I wasn't that excited after the trailers, but I think this movie is destined to go down as a classic. One thing I noticed was that it would have worked even if it wasn't funny -- which it was, but the entire film didn't rely on humor. There were several emotional moments, many of which would have been easy to temper with gags, maybe missed opportunities, but I think the film was better for resisting what was probably a pretty powerful urge.
It managed to be more mature than most other Apatow-clan comedies, but still managed to appeal to the juvenile in all of us (incidentally, Segel is a shower, not a grower). Personally, I probably could have done without the cockshots, but my aversion to penises in general probably didn't help that, and I laughed mostly because of the ballsiness (pun not intended, but it's a good one so let's keep it) of showing male frontal nudity not once, but four times in a film. The jokes and plot were actually original, some of which are probably destined to be copied for years.
Jason Segel wasn't bad, and actually managed to be a different character from who he was in Knocked Up (the only other role of his, unfortunately, that I've seen), something that's actually fairly rare -- most actors stick to a character type or at least carry some aspects through all their roles. Kristin Bell wasn't particularly special, but a good cast for the role and giver of a good performance. I enjoyed Mila Kunis as Rachel, the Hawaiian rebound (who coincidentally, was also mostly unrecognizable from most of her other roles -- certainly a good thing). Russell Brand was hilarious as Aldous Snow, and got probably the biggest laugh of the film. Most of the supporting actors were great, playing their characters perfectly and managing to be both lovable and funny when they needed to be. The only exception was Jonah Hill, who was really just annoying and made me want to punch him in the face. His is the only performance since Doomsday's Rhona Mitra that I really didn't care for in any way.
Obviously not for the kids, and I wouldn't even take a teenager. Get a babysitter or send them to see The Forbidden Kingdom. But for adults, especially young adults or people who've had some of the problems shown in this film, you will be very entertained, and be glad that you saw it in the theater.
Best line: "He refused a blowjob from his ex--mid-blowjob!"
Best performance: Russell Brand
Best moment: Aldous' face when Sarah faked an orgasm
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
"Street Kings" -- Keanu Reeves, Chris Evans, Forest Whitaker
Thick and hard to watch, but possibly better on a second viewing. The plot is thick and hard to follow unless you're paying very close attention, with lots of double-crosses, complicated characters and politics, and several false endings, some of them so asinine you half suspect they're screwing with you -- which they are, because here comes another ending. In fact, the whole movie paints such a bleak picture of humans in general and the LAPD in particular, that you think they must be screwing with you through the entire movie. There are enough twists, fakeouts, and deaths to break M. Night Shyamalan's brain.
The action itself is hard to watch, due to the crazed and frenetic style in which they're shot -- lots of shaky handheld cameras and louder-than-life gun blasts. It's actually somewhat poignant from an outside-looking-in view, true to what this kind of violence really is and should be portrayed as, but for entertainment value, the loud noises are annoying and the camerawork sacrifices neatness for style and just kinda makes you want to close your eyes.
Keanu Reeves and Hugh Laurie are brilliant, with Reeves turning in easily one of the best performances of his career. Laurie's part is small, but significant as the character pulling the strings for most of the movie, like a scruffy, cop-catching Tinkerbell. Forest Whitaker is king of the hill, as always, inhabiting his role as the one cop who seems to be clean among all the dirt, and climbing high because of it. The smaller roles, all the cops orbiting the main players, are all well-played, with each character bringing just enough of their flavor and skill to the role without stealing scenes (normally I approve of such a practice as scene-stealing, but in this film you need to pay close attention to the plot, and you don't have time to watch the pawns too closely). Chris Evans is great as Diskant, or "Disco," the slightly naive young cop from Internal Affairs who's trying to figure out what really happened in that convenience store that ends the first act -- if only so he can cover it up and help cover it up. Pretty much the only part of this movie's message that isn't dark is the brotherhood between cops, and it establishes well the sense of safety and camraderie among the police officers, who may fight like cats and dogs, but who mostly have each others' backs.
Not for the racially sensitive -- the movie begins with a comment about Koreans who "dress white, talk black, and drive Jew." Thick as the plot is, it's still full of holes and what seem to be ridiculous oversights on the part of the characters. Good for a few laughs, but if you're going to see it, hold out and buy the DVD -- you'll require multiple viewings to get the plot, and the big screen doesn't help the action, so much as makes it painful.
Acting: 8.5 of 10
Writing: 4 of 10
Direction: 4 of 10
SFX: 7.5 of 10
Overall: 6 of 10
The action itself is hard to watch, due to the crazed and frenetic style in which they're shot -- lots of shaky handheld cameras and louder-than-life gun blasts. It's actually somewhat poignant from an outside-looking-in view, true to what this kind of violence really is and should be portrayed as, but for entertainment value, the loud noises are annoying and the camerawork sacrifices neatness for style and just kinda makes you want to close your eyes.
Keanu Reeves and Hugh Laurie are brilliant, with Reeves turning in easily one of the best performances of his career. Laurie's part is small, but significant as the character pulling the strings for most of the movie, like a scruffy, cop-catching Tinkerbell. Forest Whitaker is king of the hill, as always, inhabiting his role as the one cop who seems to be clean among all the dirt, and climbing high because of it. The smaller roles, all the cops orbiting the main players, are all well-played, with each character bringing just enough of their flavor and skill to the role without stealing scenes (normally I approve of such a practice as scene-stealing, but in this film you need to pay close attention to the plot, and you don't have time to watch the pawns too closely). Chris Evans is great as Diskant, or "Disco," the slightly naive young cop from Internal Affairs who's trying to figure out what really happened in that convenience store that ends the first act -- if only so he can cover it up and help cover it up. Pretty much the only part of this movie's message that isn't dark is the brotherhood between cops, and it establishes well the sense of safety and camraderie among the police officers, who may fight like cats and dogs, but who mostly have each others' backs.
Not for the racially sensitive -- the movie begins with a comment about Koreans who "dress white, talk black, and drive Jew." Thick as the plot is, it's still full of holes and what seem to be ridiculous oversights on the part of the characters. Good for a few laughs, but if you're going to see it, hold out and buy the DVD -- you'll require multiple viewings to get the plot, and the big screen doesn't help the action, so much as makes it painful.
Acting: 8.5 of 10
Writing: 4 of 10
Direction: 4 of 10
SFX: 7.5 of 10
Overall: 6 of 10
Saturday, April 5, 2008
"The Ruins" - Jonathan Tucker, Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone
Speaking as someone who doesn't really like horror movies, I liked this. It was scary rather than startling (although it did that a few times too), but still not so scary as to give a person nightmares. The only reason I usually like horror movies is because it's the only genre in which the bad guy consistently wins, and on that count this movie fails -- not to say that the good guys win (see the movie to figure that out), but that the bad guy was a...plant. I don't really care if the plant wins (even if it is a pretty awesome plant). The bad guys could also be interpreted to be the Mayans, but their only clearly established goal is a sustained thing, and thus there really is no win or loss for them.
The plot was pretty formulaic and predictable -- enemy introduction, character introduction, seeds of conflict, off on the adventure, things go wrong, death/injury, something else goes wrong, death/injury, conflict erupts facilitated by enemy...etc. All I know about horror script writing is the two or three other horror movies I've seen, and I even I could see the clear formula. Still, the details are reasonably creative, the special effects are reasonably good (some obvious CGI but that's not terribly surprising and mostly forgivable, and some seriously rocking sound effects to make up for it), and there's touches of dark humor in just the right places.
The performances and directing were mostly good. I felt like Joe Anderson could have done much better as Mathias, the fifth-wheel German tourist who actually leads the group to the ruins, following his brother and an archaeologist who "should have been back by now." His introduction was cute but improbable and kindof stupid, and there were many better ways to have handled it, without even changing the actual lines said. Jonathan Tucker was good in what I hope will be a breakout role for him. Jena Malone was good as well, once again expanding herself beyond what she's been playing before and rising clearly above her peers as the best actress in the bunch. Laura Ramsey was good, but choosing another horror role for her second major film was probably a mistake. As for Shawn Ashmore, the only thing I can think of was he was trying to expand himself like Jena Malone was. The trouble is, he failed. Instead of playing a somewhat naive but serious kid, he was trying to play a slightly naughty, adventurous and ready-for-anything party guy. He failed and came off just kindof a dumbass, despite having a couple of the best-written and best-delivered lines.
Obviously don't bring your small children, but if you don't mind some gore, the plot is probably safe for anyone over the age of ten. See it in the theater to get the full effect, and rent the DVD when it comes out. Especially if you don't work with plants a lot, it will be easy to distance yourself if you want to, so non-horror-fans will probably enjoy this movie, if for nothing else but the effects and Jena Malone's performance.
Acting: 8.5 of 10
Writing: 4 of 10
Direction: 6.5 of 10
SFX: 10 of 10
Overall: 7.5 of 10
The plot was pretty formulaic and predictable -- enemy introduction, character introduction, seeds of conflict, off on the adventure, things go wrong, death/injury, something else goes wrong, death/injury, conflict erupts facilitated by enemy...etc. All I know about horror script writing is the two or three other horror movies I've seen, and I even I could see the clear formula. Still, the details are reasonably creative, the special effects are reasonably good (some obvious CGI but that's not terribly surprising and mostly forgivable, and some seriously rocking sound effects to make up for it), and there's touches of dark humor in just the right places.
The performances and directing were mostly good. I felt like Joe Anderson could have done much better as Mathias, the fifth-wheel German tourist who actually leads the group to the ruins, following his brother and an archaeologist who "should have been back by now." His introduction was cute but improbable and kindof stupid, and there were many better ways to have handled it, without even changing the actual lines said. Jonathan Tucker was good in what I hope will be a breakout role for him. Jena Malone was good as well, once again expanding herself beyond what she's been playing before and rising clearly above her peers as the best actress in the bunch. Laura Ramsey was good, but choosing another horror role for her second major film was probably a mistake. As for Shawn Ashmore, the only thing I can think of was he was trying to expand himself like Jena Malone was. The trouble is, he failed. Instead of playing a somewhat naive but serious kid, he was trying to play a slightly naughty, adventurous and ready-for-anything party guy. He failed and came off just kindof a dumbass, despite having a couple of the best-written and best-delivered lines.
Obviously don't bring your small children, but if you don't mind some gore, the plot is probably safe for anyone over the age of ten. See it in the theater to get the full effect, and rent the DVD when it comes out. Especially if you don't work with plants a lot, it will be easy to distance yourself if you want to, so non-horror-fans will probably enjoy this movie, if for nothing else but the effects and Jena Malone's performance.
Acting: 8.5 of 10
Writing: 4 of 10
Direction: 6.5 of 10
SFX: 10 of 10
Overall: 7.5 of 10
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