"Transformers" was awesome. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" should be awesomer. Reviews are awful, which means this'll be a lot of fun. "Dumb-as-rocks but massively entertaining" is the highly accurate phrase Actionman would choose.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Great Films: An Introduction
I will not make hyperbolic claims that I am any authority on film. I have not seen very many movies in comparison to other critics. But the forty films in this series are some of the most important experiences I've ever had in the medium. Are there modern films? Yes, all the way up to this year. Are there omissions? For sure, especially of films like "Citizen Kane" or "Casablanca" or "The Wizard of Oz." But there are more rewarding experiences than those, in my opinion, as brilliant as those are. I've also changed it pretty drastically from last September's list. And I have a few rules for myself (for instance, now I don't allow myself any series to be included, like "The Lord of the Rings" or "Star Wars")
Film is one of the most important media in existence. There is no hyperbole in saying that movies will be around till the end of time, even if they are not made anymore. Films like the ones I have chosen are instrumental in showing perfectly the kind of art that can be made when every aspect of the medium is put to perfect use.
So...join me on my personal journey through the echelon of filmmaking.
Next post: #40-36. Should be on fairly soon, I think.
Film is one of the most important media in existence. There is no hyperbole in saying that movies will be around till the end of time, even if they are not made anymore. Films like the ones I have chosen are instrumental in showing perfectly the kind of art that can be made when every aspect of the medium is put to perfect use.
So...join me on my personal journey through the echelon of filmmaking.
Next post: #40-36. Should be on fairly soon, I think.
Monday, June 15, 2009
On P.T. Anderson
I must confess that two years ago today I wouldn't have been able to tell you one of the films that 39-year-old directing genius Paul Thomas Anderson directed. Then I saw "There Will Be Blood" and was interested, to say the very least. Over the past three weeks, I have seen two other films from him, and both have touched me deeply, both as a person and as a film critic.
The first film I saw was "There Will Be Blood" (***1/2), which is as flawed a masterpiece as any. It is a work of nihilism and despair--"mad genius" was what main actor Daniel Day-Lewis called it in an interview. The film has so many themes at work, so many ideas, that it's ashame, if forgivable that the film falls apart in the final act. Oh, the themes are working. The actors are acting. But it especially has a cold efficiency that didn't suit the beginning 150 minutes. And what a section those 150 minutes were. The film began as one of the truly great films in American history, something of a new "Citizen Kane," and ended as a slightly overrated (in the midst of all the hubbub, at least) curiosity of a high order. The film is as close to perfect as any imperfect movie that has been released since "The Fountain."
It's strange to consider that, with its electrifying, monumentally terrifying performance from Daniel Day-Lewis that ranks as one of the best performances by an actor in the history of cinema, "There Will Be Blood," for me, is somewhat inferior to its immediate predecessors.
"Punch-Drunk Love" (****) is so much more than just the best Adam Sandler movie ever made. It's a starkly realistic and intricately written romantic comedy that works on multiple levels and never misses a step. Sandler is indeed the best he's ever been (and could possibly be) in the film, but he doesn't carry his humorous antics. No, the antics are less desperate here, more dramatic, more believable. His bursts of outrage or breakdowns of nerve are sheer loneliness, the signs of which are trapped in a man unable (or is it unwilling?) to let go. And Emily Watson is utterly luminous as the woman who barges into Sandler's life and messes it up--in a good way. This is one of the best films of the decade, true and deep and sad and lovely.
"Magnolia" (****), which I watched tonight, is one of the most important and potently powerful moviewatching experiences of my lifetime. What unfailingly rings true is the fragility of life that Anderson is able and willing to bring across in this massive character epic, literally (not figuratively) flawless filmmaking for over three hours. With its career-best performances by William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, Julianne Moore, and Philip Baker Hall, as well as brilliant and well-rounded character work from Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman (as per usual for him), and Melora Walters, "Magnolia" is not a film to miss out on. If you love movies, any kind, you owe it to yourself to seek out the blistering and haunting masterpiece that Anderson wrought. I won't say it's the best film I've ever seen, but it's sure as heck one of 'em. (More to come on "Magnolia" in my 40 Best Films of All Time series.)
Just thought I'd share. Anderson apparently has a project called "Desperadoes" in the works. I'm there. He could remake "Bratz" and I'd go. He's an incredible talent and one of today's most diverse directors.
The first film I saw was "There Will Be Blood" (***1/2), which is as flawed a masterpiece as any. It is a work of nihilism and despair--"mad genius" was what main actor Daniel Day-Lewis called it in an interview. The film has so many themes at work, so many ideas, that it's ashame, if forgivable that the film falls apart in the final act. Oh, the themes are working. The actors are acting. But it especially has a cold efficiency that didn't suit the beginning 150 minutes. And what a section those 150 minutes were. The film began as one of the truly great films in American history, something of a new "Citizen Kane," and ended as a slightly overrated (in the midst of all the hubbub, at least) curiosity of a high order. The film is as close to perfect as any imperfect movie that has been released since "The Fountain."
It's strange to consider that, with its electrifying, monumentally terrifying performance from Daniel Day-Lewis that ranks as one of the best performances by an actor in the history of cinema, "There Will Be Blood," for me, is somewhat inferior to its immediate predecessors.
"Punch-Drunk Love" (****) is so much more than just the best Adam Sandler movie ever made. It's a starkly realistic and intricately written romantic comedy that works on multiple levels and never misses a step. Sandler is indeed the best he's ever been (and could possibly be) in the film, but he doesn't carry his humorous antics. No, the antics are less desperate here, more dramatic, more believable. His bursts of outrage or breakdowns of nerve are sheer loneliness, the signs of which are trapped in a man unable (or is it unwilling?) to let go. And Emily Watson is utterly luminous as the woman who barges into Sandler's life and messes it up--in a good way. This is one of the best films of the decade, true and deep and sad and lovely.
"Magnolia" (****), which I watched tonight, is one of the most important and potently powerful moviewatching experiences of my lifetime. What unfailingly rings true is the fragility of life that Anderson is able and willing to bring across in this massive character epic, literally (not figuratively) flawless filmmaking for over three hours. With its career-best performances by William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, Julianne Moore, and Philip Baker Hall, as well as brilliant and well-rounded character work from Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman (as per usual for him), and Melora Walters, "Magnolia" is not a film to miss out on. If you love movies, any kind, you owe it to yourself to seek out the blistering and haunting masterpiece that Anderson wrought. I won't say it's the best film I've ever seen, but it's sure as heck one of 'em. (More to come on "Magnolia" in my 40 Best Films of All Time series.)
Just thought I'd share. Anderson apparently has a project called "Desperadoes" in the works. I'm there. He could remake "Bratz" and I'd go. He's an incredible talent and one of today's most diverse directors.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Soon to Come...
As I've seen many a film since past September's posted list of the 25 greatest films ever made, I figured it's time to update. The new list, a collection of 40 films that I, for various reasons, hold near and dear to my heart. The oldest film on the list is from 1920s. The newest is from this decade. Its layout will be paragraph-long coverage of five films each post It's a wide array, carefully selected, but it's one of those personal lists that can be argued in many, many ways. I welcome it. And I look forward to it. Look for the list to start in a few days. (Below is a sample of five of the films included.)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Review: Land of the Lost (zero stars)
Directed by Brad Silberling
Cast: Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Anna Friel, John Boylan, Jorma Taccone, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Matt Lauer
Voice Cast: Leonard Nimoy
2009--101 minutes
I'm not quite sure how to talk about "Land of the Lost" in a civilized way, without rambling on in an aimless review filled to the brim with curse words in my head that most people don't even know exist. Since this blog is meant to be family-friendly for those who desperately want to read civilized reviews, I will try my best, but note that this is incredibly edited from what is going through my head right now. Truth is, I want very much for the makers of "Land of the Lost" to personally refund my ticket. Considering that the ticket was free, I think my point has been made. And I'm pretty sure that I littered that ticket onto the floor of the men's bathroom in Borders. "Land of the Lost" made me nearly fuming-mad as many times as, say, "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale" last year, "Bratz" and "Dragon Wars" the year before, and "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker" and "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" the year before that, except that this may be the most disappointing of the lot.
Considering that director Brad Silberling has made an affecting human drama ("Moonlight Mile") and two subversively dark family films ("Casper" and "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"), he is one of my favorite modern directors. But "Land of the Lost" is an unspeakable mistake on his part. The movie has to do with Dr. Rick Marshall, a scientist apparently inept in everything that has the word "social" in front of it, and as shown in the embarrassing, cringe-inducing opening interview with an obviously bored Matt Lauer, he has written a book about how time warps could, in theory, work. Three years later, no one believes him and he is stranded to teaching some science class to creepy children with too much knowledge about human female anatomy. Then he...
Oh, I give up. Trying to understand "Land of the Lost" is like trying to teach a 2-year-old what the word "physics" means. You're gonna get a blank stare and possibly kill some of the child's brain cells in the process. Really, that's how the movie is as an entity itself. With this movie, nothing resonates, nothing satiates (not even the most undiscriminating of viewers will be able to enjoy themselves), and nothing amuses. Not even Danny McBride comes out unscathed. Normally McBride's line delivery is spot-on (as in "Pineapple Express" and "Tropic Thunder"), but considering his normal R-rated pedigree, I'd say his thankless role as Will Stanton is a huge step down.
To cover the movie's failed aesthetics would take a college thesis paper, not a paragraph, but I'll again try my best. The cinematography by the normally reliable Dion Beebe (he shot 2004's best film, "Collateral") is abnormally hideous, shrouding everything in ugly yellows and oranges. Then again, no color would've worked, so maybe Beebe should be cut some slack. The musical score by Michael Giacchino is awful, pretty much a slap in the face after his amazing work on "Star Trek." Apparently Giacchino can be a gutless hack whenever the project is this bad. The visual effects are supposed to be cheesy, but an effort is actually made to make them believable sometimes, which defeats the purpose. Thus, they just become as awful and annoying as the rest of the picture. In this way, last summer's underrated "Journey to the Center of the Earth" was much more impressive, never losing sight of the fact that it was dumb. At least it didn't misplace its humor, like "Land of the Lost" does.
The acting is hopeless. I already mentioned McBride's lack of material to deliver (though he's not bad in the role, per se). Will Ferrell is awful as Rick Marshall, in a way he's never been. None of the characters has anything to work with, as far as characteristics or even caricatures, but Ferrell especially embarrasses himself in scenes like one in which he drinks a bottle of dinosaur pee while splashing it on himself. The scene has no payoff (unlike an unbearably hilarious and quite similar scene in last year's "Superhero Movie" that culminates in urine being sprayed sprinkler-style onto a bedroom floor), thus no attempt is made to give us a reason to laugh. Anything can be funny in the right context, but no context exists under Silberling's tasteless and indistinctive direction.
Special mention must go to Jorma Taccone for doing the impossible: he makes the ape-man Cha-Ka seem endearing and sweet at the audience's first sight and then creates one of the most despicable, overused, and repugnant movie characters of the last twenty years, so obnoxious that he could take the previous crown held by Jar-Jar Binks in the annals of Hated Movie Characters. Cha-Ka is nothing more than a gimmick--a bad one--and every time he's on screen I cringed, especially with his incessant feeling-up of Anna Friel's breasts. The only person that doesn't make you wanna tear out your eyeballs is Friel, ironically, though she's not very good, either. Even Leonard Nimoy turns up in a voice cameo, but it's much ado about nothing.
Something like "Land of the Lost" comes about rarely. It is one of those films that made me very nearly lose faith in the cinema. All I could do during film were three things: 1) count the cobwebs forming on the screen; 2) wonder what sort of criminal acts Brad Silberling & Co. should be guilty of; and 3) think happier thoughts, like the sweet respite of being trampled by spiky-shoed horses followed by wild boars. By the end, I couldn't wait to leave the theater and breathe some fresh air. The problem is, zero star films are ones that I don't soon forget. The thought of playing scenes from "Land of the Lost" in my head is terrifying to consider. This is the worst film of the year. Not "the year so far," you'll notice. I don't think it'll get any worse than this.
Cast: Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Anna Friel, John Boylan, Jorma Taccone, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Matt Lauer
Voice Cast: Leonard Nimoy
2009--101 minutes
I'm not quite sure how to talk about "Land of the Lost" in a civilized way, without rambling on in an aimless review filled to the brim with curse words in my head that most people don't even know exist. Since this blog is meant to be family-friendly for those who desperately want to read civilized reviews, I will try my best, but note that this is incredibly edited from what is going through my head right now. Truth is, I want very much for the makers of "Land of the Lost" to personally refund my ticket. Considering that the ticket was free, I think my point has been made. And I'm pretty sure that I littered that ticket onto the floor of the men's bathroom in Borders. "Land of the Lost" made me nearly fuming-mad as many times as, say, "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale" last year, "Bratz" and "Dragon Wars" the year before, and "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker" and "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" the year before that, except that this may be the most disappointing of the lot.
Considering that director Brad Silberling has made an affecting human drama ("Moonlight Mile") and two subversively dark family films ("Casper" and "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"), he is one of my favorite modern directors. But "Land of the Lost" is an unspeakable mistake on his part. The movie has to do with Dr. Rick Marshall, a scientist apparently inept in everything that has the word "social" in front of it, and as shown in the embarrassing, cringe-inducing opening interview with an obviously bored Matt Lauer, he has written a book about how time warps could, in theory, work. Three years later, no one believes him and he is stranded to teaching some science class to creepy children with too much knowledge about human female anatomy. Then he...
Oh, I give up. Trying to understand "Land of the Lost" is like trying to teach a 2-year-old what the word "physics" means. You're gonna get a blank stare and possibly kill some of the child's brain cells in the process. Really, that's how the movie is as an entity itself. With this movie, nothing resonates, nothing satiates (not even the most undiscriminating of viewers will be able to enjoy themselves), and nothing amuses. Not even Danny McBride comes out unscathed. Normally McBride's line delivery is spot-on (as in "Pineapple Express" and "Tropic Thunder"), but considering his normal R-rated pedigree, I'd say his thankless role as Will Stanton is a huge step down.
To cover the movie's failed aesthetics would take a college thesis paper, not a paragraph, but I'll again try my best. The cinematography by the normally reliable Dion Beebe (he shot 2004's best film, "Collateral") is abnormally hideous, shrouding everything in ugly yellows and oranges. Then again, no color would've worked, so maybe Beebe should be cut some slack. The musical score by Michael Giacchino is awful, pretty much a slap in the face after his amazing work on "Star Trek." Apparently Giacchino can be a gutless hack whenever the project is this bad. The visual effects are supposed to be cheesy, but an effort is actually made to make them believable sometimes, which defeats the purpose. Thus, they just become as awful and annoying as the rest of the picture. In this way, last summer's underrated "Journey to the Center of the Earth" was much more impressive, never losing sight of the fact that it was dumb. At least it didn't misplace its humor, like "Land of the Lost" does.
The acting is hopeless. I already mentioned McBride's lack of material to deliver (though he's not bad in the role, per se). Will Ferrell is awful as Rick Marshall, in a way he's never been. None of the characters has anything to work with, as far as characteristics or even caricatures, but Ferrell especially embarrasses himself in scenes like one in which he drinks a bottle of dinosaur pee while splashing it on himself. The scene has no payoff (unlike an unbearably hilarious and quite similar scene in last year's "Superhero Movie" that culminates in urine being sprayed sprinkler-style onto a bedroom floor), thus no attempt is made to give us a reason to laugh. Anything can be funny in the right context, but no context exists under Silberling's tasteless and indistinctive direction.
Special mention must go to Jorma Taccone for doing the impossible: he makes the ape-man Cha-Ka seem endearing and sweet at the audience's first sight and then creates one of the most despicable, overused, and repugnant movie characters of the last twenty years, so obnoxious that he could take the previous crown held by Jar-Jar Binks in the annals of Hated Movie Characters. Cha-Ka is nothing more than a gimmick--a bad one--and every time he's on screen I cringed, especially with his incessant feeling-up of Anna Friel's breasts. The only person that doesn't make you wanna tear out your eyeballs is Friel, ironically, though she's not very good, either. Even Leonard Nimoy turns up in a voice cameo, but it's much ado about nothing.
Something like "Land of the Lost" comes about rarely. It is one of those films that made me very nearly lose faith in the cinema. All I could do during film were three things: 1) count the cobwebs forming on the screen; 2) wonder what sort of criminal acts Brad Silberling & Co. should be guilty of; and 3) think happier thoughts, like the sweet respite of being trampled by spiky-shoed horses followed by wild boars. By the end, I couldn't wait to leave the theater and breathe some fresh air. The problem is, zero star films are ones that I don't soon forget. The thought of playing scenes from "Land of the Lost" in my head is terrifying to consider. This is the worst film of the year. Not "the year so far," you'll notice. I don't think it'll get any worse than this.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Love It
I love Eminem. Just love his music, for no apparent reason. He's shocking, appalling, controversial, incredibly potty-mouthing, and never-compromising. This is the CD cover for "Relapse," which is for me the best album of 2009 so far.
I'm not gonna "review" it, but three songs really caught my attention: "My Mom," "Medicine Ball," and "Beautiful." All pretty much masterpieces of rap music, especially the absolutely rip-roaring hilarious "Medicine Ball," which goes into places that even Eminem has never gone to. It's amazing what this dude gets away with.
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