Review: The Darjeeling Limited

Darjeeling ltdA few weeks ago, before I saw The Darjeeling Limited, a friend of mine was bemoaning the fact that a film likeResident Evil: Extinction was getting a wide release and a huge promotion while writer-directors like Wes Anderson have to struggle with getting a film made and released. When I saw Anderson’s new film, I think I was beginning to understand why.

Wes Anderson is quite talented. When he first appeared on the scene with Bottle Rocket, he was hailed as the new wunderkind of independent cinema. He held a tight reign on that mantle with the release of Rushmore and then, with The Royal Tenenbaums, cracks started to show. By the time The Life Aquatic came out, only the true believers were still voicing loud support. For the rest of the world, however, the film didn’t work. It became a matter of the fans complaining that if one didn’t like it, one simply didn’t get it. The same, I fear, is true of this latest feature. Continue reading “Review: The Darjeeling Limited” →

Review: Gone Baby Gone

Gone baby goneBen Affleck, who won an Oscar as a writer, is once again returning to a spot behind the camera. For Gone Baby Gone, in addition to writing chores which he shares with a former production assistant named Aaron Stockard, he is also picking up the director’s reins and I must say, for this reviewer, I’d rather NOT see him on screen. For me Affleck is better when he’s not seen. Of course this doesn’t mean we go without an Affleck in a leading role, it’s just that this time the job goes to Ben’s younger brother Casey, whom, I suppose, is coming into his own as an actor. Continue reading “Review: Gone Baby Gone” →

Review: Into the Wild

into_the_wild_xlgAfter ninety minutes of watching Into The Wild, I fell completely for Christopher McCandless, the 22-year-old who gave away all his money and headed out for a life on the road. It took that long because up until that point in the two-and-a-half hour film I wasn’t quite sure where we were going. Now, going nowhere in a book is okay. That’s what books are, emotional explorations of character and identity. In a film, though, that same exploration can be death. A film, no matter how good the acting (and here, the acting is phenomenal – but I’ll get back to that), is about the action, what the characters are doing. Continue reading “Review: Into the Wild” →

Review: Michael Clayton

michael_claytonThere is no doubt George Clooney is one of the best actors of his generation. And when you team him with people like Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Sidney Pollack, Ken Howard and Michael O’Keefe, you expect some performance fireworks. Shame they were wasted on Michael Clayton, a by-the-numbers legal thriller which has been done before and done better. Continue reading “Review: Michael Clayton” →

Review: Resident Evil-Extinction

You know, I’ve tried to start this review half a dozen ways. I wanted to talk about the disjointed themes or the unfulfilled promise of revenge. I wanted to look critically at the lovely set design and the interesting acting decisions made by the principles. In the end though, all I can really say is that Resident Evil: Extinction is the cinematic equivalent of blue balls… and that’s never good. Continue reading “Review: Resident Evil-Extinction” →

Review: Dragon Wars

dragon_wars_xlgOkay… When you see a film called Dragon Wars, I think you really should get to see, well, Dragons and Wars. Is that too much to ask? Seriously? I don’t want to give away the farm on this one, but really, you only get to see a dragon in the last few minutes and then, there’s only a short battle. Sure there are plenty of CG baddies during the preceding 90 minutes, but giant snakes do not a dragon make. In fact, the most impressive thing on the monster side are the dinosaurs which the ancient, evil Koreans ride when they are attacking a village, looking for the Yeo ui joo, a girl who is the embodiment of a mythical, wish-granting energy. That’s kinda where the plot starts and it doesn’t get any clearer from there. Continue reading “Review: Dragon Wars” →

Review: The Kingdom

Do not go into The Kingdom expecting to come out with a Hollywood version of how the US involvement in Saudi Arabia should end. Peter Berg’s new film is full of hard questions and not so easy answers and sheds a little light into the dark corner that is our understanding of what’s happening in the Middle East. At least, that’s what they want you to think.

The film opens with an incredibly beautiful graphic-based history of oil in Saudi Arabia and the United States’ interest in it. According to the film, we Americans were pretty much there from day one, keeping ourselves vested in the outcome of all the infighting and back-stabbing. We get a brief, simplistic look at how terrorism might have evolved out of the events of the sixties and seventies and how those events led to September 11, 2001. Needless to say, by the time the opening credits are over, the whole audience is in a state of upheaval. We’re tense and anxious and really want some relief. Continue reading “Review: The Kingdom” →

Review: The Hunting Party

hunting_partyRichard Gere is having a hell of a year, pardon the rhyme. Back in the spring he gave us The Hoax, about a disgruntled journalist who tells a little white lie that gets him in trouble with the United States government. In his new film, The Hunting Party, Gere plays a… well, he plays a disgruntled journalist who tells a little white lie that, ultimately, gets the US government involved. And yet these two films are miles apart in tone, style and message.

The Hunting Party is marketed as a very black comedy and while it has some funny moments, there are some scenes of such brutality that labeling this any kind of comedy seems rather presumptuous. And yet those scenes are crucial to the understanding of Gere’s character Simon, a disenchanted, former hotshot network foreign correspondent. Continue reading “Review: The Hunting Party” →

Review: Death at a Funeral

death_at_a_funeral_ver4Frank Oz is a funny man. He’s also a very smart man. In his latest directorial effort, the man who brought us films like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and In & Out, combines these two traits and brings us Death at a Funeral.

Death at a Funeral, which covers the afternoon funeral of the family patriarch at his English home, is a light, laugh-filled film which never strays too far from the general concept that funny should not be diluted with a deep message. Not to say Oz and writer Dean Craig don’t have an agenda or a point of view, they do, but they understand what makes those points of view funny. Mostly, Oz just lets the film breathe. He doesn’t rush the moments, instead, letting them build on their own energy until his audience finds the humor. True, sometimes that humor comes from uncomfortable places, but hey this is a film about dead people. Continue reading “Review: Death at a Funeral” →

Review: Rob Zombie’s Halloween

To paraphrase an old car commercial: This ain’t your father’s Halloween. No indeed. Where John Carpenter’s 1978 film was a modern fairy-tale about the dangers of pre-marital sex, Rob Zombie’s version eliminates the moralizing over-tones and brings in a back story which tries to define, once and for all, how an American psychopath is made.

And it works. Mostly. Continue reading “Review: Rob Zombie’s Halloween” →

Review: Death Sentence

When I go see a Kevin Bacon film, I have come to expect a certain level of quality. Like anything else, most people have expectations when they walk into a film. You’ve seen the trailers and noted the actors and based on those things, there is a certain implied contract between the film and the audience. This is why Adam Sandler or Mike Myers rarely work when cast in a serious film. So when I went to see the new revenge thriller Death Sentence, I expected a thought provoking film, one which ruminated on the topics of death and revenge. And for the first 30 minutes or so, that’s exactly what I got. Continue reading “Review: Death Sentence” →

Review: Stardust

Once upon a time, there was a film that encapsulated the idea of the modern fairy tale in a perfect 130 minute package. That film went by the title of Stardust and it has everything a fantasy film could want… there’s an evil witch, a scheming prince (or four), a fallen star, a quest for love, and hidden lineage which leads to great things – and Robert De Niro as a blood-thirsty air-pirate named Shakespeare!

To be fair, I’m not going to tell you anything about the plot. It’s not that the plot is so mysterious or anything, in fact, it’s almost wonderfully predictable, but this movie is so much fun I want you to have a good time just letting it unfold before your eyes. So then, what shall we talk about to fill up this review? Continue reading “Review: Stardust” →

Review: Sunshine

sunshineThe problem with experimental films is that sometimes they fail. Sunshine is just such a film. Directed by Danny Boyle from a script by Alex Garland, this has a wonderful pedigree – these are the same guys, after all, who brought us 28 Days Later – and really should work. But it doesn’t.

This isn’t to say the film is a complete failure. In fact, not only is it quite beautiful to look at, for the first half it’s very good. Like a lot of modern films though, it falls apart in the conclusion, mostly, I think because Boyle and Garland don’t trust their audience. Continue reading “Review: Sunshine” →

Review: You Kill Me

You Kill Me movie posterThe time has come, I think, to officially create a sub-genre in the dramedy film category for the hitman movie. There have been a number of them through out history: The Professional, Gross Pointe Blank, Coldblooded, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and now, a new one joins the ranks and for me, it’s number one… with a bullet. Continue reading “Review: You Kill Me” →

Review: No Reservations

No Reservations movie posterTwo things about No Reservations, right here at the top, just to get them out of the way. They relate to each other and I think it’s important they both get mentioned, in order: first, this isn’t a bad film… it’s just not a very good one and second, if you want to know everything, and I mean everything important, that happens in this film, watch the trailer. Because if you’ve seen the trailer, then there are no surprises in the 105 minutes you’re going to spend in the theater. Personally, I find that a little troublesome because it takes a movie which could have been a cute, romantic comedy and turns it into a by-the-numbers rehash of every cliché in the book. As icing on the cake, No Reservations isn’t even original in its unorginality – it’s a remake of the 2002 German filmMostly Martha. Continue reading “Review: No Reservations” →