People Tell Me I Look Like Han Solo.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Celebrate Earth Day with Green Movies
Avatar
The Earth Day DVD/Blu-ray release of James Cameron’s sci-fi epic was no accident (it is a Thursday, after all; usually DVDs are released on Tuesdays), as Avatar lays on the environmental themes pretty thick. And that’s
not really a knock; Cameron makes movies for the broadest possible audience – and clearly he’s really good at it – and as much as some adults found the “be good to the planet” themes a tad heavy-handed, the second time I went to see it months after its release, the theater was at least half-filled with children. Just the sort who wouldn’t grasp more subtle environmental themes, but who probably took Cameron’s green message to heart.
As much as I didn’t think it was one of the best films of 2009, I did quite enjoy Avatar, and I found its environmental theme worked quite well within the context of the story. And really, subtlety has never been Cameron’s thing (of all the words I’d use to describe classics like Aliens and Terminator 2, “subtle” would not be among them).
The only problem with the Earth Day Avatar release is that there’s nothing on the disc. Cameron is planning to re-release Avatar in cinemas in August with an additional six minutes or so of footage, so a more proper DVD/Blu-ray release (with extras like commentary and making-of documentaries) isn’t expected until the fall. That’s the version of Avatar I’m excited to own, one that lets me watch picture-in-picture footage of Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in motion-capture suits alongside the finished film. But until then, there are worse ways to mark Earth Day than with great bit of sci-fi/action spectacle.
Away We Go
A bit of an odd choice, as the movie itself has no environmental themes (though the main characters, expecting couple Burt and Verona, definitely seem like the types of people who are concerned about their carbon footprint), but rather it’s the production itself that was environmentally-conscious. There’s a short featurette on the Away We Go DVD that explains how the filmmakers tried to make the production as carbon-neutral as possible, and details the lengths they went to in order to achieve that goal. It’s a noble endeavor, and made me realize just how much waste is created by a typical movie production. It also helps that Away We Go, which I picked as one of the best films of 2009, is a wonderfully warm and sweet movie that anyone with a heart will enjoy. (Check out my initial review here.)
The Lord of the Rings
The environ
mental allegories in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic are quite well-known at this point – the villains, primarily Saruman and his orcs, represent the industrial revolution, while the hobbits and the Shire signify a more traditional agrarian lifestyle that Tolkien saw fading in his lifetime – and Peter Jackson’s film version of the classic trilogy makes good use of those themes without losing focus on the main story. Also, these are phenomenally well-made films that just got re-issued on Blu-ray (check out my review of the new set here), so this it’s as good a reason as any to revisit Middle Earth and hearken back to a simpler time (which never really existed; I guess this is what being a Republican is like?) when men were men, hobbits were hobbits, and if you destroyed half of a forest, the other half would come looking for you and totally ***** up your ****.
¶ 10:23 AM 0 Comments
The Earth Day DVD/Blu-ray release of James Cameron’s sci-fi epic was no accident (it is a Thursday, after all; usually DVDs are released on Tuesdays), as Avatar lays on the environmental themes pretty thick. And that’s
not really a knock; Cameron makes movies for the broadest possible audience – and clearly he’s really good at it – and as much as some adults found the “be good to the planet” themes a tad heavy-handed, the second time I went to see it months after its release, the theater was at least half-filled with children. Just the sort who wouldn’t grasp more subtle environmental themes, but who probably took Cameron’s green message to heart.As much as I didn’t think it was one of the best films of 2009, I did quite enjoy Avatar, and I found its environmental theme worked quite well within the context of the story. And really, subtlety has never been Cameron’s thing (of all the words I’d use to describe classics like Aliens and Terminator 2, “subtle” would not be among them).
The only problem with the Earth Day Avatar release is that there’s nothing on the disc. Cameron is planning to re-release Avatar in cinemas in August with an additional six minutes or so of footage, so a more proper DVD/Blu-ray release (with extras like commentary and making-of documentaries) isn’t expected until the fall. That’s the version of Avatar I’m excited to own, one that lets me watch picture-in-picture footage of Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in motion-capture suits alongside the finished film. But until then, there are worse ways to mark Earth Day than with great bit of sci-fi/action spectacle.
Away We Go
A bit of an odd choice, as the movie itself has no environmental themes (though the main characters, expecting couple Burt and Verona, definitely seem like the types of people who are concerned about their carbon footprint), but rather it’s the production itself that was environmentally-conscious. There’s a short featurette on the Away We Go DVD that explains how the filmmakers tried to make the production as carbon-neutral as possible, and details the lengths they went to in order to achieve that goal. It’s a noble endeavor, and made me realize just how much waste is created by a typical movie production. It also helps that Away We Go, which I picked as one of the best films of 2009, is a wonderfully warm and sweet movie that anyone with a heart will enjoy. (Check out my initial review here.)
The Lord of the Rings
The environ
mental allegories in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic are quite well-known at this point – the villains, primarily Saruman and his orcs, represent the industrial revolution, while the hobbits and the Shire signify a more traditional agrarian lifestyle that Tolkien saw fading in his lifetime – and Peter Jackson’s film version of the classic trilogy makes good use of those themes without losing focus on the main story. Also, these are phenomenally well-made films that just got re-issued on Blu-ray (check out my review of the new set here), so this it’s as good a reason as any to revisit Middle Earth and hearken back to a simpler time (which never really existed; I guess this is what being a Republican is like?) when men were men, hobbits were hobbits, and if you destroyed half of a forest, the other half would come looking for you and totally ***** up your ****. ¶ 10:23 AM 0 Comments
Thursday, February 18, 2010
DVD Pick: Black Dynamite
This week, one of my favorite movies of last year, and the funniest comedy I’ve seen since Anchorman came out on DVD and Blu-ray. That movie is Black Dynamite, a brilliant spoof of ‘70s blaxploitation films, starring Michael Jai White as the title character, a kung fu-fighting former CIA agent out to avenge his little brother’s death at the hands of mob drug dealers, eventually 
cracking a huge conspiracy involving tainted malt liquor and climaxing in a final confrontation so awesome and hilarious that I can’t even tell you who he fights at the end, lest I spoil one of the funniest jokes in the entire movie.
Now, I should tell you that an appreciation for blaxploitation movies is not a prerequisite for enjoying Black Dynamite. I’m pretty unfamiliar with the genre myself, my experience limited to seeing Shaft when I was a teenager, and catching bits of Dolemite when I was in university; the bulk of my knowledge about blaxploitation comes from Keenan Ivory Wayans’ 1988 spoof of the genre, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (which this movie trumps in every way imaginable). Black Dynamite is just a hilarious movie that anyone who’s spent any time laughing at poorly-made genre movies (horror, action, sci-fi, etc.) can appreciate. Whether it’s boom microphones in the shot or a bad supporting “actor” who reads his stage directions in addition to his lines or poorly edited car chases, Black Dynamite is a wonderful satire of bad movies made by enthusiastic people.
Michael Jai White, who’s been toiling away in small roles in big movies (The Dark Knight, that awesome deleted scene in Kill Bill Vol. 2) or big roles in small movies (replacing Ving Rhames in the low-budget sequel Undisputed 2, which is actually a fun little martial arts flick), usually plays intense, scary dudes, and it was a revelation to see how funny he is. (He came up with the idea for the character when James Brown’s ‘Superbad’ came on his iPod while he was filming Undisputed 2.) He wrote a screenplay with director Scott Sanders and co-star Byron Minns based on a fake trailer they threw together, and the indie comedy was eventually bought by Sony. It saw a limited theatrical release, but home video is where great little comedies like this find their audiences, and I suspect Black Dynamite will find a cult following pretty fast. It’s a hilarious satire of low-budget genre movies filled with wonderfully authentic and hysterical music (my favorite sequence in the entire movie is probably the ‘Cleaning Up The Streets’ montage; Black Dynamite has the funniest montages since Team America) that any movie buff will be able to appreciate. I’ve watched Black Dynamite probably a dozen times now, and it still hasn’t gotten old. If you only watch one movie this year based on my recommendation, make that movie Black Dynamite.
cracking a huge conspiracy involving tainted malt liquor and climaxing in a final confrontation so awesome and hilarious that I can’t even tell you who he fights at the end, lest I spoil one of the funniest jokes in the entire movie.Now, I should tell you that an appreciation for blaxploitation movies is not a prerequisite for enjoying Black Dynamite. I’m pretty unfamiliar with the genre myself, my experience limited to seeing Shaft when I was a teenager, and catching bits of Dolemite when I was in university; the bulk of my knowledge about blaxploitation comes from Keenan Ivory Wayans’ 1988 spoof of the genre, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (which this movie trumps in every way imaginable). Black Dynamite is just a hilarious movie that anyone who’s spent any time laughing at poorly-made genre movies (horror, action, sci-fi, etc.) can appreciate. Whether it’s boom microphones in the shot or a bad supporting “actor” who reads his stage directions in addition to his lines or poorly edited car chases, Black Dynamite is a wonderful satire of bad movies made by enthusiastic people.
Michael Jai White, who’s been toiling away in small roles in big movies (The Dark Knight, that awesome deleted scene in Kill Bill Vol. 2) or big roles in small movies (replacing Ving Rhames in the low-budget sequel Undisputed 2, which is actually a fun little martial arts flick), usually plays intense, scary dudes, and it was a revelation to see how funny he is. (He came up with the idea for the character when James Brown’s ‘Superbad’ came on his iPod while he was filming Undisputed 2.) He wrote a screenplay with director Scott Sanders and co-star Byron Minns based on a fake trailer they threw together, and the indie comedy was eventually bought by Sony. It saw a limited theatrical release, but home video is where great little comedies like this find their audiences, and I suspect Black Dynamite will find a cult following pretty fast. It’s a hilarious satire of low-budget genre movies filled with wonderfully authentic and hysterical music (my favorite sequence in the entire movie is probably the ‘Cleaning Up The Streets’ montage; Black Dynamite has the funniest montages since Team America) that any movie buff will be able to appreciate. I’ve watched Black Dynamite probably a dozen times now, and it still hasn’t gotten old. If you only watch one movie this year based on my recommendation, make that movie Black Dynamite.
Labels: comedy, DVD, indie cinema
¶ 9:47 AM 0 Comments
Thursday, December 17, 2009
2009 Holiday Gift Guide
I pride myself on being a pretty good gift-giver, so when the powers that be suggested doing a holiday gift guide, I was on it like white on rice. And I’ll take any excuse I can get to write about great movies and TV shows. If you’re seeking gift ideas for the movie or TV geek in your life, look no further.
The Unit: The Complete Series
This year saw the unfortunate demise of one of my favorite shows on TV, the military action/drama The Unit, which CBS cancelled after four seasons. The show was the brainchild of playwright/filmmaker David Mamet and Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield (of which I’ve only seen the first two or three seasons, but it’s an above-average cop show), and based on special forces veteran Eric L. Haney’s memoir, Inside Delta Force. The show follows the Unit, a squad of U.S. special forces soldiers, led by Jonas Blaine (Dennis Haysbert), one of the most badass TV characters I have ever seen. The Unit, unlike 24, is very much set in the real world, and while it’s a show about the military, it makes a point of not being political. The writing is top notch (Mamet himself wrote several episodes, all of which are among the series best), the acting is excellent (Scott Foley, formerly od Felicity fame, is awesome. Who knew?), and the show is filled with insanely tense moments and cool action. The Unit is great TV, and as much as it sucks that it’s gone, we still got four awesome seasons out of it. If someone on your list is into military stuff, it really doesn not get any better than The Unit.
The Unit: The Complete Series
This year saw the unfortunate demise of one of my favorite shows on TV, the military action/drama The Unit, which CBS cancelled after four seasons. The show was the brainchild of playwright/filmmaker David Mamet and Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield (of which I’ve only seen the first two or three seasons, but it’s an above-average cop show), and based on special forces veteran Eric L. Haney’s memoir, Inside Delta Force. The show follows the Unit, a squad of U.S. special forces soldiers, led by Jonas Blaine (Dennis Haysbert), one of the most badass TV characters I have ever seen. The Unit, unlike 24, is very much set in the real world, and while it’s a show about the military, it makes a point of not being political. The writing is top notch (Mamet himself wrote several episodes, all of which are among the series best), the acting is excellent (Scott Foley, formerly od Felicity fame, is awesome. Who knew?), and the show is filled with insanely tense moments and cool action. The Unit is great TV, and as much as it sucks that it’s gone, we still got four awesome seasons out of it. If someone on your list is into military stuff, it really doesn not get any better than The Unit.
Gone With the Wind: Ultimate Collector's Edition (Blu-ray)
I admit I’m not a huge fan of this movie – I find it overlong and boring – but there’s no denying its place in cinema history. So it’s great that Warner Bros. recently issued this gorgeous box set of what many still consider the greatest film of all time. The Blu-ray version has four discs (the standard DVD set is six; both are loaded with extas), and comes with a 52-page hardcover photo and art book, a reproduction of the original 1939 program, and a CD sampler, and all of it comes wrapped in a velvet box. As much as it’s not my thing, I acknowledge that I’m in the minority, and it’s never a bad thing when a movie as important beloved as Gone With the Wind gets a top-quality DVD or Blu-ray package. I almost bought this one in the store a few times, and I don’t even really care for this movie.
I admit I’m not a huge fan of this movie – I find it overlong and boring – but there’s no denying its place in cinema history. So it’s great that Warner Bros. recently issued this gorgeous box set of what many still consider the greatest film of all time. The Blu-ray version has four discs (the standard DVD set is six; both are loaded with extas), and comes with a 52-page hardcover photo and art book, a reproduction of the original 1939 program, and a CD sampler, and all of it comes wrapped in a velvet box. As much as it’s not my thing, I acknowledge that I’m in the minority, and it’s never a bad thing when a movie as important beloved as Gone With the Wind gets a top-quality DVD or Blu-ray package. I almost bought this one in the store a few times, and I don’t even really care for this movie.
The Wizard of Oz: Ultimate Collector's Edition (Blu-ray)
Another classic film I don’t care for (I actually really, really dislike it, but that’s neither here nor there for the purposes of this post), Warners again came through with an absolutely killer package for the debut of The Wizard of Oz in high-definition. As with Gone With the Wind, as much as I’m not into it, it’s one of the most important movies ever made, and it’s beloved by millions, and this box set, which includes a watch(!), a 52-page commemorative book, a replica of the original movie budget(!!) and a Blu-ray-exclusive singalong feature (among tons of other stuff), may be considered overdue by some fans, but it looks like it wa worth the wait.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Limited Edition Collector's Set (Blu-ray)
I’ve mentioned previously how much I enjoy animation in hi-def, and while I haven’t seen Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on Blu-ray myself, I can only imagine how incredible it looks. When it comes to fancy special-edition DVDs (and now Blu-rays), not too many studios do it better than Disney, and this looks like one of the most impressive home video releases they’ve ever done. Whether it’s for an older fan of this classic film (Disney’s first feature-length animated movie, released in 1937) or for someone too young to remember 2D animation, you really can’t go wrong with this beautiful set.
Transformers: The Complete Series/G.I. Joe: The Complete Series
I recently reviewed both of these stellar box sets of the respective classic ‘80s cartoons (read me relive my childhood here and here), and while neither show has aged all that well – which is actually part of the appeal for the nostalgia geeks these collections are aimed, and I certainly count myself among them – these are excellent sets with some really spectacular extras. If there’s someone on your list who grew up with either of these shows (most likely both), both of these great packages come highly recommended.
Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut
Okay, I admit, this one’s included just because I love this movie (and wouldn’t mind receiving this set myself on Blu-ray, anybody who’s reading this who knows me, hint hint). Normally I hate double-dip DVD collections – this marks the third DVD/Blu-ray version of Watchmen following the simultaneous theatrical and director’s cut discs released earlier this year – but this is about as comprehensive a version of Zack Snyder’s adaptation of the groundbreaking Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons graphic novel as we’re likely to get. Included is a new, even longer cut of the movie that includes footage from the animated pirate story/comic-within-a-comic Tales of the Black Freighter (previously released as a standalone, direct-to-DVD short), among other changes, and the set also includes the Under the Hood fake documentary (originally included on the Black Freighter DVD) and Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic animated experiment, which is great, I guess, if you hate reading that much (I kid; it’s actually pretty cool). In the final analysis, I’m not sure if I’ll dig this version more than the director’s cut (which I far prefer to the theatrical cut), but as a Watchmen fan, I’m just happy this exists. A perfect gift for the more discerning geek on your list.
Labels: DVD
¶ 9:36 AM 0 Comments
Friday, November 6, 2009
Wanna be in the Paranormal Activity credits?
So this Paranormal Activity business.
I always think it’s cool when a movie becomes a success in a genuinely grassroots way, especially when it climbs the top box office list over the course of several we
eks. It almost never happens anymore, when positive word-of-mouth fuels a movie’s success rather than a “trick millions into going to see it the first weekend” marketing blitz. And as much as Paranormal Activity isn’t really my thing – I more appreciated it than liked it, and I thought it was very well-made and effective, but I wouldn’t really call it “scary,” but that’s just me – Paramount clearly has something special on their hands. The film was made for a pittance ($15,000!) a few years ago, and is currently nearing the $100-million mark. (It was also the horror film that finally broke the Saw franchise’s grip on the Halloween box office, and for that I am thankful.)
The ‘Demand It’ campaign, which prompted people who watched the trailer online to go to the movie’s website and demand that the film be released in their city too – Paranormal Activity only opened in a handful of theaters initially – eventually got millions of votes, and directly led to the film now being in just about every cinema in North America. I remember when it opened here in Toronto at one theater just for midnight showings, and now it’s everywhere. And to thank fans, Paramount is allowing anyone to register at http://www.ParanormalActivityProject.com/ any time before next Monday, November 9 at noon PST to have their names included in the credits of the Paranormal Activity DVD (for which there’s still no official release date, but that’s undoubtedly coming soon).
I think this is a great little thing for fans of the movie. Paranormal Activity, more than just about any hit movie this year (with the possible exception of District 9), was a success because the movie really connected with people, and the “buzz” had less to do with a marketing campaign than with people just getting excited about seeing it and genuinely digging it and telling their friends to check it out. It’s a nice acknowledgement of the role that “the people” played in the movie’s success, and it’s cool that basically anybody who wants to can get their name into the DVD credits.
Look for a proper DVD review of Paranormal Activity in the coming weeks or months (assuming Paramount sends one along for me).
I always think it’s cool when a movie becomes a success in a genuinely grassroots way, especially when it climbs the top box office list over the course of several we
eks. It almost never happens anymore, when positive word-of-mouth fuels a movie’s success rather than a “trick millions into going to see it the first weekend” marketing blitz. And as much as Paranormal Activity isn’t really my thing – I more appreciated it than liked it, and I thought it was very well-made and effective, but I wouldn’t really call it “scary,” but that’s just me – Paramount clearly has something special on their hands. The film was made for a pittance ($15,000!) a few years ago, and is currently nearing the $100-million mark. (It was also the horror film that finally broke the Saw franchise’s grip on the Halloween box office, and for that I am thankful.)The ‘Demand It’ campaign, which prompted people who watched the trailer online to go to the movie’s website and demand that the film be released in their city too – Paranormal Activity only opened in a handful of theaters initially – eventually got millions of votes, and directly led to the film now being in just about every cinema in North America. I remember when it opened here in Toronto at one theater just for midnight showings, and now it’s everywhere. And to thank fans, Paramount is allowing anyone to register at http://www.ParanormalActivityProject.com/ any time before next Monday, November 9 at noon PST to have their names included in the credits of the Paranormal Activity DVD (for which there’s still no official release date, but that’s undoubtedly coming soon).
I think this is a great little thing for fans of the movie. Paranormal Activity, more than just about any hit movie this year (with the possible exception of District 9), was a success because the movie really connected with people, and the “buzz” had less to do with a marketing campaign than with people just getting excited about seeing it and genuinely digging it and telling their friends to check it out. It’s a nice acknowledgement of the role that “the people” played in the movie’s success, and it’s cool that basically anybody who wants to can get their name into the DVD credits.
Look for a proper DVD review of Paranormal Activity in the coming weeks or months (assuming Paramount sends one along for me).
Labels: DVD, horror movies
¶ 10:19 AM 0 Comments
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
DVD Pick: JCVD
JCVD was one of the best movies I saw last year, but as I mentioned in my initial review from the Toronto Film Festival, my history with Jean-Claude Van Damme’s movies during my early years as a m
ovie geek sort of predisposes me to liking it (as does my love of meta-humour), so while your mileage with this very odd, very ambitious film may vary, I personally love it, and it just came out on DVD in North America this week.
The film is about Jean-Claude Van Damme (playing himself), a washed-up Belgian action star whose glory days are long behind him, and he now scrapes by making cheesy action flicks for barely-interested schlock directors while trying to win back custody of his daughter. If this all sounds a little too real, that’s because it is – not even Van Damme’s battles with drug addiction are off-limits in this movie, and much of the drama going on the life of his “character” is drawn directly from Van Damme’s real-life trials and tribulations. He returns to his home country of Belgium, where he’s still very famous (as a Canadian, the idea that even though he’s considered a joke almost everywhere else in the world, hometown pride wins out, really resonates; Bryan Adams is still a huge star here), where he unwittingly gets caught up in the robbery of a post office-slash-bank. Due to a miscommunication with the police, they come to believe that Van Damme is actually one of the robbers, which in turn sets off a media frenzy.
I love JCVD largely because it feels like a film made just for me. It stars a has-been actor having fun with his reputation and iconography (there’s a scene where he grudgingly re-enacts a famous bit from one of his movies, and it’s utterly hilarious), is filled with self-referential jokes, and has a lot of things to say about fame and the media. It also looks great – young director Mabrouk El Mechri really has a great eye, and I’d love to see what he does next – and, in the biggest surprise of all, proves that Jean-Claude Van Damme can actually act. There’s a sequence where he talks to the camera in an extended monologue, and it’s completely riveting. It’s sort of unfortunate that it took 20-some years, but Van Damme proves he has talents beyond kicking dudes and flexing his muscles.
If any of this sounds even remotely interesting to you, I highly recommend you give JCVD a rent. It’s a really cool, strange, awesome little movie.
¶ 11:18 AM 0 Comments
ovie geek sort of predisposes me to liking it (as does my love of meta-humour), so while your mileage with this very odd, very ambitious film may vary, I personally love it, and it just came out on DVD in North America this week.The film is about Jean-Claude Van Damme (playing himself), a washed-up Belgian action star whose glory days are long behind him, and he now scrapes by making cheesy action flicks for barely-interested schlock directors while trying to win back custody of his daughter. If this all sounds a little too real, that’s because it is – not even Van Damme’s battles with drug addiction are off-limits in this movie, and much of the drama going on the life of his “character” is drawn directly from Van Damme’s real-life trials and tribulations. He returns to his home country of Belgium, where he’s still very famous (as a Canadian, the idea that even though he’s considered a joke almost everywhere else in the world, hometown pride wins out, really resonates; Bryan Adams is still a huge star here), where he unwittingly gets caught up in the robbery of a post office-slash-bank. Due to a miscommunication with the police, they come to believe that Van Damme is actually one of the robbers, which in turn sets off a media frenzy.
I love JCVD largely because it feels like a film made just for me. It stars a has-been actor having fun with his reputation and iconography (there’s a scene where he grudgingly re-enacts a famous bit from one of his movies, and it’s utterly hilarious), is filled with self-referential jokes, and has a lot of things to say about fame and the media. It also looks great – young director Mabrouk El Mechri really has a great eye, and I’d love to see what he does next – and, in the biggest surprise of all, proves that Jean-Claude Van Damme can actually act. There’s a sequence where he talks to the camera in an extended monologue, and it’s completely riveting. It’s sort of unfortunate that it took 20-some years, but Van Damme proves he has talents beyond kicking dudes and flexing his muscles.
If any of this sounds even remotely interesting to you, I highly recommend you give JCVD a rent. It’s a really cool, strange, awesome little movie.
¶ 11:18 AM 0 Comments
Friday, April 17, 2009
The Spirit is...um, well, it's complicated.
So I finally saw The Spirit, a movie I’ve been incredibly curious about for a long time (though, apparently, not curious enough for me to have seen it in theatres; it flopped and was only in cinemas for a couple of weeks, lost in the Christmas glut). It’s 
based on a comic strip started in 1940 by the late Will Eisner, who was kind of like the Orson Welles of comics, and written and directed by Frank Miller, the cartoonist behind Sin City and 300, as well as 1986’s The Dark Knight Returns, considered by many to be the best Batman story of all time, almost always mentioned in the same breath as Watchmen. I’ve loved Miller’s work since I was in high school, so the prospect of him making a movie on his own (he co-directed Robert Rodriguez’s adaptation of Sin City) was, to say the least, very intriguing to me.
Speaking objectively, as a guy who reviews movies, The Spirit is not a “good” movie. It's bad, even. Miller’s writing is incredibly stylized even by comic book standards, so for the medium of film it’s pretty out-there, often coming across as painfully hokey. And as much as I appreciate Miller’s eye for casting beautiful actresses like Eva Mendes and Scarlett Jonahsson, they’re really not up to the task of delivering his dialogue in a way that doesn’t induce cringes in the viewer (see also: Rosario Dawson in Sin City). And the over-the-top visual style – take Sin City and multiply it by 10 – worked for me (I can forgive a lot if a movie looks cool), but it may be too much for some viewers.
All of that said, I sort of loved The Spirit. As much as the film has a truckload of flaws, it just felt like a Frank Miller movie, and the mere fact that I’m sitting here typing that phrase (“a Frank Miller movie”! Awesome) earned it major points with me. While there are individual writers I prefer and artists whose work I like more, Miller mostly writes and draws his own stuff, giving his work a very singular vision that even an amazing collaboration between writer and artist can’t quite match (though such collaborations obviously have their merits, like Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in Watchmen). The Spirit has a similarly unique aesthetic, which is particularly impressive given how much more collaborative filmmaking is as a process – Miller is, after all, working with a cast of actors and is filtering his ideas through a cinematographer and a film editor, etc. The scene where the Spirit runs across power lines above the city streets is kind of silly, but it’s also so Frank Miller I couldn’t get over it, and as a guy who’s followed his career for over 15 years, I got a huge charge out of seeing stuff like that on the screen.
Also, the two-disc Spirit DVD is pretty sweet. I can’t wait to watch the movie with Miller’s commentary, and there’s a great featurette in which Miller discusses his career, and comics in general. I could listen to him talk about this stuff for hours, but 15 minutes was all I got.
Overall, I can’t say I really recommend The Spirit to a broad audience, but I‘ve been thinking about it almost non-stop since I watched it last night, and I can’t wait to watch it again. That’s not normally something I say about a movie I don’t like. It’s a fascinating bit of cinema, and, unfortunately, given its weak showing at the box office, it may be Frank Miller’s first and last chance at directing a movie on his own. I’m just happy it exists.
¶ 11:13 AM 0 Comments
based on a comic strip started in 1940 by the late Will Eisner, who was kind of like the Orson Welles of comics, and written and directed by Frank Miller, the cartoonist behind Sin City and 300, as well as 1986’s The Dark Knight Returns, considered by many to be the best Batman story of all time, almost always mentioned in the same breath as Watchmen. I’ve loved Miller’s work since I was in high school, so the prospect of him making a movie on his own (he co-directed Robert Rodriguez’s adaptation of Sin City) was, to say the least, very intriguing to me.Speaking objectively, as a guy who reviews movies, The Spirit is not a “good” movie. It's bad, even. Miller’s writing is incredibly stylized even by comic book standards, so for the medium of film it’s pretty out-there, often coming across as painfully hokey. And as much as I appreciate Miller’s eye for casting beautiful actresses like Eva Mendes and Scarlett Jonahsson, they’re really not up to the task of delivering his dialogue in a way that doesn’t induce cringes in the viewer (see also: Rosario Dawson in Sin City). And the over-the-top visual style – take Sin City and multiply it by 10 – worked for me (I can forgive a lot if a movie looks cool), but it may be too much for some viewers.
All of that said, I sort of loved The Spirit. As much as the film has a truckload of flaws, it just felt like a Frank Miller movie, and the mere fact that I’m sitting here typing that phrase (“a Frank Miller movie”! Awesome) earned it major points with me. While there are individual writers I prefer and artists whose work I like more, Miller mostly writes and draws his own stuff, giving his work a very singular vision that even an amazing collaboration between writer and artist can’t quite match (though such collaborations obviously have their merits, like Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in Watchmen). The Spirit has a similarly unique aesthetic, which is particularly impressive given how much more collaborative filmmaking is as a process – Miller is, after all, working with a cast of actors and is filtering his ideas through a cinematographer and a film editor, etc. The scene where the Spirit runs across power lines above the city streets is kind of silly, but it’s also so Frank Miller I couldn’t get over it, and as a guy who’s followed his career for over 15 years, I got a huge charge out of seeing stuff like that on the screen.
Also, the two-disc Spirit DVD is pretty sweet. I can’t wait to watch the movie with Miller’s commentary, and there’s a great featurette in which Miller discusses his career, and comics in general. I could listen to him talk about this stuff for hours, but 15 minutes was all I got.
Overall, I can’t say I really recommend The Spirit to a broad audience, but I‘ve been thinking about it almost non-stop since I watched it last night, and I can’t wait to watch it again. That’s not normally something I say about a movie I don’t like. It’s a fascinating bit of cinema, and, unfortunately, given its weak showing at the box office, it may be Frank Miller’s first and last chance at directing a movie on his own. I’m just happy it exists.
¶ 11:13 AM 0 Comments
Friday, March 13, 2009
DVD Pick: Let the Right One In
This week is a good week for me, dear reader, as the best movie I saw last year was released on DVD. Swedish director Tomas Alfredson's adolescent vampire love story Let the Right One In topped my Best of 2008 list (I also rave about it in a long-form review here), and while it got great reviews and received a decent little theatrical release, it's the exact kind of film that will (hopefully) find the audience it deserves on DVD.
As I said about the film before, I know Twilight is the vampire romance that got all the ink in the mainstream press last year – and it's back in the news now that the producers are hunting for a director for the third film in the series, Eclipse – but Let the Right One In is the real deal. It's beautiful and heartbreaking and wonderfully subtle; if you're looking for bloodsuckers who look like Calvin Klein models and wire-fu action sequences, this movie may not be for you (and I say that as a guy who enjoys wire-fu action sequences more than just about anyone I know). But if you like movies with well-drawn characters, a truly affecting story and genuine atmosphere instead of cheap jump-scares, Let the Right One In comes with my highest possible recommendation.
¶ 10:15 AM 2 Comments
As I said about the film before, I know Twilight is the vampire romance that got all the ink in the mainstream press last year – and it's back in the news now that the producers are hunting for a director for the third film in the series, Eclipse – but Let the Right One In is the real deal. It's beautiful and heartbreaking and wonderfully subtle; if you're looking for bloodsuckers who look like Calvin Klein models and wire-fu action sequences, this movie may not be for you (and I say that as a guy who enjoys wire-fu action sequences more than just about anyone I know). But if you like movies with well-drawn characters, a truly affecting story and genuine atmosphere instead of cheap jump-scares, Let the Right One In comes with my highest possible recommendation.
¶ 10:15 AM 2 Comments
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
DVD Pick: Bottle Rocket
This week saw the release of Wes Anderson’s feature debut, Bottle Rocket, on DVD from the Criterion Collection. Movie buffs know Criterion as the mark of quality when it comes to DVDs (I’ve heard of people buying everything Criterion puts out, whether or not they like the movie or have even seen it, just by virtue of the fact that 
Criterion made a DVD of it; to me, this is craziness, but whatever blows your hair back), and as much as I was excited just to even be able to buy Bottle Rocket on DVD thanks to Columbia’s bare-bones disc from a few years ago, only now do I really feel like I own Bottle Rocket.
Bottle Rocket is one my all-time favourite movies, hands down. (One of these days I’ll compile an actual list of my favourite movies, if only because I seem to regularly mention movies offhand as being among my favourites, and it may leave the impression among regular readers that I describe every movie I even remotely like that way – that’s not the case, it’s just that I’m crafty and very good at finding excuses to talk about movies I love.) And while I run the risk of coming across like one of those douches who insists he liked the cool new band WAY before anyone else did, I saw Bottle Rocket in a theatre here in Toronto when it was released theatrically in 1996. It wasn’t because I sought out bold new directors at the time (I was in high school, watching The Simpsons religiously, reading comics and playing Dungeons & Dragons), but rather because I saw a small item about it on a pop-culture news show that had a couple of clips and thought it looked pretty funny, so I told some friends about it, discovered it was playing in a local theatre, and 90 minutes later we'd all fallen love with it.
Bottle Rocket follows three bored young men (Robert Musgrave and Owen and Luke Wilson, in their respective film debuts) who decide to become criminals in an attempt to get some excitement out of their lives. They pull off a minor heist (they rob a bookstore) and go on the lam, only to have the bonds of their friendship and partnership tested, particularly when Anthony, the least enthusiastic of the three (Luke Wilson) falls in love with a Paraguayan hotel maid while they’re ostensibly on the run. At some point they meet up with an infamous local thief (James Caan) to pull off another, bigger job, and hilarity, as the cliché goes, ensues. Apparently a lot of Wes Anderson fans don’t like it that much (it’s nowhere near as stylized and “quirky” as his later films), but it’s probably still my favourite film of his. And to this day I still watch it from time to time if I’m feeling down, and it never fails to cheer me up.
The Criterion DVD is, as I expected, pretty wonderful. There’s commentary from Anderson and Owen Wilson (who also co-wrote it with Anderson), and a great little making-of documentary – there’s something special about watching Anderson and the Wilson brothers, now all Hollywood veterans, reflecting on their first movie. Topping it all off is the original 13-minute black and white short that inspired the main film, which, up until now, I’d only seen in grainy form on the web. I love this movie, and I’m incredibly happy that Bottle Rocket now has a worthy DVD.
Criterion made a DVD of it; to me, this is craziness, but whatever blows your hair back), and as much as I was excited just to even be able to buy Bottle Rocket on DVD thanks to Columbia’s bare-bones disc from a few years ago, only now do I really feel like I own Bottle Rocket.Bottle Rocket is one my all-time favourite movies, hands down. (One of these days I’ll compile an actual list of my favourite movies, if only because I seem to regularly mention movies offhand as being among my favourites, and it may leave the impression among regular readers that I describe every movie I even remotely like that way – that’s not the case, it’s just that I’m crafty and very good at finding excuses to talk about movies I love.) And while I run the risk of coming across like one of those douches who insists he liked the cool new band WAY before anyone else did, I saw Bottle Rocket in a theatre here in Toronto when it was released theatrically in 1996. It wasn’t because I sought out bold new directors at the time (I was in high school, watching The Simpsons religiously, reading comics and playing Dungeons & Dragons), but rather because I saw a small item about it on a pop-culture news show that had a couple of clips and thought it looked pretty funny, so I told some friends about it, discovered it was playing in a local theatre, and 90 minutes later we'd all fallen love with it.
Bottle Rocket follows three bored young men (Robert Musgrave and Owen and Luke Wilson, in their respective film debuts) who decide to become criminals in an attempt to get some excitement out of their lives. They pull off a minor heist (they rob a bookstore) and go on the lam, only to have the bonds of their friendship and partnership tested, particularly when Anthony, the least enthusiastic of the three (Luke Wilson) falls in love with a Paraguayan hotel maid while they’re ostensibly on the run. At some point they meet up with an infamous local thief (James Caan) to pull off another, bigger job, and hilarity, as the cliché goes, ensues. Apparently a lot of Wes Anderson fans don’t like it that much (it’s nowhere near as stylized and “quirky” as his later films), but it’s probably still my favourite film of his. And to this day I still watch it from time to time if I’m feeling down, and it never fails to cheer me up.
The Criterion DVD is, as I expected, pretty wonderful. There’s commentary from Anderson and Owen Wilson (who also co-wrote it with Anderson), and a great little making-of documentary – there’s something special about watching Anderson and the Wilson brothers, now all Hollywood veterans, reflecting on their first movie. Topping it all off is the original 13-minute black and white short that inspired the main film, which, up until now, I’d only seen in grainy form on the web. I love this movie, and I’m incredibly happy that Bottle Rocket now has a worthy DVD.
Labels: comedy, DVD, Wes Anderson
¶ 11:25 AM 0 Comments
Friday, August 29, 2008
DVD Pick: Redbelt
Picked up a copy of writer/director David Mamet’s Redbelt on DVD this week after catching it in theatres earlier this year. I really like Mamet’s movies (though I confess that aside from James Foley’s excellent film adaptation of Glengarry Glen Ross, I’m pretty unfamiliar 
with his stage work, which is where he made his name; I’ve just never been a theatre guy). It’s a wonderfully taut dramatic thriller about a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who’s fantastic in everything I’ve ever seen him in…this guy’s got an Oscar in his future) who refuses to compete in professional mixed martial arts fights because of his philosophical belief that competition weakens the fighter. After he saves an aging movie star (Tim Allen, who, I was surprised to learn, can actually act) from an ass-whipping in a bar, he finds himself drawn into, if you'll pardon the cliché, a web of deception.
I really enjoyed Redbelt, but it’s a bit of a strange beast; it doesn’t really fit into any one genre neatly. It’s sort of a sports movie and sort of a thriller, but if I had to pin it down I’d say it’s a cross between a con movie and a samurai movie. Ejiofor’s character is defined by the rigid code he lives by, and the idea that he’s part of a dying breed – in this case, people with real honour and integrity – is reminiscent of many classic samurai films. Though Redbelt is set against the world of martial arts, it’s not really a “fight movie” (though Ejiofor does get down, most impressively at the end); Mamet’s far more interested in the philosophical aspects of the martial arts, and jiu-jitsu in particular is ripe with thematic possibilities. It’s not about brute force, but rather using an opponent’s strength against them. As Ejiofor tells Tim Allen, “You let him use his strength, and you use your understanding.”
One of Mamet’s signatures is his dialogue, and while Redbelt doesn’t have as much of the super-stylized interactions featured in a lot of his previous works (legend has it he would make his actors rehearse against a metronome), but it’s still filled with great lines and tense exchanges. Mamet regular Ricky Jay in particular is fantastic as an MMA promoter who seems to be equal parts Dana White and Vince McMahon. (Though as much as Mamet is clearly a big fan of MMA, the fictional league featured in the film has far more WWE-style pageantry than any real-life MMA promotion I’ve ever heard of, and I follow the sport.) The dialogue, like most of Mamet's work, demands that you pay attention, so it's not really the sort of movie that you throw in the DVD player while you're preparing dinner or something.
Redbelt is a smart and engaging movie about a man who lives by a strict moral philosophy, and the often steep price he has to pay to maintain his integrity in a world that has none. As a fan of Mamet, MMA, samurai movies and twisty thrillers, it's right up my alley, and if any of that sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend it.
with his stage work, which is where he made his name; I’ve just never been a theatre guy). It’s a wonderfully taut dramatic thriller about a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who’s fantastic in everything I’ve ever seen him in…this guy’s got an Oscar in his future) who refuses to compete in professional mixed martial arts fights because of his philosophical belief that competition weakens the fighter. After he saves an aging movie star (Tim Allen, who, I was surprised to learn, can actually act) from an ass-whipping in a bar, he finds himself drawn into, if you'll pardon the cliché, a web of deception.I really enjoyed Redbelt, but it’s a bit of a strange beast; it doesn’t really fit into any one genre neatly. It’s sort of a sports movie and sort of a thriller, but if I had to pin it down I’d say it’s a cross between a con movie and a samurai movie. Ejiofor’s character is defined by the rigid code he lives by, and the idea that he’s part of a dying breed – in this case, people with real honour and integrity – is reminiscent of many classic samurai films. Though Redbelt is set against the world of martial arts, it’s not really a “fight movie” (though Ejiofor does get down, most impressively at the end); Mamet’s far more interested in the philosophical aspects of the martial arts, and jiu-jitsu in particular is ripe with thematic possibilities. It’s not about brute force, but rather using an opponent’s strength against them. As Ejiofor tells Tim Allen, “You let him use his strength, and you use your understanding.”
One of Mamet’s signatures is his dialogue, and while Redbelt doesn’t have as much of the super-stylized interactions featured in a lot of his previous works (legend has it he would make his actors rehearse against a metronome), but it’s still filled with great lines and tense exchanges. Mamet regular Ricky Jay in particular is fantastic as an MMA promoter who seems to be equal parts Dana White and Vince McMahon. (Though as much as Mamet is clearly a big fan of MMA, the fictional league featured in the film has far more WWE-style pageantry than any real-life MMA promotion I’ve ever heard of, and I follow the sport.) The dialogue, like most of Mamet's work, demands that you pay attention, so it's not really the sort of movie that you throw in the DVD player while you're preparing dinner or something.
Redbelt is a smart and engaging movie about a man who lives by a strict moral philosophy, and the often steep price he has to pay to maintain his integrity in a world that has none. As a fan of Mamet, MMA, samurai movies and twisty thrillers, it's right up my alley, and if any of that sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend it.
Labels: David Mamet, DVD
¶ 10:25 AM 0 Comments
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Welcome to Sea World, Kid.
Hey there. Welcome to People Tell Me I Look Like Han Solo, Captivate's blog about movies and DVDs. I'm your esteemed (sort of) host, Justin Anderson. First things first, some things you should know, in no particular order:
1) The name of the blog is taken from Boogie Nights, one of my favourite movies. I don't actually look all that much like Han Solo (though neither does John C. Reilly), but People Tell Me I Look Like Lando Calrissian doesn't have the same ring to it.
2) I used to edit a DVD industry trade magazine here in Canada, and I have a pretty ridiculous DVD collection. I tell you this not to brag (as "owning lots of stuff" isn't the kind of thing I take pride in; like all good Canadians, I am a socialist), but rather to hopefully establish that I Know What I'm Talking About.
3) Sometimes I capitalize things for no reason.
So watch this space; I've got lots of cool stuff planned, mostly based around me telling you what I think about movies. Okay. Hard part's over. Now let's get these other piggies wiggling.
1) The name of the blog is taken from Boogie Nights, one of my favourite movies. I don't actually look all that much like Han Solo (though neither does John C. Reilly), but People Tell Me I Look Like Lando Calrissian doesn't have the same ring to it.
2) I used to edit a DVD industry trade magazine here in Canada, and I have a pretty ridiculous DVD collection. I tell you this not to brag (as "owning lots of stuff" isn't the kind of thing I take pride in; like all good Canadians, I am a socialist), but rather to hopefully establish that I Know What I'm Talking About.
3) Sometimes I capitalize things for no reason.
So watch this space; I've got lots of cool stuff planned, mostly based around me telling you what I think about movies. Okay. Hard part's over. Now let's get these other piggies wiggling.
Labels: DVD, John C. Reilly
¶ 9:15 AM 0 Comments
