'Klaus is Nuts!'
Okay, so few of you might recognize the names of Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog. Woyzcek anyone? They made many old famous foreign films together and were considered quite the actor/director item. The thing to remember though, is that Klaus had to have been justifiably insane. Had to be. And this film proves it.
The film itself is a self-done documentary about the life of Klaus Kinski and the work he and Werner Herzog did together. It covers all of the collaborative movies and the background of the two men's history together. And if you as a director think you are working with a stuckup or frustrating actor, watch this film and feel better knowing that they are never going to be this hard to handle. Unless of course your actor pushes you to the brink of wanting to firebomb their house. In that case, do as many films as possible with them and be inducted into the greats of film history. Yes, it got that intense and crazy.
The footage isn't remarkable always but it is interesting hearing reflections on Klaus from people who worked with him and seeing how it comes across on screen. I'm sorry, but I would never stay in a place where the villagers have offered the possibility of killing the lead actor for me, which is exactly what Werner does at one point and the animosity of the indians to Kinski is vibrant on the screen for the film. The story is worth the telling as a documentary if only to capture as best as possible the crazy and insane collaborative kinmanship between these two artists and see how that translates to such classics as Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre. The tales of Kinski will astound anyone. Unfortunately, this film is also riddled with flaws. Werner seems too preoccupied at times with clearing his name of being called crazy and of other rumors perpetuated by Kinski. I agree that it must be hard after becoming so close to someone whom you hate as much as you love and whom slanders you to the masses. Still though, it isn't always necessary. Also, the biggest annoyance of the film is the clips from previous films and other footage showing Kinski talking. On one hand, I understand that this footage is to help convey his madness which has no need for a translation and is readily apparent. However, it would have been great to have at least had subtitles at times. When Kinksi rants to a giant crowd and throws the microphone or when he is screaming at the lighting director, I want to know what exactly the interchange is really about. I understand that due to his in your face nature, it would be hard to get the subtitles up and read in time befor ethe next one appears, but it would have been a real help I feel for getting to understand his personality better and how what Werner says about Kinski and how that translates to our own perceptions of his lunacy.
Conclusion:
No doubt about it. Kinski was an AMAZING actor who brought an intense fire with him into everything he did, and his lunacy helps only to further that. This film is a great look at the well documented egotism and dangerous lunacy of Kinski as told by the director who gained his greatest trust. Unfortunately, it feels too much at times like, "well, he may have said this but its not true. This is my side of the story..." Despite the flaws and aggravating untranslated clips, this film is still a must see for any director, actor, or anyone who loves Jerry Springer. Kinski was the ultimate throwdown.
3.6 out of 5
Wannabe
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Saturday, May 26, 2007
The Queen
'The Queen is as the Queen does'
Finally. Now I can honestly say I have seen all of the films nominated for Best Film at the 2006 Oscars. The Departed still deserved the win by a long shot in my point of view, but here we go. Before reading this, know that I care very little for those in authority and power. So tales involving such beings being very "British" tend to bore me.
The film isn't bad but here is the point of the film, the thing they emphasize again and again. The current Queen was born in a different time and era and is having a difficult time adjusting to the more modern sensibilities. That's it. Seriously. That's the plot of the film. As viewers we already know that the Queen doesn't end up on the chopping block and that the monarchy still exists. The only thing the film allows us to see is a more sympathetic viewpoint of the Queen and to see the changes made to the monarchy and in how the monarchy deals with the public. The plot? Well, Princess Diana dies and the monarchy won't make a statement about it. Now, it is interesting to see how the newly elected prime minister Tony Blair and his labor party handle the situation considering the fact the press want to destroy the monarchy. Oh, and honestly there is a bit at the end where the Queen and Blair are speaking about the public's previous hatred of the monarchy and the Queen mentions that the same hatred could happen to Blair in an instant. I despise films that try to be cool by adding in an obvious reference to a modern event which this does by using that as a reference to the current campaign and subsequent stepping down of Tony Blair. Even if the writer didn't mean for it too, the time in which a film is released DOES affect the movie, any movie, and how it is viewed. The nice side of the plot? Well, it shows that the decision to be stoic was a calculated one and one that the monarchy believed in. Also, it goes into detail on some of the finer points about the monarchy and its traditions. However, if you mix stoicism with the rich snooty and ill-adjusted to the times, it equals boring to me. Thank God for the interesting symbolic bits like the whole thing with the stag. Unfortunately, I came away from this film with a better understanding of the monarchy, but with much less patience and caring. They are a bunch of out-of-date elders who seem to have a hard time being in touch with the people. The only good thing is that they aren't so out of touch as say, Bush or George Lucas.
In terms of acting, Helen Mirren plays a VERY stoic Queen. One who I think never truly morns or cares for the loss of Diana much and whom considers all the fuss to be an affront to her and the monarchy. She deserves her lauded praise. Unfortunately, so did Michael Sheen for his portrayal of Tony Blair. It's too bad he never received it. As for the rest of the cast, well, the royal family all look like a bunch of grumpy self-important has-beens or in-bred paranoid schizophrenics. I'm sorry, but the best argument for keeping the Queen around now is that Charles looks like he would fit better as an alien conspiracy theorist than as king. The labor party members all seem so disparaging of the monarchy and its ridiculous existence. The entire film becomes a balancing act between the Queen and Blair and how do they handle the mess of the media caused by Diana's death and subsequent reaction from the public.
As for directing, well the actors and the line delivery are perfect. The blend of real television footage with that of the actors saying the same lines is flawless. And the believability and the understanding for each character is executed brilliantly. The only scene in the movie that is a bit much is the scene with the Queen looking at all of the cards and then seeing the people behind the fence constantly bow to her. Well shot, if a bit slow and plodding in pace.
Conclusion:
Its a good movie well shot and directed that explores the rights of the monarchy and what it means to become updated and to live as a Queen in the modern world. It all seems silly to me but I can see how many would like it. The acting is excellent and the story is well told. I just find it a bit boorish since the monarchy isn't really mine or many others bag. But, it's a good watch for those who like a more slowed-down dramatic approach.
4.3 out of 5
Wannabe
Finally. Now I can honestly say I have seen all of the films nominated for Best Film at the 2006 Oscars. The Departed still deserved the win by a long shot in my point of view, but here we go. Before reading this, know that I care very little for those in authority and power. So tales involving such beings being very "British" tend to bore me.
The film isn't bad but here is the point of the film, the thing they emphasize again and again. The current Queen was born in a different time and era and is having a difficult time adjusting to the more modern sensibilities. That's it. Seriously. That's the plot of the film. As viewers we already know that the Queen doesn't end up on the chopping block and that the monarchy still exists. The only thing the film allows us to see is a more sympathetic viewpoint of the Queen and to see the changes made to the monarchy and in how the monarchy deals with the public. The plot? Well, Princess Diana dies and the monarchy won't make a statement about it. Now, it is interesting to see how the newly elected prime minister Tony Blair and his labor party handle the situation considering the fact the press want to destroy the monarchy. Oh, and honestly there is a bit at the end where the Queen and Blair are speaking about the public's previous hatred of the monarchy and the Queen mentions that the same hatred could happen to Blair in an instant. I despise films that try to be cool by adding in an obvious reference to a modern event which this does by using that as a reference to the current campaign and subsequent stepping down of Tony Blair. Even if the writer didn't mean for it too, the time in which a film is released DOES affect the movie, any movie, and how it is viewed. The nice side of the plot? Well, it shows that the decision to be stoic was a calculated one and one that the monarchy believed in. Also, it goes into detail on some of the finer points about the monarchy and its traditions. However, if you mix stoicism with the rich snooty and ill-adjusted to the times, it equals boring to me. Thank God for the interesting symbolic bits like the whole thing with the stag. Unfortunately, I came away from this film with a better understanding of the monarchy, but with much less patience and caring. They are a bunch of out-of-date elders who seem to have a hard time being in touch with the people. The only good thing is that they aren't so out of touch as say, Bush or George Lucas.
In terms of acting, Helen Mirren plays a VERY stoic Queen. One who I think never truly morns or cares for the loss of Diana much and whom considers all the fuss to be an affront to her and the monarchy. She deserves her lauded praise. Unfortunately, so did Michael Sheen for his portrayal of Tony Blair. It's too bad he never received it. As for the rest of the cast, well, the royal family all look like a bunch of grumpy self-important has-beens or in-bred paranoid schizophrenics. I'm sorry, but the best argument for keeping the Queen around now is that Charles looks like he would fit better as an alien conspiracy theorist than as king. The labor party members all seem so disparaging of the monarchy and its ridiculous existence. The entire film becomes a balancing act between the Queen and Blair and how do they handle the mess of the media caused by Diana's death and subsequent reaction from the public.
As for directing, well the actors and the line delivery are perfect. The blend of real television footage with that of the actors saying the same lines is flawless. And the believability and the understanding for each character is executed brilliantly. The only scene in the movie that is a bit much is the scene with the Queen looking at all of the cards and then seeing the people behind the fence constantly bow to her. Well shot, if a bit slow and plodding in pace.
Conclusion:
Its a good movie well shot and directed that explores the rights of the monarchy and what it means to become updated and to live as a Queen in the modern world. It all seems silly to me but I can see how many would like it. The acting is excellent and the story is well told. I just find it a bit boorish since the monarchy isn't really mine or many others bag. But, it's a good watch for those who like a more slowed-down dramatic approach.
4.3 out of 5
Wannabe
Zachariah
Part 2 of the Musical Memorial Weekend
Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't watch this film and think, "Geez, what a rip off, it's just someone trying to cash in on Tommy." That was my intitial thought. Just another film made in the image of Tommy with a slightly different story and set in the crazy west. I WAS WRONG. I admit it, I was. Tommy more than likely copied from this film since this one came out 4 years earlier. With that said, this film is a really mixed bag. So I will try to explain myself as much as possible.
The story is fascinating. Its the story of two best friends who love each other in that Sam and Frodo fashion (are they gay? are they not? Bi?) who get a gun and decide to go grow up and be big time gun fighters. Along the way, we see the genesis of rock and hows it has progressed. Eventually they split as Zachariah decides to keep looking for something while his partner decides to be a ruthless gunslinger. I was only half watching and going in and out of the film a lot, but I will say that the music is fun and at times pretty amazing. The story doesn't make a lot of sense and in the trek of Zachariah he meets a hot woman he bangs and a crazy zen coot out in the wilderness who teaches him peace. I think my favorite line though is definately "That is not for friends! It's for vampires!". Yea, its a trippy plot filmed in a surrealist manner. Random violinists singing to the protagonist and crazy dumb hippie gangs that can't pull off a proper heist. I did like the idea of robbing a bank by having a show downtown to attract everyone else though. Next!
The acting in this film is eh. The two main characters give off a strange feeling akin to Brokeback Mountain, but I just attribute this to drugs and the 70's. The acting in this case is really uneccessary and is more a means for the real star, which is the surrealist telling of the story. The best example is the obvious symbol of modern day Las Vegas, Capitol City which seems to be comprised of 3-5 store fronts with nothing behind em but sand. Yet, when you walk through the doors to one, you are inside the place. The idea is that the fronts are merely symbols for the places of the actions inside and everything about the film reminds you that it is a film with a message told in symbols and vague references. There hasn't been a fun one like that recently since The Big Lebowski. I especially love the showdown scene in the gun fighter club and the irrational behavior on both parts of the actors. But like I said, the acting is only a vehicle for the trippy crazy visuals and the interesting design choices.
Conclusion:
I for one, am sad that no one is really making films like this anymore. I kind of hope that Tarantino will try his hand at one. I know that he prefers action violent flicks, but he might be the only person I can think of off the bat who could pull of the insane almost drug like visuals and allusions. Plus it would be a very different turn for him, one that would hopefully be more appealing to me than his usual fare...but I digress. This film is not bad by any means, it's just hard to sit through with the crazy non sequitur plotline and the mediocre acting. But the music and crazy vibe plus the cool and obvious symbols make it a worthy viewing and captivating all at the same time. It works at least 75% of the time and that ain't half bad.
3.56 out of 5
Wannabe
Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't watch this film and think, "Geez, what a rip off, it's just someone trying to cash in on Tommy." That was my intitial thought. Just another film made in the image of Tommy with a slightly different story and set in the crazy west. I WAS WRONG. I admit it, I was. Tommy more than likely copied from this film since this one came out 4 years earlier. With that said, this film is a really mixed bag. So I will try to explain myself as much as possible.
The story is fascinating. Its the story of two best friends who love each other in that Sam and Frodo fashion (are they gay? are they not? Bi?) who get a gun and decide to go grow up and be big time gun fighters. Along the way, we see the genesis of rock and hows it has progressed. Eventually they split as Zachariah decides to keep looking for something while his partner decides to be a ruthless gunslinger. I was only half watching and going in and out of the film a lot, but I will say that the music is fun and at times pretty amazing. The story doesn't make a lot of sense and in the trek of Zachariah he meets a hot woman he bangs and a crazy zen coot out in the wilderness who teaches him peace. I think my favorite line though is definately "That is not for friends! It's for vampires!". Yea, its a trippy plot filmed in a surrealist manner. Random violinists singing to the protagonist and crazy dumb hippie gangs that can't pull off a proper heist. I did like the idea of robbing a bank by having a show downtown to attract everyone else though. Next!
The acting in this film is eh. The two main characters give off a strange feeling akin to Brokeback Mountain, but I just attribute this to drugs and the 70's. The acting in this case is really uneccessary and is more a means for the real star, which is the surrealist telling of the story. The best example is the obvious symbol of modern day Las Vegas, Capitol City which seems to be comprised of 3-5 store fronts with nothing behind em but sand. Yet, when you walk through the doors to one, you are inside the place. The idea is that the fronts are merely symbols for the places of the actions inside and everything about the film reminds you that it is a film with a message told in symbols and vague references. There hasn't been a fun one like that recently since The Big Lebowski. I especially love the showdown scene in the gun fighter club and the irrational behavior on both parts of the actors. But like I said, the acting is only a vehicle for the trippy crazy visuals and the interesting design choices.
Conclusion:
I for one, am sad that no one is really making films like this anymore. I kind of hope that Tarantino will try his hand at one. I know that he prefers action violent flicks, but he might be the only person I can think of off the bat who could pull of the insane almost drug like visuals and allusions. Plus it would be a very different turn for him, one that would hopefully be more appealing to me than his usual fare...but I digress. This film is not bad by any means, it's just hard to sit through with the crazy non sequitur plotline and the mediocre acting. But the music and crazy vibe plus the cool and obvious symbols make it a worthy viewing and captivating all at the same time. It works at least 75% of the time and that ain't half bad.
3.56 out of 5
Wannabe
Idlewild
Part 1 of Musical Memorial Weekend
A movie that set as a prohibitionist black gangster film that explores faith, love, jazz, and is also a musical. Complete. Now add in Outkast. Double complete. Now sell it. Umm....This was the issue if I remember correctly when Idlewild came out. It didn't last too long as it seemed too eclectic for some modern young audiences and older people didn't have a connection with Outkast nor care to. Plus the reviews were mediocre for the film. After seeing it, I'm not sure why. I think critics must have wanted the film to be worse than it is. Anyhow, the breakdown!
Plotwise, the film does an excellent job of introducing and bringing us into the story of Rooster and Percival. Their lives and dreams are entwined in a way that becomes more evident as the story goes along. A struggling musician love arc and a gold-hearted gangster arc put together make for a dynamic and fun movie to watch. It has it all from the dead dame and the hot chicks to the greasy underlings and brutal murders. Plus, the musical numbers are inspiring as the dancing is excellent. At times the story is a little rough, but that's not the real flaw in this film. So enough story!
Acting-wise the actors all do decent jobs. Andre comes off surprisingly well as does his partner. Unfortunately, every actor, yes even you Terrence Howard, needs a little bit more work. Howard of course plays the evil kat in this picture, but his accent and characterizations don't seem to jive as well in this film as it does in another film called Hustle & Flow. I will say, that no other person alive can say "Man" like he can. Sure, he's crazy and evil and deadly. But it all feels like its been done before. Like he just walked in and put on the shoes and said "let's do this" without ever preparing for the part. Then there is Big Boi who comes across through most of the film as a quick wheel and dealer and not the supposedly good- natured person that the director tries to make for the audience to root for. His younger version comes off looking smarter than he does. Also, for some bizarre reason there are a couple of musical sequences where I wondered if his voice had been dubbed over by Andre. Andre does a good job but there are definitely moments where you can tell Andre is thinking, "Ok, in acting class they recommend pacing back and forth to give energy and tension to a scene of thinking." Or, "If I look away and then back at her, it adds emphasis." I'm not saying he's bad. IN fact, he's quite good. The problem comes with his being pretty new to the game and not as comfortable in the role yet as he should be. That and the editor needed to have cut sooner. Macy Gray does an excellent job as the envious local bar singer. And Paula Patton is a beautiful siren that does her job well as the romantic lead. I also enjoyed Ving Rhames. Cojack. Whatever you wanna call him and his badass. The guy is stuck playing these type of parts, but its hard not to love him for some reason. I'd cast him in anything I ever do. None of the performances were bad, but they along with the script and occassionally the directing need a little punch up. The only scene that didn't fit in the movie, is probably the one where Andre and the girl kiss in the rain...it feels like two people jumping through a field of daisies type thing. But it's okay because Paula Patton is hot. Period. And I don't know what the deal was with Andre's obsession with Shakespeare, but it works well once it is explained better. Good choice.
The best part of the film for sure, is the cinematography and the great artistic use of color. The opening sequence is just great and I love the special effects and how they are sparingly used to emphasize an artistic venture purposefully. I also love the crazy music videos that occur, especially the one where Andre wakes up in the morning with all of the clocks going off. At times it seems a little much and kind of inflated, but those moments pass quickly and it drags you back in for a fun and enjoyable romp in the fictional world of Idlewild. Also, the backgrounds and sets are gorgeous and the texture is great! For any scenic designers who might be reading this, see this film to see how texture can affect the mood and feel of a scene caught on a 2-D scale.
Conclusion:
Bryan Barber and HBO films might not have made box office gold, but I would argue that this is a worthy addition to the pantheon of fun great musical movies not taken from the theater. In some ways it comes across as a male black Chicago. In truth, it is its own demon to be taken as it is and as long as you don't start talking to your flask afterward, you'll be okay. So enter the club and relax and lets all your cares fly away on the voices of angels, gangsters, and a piano player trying to make it.
3.95 out of 5
Wannabe
A movie that set as a prohibitionist black gangster film that explores faith, love, jazz, and is also a musical. Complete. Now add in Outkast. Double complete. Now sell it. Umm....This was the issue if I remember correctly when Idlewild came out. It didn't last too long as it seemed too eclectic for some modern young audiences and older people didn't have a connection with Outkast nor care to. Plus the reviews were mediocre for the film. After seeing it, I'm not sure why. I think critics must have wanted the film to be worse than it is. Anyhow, the breakdown!
Plotwise, the film does an excellent job of introducing and bringing us into the story of Rooster and Percival. Their lives and dreams are entwined in a way that becomes more evident as the story goes along. A struggling musician love arc and a gold-hearted gangster arc put together make for a dynamic and fun movie to watch. It has it all from the dead dame and the hot chicks to the greasy underlings and brutal murders. Plus, the musical numbers are inspiring as the dancing is excellent. At times the story is a little rough, but that's not the real flaw in this film. So enough story!
Acting-wise the actors all do decent jobs. Andre comes off surprisingly well as does his partner. Unfortunately, every actor, yes even you Terrence Howard, needs a little bit more work. Howard of course plays the evil kat in this picture, but his accent and characterizations don't seem to jive as well in this film as it does in another film called Hustle & Flow. I will say, that no other person alive can say "Man" like he can. Sure, he's crazy and evil and deadly. But it all feels like its been done before. Like he just walked in and put on the shoes and said "let's do this" without ever preparing for the part. Then there is Big Boi who comes across through most of the film as a quick wheel and dealer and not the supposedly good- natured person that the director tries to make for the audience to root for. His younger version comes off looking smarter than he does. Also, for some bizarre reason there are a couple of musical sequences where I wondered if his voice had been dubbed over by Andre. Andre does a good job but there are definitely moments where you can tell Andre is thinking, "Ok, in acting class they recommend pacing back and forth to give energy and tension to a scene of thinking." Or, "If I look away and then back at her, it adds emphasis." I'm not saying he's bad. IN fact, he's quite good. The problem comes with his being pretty new to the game and not as comfortable in the role yet as he should be. That and the editor needed to have cut sooner. Macy Gray does an excellent job as the envious local bar singer. And Paula Patton is a beautiful siren that does her job well as the romantic lead. I also enjoyed Ving Rhames. Cojack. Whatever you wanna call him and his badass. The guy is stuck playing these type of parts, but its hard not to love him for some reason. I'd cast him in anything I ever do. None of the performances were bad, but they along with the script and occassionally the directing need a little punch up. The only scene that didn't fit in the movie, is probably the one where Andre and the girl kiss in the rain...it feels like two people jumping through a field of daisies type thing. But it's okay because Paula Patton is hot. Period. And I don't know what the deal was with Andre's obsession with Shakespeare, but it works well once it is explained better. Good choice.
The best part of the film for sure, is the cinematography and the great artistic use of color. The opening sequence is just great and I love the special effects and how they are sparingly used to emphasize an artistic venture purposefully. I also love the crazy music videos that occur, especially the one where Andre wakes up in the morning with all of the clocks going off. At times it seems a little much and kind of inflated, but those moments pass quickly and it drags you back in for a fun and enjoyable romp in the fictional world of Idlewild. Also, the backgrounds and sets are gorgeous and the texture is great! For any scenic designers who might be reading this, see this film to see how texture can affect the mood and feel of a scene caught on a 2-D scale.
Conclusion:
Bryan Barber and HBO films might not have made box office gold, but I would argue that this is a worthy addition to the pantheon of fun great musical movies not taken from the theater. In some ways it comes across as a male black Chicago. In truth, it is its own demon to be taken as it is and as long as you don't start talking to your flask afterward, you'll be okay. So enter the club and relax and lets all your cares fly away on the voices of angels, gangsters, and a piano player trying to make it.
3.95 out of 5
Wannabe
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
On The Lot
Well, after recently tying up most of my favorite television shows and by that I mean ending the first season of Heroes, I felt adrift from television. Nothing for the summer really looked promising until I got a call from my mother-in-law reminding me of a television show called On The Lot by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett (the guy who essentially created Survivor and started the reality show craze). I remember seeing stuff about this a good while back and checking out the website(www.thelot.com) before the season even began. My first impression was, ahh, a replacement for the now defunct Project Greenlight. Now, after having seen the last bit of the first episode, I would like to give my thoughts about this series and its structure so far as I ponder whether I want to try and do it next year, provided it isn't canceled at some undisclosed point in time.
So first, the setup. 1 aspiring filmmaker who survives the popularity polling of the public and the criticism of the judges will win a million dollar movie deal with Dreamworks. In other words, very similar to Project Greenlight except no Miramax, Ben Affleck, or Matt Damon. Instead, we have the traditional "panel" of judges headed up by Brett Ratner, Carrie Fischer, and Garry Marshall. See, of the bat you should be able to tell what they are looking for. They are not looking for the next Steven Soderbergh or Wong Kar-Wei. They are searching for the next Michael Bay or Amy Heckerling. No, actually I'm lying. They want the next Kevin Smith. I mean lets look at the judges. Carrie Fisher is best known as Leia from Star Wars and is pretty much an actress who has dabbled some in writing. Then you have Garry Marshall who started off making classic tv (Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple) and then moved into more chick flick type films. Seriously, this guy is the one who set the bar for chick flicks and is behind most the good ones released ever. (The Princess Bride Series, Runaway Bride, Pretty Woman)! Then, there is Brett Ratner. Poor Ratner. He is often maligned for having only so-so taste and for being better at mimicking than creating great cinema. Critics can't stand him and he enjoys funny buddy flicks apparently from his list of Chris Tucker films including the Rush Hour series. His most recent film was the critically maligned and yet blockbusting X3: The Last Stand which he took over after Bryan Singer went to direct Superman Returns. Neither of which I have seen. So, when looking at this list, the first thing I notice is that these are working artists and not heads of studios, so they might be slightly more willing to take a chance on a project than studios. Also, they are very stilted. Revered actress who has never directed, up and coming blockbuster director who might never make a meaningful film and an aging decent director who helped create and is now falling prey to a genre that most males can't stand. What do they all have in common? Box office draw. Argue what you will, but Georgia Rule by Garry Marshall did okay and he has a long history. Ratner's films rack up despite critical vindictiveness and Carrie Fisher is a name that garners respect and admiration from all even though I have no idea what movie she has headlined since ye ole Star Wars days. Okay, so they aren't looking for the next great artistic director, so what? where does Kevin Smith fit into all this? Easy, in the reward part. The reward is 1 million dollars for a director to make a movie with Dreamworks. First off, 1 million dollars in America for a film is like throwing a dime at a kid and telling them to go buy some gum balls. It's ridiculously low! 25 Cents at least! Sure Dreamworks is a big company and distributor, etc. But my question is does the 1 million dollars cover advertising, promotion, everything? Because creating a movie can cost over 1 mil easy and then you figure in advertising, distribution, promotional events, etc. and you are within several million immediately. I mention this because filmmakers like Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez are known for making incredibly low-budget films. I choose Smith in particular because even he acknowledges that he is not a great film maker but he has a loyal following and makes cheap films that make great Box Office. In fact, his first film, Clerks, was funded on the credit card method and he was lucky that it was bought and did so well. Otherwise, he might be living a different life right now with his hang-out buddy Jason Mewes in debtor prison. Also, my faith in this show is lackened by the obvious hand of Mark Burnett and his silly reality tv ways. I'm sorry, but when the opening episode has 50 semi-finalists and 14 are kicked off immediately, yes it creates a sense of immediacy and drama, but it also makes the idea of investing into the people's dreams on the show seem like a bad idea since another 20 could be kicked off next week. I know it's the first episode and the first few in reality tv always have major cutbacks that get smaller and smaller, but still. 50? Why not 25 and kick one off a show? I don't know. Grumble grumble...grumble.
Besides that grouching over the Mark Burnett influence, I am actually interested. I think these type shows would be better off if they tried to find the best director period. Not the most popular, but I understand that you want to create a fanbase for a director on the show so that when their low-budget feature gets released someone will want to see it and it will require little in extra advertising costs. Honestly, what wins these shows is usually a mixture between personality and talent. Just ask American Idol how well that technique has worked (Last I checked, the only winner to actually have a career is the first one, Kelly. And damn she made a terrible movie). Also, a similar approach was tried with Project Greenlight which could never gather enough viewership to the show nor to its features that it created. I am genuinely surprised that an idea like this is even being tried again. But good luck, and now that I'm old enough, maybe I'll try to join next year...hmmmm...we'll see. The first episode was interesting in that it made the contestants create and market a pitch which decided the fate of 14 contestants. Then the next assignment was to group into threes and create a short film in 24 hours no longer than 2 and 1/2 minutes. I love competitions like this and I like the frenetic pace we are talking about here. The pitch is an essential part of being a director, especially if you want financing from H-wood. So far, I think the challenges are definately necessary and if nothing else provide GREAT experience for everyone, even the ones who lost immediately. I just hope that they keep up the good ideas for projects and good criticism. We don't need a Paula Abdul nice person on this show. No time and no room. With everything now said that I want to get said, I hereby give a plug to Adam M who I hope wasn't eliminated in the first episode and who is from B-ham like me. vote for him to stay!!! Also, I advise you to check out the site of On The Lot since it looks like they will be creating and online internet community with its own film-making challenges each week. Also, the next episode is thursday, so be prepared to see the first 2 1/2 minute shorts! If you care, which I do, because I am...
Wannabe
So first, the setup. 1 aspiring filmmaker who survives the popularity polling of the public and the criticism of the judges will win a million dollar movie deal with Dreamworks. In other words, very similar to Project Greenlight except no Miramax, Ben Affleck, or Matt Damon. Instead, we have the traditional "panel" of judges headed up by Brett Ratner, Carrie Fischer, and Garry Marshall. See, of the bat you should be able to tell what they are looking for. They are not looking for the next Steven Soderbergh or Wong Kar-Wei. They are searching for the next Michael Bay or Amy Heckerling. No, actually I'm lying. They want the next Kevin Smith. I mean lets look at the judges. Carrie Fisher is best known as Leia from Star Wars and is pretty much an actress who has dabbled some in writing. Then you have Garry Marshall who started off making classic tv (Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple) and then moved into more chick flick type films. Seriously, this guy is the one who set the bar for chick flicks and is behind most the good ones released ever. (The Princess Bride Series, Runaway Bride, Pretty Woman)! Then, there is Brett Ratner. Poor Ratner. He is often maligned for having only so-so taste and for being better at mimicking than creating great cinema. Critics can't stand him and he enjoys funny buddy flicks apparently from his list of Chris Tucker films including the Rush Hour series. His most recent film was the critically maligned and yet blockbusting X3: The Last Stand which he took over after Bryan Singer went to direct Superman Returns. Neither of which I have seen. So, when looking at this list, the first thing I notice is that these are working artists and not heads of studios, so they might be slightly more willing to take a chance on a project than studios. Also, they are very stilted. Revered actress who has never directed, up and coming blockbuster director who might never make a meaningful film and an aging decent director who helped create and is now falling prey to a genre that most males can't stand. What do they all have in common? Box office draw. Argue what you will, but Georgia Rule by Garry Marshall did okay and he has a long history. Ratner's films rack up despite critical vindictiveness and Carrie Fisher is a name that garners respect and admiration from all even though I have no idea what movie she has headlined since ye ole Star Wars days. Okay, so they aren't looking for the next great artistic director, so what? where does Kevin Smith fit into all this? Easy, in the reward part. The reward is 1 million dollars for a director to make a movie with Dreamworks. First off, 1 million dollars in America for a film is like throwing a dime at a kid and telling them to go buy some gum balls. It's ridiculously low! 25 Cents at least! Sure Dreamworks is a big company and distributor, etc. But my question is does the 1 million dollars cover advertising, promotion, everything? Because creating a movie can cost over 1 mil easy and then you figure in advertising, distribution, promotional events, etc. and you are within several million immediately. I mention this because filmmakers like Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez are known for making incredibly low-budget films. I choose Smith in particular because even he acknowledges that he is not a great film maker but he has a loyal following and makes cheap films that make great Box Office. In fact, his first film, Clerks, was funded on the credit card method and he was lucky that it was bought and did so well. Otherwise, he might be living a different life right now with his hang-out buddy Jason Mewes in debtor prison. Also, my faith in this show is lackened by the obvious hand of Mark Burnett and his silly reality tv ways. I'm sorry, but when the opening episode has 50 semi-finalists and 14 are kicked off immediately, yes it creates a sense of immediacy and drama, but it also makes the idea of investing into the people's dreams on the show seem like a bad idea since another 20 could be kicked off next week. I know it's the first episode and the first few in reality tv always have major cutbacks that get smaller and smaller, but still. 50? Why not 25 and kick one off a show? I don't know. Grumble grumble...grumble.
Besides that grouching over the Mark Burnett influence, I am actually interested. I think these type shows would be better off if they tried to find the best director period. Not the most popular, but I understand that you want to create a fanbase for a director on the show so that when their low-budget feature gets released someone will want to see it and it will require little in extra advertising costs. Honestly, what wins these shows is usually a mixture between personality and talent. Just ask American Idol how well that technique has worked (Last I checked, the only winner to actually have a career is the first one, Kelly. And damn she made a terrible movie). Also, a similar approach was tried with Project Greenlight which could never gather enough viewership to the show nor to its features that it created. I am genuinely surprised that an idea like this is even being tried again. But good luck, and now that I'm old enough, maybe I'll try to join next year...hmmmm...we'll see. The first episode was interesting in that it made the contestants create and market a pitch which decided the fate of 14 contestants. Then the next assignment was to group into threes and create a short film in 24 hours no longer than 2 and 1/2 minutes. I love competitions like this and I like the frenetic pace we are talking about here. The pitch is an essential part of being a director, especially if you want financing from H-wood. So far, I think the challenges are definately necessary and if nothing else provide GREAT experience for everyone, even the ones who lost immediately. I just hope that they keep up the good ideas for projects and good criticism. We don't need a Paula Abdul nice person on this show. No time and no room. With everything now said that I want to get said, I hereby give a plug to Adam M who I hope wasn't eliminated in the first episode and who is from B-ham like me. vote for him to stay!!! Also, I advise you to check out the site of On The Lot since it looks like they will be creating and online internet community with its own film-making challenges each week. Also, the next episode is thursday, so be prepared to see the first 2 1/2 minute shorts! If you care, which I do, because I am...
Wannabe
Monday, May 21, 2007
Indie Stats Update!
Alright group. so after the first weekend, here's the standings so far. The dollar sign ($) means that films has been released and it's numbers are a reflection of what it has so far earned.
BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 PAPRIKA 0.4 1 0 7
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 DAY WATCH 1.5 1 0 6.3
6 BUG 12.6 0 0 6.4
$7 ONCE 0.07 5 0 8.1
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9
TOTAL 390.87 25 26 6.9375
GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 OCEAN'S 13 115 4 8 5.7
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
5 GOLDEN DOOR 3.5 5 0 7.2
6 YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.35 0 0 7.2
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
$8 EVEN MONEY 0.02 0 0 6
TOTAL 432.37 30 26 6.7375
WANNABE
1 KNOCKED UP 105 3 6 6.9
2 SURF'S UP 90 3 6 6.3
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH...FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 THE METHOD 0.45 0 0 7
7 GHOSTS...SOLEIL 0.25 0 0 7
8 A MIGHTY HEART 29 5 0 6
TOTAL 397.3 20 25 6.3125
WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE...DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 HOSTEL II 33 1 3 5.3
$6 SEVERANCE 0.01 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 MR. BROOKS 21 0 0 4.6
TOTAL 564.91 20 36 5.9625
RANK BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB OVERALL
1 WILL IAN WILL CHESS IAN 13
2 IAN CHESS CHESS&IAN IAN WILL 11
3 JEB JEB&WILL JEB JEB CHESS 11
4 CHESS WILL JEB 7
MOVIES STILL AVAILABLE (X DENOTES # TIMES DROPPED)
x DOA
I'm Reed Fish
Pierrepoint - The Last Hangman
Rise: Blood Hunter
Boss of It All
Ten Canoes
Bug
The Golden Door
Angel-A
Gracie
The Trials of Darryl Hunt
Crazy Love
I Could Never Be Your Woman
1408
Skinwalkers
I Know Who Killed Me
Moliere
Who's Your Caddy
Broken English
Sicko
September Dawn
The Strangers
Talk to Me
My Best Friend
Interview
Shortcut to Happiness (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster)
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Vitus
License to Wed
Rescue Dawn
Introducing the Dwights (formerly Clubland)
Dynamite Warrior
Joshua
Drama/Mex
Fierce People
Arctic Tale
Goya's Ghosts
This Is England
SO THERE YOU GO. THERE ARE MORE MOVIES THAN THIS TO CHOOSE, BUT THEY AREN'T ALL LISTED BY ME YET. I'LL TRY TO GET THEM UP AND RUNNING COME THURSDAY. TIL THEN, CONTINUE THE GAMES!!!!
WANNABE
BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 PAPRIKA 0.4 1 0 7
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 DAY WATCH 1.5 1 0 6.3
6 BUG 12.6 0 0 6.4
$7 ONCE 0.07 5 0 8.1
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9
TOTAL 390.87 25 26 6.9375
GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 OCEAN'S 13 115 4 8 5.7
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
5 GOLDEN DOOR 3.5 5 0 7.2
6 YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.35 0 0 7.2
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
$8 EVEN MONEY 0.02 0 0 6
TOTAL 432.37 30 26 6.7375
WANNABE
1 KNOCKED UP 105 3 6 6.9
2 SURF'S UP 90 3 6 6.3
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH...FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 THE METHOD 0.45 0 0 7
7 GHOSTS...SOLEIL 0.25 0 0 7
8 A MIGHTY HEART 29 5 0 6
TOTAL 397.3 20 25 6.3125
WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE...DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 HOSTEL II 33 1 3 5.3
$6 SEVERANCE 0.01 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 MR. BROOKS 21 0 0 4.6
TOTAL 564.91 20 36 5.9625
RANK BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB OVERALL
1 WILL IAN WILL CHESS IAN 13
2 IAN CHESS CHESS&IAN IAN WILL 11
3 JEB JEB&WILL JEB JEB CHESS 11
4 CHESS WILL JEB 7
MOVIES STILL AVAILABLE (X DENOTES # TIMES DROPPED)
x DOA
I'm Reed Fish
Pierrepoint - The Last Hangman
Rise: Blood Hunter
Boss of It All
Ten Canoes
Bug
The Golden Door
Angel-A
Gracie
The Trials of Darryl Hunt
Crazy Love
I Could Never Be Your Woman
1408
Skinwalkers
I Know Who Killed Me
Moliere
Who's Your Caddy
Broken English
Sicko
September Dawn
The Strangers
Talk to Me
My Best Friend
Interview
Shortcut to Happiness (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster)
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Vitus
License to Wed
Rescue Dawn
Introducing the Dwights (formerly Clubland)
Dynamite Warrior
Joshua
Drama/Mex
Fierce People
Arctic Tale
Goya's Ghosts
This Is England
SO THERE YOU GO. THERE ARE MORE MOVIES THAN THIS TO CHOOSE, BUT THEY AREN'T ALL LISTED BY ME YET. I'LL TRY TO GET THEM UP AND RUNNING COME THURSDAY. TIL THEN, CONTINUE THE GAMES!!!!
WANNABE
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Fanatix League Update!
After finishing his Camel pack and putting his little brats to bed, the disgruntled and nervous CastleMyKing decides to review his film slate. After all, if everything doesn't turn out jusssst right, the board will drop him like napalm on Vietnam. Especially after last year...And he needs the money to support that gold-digging wife...or she'll tell...everyone. He shudders silently to himself and quickly pulls out the secret key to his basement and the ROOM.
A couple of hours and Jack Daniels later, a hand slaps Castle as he exclaims "Ah hah! I've found the dud!" Then, as if enchanted, his crazed hands quickly grab the phone and scream, "Get me marketing! Now!...Hello? Yes, look, that whole DOA thing? Drop it, and start making posters for this new little gem I found called Once, that's right the Irish thingy. Now get those posters up by tomorrow! Why? Because I'm releasing it tomorrow!! The early bird gets the worm and other silly sayings...JUST DO IT!!!" With that, the hands quickly slam down the phone and grab a nice brandy from his cabinet as he rolled out the secret films and snoozed off in perverse splendor, all tension lifted...for now.
Statistics:
Sorry, I'm in MD currently but I will post an update on everyone soon. what this post means though, is Castle just dropped DOA for Once which just opened so he's now stuck with it. DOA has one strike against it. It can be dropped one more time before whoever picks it up is stuck with it. Let the Games BeGIN!!!
Wannabe
A couple of hours and Jack Daniels later, a hand slaps Castle as he exclaims "Ah hah! I've found the dud!" Then, as if enchanted, his crazed hands quickly grab the phone and scream, "Get me marketing! Now!...Hello? Yes, look, that whole DOA thing? Drop it, and start making posters for this new little gem I found called Once, that's right the Irish thingy. Now get those posters up by tomorrow! Why? Because I'm releasing it tomorrow!! The early bird gets the worm and other silly sayings...JUST DO IT!!!" With that, the hands quickly slam down the phone and grab a nice brandy from his cabinet as he rolled out the secret films and snoozed off in perverse splendor, all tension lifted...for now.
Statistics:
Sorry, I'm in MD currently but I will post an update on everyone soon. what this post means though, is Castle just dropped DOA for Once which just opened so he's now stuck with it. DOA has one strike against it. It can be dropped one more time before whoever picks it up is stuck with it. Let the Games BeGIN!!!
Wannabe
Monday, May 14, 2007
Spider-Man 3
Spidey Weekend Part III and conclusion
Okay, so I have noticed that as I have written these reviews they have become less and less enthusiastic, and I'm sure this one will continue that tradition. But before I continue with my lukewarm criticism, know that these films are good films...I just can't stand Tobey Maguire. Something about him...probably his whiny whispery voice because I kid you not, on both of the first two films I had to crank the volume to understand the voice overs. It could also be the style. While I appreciate the humor Raimi infuses naturally and the great story arcs and villains, I am slightly irked by the obvious attempts to tie Spider-man to NY and occassionally the cheesy iconography type cinematography. I have noticed this though, and I believe it whole-heartedly...if Sam Raimi could learn to include some crazier darker lighting and a little more slanted angles, Raimi would have been the perfect candidate to replace Tim Burton after he had finished Batman Returns.
Now Spider-man 3. The first half of the film is quite good and Raimi does an excellent job of including the venom symbiote into the storyline of Spider-Man's corruption to the dark side. Sure there are a couple of sequences, usually dance sequences that last a bit long and make me cringe, but on the whole it is really well paced and performed. The film turns its focus back to the issues between Mary Jane and Peter, which Raimi realized early on was the crux of everything. In fact, he has gotten it down to a formula. Add a pinch of love disturbance, a princess kidnapping, some egotistic stupidity on Peter's part, add in a villain and stir vigoruosly. Include one or two platitudes about life and a moral lesson for Peter and end with villain killed after finding out Peter's secret identity. Now, the first film had 1 villain, the second 1 had 2 and this one...well, it has three, sort of. And it reached its breaking point.
Despite the first half, the second half takes off and tries to suddenly include the entire arc of venom and Eddie Brock. Since the film takes off running for the finish line, many details pass by in a blur and are easily missed. Leading up to a gigantic climactic ending that's easy on the eyes but painful to the brain. I'm sorry, but Sandman doesn't spend as much energy as possible to kill someone to just apologize later and vanish...and of course, the tradition continues in that all the villains die, except Sandman because Raimi probably couldn't think of how to get rid of him. Also, I could understand Harry saving MJ maybe, but there is no reason Harry would have saved Peter after everything with half his face being blown off in a spat. Instead, what starts off as a promising trilogy with great lead up ends completely unsatisfactorily in every department except for maybe the MJ and PP line. But yea, that whole explosive showdown you felt promised since the first movie? Yea, forget it. Change of heart and all that ****. Raimi, stick to two villains at a time and make sure you understand the characters...all of them.
As for acting, Tobey Maguire does his Peter Parker thing and is especially funny to laugh at when he dons the dark "emo" Peter Parker look. Classic. Kirsten Dunst is great as a flailing actress and MJ. Plus, I have to admit that she has some really nice legs. James Franco does a great job as Harry...until the end because the ending is SOOOO f'd up. Other characters include Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard's daughter, as Gwen Stacy who is essentially unneccessary although she does do a good job in her few scenes. Also, I remember Gwen being slightly more...daring? than MJ which never came across in the maybe two scenes. J.K. Simmons changes up his humor by playing it more low without yelling so much and he is still brilliant. Seriously, this guy makes the series worth watching all by himself...well he and Bruce Campbell who has his biggest and funniest cameo yet. Why isn't he cast in more big time movies? Oh well. Stan Lee has a speaking role for once, good for him. Now for the villains. Thomas Haden Church is wonderful as Sandman. He plays the tragic villain perfectly. Too bad the ending sucks. Topher Grace pulls off the Venom character better than I ever believed possible for such a skinny kid, but damn he got the character down well. Too bad he's dead and didn't find time to develop the character beyond one-dimension!! Hmm, as I write, the ending irks me more and more. Oh well, at least the venom story comes from the animated 90's series and I enjoyed how he killed Venom at least. The silly Eddie Brock storyline is handled pseudo well but of course, this film needed to end with the creation of Venom and then let the next one focus on Brock/Venom/PP. Oh well, too late now. The good news is that no one disappoints although I find the tonal shift in PP's landlord from Spidey 2 to 3 disturbing.
Now where it's going. Raimi has done the evil twin of Spidey thing with the Venom line. He's done the tragic line with Sandman and the perpetuated Simmons paper influnced public idea. The struggle to gain MJ's love, done. The fight to save his friend from his own darkness, complete. And in the process, Doc Ock, Sandman, Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, and Venom all dead except Sandman who just sort of left. So, next will be possibly the Vulture and The Lizard. The Lizard being the most obvious with the buildup of Curt Connors being in the last two films helping Spidey. Just too obvious. Maybe after that it could be Morbius and Kraven, or some other such nonsene. Someone else close to PP should be in danger, so maybe Gwen Stacy will come back or maybe the nice landlord's crazy daughter. But will they want to make it? Apparently Sony has already committed to making a 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th or as long as they can craft great stories for such a great character. Raimi? Well besides being preoccupied with the possibility of filming The Hobbitt, he has mentioned that he would like to film the 4th and probably the 5th and 6th if he was still as intrigued as he is now by PP after the 4th. Tobey? Dunst? Franco? Well, Tobey and Kirsten both say they are tired of it but they might come back provided Raimi does it again and they feel its a good story that naturally flows from the last one. Franco? Well, who cares, his character is dead now. Although Ben Parker died in the first film but they brought him back for the great flashback sequence in 3. Now here lies the interesting part. Rumors has it that the powers that be might want to do away with Raimi and Maguire and Dunst since if Raimi came back he would want too much control and Spidey 3 cost $250 million just to make. Plus, Maguire and Dunst would want a pay increase. Instead, they are thinking of recasting it and refilling it with new up and comers to keep costs down and to start up a new trilogy with a new great director at the helm. Honestly, I would be okay with a new director and a new spiderman and MJ as long as they kept the supporting cast and got a director and replacement actors talented enough to keep the stories good. Jake Gyllenhaal for Spidey, Rose McGowan as MJ (Both have porcelain skin) and maybe get someone else with a love of old creature films and a love of comics...like Guillermo del Torro or Alfonso Cuaron. Just not Ang Lee.
Conclusion:
Good casting as always. Some great pacing and acting i the first part with only a few cringe moments, some of which were planned. Unfortunately its followed with a web-slinging hodge podge of ideas and plans that leave too big a hole in the middle for any audience member to slip through without being caught and entranced. Good luck to Raimi and crew, but especially to the supporting cast who should always be there. Also, the whole butler thing for Harry is completely contrived, lame and crappily executed on all fronts. Bah, see it for some fun but don't expect a satisfying ending to the promise of the first two in the trilogy.
3.54 out of 5
Wannabe
Okay, so I have noticed that as I have written these reviews they have become less and less enthusiastic, and I'm sure this one will continue that tradition. But before I continue with my lukewarm criticism, know that these films are good films...I just can't stand Tobey Maguire. Something about him...probably his whiny whispery voice because I kid you not, on both of the first two films I had to crank the volume to understand the voice overs. It could also be the style. While I appreciate the humor Raimi infuses naturally and the great story arcs and villains, I am slightly irked by the obvious attempts to tie Spider-man to NY and occassionally the cheesy iconography type cinematography. I have noticed this though, and I believe it whole-heartedly...if Sam Raimi could learn to include some crazier darker lighting and a little more slanted angles, Raimi would have been the perfect candidate to replace Tim Burton after he had finished Batman Returns.
Now Spider-man 3. The first half of the film is quite good and Raimi does an excellent job of including the venom symbiote into the storyline of Spider-Man's corruption to the dark side. Sure there are a couple of sequences, usually dance sequences that last a bit long and make me cringe, but on the whole it is really well paced and performed. The film turns its focus back to the issues between Mary Jane and Peter, which Raimi realized early on was the crux of everything. In fact, he has gotten it down to a formula. Add a pinch of love disturbance, a princess kidnapping, some egotistic stupidity on Peter's part, add in a villain and stir vigoruosly. Include one or two platitudes about life and a moral lesson for Peter and end with villain killed after finding out Peter's secret identity. Now, the first film had 1 villain, the second 1 had 2 and this one...well, it has three, sort of. And it reached its breaking point.
Despite the first half, the second half takes off and tries to suddenly include the entire arc of venom and Eddie Brock. Since the film takes off running for the finish line, many details pass by in a blur and are easily missed. Leading up to a gigantic climactic ending that's easy on the eyes but painful to the brain. I'm sorry, but Sandman doesn't spend as much energy as possible to kill someone to just apologize later and vanish...and of course, the tradition continues in that all the villains die, except Sandman because Raimi probably couldn't think of how to get rid of him. Also, I could understand Harry saving MJ maybe, but there is no reason Harry would have saved Peter after everything with half his face being blown off in a spat. Instead, what starts off as a promising trilogy with great lead up ends completely unsatisfactorily in every department except for maybe the MJ and PP line. But yea, that whole explosive showdown you felt promised since the first movie? Yea, forget it. Change of heart and all that ****. Raimi, stick to two villains at a time and make sure you understand the characters...all of them.
As for acting, Tobey Maguire does his Peter Parker thing and is especially funny to laugh at when he dons the dark "emo" Peter Parker look. Classic. Kirsten Dunst is great as a flailing actress and MJ. Plus, I have to admit that she has some really nice legs. James Franco does a great job as Harry...until the end because the ending is SOOOO f'd up. Other characters include Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard's daughter, as Gwen Stacy who is essentially unneccessary although she does do a good job in her few scenes. Also, I remember Gwen being slightly more...daring? than MJ which never came across in the maybe two scenes. J.K. Simmons changes up his humor by playing it more low without yelling so much and he is still brilliant. Seriously, this guy makes the series worth watching all by himself...well he and Bruce Campbell who has his biggest and funniest cameo yet. Why isn't he cast in more big time movies? Oh well. Stan Lee has a speaking role for once, good for him. Now for the villains. Thomas Haden Church is wonderful as Sandman. He plays the tragic villain perfectly. Too bad the ending sucks. Topher Grace pulls off the Venom character better than I ever believed possible for such a skinny kid, but damn he got the character down well. Too bad he's dead and didn't find time to develop the character beyond one-dimension!! Hmm, as I write, the ending irks me more and more. Oh well, at least the venom story comes from the animated 90's series and I enjoyed how he killed Venom at least. The silly Eddie Brock storyline is handled pseudo well but of course, this film needed to end with the creation of Venom and then let the next one focus on Brock/Venom/PP. Oh well, too late now. The good news is that no one disappoints although I find the tonal shift in PP's landlord from Spidey 2 to 3 disturbing.
Now where it's going. Raimi has done the evil twin of Spidey thing with the Venom line. He's done the tragic line with Sandman and the perpetuated Simmons paper influnced public idea. The struggle to gain MJ's love, done. The fight to save his friend from his own darkness, complete. And in the process, Doc Ock, Sandman, Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, and Venom all dead except Sandman who just sort of left. So, next will be possibly the Vulture and The Lizard. The Lizard being the most obvious with the buildup of Curt Connors being in the last two films helping Spidey. Just too obvious. Maybe after that it could be Morbius and Kraven, or some other such nonsene. Someone else close to PP should be in danger, so maybe Gwen Stacy will come back or maybe the nice landlord's crazy daughter. But will they want to make it? Apparently Sony has already committed to making a 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th or as long as they can craft great stories for such a great character. Raimi? Well besides being preoccupied with the possibility of filming The Hobbitt, he has mentioned that he would like to film the 4th and probably the 5th and 6th if he was still as intrigued as he is now by PP after the 4th. Tobey? Dunst? Franco? Well, Tobey and Kirsten both say they are tired of it but they might come back provided Raimi does it again and they feel its a good story that naturally flows from the last one. Franco? Well, who cares, his character is dead now. Although Ben Parker died in the first film but they brought him back for the great flashback sequence in 3. Now here lies the interesting part. Rumors has it that the powers that be might want to do away with Raimi and Maguire and Dunst since if Raimi came back he would want too much control and Spidey 3 cost $250 million just to make. Plus, Maguire and Dunst would want a pay increase. Instead, they are thinking of recasting it and refilling it with new up and comers to keep costs down and to start up a new trilogy with a new great director at the helm. Honestly, I would be okay with a new director and a new spiderman and MJ as long as they kept the supporting cast and got a director and replacement actors talented enough to keep the stories good. Jake Gyllenhaal for Spidey, Rose McGowan as MJ (Both have porcelain skin) and maybe get someone else with a love of old creature films and a love of comics...like Guillermo del Torro or Alfonso Cuaron. Just not Ang Lee.
Conclusion:
Good casting as always. Some great pacing and acting i the first part with only a few cringe moments, some of which were planned. Unfortunately its followed with a web-slinging hodge podge of ideas and plans that leave too big a hole in the middle for any audience member to slip through without being caught and entranced. Good luck to Raimi and crew, but especially to the supporting cast who should always be there. Also, the whole butler thing for Harry is completely contrived, lame and crappily executed on all fronts. Bah, see it for some fun but don't expect a satisfying ending to the promise of the first two in the trilogy.
3.54 out of 5
Wannabe
Fanatix Indie Circuit
In an effort of fun, me and some of my friends have joined together in an offline fantasy league for films similar to the fantasymoguls rules. As such, there will be weekly postings and status updates on this site from now until July 30. So with that being said, you can skip this if you have no interest in the league. Otherwise, here's the results of the offline draft.
Due to a random # generator, the order for the snakestyle draft was castlemyking first, followed by the godofshadows, wannabe(me), and then willo. Here's how it went done.
Round 1: Castle = Ratatouille, GoS = Transformers, Wannabe = Knocked Up, Willo = Evan Almighty
Round 2: Willo = Harry Potter 5, Wannabe = Surf's Up, GoS = Evening, Castle = Paprika
Round 3: Castle = No Reservations, GoS = Ocean's 13, Wannabe = FF4, Willo = Hairspray
Round 4: Willo = Live Free or Die Hard, Wannabe = Black Sheep, GoS = Nancy Drew, Castle = Simpsons
Round 5: Castle = Day Watch, GoS = Golden Door, Wannabe = Death at a Funeral, Willo = Hostel II
Round 6: Willo = Severance, Wannabe = The Method, GoS = You're Gonna Miss Me, Castle = Bug
Round 7: Castle = DOA, GoS = You Kill Me, Wannabe = Ghosts of Cite Soleil, Willo = Captivity
Round 8: Willo = Mr. Brooks, Wannabe = A Mighty Heart, GoS = Even Money, Castle = Eagle vs. Shark.
Movies Still Available:
Once
I'm Reed Fish
Pierrepoint - The Last Hangman
Rise: Blood Hunter
Fay Grim
The Wendell Baker Story
Boss of It All
Ten Canoes
Bug
The Golden Door
Angel-A
Gracie
The Trials of Darryl Hunt
Crazy Love
I Could Never Be Your Woman
1408
Skinwalkers
I Know Who Killed Me
Moliere
Who's Your Caddy
Broken English
Sicko
September Dawn
The Strangers
Talk to Me
My Best Friend
Interview
Shortcut to Happiness (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster)
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Vitus
License to Wed
Rescue Dawn
Introducing the Dwights (formerly Clubland)
Dynamite Warrior
Joshua
Drama/Mex
Fierce People
Arctic Tale
Goya's Ghosts
This Is England
The Current Predictions:
BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 PAPRIKA 0.35 1 0 7
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 DAY WATCH 1.5 1 0 6.3
6 BUG 12.6 0 0 6.4
7 DOA 25.5 0 0 4.5
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9
TOTAL 416.25 20 26 6.4875
GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 OCEAN'S 13 115 4 8 5.7
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
5 GOLDEN DOOR 3.5 5 0 7.2
6 YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.35 0 0 7.2
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
8 EVEN MONEY 3 1 0 6
TOTAL 435.35 31 26 6.7375
WANNABE
1 KNOCKED UP 105 3 6 6.9
2 SURF'S UP 90 3 6 6.3
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 THE METHOD 0.45 0 0 7
7 GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL 0.25 0 0 7
8 A MIGHTY HEART 29 5 0 6
TOTAL 397.3 20 25 6.3125
WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 HOSTEL II 33 1 3 5.3
6 SEVERANCE 2.1 0 1 6.2
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 MR. BROOKS 21 0 0 4.6
TOTAL 567 20 37 5.875
The Current Outcome Based on Predictions:
OVERALL
GoS 14
WILLO 12
CASTLE 12
WANNABE 7
So, besides the fact that I got the shaft pretty hard, hit me up with an email if you wish to adjust your slate lineup. I will periodically post updates and you can find them listed under Fanatix Indie League on the left. Good going gentleman, and I look forward to a great league coupled with some fun random events...:) This should be fun...
Wannabe
Due to a random # generator, the order for the snakestyle draft was castlemyking first, followed by the godofshadows, wannabe(me), and then willo. Here's how it went done.
Round 1: Castle = Ratatouille, GoS = Transformers, Wannabe = Knocked Up, Willo = Evan Almighty
Round 2: Willo = Harry Potter 5, Wannabe = Surf's Up, GoS = Evening, Castle = Paprika
Round 3: Castle = No Reservations, GoS = Ocean's 13, Wannabe = FF4, Willo = Hairspray
Round 4: Willo = Live Free or Die Hard, Wannabe = Black Sheep, GoS = Nancy Drew, Castle = Simpsons
Round 5: Castle = Day Watch, GoS = Golden Door, Wannabe = Death at a Funeral, Willo = Hostel II
Round 6: Willo = Severance, Wannabe = The Method, GoS = You're Gonna Miss Me, Castle = Bug
Round 7: Castle = DOA, GoS = You Kill Me, Wannabe = Ghosts of Cite Soleil, Willo = Captivity
Round 8: Willo = Mr. Brooks, Wannabe = A Mighty Heart, GoS = Even Money, Castle = Eagle vs. Shark.
Movies Still Available:
Once
I'm Reed Fish
Pierrepoint - The Last Hangman
Rise: Blood Hunter
Fay Grim
The Wendell Baker Story
Boss of It All
Ten Canoes
Bug
The Golden Door
Angel-A
Gracie
The Trials of Darryl Hunt
Crazy Love
I Could Never Be Your Woman
1408
Skinwalkers
I Know Who Killed Me
Moliere
Who's Your Caddy
Broken English
Sicko
September Dawn
The Strangers
Talk to Me
My Best Friend
Interview
Shortcut to Happiness (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster)
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Vitus
License to Wed
Rescue Dawn
Introducing the Dwights (formerly Clubland)
Dynamite Warrior
Joshua
Drama/Mex
Fierce People
Arctic Tale
Goya's Ghosts
This Is England
The Current Predictions:
BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 PAPRIKA 0.35 1 0 7
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 DAY WATCH 1.5 1 0 6.3
6 BUG 12.6 0 0 6.4
7 DOA 25.5 0 0 4.5
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9
TOTAL 416.25 20 26 6.4875
GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 OCEAN'S 13 115 4 8 5.7
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
5 GOLDEN DOOR 3.5 5 0 7.2
6 YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.35 0 0 7.2
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
8 EVEN MONEY 3 1 0 6
TOTAL 435.35 31 26 6.7375
WANNABE
1 KNOCKED UP 105 3 6 6.9
2 SURF'S UP 90 3 6 6.3
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 THE METHOD 0.45 0 0 7
7 GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL 0.25 0 0 7
8 A MIGHTY HEART 29 5 0 6
TOTAL 397.3 20 25 6.3125
WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 HOSTEL II 33 1 3 5.3
6 SEVERANCE 2.1 0 1 6.2
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 MR. BROOKS 21 0 0 4.6
TOTAL 567 20 37 5.875
The Current Outcome Based on Predictions:
OVERALL
GoS 14
WILLO 12
CASTLE 12
WANNABE 7
So, besides the fact that I got the shaft pretty hard, hit me up with an email if you wish to adjust your slate lineup. I will periodically post updates and you can find them listed under Fanatix Indie League on the left. Good going gentleman, and I look forward to a great league coupled with some fun random events...:) This should be fun...
Wannabe
Spider-Man 2
Spidey weekend Part 2
Alrighty, so in installment numero uno, we have Peter Parker struggle with his new found powers from a genetically engineered spider bite, his uncle's death at the hands of a thief that he let loose, and the descent into madness of his best friend's father while his best friend thinks his alter ego, spidey, killed his father. But not was all bleak, wait, yes it was. Since he gave up his true love Mary Jane at the end. Oh well, the first installment stayed true to the origins and story of Spider-Man. Also Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell had great cameos. Now, for part II.
Well, to start, Spiderman is now delivering pizzas which of course is great for a couple of chuckles while introducing us to the squalid and unhappy life of Peter Parker after High School. Almost two years since his uncle's death. Harry now runs Oscorp and is backing a brilliant scientist named Dr. Octavius who is trying to create a sustainable renewable energy source, aka, a small sun. Lots of family and relationship issues. Dr. Octavius has some fusion issues with a cool four armed toy and bang, we have Doc Ock and a steaming young Harry pent on revenge against Spider-Man. All superhero vs evil villain story aside, their really isn't much in this story regarding lasting changes to Peter Parker's life. But oh well. The story is still fun and it has some great stuff regarding Doc Ock's character.
Directing wise, Sam Raimi abandons his usual low-tech style in favor of more of a CG/wire approach to film making. This lends the film a more polished look, although the CG is still too rough to ever mistake Tobey Maguire as actually flying about the city as Spiderman. The choices made by Raimi regarding how to shoot Doc Ock are well done as his CG effects never actually get in the way of showing Alfred Molina, and thus making the character more believable. Also, he does the usual NY hearts spidey thing. My favorite bit though of his directing is the sometimes blatant ripping he does from other movies. It seems to me that the more I watch, the more I realize that Raimi is using the Spider-Man movies as a way to pay homage to his old favorite films. There's a great sequence that is made to be in reference to King Kong and another where Spider-Man rips his shirt in a similar fashion to the old Christopher Reeves Superman films. I'm not going to lie, but I think Raimi was probably slightly jealous when Bryan Singer got to direct the recent incarnation of Superman over him. I especially liked seeing Maguire dealing with the loss of powers and his struggle to give up completely and to have a normal life. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Raimi does the story and all of teh characters justice, although I think perhaps some more fleshing out Doc Ock's background and maybe a better reason for his "craziness". I'm sorry, it's not Molina's fault, its the writing. If someone's mind has been taken over by 4 apparently crazy killing metallic arms, then there really is no point in time where you can reason with them...ever.
Acting wise, Tobey does his nerdy Peter Parker impression with less fire this time out and his whispy voice is sooo annoying he almost makes me hate Peter Parker. Almost. Kirsten Dunst does a great amount of flirting and changing boyfriends...figures. J.K. Simmons is Hi-larious! Dear God! If someone thinks they could play J. Jonah Jameson better, give them five dollars and make em disappear. This guy is great! Aunt May is still strong and sweet. Alfred Molina and James Franco are the ones who really tear up the screen. Maybe its the second movie curse to be the one that prominently features the villains and their stories, Empire Strikes Back anyone? But Molina brings a believability that surpasses the excellent acting of Willem Dafoe in the first movie. Franco begins to have more fun with his character by getting into the dark side and ordering a hit on him. Harry's such a troubled and yet ennabled character that he borders on tragic. Very nice gentlemen. It's just too bad that Molina was killed in this film since he is definately a great villain. Sadly, Stan Lee's cameo was much smaller in this film. But thankfully, oh sooo, thankfully, Bruce Campbell's was bigger and hilarious. I maintain that the best actors in the series so far are Campbell, J.K.Simmons, and Molina. He's just too good with the little bits offered him.
Conclusion:
A very good tale and a worthy sequel to Spiderman, the newer more polished look of the Spiderman series is not as much fun to me and the story when trimmed down leads to very little actual character development for those still standing at the end. Although, what does change, changes in a necessary way that arranges for the third film to occur. Because of this, I think it is barely not as good as the first if only for the wider character arc in the first and the better acting of Tobey Maguire in that one. Unfortunately, Alfred Molina turns in an incredibly well polished and distinguished Doc Ock and James Franco shows he's more than just a troubled face. So next time you see this film, remember to eat your spidey popcorn, with your spidey coke, oh and don't forget your spidey glasses to keep you from being blinded by the Spidey sun, and...
4.2 out of 5
Wannabe
P.S. I LOVE the opening artwork obviously painted by the very taleneted Alex Ross. Maybe a Kubert or two in there, but it looked mostly to be Ross' work. And if you don't know who he is, go buy the coffeebook from DC featuring all of his cover artwork and be amazed! This guy is soo good, he does comic book covers for a living...just the covers!
Alrighty, so in installment numero uno, we have Peter Parker struggle with his new found powers from a genetically engineered spider bite, his uncle's death at the hands of a thief that he let loose, and the descent into madness of his best friend's father while his best friend thinks his alter ego, spidey, killed his father. But not was all bleak, wait, yes it was. Since he gave up his true love Mary Jane at the end. Oh well, the first installment stayed true to the origins and story of Spider-Man. Also Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell had great cameos. Now, for part II.
Well, to start, Spiderman is now delivering pizzas which of course is great for a couple of chuckles while introducing us to the squalid and unhappy life of Peter Parker after High School. Almost two years since his uncle's death. Harry now runs Oscorp and is backing a brilliant scientist named Dr. Octavius who is trying to create a sustainable renewable energy source, aka, a small sun. Lots of family and relationship issues. Dr. Octavius has some fusion issues with a cool four armed toy and bang, we have Doc Ock and a steaming young Harry pent on revenge against Spider-Man. All superhero vs evil villain story aside, their really isn't much in this story regarding lasting changes to Peter Parker's life. But oh well. The story is still fun and it has some great stuff regarding Doc Ock's character.
Directing wise, Sam Raimi abandons his usual low-tech style in favor of more of a CG/wire approach to film making. This lends the film a more polished look, although the CG is still too rough to ever mistake Tobey Maguire as actually flying about the city as Spiderman. The choices made by Raimi regarding how to shoot Doc Ock are well done as his CG effects never actually get in the way of showing Alfred Molina, and thus making the character more believable. Also, he does the usual NY hearts spidey thing. My favorite bit though of his directing is the sometimes blatant ripping he does from other movies. It seems to me that the more I watch, the more I realize that Raimi is using the Spider-Man movies as a way to pay homage to his old favorite films. There's a great sequence that is made to be in reference to King Kong and another where Spider-Man rips his shirt in a similar fashion to the old Christopher Reeves Superman films. I'm not going to lie, but I think Raimi was probably slightly jealous when Bryan Singer got to direct the recent incarnation of Superman over him. I especially liked seeing Maguire dealing with the loss of powers and his struggle to give up completely and to have a normal life. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Raimi does the story and all of teh characters justice, although I think perhaps some more fleshing out Doc Ock's background and maybe a better reason for his "craziness". I'm sorry, it's not Molina's fault, its the writing. If someone's mind has been taken over by 4 apparently crazy killing metallic arms, then there really is no point in time where you can reason with them...ever.
Acting wise, Tobey does his nerdy Peter Parker impression with less fire this time out and his whispy voice is sooo annoying he almost makes me hate Peter Parker. Almost. Kirsten Dunst does a great amount of flirting and changing boyfriends...figures. J.K. Simmons is Hi-larious! Dear God! If someone thinks they could play J. Jonah Jameson better, give them five dollars and make em disappear. This guy is great! Aunt May is still strong and sweet. Alfred Molina and James Franco are the ones who really tear up the screen. Maybe its the second movie curse to be the one that prominently features the villains and their stories, Empire Strikes Back anyone? But Molina brings a believability that surpasses the excellent acting of Willem Dafoe in the first movie. Franco begins to have more fun with his character by getting into the dark side and ordering a hit on him. Harry's such a troubled and yet ennabled character that he borders on tragic. Very nice gentlemen. It's just too bad that Molina was killed in this film since he is definately a great villain. Sadly, Stan Lee's cameo was much smaller in this film. But thankfully, oh sooo, thankfully, Bruce Campbell's was bigger and hilarious. I maintain that the best actors in the series so far are Campbell, J.K.Simmons, and Molina. He's just too good with the little bits offered him.
Conclusion:
A very good tale and a worthy sequel to Spiderman, the newer more polished look of the Spiderman series is not as much fun to me and the story when trimmed down leads to very little actual character development for those still standing at the end. Although, what does change, changes in a necessary way that arranges for the third film to occur. Because of this, I think it is barely not as good as the first if only for the wider character arc in the first and the better acting of Tobey Maguire in that one. Unfortunately, Alfred Molina turns in an incredibly well polished and distinguished Doc Ock and James Franco shows he's more than just a troubled face. So next time you see this film, remember to eat your spidey popcorn, with your spidey coke, oh and don't forget your spidey glasses to keep you from being blinded by the Spidey sun, and...
4.2 out of 5
Wannabe
P.S. I LOVE the opening artwork obviously painted by the very taleneted Alex Ross. Maybe a Kubert or two in there, but it looked mostly to be Ross' work. And if you don't know who he is, go buy the coffeebook from DC featuring all of his cover artwork and be amazed! This guy is soo good, he does comic book covers for a living...just the covers!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Spider-man
Part I of Spidey Weekend
Many of you have probably heard of it, and if you haven't, you probably heard about one of its two sequels at this point. If you still haven't, then you are probably in a casket and unable to read this blog...sad. Anyhow, even though part 3 came out last weekend, I still have yet to see it. so to prepare my wife who has never seen any of them and to refresh my spidey movie lore, we've set out on a 3 day spidey trek where each day we watch one of the spidey movies. Now, as a general caveat, all three films are directed by Sam Raimi and star Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane, Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man/Peter Parker, James Franco as Harry, and Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee in some small part at random points in each film. Whats great, is I definately think Bruce does a better job than most of the actor in the series, but with that said, lets delve into numero uno.
When I first saw Spiderman, I was big fan of the comics but I never read nor got into the scary Green Goblin saga. I was always involved in Kraven the Hunter tales or Hobgoblin who I know most fans feel is a cheap ripoff of green goblin...but man he was cool! So I was glad that when I saw the first film to finally see and get what all the buzz was about Green Goblin. The best part is after seeing the film realizing how well the film stands on its own while easily setting up for the next two sequels. It's incredibly hard for a film to set up two more films well. Pirates and The Matrix come to mind, mostly because they were one good to decent film followed by two contrived sequels...even though the second Pirates sequel hasn't come out yet. It's also amazinghow well this film was made and how it was able to satisfy Spidey fans and the general public alike during a time in which comics were considered mostly untappable by Hollywood for any sort of box office performance. The two exceptions were the Tim Burton's Batman series and the old Superman series. What makes it even more surprising is how well Sam Raimi, a cult/genre director was able to translate Spiderman to screen while upholding his own stylistic traits. Other Raimi movies include the great Evil Dead series featuring Bruce Campbell as Ash and the terrible Quick and the Dead starring Russell Crowe and Sharon Stone. The transaltion of Spider-Man and all of his trouble is well done in this first film and I will try to hold off on old judgements of the second film until my review. Raimi has always had a penchant for lots of silly corny moments to allow the audience to laugh some and connect with the main character. The best example is when Spiderman is just learning his powers and he is trying to figure out how to shoot a web out of his hand. The different hand movements are great! Also, Raimi allows us to see Peter Parker at his dorkiest in High School and allows us all to understand his plight and obvious issues in tempering his powers. As a fan, I did have some gripes including having Peter Parker be able to shoot his own webs, but it makes sense to have him be an ACTUAL Spider man instead of a super kid whose smart and makes his own stuff to imitate a spider man. The feel of Sam Raimi is present throughout all of the shots and the great mix of low-tech shots mixed with the great CG shots makes the fillm fit nicely into Raimi's style and grounds the film firmly in the corny feeling that Spiderman always infuses into his jokes. It's just corny enough to offset the grim and gritty background origin story letting everyone love Peter Parker despite his loser background. Good job this go round Raimi...this round...
As for the actors, well the Kirsten Dunst does a pretty good job of playing Mary Jane, although her flirtatious nature and constantly changing list of boyfriends, (Flash Thompson, Harry, etc.) makes me wonder just how faithful she could be in a relationship. I bet she never told Harry that she kissed Spiderman. I also found her dysfunctional home background to be an extremely interesting story for her and I would be interested in seeing that play back into the series later. Tobey Maguire does look like a weasley Peter Parker and he gets the nerdy high school stuff down well. James Franco plays an interesting dynamic of being Harry and having a hard relationship with his father where he tries to make his dad proud while at the same time trying to just fit in and downplay his money. He's a little too sulky, but he is quite the sympathetic character. Perhaps the best job of casting ever is J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, the fast talking jerk-a-holic that runs the newspaper. He's perfect...absolutely perfect and if they do make more anymore Spider movies without the original cast, I implore Sony to continue to hire him. Also quite nice is Willem Dafoe as Harry's Father/Green Goblin. His turn as the slowly going insane father is quite nice considering the entire sequence into the mirror was shot in one take or so and wasn't filmed as two different sequences and then put together in editing, thus showing off his acting chops. Unfortuanately, at times he comes across as a little too...much. But usually Dafoe is right on the spot when portraying the dual nature of the good doctor. But man, those performance enhancers must've been god stuff to let him be able to hold an entire trolley full of kids in one hand and a struggling woman in the other. It's also amazing just seeing how well each of these actors nail their character's relationships between each other. The relationships and the dialogue is so vibrant and well done, even if at times it seems a little obvious someone wanted to convey a message. Ben Parker and Aunt May are perfect and lovable and old and remind me and probably everyone with great grandparents of their own. Kudos to the casting director.
Conclusion:
Sam Raimi's style fits quite well into this great introduction of the tales of Spider-Man and the cast for their first go around do the characters justice and earn their paychecks. The plot is laughable at times, but then again it's not exactly great social commentary either. It is however a fun mindless blockbuster flick. The CG is at times very bad, but you have to remember that when the film was made it was very good CG. Also, it is hard to make CG stylistically fit with someone whose technique requires low-tech shots that ground the film in the corny fun natre of Spider-man's humor. It's sad that Ben Parker won't ever come back, nor will Randy "Macho Man" Savage be able to return. But this film is great as a standalone and the kiss at the end is great and even better when Raimi stays true to the origin and keeps Peter away from her. It's sad and frustrating, but it's supposed to be. Great film and an excellent comic-book film. A definate must for anyone who likes blockbusters. Also interesting, is the obvious grounding of the film in New York, making the recent announcement of the New York annual Spiderman week much more understanding. Thumbs up!
4.45 out of 5
Wannabe
Many of you have probably heard of it, and if you haven't, you probably heard about one of its two sequels at this point. If you still haven't, then you are probably in a casket and unable to read this blog...sad. Anyhow, even though part 3 came out last weekend, I still have yet to see it. so to prepare my wife who has never seen any of them and to refresh my spidey movie lore, we've set out on a 3 day spidey trek where each day we watch one of the spidey movies. Now, as a general caveat, all three films are directed by Sam Raimi and star Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane, Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man/Peter Parker, James Franco as Harry, and Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee in some small part at random points in each film. Whats great, is I definately think Bruce does a better job than most of the actor in the series, but with that said, lets delve into numero uno.
When I first saw Spiderman, I was big fan of the comics but I never read nor got into the scary Green Goblin saga. I was always involved in Kraven the Hunter tales or Hobgoblin who I know most fans feel is a cheap ripoff of green goblin...but man he was cool! So I was glad that when I saw the first film to finally see and get what all the buzz was about Green Goblin. The best part is after seeing the film realizing how well the film stands on its own while easily setting up for the next two sequels. It's incredibly hard for a film to set up two more films well. Pirates and The Matrix come to mind, mostly because they were one good to decent film followed by two contrived sequels...even though the second Pirates sequel hasn't come out yet. It's also amazinghow well this film was made and how it was able to satisfy Spidey fans and the general public alike during a time in which comics were considered mostly untappable by Hollywood for any sort of box office performance. The two exceptions were the Tim Burton's Batman series and the old Superman series. What makes it even more surprising is how well Sam Raimi, a cult/genre director was able to translate Spiderman to screen while upholding his own stylistic traits. Other Raimi movies include the great Evil Dead series featuring Bruce Campbell as Ash and the terrible Quick and the Dead starring Russell Crowe and Sharon Stone. The transaltion of Spider-Man and all of his trouble is well done in this first film and I will try to hold off on old judgements of the second film until my review. Raimi has always had a penchant for lots of silly corny moments to allow the audience to laugh some and connect with the main character. The best example is when Spiderman is just learning his powers and he is trying to figure out how to shoot a web out of his hand. The different hand movements are great! Also, Raimi allows us to see Peter Parker at his dorkiest in High School and allows us all to understand his plight and obvious issues in tempering his powers. As a fan, I did have some gripes including having Peter Parker be able to shoot his own webs, but it makes sense to have him be an ACTUAL Spider man instead of a super kid whose smart and makes his own stuff to imitate a spider man. The feel of Sam Raimi is present throughout all of the shots and the great mix of low-tech shots mixed with the great CG shots makes the fillm fit nicely into Raimi's style and grounds the film firmly in the corny feeling that Spiderman always infuses into his jokes. It's just corny enough to offset the grim and gritty background origin story letting everyone love Peter Parker despite his loser background. Good job this go round Raimi...this round...
As for the actors, well the Kirsten Dunst does a pretty good job of playing Mary Jane, although her flirtatious nature and constantly changing list of boyfriends, (Flash Thompson, Harry, etc.) makes me wonder just how faithful she could be in a relationship. I bet she never told Harry that she kissed Spiderman. I also found her dysfunctional home background to be an extremely interesting story for her and I would be interested in seeing that play back into the series later. Tobey Maguire does look like a weasley Peter Parker and he gets the nerdy high school stuff down well. James Franco plays an interesting dynamic of being Harry and having a hard relationship with his father where he tries to make his dad proud while at the same time trying to just fit in and downplay his money. He's a little too sulky, but he is quite the sympathetic character. Perhaps the best job of casting ever is J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, the fast talking jerk-a-holic that runs the newspaper. He's perfect...absolutely perfect and if they do make more anymore Spider movies without the original cast, I implore Sony to continue to hire him. Also quite nice is Willem Dafoe as Harry's Father/Green Goblin. His turn as the slowly going insane father is quite nice considering the entire sequence into the mirror was shot in one take or so and wasn't filmed as two different sequences and then put together in editing, thus showing off his acting chops. Unfortuanately, at times he comes across as a little too...much. But usually Dafoe is right on the spot when portraying the dual nature of the good doctor. But man, those performance enhancers must've been god stuff to let him be able to hold an entire trolley full of kids in one hand and a struggling woman in the other. It's also amazing just seeing how well each of these actors nail their character's relationships between each other. The relationships and the dialogue is so vibrant and well done, even if at times it seems a little obvious someone wanted to convey a message. Ben Parker and Aunt May are perfect and lovable and old and remind me and probably everyone with great grandparents of their own. Kudos to the casting director.
Conclusion:
Sam Raimi's style fits quite well into this great introduction of the tales of Spider-Man and the cast for their first go around do the characters justice and earn their paychecks. The plot is laughable at times, but then again it's not exactly great social commentary either. It is however a fun mindless blockbuster flick. The CG is at times very bad, but you have to remember that when the film was made it was very good CG. Also, it is hard to make CG stylistically fit with someone whose technique requires low-tech shots that ground the film in the corny fun natre of Spider-man's humor. It's sad that Ben Parker won't ever come back, nor will Randy "Macho Man" Savage be able to return. But this film is great as a standalone and the kiss at the end is great and even better when Raimi stays true to the origin and keeps Peter away from her. It's sad and frustrating, but it's supposed to be. Great film and an excellent comic-book film. A definate must for anyone who likes blockbusters. Also interesting, is the obvious grounding of the film in New York, making the recent announcement of the New York annual Spiderman week much more understanding. Thumbs up!
4.45 out of 5
Wannabe
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Fun Factoid May 2007
Alright, so in an attempt to add variety and interest to this blog, I figure I would share some fun, mostly useless knowledge when I came across it each month. This month's fun factoid is all about Warwick Davis whom some of you might recognize as...drumroll...WILLOW! Yes, the man is everywhere and if you are like me, you probably wondered what ever happened to him after that movie? Well...apparently everything. He seems to be the most overworked actor short person in Hollywood followed by Peter Dinklage. Let's see, did you realize that he is an essential fantasy movie actor? All the Harry Potter films, Willow, the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia film, Star Wars episodes I and VI and two of the made-for-tv Star Wars films. The guy runs his own agency for the vertically challenged, which I have to admit is really cool. Now if only writers and directors would write more parts for short people so that they could recieve the kudos they deserve. Now, for the fun part.
For those that didn't know, Warwick Davis plays the role of a popular well-known horror creature. Have you guessed it yet? Yep, that's right. Leprechaun. Now, with that being said, I am all about the Leprechaun films and apparently so is he judging from the list of titles in the series that are obviously terrible just from reading the title. So, with that said, enjoy the list and marvel at Warwick Davis in all of his good humor.
1. Leprechaun
2. Leprechaun 2
3. Leprechaun 3
4. Leprechaun 4: In Space
5. Leprechaun in the Hood
6. Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood
Now having been someone who has seen Leprechaun in the Hood, I completely appreciate the more farcical approach of the franchise. I am now dying to see Leprechaun 4: In Space and the new Back 2 Tha Hood. After all, if in the first hood movie Ice T can pull a bat out of his friends afro to beat on the Leprechaun, then I'm friggin hooked. There you go, a fun list of a decent franchise turned spooftastic. I know Warwick loves these movies, and so should you.
For those that didn't know, Warwick Davis plays the role of a popular well-known horror creature. Have you guessed it yet? Yep, that's right. Leprechaun. Now, with that being said, I am all about the Leprechaun films and apparently so is he judging from the list of titles in the series that are obviously terrible just from reading the title. So, with that said, enjoy the list and marvel at Warwick Davis in all of his good humor.
1. Leprechaun
2. Leprechaun 2
3. Leprechaun 3
4. Leprechaun 4: In Space
5. Leprechaun in the Hood
6. Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood
Now having been someone who has seen Leprechaun in the Hood, I completely appreciate the more farcical approach of the franchise. I am now dying to see Leprechaun 4: In Space and the new Back 2 Tha Hood. After all, if in the first hood movie Ice T can pull a bat out of his friends afro to beat on the Leprechaun, then I'm friggin hooked. There you go, a fun list of a decent franchise turned spooftastic. I know Warwick loves these movies, and so should you.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
2006-2007 school year in TV
I don't normally talk much about the other medium known as television on this site, so I figured I would breifly cover the shows that enthralled and disgusted me this year as best I could and some of the things I loved that networks did.
First and foremost in my mind is the AMAZING show Heroes. This show has so many arcs and has started off clunky but has found its footing and a devoted fanbase due to the twisting and mesmerizing story arcs. I hated having to wait for new installments...twice! but, the awesome amount of detail and interaction NBC and Tim Kring developed for the show online plus the ability to watch any episode with commentary or not online helped a Lot in case I missed and episode. Definately the best show of the year.
My next favorite show is now sadly canceled after getting some bad press and no confidence by Fox, a little show called Drive of which only four of the six episodes were ever shown. The idea is fascinating and its great to see how the writers weave the story to have this overseeing evil corporation manipulating the people who are all in an illegal cross country race. Some people thought the story was silly, oters hated the cars and the fact that there weren't crazy car chases. Its an ensemble show which took away a lot of the money for crazy car scenes, and the show uses its setup as a way to enter its characters which is what a show should do people. I would hate to see a cross country race full of nice cars. I'd call it Fast and the Furious, too lame for theaters or something else if it was just about the race. Anyhow, I'll stop bitching. It's gone. Tear.
Another good show includes the currently running Raines. I find it be very similar to all of the other detective that sees dead people shows except it does a great job of going in depth as to how the detective perceives these people and how his perceptions are affected by evidence. Plus, Goldblum is highly entertaining with his dry laconic humor.
Sadly, Raines partner show Andy Barker P.I. is also canceled. This was a show created by Conan O'Brien which gave me no reason to see it. But after seeing an episode it was nice to see such a fun show making a smart spoof on all the old detective noir films and plots. The cast was great and the dialogue fun. Also, it has Tony Hale as a sarcastic movie clerk...perfect! If you want to see all the episodes, I highly recommend watching them online and then when you're done transferring over to Raines and watching those.
Perhaps one of the disappointments for me is House. Ever since the second season, I have not been that big of a fan. Oh yea, sure Hugh Laurie is still great. It just has to do with the decision to make every episode very gory, or gross, or somethng that will make you cringe and lose a little respect for House and then gain it back later because he is an arrogant smug always right specialist...not good enough and I don't apprecate the turn to gore. I liked it better when the stories focused on more interesting diseases or combinations of that didn't require things like balls exploding. With that said, I will admit that I only saw one or two episodes this season, so I might have caught the wrong ones.
Prisonbreak is trash. I have to watch this show because of the people I stay with love it and we eat dinner, after its over thogh, I'm off to Heroes. The actors just can't act, except for that one crazy cajun guy who is creepy as hell. Also, the entire story arc is ridiculous and highly annoying. It's obvious at this point that the series shoudl have been over long ago. It was made to be a great 1 season story arc and never knew what to do with itself after it got renewed. Bleh.
Although I haven't seen much of it, I do appreciate Psyche. I find it to be a fun show with an interesting premise and not terrible acting. I just wish the dialogue included more fun partner banter than it does, but besides that its a good detective show that feigns at the I see dead people approach. Amusing!
Used to watch Family Guy and Amercian Dad, but last year was enough. I'll watch them eventually when they hit Adult Swim maybe. Speaking of which on Adult Swim I found several new series highly amusing and a welcome break from their nonsequitor humor. Frisky Dingo was a Great new addition. Of course Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks is awesome and I anxiously await the new season. Metalocalypse was sort of mish mash. I enjoyed the humor and how each epidoe tied together and still found great ways to create humor based on rock and roll and other topics, but the episodes never feel that they were meant to be tied together. Take out te scenes with the satan or whoever monitoring them in each one and each episode could stand on its own. It was still enjoyable though. Saul of the Mole Men was a great idea to bring back that crazy style I remember growing up on cheap kids shows with an adult theme. The premise is classic. The execution though is a textbook example of how to screw up big-time. While the visceral feel of the show is done right, the plot and the ridiculous characters make the show feel like it was meant to be a replacement for all the Ren & Stimpy fans out there, just add live-action and crack. Oh yea, Morel Orel is awesome. Ihave come to love this little show as a great satire on American life and religion especially. It takes on some big issues and sometimes it becomes a bit too heavy handed and or disgusting, but usually it gets the feel just right. Robot Chicken is, well, robot chicken and it is either on or off. Ghost in the Shell is interesting to me as was Paranoia Agent by the great Satoshi Kon, who happens to have a movie coming out soon in the US called Paprika (Go find the trailer, it looks awesome!), But the best Japanime yet is Shin Chan. This little show reminds me Family Guy back when it was funny and full of commentary on society. The show isn't for anyone and makes a lot of jokes about bare butts and adolescence, but it is a funny reminder to me at least of how simple the world seemed as a kid and how easy it was to screw up with that assumption. Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Tom the Mayor, and Aqua Teen have gotta go. The first two were never good and the last one has dropped off significantly since season 1. I really wish they had made a season of Korgoth the barbarian since that would have been a great addition in a back to back hour with The Venture Brothers, which I admit is on my to own list at some point. It's just a great show.
Other than that, there hasn't been a whole lot of any interest on for me. I am a well known despiser of reality television, except for Iron Chef. Smith was good while it lasted but it was quickly canceled which was sad. Now I have to buy the episodes on iTunes. The Nine was also a great show but it too was canceled due to lack of watcher so I will never know the ending. 30 Rock was great but I never knew when it came on so I usually watched it online. Apparently Alec Baldwin has some comedian in him, go Alec! Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip never captured my interest but it had several of my families as they were all in love with Aaron Sorkin's West Wing. Sorry, but the show just didn't have as many likeable characters and the dialogue was a bit much. I liked West Wing, but it took a whole season on DVD to get me into it. Numb3rs is a good show if it was showing during the middle of the day with soaps. But for Primetime, it's lacking and doesn't offer a whole lot of anything new. I refuse to watch the Law & Order : enter subtitle here series or NCIS or CSI or any other of these generic detective cop precinct shows as much as I refuse to watch Ghost Whisperer or Medium or any generic cop talks to ghost show.
Oh yea, and on Discovery Planet Earth rocked HARD! Man that show was amazing! If you haven't seen it, go buy it and find out why everyone was talking about it. The great white shark and the seals was a great bit. Also, big fan of their show Mythbusters. I also like their show they have during the day where they will take 15 minutes and do a quick narrated montage showing you how something is made like a speedboat. Very informative and very fascinating. Future Weapons scares me as much as it awes me. The Dealiest Catch and Dirty Jobs are just not my shows.
Although I'm forced to watch TLC and shows like What Not to Wear by she who will not be named, I will admit that for such regurgitated ideas and build a ____ shows, the quality and the designing aspect to all of the shows on the channel keep them intriguing and sufferable to people who could usually care less. Although you know what, all those wedding shows like Bam's wedding on MTV and a wedding story and Real wedding Crashers...just stop. Stop those shows right now and help me keep some sense of sanity and faith in television.
My biggest recommendation to the networks and some are beginning to do this, make the episodes available on your website for free so that people can catch up if they miss it. NBC has a great system going. Also, create extra content in depth for fans. The amount of interactive content you can wade through for Heroes is ASTOUNDING. Hell, they create viral interactive experiences for the viewers online that will then later affect the show and it doesn't hurt if you don't know what they are talking about but it adds a bit of umh to your step to know you helped or to know what is going on (Wireless, you die in the future!). I also have to give props for great openings to shows. I can't get the images of the intro to Raines out of my head. Unfortunately, it's set to the intro music from Drive which I also can't relinquish my grip on. Lastly, I do appreciate the amount of riskier and interesting shows that channels took a chance on this year so far. I just hope they continue to do so instead of churning out the same old same old due to a lack of viewer interest in the more different intellectual properties. Anyhow, that's my assesment of T.V. land. Why don't you write in and tell me about yours? I'm listening...I can hear you...Because I'm SPECIAL....
Wannabe(Sylar)
First and foremost in my mind is the AMAZING show Heroes. This show has so many arcs and has started off clunky but has found its footing and a devoted fanbase due to the twisting and mesmerizing story arcs. I hated having to wait for new installments...twice! but, the awesome amount of detail and interaction NBC and Tim Kring developed for the show online plus the ability to watch any episode with commentary or not online helped a Lot in case I missed and episode. Definately the best show of the year.
My next favorite show is now sadly canceled after getting some bad press and no confidence by Fox, a little show called Drive of which only four of the six episodes were ever shown. The idea is fascinating and its great to see how the writers weave the story to have this overseeing evil corporation manipulating the people who are all in an illegal cross country race. Some people thought the story was silly, oters hated the cars and the fact that there weren't crazy car chases. Its an ensemble show which took away a lot of the money for crazy car scenes, and the show uses its setup as a way to enter its characters which is what a show should do people. I would hate to see a cross country race full of nice cars. I'd call it Fast and the Furious, too lame for theaters or something else if it was just about the race. Anyhow, I'll stop bitching. It's gone. Tear.
Another good show includes the currently running Raines. I find it be very similar to all of the other detective that sees dead people shows except it does a great job of going in depth as to how the detective perceives these people and how his perceptions are affected by evidence. Plus, Goldblum is highly entertaining with his dry laconic humor.
Sadly, Raines partner show Andy Barker P.I. is also canceled. This was a show created by Conan O'Brien which gave me no reason to see it. But after seeing an episode it was nice to see such a fun show making a smart spoof on all the old detective noir films and plots. The cast was great and the dialogue fun. Also, it has Tony Hale as a sarcastic movie clerk...perfect! If you want to see all the episodes, I highly recommend watching them online and then when you're done transferring over to Raines and watching those.
Perhaps one of the disappointments for me is House. Ever since the second season, I have not been that big of a fan. Oh yea, sure Hugh Laurie is still great. It just has to do with the decision to make every episode very gory, or gross, or somethng that will make you cringe and lose a little respect for House and then gain it back later because he is an arrogant smug always right specialist...not good enough and I don't apprecate the turn to gore. I liked it better when the stories focused on more interesting diseases or combinations of that didn't require things like balls exploding. With that said, I will admit that I only saw one or two episodes this season, so I might have caught the wrong ones.
Prisonbreak is trash. I have to watch this show because of the people I stay with love it and we eat dinner, after its over thogh, I'm off to Heroes. The actors just can't act, except for that one crazy cajun guy who is creepy as hell. Also, the entire story arc is ridiculous and highly annoying. It's obvious at this point that the series shoudl have been over long ago. It was made to be a great 1 season story arc and never knew what to do with itself after it got renewed. Bleh.
Although I haven't seen much of it, I do appreciate Psyche. I find it to be a fun show with an interesting premise and not terrible acting. I just wish the dialogue included more fun partner banter than it does, but besides that its a good detective show that feigns at the I see dead people approach. Amusing!
Used to watch Family Guy and Amercian Dad, but last year was enough. I'll watch them eventually when they hit Adult Swim maybe. Speaking of which on Adult Swim I found several new series highly amusing and a welcome break from their nonsequitor humor. Frisky Dingo was a Great new addition. Of course Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks is awesome and I anxiously await the new season. Metalocalypse was sort of mish mash. I enjoyed the humor and how each epidoe tied together and still found great ways to create humor based on rock and roll and other topics, but the episodes never feel that they were meant to be tied together. Take out te scenes with the satan or whoever monitoring them in each one and each episode could stand on its own. It was still enjoyable though. Saul of the Mole Men was a great idea to bring back that crazy style I remember growing up on cheap kids shows with an adult theme. The premise is classic. The execution though is a textbook example of how to screw up big-time. While the visceral feel of the show is done right, the plot and the ridiculous characters make the show feel like it was meant to be a replacement for all the Ren & Stimpy fans out there, just add live-action and crack. Oh yea, Morel Orel is awesome. Ihave come to love this little show as a great satire on American life and religion especially. It takes on some big issues and sometimes it becomes a bit too heavy handed and or disgusting, but usually it gets the feel just right. Robot Chicken is, well, robot chicken and it is either on or off. Ghost in the Shell is interesting to me as was Paranoia Agent by the great Satoshi Kon, who happens to have a movie coming out soon in the US called Paprika (Go find the trailer, it looks awesome!), But the best Japanime yet is Shin Chan. This little show reminds me Family Guy back when it was funny and full of commentary on society. The show isn't for anyone and makes a lot of jokes about bare butts and adolescence, but it is a funny reminder to me at least of how simple the world seemed as a kid and how easy it was to screw up with that assumption. Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Tom the Mayor, and Aqua Teen have gotta go. The first two were never good and the last one has dropped off significantly since season 1. I really wish they had made a season of Korgoth the barbarian since that would have been a great addition in a back to back hour with The Venture Brothers, which I admit is on my to own list at some point. It's just a great show.
Other than that, there hasn't been a whole lot of any interest on for me. I am a well known despiser of reality television, except for Iron Chef. Smith was good while it lasted but it was quickly canceled which was sad. Now I have to buy the episodes on iTunes. The Nine was also a great show but it too was canceled due to lack of watcher so I will never know the ending. 30 Rock was great but I never knew when it came on so I usually watched it online. Apparently Alec Baldwin has some comedian in him, go Alec! Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip never captured my interest but it had several of my families as they were all in love with Aaron Sorkin's West Wing. Sorry, but the show just didn't have as many likeable characters and the dialogue was a bit much. I liked West Wing, but it took a whole season on DVD to get me into it. Numb3rs is a good show if it was showing during the middle of the day with soaps. But for Primetime, it's lacking and doesn't offer a whole lot of anything new. I refuse to watch the Law & Order : enter subtitle here series or NCIS or CSI or any other of these generic detective cop precinct shows as much as I refuse to watch Ghost Whisperer or Medium or any generic cop talks to ghost show.
Oh yea, and on Discovery Planet Earth rocked HARD! Man that show was amazing! If you haven't seen it, go buy it and find out why everyone was talking about it. The great white shark and the seals was a great bit. Also, big fan of their show Mythbusters. I also like their show they have during the day where they will take 15 minutes and do a quick narrated montage showing you how something is made like a speedboat. Very informative and very fascinating. Future Weapons scares me as much as it awes me. The Dealiest Catch and Dirty Jobs are just not my shows.
Although I'm forced to watch TLC and shows like What Not to Wear by she who will not be named, I will admit that for such regurgitated ideas and build a ____ shows, the quality and the designing aspect to all of the shows on the channel keep them intriguing and sufferable to people who could usually care less. Although you know what, all those wedding shows like Bam's wedding on MTV and a wedding story and Real wedding Crashers...just stop. Stop those shows right now and help me keep some sense of sanity and faith in television.
My biggest recommendation to the networks and some are beginning to do this, make the episodes available on your website for free so that people can catch up if they miss it. NBC has a great system going. Also, create extra content in depth for fans. The amount of interactive content you can wade through for Heroes is ASTOUNDING. Hell, they create viral interactive experiences for the viewers online that will then later affect the show and it doesn't hurt if you don't know what they are talking about but it adds a bit of umh to your step to know you helped or to know what is going on (Wireless, you die in the future!). I also have to give props for great openings to shows. I can't get the images of the intro to Raines out of my head. Unfortunately, it's set to the intro music from Drive which I also can't relinquish my grip on. Lastly, I do appreciate the amount of riskier and interesting shows that channels took a chance on this year so far. I just hope they continue to do so instead of churning out the same old same old due to a lack of viewer interest in the more different intellectual properties. Anyhow, that's my assesment of T.V. land. Why don't you write in and tell me about yours? I'm listening...I can hear you...Because I'm SPECIAL....
Wannabe(Sylar)
Idiocracy
Have you heard of 1984? Children of Men? The Matrix!! Well, what I have to tell you, is that Mike Judge's recent outing in live-action film has produced perhaps the most depraved, disgusting, terrifying vision of mankind's future yet. That, and it's damn amusing. Mike Judge's previous outings in film include the classic Office Space and Beavis and Butthead Do America. Just from looking at his previous work in film and then looking at the title of his recent one it becomes readily apparent that Judge seems to be interested in the varying types and stages of what could only be called...stupidity. To some it might be mind blowing that the same guy who created Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill created the fairly intelligent and funny movie Office Space. Yet, the one thing they share is a fascination with the types of people and the culture of various places and the rise of seemingly incompetent people.
Idiocracy is an excellent continuation of the Judge tradition by being so different from everything else before it. Judge tries to do something different with the idea of stupidity and incompetence every time and after having incredibly low brow humor and then redneck humor followed by intelligent and amusing office humor, it's quite a surprise that he could find anything different from his previous incarnations. For the most part, Idiocracy is something new and fresh regarding this theme, although in all fairness I feel he was relying a bit too much on his old Beavis and Butthead days for a lot of the comedy which likes to center around sex, hookers, farting, and just straight stupidity. It has a good mix of other humor too, but it feels a little trite at times by doing something adventurous and then being scared and turning to a tried and true joke like farting. Outside of the themes of the movie, the necessary social commentary is also present and makes a pretty good point early on that as an elite son of a ***** I have a hard time arguing with. Perhaps the best way to summarize it is that mankind has degenerated to the point of using a Gatorade type product to water plants and a previous professional wrestler is now President of the United States. The plotline and the twists and turns make the movie a very fun and amusing look at our potential future even if it can be hard to swallow at times. It is non-threatening material with a message most people can get behind. The real problem is that the characters are not well defined.
Luke Wilson, the better Wilson, plays the main character in the film named Joe Bauers (Although his second name given later is a hoot!). Luke is a pretty good actor but he rarely gets parts in anything except something his brother is in or as a romantic lead because he has a so-so face. Truly though, in this case, his Everyman looks make it him perfect for the part. Judge does an excellent job of casting and it becomes more obvious with each line uttered by Wilson and his co-hort Maya Rudolph. Maya looks like and talks like a present day stereotypical hooker and she isn't glorified with some outstanding body or great hairdo. The probem is that both of these characters are one-note. She's afraid of her pimp despite being in the future. He just wants to go back in time but he still isn't smart enough to realize she doesn't paint. Of course, the people they meet make them look like geniuses but still, so much stupidity even in the main characters makes it difficult at times to process and follow. Sometimes, laughing while watching all the characters die did pop into my mind. The real breakout role in the film belongs to Terry Crews who plays President Camacho. He is stupid enough to do some crazy things, but he has enough humility, panache, and intelligence to know how to use people to get what he wants. He is scary and yet somehow comforting in an idiotic sort of way. His performance is done just right where it makes sense that he was elected president and still maintains the believability in the stupidity of everyone in America. Perhaps my least favorite performance is Frito played by Dax Shepard. I can't explain why except that his delivery of everything he has ever done in every movie he has been in has always been sub-par to unimpressive. He usually reminds me of a sub-par Dane Cook. Although he does say my favorite line in the film (I like money), On the whole, the cast does a good enough job of bringing their characters to life, but sometimes the characters are just too flat by design and should have been spruced up a little bit.
Judge's directing in this film is spot on. Like I mentioned before, the humor is a different style from his previous endeavors and it is certainly NOT for everybody and requires some adjustment. It ca easily feel like a steel bat on your head if it isn't careful. But Judge walks a fine enough line, even if the ending is fairly foreseeable. It's amazing the sort of graphics and special FX Judge pulls off with such a low budget. It's too bad that Fox decidedit had no confidence in the film and released it into theaters with little to no publicity and then put it directly to DVD hoping to make up the loss of releasing it in theaters. Is there an audience for a film like this? Probably. Do I know how to market to it? No. But did they mess up the distribution of this film? Oh hell yes. I highly recommend seeing this film if you have seen Judge's earlier endeavors as this is a fully realized messed up world. It has some high and low points in all categories, but it's great for a fun brainless evening that still has a basic message. And if you decide to buy it then you are providing the possibility of more Judge films, because studios like money too!
3.4 out of 5
Wannabe
Idiocracy is an excellent continuation of the Judge tradition by being so different from everything else before it. Judge tries to do something different with the idea of stupidity and incompetence every time and after having incredibly low brow humor and then redneck humor followed by intelligent and amusing office humor, it's quite a surprise that he could find anything different from his previous incarnations. For the most part, Idiocracy is something new and fresh regarding this theme, although in all fairness I feel he was relying a bit too much on his old Beavis and Butthead days for a lot of the comedy which likes to center around sex, hookers, farting, and just straight stupidity. It has a good mix of other humor too, but it feels a little trite at times by doing something adventurous and then being scared and turning to a tried and true joke like farting. Outside of the themes of the movie, the necessary social commentary is also present and makes a pretty good point early on that as an elite son of a ***** I have a hard time arguing with. Perhaps the best way to summarize it is that mankind has degenerated to the point of using a Gatorade type product to water plants and a previous professional wrestler is now President of the United States. The plotline and the twists and turns make the movie a very fun and amusing look at our potential future even if it can be hard to swallow at times. It is non-threatening material with a message most people can get behind. The real problem is that the characters are not well defined.
Luke Wilson, the better Wilson, plays the main character in the film named Joe Bauers (Although his second name given later is a hoot!). Luke is a pretty good actor but he rarely gets parts in anything except something his brother is in or as a romantic lead because he has a so-so face. Truly though, in this case, his Everyman looks make it him perfect for the part. Judge does an excellent job of casting and it becomes more obvious with each line uttered by Wilson and his co-hort Maya Rudolph. Maya looks like and talks like a present day stereotypical hooker and she isn't glorified with some outstanding body or great hairdo. The probem is that both of these characters are one-note. She's afraid of her pimp despite being in the future. He just wants to go back in time but he still isn't smart enough to realize she doesn't paint. Of course, the people they meet make them look like geniuses but still, so much stupidity even in the main characters makes it difficult at times to process and follow. Sometimes, laughing while watching all the characters die did pop into my mind. The real breakout role in the film belongs to Terry Crews who plays President Camacho. He is stupid enough to do some crazy things, but he has enough humility, panache, and intelligence to know how to use people to get what he wants. He is scary and yet somehow comforting in an idiotic sort of way. His performance is done just right where it makes sense that he was elected president and still maintains the believability in the stupidity of everyone in America. Perhaps my least favorite performance is Frito played by Dax Shepard. I can't explain why except that his delivery of everything he has ever done in every movie he has been in has always been sub-par to unimpressive. He usually reminds me of a sub-par Dane Cook. Although he does say my favorite line in the film (I like money), On the whole, the cast does a good enough job of bringing their characters to life, but sometimes the characters are just too flat by design and should have been spruced up a little bit.
Judge's directing in this film is spot on. Like I mentioned before, the humor is a different style from his previous endeavors and it is certainly NOT for everybody and requires some adjustment. It ca easily feel like a steel bat on your head if it isn't careful. But Judge walks a fine enough line, even if the ending is fairly foreseeable. It's amazing the sort of graphics and special FX Judge pulls off with such a low budget. It's too bad that Fox decidedit had no confidence in the film and released it into theaters with little to no publicity and then put it directly to DVD hoping to make up the loss of releasing it in theaters. Is there an audience for a film like this? Probably. Do I know how to market to it? No. But did they mess up the distribution of this film? Oh hell yes. I highly recommend seeing this film if you have seen Judge's earlier endeavors as this is a fully realized messed up world. It has some high and low points in all categories, but it's great for a fun brainless evening that still has a basic message. And if you decide to buy it then you are providing the possibility of more Judge films, because studios like money too!
3.4 out of 5
Wannabe
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
