Savages

There is so much about this movie that is wrong that it is difficult to say where it goes off the tracks first. SPOILER WARNING: I have consistently refrained from sharing too much information about a movie in my comments. I think when people do that without warning, they are robbing the potential audience of the chance to discover the story and it's surprises along the way. I am going to violate that general prohibition for this movie because frankly, the ending pissed me off and if you have any intention of seeing this regardless of my comments, then you should stop reading now.

OK, Ive decided that the first thing about the film that goes off the tracks is the narration from the female leads point of view. It is so self referential and obviously theatrical in nature that it takes you out of the story immediately. For instance, when she is describing her sexual encounters with the Taylor Kitsch character, she mentions his two tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and says she has orgasms but he has wargasms. Clever?, not at all, it is irritating. She proceeds to become the most irritating character in the movie and she is the one that these two guys are supposed to be so in love with that they will go to the ends of the earth for her. There is one vague reference to her background that might have been an attempt to make us have some sympathy for her, but it goes nowhere. Her character's name is Ophelia, "like the bi-polar chick who kills herself in Hamlet". So she goes by "O". Again, this is supposed to be clever? Again it is annoying to no end and with no purpose.

The two male leads characters are Ben and Chon, which gets us a Cheech and Chong joke and an ice cream franchise joke. Yep, that is the quality of writing that goes on in this screenplay. Aaron Johnson, who was so good in "Kick Ass" and "Nowhere Boy", seems to be sleepwalking through this movie. That is really not a comment on the actor and his ability, that is his character. He is supposed to be low key and zen like. When he is moved to fear and rage in late sequences in the film, all the energy from his character has already been drained of any meaning. The only time his character comes off as real is when he pukes. Everything else in the movie is a movie story convention rather than a real person. At least he had something an actor could work with in that scene. Kitsch has one moment early on when he has to use his gun to show his commitment to his new partners. After that, he is an almost zombie like cypher. This is his third film this year and so far, he is on the brink of becoming the next Josh Hartnett, a pretty boy that Hollywood could not turn into a movie star.

Maybe a big part of my disdain for the film comes from the fact that there is no one to root for in the story. The apparent heroes are "nice guy drug pushers". They are only willing to use violence when it is called for. There is a myth for you, the non-violent drug industry. A worldly former Navy Seal and a Biologist/Business grad from "Cal", are not able to foresee that their little business will bring out the worst in people, especially the competition? The screenwriters and director, want us to believe that once it is all legalized, all the cutthroat (literally) business tactic will go away. After all, these people are not really evil monsters trying to make a fortune off of the misery of others. They are just businessmen and women who have to operate in the culture that the drug industry creates. If you think bank robbers and stick up men are only doing these violent crimes because the citizens and police are well armed, then maybe you will believe this. Salma Hayek's drug lord character speaks the truest words in the movie when she points out that "O" doesn't really have focus because frankly, she has been using since the eighth grade.

As movie conventions go, I know why they use Navy SEALs as the bad ass back up for our witless would be drug kingpins. SEALs are bad ass, they are tough and they are smart and able to do amazing things. They are also the best and sharpest and most dedicated of America's warriors. So while it makes it easy for a fictional storyteller to use them as a prop, it defies reality to believe that five or six of America's finest, self sacrificing, patriotic, warriors would become mixed up in the drug business and murder plots that this film plugs them into. The only motivation they might have is their friendship with one of the lead characters, but that is never explored at all. There are things in this movie that I don't doubt are real, but this plot point is ridiculous.

The movie starts off with a video recording of a Mexican Drug cartel execution of several victims. They are tied up and then tortured and decapitated (thankfully off screen). Later we get to see their heads being played with like soccer balls by the enforcers for the cartel. This is the start of all the gruesomeness in the movie. There are later scenes of murder with a sadistic gleeful bent to it, and continuing threats to family members including children. I know that the drug cartels are capable of horrifying violence to keep their hold over the market and their vassals. Showing this violence without making it mean something, other than "we are evil" seems cruel. There is a disgusting torture scene late in the film which would fit into one of the modern "torture porn" horror films easily. I've avoided all the "Saw" and "Hostel" and "Vacancy" type films because that type of horror turns my stomach but not my fear. Pretty much the same thing happens here, I was repulsed, but since I felt that way earlier, I don't think it did anything to make the film more compelling.

This movie is mostly a nasty piece of business without anyone to care about. All of the characters are unpleasant, most of the time the unpleasantness is shown on screen, and never do we feel like someone is thinking enough to make the story more compelling. The only one-ups-man ship we get is more violence, not something creative. SPOILER ALERT: At the end of the movie, when the inevitable violence escalated out of hand, and everyone dies, it turns out to be a dream by our annoying female lead. Again, "O", shows us why we should not care about her. The film makers go with a "what really happened" storyline where one character goes to prison, but everyone else gets out alive and thrives as a result. Including the most reprehensible character in the movie. Benicio Del Toro's enforcer "Lado", ends up happy and contented, John Travolta's corrupt DEA agent is a hypocritical hero (a political crutch if ever there was one) and the menage-a-trios of our leads have sex in a tropical paradise until they decide if they want back in. Oliver Stone has re-imagined his great screenplay for "Scarface", but in this one, everyone lives happily ever after.

The Dark Knight Rises on a Dark Day

A year ago I went to what I expect to be the last Midnight Screening of my life. We saw the finish to the Harry Potter Series and my wife and I came to the conclusion that although we loved being a part of an experience like that, we were getting to the point in our lives where midnight movies were just a bit more than we can chew on. That is the reason that we were not at a screening last night. We did go out and purchase tickets for an AM show. I was at the box office last night at 10:30 or so, and the crowds were beginning to swell. People were in line, friends were joking with each other. I heard a car drive by and the music from "The Dark Knight" was blaring out the windows as another set of fans was arriving at the theater. Everyone seemed prepped for a wonderful time. When we got home, the local news stations were checking in at theaters in the area, interviewing fans, promoting tomorrows reviews and appearances by film makers to talk about the conclusion to Christopher Nolan's Batman saga. While we were not going to see the movie for another twelve hours, all was right with the world and one of the highlights of our summer movie season had arrived.

Cut to this morning and the the alarm on the radio went off. I got up and went in the bathroom and listened to Mark and Brian. I was up early despite the fact that I did not work today, because I wanted to hear them talking about the movie. Their show is just a month away from ending and I am going to soak up as much as I can get until then. It was there that I heard first of the news that a dozen people had been killed at a midnight screening of  "the Dark Knight Rises". I quickly turned on the cable news channels and local news shows to see what was going on. There were the horrifying images, taken from a phone camera, of people exiting the theater in shock. Some of the people I saw were covered in blood. I don't know if they were wounded or if it was from someone who had fallen near them. The information scrolls were rolling out data, 12 dead, 38 wounded, gunman captured, booby trapped apartment. It was a nightmare come to life. We live hundreds of miles away from the Colorado town where these events took place, but it always feels so close when something like this happens. Everyone knows someone in high school, even if they did not go to Columbine. Everyone knows someone in college, even though they were not students at Virgina Tech. Everyone goes to the movies, even if they don't go out at midnight to see first screenings. Right now there are families in pain, when they should have been sharing pleasure. I can't imagine how someone will get through losing a child, a parent or a friend in a situation like this. My heart goes out to all those families that have been touched by this tragedy.

As a film lover, and a consumer of Hollywood Pop culture, I also feel personally attacked. My sense of  outrage and frustration cannot begin to compare to those things that families in Aurora Colorado are feeling. In addition to those who died, at least 71 others are shot, many in critical condition. The survivors will have long term medical issues, financial issues and emotional issues to sort out. I don't carry that burden, but I will always carry a sense of violation and a pall of sadness when I think about my movie going experience from today. Yes, we went ahead and saw the movie as planned. The theater was close to full for a 10:45 a.m. show. The crowd was excited, but I also got a sense of quiet as we settled into our seats. While watching the film, I remembered one of the witnesses saying that the shooting stared during a scene where "Catwoman" is a part of a shootout in an bar and alley. As I watched that sequence, I found my mind drawn to a visualization of the surprise and terror that must have faced a similar audience in Colorado just ten hours earlier. I hated that I was taken out of the movie for those few minutes because that is one of the things I have always loved about going to a movie, the sense of being transported away from your daily life into another story.

I have every intention of writing a full review of the movie for my blog here in a couple of days. I am enthusiastic about the film, but I am not focused on it right now. Trying to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of "The Dark Knight Rises", at this very moment is not something I want to do. I did want to say that I saw the film, but that the experience is somewhat tainted by the events of the last few hours. I am absolutely not afraid of going to a movie theater. The sudden violence by a lone crazed person is such a random act, that to refrain from seeing movies due to it would be the equivalent of not going out of doors because lightning may strike or a tornado could come by. It is opening day, for what may be the most widely anticipated movie of the summer if not the year. Maybe there will be box office records, maybe the film will be award-worthy, maybe some will be disappointed, and others thrilled. In my mind though, maybe we should just wait a while to talk about those things. Maybe, I'll have a clearer head and more focused mind then. Maybe then, the excitement of the movie will outweigh the sadness that I feel right now.

Katy Perry - Part Of Me

So my daughter is a huge Katy Perry fan, and she saw this last weekend when it opened. She of course loved it but I was a little uncertain how I would feel about it. It is only partially a concert film, much of the content focuses on Katy Perry's musical history and personal story. While I enjoy her music, I have largely tried to steer clear of the kind of tabloid fodder that her life became when she was married to Russel Brand. The tour that is featured here is the one she was doing as her marriage began and then collapsed. It seemed likely that this movie would focus on the very public failure of a personal relationship. There is a good amount devoted to that subject, but for the most part it is not told through the breathless gossip of Hollywood tabloid TV and Print Journalism. As a result, although it did go places that I think probably would be better left private, it was still an insightful and largely honest portrait of a pop phenomena. He mainstream career is only a few years old and she is only 27, so maybe it is premature to have a life retrospective. On the other hand she is of the moment.

I love theatricality, after all KISS is my favorite band. So Katy Perry fits in with my sensibility even though her music is not the kind that I would put on for my own enjoyment. She has developed a motif for this tour at least, that basically comes down to ice cream and cotton candy dreams. The stage for the show looks like Willy Wonka threw up and all the sweets he made were jumbled together to make a life size version of Candyland. The outlandish costumes and dance sequences are show to good effect. It is a solid primer on the things you would expect from a Katy Perry concert. Like many rock documentaries, there is a lot of attention given to the fans. Sometimes it is embarrassing the lengths that her fans will go to to get some attention. At other times the devoted are also charming and sweet as they meet their idol and get a chance for a brief time to bask in her glory. The background on her life and career made the movie more interesting to me. Had it just been concert footage, I don't think it would merit much attention from non-fans. I guess contemorarey artists will never be stuck for historical material because video is so ubiquitous, even thirteen year old girls with guitars and dreams of a music career will have hours of images that can be used to put together a journal. It is a little weird to imagine that someone so young would already be be recording their career for posterity, but her it was. I doubt that Ms. Perry would be offended if I point out that she clearly has a need to be "the Star". There was a series of talking head comments from friends, co-workers and family that tell her story from Christian singer, to failed angry girl star to the person she really seems to be. Listening to the frustration she went through with the two record companies that just did not know what to do with her was sad. I imagined the careers of all those who could not get out of the music business machine and got chewed up. The ridiculous producing team that pompously calls itself "The Matrix", may have been able to turn non talents like Britney Spears and Avril Levine into product, but someone with a vision of their own was clearly beyond their grasp. It is a good incident to point out that Katy Perry is a real talent and not just a manufactured product.

When the problems with her marriage to Brand come up, none of it focuses on confrontation or personal acrimony. We barely have any idea about the issues that resulted in their split except for the demands of the tour on her time and Brand's lack of availability to her. There were two or three painful emotional moments which showed that this was a real relationship and a real person was being hurt. I found some of the people on her tour a bit less sympathetic because of their instance on a "show must go on attitude". In the long run, Perry shows that she is a real pro and one that can find some inner strength to be able to not disappoint fans. The sections that deal with this were quite poignant.


We saw it in 3D and it was perfectly fine. The giant squirt gun and bubble machines used in the concerts, provide a little bit of extra production value for the 3D, but mostly it is the "Pop" of the stage itself and Perry's outgoing persona that made it worth the investment. If you are not already a fan, you are likely to find much that is admirable in this pumped up commercial for a music celebrity. If you are a fan, you most certainly will want to see this, especially if you have not been able to make a show. I like Katy Perry and I like her movie too.

Turner Classic Movies Presents Singin' in the Rain 60th Anniversary Event

So, we went to the event and there were several high points and low points. Everything about the film was wonderful, but several issues with the venue are worth mentioning so that the promoters and the theater chain can fix these the next time. Let me start with the positives. There is basically no way to offer criticism of a classic like "Singin' in the Rain". It is pretty much perfect and it has been so for the sixty years that it has existed. If you ever read someone disparaging this movie, know that they are simply taking a position to get some attention. This movie is the pinnacle of the golden age of Hollywood musicals. I know that more musicals won Academy Awards for Best Picture in the 1960s than in any other decade, but all of those were adaptions of Broadway shows. Singin' in the Rain was a home grown creation of studio talent, and dancing genius, combined with the most impressive casting you can expect in factory town like Hollywood and MGM were in 1951/52. As I watched the movie on the big screen, I was even more impressed with some of it's accomplishments. An early musical number, "Fit as a Fiddle", features Gene Kelly and Donald O'Conner is a dancing duet that is so seamless as to be impossible. When they skate past each other as their legs cross and their feet slip into the next space, you have to ask how they managed to synchronize those movements so effectively. It defies logic but it must have taken hundreds of hours of set up, rehearsal and filming to make it look as great as it does. And, this is really a through away sketch that has little to do with the main story. Still, they lavished such attention to detail in getting it right that you know there were true creative professionals at work here.

There are a dozen other amazing dance sequences to match this one. Kelly and O'Conner again in the "Mose's supposes" bit, and then "Good Morning" with Debbie Reynolds.  The ballet "Lullaby of Broadway" with Cyd Charisse is amazing. There is a complicated sequence with a forty or fifty foot bridal wedding veil, which must have been so carefully planned and choreographed that today you would need a computer to figure out all the angles and directions the wind would have to travel in. They did it without the aid of such technology and it looks beautiful. Of course there is also Donald O'Conner's comic"Make Em Laugh" sequence that combines true dancing skills with athletic acrobatic moves to bring down the house. The cheery on top of all the other treats is Kelly strolling through the rain in a backlot version of Hollywood, soaked to the skin but singing his heart out. It also gives us one of the most iconic images of Hollywood movie making in the first century of the art. Kelly, standing on a lamppost with his arms and heart outstretched for all of us to see and weep with joy for being a part of.

When I saw "Singin' in the Rain" as a kid, the first time was on the afternoon movie. Local stations played films between the soap operas which ended around two or three in the afternoon and their news programs which did not usually start until five or six. In order to fit the time slots, the movies were often carved up. I knew the movie, but I never saw the "Broadway Rhythm Ballet" sequence until "That's Entertainment", because the film got cut up by the local broadcasters. In the late seventies, there were two stations that started playing the old movies complete with limited commercials and that is when I saw the film all the way though, complete for the first time. My best friend Art Franz and I became enamored of the MGM musicals after the appearance of  "That's Entertainment" in 1974. The contemporary movies were great, but I see no need to dismiss the work of brilliant entertainers from two decades earlier simply because they worked under a different set of rules. I have encountered way too many people who dismiss old movies because they lack the grit and realism of many later eras. Those folks are missing out on the shared community that films produced in the U.S before the advent of nightly television. Maybe, the films were a bit sunny, but I never look at a sunny day and ask for gloom to show up and spoil it.

Debbie Reynolds was only 18 when she made "Singin' in the Rain". There was a great clip of her talking about the movie with TCM's Robert Osbourne, right before the movie started. She told some great stories and admitted that she was scared and had to work really hard to keep up with Gene Kelly's high standards. The song and dance number "Good Morning" is performed by all three stars, but it is really the chance that Debbie Reynolds gets to stand out as a real film star. Her charm and personality more than make up for whatever dancing talent she lacked, although I dare you to find any weakness in her dancing in this sequence.  She keeps step with both of the more accomplished stars and does so while being the center of the action. It is also a very complicated dance involving a stair case and furniture.

Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont got a laugh every time she opened her mouth. She was perfect for the role of the silent romantic screen star with a voice that would make Fran Drescher seem pleasant. When she gets uppity with the studio head and becomes a real villain to Reynolds character, we take enormous pleasure when she is knocked back down to earth. There is a wonderful sequence where a dialect coach tries to help her develop a more appropriate way of speaking, and she simply cannot hear any difference from the coaches words to her own. It reminds me of my own difficulties when trying to say foreign words. I know I'm saying them the exact way I hear them, but nobody else ever seems to agree.

The theater was packed. There was not a seat to be had and I saw several people simply standing in the back of the theater to watch the movie. This was a sixty year old film, being screened on a Thursday night. While there were a lot of older folks there, I was pleased to see a large number of movie lovers in their twenties and thirties at the screening. There were also at least two dozen kids dragged to the movie by their parents who sat in awe and laughed and clapped when everyone else did as well. It was a true family night out at the movies.

The Not So Good

Fathom events is the company that arranges these programs. We saw all three Lord Of the Rings pictures last year and Casablanca, earlier this year at Fathom events. The theater chain is AMC, and they are usually reliable, but something was off with last night's program. It may be that the unusual humidity here in Southern California threw off the system, but the air conditioning was not working and the theater felt stifling. This is not what you want in a summer screening at a modern facility. Also, AMC should have known that they were going to have a crowd since so many of the people who come to these things buy their tickets on-line. As a result, they should have been able to figure out that more than two registers needed to be opened at the concession stand for a seventeen screen complex with at least one film completely booked up.  I also cannot remember a time when a concession stand, ran out of popcorn. Popcorn is the life blood of an exhibitors cash stream. Asking people to wait so that you can make more, after they have already waited ten to fifteen minutes in overcrowded lines is a bad idea. Finally, I know that the program is a single day and therefore your automated system will need to be adjusted. That however does not excuse having the houselights stay on for the first ten minutes of the movie. Even worse however was the fact that everyone had to find their way out of the theater in the dark because the houselights did not come on at the end of the movie. Watching two to three hundred people, many of whom are older, stumble around by the light from dozens of cell phones was not a pretty picture.

Despite the fact that I went without popcorn, and skipped the Coke Zero as well as a result, we still had a wonderful time, thanks to Stanley Donnen, Gene Kelly, Arthur Freed, Donald O'Conner, Debbie Reynolds, and a cast and crew of thousands who made one of the most enduring and endearing films about Hollywood ever.

Judge Dredd Motion Poster

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

After a two week hiatus from movie theaters, I managed to get back into the swing of things so to speak with "The Amazing Spider-Man". This is the kind of big budget, action packed, popcorn film that seems custom made for Summer Vacation and the Fourth of July Weekend especially. I had the chance to see it in a small town theater in Wyoming, but I was simply to pooped out to make it to the one screen theater with the children of my friends. So, after getting back from a long excursion, we ventured out to a Sunday screening, ready to chow down on popcorn and super hero daring do. For the most part it is a successful film that I think will be pleasing to fans of the super hero genre. I am a little less certain that it will have as much acceptance outside of that fan base because frankly, half the movie feels like a repeat.

It was just ten years ago that the first cinematic version of Spider-man hit the big screen. Sam Rami's three films run the range from disappointing to spectacular. The second film stands for me as one of the great comic movies of all time. Both Spider-man and X-Men peaked with the second films in their series. The third film in each series as well as Superman and the first cycle of the Batman movies turned in disappointing results. It makes me fret just a little about the upcoming "Dark Knight Rises". I suspect that Christopher Nolan can break this jinx, and I hope that they don't try to reboot the series too soon. That is my main criticism with the new "Spider-Man". In order to relaunch with a new lead, they have decided to make it an "origin" story.

For the first hour, there is a lot of familiar material. Peter Parker , exceptionally well cast with Andrew Garfield taking over for Toby Maguire, lives with his Aunt and Uncle, is an outsider at school but with a very scientific mind. He gets a "magic" spider bite and develops amazing powers that allow him to joyfully test them in front of our eyes. He begins using those powers to avenge the murder of an important figure in his life and learns that there is a need for taking responsibility. There are only a couple of items that distinguish this origin story from it's predecessor. First, Peter and his parents are given a back-story that connects them scientifically to the corporation that figures so prominently in this character's Universe. I thought that there needed to be a little more pay off in this story of that string. If you stay two minutes into the end credits, you will get a stinger that promises more, assuming a sequel ends up being made. The movie is long, so it may not hold up as well if it gets weighed down with too many sub-plots.

The second point that makes the origin story a little more worthy is that the great Martin Sheen and Sally Field play Peter's Uncle and Aunt. They are a little younger than we had in the first story and that makes their contributions a little more vigorous. Aunt May will be a stronger character in any sequel but Sally Field did justice to what was written here. Sheen gets most of the juice in the early part of the movie. He is wonderful. The way the part has been re-done however, means that his plot-line is not quite as poignant as the Cliff Robertson role ten years ago. The aftermath of his story feels rushed so that we can get to the main adventure in the movie. Also, we just went through this emotional resolution ten years ago so it does not feel as fresh.

I have made it abundantly clear in the past that I am not a slave to the comic books. I have no fault with them but fans that treat the comics as the bible for a film rather than the launching point of a film, don't understand the difference between the two medium. I don't know the story of Gwen Stacey and how important it is in the comics versus the Mary Jane character. Emma Stone is the hot young actress of the moment and she is very effective in the part, but it never developed the epic nature of a romance the way the story had in the earlier films. There was just enough of her character in the story to make her presence important, but some of the coincidences start to pile up and even for a comic based film begin to feel a little contrived. She appears to be the Nexus point for events in the movie for no particular reason except to save time.

The villain also has some back story that was nicely introduced but again felt incomplete. The genetic research makes a lot of sense for both Spider-Man's story and The Lizard. The actor Rhys Ifans does a nice job conveying a tragic history and moments of regret, the one spot that seems least convincing is that of bad guy and most of that performance is CGI. The dramatic section of his story is rushed because we took so long to get there in the first place. I did think that the fight scenes with Spidey and the Lizard were done very well and carried a good amount of surprise and suspense. Most of Spider-Man's special effects look sharper than in the earlier movies, and the color palate hides the cartoony nature of the character in the effects shots pretty well. There were a couple of good #D shots but nothing that demands that you see the movie in 3D.

Now that the series has a new lead and background, I think that future episodes will work more effectively because they will not have the shadow of the three films from the first decade of the new century hanging over them. There are enough changes her that loyal film followers of Spider-man will want to see it. There may not be enough that is new for everyone else and I expect that viewers will be happy but not elated with the results.

Evil Dead Salute

I found this at Badass Digest and felt it needed to be shared by readers of my blog.

The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The Eighth Dimension(1984)

This movie is one of the great unknown left field wonders of all time. People who love this movie are my friends, people who don't, have something wrong with them. If you are lucky enough not to have seen this yet, search it out but make sure that you sit down in the mood to pay attention because it is a weird ride.  The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension came out in 1984 near the end of Summer in August. I don't think there was a great deal of confidence in the movie because the release was relatively small. Last night at the podcast that we attended, someone threw out the number $600,000. I am not sure if that was for opening weekend or the full run. Actually I checked, that was just the first weekend, and it was from under 300 theaters. Once it was finished in theaters it had brought in about six million by December (remember, in those days a movie might stay on screen for several months, not just a couple of weeks.)

I saw this with my friend Dan Hasegawa on opening weekend and the next weekend, I took my wife. Both of them enjoyed it nearly as much as I did, and that says something because they do not have very similar taste. From your opening moments, you know that something about this movie is just different. The music is a little different, and the lighting of the film seems natural but maybe a little over saturated at times. There is nothing particularly distinctive about the camera work, if feels flat and static for most of the movie. When we get a chance to see anything that could charitably be described  as a "special effect", it is so basic and down to earth it is hard to imagine. Compared to all the CGI effects that you see in even the cheapest of movies today, Buckaroo looks primitive, and that is one of the reasons it is loved by those of us who drink the Kool Aid for this movie. The flying saucers of the aliens seem to be sea shells, and the internal layout of both Buckaroos campus and Yoyodyne Propulsion, the headquarters for the rouge Red Lectroids, appear to be an endless series of hallways and tunnels, most of which were  likely part of a DWP facility in the Valley. Duct tape and heating and cooling conduit pipes are used to make the environment otherworldly. The set decorator for this movie must have had a budget equal to an early episode of Trading Spaces.

So if the movie is shot in a non-dynamic manner, and the effects are chintzy, and the music is off, what is the attraction? THE SCRIPT!!!. This is one of the most logically off the wall concepts ever committed to film. The dialogue is a hoot and it is filled with memorable one sentence jokes and comments that stick in your head for no particular reason. "It's not my goddamn planet. Understand, monkey boy?", who writes stuff like that? "Lithium is no longer available on credit." Someone was warped and saw that if you can get people to pay attention to the actors and the dialogue, the crappy sets don't really matter. There was no way they were going to compete with the sci-fy extravaganzas of the day. Even the Star Trek Movies which were done on modest budgets were going to make this look like a weak attempt, so they shoot off in a different direction altogether.  These are not visitors not just from another planet but from another dimension. Their presence here was covered up by Orson Wells with the "War of the Worlds" broadcast. Buckaroo is a neurosurgeon, zen master, rock star with his own fan clubs and comic books. The movie seems to be one of a series of stories that have been told with these characters and they are just dropped whole into the story without much background. Peter Weller is so dry, you could pour water on him and steam would come up. His delivery rarely sounds stressed or excited. Everyone else is over the top and playing with stereotypes.

Oh, and speaking of over the top, this movie has the greatest mad scientist, evil villain, John Lithgow performance ever. His look is insane, his accent is ridiculous, and his eyes will haunt you with how crazy good he can be with his facial expressions. I was laughing every time he was on screen.  He says some of the most arcane insults and orders to everyone around in such a way that he cant help being the center of attention. He chews the scenery, then does a handstand and waves his arms over his head to say "Look at me!". And he sells every single minute of it. This was a comic performance for the ages. Credit the dialogue, make up and costumes, but don't ever forget the actor who was possessed by Lord John Whorfin.

The event we attended was also a live podcast featuring stand-up and quick-draw improv comic Greg Proops. I found his material before the show to be very entertaining although he wanders off on tangents so often that it would be easy to lose interest. After the movie he riffed on the film even more, however it did take a negative political turn and you could feel the wind come out of his sails. No matter how much louder he got or how emphatic his language was, he strayed away from the funny over to the political at a substantial cost to the audience and the event. The event was not up yet but it should appear at his site on i tunes "The Smartest Man in the World" . Lots of F-bombs and a load of bombast toward the end, but 80% entertaining.

Brave

After the disappointment of last years Cars 2, Pixar comes back with a fresh story and a return to their high standards of movie making. "Brave" easily avoids the missteps of the last Pixar picture, and creates a series of instantly recognizable characters to populate the world that they are exploring in the new story. This is the first time that Pixar has strayed into traditional Disney territory. There is a story focusing on a Princess, there are enchantments gone wrong and witches and will-o-wisps and all sorts of anthropomorphic animals. In a twist, Disney's "Tangled",from a couple of years ago, is a much more free spirited and Pixar-like movie and "Brave" could much more easily sit on the shelf next to "Pocahontas", "Cinderella" or "Beauty and the Beast". 

The movie is simply gorgeous from the start. Scotland as a setting give a wide latitude for scenery, including lakes and forest and mountains and snow covered peaks. These images are all lushly rendered with the attention that you would expect from the perfectionists at Pixar.  The movie was created for a 3D presentation, and we only saw it in a 2D format. There were a few spots where it seemed to me that the image was fuzzy because we were not using the polarized glasses. Most of these segments were establishing shots of canyons and landscapes that in a traditionally filmed movie would have been done with helicopters. In computer animation, it is hard to figure how this might go wrong and I think it is simply that the detail is so thick that if you are not seeing it in 3D it blends together a little faster than you would want. I only noticed this effect a couple of times in the movie, but instead of irritating me, I simply want to return and see it in the other format. The characters are also designed so that we can relate to them immediately. Merida, the heroine of the story, is easy to understand. She is a beloved first born of an impetuous King and his wiser wife. She has the fiery personality of any Scottish maiden combined with the stereotypes of red headed women. Her Mother and Father are voice by actors who we are familiar with, and convey the right attitude toward her within just a few seconds. Her young brothers do not speak but are clearly set up as impish offspring with fearless personalities and ultimately good hearts.

For the first act, we get a very traditional set up of royal family conflict. A teenage daughter chaffs under the expectations of her parents. Her fearless personality and great athletic skills dwarf the potential suitors that have arrived to make a politically expedient marriage. The vast majority of the first act is given away in early trailers, so anyone going in has a clear expectation about how the story is going to develop. Where things change in a pretty innovative manner is in the second act. In a moment of frustration she makes a deal with a witch that goes completely in a different direction than is traditional. This is not simply "The Little Mermaid" revisited.  I won't say how things turn out, but I will say that it all fits with what was set up in the first act and it creates a very emotional resolution at the end of the third act. I don't know that I was always satisfied with the turn of events. The "magic" element seemed to me to be something that needed a little more set up in that first act. I did not think there was anything wrong with it, but it felt somewhat abbreviated to me.

The best element of the movie is the heroine's  story arc. She is willful and headstrong and certainly has difficulty seeing her Mother's point of view. The way events unfold allow her to understand her Mother a lot more clearly and in a way that seems realistic. Merida never stops being who she is, but she does become something more than she was. In the third act there are moments of heroism and contrition. I thought the traditional race against the sun rise was cliched, but it still works every time.  There were some rather risque bits of visual humor and innuendo that might be a little over the edge for very small children, but I did not think any of it was offensive and most of it fit with the primitive Scottish setting that the story takes place in. The main conflict of selecting a spouse is handled in a different way than traditional Disney fare. There is no handsome prince that rises to the occasion and resolves things with a smile that turns our heroine's knees to jelly and finishes off the story. Instead we are left hanging on what may yet come. The path that brings us to that point is an honest one and I don't feel cheated by the ambiguity of the outcome.

From a technical point of view the most is top notch. The story is well worn but has some major modifications to it that allow it to feel very distinctive. I think the Scottish setting added a good deal to the humor of the movie as well as the look. Once again, Pixar shows us how character and story are the keys to a good film. This film should have a broad audience, but I do fear the usual resistance of little boys to a story that features a girl at it's center. If Madagascar 3 ends up being more successful, be assured it it not due to quality but rather the fickle nature of an audience for films aimed at children. By the way, stick with the movie through the credits, there is a brief stinger which should get a good laugh and is worth the three minutes of your time to get to.






La Luna

Brave is preceded by another fantastic Pixar short. It is a lesson in story telling using no dialogue at all. We understand the characters and their points of view and function simply by observing their actions and appearance. Within a five minute span, we are introduced to three character, a whimsical setting and a nice morality tale on individualism. I love that Disney and Pixar have committed to animated shorts being part of the movie going experience. It gives added value to the memory and the heart.

Paul Williams Still Alive

This is the follow up to last weeks post on the Paul Williams event, tonight we saw the documentary film itself. The film is playing at the Nuart this week and depending on it's success will find more venues around the country. The screening we went to was sold out but that may be because the director and the subject were both appearing after the movie. There was another Q and A session and some of the same issues were discussed that were covered the week before, although it was less intimate and the time was much shorter. Here I want to focus on the film itself, rather than just the event. I have seen enough documentaries in my lifetime to be able to recognize their formats and styles. In the last twenty years, film makers have dramatically changed the way they choose to present their subjects in these kinds of films. Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock have inserted themselves into their films as a way to tell their stories. Each of them has outsized personalities and egos that tend to serve their story telling skills quite well. The Director of "Paul Williams Still Alive" is  Stephen Kessler, and he is following in the path blazed by those other two. Kessler though is not a willing "star" of his own feature however. He became a screen presence largely because he had a very resistant subject and a theme that was not going in the manner that a traditional film of this ilk would take.

While Paul Williams is the subject of the film, and his career trajectory and celebrity descent are a part of the story, they are not the focus. This is not a story in the MTV style of  "Where are they Now?".   Paul Williams it seems is not suffering from a lack of being the center of attention that he was for such a long time in the 70s and 80s. He has changed in ways that will probably seem odd to our fame obsessed, celebrity driven culture. While he may have been one of the founders of that culture, he has come out the other side a wiser and more satisfied human being. Kessler pursued Williams to make the movie and Williams was largely indifferent. Even after he was given permission to film, Williams was uncomfortable being observed so closely, and self conscious of the camera and film maker. There were several years of contact and filming that went on before it strikes each of them how awkwardly the process was going. It is not until Paul directly confronts the elephant in the room that the story finally starts to take shape. Paul confronts Kessler and basically puts the director in the film as a central character.

Instead of a movie about the life of Paul Williams, we get a mediation on the expectations of the director on his subject and on the way his biases are challenged by Williams. For instance, there is one sequence in which Kessler rides with Williams and his wife Marina to a gig in Las Vegas. There are some awkward moments between the three of them over mundane things like where to stop for lunch. She is acting as his manager for the weekend and is shown in what might be an unflattering and unprofessional few moments trying to clear up band comps for the shows while the band is trying to rehearse. Sure the musicians got annoyed, because they were working at the moment and she interrupted them in a seemingly unconscious manner. But guess what, the show went on and there was no other big tension during the performances except for the directors intrusiveness. It is an incident in a professional career, it is not a story indicative of that career. Later on, there is a long trip to a dangerous part of the Philippines. The director is expecting the worst but for the most part Williams just plays the complications as they come up and he is unruffled by minor inconveniences. There is no diva here to focus on and again, the directors expectations become the story rather than the actions of his subject.

Kessler seems to be a nice guy who was moved to this subject matter by a sincere admiration for the song writing skills of his subject. Once he encounters his subject and wrestles with the difficulty of pinning him down for the traditional show and tell of  a celebrity film, he realizes that his own voice needs to be a part of the movie. Because the opening section of the movie focuses on his connection to Paul Williams as a kid, the average viewer might think this is a little narcissistic. I suspect that this became the opening of the film only after Kessler saw where his material was taking him. He does give a brief list of his bonafides, but he does not dwell on himself. He is as a reluctant a focus of the film as Williams was, and this is one of the charms of the story that is told here. The end result is a film that explores intimacy in a celebrity show it all world. Brittany Spears flashing her whohah for paparazzi is not intimacy. Getting someone to reveal a moment from their past might be a moment of intimacy, but seeing how another persons mind works and how emotions are not always easily manufactured  to me are real moments of intimacy. This film manages to do this although not in the way you would have expected.

We do get to see archival footage of Williams on all those TV shows he did. Sometimes we get brief moments of pleasure at hearing his distinctive voice turn some of those phrases in his lyrics into moments of sublime brilliance. There are also the embarrassing, over the top moments that make us pause and think to ourselves, "why would he ever do that?" Williams alcoholism and drug abuse are part of the story, and at times it seems that is the focus that Paul himself wants to spin for this film. While his recovery is central to his life and a part of the film, this is not where we linger. The truth is Paul Williams is as clever and talented as he was forty years ago. The difference is that he is not as needy. He is both celebrity and everyman. Signing autographs for fans and being cheered on stage, but also eating squid at a nondescript Asian restaurant and carrying his own luggage when he travels. When he is confronted by an embarrassing, drug fueled, grandstanding clip of himself hosting Merv Griffin's show, the current Paul Williams is mortified. Here is where we really get to know him. Someone in the movie put it well, I can't remember if it was Kessler or Williams, but it seems that Kessler wanted to look back, whereas Williams wants to look forward. The achievement of the film is that it succeeds in doing both of these things at the same time.

Both the film maker and the subject have aspects of themselves that are unflattering, revealed for us on the screen. They also have moments of warmth and honesty and success as the movie comes together. The coda of the film reminds us that Williams has been sober for twenty years, that he has been a certified drug counselor for sixteen years, and that he is has been President of ASCAP, the most important musicians rights organization since 2009. All of those things are important accomplishments, but to me the most important thing the movie showed me was that Paul Williams has become a person that he would not be embarrassed to introduce to his own kids. 

"There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met..." 

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

After Prometheus, this was my most anticipated movie of the summer. My daughter bought a copy of the original book for Christmas a couple of years ago at the U.S.C. bookstore (where she does most of her shopping), and when she got it home she noticed that they were signed editions so that was a nice extra. She also knows that Lincoln is a personal hero of mine and that I have a warped sense of what might be entertaining. It turns out she was right in making the choice, I loved the book. I found it very clever the way the that history was woven into the myth of Lincoln as a killer of vampires and I was highly entertained. When we saw that there was a film being made, we started counting down the days. Her only complaint was that Adrian Brody was not cast as the destroyer of bloodsuckers. In the long run it doesn't matter too much that there are no big stars in the film because the concept is the star of this movie.

The author of the book also wrote the screenplay for the movie. He has made some substantial changes to the story in order to make this work as a piece of pop cinema. Gone is the framing device of an author taking Lincoln's journals and turning them into a book. The life story of Lincoln is also highly condensed so that we get to him in an adult state very quickly. I did miss the tension and creepy factor that came with the Lincoln's moving frequently and the drunken revelation from his father about the reality of vampires. I understood immediately the necessity of moving through this material for time purposes and to propel the story more rapidly for a visual audience. There are several additions that the script makes to the story that allow it to sustain a single focus and stay visually interesting. The biggest change is having Lincoln engage in hand to hand combat with vampires after becoming President. This is the arena most viewers will come to the story knowing about Lincoln, so it would probably seem strange (if you can use that phrase in a movie about our 16th President being a vampire hunter) to not set much of the story during the Civil War itself. I think it worked pretty well and it gives us a more iconic image of Abe with a full beard kicking ass with his axe.

I'll mention a couple of scenes that added to the movie version of the story that did not exist in the book. Each sequence is designed to carry forward action in a visual manner that will work with a big popcorn movie. When Lincoln finally goes after the vampire responsible for his mother's death, there is a dramatic chase sequence. The vampire leads Abe on a action packed chase through a herd of stampeding horses. The horses are used sometimes as stepping stones, sometimes as vehicles and sometimes as weapons. It was a very original way to go and showed the determination of both sides in the future war. We saw the movie in regular 2D and there may have been even greater value in this set piece if it had been viewed in 3D. Late in the film, there is another elaborate set piece that takes place on a train. The slo-mo, high energy, twisting viewpoints are typical of most contemporary action films. None of it is meant to seem realistic, it is all in aid of giving the audience an adrenaline high and it works. There are fights on top of the train, in the box cars themselves and the train is threatened by a fire burning collapsing bridge. The reason Lincoln and his friends are on the train is another element that was invented to make a movie work. The concept is a good one and I am surprised that more vampire stories don't take advantage of silver bullets in the same way. Of course that may have to do with the confusion over the fact that you kill werewolves that way, not really vampires. On the other hand, most of these vampires seem to function in the daylight, so I guess a lot of creative license is acceptable.

It probably will sound a little silly for me to say, but the book actually had a nice philosophical take on the idea of vampires and slavery, the movie stays away from this for the most part. Screenwriting 101, keep it simple. Movies are for showing not telling, so some of the political philosophy gets shortchanged. That's OK because the vampire killing takes it's place and becomes the reason that this movie exists. There are many creative images of vampires being destroyed as well as a couple of gruesome visions of how the vampires use people. Another way that dramatic tension is added is by creating a conflict between Lincoln and his benefactor Henry, It worked in the movie but it was another important change from the book. One more change that I appreciated was the use of Mary Todd Lincoln in the film. She gets a very satisfying chance to make a contribution to Abe's cause and extract a bit of revenge. It was one moment that I could actually hear the audience react to the movie they way the film makers envisioned.

If the title does nothing for you except bringing derisive snorting, then you should stay away. If you are a fan of the book, I think you will be very satisfied despite some major changes. Those of us who like the silly (as an alternative sometimes to the serious) and appreciate "Big Screen" entertainment (as counter-programming to artistic endeavors) will eat up this tale of revenge, vampires and ass kicking Presidents. To paraphrase Lincoln, "You can entertain some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can entertain all of the geek audience for 95 minutes." It's a blast and pretty much what it should be, enjoy my friends.

Paul Williams and the Phantom of the Paradise

Tonight I had a very special experience thanks to my friend and colleague Doug Kresse. Doug listens to NPR way to much and he enters contests all the time, and he often wins. Tonight I was the winner however because Doug's prize for the most recent contest was an event scheduled tonight, and he bailed out on an event he had a ticket for. When I saw the event he was offering to me I leaped at the chance to go. It was a Tribute to Paul Williams, with a concert featuring the music from his musical score to "The Phantom of the Paradise". Many of you may be unfamiliar with the movie. It was not a big success when it came out in 1974 although it has a cult status among many film lovers. Paul Williams on the other hand should be extremely familiar to anyone over the age of thirty and truth be told, most under thirty probably know his work even if they don't know him.

You can look up a biography and see the list of accomplishments of Mr. Williams, it will be quite lengthy. In the 1970s he was a ubiquitous presence in pop culture. He was a frequent guest on most of the talk shows of the times including; The Tonight Show with Johnnny Carson, Mike Douglas, Dinah Shore, and Merv Griffin.  Notably he wrote pop songs that were number one hits for "The Carpenters", "Three Dog Night", and Barbara Streisand.   His songs appeared in dozens of movies and he was an actor as well. He can be seen in dozens of old TV shows, and movies. He was one of three leads in "The Phantom of the Paradise", playing Swan, the Satan based character that the Phantom has sold his soul to. Basically, Phantom is a rock and roll version of Faust.

Some time in the late eighties or early nineties, he seemed to disappear from the public spotlight. Admittedly fashions change and styles move along, but it does seem strange that someone so talented would vanish from the public consciousness in such a brief time. Well it turns out that in addition to changing public tastes, he had an extreme cocaine and alcohol addiction that  was eating away at his life. Several years ago, a film maker Stephen Kessler, who had been a fan of his music, discovered Williams was not dead as he apparently thought, but was still very much alive and working in his now quiet way. Kessler managed to convince Williams to let him do a documentary on him, despite Williams reservations about drinking from the fame cup again. Williams was content with his life and did not want to come across as a fame whore again. Kessler was persistent and the result is a film opening in Los Angeles next week.

The evening tonight consisted of a Q and A managed by the programmer of Cinefamily, the sponsoring organization, with Stephen Kessler and Paul Williams himself. Everyone was quite lively and they covered a number of subjects, but the focus was primarily on the documentary, "The Phantom", "Ishtar" and "The Muppet Movie". There was one oblique reference to "Evergreen" the Academy Award winning song that Williams wrote with others, but they stayed away from insider Hollywood and focused on the music from these films. 

The conversation was great and it was punctuated by film clips from the new documentary and a couple of compilations put together by the Cinefamily. The director of the event particularly likes "Ishtar", a movie I have championed since it came out in 1987. It was a critical bomb but I have always thought it is one of the funniest films I ever saw. The songs are supposed to be just professional enough to be believable, but also so off target that they are funny.



Williams pointed out that there are dozens of  songs, he wrote more than fifty for the movie, and that the director Elaine May, wanted complete songs so she could choose the parts that she wanted to use. I remember when the film came out that there was talk of an album featuring the songs, but when the film crashed that went away and we have been denied that pleasure.

After an hour of conversation, there was a half hour break. Tickets to the documentary were being sold on the patio, but they were using laptops to make the purchase and it was moving slow so I will just have to show up at the Nuart next week. During the break there were several clips running of Paul Williams TV appearances, from talk shows to soap operas. I took a couple of quick pictures of two of those clips that were particularly amusing to me.

The above is an appearance on the Mike Douglas show, promoting the movie Bugsy Malone. In those days on a talk show, the guests frequently talked with each other. It was fun watching the diminutive Paul Williams kibitz with the larger, very scary looking Charles Bronson and his wife Jill Ireland. They shared a story about a dinner tribute they went to for Groucho Marx, where Groucho ended up falling asleep during the proceedings.  The second shot is Paul Williams in the Make-up he wore in "Battle For the Planet of the Apes". I think he sang "Me and You Against the World".

When we returned, a band had taken the stage. The musicians were all locals that seemed to be famiar to many in the audience. I was very impressed with the way they managed to turn these songs into a pretty effective concert. Sometimes there was a cue from the film used to set up the song, but they often just went right into the music when the singer was ready. The songs featured were from Phantom of the Paradise.



This is not from last night but it is very similar to the experience we had. This video is from Phantompalooza and performed by the original cast.

There were several songs from Phantom, including "Upholstery" which may have been a forerunner to the songs in Ishtar. The singer did complain a little because he did this song, right after a lovely performance of "Rainy Days and Mondays", which seems to be accepted as one of the great pop tunes of all times. Paul Williams frequently shouted out encouragement to the performers from his seat in the front couches. Everyone had a marvelous time. The theater was screening "Ishtar" and if I had known ahead of time, I would have planned on staying for it, but I was expected home. I did linger long enough to speak to Mr. Williams and tell him of my admiration for his song writing. He was gracious to everyone that night and shook hands with everyone who came up to him. He also made a point of asking everyone their name so when he spoke to you it was even more personal. He signed posters and took pictures with dozens of guests. I am really looking forward to seeing the documentary next week.

The event took place at the old "Silent Movie Theater" in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. As I was leaving the parking lot across the street, Mr. Williams was crossing in front of me and gave me a wave as a drove out in my flagship. It was a terrific evening with a musical genius and an appreciative crowd of admirers. I will try to add a full post on the Phantom movie some time this summer, and if events allow, I will see the new film in the next couple of weeks. Again, thank you Doug and thank you NPR for taking Doug somewhere else so I got to enjoy this.

Rock Of Ages

So there are two reasons to see this movie. Both of those reasons appear to be controversial in the first place, so just ask yourself how you feel about music from the 80s and Tom Cruise? If you don't care for at least one of them, you have no reason to be sitting in the theater. If both of them work for you, then there might be a reason to see the film but it might not be a strong enough reason to pull you in if there are other reservations. There is lots to see and listen to here, but most of it is innocuous fluff that would not be missed by fans of either Cruise or pop music from the 1980s.

I did not count all the songs, I'm sure somewhere on line that information is available. I was impressed with the number of songs and the frequency with which I recalled them fondly. They were not particularly obscure titles, but the shelf life on some of them was short in the beginning so they will be unfamiliar to anyone who has not grown up listening to oldies and classic rock. The performances of the songs cover a wide range, like one of those theme nights on American Idol. There are some standouts, usually done in a traditional manner on stage. There are some clunkers, usually used for exposition where the most tangential connection to the thin story is used to justify it's placement in the film. Finally, and most frequently there are middling versions of mediocre songs that will not be remembered five minutes after the movie is done. Sometimes those moments were briefly fun, frequently they were embarrassing.

Tom Cruise acquits himself pretty well in the singing segments. He has enough of a voice and enough electronic assistance, that you can accept he is a "Rock God" in an 80s hairband. The more successful aspects of his performance encompass the characterization he makes of a "Rock God" living the lifestyle. He spouts the most irrelevant comments and nonsensical responses you can imagine, but they come across organically. He carries off the brain-addled, over pampered, narcissist with ease. You will not doubt that Stacee Jaxx is a star modeled on some of the big names of the day. He could party with those people and fit in without a second glance. He and Malin Ackerman share one of the best scenes in the film, and both play it for comic  impact. She goes straight for the laughs and he stays in character, giving the line readings and expressions that make the scene funny.

The love story between the young leads of the film is fine, but it is so predictable that it makes it even more clear how much was being forced together to get some narrative out of the story. The movie is a big goof to begin with, so if you don't see the humor in this when you are going in, it will probably irritated you coming out. I can accept the goof on the idea of this being a cliche ridden patchwork rock fable filled with cheesy 80's songs and over the top drama. I'll bet on stage, with an audience of theater lovers it works like gangbusters. Here, I don't think it works so well. In my head I kept seeing this as an extended episode of "Glee", only without the gay subtext. Imagine my chagrin when the gay subtext shows up, out of the blue and completes the concept as an elaborately staged episode from that TV series. As a hit or miss pop jukebox, video retrospective, it works fine, but as a story it is simply limp.

There are several performers who show up and mostly miss having any impact. Bryan Cranston is wasted, unless you think seeing him spanked in his underwear would be funny. Catherine Zeta Jones, does her best singing and dancing, and she is competent in both. The problem she has, is the part is thankless and dumb headed and plays to the worst cliches of a youth audience, about anyone who might think the music or lifestyles of these people are questionable. Paul Giamatti plays sleazy without having to think to hard, and so he doesn't. We are at least spared him crooning a full  song. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about Alec Baldwin, who not only sings once, he sings twice, and one of the songs is the strangest romantic duets imaginable. It was good for one brief laugh. Russel Brand and Mary J. Blige show up, sing or act their parts and move on with the careers intact, but not much to show talent wise in this movie.

"Rock of Ages" is made for people who like theatrical musicals but are too lazy or poor to go out and see one on stage. It feels like a nice little revue that could be a bit shorter, a bit funnier, and a bit more memorable. I can imagine a lot of people hating it from the get go, a few people loving it for what it is, and almost everybody else who does see it, yawning indifferently and rendering a judgement of "meh". Tom Cruise almost makes it worth seeing, but that word ...almost...is really important to pay attention to. If you can live without being a completest on Tom's works, then you can probably live quite happily, just putting in an old CD and listening to the original versions of the music.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

I am a fan of animation, always have been. I am definitely looking forward to Disney/Pixar's "Brave" in another couple of weeks. Two years ago three of my favorite ten films of the year were animated. So I can say this without much prejudice, when it came to seeing Madagascar 3,it was big yawn time. These is something about this series that just does not work for me. The voice actors and visuals and music are fine, but I know exactly what it is that misses for me here, story. This series is about jokes and contemporary references and visual gags, but it has almost no heart. In the current film there is a weak effort to have an emotional pull, but in the end it does not resonate.

The music sequences are the one segment of the film that seems to work. In the original movie, everyone seems to remember the lemur dance to "Move it, Move It". That is just about all that I remember of the film. There was a second movie and I am pretty sure I saw it, but I could be wrong because other than building a plane in the jungle, I remember nothing about it. I planned on skipping this version in the theaters and probably seeing it on one of my movie channels next winter, but I got sold on it by a song. Usually Chris Rock is just annoying and loud. His humor is not my cup of tea so it was with a bit of surprise that I found I wanted to see the movie because of the "Circus Song" he does in the commercial. I got played. It was a funny bit, but I basically have seen it all since it was in the trailer.

Most of the musical sequences involve past songs being visualized as music videos for kids. The use of Katy Perry's "Firework" was a pleasant few minutes but it added nothing to the original song and was mostly an excuse for the animators to use some vivid colors and wild graphic illustrations to fill a few minutes of the film. It looked from the credits that much of the work had been done by illustrators from India. That may account for the different look of the film and the color palate for a lot of the sequences.

Basically, it is the same story as the earlier movies. The four main characters are trying to get back to the Central Park Zoo in New York City. That's it. Now all the writers have to do is create some contrivance to put them into a new local, introduce some new characters, find a main villain, and presto instant storyline. Except that the main characters in this movie never come to life as individual characters. There is a mild emotional story about a circus that they join which has seen better days, but it rushes through all of the background that could set up that emotional journey and just gives us the Cliff notes version. Again with no character development. The film makers are trying to rely on voice casting and the art work to create character and it is not enough. The new characters need to have personality, and the personalities of the old characters need to make some kind of journey of self discovery. Neither of these happen in a satisfying manner. The new circus characters are shallow, and only the Ben Stiller voiced lion Alex is given much of an emotional arc, and it is so perfunctory that it was hardly worth it.

I did not care for the villain character at all. She is so lacking in personality that it is a wonder they hired the great Francis McDormand to play her. The only characteristic she has is relentlessness. Usually a character like this would have a series of frustrating gags that blocked her path to success, but there were no gags involving her character. Only some of her underlings get a chance for comic relief. It is a little odd having such a fearsome, single minded killer without any humorous characteristics as the foil in a kids story.

The music sequences are satisfactory, the animation is adequate, and the movie is competently put together, but it just kind of lays there. We saw it in 2D and I noticed several scenes and actions that were clearly staged for a 3D experience. Maybe that would have made my assessment a little more positive, but it could not solve the problem at the center of this movie. It has no heart, you don't really care what happens in the end, and when it is over, you won't remember much except a couple of visual images and snatches of pop tunes.

Prometheus

I don't know that many movies can live up to one's expectations when you have been amp-ed up for a year. The anticipation I felt for "Prometheus" was much like that of a kid with Christmas just a couple of days away. Once all the presents have been opened, the sugar rush dies down and you begin to assess the outcome. There is so much about this movie that I liked and can't wait to experience again, but there are also some elements that feel incomplete to me. This is an incredibly intelligent, well made science fiction horror story. There are some big questions that it asks and the answers are not as complete or satisfying as they ought to be. There are several harrowing and horrifying moments in the film, but just as tension starts to build, there is a shift in story focus that makes the flow of suspense feel less powerful than it should be. I have done my best to avoid knowing too much about the story and as usual, my comments will be about the film making and story telling, without giving away any important plot elements. I will say however, that the connections to the "Alien" universe are tangential. You need no familiarity with that series to enjoy this film. There may be some satisfying speculation at the end of the movie about how all of this ends up connecting the stories, but that is not the issue that anyone going to see this should focus on.

If you just watch the trailer, you will be able to see that from a visual point of view, this movie is amazing. There is some incredible imagination that goes into the imagery of the planet that our explorers visit, and the tools they used were innovative and based on some clever future visualizing. The ship "Prometheus" is itself, a wonder to behold. The exterior design is rugged and at the same time practical in a way that some engineer with too much time on his hands might come up with some interesting solutions. The concept of the probes that the geologist character in the story refers to as his "pups" is also one of those things that seems to make sense even though we do not have the technology available. There is a medical capsule that would be at home on the Star Ship Enterprise, that is if Dr. McCoy was demented and uncomfortable with a human touch being part of the healing process. Some of this technology is closely tied into the horror elements of the story and so I don't want to say too much.

The greatest technical innovation in the story line is the android "David". There is inevitably going to be a problem when robots are involved. I can't think of a science fiction film, that had robots as a part of the story, in which the robots were simply part of the background in the universe. If a robot is in a humanoid form, it is almost always going to be an issue for someone in the story. David is a great character, despite the absence of any obvious human emotions. Our feelings in the movie in regard to events and other characters is often determined by the way David approaches their presenter in the story. Androids are not good or evil, they are programmed. David sometimes gives off the impression of being emotionally and intellectually superior to the humans on the mission, but those hints of personality simply reflect the character's own expectations. There is a scene in which David and Charlie, one of the lead scientists, engage in a discussion of theology, and it is clear that David is simply reflecting back the attitudes he is perceiving from Charlie during their conversation. It does not make it less creepy but it was a subtle way to to make Charlies opinions less than hopeful.

If there is a failure of emotional elements in the story, it starts with the relationship between Charlie and Elizabeth. She is Charlie's lover and the other main scientist/hero of our story. Their connection needed to be stronger early in the film, and it does not feel as important as it should be in the later spots in the film. She is just intelligent enough to ask good questions but she was not emotionally invested in the relationship until it felt a little late in the process. The relationship she had to their mission was more clearly realized. Charlie on the other hand, starts off as an enthusiastic leader of the mission, but somewhere on the expedition, he becomes a disillusioned alcoholic for no reason at all. When he and she should be comparing notes and arguing over their discoveries, we instead get some sullen reflections from him with other members of the crew. Vickers, the no nonsense manager of the expedition is an enigma until later in the story. That makes some sense if we get more about the revelations at the climax, instead, we just have another character with some background that should be more involving.

There are two or three very good terror sequences, each of them with some good visualizations to give us some nightmares. My daughter, who was as pumped up for this movie as I was, felt a little let down because it was not as scary as she was expecting. Part of this is the problem with expectations, but part is also due to the lack of character development for most of our cast. David and Elizabeth are the only characters that get much chance to develop a personality that we would care much about. We need more investment in these people for the horror to be meaningful. Without a context, they are simply images and that is not enough to racket up the anxiety quotient to the heights we achieved in Scott's original Alien and the Cameron directed "Aliens". These sequences will get you but not in the same way as Kane's chest bursting or Dallas' demise in the ventilation shaft. There was a pretty good set up of one scare sequence with some secondary characters, and the good humor and personality that came in putting that moment together needed to be repeated in other spots in the film.

There were some good surprises in the story. The search for our past is not the only motivation for the expedition, that will probably not be a surprise, but the actual motivation will be a bit of a kick. Both the Charlie and David resolutions are nice and dramatic as well. The pacing of the movie felt right to me, you don't want to plunge into action before you have some background, but not everyone in our group agreed. We did all agree that once the events on the alien planet start unraveling, the movie does indeed take of and is at it's most effective. There is another little treat at the end of the film as well, so we can see how much of what has gone on before us will play out, even though we will not witness it. There is a possibility for a sequel, I don't know if one is necessary but it would probably be welcomed as a chance to further explore the ideas and story lines raised in this film.

The theological implications of the movie are not resolved and there is plenty of room for speculation. I liked the fact that the movie takes a point of view and runs with it, although the fact that our team runs in the wrong direction does provide us with some room for thought. Those elements of the story are not ponderous, the way they have been in films like "2001" or "tree of Life". We are pushed into the story by a desire to answer the unanswerable and the result is an exciting action film. The horror elements work, but are less intense than you may be expecting. Oh, and for the second week in a row, Charlize Theron is overshadowed by the visual elements of the movie that she is starring in. "Prometheus" is as provocative and amazing looking as you could want, but the horror elements don't always live up to the hype. I am looking forward to seeing this again so that I can put my perceptions to the test a second time. If you have an interest in the movie, I think you will be satisfied, and if you have no expectations I think you will be thrilled.

Bel Ami

Once upon a time, a movie like this would have been Oscar bait, released in the fall in upscale independent movie houses. It features accomplished actresses, a rising young male lead, and a story based on a classic novel featuring politics and sex. The movie business has changed however. The lush setting and story line are not enough to draw in large crowds. The economic factors that influence movie funding and distribution, now put a small well crafted film like this on the same plane as a piece of exploitation like Piranha 3DD. Bel Ami is playing in a limited number of theaters but can be had for ten bucks as a video on demand presentation, the same day it opened in those theaters. Somewhere a bean counter made the calculation that the best way to recoup the money invested in this film was to cash in quickly and with as little outlay of marketing dollars as possible.

I guess that is a little ironic because the character at the center of this story acts in much the same way. He is aggressive in pursuit of money, and short sighted in regard to status or emotional commitment. Some of his actions are understandable, but many are cruel and carry negative consequences for him as well. This film reminds me of the Scorsese version of "The Age of Innocence" crossed with the Glenn Close/John Malkovitch version of "Dangerous Liaisons". Each of those movies had critical champions and award pedigrees. You will not find that next year for this film, not because it is unworthy but because it will be perceived as damaged goods because of the new Hollywood economics. This is a shame because Bel Ami is an outstanding costume drama that is well acted and extravagantly visualized.

Let me begin with the performances. Christina Ricci plays a young but knowing social wife who truly falls for our hero. She is gamine and sexual and still feels like she has a backbone of steel. The reason she keeps coming back to him is love and Ricci conveys that love with her soft eyes and delicate mouth. The expression on her face at the end of the movie tells us exactly what is coming next, even though we will not get to see it. Uma Thurman has the larger more central role, and she effectively conveys a woman with a secret agenda. She has two or three emotional scenes and gets the tears and tone right for those moments, but it is in those sequences where her true motives are revealed that she creates a complete character, one much more complex than the protagonist ever expected. Kristin Scott Thomas is a little too fragile and naive to be as effective as she could be. The fault is partially in the script which requires her to be the one insipid character in the movie. She also plays the character as being so brittle that that you expect her to crack the first time she is touched. Colm Meaney at first appears to be a minor character with an easy disposition. We discover in the story and in his distainful expressions what a rat bastard he truly is. This was simple good casting.

The main attraction is Robert Pattinson, the star of the "Twilight" movie series. Inevitably, he will be memorialized in his obituary as the brooding Edward Cullen. The success he has had in that film series will allow him to work for the rest of his life on the more serious and unusual parts he appears to be drawn to. It is easy to dismiss him as a pretty face because of those movies, but here, as he has shown in a couple of other parts, he is a good actor. It is true that much of his work here is done without dialogue, which would suggest that he is cruising on his looks, except the expressions are of longing and frustration and avarice. He manages to get those feelings on the screen without shouting most of the time. There are points where his character must act out as well, but the best work he does is really quite subtle. There is a quick clothed sex scene with Uma Thurman's character, and you can get everything you are supposed to know about the relationship out of his facial expressions. He does an excellent job.

I was not familiar with the original story, but it fits right in with the political and social morality tales I mentioned earlier. The costumes are striking, the women's clothes are detained and reveal much about their characters on the surface and underneath. I also found the score to be quite haunting and effective, although there was no distinctive melody that I can now recall. The photography and lighting are up there with the best period pieces, sometimes there were small changes in lighting that magnified the emotions very effectively without turning the scene into a cartoon.

My wife said she could spot at least a dozen women in the audience who were probably there because they were reading "50 Shades of Grey". The sexualization of this actor through the character he plays in the vampire movies, is drawing an audience in, but it will probably blind people to the talent he he trying very hard to develop. Bel Ami is a well made costume drama, that has a lot more going for it than just some butt shots of the star. It is an adult film made with good intentions and a great deal of skill by those involved in putting it together, it is just too bad it won't be treated that way for the reasons I have pointed out.