Movie Review: Life of Pi (PG - 127 minutes)

*In case you want to hear me discuss Life of Pi in addition to reading what I think of Life of Pi – check our podcast:  http://hesawshesawfilm.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/catching-up-if-we-can/

I’ve seen several Ang Lee movies, and I feel like I can say the same things about most of them:  really long, visually stunning, sometimes pretentious, sometimes a little boring.  This includes Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon, the Eric Bana Hulk, and Brokeback Mountain; and now Life of Pi.  The movie Life of Pi is based on the book Life of Pi that was written by Yann Martel in 2001.  

The Ang Lee Movie is an accurate translation of the book, with the exception of having Pi relate the story to a writer who was told to look him up to hear an amazing story, “that would make him believe in God.”  As the adult Pi begins his story, he explains that his name is Piscine Molitor Patel who was named after a French swimming pool.  He continues to reminisce about his childhood and how he changed his name to Pi after the math symbol, because he was tired of being teased as “pissing”.   He father owned a zoo, allowing Pi to develop special respect for animals.  He was raised as a Hindu, but is introduced to and begins practicing Christianity, Islam and some Judaism.  Eventually, his father decides to sell the zoo, and they board a Japanese ship to take the animals to Canada to sell them.  There is a great storm, and Pi escapes to a life boat, accompanied by a zebra with a broken leg, an orangutan, and a hyena.  The hyena is responsible for the death of the zebra and the orangutan, and then Richard Parker - a Bengal Tiger – emerges from underneath the tarp of the lifeboat to kill the hyena.  Pi, in an attempt to not be killed by the tiger as well, constructs a small raft that he connects to the lifeboat. 

The next hour or so of the movie is Pi and Richard Parker surviving and learning to build a cautious trust between them as they exist on the ocean.  They encounter many different visually stunning experiences.  These include:  a school of flying fish, occasional shark attacks, a glowing ocean of algae and a whale, a carnivorous island filled (and I mean filled) with Meerkats, and an incredible thunderstorm.  After 227 days lost at sea, Pi and Richard Parker wash up on the shores of Mexico. Pi stumbles out of the boat to lay on the sand, Richard Parker gets out of the boat, stretches, and walks off into the jungle without looking back at Pi.  Pi is rescued, and executives from the Japanese shipping company come to interview him about the ship.  After he relates his story, they say it is unbelievable.  He tells the story again, swapping out a sailor, the ship’s cook, and his mother for the three animals in the boat.  After telling this story, he asks which version is preferred (in the book he asks the Japanese shipping executives, in the movie he asks the writer).  The version with the animals is preferred, the writer saying it is the better story, and Pi responds; “and so it is with God.”

I had great trepidation about going to see this movie.  I really can’t handle seeing animals in pain or suffering – even if they are amazingly done CGI animals, and not real.  I absolutely have to credit the woman in the theater behind me who took her small child out of the theater during the shipwreck part of the movie, and while the animals in the boat were being killed.   Smart move on her part - it was a tough scene - and a pleasant surprise to me, because I am used to seeing very small children in hard R movies and wondering what those parents are thinking.

Lee directs this movie using the same stunning visuals he is known for. If you are going to see it in the theater, see it in 3D – if only for the scenes of Pi and Richard Parker experiencing things during their time in the lifeboat, especially the flying fish sequence. There are parts that are slow; after all, they are in that boat for a long, long time. 

The cast is perfect, and admittedly small, but you don’t need a lot of people to convey the story.
·         Suraj Sharma plays Pi:  this is his first movie, and he does convey a sense of wonder, fear, and hope while struggling to survive.  Also, sufficiently heartbreaking when he is devastated that Richard Parker walked away from him so casually without even looking back. 
·         Irrfan Khan plays the adult Pi retelling the story to the writer.  He was most recently featured in The Amazing Spider-Man (which also featured a character called Richard Parker), where he was the ultimate corporate evil baddie.  In this, he gives Pi a quiet strength as he retells his story, and is charming and relatable.
·         Rafe Spall (son of Timothy of Harry Potter fame) plays the writer.  Incidentally, Toby McGuire had been cast as the writer, and shot some of the scenes, but Lee switched to Rafe Spall for a more unknown actor. 
·         For some reason, Gerard Depardieu has one scene as the ship’s cook.  It was weird, off-putting, and I don’t have any idea why he was there.  You almost didn’t need that scene at all.

Again, this movie is visually stunning, quietly beautiful, well-acted, and overly long.  I expected it to be far more religious than it was, that was what all the marketing lead me to believe.  Instead I would classify it as faith-based, and more meditative than overtly religious.  Check it out – and if you see it in the theater, see it in 3D. 

6 out of 10:  Gained points for Richard Parker; that tiger was awesome, and anytime he was in any kind of danger or was scared, I got upset.  Lost points for the length.  Gained points for the visuals – especially the flying fish.  Lost points for Depardieu. 

Bonus Video 1:  In case you forgot Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon. 

Bonus Video 2: I actually prefer House of Flying Daggers, and even more so – Hero - to CT/HD.  Neither of those are Ang Lee movies, but they have a similar feel to CT/HD.

Bonus Video 3:  Interviews!

Movie Review: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part 2 (PG13 - 115 minutes)

Finally:  that’s probably the best thing I can say about this.  No – check that, the best thing I can say about this movie is that it is not nearly as terrible as all the others in the series.  It is absolutely the best of the Twilight movies.  I have never hid the fact that I am not a fan of this series.  I have read all of the books (and hated them).  I (just my opinion!) found them terribly written, and found Bella to be one of the worst female role models ever put into existence.  There are four books in the series written by Stephanie Meyer, who is famously Mormon, and they cover the romance between Bella and Edward in the slowest way possible. 

In Twilight, we meet Bella - a high school girl who moves to the town of Forks, in the Pacific Northwest.   She is awkward and pale and brood-y.  Bella meets Edward, who is a vampire (of sorts), living with a family of vampires in this town because it gets less sun than any other city in the country.  See, they need it to be overcast, because they sparkle in the sunlight (you know, as vampires do).  They’re absolutely the worst vampires ever put on screen (not their fault, they are an accurate translation from the book), and really make me wish Blade would take a trip up there and handle everyone.  Bella gets to meet and hang out with Edward's vampire family, who have sworn off drinking humans, but then they have to battle James – a vampire hunter who rolls into town with his buddies, and they do drink humans. 

By the end of Twilight, Bella decides she can’t live without Edward and that being with him is the only thing that gives her life purpose (giant eye-roll). So in New Moon, Edward tries to leave Bella for her own good, she starts hanging out with Jacob who reveals his abs and goes all wolfy.  Bella realizes that if she puts herself in mortal danger she sees visions of Edward.  She keeps doing more and more dangerous things (including motorcycle riding and cliffdiving).  Edward’s sister Alice sees the future, but werewolves cloud her judgement – so, she sees Bella cliffdive, but not be saved by werewolves, so she tells Edward Bella died.  Edward decides to go to Italy and expose himself to the public as a vampire to be killed by the Volturi – the vampire ruling body – because he can’t live without Bella.  She hears about this – goes to Italy to stop him, and they convince the Volturi to leave them alone with the promise that they will turn Bella eventually.  

Eventually Bella demands to be changed into a vampire, Edward concedes, but only if they get married first (insert Mormon based sex/marriage commentary here).   Eclipse brings Victoria, the mate of James - the hunter from Twilight - to come after Bella and Edward after they were responsible for James’s death.  The Cullen clan partner up with the werewolf clan to eliminate Victoria and the group of newborn Vampires that she is assembling (newborns are really strong and out-of-control vicious). 

Part 1 of Breaking Dawn was very long and very slow and involved the wedding – the honeymoon – the sex – and the crazy fast vampire pregnancy.  It ended with Bella’s human life ending as her vampire husband chewed her half vampire/half human baby (which was slowly killing her) out of her, because the only thing that can break through a vampire amniotic womb is vampire teeth.  That resulted in her turning into a vampire, and Jacob ‘imprinting’ on her baby. 

There’s your unnecessary summary of the story to this point.  If you want more detail, read the books.  They’re written at an exceptionally low level, you can finish them very quickly. 

That brings us up to date and to Breaking Dawn part 2.  This one begins with Bella waking up as a vampire, thirsty for blood, super strong and out to protect her rapidly growing, telepathic child.  Edward takes her hunting and she successfully controls her desire for human blood by tackling a mountain lion.  While out in the snow playing with her daughter (who now looks 4ish) and her werewolf guardian, Maggie Grace observes them from a distant hill.  Since it is forbidden to make child vampires (they can’t be controlled and apparently will eat entire towns), she assumes they’ve done this and runs to the vampire ruling body – the Volturi, which is basically Michael Sheen attempting to do the farthest thing from Lucius in Underworld that he can.   

The Volturi assemble and come to do battle, so the Cullens assemble their own group of good (?) vampires to bear witness that the child is only half vampire and was born naturally, not bitten and made.  The random collection of other vampires is a fun sequence, and we do get to be introduced to other vampires from other lands.  Each of them has special powers and different opinions.  In the book, the two sides stand on opposing ends of a snowfield and talk, for what felt like 7 chapters, but I’m sure was not.  In the movie – there is a twist, a huge battle sequence; no spoiler there, it’s in all the ads.  Eventually – it ends, and just about everyone gets their happily ever after.

This one is directed by Bill Condon, who did part 1 as well as Dreamgirls, Kinsey, Gods and Monsters, and Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (that doesn’t fit in).  This is an Oscar nominated director, and it does pay off, this movie is better done than any of the others.  By this point, the actors have been playing the characters for 6 years, so they feel more natural together.

• Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are back as Bella and Edward, and whether or not they are together in real life, their on-screen chemistry has greatly improved.  Stewart finally gets to give Bella some personality, and she actually gets to smile in this movie.  Likewise with Pattinson, who spent the previous movies looking pained. 

• Taylor Lautner and his abs are back as Jacob.  He does a decent job, and could have a mainstream career after these movies as opposed to the two other leads, who will probably stick to indie careers.  Taylor’s Abduction proved he has potential to have a fun action career, so we’ll see what happens.
• Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Kellan Lutz and Nikki Reed all return as the various Cullen family members.  They have a little more to do in this movie than in a few of the previous ones, and they all seem to be enjoying themselves.  The battle scene is great fun, and they all do a great job.
• Billy Burke returns as Bella’s father Charlie, and gets some fun moments where he as to act like he is okay with his daughter turning into a vampire and having a mysteriously rapidly aging child and her friend turning into a wolf in front of him.  He does seem to be wanting this movie to hurry along so that he can get back to Revolution. 

If you are a ‘Twi-hard’, you’ll love it.  It’s a satisfying end to a truthful adaptation of the source material.  If you’re not that into the series, I will re-state that this one is the best of the series, the battle sequence is great, and there is an epic ending closing sequence where everyone from the series gets their name on screen next to their picture. 

5 out of 10.  Lost points for Bella, and Edward, and the majority of the characters.  Gained points for the battle.  Lost points for the creepy CGI baby…yikes.  Gained points for Michael Sheen – he is pleasantly bizarre in this.

Bonus Video 1: Blade Opening…real vampires and a real vampire hunter.  While this opening sequence is epic - Blade 2 is my favorite of the series.

Bonus Video 2:  Buffy the Vampire Hunter series opening (for each season).  If you are unaware, 7 seasons of Joss Whedon’s genius, with arguably one of the best female role models ever.  Rent it now.

Bonus Video 3:  Cast Interviews

 

Movie Review: Red Dawn (PG13 - 114 minutes)

The original Red Dawn came out in 1984 and starred Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, C.Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey, Powers Booth, and Harry Dean Stanton.   It was written by Keving McReynolds and directed by John Millius, who also did Conan the Barbarian (one of my favorites).  It smartly played on some of the paranoia of the Cold War, and featured an American Invasion by Soviet, Cuban, and Nicaraguan forces.  During the start of World War 3, some of these forces parachute into a Colorado high school football field.  Some of the high schoolers take off into the woods, and start to fight back - guerrilla style, and the father of two of the boys asks them famously to "Avenge Me!"

I suppose it makes sense for this movie to be remade.  While the premise is still unnerving, the original is dated; for instance, the Soviet Union doesn't exist anymore.  But the idea of high schoolers banding together to fight off an invading force still makes for an entertaining movie, right?  So who to use as the villans?

The answer is of course, China.  When this remake was filmed in 2009 - it made complete sense to use China as the bad guys and invading forces.  However, MGM went through some financial troubles, and this sat on the shelf for a while.  A fate that also befell Chris Hemsworth's other delayed 2012 release, Cabin in the Woods.  In that short amount of time, China has become quite the spot for overseas box office income.  Clearly they could no longer be the villans in a major motion picture .  The makers of this film, including director Dan Bradley (previously known mainly for stunt work and 2nd unit directing) made the decision to digitally change the villans to North Korea.  This means they left all the actors the same, but digitally changed all the flags, and re-dubbed over the dialog.  So, in a scene where two of the invaders were speaking Chinese, they are now dubbed over with Korean.  You can have your own discussions about the level of wrong-ness that entails, and whether it's just a little bit racist to assume that we'll just go with Asian actors being any asian ethnicity, and if it's distracting in the movie (I thought it was, but it might just be me). 

That being said, let's recap the plot in this version:  almost the same as the first.  We get some brief character development between Jed and Matt.  Jed is just back from serving in Iraq, and Matt is the ball-hog quarterback on the football team.  Their father is the local sheriff.  Matt is dating Erica - a cheerleader, and Jed is being hit on by Toni, who is close to Erica, but I can't figure out how - are they sisters?  The power goes out at night, and in the morning - it's raining invading North Korean soldiers.  During the confusion, Jed and Matt grab some of their friends and head out of town at the insistence of their father.  One of the kids seems to be launched out the back of the pickup truck during the escape, but they never mention that agin.  They hide out in their cabin, only to be betrayed, and just before being executed, the father of the two boys encourages them to fight.  Not quite as dramatic as being asked to avenge someone, but pretty good.  The boys then lead their friends in some guerrilla style fighting. 

 

The cast of this one is capable, although to be honest, no one really gets any character development except for the two brothers.  Everyone else gets about 5 minutes of development.  Which is probably enough for a movie like this.  Everyone is just fine - no one is fantastic, but I don't think there's a need for fantastic:

• Chris Hemsworth as Jed - is again pre-Thor in this, but is fine and certainly believable as the recently returned Marine who inspires the local kids to fight back.  He proves again that he's a better actor than you think he should be, although it's not shown off in this movie.
• Josh Peck as Matt - has previously been in a great deal of kid shows and movies.  He was in Drillbit Taylor.  He's not great in this, and has that Kristen Stewart problem of leaving his mouth open all the time. 
• Adrianne Palicki as Toni - I know the girls were sisters in the original, so I assumed they were in this one, however, Toni does mention that she's an only child.  Adrianne has been on Friday Night Lights, and in Legion, a Paul Bettany movie that I love, and again, she's fine in this - but thank goodness she's not playing Wonder Woman.
• Isabel Lucas as Erica - previously seen in Transformers 2 as the blond girl.  She plays Matt's girlfriend, and the reason he throws a carefully plotted scheme in the trash to rescue her, throwing the group into disarray.  She's bland, but again - fine.  Incidentally - she once costarred with Chris Hemsworth in an Australian soap opera, and they dated for a while.
• Josh Hutcherson as Robert - again, this is pre-Peeta for him, but he had already been in the Journey to the Center of the Earth and various other TV shows. He's pretty good in this, and will probably have a very long career.
• Connor Cruise (yes, Tom's kid) plays Daryl, the mayor's son.  The mayor starts to work with the invaders, giving Connor plenty to act conflicted about.  This is his first major movie role, and again - he's fine.
• Edwin Hodge (older brother of Aldis, who is currently starring on Leverage, and is my pick to play T'Challa if they ever get around to a Black Panther movie) plays Danny.  He's done a lot of TV, and is again - fine - in this movie as one of the kids helping to fight back.
• Brett Cullen plays Tom Eckert - sheriff and father.  He's the one who initiates this sequence of events by encouraging the boys to hide in the woods and fight back, but never asks to be avenged.
• Will Yun Lee plays the lead Korean invader.  He's been in a lot of things, most recently on Hawaii 5-0.  If you didn't watch Witchblade when it was on TV, you should rent it.
• Jeffery Dean Morgan, Kenneth Choi, and Matt Gerald play the three American Marines that eventually run into the kids in the woods to help them steal a suitcase, which will turn the tide of battle.   Because that's what suitcases do.  Okay, to be fair, it's a communications device, but still - it looks like a suitcase.

So, all in all, the actors were fine.  Nothing great, nothing terrible.  I was expecting terrible, so I was actually pleasantly surprised by the 'fine' quality.  The action was okay - several sequences were shot too close (please back up the camera and let me see what is going on!), and several sequences were shot with a hand held (please put the camera on a steadi-cam and stop running with it - that's not a cool effect, you're just make everyone nauseous!).  I wouldn't run out to the theater for this, maybe wait until you can rent it, then do a double feature with the original - just for kicks.  I'm just going to assume that you have that much time to waste on Red Dawn movies.
5 out of 10 - the definition of average.  Gained points for giving people more reason to yell "Wolverines!"  And bonus for you if that was your high school mascot (mine would be "Falcons!").  Lost points for the brothers making Robert drink a cup of deer's blood after he shoots it, ick, and why?
Bonus Video 1:  Witchblade, was a series on TNT, starring Will Yun Lee and Yancy Butler.

Bonus Video 2:  The "Avenge Me!" Clip from the 1984 Red Dawn.

Bonus Video 3:  Aldis and Edwin Hodge - again, if you aren't watching Leverage, you should be.

Bonus Video:  Cast Interviews!

 

Movie Review: Alex Cross (PG13 - 101 minutes)

Alex Cross is a character created by author James Patterson in 1993's Along Came A Spider.  He's an African-American psychologist and police detective.  He's made it to the big screen at least twice before in Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls, portrayed both times by Morgan Freeman.

These movies were entertaining crime drama/thrillers.  The current re-incarnation or re-boot of Alex Cross attempts to be an entertaining crime drama/thriller.

Going in expecting this movie to be terrible (hey, that's what I heard), I was surprised in that it wasn't as terrible as I thought it was going to be, but it still wasn't great.  It doesn't help that the product placement is so heavy handed that at times the movie feels like an hour and a half long Cadillac commercial - look at this long, loving shot of the killer's sharp Cadillac CTS-V performance sedan as he pulls up and parks!  Also - the movie is shot on location in Detroit, which gets mentioned over and over again. 

Tyler Perry steps into the shoes of Alex Cross in this version and does a capable job playing the doctor/detective.  This marks the first time since he started making movies that he is in a major starring role (that cameo in Star Trek didn't count) in a movie he didn't write/produce/direct/edit/market/own/shoot in Atlanta/etc.   Can you imagine - Tyler Perry Presents Tyler Perry in a Tyler Perry movie, Alex Cross; directed by Tyler Perry.  I'm teasing, his movies are not quite like that, but they do get close!  Cross and his elite cop squad are homicide detectives in Detroit (check out the Cadillacs they drive!), they encounter a murder that leads to a conspiracy involving a wealthy businesman (he arrives in a Cadillac!) and a hired hit man/pyschopath (look at his beautiful Cadillac!).  As they drive their Cadillacs from placing to place attempting to guess at the killers next move, Cross's family gets caught in the crossfire (maybe his wife should have left town in a Cadillac!), and he is forced to question his moral and psychological limits.

Harvard grad Director Rob Cohen is best known for the fast and the Furious (he has a really long relationship with GM and using their vehicles - so the Cadillac/Detroit thing does make sense), Dragon Heart, Daylight, XXX, Stealth, The Mummy 3 and is currently prepping another Vin Diesel XXX movie.  He does a decent job with this movie, yes the Cadillacs could have been a little more subtle (hell, Heineken paid for almost all of Skyfall and we really only noticed it once in the movie), but on the whole, it's shot well - with a few notable exceptions.  When Cross and his team are discussing the original murder, and Cross develops his profile of the killer, he inexplicibly turns toward the camera and away from Ed Burns while he slowly describes what the killer in thinking and how he operates.  The music comes up in a odd swell, that should have just increased the tension of the movie, but really made me wonder if Perry had forgotten there were other actors in the scene.  An odd directing choice to be sure, not overwhelmingly weird.  Except that it happens again, during an intense phone conversation between our villian and our hero, Matthew Fox finishes a sentence by turning directly into the camera.  Odd, because he's alone on a roof at the time.  Then he drives off in his Cadillac. 

One other directing choice that I disagreed with is during the hand to hand combat sequence at the end - the camera switches to very jumpy hand held, with strange slow motion pieces thrown in.  These do not enhance the action in any way - and the effect had not been used at all up to that point, which really made it feel out of place.
The cast of this movie does a good job:

• Tyler Perry again proves he certainly can do things that are not necessarily his own pieces.  He is a good actor and will really only get better over time.  To be honest, I wouldn't mind him doing another Alex Cross movie, I think that this could develop into a strong franchise.
• Edward Burns plays his partner and best friend, Tommy Kane (who in the books is named John Sampson - at least, they seem to be the same character).  Burns is always entertaining (if you haven't seen Confidence - rent it now) and plays the supporting role here with ease.  The friendship between the two of them is relaxed and believable.
• Rachel Nichols plays Monica Ashe, the third member of their detective unit.  I had previously seen her in Alias (that weird last season) and GI Joe.  She's capable in this, but doesn't have a lot to do.
• Giancarlo Esposito, who of late has been amazing on Breaking Bad and Revolution, plays a local Detroit hood who runs a car dealership (there's lots of Cadillacs and other GM cars in the dealership shots - plus Cadillac wall decor).  He is the 'bad man' Cross turns to for help when beginning to question how far he will go to solve this case.  Aside from having one of the most fun names to say (go ahead and say Giancarlo Esposito out loud a few times... then Benedict Cumberbatch, then Chiwetel Ejiofor - what I wouldn't give for them all to be in a movie together) he's a great actor and fun in the little scene he has in this movie.
• Jean Reno plays the french businessman who has an amazing plan to re-vitalize Detroit.  He may or may not be the killer's next target, so Cross and team have to figure out how to protect him while he goes from meeting to meeting in his Cadillac.  He's good (see the Professional if you haven't - but don't bother with the Godzilla remake) but doesn't quite seem to fit in this movie, but maybe that's the point.
• John C. McGinley plays the police chief, which seems to involve a lot of barking orders and standing with hands agressively placed on hips - you know, like every movie police chief ever.  He was great in Office Space and on Scrubs and is fine in this, but again - not a ton to do.
• Carmen Ejogo plays Cross's wife - spoiler alert - she doesn't make it.  But that's necessary to give Cross the push towards stepping out of bounds to catch the killer.
• Cicely Tyson, who has been in many Tyler Perry movies, plays Nana Momma - Cross's grandmother, a character from the books.  She's playing a character you've seen her play before, but that's fine, because she's good at it.
• That brings me to Matthew Fox as Picasso - the psychotic, hitman for hire.  Fox lost a ton of weight for this role and really, really - I mean really - commits to it.  I'm not sure that level of committment was necessary.  He stands out in the movie, but not necessarily in a good way.  He's crazy, but the performance is so over the top, that you're more annoyed by him than you are scared of him.  He certainly succeeded in creating a memorable character, though.  And again, he drives a really nice Cadillac (seriously, at one point he turns on the radio in the car and it's playing a song with a lyric about Cadillacs - I couldn't make that up if I wanted to).

All in all, certainly not terrible, but certainly not great.  Entertaining enough if you really like Cadillacs, Detroit, creepy-thin Matthew Fox or crime-drama TV shows.
 5 out of 10:  Lost points for the non-stop Cadillac references. I get it - you're in Detroit and Cadillac gave you money for the movie - enough!  Gained points for the PG13 rating.  I so appreciated it with this movie...in an R movie, the killing, maiming, and murder would have all been amped up to a level I have no interest in seeing.  Lost points for Matthew Fox being just too much.

Bonus Video 1:  Giancarlo Esposito has been in many Spike Lee movies - in fact, he was Buggin' Out in Do The Right Thing:

 

Bonus Video 2: In Case you are unfamiliar with the rest of Tyler Perry's work - here is a very funny example!

Bonus Video 3:  Kenan Thompson as Tyler Perry on SNL: "I own Atlanta!" Hilarious.

 

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-tyler-perry/1279562/

 

Bonus Video 3:  Cast Interviews and behind the scenes footage!

Movie Review: SkyFall (PG13 - 143 minutes)

James Bond was created in 1953 by Ian Fleming, and the first novel was called Casino Royale.  Bond was the ultimate British Spy.  If you are interested in the backstory of Fleming's creation, including his first idea for the spy's name (Peregrine Carruthers), here's the wikipedia link:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_bond .
Bond was so dashing and adventurous, it was inevitable that he would make the jump to film.  And so, in 1962, Dr. No hit screens, featuring a young and dashing Sean Connery:

We have officially hit 50 years of Bond movies - with 23 official Bond films (that doesn't count 1983's Never Say Never Again - as that was not an official movie).  Honestly, they're all entertaining.  My personal favorite Classic Bond is Roger Moore (I feel like the movies from Dalton backwards are the 'classics' and from Brosnan forwards are the 'modern' Bonds), and my favorite movie was 1973's Live and Let Die.  Moore's first Bond movie, where he brought a lighter, more sophisticated Bond to screen than Connery's.

In terms of the more modern Bonds, my favorite has to be GoldenEye with Pierce Brosnan.

Daniel Craig (previously best known as "that hot dude from Tomb Raider" and "that dude from Layer Cake") took over in 2006 with Casino Royale, the book that started it all, and brought us a grittier, more realistic Bond.  Gone were the smarmy sacastic quips, the easy-going martinis, and Q's gadgets.  Also missing was the sense of fun that all Bond movies had.  Casino Royale and it's 2008 follow-up/sequel Quantum of Solace, gave us Bond during his first missions, before he developed the personality that made the older movies fun and that made him, well, Bond.  Skyfall, directed by Sam Mendes starts to bring that sensibility back to the Craig movies.

Craig seems more at ease than ever in this latest entry.  His Bond goes up against a more defined Classic Bond-style villian than the last two films have had.  Javier Bardem's Agent Silva is a betrayed MI6 agent with a major grudge against Bond's boss M.  Silva has stolen a secret list of all undercover agents in the field (how many times have we seen that particular plot device now?) and threatens to reveal all their identities until given what he wants, which seems to be an apology from M?  Bond gets caught up in Silva's quest for revenge.  Honestly, there's not much more to the plot than that.  Bond investigates all sorts of beautiful, exotic locations while attempting to discover who is behind this plot.

Sam Mendes (previously best known for American Beauty, which I hated) begins to bring back the sense of fun to this newer Bond.  You can tell he was a fan of some of the older movies, and is thrilled to be directing the 50th anniversary Bond movie.  Having been so turned off by American Beauty that I have not seen any other movies by Mendes (Road to Perdition, Jarhead, Revolutionary Road, Away We Go), I was not sure he would be able to direct what is essentially an action movie.  To my surprise, he does a very good job; the action sequences are fast and slick - with the camera at a decent distance for any hand to hand sequences (when it's too close, we can't see anything!).  The opening fight on top of a moving train is astounding, and a great way to open this movie.  Being that Mendes is excellent at character-study dramas as well, there is the correct handling of the characters in this movie and their relationships to each other; for example the relationship between Bond and M is clarified beautifully, with M clearing Bond for duty despite the fact that he failed all his re-evaluation exams - and the touching moments near the end of the movie.  To Mendes's credit, there are also several scenes that are beautiful enough to be stunning still shots; Bond's entrance to a floating Macau casino being just one of these.

 

 

The cast is filled with familiar faces:

• Daniel Craig as Bond:  Craig is one of those actors who will get a little grumpy on you, not on the level of Harrison Ford grumpy, but a little grumpy.  In Skyfall, he seems to truly enjoy being Bond, and really has an ease with the character that we have not seen him display before.  He does drink one martini, and does introduce himself, and does battle a bad guy in a pit filled with Komodo Dragons; you know, back to Bond basics.
• Judi Dench as M:  This Bond movie is really more of an M movie.  The villian's main motivation is getting even with M, Bond just happens to get in the way.  Dench is fantastic as always as M fights her 'strongly suggested retirement' from MI6.  She's tough and sassy and is a treat in this movie.
• Ralph Finnes steps in as Mallory - a representative of the ministry strongly suggesting M move on.  He steps up towards the end of the film, becoming someone Bond can rely on - and helps to set up the next movie in spectacular fashion.
• Javier Bardem's Agent Silva is creepy, weird, and off-putting.  In short, the perfect Bond villian.  The only drawback is that he's not really trying to take over the world as previous classic villians are, he simply wants revenge, and doesn't care if he has to take over the world to achieve that goal.  He stated he's always wanted to be a Bond villian, that his favorite was Jaws, and you can feel his passion for the project in his performance.
• Naomie Harris is someone I first saw in 28 Days Later, and is always good.  She plays another MI6 agent, Eve, whose last name is revealed at the end of this movie - again, setting up for the next one spectacularly.  She continues to be Bond's partner for the majority of this movie, while questioning her readiness for field work.



• Albert Finney steps in briefly towards the end of the movie in a fun cameo-syle performance.  He's great, but I think almost everyone I've talked to has mentioned how they wished that was Sean Connery instead. 
• Ben Whisaw plays the new Q, and gives Bond some grief about his age and his gadgets, which is fantastic if you're a fan of the Bond movies, because Q was always reminding Bond to bring his gadgets back in good condition!

• Berenice Marlohe plays the most typical Bond-girl role in this film.  She's exotic and deadly when she first appears, but then quickly becomes an example of how twisted and powerful our villian is, so her character is rendered somewhat meaningless.

This movie, more so than the other two Craig Bonds, fits with the cannon of other Bond films.  The end of this one could almost role smoothly into Dr. No.  I love the final scene where M asks Bond if he is ready to get back to work.  Craig is signed for two more, so we know he is, and I cannot wait.

8 out of 10.  Gained points for finally giving us another Q - hooray!  Lost points for Bardem's denture-type appliance, ick. Gained points for the car with the red button.  Lost points for destroying the car.  Gained points for M's office at the end, from the coat rack, to the weird material on the door, to Moneypenny - so awesome!

Bonus Video 1:  The song is by Adele, and it is fantastic:

Bonus Video 2:  There are so many great Bond movies that honestly I want to put all the trailers here, but let's be real - that is 23 movies.  So here's Goldfinger, widely regarded as one of the best:

...and here's Octopussy - widely regarded as one of the worst, but one of my personal favorites!  Features Maude Adams as Octopussy, who previously played a Bond girl in The Man With the Golden Gun - and remains the only actress to play two different Bond girls in two different Bond Movies (useless trivia for you).

Bonus Video 4:  Cast Interviews!

Movie Review: The Man with the Iron Fists (R - 95 minutes)

There are many many bad martial arts movies out there.  I fell in love with them in the 80s, but they gained popularity in the early 70s as the "kung-fu movie" became a trend and gained popularity - beginning with the stateside rise of Bruce Lee in 1971.  As with other pure action films, most martial arts films mainly action and fight scenes, with minimal plot and character development.  Martial arts were still fairly new in the United States, and these roles were played by actors who are real martial artists - in addition to accenting their skills with wirework, springboards, and trampolines.  The majority of the early films were dubbed (poorly) into English and broadcast on weekend TV, in Kung Fu Theater, or Black Belt Theater.  My favorite is Enter the Dragon - from 1973...basically the beginning of the American infatuation:

The members of the WuTang clan (  RZA, GZA, Method man, RedMan, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck,U_God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard) used to get together and watch these films together, leading them to use the 'kung-fu' mentality in the foundation of their rap group.  Several members had been acting on and off for years, and RZA (Robert Diggs) decided to write and direct a tribute to the kung-fu movies they loved. 

He had been working on a script for four years with his friend (and director) Eli Roth.  His first cut of the film was four hours, but Roth convinced him to cut it down to 95 minutes:  a much more reasonable length for this type of flick.

In the small Chinese town: Jungle Village, there are several different animal-themed clans vying for power (lion, wolf, hyena, tiger, rat, spider, etc.).  The emporer sends a shipment of gold through the village, asking Golden Lion, the respectable head of the Lion clan to protect it.  He is ambushed by his second in command, Silver Lion - who steals the gold for himself, and then must fend off Golden Lion's son: the X-Blade, a rogue British Soldier, the head of the local whorehouse, and RZA, the town's blacksmith who is simply trying to raise enough money to run off with his lady love.  That's the simple version, but there are different little twists and turns and interactions.  It's bloody, brutal, crazy, over-the-top, and really entertaining.

I think that the RZA will develop into a good director.  He does a decent job with this movie, and my main complaint is that I wish the fight scenes were filmed further back.  All the actors do their own fighting, I would have liked to see the fights completely, instead of the choice the put the camera right into the fight.  The scenes and sets are beautiful and colorful, and the movie does bring back the feel of those movies from the 70s. 
The cast is fantastic and really seem to be enjoying themselves:

• RZA plays the aforementioned blacksmith, and is absolutely a better director than an actor, at least at this point.  He plays it smart in that the blacksmith is quiet and stoic for the beginning of the movie, and doesn't have much emoting to do until his backstory is revealed.  He's fine, not great, but fine.
• Rick Yune (a former hedgefund trader on Wall Street) plays Zen Yi - the X-Blade, who boasts a suit of blades that pop out from various areas.  He enters the fray to avenge his father Golden Lion.  He's the typical good-guy, determined and honor-bound.
• Russell Crowe is so much better in this than I have seen him recently.  He met RZA on the set of the Next Three Days (rent that - it's good) and agreed to be in this despite only having 10 days of availability.  He looks like he is having a blast playing the rogue British soldier, who may or may not have a secret agenda.
• Lucy Lui is playing a character very similar to her character from Kill Bill - but again, looks like she is having a great time.  She requested the fight she has with Cung Lee's Bronze Lion, to demonstrate her character's fighting skill.  She plays the madam of Jungle Village's whorehouse, who also may or may not have a secret agenda (there's a lot of secret agendas in this movie).
• Cung Le plays Bronze Lion and is a multiple champion in various martial arts championships. He has almost no lines in this movie, and is really here for the action. 
• Dave Bautista from the WWE plays Brass Body, a character who seems to have a brass body.  This makes him almost impervious to damage...unless of course, a character remembers a particular kung fu lesson about pressure points in a flashback...  Dave is suprisingly good in this and has a great ease on screen.  I hope that he does more movies after this.
• Jamie Chung plays the blacksmith's love who is, of course, working in the whorehouse as the blacksmith raises enough money to free both of them.  She has little to do, but is better in this than she was in SuckerPunch, or...I liked this so much more than I liked SuckerPunch (I hated that movie).
• Byron Mann plays Silver Lion and absolutely runs away with this movie.  He looks like he is having an amazing time playing the main villian.  He is equal parts funny and frightening in his pursuit of the gold and is the perfect character for this movie.

If you are in any way nostalgic for the kung-fu movies of old....go check this out.  You'll have a good time.  It delivers exactly what it promises and a whole bunch of fun.  I look forward to more directing by RZA, but maybe not more acting.
7 out of 10.  Gained points for Dave - really good!  Lost points for all the blood and guts - ick.  Gained points for the lack of PTS - which I was really expecting in this! 
Bonus video 1:  Game of Death trailer - where the yellow jumpsuit really came from:

Bonus Video 2:  My favorite ninja movie - American Ninja 2!

Bonus Video 3: Cast Interviews!

Extra Bonus: our Podcast review of this movie:  http://hesawshesawfilm.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/the-man-with-the-iron-fist/

Movie Review: Flight (R - 138 minutes)

We have descended into the time of year where the summer blockbusters are finally moving out of theaters, the halloween horror movies are shifting on - and the Festival Circut/Award Films start hitting the theaters.  These are movies that the film companies release late in the year (November/December), sometimes after they have been back and forth through some of the film festivals and are now entering 'wide release'.  It usually makes for a boring November/December movie-wise (thank goodness for SkyFall!); if you are into the big, loud fun popcorn movies like I am. 
Robert Zemeckis has not made a movie with live action people in it since 2000, when he released Castaway - which, in case you had forgotten, was almost three hours of Tom Hanks trapped on an island with a volleyball - or - a really amazing character study with a background of survival through difficult circumstances.

Between then and now - Zemeckis was tooling around with attempting to make computer animated movies look as real as possible, with Beowulf, the Polar Express, and a Christmas Carol.

That brings us to 2012, and Zemeckis's new piece, Flight.  In the same way that I would describe Castaway as almost three hours of Tom Hanks alone on an island with a volleyball; I would describe Flight as almost three hours of Denzel Washington drinking and driving the people around him crazy.

Flight is the story of a somewhat-broken down commercial airline pilot, 'Whip' Whitaker (Denzel Washington), who miraculously lands a plane after a malfunction and saves a great many people.  However, during the investigation of the crash, his background of drinking and drugs comes to light. 

I found this movie difficult to describe at first.  It was marketed as a bit of an event movie, with some humorous parts.  I definitely should have known better - do not trust the marketing of films this time of year (for the record, the new Bradley Cooper/Jennifer Lawrence Silver Linings Playbook is definitely not a RomCom, despite the marketing for it).   This is not an event movie, it's not a comedy, it's not really a drama, it's not really a recovery movie - it absolutely is a character study; similar to Castaway.  Zemeckis does an amazing job directing everyone in this movie, and there will absolutely be some Oscar nominations.  I did have some issues with bits.  During the entire opening of the movie where we are introduced to Denzel's character, Nadine Velazquez (best known as Catalina on My Name is Earl) is completely naked for the scene.  I have pointed out in the past how much I dislike PTSs.  This wasn't even that - at least in a dumb action movie, I can accept a PTS.  This was a naked chick for 10 minutes that made no sense, did not advance the story, and did not prove a point - and thusly - annoyed me immensely.  There are also several scenes setting up Kelly Reilly's character that involve her visiting her dealer on a porn movie set and shooting up - all before we have any idea why her character is in the movie.  Again - these pieces serve to establish character, but for me personally, I could have done with less...just less of the seediness of these characters.

In terms of the cast, almost everyone was brilliant:

• Denzel will absolutely be nominated for his performance as Whip.  He portrays a functioning alcoholic who is very aware of his problem, but does not consider it a problem.  You know he did an amazing job, because when I saw this movie, the theater was full - and every time his character reached for a drink - every single person in the theater groaned in dismay.  This is proof that the audience wanted to be on his side, and was disappointed by him - a statement that he was doing a great job as an actor.  And yes, spoiler alert - he has a 'happy' ending (meaning he finally gets some help with the drinking).
• British actress Kelly Reilly plays the heroin addict who eventually circles into Whip's existence.  As I said, I could not figure out why we were seeing her story in such detail until she did encounter Whip at the hospital.  She helps to ground his character, but not completely, and was very good in the movie.
• Tamara Tunie, who is often on Law and Order SVU, plays a flight attendant who is very familiar with Whip and his foibles.  She plays this character just right - someone who wants to do the right thing, but is torn because of her years of loyalty and friendship.  It's a minor role that is really well done.
• Bruce Greenwood plays the representative of the pilot's union who comes to visit Whip in the hospital and help guide him through the investigation as it progresses.  He has been great in many things lately - he voices Batman in a few animated movies/shows (when Kevin Conroy is not), and was great as Captain Pike in J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot.  He is really good in this as someone who is Whip's friend, but is well aware of his troubles.
• Don Cheadle steals the scenes that he is in as the lawyer representing Whip and the pilot's union.  He is cutthroat and direct, wiping out the toxicology report that shows Whip was intoxicated during the crash.  He plays the role straightforward and understated.
• John Goodman is barely in this, but is so watchable and entertaining in the scenes that he is in - between this and Argo, he should get a best supporting actor nomination from one of them.  He plays Whip's neighbor/friend/dealer and is the most over-the-top character in the movie, providing the only comic relief in an otherwise very heavy movie.  He was also with Denzel in Fallen, and incidentally Cheadle worked with Denzel in Devil in a Blue Dress...that has nothing to do with this review - it's just an interesting bit of trivia that might come in handy at another time!

Objectively, this is a really well crafted, fantastically acted, well written film.  Personally, I hated it.  It clocks in at almost 2 and a half hours, which is way too long for any character study, in my opinion.  It's super long, and a bit depressing, and emotionally draining.  So, in short (too late) well done, but not my cup of tea...hell, not my cup of any beverage.
4 out of 10.  Lost points for far too many close-ups of Denzel.  Yes, he's good looking, but he's also 58 now, the camera doesn't need to be that close.  Lost points for the excessive drinking and drug use - I know, I know, that's what the movie's about....Lost the rest of the points for Nadine being naked in the beginning - I have no interest in seeing that.  Gained one point for Denzel's butt, he tried to compensate for the naked chick in the beginning, which I appreciate, but as stated...he's 58 now.
Bonus Video 1:  Remember Don Cheadle on Fresh Prince of Bel Aire?

Bonus Video 2: Bruce Greenwood and Neil Patrick Harris...If you haven't seen Batman: Under the Red Hood - you really should.

Bonus Video 3:  Virtuosity - far and away my favorite Denzel movie, far far and away my favorite Russel Crowe movie.  From 1995 - cheesy and entertaining:

Bonus Video 4:  Red Carpet Cast Interviews!