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(05/10/07 4:00am)
When making garbage like "Domino," it's a shame to think that director Tony Scott is the brother of Ridley Scott, whose career has been far greater and more successful. Yet, when Tony is making films such as "True Romance" or "Man on Fire," he's worth a damn. "Déjà vu" certainly is a reminder of the latter. Sure, the trailer looked bizarre, but this is a movie with Denzel Washington produced by Jerry Bruckheimer -- it has to be good. \nWhen a boat explodes in New Orleans, an ATF agent (Washington) is called to search for clues around the crime scene. He's so good that a crew of FBI techno-geeks (led by Val Kilmer) decides to show Washington its top secret machinery: a computer system that recreates events before they happen via satellites in space that cover the entire globe. Washington was just as confused as I was, but it all starts to make sense once the story really gets moving.\nThe guys spend most of their time in front of a dozen computer monitors, we learn that a woman's murder is tied to this terrorist plot, and Washington makes it his goal to hunt down the murderer. He even goes so far as to convince the FBI to let him use its other gadget: a time machine. \nIt's science-fiction, it's action, hell, it's just plain fun with a story that feels quite original. What aren't original though are the DVD supplements. You aren't given much -- a handful of deleted/extended scenes and a making-of featurette that runs with the film. Essentially a box pops up on your screen as you watch the flick, you click on it and you "go back in time" to the production footage. This stuff has been done before and I'd much rather have a good commentary track from the likes of Scott and Bruckheimer. \nI'm not sure if "Déjà vu" will hold up in subsequent viewings, but it's at least worth a rental. Besides, it's good to see a Tony Scott movie that doesn't make you feel like you need to drop some acid to even attempt to enjoy it.
(04/26/07 4:00am)
Before I even put "Medal of Honor: Vanguard" into my PS2, I had to go through the motions of telling myself, "Hey this is PS2, not Xbox 360, so ignore the graphical differences and let the game speak for itself." My apologies, but I cannot ignore how disappointing the latest "MoH" installment is. \nAfter playing countless honors of "Call of Duty 2" and "Call of Duty 3," I think it is safe to say the WWII first-person-shooter (FPS) genre can't be topped. "Vanguard" touts itself as being a WWII FPS in which you play the American paratroopers who dropped into Europe and saved the continent from the Nazi war machine. So you think, "Hey, sweet! I get to jump out of planes!" Except all you get to do during those sequences is aim for a landing. The environments are drabber than the officer's uniforms and save for the occasional decent-looking aerial attack, they lack any immersive qualities.\nHit detection is way off in enemy AI. When you shoot someone three to four times in the head and they aren't dead, there's a problem. And the Nazi forces just scurry around each map waiting to be picked off. In "Call of Duty 3," they're waiting for you behind every corner, hiding behind walls lobbing grenades at you and the German snipers will give you a run for your money. And it only takes one bullet to get the job done in those games. \nIn an age where online multiplayer is key to the FPS genre, PS2's online service was practically a disaster, reducing "Vanguard" to the dinosaur days of split-screen two-player. Sure you can say the same thing about even the next-gen systems when it comes to people playing on the same console, but graphically it is superior, most FPS titles offer one- to four-player support, and in the case of the Xbox, system linking allows for multiple players on numerous televisions. \nThe "Medal of Honor" franchise used to be great back in the PSone days. I remember playing the first couple releases and loving them. But that was 1997 and now we're in 2007. "Vanguard" is also available on the Nintendo Wii. While I haven't played that version, one could assume it has better graphics but, given my unfortunate encounter with "Call of Duty 3" on the Wii, some of the worst controls possible. At least in that situation it would make sense that your bullets can't hit anything, but on the PS2 it seems downright inexcusable. \nIf you don't own a next-gen console and are looking for a new WWII FPS, I suppose "Vanguard" is really your only choice. I'm sure playing it will be a reminder for why you should save up your cash and invest in a new console.
(04/26/07 4:00am)
It's become customary here at WEEKEND that the editor writes the final Last Word column of the semester, and it has been on my mind for a good couple months. All the possible ideas came rushing through my head: a Top 10 list of films people missed in 2006, another rant on why Hollywood should quit remaking films, even a salute to all the greats whom I wrote alongside over the years -- Alec Toombs, John Barnett, C. Warner Sills, Tony Sams and numerous others to whom I raise my glass. For a while I was even debating a column on why the massacre at Virginia Tech had nothing to do with entertainment media, which various news outlets and conservative rabblerousers are surely preparing to declare, like they did when the Columbine shootings occurred. Yet, the more I thought about all these ideas, I just kept coming back to the importance of cinema itself.\nI've said for a long time that "I'd rather be making 'em than writing about 'em." I knew after watching Federico Fellini's "8 ½" in 2002 that filmmaking was my calling. Sure, I had interest in it before, but it was Fellini's masterpiece that sealed the deal for me. When it comes to being a film critic, though, you have to take a certain approach, and it helps if you have a background in cinema appreciation. Plenty of people love watching movies, but how many of them truly consume what is before their eyes? Look at Maxim's film critic Pete Hammond -- that guy doesn't know crap about movies, gives practically everything a good grade, then has his quote smeared onto as many trailers and DVD cases as possible. I may be a film critic, but I've always learned not to trust critics, which amuses lots of people. The truth is we just offer up our own opinions. I've always felt that one should experience something for themselves, whether it's a film or an album, and have their own take on things. \nHaving been in college for four years, one can quickly figure out what the regular filmgoer considers their "favorite" movies. "Napoleon Dynamite," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, "Garden State" and the list goes on. Hell, I remember when I took my Intro to Film class here and half the people in class said their favorite flick was "Requiem for a Dream." I got the odd look for saying "8 ½," but I found it more odd that so many people considered their favorite film to be the one about drug addicts that doesn't really provide any sort of "entertainment value." Certainly director Darren Aronofsky could care less about that element. \nWe live in a time when people are afraid to take chances at their local cineplex or rental location. It is an age where the cinema has simply become a source for entertainment rather than something worth discussing. There is a reason why films like "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" did so well in 2006 versus the likes of "The Fountain" and "Children of Men," and that is people don't want to think while in front of the silver screen. Even already this year the highest-grossing flicks include "Ghost Rider" and "Wild Hogs," whereas "Zodiac" and "Grindhouse" tanked. \nI've been told by more than a couple people in my time that anyone who enjoys foreign films or black-and-white pictures must be a "art fag," as if opening your mind to the fact that cinema began more than a century ago and exists in places outside the United States is a bad thing. Sure, it is true that our country makes the biggest pictures that cost millions of dollars and there is nothing wrong with that. And with that kind of freedom, the only thing a director must fear is the deadly scissors of the studio. In other parts of the world, though, some of the greatest cinema was born out of conflict. Look at Marcel Carné's "Children of Paradise," made during the Nazi occupation of France, which had to be worked on in secret to prevent the crew from being arrested and possibly executed. There is a story to be told with films such as this, something that makes the film that much more valuable. \nPerhaps people fear the branding of being called "pretentious" by their peers. For them to say that they watched a film by Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman or Rainer Werner Fassbinder could mean they're one of "those people." This always amused me because it is men such as these who inspired the likes of Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and the rest of the New Hollywood mavericks in the 1960s and '70s to pick up their cameras and revolutionize our film industry; otherwise today sex, violence and other topics on screen would still be taboo. \nMy advice is simple: Seek out the cinema of the past and the world around you before knocking it. Everyone who watches movies is raised by what is immediately accessible to them for $8 at the local theater. You must take the first step toward discovering what you haven't experienced yet. Go get a Netflix queue and load up on DVDs from the Criterion Collection, essentially a cinematic library of all the names that made/make cinema much greater than just another image on the screen. Go borrow those indie films from that guy or gal who lives in your dorm/apartment. Go see the restored print of "Mafioso" when it opens in Indianapolis this weekend. Nobody will make you watch these kinds of films; it is something you, the potential viewer, must have the courage to seek out. It's about being able, when someone asks what kind of films you like, to honestly reply, "Everything"
(04/19/07 4:00am)
"Payback" was a good flick but far from a great one. It had its moments, but it really couldn't hold a candle to 1967's "Point Blank," which it is a remake of, replacing the ice-cold Lee Marvin with a brooding yet snappy Mel Gibson. What I never knew though was "Payback" was butchered by Gibson due to some of the graphic content, and an altogether new third act was shot after director/screenwriter Brian Helgeland had the film taken from him. \nNow we are finally treated to Helgeland's restored vision, under the title "Payback: Straight Up," in which Gibson plays Porter, a professional robber left for dead by his ex-partner-in-crime Val Resnick (Gregg Henry) and former wife Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger), who manages to survive two shots in the back and comes calling for the $70K which is owed him. Turns out Resnick has bought his way into the local crime syndicate, so now Porter has plenty of other folks to put a bullet in if he wants his cash.\n"Straight Up" feels almost like an entirely different movie. Gone are most of the blue/gray tones coating the screen and Gibson's awkward narration. The two major scenes that Gibson didn't agree with, those being his physical assault on a doped-up Unger and Resnick's killing of a dog, are rightfully restored. I'm not a fan of violence against women or animals, but these scenes, especially Gibson's attack, add a darker layer to the characters populating this yarn. \nAbout that changed third act mentioned earlier: In the theatrical release, Gibson seeks out syndicate boss "Bronson" (Kris Kristofferson) and kidnaps his son in order to get his money back, the end result being Gibson is severely tortured before he blows the syndicate to pieces with a bomb and lives to tell the tale. In "Straight Up," "Bronson" is actually a woman whose face we never see and Gibson spends the final minutes of the film navigating the subway system taking out every man he comes across. He finally gets his money, but he also takes a few rounds in the stomach, and we're left with the ambiguity of whether or not he'll live.\nHelgeland shows up for a commentary track, but having disowned the theatrical cut, he never bothers to comment on that version. There are also four featurettes covering the filming in Los Angeles and Chicago, an interview with author Donald E. Westlake whose "The Hunter" inspired "Point Blank" and "Payback," and a making of the director's cut. What is so important in this latter segment is that Gibson actually shows up to discuss the changes to the film, and for this he gets my respect.\n"Payback: Straight Up" is the way to go if you've never seen the film before, although I recommend watching both versions just to see what the power of editing can do to completely alter one's take on a film.
(04/12/07 4:00am)
Back in the 1970s, 42nd Street in Manhattan, N.Y., was the place to be if you wanted to see exploitation cinema at its finest. Whether it be the latest Swedish sex-bomb porno, blaxploitation or women-in-prison flick, the theaters populating the infamous street had it all. And thanks to Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's "Grindhouse," an homage to the sleazefests of old, you can finally experience exploitation cinema in a theater where the seats aren't terrible and the floor is only sticky from popcorn butter. But I'm not here to sing the praises of QT's segment -- I'll let fellow critic John Barnett elaborate on the wonders of "Death Proof."\nRodriguez's "Planet Terror" is one great throwback to the zombiefests that came from the European wave of horror exploitation, where blood and guts in almost every scene is the norm. Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan) is a go-go girl who just quit her job in hopes of something better and El Wray (Freddy Rodríguez) is her ex-lover who just wants his jacket back. Turns out some crazy stuff has been going down at a local military base where a toxin has "accidentally" been released into the air, turning almost the entire town into flesh-devouring monstrosities. Except, of course, for Cherry, Wray and a handful of other folks including a scorned doctor (Marley Shelton), the local sheriff (Michael Biehn), a BBQ chef (Jeff Fahey) and a biochemical engineer (Naveen Andrews) who just might be responsible for this whole mess.\nPrepare yourself for one of the most gruesome experiences you've ever had in a theater. You think crap like the "Saw" movies are tough to stomach? Well, "Planet Terror" will hit you like a semi-truck barreling through a zombie horde. Entire bodies explode and coat the screen in blood, pus and whatever bodily fluids you can imagine. Rodriguez is simply returning to his "From Dusk Till Dawn" days and amping up the gore. And after McGowan gets her leg eaten by zombies only to be replaced with a machine-gun/grenade-launcher combo, you'll find appreciation for director Jean-Luc Godard's famous phrase: "All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun." \nYes, the dialogue can be ridiculously bad at times and the "missing reel" is likely to piss most viewers off (expect it to turn up on the "Grindhouse" DVD), but the experience alone is worth the $8 admission price because you've never seen anything like this. Besides, how many films get away with an 8-year-old kid blowing his face off? The MPAA failed, Robert Rodriguez won.\nFour fake trailers make up "Grindhouse" and I've got two of them for you. First is "Machete," Rodriguez's revenge flick starring Danny Trejo as one big badass who walks around with a trench coat full of machetes and rides a motorcycle equipped with a gatling gun. Word is Rodriguez shot so much footage for this trailer he might just turn it into a full-length feature -- after you see the trailer, you'll be counting the days. Then there is Rob Zombie's "Werewolf Women of the SS," which somehow combines the monster movie with the Nazi exploitation genre. The result is a work so absurd it demands to be made into its own movie, but until then you might just rent "Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS" to see what Zombie is referencing, sans werewolves.\nJust think, after witnessing all this carnage, you get to sit back for another 90 minutes and watch Kurt Russell kill women with a stuntcar. Enjoy!
(04/05/07 4:00am)
Few know the story of Alan Conway, a man who failed at life and decided to go around London claiming he was director Stanley Kubrick during the early '90s. Kubrick, notoriously private in his late years, never did interviews nor did anyone truly know what he looked like, making it that much easier for Conway, or anyone really, to claim he was the legendary filmmaker.\n"Color Me Kubrick" revolves around Conway's (unfortunately played by John Malkovich) con-man schemes throughout England as he meets one person after another, promising them fame and success in his next feature, all the while trying to pick up any man he can at the local gay bars. Unfortunately for Conway, the more people he cons, the bigger the mob that is hunting him down around town gets. \nSave for some great jokes (many of which are only funny if you know a lot of trivia/random facts about Kubrick) and the usage of music from numerous Kubrick films, "Color Me Kubrick" is disastrous. Malkovich is terrible; I can't recall many films I liked him in, and his bouncing between British and New York accents gets annoying fast while being terribly exaggerated (also fueling the common mistake of those who thought Kubrick was British when, in fact, he was from New York and moved to England in the 1960s). We never really are given the explanation behind why Conway did what he did; the film simply picks up with him walking into bars and saying he is Kubrick.\nThe film is directed by Brian W. Cook (a former assistant director to Kubrick) and penned by Anthony Frewin (Kubrick's personal assistant), both of whom certainly had a great idea to work with but miss the mark almost entirely. Kubrick himself was informed shortly before Conway's arrest that a man was running around London claiming to be him and the idea fascinated Kubrick; one could be sure that had Kubrick made a film out of this story, it would've been brilliant, but "Eyes Wide Shut" was certainly a triumphant end of a career. \nThe only extra is a 45-minute documentary, "Being Alan Conway," a slow, uninspired making-of that accomplishes nothing. In fact, after 20 minutes, I was so bored I just turned it off as I got sick of listening to Malkovich ramble on about his acting style. \n"Being John Malkovich" is a good movie -- I'd recommend you watch that instead of "Color Me Kubrick," as it should've been titled: "John Malkovich Being Alan Conway Being Stanley Kubrick Being John Malkovich"
(03/29/07 4:00am)
"Blood Diamond" is the kind of film that leaves me with mixed emotions. Upon initial theatrical viewing last December, I was mostly unimpressed, save for some masterfully done action sequences. After rewatching it on DVD, I'm still impressed with all the action, but at times the subject matter comes off as exploitative of Africa's current conditions, while the heavy message that we should avoid buying diamonds from conflict zones is likely to fall on deaf ears.\n"Diamond" brings together Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou in the anarchic Sierra Leone of 1999. Hounsou, as Solomon Vandy, watches in horror as rebels invade his village and separate him from his family shortly after the films opens; DiCaprio, as Danny Archer, is an ex-mercenary turned diamond smuggler who's merely out to make a buck and escape a continent he has deemed "godforsaken." These men are brought together while in prison and Archer, seeing the opportunity to use Vandy to locate a rare diamond, makes the bold promise he can reunite Vandy with his lost family. The greatest question Vandy must ask himself is: Can this man really be trusted?\nDid DiCaprio and Hounsou really deserve their Oscar nominations for this film? Honestly, no. DiCaprio was leaps and bounds better in "The Departed" -- a film where he actually maintained his accent; Hounsou, who is indeed a very talented actor, screams practically 75 percent of his lines and it gets annoying fast. I also finally realized that director Edward Zwick has a thing for making films where white men are placed within various ethnic groups only to become either their savior, voice of reason or both. Look at "Glory," "The Last Samurai" and now "Blood Diamond," and tell me you don't notice a trend. \nSingle and double-disc editions exist of "Diamond." The single comes with Zwick's insightful commentary as the only extra. The good thing about his commentary tracks is he tries to cram in as much information as possible. The double-disc includes the commentary along with two disposable interviews with DiCaprio and Connelly, an interesting segment on the film's epic "Siege of Freetown" sequence and the music video for Nas' "Shine on 'Em." \nThe big supplement though is the 50-minute documentary, "Blood on the Stone." What follows is the lengthy journey of a diamond from the African mines all the way to its European buyer and into the shop window. The entire process is fascinating, although one viewing is sufficient.\nUltimately, "Blood Diamond" is a passable drama with strong action scenes that could've been trimmed down at least a half-hour. The end message is make sure the next diamond you purchase comes from a conflict-free zone. Yet, when the movie focuses largely on how diamonds from these zones are smuggled across borders only to be mixed in with untainted ones, is the message really all that successful?
(03/29/07 4:00am)
In the horror genre it seems that all anyone ever talks about when it comes to the classics are "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, "Night of the Living Dead, "Halloween" and the like. True die-hards will throw "Evil Dead" and "Phantasm" into the mix, but somehow "Re-Animator" only pops up randomly. Maybe it's because parts of "Re-Animator" are just too damn funny to be considered a horror flick.\nStuart Gordon's film, based on H.P. Lovecraft's excellent short story, "Herbert West, Re-animator," brings to life one of the maddest scientists since Mary Shelley penned "Frankenstein." Herbert West (played by the entertainingly creepy Jeffrey Combs) has discovered a way to bring the dead back to life by using his neon green re-animation formula. The only problem is once the dead return to the living world, West has no way of controlling their violent rage, so he enlists his roommate/fellow grad student Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) to aid in his experiments. \nThe dead walk, the blood gushes and Gordon manages to cram enough disturbing imagery into one film to practically rival all of David Cronenberg's grotesqueries. It's also ridiculously hilarious to watch some of the mishaps that come from awakening the dead, a great example being when West decides to re-animate Cain's dead cat and it chases them around the basement. \n"Re-Animator" has seen a DVD release twice before, but I never owned either of those editions and they're long out-of-print now, so this new upgrade is the way to go. The two-disc set has everything you could possibly want in terms of extras -- two commentary tracks (one with Gordon, the other with the producer and cast), interviews, a discussion with composer Richard Band on his moody yet catchy score and tons of photo galleries covering every aspect of the production. By placing the DVD into your computer, you're even given access to Gordon's screenplay and Lovecraft's original short story. \nThe highlight though, which was unavailable on the previous two-disc edition, is the inclusion of the all-new documentary, "Re-Animator Resurrectus." Clocking it at 70 minutes, this is an all-encompassing look from development through completion and general reception to a film that has certainly earned its cult-status in spades. \nRarely are horror films able to reach the level of originality that "Re-Animator" possesses, let alone do they manage to be laugh-worthy in a good way when so many of them pour on the cheese -- good recent examples of horror-comedy outings being "Shaun of the Dead" and last year's "Slither." The bottom line: Just buy the DVD because you won't be disappointed.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
As of writing, "300" has made almost $130 million and within the span of its opening weekend made more than $70 million -- that means it made its money back in the span of three days. All these big numbers means three things: That comic book genius Frank Miller's work will continue to be turned into big-screen eye candy due to the success of "Sin City" and "300;" that director Zack Snyder, who made an incredible debut with his "Dawn of the Dead" remake, could possibly be the next big man on the studio lot; and plenty of people are ready to see R-rated movies making their way back to the cineplex. \n"300" is the story of a fraction of Spartan soldiers who would battle the million men of the Persian army led by Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro, "Lost"). The Spartans are led by Leonidas (Gerard Butler, "The Phantom of the Opera"), one of the toughest SOBs in all of Greece, who dares not succumb to the threats of Xerxes and would rather die a glorious death with all of his men. At the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas and his men would get that wish, but not before taking down countless enemies.\nOf course the numbers are greatly exaggerated, as historical evidence shows about 7,000 Greeks fought the millions of Persians, but who really cares? Those numbers are just as impressive. Both Miller's book and Snyder's film are absolutely brutal as limbs fly, heads are chopped off and the battlefield is painted with numerous coatings of blood. Where "Sin City" imitates the panels of the books, "300," utilizing green/blue screens, makes every panel become a moving painting, a great example being when the great tempest smashes hundreds of Persian ships on the rocky shore as the Spartans cheer while Leonidas remains dead silent. It becomes a true work of art, unlike the prequel trilogy to "Star Wars," which appears far too digitized and just plain ugly. \nGerard Butler is spot-on; thankfully he never bursts into song as "The Phantom of the Opera" first made me think he was dreadful. Somehow David Wenham, who plays Delios and serves as our faithful narrator, has become a cinematic chameleon, looking like a puny wimp in "The Propostion" yet becoming a muscular beast for this flick. Santoro's Xerxes is kind of a joke though, oddly looking like a Persian RuPaul with a vocal processor to make him sound more intimidating. Oh well, he's supposed to be a "God-King" right?\nPlain and simple, "300" is destined to make more millions and go down in history as being one of the most successful comic book adaptations, as well as showing that CG will have a major impact on the future of cinema, especially when done this well.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
Haven't heard about "The Host" yet? Well, it's time to get educated. \n"The Host" comes from director Joon-ho Bong, whose "Memories of Murder," alongside "Oldboy," is possibly the greatest film to come out of Korea. It's the story of a small, dysfunctional family that owns a food stand next to the Han River. One day crowds of people along the shoreline happen to notice a giant creature hanging under the bridge. Suddenly it drops into the water and swims over; the people obviously think it is friendly and start tossing food at it. Turns out the only food it craves is humans as it bursts out of the river and begins devouring everyone in its path and managing to capture little Park Hyun-seo, the littlest member of the Park family. Now it is up to her father, brother, sister and uncle to save her from the monster, that is if she's still alive. \nOne word alone can describe "The Host:" fun. As other critics have already said, the film is practically a mixture of "'Godzilla' meets 'Little Miss Sunshine,'" which is an easy comparison to make if you've seen either of those movies. Sure, at times it is rather terrifying, but most of the time I was laughing my ass off at the ridiculous antics of the Park family and the drastic measures they're willing to go to save little Hyun-seo. \nThe CG monster, while not the best looking digital creation, is certainly disturbing enough in appearance with its five mouths and thousands of teeth. The way it barrels through everything in the landscape, how it does countless backflips underneath the bridge and even swallows its prey, this beastie is impressive to watch. And just like Godzilla was Japan's post-atomic bomb parable on why we should avoid using nuclear weapons, "The Host" is Korea's answer to why we need to stop polluting our world. It carries the message well and is entertaining as hell, so what more reason do you need to go see it?
(03/07/07 5:00am)
Plenty of films have been made about the Zodiac Killer, perhaps the most notorious unsolved murder case in American history. Of the ones I have seen, I could list plenty of reasons why they weren't that good, ranging from boring to lacking a cohesive narrative to being downright garbage. Yet, thanks to director David Fincher, finally emerging from his five-year absence post-"Panic Room," I can finally forget all the poor excuses for a Zodiac movie, as the man has crafted a masterpiece. \nUsing Robert Graysmith's excellent book on the case, Fincher's "Zodiac" spans 20 years through the eyes of Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), detective David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and police beat reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), examining how these gruesome murders would consume their lives. The young Graysmith is working at the San Francisco Chronicle when the Zodiac's first cryptic letter and cipher arrive in the editor in chief's hands, and he becomes obsessed with cracking the killer's codes in an attempt to prove he is more than the daily newspaper's cartoonist. His obsession would span decades, following lead after lead without hope, and ultimately his novel was birthed from these events, all in the midst of ruined lives and dead bodies littered about the Bay Area thanks to a killer who was never caught. \nFincher's film is absolutely brilliant. With a hefty running time of 158 minutes, Fincher takes Graysmith's novel and adds in his own paranoia of having been raised in Marin County, Calif., during the Zodiac's killing spree. The end product is a film similar to Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam," that being an examination of a city in which no one is truly safe when a killer is on the loose and is making such horrifying threats as "school children make good targets." With every step closer to solving the case, in reality, these men are taking two steps back, and Fincher captures their frustration and despair in every frame. What he also captures are murders so unnerving and so unsettling that they remain etched in your mind long after you've left the theater.\nPraise is to be showered upon Gyllenhaal, Downey Jr. and Ruffalo, all turning in excellent performances by getting wrapped up not only in their characters' minds but in the actual case itself. I must slight Fincher only a little for the fact that while everyone shows the wear and tear of 20 years aging, Gyllenhaal still looks as young as he did when the film started, except by the end he's managed to grow a five-day-old beard. Regardless, these are deep performances with strong supporting bits given to the likes of Brian Cox, Phillip Baker Hall and Anthony Edwards. And John Carroll Lynch, who plays major suspect Arthur Leigh Allen, is downright disturbing. \nIn the last five years, Fincher has turned down countless film projects that include "Mission: Impossible III," "Batman Begins" and even last year's unsolved murder thriller, "The Black Dahlia." What emerged in the end was "Zodiac," one of Fincher's strongest works, second only to "Fight Club," and it sure as hell was worth the wait.
(03/07/07 5:00am)
"A Good Year" was supposed to be director Ridley Scott's rebound flick. After "Kingdom of Heaven" tanked at the American box office, Scott took the path of making a modest $35 million romance that would pair him with Russell Crowe on a romp through Scott's current residence of Provence, France. Sadly, "A Good Year" flopped as well, and honestly, I'm not surprised. \nThe film tells the story of Max Skinner (Crowe) who, as a young lad (played by Freddie Highmore, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"), would spend his vacations in Provence with his Uncle Henry (an always warm Albert Finney) at his vineyard estate. The grown-up Max is a big player in the UK stock exchange, concerned only with the money floating around him and the various women he romances on a daily basis. When word of Henry's death reaches Max, he learns Henry's will was never updated, therefore making Max the inheritor of the estate. With a desire only to sell the property and make a killing, Max travels to Provence and thus begins the journey of rediscovering himself through the childhood he'd thought was forgotten. \nMany say that with "A Good Year," Scott was out of his element. Famous for being a man of action with his big-budget epics, this film doesn't fit his stylings, but I am never one to discount a director for trying something new. While it is beautifully photographed and has some genuinely funny moments, the story feels lackluster and too long by about 20 minutes -- one should hope a director's cut, which Scott has done for a majority of his films, never pops up as a future DVD release. Crowe is great in the role, but considering I am usually impressed with his work, maybe I didn't take notices of any shortcomings.\nThe DVD does feature a great commentary by Scott that also ties the making-of featurettes into the film itself; essentially you watch the movie with his commentary and breaks are inserted with the footage. Obviously you wouldn't watch the film the first time around this way, but being as boring as was, it was that much harder to watch the film for these segments as they cannot be viewed individually. There are also half a dozen trailers for the film and three terrible music videos of Russell Crowe and his new band. I've drank some nasty wine, but nothing left a more sour taste in my mouth than listening to one of my favorite actors sing alternative pop. And what better way to forget such horrid music than by downing some vino afterward?
(03/07/07 5:00am)
Plenty of films have been made about the Zodiac Killer, perhaps the most notorious unsolved murder case in American history. Of the ones I have seen, I could list plenty of reasons why they weren't that good, ranging from boring to lacking a cohesive narrative to being downright garbage. Yet, thanks to director David Fincher, finally emerging from his five-year absence post-"Panic Room," I can finally forget all the poor excuses for a Zodiac movie, as the man has crafted a masterpiece. \nUsing Robert Graysmith's excellent book on the case, Fincher's "Zodiac" spans 20 years through the eyes of Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), detective David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and police beat reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), examining how these gruesome murders would consume their lives. The young Graysmith is working at the San Francisco Chronicle when the Zodiac's first cryptic letter and cipher arrive in the editor in chief's hands, and he becomes obsessed with cracking the killer's codes in an attempt to prove he is more than the daily newspaper's cartoonist. His obsession would span decades, following lead after lead without hope, and ultimately his novel was birthed from these events, all in the midst of ruined lives and dead bodies littered about the Bay Area thanks to a killer who was never caught. \nFincher's film is absolutely brilliant. With a hefty running time of 158 minutes, Fincher takes Graysmith's novel and adds in his own paranoia of having been raised in Marin County, Calif., during the Zodiac's killing spree. The end product is a film similar to Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam," that being an examination of a city in which no one is truly safe when a killer is on the loose and is making such horrifying threats as "school children make good targets." With every step closer to solving the case, in reality, these men are taking two steps back, and Fincher captures their frustration and despair in every frame. What he also captures are murders so unnerving and so unsettling that they remain etched in your mind long after you've left the theater.\nPraise is to be showered upon Gyllenhaal, Downey Jr. and Ruffalo, all turning in excellent performances by getting wrapped up not only in their characters' minds but in the actual case itself. I must slight Fincher only a little for the fact that while everyone shows the wear and tear of 20 years aging, Gyllenhaal still looks as young as he did when the film started, except by the end he's managed to grow a five-day-old beard. Regardless, these are deep performances with strong supporting bits given to the likes of Brian Cox, Phillip Baker Hall and Anthony Edwards. And John Carroll Lynch, who plays major suspect Arthur Leigh Allen, is downright disturbing. \nIn the last five years, Fincher has turned down countless film projects that include "Mission: Impossible III," "Batman Begins" and even last year's unsolved murder thriller, "The Black Dahlia." What emerged in the end was "Zodiac," one of Fincher's strongest works, second only to "Fight Club," and it sure as hell was worth the wait.
(03/01/07 5:00am)
So Forest Whitaker won his Oscar despite my hopes that Leonardo DiCaprio might've taken home the statue for a film he wasn't nominated for. Yet after watching "Venus" late Saturday night, I reached the conclusion that if anyone deserved Best Actor, without a doubt it should've been Peter O'Toole.\nO'Toole stars as the ghostly Maurice, a very autobiographical turn as an actor in his olden years who's become typecast into playing corpses. When not on set he enjoys a pint with his acting buddies Ian and Donald (Leslie Phillips and Richard Griffiths respectively), that is until Ian's grandniece, Jessie (newcomer Jodie Whittaker), comes to take care of Ian. Maurice becomes enthralled with Jessie, despite a 60-year age difference and goes out of his way to crack her tough exterior in hopes of making a new friend -- and possibly something more.\nWhile it first appears as a Lolita complex, the angle of O'Toole just being a lecherous old man is quickly thrown out the window in a matter of minutes. He is genuinely interested in Whittaker and it shows in every scene. What is more important though are all the people whom O'Toole loves in life. Every scene between O'Toole, Phillips and Griffiths is warm, brimming with wit as we watch three old men enjoy each other's company as they curse up a storm and throw back drink after drink. When with his ex-wife Valerie (Vanessa Redgrave in a small yet poignant role), they are still so much in love with each other you never really understand why the split in the first place, nor are we ever actually told why. \nJodie Whittaker is wonderful in a role that asks her to make the transformation from bratty, young twentysomething to mature woman. O'Toole wines and dines her, and in return she grants him the smallest bit of affection, whether it's smelling her neck, holding her hand or the occasional glance up her skirt. Let it be known though that these scenes are handled with such care and grace that they never come off as creepy or disturbing. \n"Venus" goes to show that, despite his age, Peter O'Toole was right when he declined his honorary Oscar because he isn't in the ground yet. While he seemed distant in an interview I saw of him on "The Daily Show," on set O'Toole is very much alive, acting with the same passion he had in his first leading role in "Lawrence of Arabia." O'Toole is still in the acting game and "Venus" proves that without question.
(02/22/07 5:00am)
Growing up reading comic books, almost every kid loved Ghost Rider. How could you not find a man who became a fiery skeleton at night, rode a badass chopper and used a chain whip to fight the evil servants of the devil to be the coolest thing ever? The trailer to "Ghost Rider" said it all to me: Another of one my favorite comic book heroes just got pissed on. \nGood job writer/director Mark Steven Johnson! First you make "Daredevil" into an utter piece of crap, so why not ruin yet another Marvel property by completely bastardizing it -- filling it with shitty one-liners and enough God-awful CG that it makes those commercials you see on television for community colleges that offer computer design degrees look like WETA renderings for "The Lord of the Rings" films? \nIn "Ghost Rider" stuntman Johnny Blaze (a miscast Nicolas Cage) makes a deal with Mephisto (read: Lucifer, as embodied by Peter Fonda) to cure his father of cancer in exchange for his soul. Problem is his father still kicks the bucket and now Blaze lives life on the edge trying to prove he is the greatest stuntman in the world. That is until Blackheart (Wes Bently AKA the weird kid in "American Beauty") arrives in search of some scroll that has 1,000 souls on it so he can rule the world and dethrone Mephisto, his father. Blaze, being Mephisto's "bounty hunter," is transformed into Ghost Rider, the entity I just mentioned two paragraphs ago, only not as badass. \nThis film is a crock and I blame 99.9 percent of it on Mark Steven Johnson. He treats this material as a big joke, adding such brilliant writing as making Blaze say: "My skull feels like it's on fire!" Sam Raimi loves Spider-Man and Christopher Nolan loves Batman; Johnson just loves collecting paychecks on Marvel properties. The story doesn't even make sense as it jumps from action set-piece to set-piece, complete with a poor love story between Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes, who is only worth mentioning for how much her cleavage is wallpapered on the screen. \nNicolas Cage as Ghost Rider? Is the "Spirit of Vengeance" really this man with a bad hairpiece and Southern accent who fades in and out? The answer, bluntly: No. Wes Bently as Blackheart is the biggest joke of them all, though. Last I remember, Blackheart was a giant black monstrosity with fangs who sucked the souls from the living, not a Hot Topic poster child who walked around with his three goth buddies who belong at a Cradle of Filth concert. \n"Ghost Rider" has two decent things going for it. The first is casting Sam Elliott as the Caretaker because that man never has to try too hard. Just have him speak with his cowboy twang and spit a lot. The second is the fact that they got the Ghost Rider transformation right, what with all the horrific screaming that turns to maniacal laughter. Still, it was Nicolas Cage doing it so it wasn't that good. Peter Fonda would've been cool were it not the obvious fact he was put there because some asshole probably said, "Oh, yeah, he was in that one motorcycle movie from the 1960s!" \nOh there was one more redeeming thing: The trailer for "Spider-Man 3" showed before the film. At least I have that to look forward to.
(02/22/07 5:00am)
When Oscar nominations were handed out a few weeks ago, I was surprised to see Ryan Gosling come out with a nomination for "Half Nelson," a film many friends had praised and recommended to me but I'd still not seen. Thankfully, the DVD release fixed all that. \nGosling is junior high teacher Dan Dunne, a man with his own methods of teaching history outside the school's policies and when outside of the school, faces a mean addiction to cocaine. When Dunne finally decides to hit the crack pipe in the bathroom of the girl's basketball team he coaches, one of his players, Drey (Shareeka Epps), misses her ride home and just happens to find Dunne strung-out in the stall. From that day on, the line between teacher and student are blurred by this no-longer-secret addiction Dunne has been hiding for who knows how long. \nGosling is damn good here, bringing forth a blistering realism to his performance that hasn't been seen on the screen since director Otto Preminger convinced Frank Sinatra to play a smack addict in "The Man with the Golden Arm." Gosling isn't going to be collecting a statue this year at the Oscars, but I can see it in the stars that he is destined to pick one up somewhere in his promising career. Think the best performance by a youngster this year belongs to Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine"? You need to take a step back and look at Shareeka Epps who is dead-on in her debut role. And Anthony Mackie who plays Frank, the drug dealer/pseudo-father figure to Drey, is just as impressive.\nThe DVD is nothing special. A couple deleted and extended scenes that go nowhere, some humorous outtakes, a Rhymefest music video and commentary with director Ryan Fleck make up the disc. What this DVD needed was some interviews with the cast on how they prepared for their roles, especially Gosling and Epps, and possibly a featurette on Gosling's teaching style in the classroom. \nI'll admit that "Half Nelson" isn't exactly the kind of film you're going to want to watch over and over again, but it certainly doesn't sink in upon first viewing. There are plenty of layers here to dig into and with so many films out there about teachers who try to make a difference in their students' lives (such as the recent "Freedom Writers"), "Nelson" isn't pulling any punches; it is a lone wolf distanced from a pack of all too similar films.
(02/15/07 5:00am)
Upon release, "Hollywoodland" and "The Black Dahlia" had the unfortunate circumstance of squaring off with one another with only a week's separation in theaters -- two major films about two of the biggest deaths in old Hollywood. While "Dahlia" certainly made the bigger buck at the box office, "Hollywoodland" proved to have a better payoff when it comes down to the story and performances.\nThe death of the TV Superman, George Reeves, sparked controversy in the headlines within days of his suicide. There was speculation as to if he was actually murdered, given numerous inconsistencies found at the crime scene and in reports, and this allows for "Hollywoodland" to place one Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a fictional detective who has grown tired of spying on unfaithful spouses, into a mystery that is way over his head, from the streets of the valley to the corruption running through the Hollywood studio system. \nDespite the occasional snail's pace "Hollywoodland" strolls along at, the film has a fascinating story that takes a very real mystery and digs into it, as opposed to "The Black Dahlia," which used the murder of Elizabeth Short as a backdrop in the storyline rather than an actual investigation into her demise. Simo finds various angles to work with regarding Reeves' death and keeps you interested in hopes one of them sticks. \nThe performances given by Brody, Diane Lane as Reeves' companion and especially Ben Affleck as the Man of Steel are fine all around. Affleck has finally made a career comeback after doing a string of shlocky, crap-filled films for the past five years. Brody continues to impress me as he is one who, after winning his Oscar, hasn't slipped into paycheck-collecting roles -- his performance here would make even Jake Gittes proud. \nUnfortunately, the DVD isn't anything special. Three featurettes totaling almost 20 minutes, most of which are scenes from the film, cover the recreation of old Hollywood and how the media handled the death of George Reeves. There is also five minutes worth of deleted scenes that really add nothing to the film and thankfully were left out. \nThe one strong point though comes from the commentary track with director Allen Coulter. Making his feature film debut after having been an HBO golden boy for directing countless episodes of "The Sopranos, "Six Feet Under" and "Sex in the City," Coulter's commentary is detail-driven and pays attention to each individual scene. Coulter clearly put plenty of effort into this film and he wants you to notice every bit of it no matter how small. \nWhile it lacks "Black Dahlia's" glossy style, "Hollywoodland" proves that substance is almost always the victor.
(02/15/07 12:09am)
Upon release, "Hollywoodland" and "The Black Dahlia" had the unfortunate circumstance of squaring off with one another with only a week's separation in theaters -- two major films about two of the biggest deaths in old Hollywood. While "Dahlia" certainly made the bigger buck at the box office, "Hollywoodland" proved to have a better payoff when it comes down to the story and performances.\nThe death of the TV Superman, George Reeves, sparked controversy in the headlines within days of his suicide. There was speculation as to if he was actually murdered, given numerous inconsistencies found at the crime scene and in reports, and this allows for "Hollywoodland" to place one Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a fictional detective who has grown tired of spying on unfaithful spouses, into a mystery that is way over his head, from the streets of the valley to the corruption running through the Hollywood studio system. \nDespite the occasional snail's pace "Hollywoodland" strolls along at, the film has a fascinating story that takes a very real mystery and digs into it, as opposed to "The Black Dahlia," which used the murder of Elizabeth Short as a backdrop in the storyline rather than an actual investigation into her demise. Simo finds various angles to work with regarding Reeves' death and keeps you interested in hopes one of them sticks. \nThe performances given by Brody, Diane Lane as Reeves' companion and especially Ben Affleck as the Man of Steel are fine all around. Affleck has finally made a career comeback after doing a string of shlocky, crap-filled films for the past five years. Brody continues to impress me as he is one who, after winning his Oscar, hasn't slipped into paycheck-collecting roles -- his performance here would make even Jake Gittes proud. \nUnfortunately, the DVD isn't anything special. Three featurettes totaling almost 20 minutes, most of which are scenes from the film, cover the recreation of old Hollywood and how the media handled the death of George Reeves. There is also five minutes worth of deleted scenes that really add nothing to the film and thankfully were left out. \nThe one strong point though comes from the commentary track with director Allen Coulter. Making his feature film debut after having been an HBO golden boy for directing countless episodes of "The Sopranos, "Six Feet Under" and "Sex in the City," Coulter's commentary is detail-driven and pays attention to each individual scene. Coulter clearly put plenty of effort into this film and he wants you to notice every bit of it no matter how small. \nWhile it lacks "Black Dahlia's" glossy style, "Hollywoodland" proves that substance is almost always the victor.
(02/08/07 5:12am)
Trying to add something new to all the reviews of "Bicycle Thieves" (or "The Bicycle Thief" depending on who you're talking to) since its release in 1948 is probably one of the most intimidating things you could ask a critic. What more can really be said about one of the greatest films ever made? All I can say is upon first viewing some five years ago is that it left me in tears. \nNext to the French New Wave, Italian Neorealism stands not only as one of the most important movements in European cinema history but in cinema itself. "Bicycle Thieves" director Vittorio De Sica's timeless study of a man who finally finds a job in post-WWII Italy only to have his bicycle stolen shortly after is one of the cornerstones of the movement. \nDe Sica's casting of amateur actors, in particular the casting of Lamberto Maggiorani as the forsaken protagonist, was monumental. Maggiorani's face, certainly just a common face in Italy, would become the face that embodied a post-war country; his weathered face, his haggard walk but also his fierce desire to have a place in the world is the definition of man recovering in a nation still on the road to recovery, whether it be Italy or any other country in the world. \nDespite the impact it had on me, I vowed never to watch "Bicycle Thieves" again until it was given a proper restoration and DVD treatment. Without much surprise, the Criterion Collection were the ones to take the job. The print showcased on the DVD has to be as immaculate as the one screened in Italian cinemas when it premiered in 1948. \nNever one to skimp on supplements, Criterion offers up the goods in full force with this release. While a commentary is absent, the second disc gives us two massive documentaries and numerous interviews. "Life as It Is: Neorealist Movement in Italy," is an excellent 40-minute piece that should be used in introductory film classes to get the point across of what Italian Neorealism meant to cinema and the films that defined it, where "Bicycle Thieves" is joined by two other De Sica classics, "Shoeshine" and "Umberto D.," Roberto Rossellini's "Rome, Open City," "Paisan" and "Germany Year Zero," and finally Luchino Visconti's "La Terra Trema." The other documentary, an hour-long piece on screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, explores the writer's long relationship with De Sica and his importance in Italian cinema as a whole.\nFor someone to say that one of their favorite cinema movements is Italian Neorealism should not be viewed as a branding of pretentiousness; instead, it is a symbol of appreciation for some of the most heartbreaking and beautiful work ever committed to celluloid. You owe it to yourself to see this film.
(02/08/07 5:00am)
The year 2006 was an interesting one for director Steven Soderbergh's filmmaking experiments. Last January saw the release of "Bubble," Soderbergh's indie gem that spanned multiple release formats yet still went relatively unnoticed. In December, Soderbergh unveiled "The Good German," his throwback to old noirs of the 1940s using only equipment available at that time in history.\n"German," based on the World War II thriller from novelist Joseph Kanon, takes Soderbergh favorite George Clooney as Jake Geismer and sends him to the Potsdam conference as a military journalist covering the meeting of the "Big Three" after Germany's fall. Driven around the ashes of Berlin by Tully (Tobey Maguire, who should stick to playing Spider-Man and not attempting to speak German), Geismer stumbles upon America's plot to transport ex-Nazi scientists out of Germany to begin building bombs for the forthcoming Cold War with Russia; all the while Lena Brandt (Cate Blanchett), the wife of one of the dead scientists, wants to escape the rubble of her homeland.\nSoderbergh's intentions are obvious -- pay respects to the great classics of that bygone era of cinema -- with clear inspirations being "The Third Man" and "Casablanca." From the technical standpoint, he succeeded without question. "German" is a gorgeous-looking film, complete with beautiful low-key lighting that makes Blanchett look as beautiful as Marlene Dietrich, except Dietrich's eyes could burn a hole through a man. Soderbergh wisely chose to use genuine WWII stock footage of the city and Potsdam conference and these segments fit in nicely, although in terms of general editing purposes, one wants to remind Soderbergh that there were more ways to cut a scene than just using wipes. The score is equally impressive, boasting a bombastic yet dramatic charm that only one of my favorite composers, Thomas Newman, could accomplish. Newman earned "German's" only Oscar nod for Best Original Score. This marks his eighth nomination and he's still yet to win. It'd be nice for him to collect the statue, but this year's competition is rough.\nWhere "German" falters is its rather obtuse story. One question pops up and once that answer is discovered yet another question has arrived. We watch these characters maneuver through the shadows of Berlin but we have no reason to root for them. In "The Third Man," you're kept interested with the hopes that at some point, Harry Lime will arrive; in "Casablanca" you anxiously wait to see if Ingrid Bergman can escape Morocco. Here we just wonder if Clooney will ever win a fight and if Blanchett does escape Berlin, will she really be any better off? \nAs much as I support the Soderbergh/Clooney pairing, they're suited much better with the "Ocean's" movies. Clooney is only OK here and, much like Maguire, shouldn't attempt to speak German any time soon, as the dozen or so lines he mutters come out with a clunky, awkward thud. Blanchett, however, is the film's strongest actor, which should be no surprise given her equally impressive turns in 2006's "Babel" and "Notes on a Scandal." \nPerhaps down the road I'll find a greater appreciation for "The Good German;" for now I'm content with remembering the beautiful cinematography while listening to the score on my iPod.