Movie Reviews
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June, 2010
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2010-06-22 17:10
Genre: Drama, Thriller.
0.3
Plot Summary: Forget what you think you know about good thrillers, this one is a real gem. Whatever you might imagine the the title implies, it does--and much more. This is truly one of the best movies of its type I've ever seen, and I'm not sure it even has a type. It's quirky, charming, eerie, complex and intense all at once. Don't pass it up.
Highlights: Plot twists, reality ambiguity, Benigna, doorknobs and great lighting.
Lowlights: Not a one.
Details: Spanish language, subtitled in English. Color. -
2010-06-21 21:00
Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)
Genre: Adventure, Documentary, Drama.
0.3
Plot Summary: Warner Herzog effort depicting a Spanish exploration to find El Dorado, the City of Gold. The movie is plodding and artsy and while there are a few high points and the movie is worth a watch, most will find it boring and pointless.
Highlights: Interesting cinematography, incredible scenery, overall filmmaking effort, Aguirre's mannerisms.
Lowlights: Plot. Pace.
Details: German language, subtitled in English. Color. January, 2007
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2007-01-04 22:30
Every once in a while a movie comes along that I simply find entertaining. No other words are needed to do it any kind of justice. From the moment it starts until the time I get up from my seat, I’ve been throughly…entertained. Happy Feet is one of those films. The opening musical sequence is a bit of CG magic unlike any other. It moves along, gets your feet tapping, and is filled with so many visual and audible references that it’s hard to take them in all at once. I’d be willing to sit down and watch the first five minutes of Happy Feet over and over again simply to try and capture all of the nuance that’s been thrown in.
0.3
The story itself is one of the simplest plots in all of moviedom. It’s a coming of age story where Mumble (Elijah Wood) must overcome his handicap in order to become a man and save the day. A small disaster occurs when Mumble is still in the egg which causes him to develop slowly and have a voice not unlike claws on a chalkboard. The problem is, these penguins find their mates and continue the species by using their individual songs with beautiful voices. Mumble has to compensate somehow, but his “happy feet” are looked upon with distrust and dismay both by his family and the rest of the penguin community.
Eventually forced to leave because he can’t fit in, he finds a band of different penguins on another part of the continent and takes up friendship with them. Their ways are strange and their medicine men stranger. Robin Williams plays two excellent and eccentric roles in the movie: the fun-loving Casanova-like character Ramon, and the crippled wise man Lovelace. Brittany Murphy is convincing as Gloria, Mumble’s love interest. And best of all, Hugo Weaving is finally cast as a voice actor, so you can’t see what he looks like and think “Mr. Anderson…” to yourself every time he comes on screen. Bravo.
I’ve seen review after review of this movie which claim that when the plot finally gets down to the business of showing how humans are destroying the fishing population of the Antarctic region, that it’s all downhill from there. Many complain that the treatment of our invasion of the food chain is heavy handed and that it has no business in the film because it essentially ruins the happy feeling that the title suggests. However, a movie completely without conflict would be very boring indeed. Very little time is devoted to the human element of the film, but what is there is necessary to provide a necessary goal for Mumble, Lovelace and their companions in the film. In every story, there must be a hole to fall to the bottom of so the protagonist can climb his way out. There is no joy without pain. Not to mention that the aquarium scene is one of the best in the movie, both for the animation and story development.
From beginning to end, this movie is pure enjoyment. Even the darker parts of the film which highlight sea predators and dangers to the ecology provided by human intervention add a necessary element of somber reflection which only add to the soaring heights of singing and dancing which are the main focus. It’s clear that the movie is relying on the relatively recent success of another film involving penguins to draw its characters from, but otherwise it stands alone as a great achievement in family entertainment. It’s a very cynical person indeed who could walk out of this film complaining about heavy-handed messages when they simply aren’t there.
I left the theater with a big smile and happy feet of my own. I think everyone should do the same. October, 2006
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2006-10-05 20:00
Hollywoodland is a movie focused on investigation into the death of the original TV Superman, George Reeves (Ben Affleck). Or is it? In a far too slow and meandering way, this movie tried to be about almost everything. It has at least three distinct subplots, none of which really come to any resolution. And as someone more famous than I once said, if you try to be about everything, you wind up being about nothing.
0.3
Set at the start in 1959, just after Reeves’ apparent suicide, the movie is afflicted with a series of wandering flashbacks which fill in the details. Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) is a private investigator currently working on another worthless case who is presented with the Reeves’ death and decides to try and make something of himself by turning it into a murder investigation. The movie turns out to be much more about Simo’s attempts to reconcile his life, his family and his image, but never in fact makes it to any conclusion.
None of the other supblots in the movie make it to conclusion either. Scenes are interspersed with meandering and sometimes muttered dialog. Several times, the movie ironically chastises itself. It’s hard to tell whether this is planned or not. At one point Reeves’ is laughed at during a screening of From Here to Eternity which he has earned a role in, because everyone recognizes him as Superman and finds his presence in a serious film hilarious. The worst part for me is I didn’t see George Reeves; I saw Ben Affleck playing George Reeves.
At another point, George’s lover, Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), complains that the new style of acting and movies involves a lot of mumbling and drudgery, while Reeves is in fact a stellar actor who knows how to emote and show his winning personality. Unfortunately, this movie is full just the sort of acting problems which annoy her.
Finally, there is no real conflict here. There are scenes which are clearly designed to be tense but which fall far short. The brutality of the obligatory physical attacks are muted. Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins) is supposed to sound like a gangster, but never manages to get there. The cinematography is dark and moody, like it’s supposed to be–making the characters and the situations appear as if in black and white, even though they’re in color–just like Superman’s muted suit for the black and white television episodes. In truth, every part of this movie references every other part, as if to show that they have mastered the form of the first-time college art film where everything has symbolism and the heart of the matter is in deciphering what it all means.
But when the movie ends, the feeling is wholly unsatisfactory. The viewer senses there is closure behind most of the scenes, carefully hidden from view, and not allowed to be brought forth. In a movie where so many stories are told, you want to feel like there’s an end to at least one of them, or what was the point? Here, you’re left at the same place that you started after a more than two hour trip through Hollywood’s internals. And while the actors are competent and the story has potential, no one seemed able to bring themselves above the level of the screenplay and give Hollywoodland the depth and intensity that it so despereately needs. January, 1970
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0207-01-04 20:00
I will admit up front that The Prestige started out with a very interesting premise. In the world of magic and illusion, it seems, there is much to be gained by continually one-upping the competition. The only problem is that it sometimes comes with unforeseen and disastrous consequences.
0.3
Both Hugh Jackman (Robert Angier) and Christian Bale (Alfred Borden) put forth fine performances as magicians who are striving for the ultimate trick, the one that the other can’t figure out and can’t replicate. The only question is whose devotion to the cause is greater–who is willing to sacrifice more to the ultimate goal. Some viewers may understand who is putting forth the greater effort early on in the movie if they’re particularly perceptive, while others may not. Ultimately, it does not matter when the plot twist is discovered. It’s no less abominable either way.
The movie moves through many dark tunnels and shady places, both figuratively and literally. It’s a well crafted piece of cinematography. The movie loses some of its own magic, however, when it falls from fact into fancy. I think the premise would have been much stronger were it to keep to the realm of science, and out of the purview of myth. Keeping to a strong sense of reality would have added a nice juxtaposition to the illusion running rampant. But when the job of illusionist becomes entangled in literal magic, the watcher becomes distinctly less interested because plausibility has just been discarded.
David Bowie puts on an engaging performance as the eccentric genius Nikola Tesla. While Tesla himself is the area of the story where reality breaks done, Bowie finds a way to keep the character acting more like Einstein than Frankenstein. The female roles are necessary but essentially fluff when compared with the rest of the plot constructs. One of them, however, does provide a key piece of evidence to what’s really going on if one is alert to it. The movie is really about two battling magicians and their assistants. Michael Caine does his part, but he always seems to look like Michael Caine these days. And Angier’s assistant is hidden behind a heavy coat and beard so he’s as mysterious as he’s supposed to be.
There are many details about the profession of illusionist and the realm of Nikola Tesla’s scientific achievements that fly by during the film, and all of them may be very interesting to viewers who are into watching the Discovery Channel. Most of the scenes are film with the austerity of the time period, but they are rich in content and color, which makes for an entertaining experience. The plot is well constructed and does follow a logical path, even when events split off from reality. I’m not entirely sure there is any other way to achieve the end result of this film without having written it the way it is, but I would personally have felt better about things if the fantastic had been left for another effort.
All in all, the plot moves along nicely and everything makes sense in its way when one sees the movie in its entirety. The actors put together convincing performances and the subject matter is certainly interesting ground for a Hollywood filmmaker. Take away the fact that none of this really could have happened and you’re left with a very good film worth at least one watch for the sheer wonder of it. But once the secret is out, a second look becomes completely unnecessary.
List generated by WP Movie Ratings.