Whatever Works

3 1/2 stars. I am a Woody Allen fan. I don't like all of his films, but I am a fan of them as a whole. It's like being a Cubs fan. No matter how bad the team is doing, you're still right with them.

Whatever Works is #40 for Woody Allen and it's set in NYC after 4 previous films shot in the UK/Spain. And I am trying to think about how to start, but all I can say is that it is true and through a Woody Allen film. Witty spot on writing, gorgeous NYC settings set in the summertime, parks and restaurants and streets you want to go to, and great wacko characters. There's no clever hook here and there's not supposed to be. Larry David plays Boris Yellnikoff, a misantrophic genius who meets sunny Southern girl Melodie St. Ann Celestine (try saying that 4x fast) and the movie takes off from there.

It's about their friendship, this opposite intelligences attraction, then it becomes about something else. I don't want to give too much away, but her mother does show up and then her father, but even that doesn't go the way you'd expect it. There aren't loud comedic arguments among the characters and there isn't some big fight between the parents and Boris. The story goes in such pleasantly unexpected directions. The characters grow and change without plot contrivances. It's not about who ends up with who, it's about where each of these people end up in their lives.

All this analysis aside, it's very funny, with the running gag about Boris playing for the Yankees bringing the biggest laughs. Larry David turns out to be a perfect choice. Combining him with Woody Allen, that's misanthropic genius. And after Across the Universe and The Wrestler, Evan Rachel Wood is becoming the young actress to take notice of. Despite the pretentiousness of her three name name, she's the real deal. She's so completely opposite here from the daughter of Randy the Ram Robinson. She's sweet and stupid and crazy lovable. Also look out for Patricia Clarkson (The Station Agent, Pieces of April) who is also very good.

Some people have said it already, but this does feel like vintage Woody Allen. Annie Hall, Manhattan Woody Allen. Above all, it makes you want to experience life in New York. Where every day is sunny and apparently you don't have to go to work. I didn't like Vicky Cristina or Cassandra's Dream, but when this one ended, I said to myself in the theater, "Man, that was really good."

Weekly Recap 6/26/09

DVDs Watched this Week:
The Good: The Rock, We Are Marshall, The World's Fastest Indian, August Rush, The Island, The Sum of All Fears, Leon:The Professional, La Femme Nikita, When Harry Met Sally, Waking Life, Armageddon, Iron Man, Deliverance, Eyes Wide Shut, Will&Grace Season 8
The Bad: Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, Pearl Harbor, The Code, Waltz with Bashir
The Ugly: Transformers

Trips to the Theater: Whatever Works (excellent. will post review soon)
Actors of the Week: Jean Reno, Billy Crystal, Evan Rachel Wood(man I'm starting to get a crush), Larry David
Directors of the Week: Luc Besson, Michael Bay pre-Pearl Harbor, Woody Allen
Where'd They Go?: Sean Connery?

Good: Fincher possibly helming Aaron Sorkin written Facebook movie, Watchmen:The Director's Cut coming on DVD
Bad: Sony Pictures drops Soderbergh/Pitt film Moneyball three days before production was supposed to begin, Teen Wolf remake, RIP Jacko
?: Zhang Yimou(Hero, House of Flying Daggers) is remaking the Coen Brothers' first film Blood Simple?

TRAILERS/CLIPS of the Week:
Cold Souls. Looks in the vein of Eternal Sunshine+Adaptation-Charlie Kaufman. Paul Giamatti stars as Paul Giamatti.


Coco Avant Chanel. Audrey Tautou. One of my favorites.


The Pacific. The new HBO Mini-series from Hanks/Spielberg. Looks like a companion piece to Band of Brothers.

The Criterion Collection

The Criterion Collection is a series of classic and contemporary films, put into very special editions on DVD. To have your movie picked by Criterion is an honor. The video transfers are beautiful, the special features are nice, and the cover boxes are insanely awesome. Here are some samples. Click on image for larger version.

Now some fanboys have put together their own Criterion Collection DVD cover boxes. They are fake, they are photoshop, they are genius. Click on image for larger version.

Weekly Recap 6/19/09

DVDs Watched this Week:
The Good: Two Lovers, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Traffic, The Red Shoes, La Haine, Kiki's Delivery Service, Shine a Light, My Best Friend's Wedding, We Own the Night, Will & Grace Seasons 4&5
The Bad: The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974)
The Ugly: None

Trips to the Theater: Moon, The Taking of Pelham 123(2nd time),
Actors of the Week: Hugh Dancy, Sam Rockwell, Krysten Ritter, Eric McCormack
Directors of the Week: James Gray, PJ Hogan
Where'd They Go?: Catherine Zeta-Jones?

Good: Peter Morgan(The Queen, Frost/Nixon) is writing the next Bond movie, Michael Sheen may be the villain in the next Bond movie, Wanted 2
Bad: Another Darko sequel, Red Dawn remake, M:I 4
?: Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan starring a buddy cop movie directed by Kevin Smith entitled "A Couple of Dicks"?

TRAILERS/CLIPS of the Week:
We Own the Night. From director James Gray(The Yards, Two Lovers). Tragically overlooked. One of the best cop movies of recent years. One of the best looking movies of recent years. It is a gorgeous picture with top performances from Joaquin Phoenix, Robert Duvall, even Mark Wahlberg. A seriously scary car chase in the rain, a special look at NYC in the 80s, and oily Russian mobsters. Go rent it.

Moon

3 stars. I love independent sci-fi. The other kind of sci-fi is Transformers and that sucks. Two years ago it was Danny Boyle's Sunshine. This year it's a small character piece called Moon. Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an astronaut who has been working on the moon, all alone, for 3 years. There's an AI system on the base named Gerty(voiced by Kevin Spacey) and then one day, with only two weeks left on his mission, Sam finds another person outside of the ship, and it looks exactly like him.

It's hard to describe what the movie really is. It's not a horror movie, it's a human story with a real mystery, but I don't want to describe anymore lest I give away key plot points. All the time though, I kept thinking about what it would be like to be isolated from everything for 3 years. Same food(Sam eats a lot of beans), a database of old TV shows, a treadmill, and a talking computer. It's an endurance test and that's the most interesting part of Moon. It's the desert island only you're surrounded by technology and bulkheads instead of sand and coconuts.

When that second guy shows up, the movie starts moving. Questions of identity and humanity can't be ignored and I really started to get invested in Sam. This whole mission of his is pretty tragic (we see messages to/from his wife and daughter every once in a while) and I was surprised at how emotional it got toward the end.

It is a small film. The budget was only $5 million, which is shocking since it looks so good. And it's a throwback to late 70s/early 80s sci-fi like Ridley Scott's Alien so don't expect starships shooting at each other in space. The moody score is well done and Gerty's yellow smiley faces are a nice touch. It's somehow all plausible and realistic and that has a lot to do with an excellent performance by Sam Rockwell. Something about him is always inherently sleazy and sympathetic at the same time. He plays great losers. It's also the only performance in the film so that helps. Watch the trailer and go see it. Still it might be just as good on DVD.

One last thing. The company Sam works for is Sarang, which is Korean and even has the Korean spelling right next to it in all of the shots. Sarang in Korean means love. So apparently the Love corporation is doing shady business to lonely men on the moon.

The Taking of Pelham 123

3 1/2 stars. Like them or not, Tony Scott cannot make a boring movie. I had to go to the bathroom about halfway through, but I couldn't leave. There wasn't a moment where the story let up which would allow me to leave.

Pelham 123 plunges a long needle of adrenaline into NYC. If you watch as many movies as I do, you get sick and tired of how many of them are shot in New York. There are other cities in America. But unleash Tony Scott, and you'll start gasping for breath. As with all of his movies, the visuals pop and startle. The opening credits blast a remix of Jay-Z's 99 Problems and let's go.

Pelham 123 is a lean and mean hostage thriller that above all avoids all the bad cliches. I was so pleased we didn't get to know any of the hostages (I wanted all of the hostages from Inside Man to die). So pleased that we weren't bogged down with endless negotiations or clever attempts to outsmart the plan or unnecessary character histories. Even a moment with a laptop webcam doesn't become some cheese plot turn. The movie gets to the point. 1 hour, $10 million, take the train.

Some people may not dig Travolta's performance, but I think he's smart, scary, and lit up. The handlebar, the huge tattoo on his neck, and the brilliant choice to shave back his hairline. He doesn't look like Danny Zuko to me. The character is so effective because he's so bull red angry and nuts. He could do anything. He's a freaking formidable villain.

And I can't tell you how glorious and wonderful it was to see an action picture that is R-rated. To hear an action picture that is R-rated. When did people stop swearing in movies? I smiled with glee when Travolta screamed MOTHERF----R for the first time. With all of these pg-13 superhero movies, it's nice to hear men, not boys, speak. Also great to see fine New York actors John Turturro(so much better here than in Transformers) and James Gandolfini(he's the mayor) do strong work.

The movie does have flaws. It is just what it is, a hostage movie. There isn't a bigger agenda or something to say about New York, ex-cons or anything. Denzel is fine, but the character is razor thin. Screenwriter Brian Helgeland(Mystic River, L.A. Confidential) is one of my favorites, but there isn't much groundbreaking here. And I'm not sure how satisfying the last 10 minutes will be for most.

Still, the movie got me more and more pumped as it went along. And for all of these kinds of movies I have seen, I genuinely had no idea how it was going to end. Talk about refreshing. Plus, it's maybe the only summer action movie without any CGI robots or mutants.

One last note. Critics hate director Tony Scott and they're beating him up again. That's okay. He's well respected among filmmakers, he's a technical pioneer, and he's not going anywhere. True Romance, Top Gun, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, and Crimson Tide. Sure The Last Boy Scout is embarrassing but I blame Damon Wayans.

This is a great trailer.

Weekly Recap 06/12/09

DVDs Watched this Week:
The Good: Une Femme est Une Femme, Che Part 1, The International, Children of Men, Spy Game, Ocean's 11-13, Spider-man 1-2, The Recruit, Pretty Woman, American Pie, Go Tigers!, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Out of Sight, Toy Story 2, Solaris, Breathless, The Dreamers, Sea of Love, Sex Lies and Videotape(man was this excellent)
The Bad: Code of Silence(my 1st and maybe last Chuck Norris movie), Kalifornia, Pierrot Le Fou, Le Petit Soldat, Lionheart, Inning by Inning: The Portrait of a Coach, Full Frontal, Erin Brockovich
The Ugly: Che Part 2

Trips to the Theater: The Girlfriend Experience, The Taking of Pelham 123
Actors of the Week: Sasha Grey, Brad Pitt, Clive Owen, Scott Caan, Joan Cusack, Andie MacDowell
Directors of the Week: Steven Soderbergh, Tony Scott
Where'd They Go?: Ving Rhames?

Good: Joe DeLorean biopic, Monsters Inc. 2, Tony Scott reteams with Denzel for Unstoppable, Saw 8 will be the last
Bad: Fockers 3, Surrogates trailer with Bruce Willis, director Rob Cohen
?: Liam Neeson as Hannibal in the new A-Team movie?

TRAILERS/CLIPS of the Week:
Shutter Island. The latest from Scorsese. Looks like a horror film. Who knew he would even want to do that.


Food Inc.


Children of Men.

June 2009 Reviews (The Girlfriend Experience)

The Girlfriend Experience 4 stars I really like Steven Soderbergh. He's always pushing it, never doing the conventional. Even the Ocean's movies are full of cinematic risks. Twelve may not completely work, but the style of it is just sick. The last film of his I admired was Solaris back in '02, and the drought is over. Things all click into place here, the HD, the non-actors, the subject matter, and adult film star Sasha Grey who is seriously compelling. The detached quality she has is terribly effective. You always wonder, she's saying something, she's doing something, but what is she really thinking? Once again, restraint is far more interesting on screen. It's definitely an experimental piece of work, but I highly recommend it.

Btw, the phrase "the girlfriend experience" actually promises a "girlfriend experience." The man pays for companionship, conversation, someone to listen to him. One client in the film doesn't even have sex, he just talks to her for an hour. I've always thought that guys who call escorts do so yes for the sex, but also because they don't have to be nice, polite, or give anything to the woman other than money. They want a girl who will allow it to be all about them. Someone to laugh at their jokes and care about their dull days at work. That is sad on many levels.

Gran Torino 3 1/2 stars. Still a lot of fun the second time around. Old racist white men are fun for everyone. Clint Eastwood in maybe his last acting job gives such a great performance that it makes up for the mediocre Asian actors. Man are they mediocre. There's this thing among Asian friends where they want Koreans to play Koreans, Chinese people to play Chinese. If ever there was an argument against that, this movie is it. They went to great lengths to cast actual Hmong Chinese descendants, but who the hell cares. I just want better actors.

Defiance 2 stars. A great recent film about the Holocaust is The Reader. I don't know what this is. Jewish rebels hiding out in the woods, speaking English with their Polish/Russian accents. It isn't exciting, it isn't moving, it's all so painfully familiar and boring. Sorry, Daniel Craig doesn't seem Jewish at all.

Che 2 1/2 stars. It's the anti-biopic. We don't see the major scenes of Che's life, we see the in-betweens. Small conversations with random rebels framed by an interview he did in America and a famous speech he gave at the U.N. Most people will find it all tedious, but I liked Part One a lot. Then Part Two goes to Bolivia and then it became tedious. Soderbergh once again really tries something here. Still, I doubt the average moviegoer will find it entertaining.

Inkheart 1/2 star. A waste of time. One of New Line Cinema's (R.I.P.) last releases. Brendan Fraser needs to stop doing fantasy films. Why is Helen Mirren in this?

The International 2 1/2 stars. It's a solid thriller. However, I expected more from Tom Tykwer(pronounced tick-ver) director of Run Lola Run. Clive Owen is compelling, Naomi Watts's character is underwritten, but the story does hold interest. I'm not a big fan of the cold modern look of Berlin, but the shootout at the Guggenheim is a lot of fun.

Crossing Over 1 star. Haven't heard of this one have you? It stars Harrison Ford and Ashley Judd. Of course you haven't. It ran for maybe 2 weeks in 2 theaters and then went to Blockbuster. It's Traffic-lite. Several stories, several intersecting characters, all not very interesting. Immigration is a serious thing, but this is melodramatic and simple. One of the subplots involves a Korean kid joining a gang. When the gang showed up, I laughed out loud since they looked so ridiculous. Then I thought, no that's what they look like in real life. And then I laughed again.

Steven Soderbergh Posters

I've been watching a lot of Steven Soderbergh films lately. Most good, a couple not, but I noticed he always has great taste in his posters. (click on image for full size)

Weekly Recap 6/05/09

DVDs Watched this Week:
The Good: Gran Torino, Revolutionary Road, Alphaville, A Clockwork Orange, Any Given Sunday, The Kingdom, Murderball, Dazed and Confused, Deja Vu, Friday Night Lights Seasons 1-2
The Bad: Defiance, The Horse Whisperer, The Searchers, Born to Kill (1947), The Program
The Ugly: None

Trips to the Theater: None
Actors of the Week: Dennis Quaid, Zach Gilford, Anna Karina
Directors of the Week: Jean-Luc Godard, Oliver Stone
Where'd They Go?: Matthew Modine?

Good: Conan's first week, Nicholson making another film with James L. Brooks, Javier Bardem joins Wall Street sequel, Spider-man 4 because anything must be better than 3.
Bad: Total Recall remake, Shrek 4, Scream 4, David Carradine RIP
?: Alien prequel is being produced by Tony/Ridley Scott?

TRAILERS/CLIPS of the Week:
Toy Story 3. Toy story 2 is by far my favorite animated film ever. This one is coming 11 years after that, but I have faith in Pixar and their tremendously talented staff. Love Jessie the cowgirl.