Here's a few movies I watched this summer:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I think everyone has an opinion about this movie by now. The Indiana Jones movies work best when they use something known (Ark of the Covenant, Holy Grail) rather than something George Lucas mostly makes up (crystal skulls, holy stones). It helps us buy into the story more. Otherwise we can make do with the latest
National Treasure claptrap. Still, it was an entertaining movie and I love Cate Blanchett in just about any role. One small thing I liked: the way Indy's face lit up with happiness when he saw Marion for the first time. You rarely see Indy (or even Ford) smile like that. It was really sweet.
Recommended.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
When I read the story/novel I sat down with few martinis. Little did I know that I was also getting sick. The alcohol and nausea began to make the room slowly spin in a way I did not appreciate. Which made me appreciate the circumstances of the "characters" even more. This film, starring the great Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke AKA Hunter S. Thompson, does a remarkable job translating it onto the screen. The equally great Benicio Del Toro is Duke's attorney Dr. Gonzo (an attorney I hope to never emulate). The film actually rose above the written material at times. The biggest downfall of the movie was all the stunt cameos. "Hey! It's Hunter S. Thompson! Hey! It's Penn from Penn & Teller! Hey! It's Flea from RHCP!" You get the idea. The sight of the two high on ether trying to walk into a casino gave me a giggle fit. I also understood the end of the story better than when I read it... although that might've been due to the way the words began to swim on the page.
Highly Recommended.
Det Sjunde inseglet (The Seventh Seal)
I should just buy the damn movie. Got my wife to see it. If you don't know the plot or haven't heard of this movie, I doubt your NT credentials. Existentialism at its finest, I even changed my avatar in its honor. Playing chess with Death. I'd lose. Best scene: the burning of the "witch". Very powerful for a film unable to show anything too graphic. I've had the conversations of the squire (my favorite character) many times with myself.
Highly recommended.
WALL*E
Pixar does it again. The only movie of theirs I thought was below average was
Cars, but I guess when you get stuff like
Ratatouille you can't complain about one stinker. Most people know the plot so I won't recount it here. The first half is the best, almost a silent movie with the only real dialogue coming from an old worn VHS copy of
Hello Dolly. To do that in a modern movie is pretty daring, but to do it in an animated movie where you have to entertain kids is quite incredible. And it works. The animation is top notch, though some I see don't quite recognize it since the Earth of the future is so dry and dingy. Loved the old school video game animation in the end credits. Great date movie too.
Highly Recommended.
Team America: World Police
There are some brilliant little bits in this one, but it doesn't hold together for an entire film. Still, the sight of puppets fucking and puking is great for a laugh. Some decent socio-political satire, but
South Park does it better.
Awesome theme song. Should be our national anthem!
Recommended.
The Dark Knight
Don't listen to the naysayers. This one of the best summer action movies ever made. And one of the rare sequels that surpasses the original (assuming you discount all those Batman movies in the 90s). I had heard the hype and was prepared to be let down, but instead it was better than I had hoped for. Heath Ledger is mesmerizing, a twisted and demented psycopath that you almost want to root for. There will be a tendency to get sentimental and nominate him for an Oscar, but he really deserves it. He was so good I forgot it was him and his stupid waste of a death this winter. Much less (as in none) Katie Holmes which is addition by subtraction. My only criticism is they tried to cram a bit too much into this movie. I'd have left the second half of Two Face's story for the second sequel. Add a bit more Bruce Wayne, we didn't get to see much of that guy. And give Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine a scene together!
Highly Recommended.
Brick
Hey, that kid from
3rd Rock grew up! He plays the main character, who receives a mysterious, frantic phone call from his ex-girlfriend, who mentions a "brick". Two days later she is dead. He vows to find out who killed her. Another excellent film noir set in southern CA. Filled with shady characters, witty dialogue, drug dealers, double crosses, femme fatales, violence, intricate plotting, and more witty dialogue. Did I mention that it is set in high school? At first I didn't know if it was a parody or not. Then I realized they were playing it straight. If you hated those hyperliterate kids from
Dawson's Creek, you probably won't like this! If you relax and try not to think how unrealistic it all is, you are in for a treat.
Highly Recommended.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe
So did I. A bit of confusion at the movie theater. The ticket said theater #3, but the sign outside said
Mamma Mia. I asked an employee who directed us to theater #14, where the sign also said
Mamma Mia. The theater was almost all women at the time. As the
gay men and women continued to pour in, I knew we were in the wrong theater (as were a few others). They finally made an annoucement and we hoofed it back to theater #3.
So the movie. I had heard the main mystery was a bit meh, so I was prepared to be underwhelmed. starla was right. It was one of the dull standalone episodes instead of one of the excellent ones. I was even more underwhelmed than I was expecting. It all seemed to be a framework to reintroduce us to Mulder and Scully. That part of the movie worked. Duchovny and Anderson have always had chemistry together and it still works here. Their chemistry even survived the "Moonlighting" moment where they finally got together on the show. Those two characters (and Scully's ongoing crisis of faith) we the best parts. The rest of it was forgettable.
starla said:
But Fox Mulder: OMFG hot!!!!
I didn't think Dana Scully would look even hotter 15 years later, but she does. Damn, that woman has some good genes.
Recommended only for X-Philes.
La Dolce vita
Gossip journalist (Marcello Mastroianni) roams through Rome with various women in his debauched life. He flees from his steady girlfriend who only wants to marry and
smother love him; tries to seduce an extremely busty foreign actress; tries to connect with the only woman who understands him - a slutty rich heiress; and finally fails to understand the innocent young teen he encounters (twice) at the beach. Drowning in his louche lifestyle, you can see his despair, but it is pathetic story rather than tragedy. 2/3 of the way through the film an act of darkness punctures the disquieting mood of the film. It all appears headed for a really dark explosion... Banned in several countries when released, it is still a great one. The film begins with Jesus Christ and ends with a monsterous fish on a beach. I'm still thinking about this one days later.
Highly Recommended.
(also note: the film gave us the term "paparazzi")
Bamboozled
"Sellout" black TV writer (Damon Wayans) is frustrated. No one at the network wants to give his middle-class black shows a chance. So he comes up with the worst idea possible - a minstrel show in blackface. Another Spike Lee joint, the sarcasm is laid on very thick (I laughed hardest at the end of a police shootout). Most of the movie is shot with digital video (ugly) except for the actual minstrel show where Lee used film. Which is actually quite entertaining while still being screamingly racist. Not sure what to make of that. The show becomes a smash TV hit. Now Wayans' character (with a horrible affected accent that was too cartoonish) finds himself taken in by the success of a show meant to get him fired. The most affecting parts of the movie were the racist old clips played at the very end, and the racist toys shown in the end credits. Dave Chappelle should've studied this one more closely.
Recommended.
Transformers
Damn, Hollywood can put on a show. My jaw dropped when I saw the impressive images. Nearly two hours of gravity defying beauty. If only all movies could do that. Megan Fox is sooo hot. Also, I read there were evidently realistic-looking giant robots, but I didn't notice that.
No Recommendation.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Actually better than I thought it would be. The animation was impressive at times, but it's not Pixar quality. If they manage to keep it up for the TV show, that will be quite impressive. I was annoyed the theme music and scrolling text wasn't there. They do it for SW video games, do it for this. The characters were actually not so wooden & uptight, something missing from the last trilogy without Han Solo around.
Recommended only for Star Wars fans.
Syriana
An over-the-hill CIA field operative (George Clooney), a shadowy D.C. attorney (Christopher Plummer), his underling - a D.C. corporate lawyer with an alcoholic father (Jeffrey Wright), a foreign Pakistani oil field worker in the Persian Gulf (Mazhar Munir), a brash Texas oilman (Chris Cooper), an energy investment analyst living in Zurich who just lost a son (Matt Damon), a reform-minded Arabian prince (Alexander Siddig); all collide on the grand stage that is global politics. People are killed, bribes are given, and who is really the bad guy? The oil industry? The government? The terrorists? See this movie and
The Constant Gardner to find out how the world works outside the tourist hotspots.
Highly Recommended.
Definitely, Maybe
Not your average romantic comedy. A divorcing dad (Ryan Reynolds) tells the story of how he met the mother of his daughter (Abigail Breslin)... to the daughter. A look back to the nineties (le wife complained about stuff they got wrong) and to the three women he was involved with (played by Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, and Rachel Weisz). I also liked the fact the filmmakers didn't take the cheap way out at the end.
Recommended.
The Apartment
The great Billy Wilder wrote and directed this, again teaming with Jack Lemmon (they made
Some Like It Hot the previous year) who plays an ambitious insurance accountant looking to become an executive. He lets others in his company use his apartment for their extra-marital affairs. When he gets promoted for letting a high-level boss (Fred MacMurray) use it, he thinks he has it made, not knowing the boss's mistress (Shirley MacLaine) is the girl he has a crush on. Nominated for multiple Academy Awards, it won Best Picture in 1961, and I found enjoyable for being quite open (for its time) about the subject matter. Comedy? Drama? Love story? It's all these things. Only the ending was a bit too pat for me.
Highly Recommended.