. It just (most likely) means that Spielberg and Smith won’t be attached. So I ask you… were these two guys the worst possible director and star you could have imagined on this project? I’ve said from the beginning that I thought Spielberg was good for this. The man can do dark… just watch Munich and try to find one shred of lasting joy or light in that film. You won’t find it. He wouldn’t have been my first choice, but I had no issue with him at the helm. I am happy to see Smith go though… I think he’s a fine actor, but I don’t believe he’d let his character go as low and as dark as the one in Old Boy needs to go.

So with them gone the door is wide open to a host of other names. Maybe Brett Ratner can step in as director? Maybe Sam Worthington can be cast in the lead role? Then you’d really have something to bitch about…

Are you happy about this news? Who would you like to see step in to Speilberg’s and Smith’s shoes?

This Week In DVD: November 10th

Rob Hunter — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:08:22 +0000

Rob Hunter loves movies. He also loves working for the local “retirement home” as head geezer catcher… basically he gets a call whenever one of the elderly residents escapes wanders off in a daze from the home. These two joys come together in the form of cash money payments that he receives every week and immediately uses to buy more DVDs. So join us each week as he takes a look at new DVD releases and gives his highly unqualified opinion as to which titles are worth BUYing, which are better off as RENTals, and which should be AVOIDed at all costs.

The General (Blu-ray)

Pitch: The story of a man, his train, and a tunnel named Annabelle…

Why Buy? If you’re like me, when you think of high definition you can’t help but also think of silent black & white films from the 1920’s. And when you think about those dialogue-free classics from the heyday of early 20th Century cinema the name Buster Keaton probably comes to mind before anyone else. But none of that really matters here… the real reason I’m recommending this as a Buy is to remind Cole Abaius’ friends that The General is his favorite film and someone should surprise him with this newly remastered and unnecessarily HD version.

Blu-ray? This is my Blu-ray Pick of the Week!

Extra Features? Featurettes, three different musical scores

Justice League: The Complete Series

Pitch: I don’t know how old Supergirl is supposed to be, but she has an unavoidably super rack…

Why Buy? The DC Comics folks have had some pretty poor luck when it comes to film adaptations, but the world of TV is a different story. From “Smallville” to a multitude of animated shows the DC universe has found a home in the idiot box. “Justice League” is one of their more popular and acclaimed shows, and if you’re a fan but don’t have any of the series on DVD then this is the release for you. An embossed exterior tin holds two jumbo clam-shells jam-packed with all ninety-one episodes of the show as well as multiple special features.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Commentaries, featurettes

Up

Pitch: Geriatrics, and boy scouts, and talking canines oh my…

Why Buy? If for no other reason, this is a buy for the incredibly powerful opening ten minutes where we watch one man’s life move from childhood to adulthood to his twilight years, finding and losing a lifelong love along the way. It’s probably one of the more amazing and dramatic bits of animation you’ve seen, and there’s still over an hour of movie to come when it’s finished. It’s not the best Pixar has to offer (that remains Finding Nemo), but it’s a beautiful, funny film for kids and adults alike.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Two animated shorts, commentary, featurettes

Ballast

Pitch: Push Precious down the stairs and pick up this tale of tragedy and redemption instead…

Why Rent? There are no recognizable faces here, but the amateur actors deliver the goods in this drama about family, loss, and survival in the cruel reality of the poor, rural South. The film is slow, but it’s the kind of slow that Landon Palmer refers to in this week’s Culture Warrior post. It’s an intentional pace meant to give the characters life and the film a certain tone.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Featurette

Dawson’s Creek: The Complete Series

Pitch: You can never have enough Joey Potter in your life…

Why Rent? A lead who loves film? An incredibly cute neighbor girl who climbs in his window at night? A best friend who’s never boring and constantly in trouble with the law? A new girl in town experienced in the ways of love and fleshy manipulation? Yeah, this is nothing like my teen years. But I am serious about Joey Potter (Katie Holmes) being a character I never got tired of watching. The show went downhill after season two, but Holmes at least made it worthwhile.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Deleted scenes, featurette, cd soundtrack

The Echo

Pitch: An ex-con discovers ghostly shenanigans in his apartment building. An ex-con discovers ghostly shenanigans in his apartment building…

Why Rent? Will you be surprised by anything in this movie? Not really. The whole thing is perfectly competent, no more no less, and while that’s not exactly high praise it’s still better than most of the direct to DVD shlock these days. Plus, Jesse Bradford is dreamy.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? None

Ink

Pitch: “A film that can stop your heart both with its story and look” Cole Abaius FILM SCHOOL REJECTS – DVD cover blurb

Why Rent? The acting is sometimes poor, the Pathfinder character is often annoying, the movie will leave you with a bunch of unanswered questions when it’s over, and one of the main characters has a dick on his face… but you still need to see this movie. It’s not the second coming of independent cinema that Cole Abaius would have you believe (review here), but it’s an incredibly charismatic film all the same. A couple of the heroines are cute, all of the bad guys are creepy, and there’s more creativity and imagination on display here than in most big-budget Hollywood fantasy films. Check it out people!

Blu-ray? Yes.

Extra Features? Behind the Scenes Featurette, Director’s Commentary, Trailers, the warm fuzzy feeling of not pirating

The Line

Pitch: Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta, Armand Assante, Danny Trejo, Esai Morales…

Why Rent? Can you imagine a film with more dark-haired testosterone than this one? Look at that cast! Liotta plays bounty hunter/assassin hunting down a drug lord (Garcia) and his protege (Morales). Some good twists and some sharp action highlight this dark and gritty little flick where everybody’s dirty in one way or another.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? None

The Merry Gentleman

Pitch: Michael ‘Crazy Eyes’ Keaton plays a hitman. How cool is that…

Why Rent? Keaton also directs, and the result is a quiet little winner of a film that finds the assassin possibly finding redemption in the eyes of woman (Kelly Macdonald) on the run from her own demons. It’s understandable as Macdonald’s eyes and accent could cure all manner of illness. Keaton takes his time with the film and allows several moments to play out without the need for dialogue which leads to a film that’s often beautiful, occasionally contrived, but never boring.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? None

Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut

Pitch: This one DVD/Bluray will replace all four of the releases you’ve bought previously…

Why Rent? Seriously. Folks who bought the theatrical release… then the director’s cut… then the Tales of the Black Freighter… then the Motion Comic… now can get them all in one seamless edition (the motion comic is still seperate of course). To me this is a massive abuse of the fanbase and an obvious cashgrab. But it’s interesting enough to watch once which is why I’ll rate it as a rental.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Commentaries, featurettes, Watchmen: The Motion Comic

The Accidental Husband

Pitch: Uma Thurman is an uptight radio host! Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a lovable fireman! Colin Firth is a nice piece of milquetoast! Wonder what happens here…

Why Avoid? Ugh. Skip this predictable, unfunny, and unromantic tripe and go rent director Griffin Dunne’s far better romantic comedy Addicted To Love instead. It shows that once upon a time he knew how to cast affable leads, nurture funny and sweet performances from them, and create a film that’s actually fun and enjoyable.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Featurette

Spread

Pitch: Mr. Demi Moore learns that all the meaningless sex in LA could never feel as good as true love…

Why Avoid? But he comes close with the hot naked woman sitting on the side of the bathtub asking him to shave her bajango. And even closer with the oral pleasurings he gets from the hot blonde wearing nothing but a football helmet. But then it’s one of those two-steps-forward ten-steps-back kind of things when he shacks up with half lesbian/half alien Anne Heche. The sex and flesh on display are the only things worth watching here, but if that’s what you’re after just turn on Cinemax after 10pm.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Commentary, featurettes

Summer’s Moon

Pitch: Yes, there’s a character named Summer. No, she doesn’t show her ass…

Why Avoid? The idea of a family of serial killers is okay although the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies take it to a more terrifying levels. And the opening with Stephen McHattie is okay although he’s far better served in a truly creepy and creative film like Pontypool. So that pretty much leaves no reason to watch the movie.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? None

The Ugly Truth

Pitch: The battle of the sexes can be pretty damn funny sometimes. This is not one of those times…

Why Avoid? I had mild hopes for this movie after first seeing the trailer. Sure Katherine Heigl is in it which is pretty much a death knell, but Gerard Butler had a few funny lines so I thought maybe, just maybe… but goddamn this is a bad film. Zero chemistry between the leads, crass and unsuccessful attempts at humor, and an ending that’s not only predictable but also features some terrible effects.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Deleted scenes, commentary, gag reel, featurettes

Tom Ford’s ‘A Single Man’ Gets A Beautiful Trailer

Rob Hunter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:59:02 +0000

Tom Ford is a stylish man who’s been around a lot more naked women than I have. I’d cry foul, but he’s also been around a lot more naked men so instead I’ll just call it even. He’s been near the top of the fashion world for years, but now he looks to be expanding his resume by directing and co-writing a film. A Single Man has already received quite a bit of acclaim from showings at various festivals and has finally had it’s first trailer released. The film stars Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode (Watchmen, The Lookout), Ginnifer Goodwin (”Big Love”, “Ed”), and Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy, “Skins”). Check it out below.

The trailer doesn’t give away much (or anything really) about the plot, but it looks absolutely stunning doesn’t it? It shouldn’t come as a surprise since Ford’s other career involves his keen eye for fashion and beauty, but he and cinematographer Eduard Grau have at the very least crafted a beautifully-shot film. As far as what the movie’s about… It’s based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood and stars Firth as a British professor living in California who’s trying to move on after the loss of his lover. The film follows him through one day of his life as he deals with his emotions, acquaintances, and past decisions that brought him to this point.

As the trailer points out, Firth is already getting some Oscar buzz for his performance, and I’m happy to hear that. Firth is a talented actor who always lifts the films he’s in a little just by being there. Granted, that’s not enough to save a movie from being utter crap (Mamma Mia!, The Accidental Husband), but at least he’s good in them. I’ve never understood the appeal of Moore, and while I chalk it up to my dislike (and distrust) of gingers I also have never been impressed by her acting. The main cast rounds out with Goode, Goodwin, and Hoult, who have all been fantastic in past roles. A Single Man will have a limited run this December to qualify for the Academy Awards before receiving a slightly larger release early next year. Although it is a Weinstein Company film so who really knows what will happen with it.

And I can’t be the only one who notices the similarities between Ford’s A Single Man and the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man right? The titles are close enough that I expect confusion for some Oscar voters this year. Both films are also period pieces set in 1960’s America and feature a male lead with glasses. And then there’s the initial trailers for each. A repetitive sound that runs through most if not all of the trailer? Check. A selection of scenes that look good but manage to tell you pretty much nothing about the plot? Check. A room full of Jews? Che– okay, so the trailers only have two things in common.

And no, none of the guys in the photo at the top have anything to do with A Single Man. Google “Tom Ford Vanity Fair cover” and all will be made clear.

Duncan Jones Will Direct ‘Source Code’ With Jake Gyllenhaal

Rob Hunter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:45:58 +0000

There’s been plenty of speculation recently as to what director Duncan Jones would be doing for a follow-up to his excellent film Moon. It appeared for a time that it would be a film in the vein of Blade Runner, called Mute, that would be written by Jones as well. It seems that project, which Jones is still writing, will be postponed as the director has officially been announced to helm the new thriller Source Code. Also attached to the film is the Prince of Persia himself, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Source Code is about a soldier named Colter (Gyllenhaal) who awakens on a passenger train in another man’s body with no idea how he got there. He begins to explore his surroundings and finds a bomb… which blows up, killing him and everyone else on board. The end.

Kidding… after the explosion Colter awakens in darkness, strapped to a harness with a monitor in front of him. He discovers that he’s part of a mission of sorts attempting to stop those responsible for the train bombing before they can strike again. With little else to go on Colter is sent back to the train seventeen minutes before the explosion. He’ll be sent back again and again, always for seventeen minutes, each time bringing him closer to the bomber(s) and closer to a truth about himself.

Having read the very cool script by Ben Ripley I can see definite hints of several cinematic influences with the two most obvious being a combination of Deja Vu and Groundhog Day. (Yes, you read that right. Just know that Source Code is far superior to Deja Vu and not nearly as funny as Groundhog Day.) Ripley does a fine job moving the story between the train and the control center that Colton returns to after each explosion, and he also manages to keep things interesting even though we return to the same point in time and space several times throughout the screenplay. ScriptShadow has a very positive review of the script here, but don’t read it if you want to avoid spoilers.

Jones has confirmed the report via Twitter (@ManMadeMoon) and Variety states that production will begin sometime early next year. They also report that the film, which will be distributed by Summit Entertainment, was originally with Universal with Topher Grace attached to star. Which makes me wonder where the hell did Grace go? Has he had a film since Spiderman 3?

What do you think of the news? Happy to see Jones behind the camera? Sad to see it isn’t for Mute?

Review: Disney’s A Christmas Carol

Rob Hunter — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:07:26 +0000

My feelings towards Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol have always been of two minds. I love the tale from the wit and greed-filled banter to the ghostly apparitions to the grand redemption at the end. The same goes for the multiple film and TV versions of the story. I’m partial to the George C. Scott version from the eighties, but Scrooged and The Muppet Christmas Carol tie for a close second. The problem I have with the story though is that very same magnificent redemption I mentioned as loving not three sentences ago. I’ve just never been convinced that Scrooge honestly changes for any reason other than selfish self-preservation. Sure he seems concerned about Tiny Tim’s imminent demise, but it’s his own untended gravestone that really pushes him towards turning over a new leaf isn’t it? Now thanks to Robert Zemeckis’ continuing desire to avoid telling original stories in favor of digitally manipulated versions of older ones, yet another adaptation of Dickens’ tale is hitting the screen… but can 3D animation make it any more convincing?

I shouldn’t have to summarize the story of A Christmas Carol for you heathens, but in the interest of proper film review format I will anyway. Ebenezer Scrooge is a cranky, miserly, and rudely practical old man living and working in Victorian-era London. His view on the Christmas holiday can be summed up in his sentiment that those who celebrate the day with merry and cheer should be boiled in their own pudding and “buried with a stake of holly through his heart.” He’s visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his dead business partner, Jacob Marley, who was equally as cheap and unlikable in life as Scrooge and who in death must drag around the chains he forged while still alive. Marley warns Scrooge of three more spirits coming to haunt him and advises the old man to heed their warnings lest he end up with an eternal fate like Marley’s.

Story-wise there’s very little to review or criticize here really. Dickens’ tale is a classic for a reason, and you’d have to go out of your way to really screw it up (cough, The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, cough). Zemeckis wisely keeps his rendition very close to previous versions with their very precise structure of character introduction, ghostly visitations, and then celebratory redemption. The scenes you recall from earlier versions are pretty much all recreated here in beautifully done animation. The characters look great, but it’s the details of the world around them that truly astound. From the bricks and cobblestones to the fabrics in clothes and curtains to the visible exhalations in the cold London air, Zemeckis and friends have created a fairly impressive world.

I’m no fan of Zemeckis’ previous 3D motion-captured films, The Polar Express and Beowulf, but A Christmas Carol has somewhat redeemed at least one aspect of the format for me. It helps that the original story itself is almost perfect (motivational veracity of Scrooge’s life change aside), but Zemeckis has improved the visual style of his ‘actors.’ Both Polar Express and Beowulf overlayed their herky-jerky mo-cap with plasticine characters that exuded more style than humanity. Christmas Carol keeps the stylized visuals but has now managed to imbue some of the characters’ faces with real warmth. They’re obviously still not going for photo-realism, but the quality of these CGI creations no longer keeps you at arm’s length emotionally.

But it’s not all good news… The major misstep Zemeckis makes here in regard to the 3D animated format is his need to up the “ride factor” of the movie. Scrooge gets pulled through the sky above London a few times, and while it looks absolutely briliant and delightful each time it is done strictly for the effect. Those flights of fancy are obvious enough, but Zemeckis crosses the imaginary line during Scrooge’s visit with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Scrooge is shrunken to mouse-size and chased through the streets by Death’s horse-drawn carriage. Why? The phantom reaches for Scrooge several times, just missing him at the last second, and it makes no sense. The whole set piece exists solely for cheap thrills and laughs. Pratfalls, sewer runs, rat shenanigans… it all stands apart from the rest of the story and it makes you imagine the Disney execs with a checklist featuring a minimum number of action scenes required.

It’s obviously difficult to gauge the acting on display in an animated film, even a mo-cap one, but it’s easy enough to praise Carrey’s work here in his multiple roles. He brings Scrooge to life, but he also inhabits the three Christmas ghosts that haunt him. While the final spectre is mute and without facial detail, the others (as well as Scrooge) are all distinctly different creations. Carrey does such a fine job with the cantankerous and fearful Scrooge that I almost wish he would have played the character in a live action film instead. His best work in the film however is with the first two ghosts. Carrey’s Christmas Past is perhaps the creepiest non-horror film ghost I’ve seen since Ghost Dad. His face is recreated as a candle flame, constantly smiling, potentially unstable, and he speaks with a pitched Irish whisper. It’s more than a little unsettling at times. His Christmas Present thunders with a strong Scottish voice full of cheer, joy, and the occasional bits of fierce anger. All are Carrey’s creations, but they still each manage to be unique.

Carrey’s multiple roles impress and make thematic sense as Scrooge is after all being haunted by his own life, but the others who tackle multiple characters aren’t always as successful or logical. Gary Oldman plays Bob Cratchit with a mix of innocence, joy, and devastation, and it all translates well to the screen. He also portrays the ghost of Marley and the (unrecognizable) voice of Tiny Tim, but since there’s no narrative reasoning behind this it seems more of a ploy than anything else. His characters were different enough that it was more of an oddity than a problem, but the same can’t be said for Bob Hoskins. He plays Scrooge’s long-dead first employer, Fezziwig, but then appears later in the film as the husband of Scrooge’s cleaning woman. It caused a brief bit of confusion while I tried to figure out why Fezziwig looked like a hobo (and why he was still alive at all). Colin Firth, Robin Wright Penn, and Cary Elwes round out the recognizable cast. (Especially Elwes who’s very round indeed.)

Will Disney’s A Christmas Carol worm it’s way into your hearts and homes and become as much of a holiday staple as rum balls and spotted dick are now? Possibly, but maybe not. It’s fun, occasionally frightening, and often beautiful, while at the same time staying true to Dickens’ classic tale, but it also never needed a 3D update. Kids will be the film’s biggest fans thanks to the multiple whiz-bang-wow scenes, and while adults won’t be bored they also won’t find any more heart or Christmas cheer than we’ve already seen from Albert Finney, Patrick Stewart, or even Bill Murray. Because as good as it looks it’s still artificial when compared to real flesh and blood actors portraying real joy and tear-filled emotions. Which should answer the question as to whether or not this new Scrooge’s redemption is any more believable…

The Upside: 3D effects are more about texture and depth than obvious thrusts towards the audience; ghosts are sufficiently spooky; animation is sharp, detailed, and stylized; has a few laughs

The Downside: segment where Scrooge shrinks seems designed purely to add more “ride” scenes and physical comedy; dual use of an obvious Bob Hoskins caused minor confusion

On the Side: A species of snail native to Fiji was named Ba humbugi upon it’s discovery in 1976.

This Week In DVD: November 3rd

Rob Hunter — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:31:52 +0000

Rob Hunter loves movies. He also loves working as Roger Thornhill’s personal drycleaner… between the dust-ups and the crop dusters, Thornhill has lots of suits in need of cleaning. These two joys come together in the form of cash money payments that he receives every week and immediately uses to buy more DVDs. So join us each week as he takes a look at new DVD releases and gives his highly unqualified opinion as to which titles are worth BUYing, which are better off as RENTals, and which should be AVOIDed at all costs.

The Edge of Darkness: The Complete BBC Series

Pitch: A dead daughter. A conspiracy that involves murder, corruption, and corporate greed. And a detective with nothing left to lose…

Why Buy? The Hollywood remake is due next month (surprise!) from Martin Campbell and Mel Gibson, and it promises to be damn good. But as well done as it may be, odds are it still won’t be able to touch the original BBC mini-series. Stellar acting from all involved, multiple layers of mystery and intrigue revealed masterfully by a script allowed to take it’s time, and a powerful indictment of government gone bad. What’s not to love?

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Alternate ending, featurettes

Food, Inc.

Pitch: Think you know where your food comes from? Think again…

Why Buy? Before you skip this title with some knee-jerk reaction about it being made by (and for) liberal vegans from the coast (either coast), trust me when I say it’s actually non-partisan. Neither Michael Pollan nor Eric Schlosser are telling you to stop eating meat and eggs, but both men want you to be more aware of what goes into the food on your plate. Their target is the corporate food industry, and the factual information they have to share is often frightening, sometimes shocking, and always interesting.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Deleted scenes, featurettes

North By Northwest (50th Anniversary Edition)

Pitch: A case of mistaken identity sends a normal man on a cross-country run for his life. Sounds like a Hitchcock rip-off…

Why Buy? This is my second favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie (I still say The Birds is his best), and even at fifty years old it continues to hold up extremely well. Cary Grant is the face of the film and excels at portraying a man who alternates between cool and befuddled, and passive and active. Although it’s hard to consider Grant’s tall, tanned, and bisexual debonair self an “everyman” all that matters here is that he’s at the top of his game. The same goes for Hitchcock (the ‘top of his game’ bit, not the tall, tanned, and bisexual part) who never crafted a sharper, more fully-realized film. From the pacing to the camera shots to the musical choices to the excellent supporting cast, North By Northwest is masterful film-making.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Commentary, featurettes

Walt Disney Treasures: Zorro – The Complete First/Second Season

Pitch: Zorro was a hero to all the little boys unsure of how to use their own swords…

Why Buy? If you care at all about Disney’s “Zorro” show then these are the definitive DVD editions you need to buy. They come packaged in sturdy tin cases with the discs themselves in a standard DVD case within. For the tchotchke collectors out there they also come with a pin, postcard lithograph, and a numbered certificate of authenticity. That nonsense aside, the actual content is impressive. All thirty-nine episodes per season are included as well as two rarely seen two-hour Zorro movies, and they’re all remastered to pristine quality.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Rare two-part TV movie, pin, lithograph, numbered certificate of authenticity

The Answer Man

Pitch: A bestselling but reclusive author finally finds a reason to come out from hiding…

Why Rent? Jeff Daniels is fantastic and rarely gets a lead role, so we need to support him when it does happen. Luckily this is actually a pretty good little movie so our support is pain free. Daniels plays the author of a bestselling self-help book from twenty years ago who’s been in hiding since it’s success. He meets a few eclectic people who help open his door and his life to some new possibilities. The supporting cast is excellent including Lou Taylor Pucci and Lauren Graham, but Olivia Thirlby and Kat Dennings are wasted with little to do.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Commentary, deleted scenes, featurette

Beast Within

Pitch: From bird flu to zombies in two easy steps…

Why Rent? No it’s not a remake of the classic ‘boy becomes an evil praying mantis’ movie from the early eighties. This is a European flick about bird flu ravaging a small town by turning the infected into zombies! It’s not a good movie really, but the final twenty five minutes or so include a pretty cool zombie assault on a barricaded house. Worth a watch for fans of the undead.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? None

Before the Fall

Pitch: The bad news is a meteorite will hit Earth in three days and destroy all life on the planet. The worse news is you might not live long enough to see it…

Why Rent? This is an interesting and suspenseful film from Spain that does a great job of turning a global catastrophe into a personal story. Three days away from certain doom, a man and his family are on the run and fighting for their lives when a madman comes looking for misguided vengeance. What would you fight for if you knew it wouldn’t matter in a few days?

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? None

The Botany of Desire

Pitch: Can plants and produce be interesting? Yes, and Michael Pollan proves it with a fascinating look at the apple, marijuana, the potato, and the tulip…

Why Rent? Pollan’s fascinating book makes for an equally interesting PBS special on the history and importance of four essential ingredients in American agriculture. It’s an engaging and enlightening look into how we use plants and how they use us. Sounds boring as hell though doesn’t it? But give it a chance and I guarantee you’ll learn a thing or two and be entertained in the process.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? None

Command Performance

Pitch: “Dying is easy. Rock and roll is hard.” Yes, Dolph Lundgren actually says this awesome line. Of course, he also says “Rock and load.”

Why Rent? This was a risky watch for me. I expected it to be the typical Lundgren direct-to-DVD dreck, and I was going to feel bad suggesting you avoid it when the man was kind enough to record a video bumper for us (here). Happily I can report in good concience that this flick is actually a good time. Lundgren directs as well as stars and the man does not skimp on the blood. People are shot and blood sprays. They’re stabbed and blood sprays. They’re punched and blood sprays… Lundgren looks convincing in his drum playing but even moreso when he’s jabbing a drumstick through a guy’s skull. It’s a fun little action film, and his best movie in years.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Featurettes

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Pitch: Elite soldiers fight each other in tight leather outfits…

Why Rent? So why would I recommend avoiding Transformers 2but sugegst renting this equally inane CGI explosion? Simple. Michael Bay’s movie was big, stupid, empty, and boring. Stephen Sommers’s popcorn movie is almost as big and equally stupid and empty… but it’s actually kind of fun at times. The chase through Paris, the ninja fight, the bitch fight… I wouldn’t own this movie but I probably wouldn’t mind watching it again. Just not anytime soon…

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Commentary, featurettes

Not Forgotten

Pitch: A young girl is kidnapped and her father will stop at nothing in his quest to find her, even if that means digging up some ghosts from his past…

Why Rent? I love being happily surprised by little films I’d heard nothing about beforehand, and this is one of those films. Simon Baker is fantastic as a family man with a beautiful new wife (Paz Vega), a precocious pre-teen (Chloe Moretz), and a secret (something crazy). The movie does a great job of shifting suspicions once the daughter is kidnapped leaving you unsure who the bad guys and good guys are or if those terms even apply anymore. I’m not entirely sold on the ending, but four-fifths of a really good movie is still better than most of what hits theaters these days. And Baker’s use of a broken and jagged bottle as an interrogation tool is bloody unsettling.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? None

The Taking of Pelham 123

Pitch: John Travolta’s least annoying bad guy ever gives Denzel Washington’s least active good guy a hard time…

Why Rent? I heard such critical comments on this one during it’s theatrical run that I never quite got a round to seeing it until now. And it ain’t half bad people! (Which makes it almost half good…) Travolta usually overplays his villains into the realm of high camp (Swordfish, Broken Arrow), but he manages to keep his hijacker reigned in a bit here. Tony Scott and friends do as good a job as can be expected with a film about a modern-day subway hijacking in NYC even if they offer up little in the way of surprises. The film’s no masterpiece, but neither was the original.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Commentary, featurettes

Aliens In The Attic

Pitch: Raccoon-sized aliens crash land on a family reunion and cause decidedly unraccoon-like havok…

Why Avoid? The two-word reason for skipping this one is simply ‘Ashley Tisdale.’ The longer and more detailed reason list includes it being loud, unfunny, poorly written, lacking in humanity, and starring Ashley Tisdale.

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Deleted scenes, alternate ending, featurettes

Dark Mirror

Pitch: Oooh, a horror movie about haunted mirrorzzzz…

Why Avoid? Seriously. Haunted mirrors have become the new cabin in the woods and I’m already bored of them. I’ll stick with Prince of Darkness and Candyman because they were both smart enough to use the mirrors as portals for something scary, not as the actual horror punchline.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Commentary, deleted scenes, featurette

Hardwired

Pitch: Watch Val Kilmer and Cuba Gooding Jr. pay their utility bills…

Why Avoid? The movie gets points for opening with a guy’s head exploding and for a few funny corporate product placements (like the Trojan brand name on the Washington Monument), but the rest of the flick doesn’t work as well. It’s “a few years from now” and corporations rule the world and implant people with virtual advertisements. That’s obviously not a good thing, so Gooding Jr goes about setting things right.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Featurette

I Love You, Beth Cooper

Pitch: A dork’s graduation speech includes an ode to the school’s #1 hottie and leads to an extremely uninteresting movie…

Why Avoid? I give Cole Abaius flack for the inaccuracy of his reviews on a fairly regular basis, but once in a while the bastard gets it right. His review here is one of those times. This movie is absolutely terrible. None of the jokes work. The supposedly ‘hottest girls in school’ range from barely cute at best to chubby idiot at worst. The inevitable ending isn’t even remotely authentic. None of the characters are interesting or redeeming (although the lead’s best friend comes close). And speaking of the the lead, he’s way too geeky for a believable ‘nerd/hot girl romantic comedy.’

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Deleted scenes, alternate ending, featurettes

Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Complete Season One

Pitch: The Star Wars universe comes to life in animated form, and I’d rather be watching “The Star Wars Holiday Special”…

Why Avoid? Obviously the super Star Wars fans will watch and possibly love anything with the Lucas stamp on it, but this animated series is more new trilogy than good trilogy. I can’t pretend to follow the uninteresting characters and slightly annoying animation style, but your mileage may vary (as always).

Blu-ray? Yes

Extra Features? Extended cuts, featurettes

Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series

Pitch: Not enough action in Terminator Salvation for you? It’s all here. In a way…

Why Avoid? This animated tale from the Salvation universe focuses on resistance fighter Blair Williams (voiced by Moon Bloodgood), but fails for two reasons. For one, Bloodgood still doesn’t go topless. But more importantly, the animation is reminiscent of a videogame in a jerky and unimpressive way. Skip this, and rent the upcoming director’s cut of the actual movie.

Blu-ray? No

Extra Features? Featurettes

The Movie Watcher’s Guide To November 2009

Rob Hunter — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:00:23 +0000

Hello again movie fans! You may have noticed that there was no Movie Watcher’s Guide to October. There are several completely legitimate reasons for this, but instead of boring you with details please allow me to give a quick recap of the month’s box-office releases… The Invention of Lying, Whip It, Amelia, Astro Boy, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, and Saw VI all pretty much bombed, while Zombieland, Couples Retreat, Law Abiding Citizen, Where the Wild Things Are, and Paranormal Activity all did fair to brisk business. There, now you’re caught up through October. On to November!

November 6th

The Box

Who did it? Directed and written by Richard Kelly; starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella

What is it? A young couple receives a mysterious box containing only a button and a note. Press the button and two things will happen… one, they’ll receive $1 million dollars, and two, someone in the world will die. Will they press the button? Duh…

What about it? Kelly has taken a classic short story by Richard Matheson (”Button, Button”), which was previously made into an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” and turned it into a movie. It’s not always a wise move to stretch something from a much shorter medium to a feature film, and early reviews (like the one at Gone Elsewhere) have been fair to meh about it which doesn’t bode too well for the movie. Or for Kelly… who some are starting to suspect was nothing but lucky with his debut film, Donnie Darko.

Watch the trailer:

A Christmas Carol

Who did it? Directed and written by Robert Zemeckis; starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Robin Wright, Colin Firth, Cary Elwes, Michael J Fox, Bob Hoskins

What is it? It’s the digitally animated/motion-captured re-telling of the Charles Dickens classic that we’ve all been waiting for!

What about it? I can only speak for myself here, but these mo-cap movies have done nothing for me so far. The Polar Express and Beowulf were both bland and lifeless, and while this one has the benefit of a truly good story at it’s core I’m still not expecting much. On the other hand, it’s got a great cast including Oldman as Tiny Tim which alone will probably make it worth seeing.

Watch the Trailer:

The Fourth Kind

Who did it? Directed and written by Olatunde Osunsanmi; starring Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Will Patton

What is it? The sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind finds Roy Neary (Jovovich taking over the role from Richard Dreyfus) returning to Earth to help facilitate further alien abductions while members of a separate alien species known as ‘owls’ try to alert humanity. None of this is true, and I feel bad for implying the story would be that interesting.

What about it? The movie actually explores documented cases in a small Alaskan town known for it’s extremely high number of disappearances, and stars Jovovich as a therapist who notices a disturbing trend among her patients’ recollections. The “fourth kind” of the title refers to alien abduction (the first three are sighting, evidence collection, and anal diddling), and it looks vaguely similar to the Michael Keaton movie from a few years ago called White Noise although it subs aliens for whispering dead people. The trailers do have an admittedly creepy vibe to them though, so the payback for all my joking may just be me pissing my pants in the theater…

Watch the Trailer:

The Men Who Stare At Goats

Who did it? Directed by Grant Heslov; written by Peter Straughan; starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey

What is it? A reporter meets a man who claims to have been part of a secret US government program to train soldiers in the art of ESP, telekinesis, and goat assassination. And it’s reportedly based on a true story.

What about it? We caught this at Fantastic Fest and thought it was pretty good (read Cole Abaius’ review here). It’s a light-weight but fun little movie that works best as a showcase for some very talented actors and their humorous performances. As a movie though it seems to be lacking enough purpose and structure. I actually found it to be a bit reminiscent of The Informant!… a real-life story told with humor leading to an ending more serious than everything that came before. But The Informant! was better.

Watch the Trailer:

In Limited Release:

Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire - Neil Miller (review here) believes this little film will not only be nominated for Best Picture but will also win. Sadly for him and his already substantial gambling debts he’s wrong about it winning. I will say this though, it’s incredibly bleak, depressing, and abusive of the human spirit… with some fantastic performances!
That Evening Sun - I was lucky to catch this at SXSW this past March (review here), and it’s good to see it get even a limited run through theaters. Hal Holbrook’s performance is a marvel in this tale of an elderly man coming to terms with both his past and his present. Sad, funny, and smart in equal measures.

November 13th

2012

Who did it? Directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich; co-written by Harald Kloser; starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt

What is it? It’s the end of the world as we know it. Again.

What about it? Emmerich has destroyed the world so many times over by this point you’d think he’d have perfected the art by now. And the art part of the film does look really goddamn cool… with ‘art’ meaning CGI effects and not ‘artistic merit’ of course. The man’s dramatic chops are not nearly as impressive obviously, but I’ll continue to give him the benefit of the doubt for one simple reason… The Patriot kicked ass.

Watch the Trailer:

Pirate Radio (aka The Boat That Rocked)

Who did it? Directed and written by Richard Curtis; starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost

What is it? Richard Curtis delivers a comedy about the incredible efforts to keep rock n roll alive and kicking on the British airwaves in the 1960’s. Those efforts involve ships, hippies, and intoxication.

What about it? Radio stations had to broadcast from ships off the UK coast to avoid regulation and prosecution, so you can imagine the personalities who would sign up for this kind of lifestyle. I’ve seen this one and it’s pretty good… just don’t expect anything as brilliant as Curtis’ romantic comedies (Four Weddings & A Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually). The ensemble is good (especially Hoffman), the laughs are steady, and the history is interesting.

Watch the Trailer:

In Limited Release

Women In Trouble - Ten very attractive women starring in an R-rated movie filled with dirty talk and innuendo… yes please. Cole Abaius had the pleasure of chatting up some of the ladies earlier this year (interview here) and Neil Miller showed his love in his review as well.

November 20th

The Blind Side

Who did it? Directed and written by John Lee Hancock; starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Kathy Bates, Quinton Aaron

What is it? The true story of a southern white woman and her family who welcome a young, large, black teenager into their home and hearts. Awww…. Expect lives to be changed here people.

What about it? This is a tough film to gauge in advance. The trailer has a strong, melodramatic, Lifetime Movie Channel vibe about it, it looks a bit heavy-handed and obvious when it comes to it’s message, and it’s Bullock’s third movie this year… she’s seen both a hit (The Proposal) and a miss (All About Steve) already so who knows if her fickle fans will follow. On the plus side though it’s based on a truly inspirational story…

Watch the Trailer:

Planet 51

Who did it? Directed by Javier Abed, Jorge Blanco, Marcos Martinez; written by Joe Stillman; starring (the voices of) Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, Seann William Scott, John Cleese

What is it? A human astronaut lands on another planet ready to plant his flag in it’s fertile soil but discovers the planet is already inhabited by little, green beings. We know what comes next… disease infested blankets anyone?

What about it? An animated film distributed by Tri-Star? And if I’m not mistaken I think the movie itself comes from Spain? The trailers don’t instill a lot of confidence, but with the closest animated competition being two weeks old by this point it just may catch some weary families by surprise. Plus it has the added benefit of beating the similarly themed Avatar to screens by almost a month…

Watch the Trailer:

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Who did it? Directed by Chris Weitz; written by Melissa Rosenberg; starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson

What is it? The sequel to Duncan Jones’ quiet but brilliant sci-fi film Moon finds Sam Rock– wait, that’s not right. Sadly.

What about it? Welcome to the highest grossing film of November… obviously this is the follow-up to the megahitphenomenonmormonsensation Twilight, and it looks to up the ante on several fronts. First, the director’s chair is now being occupied by a more accomplished director in Weitz (About a Boy, The Golden Compass). Two, the story gets to move outside the small town of Bumfuq, WA to the grand, old cities of Italy which gives the story a bigger feel to it. Third, the vampires are still sulking around, but we also get introduced to a pack of shirtless Native American werewolves. Fourth, Stewart continues to look pretty damn fine. So maybe it will be better than Twilight after all.

Watch the Trailer:

In Limited Release

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - Nicholas Cage sees dancing souls and bored iguanas in this odd Werner Herzog film (redundant I know). My review will be up soon, but just know that while the movie has moments of weirdness it’s not nearly as strange or over-the-top as it should have been.
Broken Embraces – Pedro Almodovar returns with his favorite Spanish muse Penelope Cruz in a tale about a blind writer and the pixie-ish woman he can only see with his hands.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox – I’m just not feeling this Wes Anderson adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book… maybe it’s the jerky stop-motion. Maybe it’s the bad aftertaste of The Darjeeling Limited.
Red Cliff – John Woo has seen some of the best reviews of his career with this epic period film about a historical battle in China. This is the international version which actually combines two complete films into one, so if you like what you see make an effort to find the two original movies that make up Red Cliff in it’s entirety.

November 25th

Ninja Assassin

Who did it? Directed by James McTeigue; written by Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski; starring Rain, Naomie Harris, Sho Kosugi

What is it? One of the coolest cinematic character types finally gets the big-budget treatment it deserves…

What about it? And it’s a big, sloppy, CGI-filled mess. To be fair, parts of the film work extremely well… the flashback segments that follow Raizu’s training are very evocative of classic ninja films of the past, and they also contain the film’s only truly dramatic moments. But the rest of the movie sucks shuriken balls. The acting is pretty bad, the CGI blood is ubiquitous and poorly done, and even the fight scenes often get lost in shadows and poor editing. Abaius’ review is here, but know that he’s being very kind.

Watch the Trailer:

Old Dogs

Who did it? Directed by Walt Becker; written by David Diamond, David Weissman; starring Robin Williams, John Travolta, Justin Long, Seth Green, Kelly Preston, Matt Dillon, Dax Shepard, Bernie Mac

What is it? Two men and a baby two little kids. Williams and Travolta have twins fall into their lap but it isn’t as awesome as it sounds. The twins are seven-years old, and these two guys don’t know the first thing about raising children. Hilarious!

What about it? This is one of those safe and comfortable comedies designed to appeal to kids and adults with no discerning tastes. That makes it sound like I’m insulting the film, but I’m really not. Sometimes people just need to laugh, and if it happens to be to inoffensive pablum like this so be it. Becker also directed Travolta in Wild Hogs and expects to complete the ‘Ogs’ trilogy next year with the release of Scientologist Frogs.

Watch the Trailer:

The Road

Who did it? Directed by John Hillcoat; written by Joe Penhall from the novel by Cormac McCarthy; starring Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall, Charlize Theron

What is it? A post-apocalyptic tale of a father and son on a road trip… with bandits, cannibals, and a very limited color palette.

What about it? McCarthy’s book is one of those beloved tales that many readers believe could never find justice with a cinematic adaptation. Personally I’m curious about it because I don’t feel the book has enough story to fill a feature film. (Man and boy walk. Something minor happens. Man and boy walk. Something big threatens to happen but doesn’t. Man and boy walk. Something minor happens. Man and boy walk. Rinse. Repeat.) I trust that Hillcoat will deliver a film of dark and devastating beauty as he did with The Proposition, but I’m not sure if I should expect anything more.

Watch the Trailer:

In Limited Release

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee – An eclectic cast highlights this little film written and directed by Rebecca Miller from her own novel. Robin Wright, Maria Bello, Alan Arkin, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Mike Binder… sure it’s another suburban domestic drama, but with this cast it may be one worth watching.

Which movies are you excited about in November? Which ones will you avoid?

Win a Spooky Trick ‘r Treat, er… Treat

Rob Hunter — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:52:47 +0000

One of the best horror anthology movies of the past few decades finally saw release this month in theaters (albeit very limited) and on DVD/Blu-ray… Trick ‘r Treat is Michael Dougherty’s cinematic bag of treats that celebrates Halloween with equal parts creepiness and fun. Dylan Baker, Brian Cox, and Anna Paquin star in what just may become one of your favorite movies of the season. The official synopsis is below.

It is said that Halloween is the night when the dead rise to walk among us and other unspeakable things roam free. The rituals of All Hallows Eve were devised to protect us from their evil mischief, and one small town is about to be taught a terrifying lesson that some traditions are best not forgotten. Nothing is what it seems when a suburban couple learns the dangers of blowing out a Jack-o-Lantern before midnight; four women cross paths with a costumed stalker at a local festival; a group of pranksters goes too far and discovers the horrifying truth buried in a local legend; and a cantankerous old hermit is visited by a strange trick-or-treater with a few bones to pick. Costumes and candy, ghouls and goblins, monsters and mayhem… the tricks and treats of Halloween turn deadly as strange creatures of every variety-human and otherwise-try to survive the scariest night of the year.”

Trick ‘r Treat is available NOW on Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand & Digital Download! The Blu-ray includes special features not found on the DVD including:

Commentary with director Michael Dougherty
Additional scenes
Special effects comparison
“Trick ‘r Treat: Season’s Greetings” animated short film by Michael Dougherty, with optional commentary
“Trick ‘r Treat: The Lore and Legends of Halloween” featurette
BD-Live

Two (2) lucky readers will each receive a copy of Trick ‘r Treat on Blu-ray AND a hardcover copy of “Trick ‘r Treat: Tales of Mayhem, Mystery, and Mischief.” (Click here for more info about this very cool book.) As this is my first contest for FSR I thought long and hard about how I would determine the winners. What types of questions would I ask? What kind of self-portrait photos would I request? Then I realized that even if I didn’t get arrested for encouraging illegal picture submissions I’d still end up having to actually judge all of the entries.

So let’s do this instead… All you have to do to enter is be one of our Twitter followers and re-tweet this article. Go to Twitter and follow @Rejectnation and stay in the loop on all things FSR. Here’s a quick 1-2-3 guide to entering:

If you don’t already have one, go to twitter.com and sign up for a free account.
Go to twitter.com/rejectnation and follow Film School Rejects.
Re-tweet the following twitter update by posting this to your Twitter stream: RT @rejectnation: Win a Spooky Trick ‘r Treat, er… Treat – http://tr.im/DErS (RT to enter)

Winners will be chosen at random on November 5, 2009. You must be 18 to enter and you must reside in the U.S. or Canada.

Film School Rejects » Rob Hunter

Review: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

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Win a Spooky Trick ‘r Treat, er… Treat

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