REVIEW: Captain America: The First Avenger

21 07 2011

The bookend of a four comic book/superhero summer, “Captain America: The First Avenger” was given the onerous responsibility to keep audiences from succumbing to genre fatigue.  Luckily, it’s one of the better of these four – but that’s not saying much given this summer.  Joe Johnston’s take on the classic character actually gets some of the basics right, having the narrative storyline that “Thor” lacked and the decent visuals that “Green Lantern” didn’t bother to have.

But just because it’s an improvement doesn’t necessarily means it good, especially taking into account how poor the aforementioned movies were.  “Captain America” is barely bearable, so middling and nondescript that you can’t help but wonder how smashing “The Avengers” could possibly be with all these sub-par buildup movies.  If it’s lucky, it will be equal to the sum of its parts – and Chris Evans and company do about as little to fix the existing Marvel deficit as the President and Congress are doing to fix our national deficit.

Evans has remarkably little charisma despite being devilishly (albeit guiltily) entertaining in the “Fantastic Four” series, neither as a CGI-enhanced shrimp nor as a P90X-enhanced “Men’s Health” cover model prototype.  Playing Steve Rogers, selected to become the superhuman Captain America thanks to his tenacity in the face of bullying, he never really gives us a reason to get invested in the movie – something crucial for a lackluster summer blockbuster in need of some distinguishing feature.  He hits one note the whole movie: dull.  At least in most action movies, the main guy seems to be enjoying kicking butt … and Captain America gets to fight Nazis in World War II!  What more could an action hero ask for?!

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REVIEW: Buck

20 07 2011

There’s nothing terribly wrong with “Buck,” Cindy Meehl’s documentary about the real “horse whisperer” Buck Brannaman.  It’s a little story of a tortured soul who finds his calling in being gentle and humane, told with tenderness and compassion.  Using the pretty standard biographical documentarian style, it weaves back and forth between Buck’s present day giving unorthodox horse training clinics and his past, both painful and glorious.

But while this is all good and nice, I spent most of the movie wondering why I was watching it on the silver screen as opposed to a 22-inch screen in my kitchen.  The small scale of “Buck” makes it feel like a double-length Animal Planet special that you save on TiVo for a few months before playing.  You can even feel the built-in commercial breaks!  Meehl’s small-scale filmmaking seems targeted towards a niche audience (even more so than the independent film community) because it lacks universality.  When the most profound insight offered in the film is Buck saying “your horse is a mirror to your soul,” you know it’s only going to strike a chord with a select few out there.

I’m not one to demand that a documentary expose vast injustice (like “The Cove“) or hypothesize about massive financial meltdowns (like “Inside Job“); they can be just as powerful by narrowing their lens on a smaller subject.  However, this narrowing should always be to widen our perspective, not limit it.  Buck Brannaman, noble gentleman and very interesting figure that he is, simply doesn’t feel like a microcosm of anything.  He’s fun to watch like a skin-deep Barbara Walters special, but he lacks a certain cinematic quality that makes “Buck” underwhelm.  B- / 


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REVIEW: Waste Land

19 07 2011

I need to put this out there for reviewing “Waste Land,” and I really can’t distance myself from this review because my reaction to it is so deeply rooted in personal experience.  Two years ago, I went on a mission trip to Nicaragua and went to the city dump in Managua, which is a self-contained city in itself.  There I met people who lived in such incredible poverty and in conditions that I still don’t understand to livable.  It was a life-changing event in a way that only seeing such a harrowingly extreme stretch of the human condition can be.

Having said that, while watching “Waste Land,” this exposé of a Brazilian dump and the people who inhabit it felt like a retread for me.  Not only that, but it lost its power as I had seen something like that in the flesh.  When I went to the dump, I smelled the cantankerous odors, felt my gag reflexes being stimulated against my wall, swatted the flies from my face, and touched things and people and was in turn touched in a different way.  But when I watched it, even though I felt the movie was making a concerted effort to get me involved in these people’s lives, I felt a distance.

That doesn’t make what Vik Muniz does any less remarkable.  An innovative visual artist, he returned to his home country to make socially-conscious works from the materials found in the dump with the help of the people who live in it.  What he does for them not just with the money from the art but also for their spirits and souls is truly moving.

However, for me, it just all paled in comparison to the real experience.  Perhaps you, the normal person who hasn’t had the ability to visit a dump, will find the long shots of the squalid conditions to be a life-changing or affecting.  Perhaps you will get emotional learning about the lives of the people living there.  If the movie does that for you, then that’s fantastic because anything that can translate the experience to people who can’t see it in person should be applauded.

Since it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary, I’m inclined to think that it probably succeeds in that regard.  But for me, who has seen such a thing in person, the documentary was an overly long mix of artistic experimentation with a UNICEF fundraising video.  B- / 


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REVIEW: Beginners

18 07 2011

A beautiful sampling of life and love, “Beginners” is a free-form comedic and dramatic tale from director Mike Mills that feels as personal to us as it is to him.  Bringing many autobiographical elements into the mix, the film radiates a powerful authenticity, which then translates into charm.  This neurotic charisma is a vital necessity for the movie because it makes us smile through it all – and Mills brings it all to the table.

His “Beginners” is the dark underside of the Hollywood romantic comedy, full of all the indecision, uncertainty, and challenges of real life love.  It successfully takes us through the ups and downs of a relationship, complete with laughter, warmth, pain, and upset.  Not since 2009’s “(500) Days of Summer” has a movie unflinchingly spat in the face of the genre, but rather than invert the banalities for comic effect, Mills simply sticks to the truth and tells the tale as if there had never been a formula planted in our heads for what a romance should look like.  It’s a romantic vision, perhaps, but at least it is a vision, which is more than can be said for most movies nowadays.

Mills also juxtaposes the blooming romance between Oliver (Ewan McGregor) and Anna (Mélanie Laurent, best known as Shoshana from “Inglourious Basterds“) with a different kind of relationship, the withering one between Oliver and his father Hal (Christopher Plummer) in the years before dating Anna.  Their rapport was never strong to begin with as Hal was a distant workaholic father while his son grew up, and upon being widowed, he reveals to Oliver that he is actually homosexual.  As he suffers from terminal liver cancer, Hal is determined to live his life the way he couldn’t while he was living a lie and connects with the gay community, embracing a new lifestyle complete with a young boyfriend (Goran Visnjic).

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Weekend Update – July 17, 2011

17 07 2011

An Introduction

“Writing should be useful. If it can’t instruct people a little bit more about the responsibilities of consciousness there’s no point in doing it.”

– Edward Albee

So what is this “Weekend Update” thing that Marshall wants me to read now?  Is it some rip-off of the “SNL” feature that seriously needs to get another good-looking girl on it (sorry, Seth, but we need a Tina/Amy) and just roasts American politicians and other assorted morons?

Well, to answer the questions that I posed for you to hypothetically ask me, it’s a new feature on “Marshall and the Movies” that conveniently borrows the non-trademarked name of a popular, long-running “Saturday Night Live” segment.  It seeks to provide a lot of the same things for its audience as that segment – humor, commentary, and all sorts of fun characters.  Ultimately, it’s something dependable that is always here on the weekends no matter what else I’m writing about, just like no matter how poor the “SNL” writing is nowadays, you can always get a giggle from “Weekend Update” sandwiched in the middle.

Now, as to the epigraph of this post, it mainly refers to my random factoid series, which, as you may have noticed, has gone the way of the VHS tape.  It was, simply put, a pain in the butt to come up with some new nugget of commentary every single day.  I would get ridiculously behind on posting them, and writing became a chore rather than a passion.  So with “Weekend Update,” I’ll get the chance to provide you some of that clever witicism I like to think I’ve been providing through the “Random Factoid” series – just on a more manageable timetable.  Who knows, maybe I’ll still surprise everyone with a factoid every now and then when I get REALLY worked up about something.

So without further ado…

In case you missed it…

It was a very Potter week at Marshall and the Movies, in case you couldn’t tell by my changed header (which previously adorned the 2010 Oscar favorites from October).  I got the chance to see the movie early on Monday, which was totally AWESOME.  To show you how true of a fan I am, just 12 hours before the screening, I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed.  When the Warner Bros. logo flew at me in 3D, I could still feel some of the anesthesia lingering in my bottom lip.

Read my review of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.”

And then, because I couldn’t miss the opening night festivities, I had to go on Thursday night as well.  I got all dressed up, wearing my Gryffindor Quidditch robe from Halloween … in third grade!  I also had my Deathly Hallows T-shirt and Platform 9 3/4 cap (won at Monday’s screening) along with a wand borrowed from a friend.  Oh, and I rocked the Harry Potter 3D style glasses that I got at the Monday screening as well.  No one had them at the 7 P.M. screening I went to, so they were quite the rage.

The first time was a charm for this movie, but that didn’t stop me from seeing it for the third time on Saturday.  I was babysitting, and the decision was easy between this, “Green Lantern,” and the torture better known as “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.”  I got to see it in the lovely RPX, a nice way for Regal to charge slightly more money for a slightly better experience.  Still, the 3D is totally awesome on this movie, something I’ve been longing to say about a movie since … well, “Avatar.”

But the week wasn’t without its sad moments too, as the joy of this momentous occasion also brought the sorrow of knowing that there will be no more “Harry Potter” movies to bring us all together in a night of magic and fun.  With that in mind, I ranked all eight of the films on Thursday – you’ll have to read it to figure out which prevailed.

See how I ranked the “Harry Potter” films.

And there was also a Friday DVD release (can you say random?), so I posted my review since I saw the film back in its theatrical run.

Read my review of “Rango.”

Recommended Reading

Here are some of the best posts that I’ve read in the past week from other bloggers.  For future reference, I’ll probably post things here that are either ridiculously intelligent or ridiculously funny.

And in case you thought I was the only one talking about Harry Potter, think again:

Hard to Say Goodbye

“Harry Potter” truly went out with a bang this weekend, scoring countless monetary records.  The biggest midnight opening ($43.5 million).  The biggest single and opening day ever ($92.1 million).  The biggest opening weekend and three day stretch ever ($168.6 million).  The biggest worldwide opening ever ($475.6 million).  In case there was any doubt that J.K. Rowling’s series is a truly exceptional phenomenon, the record books can speak to its magic.

But this opening speaks to something more than just a movie.  While “The Dark Knight” is definitely an all-time favorite and a far superior movie, I’m not as sad as I thought I would be to see its 3 year run at the top end.  That was a movie that gained prestige over the weekend; there wasn’t such a rush to see it (I, for example, waited until Sunday).  It also had the Heath Ledger factor that contributed to its massive opening, bringing crowds that normally wouldn’t see a comic book movie but had to see the character that brought about his demise.  They came back through the floodgates in record numbers because beneath that performance, Christopher Nolan had actually made a fantastic movie that totally transcended a genre.

“Harry Potter,” on the other hand, is a phenomenon unlike any other in this generation.  It’s an event picture, one that brings together people around the medium of cinema in a way that renews interest and passion in moviegoing.  No matter if you were an avid reader of Rowling’s novels, just saw the movies, or have no interest in Hogwarts, if you love movies, you had to be happy on Thursday night.

The “Harry Potter” movies renewed my faith in an experience that many people are convinced is dying: the communal movie theater experience.  Over the course of cinematic history, we’ve gone from watching movies at a theater to television screens to computer screens to iPod screens to cell phone screens.  Just in the past decade with the series, our availability options have increased dramatically.  When “Sorcerer’s Stone” enchanted us in 2001, we had to go to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video to get our DVDs (and VHS tapes).  Now, we can rent and buy movies on our computers, phones, televisions, video game consoles, and disc players.  Needless to say, times have changed.

So, taking all that into account, seeing everyone gathered in the lobby of my local theater on Thursday night was an incredibly magical experience.  We were all gathered around a common experience: a movie, a character, some enchantment, and the end of an era.  The Christian Science Monitor called it correctly when they called that night the bookend of a generation.  I find this especially apt for people in my grade; as we head off to college, we tie the bow on a part of our youth with the completion of the “Harry Potter” series that we grew up with.  When we were nine, the first movie was released, and their progression roughly matched our aging through puberty, middle school, high school, and finally off towards the rest of our lives.

And as the Monitor article also points out, the books and movies have also endowed a shared moral compass to our generation.  While life won’t always be as simple as an all-encompassing evil like Voldemort, we can learn to be brave and triumph over our shortcomings like Harry, facing whatever life throws at us with courage.  It’s a rare movie series that can do that in addition to bringing the masses to the theater.

On an NPR segment I listened to a few months ago, an expert said that a result of our fragmented culture is our dearth of moments that connect a generation to each other.  Nowadays, it’s almost strictly limited to tragedies.  We will all remember where we were when 9/11 happened, just like we will all remember where we were when Michael Jackson died.  But the “Harry Potter” series defies the times and has produced several moments that have brought together not only this generation, but others as well.  Between midnight book releases and movie premieres, this series has forged positive bonds and provided many experiences that people will remember for a lifetime.  It is only fitting that the last one (at least for now) be the biggest one of them all and, more than that, the biggest movie opening ever.

As J.K. Rowling said at the London premiere, “Whether you come back by film or by page, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.”  So although I, along with a world full of grateful readers and moviegoers, am saying goodbye to hellos for the series now, I do so knowing that the magic will always be there in the movies and books.  It has brought magic to the screen for a decade, and this week, it brought the magic back into the theater.  At least for this generation, it will linger there for the rest of our lives, a comforting thought even if at times it feels out of reach.

So thanks, J.K.  Thanks, Harry.  You may have just saved movies.


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HITCHCOCKED: Rear Window (1954)

16 07 2011

Now I’m getting into Hitchcock’s most revered films, and I’m getting more and more excited to watch the movies.  While I had to trudge through some of his lesser known movies to get acquainted with his style so I didn’t fly blindly into the classics, now I’m starting to see why he has become such an iconic director.  “Rear Window” is definitely one that shows his unique knack for suspense.  It’s a slow (and sometimes a little tedious) build towards a frightening conclusion, told with an Old Hollywood sensibility yet still a thrill.

“We’ve become a race of Peeping Toms,” says Thelma Ritter’s nurse, Stella, to James Stewart’s wheelchair-bound Jeff, a photojournalist whose daring in the field has left him immobile in his apartment.  Left largely to his own devices while his socialite girlfriend, appropriately played by future princess Grace Kelly, he turns to voyeurism while looking out the titular aperture.  From afar, he watches his neighbors, imagining what their actions say about their lives and making up stories based on what he sees.  Hitchcock’s clever camerawork mimics Jeff’s eyeballs, jumping from place to place based on what’s interesting.

But one day, his intuitions tell him that by connecting some mental dots, his neighbor Thorwald has committed murder.  With nothing else to do but observe, he sneakily begins building a case against him despite the insistence of his friends and caretakers.  Hitchcock keeps the suspense held back until the very end, not giving us anything but Jeff’s hunches to be suspicious of Thorwald.

Perhaps the biggest thing I took from “Rear Window,” though, was how very seldom Hollywood makes movies like Hitchcock’s anymore.  His movies were all about using the artistic capabilities of cinema to manufacture suspense, thrills, and chills; now, filmmakers just through blood and gore at the screen, play some booming tune in the background, and call it a thriller.  While I loved “Disturbia,” the self-proclaimed modern take on this Hitchcock classic, it certainly lacks Hitchcock’s artistic flair.  I’m certainly more primed to like the Shia LaBeouf vehicle over the James Stewart starrer because of generational differences, but I recognize why one is a classic and the other is just a wannabe trying to cash in on the wizardry of one of cinema’s greatest icons.


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F.I.L.M. of the Week (July 15, 2011)

15 07 2011

With the final installment of “Harry Potter” now in theaters, millions of Americans will see Snape’s finest hour, which wouldn’t be nearly as compelling without the incredible talent of Alan Rickman behind Rowling’s well-crafted character.  His creepiness and eeriness for the past decade in the role has introduced him to a whole new audience, few of whom know him as the nefarious Hans Gruber for “Die Hard.”  However, the role that even fewer recognize him for – and everyone should – is his hilarious turn in “Galaxy Quest,” a brilliantly tongue-in-cheek satire on the “Star Trek” show and fan base.  It’s been a favorite of mine since I was seven, and now is the perfect time to feature it as my “F.I.L.M. of the Week.”

Rickman plays Alexander Dane, a peeved British supporting actor in the “Galaxy Quest” television series whose character happens to have some unfortunate gills on his skull.  He and the rest of the cast, which includes the hilarious Sigourney Weaver as the show’s sex appeal, are at the mercy of their drunk leading man, Tim Allen’s Jason Nesmith, when it comes to maintaining their show’s cult appeal.  Doing a great Shatner rip-off, Allen so nails the fame-crazed has-been that we so love to lampoon – and thankfully, Rickman and Weaver are there every step of the way to give him a light slap when necessary.

But one fateful day, the cast of “Galaxy Quest” gets drawn into the universe that they only knew on studio lots.  The actors find themselves totally hopeless in the face of actual peril but must exude some aura of control to keep the Thermian aliens under the impression that they know what they’re doing.  Their quest through strange worlds in space gives a new meaning to science-fiction and acting for all aboard.

It doesn’t matter if you are a Trekkie or not, whether you are a crazily obsessed fan of something or just know someone who is, you will totally be able to laugh along with “Galaxy Quest.”  It sends up obsession and taking anything too seriously to hilarious effect.  Not to mention it holds up exceptionally well on repeat viewings!


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LISTFUL THINKING: Ranking Harry Potter

14 07 2011

For millions of fans across the world today, it all ends.  The Harry Potter series is officially coming to a close.  To commemorate, I thought it would be appropriate to rank all the films in order of quality.  Perhaps with the exception of my last ranked pick, they are all exemplary films that highlight Rowling’s incredible knack for storytelling with nuanced acting and clever cinematic tricks.  But when it comes down to putting them in order, some inevitably rise to the top … and others don’t.

So here’s an installment of “Listful Thinking” that, for my money, is how the “Harry Potter” films stack up to each other.

#8
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”
2007, dir. David Yates

The only major misstep of the series, which I can attribute to the absence of one presence: screenwriter Steve Kloves.  Although Yates’ first outing with Potter did some nice things stylistically and visually, nothing could compensate for the fact that this was a mess in terms of storytelling that would not have been coherent to fans who hadn’t read the book.

#7
“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”
2002, dir. Chris Columbus

While we all love Harry Potter, we don’t need this much of it at once.  At a whopping 165 minutes, Chris Columbus’ second time around with Potter felt more like a marathon than a fun time at the movies with our friend from Rowling’s novel.  It’s a solid movie but could have used a lot more time on the cutting room floor.

 #6
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1”
2010, dir. David Yates

Once I’m able to watch this one directly before part 2, it might rise.  But for now, it is as I saw it in November – just the first half of a grander storyline that tries to have its own pseudo-plot complete with a climax that just really doesn’t feel as grand as any other Harry Potter movie.

#5
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
2009, dir. David Yates

Yates, combined with scribe Steve Kloves, gets into the groove of the Harry Potter series with his second entry in the series.  It’s a great movie not just about the wizarding world but also about our world; that is to say, it could easily double as a great high school movie.  This is a lot of fun, but I thought this and “Order of the Phoenix” were among the bottom of Rowling’s books, so I’m not surprised that it doesn’t rank higher.

#4
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
2005, dir. Mike Newell

Here’s where it starts getting REALLY difficult.  The top 4 Harry Potter films are all spectacular, standing head and shoulders over the others.  But to say that there’s no discrepancy is to do the better of the series a disservice.  Mike Newell’s only time in the director’s chair for the series takes one of my favorite books and makes it an equally entertaining movie.  It’s got great action, stunning visuals, and really delivers on emotion.  I’ll drop anything and watch this movie when I see it on TV.

#3
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2”
2011, dir. David Yates

Goodbyes are tough to do, and the final Harry Potter film of them all pulls off its swan song with grace and poise.  It reminds us of everything that the series has done so right – mixing high-flying visuals with potent storytelling and a soaring humanity – while never indulging itself in low-grade tears or emotion.  Yates’ finest hour is an excellent way to send off a series that has entertained us so well for a decade.

 #2
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”
2001, dir. Chris Columbus

Goodbyes may be hard to do, but hellos might be harder.  Chris Columbus built this incredible series from scratch, and going back and watching the first film in the series makes you realize how incredibly well he introduced a generation to the world of Harry Potter.  The book has its fans, sure, but for those who needed to be brought up to speed, Columbus gives them everything they need to know without making it feel like a trudge through exposition.  It introduces the magic of cinema into J.K. Rowling’s series, and the sensation of first seeing Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, and Quidditch can truly never be paralleled.

#1
“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”
2004, dir. Alfonso Cuarón

However, nothing for me tops Alfonso Cuarón’s only entry into the “Harry Potter” canon.  While Columbus did a fantastic job of getting the series set up, Cuarón made the series grow up a little.  He made the films more mature and dark, introducing some fantastic art into the commerce, and changing the series for better and for always.  “Prisoner of Azkaban” will always be the greatest triumph of the series for me, both on paper and on screen.  It’s the most compelling story, easily Rowling’s most ingenious (save the stunning conclusion).  And Cuarón’s fantastic vision of the series, whimsical when necessary but dark buy default, still excites me more than any other film in the series.

How do you rank the films in the “Harry Potter” series?  Where does the conclusion rank for you?


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REVIEW: Rango

13 07 2011

It’s very hard to serve two audiences at once, especially when those audiences are kids and adults.  At every animated movie, there have to be some parents to drive the children and pay the ridiculously extravagant ticket prices (or go to Blockbuster, Redbox, or foot the Netflix bill).  It’s always prudent for animators to make the movie an enjoyable experience for both so everyone wants to give it a second watch.  However, very few can do this with success; I’d say only Pixar and the people behind “Shrek” have really nailed it.

“Rango” is an example of how this strategy can go south quickly.  It’s a little too out there for the youngsters and a little too dumbed down for the oldies.  At the age of 18, I fall somewhere between these two crowds, thus I felt it was a half-hearted attempt to squeeze me from both sides of my maturity.  Rather than this moving me like it did in “Toy Story 3,” it just made me feel ambivalent and a tad frustrated.  However, my frustration paled in comparison to my ten-year-old brother and his pal that I took, neither of whom seemed to understand the movie’s humor or plot.

While I sure like the idea of fusing together an existential identity crisis with Greek tragedy complete with a chorus of owls and classic westerns (although I could have done without the animated rodents), it doesn’t play out all that well on screen.  Especially not for the kids, who have most likely never seen either of the two genres.  For adults who have seen both, it feels campy and watered-down to the point of minimum satisfaction.  While it boasts some nice animation and a fair amount of good laughs, “Rango” can’t solve its own identity crisis of which crowd to pander primarily to – a problem which should have been sorted out long before it hit theaters.  Oh, and there’s also the matter of Johnny Depp’s frustratingly neurotic chameleon that needs to scurry back into Woody Allen’s therapist’s office.  B- / 


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REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

12 07 2011

I was only nine years old when the “Harry Potter” films first cast their spell on me.  While I was old enough to realize that the series was, unfortunately, fictional, I wasn’t blind to the magic of J.K. Rowling’s series.  Only a fool couldn’t see that every aspect around Harry Potter and the universe of wizarding he inhabits doesn’t possess some fantastic sorcery.  How else can you explain the millions of children (and adults alike) who have rediscovered the power of reading thanks to the books?  How else can you explain the millions who come out in droves at midnight … to celebrate the release of a novel?

It’s only appropriate that the final film adaptation, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2,” should capture that magic with such perfect grace, making us at once entranced by the action on the screen, heartbroken that we no longer have another movie to look forward to in the series, and filled with joy that the series has, for the past 10 years, taught us all to believe in the magic of cinema.  The “Harry Potter” series has been such an integral part of my childhood and adolescence, and as it concludes as I head off for college, I can’t be more thankful to have such a fantastic film mark the end of a big chapter of my life.  I’m so grateful that my generation, along with countless other fans, has rallied eight times to celebrate the power that writing and filmmaking can possess when done so incredibly right.

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REVIEW: Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop

11 07 2011

While it falls slightly short of last summer’s documentary “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” in terms of providing insight on the souls of stand-ups, “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” is still a fascinating true story of catharsis through comedy and the journey of one man across America to overcome his anger.  When that man is Conan O’Brien and the story is true, it makes for a much better watch than your average melodrama.  It’s touching and humorous, never stooping to the lows of a mere “behind the scenes” documentary.

I remember watching the end of Conan’s tenure on “The Tonight Show,” also the beginning of this documentary, depending on your outlook.  I remember his joking in spite of it all, but mostly I remember this quote: “All I ask of you, especially young people … is one thing. Please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”  It was a great message from someone leaving a terrible situation who seemed to be smiling to whatever life had ahead of him.

But as “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” shows, that wasn’t necessarily the case.  Conan takes no steps to hide the fact that he was angry at Leno and NBC for screwing him over, and this rage is something that he has to take great steps to keep bottled up inside.  Thus, he has to surround himself with people and keep trucking forward in show business, fearing that it will consume him if he were ever to stop.

He then embarks on the well-publicized “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on TV Tour,” a wild comedy act of his own invention to keep him busy in the six months that NBC stipulated he could not appear on television.  It’s fun for us to watch, as it shows a personal side to Conan that we don’t get on late night between celebrity interviews and political humor.  Although we all know that he now has a show on TBS, it’s a fascinating journey of indecision and rediscovery through show business, revealing of both a man and a craft.  A- / 


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REVIEW: Bad Teacher

10 07 2011

High concept comedies like “The Hangover” and “Horrible Bosses” work because they maintain a level of implausibility and ridiculousness throughout.  In the end, no one is going to get so drunk that they forget marrying a stripper or pulling out a tooth, just like no one is going to get so worked up at work that they execute a plan to murder their boss. Because their humor borders on fantasy, we can laugh despite the incorrectness of it all.

“Bad Teacher,” on the other hand, walks on some dangerous ground by presenting its central character with an unflinching realism.  Cameron Diaz’s teacher is a pot-smoking, whiskey-gulping, foul-mouthed, shallow mess that could care less about the kids that she’s getting paid to educate.  Instead, she would rather focus on getting a nice new pair of breasts and a rich man to fondle them.  When she needs money, rather than work hard like a respectable person, she embezzles, cheats, steals, and bribes.

Sadly, this actually happens in the real world; it’s not some cock-and-bull story concocted by some bored screenwriters.  In just the past five years going through private secondary school, I have seen two teachers lose their jobs from accusations of sexual impropriety with a minor and possession of child pornography.  These people are very much real.  Same goes for negligent teachers, which are very prevalent in poorer school districts.  My cousin works in junior high public education (not unlike Diaz’s character) in one of the most at-risk neighborhoods in the country, and I’ve heard too many horror stories from her about the people who work there that don’t even deserve to be called an educator.

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REVIEW: Source Code

9 07 2011

Part “Inception” and part “Groundhog Day,” Duncan Jones’ sophomore directing effort “Source Code” is a fully engrossing thriller that blends the best aspects of both and reminds us how a good action movie should make us feel.  It’s cleverly written, masterfully directed, and potently acted.  It maintains an uncannily even keel while juggling action, mystery, and even some wit and heart.  Come December, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is still one of my favorites of the year.

The movie’s captivating sci-fi premise is executed admirably and with precision, largely thanks to how screenwriter Ben Ripley insists on making it so simple.  “Source Code” reminds us that original and complex aren’t necessarily synonyms on screen.  In about the time that it took “Inception” to lay out its exposition, Ripley gets us in and out of the source code, never making us feel lost or confused for a second.  Even at its short running time of under an hour and a half, we never feel like shorted in terms of story or entertainment.

The titular program allows Captain Colter Stevens, played with cunning and intensity by Jake Gyllenhaal, to relive the 8 minutes before a bomb explodes on a train outside of Chicago in the body of teacher Sean Fentress.  As he switches back and forth between finding the terrorist inside the source code and figuring out his own status outside, Stevens is putting together more than just an elaborate puzzle – he’s piecing together his life.  The stakes are high, and Gyllenhaal along with Vera Farmiga’s stone-faced – but not unemotionally robotic – webcam operator play them as such.  The result is that we don’t just want to sit back and watch the characters put the pieces together; we want to join in from the other side of the screen.

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F.I.L.M. of the Week (July 8, 2011)

8 07 2011

It’s always interesting to see the humble roots of Hollywood directors.  Some of them start in short films, others in behind-the-scenes work like cinematography or unit direction.  In the case of Seth Gordon, who directs this weekend’s big opener “Horrible Bosses,” it was documentary film.  His first feature length film, “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,” is actually much better than any of his narrative work and is thus my pick for the “F.I.L.M. of the Week.”

Gordon’s movie seems to have a whole lot more in common with the classic mockumentary “This is Spinal Tap” than it does with “Inside Job” or any of the other Academy favorites this year.  At times, it is so ridiculous that it makes you question whether it’s actually real.  But as the saying goes, sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction, and that DEFINITELY applies here.

However, questioning plausibility isn’t the only question that “The King of Kong” makes you ponder.  It cleverly asks the audience, without preaching or making it plainly obvious, to reconsider what they think is a sport and who they think is an athlete.  We’ve so narrowly defined athletics to games played on fields and courts by people with enormous physical prowess.  But basketball and baseball took time catch on – so are we entering the age where videogaming becomes a sport?

We are entering the fourth decade of gaming, and Donkey Kong champions Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe sure fit the bill of an athlete.  They have learned the ins and outs of their game; they have practiced nonstop; they have trained and toned their minds to meet the game.  So why can’t they be called athletes?  What makes their rivalry any different that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson’s?  We laugh now, but they sure think they will be the Cy Youngs of their sport.  The joke could one day be on us when more people watch the HALO championship than the Super Bowl.


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WTLFT: August 2011

7 07 2011

Hard to believe we can see the light at the end of the tunnel that is summer 2011.  So, here’s what to look forward to – or not – in the month of August.

August 5

“The Change-Up” – it’s “Freaky Friday,” but rated R and starring two dudes.  We’ll see how this goes.

Meanwhile, I’m still trying to figure out why on earth James Franco is doing “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”  Between getting two doctorate degrees and just receiving an Oscar nomination, you would think he would have the smarts and the options to avoid making a movie like this for money or for résumé.  Then again, everyone nowadays has to go to drastic measures to pay for higher education in this country.

I feel like I have to embed the trailer for “Bellflower” rather than just link to it, simply because I can tell it isn’t trying to be like some other movie just to sell tickets.

Being a fan of both the novel and the film “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” I have to see “Magic Trip,” Alex Gibney’s latest documentary which spotlights the book’s author Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters in the 1960s.

August 10/12

Getting a head start on the weekend by opening on Wednesday is “The Help,” which looks to be a late-summer sleeper, hoping to please the oft-neglected female crowd by adapting a best-selling book.  But with this one looking to be less geared towards one gender and even a potential awards play, this could outgross “Green Lantern” or other summer flops.

The premise of “30 Minutes or Less” feels, quite frankly, a little recycled.  But since it boasts the comedic talents of Aziz Ansari (the funniest part of “Parks & Recreation”), Danny McBride (the best part of “Pineapple Express“), and Jesse Eisenberg being reteamed with the director of the hilariously awesome “Zombieland,” it may end up being pretty good.

And because “THE Final Destination” wasn’t final enough, there’s “Final Destination 5,” which is shot in 3D.  Too bad the title “the 3D event of the summer” was already taken – and I don’t think they could stretch it into 5 dimensions quite yet.  There’s also a “Glee” concert movie in 3D in case you haven’t spent enough buying their singles on iTunes.

August 19

Is it just me, or does “Fright Night” = “Disturbia” + zombies?  Also, Anton Yelchin is keeping crazy busy.  He beat unemployment.

As for a last big summer action movie, count me out for “Conan the Barbarian.”  You can even count me out for the inevitable Arnold Schwarzenegger classics marathon that will be running all weekend on Spike.  I think I’ll pass on the latest “Spy Kids” movie as well, which is a TOTAL sell-out of a series that I actually loved when I was 8.  Aroma-scope?  Gross.

August 26

I will see ANY movie with Paul Rudd, so “Our Idiot Brother” is a must-see for me.  It’s only made better by the fact that it played at Sundance to a great deal of acclaim.  Huzzah!

There is no trailer available yet for “Higher Ground” (grr!), but I think this may be my must-see movie of August … because I probably won’t get to see it until December.  Vera Farmiga’s directorial debut, a religious movie, just Vera Farmiga in general – sign me up!

In other indie news, the 2010 TIFF debut “Brighton Rock,” Rowan Joffe’s remake of the old British film, finally sees release in America.  “Chasing Madoff” looks like a sleek documentary, but I’m wondering what will distinguish it from the perfectly good “Frontline” special on PBS that unfurled his whole story.  “Circumstance” brings Iranian youth to the screen, and again I have to wonder what makes this any different than a live action version of “Persepolis” set in the present day.

I wasn’t the biggest “Pan’s Labyrinth” enthusiast, so Guillermo del Toro’s “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” isn’t necessarily high on my list for the weekend.  Nor is “Colombiana,” the Zoe Saldana-starrer which looks like a carbon copy of Luc Besson’s “The Professional.”  Oh, it’s also directed by him … coincidence?  I think NOT!

So, what do you think will please crowds in August?  Are you looking for one last bang from the summer – or for it to just end already?  Sound off in the comments AND take the poll!


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