When you go see two movies in the same night, it is important to see the better film second, so that it will leave a longer lasting impression on your mind. Unfortuantely, due to theater scheduling, this sometimes is impossible. Rob and I went to the downtown Colorado Springs movie theater to see "Mongol" at its last showing of the night (8:00) at the only theater showing it in town. Then we headed south to one of the cineplexes to catch "Wanted" at 10:45. If this world were a better place, they'd be showing "Mongol" on 16 sceens all over town, and "Wanted" would have gone directly to DVD. I'm going to review "Wanted" first to help you avoid the same bad taste in your mouth that I had last night.
Don't get me wrong, "Wanted" had its moments. The special effects are top of the line, and Nate's girlfriend is at the peak of her game, making what she does look effortless. Too bad the movie wasn't about Angelina's character, and even though about 90 minutes of the 110 minute movie were special effects, it wasn't quite enough. Ultimately what made this a bad movie was that it couldn't be "Fight Club" Every twist, every turn, every shocking revelation and every extreme camera angle were trying so hard, but not quite making it. Not everyone is going to see this as an attempt to duplicate "Fight Club" but I feel it's undeniable. The narrator/main character is a wimpy loser who is really a macho winner. His boss' face ripples in slow motion. Someone is not who we think they are (suprise, suprise!). The soft spoken rational man must at one point become the motivitional leader with creative uses of obscenities. Must I go on? If you already have seen "Fight Club" and liked it, watch it again, come on over to my house and watch it with me, we'll make popcorn. If you haven't seen "Fight Club" yet and you like Meatloaf, what's wrong with you? If you don't like Meatlof, or if you're thinking 'I like cold meatloaf sandwiches.' then maybe you should just forget about this review and go see "Wall-e" again while you wait for my review of that movie.
"Mongol" was everything that "Wanted" wasn't and so much more. This film took me to a time and place I know very little about and made me want to know more. It's amazing how there seems to be a basic thread throughout history regarding man's struggle not only to survive, but to dominate. Who better to use as an example than Genghis Khan? I don't have any idea how accurate this representation of his early life is, but I intend to find out. What really matters in a movie like this isn't the accuracy, but the presentation. The locations were lush, beautiful, dreary, and unique. The characters were rich, deep, hard and beautiful. The story was interesting, thoughtful and patient (which does mean slow, but in a good way). The battle sequences were as good as any other movie, but not too long and were not the center of the film. And the music was perfect, conjuring up all the right colors at the right times. I especially liked the wolf on the mountain, the filmmakers aren't afraid to use some imagery to explain some things that aren't easy to explain. So in conclusion, if "Mongol" comes to your town, go ahead and see it, just make sure you don't accidently stumble into one of the 16 sceens showing "Wanted".
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
The Happening
All you need is love.
"The Happening" is a great movie. M. Night Shyamalan is a master storyteller, and once again he delivers. He's not a tradional storyteller, he has found the secret to using all aspects of film to tell his story. Every layer of the film is used, from the camera's perspective, the actor's expressions, the news clips on television, as well as the music and sound. What seperates Shyamalan from your everyday director is that nothing is a gimmick, everything is a piece of the story's puzzle. In the next paragraph I discuss some things that only people who've already seen the movie should read. Here I can only say that the film could be about many different things, there is an obvious level that I think Shyamalan uses to misdirect is, or perhaps to comment on our gullibility. But I personally believe that what he ultimately is suggesting is that information isn't necessarily truth, and therefore is worse than not knowing anything. "The Happening" does what most movies today don't even come close to, it gives you something to think and talk about.
This movie is about love, and the its healing properties. It isn't about evolution, climate change, pollution, government conspiracies or bio-warfare. It's about love. What I think is amazing is that it deals with all of those issues, or perhaps uses those issues as a backdrop, but never does it really stray from its true purpose. Of couse most great films do this, for some reason I was thinking of "Key Largo" just now. It is a film (like so many other Bogart films) about man's dual nature. Sure there's a hurricaine, gangsters, palm trees, a girl and an open bar, but really it's about what Bogart is going to do. Is he going to do the easy thing or the right thing? To keep us interested a good director gives us plenty to occupy our eyes and ears, but a great director fills up our minds too. The two questions I would ask those of you who've already seen "The Happening" are this; 1. Did the old lady at the end of the film get infected, or was here fate a result of something else? 2. What caused the infection to end? Was it somehow related to Marky Mark?
"The Happening" is a great movie. M. Night Shyamalan is a master storyteller, and once again he delivers. He's not a tradional storyteller, he has found the secret to using all aspects of film to tell his story. Every layer of the film is used, from the camera's perspective, the actor's expressions, the news clips on television, as well as the music and sound. What seperates Shyamalan from your everyday director is that nothing is a gimmick, everything is a piece of the story's puzzle. In the next paragraph I discuss some things that only people who've already seen the movie should read. Here I can only say that the film could be about many different things, there is an obvious level that I think Shyamalan uses to misdirect is, or perhaps to comment on our gullibility. But I personally believe that what he ultimately is suggesting is that information isn't necessarily truth, and therefore is worse than not knowing anything. "The Happening" does what most movies today don't even come close to, it gives you something to think and talk about.
This movie is about love, and the its healing properties. It isn't about evolution, climate change, pollution, government conspiracies or bio-warfare. It's about love. What I think is amazing is that it deals with all of those issues, or perhaps uses those issues as a backdrop, but never does it really stray from its true purpose. Of couse most great films do this, for some reason I was thinking of "Key Largo" just now. It is a film (like so many other Bogart films) about man's dual nature. Sure there's a hurricaine, gangsters, palm trees, a girl and an open bar, but really it's about what Bogart is going to do. Is he going to do the easy thing or the right thing? To keep us interested a good director gives us plenty to occupy our eyes and ears, but a great director fills up our minds too. The two questions I would ask those of you who've already seen "The Happening" are this; 1. Did the old lady at the end of the film get infected, or was here fate a result of something else? 2. What caused the infection to end? Was it somehow related to Marky Mark?
Monday, June 09, 2008
Kung Fu Panda and You Don't Mess With The Zohan
"Kung Fu Panda" is as good as it gets without being Pixar. It was funny, exciting, good-hearted and well animated. Sure, on the car ride home I had to tell Aravis not to use Kung Fu on her brother, but that's a small price to pay for the lasting entertainment value. Jack Black didn't just voice the Panda, the filmmakers made Jack Black into a Panda, and that's a good thing. From the opening title sequence and song (sung by Black) things were on the right track. The humor was just intelligent enough to have me laughing, along with the cartoon slapstick to keep the kids happy. I think you can tell when the filmmakers are truly considering their audience, and the makers of "Kung Fu Panda" got it all right. Even to the point that the villain was appropriately foreboding, without being too scary. There is a scene midway throught the film when we see him chained in prison, and the setup is great, showing the extreme to which his captors have gone, but it never quite leaves the realm of 'cartoon' therefore making it suitable for the kids. My kids and I liked the movie, and if that isn't good enough for you, and don't know what is.
I have quite a few things I could say about "You Don't Mess With The Zohan". One of the things I could say is; it was a very funny movie. Something else I could say is; Adam Sandler did a great job creating and filling out an interesting, entertaining character. I could also say that; the overall story was good-spirited and positive. All of these things are true, but last night as I thought what to write about this movie I decided to focus on something different: This movie unintentionally succeeds in acomplishing the opposite of what it intends. At the risk of looking for meaning in an Adam Sandler movie, here's what I'm talking about. The main character (Zohan) is a promiscuous Israeli who initially is at odds with his Palestinian neighbors until he falls 'in love' with one of them. The movie is trying to tell us we should all just get along, because all we need is love, and by love it means, well you know what I mean. Anyways, what I thought was interesting is that the only people this message is going to work for are adolescent American boys. This movie has gone beyond simplifying the issue. It's even gone past dumbing-down the issue. "You Don't Mess With The Zohan" has mentally retarded the issue of the Middle Eastern conflict. Perhaps I misspoke when I said that the filmmakers unintentionally did this. I don't know what the purpose of this movie was. I hope it was harmless fun. I suspect it was a misguided attempt at a good message. I'm afraid it was something else and I'm afraid it's this kind of mainstream thinking (and I say 'thinking' loosely) that will lead us to our next President-elect.
I have quite a few things I could say about "You Don't Mess With The Zohan". One of the things I could say is; it was a very funny movie. Something else I could say is; Adam Sandler did a great job creating and filling out an interesting, entertaining character. I could also say that; the overall story was good-spirited and positive. All of these things are true, but last night as I thought what to write about this movie I decided to focus on something different: This movie unintentionally succeeds in acomplishing the opposite of what it intends. At the risk of looking for meaning in an Adam Sandler movie, here's what I'm talking about. The main character (Zohan) is a promiscuous Israeli who initially is at odds with his Palestinian neighbors until he falls 'in love' with one of them. The movie is trying to tell us we should all just get along, because all we need is love, and by love it means, well you know what I mean. Anyways, what I thought was interesting is that the only people this message is going to work for are adolescent American boys. This movie has gone beyond simplifying the issue. It's even gone past dumbing-down the issue. "You Don't Mess With The Zohan" has mentally retarded the issue of the Middle Eastern conflict. Perhaps I misspoke when I said that the filmmakers unintentionally did this. I don't know what the purpose of this movie was. I hope it was harmless fun. I suspect it was a misguided attempt at a good message. I'm afraid it was something else and I'm afraid it's this kind of mainstream thinking (and I say 'thinking' loosely) that will lead us to our next President-elect.
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