Crunch On This!
Danny's Movie Blog
Crunch On This!
The Dark Knight - Saving His Best For Last
The Dark Knight A-
Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal
Directed by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins)
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace
Appropriate for ages 15+
The Story: The vigilante superhero Batman (Bale) has all but ended crime throughout Gotham City when a new villain who calls himself The Joker (Ledger) makes a move to bring anarchy and chaos to the peaceful city. Batman's alter ego (Bruce Wayne) decides that it is time to end the career of the caped crusader and wishes to instill power into Gotham's district attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart). Even though Dent has a romantic involvement with his true love Rachel Dawes (Gyllenhaal), Wayne knows that he truly holds the key to retiring Batman and bringing lasting peace. Unfortunately for them all, The Joker has completely different plans.
The Good: It is hard to imagine a more anticipated movie this year than Dark Knight. Not even Indiana Jones had the buzz felt worldwide for this superhero crime drama. With Ledger's passing, and the stories told of the madness that this film might have driven him to, many people are more than just a little curious about what could go down as a legendary film. What most people want to know is - is Ledger really as good as they are saying? The answer here is an absolute yes. Ledger's Joker is one of the most complex and disturbing characters to ever grace the silver screen, and I truly believe that this was talent driven and not just the result of good writing. He was able make me scared, make me laugh, and even make me shed a tear when I realized that this was the last we'll ever see of him. I'm not sure if he will win the Oscar posthumously, but I certainly hope that he does.
The production and direction of the film was strong, as was expected. The stunts, special effects, explosions, sound, and score all made for a thrilling adventure that will be the cause for many return visits. The complex plot will also get many folks to see the film multiple times. It's not that you can't appreciate it from one visit, but this is a convoluted story that I firmly believe demands at least a second viewing.
The Bad: While most of the cast turn in excellent performances, there were many supporting characters that flat-out shouldn't have been in the film. Some of the mob bosses must have been friends of Nolan, because I don't think that a production this big would have allowed some of these small roles to make it through casting. Almost as a rule, if Eric Roberts is in the film, it can't be good. While that rule doesn't apply here, that doesn't mean his performance was up to snuff. The biggest disappointment was Maggie Gyllenhaal as the replacement for Katie Holmes as the pseudo love interest. While Maggie is normally very good, her performance here just didn't really seem right.
I must also give a warning to parents that this is not a good film for kids. This feels very much like a R rated film, and I'm sure that they did just enough to get the rating down to PG-13. It is not only very violent, but incredibly disturbing as well.
The Summary: While it has it's small flaws, this new Batman installment is an impressive motion picture, largely made so by the performance of a greatly-missed talent.
Mamma Mia! - Torture Too Cruel for Gitmo
Mamma Mia! F
Starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, and Pierce Brosnan
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd
Rated PG-13 for some sex-related comments
Appropriate for ages 15+
The Story: A young girl (Seyfried) is getting married in Greece, but before she does, she wants to discover who her real father is. When going through the diary of her mother (Streep), she discovers that it could be any of three different men. After she sends all three an invitation to her wedding, they all show up, not knowing why they are there.
The Good: It's hard to make an Island in the Mediterranean look ugly, so of course the cinematography is gorgeous. I also thought that the story itself wasn't too bad. If there weren't Abba songs sung every three minutes it might have been enjoyable.
I will admit that there were a lot of people at the screening that enjoyed it. If you are a rabid Abba fan, and you don't mind singing worse than a drunken karaoke bar, then you might actually have a good time.
The Bad: I was in physical pain from the first second to the last. I have never been an Abba fan, and dislike their songs very much, so needless to say I loathed the songs coming from a bunch of named actors that should not be listing singing on their talent resumes. Seyfried has a decent voice, and I might be able to take Streep in very small doses, but this much music, sung by so many bad vocalists, made me want to put myself on suicide watch.
Before you accuse me of someone who hates musicals, please remember, I thought that Sweeney Todd was the best film of 2007. Even though Sweeney didn't have the best singers, their voices didn't remind me fingernails on a chalkboard (a preferable alternative here). Also, Mamma Mia! isn't exactly Sondheim.
The Summary: The only way to make Abba songs sound worse than they already are is to have them spring forth from the mouths of Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan.
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army - One Hell of a Great Sequel
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army A
Starring Ron Pearlman, Selma Blair, and Jeffrey Tambor
Directed by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth)
Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence and some language
Appropriate for ages 15+
The Story: A cross between Hancock and Ghost Busters, Hellboy is hated by most men even though he is just a friendly demon that has feelings, loves cats, and kills paranormal enemies that threaten mankind. In this new chapter, Hellboy must stop an evil elf from unleashing the deadly mechanical Golden Army that would destroy all humans.
The Good: While the first Hellboy pic was interesting and unusual, this new film comes across as vibrant and spectacular. The world that director Guillermo del Toro brings us here is much more imaginative than the first film. It is certainly more reminiscent of Pan's Labyrinth than his previous works and all the little details should bring joy to those going for multiple viewings.
Storywise, this is also a superior film with a well-defined villain and fun new characters and creatures to enjoy.
I was also very impressed with how at-home Pearlman and company have become with their roles. I can only imagine that wearing that much makeup would be incredibly difficult for an actor, but Pearlman never shows it and brings Hellboy to life in the way that few actors in Hollywood could.
Production wise, the film is just plain brilliant. Beautiful sights, bold colors, and a rich musical score by Danny Elfman provide for a really great movie experience.
The Bad: For me, the film itself is hard to criticize. I really loved it. I will say that the theater you see it in can make quite the difference. We screened it in a normally well-run theater (Edwards Marq*E in Houston), but the manager decided to knowingly show the movie with a burnt out bulb, making the film much too dark to be fully appreciated. The good news is - that gives me a chance to go see the film again, hopefully the way it was meant to be seen.
The Summary: As much arthouse as it is action, Hellboy is a terrific summer superhero flick that won't dumb down the audience watching it.
The Bank Job - An Interesting Take on the Heist Flick
The Bank Job
Starring Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows
Directed by Roger Donaldson (The Recruit)
Rated R for sexual content, nudity, violence and language
Appropriate for ages 17+
Available July 15, 2008 on One-Disc, Two-Disc, and Blu-ray disc editions
This early 70's period crime piece is very loosely based on a true story about a group of hooligans in London that devise a sophisticated way to rob a bank. When MI:5, the London police, and various criminals get involved, the robbers end up with much more than they thought they were in for. Fortunately for us, so does the audience. Lionsgate sold this as a thriller, instead of what it is: a gripping crime drama. I found myself intrigued at every level and my nails were once again chewed to the stub (I gotta get something for that). The disc comes with your standard making-of documentary as well as a featurette on the actual robbery. Also included here on the two-disc and Blu-ray editions is a digital copy of the film that you can put on your Ipod or computer.
Hancock - Half Cocked
Hancock B
Starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron
Directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights)
Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and language Appropriate for ages 15+
The Story: Most people consider Hancock (Smith) to be a reckless and careless drunken superhero that causes more trouble than he's worth. In order to fix this image problem, Hancock requests the assistance of public relations specialist Ray Embrey (Bateman), and turns both of their lives upside down.
The Good: The first half of this film is a blast. The premise of a down-on-his luck, unwanted superhero that accidentally does more damage than good makes for a very creative story line. Smith is his normal charismatic self and you can't go wrong with Jason Bateman as the image repairman.
The production values are top notch here with eye-popping visuals and non-stop action/comedy. There were many moments where I was going from nail-biting to knee-slapping.
The Bad: While the first half of the film was terrific, the second half left much to be desired. It was great getting to know Hancock, but discovering his back story was a big let down.
I was also disappointed in the lack of a decent villain. The bad guy here would be weak against a normal human, so you can imagine how lame he is compared to the likes of Hancock.
Finally, I must give a warning to parents: there is a lot of bad language throughout the movie. I don't normally care, but with kids being a main target of the film, I think that most parents might want to know that they threw in as much bad language as they could get away with in a PG-13 film.
The Summary: Hancock starts out super but finishes weak.
Failure is the Key
Failure is the Key
An Interview with WALL-E Director Andrew Stanton
Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with legendary film maker Andrew Stanton from Pixar Animation Studios. In addition to being one Pixar's founders, Andrew has directed three of their films including WALL-E, Finding Nemo, and A Bug's Life, and written six of their feature films including all of the above plus Toy Story 1 and 2 and Monsters, Inc. While I was fascinated with the making of WALL-E, the question I wanted answered the most was "what is the secret of Pixar's success?"
I was surprised to hear Andrew's response. "We learned really early on that part of making movies is making a million mistakes, and is falling on your face, and is taking risk, and that is not something you should be trying to get out of the equation. That is something you should embrace and plan for. I don't think that we are any smarter, or any more talented, or even better than anyone else, but I think that we've gotten very good at how do you repair your mistakes. We are very good at figuring out how to pick up the pieces after we have fallen off our bike fifteen times, and how to improve and encourage each other to make the picture better. It might seem counter-intuitive to encourage people to fail, but once you are right in the middle of it, it makes complete sense to work that way."
Where as most Hollywood studios panic, fire people, pull plugs, or simply ignore, Pixar seems to nurture their projects until they come out as the polished works of art that we, as an audience, are privileged to get to see.
Wouldn't it be an interesting world if we practiced this philosophy with our children, our students, or even our workers? Encouraging failure with a dream of perfection might just make all of our lives a little better.
WALL-E - And Yet Another Great Pixar Film
WALL-E A+
Directed by Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo)
Rated G
Appropriate for all ages
The Story: The year is 2700 and mankind has left Earth for many centuries, leaving tons of trash as a sign of their presence. A little robot named WALL-E is also left behind in order to clean up all the mountains of garbage, piece by piece. One day WALL-E comes across a new female robot named Eve, that is dropped off by a mysterious space ship. The two establish a close relationship until Eve's mission is complete and she must leave the planet. WALL-E decides he can't be without her and grabs onto the departing ship, thus beginning his galactic adventure.
The Good: From the very beginning, WALL-E establishes himself as an incredibly lovable character. While he doesn't exactly talk in a language we can understand, that doesn't prevent us from being able to interpret his actions and expressions.
What you will find when you go back through the Pixar library is that story is what drives their movies, not the voice talent or the look (unlike most other studios' animated projects). WALL-E would be no exception. Pixar does such a phenomenal job here of taking such a simple story and making it into an epic.
In addition to terrific writing and directing, the score by Thomas Newman not only provides an amazing backdrop, but serves as the primary mode of communication throughout the film.
The Bad: The animation technique used here can is quite beautiful, but can make it difficult for theater projectionists to get in focus. In a particular scene, only one or maybe two things will be in focus, and everything else out. If the projectionist doesn't fix this in the opening credits, then you might get eye strain from watching it. Needless to say, the headache that came my way didn't prevent me from appreciating this remarkable film.
The Summary: WALL-E is yet another perfect Pixar masterpiece.
Persepolis - An Animated Masterpiece
Persepolis
Featuring the voices of Chiara Mastroianni, Sean Penn, and Gena Rowlands
Directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi
Rated PG-13 for thematic material including violent images, sexual references, language and brief drug content
Appropriate for ages 13+
Available June 24, 2008 on DVD and Blu-ray disc
In this Oscar-nominated animated film from France, writer/director Marjane Satrapi tells her story of growing up as a rebellious Iranian girl during Iran's Islamic Revolution. The story shows not only the dangers of her childhood, but also the similarities of children regardless of culture. Young Marjane wants so badly to live her own life, listen to rock and roll, wear makeup and western clothing (not to be confused with country and western clothing), but due to the powerful restrictions of her country, she can only do this in private.
There are so many things to love about this film including it's history, culture, and spirit and the reminder that the world is full of human beings and not just others that are different from us.
The special features are many, but the documentary 'The Hidden Side of Persepolis' stands out as a fascinating look at the animation and film-making process that you should check out after you have seen the movie. Also, you can watch the film with an English dub, but I highly recommend you see the original French version with subtitles instead. The French version has far better voice acting and inflection while the English dub feels a little flat.
In Bruges - Hitmen on Vacation
In Bruges
Starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes
Directed by Martin McDonagh
Rated R for strong bloody violence, pervasive language and some drug use
Appropriate for ages 17+
Available June 24, 2008 on DVD
After two hitmen (Farrell and Gleason) botch an assassination, they are sent to the medieval town of Bruges, Belgium to hang out until their boss (Fiennes) comes to call on them. While they try to stay out of trouble, the attempt is in vain and trouble comes looking for them. To make matters worse, the botched hit has left an emotional scar on the younger hitman, which causes irreparable damage.
This is a difficult film to categorize. It's kind of a European gangster film but with tons of laughs. And while the comedy here is huge, the drama gives an even larger amount of gravity to the film. I consider this to be the best live-action film to have been released this year so far.
The special features are definitely worth the extra hour of watching. The deleted scenes should have been in the film and each of the featurrettes, including the Bruges travel vignette and the bad language montage add a special dimension to the DVD.
Get Smart - If the Shoe Phone Fits
Get Smart B
Starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, and Dwayne Johnson
Directed by Peter Segal (Tommy Boy)
Rated PG-13 for some rude humor, action violence and language
Appropriate for ages 13+
The Story: Maxwell Smart is a highly regarded analyst for the secret government agency CONTROL, but he dreams of one day becoming a secret agent. When he finally gets his chance, he competently bumbles through his assignments and finds that he must personally take on the evil terrorist organization KAOS in order to save the president and possibly the world.
The Good: What I enjoyed most about this remake of the classic television show is how much it surprised me. I fully expected that I had already seen most of the good scenes in the trailers and that I would be bored. I must admit that most of the great scenes were in the trailers, but there was still a lot of good humor and action that was fresh and fun to watch.
Carell fills the shoes of Don Adams with great talent, and proves himself to be much less the clumsy idiot than I remember from the old show. This new Maxwell Smart is truly good at his job, he just makes a few more mistakes than would James Bond.
The rest of the cast here is pretty remarkable as well. Most of the actors involved are very talented and get the opportunity to justly steal their scenes.
The Bad: I get the sense that the film makers weren't sure if they wanted to make this a slap-stick comedy or a comedic action flick. It has elements of both, but doesn't go all the way with either. Just when you think Maxwell is going to screw things up, he does just the opposite and reacts with a hero's strength and a natural action. But at many instances the characters go completely over-the-top and do very abnormal things.
The Summary: Overall, this is a humorous and entertaining summer diversion that should please most audiences.