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Appaloosa
Jack Rico
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2009/01/13 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Appaloosa

01.13.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: R for some violence and language.
Release Date: 2008-09-17
Starring: Robert Knott, Ed Harris
Director(s):
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Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://welcometoappaloosa.warnerbros.com/

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Appaloosa, based on the book by Bostonian writer Robert B. Parker, is not your Clint Eastwood western. It is unconventional, caustic, and dare I say, peculiar. Ed Harris, who directed, co-wrote and stars in the film missed an opportunity at creating an Oscar worthy film, if only he would have altered the novel’s story a bit.

The plot is about ruthless rancher, Bragg (Jeremy Irons), and his gang who shoot up the town of Appaloosa whenever they get the urge.  When three of the hired hands kill a man and rape his wife, the local marshal goes out to Bragg’s ranch and gets gunned down in cold blood. Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) are the exact problem solvers the town needs since they are “policemen” who do the dirty work no one else will do. The city aldermen hire them to bring Bragg to heel. Cole agrees to the job, and so the war begins. Somewhere along the way Cole falls in love with a harlot piano player (Renée Zellwegger) and tensions begin to flare amongst the men.

 Overall, Appaloosa is not a bad movie, but just like the book, it was not laid out coherently. There are moments when you do not understand the character’s decision making, thus, making you question the entertainment value.

 Nevertheless, the film’s best trait is the back and forth dialogue between Mortensen and Harris, and in some instances, Irons. The acting is sincerely superb, with the exception of Ms. Zellwegger, who just like in Clooney’s ‘Leatherheads’, brings the movie to a low. In addition, she has not been looking her best these days and is evident in close ups. I wonder if Harris has something against her, because there were a bevy of those. Coincidently, one of Parker’s most used (debatably over-used) themes is that of a good man loving a bad, feeble woman, one that Harris obviously agrees with. While juggling that theme with the war against Bragg, something does get lost. A little disinterest kicks in, as well as wariness.

Thankfully, Viggo’s presence, appearance and demeanor make up for the brief incongruous periods. To be frank, if the film dealt more with Hitch than Cole we could be talking about an Oscar candidate for best picture and actor for Mortensen. If only Harris would have adapted the novel rather than be so faithful to the book.

Swing Vote
Alex Florez
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By

2009/01/12 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Swing Vote

01.12.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.0

Rated: PG-13 for language.
Release Date: 2008-08-01
Starring: Joshua Michael Stern, Jason Richman
Director(s):
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Country:NULL
Official Website: http://swingvote.movies.go.com/

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SWING VOTE: ELECT TO SEE SOMETHING ELSE

Few would argue that Hollywood, as a whole, is a pretty ‘liberal’ industry whose star studded cast often shows its support by way of propaganda and sizable donations to left-winged presidential nominees every four years.  Nowadays, whenever filmmakers have the opportunity to chastise our republican administration in the not-so-subtle of ways, they’ve taken it and in some cases exploited it – and I’m not just talking about Michael Moore and his rattling documentaries.  Take films such as ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ and ‘Transformers’, to name a more recent one, where the political jabs are more humorous than they are sharp. 

Nevertheless, there are those, more conservative members of Hollywood, that from time to time strike back. Which is why it’s so surprising to see actor Kevin Costner, a registered republican, so decidedly neutral in this latest comedy about a middle-class american who will decide the next president of our country.  Instead, the Costner produced movie, tries to focus itself on a father-daughter relationship while only underlining the importance of our civic duty.  But that’s as much credit as I can give Swing Vote.

In it, Costner plays Bud Johnson, an apathetic, disorderly, but lovable father who is coasting through a life that has almost passed him by. The only bright spot is his overly precocious and overachieving 12-year-old daughter Molly (Madeleine Carroll) who in this case, is the one that takes care of him.  That is, until one mischievous moment on Election Day, when she attempts to vote on Bud’s behalf when he is too drunk to show up to the booth.  Later that night, when the tallies are all in, the nomination happens to come down to one final vote – Bud’s vote – which needs to be recast because of a technical error in the voting machine.  The media soon takes hold of the news and within minutes, the courtship from both campaigns are full throttle. 

But It’s that same courtship to win over Bud’s vote, that makes this film hard to watch.  The politicians in the movie, played by Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper are merely stereotypical representations of the republican and democratic party respectively, and consequently, the ways in which they attempt to win over Bud’s affection are beyond predictable. 

Then there’s the media – represented by George Lopez as the local, cutthroat news director and his journalist on the rise Kate Madison (played by Paula Patton), but both come off as one-dimensional. 

Costner seems more than complaisant with the notion of letting little Madeleine Carroll carry the movie, but she is too precocious for her own good.  If she were more like a ‘kid’ then perhaps it would be easier for us to empathize with her and the situation she’s in.

Notwithstanding, the film does deliver a couple of Disneyesque moments where Costner’s character finally shows some arc.  Unfortunately, they come way too late in the story, at a time when all you want to know is who ends up being president so you can leave the theater.  However, even those curious of the outcome will be seriously disappointed.

Righteous Kill
Mack Chico
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By

2009/01/06 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Righteous Kill

01.6.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: R for violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and brief drug use.
Release Date: 2008-09-12
Starring: Russell Gewirtz
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.righteouskill-themovie.com/

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Jon Avnet’s new film ‘Righteous Kill’ reunites legendary actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Both actors flood the screen with their trademark acting styles and larger than life personalities, and convert what is an ordinary police thriller into a surprisingly entertaining cop romp.

The premise has the Lennon and McCartney of detectives (Pacino and De Niro) hot on the trail of a serial killer who might end up being one of their own. Some tension is developed by two younger investigators (John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg) who want to crack the case before the seniors do.

The film offers some believable acting from the supporting cast, but nothing outstanding to make you begin your Oscar nomination pool. Leguizamo seems to play the same wise cracking cop in every movie and Wahlberg just seems to be happy to be working. Underrated is Carla Gugino, De Niro’s love interest, who continues to deliver consistently fine work. The director Jon Avnet, who gave us one of Pacino’s worst efforts, 88 Minutes, doesn’t offer us anything new here. Screenwriter Russell Gewirtz, who did Spike Lee’s Inside Man, one of the better films of the cop genre in the last five years, regresses with this hit and miss script and dialogue.

De Niro and Pacino are no longer the multi-layered, method acting thespians with depth, but they still possess enough of that charm, wisdom and experience to know how to carry a movie, ergo ‘Righteous Kill’. Together it becomes memorable and nostalgic.

It wasn’t so long ago that whenever someone asked who the best actor in Hollywood was, the answer was either Al Pacino or Robert De Niro. That is no longer the case. The best way to put it I guess, is that we are still looking for that last performance of greatness from them, that last attempt to prove all us critics wrong, that last hurrah for ol’ time sakes. Regrettably, this movie wasn’t the one to make us believe that.

Pineapple Express
Alejandro Arbona
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By

2009/01/06 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Pineapple Express

01.6.2009 | By |

Rating: 4.0

Rated: R for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence.
Release Date: 2008-08-08
Starring: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Judd Apatow (historia)
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/pineappleexpress/

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The title “Pineapple Express” refers to one plot element that turns out to be perhaps the movie’s most influential character: an especially potent kind of marijuana. It’s Pineapple Express that Saul Silver (James Franco) sells to Dale Denton (Seth Rogen), a sample that only Silver has. And it’s Pineapple Express that Dale is smoking when he witnesses a murder. And it’s due to drug cartels warring over Pineapple Express that that murder takes place. Now the killers, played by Gary Cole and the Puerto Rican actress Rosie Perez, spot the Pineapple Express that Dale dropped when he fled in terror, and they set out to kill Saul and his customer.

“Pineapple Express,” the movie, is an unexpected and interesting combination of three different genres, only one of which comes across in the synopsis I just gave you. It’s a hilarious comedy; it’s a buddy picture, about two friends adventuring and bonding; and, as you can gather from the above paragraph, it’s a crime story that eventually becomes excessively violent. That may just be this movie’s biggest surprise: that a Judd Apatow-produced comedy with the usual cast and improvisational style – usually associated with comedies about boy-men growing up like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up” and “Superbad” – suddenly climaxes in shootouts, explosions, dead bodies and tons of blood. But, jeez, they sure do make that violence funny.

Eagle Eye
Mack Chico
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By

2008/12/30 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Eagle Eye

12.30.2008 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and for language.
Release Date: 2008-09-26
Starring: John Glenn, Travis Wright, Hillary Seitz, Dan McDermott
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Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.eagleeyemovie.com/

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This movie tests the viewing public’s tolerance for enduring crass stupidity when the payoff is a series of repetitive, ADD infected chase scenes. Director D.J. Caruso (paired again with his leading man from Disturbia) does a moderately good job of hiding how incredibly dumb this screenplay is by keeping things moving at such a whirlwind pace that a lot more seems to be happening than actually is. In reality, the chase scenes don’t mean anything because they don’t advance the plot – it’s mice on a treadmill, running and running and not getting anywhere. The hope is that the edits will come so fast and furious and the music will be so loud and the actors will display such expressions of near-panic that maybe viewers will mistake all this chaos for suspense.

Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) is a good-for-nothing layabout: a Stanford drop-out who earns a living by working at a copy store while making a few extra bucks on the side playing cards. One day, he stops by an ATM machine to withdraw some money and discovers that there’s $750,000 in his account. He gets home to find his apartment filled floor-to-ceiling with illegal weapons and bomb-making ingredients. He then receives a mysterious call on his cell phone telling him that if he doesn’t get out in 30 seconds, he’ll be arrested.

Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) is a single mother sending her son off on a trip. While he’s away, she spends a night out on the town with her girlfriends. A call from her “son” lures her out of a bar onto a street, but the voice on the other end of the phone is the same mysterious caller who warned Jerry. Rachel is informed that unless she completes a series of actions, the train carrying her son will derail and he will be killed. Rachel does as she’s told and is brought face-to-face with Jerry. Together, these two go on a convoluted trip to do the bidding of the voice, which has the power to control electronic devices all around the world to get them where they’re supposed to go.

The film’s central flaw (although by far not its only one) is not difficult to discern. If an entity has the ability to access and control all networked computers and electronic devices around the world, giving it virtually limitless power, why does it need a couple of human beings to do its bidding? And, even if it chooses to use them, why send them on such an unbelievably long and convoluted wild goose chase when the same end could have been accomplished more simply. This issue looms so large that it is impossible to be ignored by anyone who allows a moment’s thought to pass through his mind while watching Eagle Eye. The movie was made for the brain dead, the catatonic, and those who have taken allergy medicine and are unable to stay awake.

The average positive review of this film will remark that “it’s a fun ride if you turn off your brain.” I’m not sure why anyone would want to turn off their brain, since that’s the organ where the body’s pleasure centers are located. Even granting that, when it comes to dumb popcorn movies, Eagle Eye is nowhere near the top. What makes the film even more disappointing is its veneer of social commentary about nonstop surveillance and the omnipotence of computers. These things are red herrings that, like Caruso’s frantically edited chase scenes, are designed to camouflage the bankruptcy of the writing. Should this film be a huge box office success, it will stand as a sad testament to how low the bar for cinematic entertainment has been set.

Death Race
Alex Florez
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By

2008/12/23 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Death Race

12.23.2008 | By |

Rating: 2.0

Rated: R for strong violence and language.
Release Date: 2008-08-22
Starring: Paul W.S. Anderson
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.deathracemovie.net/index.php

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A remake of Roger Corman’s 1975 cult action film starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone, Death Race pumps even more adrenaline and senseless gore into a film that seems more like a video game adaptation than a ‘B’ movie remake.

Set in the not so distant future, Death Race tells the story of Jensen Ames (Jason Statham), a former speedway champion turned blue collar worker who is framed for a gruesome murder.  He soon realizes however, it’s all been part of a plot to coerce him into participating in the world’s most popular televised sport: a car race set in a maximum security prison in which the inmates must brutalize and kill one another in order to win. If they are lucky to finish the race alive and in first place, then they’ll also gain their freedom.

Despite all the action, the film attempts to make its subtle satirical jabs at our culture – the one that can’t enough reality television, extreme fighting competition, and violent video game titles.  One in particular, ‘Twisted Metal’ certainly comes to mind as a game which essentially shares the same premise as the movie.  But like those video games, Death Race’s plot is thin and lacking the emotion necessary to really push a story forward.  In this film, its all about outfitting cars with weapons you pick up along the way and blowing up your competitors off the tracks.

For Statham, its a no brainer role, as he slowly turns into the Jean-Claude Van Damme of our era, funny accent and all. For Joan Allen however, this might be her worst mistake as a professional actress.  Allen playing the role of the Warden who organizes the race is as believable as the film’s own premise.  One pleasant surprise is the addition of Natalie Martinez, the rookie cuban american actress, who teams up with Statham playing ‘Case’, his ‘navigator’.  Giving the film its sexiness, I’m sure we’ll be seeing much more of her in these Angelina Jolie/female action star type roles.

Although a case can be made that these days, video game have evolved with much more complex story-lines, there will always be a great appetite for the ‘shoot em up’ types games where users can’t wait for the next level to keep smashing the buttons on their controllers.  For those type of people, Death Race is must.

Burn After Reading
Alex Florez
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By

2008/12/23 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Burn After Reading

12.23.2008 | By |

Rating: 3.5

Rated: R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence.
Release Date: 2008-09-12
Starring: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.filminfocus.com

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Mamma Mia!
Ted Faraone
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2008/12/16 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Mamma Mia!

12.16.2008 | By |

Rating: 3.0

Rated: PG-13 for some sex-related comments.
Release Date: 2008-07-18
Starring: Catherine Johnson
Director(s):
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Film Genre:
Country:NULL
Official Website:

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Meryl Streep gives a bravura performance as Donna, the innkeeper of “Mamma Mia!,” a faithful screen adaptation of the ABBA-based musical of the same name that has played on stages worldwide for the past several years.  In addition to acting, she excels at physical comedy, dance, and singing.  The same is true of the entire cast.  “Mama Mia!” may well become the feelgood movie of Summer 2008.  Streep is well matched by Christine Baranski (Tanya) and Julie Waters (Rosie), as erstwhile members of an all-girl pop trio.

The soundtrack cannot be beat.  The ABBA tunes, although thoroughly rooted in the 1970s, are excellent music and not the easiest for singers.  “Dancing Queen” has a three octave range.  As with the play, the audience leaves the theater humming the tunes… just like the best musicals of yore.

In the transition from play to movie, helmer Phyllidia Lloyd (who directed stage productions in London and New York) took advantage of the scope afforded by film to expand on the choreography using expressionistic imagination sequences to build on some of the production numbers.  Writer Catherine Johnson missed not a beat in adapting her script for the big screen.

The plot is basically an excuse to string together ABBA’s best tunes in a movie.  Twenty-year-old Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), about to marry, invites to her wedding the three men her mother’s (Streep as Donna) diary indicates could be her dad.  Her mother is unsure.  She also doesn’t know about the invitations.  It is a tribute to the filmmakers that no one questions why DNA testing is not at issue.  “Mama Mia!” simply beguiles the audience into total suspension of disbelief.

The three, Pierce Brosnan as architect Sam Carmichael, Colin Firth as prosperous banker Harry Bright, and Bill, a travel writer played by Stellan Skarsgård, make an unlikely Three Stooges.  Firth’s uptight banker is a wonderful counterpoint to Skarsgård’s loosey-goosey world traveler, while Brosnan wonderfully projects a mixture of ego, hope, and humility tempered by experience.

The pic is long on sight gags – from Streep’s phallic cordless drill to a pair of tattoos on Skarsgård’s tush.  The latter may be the only objection brought by overly sensitive parents to this PG-13 rated opus.  In a nod to multiculturalism, minority players get some featured screen time.  “Mamma Mia!” needs no excuse to be a family outing.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Alex Florez
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By

2008/12/16 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

12.16.2008 | By |

Rating: 2.0

Rated: PG-13 for adventure action and violence.
Release Date: 2008-08-01
Starring: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:NULL
Official Website: http://robcohenthemummy.com/

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Make no bones about it, The Mummy franchise is and always has been a blatant attempt to recreate the Indiana Jones lore.  In this third installment, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the similarities are even more apparent.  Rick ‘Ricochet’ O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) is Indy of course; Maria Bello (who replaces Rachel Weisz as Evelyn) is their version of ‘Marion’; and their son Alex O’Connell (Luke Ford) matches up with Indiana’s heir apparent, Mutt Williams (as played by Shia LaBeouf).

 Unfortunately, the similarities also extend to the campiness, predictability, and unintelligent plot lines of ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’.  Come to think of it, even their titles are both ridiculously long. 

This time around, the O’Connells travel to Asia to battle the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li), awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse that a chinese sorceress (Michelle Yeoh) cast on him.  The film, to its credit, moves along rather quickly with one battle scene following another, and its a good thing because the acting is often unbearable.  At times, I couldn’t shake the feeling that newcomer Luke Ford, was doing his best Matt Damon impression.  Just a terrible pick altogether to play Brendan Fraser’s son, since they look only a couple of years apart.   An army of mummies, yetis in the himalayas and witchery I can believe, but Luke Ford playing Rick’s son, not a chance.

Of the three films, this one seems like the most poorly thought out as it strives to become more of a family adventure, than the thrilling archeological escapades in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ that most likely inspired the filmmakers in the first place.  I assure you that years from now, these films will be no relic.

Traitor
Alex Florez
0

By

2008/12/16 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Traitor

12.16.2008 | By |

Rating: 3.0

Rated: PG-13 for intense violent sequences, thematic material and brief language.
Release Date: 2008-08-27
Starring: Jeffrey Nachmanoff,
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://traitor-themovie.com/

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We know someone is either betraying a friend, a country or a principle – that we obviously get from the title. But who and why is something that’s buried deep enough in the film to keep us guessing and wondering how clever the filmmakers can actually get with this.

In some ways, ‘Traitor’ is the classic espionage film that mixes and matches modern day headlines to construct a plot where Americans continue fighting terrorism all across the world.  To its credit however, it manages to personalize the story of its protagonist to a certain degree, stripping the film of the politically sententious rhetoric that so often make these films come across as propaganda.

Deceptively, Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash) plays Samir Horn, a former U.S. military operative who is linked to illicit activities in the middle east.  When an FBI agent (Guy Pearce) heads the investigation, he begins to track Horn’s every move slowly uncovering the truth behind the massive conspiracy he’s been a part of.

Ultimately, the film is about a man trying to do the right thing for the right reasons, or his own convictions, but also about how wrong things can go in the process.  In Traitor, that man just happens to be a Muslim American who finds himself in the middle of the conflict with hard decisions to make.  However dangerously close the films comes to being about religious extremism and how far people will go for what they believe in, it is very careful with its commentary on the matter. 

With a story that’s so rooted in politics and religion, the filmmakers actually manage to say very little about either subject. Both a good and a bad thing depending on how you look at it.  Its moral ambiguity may frustrate some but alleviate others just tuning in to watch bombs being disarmed at the last possible second.

The film’s strong performances (save for Jeff Daniels as the veteran CIA contractor with a personal agenda) almost do the impossible: make it cliché-proof.  Unfortunately, it is what it is: another spy thriller mirroring the ever present war on terror.

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