Pitch Black

There's no way I'm going to argue that 'Pitch Black' is a good movie. The editing is amatuerish, the plot's holes threaten to overwhelm it, the monsters behave inconsistently, and the movie goes from horror picture to bughunt with such alacrity that I doubt the creators even knew what kind of picture they were trying to make.

I liked it.

'Pitch Black' starts with a bang, which is just what I was in the mood for. An interstellar transport encounters a meteor shower and lots of things go wrong very quickly, culminating in a fiery crash that pegged my "cool 'splosions" meter right from the get-go. The survivors are your usual lot of deadmeats and heroes, and it's easy to figure out who's going to be which pretty early on. See, here's the problem: there's monsters on this here planet, and our characters have to figure out how to survive. Oh, there's another problem: Vin Diesel. His character, a guy named Riddick, is a killer with a heart of coal who has the one thing the group needs to survive on this planet (where, by the way, the coming night should last about a year): surgically-created super night vision. Do they trust him? Does he trust them?

So, there's your setup, and it's a great way to launch a solid 112 minutes of fun. Yes, this a movie that's supposed to mostly happen at night, but that sports an awful lot of ambient light. Yes, it's the kind of movie in which a character will flick a lighter to look around, and a strategically placed key light will snap on a split-second before the flame appears. And yes, it's the kind of movie that manages plenty of shots down the lead actress's shirt for no other reason than to remind us that yes, she is a woman. It's brainless, it's silly, and it's utterly predictable.

I'm glad I watched it.

The Merchant of Venice

The toughest thing about staging 'The Merchant of Venice' is ending it on the right note. Our lovers have crushed the most compelling character in the piece, grinding him to dust until he's less then an afterthought. They then proceed to Portia's home, where they play cute romantic games, and the story wraps on a variation of "and they went off and had sex." It's as if Shakespeare set out to write a comedy, found himself in the middle of a tragedy, and felt compelled to wrestle the damn thing back onto comic territory, no matter what.

The Pacino 'Merchant of Venice' handles this ending better than any other production I've seen. It doesn't let the lovers (or Jessica, for that matter) off the hook. Rather, by juxtaposing their delight with Shylock's horror and Jessica's remorse, it convicts them of a heartlessness which we can only infer from the text.

The production values, as one would expect, are world-class, and the actors nail their roles. Fiennes and Irons are brilliant and, though the homoerotic implications of their relationship threaten to overwhelm the piece, said implications pay off wonderfully as we see Lynn Collins's Portia wondering just what she's gotten herself into. Then there's Pacino. Though we can never get past the fact that it's Pacino-as-Shylock, he brings profound sadness and humanity to his role. People love to hammer movie stars when they take on Shakespeare, but I think the man acquitted himself well. (Personally, I'd love to see his take on Richard III - I think he'd knock it out of the park!)

I had high hopes for 'The Merchant of Venice,' and I was not disappointed. It's well worth the rental.

For Love of the Game

Everyone hated 'For Love of the Game.' When it came out, I don't think I heard a single word of praise for the feature, so I gave it a wide berth. When a friend pressed it into my hands with a "you have to see this," I felt no particular urgency to do so.

When I finally gave it a spin, I was pleasantly surprised.

'For Love of the Game' follows Detroit Tigers star pitcher Billy Chapel, a guy looking at the end of a 19-year career on the eve of what could be his last start as a major-league pitcher. As the game wears on, Chapel (ably played by Kevin Costner) reflects on his life and his on-again-off-again relationship with Jane Aubry (Kelly Preston). Will Chapel win the game? Will he get the girl? Is Kevin Costner a movie star?

'For Love of the Game' is most effective when it's in the stadium. The picture puts us in Chapel's headspace, helping us think as he thinks and giving us a feel for what it's like to be a major league pitcher. I've always been a sucker for sports movies, and baseball is particularly well-suited to the genre. The picture falters, however, when it focuses on Chapel & Aubry's relationship: maybe it was the press of my DVD or maybe it was the movie itself, but the ADR was off ever so slightly during many of their scenes together. The effect was jarring enough to pull me completely out of the movie, and I had a hard time investing in their relationship as a result.

Nevertheless, I rate 'For Love of the Game" as a pleasant surprise.

Now, buy me some peanute & Cracker Jacks.

Ray

I enjoyed 'Ray' right up until the very end.

Here's a movie takes us through Ray Charles's life (or a dramatized version thereof) with sometimes agonizing detail, showing us every stage of the artist's personal and professional development. Then, at the end, the film switches from showing to telling, wrapping up the last thirty years of the guy's professional life with a couple of simple endnotes. If there was ever a time for a triumphal montage,
this was it!

Still, I won't let that spoil the film for me. Though the picture did tend to drag during the flashback scenes, it got by on a combination of Charles's music and the always-engaging "young musician on the way up" story.

Will I still be thinking about "Ray" in six months? Probably not. I will, however, still be listening to the music.

Duma

I buy my fair share of gadgets, and I lose interest in most of them. My Palm Pilot is in a box in the basement, along with several cell phones, an iPod, and miscellaneous other electronic bric-a-brac. There is one gadget I’m still in love with, however: my enormous TV. Why? Because of movies like DUMA.

DUMA, the story of a cheetah and the boy who loves him, is an astonishingly beautiful film. A cross between Huckleberry Finn and “Wild Kingdom,” DUMA features South African landscapes and wildlife cinematography that literally made my jaw drop. From cheetahs sprinting through the savannah to crocodiles hunting in a river to our hero pushing a motorcycle across some of the most desolate real estate you’ll ever see, DUMA put my TV through its paces to glorious effect.

The story? As I alluded earlier, think Huckleberry Finn in the South African wilderness. It has the requisite character arcs, reversals, and pathos you’d expect from any well-crafted movie, and the story kept my family engaged from the first minute to the last. But don’t see this one for the story. DUMA’s all about the photography, wowing you again and again with “how did they get that shot” moments.

I’ve owned a lot of gadgets, but man am I glad I got that enormous TV so I can bask in all that movies like DUMA have to offer. Now, when will an affordable Blu-ray player hit the market?

Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary; Downfall

Had I seen BLIND SPOT prior to DOWNFALL, I think I may have found it fascinating. Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way, and I spent 45 minutes with my finger on the "fast forward" button.

BLIND SPOT consists of two interviews with Traudl Junger, one of Hitler's secretaries and the protagonist of DOWNFALL. In the documentary, she tells the story which would be dramatized in the later picture, but she doesn't add a great deal to the dramatic version. If you dig talking heads, this might be the movie for you. Personally, I just zipped through it, reading the subtitles at double speed.

If you've seen neither picture and are interested in Junger's story, I enthusiastically recommend DOWNFALL, which was 2005's best movie. It's a harrowing experience that makes you care about people you actively want to kill. As Hitler, Bruno Ganz delivers a career - redefining performance in a film that never lets up. In this case, dramatization is better than reality.

Ocean's 12

I'm trying to decide whether OCEAN'S 12 is an ironic commentary on
itself and sequels in general or just a tired rehash of a
once-interesting premise.

In the film, Danny Ocean and his crew are brought back because, well
because they have to. It's a money thing. This time around, they're
expected to do their thing, but to do it bigger, better, and faster.
To succeed, they need ever-more elaborate plots, a kaleidescope of
obstacles real and imagined, and surprises behind surprises behind
surprises. While they're first job was fun, however, this one is a
joyless exercise in obligation, performance for performance's sake.
In other words, it's a sequel.

Everything is Illuminated

EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED looks great. It sounds great. It tackles serious issues with whimsy and heart. But it lacks that certain something that takes a picture from good to excellent.

Elijah Wood plays Jonathan Safran “Quirky” Foer (OK, I don’t know if quirky is the character’s actual middle name, but it should be.), a Jewish guy from New York who travels to Ukraine to connect with his family’s past. He meets various quirky characters, some of whom reveal hidden dimensions and some of whom do not. The movie milks cultural dissonance and fractured English for laughs in its early stages, then gradually transitions to poignancy and, perhaps, tragedy toward the end. Problem is, it never transitions away from quirkiness, and that quirkiness draws so much attention to itself that I found myself focusing more on it than on the film’s revelations.

Nevertheless, EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED is a noble and ambitious picture. It neither touched my heart nor blew my mind, but it did take me to new places and introduce me to new people, all while keeping me only minimally aware of time. I give it three out of five sunflowers.

Angels in the Outfield (1994)

Look, ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD is a trifling kids’ entertainment. The question is, is it a competent trifling kids’ entertainment?

It’s a simple setup: pathetic child prays that woeful team will win a few games. God hears prayer, dispatches angels to fix games. Team needs newfound confidence to win Big Game on its own. Oh, there are some family issues and character arcs along the way, but they basically serve to add some emotional weight to a series of gags whose effectiveness is directly proportional to the number of six-year-olds with whom you’re watching the picture.

While I enjoyed spotting the future movie stars among the team’s lineup of misfits, my six-year old laughed at every gag, cheered at every victory, and generally bought the whole thing. From a trifling kids’ entertainment, what more can you ask for?

Sideways

Alexander Payne is just not my kind of guy.

I spent most of ELECTION wishing I'd elected to be somewhere else. ABOUT SCHMIDT was about four hours too long. I can only be grateful that I haven't seen CITIZEN RUTH, thus sparing us all the discomfort of yet another tortured play on words.

Which brings us to SIDEWAYS, a movie about two unlikeable guys who go on a week's vacation and do unlikeable things to likeable people. While I found the movie to be funny at times, I just couldn't get past the fact that I didn't find these men particularly interesting.

When the most a movie has to offer is the occasional recognition of familiar locations, it's in trouble. Unfortunately, I found little else of interest in SIDEWAYS. Bummer.

The Woodsman

How do you make a movie about an ex-con whose crime is so evil that the audience starts out not caring whether he lives or dies? You hire an actor who brings audience goodwill to the part, and you'd better make sure the guy's got the chops to not just coast on that goodwill but actively sell the character to the audience. You hire Kevin Bacon.

There's a line in MYSTIC RIVER in which Kevin Bacon's cop notes this about Sean Penn's ex-con: you can tell he's been in prison. You can see the tension in his shoulders, and that tension never goes away. Bacon really took that line to heart, as THE WOODSMAN practically trembles with the tension of Walter, Bacon's character. Walter just got out of prison, where he'd spent twelve years on a child molestation conviction: a crime with an exceptionally high recidivism rate. The tension of the film comes from the audience's wondering on which side of the percentages we'll find Walter at the end, and whether we'll care.

To sell the role, Bacon pulls another MURDER IN THE FIRST, putting his all into a role to prove (once again) that he's a serious actor. He pulls it off, managing to draw us into the world of a man who has committed crimes that some say merits death. We come to believe in his character, in his struggles with his compulsions, and in his attempts to reconnect with the world after a long time away.

THE WOODSMAN isn't a perfect movie, but I commend its honesty and its commitment to its story, its characters, and its audiencee. See it because it's a real gem in Bacon's filmography. This will be one of the roles for which he'll be remembered.

Munich

Tony Kushner is a man to watch. He caught my attention with ANGELS IN AMERICA, a surprisingly beautiful, funny, and moving film that addressed AIDS and homosexuality with insight and grace. With MUNICH, Kushner again brings beauty, humor and pathos to a subject fraught with emotion. Even more importantly, he writes characters with unique, interesting voices; characters who sound like people while reflecting universal emotions.

Some who see the picture focus on Munich's political and philosophical ramifications. I'm more interested in its personal ones. By giving us a tortured, unsure, yet ultimately effective protagonist ("A chef's heart and butcher's hands," as one character describes him), then surrounding him with a sufficiently wide variety of characters to give most viewers an "in" to his story, Kushner walks us through the toll inhumanity takes on the humane.

The protagonist, Avram (masterfully played by Eric Bana), is the kind of guy who comes home from the war with a box full of medals he never opens. I know guys like that. In particular, I'm reminded of the father of a childhood friend. This man, a Marine, had killed a Japanese soldier with his knife. The act of killing the soldier hadn't bothered him, he said. It was a few minutes later, when he was going through the man's things and came across a wallet photo of his family, that the enormity of what he had done fell in on him. It was a long war and this Marine killed again, but he never forgot that Japanese soldier with the wallet photo of his family. My friend's father knew his cause was just, but he carried his guilt all the same. Imagine, then, how it is for Avram, who sees the wallet photos (in effect) before he drives the point home.

IMDB says that this is only Kushner's second screenplay. Two scripts, and this guy has already created a resume most screenwriters coudn't match in a lifetime. I can't wait to see what he does next.

48 Lines About 17 Movies

Long business trips often translate into many nights alone in hotel rooms. Here's a brief rundown of the pictures with which I passed the time.

OLDBOY. Every time I see this movie, I see something new. This time around, I focused on color composition. Once again, I came away dazzled.

MR. 3000. A mildly entertaining, by-the-numbers comedy about a Barry Bonds - like baseball player who learns an Important Life Lesson while trying to make a comeback.

DAZED AND CONFUSED. Linklater creates teenagers who actually think, talk, and act like teenagers. His slice-of-life picture gives us big moments disguised as small ones and small moments that feel right. This one's a winner.

BOILER ROOM. An indictment of get-rich-quick culture, BR boasts interesting characters, compelling situations, and terrific dialogue.

KISS KISS, BANG BANG. My wife put this on her queue, and I can't wait to see it again. I missed half the movie the first time because I was laughing so hard.

THE BEST OF YOUTH. Actually, it's an Italian miniseries that has been loosely redefined as a very long movie. Regardless of its length, this one made me lose track of time as I bonded with its characters and developed a keen interest in their respective life paths. I may purchase this one.

THE DA VINCI CODE. A reasonably entertaining adaptation of a reasonably entertaining book.

SYRIANA. This just in - the business of America is business.

RUNNING SCARED. The more I think about it, the more I like it. RS is a layered, sophisticated tale disguised as an over-the-top, ultraviolent cime picture.

SUPER TROOPERS. I don't understand why this isn't a cult hit of Lebowskian magnitude. It's riotously funny, particularly when viewed with a roomful of people.

THE BIG LEBOWSKI. This movie gets funnier every time I see it.

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE. This mean-spirited film expects us to laugh at, not with its (alien) people. I hated, hated, hated it.

REMEMBER ME, MY LOVE. This domestic drama traces the lives of a nuclear family at a moment of profound transition. Interestingly, you wind up feeling the most for the one who almost tears everything apart.

VAN WILDER. I reasonably amusing college picture that pretty much coasts by on the Ryan Reynolds' charisma. Look for the inspired casting of Tim Matheson as the titular character's father.

MEAN STREETS. Early Scorcese featuring Keitel and DeNiro before the latter descended into schtick. Very nice.

REVENGE OF THE CREATURE. All gill-man, very little Amazon. This one did not capture my imagination.

TOUCH THE SOUND. Evelyn Glennie overcame deafness to become a professional musician. She uses her gifts to create music I don't care to hear.

Dracula (1979)

The 1979 DRACULA has a few strikes against it. Its Jonathan Harker is a charisma sump, its Mina is utterly unremarkable, and its effects border on the ridiculous. Nevertheless, the production has one thing going for it, and that one thing is enough to carry all the dead weight: Frank Langella.

Langella’s Dracula is neither hideous lich nor creepy eurotrash. He's supercool; a real lady killer who has charmed his way through the centuries and isn't about to be stopped by doddering old Van Helsing or his bumbling pal Harker. Don't get me wrong: Olivier is fine in his pay-the-bills portrayal of Van Helsing, and he does have a terrific moment when he almost succumbs to Dracula's will, but Langella just plain shines here.

What a pleasant surprise.