Tuesday Movie Review

It's Complicated
Starring: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski
Directed by Nancy Meyers

Writer/director Nancy Meyers made a film a few years ago that, for good reason, didn't do too well and the box office. It was called What Women Want, a romantic comedy where Mel Gibson's character could read the minds of women. It was bad. Since then she's seemed to have found the right formula for fairly good rom-coms, Something's Gotta Give with Jack and Diane, The Holiday and now It's Complicated. What I like about all three of these movies is that they are just there...they don't treat the viewer like a complete moron that needs everything laid out for them. They all have good scenes with believable characters, a little romance and a little fun mixed at the right proportions. What makes It's Complicated so enjoyable are the stars involved. Meryl Streep, without putting on an accent or losing any children, is fantastic. Seemingly playing herself, her role isn't a big stretch, but the fun she has on screen really comes through to the viewer. I loved her! Alec Baldwin is his normal, reliable self, finding the essence of the character's shortcomings and making them very watchable. Steve Martin hasn't been this good in a long time. He's always fun to watch, but his "crazy-guy" antics are far behind him. He plays his role with a quiet charm, even when his character gets high at a party. I really enjoyed this film and I have a feeling more people will relate to it than not.

GRADE: B+

Tuesday Movie Reviews

Avatar
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi
Directed by James Cameron

I waited to see this. I refused to believe the hype. Over two BILLION dollars at the box office...insane. It was, um, okay, I guess. Here's my problem with James Cameron. He can make a big budget movie like no other. Special effects, sounds, action sequences are all his bread and butter. What he can't seem to do is understand characters and actors. His biggest success in my opinion has always been the first two Terminator films. All we needed to know was that this huge cyborg was trying to kill someone, and then trying to protect someone. Nice and simple, looked great and was a lot of fun. In Avatar, the main message seems to be take care of your planet 'cause it's the only one you got. Ok, cool, I get it. Stop shoving it down my throat. (Is it any surprise that Cameron decided to release his movie on DVD and BluRay on Earth Day?!?!?). Avatar looks great, no doubt. The digital effects are fantastic. The blue guys move around with human-like ease. But story, James. Keep it simple and fun like you used to. If he had, Avatar would have won every award on the planet. By the way, one nuke on Pandora and the movie would have been an hour shorter. And "Unobtanium"??? Who thought of that?? Ridiculous!

GRADE: B-

Crazy Heart
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell
Directed by Scott Cooper

James Cameron take note; this is how you write! Although we've seen this story before, and it becomes quite predictable, a meaty script like this in the hands of good actors is what it's all about. Jeff Bridges plays 'Bad' Blake, a man who used to sell a lot of records and sell out concerts who now plays at bowling alleys to fund his next bottle of whiskey. He's had a good life, but at 67, it's starting to slide quickly downhill. He meets his muse in Maggie Gyllenhaal's character and begins to try and change. But old habits are hard to break, until you reach rock bottom. Bridges is his usual great self (nobody plays horribly drunk and hungover like him) and deserved his first Academy Award for his role. But I found myself falling deeply for Maggie Gyllenhaal! I always liked her as an actress, but she really shines in this simple yet important role. Robert Duvall is nice to see as well, especially since the movie will remind you of one of Duvall's best performances in Tender Mercies from the early 80's. What I couldn't buy was Colin Farrell as the hot-shot young Country star. Colin, you gotta do something with those eyebrows! But his role was small and it didn't deter the enjoyment I had viewing this film.

GRADE: A

The Lovely Bones
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon
Directed by Peter Jackson

There are two reasons to see this film - Saoirse Ronan and Stanley Tucci. Ronan was about 15 years old when she made this movie but commanded each and every scene she was in. I first saw her in Houdini's Death Defying Acts a couple of years ago and thought to myself "she's gonna be big". She is quite a good little actress and her piercing blue eyes are hard to look away from. Stanley Tucci is just perfect as the creepy murderer, making sure to add little quirks of character to lend to his believability. He's the image of that guy all our parents told us to stay away from, the older man handing out candy to young kids. He gave me chills. Now the bad - are we supposed to believe that disturbed spirits in between worlds are dancing and singing and painting the sky all different colours? Although the effects looked really good, I was turned off by the utter joy of a murdered girl. As dark as this movie was at times, it should have been even darker. I'm told the book is very disturbing, but the little fantasy world took away from that big time. Also, Mark Wahlberg stinks! The only thing I ever liked him in was Boogie Nights. Otherwise he can't act a lick! I even thought he was terrible in The Departed, although many disagree with me. He is so stiff in this movie, displaying emotion a couple of times, but not when needed. I have no idea why he was cast in this role when so many others could have played it so much better.

GRADE: C

I'm on the Internet!!!

So a little while back I got a link through Facebook to join a group that was trying to make a feature film on pocket change. This had to have been nearly two years ago. I joined the group, read a little about what they were trying to accomplish and thought nothing of it again. Flashforward over a year later. Some dude comes into the Blockbuster I run and starts talking about his film being presented at a cinema downtown. He tells us its called At Home By Myself With You. He says he got the funding from the film by asking ordinary people for their pocket change. Turns out it's the same guy who's Facebook group I joined all that time ago! Weird. So I go to his website (pocketchangefilm.com) and read a bit on how long it took to raise just $40,000. Still, really neat! A few weeks ago, the director, Kris Booth called my boss to find out if he could put a couple of posters in the window of my store since he's a local filmmaker and his movie was being released on DVD soon. I called up Kris yesterday, he came to the store, and now we have two posters for the film displayed in our windows. We only got one copy of the movie, but I agreed with him that this kind of stuff should be celebrated. The really cool thing is...his movie is going to Cannes!!! So cool!!!
Anyway, while he was at the store he took a little video and posted it on his website. So now I'm famous! I'm on the Internet, and it has nothing to do with porn!!
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Refreshing Apologies

So I haven't been around in a week or so, but during that time I learned that J.D. Shapiro publicly apologized for his involvement in writing the script for Battlefield Earth, recently voted as the worst movie of the decade at the last Razzie Awards ceremony. Good for him. If you haven't read his speech, it's quite funny.

Soon after, one of the screenwriters for Monster House, Dan Harmon, apologized for his involvement in that movie. Now, I haven't had the pleasure (dis-pleasure?) to have seen either one of these films. I feel like I should though, just to see how bad they really are. The comments from these two screenwriters got me thinking about other recent movies that sucked so much that everybody involved should apologize for their involvement. Some are listed below....

All About Steve - This film became well known when Sandra Bullock "won" the Razzie Award for Worst Actress this last year, making her the very first person to win a Razzie and an Academy Award in the same year! It's bad...it's really really bad! It was unclear to me if Sandra's character was supposed to be mentally challenged or not. It wouldn't make a difference because the script was totally offensive to women, men, babies and all other living creatures. Terrible all around and not even worth the time I'm taking to write about it!

World's Greatest Dad - So here's the set-up: a father of a horribly rude, shit of a kid decides to make it look like his son's accidental death by asphyxiating himself while masturbating was just a simple suicide. The kid becomes an icon at a school that didn't even know his name and the father gets all the attention he desires as a result. WOW!! Comedy at it's finest. I sat with my mouth agape as I watched, wondering how a movie like this could be made. Then I realized it was written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait and all my questions were answered. This guy is nuts!! He made one interesting movie in the early 90's called Shakes The Clown (tagline: "The Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies"...funny), but he hasn't done ANYTHING of worth since then. Never, EVER watch his newest creation!

The Box - Richard Kelly wrote Donnie Darko, a very interesting movie that asked more questions than it answered but was enjoyable none-the-less...and has become a cult classic. He then went on to write Southland Tales, which was total garbage! He saved his worst stuff for last year's The Box. He took what could have been an interesting story about moral dilemmas and introduced aliens, ALIENS, for absolutely no apparent reason at all. Even though the first half of the movie wasn't great (with some terrible performances by Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) everything went straight downhill and hit rock bottom when martians were introduced to the plot. Horrible waste of time that made no sense!

...and let me just state once again...the TV show Glee is CRAP! I understand that I may be in the minority here, and that many people I respect like the show, but I can't get over how unbelievably bad it is. It's the worst of The Breakfast Club, Fame and The Mini-Pops all rolled into one. I HATE the way they ruin fairly enjoyable songs. No doubt they can sing, absolutely, but why must they do that to good songs?? I am also quite sick of Jane Lynch! She took a very funny character from The 40 Year Old Virgin and has duplicated it a thousand times since, becoming more and more mundane as time goes by. Stop the madness, Jane! It's tired and unfunny now.
Anyway, I'm allowed my opinions as are you, the reader, and I won't hold your love for Glee against you if you don't hold my pure hatred of it against me. Love everyone, be free and all that shite!

Tuesday Movie Review

Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call - New Orleans
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Xzibit
Directed by Werner Herzog

Nicolas Cage is a fine actor. I like him in just about everything he does because you can see he fully commits to his character. People often find that the result turns out "weird" or "over-the-top". I disagree, mostly. Unfortunately, when he is given terrible writing, as in this film, his performance does seem highly exaggerated. This movie is a "re-telling" of a film from 1992 starring Harvey Keitel. In that movie, Keitel was so over-the-top that it ruined the interesting set up. Werner Herzog has seemingly not learned anything from that. All of the characters, except the one played by Xzibit, are so unbelievably corny and high strung that one can't ignore it. It takes everything out of a film that, in the hands of another director, could have been worthwhile viewing. I've never seen a Werner Herzog film that wasn't a documentary, but people tell me he's a genius. I didn't see it with this film. He would hold shots way too long, especially when it came to iguanas(!), and it took all the pacing out of the scene. Cage, although very interesting in his physicality, just went a little overboard for my taste. Critics raved about the film, for the most part, but I just don't see the value in it.

GRADE: D

The Wave (Die Welle)
Starring: Jurgen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Max Riemelt, Jennifer Ulrich
Directed by Dennis Gansel

This film from Germany is a fictionalized account of actual events in a California high school way back in 1967. The students are in a class that teaches them about an autocratic society. What better place to discuss this than Germany?!? The teacher, played admirably by Vogel, is very popular in the school and his class fills up quite quickly. His unconventional way of teaching the kids the downfalls of an autocratic society begin to backfire when the kids involved seem to think it's cool. Everybody dresses the same, they're all for one cause, nobody judges anybody else. They're having fun with it...but too much fun. The story leads directly to a predictable conclusion that you can see coming from the first fifteen minutes, but it's quite a ride getting there. Every kid, and I mean EVERY kid, is totally believable. These were kids I went to high school with...exploring sex, drugs, alcohol, rebellion. Although the story is somewhat simplistic, the viewer is never cheated out of what's going on in their lives. Good viewing that makes me want to learn more about the actual experiment.

GRADE: B

Tuesday Movie Reviews

Sherlock Holmes
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong
Directed by Guy Ritchie

I'm not a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes; the stories, the movies, the TV shows. I enjoy them every once in a while, but I find the mystery is always solved by detailing things that nobody would ever think of. Perhaps that's the point, that Holmes is so great he sees and recognizes those things that a normal person wouldn't. But I think it's always necessary to include the viewer in on those things rather than just tell them. This movies does a little of both, but not to great effect. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are pleasant to watch. They banter about and make things exciting for the most part. But I had no idea Sherlock Holmes knew kung fu! Who'da thunk? Too much action ruins the mystique of Holmes. Basil Rathbone never jumped out of a window! Basil Rathbone never fought someone bare-fisted for money. I felt the "updated" version of this Holmes was a little hard to swallow. But hey, it's a Guy Ritchie film, so I guess I should have expected as much. Rachel McAdams' character was pretty much useless and Mark Strong is the definition of over-acting. Exciting and funny at times, but overall a disappointment.

GRADE: C+

An Education
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams, Emma Thompson
Directed by Lone Scherfig

Carey Mulligan is a real find! She has appeared in small roles in about 4 or 5 movies, but she absolutely shines in this tale of a young girl who must decide between furthering her education in 1960's London or living the good life with an older man. The older man, played with the perfect amount of creepiness by Peter Sarsgaard, can show her the best of fine art, fine cuisine and fine music. But things aren't always what they seem. Mulligan appears in just about every scene in the film, and you still want to see more of her! She's smart, charming, funny and dealing with real issues that must have been prevalent at those times. Alfred Molina really stands out as her father, a strict but compassionate man that really only wants the best for his daughter. Wonderful minor characters appear and each one brings something to the story. The ending was a bit abrupt, wrapping up everything that happened in a nice little bow, but getting there is absolutely worth it. Highly recommended!

GRADE: A-

....one other movie I saw this week but was released a couple of months ago is:
Moon
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Dominique McElligott, voice of Kevin Spacey
Directed by Duncan Jones

Watching trailers of this movie made me think it was a bit of a rip-off of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. A guy, in space, on a ship, being run by a super smart computer. I was very wrong! Although there are a few similarities (Kevin Spacey sounds very much like H.A.L.), Moon actually has a terrific premise that's very easy to follow and get totally involved in. Sam Rockwell, in my opinion, is one of the best actors working today, and in the scenes where he plays off himself (you'll understand when you see the film) are some of his best work. There was never a moment when I thought "this is too far-fetched". There was never a moment that I wanted to pause the movie to get something from the fridge. I was submerged in this man's life and dilemma that much. I don't want to get into the actual story because it may ruin it for you, although there is no real mystery to solve. Just watch it and enjoy because it's rare to see something this original anymore.

GRADE: A

Customer Service Woes

So I finished my shift yesterday at the store and I realized that I have been in the customer service business too long. What follows will undoubtedly be an expletive-filled tirade, so those with sensitive eyes and minds may want to go watch funny cats on YouTube....




I would say 95% of customers that come in to the Blockbuster that I work at are kind, personable people. It's that other 5% that drive me out of my mind. If you've worked a week in a customer service stressed industry you'll understand what I'm talking about. It takes only one person to throw your entire day off, and fuck them for doing so. These jackasses have some sort of feeling of entitlement when they come into a store. I had a woman in yesterday, texting away on her Blackberry, who brought two movies up to the counter. I give her my smile and my "How are you doing today?" opening. "Two days!" she says without lifting her head to meet my eyes. She obviously would like her rentals for two nights instead of a week, but how about a "I'm fine. How are you?" or even a "two days, please" would have sufficed. I don't know who this woman is, she hasn't presented her membership card or told me her last name or anything. I let the rude attitude go and ask if she has her card with her. She mutters some name that I can neither hear nor spell even if I did hear it. She still hasn't even looked up from her Crackberry. "I'm sorry, what was that name?" I ask. This finally got her attention as she stopped texting for three seconds to look me right in the eye and, very loudly, say her name as if I was retarded. FUCK YOU!!!! Who the hell do you think you are?? I couldn't give a shit if you are in the worst mood of you're life and having a completely shitty day...I'm a human fucking being that doesn't need to be yelled at because you couldn't take the time to speak clearly. I said that to her...not really. So now I'm seething on the inside. I can't imagine being this rude to someone for absolutely no reason at all. I find her name and process her movies silently as she continues to text away. Before I can give her a total or ask if there was anything else I could get for her, she whips out her debit card and swipes it through the machine. I say "I haven't set that up for you yet. Are you paying by debit or credit?". Swiping the card again she says "Debit". I still haven't totalled up her transaction while she keeps swiping, meaning nothing is happening. Now I take my time to get the machine ready for her purchase. I love doing that. If you totally ignore my existence I will make you wait as long as I can just to piss you off. That may be a bit childish on my part, but it gives me a tiny bit of satisfaction. Anyway, she pays, leaves without saying a word, and leaves me in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Did she even realize how rude she was? Probably not....absolutely not. It's these fucking customers that leave a bad taste in your mouth for days afterwards. What makes them think they can treat people this way? Is it a disease? You've come into my store, where I sell things, and you don't have the common decency to even smile or say "Hi"? When did this become OK?
I think of times that I shop in stores. Because I've worked in customer service for over 20 years, I know somebody, at some point, is going to try to sell me something. I either politely decline or ask for more info. That's all I ask of anybody that may be reading this. It is our jobs to try to sell stuff to you. If we didn't do that our stores would close very quickly and you'd have no place to go to piss people off.