Movie Review: Comic Book Villains

Comic Book Villains (2002) 

Directed by James Robinson

Written by James Robinson 

Starring Donal Logue, D.J Qualls, Cary Elwes, Natasha Lyonne, Michael Rappaport 

Release Date September 3rd, 2002 

Published September 9th, 2002 

The comic book fanboy culture is ripe for satire. Such was shown in Kevin Smith's brilliant Chasing Amy. Comics aren't the center of that film but the scenes involving comics and the comic convention are comedic gold. Comic Book Villains aspires to tell the story of some serious fanboys but in reality it's a ridiculous farce with not one likeable character.

DJ Qualls stars as Archie, a comic fanboy who is beginning to grow out of his former obsession. Though he would never tell that to Raymond, his best friend and the owner of the most snobbish comic store in town, and proud of it. Raymond, played by Donal Logue, is the ultimate fanboy who won't speak to anyone who doesn't the names of the Fantastic Four, their alter egos, how they got their powers, which issue introduced what character and various other pieces of minutia someone with no friends and especially no dates would know.

Raymond's rivals in the comic biz are Norman (Michael Rappoport) and his wife Judy (Natascha Lyonne). Though they aren't comic book fans they know a quick buck when they see it.

The rivalry comes to a head when a 40-something collector kicks the bucket, leaving behind the ultimate comic collection. Raymond and Norman are each quick to pounce on the guy's clueless mom who never understood her son's obsession with those funny books. The mom is played by the venerable Eileen Brennen, and as she puts up with Raymond and Norman's incessant begging and pleading, she strikes up a real friendship with Archie who has been dragged into the mess by Raymond.

As the comic book war heats up both, sides begin to lose their grip on reality as they each plot a break-in of the old woman's house to steal the comics. Raymond goes as far as attempting to hire a hitman to kill the old lady and steal the comics.

The hitman is played by Cary Elwes and at the beginning, his character is the only sympathetic character in the film. He's a guy who's fresh from prison and looking to rebuild his life. Director James Robinson makes the hitman character both sympathetic and menacing which is supposed to prepare us for the film's climax. Sadly this fails as Elwes gets sucked into the plot's stupidity and is then crushed underneath it like all of the other characters.

Every character in the film is a complete moron, with the possible exception of DJ Qualls'sArchie who isn't as stupid as the other characters. Still, his character is just utterly useless. Archie narrates the story but is not really involved in it. He should consider himself lucky! Elwes, Logue, Rappaport and Lyonne probably wish their characters weren't involved in this ridiculousness but they are and they suffer greatly for it.

Writer-Director James Robinson has crafted a thoroughly unlikable film. Incoherent, ridiculous and endlessly stupid. The film is marketed as a comedy and you would think since it's about comic books, it would be, but it's not. In fact I'm not sure James Robinson intended to make a comedy. It seemed to me he was trying for drama and suspense. He failed miserably.

Movie Review Kate and Leopold

Kate & Leopold 

Directed by James Mangold 

Written by James Mangold, Steven Rogers

Starring Hugh Jackman, Meg Ryan, Liev Schreiber, Breckin Meyer, Natasha Lyonne, Bradley Whitford

Release Date December 25th, 2001 

Published January 24th, 2002 

There has been talk that romantic comedy is a dying genre. The plots and conventions of the genre have become too familiar and many filmgoers are growing more pessimistic about on-screen romance. Kate & Leopold may not be the film to breathe new life into this struggling genre but for what it is, a light little cookie of a film, it's not bad.

You know your watching a romantic comedy when Meg Ryan comes on screen wrinkling her cute button nose that screams, “Love me.” In this film she is the titular Kate, who is more concerned about getting ahead at her job in advertising than finding a meaningful relationship. Her last relationship was with a quirky scientist played by Liev Schreiber. Schreiber is trying to solve the puzzle of time travel so that he can travel through time to meet his great-great uncle Leopold (Hugh Jackman), an inventor who may hold the key to Liev's scientific writer’s block.

After accomplishing time travel he accidentally brings Leopold back to the future with him. From there Kate meets Leopold who she assumes is some method actor. Leopold is immediately drawn to Kate but she at first just thinks he's weird. There is something odd about him, he's chivalrous and well mannered and well spoken. Very unusual for the modern male, but then as we already know he's not modern at all.

The love story develops well and director James Mangold doesn't let the film’s gimmicky premise get in the way of Ryan and Jackman's wonderful chemistry. All great romantic comedies are based on the chemistry of the lead actors, as Ryan has shown with Tom Hanks and Billy Crystal previously.

In Kate & Leopold, Jackman shows himself a worthy replacement for Hanks. Jackman's best work is in his willingness to humiliate himself while holding on to his Victorian era dignity. Jackman becomes a star right in front of our eyes, breaking out of the action genre and proving he can do just about anything as an actor, as he would later demonstrate in a brilliant hosting gig on SNL.

Ryan is her natural cute self in Kate & Leopold, which isn't a bad thing. But there are moments where you can see she is beginning to tire of this kind of role. More than a couple times she looks outright bored by material that she has done more than a few times. Jackman and the very surprising comic turn by Schreiber save the film. He steals every scene he's in with a goofy energy we haven't seen from him before.

Kate & Leopold isn't anything you haven't seen before but as a Friday night rental to relax and watch with your girlfriend, it’s an enjoyable rent that will leave you smiling.

Movie Review The Grey Zone

The Grey Zone (2002) 

Directed by Tim Blake Nelson

Written by Tim Blake Nelson

Starring David Arquette, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, Natasha Lyonne 

Release Date October 18th, 2002 

Published October 15th, 2002 

It's amazing, the amount of stories there are left to tell about World War 2. So many perspectives: Survivors, saviors, agressors and evildoers, each with their own story to tell.

No stories are as poignant as those of the survivors of the Holocaust. Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List went inside the worst of the German concentration camps and now Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone takes the point of view of a German camp in Poland. Although The Grey Zone isn't the masterpiece that Schindler's List was, it is a moving and shockingly visceral film experience.

Of the many untold stories of the Holocaust one of the most heartbreaking is that of Jewish people who, to prolong their own lives, worked for the German soldiers preparing other Jews to die in the gas chamber. The Grey Zone takes us inside one of these groups called Sonderkommandos, considered by the German army to be among the most coldly efficient. However no matter how well they do their job fooling other jews into thinking they are just taking a mass shower and not being gassed to death, the members of this group are aware that no one in their position has ever lasted longer than four months and time is nearly up.

Amongst this group of self preservationists are a group of familiar faces including David Arrquette and Daniel Benzali. Working with them from another camp is an industrious Polish Jew played by Steve Buscemi who trades strategic information with this group as they plan an uprising. Another subplot involves a group of women including Mira Sorvino and Natasha Lyonne, working in a German munitions plant and stealing gun powder to use as part of the uprising.

The film seems to be a shocking story of the planning of an uprise while doing anything to survive, but it takes a far more human turn when a young girl survives the gas chamber and the Sonderkommandos risk the uprising to save her.

The film is based on a book by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli called Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eye Witness Account. Dr. Nyiszli, a Jewish doctor who stayed alive by agreeing to work with the evil Dr. Josef Mengele performing horrific experiments on jewish children. Dr. Nyiszli was at Auschwitz and was under the direct supervision of a commander named Muhsfeldt (Harvey Keitel). Muhsfeldt attempted to use the doctor to spy on the Sonderkommandos, whom he suspects of plotting something, though he isn't certain what. The doctor doesn't agree to spy, but offers by Muhsfeldt to save his wife and daughter may have led him to give more information than he may have wanted.

The Grey Zone offers no judgement of the Sonderkommandos and indeed it is difficult to take them to task for what they did. I would venture to say that the results of their treachery were punishment enough. They did what they could to survive and the uprising they planned and executed, blowing up a pair of German crematoriums, saved lives. These men and woman weren't saints but they were human, far more human than their captors, no matter what they were responsible for.

Director Tim Blake Nelson makes it two excellent films in a row. His sophomore turn behind the camera, the slickly-produced modern take on Shakespeare's Othello called "O", was a poetic and strikingly sad movie. It is however not nearly as sad or hard hitting as The Grey Zone, which is as gritty and frightening as it is sad. Even an actor of David Arquette's calibur can't ruin this powerful and emotional film.

Movie Review Gothika

Gothika (2003) 

Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz 

Written by Sebastian Gutierrez

Starring Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr, Natasha Lyonne, Charles S Dutton, Penelope Cruz 

Release Date November 21st, 2003 

Published November 21st, 2003 

The title Gothika seems curious even after you've seen the movie. Only after looking up the film’s website and consulting my dictionary for the definition of the word 'Gothic' does the film's choice of a title become clear. It relates in fiction writing as a horror mystery and in architecture as dark imposing stone structures, buttresses, arches and high ceilings. The title has a double meaning related to the film’s story and its choice of locations, but mostly it just sounds cool. In fact, everything about Gothika from it's super hot star to it's indie credible director sounds cool. Sadly the film never meets its cool potential.

Halle Berry stars in Gothika as criminal psychologist Miranda Grey. Dr. Grey works in a prison for the criminally insane treating female patients under the watchful eye of her husband Dr. Douglas Grey (Charles S. Dutton), the hospital's administrator, and alongside her good friend Dr. Peter Graham (Robert Downey Jr.). Dr. Graham seems to be harboring a rather obvious crush on Miranda.

After working late on a dark and rainy night, Dr. Grey is driving home when she swerves off the road to avoid a young woman standing in the middle of the road. When Miranda goes to help the girl, played by an almost unrecognizable Natascha Lyonne, the girl bursts into flames but not before touching Miranda's face. The next thing Miranda knows, she is locked up in her own hospital being treated by her own staff and her husband is dead.

What else can Miranda do in this situation other than break out of the hospital and investigate the situation herself in hope of finding out whether she actually did kill her husband and why she's being haunted by this ghostly girl? Mostly though, Miranda wants to know for herself if she really is crazy. There is also mystery surrounding her connection to one of her patients, Chloe (Penelope Cruz), who is also being haunted by a dark spirit that may be more real than Miranda's ghost.

Halle Berry is a terrific choice for Miranda because she quickly earns our sympathy and her understated performance early on perfectly sets the stage for her brief meltdown and finally for her more rational approach to accepting her situation and solving her problem. She plays her intelligence on her face with her eyes and her perfectly controlled emotions. Even as the film goes off the rails around her, you never question Ms. Berry's commitment to the role, she damn near saves the movie.

Sadly, no one in the supporting cast has much of an opportunity to make an impression. Robert Downey Jr. continues to be a welcome presence even in an underwritten role. I wished Downey Jr. had more to do in the plot. Mostly, he’s concerned about his friend and nurses his unrequited crush. He has a brief hero moment but the role is otherwise far too bland for someone as talented and charismatic as Robert Downey Jr. 

A big failure of Gothika is how director Matthieu Kassovitz and writer Sebastian Guttierrez never establish the rules for the film. Obviously a film with ghosts isn't playing straight with logic but in a horror film, the filmmakers must establish film logic, a set of rules that govern the film’s created universe. In A Nightmare On Elm Street, Freddy could only come out of a dream if Nancy held onto him and woke up. 

In the recent horror flick, Darkness Falls, you were only a target of the killer if you looked at her. That film repeatedly violated its own rules and thus failed. Gothika doesn't establish its own logic and without it, the story never feels grounded. Why, if the ghost can open doors and manipulate objects, does it need to possess a body? Why use Dr. Grey to begin with? Was it just because hers was the car that happened by at that moment? There are many more questions but they are spoilers. See the movie and see if you can answer those questions. A game might make the movie more interesting. 

There is one moment in Gothika where I was willing to forgive the film’s lack of story logic. It comes when Dr. Grey herself questions the necessity of logic. It's a very funny line of dialogue because it’s a haphazard comment on this moment in the movie and about the movie itself. It’s not an intentional joke, but it is one moment when the need for story logic didn’t matter and I didn’t mind being subjected to Gothika, an oasis of unintentional charm in a desert of horror atmosphere and murky motivation. 

Director Kassovitz does have the other important elements of filmmaking in place. He is terrific at manipulating the camera. The way he keeps the camera moving is hypnotic and unlike David Fincher in Panic Room, the camera moves never seem flashy. In the few moments when the camera isn't moving, Kassovitz finds interesting angles and visually interesting backgrounds.

Gothika makes excellent use of its gothic location though I would hope a prison for the criminally insane doesn’t look so frightening, the people inside are frightening enough.

Gothika has been compared with The Sixth Sense and The Ring but I found it had most in common with the Kevin Bacon ghost thriller Stir Of Echoes. Both films are about normal people driven to mental breakdown by ghosts. Both are about the mystery surrounding the deaths of the ghostly characters. The difference between the two movies is that Stir Of Echoes has the established film logic that Gothika lacked as well as stronger supporting characters. In addition, Stir Of Echoes has the Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black in a prominent role in the film. Gothika, on the other hand, features an awful cover of The Who's Behind Blue Eyes by Limp Bizkit. Ugh! 

Then, as the movie was mercifully coming to an end, they teased a sequel. As if what came before wasn’t misguided enough, this nakedly commercial, ‘just in case this movie makes money,’ sequel tease is a rotten cherry on the rancid sundae that is Gothika.