Movie Review Resident Evil Apocalypse

Resident Evil Apocalypse (2004) 

Directed by Alexander Witt

Written by Paul W.S Andersn 

Starring Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Jared Harris, Mike Epps

Release Date September 10th, 2004

Published September 12th, 2004 

As bad as the first Resident Evil film was, written and directed by Paul W.S Anderson (ugh), could the sequel be any worse? Paul W.S Anderson stepping aside as director was a good first step, as is a script and story more faithful to its videogame source material. However first time director Alexander Witt, who's assistant director resume includes Speed 2, XXX and The Postman seems uninterested in improving on the original, unless you call being bigger, dumber and louder an improvement.

We begin where the last film left off. Our heroine Alice (Milla Jovovich) has just escaped from the Umbrella Corporation's evil underground lab The Hive, where she spent the previous night fighting the undead. Temporarily captured by Umbrella's evil scientists for a quick genetic upgrade, Alice finds herself in the chaotic remains of Racoon City, which has been overrun by zombies.

With most of the once peaceful town infected, and the evil Umbrella scientists having closed the only way out of town, Alice must team with the remaining survivors to fight the zombies and find a way out. With Alice are former cop Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), armed forces specialist Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr), former pimp L.J (Mike Epps) and a small band of cannon fodder who are picked off in rather predictable fashion.

As the survivors battle the zombies, the chance to escape comes from a former Umbrella scientist Dr. Ashford (Jared Harris). The good doctor will get them a helicopter if they will go to the town’s only school and retrieve his young daughter Angie (Sophie Vasseur). Standing in their way are an assortment of zombie children and a return of those feral organs-on-the-outside Dobermans from the first film.

Let's start with some good things like star Milla Jovovich who, though she has limited range as an actress, is amazingly hot and has a terrific physical presence. She's agile and good with a gun and a believable action heroine. In a better action movie she could be quite effective, but in the midst of this film’s mindlessness she's reduced to repeating herself into tedium.

The supporting cast of Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr and Mike Epps don't have much time to make an impression in between all of the explosions, zombie bites and gunfire. Epps at least has a couple of humorous moments that he is well suited to deliver. The film could have used a little more of Epps' humor but that would require a far better script.

We cannot be surprised that a script this witless and banal was written by the master of witless banality, Paul W.S Anderson. Every line of dialogue, every moment of exposition is just killing time till the next explosion of big, dumb, loud violence. This can work if you have the slightest bit of wit or sense of irony but Anderson has none. Director Alexander Witt doesn't have any either. His visuals consist of properly framing for the explosion and.... well, that's it.

This plot is at the very least more closely related to the popular video game, a fact that might appeal to fans of the game but is of little comfort to non-fans. Compared to the first film, this Resident Evil manages to be bigger, dumber and louder than the original and that is certainly not an improvement. On the bright side it's still a better video game based movie than Tomb Raider.

Movie Review Mr. Deeds

Mr. Deeds (2002) 

Directed by Steven Brill

Written by Tim Herlihy

Starring Adam Sandler, Winona Ryder, John Turturro, Peter Gallagher, Jared Harris, Allan Covert 

Release Date June 28th, 2002 

Published June 27th, 2002

In 1934 the legendary Gary Cooper starred in Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Nearly 70 years later the film has been remade with the Gary Cooper role now filled by Adam Sadler. Did someone say the decline of western civilization? Well I wouldn't go so far as to say that this is the film that will destroy our culture. In fact, as much as I hate to admit it, Sandler's Mr. Deeds isn't that bad.

Deeds stars Sandler in his usual dopey earnest character. As Longfellow Deeds Sandler is a pizza shop owner in a small, New Hampshire town. Deed's also happens to be the sole heir to the fortune of his long lost uncle. The fortune is a company worth in excess of 40 billion dollars. Deeds however couldn't care less as he is more excited about the free trip to New York.

Peter Gallagher is the film’s formula bad guy out to dupe our hero into handing the company over to him. Also trying to take advantage of Deeds is a TV tabloid show. The show’s producer Babe (Winona Ryder) goes undercover and begins dating Deeds and secretly filming him for the show, leading to an hysterical cameo by John McEnroe. Well of course the formula dictates all that happens. Babe has a change of heart and falls in love for real, evil will be punished, and the company will be saved. The plot is meaningless.

Well of course it's meaningless, this is an Adam Sandler movie. The plot is merely in place to lend a little context to the jokes. What is most surprising is how funny those jokes are. Sandler and his supporting cast, which includes not only Rider and Gallagher, but also John Turturro and Steve Buscemi, all contribute some very funny moments, A lot of which is great physical humor.

I was honestly ashamed at how much I laughed during this film. I tried not to laugh, but I couldn't. Especially in scenes with Steve Buscemi as the guy with the crazy eyes. And then there is Sandler. He has always reminded me of an old friend of mine named Decker. Decker was never the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he was the guy to call if you ever had a problem. Sandler has that same “give you the shirt off his back” earnestness.

Maybe the key to his appeal is the fact that Sandler doesn't seem like a movie star. Instead he seems like a guy you could actually know. He has a goofy charm and friendliness that is easy to enjoy at least in short bursts.

Movie Review: The Notorious Bettie Page

The Notorious Bettie Paige (2005) 

Directed by Mary Harron 

Written by Mary Herron, Guinevere Turner 

Starring Gretchen Mol, Chris Bauer, Lili Taylor, Jared Harris 

Release Date April 14th, 2006 

Published April 13th, 2006 

The life of 50's pin up queen Bettie Page was bustling and tumultuous and full of controversy. To watch the movie of Page's life, The Notorious Bettie Page, from director Mary Harron and writer Guin Turner; Page herself was entirely oblivious to her place in the world. The film features an exemplary performance from actress Gretchen Mol who evokes Page in both looks and spirit, but is so soft hearted and soft headed it's impossible to believe.

Graduating from High School in the 1940's Bettie Mae Page (Gretchen Mol) was a noted member of the debate team who missed out on class valedictorian by the slimmest of margins. After marrying her high school sweetheart and attending college to become a teacher, Bettie tired of life in Tennessee. Finding her husband to be an abusive brute and teaching far too dull, Bettie found herself in New York City where a chance encounter on the beach with an amateur photographer lead her life in an extraordinary direction.

Posing for photo clubs where she willingly posed nude for strangers; Bettie met photographer Paula Claw (Lily Taylor) and her enterprising husband Irving (Chris Bauer). The Claw's had a thriving mail order business that shipped fetish photos to collectors all around the country. Soon Bettie was wearing black leather bustiers, high heel leather boots, and being trussed in various positions for photos that would make her a fetishist icon.

On a trip to Florida Bettie met another photographer, Bunny Yeager (Sarah paulson), who would further the legend of Bettie Page with photos that eventually landed in the pages of a very young Playboy magazine. All the while Bettie remains oblivious of her celebrity and of the somewhat unsavory of the photos she was posing for.

A scene between Bettie and a photographer, John Willie (Jared Harris), in which Willie asks Bettie how god might feel about her fetish and nude photos threatens to give Bettie a moment of depth. Unfortunately her answer is the kind of answer you might expect of a naive, southern, christian girl and not the queen of the fetish photo world. Bettie's cluelessness as portrayed in The Notorious Bettie Page, true or not to the real Bettie Page, comes off so unbelievable that it could actually have been played for laughs, it's not.

This is not the result of Gretchen Mol's performance which is vibrant and sexy. This is a real career shifter for Mol who, up until now, has been an eye candy substitute for directors unable to land a Kirsten Dunst or Scarlett Johannson. Mol has, in films like The Thirteenth Floor, Rounders and  The Shape of Things, been a beautiful cipher. She failed at every turn to inhabit her characters beyond her good looks. That all changes in The Notorious Bettie Page where Mol combines sex appeal and warmth to create a fun loving, if not all that deep character. That's alright as depth is not what is asked for.

Director Mary Harron and writer Guin Turner are clearly big fans of Bettie Page. However, the hero worship leads them to basically just recreate moments in Bettie's life without coloring in the character with any kind of inner life. Could the real Bettie Page been nearly class valedictorian and a good christian and yet still be entirely clueless of the controversy her photos were creating? I find that impossible to believe as it is portrayed in The Notorious Bettie Page. 

The film is framed by scenes of Bettie waiting to testify at Senator Estes Kefauver's (David Straithairn in a cameo) juvenile delinquency hearings. It is alleged that Bettie became aware of her controversial status at these hearings and that she may have decided to give up modeling because of them. However, as posited by the movie, the hearings were almost meaningless. Bettie waited for hours and never testified. The Claw's lost their business because of the hearings and that as much as anything ended Bettie's career.

The impact of the hearings is almost nothing beyond demonstrating the foolishness of Kefauver and his ilk. A bolder dramatic decision might have followed the alleged story that Bettie took seriously what she heard in those hearings and gave up her career. Instead the film follows Bettie to her re-christening at a church and her somehow continued ignorance to her place in the world.

There is still much for the Bettie Page cult to love about The Notorious Bettie Page. Gretchen Mol gives wonderful life to the icon of Bettie Page and the filmmakers delight in recreating Bettie's most famous poses. The film is crazy sexy and yet manages to capture one photographers perfect assessment of Bettie, that even when nude, she isn't really nude. She somehow remains innocent even as she is trussed and spanked. That, no doubt is why she was and is so popular. Page remains a wondrous dichotomy.

Gretchen Mol delivers a career transforming performance in The Notorious Bettie Page. The way she brings to life Bettie Page is fabulous and fun but also entirely uncomplicated and without depth. That is not Mol's fault. Director Mary Harron and writer Guin Turner show often that they are far more interested in hero worship than they are in telling the real life story of Bettie Page.

Fun but not very interesting The Notorious Bettie Page will satisfy Bettie Page fans and fetishists, those  interested in watching recreations of her most favored poses. However, for those who want to know and understand the legend, The Notorious Bettie Page is a disappointment. The film appears to have no interest in developing Bettie Page, examining her inner life, or crafting her into a satisfying whole human being. The icon is well represented in place of the person.