Archive for September, 2009
RICHLIER WIRE - 9/18/09
From the pages of Electric City and Diamond City, two of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s premier arts and entertainment publications, comes Richlier founder Jeff Boam’s weekly column:
Previews (Opening this Weekend): Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris In an age when modern network sitcoms are all but dead (rest in peace, Larry Gelbart), it stands to reason that two young television writers would never want to give up a gig on one of the few programs that actually challenges this rule. While most sitcom writers have taken refuge at the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon as a last resort, former How I Met Your Mother executive producer/writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller have embraced their inner PG on their own terms—by adapting their favorite childhood book, Judi and Ron Barrett’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. In this PG-rated 3-D animated adaptation (also available in 2-D), a scientist (Hader) tries to solve the world hunger problem and inadvertently causes food to fall from the sky in abundance. The Plus: The players. Hader has done some hilarious supporting work in some high-profile comedies (Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) while comedienne Faris has wowed funny bones at the box office (The House Bunny) and in the critic’s corner (Observe & Report). Their voice castmates include Neil Patrick Harris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Bruce Campbell, and Mr. T. The Minus: The odds. Though Sony Animation has done relatively well at the B.O. during their short run (Open Season, Surf’s Up), the grosses came in well below those of Pixar (WALL*E, Up) or DreamWorks Animation (Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa). Factor in moviegoers’ sometimes prickly reception to classic kid lit adaptations (How to Eat Fried Worms) and this movie’s forecast could be quite cloudy. The Informant! Matt Damon, Scott Bakula Ever since Steven Soderbergh broke onto the H’Wood scene with the 1989 indie classic Sex, Lies, and Videotape, this director has consistently teeter-tottered between experimental personal films (Schizopolis, The Girlfriend Experience) and popcorn entertainment (Out of Sight, Oceans Eleven). Occasionally, audiences, critics, and Oscar voters alike fall into perfect cadence (Erin Brockovich, Traffic)…occasionally not (The Good German, Che Parts One and Two). Warner Brothers is hoping for the former scenario with the release of The Informant! In this R-rated comedy based on a true story, Damon plays a bumbling but high-ranking whistleblower of a major corporation who begins to fancy himself a de facto secret agent when he begins dealing with the FBI. The Plus: The players. Soderbergh directed Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) and Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) to Oscar wins. Bourne trilogy superstar Matt Damon, who packed on 30 pounds to the play the title role, could very well be headed in that direction himself. The Minus: The odds. Kurt Eichenwald’s book on which this film is based takes the subject matter as serious-as-a-heart-attack…will Soderbergh’s liberties make filmgoers happy? Love Happens Jennifer Aniston, Aaron Eckhart Former Friends star Jennifer Aniston runs hot and cold at the box office. For every winning streak (Bruce Almighty, Along Came Polly), she seems to have a…well, less-than-winning streak (Rumor Has It…, Derailed). Aniston has been burning hot as of late, however (Marley & Me, He’s Just Not That Into You)—a run that Universal is betting will continue with Love Happens. In this PG-13-rated romantic dramedy, a fan (Aniston) of a best-selling self-help author (Eckhart) may just be the woman who can help him to help himself. The Plus: The players. While it’s true that Aniston runs hot and cold, she surprisingly has not done many romantic comedies (The Break-Up notwithstanding). This genre – especially when supported by Aaron Eckhart, hot off of The Dark Knight – seems like a perfect match for a woman considered to be a modern ‘America’s Sweetheart.’ The Minus: The odds. Romantic comedy All About Steve is performing well below expectations at the box office—a movie featuring bona fide movie star Sandra Bullock to boot. Perhaps, romantic comedies are a bad bet now that the kids are back to school and the adults have their attention divided by TV’s new Fall season. Jennifer’s Body Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried This may come across as the most obvious statement ever spoken by a true-blooded American male, but all eyes are sure to be on Megan Fox’s body this fall. To be more specific, filmgoers will feast their gazes upon FHM’s ‘Hottest Woman in the World’ as she plays the ghoulish title role in Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody’s follow-up to Juno. In this R-rated comedy-thriller, a cheerleader (Fox) seemingly living the perfect life literally becomes the girl from hell after she gets possessed and starts killing off high school boys in a small town. The Plus: The players. While Cody’s screenplay won an Oscar, Fox has been gracing every magazine cover imaginable in support of both Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and just being hot. Seyfried, however, is no small potatoes after turning heads with her performance in Mamma Mia! The Minus: The rating. If this movie is supposed to appeal to the same teen audience that flocked to see Juno and helped to make it a smash success, the ‘Restricted’ rating sure puts a damper on things. And 20th Century Fox seems to be marketing it more as a thriller - not a comedy –which will confuse moviegoers. Reviews (Now in Theaters): 9 Voices of Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer With the premiere of the first feature-length cartoon in 1937, Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, filmgoers saw that animation could perfectly realize a specific vision that is both fantastical and sprawling. Though the work was hatched from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Walt Disney had his meticulously precise designs on this tale executed by hand-drawing artisans. Wondrous, ambitious, and optimistic, 9 proves to be a work so mentally and visually striking that Disney’s legendary animators, ironically called The Nine Old Men, would have felt like proud fathers to the computer-rendered modern equivalent. 9 does not reinvent the wheel—it simply rebuilds it with jagged edges and turns it in another direction. In this PG-13-rated animated adventure, nine “stitchpunk” heroes (Wood, Plummer, John C. Reilly, et al) fight for survival against predatory machines in a post-Apocalyptic future. 9’s somewhat spiritual story is singular but its existential tone seems slightly reminiscent of other works—doubtlessly, producer Tim Burton’s macabre animated stories as writer (A Nightmare Before Christmas) and director (Corpse Bride) proved an influence. Still, writer/director Shane Acker breathes life into creatures and machinations as creatively distinctive as anything George Lucas dreamt up back when Star Wars first premiered in 1977. This deserves accolades in an age when each new fantasy world strangely seems recycled from the last. The nine titular heroes each have a separate personality that, though culmed from stock characters, plays an integral part in keeping the compelling story moving—and Acker booked the appropriate talent to back them up. Down-to-the-Wire: Almost a ‘10.’ Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself Taraji P. Henson, Mary J. Blige Based on his past syrupy dramas with the plot structures of Little Golden Books, the prolific Tyler Perry can clearly do bad all by himself. Audience approved but critically disapproved, Perry’s bottomless bottle of feel-good pills starring himself as a 7-foot granny have tested the patience of this reviewer in the past. His latest, however, actually stands testament to this filmmaker’s cinematic strengths as well as weaknesses. More than any of his works, Bad made each of these points glaringly apparent. The movie is still sub-standard, cloying fluff at best, but there shines a hope that success is making Perry a better writer and filmmaker…if only he could lose the 7-foot granny in drag. In this PG-13-rated drama, some delinquent siblings (Hope Olaide Wilson, et al) are put in the care of their aunt, a boozy nightclub singer (Henson) who wants nothing to do with them. Admittedly, your terminally cynical reviewer found himself drawn into the ranking and rising optimism of the powerful second act…only to be let down by Perry’s endless sermonizing. Backed by rousing gospel music (and Gladys Knight), Perry built his very flawed main character up in a revealing worship scene only to chillingly have her confront a villainous boyfriend in the next. For 20 amazing minutes, it proved to be the only time that your reviewer completely bought the dialogue and intentions of these players. Rather than a satisfying wrap up, however, more histrionics ensued. The frustratingly unfunny scenes involving Madea also rankle what could have been a solid effort on Perry’s part. Down-to-the-Wire: Very bad thing. All About Steve Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper In this PG-13-rated screwball comedy, Bullock – in her worst picture yet - stalks Cooper’s TV cameraman after one blind date and follows him and his crew (Thomas Hayden Church, Ken Jeong) around the country. Her character is supposed to be a highly intelligent crossword puzzle writer who is mistaken for a kooky stalker. Make no mistake—the character IS a kooky stalker. And sadly, Cooper’s wooden cameraman is so uninteresting that he isn’t worth a ‘hello’ let alone stalking. It is so awful that Rhonda Shear would have passed it up for bad movie showcase USA Up All Night back in the day. Billy Wilder, let alone first-time director Phil Traill, could not have passed this piece of shit off as the ice cream it desires to be. Down-to-the-Wire: All about nothing. Extract Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis In this mellow R-rated comedy, a flower plant extract owner (Bateman) deals with workplace issues and a string of bad luck, including his wife’s (Kristen Wiig) affair with a gigolo. If this review were based on the movie trailer, Extract would be heralded as the knee-slapping, raucous, laugh-riot of the year. While director Mike Judge does a phenomenal job of portraying blue collar versus white collar America, his comedy comes on like a lamb when, perhaps, moviegoers were expecting a lion. If the great Jason Bateman were a salesman, your reviewer might very well own the Brooklyn Bridge. The rest of the cast (especially Ben Affleck, in another great supporting turn) hit their marks and remember the lines for set-ups that elicit more chuckles than guffaws. Down-to-the-Wire: Waste of office space. The Final Destination: Death Trip Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten In this 3-D R-rated gross-out (also available in 2-D), a vexed young man has visions of death-capades and races to stop them from coming true to himself and his friends. That pretty much sums up this 90 minutes blown to all Hell. It is a gratuitous excuse for director David R. Ellis to merge the America’s Funniest Video-style hokum of Faces of Death with the cunning technology that dubiously made Jaws 3-D blockbuster entertainment back in 1982. He accomplishes this, but not without sacrificing a piece of our ever-living souls. He sets it up only to either throw away the moment (escalator of terror) or ignite the action (messy Nascar lap) to the dubious delight of moviegoers checking themselves for stray gray matter…presumably their own. Down-to-the-Wire: Destination unknown. Halloween II Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell In this R-rated sequel masquerading as murder porn, Michael Myers’ (Mane) murderous rampage continues…with his sister (Scout Taylor-Compton) seemingly dead in his sights. If John Carpenter directed Twin Peaks or David Lynch directed Halloween, it would probably look a lot like this indulgent mess. With Halloween II, moviegoers are left with a flick so laughably drenched in Karo syrup that it becomes downright silly, not scary. Worse, it puts viewers through dimestore armchair psychology involving visions of the serial killer’s inner child, the director’s wife, and an unfortunate white horse that must have wandered into the shot. This is not psycho-babble—this is psycho-bubblegum…and it plays out about as well as the first craptastic Halloween sequels did back in the day. Down-to-the-Wire: Tainted Trick-or-Treat candy. Inglourious Basterds Brad Pitt, Eli Roth In this bloody damn good R-rated war flick, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Pitt) leads an unscrupulous team of Jewish-American Nazi hunters (Roth, B.J. Novack) into German-occupied France. With such a gloriously misspelled title, filmgoers should march into the theater fully expecting an off-kilter war film, but Basterds truly measures up to some of filmdom’s greatest WWII pictures in terms of action and chatter. Christoph Waltz’s portrayal of an unscrupulously brutal and opportunistic Nazi, however, will court Oscar come February—as will the film itself now that the Best Picture category has been extended to 10 selections. Tarantino’s audacious ending will surely cause some head scratching among audiences, but the suspenseful shots (especially the Paris-set movie premiere) and intelligent dialogue (especially the tavern-set face-off) is gloriously keen cinema. Down-to-the-Wire: Basterdly good. Julie & Julia Meryl Streep, Amy Adams In this PG-13-rated comedy famed chef Julia Child (Streep) and a young blogger (Adams) who embarks on a culinary quest to cook all 524 recipes from Childs’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. In a summer where killer robots from outer space and live action action figures have failed miserably to entertain the Bejesus out of your chauvinistic reviewer, leave it to this chick flick to pick up the slack. Meryl Streep nails the specific eccentricities of Julia Child with such precision that her turn does not come off as imitation—just uncannily spot-on. The other star performance comes courtesy of writer/director Nora Ephron for pulling these dueling storylines together in such an entertaining– though not always seamless or breezy - fashion. Down-to-the-Wire: Bon appetit.
RICHLIER WIRE - 9/11/09
From the pages of Electric City and Diamond City, two of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s premier arts and entertainment publications, comes Richlier founder Jeff Boam’s weekly column:
Previews (Opening this Weekend):
9
Voices of Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer
And your reviewer thought that HIS bosses were tough! Imagine being a first time writer/director and having to answer to producers Tim Burton (Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) and Timur Bekmanbetov (Day Watch). This proved to be the challenge for Shane Acker, who dreamt up and executed the fantasy world of 9. In this PG-13-rated animated adventure, nine “stitchpunk” heroes (Wood, Plummer, John C. Reilly, et al) fight for survival against predatory machines in a post-Apocalyptic future. The Plus: The players. Burton has been down this road before (Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride) and Bekmanbetov has been down a similar road, adapting a comic book into a smash film (Wanted). Wood (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Plummer (The Insider, Up) are the leads in a vocal cast that also includes Reilly (Boogie Nights, Step Brothers), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, The Day the Earth Stood Still), Martin Landau (Ed Wood, City of Ember), Crispin Glover (Back to the Future, Beowulf). The Minus: The competition. One weekend…four high-profile debuts. Even though it is the only animated adventure opening, 9 could face a challenging weekend amidst the other movies going into wide release.
Sorority Row
Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis
First, those dastardly H’Wood butchers went after director John Carpenter’s catalogue (The Fog, Halloween, Last House on the Left). Then, they went after New Line Cinema’s slasher catalogue (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th). Now, they have apparently set their sights on the bottom-of-the-barrel catalogue (the 1986 gem Sorority House Massacre). By ‘butchers,’ your reviewer speaks of remaking horror movies. In this R-rated remake, five sorority girls (Evigan, Willis, et al) inadvertently cause the death of one their own after a prank goes amuck, only to be stalked by a mysterious killer. The Plus: The genre. If The Final Destination is any indication (two weekends at number one), horror can be a cash cow even with a no-name cast. Evigan’s biggest movie has been Step Up 2: The Streets and Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, had a supporting gig in The House Bunny. To hedge their bets, however, the producers of Sorority Row have included Carrie (‘Princess Leia’) Fisher and reality TV staple Audrina Patiridge (The Hills) are in on the bloodshed. The Minus: The odds. Even though a sequel has already been optioned, Halloween 2 did not open nearly as big as H’Wood had anticipated. In a busy weekend like this, a low grossing opening could spell disaster for a lil’ horror flick like this.
Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself
Taraji P. Henson, Mary J. Blige
H’wood can officially call Tyler Perry a “mogul.” Through his smash successes on stage (I Know I’ve Been Changed), television (House of Payne) and screen (Diary of a Mad Black Woman), Perry has amassed a gi-normous following of fans, big grosses, and clout…so much, in fact, that he has opened up his own studio in Atlanta and even had a role in the blockbuster Star Trek. In this PG-13-rated drama based on one of Perry’s plays, some delinquent sisters (Blige, Hope Olaide Wilson) are charged with caring for their sole relative, a boozy nightclub singer (Henson) who wants nothing to do with them. The Plus: The players. Again (Madea’s Family Reunion), again (Meet the Browns), and again (Madea Goes to Jail), Perry has opened big with his name firmly planted above the movie’s title. And he always includes some big-name talent in on the action—legendary Gladys Knight is in on this go-round. The Minus: The odds. But everyone in H’Wood stumbles at one time. And if you haven’t picked up on it yet, dear readers, this weekend is spread kind of thin.
Whiteout
Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht
Former music video director Dominic Sena has only made three H’Wood films, but they have mostly been all-star blockbusters. Crime thriller Kalifornia (1993) featured Brad Pitt as a rising star, the Gone in 60 Seconds remake (2000) starred Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie, and Swordfish (2001) boasted the likes of John Tavolta, Halle Berry, and newbie Hugh Jackman. In this R-rated thriller, Sena’s first film in 8 years, a U.S. marshall (Beckinsale) gets assigned to a murder in Antarctica only to become embroiled in a deeper mystery. The Plus: The players. Time (Evolution) and again (Rise of the Lycans), Beckinsale has helped the Underworld franchise to open big. Gabriel Macht (The Spirit) and Tom Skerritt (Tears of the Sun) are along for the ride. The Minus: The competition. Based on the marketing campaigns, if Tyler Perry doesn’t somehow take the pole position, then Sorority House or 9 will, which leaves this thriller in a whiteout.
Reviews (Now in Theaters):
All About Steve
Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper
Sometimes, a script isn’t worth the recycled paper its printed on. Within the first 2 minutes of a comedy, the audience should know WHO the story is about. Within the first 20 minutes, they should pretty much know WHAT hi-jinks they are going to get into. 20 minutes into Some Like it Hot—kapow, moviegoers know that Joe and Jerry are unemployed actors who have to disguise themselves in drag to escape the mob. With All About Steve, moviegoers get to know their screwball lead character and where the hell she’s headed only after sitting through a tortuous 90 minutes. Worse, she really wasn’t worth getting to know. Your reviewer gets the feeling that Billy Wilder, let alone first-time director Phil Traill, could not have passed this piece of shit off as the ice cream it pretends to be.
In this PG-13-rated screwball comedy, Bullock falls head over heels for Cooper’s TV cameraman after one blind date and follows him and his crew (Thomas Hayden Church, Ken Jeong) around the country.
Sandra Bullock has officially made the worst movie on her CV. Her character is supposed to be a highly intelligent crossword puzzle writer who is mistaken for a kooky stalker. There is no mistake about it—the character IS a kooky stalker. And sadly, Bradley’s Cooper’s wooden cameraman is so uninteresting that he isn’t worth a ‘hello’ let alone stalking. It is so awful that Rhonda Shear would have passed it up for bad movie showcase USA Up All Night back in the day.
Down-to-the-Wire: All about nothing.
Extract
Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis
If this review were based on the movie trailer and not the movie itself, Extract – and not The Hangover - would be heralded as the laugh-riot of the year. It goes beyond epitomizing that old cliché: “the best parts of the movie were in the trailer.” The preview simply makes the whole she-bang seem a whole lot funnier than it actually is, which is a pat on the back for the trailer’s editors…and also somewhat of an untruth in advertising. The reel deal is that Extract was not what your reviewer was expecting, which was a knee-slapping raucous comedy along the lines of Superbad. It is a more muted comedy, rife with more observational humor as opposed to bust-a-gut outrageous bits. While the director does a phenomenal job of portraying blue collar versus white collar America, his comedy comes on like a lamb when, perhaps, moviegoers were expecting a lion.
In this R-rated comedy from Mike Judge (Office Space), a flower plant extract owner (Bateman) deals with workplace issues and a string of bad luck, including his wife’s (Kristen Wiig) affair with a gigolo.
If Jason Bateman were a salesman, your reviewer might very well own the Brooklyn Bridge. Every knee-jerk reaction that nice-guy Bateman pulls out of his bag of tricks is wholly believable—from backpedaling from a neighbor to apologizing to the woman who screwed him over. The rest of the cast (especially Ben Affleck, in another great supporting turn) hit their marks and remember the lines for set-ups that elicit more chuckles than guffaws.
Down-to-the-Wire: Waste of office space.
The Final Destination: Death Trip
Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten
In this 3-D R-rated gross-out (also available in 2-D), a vexed young man has visions of death-capades and races to stop them from coming true to himself and his friends. That pretty much sums up this 90 minutes blown to all Hell. It is a gratuitous excuse for director David R. Ellis to merge the America’s Funniest Video-style hokum of Faces of Death with the cunning technology that dubiously made Jaws 3-D blockbuster entertainment back in 1982. He accomplishes this, but not without sacrificing a piece of our ever-living souls. He sets it up only to either throw away the moment (escalator of terror) or ignite the action (messy Nascar lap) to the dubious delight of moviegoers checking themselves for stray gray matter…presumably their own.
Down-to-the-Wire: Destination unknown.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum
In this PG-13-rated cheese platter, an elite covert military organization (Quaid, Tatum, Marlon Wayans) travels the world to battle a mysterious terrorist operation called Cobra (Sienna Miller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Christopher Eccleston). Well, what do filmgoers expect from a $170 million movie based on a 3 and a half inch-tall tall action figure? There is no denying G.I. Joe’s entertainment factor. Thankfully for the kid in all of us, the story smacks of make believe, the cast chews the scenery, IQs drop, and all involved are somehow baited into an obligatory sequel. Somewhere along the way, however, the adult reality sets in that G.I. Joe - with its overblown terrorist ass-kicking in Paris and randy soldiers - has become the punchline to the joke that Team America: World Police set up.
Down-to-the-Wire: More zero than hero.
Halloween II
Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell
In this R-rated sequel masquerading as murder porn, Michael Myers’ (Mane) murderous rampage continues…with his sister (Scout Taylor-Compton) seemingly dead in his sights. If John Carpenter directed Twin Peaks or David Lynch directed Halloween, it would probably look a lot like this indulgent mess. With Halloween II, moviegoers are left with a flick so laughably drenched in Karo syrup that it becomes downright silly, not scary. Worse, it puts viewers through dimestore armchair psychology involving visions of the serial killer’s inner child, the director’s wife, and an unfortunate white horse that must have wandered into the shot. This is not psycho-babble—this is psycho-bubblegum…and it plays out about as well as the first craptastic Halloween sequels did back in the day.
Down-to-the-Wire: Tainted Trick-or-Treat candy.
Inglourious Basterds
Brad Pitt, Eli Roth
In this bloody damn good R-rated war flick, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Pitt) leads an unscrupulous team of Jewish-American Nazi hunters (Roth, B.J. Novack) into German-occupied France. With such a gloriously misspelled title, filmgoers should march into the theater fully expecting an off-kilter war film, but Basterds truly measures up to some of filmdom’s greatest WWII pictures in terms of action and chatter. Christoph Waltz’s portrayal of an unscrupulously brutal and opportunistic Nazi, however, will court Oscar come February—as will the film itself now that the Best Picture category has been extended to 10 selections. Tarantino’s audacious ending will surely cause some head scratching among audiences, but the suspenseful shots (especially the Paris-set movie premiere) and intelligent dialogue (especially the tavern-set face-off) is gloriously keen cinema.
Down-to-the-Wire: Basterdly good.
Julie & Julia
Meryl Streep, Amy Adams
In this PG-13-rated comedy famed chef Julia Child (Streep) and a young blogger (Adams) who embarks on a culinary quest to cook all 524 recipes from Childs’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. In a summer where killer robots from outer space and live action action figures have failed miserably to entertain the Bejesus out of your chauvinistic reviewer, leave it to this chick flick to pick up the slack. Meryl Streep nails the specific eccentricities of Julia Child with such precision that her turn does not come off as imitation—just uncannily spot-on. The other star performance comes courtesy of writer/director Nora Ephron for pulling these dueling storylines together in such an entertaining– though not always seamless or breezy - fashion.
Down-to-the-Wire: Bon appetit.
Taking Woodstock
Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton
In this R-rated fact-based account, a young man trying to revitalize his parent’s Catskills motel (Martin) inadvertently sets in motion the generation-defining summer of ’69 concert. Though the Zeitgeist tent-pole known as Woodstock certainly deserves epic attention, this cutesy and folksy dramedy does not. There are great moments that endear this memoir adaptation to your reviewer, an unapologetic rock history nut. He knows of no other film – other than Michael Wadleigh’s legendary concert film – that perfectly summons up that electric eclectic atmosphere of what attending Woodstock must have been like. As director Ang Lee expands its reach from documenting the often comical true events described above to becoming a sprawling coming-of-age story, however, the film takes the brown acid, becoming a long strange trip that takes itself way too seriously.
Down-to-the-Wire: Take it or leaf it.
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BAD ‘N’ BEAUTIFUL: JEFF BOAM’S FALL MOVIE PREVIEW
From the pages of Electric City and Diamond City, two of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s premier arts and entertainment publications, comes Richlier founder Jeff Boam’s special column:
Ah, Fall—a time when a young man’s fancy turns to…celebrity? ‘Tis true. Like love and authority, celebrity is a ‘concept’ that, in reality, holds no true discernable weight which scientists – not even the ones who created Mothra and Mechagodzilla – could measure. But boy, does it lure us in like Mothras to a flame!
The first celebrity your reviewer remembers meeting was local TV personality Miss Judy, a nicey nice grandma-type with a perpetual smile who held court over the low-budget and geopolitically obscure land of Hatchy Milatchy, a magical kingdom that handed out giant Tootsie Roll banks like they were Red Cross relief packs.
It was sensational, that feeling of meeting someone so rapturously ensnared in the public eye. From the outset, there was that overwhelming gut-punch feeling that such persons of elevated sociological stature were more important than your young reviewer—the same remarkable feeling that compels people to buy a bus ticket to H’Wood and defecate on the steps of VH1’s The Flavor of Love set.
And it continued into young adulthood. Once, while attending a funeral for a well-known Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright for whom my cousin Mary was once the personal assistant for, your reviewer was introduced to Martin Sheen. Now, this proved to be a more important sovereign than the ruler of the Land of Hatchy Milatchy. This man ruled an entire country—these United States, in fact…so far as TV’s The West Wing was concerned. Sheen could not have been more personable or gracious with his time. Hearing that your reviewer was a filmmaker, he asked about what was in the wind. “A comedy about boxing.” And though this celebrated actor stood as captive audience for more, an embarrassing silence reigned. Your reviewer had the ear of the man who hunted Marlon Brando through Vietnam in Apocalypse Now and all he could muster was four little words. Pathetic.
Such is the definition of ‘star-struck,’ a malady that would continue well into a professional setting. At CNN’s Washington, D.C. bureau, your reviewer applied himself as a script editor and production assistant in a rotation internship. And when he asked to be the only P.A. allowed on the set of the 25th Anniversary of Watergate edition of Larry King Live…well, no one else had asked and, as such, your reviewer was given permission. After watching Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, G. Gordon Liddy, and Ben Bradlee pepper the host with anecdotes and high-tail it out of the building, he got into an elevator only to hear a familiar voice boom out: “Hold it!” Larry King and his assistant strolled in. After a few floors of awkward silence, King turned to this star-struck shy P.A. and remarked, “A lot of talent in that room tonight, kid.” And all that your reviewer could muster was, “Yep”…before leaving the elevator at the first available DING, weak-kneed.
Then, your reviewer went from weak-kneed to knee-deep. Surely, moving to Los Angeles cured this affliction. In fact, meeting celebrities on a frequent basis made such people seem all the more accessible—Scott Caan, Lauren Conrad, Audrina Patridge, the late Jack Palance, etc. Surely, this star-struck malady had vamoosed!
So when it came time for your reviewer to churn out his 2009 Fall Movie Preview, he had no hang-ups about asking some local celebrities for their two cents. And based on the list of upcoming films below, this season is shaping up to be quite the corker. But you won’t just have to take your reviewer’s word for it … these celebrities piped in with some informed opinions (for whatever reason, the women were shy about sharing their thoughts). To offset the films, however, ec/dc labeled the award-baiting films with a “Statuette” and the rest with a “Popcorn Bucket” because this is the time of year when H’Wood slows down their blockbuster production and begins ramping up the quality for the long awards season that culminates in the Oscar race.
The Informant! (Sept. 18) - Statuette
Matt Damon, Scott Bakula
Ever since Steven Soderbergh broke onto the H’Wood scene with the 1989 indie classic Sex, Lies, and Videotape, this director has consistently teeter-tottered between experimental personal films (Schizopolis, The Girlfriend Experience) and popcorn entertainment (Out of Sight, Oceans Eleven). Occasionally, audiences, critics, and Oscar voters alike fall into perfect cadence (Erin Brockovich, Traffic)…occasionally not (The Good German, Che Parts One and Two). Warner Brothers is hoping for the former scenario with the release of The Informant! In this R-rated comedy based on a true story, Damon plays a bumbling but high-ranking whistleblower of a major corporation who begins to fancy himself a de facto secret agent when he begins dealing with the FBI. The Plus: The players. Soderbergh directed Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) and Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) to Oscar wins. Bourne trilogy superstar Matt Damon, who packed on 30 pounds to the play the title role, could very well be headed in that direction himself. The Minus: The odds. Kurt Eichenwald’s book on which this film is based takes the subject matter as serious-as-a-heart-attack…will Soderbergh’s liberties make filmgoers happy?
The Other Line: “Bakula’s back?!? Super cool. Kind of feels like Burn After Reading, which I still can’t figure out if I like or not. I do dig Soderbergh, though. I’ll probably rent it. Or catch it on TBS when they beat this to death like they did Ocean’s Eleven.” – Sam Falbo, actor, Scranton Public Theater’s production of Tally’s Folly
Jennifer’s Body (Sept. 18) - Popcorn Bucket
Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried
This may come across as the most obvious statement ever spoken by a true-blooded American male, but all eyes are sure to be on Megan Fox’s body this fall. To be more specific, filmgoers will feast their gazes upon FHM’s ‘Hottest Woman in the World’ as she plays the ghoulish title role in Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody’s follow-up to Juno. In this R-rated comedy-thriller, a cheerleader (Fox) seemingly living the perfect life literally becomes the girl from hell after she gets possessed and starts killing off high school boys in a small town. The Plus: The players. While Cody’s screenplay won an Oscar, Fox has been gracing every magazine cover imaginable in support of both Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and just being hot. Seyfried, however, is no small potatoes after turning heads with her performance in Mamma Mia! The Minus: The rating. If this movie is supposed to appeal to the same teen audience that flocked to see Juno and helped to make it a smash success, the ‘Restricted’ rating sure puts a damper on things.
The Other Line: “Jennifer’s Body can go either way. On the one hand, you have Juno’s screenwriter (good). On the other hand, people think Megan Fox can carry a movie (bad).” – Mike Evans, Rock 107 radio personality and EC/DC columnist
The Other Line: “There are widespread rumors that Megan Fox will put that body of hers on full frontal display in this. Frankly, not even the chance to see her two best assets on the big screen could pry the $8.50 out of my wallet to see this.” – Sam Falbo, actor
The Other Line: “Megan Fox plays a sexy cheerleader? I’m in!” – Randy Shemanski, e.c. Editor
The Other Line: “I will definitely see this one. It’s Megan Fox…in a cheerleader outfit…who dates, then kills and eats her boyfriends. What more could you ask for in a movie?” – Jeff Walker, 98.5 KRZ radio personality
Fame (Sept. 25) - Popcorn Bucket
Naturi Naughton, Kay Panabaker
Frasier fans, get ready to fly—high! Though this remake of the Oscar-winning musical largely features a cast of unknowns, the movie also marks a reunion of sorts for Cheers and Frasier stars Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth (Frasier and Lillith Crane, respectively), who play instructors. Having original Fame star Debbie Allen on-board as principal Simms should also help to lure in some older viewers. In this PG-rated musical, students at New York City High School of Performing Arts (Naughton, Panabaker, et al) compete to live out their dreams. The Plus: When High School Musical 3: Senior Year hit theaters last October, the movie racked up over $90 million in the U.S. alone and grabbed the distinction for having the highest grossing opening weekend ever for a musical. Also, its soundtrack did not just go platinum in the States—it went platinum around the world. The Minus: The unknown. This movie is no High School Musical. And just weeks ago, non-HSM PG-rated teen musical Bandslam got, well, slammed at the box office.
The Other Line: “This one I refuse to see. You don’t take an excellent and serious Alan Parker movie and turn it into High School Musical 4.” – Mike Evans, Rock 107 radio personality and EC/DC columnist
Surrogates (Sept. 25) - Popcorn Bucket
Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell
Graphic novels are one of the hottest literary properties in H’Wood these days. Such adult comic books as Sin City, V for Vendetta, 300, and Watchmen have certainly made for compelling cinema over the last 5 years. Even the screenwriters behind The Dark Knight, the highest grossing and all-around best-reviewed comic book film yet, credit graphic novel Batman: The Dark Knight Returns as one of the film’s chief source materials. Now, director Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) is bringing writer Robert Venditti and artist Brett Weldele’s The Surrogates to the big screen. In this as-yet-unrated sci-fi thriller, Willis plays a detective in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots…only he has to leave his home for the first time in years after a series of murders. The Plus: The players. Live action graphic novel Sin City fit Willis like a glove. If 2005’s 16 Blocks and 2007’s Live Free or Die Hard are any indication, he still has a knack for playing cops too. Radha Mitchell (Finding Neverland, Silent Hill), Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction, Out of Sight), and James Cromwell (LA Confidential, Spider-Man 3) are also on-board. The Minus: The odds. But not all comic properties are greeted by critics and moviegoers with open arms (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell).
The Other Line: “Boy, I’d be thrilled if a good-looking android would deal with the crap I have to deal with everyday.” – Marko Marcinko, professional touring performing musician; educator
The Other Line: “Humans interacting through surrogate robots? Don’t we already have that in today’s society? They’re called computers. In any case, I haven’t seen a Bruce Willis movie in years and I don’t see any reason why that would change come Sept. 25.” - Shemanski
The Other Line: “Of all the fall film releases, let me just express my jaw-dropping surprise at learning that Bruce Willis will play a detective.” – John Webster, Rock 107 radio personality
Capitalism: A Love Story (Oct. 2) - Statuette
Michael Moore
Okay, so maybe a documentary CAN save the world. Very recently, a doc called The Cove brought awareness to atrocious acts of dolphin slaughtering in the waters off Taiji, Japan. Due to all of the media attention, these atrocities were put on hold. This should come as encouraging news for humorist Michael Moore, who has taken on GM (Roger & Me) and the Bush administration (Fahrenheit 9/11) in a bid to bring truths to light. In his latest documentary, the as-yet-unrated Capitalism: A Love Story, the root causes of the global economic meltdown are examined via a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that Moore alleges kicked off the whole damn thing. The Plus: The player. When Moore stays on topic and chooses not to go on a vitriolic rant, his game is on—pointed and informed (Bowling for Columbine). In his last doc, he even spent less time in front of the camera, letting the issue truly take focus (Sicko). The Minus: The odds. But when he’s off, he’s off. He has publicly expressed his intention to film a follow-up to Fahrenheit 9/11, his most bitter and scattershot project yet.
The Other Line: “Michael Moore lost me a couple of movies back. I used to be a fan. Now he simply has an agenda…and his movies have become more and more one sided.” – Evans
The Other Line: “Moore will bring his chubby sense of humor to Wall Street. It’ll make you think and make you hungry.” - Marcinko
Shutter Island (Oct. 2) – Statuette
Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo
(Editor’s Note: Shortly before deadline, this release has been moved to Feb., 2010)
Legendary director and film scholar Martin Scorsese has brought filmgoers selections from a lot of different genres, including bio-pic (Raging Bull), comedy (The King of Comedy), crime-drama (Goodfellas), period piece (The Age of Innocence), and musical (New York, New York). With the exception of his 1991 Cape Fear remake, however, he has not dabbled much with horror…until now. In this R-rated thriller based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone), two U.S. marshals (DiCaprio, Ruffalo) sent to capture a violent female escapee find themselves trapped in an isolated federal institution for the criminally insane. The Plus: The players. In addition to DiCaprio (The Departed, Blood Diamond) and Ruffalo (Zodiac, Blindness), this stellar cast also includes Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast, House of Sand and Fog), Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain, Deception), Max von Sydow (Minority Report, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Emily Mortimer (Match Point, The Pink Panther), Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children, Watchmen), and Patricia Clarkson (Good Night, And Good Luck; Vicky Cristina Barcelona). The Minus: The genre. This is not Scorsese’s bread and butter, which is crime-dramas (Casino, The Departed). Whenever he strays (pitch black comedy, Bring Out the Dead), Scorsese gets mixed results.
The Other Line: “I’m sorry, I passed out from the awesomeness. What was the question?” – Falbo
The Other Line: “I absolutely LOVED both Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone, so I’ve got high expectations for this one. But I’m not a fan of Mark Ruffalo, so I’m still a bit cautious. Hope he doesn’t drag Leo down.” - Shemanski
A Serious Man (Oct. 2) - Statuette
Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind
Though they have long been a favorite of critics, writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen solidified their star with Best Picture, Best Direction, and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar wins for 2007’s No Country for Old Men. They have always straddled genres in their best works (neo-noir crime-drama, Blood Simple; dark tragi-comedy, Fargo; period crime-thriller, Miller’s Crossing), but these brothers always include a heavy dose of humor. In the Coens’ latest, the ‘60s-set R-rated dramedy A Simple Man, a Midwestern physics professor (Stuhlbarg) struggles to find clarity in the universe when his rather normal life starts to unravel. The Plus: The players. A no-name cast aside, the Coen Brothers have given audience some of the most compelling comedies of the last 20 years (Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?). The decent reviews received by last year’s Burn After Reading only strengthens this record. The Minus: The odds. But they have also churned out their share of poorly received comedies as well (The Hudsucker Proxy, Intolerable Cruelty, The Ladykillers).
The Other Line: “This one I’m looking forward to the most. The Coen Brothers have NEVER let me down in the past, so I don’t see why they would start now.” – Evans
The Other Line: “Really not sure what to expect from the Coen Brothers lately, but it’s probably a safe bet this won’t be a bomb. If it’s anything like Burn After Reading, it’ll be good times at the theater for all.” – Shemanski
Couples Retreat (Oct. 9) - Popcorn Bucket
Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau
Right off of the bat, this fall offering gets brownie points with your reviewer for re-teaming Vaughn with his old friend and costar Jon Favreau. Having carved out a lil’ niche as a modern-day Lemmon and Matthau in such hilarious fare as Swingers and Made, this duo only reunited twice—for a few scenes in the comedies The Break-Up and Four Christmases. Granted, Favreau has been busy directing a teeny ole project called Iron Man 2, but the two somehow found time to work on the script to Couples Retreat. In this as-yet-unrated comedy directed by Peter (Ralphie from A Christmas Story) Billingsley, four couples (Vaughn, Malin Akerman; Favreau, Kristin Davis; Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell; Faizon Love, Tasha Smith) embark on a journey to a tropical island resort only to find that their group-rate vacation comes at the high cost of therapy. The Plus: The players. Though Favreau has limited most of his acting roles to voice work (Open Season, G-Force), Vaughn has churned out hit comedy (Old School) after hit comedy (Wedding Crashers) after hit comedy (Fred Claus). Jason Bateman (Juno, Extract) and Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Fanboys) should bring some comic wattage of their own. The Minus: The odds. Vaughn and Favreau have kept so busy that your reviewer wonders how much time was actually spent on this material. Both The Break-Up and Four Christmases did not sit well critics, mostly because of half-baked scripts.
The Other Line: “This one’s going to resemble my almost, never-gonna-happen, only-if-Hell-freezes-over honeymoon…in other words, a must-see.” - Marcinko
The Other Line: “I hadn’t heard about this one until now, but…wow! Vaughn and Favreau together always serve as a reminder of the epic Swingers. And Kristin Davis and Kristen Bell are among my favorite Hollywood starlets, so you can officially butter my popcorn and call me excited for this one!” – Shemanski
The Road (Oct. 16) - Statuette
Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron
No doubt, writer Cormac McCarthy has wowed readers (Blood Meridian, his ‘Border Trilogy’). In 2007, however, his No Country for Old Men – as adapted and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen - also wowed American filmgoers—to the tune of $74 million and a Best Picture Oscar. In this R-rated adaptation of his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, director John Hillcoat (The Proposition) presents the epic tale of a father and son’s (Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee) journey across a barren post-Apocalyptic landscape that was laid waste to by an unnamed cataclysm. The Plus: The players. McCarthy is one matter, but the industry players involved are another altogether. The brilliant Australian western The Proposition was one of 2006’s most over-looked films. Hillcoat’s stark aesthetics should paint the perfect picture for this landscape. Also, Mortensen became a bone fide movie star with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but gained considerable critical plaudits with A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, which only increases this picture’s Oscar potential. The Minus: The material. McCarthy hasn’t always translated well to the screen (All the Pretty Horses). Also, the film failed to meet the original deadline its studio, Dimension, had set—November, 2008. Hillcoat publicly stated that the film simply wasn’t ready for release. Some insiders, however, have taken this delay as an indication that the studio was worried as to The Road’s bleak tone and how it will fare with audiences.
The Other Line: “Esquire has called this “the most important movie of the year” and not that I put a ton of stock in Esquire’s opinion, but that endorsement made me really curious about this movie. The more I read and see about it, the more I can’t wait for this movie. Look at the pedigree: John Hillcoat (The Proposition) directs Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings) in a film inspired by a Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men) novel with music by Nick Cave! AND instead of using CGI to establish the post-apocalyptic feel needed for the movie they used actual locations, what a novel approach to filmmaking. You know, I might have to retract some of the nasty things I’ve said about Esquire over the years.” – Falbo
Where the Wild Things Are (Oct. 16) - Statuette
Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo
Truly, Spike Jonze has wowed audiences with the unordinary before. This former music video director with an offbeat style (“Sabotage,” The Beastie Boys; “Buddy Holy,” Weezer) turned heads in H’Wood by tapping into an actor’s brain—literally (Being John Malkovich). For his next project, Jonze adapted Susan Orlean’s book The Orchid Thief into the story of a screenwriter struggling with writer’s block and mediocrity (Adaptation). Now, he is taking a 10-page piece of kid-lit and turning it into a full-length feature film. In Spike Jonze’s PG-rated adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book, a rambunctious and sensitive boy (Max Records) escapes to a mysterious island full of strange creatures (voices of James Gandolfini, Forest Whitaker) where he is king. The Plus: The players. Jonze – who was the first director to bring offbeat screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) to the screen – has n eye for talent. In addition to Keener (Into the Wild), Ruffalo (Shutter Island), Gandolfini (The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3), and Whitaker (Vantage Point), he has cast Michele Williams (I’m Not There), Catherine O’Hara (Away We Go), and Paul Dano (There Will be Blood), and Chris Cooper (Breach). Best yet, he has tapped The Jim Henson Creature Shop to create Sendak’s monsters. The Minus: The unknown. Reportedly, Warner Brothers was not happy with Jonze’s first cut and ordered extensive reshoots. Though this rumor was shot down, it does raise some concerns as to the adaptation.
The Other Line: “Wildly imaginative—there’ll be so many things to contemplate.” - Marcinko
Amelia (Oct. 23) - Statuette
Hilary Swank, Richard Gere
It seems almost improbable that H’Wood hasn’t tapped the life of famed flyer Amelia Earhart for a bio-pic yet. Though Howard Hughes got the big screen treatment from no less than Martin Scorsese in 2004 (The Aviator with Leonardo DiCario), Charles Lindbergh’s story – as written by Billy Wilder - hit theaters way back in 1957 (The Spirit of St. Louis with James Stewart). Better late than never, they say…especially when you consider the players, dear readers. From director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake) comes this PG-rated bio-pic of larger-than-life aviator Amelia Earhart (Swank), whose flights and loves (Gere, Ewan McGregor) made her a global phenomenon. The Plus: The players. Swank is a two-time Oscar winner (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby). Gere is a Golden Globe winner (Chicago). McGregor (Trainspotting, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith) is certainly due recognition from either award. As director, Nair has amassed a respectable resume as well. The Minus: The rating. But PG?! It doesn’t look like this will be much of a warts-n-all bio-pic.
The Other Line: “4 out of 5 dentists recommend this movie. Of course, that’s because ol’ Toothy, Hilary Swank, is their best customer. And I’m sure this film will be putting dentist’s great-grandchildren through college as it will probably be saccharine-sweet enough to rot the teeth out of your head about half way through.” - Falbo
Disney’s A Christmas Carol (Nov. 6) - Popcorn Bucket
Voices of Jim Carrey, Bob Hoskins
Second only to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Charles Dickens’ novella A Christmas Carol is the literary work that has received the most big-screen treatments. While the 1938 version starring Reginald Owen, the 1957 version starring Alastair Sim, and the 1984 TV-movie version starring George C. Scott remain noted favorites among filmgoers, a slew of other versions in all sorts of genres to keep miser Ebenezer Scrooge firmly planted in popular culture. There are also the 1970 Albert Finney musical Scrooge, the 1988 Bill Murray comedy Scrooged, and the 1992 kid-friendly Muppet Christmas Carol—just to name a few. In this 3-D G-rated all-animated version of Charles Dickens’s perennial favorite directed by Robert Zemeckis, Carrey pulls quadruple duty, voicing Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Christopher Lloyd provides the voice of Marley’s Ghost, while Robin Wright Penn, Colin Firth, and Gary Oldman are also providing their pipes. The Plus: The players. Carrey is good at making audiences laugh (Bruce Almighty, Yes Man) and has done well-regarded family friendly work before (Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events). Also, Zemeckis is an Oscar winner (Forrest Gump) with an audience-friendly resume to beat the band (Who Famed Roger Rabbit?, Back to the Future). The Minus: The medium. For better or worse, Zemeckis has been down this computer-animated road before (The Polar Express, Beowulf) and though the SFX work has gotten better, there has come the critical backlash that the characters look far from lifelike…and Beowulf’s lackluster B.O. grosses may reflect this.
The Other Line: “I saw a preview for this a few weeks back and it looked pretty darn cool. I’ve seen A Christmas Carol in so many different forms that it’s become quite old to me, but this appears to have potential.” - Shemanski
2012 (Nov. 13) - Popcorn Bucket
John Cusack, Amanda Peet
Though he passed away in 1991, The Poseidon Adventure producer Irwin Allen strangely lives on…at least in spirit, thanks to the disaster movie epics put out by producer Dean Devlin and director Roland Emmerich. Just as Allen tapped into the ‘70s zeitgeist with the shake-n-bake box office sensations The Towering Inferno and Earthquake!, Devlin and Emmerich are channeling a similar disaster-driven - and usually critically derided - formula for success (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow). In their latest, not surprisingly an as-yet-unrated disaster drama, a global cataclysm predicted by the Mayan calendar brings an end to the world, beginning a heroic struggle for the survivors (Cusask, Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor). The Plus: The players. John Cusack (Identity, 1408) and Amanda Peet (The Whole Nine Yards, Something’s Gotta Give) are only the start. Chiwetel Jjiofor (Inside Man), Woody Harrelson (No Country for Old Men), Thandie Newton (RocknRolla), Danny Glover (Dreamgirls), Oliver Platt (Frost/Nixon) and George Segel (A Touch of Class) are also down with the disaster. The Minus: The formula. Though 10,000 BC did kinda/sorta well at the U.S. box office ($94 million and change), it was a far drop below Devlin and Emmerich’s picture before, The Day After Tomorrow ($186 million and change). By the looks of the SFX involved, 2012 was not cheap to produce…and will have to open big to recoup Warner Brothers’ nut.
The Other Line: “The first 25 minutes of 2012 will be awesome (when everything is going to shit). The rest will be melodramatic gobbledy-gook.” –Evans
The Other Line: “Could someone please find John Cusack a role he really deserves? PLEASE! And who was behind the ridiculous ad campaign where they do a fake commercial about the end of the world? It’s not funny, not interesting, not scar. It’s just plain lame. Who am I kidding? It’s a disaster movie, I’ll see it.” – Falbo
The Other Line: “Another movie about a global disaster? Yawn.” - Shemanski
The Other Line: “I like Amanda Peet and I want to like 2012 but I get the impression it’s going to be a bigger disaster than the one it’s about.” –Webster
The Fantastic Mr. Fox (Nov. 13) - Statuette
Voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep
Through critically hailed gems such as Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, writer/director Wes Anderson’s unique vision has transcended to filmgoers the world over. Now, he is using stop motion-animation and a screenplay by Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) to adapt a classic children’s book by Roald Dahl (Harold and the Purple Crayon, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). In this PG-rated family film, director Anderson (Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited) brings his unique vision to the story of husband and wife foxes (Clooney, Streep) who dig their way out of trouble after some local farmers set out to get rid of them. The Plus: The players. Beyond George Clooney (Michael Clayton) and Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia), Anderson has lined up Bill Murray (Lost in Translation), Jason Schwartzman (Funny People), Owen Wilson (Marley & Me), Adrien Brody (The Pianist), and Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man). Best yet, Anderson has used the team behind Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride to do the stop animation. The Minus: The medium. Animation is not Anderson’s field and he has used mostly American voices to bring a Britain-set story with British characters to life. Hmmm.
The Other Line: “Seems to me that we’re returning to animated features that appeal to adults and kids lately and from what I’ve seen this is going to be fun for everyone. Wes Anderson + Bill Murray has yielded gold before. Add George Clooney as a talking fox? How can it go wrong?” – Kyle Brannon, writer/director, Still (www.richlier.com); associate professor, American University
The Other Line: “Kind of genius, isn’t it? I mean, when you think of George Clooney as a cartoon animal, isn’t it a fox? And I’m interested to see how Wes Anderson’s style translates to an actual animated movie as opposed to infusing animation qualities into live-action films. But as far as I’m concerned, Clooney and Streep lending their pipes to kiddie fodder just seems out of place, like Sarah Palin at a NARAL rally.” – Falbo
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Nov. 20) - Popcorn Bucket
Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson
If you have been to a shopping mall or bookstore over the last year, dear readers, you have probably seen movie stills from Twilight plastered on anything that had remained still long enough to be plastered upon—notebooks, lunch boxes, dolls, calendars. Four vampire-themed young adult books by Stephanie Meyer have not just spun a movie series, they have spawned a marketing juggernaut once the first movie unexpectedly did booming business (in the U.S., nearly $200 million on a budget of $37 million). This November, young ‘uns will be eager to see the PG-13-rated sequel, in which a young woman (Stewart) devastated by the departure of her vampire love (Pattinson) finds solace in the arms of a friend from a tribe of werewolves (Taylor Lautner). The Plus: The franchise. Now under the eye of director Chris Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy), who has experience in the realm of slick, H’Wood, SFX fantasy (The Golden Compass), the franchise should garner even more converts. The direction of Catherine Hardwicke was a sticking point for your director (“The action…plays off more like West Side Story than Bram Stoker’s Dracula, proving about as scary as a trip to a Red Cross blood drive.”). The Minus: The scuttle. Immediately after directing the mega-hit Twilight, Hardwicke leaves what seems like a winning lottery ticket. Then, actress Bryce Dallas Howard replaces Rachelle Lefevre as the character ‘Victoria’ in the next movie, New Moon. This could spell trouble for Summit’s franchise.
The Other Line: “New moon…full moon…half moon…quarter moon…it’s all the same to me.” - Marcinko
The Other Line: “Ugh, not more vampires.” - Shemanski
The Other Line: “And if I’m right about 2012, I’ll be so saddened that I’ll intend to seek solace in the arms of a friend from a tribe of werewolves.” - Webster
Please also keep an eye out for: Love Happens (Sept. 18), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sept. 18), The Invention of Lying (Sept. 25), Whip It (Oct. 9), Zombieland (Oct. 9), New York, I Love You (Oct. 16), The Stepfather (Oct. 16), Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (Oct. 25), The Box (Nov. 6), and The Men Who Stare at Goats (Nov. 6).
22 commentsRICHLIER WIRE - 9/4/09
From the pages of Electric City and Diamond City, two of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s premier arts and entertainment publications, comes Richlier founder Jeff Boam’s weekly column:
Previews (Opening this Weekend):
All About Steve
Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper
Forget the lure of go-to rom-com star Sandra Bullock (While You Were Sleeping, Hope Floats, Forces of Nature, Two Weeks Notice). Tabloid fixture Bradley Cooper (Has he chosen Jennifer Aniston or Renee Zellweger in his love life—stay tuned?) may prove to be the biggest draw for moviegoers this weekend. Before cameras finished rolling on All About Steve, Cooper had not yet been cast in The Hangover. This particular movie, of course, went on to become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time, so audiences will be curious as to his follow-up. In her and his latest, this PG-13-rated screwball comedy, Bullock falls head over heels for Cooper’s TV newsman after one blind date and follows him and his crew (Thomas Hayden Church, Ken Jeong) around the country to win his love. The Plus: The players. Not only is Bullock still burning hot from the recent success of rom-com The Proposal, she is also serving as producer on her latest. Also, this is Cooper’s follow-up to The Hangover, yes…but he also caught filmgoers’ attention in last year’s rom-com ensemble He’s Just Not That Into You. The Minus: The odds. One weekend…three high-profile debuts. Even though All About Steve is the only romantic comedy on the docket (and PG-13-rated movie to boot), Extract and Gamer could certainly thin out its audience.
Extract
Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis
To 30-something slackers (former or current), Mike Judge’s ‘90s TV cartoon phenomenon Beavis and Butt-Head may very well still appeal to their inner rebellious child. It was Judge’s cult film favorite Office Space, however, which probably struck an adult nerve in this MTV Generation as they grew up. Though this worker drone comedy failed to wow at the box office, it became a home video underground hit—selling over 6 million DVDs. Though his animated Fox comedy King of the Hill ended on a high note (11 seasons—not too shabby!), Judge’s last film, 2006’s Idiocracy, never even registered on the box office radar. Judge hopes to return to form with the R-rated comedy Extract, in which a flower plant extract owner (Bateman) deals with workplace issues and a string of bad luck, including his wife’s (Kristen Wiig) affair with a gigolo. The Plus: The players. Judge’s cast includes Bateman (Hancock, TV’s Arrested Development), Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Max Payne), Wiig (TV’s Saturday Night Live), Ben Affleck (He’s Just Not That Into You, State of Play), and J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man, Juno). The Minus: The competition. Even though The Hangover recently broke box office records, Miramax’s Extract may not attract these same audiences with its smaller (read: indie) marketing budget.
Gamer
Gerald Butler, Amber Valletta
After the lackluster grosses of Crank: High Voltage, the dubious future of the Jason Statham-starring Crank series is anyone’s guess in H’Wood (the second movie baited moviegoers into yet another sequel). Still, this setback is not keeping writer/directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor down. No, this twosome has kept busy adapting cult comic book Jonah Hex for director Jimmy Hayward and writing/directing this blood-splattering thriller. In the R-rated actioner Gamer, Butler stars as a futuristic gladiator imprisoned against his will in an ultra-violent mind-controlled first-person shooter game. The Plus: The players. After the blockbuster success of 300, Butler wowed critics with RocknRolla and wowed audiences with The Ugly Truth. Amber Valletta (Hitch, Transporter 2) and Kyra Sedgwick (The Game Plan, TV’s The Closer) are joining him. The Minus: The timing. The summer blockbuster season is over now that the kids are headed back to school and the adults are headed back from vacation…so what’s with this R-rated action flick opening on the busy Labor Day weekend?
Reviews (Now in Theaters):
The Final Destination: Death Trip
Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten
Pretty people dying. While this is a common daydream of your reviewer, it may not appeal to all moviegoers. For the rest, however, there’s THE Final Destination. Your reviewer has never feasted upon the Z-grade ridiculousness that is Final Destination and its sequels (whether it be Citizens on Patrol or Electric Boogaloo), but he was able to piece together this franchise’s rickety semblance of a story in time to watch the CG blood-n-guts splatter all over a ready-n-willing audience…to what end, he will never know. The suspense of the build-up was almost heart-stopping (especially in 3-D), but the execution (please do not pardon the expression) was almost video game-like…as in Contra NES graphics, circa 1988.
In this three-dimensional R-rated gross-out (also available in 2-D), a group of friends (Campo, VanSanten, et al) survive a horrific ordeal only to get killed off one-by-one in increasingly gruesome ways.
A vexed young man has visions of death-capades and races to stop them from coming true. That pretty much sums up this 90 minutes blown to all Hell. It is a gratuitous excuse for director David R. Ellis to merge the America’s Funniest Video-style hokum of Faces of Death with the cunning technology that dubiously made Jaws 3-D blockbuster entertainment back in 1982. He accomplishes this, but not without sacrificing a piece of all of our ever-living souls. He sets it up only to either throw away the moment (elevator of terror) or ignite the action (messy Nascar lap)..,to the dubious delight of moviegoers checking themselves for gray matter.
Down-to-the-Wire: Destination unknown.
Halloween II
Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell
There is a bold film by a noteworthy director whose frenzied and often psychedelic style serves to point up our media-induced society’s blood-drenched fascination with serial killings. Moviegoers can find it in their local or online video store under the title Natural Born Killers. With the latest Halloween II (because yes, there is another one from 1981), they are left with an unapologetically grisly and laughable flick that masquerades as murder porn. Worse, it puts viewers through dimestore armchair psychology involving visions of the serial killer’s inner child, the director’s wife, and an unfortunate white horse that must have wandered into the shot. This is not psycho-babble—this is psycho-bubblegum…and it plays out about as well as the first craptastic Halloween sequels did back in the day.
In this R-rated sequel, Michael Myers’ (Mane) murderous rampage continues…with his sister (Scout Taylor-Compton) seemingly dead in his sights.
If John Carpenter directed Twin Peaks or David Lynch directed Halloween, it would probably look a lot like this indulgent mess. In 2007, your reviewer gave this sequel’s predecessor one plaudit (“the concentration on providing a back-story to silent maniac Meyers makes for somewhat compelling cinema”), but he also faulted how distracting the flood of Karo syrup proved to be. Director Rob Zombie handles the suspense and thrills in good measure, but his blood-lust is so excessive that it becomes downright silly, not scary. Putting slasher movie icon Michael Myers on the shrink’s couch with John Q. Moviegoer acting as psychologist, however, is just bloody awful cinema.
Down-to-the-Wire: Tainted Trick-or-Treat candy.
Taking Woodstock
Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton
In this R-rated fact-based account, a young man trying to revitalize his parent’s Catskills motel (Martin) inadvertently sets in motion the generation-defining summer of ’69 concert. Though the Zeitgeist tent-pole known as Woodstock certainly deserves epic attention, this cutesy and folksy dramedy does not. There are great moments that endear this memoir adaptation to your reviewer, an unapologetic rock history nut. He knows of no other film – other than Michael Wadleigh’s legendary concert film – that perfectly summons up that electric eclectic atmosphere of what attending Woodstock must have been like. As director Ang Lee expands its reach from documenting the often comical true events described above to becoming a sprawling coming-of-age story, however, the film takes the brown acid, becoming a long strange trip that takes itself way too seriously.
Down-to-the-Wire: Take it or leaf it.
(500) Days of Summer
Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
In this intelligent and refreshing PG-13-rated romantic comedy, a no-holds-bar year and a half love affair between a young couple (Deschanel, Gordon-Levitt) is uniquely dissected for viewers as a non-linear turn-of-events. The ‘square’ comparison in Pulp Fiction, the animated fish in The Life Aquatic, the breadth of Amelie..,these were brave and – ultimately -whimsically enchanting risks taken by their respective directors. Director Marc Webb deserves ample credit for delivering a barbed-wire Valentine romance rife with moments like those described above. It helps that the cast is stocked with such ably game players as Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt—two crazy kids so legitimately smitten and, then, unsmitten with each other that filmgoers may see fit to bill their insurance companies for the therapy session.
Down-to-the-Wire: Summer of L-O-V-E.
District 9
Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope
In this R-rated sci-fi tale, problems arise when alien refugees in South Africa are forcibly moved to another encampment by a hapless bureaucrat (Copley). Following in the footsteps of movies that have made both creature features and in-the-moment thrillers seem starkly real (*Rec, Cloverfield), District 9 initially comes across as more of the same…but District’s story is so much more intelligent and its thrills compelling. If District 9 seems plausible, most of the credit goes to writer/director Neill Blomkamp’s politically charged South Africa-set script. But much of the movie’s success is also due to the movie playing out like a faux documentary. When it goes from doc-like to simply a hand-held doc-feel early on, however, it loses some of its edge.
Down-to-the-Wire: Beam it up.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum
In this PG-13-rated cheese platter, an elite covert military organization (Quaid, Tatum, Marlon Wayans) travels the world to battle a mysterious terrorist operation called Cobra (Sienna Miller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Christopher Eccleston). Well, what do filmgoers expect from a $170 million movie based on a 3 and a half inch-tall tall action figure? There is no denying G.I. Joe’s entertainment factor. Thankfully for the kid in all of us, the story smacks of make believe, the cast chews the scenery, IQs drop, and all involved are somehow baited into an obligatory sequel. Somewhere along the way, however, the adult reality sets in that G.I. Joe - with its overblown terrorist ass-kicking in Paris and randy soldiers - has become the punchline to the joke that Team America: World Police set up.
Down-to-the-Wire: More zero than hero.
Inglourious Basterds
Brad Pitt, Eli Roth
In this bloody damn good R-rated war flick, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Pitt) leads an unscrupulous team of Jewish-American Nazi hunters (Roth, B.J. Novack) into German-occupied France. With such a gloriously misspelled title, filmgoers should march into the theater fully expecting an off-kilter war film, but Basterds truly measures up to some of filmdom’s greatest WWII pictures in terms of action and chatter. Christoph Waltz’s portrayal of an unscrupulously brutal and opportunistic Nazi, however, will court Oscar come February—as will the film itself now that the Best Picture category has been extended to 10 selections. Tarantino’s audacious ending will surely cause some head scratching among audiences, but the suspenseful shots (especially the Paris-set movie premiere) and intelligent dialogue (especially the tavern-set face-off) is gloriously keen cinema.
Down-to-the-Wire: Basterdly good.
Julie & Julia
Meryl Streep, Amy Adams
In this PG-13-rated comedy famed chef Julia Child (Streep) and a young blogger (Adams) who embarks on a culinary quest to cook all 524 recipes from Childs’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. In a summer where killer robots from outer space and live action action figures have failed miserably to entertain the Bejesus out of your chauvinistic reviewer, leave it to this chick flick to pick up the slack. Meryl Streep nails the specific eccentricities of Julia Child with such precision that her turn does not come off as imitation—just uncannily spot-on. The other star performance comes courtesy of writer/director Nora Ephron for pulling these dueling storylines together in such an entertaining– though not always seamless or breezy - fashion.
Down-to-the-Wire: Bon appetit.