EDGE OF DARKNESS (2009) ***
D: Martin Campbell. S: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston.
Mad Mel is back with a vengeance.
After being reunited with his daughter, a Boston detective is thrown into a nightmare journey when someone tries to take him out but ends up gunning down his daughter instead.
This film is based on the acclaimed 1985 BBC mini-series of the same name.
I have not seen the original mini-series but the remake felt rushed and would have benefited from having things fleshed out.
The film was directed by Martin Campbell, who successfully introduced the world to the last two Bond actors.
It's a decent film with a strong performance by Mel Gibson. However, I'm willing to bet the orginal series is far more rewarding.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
01-27-10: An Eastern Western
SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO (2007) ***
D: Takashi Miike. S: Hideaki Ito, Masanobu Ando, Quentin Tarantino.
I find it most interesting that this would be one of the most comprehensible Miike films I've ever seen. His films always leave you scratching your head wondering what it was you just saw. Perhaps it's the fact that he must adapt to the conventions of the western genre.
A gunslinger arrives in town and steps into the middle of a war between two rival clans.
There are flourishes of Miike's sense of humor found throughout. However, there was one thing that took me out of the movie. Quentin Tarantino. I love Quentin but his presence just stopped the film. I didn't see some bad-ass gunslinger, I only saw Quentin. When I think of Mr. Brown or Richard Gecko, I see the characters more than Quentin. Here it just feels like a cameo that a friend wanted to give to him.
The other draw back is that the film is Miike's first English language film. All characters speak in English. This is fine except for the fact that everyone has an accent that can make it difficult to understand what people are saying. I can only imagine how frustrating it would have been seeing it in the theatre. I had to turn on the English subtitles.
It's definitely a more conventional Miike film which is probably why it was a bit underwhelming. It was interesting to see Miike's take on the western genre, it's too bad he didn't let himself go like he does in his other films.
D: Takashi Miike. S: Hideaki Ito, Masanobu Ando, Quentin Tarantino.
I find it most interesting that this would be one of the most comprehensible Miike films I've ever seen. His films always leave you scratching your head wondering what it was you just saw. Perhaps it's the fact that he must adapt to the conventions of the western genre.
A gunslinger arrives in town and steps into the middle of a war between two rival clans.
There are flourishes of Miike's sense of humor found throughout. However, there was one thing that took me out of the movie. Quentin Tarantino. I love Quentin but his presence just stopped the film. I didn't see some bad-ass gunslinger, I only saw Quentin. When I think of Mr. Brown or Richard Gecko, I see the characters more than Quentin. Here it just feels like a cameo that a friend wanted to give to him.
The other draw back is that the film is Miike's first English language film. All characters speak in English. This is fine except for the fact that everyone has an accent that can make it difficult to understand what people are saying. I can only imagine how frustrating it would have been seeing it in the theatre. I had to turn on the English subtitles.
It's definitely a more conventional Miike film which is probably why it was a bit underwhelming. It was interesting to see Miike's take on the western genre, it's too bad he didn't let himself go like he does in his other films.
Monday, January 25, 2010
01-25-10: Don't You Forget About Me...Who are you?
DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME (2009) **
D: Matt Austin.
Clearly this is not the documentary that is meant to mark the legacy of a filmmaker who spoke to an entire generation and generations to follow.
A group of filmmakers set out on a quest to get an interview with the reclusive John Hughes, the renowned filmmaker of such classics as "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Over a two year period they are able to get on-camera interviews with countless luminaries from the Hughes cannon of films. It's a damn shame that all this material is put to waste.
What the filmmakers fail to realize is that they shouldn't be the focus of the documentary, which they are. It should be about Hughes and the impact he had on countless generations of teenagers. They speak to film critcis, producers, directors, actors, teenagers and so forth to understand the impact Hughes had. Instead of delving deeper into the subject they go back to the uninteresting adventures of the film crew as they search for John Hughes.
Their actions come off as unprofessional, irresponsible and disrespectful. One of the crew says that if Hughes says "No" to the interview then that says a lot about the guy. Get over yourself. The crew even resorts to a plead of desperation by saying that if he grants the interview they can finish their film.
Well they finished their film and it doesn't work.
Sadly, John Hughes passed last summer. The filmmakers missed a golden opportunity to change the direction of the documentary and edit it into a love letter to Hughes. They don't get the interview so the purpose of the film's existence failed. They should have dropped all of that and concentrated on the interviews and what people thought of Hughes. You can get an idea of what a man's like by what his peers have to say. We don't get enough of that and are left with self-indulgent dribble.
This is not the way to commemorate the man, watch his films instead.
D: Matt Austin.
Clearly this is not the documentary that is meant to mark the legacy of a filmmaker who spoke to an entire generation and generations to follow.
A group of filmmakers set out on a quest to get an interview with the reclusive John Hughes, the renowned filmmaker of such classics as "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Over a two year period they are able to get on-camera interviews with countless luminaries from the Hughes cannon of films. It's a damn shame that all this material is put to waste.
What the filmmakers fail to realize is that they shouldn't be the focus of the documentary, which they are. It should be about Hughes and the impact he had on countless generations of teenagers. They speak to film critcis, producers, directors, actors, teenagers and so forth to understand the impact Hughes had. Instead of delving deeper into the subject they go back to the uninteresting adventures of the film crew as they search for John Hughes.
Their actions come off as unprofessional, irresponsible and disrespectful. One of the crew says that if Hughes says "No" to the interview then that says a lot about the guy. Get over yourself. The crew even resorts to a plead of desperation by saying that if he grants the interview they can finish their film.
Well they finished their film and it doesn't work.
Sadly, John Hughes passed last summer. The filmmakers missed a golden opportunity to change the direction of the documentary and edit it into a love letter to Hughes. They don't get the interview so the purpose of the film's existence failed. They should have dropped all of that and concentrated on the interviews and what people thought of Hughes. You can get an idea of what a man's like by what his peers have to say. We don't get enough of that and are left with self-indulgent dribble.
This is not the way to commemorate the man, watch his films instead.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
01-24-10: Transsiberian
TRANSSIBERIAN (2008) ***1/2
D: Brad Anderson. S: Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley.
Brad Anderson's latest follows an American couple and a pair of strangers they meet on a trans-siberian train from China to Moscow.
This effective thriller is filled with twist and turns that you think you know how they'll play out but when the turn comes it's not what you expected.
Well acted by all, the only real problem with the film is that the some of the sequences of the finale take it out of the level of reality it was able to achieve. It plays realistically but again one moment just seems to come from a different film.
Overall, it's a fun train thriller.
D: Brad Anderson. S: Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley.
Brad Anderson's latest follows an American couple and a pair of strangers they meet on a trans-siberian train from China to Moscow.
This effective thriller is filled with twist and turns that you think you know how they'll play out but when the turn comes it's not what you expected.
Well acted by all, the only real problem with the film is that the some of the sequences of the finale take it out of the level of reality it was able to achieve. It plays realistically but again one moment just seems to come from a different film.
Overall, it's a fun train thriller.
01-23-10: Legion of Crazy Measures
LEGION (2009) **1/2
D: Scott Stewart. S: Paul Bettany, Josh Lucas, Dennis Quaid.
God has lost faith in man and has decided to bring about the apocalypse. However, the angel Michael disagrees and seeks to save mankind.
This passable yet predictable thriller derails as it races towards its conclusion.
A group of strangers are holed up in a diner in the middle of nowhere when the apocalypse begins. The angel Michael arrives to help them. He is not there to protect them. Only one, an unmarried woman with a fatherless child that is about to be born. To the film's benefit, this child is not the second coming.
The film is a mash up of Terminator, Dawn of the Dead and The Prophecy. It has it's moments but overall it really is hurt by the action packed conclusion. You can't help but watch it and say, that's from this movie and that's from that movie. The conclusion of the fight between the two archangels is incredibly underwhelming.
If you're into apocalyptic films there's much better out there. Check out The Rapture.
CRAZY HEART (2009) ****
D: Scott Cooper. S: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall.
Crazy Heart follows Bad Blake, a country singer legend who's trying to recapture his past glory.
This is basically The Wrestler of country singer films.
It doesn't have the emotional impact that Aronofsky's film had but it is a fine film nonetheless.
Bridges is phenomenal and is assured an Academy Award. He does his own strumming and singing and is pretty good. This is another role where the actor disappears and all you see is the character.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is the woman who against her better judgment falls for him, Farrell is the country superstar that Blake taught everything he knows and Duvall is Blake's wise old friend.
The film took some shortcuts in the latter half that probably should have been fleshed out. Instead it comes off as a footnote and doesn't leave as much of an impression on the journey Blake must take.
Overall, a very good film with great performances and great music.
EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES (2010) **1/2
D: Tom Vaughan. S: Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford, Keri Russell.
The first film to be released by CBS Films clearly shows its TV movie roots and there's no escaping that moniker. This is essentially a made for tv movie that got a bigger budget and bigger stars.
John Crowley is desperately seeking a cure for the terminal disease that has inflicted two of his children. He reaches out to Dr. Robert Stonehill, a research scientist whose findings show promise.
The film is "Inspired by True Events" so this is not an entirely true life drama.
It does get sentimental sometimes but doesn't lay it on thick like other dramas of a similar nature.
It doesn't spend enough time explaining the science of it which I would have found more interesting.
Fraser looks like he's attempting to do some quality acting whereas Ford is just phoning it in.
As a TV movie it works as a major feature film not so much.
D: Scott Stewart. S: Paul Bettany, Josh Lucas, Dennis Quaid.
God has lost faith in man and has decided to bring about the apocalypse. However, the angel Michael disagrees and seeks to save mankind.
This passable yet predictable thriller derails as it races towards its conclusion.
A group of strangers are holed up in a diner in the middle of nowhere when the apocalypse begins. The angel Michael arrives to help them. He is not there to protect them. Only one, an unmarried woman with a fatherless child that is about to be born. To the film's benefit, this child is not the second coming.
The film is a mash up of Terminator, Dawn of the Dead and The Prophecy. It has it's moments but overall it really is hurt by the action packed conclusion. You can't help but watch it and say, that's from this movie and that's from that movie. The conclusion of the fight between the two archangels is incredibly underwhelming.
If you're into apocalyptic films there's much better out there. Check out The Rapture.
CRAZY HEART (2009) ****
D: Scott Cooper. S: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall.
Crazy Heart follows Bad Blake, a country singer legend who's trying to recapture his past glory.
This is basically The Wrestler of country singer films.
It doesn't have the emotional impact that Aronofsky's film had but it is a fine film nonetheless.
Bridges is phenomenal and is assured an Academy Award. He does his own strumming and singing and is pretty good. This is another role where the actor disappears and all you see is the character.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is the woman who against her better judgment falls for him, Farrell is the country superstar that Blake taught everything he knows and Duvall is Blake's wise old friend.
The film took some shortcuts in the latter half that probably should have been fleshed out. Instead it comes off as a footnote and doesn't leave as much of an impression on the journey Blake must take.
Overall, a very good film with great performances and great music.
EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES (2010) **1/2
D: Tom Vaughan. S: Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford, Keri Russell.
The first film to be released by CBS Films clearly shows its TV movie roots and there's no escaping that moniker. This is essentially a made for tv movie that got a bigger budget and bigger stars.
John Crowley is desperately seeking a cure for the terminal disease that has inflicted two of his children. He reaches out to Dr. Robert Stonehill, a research scientist whose findings show promise.
The film is "Inspired by True Events" so this is not an entirely true life drama.
It does get sentimental sometimes but doesn't lay it on thick like other dramas of a similar nature.
It doesn't spend enough time explaining the science of it which I would have found more interesting.
Fraser looks like he's attempting to do some quality acting whereas Ford is just phoning it in.
As a TV movie it works as a major feature film not so much.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
01-19-20: Another movieless night.
With the tv season ramping back up it looks like I won't make the goal of a movie a day for a month.
Last night, I would have watched a movie but I was more in the mood to play a video game so I threw on NHL 2K7. I was going for the undefeated season when I lost my first game, my record is 71-0-1. Lost it in a shootout.
In the very near future I'll be watching Transiberian, Adoration, 1900, Extreme Measures, Crazy Heart and Legion.
Last night, I would have watched a movie but I was more in the mood to play a video game so I threw on NHL 2K7. I was going for the undefeated season when I lost my first game, my record is 71-0-1. Lost it in a shootout.
In the very near future I'll be watching Transiberian, Adoration, 1900, Extreme Measures, Crazy Heart and Legion.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
01-17-10/01-18-10: NO NEW MOVIES!!!
No new movies over the past two days on account of The Golden Globes and the return of 24.
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