Action movies, like many genre films, have one big thing going against them – we’ve seen it before. So the first thought when writing an action film is how do you make it something the popcorn-buying crowds nationwide have never laid eyes on? Then, once you realize that all the writers before you have thought the same question, and inevitably come to the same brilliant idea you just did, you have to ask a more specific question like, “What twist can I put on an old tale?” Sometimes the result still reeks of a dozen or more previous cinematic exploits, but every now and again the similarities can be easily forgiven when the finished product is just done so damn well, like the case we have here.
Red stands for “Retired, Extremely Dangerous” and when you work for the CIA and achieve a glorious marking such as that, things don’t tend to go so well for you. Frank Moses was trying to build some semblance of a life after years of working in the shadows as one of the best government agents around, but his name gets dropped on a list and the number of people still breathing on that list is growing increasingly small. Frank only has one choice, bring together the best of his old contacts and find out who marked him, then erase the person or the list — whichever feels right at the moment.
The first murmur I heard from the crowd as I walked through the hallways of the theater was surprise at how funny the movie was, to which I definitely agree. Most films of this ilk show one or two of the great lines in the trailer but the movie as a whole fails to keep up the punchiness of the original teaser. Yet with Red, the creative minds behind it decided not to just try and balance the action and violence with the humor and brevity, they chose a much more dangerous route, to keep laughter throughout by making the violence funny. From the mounted mega-cannon in the parking lot to the rocket launcher inside of a stuffed pig, the gunplay never took over from the just-plain-play. This inter-weaving of moods kept the momentum going from beginning to end and allowed a nearly two-hour film to feel much, much shorter.
Now we can mention one of the main reasons the humor is there, the cast of brilliant, talented, and, um…’well seasoned’ actors. The casting here is incredible and I will just touch on this, since I could write another thousand words on each cast member. Bruce Willis, at the head of the pack, proves once more that he is still the king of solemn action movie leading men. Soft spoken and hard hitting, he has lost almost none of his true grit from Die Hard all the way through Sin City. Red also proves how to use someone like him (being his age) and still allow it to be believable, unlike the last chapter of the Die Hard franchise. Then there’s Morgan Freeman, who often is not the big shooter out front, but the silent, stoic killer behind the big gun. Just like in Seven and Unforgiven, Freeman lends his particular gift for wisdom and depth to each scene, making it more than just a shoot ‘em up flick. Next, what can be said about John Malkovich other than very few people play crazy better. Just getting to see him charge down a street with numerous explosives strapped to his chest, screaming like a madman, should be enough to get you into those comfy theater seats. Rounding out the senior staff, saving the best for last, the one most people are talking about when they mention this film is Helen Mirren. A paragon of grace, beauty and skill, nothing could prepare an audience for how amazing it is to see her firing off hundreds of rounds from a fully-automatic death dealing cannon. She somehow manages to handle high powered weaponry in this film the same way she handled her crown in The Queen, with the utmost class. Not to be left behind, Brian Cox, Mary Louise Parker and Karl Urban all hold their own around this top-billed cast and their decades of talent.
Bonus Movie Geek reference: I’m not 100% on this, but I swear the swamp shack set for John Malkovich was the villain’s hideout in the John Cena masterpiece, The Marine. Anyone who could verify that would be greatly appreciated.
The End of the Page Recommendation:Red is one of the most surprisingly enjoyable movies for almost every type of audience member. Comedy, action, even a couple love story angles, all mix together in a magically light-hearted way.
Posted 1 year, 6 months ago at 10:23 am. Add a comment
Tell me one more time how I violate the dress code of this “white” party.
Rating: 5 out of 10
From the moment of inception each film runs the gamut of a seemingly endless series of choices before the final product shines its way onto the silver screen. One choice in that clamoring multitude is whether to attempt an overall balance of effort through each aspect of the film or puts all your eggs in one basket and let the rest fall where they may. Most people might think the clear answer is to go for the balanced approach, maybe reach a broader audience and critical support – that is a very logical suggestion, yet for certain films with a pre-built fan base they find their needs are much more specific. In the video game adaptation realm, in most cases the number one desire is to bring to life the video game essence, which these days means incredible visual elements. Crank that knob to eleven, drown out the rest and you just might find yourself the number one movie of the weekend, like the subject of this review. Will it gain lasting cinematic glory, not likely, but why glow forever when you can burn big and burn out? Sometimes the money is exactly the same.
Resident Evil: Afterlife continues the revenge fantasy of Alice against the evil Umbrella Corporation. This time she follows an emergency beacon to the long sought after safe haven of Arcadia, supposedly a city in Alaska where the deadly T-Virus has not yet reached. Once there, Alice finds the pieces of civilization she expected are not so easy to put together. She finds her way to a prison in the middle of Los Angeles, where she leads a small group of survivors to what she hopes is the real promised land.
It has been said that if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all, but as any editorial reviewer would tell you, that would make our job all but moot. Yet, I will say I find it sets up a nicer flow to begin with the good before delving in to the muck, so let me explain where nearly all five points in this rating came from…the visuals! Afterlife put all its money and talent into this one facet of the movie and it really did pay off. Bright colors that pop right off the screen and 3D effects that never make you second guess paying the ridiculous extra price for those glasses, specifically in the scene halfway through the movie featuring my personal favorite character, crazy-sack-head-super-duper-axe-pounding-stick-guy. The possibly overused, but perpetually enjoyed, mixture of 3D with bullet-time technology really painted this picture with a slick glossy coating that was hypnotizing to say the least. Even the set design was expertly crafted to shine, ranging from the picturesque outdoor landscapes to the stark white rooms of the secret Umbrella hangars, brought together a visual experience worth talking about after the final credits disappeared.
But every campfire rendition of “Kumbaya” must come to an end, and so I must bring in some of the downsides to the continuing adventures of our incredibly limber video game heroine. First off, the entire movie leaves you with the impression that director and writer, Paul W.S. Anderson, the video game adaption king, watched The Matrix one day and thought, “Man, I wish I’d made that. Oh wait, I can just do it again and name it something else!” Sure, the deep philosophical monologues about reality are missing here, but the opening action scene bore more than just a passing resemblance to Neo and Trinity storming the building. Even more of an homage was made with the character of Albert Wesker, played by Shawn Roberts, but could’ve easily been a digital photocopy of Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith, even down to the bullet dodging in the final fight sequence. So much of the action rang unoriginal that it dissolved some of the magic from the highly powerful visuals. I’ve got nothing against picking up a technology or style where one film leaves off, but you have to show us something new. It’s even worse when the audience begins to feel the original film did it better, even eleven years ago.
Moving beyond the lack of originality in action, the rules created by the universe seemed tossed away from five minutes in. After Alice, played once more by Milla Jovovich, goes through what should be a physical and existential change to her character, she proceeds through the movie as if nothing is different about her. It would have exponentially more interesting to see her try and deal with those changes while still attempting to be the superhero and save everyone, but that idea was not even hinted at. Ali Larter, continuing in the role of Claire Redfield, also undergoes significant emotional and mental shifts throughout the movie, but the script never gives her an opportunity to fully explore that side of her character. The same problem existed for Wentworth Miller, who is new to the revolving cast, but failed to find a single place in the movie to change the one, single expression on his face. Also, I don’t know if anyone else will find the irony, but I liked the idea of the character found locked inside of a portable prison cell is the same actor who starred in the TV show Prison Break. The only moments in interesting character development were between Jovovich and Boris Kodjoe, who played basketball star Luther West. Some may find the romantic sparks unnecessary and trite, but I actually felt they were played well and provided a good break from the monotone being pushed up to that point.
The End of the Page Recommendation: Resident Evil: Afterlife already brought in enough money to greenlight another sequel, but the franchise is now finding itself relegated to the video game version of the Friday the 13th series. People will watch, but mostly out of novelty and a gross curiosity to see if it got any worse.
Posted 1 year, 8 months ago at 3:26 pm. Add a comment
Seriously? Yes, we would like the appetizers first. That’s why they’re called appetizers.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Los Angeles is a mecca for up-and-coming rock bands looking to make their name in the ever changing musical landscape. Many roam these streets from one dive bar to the next, coating the pavement with their sweat, pain and tears, paying dues the industry seemingly demands for any type of future recognition. Then the moment comes when their hooks floats into the ears of one random person, sending a jolt straight into their brain because they know it’s something special, something unique, and most importantly, something completely marketable. One phone call later the ball rolls and those lucky musicians are on their way, granting their early fan base the snooty (but amazingly fun) ability of saying, “I knew them before they were huge.” If you’ve never experienced the sheer joy of holding your musical knowledge above those of other mere mortals, follow along and I’ll give you that opportunity right now.
Some Hear Explosions is a goth/pop/rock fusion outfit that brings the flavor of David Bowie, the angst-y yells of Marylin Manson and the edge of early Garbage all in one extremely fashionable package. Catchy hooks ride on an electronic pulse, bouncing their way through the album, one moment making you crave seeing those fists pumping in the air, then the next moment taking it down a notch, displaying heart and thoughtfulness sometimes lost in modern-day radio play.
Making up the band are Bay Dariz, Ambre Leigh and Joe Herrera. Dariz and Leigh wrote much of the music together and their collaboration has definitely borne tasty fruit for music lovers everywhere. Dariz is all over the instrumental map playing guitar, bass, keys and programming, on top of lending his vocals, which bears a creepy and high-quality resemblance to Marylin Manson (just a touch happier). Leigh takes control of the mic as lead vocalist. Her sound brings images in my head of beautiful femme fatales from the film noir days of the twenties, gangster ladies stepping out of darkened cars wearing black suits and black hats, controlling everyone around them with a simple word from their lips. Herrera keeps it all on track on the drums, knowing internally when to pound down and bring the pain and when to gently tap the skins and bring things back from the rocker’s edge.
Getting down to the track level, there are a number of songs that deserve mention, but the one that I played on repeat when I first got the album was Beep. Insanely catchy, Beep stands out to me as an instant single that should climb almost any radio chart lucky enough to have it listed. It has the hook, the chorus and the rhythmic movement that all make for a great track. Hell A on the other hand delivers solid rock power and a lyrical kick making it not only a stand out on the album, but one to certainly look forward to during live gigs. It could also very well become a mantra for those who have the grand fortune (or misfortune) to actually call this infamous town home.
On the softer side, we have become ever-so-used-to the idea that all rock bands must provide a ballad on their album, something to sweeten those delicate ears who would normally avoid anything on the stereo missing the word “lite”. Those perfunctory tracks, padded in aural downy softness, can often come off as forced and almost trite, but this time we are lucky listeners indeed. Amazing is delicate, relaxed, honest and memorable, making it everything that people love when they’re sitting in their car, stuck in their cubicle or just having that glass of wine in their living room. It instantly makes you think of that person, that time in your life and connects those frayed moments back together, if only for a short period of time. Other notable tracks filling out the album are the marching beat of All Your Gravity, the dark corner romance of Baby Won’t You (kiss my lips) and the slithering sonic smackdown of the album’s moniker, It’s Our Time Now.
If you like what you hear from their site or on iTunes, check their schedule because they just might be swinging through your town soon. Take the opportunity while you have it because next time the tickets won’t be so easy to come by.
The End of the Page Recommendation: From top to bottom, It’s Our Time Now by Some Hear Explosions is a wicked debut album from a band destined and determined to make it.
I don’t understand why using the dryer to dry the cat was so wrong. It’s called a DRYER!
Rating: 5 out of 10
Anytime you change the game, those who follow you will be forever compared to your moment of brilliance. How brilliant that moment was is completely objective, but it really doesn’t matter if it was the best or worst decision you ever made, just that you made it before anyone else did. The same goes for movies and when a film comes along and surprises a global audience with a new take on a classic genre. It is not only bound to make a mark, but it is bound to make some copies as well. If one person strikes gold, dig where they dig, or so it goes. Many people are comparing The Last Exorcism with The Blair Witch Project and the connection between the two is quick and easy to notice. While Blair Witch was not the first film to use the method of hand-held filmmaking and inclusion of the cameraman into the cast, it was the first to do it in quite a long time to such an incredible effect. Did The Last Exorcism recreate some of that power and fright? Let’s see…
The Last Exorcism plays out as a documentary starring Cotton Marcus, once a poster boy for the Evangelical market and a wunderkind who performed his first exorcism before 10 years old. Now Cotton fights against the whole idea of exorcism and has devoted his life to debunking the practice. A small film crew decides to go with him on a trip into the backwoods of nowhere in order to watch him prove how easily the idea of possession can be explained away. Yet Nell, the afflicted little girl, proves to be more than Cotton has ever encountered before.
***SPOILER ALERT – IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE END OF THE FILM, STOP READING NOW***
OK, had to get that out of the way because the only way to tell you why this film only gets a 5 out of 10 is to talk about the ending, but let us build our way there. Choosing to shoot this film as a fake documentary gives certain benefits right away. The doc style has a subconscious effect on the viewer, making them believe what they are seeing is real. We are so attuned to flashy editing and that filmic look that when we see home styled video camera images, which are more common to documentaries, they bring us directly into the doc mindset. We instantly feel we are there to learn or be shown something incredibly unique, so this works perfectly in favor of the director because his audience is just a little more down that rabbit hole. With that being said, there is one big caveat to this method and that is you instantly have to make the camera operator a member of the cast and you must justify why the audience gets to see anything and everything on screen.
This is where we run into a problem.
In Blair Witch this was handled with amazing creativity because there was more than one camera, so the POV could change whenever they feel they needed to, but in The Last Exorcism there was only one camera, therefore only one point of view for the entire film. That’s not always a bad thing since it can increase the audience feeling that they are indeed one of the characters (personally I felt this worked quite well in Cloverfield also), but one thing the others did was think all the way through to the very end before hitting ‘Record’ for the first time. The Last Exorcism feels like they painted themselves into a corner and their big twist ending, which truly wasn’t even needed, was further ruined by the continued justification of where the camera was.
***LAST WARNING – HERE COMES THE BIG TWIST***
The big demon birthing ritual was wholly unnecessary and actually devalued what up to that point was an interesting and creepy pic, but if they felt the need to go down that route, I want to see the big fight at the finish. Here we spent a whole movie watching the hero try and debunk the existence of real demons, but now that he is standing right in front of one, choosing to fight, trying to earn the evangelical praise that was heaped on him his whole life, at that critical cinematic climax, all we get is a bouncy running camera shot because there was no way to logically keep the camera there, since the guy holding it was surrounded by crazy cultists. As much as I am a stickler for following the rules of logic set up in the world of the film, this is one case where that rule bites you in the ass. The running, panting and eventual collapse of our viewpoint in that world (also done before and done better by Blair Witch) left the audience reeling in disbelief that all the time they had put in came to nothing but a split second CGI-creation of a fire demon. On top of that, there also seemed to be no need to add Nell’s brother, Caleb, into the cult. It just came off as another random twist in an already convoluted ending.
The real shame of the poor delivery at the end of the film is it washed away some really great moments earlier on. Ashley Bell did a commendable job portraying the home-schooled Nell, balancing her wondrous innocence with the truly eerie possessed nature she developed throughout the film. The shot of her last second terrible smile as the door closed in front of her gained the highest creep factor out of the entire experience. Patrick Fabian also showed some real range as Cotton, the preacher caught in between his fictional religious beliefs and the seemingly real demon possession standing in front of him. I actually wanted to see more of his struggle between what he believed and the stories he relegated to nothing but hocus-pocus from his dad’s old books. There was a really nice world created here, but in the end it faded into a ridiculous genre pic that leaves viewers wondering if they paid too much.
The End of the Page Recommendation: The Last Exorcism had potential, but they failed to scare up anything in the end.
Posted 1 year, 8 months ago at 8:28 am. Add a comment
For every dangerous animal out there, a bigger one exists.
It’s nearing that time of year again when all the news networks, and partisan sounding boards, break out their horn choirs and play that familiar ‘Decision’ music. It’s meant to inspire, it’s meant to encourage, and it’s meant to fill our hearts with the desire to take part in the core meaning of our democracy. Instead, what it reflects now is the onslaught of fear-mongering and fact distortion in the most heinous of manners. One side is struggling to buck historical trend and not lose too many seats, while the other is struggling to hold on to any semblance of its previous character, having sacrificed themselves at the altar of public reactionaries. Both sides smell blood in the water, but they ignore that too much blood makes the water impossible to drink and it cannot nourish the nation.
Issues are now distorted instead of debated and the public is suffering at the hands and wills of those we are brought up to trust, our elected leaders. One step down from them is the ‘pure’ news outlets, who are finding themselves a lonely species in the world, ousted by a new hybrid, the news/partisan echo chamber. Crawling out of the political ooze, this fledgling evolution of money, power and influence is now wielding its might like a toddler with a baseball bat, unaware of the dangerous power to damage and destroy.
Every story now is another opportunity for the extremists on both sides to gin up more rage and anger, but most boil down to absolutely nothing when dragged into the bright light of the day. These political assassins are becoming masters of the newly coined, ‘non-troversy’, and these hack job stories are currently dominating the country’s dialogue, which is now on the verge of descending into nothing more than hastily scribbled placards and photoshopped racist images of their enemies.
At the top of the non-troversy totem pole right now is the “Ground Zero Mosque” debate. While I can completely understand that it is a sensitive issue and there is still much grief and sorrow floating in the air in Manhattan and around the country, here are a few key facts that are very rarely mentioned in the so-called ‘news reports’:
- The proposed mosque is not just a mosque, it is a cultural center that includes a mosque, as well as a pool and a community center for people of all religions.
- The location, while close, is not actually at Ground Zero. It is two blocks away, completely blocked by many other buildings from the now hallowed ground. So far only the Associated Press has directed all their employees to discontinue any usage of the term “Ground Zero Mosque” because it is intentionally misleading.
- If this cultural center is such a horrific idea and flies in the face of our freedoms and what we suffered nine years ago, what about the other mosque two more blocks beyond? When was the last time you heard in a news report just how many mosques there are already in that small area, not to mention New York as a whole? Hundreds.
- Some have tried to label the proposed cultural center as a ‘terrorist headquarters’ in the heart of New York, but do they recognize that there is a mosque right now located inside the Pentagon? Why not rally and protest that one? Seems like an incredibly dangerous location, don’t you think?
- While the opponents of the cultural center are claiming they can follow the money back to radical Islamic terrorists, they are trying to conveniently avoid showing how the money actually leads back to the second largest shareholder in Fox News and other religious leaders previous hailed on their very network as “moderate Muslims” and as shining examples of the peaceful and proper worship of Islam.
Those are only a few of the facts that might shift the debate were they to be boldly and loudly preached through the airwaves. Almost all the major news networks are to blame for taking the pill and getting on the ride for the sake of generating viewership over reporting on the facts. The direct and immediate danger of this is we are watching our country, which was once so wonderfully hailed as a place of religious freedoms and individual liberties, devolve into a religious monarchy, where only one religion rules the masses and the preacher’s pulpit will become the new oval office. We are already seeing the effects of the disease being spread. As I mentioned before, the location of the proposed cultural center in New York can easily draw up some raw emotion, but what about Murfreesboro, TN or Sheboygan, WI? Are those also too close to Ground Zero? We are creating an invisible line in the sand that is pushing any worship of Islam, or anything outside the Judeo/Christian norm, out into the oceans on either side of the country.
Yet there may be a flickering light at the end of this tunnel. The opponents of ‘the other’ are beginning to overplay their hand. They are losing supporters in the very base they are trying to rally. The violence is beginning to lash out in unavoidable ways, causing even the most staunch supporters to lower their hands. From the cab driver who was recently stabbed after being asked “are you a Muslim?” to the Ground Zero worker who was harassed at a protest rally just because he looked Muslim. Even Ron Paul, the un-official leader of the libertarian conservatives, has come out against this baseless fear-mongering:
It is repeatedly said that 64% of the people, after listening to the political demagogues, don’t want the mosque to be built. What would we do if 75% of the people insist that no more Catholic churches be built in New York City? The point being is that majorities can become oppressors of minority rights as well as individual dictators. Statistics of support is irrelevant when it comes to the purpose of government in a free society—protecting liberty.
We have reached the breakwater and it is time to turn this ship home. So next time you think about screaming about protecting your country from the dangers of Islam or blurring the lines in our Constitution referring to the “separation of church and state” and “freedom of religion”, it might be time to sit down, take a deep breath and look around at where that path will lead you.
Oh, maybe turn off Fox News as well.
What are your thoughts? What stories do you feel are meaningful or being blow out of proportion for political gain?
Posted 1 year, 8 months ago at 8:01 am. 2 comments
You said the popcorn had free refills, now you tell me that doesn’t include more butter? Would you like to reconsider that arrangement?
Rating: 6 out of 10
Right off the bat, I want to publicly denounce anyone heard using the joke, “So the sequel to this will be called Pepper, right?” or anything that resembles it. Those people should be terribly, terribly ashamed of themselves.
Thank you. Now I will move from that soapbox to my other soapbox.
Salt follows the dramatic chase, catch and escape of an American CIA agent named Evelyn Salt. A Russian defector gives up secret information which claims Salt is a deep undercover mole, thereby sending her into a cat-and-mouse game played throughout the halls and caverns of American secret agencies. She is forced to cleverly evade and attack her enemies, her friends, even her former boss in an effort to prove who and what she really is.
Salt blasts into action incredibly quickly, which works well for its rather small 100-minute time frame, but in their efforts to hit the ground running, they left out one incredibly important portion of the common hero/anti-hero story – we – the audience, need to care. Angelina Jolie brings the razor’s edge to her intensity and the constant use of her powerful stare, but she gets precious little time to try and makes us feel anything for her character. There are tiny flashbacks here and there to expose a loving relationship between her and her husband, who is kidnapped early in the film, but it never quite rings true and feels like it was dropped in only by necessity. As I noted in the title, there are glaring and obvious comparisons between this film and the Bourne franchise, but Matt Damon was given great opportunities to bring the audience into Jason Bourne’s dilemma and struggle through it with him. Also, the romantic aspect to that original movie was one we got to witness growing on screen, unlike the momentary recalls in Salt, which failed to generate any flutters of the heart.
Yet, for what Salt lacked in the emotions department, they valiantly tried to make up for in the action arena. Jolie gets chased through nearly every type of structure known to man (sewers, church bunkers, packed highways, etc…) and shows herself to be quite the athlete when it comes to jumping off of nearly every set piece in the film, moving and stationary. Brief glimpses of déjà vu attacked me through the screening as I recognized the same Jolie we all rallied around in her Tomb Raider days. There were also a couple Matrix-ish moments of her using the now popular “jump-push off the wall punch-kick” maneuver, which made me wonder what it would have been like if Jolie had donned the black pleather jumpsuit of Trinity (after a few moments I realized she probably would have overwhelmed any scene she was in, so Carrie-Anne Moss was indeed the better choice). There was an attempt to bring a little more weight and depth to the film by using continuously solid actors like Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor, but while Liev gets a bit more meat packed into his role, Chiwetel ends up very much on the short end of the stick, saddled with one of the only story-changing arcs in the story, but absolutely no time to bring it to a full and believable fruition.
The End of the Page Recommendation: Salt delivers high-paced action, but fails to combine it with real meaning.
What did you think? Does it end up on your list of ‘Top Female Action Flicks’?
Posted 1 year, 9 months ago at 7:00 am. Add a comment
I’m going to win this Dreidel game if it’s the last thing I ever do.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Everyone fears the sophomore curse, when you break out of the gate in any type of popular media with something so unique, so gripping and so monumentally accepted by the ravenous public that you set the bar high into the stratosphere, making it impossible for your second creative effort to even bask in the reflection of that initial glory. It frightens each and every person stepping out of the shadows and into the spotlight, but there is a misconception lingering making people feel safe after they are past their second credit. The cold, hard fact is each and every time you release something out to the public it is another audition to the world. If your newest effort becomes known as the best of your career, congratulations my friend, welcome back to the curse. It’s been right here waiting for you. Christopher Nolan felt the sting of the curse after his breakout indie darling, Memento, which he followed with a poorly timed remake of the chilly psychological thriller, Insomnia. Yet Nolan fought onward and grabbed hold of the frayed cape of the Batman franchise and resurfaced with a much more dark and gritty take on the legendary crusader in Batman Begins. This inevitably led to his crowning achievement in the comic book sequel, The Dark Knight, where the world witnessed the true beauty of a director and actor, in Heath Ledger, creating something that will be remembered and talked about for generations. As the accolades for The Dark Knight poured in, Nolan found himself right back in the lap of the curse, plotting his escape, scanning the horizons for a safe way out. Turns out, he found his escape not by looking outside, but by turning in.
Inception is the name given to a procedure where a person with incredibly specific skills and equipment can enter someone else’s dreams and gently plant the seed of an idea, which would then flourish and grow in that person naturally, culminating in the subject doing exactly what you wanted them to. Most believe it can’t be done, but one man, Cobb, says it is not just possible, but he’s done it before. Hired for one last job, Cobb builds a team of people to help him complete his mission and try to win his ticket home to his children.
The out and out winner here is the writing. While the directing and acting, which will be mentioned later, are both up to par, the writing of such an intricate, delicate and verbose script is an achievement worth high recognition. People are already talking Oscar race for this film, and while I might be on the fence right now in the Best Picture category (we still have quite a few months to go people), in the arena of Best Original Screenplay, this should be a shoe-in. Nolan is truly at his best when dealing with fragmented and fractured realities, achieving a tender balance between intrigue and confusion that makes the audience think, but not feel stupid if they all come up with different answers at the end. As for the ending, I’ll leave that for later, loudly hidden behind the spoiler warnings.
Moving onto the acting, Leonardo DiCaprio, who played our anti-hero Cobb, once again brims with sheer determination and builds layer upon layer into the role. The only fraction of a flaw in his performance in my eyes is it bordered on being too controlled. At times there felt perfect opportunities to let him fly off the handle or just peel back one more layer, showing his humanity, but the importance of the job and the need for sharp and complete focus kept him tightly wrapped up. Tom Hardy, playing Eames, the wise-cracking master thief of the group, steals many of the scenes not only due to his skill as an actor, but because he provides the only comic relief in the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as Aurthur, brings back a little bit of his steam-train determination and tunnel-vision drive that he perfected in Brick. Overall all the performances were on point, but in the minority there were two people that I felt were under used and under developed, Michael Caine and Ellen Page. Caine is a tremendous actor that felt totally wasted in a partially unexplained cameo part (he’s mentioned as the grandfather to Cobb’s children, but it is never illustrated whether he is Cobb’s father or his stepfather.) As for Page, while they try with one line of dialogue to cover over her rapid acceptance of the world of dreams and being able to control them, she still ends up feeling rushed into the story more as a person to move the plot than a full fledged character.
***SPOLIER ALERT – SPOILER ALERT – DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM***
Now let’s talk about that ending. While I really do enjoy a nice ‘leave ‘em hanging’ closer, I think people are reading way too much into it. Yes, the top was still spinning, and yes the idea was to make you wonder if Cobb is still in a dream at the end of the film, but the theory that the entire movie was all a dream inside Cobb’s mind, showing his own journey to release himself of the guilt of pushing his wife to suicide, well, that just doesn’t sit right with me. The ‘whole dream’ theory robs the movie of all its importance and power and steals all the thunder from the other characters. I prefer to believe the top would have fallen in time; it was just really well balanced.
The End of the Page Recommendation: Nolan is on a hot streak that could see him crowned as one of the greatest directors in our generation, but let’s not pressure him too much, right? Inception is clever, intriguing and everything you want in a psychological drama, even if it draws a little long at the end. Worth seeing, if only for the ensuing discussion you will have immediately after.
What did you think of the ending? Does this top ‘Dark Knight’ for you?
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 8:02 am. Add a comment
One of these guys already saw wardrobe that morning, the other just showed up to set. Guess which is which.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Summertime is a wonderful season for hiding from the baking, burning heat inside a cool, dark theater and being transported to endless imaginative worlds. Sometimes these worlds can be overwhelmingly complex and force you to think deeply about everything going on, and those create a very particular kind of enjoyment, but the season of the sun seems to lean more towards movies that allow you to put your brain on cruise control, sit back, sip your Coke and try not to smile. This recent cinematic offering is definitely one of those.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice follows the story of a young man, Dave, who finds out at too young an age that he is chosen by destiny to become an all-powerful sorcerer for the side of good in a millennia-long battle for the safety of the world. His mentor, Balthazar, does his best to prepare him for the upcoming battles, while also keeping Dave’s focus off the one thing impossible to resist, love.
This popcorn presentation is brought to us from the minds at Disney who seem hell-bent on plunging the depths of the Mouse House catalog for anything and everything that could be transformed into a full-length feature film. The title of the film is taken from the famous scene in Fantasia where Mickey Mouse enchants all the mops, brooms and assorted cleaning products to do his chores for him. That moment is directly lifted up and dropped into this live-action semi-adaptation, and actually fits surprisingly well, but the rest of the story is completely fresh, at least where previous Disney stories are concerned. I can’t blame Disney for their addiction to recycling, it certainly worked well with their multi-million dollar Pirates franchise, but I don’t see this one landing as well with audiences and certainly very little in terms of continuing sequels.
Now, before I get into where the movie takes its many missteps, let me engage you on why I still gave it a fairly high ranking. Jay Baruchel is truly riding the roller-coaster of success right now and while some may complain that he is typecast and plays virtually the same person in each film, the same can be said of Steve Carell and many others. If they play the part well, let them play on. Baruchel epitomizes the adorably awkward geek who never sees himself as cool as the people around him do. The rest of the story notwithstanding, it is always enjoyable for me to watch characters like these grow and step into their confidence and full potential. It’s a classic and well-used storyline for sure, but that’s because people respond to it consistently. He holds the heart of the film tenderly in his charmingly goofy expressions and timing. On the other hand, Nicholas Cage delivers what we’ve come to expect from him, a quirky, oddity of a person, yet performed with the commitment and dedication that can almost only come from someone equally quirky and odd in real life. Cage has made a long and prolific career from taking roles almost no one saw as playable and inserting a real person where only a caricature was found before. That being said, if you weren’t a fan of him before, he doesn’t add anything here that will sweep you to the other side.
With the good stuff resting comfortably above, here are some of the downsides to this spellbound selection. Numerous plot holes are completely ignored as the movie races to keep up with a fairly energetic pace. This actually pales in comparison to the story points and moments of character development that could’ve been easily achieved if the writing was just that much tighter. In scene after scene I felt there were set-ups that were not paid off and you just feel the air slip out of scenes that had real potential. The ending makes painfully little sense when weighed against all the information given throughout the film and you once again feel things really needed to play out a different way to achieve full redemption. I’m not going to say the version playing out in my head would’ve worked better, you never really know, but it certainly made more sense to me.
The End of the Page Recommendation: If you are a real fan of either of the two main cast members, this should give you a smile somewhere along the way, but keep some change in your pocket and catch the matinee (or even wait until DVD).
What did you think? Feel any comparison’s to National Treasure? Where does it rank on you Cage scale?
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 10:28 am. Add a comment
Trilogy? No one said anything to me about a trilogy?
Rating: 5 out of 10
There is a certain extra effort that has to be put in when adapting video games to the screen. You can’t just grab the plot from the original video game, because a large part of your audience will be completely bored. On top of that, you run the risk of them beating the game in a much more efficient way than the movie plays out. Yet, you have to keep certain elements, mainly the origin story of your main character, which then creates particular boundaries on where the story can unravel. As I mentioned recently, this can go very bad (ala Super Mario Brothers), but the original Mortal Kombat proved delightfully entertaining, even with the odd novelty of Christopher Lambert as Raiden (Really? Who cast that?). The adaptations have been getting increasingly high concept and high budget as the games themselves break new ground for imagination and technology, which leads us to this weekend’s entrant into the genre, straight from the gates of the fabled Mouse House, Disney.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time grabs the main character from the original game and sets him on a quest to not only clear his name for a murder he did not commit, but also uncover the magic behind a mystical dagger which can reverse time for those lucky enough to possess it. Enemies surround our hero, some lusting for the power of the dagger, while others are more honed to collect the large ransom on his head and he finds himself with the most unlikely of allies, a beautiful princess of the kingdom he just helped overthrow.
Prince of Persia is entering a void left open by the downfall of the Mummy franchise, the critically abysmal last chapter of Indiana Jones and the mostly forgotten (or consciously blocked out) attempt to begin the Dirk Pitt domination of summertime adventure with Sahara. A good desert-filled action movie always has a dollar to be earned in the blockbuster summertime season. Maybe it’s the abundance of bright, hot sunshine in the locations, or possibly the presence of sweaty, well-toned actors and actresses in every other shot. Whatever the reasons may be, historical or present day action films set in the outlands of the desert have a genre all to themselves and Prince of Persia is looking to take control of it. There is rumor another Indiana Jones could be in the works (and why not since it made a ridiculous amount of money, who cares that it was terribly painful to watch), but Disney could most likely churn out one, maybe even two more chapters in this series before Indy crawls back to the screens. This summer there is nothing else being offered in this particular arena of actioneers, so the timing is quite well done.
Another big move inside this sand-blown story is the introduction of Jake Gyllenhaal as a viable action hero. While he has shown the ability to buff up his physical presence, in films like Jarhead and Brothers, and handle leading a film with major studio money behind it, like The Day After Tomorrow, all of those had him more focused on his intelligence and humanity than his stuntwork or bravado. Prince of Persia shows off a new side to Gyllenhaal, one audiences once had a chance of seeing years back when rumors floated around about him being cast over Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man (looking back at Spider-Man 3, maybe it was a good thing Gyllenhaal missed being caught up in that web). He very much holds his own here and continues to display his boyish charms, which won him such approval all the way back in October Sky, but now adds this new element of mischievous muscle. When not declaring his purity of character on screen, he spends his time flirting, either with danger or with his coquettish co-star, Gemma Arterton. That combination makes him interesting enough to hold audience attention in between the various action scenes.
But that is where things end in the positive realm of Prince of Persia. While slow motion can be used to exciting effect in some films, this one was wildly addicted to stopping time, not only in the fictional world, but also on screen, mostly whenever Gyllenhaal’s feet left the ground in any type of flip or diving motion. There were also areas where the CGI was incredibly poor and stuck out painfully from the rest of the physical set. This in particular was a disappointment coming from Disney, which knows all too well how to mix CGI and reality (just go back and watch the original Pirates of the Caribbean). Yet, beyond all those things, the one thing which left me more saddened than all the others while I walked back to my car was the weak and unimaginative writing. I will always give credit to any writer for getting something through the system and onto the screen and there is always the possibility that the finished product relates very little to their original script, but Prince of Persia felt older than the desert temples they were filming. There is a fine line between using a previous piece of work as a structure or even in terms of an homage, but this film was a blatant rip-off in my mind of Shakespeare’s King Lear and Hamlet, with a touch of Disney’s own Aladdin thrown in (the opening sequence in Prince of Persia is a near live action remake of the beginning of the animated Aladdin, which means Disney ripped themselves off.) Everything here was too obvious from scene one and that dragged down much of the excitement brought about by the action sequences.
The End of the Page Recommendation: In worldwide gross, Prince of Persia is currently just squeaking by its production budget, so in the end this will be a success, so you can expect another one down the road, but you might see a slightly smaller one, and if that means no Gyllenhaal, it will probably mean direct to DVD. As for this one, a decent summertime afternoon show, but save it for the couch instead of the theater.
Posted 1 year, 11 months ago at 12:13 pm. 2 comments
Let’s see their rabid bunny defense system handle this little snack… filled with C4!!!
Rating: 8 out of 10
It seems to be the hidden goal of every idea in the universe to end up in movie form. Whether it started as a TV show, comic book, video game or an action figure (possibly featuring kung-fu grip); everything strives to be blown up and projected to a captive audience. Many of them fail, in extraordinary fashion (ahem… McHale’s Navy, Steel, Double Dragon and Masters of the Universe, respectively), but some break through the barrier of novelty and succeed as memorable theatrical experiences (the recent J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek deserves mention, along with the gothic wonderment of The Dark Knight). In the particular world of translating comedy skits, Saturday Night Live takes center stage as the longest running live comedy show with a continually growing treasure trove of material, but they are equally challenged with bringing about quality movies. While many will celebrate the original Wayne’s World and The Blues Brothers, we also hope beyond hope to block out train wrecks like It’s Pat. The newest effort to come out of the SNL think-tank, after a decade-long hiatus, seems primed to ride the wave of 80′s nostalgia, but will it catch hold? Read on…
MacGruber is an absurdist parody of the 80′s adventure show starring the jack-of-all-trades namesake, MacGuyver. In the original SNL skits, each one only ran thirty seconds while MacGruber would ask for random knick-knacks in order to build a bomb-defusing device and save everyone trapped inside a repeatedly locked room. He never fails to distract himself past the point of detonation, killing everyone. The feature length version finds MacGruber yanked out of seclusion into the armed forces as the only one who can track down his arch-enemy, Dieter Von Cunth, who gains possession of a nuclear warhead and plans to reduce Washington D.C. to tiny piles of radioactive dust.
I’ll fully admit the first time I heard they were pushing forward with the idea of a MacGruber feature film, I thought it would be a waste of time, space and celluloid. Yet, months later when that first trailer rolled out I found myself shocked to actually be chuckling and thinking it actually had a shot at being something worth watching. Many people believed it couldn’t be done, that an absurdist parody born from a 30-second skit could never last for over 80 minutes, but writers John Solomon, Jorma Taccone and co-writer/star Will Forte succeeded at just that. As numerous film business outlets have reported by now, the opening weekend box numbers were dismal and some are already calling it the ‘bomb of the year’, a moniker I strongly feel is undeserved, at least not in terms of quality. One of the keys to triumph was pushing each and every joke just a handful of beats past the point of normal, ‘safer’ comedies. Both of the main SNL alums, Will Forte and Kristen Wiig held on doggedly to drain each moment of the last possible chuckle, which for some audience members actually makes it even funnier. I felt Ryan Phillipe was an odd choice for the straight man because I didn’t think he could hold the screen against Forte, but he grew on me during the film and in the end proved that he was indeed willing to ‘go there’ to get the laughs. As for the villainous Val Kilmer and his portrayal of Von Cunth, he’s at his best when his characters are smarter than the rest of the people on screen, and the crowd, and the writers (see Real Genius or Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang). While Kilmer doesn’t come near that level of comedic ownership, he does balance out nicely with the rest of the cast and digs into the second-grade humor when it’s called for.
The End of the Page Recommendation: While it may play out to be one of the year’s biggest box office disasters, MacGruber will ride on and gain a solid life on DVD as a cult comedy, not unlike Hot Rod, starring Andy Samberg, another SNL superstar. No matter what happens, they can always rest easy knowing it’s still better than It’s Pat.
Posted 1 year, 11 months ago at 8:47 am. Add a comment
This is the last time that valet bumps my car.
DandyID
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