One of the best Sci Fi fantasy movies with a hooker in it. Definitely worth picking up if you haven't seen it. William Hurt, Jennifer Connely, Keifer Sutherland and staring Rufus Sewell. Directed by Egyptian born Alex Proyas who also directed cult hit The Crow and who is in talks to direct The Silver Surfer for Marvel. Features the best creepy little bald kid in a bowler hat ever. Check out the trailer:

Labels: Hurt, Proyas, Sci Fi, Sewell, Sutherland

The Dark Knight is 4/5ths of a very good movie. Actually, to be fair, 13/15ths of a good movie. Don't agree? How many of you really liked the ending as much as the rest of the film? Is your hand up? Are you lying?

I went into the theater half expecting that the Heath Ledger reviews that I had read were fed more by emotion than by honest reaction. I liked him as an actor, but these reviews just seemed a little over the top. They were not! Ledger is everything that you want from a movie villian. He steals every scene. His is creepy, funny, frightening, interesting and most important, charasmatic in a way that Jack Nicholson's 1989 Joker totally missed. the 130 minutes or so with Ledger is a thrill ride for fan and non-fan alike. This performance shows what can be created when an actor and director take this material seriously. Anyone who ever read comics knows that this set of characters and mythology has been used to create everything from absolute drek to masterworks likes Frank Miller's Dark Knigt Returns.

*** Spoilers********

But here is the rub, after Ledger makes his final appearance with more the 20 minutes left the air goes out of the balloon. We then proceed to go on a maudlin 20 minute romp with Aaron Eckhart's two face, who by the way if he was burned that badly would have not just every infecton known to man but also a serious case of dead. Eckhart has been given two or three scenes to develop the character from DA to murderous menace capable of horrific, maniacal villany and mayhem.The final showdown produced the first and only real sniggers from the audience. I had assumed with less than 30 minutes left that Nolan was developing Two-Face to be one of the villans in the next film. The actual ending seems tacked on and stinks of Big Studio. Of course, based on the weekend numbers, it also stinks of big bucks.

Here is my other problem. Chistian Bale's Batman is monotone and deadly dull in this movie. I have to watch Batman begins again because I don't remember disliking his portrayal in that film. I think I know why. He does a good job of with Bruce Wayne, its just Batman that stinks. Tell me the hoarse voice deadpan delivery doesn't get stale. Big surprise for me, because I have always thought that he was a fantastic actor but he is every bit as lame as Keaton, Kilmer and Yes! even Clooney in this one.

Every other name including Michael Caine(is he a Sir yet?, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldham, Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal delivers exactly the spot on performance that you expect from pros of their caliber. Chris Nolan with help from his brother Johnathan, who wrote the origianl story that later became Memento, does another superb job and I can only hope the he continues to pump this franchise full of life. Those of you who are feeling reminded of 1995 Heat pat yourselves on the back as Nolan cites this as a major influence on the film. When asked why he went with Ledger as the Joker when such heavyweights as Robin Williams, Paul Bettany and Adrien Brody had expressed interest, Nolan stated simply, "Because he is fearless". Pat yourself on the back for that one Christopher.

Labels: Batman, Chris Nolan, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

This one slip under my radar. I recall hearing something about Christian Bale as John Connor but I quickly forgot under the onslaught of movie news. This is the Terminator movie that I have been waiting for since the first. Looks great!!

Labels: Christian Bale, Terminator

Ok, You've know doubt by now seen your fair share of the hype for the new Batman movie. The reviews have been universally enthusiastic and it current has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. So when was the other shoe going to drop? Well actually....
Now:

http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/48514/

The 12 comments posted in response to the review stop short of death threats but don't spare the reviewer from a variey of unpleasant anantomical suggestions. Mostly what I was reminded of was the numerous articles that came out when DC first published Frank Miller's seminal take on Batman, The Dark Knight Returns. Many, many reviewers found the books(it was originally published as a four shot limited series), dark, disturbing and insulting to the Batman that they remembered from the 1960's era television show, or cartoons, or early comics. What can I say, I don't think you can discount their opinions anymore than you can discount Mr Edelstein's take on the new film. After all, many many fans loved Jack Nicholson's Joker in the first Tim Burton Batman, but I would rank that as one of the worst perfomances of the franchise along with Danny Devito and Arnold.

Labels: Frank Miller, Jack Nicholson, The Dark Knight

Kirk Honeycutt posted this very enthusiastic Dark Knight review on Reuters. He predicts a big opening and a sustained presence at the boxoffice. Honeycutt credits the non-stop action and Chris Nolan for bringing a smart, tough edge to the once laughable, and not in a good way, franchise. Summers not over yet.

http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSN0735325820080708

Back to the subtitles, this time on the 2007 Spanish film El Orfanato(The Orphanage). Strongly reminiscent of Guillermo Del Toro's Devil's Backbone(its ok, he helped bring The Orphanage to the screen and received a producer's credit for it), first time filmmakers Juan Bayona and Sergio Sanchez have created a smart, atmospheric film that bears only a slight resemblance to it's American and Japanese cousins. Don't get me wrong, I am actually a big fan of horror/thriller genre as practiced in the US(not as much Japan). This film, however, is a whole different experience. Less dependent on startling the audience. Utterly bereft of the the violence and gore that has become such a big part of the American horror experience.

Julia is mother and wife who moves her family into the spacious home where she once lived as an orphan. Soon after moving in, she becomes concerned that her son(who we learn early on is adopted but does not know it)is becoming more and more engrossed in playing with some imaginary playmates that he meets in the new home.

One rainy day Julia is enjoying a treasure hunt game that she believes her son, Simon, has invented. Simon, however, credits his "friends", saying that they play a game by taking whatever is most precious to you. They will leave a trail of clues and if you follow them to the end, you will not only retrieve your item but recieve a wish as well. The game ends badly when Simon finds his item in a locked drawer where Julia has hidden papers with information about Simon's adoption and his medical condition.

Not long after this, Simon disapears during a party at the home and before long, Julia begins to suspects that Simon's friends are not playing the game with her. Next time you run out of new releases, give this one a chance. The acting is first rate even if you do have to put up with subtitles.

Labels: Del Toro, The Orphanage

Got out tonight to catch one of the sneak shows for Hancock. Have to admit that I was pretty stoked for this one. Thats usually not a good thing. I am a big believer in the power of lowered expectations. Go in with little of no expectations and your much less likely to be disappointed. Sound kind of fatalistic? What movies have you been watching in the past five years.
Hancock turned out to be if anything a better film than I was expecting, but here is the catch, its not the movie that I was expecting. Nor will it be the movie you are expecting or what little johnnie and his friends are expecting. This may be one of the most deceptively marketed films in years. I get the temptation to make you big blockbuster pay off to the max but let people know what they are paying their 10 bucks for.
In this case what people are getting is a slow developing, smart, darkish action comedy. What they do not get is a summer blockbuster. Why, you ask. Several reasons:

1)It starts too slow. While is does start with one action scene that everyone has probably seen on the internet at this point, it then proceeds to downshift into super drag mode for roughly the length of a bible(to steal a line from a much better film).
2)When there are action scenes, they are suprisingly underwhelming. Wanted which was made for half the budget does twice the job of providing a visual summer thrill ride. So does Mongol for that matter and it was made for thirteen dollars worth of beads and trinkets.
3)It's tone is all wrong for the genre. I am a Peter Berg fan but this film asks its audience to do a whole lot more work than most summer crowds willingly sign up for.

What does this all mean? Well, what does a Wil Smith blockbuster do? Only 200 million?





This film makes a nice change of pace from the usual summer fare. If your looking for something a little different give it a shot.

Labels: Hancock, Peter Berg, Wil Smith