Movie Reviews

Archive for February, 2010

It’s that time again for TGITDNMAR, which (obviously) stands for Thank God It’s The Day New Movies Are Released.
Cop Out
I was dead set against seeing this Kevin Smith-directed buddy cop comedy (OMG, you didn’t know that he was directing? WTF is wrong with you? After all, it’s apparently totally not being hyped as a Kevin Smith Joint, yet I don’t know anyone that doesn’t know that Smith directed it.). Then I read this review from the New Times, a publication I usually give much credence to in terms of their movie reviews, which almost paints its loving hommidge [sic] to cop movies of the past as Hot Fuzz-y. So now I’m torn. I’m still thinking “avoid theater, TV will suffice,” but I suppose I’ll leave largely up to the hordes on this one; if the general impression is good, I may give it a shot.Fletch’s Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 44%
The Crazies
Get the f*ck outta here – a remake of a horror film! I don’t believe it for one second. I like Timothy Olypant as much as the next guy, but I just have zero interest here. And even if I did, this was directed by Breck Eisner, he of Sahara fame, and I was under the impression that that flick was supposed to kill his career despite the slight strain of nepotism that may be going on here.Fletch’s Chance of Viewing: 0%

Despite living in the 12th most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. and being a mere six+ hours from Los Angeles, independent, foreign and/or art films aren’t much easier to see in Phoenix than they are in Fairbanks, I’d imagine. In his last Matineecast, the Mad Hatter and guest lamented the not-much better situations in Toronto and even Los Angeles, destinations clearly more cosmopolitan, diverse and populous than the desert Southwest; if art house cinemas are closing there, what hope is there for rural Texas?
So it’s with great joy that I can once again thank the ever-present Scottsdale, AZ-based Harkins Theaters for not only bringing in the two Academy Award-nominated Shorts Programs (Live Action and Animated), but showing them at their restored (in 2001) Valley Art Theater, a gorgeous one-screen former hole-in-the-wall now a shimmering example of what movie going should be. No, it doesn’t have a monstrous screen or speakers so loud they’ll blast your ears off – instead, what the Valley Art peddles most is charm, a chance to go back in time (to a time long before I was born even) to the days before multiplexes. The lobby can’t hold more than 20 people without feeling cramped (as it was on Sunday), and the outdoor single-stall box office (the type you seen in the movies) is for show only, but the art-deco interior is gorgeous, the staff is courteous, and there’s that whole “you can’t see the movies they show anywhere else in town” thing going for it. So far as I know, the Valley Art is the only single-screen commercial theater in the Valley of the Sun, and it’s most certainly the oldest.

Situated on Mill Avenue in the heart of downtown Tempe (aka Arizona State University central), the Valley Art has seen the street around it change even more than it had prior to restoration. Once a bustling road packed with hippie students, street preachers and more Mom-and-Pop businesses than you could count, Mill started its transformation to Gentrification Lane in the mid-90s, to the dismay of many a local. These days, while still bustling, the street is dominated by Urban Outfitters, Gordon Biersch, Hooters and other chains, but the Valley Art, which was built in 1940 (back when Tempe had a population well under 5,000), has managed to endure. This is thanks largely to Harkins’ commitment to the art house crowd, being the only outfit able to keep such theaters in business for more than a blip over the last few decades. Ironically, the only other theaters dedicated to bringing such non-commercial fare to town these days is the upstart Madcap Theaters (which has screened The Room in the past), which is ironically housed in a recently closed Harkins multiplex just a few blocks away (Harkins moved that multiplex to a newer outdoor mall a few miles away).

Here are some capsule reviews of the films shown in the Animated Shorts program. I hope to catch the Live Action ones before Friday (since, being single-screen, most things last but one week). The first five are the Academy’s nominees; the latter three, which come as a show-lengthening bonus, are labeled as “Highly Commended” and were on the Academy’s short list for a nomination, yet didn’t make the cut.
French Roast
As with most of the shorts in this program, this French production (shocker) clocks in between 6-10 minutes. It’s practically a silent film, with no audible words spoken outside of a random “Monsieur” or “cafe” here or there. It centers on an uptight businessman who’s settled down for a latte or three, only to discover he’s come up short when it’s time to pay. From there, it’s a comic study on how looks can be deceiving, done with excellent digital animation that’s reminiscent of stop-motion, but isn’t. One of my favorites, though I think a long-shot to win the Oscar.

The Lady and the Reaper
This Spanish short hits you with a big name right in the credits – produced by Antonio Banderas. That’s quickly forgotten, though, as we’re greeted with a very Up-ish intro about a lonely old woman who misses her departed husband and wants little more than to reunite with him in the afterlife. However, her trip there with the Grim Reaper is interrupted by a vain (why?) doctor intent on saving her life (the bastard!). Quickly devolves into Scooby-Doo slapstick (the in-one-door-and-out-another is used, for chrissake). Far and away the worst of the group.

A Matter of Loaf and Death
This Wallace and Gromit-starred felt the most out-of-place in the bunch, for a few reasons. For starters, it clocks in at about a half-hour, with the second-longest film being less than twenty. Second, of course, is that most people (especially those with kids) are familiar with the lead characters and possibly even the filmmaker (Nick Park), while the rest are (right now) anonymous. But mostly, it’s everything else – the style (claymation) and tone make Loaf and Death feel more like a lost episode to a Saturday morning cartoon than an Oscar-nominated short film. A good time, to be sure, but (possibly for all the wrong reasons) the one I’d least like to see win outside of Reaper.

Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The shortest film not surprisingly has the least story: a deranged grandmother tells the story of Sleeping Beauty to her adorably scared-to-death granddaughter. Yet this was one of the more interesting shorts by virtue of its mixed-media, employing both state-of-the-art computer animation with a more vibrant, colorful-yet-rudimentary version, making for a beautiful film. Pretty funny as well, and the grandmother’s hair (it looks to be made of sticks, in case you can’t tell) is priceless.

Logorama
Not unlike Daybreakers, this film starts off with an interesting premise…and then quickly goes downhill. And yet I’d still highly recommend watching it. In case neither the title nor image shown give it away, the setting and characters all are entirely made up of corporate logos/icons. It’s as if the imagined Planet Starbuck’s from Fight Club have become a reality. It makes for a kitschy movie, and while the juxtaposition of brands with their alternate movie realities is fun (and funny – Ronald McDonald a criminal?), the fun ends when the “story” begins – the action and mayhem are as epic and nonsensical as anything Roland Emmerich could dream up.

Partly Cloudy
Though I enjoyed this short that was shown before Up, I thought it was a little bit weird back then, and I still kind of think so. Something about giving identities and emotions to clouds just doesn’t sit with me as well as it does for rats, bugs, etc. It’s charming, witty, and poignant, though, just like seemingly every other piece of work that Pixar puts its stamp on, and the stork cracks me up, so it gets a pass.

Runaway
Mrs. Fletch’s favorite. The highlight of this hand-drawn piece for me was the music – an upbeat, jazzy score played by low-fi characters in goofy hats. The movie plays to its slapsticky strengths, yet still manages to make some commentary about class economics. How many other sub-10-minute cartoons can say that?

The Kinematograph
I couldn’t believe that this Polish film wasn’t on the Academy’s short list, as I found it to be the best all-around film up and down, telling the story of a man who invents a machine that can capture moving pictures, only to learn too late that he regrets not spending his time elsewhere. Sure, it’s a story that we’ve seen told time and again, but not often as beautifully as this. Director Tomek Bagiński has quite a future ahead of him, I’m sure.

Information about the the Shorts International program (and where you might be able to catch it) can be found here. Whaddaya know – it’s even playing in Yakima, WA!
Overall grade:
Fletch’s Film Rating:”Darn tootin!”Shaky Cam Rating (details):LAMBScore:

I’m curious – by the end of this episode, will we all hop on to the Hate James bandwagon, or will redemption be his? The man’s proven to be a fan favorite for years now, so I’d think that if even a smidgen of his charm returns, he’ll be back in our good graces, but last week’s preview of this episode didn’t exactly paint that picture. I suppose it’s irrelevant somewhat anyway, since as we all know, the Grave Digger ain’t exactly the best strategic player in the game, so he won’t be around all that long anyhow.
Off we go…
Survivor news at Survivor.com
Survivor homepage at CBS.com
Interviews with the castoffs at The Movie Encyclopedia

A skeleton crew (compared to recent episodes) was on hand for the latest LAMBcast, with just three geeks sitting around talking movies instead of the usual four or five for episode #13, hosted by Nick Jobe of Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob and supported by Travis McCollum of The Movie Encyclopedia and myself. The feature discussion was Shutter Island, and of course we topped that off with a couple games of Last LAMB Standing (could Nick win a game – or even make it past the first two rounds…on his birthday…with the subject being his favorite actor?) and some Trailer Talk.

As usual, the music, as provided royalty-free by Kevin MacLeod’s Incompetech website, is the bomb. Big thanks to Kevin for providing this service.
You can find us on iTunes; just go to the Podcasts section and search for “LAMBcast.” And hey – while you’re on iTunes, who don’t you go ahead and either rate the LAMBcast or write a review of it. Better yet, do both! It’ll help us get noticed by the overlords at Apple and earn worldwide fame…or something like that.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, we’d love to hear them – you might even get a mention on a future show.

Last Time Out: JSR dominated the field with 9 points, earning his 3rd victories in 4 tries. Gonna try another shot at this game, though I’m not sure if anyone is having fun besides him.
I’m going to give you the initials of a number of characters from a movie. It won’t always be the same number of characters, and the initials won’t always stand for a proper name. You name the movie. Simple enough? I thought so.
The Movies
1. DP, HWP, PS, ES
2. JL, MG, CS, GG, WG
3. JT, WT, DT
4. LK, JC, SB, ST, PK, LR
5. DN, TW, AC, JS, CS, TD
6. B, TSQ, B, R, S
7. C, D, T, J, M, A, T, E
8. BF, GG, CF, DT
9. AS, AH,
10. PV, RS, ES, WZ, DB, LT
11. AW, JW, D (PD), BM, S
12. JP, EL, RC, BM, KE, BW
Good luck!
Standings:
Jack’s Smirking Revenge – 3
Arjun – 1
Correct answers so far:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

All right, back for episode 4, I appreciate all the kind words everyone had to offer my breakdowns thusfar; they really are the best Lost theories, criticisms, and tidbits on the world wide web. And as Blog Cabins superfan Nick stated, settle down with the grammar police fellas, we’re blogging on a free blogger website, none of us is going to win a Pulitzer. If you want great writing take a page from our boys Desmondo or Nick and stick to exclusively reading Charles Dickens or internet porno stories, respectively; now there are two sources with great storylines. And hey, I’m as big a Lost fan as the next guy, it was great watching back around Season 3 and 4. Let’s not kill the messenger, it isn’t my fault the writers painted themselves into a corner with all their bizarre mysteries that have no explanation and are subsequently submitting a turd final season.
Now let’s delve into this episode, they finally decided to move the plot forward a little in an episode that was shockingly almost decent!!!! Plus the “flash sideways” actually served a purpose this week. Amazing… I’m still not sold on these, I probably would have rather seen a flashback from the original timeline where Jackie was getting it on with the prom queen after the dance and then Jacob knocked on the car door and offered him a rubber, but the point was made, apparently Jacob has been watching and interfering in Jack’s life for decades. Jake somehow prevented Jack him from having a kid originally, and I guess he has Jack pegged as the #1 seed in the candidate bracket. It looks like they are shaping up to have one of the candidates take over the reins in the season finale, I think they are down to five left. Here are some more notes on the episode, in bullet form:

-They just couldn’t resist a random appearance from an Islander in Jack’s bizarro world, with samurai dude having some phenom piano playing kid also, absolutely terrible as seems to be par for the course. Obviously Samurai’s not getting his own “flash sideways” ep, but do we really need to know what he’d be up to if the island hadn’t imploded back in the 70s?? Also if he was an Other back then wouldn’t he have been blown up, I’m a little iffy on his timeline, but we at least know Ben was on the Island when the h-bomb was detonated, yet he seemed fine last week as a random school teacher. We’ll just write it off as one of the hundreds of plot holes I guess.
-That was pretty funny how they had Hurley rattle off the enduring Lost nerd theory that the two skeletons were actually some of the plane crash survivors stuck in the past from time traveling, then had Jack look at him like he was a complete retard. At least they put that “mystery” to bed.
-I kind of enjoy the psycho Claire, I haven’t seen a solid axing to the chest that good since Scatman Crothers got his in the Shining
-Nice also to see Claire aligned with “Locke”, and now having a grudge against Kate, this could lead up to my hope of an all out Island war with Team Jacob facing off against Smokey/Locke, Claire, Sawyer and Jin, and the winner gets the Island
-Lastly, here are the top five “mysteries” we hope they wrap up before the show’s conclusion:
5. What is the deal with this alleged sickness that is afflicting Claire, and possibly Sayid? I guess it’s supposed to be the same sickness that took out Rousseau’s team. How is this related to the smoke monster?
4. Why did the writers think it would be a good idea to create an alternate reality? Was there not enough sci-fi-iness with all the time traveling, monsters, magic, and super-powers? And why couldn’t they make an alternate reality that didn’t suck, and mainly sticks to showing us lame uninteresting things we already knew?
3. Will Ben finally get his chance to ice Charles Widmore? And why is Chaz such a dick?
2. How did Jacob, Smokey, and Alpert come to the Island?
1. Why would they completely write off their best character, yet keep his name in the credits just to taunt us? Come on what does it take to get some Desmondo up in this piece?? I wouldn’t even mind if they had another gaping plot hole to get him into the mix; hell, have him develop another superpower and fly onto the Island Superman style for all I care. It’s getting to the point where I almost wouldn’t mind seeing him pop up randomly in someone’s “flash sideways” doing something stupid that makes no sense at all to the plot… I just miss his face…

1. There exist beings called “vampires.”
This is probably the largest leap of faith that Daybreakers asks you to make, and since we’re all pretty damn familiar with the various tropes and shackles of the genre, it’s a leap that I’m sure everyone in the audience is more than willing to take (otherwise, why would they be there?).
2. Due to the existence of said vampires and the nature of their “transmittal” illustrated in this piece of fiction (i.e. a vampire bites another person, thereby making them a vampire as well; no reciprocation is necessary, though it all begins as a pandemic of sorts), the world soon counts vampires as the vast majority of the population, with but a few remaining human counterparts.
This point is not only believable, but one that makes you wonder why it is that this idea had yet to be seen in modern vampire stories, much less the dominating set-up. It makes too much sense not to have surfaced previously. This is where someone tells me that is showed up in a comic book in 1984 or something; that’s not what I mean necessarily – why haven’t we ALL seen this premise and multiple variants of it? All (or at least many) vampire stories should have this built-in and work from there.
3. Due to the dwindling number of humans (read: food sources) available, steps have been taken to ensure the future of life (vampire life, that is) on the planet. This is done via a) the farming of humans, similar in style to the battery model used in The Matrix, and b) attempts at producing synthetic blood, suitable for stable consumption by the world’s population.
All of the major conflicts radiate from this point, as well they should, since it’s the one that provides the allegory for the impending drying up of the real Earth’s oil supply. It’s handled strongly if a bit heavy-handed.
Most vampires are content to continue drinking human blood at their everyday rate of consumption, assured that the power structure will come up with something to sustain their survival. A minority exists, however, that drive Priuses does not/has not/will not ever enjoy the indirect cannibalism that they’re asked to participate in, instead imbibing in “lesser” bloods, coming from animals like rats or rabbits (see, Vampire, Interview with the). Naturally, our protagonist fits into the latter category (played by Ethan Hawke yet voiced by the Dark Knight – er, also Hawke, who must believe that whispering makes his voice seem less whiny). By the way, so far, so good as far as the movie’s concerned.
4. Should a vampire abstain from drinking blood for an extended period of time or drink the blood of another vampire or drink their own blood, they will devolve into a non-humanoid, bat-like creature devoid of intellect and somewhat immeasurably stronger.
This is where Daybreakers began to go off the rails. As I said, though I’m able to make the much larger leap of faith in buying into the existence of vampires in the first place, something about these creatures getting stronger and more fierce as they should be withering away discombobulates my Spock-like logical mind. That and it seems as though this element was added purely for shock/scare value, of which little was added. The film would have been vastly better without this element added; while it’s understandable that something needs to happen when they go without blood (food), I could have reconciled it much easier had they merely melted away or imploded or some other such nonsense.
5. (Thus begins the spoilerific stuff, if you care) Vampires can be transformed back into humans through a process that includes them entering the sun’s harsh UV rays, thus setting them afire, combined with dousing said fire immediately. Think of it like the paddles you see in a hospital setting, essentially jolting their insides back to “life.”
Yeah. Sure. Whatever.
6. If a “normal” vampire drinks the blood of a “former” vampire (not human via the sun trick), said vampire will him/herself mutate back into human form.
This was a nifty plot device, but one that ultimately led to Daybreakers’ demise. Rather than dealing with it a single ounce (get it? Ugh.) of restraint, the appearance of any humanoid form to the now-starved population led them to act like the scarabs from The Mummy movies, tearing apart anyone within their immediate vicinity in seconds flat. So much for conservation of resources. In effect, this turned the film from an interesting vampire/sci-fi study into an out-and-out splattery gorefest, which was mind-numbingly boring more than shocking.
To top it all off, we’re given a Matrix-y overly serious voiceover ending. Heck of a job taking a perfectly good concept and flushing it down the toilet.
Fletch’s Film Rating:”Whatever”Shaky Cam Rating (details):LAMBScore:

No one has gotten the Expert-level poster for a couple weeks now; I think that’ll change this week.
BEGINNER

EXPERT

Standings:
J.D. – 18
Fletch – 14
Nick – 6
Wendymoon, Clive Dangerously – 5
Dreamrot (smacdonn) – 4
Jason/Daniel, David Bishop, Rachel, JLG – 3
Evan Derrick, Jason Soto, BD79 – 2
Steel11Kane, TonyD, Luke Harrington, Adam Ross, Justin, Anders, Dave, Big Mike Mendez, Nic Cage, CaptainRon19, TJMAC510 – 1
Here are the altered/actual posters from last time:

It’s that time again for TGITDNMAR, which (obviously) stands for Thank God It’s The Day New Movies Are Released.
Just one wide release, but keep an eye out for your local arthouse theater – with any luck, you might be getting a chance to see the Oscar-nominated shorts in the coming weeks. Thanks to local (and ever-expanding) chain Harkins for playing the live-action and animated ones this weekend. We hope to catch at least one of the programs.
Finally, there seem to be more movies I have at least a passing interest in seeing then we might have time for. On the potenial docket: The White Ribbon, The Wolfman, The Last Station, the shorts, and the two listed below. Also, if you happen to see Saint John of Las Vegas, I’d like to hear your thoughts – I’ve seen mostly rotten reviews for the Steve Buscemi-starring character piece, but in today’s paper, there was a 4-star one. Color me confused.
Shutter Island
This sub-genre doesn’t exactly thrill me, and I’m not near the Scorcese nut that some people are (don’t get me wrong, he’s great and all, I just don’t worship the ground he directs on), but I must admit that as this has gotten closer to opening, my desire to see it has ticked up a bit as well. Helping matters (a lot) is the neverending list of great (mostly character) actors involved (Levine, Lynch, von Sydow, Kingsley, Clarkson, Koteas). It also helps that there’s apparently a shocker ending that must be seen to be believed. Even more incentive – it’s the topic of the next LAMBcast, to be recorded tomorrow.
Well, all that and I just love the part where Sir Ben holds his palms opposite each other, spreads them apart slowly and states, “It’s as if she evaporated, straight through the walls.”
Fletch’s Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 81%
The Ghost Writer
Though I was aware of it, I hadn’t even watched the trailer for this until earlier today. All I knew previously was Roman Polanski and Ewan McGregor were involved. So obviously not much interest overall. Then, just before seeing the trailer, I saw that Kim Catrall was prominently involved. Ugh.
That’s all changed. Though he seems to rarely display much range, I’m a big fan of Pierce Brosnan, especially when he does step out of the “suave guy” role (though he perfected it not in any Bond flick, but the excellent caper remake The Thomas Crown Affair). See The Matador and then tell me he wouldn’t be great in pulpier fare. Here, he’s playing a possibly murderous writer, and I relish the chance to see him play a villainous character. Also on board is the always-excellent and underused Olivia Williams, last seen being underutilized again in An Education.
But even after just one viewing, the thing that got me the most was the look of the movie; sharp, clean, modern, and just a tap creepy. I have high hopes for this being a memorable thriller.
Fletch’s Chance of Viewing: 70%

It’s been nearly two and a half years since the last time I did one of these posts, but it’s high time I brought it back. Though I still do a fair bit of movie blog reading, I’ve found that being the so-called shepherd of the LAMB has taken some of the fun of discovering new sites and great posts away from me – it’s much harder to discover things when they’re always brought to you first, and I have less and less time to read (and write) posts these days. Those aren’t complaints, but mere facts mixed with a smidge of nostalgia, I suppose.
This re-introductionary post (sure, ’cause that’s a word) is somewhat ironic in that I’m not exactly going outside the box. All are from friends and LAMB members (though that’s likely to be increasingly harder to avoid, not that I mind), and they’re also even readers of this site, but a) it’s a good place to start and b) I enjoyed all of these posts greatly:
* First, how often is it that you have the chance to have a truly great time at the theater (quality of the film you’re seeing notwithstanding). Here, Plus Trailers’ Tom Clift regales us with the “greatest cinema experience of his life.”
* Rachel of Rachel’s Reel Reviews says “I Love You” a lot on Valentine’s Day.
* Travis over at The Movie Encyclopedia is also a Survivor fan. Here, he steps outside his movie-reviews-only realm to interview the first Survivor: H vs. V castoff.
* Finally, a total cheat, as this one is directly from the LAMB. I probably shouldn’t specifically call anybody out, as I don’t want to offend anyone else, but Jason’s writeup on District 9 illustrated why he’s one of the funnier movie writers I get a chance to read, even if most of the time he’s writing about movies I don’t care about. Maybe you could start up an “A Movies” website, Jason? C’mon, we know you’ve got the time.
And for those that care, have no fear: the Survivor live blog is still coming in a few hours.