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Sunshine Cleaning
Ted Faraone
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2009/03/11 at 12:00am

Reviews

Sunshine Cleaning

03.11.2009 | By |

Rated: R for language, disturbing images, some sexuality and drug use.
Release Date: 2009-03-13
Starring: Megan Holley
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Country: USA
Official Website: NULL

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Sunshine Cleaning

“Sunshine Cleaning,” the third feature from helmer Christine Jeffs, is an amusing trifle of a chick flick that manages to hold attention for 102 minutes.  It does so despite a thin plot mainly due to smashing performances by Alan Arkin as con-artist cum paterfamilias Joe Lorkowski, Amy Adams as his less than successful elder daughter Rose, and crisp dialogue by screenwriter Megan Holley.  Arkin is making a career at playing pretty much the same existential character he played in “Little Miss Sunshine.”  Fortunately for “Sunshine Cleaning,” this time his character is not killed mid-flick.
 
Plot centers on Rose’s almost “I Love Lucy” style effort to better her circumstances.  A star high school cheerleader, opening cuts show her working as a maid days while screwing her now married high school boyfriend (Mac played by Steve Zahn) nights.  An unwed mother, her son Oscar’s (Jason Spevack) expulsion from public school ignites her immediate need for more money to pay private school tuition.  The Ethel in the duo is slacker younger sister Norah (Emily Blunt).  “Sunshine Cleaning” is a biohazard cleanup concern Rose starts after Mac mentions that it is a lucrative growth industry – a point driven home by pic’s opening in which a fellow played by Christopher Dempsey offs himself by shotgun in a sporting goods store.
 
After a shaky start, all goes well until Norah accidentally burns down a client’s house.  That puts uninsured Rose out of business.  A couple of notes of pathos (and tears) are introduced via the revelation, mid flick, of absent mother’s (Marya Beauvais) suicide when the siblings were tots.  The revelation is set up by an odd subplot with lesbian overtones that leads to a dead end.
 
Sharp editing by Heather Persons and Jeffs’ firm hand at the throttle move things along at a fine clip, making “Sunshine Cleaning” seem far more compelling than it is.  Its message, if it has one, is the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.”
 
A weepy ending would be out of the question.  Jeffs avoids it with a couple of scenes that appear to be almost tacked on – the pivotal one being a sort of deus ex machina that is not entirely set up by what went before, but is at least consistent with pic’s humorous tone.  Editor Persons offers a nicely balanced touch in which quick cuts at the film’s open and end accomplish a good deal of exposition.  “Sunshine Cleaning” is a bit like Chinese food.  It seems more substantial than it is while one is eating it.
 
Minorities are almost conspicuously absent in this flick set in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Beyond a few seemingly Mexican-American small roles, cast credits reveal only a few Spanish surnamed actors.  One, however, Clifton Collins (a.k.a. Clifton Gonzalez-Gonzalez) plays a pivotal although not necessarily ethnic role.
 
Distributed in the US by Overture Films, “Sunshine Cleaning” is rated “R” due to language, violence (the suicide in the first reel), and sexual content.

Transporter 3
Alex Florez
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2009/03/10 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Transporter 3

03.10.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of intense action and violence, some sexual content and drug material.
Release Date: 2008-11-26
Starring: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen
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Country:France
Official Website: http://www.letransporteur3-lefilm.com/

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Let’s be frank (no pun intended). This review really isn’t needed. 

The latest installment of the ‘Transporter’ series is everything you expect it to be: one ridiculous action sequence after another with a senseless romantic plot sandwiched in between.  But who says that’s a bad thing?

Frank Martin (Jason Statham), a former Special Forces officer and now a highly skilled courier for the underworld world, has been pressured into ‘transporting’ Valentina (Natalya Rudakova), the kidnapped daughter of Leonid Vasilev, a top Ukrainian politician, all across Europe.  But things get pretty ugly for him when he has to contend with the people who strong armed him to take the job, the special agents sent by Vasilev to intercept him, and his unruly passenger.  If you haven’t seen the first two films, you’ll quickly pick up on its simple premise. 

Oh yes, one other matter of hilarious complication. On this particular run, Frank is forced to wear a high tech bracelet which is programed to explode if he gets too far from his Audi S8.  And so he speed races through Europe stopping only to battle dozens of henchmen that are on his tail using his masterful kung fu skills – all within 50 feet of his car, of course.

If nothing else, Transporter 3 is hysterical. The implausibility of all the stunts should be enough to keep you entertained for a couple of hours. And the fact that it takes itself so seriously makes it even funnier. If you’ve seen ‘Crank’ (my personal favorite Statham film), I’m sure you know exactly what I mean. 
 
It is what it is.  A kung fu movie with fast cars and a British accent.

Now we all know the effects a big turkey dinner can have. So if you’re looking for a film to watch on Thursday night, perhaps ‘Transporter 3’ is a better choice than the 3 hour epic which also opens this weekend.

Role Models
Mike Pierce
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2009/03/10 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Role Models

03.10.2009 | By |

Rating: 4.0

Rated: R for crude and sexual content, strong language and nudity.
Release Date: 2008-11-07
Starring: Paul Rudd, David Wain
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.rolemodelsmovie.com/

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The dynamic duo is back! Sean William Scott and Paul Rudd are tag teaming it on the big screen in the hilarious movie, Role Models.

Let me tell you people…I haven’t laughed that hard in a longgggg time. I’m telling the truth…you laugh from the beginning to the end! NO LIE.

It’s basically about two guys who work for a energy drink company…Paul Rudd who plays, Danny…well, his girlfriend breaks up with him…totally crushed…he decides to go off during a high school speech…after being kicked out…their Minotaur truck gets towed…a huge fight breaks out…and their arrested.
 
Instead of doing jail time…they are told they have to do 150 hours of community service at Sturdy Wings. (like a Big Brother’s Program) They have become mentors.
 
Danny gets a kid named Augie…who’s into REAL FANTASY roll playing. (Watch the trailer)…Wheeler is mentoring, Ronnie…this little black kid…who is funny as hell. You have to see it for yourself.
 
This is a great Rated R movie…cussin, boobies, fighting, biting, screaming, drinking…a good ass movie. I’m actually going to see it again.

Cadillac Records
Jack Rico
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2009/03/10 at 12:00am

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Cadillac Records

03.10.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: R for pervasive language and some sexuality.
Release Date: 2008-12-05
Starring: Darnell Martin
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Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.cadillacrecordsmovie.com/

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Watchmen
Alex Florez
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2009/03/05 at 12:00am

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Watchmen

03.5.2009 | By |

Rated: R for strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language.
Release Date: 2009-03-06
Starring: David Hayter, Alex Tse
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Country: USA
Official Website: http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/

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Watchmen

Film goers, be warned. Watchmen is no ordinary superhero movie, but it’s also not an extraordinary one.

This latest comic book adaptation is one complex, multi-layered murder mystery, set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society.  It is the world Alan Moore created for his legendary comic book series, which, when published, challenged both the genre and medium. 

For those who haven’t read the books, Watchmen chronicles a group of vigilantes which disbanded years earlier when masked superheroes were banned by the US government.  The story begins when one of its members, “The Comedian” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is murdered, setting “Rorschach” (one of his former partners) on a mission to find out who done it. 

Those that have read the books, will know that in reality the story is about much more than that.  It is part political satire, part Shakespearian tragedy and oh yes, part “Detective Comics”. It’s mature content is without a doubt bound to surprise many. The ones who argue that comic books can’t be or aren’t “deep”, simply haven’t read this one.  And that’s precisely the challenge the filmmakers met when adapting it to the big screen. 

The books are so carefully crafted that everything in them, needs to be there.  If even one of the elements goes missing the story just doesn’t work. There’s no question that director Zack Snyder attempted to make a faithful adaptation, but when you try to fit all 12 issues into a regular movie’s running time (this one runs 15 minutes shy of three hours), some of the desperately needed elements in the story are bound to be lost in translation.  In the end however, some different directing choices could have tied things together more coherently.

One such thing I think could have been re-imagined is an opening montage that condenses the origins of the Watchmen lore to the duration of a 1960s folk song, leaving you will little time to figure out what’s happened.  At times things feel a bit convoluted but unlike reading a comic, in a movie you can’t go back and re-read a page to further understand what happens later in the story.  Fortunately the appeal of some of the characters are undeniable.  Jack Earle Haley wonderfully plays “Rorschach” the borderline psychopath who wears a mask with shape shifting inkblots, and gives the film its edge and ferocity. 

It is not the first time that one of Alan Moore’s graphic novels is adapted to the big screen.  V for Vendetta and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen were the other two films that fell short on their promise.

While the film disappoints on some levels, my hope is that viewers will be drawn to read to the comic book series that set a precedence for future books of its kind.

 

Australia
Alex Florez
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2009/03/03 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Australia

03.3.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.0

Rated: PG-13 for some violence, a scene of sensuality, and brief strong language.
Release Date: 2008-11-26
Starring: Baz Lurhmann, Ronald Harwood
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Film Genre:
Country:USA, Australia
Official Website: http://australiamovie.com/

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With ‘Moulin Rouge!’, visionary filmmaker Baz Lurhmann finished his ‘Red Curtain Trilogy’ (Strictly Ballroom and Romeo+Juliet are the other two) – a series of stylized and highly choreographed retelling of stories we’re all pretty familiar with. 

Australia however, Lurhmann’s latest film, is not only a departure in style and content but in ambition as well.  Let’s just say this is Lurhmann’s ‘Gone with the Wind’.   A near three hour epic no one other than himself could have directed. 

But Lurhmann fans need not fret.  There is still plenty of singing (no, it’s not quite a musical) and borderline corniness to make your time worthwhile. 

The romantic action adventure sets itself in a country on the explosive brink of World War II.  In it, an English aristocrat named Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels down under, where she meets a rough hewn local (Hugh Jackman) and reluctantly agrees to join forces with him to save the land she inherited.  On this journey however, she finds herself caring for an enchanting young orphan named Nullah (brilliantly played by Brandon Walters), a half-Aboriginal, half-Caucasian boy adrift in a segregated society that treats him as an outcast.

And that’s precisely where the strength of the film lies. The story, narrated by the boy himself, is most powerful when it confronts Australia’s horrifying past.  Yet Lurhmann cautiously tries to abstain from the plight of the Australian aborigines in the 1940s.  A deeper exploration of the historical context in which it set its love story, would have served it well. Instead the film flirts with a magical realism that is mawkishly sentimental.

As an action film there are certainly some riveting sequences which prove that Lurhmann can direct more than mere dance numbers.  And though the accents are a bit difficult to navigate past, the performances are solid as well.  But in the end, it’s the long running time and the lack of focus in the screenplay that do the film in.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Jack Rico
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2009/03/03 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

03.3.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.0

Rated: PG for some mild thematic elements.
Release Date: 2008-10-03
Starring: Analisa LaBianco, Jeffrey Bushell
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Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/

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Crossing Over
Jack Rico
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By

2009/02/25 at 12:00am

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Crossing Over

02.25.2009 | By |

Rated: R for pervasive language, some strong violence and sexuality/nudity.
Release Date: 2009-02-27
Starring: Wayne Kramer
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Country: USA
Official Website: Not available.

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Crossing Over

“Crossing Over” had the potential to be one of the better films of the new year. It possesses some strong acting by a talented cast led by Harrison Ford and a socially relevant story line, but unfortunately it was all squandered away in the hands of helmer Wayne Kramer (The Cooler). Ultimately, the film feels like a counterfeit version of ‘Crash’ and ‘Babel’ from mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu. There are some commendable and engaging moments, but not enough to ignore the defects of its second hour.

Here’s the plot – ‘Crossing Over’ is a multi-character canvas about immigrants of different nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The film, seen from the perspective of the INS, deals with the border, document fraud, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures. There are several stories that eventually intertwine at the very end.

A noteworthy mention should be given to Kramer’s implementation of immigrants as not just poor, working class Mexicans, but as a distinct representation of classes and nationalities. Also, perhaps the best acting scenes of the film came from Summer Bishil, who is part Mexican, playing Taslima Jahangir, an Iranian teenager who approves of the motives behind the 9/11 attacks. Just in case you’re looking to see Brazilian Alice Braga, she is scarcely seen. It was all working out nicely as a dramatic and enticing piece of film until it suddenly became an action thriller, giving way to Ford summoning President James Marshall from ‘Air Force One’. Where did that come from?

In an effort to not reveal too much, I’m limiting myself to saying this – Kramer would like us to believe that the lives of these characters are crisscrossed and interwoven by accident or fate, but halfway thru the end, you can sense the manipulative machinations and moralistic intent of the calculated plot. There goes Hollywood again trying to insult our intelligence.

A remake of this film in the hands of director Alejandro González Iñárritu would be interesting to see, but I highly doubt that idea is an option. At best, ‘Crossing Over’ is halfway engaging, but not worth the ticket or the time. Wait for it on Netflix.

What Just Happened?
Jack Rico
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2009/02/24 at 12:00am

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What Just Happened?

02.24.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: R for language, some violent images, sexual content and some drug material.
Release Date: 2008-10-17
Starring: Art Linson
Director(s):
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Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.whatjusthappenedfilm.com/

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Body of Lies
Mack Chico
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2009/02/17 at 12:00am

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Body of Lies

02.17.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.0

Rated: R for strong violence including some torture, and for language throughout.
Release Date: 2008-10-10
Starring: William Monahan, David Ignatius (novela)
Director(s):
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Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://bodyoflies.warnerbros.com/

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Three years ago, Ridley Scott‘s ill-conceived epic Kingdom of Heaven implicitly asked the question, “What would a movie about the Crusades look like if everyone in it had a 21st-century ideological outlook?” (The unsurprising answer: It would look nothing at all like the Crusades.) With Body of Lies, Scott once again turns his eye to conflict in the Middle East, though this time he wisely keeps his moral and historical frames in present-day alignment. The result is a film that, while far less muddled, still doesn’t have much new to say.

 

A former journalist Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) injured in the Iraq war is hired by the CIA Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) to track down an Al Qaeda leader in Jordan. The movie jumps from London to Iraq to Washington to Amsterdam to Jordan, Dubai, Turkey, and Syria with box-checking diligence. There are betrayals and kidnappings and rogue operations and collateral damage. Things are not infrequently blown up. The elements of the film, in other words, will be reasonably familiar to anyone who saw Syriana or The Kingdom or Traitor or Spy Game.

 

The script, adapted by William Monaghan from a novel by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, shrewdly sticks to shades of gray; those waiting for a stark double cross that will reveal the movie’s true villain will wait in vain. DiCaprio and Crowe deliver their customary quality, even if neither shows us anything terribly fresh. (I, for one, look forward to the next role in which DiCaprio doesn’t feel a scruffy goatee is needed to confirm his postpubescence.) But the movie’s true revelation is Syriana vet Strong, who plays head of Jordanian intelligence Hani Salaam. Trim and elegant in narrow pinstripes, Salaam is crafty, charismatic, and sophisticated, with an odd but charming insistence on referring to male colleagues as “my dear.” He is a man capable of brutality when it is required, but glad to avoid it when it is not. A scene in which he administers a carrot to an al Qaeda suspect in place of the anticipated stick is perhaps the best in the film.

 

Scott directs with characteristic panache–the rapid editing and varied camera speeds, a delight in aerial surveillance shots evidently inherited from brother Tony’s Enemy of the State— but as in Kingdom of Heaven his aesthetic and political purposes are in tension: How upset can we be about a deadly explosion when Scott has labored so mightily to make it look cool? Though evidently intended to straddle the divide between action thriller and geopolitical fable, when pushed, Body of Lies tumbles into the former genre. (Its chief bid at seriousness, a confrontational colloquy with the top terrorist near the end of the film, comes across as the awkward regurgitation of a hastily swallowed subscription to The Economist.) In the end, it is an above-average entertainment, though not a terribly memorable one. By contrast, a sequel following the exploits of spymaster Hani Salaam, the George Smiley of Jordan–now that, my dear, would be something to see.

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