The trailers for Be Kind Rewind make the movie look like a non-stop laugh fest filled with quirky, slapstick humor as the unlikely team of Jack Black and Mos Def find themselves in outrageous situations, trying to re-enact various blockbuster films. The previews depict the movie as having the same kind of hilarious charm as a poorly-made home video - something you might have filmed with your friends and watched immediately afterward, gasping with laughter. There are moments of this pure humor in Be Kind Rewind, but most of them were covered in the trailers.
That’s not to say that the movie is bad or boring. There is simply more drama in the plot than was really appropriate. The film is, on the surface, about Jerry (Black) and Mike (Mos Def) recreating a slew of videos for a rental store after Jerry magnetically erases all the originals. But there is another parallel plot about the video store and upstairs apartment, both owned by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), being demolished to make way for a modern housing complex. Then there is a plot about Mike wanting to gain the approval of Mr. Fletcher, his possibly adoptive father. There is another plot about Fats Waller, a plot about an elderly lady, Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow), being bullied by her nephew, a plot about finding a way to unite the community in which the video store is located, and a plot about Jerry being afraid of radiation from a nearby power plant.
Overall, the film is pleasant, well-paced, and manages more than a few genuinely funny moments, but, typical of director Michel Gondry, there are too many ideas, each backed by too many high hopes, for the movie to stay completely grounded. There is also a scene, perplexing for the genre, in which Jack Black is suspended upside-down by Ghostbusters-style electric currents (only it’s not during the remake of Ghostbusters). However, Gondry has come as close as he ever may to making a straightforward, audience-pleasing film. Idiosyncrasies that may have otherwise alienated viewers are easy to overlook. Be Kind Rewind is worth it even for the small amount of hilarity that goes beyond the trailers and its well-meaning, if slightly askew, dramatic subplots prove to be cliché but harmless.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Review of Definitely, Maybe
There is no worse Valentine’s gift than admission to a movie by director Adam Brooks (Wimbledon). Definitely, Maybe, a story about a man who has three recurring girlfriends and later tells his tale of triplicate love to his daughter during his divorce from her mother, is not the type of romantic movie that will make a person feel overjoyed about being in a relationship. Especially if you are in a relationship with a significant other who has given you the insult of buying you a ticket to this movie.
Definitely, Maybe wavers from the beginning with Ryan Reynolds’ voice-over introduction and a bizarre montage of Will Hayes (Reynolds) walking around New York to the tune of “Everyday People.” When Will picks up his daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin), from school, he discovers that she has just learned about sex. Maya questions Will all the way home and their conversation somehow leads to Will’s dating life before he married Abigail’s mother.
Creating a “mystery romance” for his daughter’s bedtime story, Will agrees to tell Maya about the three loves he had in his life, without revealing which one turned out to be Maya’s mother. The story jumps back to 1992 when Will leaves his college girlfriend, “Emily” (Elizabeth Banks), behind to work on the Clinton campaign in New York. With occasional disapproving interjections from Maya, the new (or rather, previous) plot revolves around Will’s life in New York without Emily.
Will soon meets April (Isla Fisher), an office worker at the campaign headquarters, and Summer (Rachel Weisz), an old friend of Emily’s. While waiting for Emily to come to New York so he can propose to her, Will manages to get to first base with both April and Summer. So begins a series of ill-fated romantic attempts with all three girls as Will repeatedly falls in love and gets his heart broken.
During this tedious span of five years, the audience is treated to an awkward and inappropriately placed song by Rachel Weisz and intermittent returns to Will’s current life with Maya. Abigail Breslin, playing perhaps the only likeable character in the film, can’t seem to pull much believability out of the clichéd script and uninspired direction. Ryan Reynolds doesn’t show enough emotion until the last twenty minutes of the film to really enamor the audience at all. His interactions with Breslin seem like scraps from some Dane Cook movie. The trio of actresses who play Will’s girlfriends is highlighted by Isla Fisher, but this may be because she is the only one required to show a range of emotions.
After Maya discovers which one of Will’s old love interests is her mother, she tries to get him back together with the woman she decides he will be truly happy with. In the end, Will does reunite with one of his old girlfriends (who could do much better) and the film manages a charming finish. This is, of course, only after a long hour and a half of redundant romantic struggles and a few upsetting appearances from Kevin Kline.
It’s a mystery why this movie was released on Valentine’s Day. An unimpressive story about the confusion and disappointment of love in which every character proves to be unfaithful, it seems unlikely (despite the happy ending) that Definitely, Maybe will be able to rely on the romantic atmosphere of this holiday for a substantial audience.
Definitely, Maybe wavers from the beginning with Ryan Reynolds’ voice-over introduction and a bizarre montage of Will Hayes (Reynolds) walking around New York to the tune of “Everyday People.” When Will picks up his daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin), from school, he discovers that she has just learned about sex. Maya questions Will all the way home and their conversation somehow leads to Will’s dating life before he married Abigail’s mother.
Creating a “mystery romance” for his daughter’s bedtime story, Will agrees to tell Maya about the three loves he had in his life, without revealing which one turned out to be Maya’s mother. The story jumps back to 1992 when Will leaves his college girlfriend, “Emily” (Elizabeth Banks), behind to work on the Clinton campaign in New York. With occasional disapproving interjections from Maya, the new (or rather, previous) plot revolves around Will’s life in New York without Emily.
Will soon meets April (Isla Fisher), an office worker at the campaign headquarters, and Summer (Rachel Weisz), an old friend of Emily’s. While waiting for Emily to come to New York so he can propose to her, Will manages to get to first base with both April and Summer. So begins a series of ill-fated romantic attempts with all three girls as Will repeatedly falls in love and gets his heart broken.
During this tedious span of five years, the audience is treated to an awkward and inappropriately placed song by Rachel Weisz and intermittent returns to Will’s current life with Maya. Abigail Breslin, playing perhaps the only likeable character in the film, can’t seem to pull much believability out of the clichéd script and uninspired direction. Ryan Reynolds doesn’t show enough emotion until the last twenty minutes of the film to really enamor the audience at all. His interactions with Breslin seem like scraps from some Dane Cook movie. The trio of actresses who play Will’s girlfriends is highlighted by Isla Fisher, but this may be because she is the only one required to show a range of emotions.
After Maya discovers which one of Will’s old love interests is her mother, she tries to get him back together with the woman she decides he will be truly happy with. In the end, Will does reunite with one of his old girlfriends (who could do much better) and the film manages a charming finish. This is, of course, only after a long hour and a half of redundant romantic struggles and a few upsetting appearances from Kevin Kline.
It’s a mystery why this movie was released on Valentine’s Day. An unimpressive story about the confusion and disappointment of love in which every character proves to be unfaithful, it seems unlikely (despite the happy ending) that Definitely, Maybe will be able to rely on the romantic atmosphere of this holiday for a substantial audience.
Review of The Spiderwick Chronicles
As if Freddie Highmore (whose ubiquity is possibly only surpassed by Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin) hasn’t been getting enough roles recently, he plays two different characters in The Spiderwick Chronicles: Jared and Simon Grace. Simon is passive and bookish, while Jared, we learn early on, has a history of “anger problems,” violence, and causing problems for his family. Despite having a sometimes-distractingly practiced American accent, Highmore is able to establish his characters as distinctly different people with full personalities who don’t seem one-dimensional or trite.
Given Jared’s tumultuous past behavior, his family blames him for the strange things that happen when his mother moves him, Simon, and their older sister, Mallory into an abandoned house that used to belong to a great-aunt. Jared soon discovers that his great-great-uncle, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn) had discovered an entire world of mythical creatures and compiled a book chronicling his studies. One such mythical creature is an annoying Brownie named Thimbletack (voiced by Martin Short) who turns into a raging green Bogart when he is upset. It turns out that Thimbletack is responsible for the mischief going on in Jared’s new home and also for guarding the book by Arthur Spiderwick. If the book goes outside a protective sphere surrounding the house, goblins will try to steal it and use its information to gain power over all creatures, including humans. So begins a battle between Jared’s family and the goblins for possession of the book. Conveniently, Mallory (Sarah Bolger) is a fencing expert and is able to fight off several goblins with an old sword she finds in the house.
In an era of book-inspired adventure movies involving mythical creatures and children, The Spiderwick Chronicles isn’t exactly something new. And sequels may well be on the way given that there are now five novels in the franchise. Even Freddie Highmore’s talent doesn’t make the film stand out since two years ago he was in another fantastical movie involving family bonds and fairies (Arthur and the Invisibles). However, what this movie lacks in cinematic originality doesn’t take away from its appeal to children, its target audience. If anything, The Spiderwick Chronicles may be more suited to younger viewers than its numerous comparable predecessors. The storyline is not bland, but is certainly more accessible than that of The Golden Compass (or, assumably, future installments of The Chronicles of Narnia). The plot does not fail to provide closure, as was the case in the only chapter of A Series of Unfortunate Events (based on similarly illustrated novels about three other clever siblings). The pacing is more steady and the action more continuous than most films of any type which have been adapted from a book. The Spiderwick Chronicles is entertaining and thorough – perhaps a light version of a Harry Potter excerpt.
Backing the magical plotline is a more relatable conflict regarding Jared’s reaction to his parents’ separation. While CGI monsters bleed green ooze and Nick Nolte represents a goblin king in weakened form, there is still room for emotional development between the human characters. The Spiderwick Chronicles is able to create a modern fairytale woven with elements of real-life believability, thus making it a solid film and a worthwhile addition to its genre.
Given Jared’s tumultuous past behavior, his family blames him for the strange things that happen when his mother moves him, Simon, and their older sister, Mallory into an abandoned house that used to belong to a great-aunt. Jared soon discovers that his great-great-uncle, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn) had discovered an entire world of mythical creatures and compiled a book chronicling his studies. One such mythical creature is an annoying Brownie named Thimbletack (voiced by Martin Short) who turns into a raging green Bogart when he is upset. It turns out that Thimbletack is responsible for the mischief going on in Jared’s new home and also for guarding the book by Arthur Spiderwick. If the book goes outside a protective sphere surrounding the house, goblins will try to steal it and use its information to gain power over all creatures, including humans. So begins a battle between Jared’s family and the goblins for possession of the book. Conveniently, Mallory (Sarah Bolger) is a fencing expert and is able to fight off several goblins with an old sword she finds in the house.
In an era of book-inspired adventure movies involving mythical creatures and children, The Spiderwick Chronicles isn’t exactly something new. And sequels may well be on the way given that there are now five novels in the franchise. Even Freddie Highmore’s talent doesn’t make the film stand out since two years ago he was in another fantastical movie involving family bonds and fairies (Arthur and the Invisibles). However, what this movie lacks in cinematic originality doesn’t take away from its appeal to children, its target audience. If anything, The Spiderwick Chronicles may be more suited to younger viewers than its numerous comparable predecessors. The storyline is not bland, but is certainly more accessible than that of The Golden Compass (or, assumably, future installments of The Chronicles of Narnia). The plot does not fail to provide closure, as was the case in the only chapter of A Series of Unfortunate Events (based on similarly illustrated novels about three other clever siblings). The pacing is more steady and the action more continuous than most films of any type which have been adapted from a book. The Spiderwick Chronicles is entertaining and thorough – perhaps a light version of a Harry Potter excerpt.
Backing the magical plotline is a more relatable conflict regarding Jared’s reaction to his parents’ separation. While CGI monsters bleed green ooze and Nick Nolte represents a goblin king in weakened form, there is still room for emotional development between the human characters. The Spiderwick Chronicles is able to create a modern fairytale woven with elements of real-life believability, thus making it a solid film and a worthwhile addition to its genre.
Review of Cloverfield
Cloverfield is an exhausting film, both physically and mentally. Movies should be enjoyable, or at least thought-provoking, but with an unoriginal storyline and literally nauseating camera work, Cloverfield requires a huge effort to watch and offers no payoff.
A group of twenty-somethings are having a party in Manhattan when the island is racked by what seems to be a series of earthquakes. Venturing onto the street, the protagonists soon witness the entire city being torn apart by a giant monster, which one of the characters speculates may have emerged from a crevasse in the ocean. While the area is evacuated by the military, Rob, the probable main character, and a few of his friends stay behind to rescue Rob’s true love from her apartment. A novelty of the narrative is the fact that the entire movie is allegedly filmed on a camcorder by the protagonists. So basically it’s War of the Worlds in a Blair Witch Project package.
The unsteady, whirling movements of the handheld camera don’t do much to create intensity; they only end up making the audience feel queasy. The plot also isn’t too satisfying. Though the introduction to the film reveals that human life has survived on Earth and at some point returned to Manhattan, it is never explained how or if the monster was defeated and what it was to begin with. The film might have been more satisfying, and certainly more believable had the monster been replaced by a particularly ruinous meteor shower.
Cloverfield is mostly a potential cause of sickness and a rehashing of several other films presented as something new. But scenes of New York being destroyed are starting to get tiring and first person camera ploys were tiring even in 1999.
A group of twenty-somethings are having a party in Manhattan when the island is racked by what seems to be a series of earthquakes. Venturing onto the street, the protagonists soon witness the entire city being torn apart by a giant monster, which one of the characters speculates may have emerged from a crevasse in the ocean. While the area is evacuated by the military, Rob, the probable main character, and a few of his friends stay behind to rescue Rob’s true love from her apartment. A novelty of the narrative is the fact that the entire movie is allegedly filmed on a camcorder by the protagonists. So basically it’s War of the Worlds in a Blair Witch Project package.
The unsteady, whirling movements of the handheld camera don’t do much to create intensity; they only end up making the audience feel queasy. The plot also isn’t too satisfying. Though the introduction to the film reveals that human life has survived on Earth and at some point returned to Manhattan, it is never explained how or if the monster was defeated and what it was to begin with. The film might have been more satisfying, and certainly more believable had the monster been replaced by a particularly ruinous meteor shower.
Cloverfield is mostly a potential cause of sickness and a rehashing of several other films presented as something new. But scenes of New York being destroyed are starting to get tiring and first person camera ploys were tiring even in 1999.
Review of Persepolis
Persepolis tells the story of the events in an Iranian girl’s life as she grows from a child into a woman. Marjane Satrapi, author of the Persepolis graphic novels, designed and directed the autobiographical film, recounting the political events that shaped present-day Iran and the effect they had on her youth.
Opening in 1970s Tehran, the animated Persepolis begins in a strangely cartoonish fashion, recalling the bouncing movements and exaggerated expressions of something as flippant as Disney’s “Steamboat Willie.” The lighthearted images juxtapose the young, outspoken Marjane’s nine-year-old worldview with her parents’ political discussions about the Islamic Revolution to overthrow the Shah. Presenting potentially foreign experiences to an international audience, Marjane is at once likeable and easy to relate to. Treasuring her Adidas shoes and demonstrating Bruce Lee moves at her parents’ cocktail parties, she is a typical girl in any country enjoying some degree of wealth and freedom. After the Revolution, however, Iran’s once-hopeful future begins to look bleak.
Islamic fundamentalists impose new rules on the country and Marjane is forced to wear a veil and is persecuted for her “punk” attire. Iraq begins to bomb Iran in its weakened political state and multitudes of people are imprisoned as “national threats.” One such person is Marjane’s Communist uncle, who she idolizes. When he is executed, Marjane becomes determined to make sure that she carries on his struggle for freedom so he won’t have died in vain.
Because of her opinionated behavior and the increasingly volatile political climate in Iran, Marjane’s parents make the difficult decision to send her to Vienna at the age of 14. Marjane struggles with the awkward experiences of puberty in an unfamiliar country. She finds it difficult to fit in or form a truthful identity and ends up drifting through a series of temporary residences and having several disheartening social experiences. Eventually homeless and extremely depressed, Marjane returns home to Iran.
The film continues on to relate Marjane’s re-immersion into Iranian culture, her marriage and eventual divorce, and numerous instances of the injustices committed by the government. Though the film’s message is powerful and Marjane’s story significant, details of what seems like every event in Marjane’s daily life and constant introductions of family friends and political activists tend to make the movie drag during its hour-and-a-half running time. Persepolis is a rich, poignant account of experiences which need to be shared, but it probably could have been cut down by about 45 minutes and still been just as significant.
The animation in the film was painstakingly organized by Satrapi, who first drew each of over 600 characters and then acted out each scene for the animators. The result is a distinct, reproduction of Satrapi’s graphic novels put into motion. There are times, however, especially during the scenes of Marjane’s childhood, that the animation resembles that of a Charlie Brown cartoon. Round, expressive eyes, single-line mouths, and absurd 1920s transition effects make these parts of the movie seem inappropriately playful in contrast to the subject matter. The film does tend to mature with Marjane, though, and the frivolity of childhood gives way to deeply emotive scenes, created artistically with only a black and white palate.
Persepolis is a pathway into a world few others have seen. Designed on a two-dimensional landscape, its gray tones illustrate a country damaged by war and revolution, while its solid black and white accentuate the life of a young girl who was meant to stand out. An enlightening and profoundly personal film, Persepolis is a unique and valuable creation.
Opening in 1970s Tehran, the animated Persepolis begins in a strangely cartoonish fashion, recalling the bouncing movements and exaggerated expressions of something as flippant as Disney’s “Steamboat Willie.” The lighthearted images juxtapose the young, outspoken Marjane’s nine-year-old worldview with her parents’ political discussions about the Islamic Revolution to overthrow the Shah. Presenting potentially foreign experiences to an international audience, Marjane is at once likeable and easy to relate to. Treasuring her Adidas shoes and demonstrating Bruce Lee moves at her parents’ cocktail parties, she is a typical girl in any country enjoying some degree of wealth and freedom. After the Revolution, however, Iran’s once-hopeful future begins to look bleak.
Islamic fundamentalists impose new rules on the country and Marjane is forced to wear a veil and is persecuted for her “punk” attire. Iraq begins to bomb Iran in its weakened political state and multitudes of people are imprisoned as “national threats.” One such person is Marjane’s Communist uncle, who she idolizes. When he is executed, Marjane becomes determined to make sure that she carries on his struggle for freedom so he won’t have died in vain.
Because of her opinionated behavior and the increasingly volatile political climate in Iran, Marjane’s parents make the difficult decision to send her to Vienna at the age of 14. Marjane struggles with the awkward experiences of puberty in an unfamiliar country. She finds it difficult to fit in or form a truthful identity and ends up drifting through a series of temporary residences and having several disheartening social experiences. Eventually homeless and extremely depressed, Marjane returns home to Iran.
The film continues on to relate Marjane’s re-immersion into Iranian culture, her marriage and eventual divorce, and numerous instances of the injustices committed by the government. Though the film’s message is powerful and Marjane’s story significant, details of what seems like every event in Marjane’s daily life and constant introductions of family friends and political activists tend to make the movie drag during its hour-and-a-half running time. Persepolis is a rich, poignant account of experiences which need to be shared, but it probably could have been cut down by about 45 minutes and still been just as significant.
The animation in the film was painstakingly organized by Satrapi, who first drew each of over 600 characters and then acted out each scene for the animators. The result is a distinct, reproduction of Satrapi’s graphic novels put into motion. There are times, however, especially during the scenes of Marjane’s childhood, that the animation resembles that of a Charlie Brown cartoon. Round, expressive eyes, single-line mouths, and absurd 1920s transition effects make these parts of the movie seem inappropriately playful in contrast to the subject matter. The film does tend to mature with Marjane, though, and the frivolity of childhood gives way to deeply emotive scenes, created artistically with only a black and white palate.
Persepolis is a pathway into a world few others have seen. Designed on a two-dimensional landscape, its gray tones illustrate a country damaged by war and revolution, while its solid black and white accentuate the life of a young girl who was meant to stand out. An enlightening and profoundly personal film, Persepolis is a unique and valuable creation.
Best and Worst Films of 2007
The movies of 2007 were marked by grandiose, dramatic cinematography and poorly planned narratives. Few films were wonderful and many were awful, making it difficult for me to decide which were actually worthy of being called The Worst Films of the Year. One movie stood out as an obvious choice for Best Film: The Assassination of Jesse James. Haunting and beautiful, The Assassination’s tense, melancholy tones make it one of the few films successful in evoking accurate emotions from the audience. It stands out for the consistent strength of its writing, directing, and acting – a feat it alone achieved this year.
Best Films:
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
No Country for Old Men
3:10 to Yuma
Zodiac
28 Days Later
Worst Films:
Halloween
4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Margot at the Wedding
Juno
Best Films:
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
No Country for Old Men
3:10 to Yuma
Zodiac
28 Days Later
Worst Films:
Halloween
4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Margot at the Wedding
Juno
Review of Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, based on a Broadway musical, is another dark and morbidly humorous Tim Burton project. Set in London, the story centers around a man named Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp), a barber who once lived a happy life with a beautiful wife and daughter. Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), who desired Todd’s wife, sent him away and destroyed his family. Now, fifteen years later, Todd has returned to London to reclaim his daughter and get revenge. Along with the help of Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), Todd goes on a killing spree and forms a plan to help him destroy his ultimate target, Judge Turpin.
The film is well acted but loses ground during the rather monotonous musical numbers. There is not enough flair to keep the audience engaged through the limp solos and the songs are more idle redundancy than modes of progression. The play probably would have adapted better had it not remained a musical on screen. Also, Tim Burton’s project hovers uncertainly somewhere between a Disney movie, a horror film, and a John Waters production. There is too much direct gore, too few menacing undertones, and an almost ridiculous montage of blood spraying out of slit necks while Todd sings another solo number.
Despite the occasionally campy effects of the story, the film is well directed, and will certainly be enjoyable for any fans of Tim Burton or Johnny Depp’s more whimsical work. The musical aspect aside, Sweeney Todd is recognizable as a solid film and, if nothing else, a change of pace from current movies.
The film is well acted but loses ground during the rather monotonous musical numbers. There is not enough flair to keep the audience engaged through the limp solos and the songs are more idle redundancy than modes of progression. The play probably would have adapted better had it not remained a musical on screen. Also, Tim Burton’s project hovers uncertainly somewhere between a Disney movie, a horror film, and a John Waters production. There is too much direct gore, too few menacing undertones, and an almost ridiculous montage of blood spraying out of slit necks while Todd sings another solo number.
Despite the occasionally campy effects of the story, the film is well directed, and will certainly be enjoyable for any fans of Tim Burton or Johnny Depp’s more whimsical work. The musical aspect aside, Sweeney Todd is recognizable as a solid film and, if nothing else, a change of pace from current movies.
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