Movie Review: Extreme Ops

Extreme Ops (2002) 

Directed by Christian Duguay 

Written by Michael Zaidan 

Starring Devon Sawa, Bridget Wilson-Sampras, Rupert Graves, Rufus Sewell

Release Date November 27th, 2002 

Published November 27th, 2002 

I am not a big fan of extreme sports. Any sport that wasn't begun before 1960 is not a sport. But I must admit that when it's done well it can be exciting to watch, but still not a sport. The new movie Extreme Ops is about a group of extreme sports enthusiasts who accidentally stumble upon a group of Serbian terrorists.

That would never happen in football.

While on location shooting a commercial for a digital video camera, a group of extreme sportsters head to Austria to film the most dangerous stunt they could think of, skiing and snowboarding ahead of a hard-charging avalanche. Included in this ragtag bunch is the director Ian (Rufus Sewell) his partner and money man Jeffrey (Rupert Graves), the cameraman Will (Devon Sawa), a punk skateboarder named Kittie (Jana Pallaskie) another punk skateboarder named Silo (Joe Absolem) and Chloe (Bridget Wilson Sampras, smoking hot) a gold medal winning downhill skier. 

Ian does not want Chloe to be a part of the shoot but Jeffrey has hired her as the star of the commercial. The stunt is far more difficult than the downhill skiing Chloe is used and at first she can't keep up. If only that were the biggest problem. Instead they accidentally stumbled upon the mountain hideout of a Serbian terrorist who was believed to be dead. So obviously since the crew has seen him and Will actually gets a picture of him, they must be killed before they can reveal his location.

Yes the story is as ridiculous as it sounds but director Christian Duguay knows it's ridiculous and doesn't waste to much time setting up the terrorist plot, preferring to focus on the awesome skiing and snowboarding stunts. The difference between the extreme sports antics in Extreme Ops and those of other big dumb action movies like XXX is that Ops knows how ridiculous they are and embraces them. The charismatic cast perform the stunts with a wink to the audience that let's us in on the joke of the story and allows to relax and have fun with it.

Devon Sawa is one of my favorite young actors and his natural charisma is all over his character here. Sawa plays Will as a guy you would love to hang out with, get drunk or stoned and go do something incredibly dangerous and stupid with. And Bridget Wilson-Sampras who in the past has been accused of being too pretty for the plain characters she is supposed to be playing, here plays a character who is supposed to be hot. She's an actress in a TV commercial and an athlete. Newcomer Jana Pallaskie is stuck in the thankless Clea Duvall role. The “beautiful on the inside grumpy Goth chick” that has become a cliché. Pallaskie does what she can with the role and manages to come off as likable and funny.

Extreme Ops is a B movie that knows it's a B movie. Director Christian Duguay never has any pretense of trying to create art or memorable film. He is making a movie that is a series of stunts and excellent camerawork and both are spectacular. There are moments where things are obviously too dangerous and the filmmakers were forced to use bad CGI effects, but, for the most part, these are awesome stuntmen and women pulling off real stunts.

Real cool stunts.

Movie Review Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights

Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights

Directed by Sean Kearsley

Written by Alan Covert, Adam Sandler

Starring Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider 

Release Date November 27th, 2002 

Published November 25th, 2002 

Just when Adam Sandler earns a modicum of respect with his sensational turn in Punch Drunk Love, he turns around and slaps the audience in the face with his trademark juvenile stupidity. It's like in High School when the popular jock would talk to the nerds until his friends came around. Then he would be mean and boorish again. (Not that I could relate to that story... stupid nerds.) 

This time around, it's an animated Sandler voicing Davey Stone, the meanest guy in town. Stone has made it a habit to ruin Hanukkah and Christmas for everyone in town since his parents died when he was twelve. After Davey gets drunk and steals a snowmobile that he uses to destroy a Hanukkah/Christmas ice sculpture, Davey is hauled into court where he should be sent away for ten years. 

Before he can be sentenced an old man named Whitey, also voiced by Sandler, volunteers to take Davey under his wing. Davey is sentenced to work with Whitey refereeing kids basketball games. At first, Davey doesn't change at all and is a complete jerk to Whitey and Whitey's sister Eleanore, also voiced by Sandler. Of course, in typical fashion, Whitey begins to wear Davey down and after a cute little song, they are friends until the script throws up one last roadblock to prolong the film until its forced happy ending. Along the way, we are treated to excrement, snot, and various other disgusting elements that Sandler has some juvenile affinity for. 

I would be lying if I said that 8 Crazy Nights didn't have a couple of good laughs: something this scatological can't help but hit the target once in a while. But the laughs are rare and not nearly sufficient to make 8 Crazy Nights worth seeing. 

Memo to Adam Sandler: Punch Drunk Love showed honest potential, as does your teaming with Jack Nicholson in the forthcoming Anger Management. There is no need for this kind of stupidity. 8 Crazy Nights is likely to make more money on its opening weekend than Punch Drunk Lovewill make during its entire run, but remember, quality work is its own reward.

Movie Review: The Emperor's Club

The Emperor's Club (2002)

Directed by Michael Hoffman

Written by Neil Tolkin 

Starring Kevin Kline, Steven Culp, Embeth Davidtz, Patrick Dempsey, Emile Hirsch, Rob Morrow 

Release Date November 22nd, 2002 

Published November 22nd, 2002 

In Life as A House, Kevin Kline pandered unsuccessfully to Oscar voters with a character that begged to be loved. Why an actor as talented as Kline felt the need to beg for an Oscar nomination is beyond me because, with his roles in the highly underrated comedy Dave and the forgotten cop thriller The January Man (which is a personal favorite of mine), Kline has proved he can act as well as anyone. In his latest film, The Emperor's Club, Kline takes on yet another role that seems to scream for Oscar attention while not deserving it.

Kline stars as Mr. Hundert, a professor at an all-boys private school named St. Benedictus. Mr Hundert teaches the classics and Roman history, to a group of kids who will grow up to be politicians and the future captains of industry. At first, he is simply dealing with a group of bright kids who are just there to learn. Things change when the troublemaking son of a senator named Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch) joins the class and begins to disrupt things. At first, Mr. Hundert is at a loss as to how to teach Sedgewick since the kid simply refuses to do anything. However after speaking to Sedgewick's father (character actor Harris Yulin, in a typically villainous role), Hundert sees a way to reach the young boy.

The culmination of the school year is a competition between students to become Mr. Julius Caesar, a crown bestowed on the student who has the greatest knowledge of Roman history. Sedgewick begins taking part in class and earns a spot in the contest finals for Mr. Julius Caesar. Though Sedgewick didn't truly earn his spot, Mr. Hundert increased Sedgewick's score on a test, just enough to get him in the contest. Whether he felt sorry for Sedgewick or felt his hard work warranted the extra couple points, Mr. Hundert's decision will come to haunt him when he catches Sedgewick trying to cheat in the contest.

The film begins with an older Mr. Hundert reuniting with his class of 1976, the class which incluses Sedgewick and his friends, and ends with the actual reunion which was organized by Sedgewick as a rematch of the Mr. Julius Caesar contest.

The Emperor's Club is notable for its simplistic scale. This is not meant to be a broad inspirational tale, but rather, a straightforward, earnest character study. It is a movie that seems dedicated to the one teacher that everyone remembers fondly, but instead is a study of one man and his decisions and morals. Mr. Hundert is a good man whose bad decisions haunt him for a long time, but never overwhelm him.

This is not Mr. Holland's Opus or Dead Poets Society; this film isn't that broad. The Emperor's Club is a simple character study. If only that character were more interesting than this one. The Emperor's Club could have been pretty good. Kevin Kline has natural charisma and intelligence yet his Mr. Hundert is an endlessly dull character, as are his students.

Anyone who has never been to a private school and could care less for its rites and traditions will find that The Emperor's Club does little to make them interesting. I expected the film to illustrate the exhilaration of learning. Learning even the most obscure knowledge can be exciting, but the film fails to show this. Instead, the film glosses over the teaching and learning in favor of its morality play.

I have yet to see a film that really expressed the joy of learning. Stand & Deliver came close, but was more concerned with racial politics than with learning. The Emperor's Club had the opportunity and missed. Still I believe someday a film will truly show the joy of learning and that will be one great film.

Movie Review: Die Another Day

Die Another Day (2002) 

Directed by Lee Tamahori 

Written by Neil Purvis, Robert Wade 

Starring Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Rick Yune, Judi Dench

Release Date November 22nd, 2002 

Published November 21st, 2002 

I've wondered recently as I awaited the release of the latest in the James Bond series, whether it's the character I like or a perception of the character that I've built in my own mind. I've always thought I liked James Bond, but I don't seek out the films. In fact, I haven't seen any of the Bond movies all the way through since the last one was in theaters. I have my own preconceptions of what Bond should be based on vague memories of movies I haven't seen in years. Maybe that is why Die Another Day is so disappointing, because it doesn't match my memory. It may be quite faithful to the legend as it actually exists but for my notion of James Bond, it doesn't work.

Pierce Brosnan takes on the role of 007 for the 4th time, still in the shadow of Sean Connery and not likely to escape it being that this is likely his last go around with the character. In the opening scenes Bond surfs onto the shores of North Korea and kidnaps a diamond dealer who is on his way to sell diamonds to a corrupt North Korean General. Bond takes the dealer’s place with the intent of killing the General, however his cover is blown during the deal and Bond is captured. 

A flash forward during the credits shows us Bond being tortured for several months ‘til he is freed in a prisoner exchange with South Korea. Under normal circumstances a double 0 agent would be left to die but Bond's bosses fear he may have cracked and before he can give up any important information they trade a most dangerous prisoner, Zao played by The Fast & the Furious star Rick Yune, for Bond.

Now suspected of treachery, Bond must escape his own people and find the people who blew his cover. Along the way, Bond makes the acquaintance of an American operative named Jinx (Halle Berry). The only person who knows who set Bond up is Zao, who Bond tracks to Cuba and finally to Iceland and the part time home of a megalomaniacal diamond broker named Gustav Graves. The connection between Zao and Graves is a good one and typical of the franchise, anyone with a vague understanding of the legend will see through it immediately.

SPOILER ALERT – YOU’VE BEEN WARNED

Indeed throughout Die Another Day, Director Lee Tamohori and screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, tip their hand with a sly wink to the audience. There is not one twist or surprise in Die Another Day save for a terrific cameo by Madonna. If you have seen any of the previous Bond films then you know everything that will happen in Die Another Day, including the agent that turns on Bond, the true identity of Gustav Graves, and where Jinx's loyalty lies. Here is a hint, she is getting her own spin off film so safe to say she isn't the bad guy.

SPOILER ALERT OVER

Director Lee Tamohori is to be commended for the film’s action, which is very well staged. The special effects and stunts in Die Another Day are spectacular. If the only reason your seeing the film is for the action and special effects you will be very pleased. Die Another Day is a well-oiled machine of a movie. Think of it like a perfectly running car engine. It's quite brilliant but do you want to watch an engine run for 2 hours?

Ultimately, Die Another Day has no heart, no soul and no passion. And accuse me if you like of asking too much of a Hollywood popcorn film, I don't care. I need characters and story. Die Another Day has neither. It has paper-thin caricatures going through the motions of special effect and action. And as for Bond, the character is now skating entirely on past glory. That past is quite glorious even in my fuzzy memory but reputation can only carry you so far and Pierce Brosnan, since taking over the role, has brought nothing new to the character. 

In fact, he lacks the qualities that made Bond so glorious before him. Much like his immediate predecessor Timothy Dalton, Brosnan's Bond is wooden and charmless attempting to pass solely on looks and legend. Both Connery and Roger Moore brought unique characteristics to their Bond. Connery's Bond was charming and dangerous and just so cool. Moore's Bond lacked Connery's charisma, but he too was cool and he brought a new humor to the character that wasn't a part of Connery's Bond.

The next in the series is likely to bring a new actor to the role of Bond, and my hope is he can bring something new to the character, but he will need the help of a director with vision and a writer with the wit enough not to fall back on effects and stunts and provide real suspense and, heaven forbid, dialogue. Not too much though, I wouldn't want to take away from the effects too much. Just enough to allow an actor to act.

As a technical feat, Die Another Day is flawless. As a movie, it’s lacking.

Movie Review Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) 

Directed by Christopher Columbus 

Written by Steve Kloves 

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh, Robbie Coltrane 

Release Date November 15th, 2002 

Published November 14th, 2002 

There is an unspoken competition between the Harry Potter film series and the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. While there are numerous other movie franchises, few match the scope and scale of these two series. The competition has nothing to do with box office—though that should be a close race. It has to do with quality filmmaking; which series will be more artistically satisfying? The first of the Potter series was strong, if not memorable, while the first of the Rings achieved everything it set out to achieve until its awful abrupt ending. 

That film established its characters, its universe and its rules, creating a good deal of anticipation for the next two films in the trilogy. If the original Potter film wasn't as successful in those respects, it was through no lack of trying. In its second outing, the Potter series flies out of the box with all the magic and wonder of classic Hollywood filmmaking and modern technology. Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets throws down the artistic gauntlet to the The Two Towers and sets the bar high on quality filmmaking.

As we rejoin the story of the world's most famous boy wizard, young Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, aging rapidly) is back home with his Muggle (i.e. non-wizard) guardians. Locked in his bedroom and badly mistreated, Harry cannot wait to return to his real home at Hogwarts Academy. Harry is a little down, however, as he has not heard anything from his close friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson). 

As it turns out, Harry's correspondence with his friends has been interrupted by an elf named Dobby who comes to Harry with a warning: Do not return to Hogwarts because your life and those of your friends are in great danger if you do. Undeterred, Harry has no other wish but to return to Hogwarts, and when his friends show up at his home to bust him out and bring him to Hogwarts he literally jumps at the chance.

Once back in the wizard realm he is quickly reunited with his old friend, the giant Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) and comes to meet his newest Professor, the pompous and overbearing Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh). Harry is also quickly reunited with his Hogwarts rival Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) and Draco's equally slimy father Lucius (Jason Isaacs). It isn't long after Harry returns to Hogwarts that strange things begin to happen. First Harry is nearly killed in a quidditch match and then he finds himself accused of paralyzing a cat and scrolling in blood that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened.

Thankfully for Harry, the school headmaster, Professor Dumbledore (Richard Harris), believes Harry did not commit the crime. Dumbledore knows more than he lets on but plays it close to the vest. As if illustrating Harry's growth into puberty and beyond, he begins to discover new powers, including a rather frightening ability to speak to snakes, a power usually restricted to those who are members of the Slytherin House. Harry is also hearing voices that no one else can hear— a trait that is a little strange, even for a wizard. After a friend is struck paralyzed by the entity that also froze the cat, Harry and his friends can't help but investigate, and find out what the Chamber of Secrets is and whether it has anything to do with the Malfoys, Slytherin, or worse.

There is a deeper story with the Malfoy family who make clear in early scenes their dislike of Muggles and especially wizards descended from Muggle parents like Hermione. The allusion to Nazism is obvious but not overdone. Draco is obviously the model of Aryan nazi youth, and this sets up a metaphor that I'm sure will play itself out in the sequels to come.

One advantage to never having read the books is that I'm excited to not know what's going to happen next, and director Chris Columbus does an excellent job of foreshadowing the future of Harry and his friends— especially the future relationship between Harry and Hermione who seem destined to be more than friends.

It would be easy to underestimate the performance of Daniel Radcliffe, since the kid really is so comfortable in the role he makes it look very easy. However, it can't be easy spending most of the film talking to things that actually aren't there, as Radcliffe does. Be they elves, giant spiders or ghosts, Radcliffe's performance, combined with state-of-the-art effects and editing, bring the film to life in a vibrant and exciting way.

In a wonderful coda to an amazing career Richard Harris leaves us with a wonderful performance. Putting aside the sympathy votes, Harris' performance is honestly Oscar worthy, as is the performance of the newest addition to the series, Kenneth Branagh. With energy and bravado to spare, Branagh's egotistical, cowardly Professor Gilderoy Lockhart is a comic whirlwind who earns laughs with simply a smile. Branagh's performance is truly delightful.

Director Chris Columbus will turn over the reins of the Potter series to Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien), and it is sad to see him go. The director, who was a controversial choice the first time around, really proved himself on this film. Though, for me, the original wasn't the winning concoction so many others enjoyed, it did show that Columbus had a touch for staging and effects. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Columbus fills out the Potter universe in spectacular fashion. Hogwarts becomes a fully realized place, almost a character in itself. Columbus's expertise in staging and effects here combines itself with a compelling story and performances, to make for a truly magical film. The Two Towers has a lot to live up to if it hopes to match the quality of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Movie Review Half Past Dead

Half Past Dead (2002) 

Directed by Don Michael Paul

Written by Don Michael Paul 

Starring Steven Seagal, Ja Rule, Kurupt, Morris Chestnut, Nia Peeples 

Release Date November 15th, 2002

Published November 15th, 2002 

As long as rap stars want an "actor" to make them look good, Steven Seagal will have a film career. Never known for his acting, Seagal is the perfect foil for rappers beginning their acting careers because his sullen, wooden ridiculousness makes his co-stars seem Deniro-esque in comparison. In Half Past Dead Seagal does the trick for first timer Ja Rule.

Dead features Seagal as Sascha, an FBI agent who is deep undercover in a group of car thieves. Sascha's unwitting partner is Nick (Ja Rule) who thinks his new partner is a straight thug criminal. Nick is getting Sascha close to the criminal organization that killed Sascha's wife until the two are busted at a stolen car chop shop and Nick is sent to jail. To stay undercover and close to Nick, Sascha joins Nick at the newly reopened Acatraz Island prison.

Alcatraz is about to perform its first execution since reopening on a man named Sonny Eckvall (Richard Bremmer). Sonny was sentenced to death for the murder of FBI agents who were attempting to arrest him for stealing $200 million in gold. Before committing the murders, Sonny stashed the gold and plans to take the gold’s location to his grave. A female Supreme Court justice, conveniently soon to be a hostage, played by Linda Thorson, has come to Alcatraz to preside over the execution.

Before the execution can occur, a group of terrorists lead by a prison bureaucrat played by Morris Chestnutt (slumming for a paycheck), attack the prison with the intent of forcing Sonny to reveal the location of the gold. Unfortunately for them, Sascha is loose in the prison and is quickly dispatching of his henchman.

It is no surprise that Half Past Dead is a slipshod, slapped together B movie. What is surprising is how truly inept a movie made in this day and age can be. Especially a film with a studio backing. Bad movies are bad movies but there is no excuse for the massive continuity errors and logical leaps forced upon us by first time feature director Don Michael Paul. My favorite is when the bad guys leap out of a plane in what is clearly daylight and then land on Alcatraz at night. You could skydive from the moon and land faster than that.

I also enjoyed Paul's admission on the commentary track that some of the film's footage was a direct lift from his buddy Michael Bay's movie The Rock. Originality gets its ass kicked again. Now to be fair, director Paul does give the film a slick and polished music video style that looks very cool on DVD. Oh, and whomever dressed up Nia Peeples did a great job because she has never looked hotter.

Unfortunately, no matter how slick the movie may look it can't make Steven Seagal look good. Seagal's plodding dullness is becoming more and more evident with every film. He continues to get slower and more overweight in every movie. Where his martial arts moves may have once been credible, or were they? I don't remember. Regardless, they are clearly embellished by stuntmen and effects in Half Past Dead.

As for Ja Rule, he isn't an unpleasant actor but his range is limited and I can't imagine much of a future for him as an actor outside of ultraviolet low dialogue B-movies. Half Past Dead is more evidence, as if anymore was needed, that Steven Seagal is beyond washed up. Though I'm sure that because Hollywood is a cesspool of greed and stupidity there will always be a place for him in movies. Let's hope this film’s lack of box office will seal his fate as a straight-to-video B-movie actor.

Movie Review: Far From Heaven

Far From Heaven (2002)

Directed by Todd Haynes 

Written by Todd Haynes

Starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson, Viola Davis, George Clooney

Release Date November 8th, 2002

Published December 24th, 2002

The 1950s is bathed in that Donna Reed/Leave It To Beaver sheen that seems, to irony, impenetrable. The earnestness and honesty of the times is anathema to our current state of affairs. Not that I would prefer the constricted fifties to our open society, rather, I'm merely illustrating the differences that are in conflict in Todd Haynes 50s era drama Far From Heaven, which attempts to openly comment on modern social issues while maintaining the earnestness of its time period. It is a balancing act that ends up in mixed results at best.

Inspired by the works of fifties era hauteur Douglas Sirk, Far From Heaven is a domestic drama that casts Julianne Moore as mother and housewife Catherine Whitaker. Living in the perfect suburb with her perfect children, home and lifestyle, Catherine is the Donna Reed-like ideal 50s woman. Perfect to the point that she and her husband are cast as the perfect couple in an advertisement for her husband's TV manufacturing company. So perfect that a local reporter profiles her as the womanly ideal.

However, cracks are beginning to show. Catherine's husband Frank continually arrives home later and later from work. Then, as Catherine waits for Frank to arrive home to escort her to a party, she is called to the police station to bail him out. She never questions why Frank was in jail; he claims the officer mistook him for the real criminal. The cracks become a huge gaping hole when Catherine decides to deliver dinner to a late working Frank and finds him in flagrante delicto with another man.

Rather than risk her perfect life, Catherine is very forgiving of Frank, escorting him to a psychiatrist where he hopes to be cured of his "affliction." So how does Catherine deal with her emotions? Rather than confide in her closest friend, played by Patricia Clarkson, she takes solace in the kind ear of her new gardener a black man named Raymond Deagen. The attraction isn't overtly sexual; at first, it is friendly and supportive and, slowly, an undercurrent of passion develops that both are fearful of exploring. Especially after a neighbor begins gossiping about the relationship.

Writer-director Todd Haynes is extremely faithful to his period and anyone who has flipped past Turner Classic Movies will recognize from the title sequence, the score by Elmer Bernstein, all the way to the closing credits, the look of the 50s dramas that were actually made in the 1950s. It is really remarkable but also troublesome. Haynes is so successful in his homage that it almost becomes comical, a parody.

The film deals with serious issues in the same ways that the movies that influenced it did, but far more overtly. Films of the 50s couldn't portray overtly homosexual characters or interracial romances, so commentaries on those topics were done through complicated metaphors that are still being discovered today. It is here that Haynes' freedom to portray these issues openly betrays him. Far From Heaven doesn't have the benefit of the mystery of metaphor that was invoked by the films that influenced it.

Julianne Moore gives a fine performance but, at times, only her natural warmth and audience credibility save the character from drifting into Stepford Wife-like parody. Dennis Quaid, as her closeted husband, has an easier time with his role, which has a natural conflict that allows him to be human from beginning to end (whereas Moore's character is at first required to be a Donna Reed clone and then gradually becomes a realistic character.) Haysbert has the difficult task of being saintly from beginning to end, at times taking on an almost beatific air. How a character in his situation could so naively wander from scene to scene without conflict is rather unbelievable.

Todd Haynes shows maturity and savvy that are quite remarkable; he has a very bright future ahead of him. Haynes will do especially well if he maintains his team of art director Peter Rogness, cinematographer Edward Lachman and production designer Mark Friedberg, who bathe every scene in the film in beautiful colors. The look of the film is remarkable for its clarity and will look truly amazing on DVD.

Far From Heaven is a good movie, but it is also a movie that cannot transcend its scenery. The 50s setting is a blessing and a curse. A blessing for the palate it provides for the production design, a curse for the faithfulness and attention to detail it seems to require, that cause the film to seem like almost a parody of itself.