Happy 2 year anniversary to Roland Chang's Movie Blog 285 posts. 7890 hits.
Thank you faithful readers. I genuinely enjoy writing this and I hope you continue to enjoy reading it.
The award for most popular post in the history of this Blog goes to Sylvester Stallone. People apparently love to search him on Google. I'm not sure of the exact number, but for a month that post was hit at least once a day. Congratulations Sly. Stallone
True Grit 3 starsThough her name isn't on the poster, 13 year-old Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross is the real star of True Grit. It is her father that is murdered and it is she who is absolutely determined to bring his killer to justice. She comes for his body, she hires US Marhsall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and Texas Ranger LaBeouf (Matt Damon, pronounced la beef) to find and capture outlow Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she insists on coming along for the ride. By the way, I love all these Western names.
What was surprising to me was that this was not a stone cold serious Western but actually a film with a lot of humor in it. Like so many films by the Coen Brothers, you don't know what category to put it in. It is a Western through and through, but it's a lot more than that. There are some strange eccentric characters, but what reminded me so much of their previous films were the mountains of hilarious, oblique, wordy dialogue. Mattie Ross has so much to say and she says it very well. Damon's character LaBeouf is another in a long line of Coen motormouths like Buscemi in Fargo or John Goodman in The Big Lebowski. At one point LaBeouf injures his tongue and even then he still can't stop talking. They are wonderful words to hear.
The movie as a whole though is good, not great. I felt it took too long for the actual hunt to begin. Mattie takes a while to plan and to meet the men and to get everything going. The plot doesn't really start until they all take off and some momentum is lost in the first 30 minutes with the delay. The journey itself has some very interesting stops including a strange doctor wearing a bear skin with the bear's head still on it, but overall it feels a bit short. There isn't enough danger or sequences of tension. Bridges is solid as always, but his character could've benefited from a few more scenes where we actually get to know him. He's mostly just a cranky old drunk with a leather eye patch. I promise you that's always entertaining, but there's a level of depth that seems missing.
All in all it's still a good film, but not as deep or as resonant as No Country For Old Men or Fargo. I was shocked to learn that Hailee Steinfeld is actually a tween from LA and not at all from the South. It makes her stellar performance all the more amazing. The closest Coen Brothers film this one feels most like is Miller's Crossing which was a movie in a particular genre but had almost equal parts humor and seriousness. I guess I just wished for all seriousness and a little more retribution. But the Coens do what they want and you gotta love them for it. I have not watched the original True Grit with John Wayne nor do I plan to.
Easy A2 stars What is the big deal? How did this get the reviews it did? Emma Stone is a likable actress but this movie is one step above 90210. Her character is supposed to be the outsider who doesn't really fit in. Then why does she look like she spent 2 hours at the beauty salon before she went to school? Her hair is always in pristine perfect condition, and it's hard to make out her expressions under that inch of make-up. The thing I hate most about these teen comedies is this complete lack of cinematic style. Everything's over-lit, everyone seems to be wearing brand new clothes, and none of it feels like any high school anyone has ever gone to. Also, the writing is poor. She has some sequences where she has to speak directly to camera and they are not good. The filmmakers believe the characters are a lot funnier than they really are, and poor Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson are two great actors stuck in this rom com tampon commercial. Wow, she's wearing a red A on her shirt and walking in slow motion! I wonder if she's going to get together with the really handsome guy at the end? That would be such a twist!
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work 3 starsBelieve me, I didn't care much about Joan Rivers either. I can't get passed her face. It looks like one of the those Mission: Impossible masks that Ethan Hunt is about to tear it off at any moment. Still, you have to respect 75 year-old Joan Rivers who is still out there working like mad. She tours her comedy act, she's writing books, she's writing plays, she's supporting many freeloaders. The movie isn't a glamorous portrayal, but more a profile of a dogged performer who will probably look for work until the day she dies. It's also properly sad as anyone in the business is never safe. Opinions are fickle and even if you are meant to do this, as Joan Rivers is, it doesn't mean everyone wants to see you do it. She's a legend, but unfortunately a legend that a lot of people don't like. In the end, I had a great deal of sympathy and a good deal of admiration. She guest hosted for Johnny Carson in the 60s and she very recently won her season of Celebrity Apprentice. Who knows what is next, but she's not going to stop ever.
Dinner for Schmucks 2 starsPretty bad. Paul Rudd kind of made this movie before and it was called I Love You Man. Instead of good dialogue and smartly written characters, we get idiots that wouldn't be good enough for a SNL sketch. A blind fencer, someone with a octopus beard, and Steve Carell as the mentally retarded brother of the character he played in the 40 Year-Old Virgin. Some parts are genuinely funny including the great Jemaine Clement as an awesome modern artist, but the rest falls flat. The big dinner itself is a letdown and it comes awfully late in the film. Over an hour had passed and we still weren't there. However, there is one real discovery in French actress Stephanie Szostak. She is relegated to the girlfriend role, but she is a real bright spot in this mediocre comedy. She's lovely and charming. Sadly she can't make up for the unfunny mouse dioramas and the woman who talks to dead pets.
Tron: Legacy in 3D I'm so thankful I saw it first in regular, glorious 2D. Thank you Lord for that blessing. 3D seriously worsened the experience. First, we have to wear darkened glasses. There are portions of the movie that were not shot in 3D and when I took my glasses off to look at those scenes, it felt like I was removing a pair of sunglasses. It was so much brighter and clearer. And no matter how advanced they say 3D technology currently is, it still isn't as crisp as watching a normal movie. The Light Cycle sequence was so much less effective in 3D. The sense of speed and the power of the impacts were severely diminished. And I don't know about you, but I become much more self aware that I'm watching a movie when I have those glasses on. You start waiting for moments when things might jump out at your face instead of losing yourself in the movie. I can't wait for this to be on good old fashioned Blu-ray. SEE IT IN REGULAR 2D. (Original review)
34 trips to the theater. 610 Blu-ray/DVD Rentals, down from 742 from last year (my peak is 1091 in 2006).
There’s no getting around it, 2010 was a weak year at the movies. Last year we got Basterds, Star Trek, and The Hurt Locker. However this year I got my favorite movie of possibly the past 5 years, so that kind of makes up for the disappointments. It was honestly a little tough coming up with a Top Ten, and I don't have any Honorable Mentions. There might be "better" films made this year, but these were my favorites. And they're all great.
10. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Noomi Rapace is the iconic Lisbeth Salander in the first and best film of the Millenium trilogy. The ones made in Sweden that is. An evocative, constantly engaging thriller. An old fashioned murder mystery has never been so dark. Well, maybe Se7en.(Review)
9. Good Hair Chris Rock’s documentary on black hair is the funniest movie I saw this year. Every time I watch it I laugh very hard. Not to mention it’s fairly fascinating as a documentary about a very specific subject I had no clue about. That final line from Ice-T (of all people) is a killer. (Review)
8. 127 Hrs The most intense experience I’ve ever had in a movie theater.(Review)
7. Toy Story 3 I like Pixar films, but I’m not in love with them as much as everyone else is. However, the Toy Story movies, they are very special, and this 3rd one has the most heart. 11 years was worth the wait. Stupid toys making me cry.(Review)
6. The King’s Speech A great story, simply a great movie. Colin Firth may win the Oscar and he certainly deserves to.(Review)
5. Tron: Legacy Breathtaking, astounding, other adjectives! The most beautiful movie I saw this year. The production design, the costume design, the sound design, the cinematography. Absolutely stunned by its vision. I guess this is what people felt when they saw Avatar (boo!). I kind of hate this phrase, but I was genuinely blown away. (Review)
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I No longer a kiddie fantasy series, the Harry Potter movies have become dramatic and adult along with the magic and the wands and people flying on brooms. The 7th film in the series and they are only getting better. No other franchise of this length has maintained such high quality. The second best looking movie I saw this year. My favorite trio of characters to spend time with. Part II finishes it all off in July and that's a sad thing. (Review)
3. The Town Ben Affleck’s second time out as director and he’s the real thing. More than the heists, the movie is so specifically about a place and its people. The movie with the best performances this year, particularly Jon Hamm as a steely sharp Federal Agent and Ben Affleck in perhaps his best performance ever. They don’t make a lot of movies like this anymore (you know, dramas) and rarely are they ever this good. (Review)
2. Kick-Ass I know one friend who is going to be upset with this choice. When I look back on past years, I always remember the films that took bold chances. I don’t think any film was bolder this year than Kick-Ass. A foul mouthed, F you, anti-Spider-man joy. The best action I saw this year. My favorite character of the year (tied with Knives Chau) is Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl. Her hyper slow motion strobe light shootout continues to be off its ass awesome. The movie has its flaws, but you can't beat its spirit. When they are flying through New York with that jet pack, I always want to cheer. Who are you? I’m Kick-ASS! (Review)
1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Was there any doubt. It is possibly my favorite movie of the last 5 years. I watch hundreds, but every few years you get one that you truly love. This one is it for me and I feel blessed. Crafted and edited unlike any other movie I can think of. It has given me so much pleasure and fun I honestly feel I owe director Edgar Wright and creator Bryan O'Malley a large sum of gratitude and money. This one is coming with me to the desert island. (10 more thoughts)
Best Supporting Actresses Chloe Moretz in Kick-Ass Ellen Wong in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom Blake Lively in The Town
Best Supporting Actors Sharlto Copley in The A-Team Andrew Garfield in The Social Network Jemaine Clement in Gentlemen Broncos Jon Hamm in The Town
Best Actresses Carey Mulligan in An Education Noomi Rapace in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
Best Actors James Franco in 127 Hrs Tom Hardy in Bronson Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I Colin Firth in The King's Speech Ben Affleck in The Town
Best Cinematography Claudio Miranda for Tron: Legacy Eduardo Serra for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I Don Burgess for The Book of Eli Bill Pope for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Mihai Malaimare Jr. for Tetro Best Directors Edgar Wright for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Ben Affleck for The Town
Disappointments: Shutter Island, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Green Zone Guilty Pleasure: The A-Team (twice in the theater!)
Avoided like the Plague: Sex and the City 2, Grown Ups, The Bounty Hunter, The Tooth Fairy, Life as We Know It, The Back-Up Plan, The Switch, When in Rome, Burlesque
Missed, Will See: Never Let Me Go, Let Me In, Black Swan, The Next Three Days I saw, No one else saw: Animal Kingdom, Bronson, Johnnie To's Vengeance Best Rentals: The Ghost Writer, Me and Orson Welles, Memories of Murder
Great Titles: Salt, Let Me In, 44 Inch Chest, Hot Tub Time Machine Terrible Titles: Get Him to the Greek, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?, Life as We Know It, Winter’s Bone, Unstoppable, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (I don’t care if that’s the title of the book. Shorten it!)
Best Opening Credits:Scott Pilgrimvs. The World Best Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Finch for their amazing score for The Social Network, Daft Punk for Tron: Legacy
BEST LINES: “I should’ve known you’d be behind this Fiendish Dr. Wu. Your knowledge of scientific biological transmogrification is only outmatched by your zest for kung-fu treachery!" –Michael Jai White in Black Dynamite
"We lived on farms, then we lived in cities, and now we're going to live on the Internet." -Justin Timberlake in The Social Network
"If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook." -Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Watched this Week: The Good: Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, The Town, Glory, Babe, District 9, Reclaiming the Blade, Funny People, Kick-Ass, Gran Torino, Braveheart, Futurama
The Bad: Ondine The Ugly: None Blu-rays Bought: Amelie, Trainspotting (having discovered that Canada has Blu-rays that the U.S. doesn't)
Trips to the Theater: Tron: Legacy, True Grit
Actors of the Week: Olivia Wilde, Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld Directors of the Week: Joseph Kosinski, The Coen Bros.
4 stars TRON: Legacy, simply put, is amazing. An astonishing visual achievement, creating a world unlike anything I have ever seen before. And I use "seen" literally, as other movies might be put together in unique ways or have elements that might elicit the use of that phrase, but as the the movie projected from the screen to me, I knew I had never seen anything like this.
In case you don't know, Legacy is actually a follow up to the original 1982 Tron, which starred Jeff Bridges as Flynn, a computer hacker who is somehow sucked into the inside of a computer program and has to fight his way out to escape. People are progams. Now 28 years later, we don't just get a sequel, we get a completely new vision as Flynn's son Sam is brought into the program and the world inside has dramatically changed. Btw, the original TRON looks like someone doodling on a piece of paper compared to this one.
I realize that no matter what I might write, these will just be words that poorly attempt to describe the things I saw. You've seen the trailers and the TV ads, but I couldn't believe the complete and immersive world I entered. Forget Pandora, the Grid is absolutely astounding. A gargantuan technological mega city with apparently endless imagination. I'm telling you, it felt like my eyes doubled in size when that first Light Cycle race was happening. I was in freaking cinema heaven. So rarely in life are we awe of anything, but when it happens, it feels pretty dang good. That sequence alone is worth the price of three admissions.
As for the nuts and bolts of the story and the characters, I enjoyed all of that too. It is admittedly simple. Sam's dad disappears for 20 years, he finds him trapped inside this program, he wants to get him out. Is that any less better than Luke Skywalker trying to save a princess from the Death Star? It doesn't matter since I was into it, I was engaged. The idea that this world has become an oppressive place and wanting to escape it, I get that. There is also an underlying theme of perfection and playing God that I thought was very well done as well. Screenwriters Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz wrote for Lost. Going in I was worried the movie might get drowned under a lot of bad sci-fi acting and ponderous, overly serious dialogue, but to my relief, none of that happens. Bridges brings such a hey man/hippie quality to both old Flynn and Clu that all of the stuffy pretentiousness is completely not there. It's a great choice to makes these programs behave like real people. Garrett Hedlund (Friday Night Lights, Four Brothers) was an excellent choice as the lead. Sam is not the least bit a wimp. He's a straight forward, strong guy and that's a hero I like spending time with. You believe he can take on any of these evil things with orange lights. Also that is Michael Sheen in all white as a David Bowie-esque club owner. Man it was great seeing him show up. Lastly Olivia Wilde has underwhelmed me in a few movies before, but she is so sweet and lovely as Quorra. I was worried that she might be some pseudo sexy tough girl, but they completely went the other way. She's a naive innocent, someone who has never seen the real world beyond the Grid. It's a very good performance, and totally endearing. Her last expression that closes out the film is a beauty.
Also fantastic is that score by Daft Punk. Like Trent Reznor's and Atticus Ross's score for The Social Network, this is another pulsing electronic score. So much of the movie is images against music and you can't underestimate the joy that happens when those two things are brought together so well. They have a small cameo but then again a lot of people in the movie are wearing shiny metal helmets.
I was definitely skeptical all week. The reviews have been mixed, and I just don't get it. Did they see some other movie? It's a landmark. It goes on a short list of spectacular visual films that includes Star Wars and 2001 and The Matrix. It isn't that deep, nor is it as good as those films in terms of story and characters (which I agree with), but for someone who usually doesn't care for father and son stories, this one really got to me. Note that I did see it in glorious 2D. I was willing to see it in blurry unfocused 3D but the timing of the show just worked out that way. It is far and away the most beautiful movie of the year. A breathtaking stunner from director Joseph Kosiniski (his first film) and director of photography Claudio Miranda (Benjamin Button). A film that demands you experience it in a theater. Now, what they hell are you waiting for.
Roger Ebert and I agree a lot but I've noticed that we really don't when it comes to our Top Tens. Such as Synecdoche, NY being his favorite movie of the decade. I'm going to post mine next week after I see a couple more films, but here's a link to his list. I'm still very proud that the best film critic in the world lives in Chicago.
Watched this Week: The Good: Mother and Child, Pirate Radio, Monsters vs. Aliens, Micmacs, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, even more LOTR The Bad: Easy A, Cyrus, Despicable Me The Ugly: None Blu-rays Bought: Hard Boiled, Ocean's Eleven, Deadwood: The Complete Series Trips to the Theater: The King's Speech Actors of the Week: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush Directors of the Week: Tom Hooper
4 stars The King’s Speech is the real deal. Believe the hype. Last year Tom Hooper directed a good film called The Damned United but The King’s Speech is a great film. It’s 1925, and Albert The Duke of York played by the great Colin Firth (who may win the Oscar) suffers from a terrible stammer. Any public speaking is a terrible ordeal, not only for him, but for everyone listening. I actually haven’t known anyone who stutters but I can imagine the painful annoyance that would be. He is an intelligent, humble man who is actually younger brother to David (King Edward VIII) and doesn’t believe he will ever have to take the throne.
He sees doctor after doctor attempting to relieve this impediment to no avail. His wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) discovers an unorthodox Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) and somehow he is able to break through. This all sounds like some sort of silly made up comedy, but the truth is sometimes better than fiction. It apparently is all true. The relationship between the two men is the heart of the movie as Albert (soon changed to King George VI) is so guarded, uptight, and fearful of the Crown. He has a scene where he confesses this to his wife it is very moving. He later meets this eccentric former actor who insists on calling him Bertie and he starts to open up. Firth and Rush have some great chemistry together. Also great as always is Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth, the mother of the current Queen Elizabeth II. Her second Queen this year after the big head Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. She is a witty, loving woman who herself declined two marriage proposals from Albert because of her own fear of becoming royalty.
Like The Queen with Helen Mirren, so much of the pleasure of the movie involves this behind the scenes look at the royal family, and I’m someone who could care less about who Prince William marries. The time period is mostly spent in the 30s but it is fascinating stuff. Albert admits that he has no friends and has had no contact with the common man. We see his coronation, his irresponsible older brother David (Guy Pearce) who only wants to marry his American mistress, and we get to see his daughters Elizabeth II and Margaret change when he becomes King. They curtsy before they greet him and as I thought about it, I realized that this lifestyle would be horrible. Kate Middleton is going to have a terribly hard life of way too much attention and scrutiny. Yes you get to be a Prince, or a Duke or a Princess but you can’t go outside without a full security contingent and 100s of cameras in your face. And they’re judging your face.
More pleasure from the film comes from the dramatization of the historical events surrounding this time period. Albert became King George as Hitler was on the move across Europe and his messages to Great Britain become more and more important. All the while there is his friendship with Lionel Logue and you just have to see the movie to enjoy their scenes together. You have to see the movie to experience this great story. I fear this review doesn’t capture how enjoyable the movie really is. It is great, solid storytelling that whisked by so quickly. I was constantly engaged and found myself smiling quite a lot. Enjoyable is just the right word. It might not have Light Cycles in 3D, but that last speech set against Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 is one heck of a great scene. It is one of the best of the year.
Every December, without fail, I feel a strong urge to watch The Lord of the Rings. It’s become a tradition. When Galadriel begins that prologue, there’s absolutely no turning back.
“…I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost. For none now live, who remember it.”
I still get the chills. Still. I admit I was slow coming to Lord of the Rings. Honestly, I still have issues with that first movie, mostly involving anything to do with the Elves. I find them to be the most boring of races. Humorless and stiff, who would ever want to live among these people? Forever at that. I remember when we got to the second Elf land after Gandalf dies with another never-ending shot of the trees and the leaves and the ethereal music my mind went into standby. That occurs late in the film and it almost killed it for me.
Today, I don’t see them as individual films but as parts of one large 9 hour film. A magnificent achievement in cinema unlikely to be repeated ever again. 3 films shot at once, a fantasy epic grounded in such tactile reality, and above all an incredible emotional journey. I still remember Frodo and Sam climbing up Mount Doom and wondering how in the world they had got there and how could they ever finish it all.
I’ve said it before, but The Two Towers is my favorite. The Battle of Helm’s Deep, everything having to do with Rohan, that insane morph when King Theoden returns to his young self and the subsequent moment where he takes his sword with that Howard Shore score playing in the background. That might be my favorite moment in the entire trilogy. Not to mention my favorite character Eowyn the White Lady of Rohan, played by the beautiful Miranda Otto. I am so in love with Eowyn. I would’ve chosen you. You killed the Witch King and that beast he was riding on! Of the side storylines, I find hers to be the most heartbreaking. Every scene she wears her heart on her sleeve. When she says to Aragorn, “Do you not know?” I want to reach into the screen and protect her from the rejection.
There are a lot of great side storylines spread out throughout all three parts. Everyone of course thinks immediately of Gollum, a digital achievement that shocked me at the time and still kind of does. You just completely believe he is there talking to these Hobbits. How?! The schizophrenia scene is the one people remember, but I always think of his death scene. Oh man, that look of pain when he’s in the lava and the ring has betrayed him. And this is after he’s done some terrible things yet I still have so much sympathy. Unbelievable.
Unbelievable as well are those battle sequences. Second to none. In Return of the King, I really wondered what was left but then those Mumakil’s came out and I was floored. It is a stunning sequence along with the Ride of the Rohirrim (Ride for ruin, and the world's ending!), Eowyn’s battle with the Witch King, the Army of the Dead, and as mentioned, the Battle of Helm's Deep that ends The Two Towers. That 20 some minute siege is incredible, exciting as hell. What a horrible sequence to have filmed though. Seriously, 3 months of night shoots in the rain sounds pretty bad.
My other favorite moment involves the four Hobbits after they've returned to the Shire. They're in a bar, they look at one another, and no one knows what they have done. It is a powerfully poignant scene. This isn't some light fantasy film. It is a real drama. As for this multiple ending BS, I never understood that. You just experienced 9 hours of story, it can't just end without wrapping a lot of things up. And by that time, I didn't want it to end. I wanted to see what happened to everyone.
I have not bought the Blu-rays because they are the original theatrical cuts and I always watch the Extended versions. Admittedly, I never watch them in one viewing, but that's the benefit of home video. Most importantly, and almost as enjoyable as the films, are the embarrassing wealth of Special Features each movie has. Those documentaries and featurettes are maybe the best I've ever seen. Detailed and meticulous, they interviewed nearly everyone, with also nearly everyone having great stories about the production. Not only is the joy of the creativity portrayed but also so much of the stress and difficulty and the pressure. Peter Jackson and his crew worked for 7 years on these films and we get a chance to see almost every detail of what that meant. They are a pleasure to watch again and again. When it comes to Special Features, I think it's the best DVD set I own.
I don't know when the last time you saw LOTR was but it's time to watch them again. Next year will be the 10-year anniversary of the release of the Fellowship of the Ring. I can't believe it's been so long. But the movies themselves are timeless. They really are the best of their kind.
One thing I did notice this time around is that there are only 3 major female characters in the entire trilogy. Arwen (Liv Tyler), Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Eowyn. That's it. And Galadriel is a cameo. Yet 2 of the 3 screenwriters were women.
When the Army of the Dead take down that Mumakil, I always say, "oh... Oh... OH!"
Watched this Week: The Good: The Other Guys,Barry Munday, No Country for Old Men, lots and lots of The Lord of the Rings The Bad: Salt The Ugly: None Trips to the Theater: None Actors of the Week: Miranda Otto, Woody Harrelson, Sean Bean Directors of the Week: Peter Jackson
Salt1 ½ stars The Bourne Supremacy - The very cool Jason Bourne - Good action - Good plot + Ridiculous plot + Bad action + Angelina Jolie = Salt
Ugh. Where do I begin. A Russian defector comes into the CIA claiming to have secret information regarding a plot to kill the Russian President. Right away we're off to a bad start. Russian spies? Is this 1987? The Soviet Union was a long time ago. The defector claims that the mole inside Central Intelligence is Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) and before she can be interrogated she is on the run. Maybe because she wants to protect her husband (much like Alias), maybe because she is actually guilty.
That is the main question of Salt and I didn't really care about the answer. By the time this happens, we haven't spent enough time with her to get on her side. She was once tortured in a North Korean prison and she has blonde hair. That pretty much sums the characterization so far. From then, and I'm completely serious, the entire next hour is a chase. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but you know how the Bourne series has such intricate, terribly clever cat and mouse sequences where Bourne is eluding his captors. Remember that amazing sequence in Ultimatum at Waterloo Station? Take away intricacy and cleverness and have Angelina Jolie jumping off a overpass onto moving trucks like Super Mario and that's what this is. It's just not good. I love guns in movies but the shootouts are lame. The hand to hand stuff is pretty bad too. The Feds after her seem incompetent and stupid, and this is a minor quibble, but she really looks like she can't run very fast. It felt like I could've caught her.
So the action isn't satisfying, which is a sin in a summer movie, however the story isn't either. Believe me, it goes into some ludicrous territory with double and triple agents and nuclear missiles and moles and more moles and I'm tired. I like director Philip Noyce (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Rabbit Proof Fence) but this script is DOA. I feel bad for very good actors like Chiwetel Ejiofor and Liev Schreiber. They must've felt so silly saying these lines. Also I'm getting tired of movies where seemingly everyone is wearing suits and ties. It's a bad TV cliche. The best thing about the movie is the title. You will be tempted, but avoid.
The Other Guys 3 stars I had no hope for The Other Guys. Director Adam McKay's previous movie with Will Ferrell was Step Brothers and I f---ing hate that movie. No other comedy have I wanted every single character to die. I wanted to die. Also these comedic cop movies are death. Either your Beverly Hills Cop or Cop Out (boo!). I don't know what I would've felt watching this in the theater, but in the comforts of my home, I enjoyed it. I laughed a lot too, which is probably a good thing.
Most of all I really like Will Ferrell's character Allen Gamble. He's a forensic accountant transferred into homicide and it's a very funny character. Not at all wacky or the usual overly cocky characters he plays. Well, hot women seem attracted to him throughout the entire movie but that part's really funny. Eva Mendes actually plays his wife. But he's such a normal person it really made me laugh. Also surprisingly good is Mark Wahlberg. He's mostly the straight man who is actually a good cop, but there is a looseness to his performance that is very welcome after the too serious Max Payne and Shooter which are both terrible. He has great chemistry with Ferrell and I hope they do a sequel. A moment where Ferrell hits Wahlberg in the face with a wooden gun and he shrieks is hysterical.
The best bits do involve the comedic takes on the hard boiled cop movie including a shockingly good car chase toward the end where 4 guys fight in a red Prius. They keep banging the radio and changing the station and the pop songs really made me laugh. You know that song "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. I hate that song, but as background music during this car chase, I was dying. Also very impressive is a sequence where they go out drinking one night, but it's shot like the Marla and Tyler sex scene in Fight Club. The camera circles around frozen images of Ferrell and Wahlberg drinking, fighting with a priest, and shooting their guns to impress the ladies. Awesome.
There are bad things too. Improvised scenes go on too long sometimes and the case is very silly, but I did have a good time. At a funeral reception, Wahlberg gets into it with another cop and they decide to fight, but to be respectful they do it in silence. All the guys around them egg them on by whispering. Make sure you watch the end credits so you can hear "Pimps Don't Cry" by Cee-Lo feat. Eva Mendes.
Watch the unrated extended version. That scene with the Prius is not in the Theatrical Edition.
Barry Munday 3 starsPatrick Wilson (Watchmen, The Phantom of the Opera) is a handsome man. He looks like an Abercrombie model. That makes his transformation, and it is a transformation, into Barry Munday astounding. It's not that he just put on a little weight, he seems like a totally different person. It goes to show how easy it is to look bad. Some misfitting jeans and a bad haircut go a long way toward ugly. Barry Munday is a wanna be ladies man who through some unfortunate circumstances loses his testicles. However, around this time a woman he does not remember hands him a paternity suit. She's played by the amazing Judy Greer who is a lot of the time the best friend in rom coms, but is very funny as a female lead. He decides to help raise the child and starts a relationship with her. The movie has a lot of laughs, mostly because of Barry's preposterous behavior. Man, I know this guy. I went to high school with him and he hasn't changed. It feels like a light version of Alexander Payne's films and for the most part it's good. Some of the quirkiness is a little too put on like parents wearing matching sweat suits, but Patrick Wilson's performance is too good to miss. Also Malcolm McDowell and Cybill Shepherd in supporting roles.
Not that excited about the Christmas movie season this year. There are great ones out already you should see like 127 Hrs and HP7 Part 1. I'm going to see The King's Speech this weekend, but there are no major event films. No, Burlesque is not an event.
The Fighter (Dec. 10) The movie's supposedly great, but that trailer is not. Despite his videotaped meltdown on the set of I Heart Huckabees, David O. Russell is still a good director. I love Three Kings. I might be interested because of Amy Adams and Christian Bale, but I like Mark Wahlberg only in supporting roles. Max Payne boo!
Black Swan (now in theaters) Sorry but I'm just not a fan director Darren Aronofsky. Requiem For a Dream fades in memory, The Fountain is horribly pretentious, and The Wrestler has great performances by Mickey Rourke and Evan Rachel Wood but the movie as a whole isn't complete. I think he's very talented and am looking forward to him directing the next Wolverine movie. This Roman Polanski-esque psychological thriller about rival ballerinas, despite having Natalie Portman and Vincent Cassel, isn't appealing to me either. I think it'll be a rental.
The Tourist (Dec. 10) This year's Duplicity. Just because you put stars together doesn't make for a good film. It isn't the 90s anymore. A terribly lame and unexciting trailer. Feels a little bit like Knight and Day only the gender roles reversed. I have no desire to see it. The Tempest (Dec. 10) Julie Taymor, another visualist like Aronofsky whose films leave me cold. Frida, Across the Universe, Titus. They all have great stuff in them but something's missing. I'm very interested in seeing Chris Cooper do Shakespeare though. How Do You Know (Dec. 17) Here we go. James L. Brooks makes great movies. As Good as it Gets, Spanglish, Terms of Endearment. It looks a little too glossy and polished (Reese Witherspoon looks airbrushed in the trailer), but there is such humor and heart to his movies. They are enjoyable to watch again and again. And Jack Nicholson hasn't been in a movie in a while.
Tron: Legacy (Dec. 17) Some truly stunning trailers. Jeff Bridges in dual roles, score by Daft punk, but the director has never directed a movie before and that scares me. He's mostly done CGI commercials for video games. That doesn't instill confidence. The first Tron is alright, groundbreaking at the time, but difficult to sit through today. Let's hope Legacy is good, I just have a strong inkling that about 40 minutes in we'll stop being impressed by the visuals and start being disappointed by the story.
Gulliver's Travels (Dec. 22) These special effects comedies don't really work. Eddie Murphy does a lot of bad ones. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a bust. I still have a hard time forgiving Jack Black for Year One. Lord, what a terrible movie that was. Also starring Emily Blunt and Jason Segel which is a good thing.
True Grit (Dec. 22) Absolutely the movie I'm most excited to see. The Coen Bros. doing a Western with Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, and Josh Brolin. They know how to do serious movies about violence (No Country for Old Men, Blood Simple). Not to mention that amazing teaser trailer. If you don't know, this is a remake of a John Wayne film. Retribution, this Christmas.
Other Releases: Rabbit Hole (Dec. 17) Heard very good things but am not really interested in a movie about parents' grief after losing children. That sounds cold, but that storyline is a tired movie cliche.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Dec. 10) What a terrible title. It's a cumbersome mouthful. I didn't like the first 2. I don't think I'll see this one. A disappointing franchise. Country Strong (Dec. 22) After Crazy Heart, are they planning to release a Country music movie every Christmas?
Somewhere (Dec. 22) Sophia Coppola, but I don't know. Loved Lost in Translation, but Marie Antoinette is awfully forgettable. Also didn't care for The Virgin Suicides. Maybe. Little Fockers (Dec. 22) Who cares.
True Grit 3 stars Though her name isn't on the poster, 13 year-old Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross is the real star of True Grit. It is her father that is murdered and it is she who is absolutely determined to bring his killer to justice. She comes for his body, she hires US Marhsall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and Texas Ranger LaBeouf (Matt Damon, pronounced la beef) to find and capture outlow Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she insists on coming along for the ride. By the way, I love all these Western names.
Easy A 2 stars What is the big deal? How did this get the reviews it did? Emma Stone is a likable actress but this movie is one step above 90210. Her character is supposed to be the outsider who doesn't really fit in. Then why does she look like she spent 2 hours at the beauty salon before she went to school? Her hair is always in pristine perfect condition, and it's hard to make out her expressions under that inch of make-up. The thing I hate most about these teen comedies is this complete lack of cinematic style. Everything's over-lit, everyone seems to be wearing brand new clothes, and none of it feels like any high school anyone has ever gone to. Also, the writing is poor. She has some sequences where she has to speak directly to camera and they are not good. The filmmakers believe the characters are a lot funnier than they really are, and poor Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson are two great actors stuck in this rom com tampon commercial. Wow, she's wearing a red A on her shirt and walking in slow motion! I wonder if she's going to get together with the really handsome guy at the end? That would be such a twist!
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work 3 stars Believe me, I didn't care much about Joan Rivers either. I can't get passed her face. It looks like one of the those Mission: Impossible masks that Ethan Hunt is about to tear it off at any moment. Still, you have to respect 75 year-old Joan Rivers who is still out there working like mad. She tours her comedy act, she's writing books, she's writing plays, she's supporting many freeloaders. The movie isn't a glamorous portrayal, but more a profile of a dogged performer who will probably look for work until the day she dies. It's also properly sad as anyone in the business is never safe. Opinions are fickle and even if you are meant to do this, as Joan Rivers is, it doesn't mean everyone wants to see you do it. She's a legend, but unfortunately a legend that a lot of people don't like. In the end, I had a great deal of sympathy and a good deal of admiration. She guest hosted for Johnny Carson in the 60s and she very recently won her season of Celebrity Apprentice. Who knows what is next, but she's not going to stop ever.
Dinner for Schmucks 2 stars Pretty bad. Paul Rudd kind of made this movie before and it was called I Love You Man. Instead of good dialogue and smartly written characters, we get idiots that wouldn't be good enough for a SNL sketch. A blind fencer, someone with a octopus beard, and Steve Carell as the mentally retarded brother of the character he played in the 40 Year-Old Virgin. Some parts are genuinely funny including the great Jemaine Clement as an awesome modern artist, but the rest falls flat. The big dinner itself is a letdown and it comes awfully late in the film. Over an hour had passed and we still weren't there. However, there is one real discovery in French actress Stephanie Szostak. She is relegated to the girlfriend role, but she is a real bright spot in this mediocre comedy. She's lovely and charming. Sadly she can't make up for the unfunny mouse dioramas and the woman who talks to dead pets.
Tron: Legacy in 3D I'm so thankful I saw it first in regular, glorious 2D. Thank you Lord for that blessing. 3D seriously worsened the experience. First, we have to wear darkened glasses. There are portions of the movie that were not shot in 3D and when I took my glasses off to look at those scenes, it felt like I was removing a pair of sunglasses. It was so much brighter and clearer. And no matter how advanced they say 3D technology currently is, it still isn't as crisp as watching a normal movie. The Light Cycle sequence was so much less effective in 3D. The sense of speed and the power of the impacts were severely diminished. And I don't know about you, but I become much more self aware that I'm watching a movie when I have those glasses on. You start waiting for moments when things might jump out at your face instead of losing yourself in the movie. I can't wait for this to be on good old fashioned Blu-ray. SEE IT IN REGULAR 2D. (Original review)
10. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 
9. Good Hair
8. 127 Hrs
7. Toy Story 3
6. The King’s Speech
5. Tron: Legacy
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I
3. The Town 
2. Kick-Ass
1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Watched this Week: 
4 stars TRON: Legacy, simply put, is amazing. An astonishing visual achievement, creating a world unlike anything I have ever seen before. And I use "seen" literally, as other movies might be put together in unique ways or have elements that might elicit the use of that phrase, but as the the movie projected from the screen to me, I knew I had never seen anything like this.
Watched this Week: 
4 stars The King’s Speech is the real deal. Believe the hype. Last year Tom Hooper directed a good film called The Damned United but The King’s Speech is a great film. It’s 1925, and Albert The Duke of York played by the great Colin Firth (who may win the Oscar) suffers from a terrible stammer. Any public speaking is a terrible ordeal, not only for him, but for everyone listening. I actually haven’t known anyone who stutters but I can imagine the painful annoyance that would be. He is an intelligent, humble man who is actually younger brother to David (King Edward VIII) and doesn’t believe he will ever have to take the throne.
Every December, without fail, I feel a strong urge to watch The Lord of the Rings. It’s become a tradition. When Galadriel begins that prologue, there’s absolutely no turning back.
Watched this Week: 
Salt 1 ½ stars 
The Other Guys 3 stars I had no hope for The Other Guys. Director Adam McKay's previous movie with Will Ferrell was Step Brothers and I f---ing hate that movie. No other comedy have I wanted every single character to die. I wanted to die. Also these comedic cop movies are death. Either your Beverly Hills Cop or Cop Out (boo!). I don't know what I would've felt watching this in the theater, but in the comforts of my home, I enjoyed it. I laughed a lot too, which is probably a good thing.
Barry Munday 3 stars Patrick Wilson (Watchmen, The Phantom of the Opera) is a handsome man. He looks like an Abercrombie model. That makes his transformation, and it is a transformation, into Barry Munday astounding. It's not that he just put on a little weight, he seems like a totally different person. It goes to show how easy it is to look bad. Some misfitting jeans and a bad haircut go a long way toward ugly. Barry Munday is a wanna be ladies man who through some unfortunate circumstances loses his testicles. However, around this time a woman he does not remember hands him a paternity suit. She's played by the amazing Judy Greer who is a lot of the time the best friend in rom coms, but is very funny as a female lead. He decides to help raise the child and starts a relationship with her. The movie has a lot of laughs, mostly because of Barry's preposterous behavior. Man, I know this guy. I went to high school with him and he hasn't changed. It feels like a light version of Alexander Payne's films and for the most part it's good. Some of the quirkiness is a little too put on like parents wearing matching sweat suits, but Patrick Wilson's performance is too good to miss. Also Malcolm McDowell and Cybill Shepherd in supporting roles.
The Fighter (Dec. 10) The movie's supposedly great, but that trailer is not. Despite his videotaped meltdown on the set of I Heart Huckabees, David O. Russell is still a good director. I love Three Kings. I might be interested because of Amy Adams and Christian Bale, but I like Mark Wahlberg only in supporting roles. Max Payne boo!
How Do You Know (Dec. 17) Here we go. James L. Brooks makes great movies. As Good as it Gets, Spanglish, Terms of Endearment. It looks a little too glossy and polished (Reese Witherspoon looks airbrushed in the trailer), but there is such humor and heart to his movies. They are enjoyable to watch again and again. And Jack Nicholson hasn't been in a movie in a while.
Rabbit Hole (Dec. 17) Heard very good things but am not really interested in a movie about parents' grief after losing children. That sounds cold, but that storyline is a tired movie cliche.
