Quick Hits

The Blind Side

An entertaining film filled with schmaltzy scenes of compassion and moving characters. I was left with the feeling that had this been a Spike Lee film we may have gotten a grittier feel to the streets of Memphis and the true aura of Michael Oher would have filled the screen, however we get an above average rising from the ashes movie. All credit in this movie belongs to Sandra Bullock who plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, the woman who took in the lost soul of Michael Oher and helped transform him into a premier NFL lineman. This movie felt unexplored especially the illegal recruiting scandal that followed Oher to Ole Miss. This was a good movie with a great performance, but as a sport enthusiast, I felt there is a better movie there than was put on screen.

Avatar

Seeing this in 3D was like being on a three hour ride at Disney World. The story is sometimes lacking and uneven, but the visceral overload that hits your senses carries the movie. Cameron's message of environmental conciousness is clearly heard. The tree of life was reminder of the old tales of Sidhartha becoming one with a fig tree as he contemplated his spirtual being. Although this movie is not quite a spiritual epiphany it is beautifully shot and inspiring as far as fantasy films go. As Cameron cashes in on this billion dollar film, he is also planning its sequel which will explore the sea of Pandora. Now that sounds entertaining.

Twilight: New Moon

It is hard to embrace vampires and werewolves when they are so EMO. The books are meant to be romantic and the movies are love stories. I respect the material on the level that there are no vampire rules. There aren't wooden stakes and garlic littering the landscape, but the love story between Bella and Edward just isn't portrayed with enough angst. I will admit to being creeped out a bit by his stalkerish behavior. Bella should run at every possible chance, but her love for pasty white dudes keeps her around. New Moon is a far better effort than Twilight, but I'm left wondering if glossing these movies over was a good choice for its legions of devoted fans. Bill Condon has signed on to direct Breaking Dawn and I believe they have found a director who should have been there from the beginning.

Precious

There have been very few movies in my lifetime that have had evoked an emotional response as powerful as the one felt after viewing Precious. I saw Precious several weeks ago and its lasting memory is nearly impossible to shake. Precious isn’t a movie about sexual abuse, alcoholism, socio-economics, or trapped urbanites struggling for their piece of the pie(although all elements are present). It is a movie basted and boiled in ignorance. Do not expect a climax where all problems are solved and hope glimmers as the credits roll. This story, this movie is painfully intimate.

Clareece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a character that is rarely seen or heard. She is for all purposes, a survivor. A survivor of her abusive mother, a survivor of her sexually abusive father, and a survivor of her own ignorance. When we first meet her she has yet to realize the weight of her life thus far and why would she realize such a thing when her own mother (Mo’nique) tells her she is of no consequence? At 16 she has lived many lifetimes and endured pain that most directors (Lee Daniels) would not even touch on screen. There are times in life when we hear of places like the places depicted in this movie, but we think they do not exist until we are standing in them. This is one of those cases. Every minute spent with Precious is painful and scary. The thought that cruelty exists on this level is unsettling. The thought that compassion and love doesn’t exist is just disheartening. The thought that ignorance is a prevailing intellectual response in Precious’s world, well that is just the work of the demented and demonic mind of her parental upbringing. Precious does escape into her mind from time to time and imagines herself a model or movie star. Through these scenes we get the message of hope and the realization that the mind goes into deep protective mode when faced with a great amount of trauma. However, as a viewer hope is fleeting from the first 20 minutes of the film, but we are forced to hang on because if Precious can, we can. We know from the opening scenes that we are going to be led somewhere overwrought with sadness and fear. We know that by the end, this is going to hurt like hell.

Ms. Jones (Mo’nique) isn’t the type of villain you are accustomed to seeing. Her entire life is based on her own ignorance. It is ignorance that will be her undoing and ignorance that has diseased her daughter. She isn’t Darth Vader, Freddy Krueger, or Satan. She is worse because her purpose is to inflict as much emotional torment upon Precious as humanly possible. She is so utterly “fucked up”(pardon the language, but there is no other way to convey her character) as a reality based character that it turns my stomach to think about her. She manipulates at every opportunity. She is a dream stealer and hopeless as a human. Can she be saved? No. There is no religion, self-help group or pill that can change ignorance in its purest form. She is the old cliché, “hurt people, hurt people.” It is, in all honesty, the most disturbed I have ever been watching a character on screen. Her performance will never to be forgotten.

In all great movies there is “THE SCENE” that puts the movie over the top. In Precious it involves a social worker played by Mariah Carey, Ms. Jones, and Precious. The now stronger Precious and her mother are to talk about the abuse and for once put all the cards on the table. The tale of the sexual abuse and subsequent stories that ensue are mind-shattering, heartbreaking tales that seem hard to hear, but had to be impossible to survive. Mo’nique’s performance in this one scene solidify her as an actual accomplished actress. She talks of dreams and redemption and for a split second she shows to be human, but her transgressions cannot be forgiven by viewers and will not be forgiven by Precious.

This is not a movie to be watched because you are looking for escapists fantasies. This isn’t a love story or drama with a sweeping soundtrack featuring Taylor Swift love songs. This movie is the boiling down of raw emotions. It’s shaking hands with emotional pain and it is a damn exhausting film. Precious has an imprint on my mind that I’m sure will become fossilized. Watching Precious walk away with her two children at the end was a story in itself. Like Precious Jones, I believe I am ignorant enough to have hope.

Don't Cry Out Loud

Emotions are a big part of movies. There are those movies that make us laugh, those that get the adrenal glands pumping, those that make us think, and those that make us cry. Today’s roar will focus on movies that bring about a salty discharge from the eye. For guys, it is probably the sports movie with the kid who will never play Division 1 football, or the action driven flick where the hero says goodbye to his wife as he rushes off to save the planet from a giant meteor. For gals, it is the best friend movie, where two girls grew up in the same town and the best friend develops cancer only to die leaving behind a child. Either way, we put ourselves through the emotionally ringer time and time again and call it entertainment. Today, I give you what I consider to be tear worthy films.

5) King Kong (1933) I was nine when I saw this for the first time and I was enthralled by Faye Wray and Bruce Cabot, but the big hairy ape had me at his first roar. When he dies at the end of this movie, I was forever moved and could not understand why anybody would shoot something so cuddly.

4)Braveheart (1995)Has there ever been a movie that makes you hate the English more than Braveheart? Freedom!!!!!

3)The Fox and the Hound (1981) This is Disney right? This is supposed to be upbeat with songs and happy endings, right? No. Two childhood friends forced to be enemies and the story goes from there. The ending of this movie provokes tears that literally spit from my eyes. I think I need a tissue just thinking about it.

2) Schindler’s List(1993)/Hotel Rwanda(2004)Movies about mass genocide are enough to get me going, but throw in Liam Neeson (Oscar Schindler) and Don Cheadle(Paul Rusesabagina) and you have two of the finest movies on the subject ever made.

1) Field of Dreams (1989)Are you serious? To have a catch with your deceased father once again makes me cry like a baby. Crying is actually not a good word to use, it is more like sobbing. If you build it, the tears will come.

Snape Bitten

It is no secret that the Half-Blood Prince is the most important book in the series. It is the chapter where the events that will set the tone for the future of the world of Hogwarts hang in the balance. It is where the one of the most iconic book characters of all time meets certain doom. It is where director, David Yates must rise to the occasion and put a movie on screen that carries the sexual angst and raw emotion that exists in the book. The Half-Blood Prince is where David Yates must prevent himself from making a film word for word remake of the novel. He must create his own film while keeping the source close to his heart. Yates has succeeded in making the best looking Harry Potter to date and yet, there is something missing. Chunks of the story where not told and things added for “Hollywood effect.” This is not a detriment to his Harry Potter, but it takes some getting use to as we watch for the two and half hour running time.

The Half-Blood Prince is about a lingering fear that the world as we know it, will fall into darkness. It is about an unfinished war that was started by adults and must be finished by their children. The tasks are insurmountable at times and our protagonist, Harry, is not the tortured soul he once was. He is now accepted that it is he that must save the people he loves. It is he who must convince everyone that James and Lilly Potter did not die in vain. This is Harry’s story. He has grown and so have his friends and even they know that they must finish what has been started so long ago. There is wonderful, even effortless interaction between Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), and Ron Weasley(Rupert Grint). Yates seems to make this part of the Half-Blood Prince work to his advantage. The characters like the fans of the series have grown into late teens who suffer from raging hormones and identity crisis’. This is where this movie works best, when its characters have time to go into exposition about the events surrounding an oncoming doom.

This Harry Potter is stylistically better than the previous five and Hogwarts looks aged. The magic and wonder of just going to the school is gone. The school has become a symbol for wizards and witches to defend against the mounting armies of Voldemort. It cannot be said enough, this movie carries the feeling of foreboding throughout. It is becoming a dark and lonely place as the lines are divided between good and evil.

Yates has improved greatly as a director. This is now his third Harry Potter film and he is set to do the final film (two parts). Like Rowling, he has improved as the series has moved forward. However, he has taken some liberties with the stories and true fans of the novels may not be delighted by his deletion of key parts, but it is important to remember that film is its own medium. The seventh (and eighth) film should prove to be a monumental swan song for Yates as well as his cast. When the credits role in 2010 the Phoenix will cry yet again as our beloved Harry Potter says goodbye.

Old School Review: Let MeLook on You with My Own Eyes

The line outside the Towne Four movie theater was about a half-mile. I was an 8 year old boy standing with ticket in hand as the usher counted us and moved us forward. As far as I knew this would be the last Star Wars movie I would see. My young mind was still trying to grasp Darth Vader being Luke's father and the fact the Han Solo was now in Carbonite form. I remember holding five-dollars for popcorn and soda and hoping to see the Galactic Empire crumble as my childhood hero, Luke Skywalker, finally realized his destiny. I knew that all would be well with Return of the Jedi because I looked at some photos in Time Magazine and saw these cute, teddy bear characters standing in a forest. I was perplexed to find a photo of Leia and Luke dressed in camouflage gear. What could this mean? Had they gone G.I Joe? Were these "bears" an enemy of the Rebellion or victims of the iron fisted rule of the Empire? So many questions to be answered. I sat in the theater next to my childhood buddy and his father purchased a bucket of popcorn for us to share. Even though I was a heavyset kid, I could care less about the popcorn. I needed answers and they had better come in bunches. The 20th Century Fox logo appeared and I disappeared into a galaxy far, far, away...

Return of the Jedi is a culmination of all the things we love about Star Wars. For an 8 year-old boy this movie was damn near flawless. Let's examine it's awesome power.

First: The first scene in Jedi is terrifying. Darth Vader states that the Emperor is "not as forgiving as I am." Holy crap! Not as forgiving as you? You cut your own son's hand off! What happens if refused to clean his room or take out the garbage? Vader was scary and my heart palpitated at the very thought of this Emperor guy.

Second: Jabba's Palace is the greatest 30 minutes of cinema I've ever seen. I love the eclectic decoration, the seedy inhabitants, Jabba in his gluttonous glory, Leia in a bikini and in Boush disguise, defrosting Han Solo, the dreaded Rancor, the trip to the Sarlac Pit, and Lando's redemption.

Third: The Emperor's arrival. I still have nightmares of ROTJ Palpatine. He frightens me. Let's put it into perspective, Darth Vader fears this dude.

Fourth: Endor is so freakin' awesome that it is tough for me to contain myself. I'll concede the Ewoks to the adults, but when I was a kid, I loved them. I flat out will not deny that the Ewoks are still cool. These primitive, furry, little bastards took down "the man" with sling shots, rocks,timber and Ewok ingenuity. The Ewoks would make Francis Marion proud. The speeder bike sequence was state of the art entertainment. Why they don't have a ride at Disney based off of this is beyond me. C-3po using his "divine influence" is also a scene not to be trifled with.

Fifth: Lando in the Falcon is unsettling, but the space battle took my breath away. Watching a Star Destroyer crash into the unfinished Death Star is just priceless. Admiral Ackbar is the man, well sort of.

Sixth: Will look become angry enough to strike down the Emperor? After all, he does have is lightsaber. Green hits red and here we go. Luke shows how much is skills have developed, yet, Vader insists on giving verbal twists of the nipples. "So you have a twin sister..."

Seventh: "So be it, Jedi." Enough said.

Finally: Vader finds redemption. Leia reveals to Han that Luke his her brother. Chewbacca is still awesome and nothing beats Ewoks playing Rock Band with stormtrooper helmets.

For me, Jedi isn't the best Star Wars, but it is the most fun and it ended the trilogy with such imaginative pageantry. I will always be fond of Return of the Jedi as it has taken its place at my side.

Super Daddy

The seventeen year-old Kim is the pride and joy of her father, the retired agent Bryan Mills that left the secret service to stay near Kim in California. Kim lives with her mother Lenore and her wealthy stepfather Stuart; she convinces the reluctant Bryan to sign an authorization to travel to Paris with her friend Amanda. When they arrive, they share a cab with the stranger Peter and Amanda tells to him that they are alone in Paris. When Bryan succeeds in contacting his daughter, she tells that criminals have just break in the spot and they are kidnapped by an Albanese gang of human trafficking. Bryan promises in the phone to kill the kidnapper of his daughter and immediately travels to Paris to find Kim and chase the criminals (IMDB).
Mills is played by Liam Neeson and if weren't for him being cast in this movie this could have been a disaster. Taken is a sugar high. It is entertaining, but not fulfilling. The problem with Nesson's character is that he dispatches of his enemies with such ease. He is never beaten or battered and that makes him less believable as a character. Maggie Grace plays his daughter and plays the typical dumb teenager. Luc Besson directs (Transporter Trilogy) and his action scenes are quite good, but the explanation of how and why these characters exist in this seedy underworld are unanswered. The strong point of the film is Nesson's statements of foreshadowing. He is still capable of carrying the most average films. Overall, I was pleased , but not Taken.

P.S.
I was fortunate enough to see the European release and the violence was dialed up a bit.

Crystal Clear

Jason Vorhees is our modern Frankenstein. He is the equivalent of the old Universal Monsters from yesteryear. It always amazed me that he could lumber around the forest and catch even the nimblest of prey by just taking his time. Walls, doors, brick were always treated as paper as he would rumble through them effortlessly and kill a naked, screaming woman. I look back on the previous Friday the 13th movies fondly because for me they were an indulgence or a nice piece of expensive chocolate that would be enjoyed, but easily forgotten. I had gotten it through my head that if given the chance, I could outrun, outthink and maneuver the land version of a Great White shark. You see, watching Jason movies as always been safe. There was never anything to REALLY be afraid of until now…
The newest “reboot” of franchise would prove to be a tricky task for director Marcus Nispel (Texas Chainsaw Massacre). He had to once again instill fear and make us afraid of Jason. This wouldn’t be easy given the abysmal remakes of Halloween and Prom Night. Those movies made the mistake of paying far too much homage to the original material. No, Nispel had to make Friday the 13th HIS movie. I guess the most glaring difference is the intelligence of Jason. He is like the Jason Bourne of psychotic, homicidal, mass murderers. I don’t know if the masses prefer lumbering, semi-retarded Jason or not. In this version he baits and catches. Crystal Lake his truly his and he has made it a point to be the lone proprietor of the land surrounding the lake. He has hidden trenches, knows where the electrical boxes are located, and even seems to be running his own underground morgue. Yeah, this Jason is different. So different in fact that instead of walking after you, he runs like a sprinter with machete for a baton. He is lightening quick, but not in a supernatural fashion. Gone are the days of his ability to just appear wherever and whenever. No, this Jason is stealthy, but in a way where he plays fair. He’ll match his murderous skills against your will for survival any day. He does don the hockey mask to cover up his deformed face and has incredible knowledge of how things work. A little known fact about Jason is that he obviously studied horticulture because he grows his own pot. Yes, you read that correctly, he knows how to grow weed. He baits unsuspecting, horny, college kids into the woods to find his crop and when they do, well, you know. Jason obviously does not partake in the smoking of the weed hence his anger issues. Like I said, this Jason is different.
Some things haven’t changed with Crystal Lake over the years. For instance, the police force is still doing a piss poor job of catching the greatest mass murderer of our time. Women are still performing gratuitous sex acts that are probably illegal in most states. Branches still trip people as they run in the dark through the woods, and drunken parties are the rage despite the fact that mass killings are status quo. But I digress, Crystal Lake has never looked better. There is true production value with Friday the 13th. The acting is on par with that of the previous 10 films and the killings are just as over the top as one might expect. I liked this Friday for putting fear back into the mythos of Jason. He isn’t just a caricature, but a killer.