Movie Review Hyde Park on the Hudson

Hyde Park on the Hudson (2012) 

Directed by Roger Mitchell 

Written by Richard Nelson

Starring Bill Murray, Laura Linney 

Release Date August 31st, 2012 

Published November 10th, 2012 

"Hyde Park on Hudson" is a strange movie. On the surface, it appears to be a prim and proper period piece centered on an American President. In reality, it is a trim and tawdry, Jerry Springer-esque expose on the secret affair between a President and his cousin. Jerry Springer-esque is a slight overstatement though this version of FDR and his sordid private life would make a fitting guest for a trashy talk show.

There is no arguing with the notion that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt cheated on his wife Eleanor with many different women. There is also no denying that a good movie can be made about one or all of these affairs. The problem is "Hyde Park on Hudson" picks the absolute worst instance of this adultery to focus on. It's about the time that FDR got a handjob from his cousin and pursued sleeping with her. UGHHH!!!! 

Uncomfortable and Icky

Laura Linney is the ostensible star of "Hyde Park on Hudson" as President FDR's fifth cousin Daisy (If you think her being a fifth cousin is an excuse, re-evaluate your life and don't spend time with your extended family, eww). When the President, played by Bill Murray, is at his home away from home, known as Hyde Park on Hudson, he finds distraction and comfort in the company of Daisy with whom he can, for a moment, forget the problems of the free world and simply be Franklin.

That sounds lovely until 'that scene' happens. Our illusions about the stately, period picture decorum of "Hyde Park on Hudson" are shattered early on in Daisy and FDR's first outing together. Having driven out to the middle of a field and dismissed the secret service, FDR slowly encourages Daisy into a... sexual encounter. She... gives the President a handy. I already mentioned that but it calls for repeating, the President encouraged his cousin into giving him a handjob and someone thought that should be in a movie starring Bill Murrary and Laura Linney. 

What a Waste

The film never recovers from this scene. even as the screenwriting attempts to make excuses about the distance between Daisy and FDR on the family tree. Every scene after Daisy and FDR's indelicate encounter in the field is a forced attempt at classing things up. The film's supposed focus is the first ever visit of the British Royal Family to the home of an American President but we're never allowed the opportunity to invest in that plot because there is no recovering from the President getting tossed off by a member of his family. 

As I said earlier, there is a good movie to be made about the messy private life of an American President but this is not it. "Hyde Park on Hudson" is a shabby, tawdry, and still somehow, often quite dull picture that wastes the talents of two of my favorite performers, Bill Murray and Laura Linney. It says something terrible about "Hyde Park on Hudson" that two so talented actors as Murray and Linney cannot improve the movie enough to make it palatable.

Movie Review Killing Them Softly

Killing Them Softly (2012) 

Directed by Andrew Dominik 

Written by Andrew Dominik 

Starring Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta 

Release Date November 30th, 2012 

Published November 29th, 2012 

There is a good movie somewhere in the bones of "Killing them Softly." Sadly, what finally arrives on the big screen is only mildly interesting. This Brad Pitt starring mob drama about a hitman assigned to exact revenge on minor thieves who've stolen mob money has moments that are transcendent but also feel as if they belong in a different and more interesting movie.

'Indecisive and bureaucratic'

"Killing them Softly" stars Pitt as mob hit-man Jackie. Hired by the mob in New Orleans when their regular killer, Sam Shepard in a cameo, falls ill, Jackie is a philosophical killer eager to discuss plans for murder but growing weary of a mob that has become shockingly indecisive and bureaucratic.

Writer-director Andrew Domenik spends a great deal of effort to draw parallels between the mob and the modern American government, an ineffectual, gridlocked bureaucracy incapable of taking decisive action even in the face of overwhelming evidence. Every decision is work-shopped in committee and related via functionaries' Ala Richard Jenkins' mob lawyer.

Obama, McCain and Tony Soprano

The parallels between the mob and the government are thickly brewed and ladled on quite heavy as every scene seems to be scored by scenes from the 2008 economic crisis; the film is set in 2008 amid the Obama-McCain election. That said, the parallels are darkly amusing as are Pitt's exasperated expository conversations with Jenkins.

Also good are the talk heavy scenes between Pitt and a fellow mob hitman played by 'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini. There is a fascinating "My Dinner with Andre" style movie to be made with these two killers talking about the strange twists and turns of their lives and at times "Killing them Softly" almost becomes that movie.

Not enough star-power

The weakest moments of "Killing them Softly" and the reason why the film fails to become great, are the far too many moments when Pitt is off-screen. Scoot McNary and Ben Mandelsohn play the small-time crooks that Pitt takes aim at and we spend a shocking amount of time with these characters who never earn our interest and leave viewers wondering where Brad Pitt is.

"Killing them Softly" is a fascinating failure. Pitt, Jenkins and Gandolfini are very good but when they aren't onscreen, the film becomes far less compelling.

Movie Review Rust and Bone

Rust and Bone (2012) 

Directed by Jacques Audiard 

Written by Jacques Audiard 

Starring Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts

Release Date May 17th, 2012 

Published November 10th, 2012 

I was reading another critic's take on the foreign film entry "Rust and Bone" and was struck by the phrase 'misery porn.' I believe this same phrase has been attached to another Awards contender this season, the indie flick "Beasts of the Southern Wild." In both cases the phrase is an exaggeration, though as with most over-statement it carries an element of truth.

Both "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Rust and Bone" ladle on the dire circumstances of their protagonists with the thickness of heavy syrup. But, to call the portrayal of poverty in either film 'fetishistic' is to miss the point of both films. "Rust and Bone" for sure is not so much a portrait of poverty as it is a careful study of a romance between people defined by dire circumstance.

'Misery Porn'

Alain (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a lost soul only more alienated by the arrival in his life of a five year old son, Sam (Armand Verdure), thrust upon him by an absentee mother. Alain is on the run from something, though we aren't sure what. He's shifty and nervous at first glance and in the course of "Rust and Bone" we don't so much warm up to him as we come to accept who he is in the way the other characters in the film choose to.

Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) is more appealing though nearly as troubled. Our first glimpse of Stephanie comes as she picks a fight in a bar where Alain is a bouncer. She's bloodied and not terribly coherent, accepting Alain's offer of a ride home only as a taunt to a lover waiting back at her apartment.

They're both missing something

Why when Stephanie loses both her legs in an accident involving a killer whale, she's an Orca trainer when she's not picking bar fights, she chooses to call Alain is a mystery the film has no interest in clearing up. It's possible with his deep emotional wounds Stephanie see's an equivalent to her physical wounds but director Jaques Audiard is too smart to underline the connection.

To say that Alain and Stephanie begin a tentative romance is a misnomer. For Stephanie there is romance, for Alain there is just sport. Alain takes Stephanie to bed on a whim, figuring he's doing his disfigured friend a favor by showing her that her parts still function. Okay, the early sex scenes do somewhat underline Alain's missing emotional parts as what Stephanie is drawn to but not so much that it doesn't feel authentic.

Learning to love your damage

That's the thrust of "Rust and Bone," two damaged people learning to love the damage in each other. The rest of the film is filled out with the twin lures of sex and violence. The sex scenes in "Rust and Bone" are as powerful and compelling as any sex scene in 2012 and Audiard is equally unsparing in the film's violence; Alain takes to underground mixed martial arts fights as a way of making money and filling a need for self-punishment that he is incapable of explaining in words.

The further you get from "Rust and Bone" the more it resonates with you; Cotillard's beauty and despair mixes with Schoenaerts soulful brutality to create the most compelling and dark romance of the year. Both performances are award worthy as is the films elegant cinematography by Stephane Fontaine. I also loved director Audiard's use of American pop songs in unexpectedly poignant ways. Katy Perry's "Firework" is played to gloriously dramatic effect in one of the film's many powerful scenes.

"Rust and Bone" is not a movie I will likely ever watch again; it is at times quite bleak. That said, I can't help but admire the film even if I never see it again.

Movie Review Vamps

Vamps (2012) 

Directed by Amy Heckerling 

Written by Amy Heckerling 

Starring Alicia Silverstone, Krysten Ritter, Sigourney Weaver, Dan Stevens, Richard Lewis, Wallace Shawn, Justin Kirk

Release Date November 2nd, 2012 

Published November 5th, 2012 

I could watch Krysten Ritter in just about anything. As the star of ABC's under-appreciated sitcom "Don't Trust the 'B' in Apartment 23" Ritter's acerbic wit sets the series apart from other shows that wish they could be as edgy and funny. Ritter has a fearlessness that never feels like an act. It's the same fearlessness Ritter brings to her role in the modest but pleasant living dead comedy "Vamps."

Don't Trust the Vamp

Goody (Alicia Silverstone) and Stacy (Ritter) seem like any other nightlife loving New Yorkers. The only difference is that they've loved the nightlife for a great deal longer than the kids they party with. Goody and Stacy are vampires; Goody for more than 100 years and Stacy since the 90's. The same 'Stem' Vampire played with devilish wit by Sigourney Weaver turned both.

"Vamps" turns on an unexpected and inconvenient romance. Stacy falls in love with Joey (Dan Stevens), a slightly tragic circumstance because Joey happens to be Joey Van Helsing, heir to the vampire hunting legend currently held by his father, played by the brilliant Wallace Shawn. In the course of events, it is revealed that Stacy could return to human form, thus offering her the chance to be with Joey, if her stem vampire is killed.

Alicia Silverstone and Richard Lewis?

Circumstances are much more complicated for Goody. You see, if the stem vampire were killed the girls would return to their real ages. For Stacy that means her early 40's. Goody however is over 100 years old and thus will herself die. There is also a complex romance for Goody who stumbles on a former lover played by Richard Lewis with a sad tale of his own.

Don't worry fans of director Amy Heckerling, the proceedings of "Vamps" are not nearly as bleak, or dramatic as my last paragraph makes them seem. "Vamps" maintains a lighthearted tone throughout and while I won't say the film is wall to wall laughs, it is as consistently amusing as you would expect from the director of "Clueless."

Hopping the Vampire Bandwagon

Many critics have accused Heckerling of jumping the Vampire bandwagon, citing the popularity of the 'Twilight' franchise as the inspiration for "Vamps." There is an element of truth to that but "Vamps" has enough juice in it's own story to stand well apart from the glum, goofy characters of Stephanie Meyers' money train.

Heckerling may be forcefully attempting to capture the zeitgeist but she also invests in this story, in both the laughs and the difficult choices her characters have to make and the unlikely dramatic circumstances they find themselves in. Also, let's credit Heckerling with her faithfulness to classic vampire lore, unlike the shiny ones of 'Twilight,' these "Vamps" avoid sunlight.

"Vamps doesn't approach the wit or charm of Heckerling's twin teen comedy masterworks, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" or "Clueless," but it has an ease and good humor that many modern comedies can't muster. Add to that a terrifically game cast, especially the radiant Ms. Ritter, and you have a movie more than worth a stop at the Redbox.

Movie Review Arbitrage

Arbitrage (2012) 

Directed by Nicholas Jarecki 

Written by Nicholas Jarecki 

Starring Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Laetitia Costa, Nate Parker 

Release Date September 14th, 2012 

Published December 15th, 2012

Director's enjoy taking Richard Gere and put the screws to him. Gere's handsome visage, his easy charm makes him the perfect target for the pent up jealousies of lesser men. "American Gigolo," "Unfaithful," even something as tacky as "An Officer and a Gentleman," each turn on Gere's great looks and charm being tested by whatever a writer and director could throw at him.

Taking Gere, giving him power and money, then turning the heat up on him, and watching him squirm is part of the fun of casting Richard Gere in "Arbitrage," a thriller that teases a Bernie Madoff-esque story of corporate intrigue that turns on a "Bonfire of the Vanities," style murder plot.

In "Arbitrage" Mr. Gere stars as Richard Miller, a corporate titan who risked everything on a big bet and lost. We know that, he knows that but lucky for him, no one else knows just how bad the loss really was. Miller is about to sell a company that in reality has no assets and won't have any until it's sold.

It's a huge gamble, one big enough to spin a very compelling story of corporate intrigue. However "Arbitrage, it turns out, has other ideas in mind. Despite indicating a happy marriage and life as a happy, 60 plus year old grandfather, Miller has a secret life with a secret girlfriend (Laetitia Casta), as billionaire gamblers are wont to have.

When that girlfriend is killed in a car accident caused by his driving while sleepy, Miller initiates a cover up. The cover up, involving the son of a late friend, well-played by Nate Parker, at first seems like a distraction but quickly evolves into the focus of the film as a determined, class warrior cop (Tim Roth) makes a point of trying to nail the billionaire.

So you see, the Madoff stuff, the corporate intrigue is actually the distraction; it is the way of upping the ante and turning up the heat. We come to watch Gere squirm and writer-director Nicholas Jarecki delivers in fine fashion. Gere hasn't squirmed so entertainingly since the greatly underappreciated 2007 con-man movie "The Hoax."

"Arbitrage" is right up Gere's alley; he's handsome and successful on the surface and deviously rotting on the inside. He's the candy coating over the rotten fruit of a corporate titan. Watching him get the screws put to him is highly entertaining and waiting to see if he can wiggle his way out of it all is just as delicious.

Do you root for him to get away with it? That is very much in the eye of the beholder. One of the great things about "Arbitrage" is that it never begs sympathy nor does it try to tempt your sympathy; the film offers you the opportunity to wallow in the ugly behavior of Gere's corporate titan or judge him guilty and hope for him to be properly shamed.

The ending of "Arbitrage" somehow manages to satisfy all sides. There is a near perfect ambiguity to the ending that allows everyone to feel whatever they like about the character and the story. I won't say more in order to avoid spoilers, the film is after all something of a thriller and requires a bit of mystery to be fully enjoyed.

The bottom line is that "Arbitrage" is a highly entertaining Richard Gere movie. We get to see Gere twist and sweat and generally gutted and whether you root for the punishment or root for him to escape, you will be incredibly entertained throughout. Gere is the perfect actor onto which we can project our jealousies or our hopes.

His face brings with it privilege and based on your feelings toward the privileged you can enjoy watching him sweat or secretly root for him to skate. Few actors have ever possessed such unique qualities, the ability to suffer and deserve it and to suffer and have us root for it to end.

Movie Review Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance

Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance (2012) 

Directed by Neveldine and Taylor 

Written by Scott M. Gimple, Seth Hoffman, David S. Goyer 

Starring Nicolas Cage, Ciaran Hinds, Johnny Whitworth, Idris Elba, Christopher Lambert

Release Date February 17th, 2012

Published February 17th, 2012 

Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage) is back in "Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance 3D." Almost abandoning any relation to the 2009 blockbuster "Ghost Rider," "Ghost Rider Spirit Vengeance" re-launches the comic book hero by rehashing his deal gone wrong with devil, the nature of his curse and his quest regain his soul. All of this info is delivered in an entertaining opening cartoon sequence that launches us right into Johnny's latest adventure.

Sadly, "Spirit of Vengeance" is far too goofy and campy to sustain the momentum from the opening credits. Once Johnny is informed of his latest mission, by the oh-so helpful Moreau (Idris Elba, slumming in this sub-B-movie), Johnny is set on a quest to get his soul back by saving the life of a child who happens to be the target for Satan's (Ciaran Hinds) next form on earth.

Standing in Ghost Rider/Johnny's way is a thug named Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth) who is oddly un-phased while facing down a flame-headed, un-killable demon. Karrigan's complete lack of surprise continues even after he gets his own disturbing super-natural powers from the lord of evil. I like Johnny Whitworth, I have since his charming turn in "Empire Records" but he's really terrible as the Devil's top henchman in "Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance."

Nicholas Cage is unquestionably the most bizarre actor on the planet. Sure, Johnny Depp has his ticks and quirks but even Depp at his most unusual cannot match the crazy vibe emanating from Cage. In "Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance" Cage truly lets his freak flag fly by chewing and spitting dialogue that would make Christopher Walken blush. There are actors in Roger Corman movies who may find scenes in "Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance" beneath their talent.

The biggest problem that "Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance" has however is a lack of a sense of humor. The film is deathly serious about the goofball nuttiness it delivers and seems to expect audiences to eat what it's dishing out without question. This leads to uproarious confusion as bizarre, laugh out loud scenes arrive that the filmmakers did not intend to be laugh out loud funny.

Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor suffered from a similar lack of self-awareness in their "Crank" movies starring Jason Statham. Both of the "Crank" movies were wildly funny without ever intending to be. It's not that the directors want to deliver Oscar caliber drama but rather that they intend on their movies being gripping, thrilling, action movies and not the bizarre unintentional comedies that they are.

There is entertainment value in the strange disconnection from reality that all involved in "Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance" suffer from but you have to have a slightly mean sense of humor to find it. Laughing at the undoubtedly hard-working folks behind "Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance" is like laughing at someone who trips over their own feet; it's not intended to be funny and you shouldn't laugh but you can't help it.

As Nicholas Cage started 2011 with one of the worst movies of that year, "Season of the Witch," Cage begins 2012 with a movie just as likely to be not so fondly remembered at the end of 2012.

Movie Review Booksmart

Booksmart (2019) 

Directed by Olivia Wilde 

Written by Susanna Vogel, Katie Silberman, Sarah Haskins 

Starring Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte

Release Date March 24th, 2019

Published March 24th, 2019

Booksmart stars Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, a long way from her role on Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing, as Molly and Amy, High School best friends who believe they have the whole school thing locked down. Molly and Amy have done little but focus on getting into the best colleges and owning the student government in order to make sure their college resumes were strong. The pair's plan appears to have worked as both are off to amazing schools. 

I say the plan appears to have worked but appearances can be deceiving. On the final day of the school year, Molly overhears some classmates making fun of her high achieving ways but when she tries to show them up by talking about getting into Yale, she finds that her fellow classmates have also gotten into good schools. This includes a girl Molly had dismissed as a tramp, Triple A (Molly Gordon), the name gets explained, trust me, who has also gotten into Yale. 

As Molly begins to confront other students about their school plans in the fall she finds that even her nemesis/crush, the jock football goof, Nick (Mason Gooding, Cuba Gooding’s son, FYI), has landed a scholarship to Georgetown in the fall. All of the time and effort that Molly and Amy put into getting into a good school wasn’t in vain, per se, but the realization is that they could have both achieved and still found time to enjoy themselves and party. 

Thus, with one night remaining before graduation, and Nick the jock throwing a raging party at his aunt’s house, Molly convinces Amy that they deserve one night of classic High School debauchery with drugs, drinking and bad choices. But first, they will need to find out where the party is actually taking place and find some way of getting there. This leads to a series of bizarre encounters on the way to the party. 

My absolute, unquestionable, favorite part of Booksmart is Billie Lourde, Carrie Fisher’s remarkably brilliant daughter. Lourd plays Gigi, a debauched rich girl who pals around with Jared (Skyler Gisondo), a sweet, misguided rich kid with a crush on Molly. Gigi pops up at random moments throughout Booksmart and gets a big laugh every single time. Lourd is boiling with charisma and charm and comic timing and I wanted more of her even as I recognize that any more of Gigi would ruin the magic of the character. 

A close second in the race for best supporting player in Booksmart is former Daily Show correspondent and co-host of the podcast ‘2 Dope Queens,’ Jessica Williams. Williams plays Ms. Fine, Molly and Amy’s favorite teacher. Such big fans of each other, the girls actually get their teacher’s phone number in class so they can stay in touch. Williams will re-enter the story later at the party and has a funny running gag about a student with a crush on her. Williams is brilliantly funny, never going for the easiest laugh and finding ways to twist a good joke. 

The whole of Booksmart falls under the direction of actress turned first time feature film director Olivia Wilde and what a remarkable job she has done. Taking a screenplay with four credited writers, Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskin, and Katie Silberman, who has the ‘written by’ credit on IMDB, and shapes it with strong direction into a movie with memorable characters and big laughs. For a first time director, Wilde directs Booksmart with the confidence and competence of a veteran director. 

This is a wonderfully strong outing for someone with only a few short films on her directorial resume. Olivia Wilde has come out of the gates with a movie that demonstrates a director with a strong authorial voice. Wilde appears generous with her cast, giving them the time to find the jokes while shaping the scenes to the overall narrative. The film is notably raunchy, as the trailer indicates, but Booksmart also has a strong emotional component that plays into the ending I won’t spoil. It’s a lovely coda and one you should see and enjoy. 

I can’t believe I have gone this far without talking about the young stars of Booksmart, but here we are. Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever are, no surprise if you’ve read this far, wonderful in Booksmart. Feldstein consistently subverts expectations and gets laughs and pathos in equal measure. Dever, playing an out of the closet teenager in authentic and achingly real fashion, has an emotional arc that is also exceptionally funny because she is naturally talented and draws the laughs out of the real. The chemistry between Feldstein and Dever is off the charts and you can’t help but adore their dynamic. 

Booksmart is one of my favorite movies of 2019. Wildly funny, smart and emotional, it’s an exceptionally strong debut feature for director Olivia Wilde. I can only imagine incredible things for Wilde’s directorial future. The raunchy humor and comparisons to Superbad may be what gets audiences in the door, but they will remember Booksmart for a terrific cast and Olivia Wilde’s smart, funny directorial choices. 

Movie Review Big Miracle

Big Miracle (2012) 

Directed by Ken Kwapis 

Written by Jack Amiel, Michael Begler

Starring Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Dermot Mulroney, Tim Blake Nelson, Vinessa Shaw, Ted Danson

Release Date February 3rd, 2012 

Published February 4th, 2012

Movies released in the first two months of any year tend to stink. It's not a rule and this fact is certainly not based on an intention to release bad movies; it's a function of Hollywood studios seeking a time of light movie-going during which to off-load a troubled project that does not hold the potential to battle the box office behemoths of the Spring, Summer and Winter seasons.

This fact makes a movie like "Big Miracle" all the more welcome. This delightful story, based on real life events, is thoughtful, sweet, harrowing and, in the end, uplifting; a very rare combination at this oft-neglected time of the movie-going year.

Based on a true story

Drew Barrymore stars in "Big Miracle" as Rachel Kramer a Greenpeace activist who, when we meet her, is living in Alaska and battling a big oil company, headed by J.W McGraw (Ted Danson), over drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Preserve. When Rachel hears the story of a trio of whales trapped off the coast of an Alaskan whaling village she begins an extraordinary campaign to free the trapped creatures that becomes an international cause.

The reporter who uncovers the whale story happens to be Rachel's ex-boyfriend Adam (John Krasinski). Yes, this fact is a plot convenience but get over it; Barrymore and Krasinski have good banter and romantic chemistry and that brings another layer of joy to "Big Miracle." Also adding to the joy of this terrific, heartfelt little movie is young Ahmaogak Sweeney who plays Nathan, a native of the village; grandson of a local whaling captain, and our narrator.

A colorful and clever supporting cast

There are minor missteps in "Big Miracle" like the casting of Kristen Bell and John Michael Higgins as heartless reporters chasing the whale story for ratings, but for the most part the film is spot on. The majority of the supporting cast is populated by colorful characters like Rob Riggle and James Le Gros as a pair of brothers from Minnesota who's de-icing machine for ice fisherman becomes a key component in keeping the breathing holes open for the whales.

Director Ken Kwapis is a veteran storyteller from TV's "The Office" and the big screen teen adventure "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." Kwapis has a real knack for combining heart and humor without seeming cloying or manipulative. In "Big Miracle" he takes a real life story and invests it with relatable warmth and a cast that earns our sympathy from the opening frame.

Smiling, laughing and Cheering

"Big Miracle" may be the big surprise of the early portion of 2012. This sweet family-friendly does have moments that will be hard for young children to watch but by the end the whole family will be smiling, laughing and cheering.

Movie Review Shame

Shame (2011) 

Directed by Steve McQueen

Written by Steve McQueen, Abi Morgan 

Starring Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan

Release Date December 2nd, 2011

Published November 28th, 2011 

In my role as a film critic and member of the Broadcast Film Critics, I am grateful for the opportunity to receive what the industry calls "screeners" of movies that studios want me to consider for our end of the year awards show The Critic's Choice Movie Awards on VH1. It was in this capacity that I was able to see and review the much buzzed about indie movie "Shame," starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan.

"Shame" is the story of an extremely self-involved man and his addiction to porn. Directed by indie darling Steve McQueen and starring rising star Fassbender, "Shame" is a character portrait about a character you're not all that interested in spending time with.

A Severe Addiction to Pornography

Brandon (Fassbender) is a handsome guy who tends to hold people's gazes a little longer than he should. Yes, he's good looking but he has a creepiness in his eyes that has likely contributed to his still being single in his 30s. Well, that and his rather severe addiction to pornography.

So severe is Brandon's addiction to online pornography that one day he arrives at work and his computer is gone, taken after IT found a massive store of porn and viruses in it. Thankfully, Brandon's boss and friend David (James Badge Dale) is convinced that the porn was the work of an intern, not Brandon.

Sister Act

Brandon's less than covert addiction to porn runs into a major obstacle when his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) shows up in his apartment unexpectedly. Sissy is a failed singer who subsists on occasional gigs singing in bars and restaurants. For the most part she sponges off of the men in her life, especially her brother. With Sissy sleeping on his couch and seemingly living in every corner of his life, Brandon's secret addiction is precariously balanced and his "shame" stands to be exposed at any moment to the last significant person in his life.

"Shame"-Less

Fassbender's performance in "Shame" is admirably brave given how often the actor is called on to be nude onscreen. Credit Fassbender for not having so much "shame" when it came to showing all onscreen. That said, there isn't much about Brandon I wanted to see.

Brandon is a bad guy; he's a jerk to his sister, the one person who honestly cares about him. He's allowed his porn addiction to become so severe that actual intimacy with a real person is physically impossible; though emotion-free, bought and paid for hook-ups with prostitutes still get his engine revved.

A Childlike Vulnerability

I get that Brandon is supposed to be a tragic figure but it is Sissy who, for me, was the more interesting tragedy. Carey Mulligan has a face that earns your sympathy with little effort. Her soft, dewy eyes and puffy cheeks give Mulligan a childlike quality that is addictively sympathetic. It's Mulligan's childlike vulnerability that gives her brief nudity more power than Fassbender's frequent nakedness.

Get Away, Creep!

"Shame" is supposed to pack an emotional wallop but I found most of it emotionally inert. Brandon never becomes sympathetic, merely sad and pathetic. I did pity Brandon but, more than anything, I just wanted to get away from him before his next bit of active creepiness. 

"Shame" opens in limited release on Friday, December 2, and will expand as far as its NC-17 rating will allow as the awards season continues.

Movie Review Risky Business

Risky Business (1983) 

Directed by Paul Brickman 

Written by Paul Brickman

Starring Tom Cruise, Rebecca DeMornay, Joe Pantoliano 

Release Date August 5th, 1983 

Published August 5th, 2013 

There are many reasons why a movie sticks around for decades. A huge star, a catchy premise, even a good soundtrack can keep a film in the minds of pop culture fanatics for years. 1983's "Risky Business" is a strong reflection of what keeps a movie in the pop memory. Granted, the premise of a kid starting a prostitution ring almost by accident isn't as titillating as it was 30 years ago, the film nevertheless was a break out for star Tom Cruise and for aging rocker Bob Seger who's "Old Time Rock N' Roll" became a cultural touchstone as much for Cruise as for Seger.

The Plot

"Risky Business" tells the story of Joel Goodson an average teenager in the summer between High School and college. Joel would like to attend Princeton but first he must pass an interview. Before he can get to the interview however, he must survive a week alone while his parents are out of town. Joel has no intention of partying but at the urging of friends he decides to use his allowance to get a hooker, so as not to enter college as a virgin.

After a misadventure with a large, transgender prostitute Joel is set up with Lana (Rebecca DeMornay), who happens to be on the run from her pimp (Joe Pantoliano). Together Joel and Lana have an adventure that could turn into a series of sitcom antics, Joel loses his dad's expensive Porsche in Lake Michigan, Lana's pimp steals everything in Joel's house just as his parents are returning home and just as Joel is about to sit for his Princeton interview with a patient but flustered admissions officer, Joel's in home brothel is becoming a wild success.

Why it worked

These occurrences would be rendered trite in the hands of less capable filmmakers but writer-director Paul Brickman, who would basically disappear after this one success, demonstrates a breezy control over the lunacy while star Tom Cruise, at his untouchable best, crafts a convincing teenage boy even while submitting to the film's outlandish elements. And then there is DeMornay who gives the film a sexy charge in a role that, on the page was likely a cliché.

It is DeMornay who truly sets the film apart from other so-called 'teen sex comedies.' DeMornay is truly sexy, coltish yet evincing a sexual maturity beyond her years. In what remains one of Hollywood's sexiest moments DeMornay strips on a subway train and gives Cruise the ride of his life. The scene is sexually charged with a strong emotional undercurrent as it's clear that Joel is falling for Lana while she is fighting feelings for him and confusion over whether this train ride is business or personal.

So many similar movies about teenagers and sex fail to grasp the gravity of sex and especially fail at true intimacy. "Risky Business," is both sexy and intimate without sacrificing humor. The film is also groundbreaking in terms of pop sexuality offering one of the first strong examples of 'Cheesecake,' shorthand for the exploitation of men for the pleasure of women. I am, of course, writing of Cruise's half naked dance scene.

Cruise's Star-making moment

Cruise's button down and undies boogie to "Old Time Rock N' Roll" is one of the strongest reasons why "Risky Business" is still vividly remembered today. Millions of people have mimicked Cruise's slide across the living room floor and feet in the air romp on the couch. A check of Youtube finds hundreds of parodies and homages and the Comedy Central series "Tosh.0" even took the time to make famous a pair of girls who attempted to replicate Cruise's glorious moment.

Why does this scene resonate so much? I think part of the reason is Cruise's complete abandon, his caution to the wind commitment to the dance and the lip synching seal the deal. Nearly everyone has, when alone, attempted to sing and dance to their favorite tune and that sense of identification rings deeply with mass audiences. And then there is Cruise's general magnetism; he's handsome and earnest with a hint of mocking. He knows he's making a fool of himself and he doesn't care; at this point in his career Cruise was still in on the joke.

Later, as Cruise rose to become the biggest star in the world, he would begin to lose touch with that grounding knowingness that kept him from seeming arrogant or aloof but in this one moment in "Risky Business" he became the quintessential Hollywood icon both aware and unaware of the effect that he has on audiences. In this moment he was a rising Hollywood sex symbol and not the somewhat off-kilter falling star that 30 years later struggles with the dying of the Hollywood spotlight.

Why 'Risky Business' still resonates

Maybe that's what truly keeps "Risky Business" alive. It is the movie that sheds a light on why Tom Cruise became the biggest star in the world and why he's now incapable of maintaining that level of stardom. He will never be so innocently charming again. He will never be so young and unassuming as he was in the role of Joel Goodson. And today as he clings to the last vestiges of his star-power we cling to this moment when he was all things to all audiences with limitless potential in front of him.

We love our stars but we especially love watching our stars born before our eyes. That can only happen one time and "Risky Business" is that one time for an actor who would come to dominate two of the monoliths of popular culture; movies and tabloids. Cruise will never have another moment like this again but through DVD and cable the moment lives forever.

Movie Review The Bank Job

The Bank Job (2008) 

Directed by Roger Donaldson

Written by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais 

Starring Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Mick Jagger 

Release Date February 19th, 2008 

Published June 22nd, 2008 

The words 'based on a true story' are always a little sketchy in Hollywood. Take for instance the new to DVD movie "The Bank Job" starring Jason Statham. This London set crime thriller is based on a real 1970 bank heist where the culprits escaped without punishment and the crime remains unsolved. If you think I gave away too much there, trust me this Bank Job has more surprises than any spoiler I could give you.

London has been rife with conspiracy theories for years as to the how and the why of these criminals and their astonishing escape from justice. The most tantalizing theory goes all the way to Buckingham Palace and a safety deposit box with some very interesting royal blackmail material.

As for the movie itself.

Jason Statham, the intense, bullet-headed star of the Transporter movies, stars in The Bank Job as Terry Leathers. A former thief and thug, Terry has gone legit selling and repairing high end automobiles. Not making much money in his new profession he is quite receptive when an old flame approaches him with a money making opportunity. The old flame is Martine (Saffron Burrows) who, unknown to Terry, has just been busted by MI5 and needs Terry's help to get her out of trouble. He thinks she is offering the opportunity to rob a bank. In reality MI5 wants her to obtain the contents of a particular safe deposit box.

Who that box belongs to and what is inside it are just the kind of sexy details that make for one heck of a guilty pleasure movie. The Bank Job is exactly that. Clever, if not exactly brilliant, The Bank Job is what I like to call a mouse trap movie, quick, precise and deathly effective. Director Roger Donaldson directs The Bank Job with a swift, no frills style that focuses on the action and lets the plot do the talking. The seemingly extraneous are actually integral elements of the plot and no strand is left untied up until the very end.

Jason Statham is the perfect star for this kind of gritty, fast paced action. With his tough guy looks and badass accent, Statham is the kind of guy who looks like trouble follows him everywhere. The former supermodel Saffron Burrows matches Statham's grit with smoldering good looks and the combo is smokin 'hot.

The Bank Job is quick and to the point while telling a clever story with the kind of guilty pleasures and thriller elements that make for classic B-Movie excitement. That it's 'based on a true story' gives it another level of kinky thrill. Who cares how much is true and how much is Hollywood, it's all a whole lot of fun.

Movie Review: Vantage Point

Vantage Point (2008) 

Directed by Pete Travis 

Written by Barry L. Levy 

Starring Dennis Quaid, Sigourney Weaver, Forest Whitaker, Edgar Ramirez, William Hurt

Release Date February 22nd, 2008

Published February 21st, 2008 

Dennis Quaid is one of those fatherly actors who's craggy visage and heroes stare makes you root for him unconsciously. Like Harrison Ford, Quaid's often been called Ford light by this writer, Quaid looks old enough to be a more handsome version of your dad. In that 'my dad could beat up your dad' contest of childrens egos, Dennis Quaid is who you wish were on your side. Thus Quaid is perfect for the kind of earnest, trustworthy, tough guy, good guy roles that he played in The Day After Tomorrow and that he plays in the new actioner Vantage Point.

As secret service agent Thomas Barnes, Quaid embodies the flawed hero of the American character. Noble, loyal, self sacrificing but not above fear or failing. My rhetoric is lofty but I promise, justified. Even in a movie as terrifically bad as Vantage Point Quaid is worthy of such grandiose musings.

Directed by English television veteran Pete Travis, Vantage Point plays out the same terrorist attack on an American President (William Hurt) from 8 different perspectives. First it's the media where Sigourney Weaver, as a producer for the Global News Network, has several cameras and endless angles to cover all the while dealing with a diva reporter (Zoe Saldana) with an agenda beyond just covering a speech by the President on terrorism. The speech, taking place at an ancient villa square in Spain, is soon rocked by the shooting of the President and then several explosions, all caught on camera, all with different pieces of the puzzle.

Next we rewind to get the 'Vantage Point' of secret service agent Thomas Barnes. Returning to active duty, at the behest of his partner Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox), several months after getting shot protecting the President. Suffering from post traumatic stress, there are fair questions as to whether he can handle active duty again. Once the shooting begins and the plot unfolds it quickly falls to Barnes to put the pieces together and tie the whole of this goofball plot together in some kind of believable or modestly plausible fashion.

Next we see events from the miscast perspective of Forrest Whitaker as an American tourist lashed to a handheld videocamera that captures important evidence of the shooter and the subsequent bombing. Whitaker is a fine actor who gives his all but a younger actor, with less integrity and more grit would have fit the role better. We need to believe that this guy would not put down his camera for anything and while Whitaker plays the noble hero seeking justice, the truer perspective is the modern fame seeker who see's dollar signs with his video of the President being shot is more believable and holds more dramatic possibilities. Consider, the venal anti-hero becomes noble hero is far more dramatically satisfying than the heroic guy becomes more heroic. But there I go, reviewing the movie that Vantage Point is not.

We then get the perspectives of the president himself, a Spanish police officer (Edgar Ramirez) wrongly accused in the wake of the shooting and the terrorists themselves whose goofball plot has every Bond villain cliché one can imagine wrapped in one goofball twist after another. Of course, that isn't the biggest problem for Vantage Point. Rather, the films biggest struggle is with structure. The film rewinds over the same terrorist attack 8 times all the while trying to conceal and reveal little tidbits of plot that maybe they plan to reveal later in the film or maybe they don't. By the 4th or 5th rewind you are not likely to care. Worn out by the constant ripping back and forth in the space time continuum of this event a headache is a far more likely result than intrigue or interest.

And yet, even as you are rubbing your eyes and ruing the thought of another flashback, when Dennis Quaid returns to center stage late in the third act you are momentarily drawn back in. Dominating a pretty terrific car chase through the narrow, brick and mortar streets of old town Spain, Quaid ever so briefly distracts from the flashbacks and goofball twists to deliver a rousing action sequence that in any other film could have been a game changer, a scene so cool it makes the movie better. Nothing, unfortunately, not a car chase or even the resurrection of Steve McQueen driving Bullitt directly over one of the terrorists, could save the goofball mess that is Vantage Point.

Movie Review: Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins

Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008) 

Directed by Malcolm D. Lee 

Written by Malcolm D. Lee 

Starring Martin Lawrence, Joy Bryant, Michael Clarke Duncan, Cedric the Entertainer, James Earl Jones

Release Date February 8th, 2008

Published February 9th, 2008

Martin Lawrence's dimming star power gets no boost from his latest strained effort, the alleged family comedy Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. In Welcome Home Martin Lawrence plays Dr. RJ Stevens, a Jerry Springer-esque character with a hint of Dr. Phil. His high profile talk show has made him a celebrity but it is his new alliance with fiancée, and Survivor TV show winner, Bianca (Joy Bryant) that has secured his status as a top Hollywood player. However, no matter how much success Dr. Stevens accumulates he remains Roscoe Jenkins when he returns home to his parents house in the deep south.

It is Papa and Mama Jenkins (James Earl Jones and Margeret Avery) 50th Anniversary and though Roscoe hasn't been home in nine years his fiancée see's an opportunity for great TV. They, along with his 9 year old son Jamaal (Damani Roberts) will return home and film the whole event for the Dr. Stevens' show. Returning home of course offers other challenges like the family's many athletic competitions where Roscoe was repeatedly victimized by his cousin Clyde (Cedric The Entertainer). One of the most successful used car salesmen in the south, Clyde relishes the opportunity to once again show up his cousin, even going as far as bringing along Roscoe's childhood crush Lucinda (Nicole Ari Parker) as his date. She maintains that they are just friends.

Then there are Roscoe's immediate family. His brother Otis (Michael Clarke Duncan) a former all American linebacker now a small town sheriff and his sister Betty (Monique) a prison 'counselor' whose personal life is spotted with a number of criminal dalliances. Then there is cousin Reggie (Mike Epps) whose ability to find money without ever having a job is legendary in the family. Reggie brings along his dog who tormented Roscoe throughout his childhood and now turns his eyes towards Bianca's toy pup in one of this films many objectionable subplots.

If from this description you can't figure out the exact trajectory of this plot then you really haven't seen many movies. As predictable as the sunrise, Roscoe rekindles his romance with Lucinda as Bianca becomes more and more a victim of Roscoe's family. The film's perspective is that being rich and successful is bad and being down home and 'real' is all there is to life. Not a bad perspective but a limiting one. Roscoe isn't such a bad guy or even an unreasonable guy. His perspective is shaped by years of what he feels were slights from his father who seemed to give favor to Clyde and Roscoe's older siblings, though he gave his name to Roscoe.

Naturally, earning daddy's love is a major theme that plays out for Roscoe on two fronts. There is his trying to impress Papa Jenkins and his dealing with his own son, at first advising him on the importance of winning at all cost and eventually trying to let him be a kid. This subplot is part of director Malcom Lee's attempt at depth an attempt he undercuts every other turn of the plot. How seriously can you take any movie that takes such delight in the sex lives of dogs. Indeed, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins has a number of jokes aimed at one giant dog attempting to mount a tiny toy pooch. Why is this funny?

Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins has yet another plot piece that has become popular in comedies that aren't all that funny. Mike Epps joins the cast in what has come to be called the Wanda Sykes role. It is Epps' job to enter scenes that are flailing for a joke and make a humorous observation and then exit the scene. Unfortunately, where Sykes' non-sequiter observations Monster In Law and Evan Almighty could fool people into thinking the movie was funny, Epps' more heavy handed approach lacks the same zing and ability to pull the wool over our eyes.

Malcolm Lee is not an untalented director but certainly undisciplined. A better director drops the dog jokes better utilizes Mike Epps talent for the one liner and is bolder than falling back on non-sequiters. If the script isn't strong enough without Mike Epps' character having to try to rescue every scene with one liners then go back to the drawing board, flesh out your characters and find some truth to bring forth from these characters. Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins is undercooked and underserves it's audience with warm over homilies about family life in the south and a struggling Martin Lawrence.

Movie Review: Fool's Gold

Fool's Gold (2008)

Directed by Andy Tennant

Written by Daniel Zelman 

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Donald Sutherland, Alexis Dziena

Release Date February 8th, 2008 

Published February 7th, 2008

Pirates, treasure, gangsters, guns. For the guys? Kate Hudson in a tiny bikini. For the ladies? Matthew McConaughey with no shirt on. The comedy Fool's Gold seems to have everything a movie needs to be a major success. So why does it suck out loud? It's probably because the movie doesn't add up to much more than that checklist of things that I, and I am sure some movie marketing department, just listed. 

Fool's Gold stars McConaughey as Finn, a professional treasure hunter. Living in the Bahamas Finn spends his days in the crystal blue waters seeking shipwrecks containing unimaginable wealth all the while dodging creditors, loan sharks and lawyers, all of whom he owes something to. The lawyers were at first just process servers but once he was served they became divorce attorneys. Finn's wife Tess (Kate Hudson) is finished with his dreams of treasure. She wants a normal life back in Chicago where she can attend school and get her degree in history.

Needless to say, being married to Finn has been a barrier to her goals. Now, as the divorce is being completed he still manages to be a barrier. Incurring  more debt and crossing some pretty severe gangsters, Finn costs Tess the chance to return to Chicago by accidentally blowing up the boat they own, the one she was selling for money to go back to school.

Left with no options she takes a gig working for a wealthy industrialist (Donald Sutherland) on his yacht. His name is Nigel Honeycutt and he is looking for adventure as a way of getting the attention of his daughter Gemma (Alexis Dziena). He finds just the thing when Finn arrives at the boat offering the opportunity to find some legendary Spanish gold.

No points for guessing Tess and Finn fight, make love, fight again and then walk off into the sunset happily ever after. That ending was coming the moment Hudson and McConaughey were cast in Fool's Gold. The only chance Fool's Gold has of being entertaining beyond the gorgeous Bahamian landscapes was to find interesting ways to tweak the form.

Director Andy Tennant is a master of formulaic junk, his last film was Hitch with Will Smith. It was Tennant who crystallized the absolute worst sins of the romantic comedy genre with his abysmal Sweet Home Alabama. Fool's Gold is right up his alley in terms of formula junk. Choosing to follow every expected scene, every predictable plot strand, every manufactured pre-packaged joke, Tennant crafts a movie so predictable you could set your watch by it. Interestingly, Tennant is a not a bad directorial craftsman. Say what you will about his inability to escape formula, he knows how to craft and cut a movie.

The landscapes, the scenery, the Bahamian settings of Fool's Gold are utterly gorgeous and were no doubt a welcome respite from the winter when this film was initially released. As it reaches DVD this summer Fool's Gold may actually inspire a few vacation choices. Unfortunately, movies can't skate on visuals alone. When looked at as a movie, Fool's Gold is far too predictable to be entertaining. Tennant and his cast do absolutely nothing to vary the format, to give the material enough of a twist to differentiate it from a dozen similar movies.

In that way, Fool's Gold floats by and disappears leaving no impression whatsoever. Harmless? Yes, but why would you want to pay for this experience on DVD or otherwise. You'd be better off watching Into The Blue on cable, Blue Crush, or Captain Ron. Each of these films while differing in plot and cast offer the same experience of white sand beaches, buff beach bodies and crystal blue waters. It really doesn't matter which one you watch, it's the same forgettable experience.

If you have the money, you might as well just go to Jamaica.

Movie Review: Untraceable

Untraceable (2008)

Directed by Gregory Hoblit

Written by Allison Burnett

Starring Diane Lane, Colin Hanks, Billy Burke, Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Release Date January 25th, 2008

Published January 25th, 2008

In Altman's brilliant The Player you hear his many Hollywood players describe possible projects thusly "It's Terminator crossed with Lassie" or "It's Roots crossed with Rambo" or other such horrors. This is based on real Hollywood parlance and patois. Producers and studio execs actually like using this sort of shorthand as a way of describing a project without having to read a whole script or listen to some creative type prattle on about motivations and subtext and the like. This practice is exactly how we end up with movies like Untraceable. No doubt, in some producers office some exec said something like "It's Hostel crossed with Network and Seven".

Untraceable indeed carries elements of each, not much on the Network portion; though the allusion is there. And, while I know some of you are reading this thinking that combo sounds really interesting you are missing the point. That is all Untraceable is. Some idea of a movie that producers can describe but fail to create. Ideas lifted from other movies and grafted onto the Frankenstein's monster that is Untraceable.

Diane Lane stars as FBI Agent Jennifer Marsh, the bureau's top expert in cyber crimes. With her partner Griffin (Colin Hanks), Jennifer tracks down perverts and identity thieves with a few quick key strokes and a call to the local cops to pick up the bad guy. Her latest case however is something entirely different. At first KillWithMe.com seems like some twisted prank. A kid captures a kitten and allows visitors to the site to dictate the cats fate. The site warns, the more visitors to the site the quicker the cat will die. After several thousand visitors the cat does indeed meet an ugly fate.

Soon the web murderer escalates to humans and Jennifer herself is on the killers list of potential victims.

It's nice to comfort ourselves with the idea that we would never go to a website where our page views are the instrument of murder. But, ask yourself this, have you been to one of those websites where you can bet on when Britney Spears is going to die? That website is out there and it takes a little bit of our collective humanity every time one of our fellow citizens casts another morbid ballot. I can't necessarily say that a website run by serial killer is the same as the macabre sickos who wait for a celebrities death with such fascination. Ask yourself though, if you could watch a celebrity die on a website, would you watch?

Our culture is becoming a pretty sick place and in that sense Untraceable seems to be pretty on point. Unfortunately, the movie cannot live up to the ideas behind it. The film unfolds in typically thriller-ish fashion. The killer, what luck, happens to live in the same town as our heroic FBI team. He kills, he taunts the authorities, he kills again and all that changes is the method of death and the quickness of the mass murder. To separate it only slightly from other mainstream thrillers, director Gregory Hoblit lingers on the torturous murder scenes as if he were paying tribute to Eli Roth and his Hostel movies. Hoblit doesn't seem to get off on the torture the way Roth does but the homage is there.

Hoblit wants to ape the popularity of torture porn without committing to it completely. In some ways that is even scummier than what Roth does. There is much that is scummy about Untraceable. What keeps the film from becoming truly disgusting is star Diane Lane who gives an air of class to the proceedings. Hoblit can't compromise his stars innate strengths and Lane elevates her every scene even as she is saddled with the nerdy void of Colin Hanks and lumpy love interest Billy Burke as the aptly named detective Eric Box, he's as charismatic as cardboard, Box is a perfect name.

Without Diane Lane we are looking at a movie quite similar to Freedomland, one of the all time bad mainstream thrillers. A more apt comparison may be to anything Ashley Judd made where she stars as either victim or cop. Credit Diane Lane, most stars are victims of movies such as Untraceable. She manages to elevate the movie with her star presence. That says something for her talent as Untraceable would have left most other actresses unemployable.

Movie Review Rambo

Rambo (2008) 

Directed by Sylvester Stallone

Written by Sylvester Stallone

Starring Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden

Release Date January 25th, 2008

Published January 28th, 2008

*sniff* *sniff* What is that smell? Desperation? Is it just me or does desperation smell like feet? It could just be the odor wafting off the new Rambo movie from writer, producer, director, star Sylvester Stallone. Desperate to rekindle past glory, or maybe just raise some quick cash to pay for his latest plastic surgery bill, Stallone has pulled Rambo out of moth balls and though he slips back into the role like a sweat stained t-shirt, the odor of desperation is too overwhelming not to turn the stomach of even the hardiest of fans.

Desperately clinging to the last of his star power, Sylvester Stallone returns to the role of John Rambo. Now living in the war zone of Burma, he raises snakes for a living, Rambo has found a comfortable place in the world. That comfort is upended by a group of missionaries who ask his help to go into the northern war zone.

They want to aid the people suffering under military dictatorship. Rambo thinks they have a death wish. After much pushing and prodding, Rambo finally takes them to the north. He is then not the least bit surprised when less than a month later he is approached by a man who says the missionaries were never heard from again.

Rambo is then recruited to join a group of mercenaries who will attempt a rescue. Leading a hot headed, arrogant group of for profit soldiers, Rambo quickly locates the missionaries held by a rogue military attachment, and the violence begins.

Sylvester Stallone wrote, directed, produced and starred in Rambo basically because his last three original features, outside the Rocky or Rambo characters, have gone directly to video stores and quickly to the dump bin. His star power has waned to an astonishing degree from when he was arguably the biggest star in the world.

Unlike Bruce Willis or Harrison Ford who have managed to age their ally, Stallone clings to his image as a buffed up action star. His Rambo is a Rambo who clearly spends a lot of time in the Burmese equivalent of Gold's Gym. And who knew Burma had such fabulous plastic surgeons.

What audience he can't impress by pretending to be 20 years younger he attempts to impress with non-stop ugly violence. The violence of Rambo is some of the ugliest ever brought to the screen. The creators of Saw and Hostel combined likely didn't spill this much fake blood.

Though the film is laughable for Stallone's sad desperate attempt to remain relevant, the violence isn't the least bit comical. Stallone strives for realism and crafts some of the most hard to watch violence ever brought to the screen. I urge the squeamish to stay far away from this one.

Then again, I urge everyone to stay away from Rambo. The stench of desperation and greed is pungent and the violence? Beyond merely off putting, it's disturbing.

Movie Review: Cloverfield

Cloverfield (2008) 

Directed by Matt Reeves

Written by Drew Goddard 

Starring T.J Miller, Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan, Odette Yustman

Release Date January 18th, 2008

Published January 18th, 2008

The monster movie has grand history. Not just the great Godzilla but the subtext that accompanied the great lizard. Frankenstein's monster was both a force of horror and a force of subtext, addressing repression, discrimination and the dangers of mob mentality. The modern monster movie has had less and less on the subtextual front with movies like The Mist reveling in the technology necessary in creating giant monsters rather than crafting a message to work in behind the monster.

Now comes Cloverfield from producer J.J Abrams and director Matt Reeves. Much like The Mist, Cloverfield is mostly about technology and movie magic and not so much about stimulating the brain or making audiences think.

There is however, some visual allusion to deeper meaning. Because Cloverfield is about a monster destroying New York, crushing skyscrapers and such, the spector of 9/11 lingers in the margins. Director Matt Reeves makes a very conscious decision to use imagery of that day in his monster movie and these moments are highly discomfiting. For all the great subtextual moments in the history of the monster movie, some movies aren't worthy of such serious underpinnings or deeper meanings. Cloverfield with it's cardboard characters and giant monster motif simply is too superfluous to refer to our nations greatest tragedy without seeming to demean it.

Rob (Michael Stalh David) is leaving New York for Japan. His closest friends are throwing him a huge going away party. While Rob's brother Jason (Mike Vogel) runs around causing trouble for his long suffering girlfriend Lilly (Jessica Lucas), Rob's best friend Hud (T.J Miller) has been left with the task of filming the whole event for posterity. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the guest of honor, his friends have invited his ex Beth (Odette Yustman) to the party. Actually, Rob and Beth are supposed to be just friends but we know that they have slept together and that Rob screwed things up really bad, so bad that Beth arrives at the party with a date.

All of this personal angst is rendered meaningless when an explosion rocks the apartment building and suddenly the head of the statue of liberty is flung down the street. Soon a mass evacuation is underway and our new friends are frantically running the streets with Hud filming the whole time as is typical of our youtube culture.

I must say that though I find Cloverfield to be shallow, it is quite thrilling at times. Crossing The Blair Witch Project's shaky cam with a big budget CGI monster, Cloverfield creates a viscderally exciting atmosphere where this giant moster attack feels real. Director Matt Reeves made some interesting choices in allowing actor T.J Miller who plays Hud, to actually shoot some of the film with his little handheld camera. Most of the action is captured with a steadicam and skilled operators but all of the action feels authentic in it's slightly goofy, monster movie way.

I'm still hung up on the shallow allusions to 9/11. While I appreciate the history of moster movies and great subtext and metaphor but something about Cloverfield feels unworthy of the tragedy it samples more than metaphorically reflects. Cloverfield plays like 9/11 movie mashed up with a monster movie and the two elements coalesce like Weird Al Yankovich mashed with Radiohead.

That said, I cannot deny that Cloverfield is exciting and compelling. I was caught up in the films run and hide and run some more plot and at a mere 80 minutes, Cloverfield does not overstaty it's welcome. Puddle deep with uncomfortable allusions, Cloverfield is little more than a modern monster movie with new age movie magic employed to good effect. I recommend it for anyone with a strong stomach, all that shaky cam can tend to make some a little queasy.

Movie Review: 27 Dresses

27 Dresses (2008) 

Directed by Anne Fletcher

Written by Aline Brosh McKenna 

Starring Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman, Edward Burns, Judy Greer 

Release Date January 18th, 2008

Published January 17th, 2008

I'm not supposed to like 27 Dresses. It is what has come to be called a 'chick flick'. A derogatory term for a movie made for women only. This limiting mentality has at once a strong shorthand but also speaks to the emotional immaturity of men across this country. Anything a little too feminine and men get uncomfortable. Weddings, babies, women in general, make men uncomfortable and it isn't manly to be uncomfortable.

I have never really understood this mentality even as I am able to diagnose it. I've never had a problem being in touch with my emotions or expressing how I feel to others. Maybe that is why I can so easily enjoy movies like Legally Blonde, Just Like Heaven, My Best Friend's Wedding or Something New, some of my all time favorite movies written off by men as 'chick flicks'.

27 Dresses is indeed another movie written off as a chick flick. It's all, in touch with it's emotions, thoughtful, sweet, smart and sexy. All things that make most men uncomfortable, no babies though.

Jane (Katherine Heigl) has been nursing a mad crush on her boss George (Ed Burns) since she began working for his clothing company two years ago. Now, with a little liquid courageshe is ready to confess her feelings when her little sister Tess (Malin Akerman) walks right up to George and the two fall madly in love. Naturally, Kate is called upon to plan their eventual wedding. You see, Kate is something of an expert. She has presided as bridesmaid and unofficial wedding coordinator at 27 different weddings. In fact, as we meet her, she is attending two weddings in one night, an event witnessed by Kevin (James Marsden), the wedding reporter for the New York Journal.

Smelling a story in this unusual woman, Kevin pursues her and in the process falls for her. Kate is not so quick to even like Kevin let alone fall for him. Where she happens to love weddings, he is cynical and cites how often the ritual fails to translate to lifetime love. Of course, if you think the movie has anything other than true love on it's mind for Kate and Kevin, you clearly don't watch many movies.

To call 27 Dresses predictable is like saying the sun is predictable. This is a romantic comedy folks, not  Scenes From A Marriage. 27 Dresses is about oddball romantic roadblocks between two characters destined to live happily ever after. And, while I have in the past dinged other similar films for their overfamiliar clichés and simpleminded routines, I maintain that those films weren't as interesting in their predictability as 27 Dresses.

27 Dresses offer characters that are easy to accept and enjoy, Director Anne Fletcher may not be skilled at avoiding the typical, but she knows how to cast actresses and actors we want watch in a story that doesn't put one to sleep.

The main reason 27 Dresses is better than other similar films is star Katherine Heigl. This lovely talented young actress has had one exceptional year coming off of the success of Knocked Up last summer and her Emmy win for TV's Grey's Anatomy. She gets 2008 off to a good start with a performance of wondrous romantic angst and good hearted cheer. Her Jane is not some pathetic, pining woman-child but a serious minded woman with good reasons why she has fallen for who she's fallen for, even if she lacks the spine to declare her feelings

Jane is the rare selfless character in a sea of selfish, overbearing characters not just in 27 Dresses but in most modern movies. Just a quick blush of the movies I've seen this weekend from the bank robbers of Mad Money to the monster bait of Cloverfield, we are adrift in selfish, self involved characters whose only concern is for themselves and their well being.

Jane may be a little spineless but it comes from a place of honesty and caring. Though Marsden's Kevin thinks she gets walked on by her friends, the filmmakers portrayal makes it seem more likely that she just loves weddings and wants to give these women the dream that she holds for herself some day. That is nobility if you ask me and a rare characteristic of the modern movie character.

Late in the film, when Jane finally does something truly selfish it is not celebrated as her finally standing up for herself but rather as an out of character, meanspirited moment that she must and does make up for. Again, how rare, a character punished for being selfish. On this message alone I could celebrate 27 Dresses. That it is also charming, sweet and funny is icing on the giant three layer wedding cake.

Movie Review: First Sunday

First Sunday (2008) 

Directed by David E. Talbert 

Written by David E. Talbert

Starring Ice Cube, Katt Williams, Keith David, Regina Hall, Chi McBride

Release Date January 11th, 2008

Published January 11th, 2008

I guess it was bound to happen. Success always leads to lame copies of that success. Now that Tyler Perry is a huge moneymaker with his series of soft headed, soft hearted, well intentioned comedies, it had to happen that someone would rip him off. Enter the good folks behind the new Ice Cube-Tracey Morgan comedy First Sunday.

This lame comedy about bumbling thieves trying to rob a church but finding god instead has a premise that Perry likely would not have touched but a simpleminded message about community and family that he damn near has a patent on.

Durrell (Ice Cube) has been the victim of his pal LeeJohn's (Tracey Morgan) follies since they were kids. Thus, it isn't much of a surprise when LeeJohn gets them both fired from a good job, repairing televisions. Caught trying to steal a TV, the two are sent to court where a helpful judge and prosecutor give us the character snapshots we need, you know the kind a better movie need not deliver with such an obvious device. Apparently, Durrell was the smartest kid in his graduating class but has failed his potential. LeeJohn was a forster kid, repeatedly abused. Sympathetic, the judge forgoes jail in favor of 5000 hours of community service.

This makes getting a job a pretty tough proposition. Durrell needs money bad because his baby mama (the movies words, not mine, sigh) is leaving soon and taking their son to her family in Atlanta. She'll stay if he can pay the 17 grand in rent for her beauty shop. LeeJohn meanwhile crosses some Jamaican gang members and now needs money to keep himself from being killed. The solution? They decide to rob a church. Stumbling on a church meeting where the elders are deciding whether to move the church from this bad neighborhood, our erstwhile heroes now have a hostage situation on their hands while their well meaning captives bicker and pray.

First Sunday is a tuneless mess of a movie. One moment Durrell and LeeJohn are bumbling stooges and the next Ice Cube is wielding a weapon as if flashing back to his Boyz In the Hood days. The lapses of tone are one of many problems for this misguided comedy. There is also a whole lot of casual homophobia and a vapid subplot about a church deacon, Michael Beach, stealing the money from the church before Durrell and LeeJohn ever get the chance. Naturally, among the church hostages there is the proper mix of sassy attitude, beatific certitude and sage wisdom. Oh, and of course, a token love interest.

As I am trashing this movie I should mention one nice thing about it. Comedian Katt Williams, whose concert DVD American Hustle is insanely hot at the moment, takes on the Wanda Sykes role here and does her proud. For the uninitiated, directors often hire Ms. Sykes to offer humorous commentary in the form of sassy one liners that only she can hear.

Watch Evan Almighty or Monster In Law for perfect examples of the Wanda Sykes role. The movies aren't funny but her one liners often fool one into thinking they are. Williams nearly pulls the same neat trick with his perfectly timed jibes and fey cowardice. I must give him credit, he made me laugh repeatedly even as I was bored to death with the rest of the movie.

With it's faux good intentions and religious underpinnings, it's clear that First Sunday wants to ape the pious good intentions of Tyler Perry but lack the understanding and care that Perry brings to even his cheapest efforts. Perry's good intentions are why he makes movies, he truly wants to change the world and see's movies as his avenue to creating social change.

First Sunday simply wants to make money off those good intentions. It plays at being good for you, pretends at a do the right thing attitude but the greedy nature of it all is obvious from the lack of care taken in crafting the feel good messages.

Tyler Perry may not be a great filmmaker but atleast he is honest in his good intentions and with his last film, Why Did I Get Married, he even showed improvement in his artistic side. First Sunday is merely a cynical attempt to make money off the formula that Perry created. How sad.

Movie Review Love Lies Bleeding

Love Lies Bleeding (2008) 

Directed by Keith Samples

Written by Brian Strasmann

Starring Brian Geraghty, Christian Slater, Jenna Dewan, Tara Summers, Jacob Vargas 

Release Date January 15th, 2008

Published February 10th, 2008

From the director of Single White Female 2 and the writer of 2, yes 2 Walking Tall sequels starring Kevin Sorbo, comes the gritty indie flick Love Lies Bleeding. Greatly removed from the Elton John classic or the Michael Winterbottom fave, this Love Lies Bleeding is a pale imitation of gritty, mainstream action movies with the gloss of being low budget and 'independent'. It comes from Sony's direct to video line and to complete the ugly package, poor misguided Christian "What Happened To My Career" Slater doesn't star but instead plays an unfortunate bad guy.

No, even more unfortunately, the wan and forgettable Brian Geraghty stars in Love Lies Bleeding as Duke, an Iraq war veteran with trouble coping with his return to America. Engaged to be married to Amber (Step Up Jenna Dewan), Duke struggles to find work after he spent time in prison on an assault charge not long after his return. Our heroes are quite down on their luck when some gang bangers make things worse by robbing them. Angry, Duke trades his car for a gun and plans a confrontation. What he gets instead is a sack full of fat cash.

Turns out the bangers had run afoul of some crooked DEA agents lead by Agent Pollen (Slater). The Mexican standoff that ensued left all but Pollen dead when Duke arrived. Seeing the bag of money Duke doesn't hesitate. Unfortunately, Pollen isn't dead and is soon on the trail of Duke and Amber who think they have won the lottery. Now the crooked cops want their money back and Pollen wants revenge and to secure their silence.

The first act of Love Lies Bleeding is a torturous 40 minutes of bland dialogue and casual racism as our two Anglo heroes face off against ethnic gang members at every turn. The blandness of it all compounded by a repeated monologue about Lime-Aid and life lived in a hammock. Don't ask. The second act becomes surprisingly compelling as director Keith Samples works his way around the bland dialogue and his overmatched young actors to create a compelling chase scene set inside a casino. The compelling part ends when the chase does and we are thrust back into this couple's dull romance.

On the bright side, there is a more interesting movie trapped in the margins. About half way through Love Lies Bleeding we are introduced to our one good cop, detective Alice Sands played by Tara Summers. The Boston Legal regular brings a quirky energy to this underwritten role. With unexpected humor, Summers applies the kind of skills one could only learn while working with James Spader and William Shatner. Acting while acknowledging the ludicrousness of it all with the glint in her eyes, Summers steals the few scenes she gets and leaves us longing for more time with her and her bumbling partner played by Jacob Vargas.

It's a shame the movie couldn't have been about the two New Mexico cops stumbling on the clichéd lovers on the run story. They could have regarded the story from afar with a disbelieving air and played the whole thing for comedy. I imagine Alice as apoplectic at the thought of such a ludicrous plot as this while her partner fumbles his words and plays the fool. That is the movie I wish this were, but it's not. Love Lies Bleeding is yet another faux indie pretending to be gritty and poetic while its only achievement remains being written and filmed.

That said, I really love Tara Summers. I can't wait to see more of her.