21 Jump Street

          Okay, some movies I just have to put under the category of ‘guilty pleasures’.  This is yet another remake spoof of a series from the 80‘s. It was one of the original series from the then brand new Fox channel, but it will probably best go down in history as the show that started Johnny Depp on his road to fame.  The premise of the show and this movie is young looking cops infiltrate high schools as students to fight crime.  It’s a ridiculous premise as it’s hard to suspend disbelief as these guys clearly don’t look under 18.  It became so ridiculous in the old TV series that they eventually had to change their mission to infiltrating universities (they still looked too old).  Jonah Hill (Schmidt) and Channing Tatum (Jenko) are mismatched as partners, but it is some of what makes the movie work.

This movie goes out of the way to embrace the cliches of these shows and even acknowledge it.  The police Captain Dickson (played by Ice Cube) proudly proclaims himself a stereotypical angry black police Captain.  There are many references of the lead stars being asked if they were held back because they look 40.  In one particularly hilarious highway chase scene, where we are used to seeing constant explosions, nothing ever blows up.  After shooting several rounds into a leaking gas trailer, a confused Schmidt exclaims; ‘I really thought that one was going to blow up’.  

The drug dealing ring plot is generic and just there to provide comic set-ups for the fish out-of-water detectives who are trying to assimilate.  Jenko is confused that having a muscle car is no longer cool because it is not ‘green’ and picking on gay people is not funny like he thought it was and even a hate crime in modern high schools.  Video gamers and comic book geeks are the new hip crowd and his old jock notions of cool are out.  

I really could find nothing that I would call redeeming about this film, but I laughed constantly throughout and that has to count for something.  For those who remember the old series, it’s fun to catch the numerous cameos (and one cameo in particular makes the whole movie).  Channing Tatum proves he has some comedic talent and has a dumb jock expression as good as any I’ve ever seen.  The bantering between Tatum and Hill is something I could listen to all day without getting tired.  Jonah Hill is the master of the mumbling rants.

This is a short review, but there really isn't much more I could think of to say about the movie. It has little substance, but a lot of laughs.  I’m ashamed I liked this film as much as I did, but I suppose that’s why they call them ‘guilty pleasures’.  

I rate this movie:  ** 1/2 stars.  I want to rate it higher, but my conscience won’t let me.

The Hunger Games

       As an avid movie goer, there is nothing I enjoy more than being surprised at the movies.  ‘The Hunger Games’ is a young-adult  novel by Suzanne Collins.  I went in reluctantly because of the weak trailers and all the hype that pronounced this the next ‘Twilight’ franchise.  I expected another ponderous teen soap of adolescent angst and pubescent alienation. I was taken completely by surprise and knocked off of my high horse as I found this film, while definitely targeted for the ‘Twilight’ audience, to be a smart, well crafted, intimately dark Science Fantasy story.  The advance publicity makes this seem just like an action packed reality show, but it is far more and deeper than that.

‘The Hunger Games’ is the story of 16 year old Katniss Everdeen (played by the less glamorous than usual Jennifer Lawrence).  She lives in a post-apocalyptic world where the government has divided what remains of Pan Am into 12 Districts.  Every year, each District must offer up one boy and girl to participate in the televised Hunger Games.  It is like the show Survivor only the battle is real and the winner is the last one who is left alive.  The children are chosen each year from a lottery and are referred to as tributes.  When Katniss’s little sister is the one chosen, she steps in and volunteers in her place.  She and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), a boy she grew up with, are whisked away with great ceremony to The Capital where they are put under the mentorship of Haymitch (played by Woody Harrelson who is in his element), a former Hunger Games winner.  They are to be trained and gather sponsors while they prepare for the Hunger Games.

Science fiction has always been used as exaggerated metaphors for present day issues.  The poverty of the Districts compared to the lavish riches of the citizenry of the Capital can be interpreted differently depending on your political bent.  What really stood out for me is that this film really explored the depth of the characters rather than relying on lavish productions and impossible fight scenes which tend to happen in these type of films.  Katniss’s love for her sister is what drives her and you feel her need to win every bit as much as she does. She doesn’t want to be a pawn of a system she despises, but the system is too big and doesn’t provide any easy answers.  There is a futility to rebellion and the urgency of her reality overcomes any ideals she may have.

As the games are launched, we see these teens we came to know and care about devolve into a ‘Lord of the Flies’ world where each must kill each other if they hope to survive.  Some of the scenes are unflinching in their brutality and they don’t try to make the violence antiseptic. It’s hard to watch, especially as the younger children begin to fall, but this is where I admire the movie.  It doesn’t try to portray this as a glamorous ‘Rocky’ story.  Katniss is brave to be sure, but you share her terror and pain as she fights for survival.

There are many great performances in this film and a lot of big name stars.  Donald Sutherland plays the omnipotent President Snow with imperial arrogance.  Stanley Tucci plays the smarmy game show host Caesar Flickerman to plastic perfection.  An unrecognizable Elizabeth Banks plays the eerie Effie Trinket.   Even a shorn Lenny Kravitz turns in an acceptable performance as Katniss’s handler, Cinna.  A lot of talent and some great performances for something I went in considering a teen movie.

I do have some criticisms, but they were minor compared to my overall enjoyment of the film.  I felt some of the deaths were contrived as well as some of the alliances.  As much as I enjoyed Woody Harrelson’s character, Haymitch, I thought he went through dramatic changes without impetus as well as having Katniss change his perspective on life without ever really getting to know her.  Still, minor flaws in a good movie.

If you’re going to this movie just to see an action flick, you might not get what you hoped for.  There are adrenaline rushes; however, they are pulled from dramatic tension and outrage for the characters’ predicaments.   These are somber characters leading lives of quiet desperation who are suddenly thrust into the world of celebrity and violence.  I’ll probably rate this film higher than I should due to how pleasantly surprised I was but I can’t help it.

I rate this film **** stars.

John Carter

John Carter has taken it’s time coming to the big screen.  Written in the 19th century by the famed Edgar Rice Burroughs (of Tarzan fame), this story has been trying to get to the big screen from as early as 1939.  Finally, in an age where special effects technology have made it possible for this film to be made, Disney has stepped up and produced this 240 million dollar epic.  Unfortunately, despite good intentions, it’s on its’ way to becoming a flop.  This is not to say the film is totally without merit, but it does not live up to its’ promise.  There are many things to criticize in this movie, but I think the largest failure is that Taylor Kitsch was completely miscast as John Carter and didn’t have the acting chops to pull it off.

Based on the original work entitled ‘Princess of Mars’, the film is a faithful adaptation of the pulp story.  Written in an era before science fiction was fashionable, this book was ahead of its’ time and you can see the seeds for all the great movies it inspired.  From Dune, to Star Wars, and even to Avatar, all these movies can trace some if not most of their inspiration to this story.  Given this was written before the concept of modern science fiction was even fully formed, I would place this more in the ‘Sword and Sorcery’ genre.  There are so many things that seem cliché in this movie until one realizes, this is one of the stories that started the clichés .

John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is a former Confederate War captain, who searches the Arizona wasteland for his fortune in gold mining.  Through a series of events, he finds himself in a cave where he confronts a mysterious magical being and is transported to Mars.  Upon Mars, he discovers that the lesser gravity gives him great strength, which most notably manifests itself in his ability to leap great distances.  Almost immediately, he encounters a war-like race of 12 foot, four armed, green warriors called Tharks.  He is imprisoned by them and begins to learn the ways of Mars, or Barsoom as the natives call it.  The politically embattled leader of the Tharks, Tars Tarrkas (played by Willem Dafoe [recognizable only by his voice]) takes an interest in John Carter as he realizes what a valuable asset he is as a warrior.

While this is going on, on another part of the planet, more human looking Martians are in a civil war.  The red people of the Kingdom of Helium are being attacked by the blue warriors of Zodanga (Crypt colors even back in the 19th century).  Mysterious priests of great power give the Zodangan General, Sab Than (Dominic West) the means with which to conquer the Kingdom of Helium in exchange for his obedience.  In a desperate attempt to save his kingdom, the King of Helium offers his beautiful daughter Dejah (played by the enchanting Lynn Collins) to Sab Than as his bride.  Dejah does not go into this willingly and takes her first opportunity to escape.

John Carter rescues the Princess and she accompanies him on his journey to find his way back home.  All the while, the Princess has ulterior motives and seeks to enlist John Carter’s aid to help save her Kingdom and as a result, all of Barsoom.  Along the way, they discover the source of the power behind Sab Than and the true depth of its’ power over the planet.

Like I stated earlier, this movie wasn’t all bad.  It is a wide and expansive epic and it’s a lot of fun to see a classic story (well, not really a classic as it is relatively unknown to most people) come to the big screen.  For as much money that was spent on it, the special effects sometimes seemed artificial and wooden, not as artificial and wooden as Taylor kitsch’s acting, but lame in may parts nonetheless.  On a brighter note, Lynn Collins as the Princess Dejah delivered an incredible performance and I’m not just saying that because of her beauty and skimpy outfits either.  She is a classically trained Shakespearean actress and it really shows in her performance.  She is also a black belt in real life and she holds her own in her fight scenes alongside John Carter.  

Overall, I can’t recommend this movie and I’m very disappointed that after all the money and resources possessed by Disney, they couldn’t bring this character to life in a more compelling way.  Fun for a matinee, but that’s it.  If it’s any consolation, the comic book ‘John Carter: Warlord of Mars’, was an incredibly disappointing read from my childhood as well.

I rate this film ** stars

FINAL RESULTS 2012 OSCAR PREDICTIONS

MY OSCAR PREDICTIONS 

Not my best year, but I did get 4 out of 5 correct.  The only one I missed was Best Actress, which went to Meryll Streep.  It was well deserved, so no complaints.

I do wish George Clooney would have won for Best Actor, but again DuJardin had a great performance as well and only one can win.

I am thrilled my longshot for Best Supporting Actor was won by Christopher Plummer.  The oldest actor to win the award at 82.  This was not an obligatory Oscar given because he had never won one, like with John Wayne.  This was a well earned Oscar.

This year I decided to wait until the night before for my predictions so I wouldn’t waffle like I did last year.  I have to confess, that this year isn’t that exciting for me despite some strong performances.  Out of the 60 movies I saw this year, I didn’t even see all the nominated ones.  

My predictions are not always based off the ones I think are the best, but rather the ones I think the Academy will choose.  They tend to base decisions on politics over quality more often than not (IMHO).  So here we go:

Best Picture: For Best picture these were all good choices.  I am going to go with       The Artist

• The Artist
• The Descendant     This film is actually my favorite.  Great film that is low key at the same time

• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
• The Help
• Hugo
• Midnight in Paris
• Moneyball
• The Tree of Life
  This film still has me thinking to this day.  Incredibly artistic, but I can’t recommend it for the Oscar
• War Horse

Best Actor:  All of these were great performances, but the politics are all with

Jean Dujardin in The Artist

• Demián Bichir

• George Clooney
  Best Clooney performance to date.  I would like him to win
• Jean Dujardin

• Gary Oldman

• Brad Pitt

Best Actress: This one is up in the air.  I’m going to go with:

Viola Davis for The Help

• Glenn Close
  Vanity performance.  Never bought that she was a man
• Viola Davis

• Rooney Mara
  Great performance, but the movie didn’t make a big impact.  Strong feminist role, so maybe

• Meryl Streep
  Oscar darling and great performance, but no heat here
• Michelle Williams

            This could very well be the win, but I’m not going with it.

Best Supporting Actor:  Again with great performances.  I’m going to go out on a limb and say 

Christopher Plummer for The Beginners

• Kenneth Branagh

• Jonah Hill

• Nick Nolte

• Christopher Plummer

• Max von Sydow

Best Supporting Actress:  I’m going to go with 

Octavia Spencer for The Help

• Bérénice Bejo
• Jessica Chastain
• Melissa McCarthy
  The Oscars largely ignores comedies, which is too bad as Meliisa did a great performance in Bridesmaids
• Janet McTeer
• Octavia Spencer

Best Director:  This is one of the few times that I think all of these efforts are deserving. I think the mojo is with:

Michael Hazanavicius

• The Artist
  Michel Hazanavicius

• The Descendants
  Alexander Payne
  Something to be proud of

• Hugo
  Martin Scorsese
  This is the one I think should get it

• Midnight in Paris
  Woody Allen
• The Tree of Life
  Terrence Malick

            Incredible artistic achievement.

Hugo

       ‘Hugo’ is Martin Scorsese’s tribute to film.  It’s not like anything he has ever done before and it is in the dreaded 3-D.  I’m not a huge fan of 3-D, but for this film it actually works.  This is what 3-D was meant to be.   I marveled at Scorcese’s artistry in blending live action, CGI, and 3-D to tell his story.  It’s a kid’s film, but can be enjoyed at any age.

Hugo (played with an Oscar worthy performance by Asa Butterfield) is an orphan living in the walls of a train station in 1930’s Paris.  The whole feel of the film is right out of a Charles Dickens novel.  He spends his days tinkering and fixing clocks and other mechanical devices.  It’s a talent he inherited from his father.  His only remaining connection to his father is an automaton that he is gathering scraps from around the station to complete.  He has two nemesises that keep him in constant fear; The train station’s gendarme, played by Sacha Baron Cohen (who hilariously channels Inspector Clouseau and the Kid Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang simultaneously).   The other is the grumpy old toy vendor Geoges Méliès (played to acting perfection by Ben Kingsley).

Hugo meets a young girl named Isabelle in his daily adventures (played with an equal Oscar worthy performance by Chloë Grace Moretz).  Isabelle becomes fascinated with Hugo’s life and decides to join him on his quest to find the missing part of his father’s unfinished automaton.   Hugo discovers that Isabelle is the niece of the old toy vendor and desperately needs her to help him retrieve a personal item that the vendor took from Hugo.

As with any Dicken’s novel or kid’s film from the 1960s, we soon learn there is more than meets the eye to Georges Méliès than just a grumpy old man.  Hugo learns, that Georges was the actual creator of the automaton that Hugo is working on and knew Hugo’s father very well.  In fact, far from being a forgotten old man in a train station, Hugo discovers that Georges was one of the pioneers of early films and a legend, even if Georges believes he has been forgotten.  This is where Scorcese’s true love of film shows as he intermixes the history of the birth of film into the story.  Its’ not a dry documentary, rather it captures what the emotions and marvel must have been like for those people who were first able to put the Lumiere brother’s invention of moving pictures to use.  Things we take for granted because we’ve known it all our lives almost seemed like magic back then.  Any one who is a film history enthusiast will be riveted through the last half of the film.

The true joy of this film is the artistry of it.  It’s story telling from yesteryear, but updated with modern CGI and 3-D.  It’s not gratuitous use of special effects like so many films are today.  To the contrary, it shows the potential of these tools as a way of fully telling a story.  It shows in the right hands, these advances in film are not cheap gimmicks, but truly enhances a capable director’s ability to tell a story. The opening scene of the camera sweeping through the city scape of 1930’s Paris to finally come to rest on Hugo peering out from behind a clock in a cavernous Paris train station sets the tone for the whole film and is incredible to watch.  If you ever had any doubt of Scorcese’s gift as an artist, then this film should put it to rest.  It’s a film the whole family can enjoy at many different levels.  Truly a remarkable piece of film making.

I give this film   **** stars.

Red Tails

        Red Tails is a film about the famed, yet under portrayed, Tuskegee Airmen of World War II.  This was a pet project of George Lucas who has reportedly been trying to get this made since 1989.  Having never secured adequate funding, he decided to fund the project himself.  I had high expectations as I found the story has similar themes to one of my favorite films of all times; “Glory” and to a lesser extent, I thought it might match up to Pearl Harbor (which I felt didn’t realize it’s potential).  I thought that with George Lucas behind this, it could truly be an epic film.  However, while I found this an enjoyable and patriotic film, I felt that it fell short of my expectations (which I probably set too high).

The Tuskegee Airmen, under Colonel A.J. Bullard (Terence Howard) stood at the beginning of the integration of African Americans into today’s army.  Long segregated, Red Tails tells the story of how black pilots not only proved themselves capable and valuable pilots, but they excelled at it.  Created as an ‘experiment’ despite the supposed scientific research of the time, which said they would never be good soldiers (or airmen), the government stationed the Tuskegee airmen in Italy where they saw little action.  Thanks to the tireless efforts of Col Bullard, the airmen got their chance and proved that the were a force to be reckoned with.

George Lucas has long been known for being strong on inspiration and short on story.    Critics of his Star Wars sagas acknowledge his great vision, but often decry his weak dialogue and shallow stories.  I was thinking the same thing while watching this.  I wanted this to be a truly epic film, but it turned into a more of a Saturday matinee serial of old (hey, it worked for “Raiders of the Lost Ark”).  The Colonel and Major Emmanuel Stance (Cuba Gooding Jr) are played generically heroic.  It seemed like every time they said something patriotic music was playing in the background.  The airmen themselves seemed a collection of cliche’s from every war movie made over the best 50 yrs.  There was the frustrated team leader (played by Nate Parker who ironically portrayed the only character that had any depth).  The impetuous one named Lightning (David Oyelowo), who had the generic love story thrown in as all these films do (if you can’t see where his story line is heading, you haven’t seen a war movie before).  The of course they have the funny one, the grumpy one, the young one...the list goes on.  

The combat scenes were well done and kept you at the edge of your seat.  As long as they were in the air, they had my full attention.  Back on the ground it was less interesting and left a lot of areas unexplored.  The portrayal of the airmen’s struggle was two dimensional.  They felt like caricatures instead of real people.  The film ‘Glory’ excelled at giving us a real story behind the struggle.  Red Tails seemed to be a throw back to a more naive version of war.  I don’t want to pile on and say that this was a horrible film...It wasn’t.  It’s just that I wanted so much more and felt unsatisfied with what I felt could have been a truly epic film.

I’m glad to see an attempt made to highlight a truly great story from American history that we don’t hear enough about.  I just want to see better execution in the story telling

I give this film ** 1/2 stars

The Artist

      The Artist is a truly unique film in that it is a faithful homage to a lost era of film; the silent film era of the 1920’S.  It is not only shot as a silent film, but it captures the same pace and simplistic story lines of that era, while giving us something unique that today’s jaded audiences don’t often see.  The film captures everything from the frenetic pace of the acting to the over exaggerated facial expressions required from a silent film.  It was a little uncomfortable to watch at first as, if you aren’t a true film historian, it just seems like a quaint relic from the past.  However, if you have patience, the story does begin to draw you in and there is enough modern artistic curves to appreciate this as a modern feat of film making.

The story centers around the life of silent film star, George Valentin (cast perfectly with French actor Jean DuJardin).  George wonders if his movie star status will begin to fall with the coming of the radical new invention of ‘talkie’ films.  George is at first contemptuous of the new technology as a fad, but soon realizes that his days as top dog might be numbered.  DuJardin captures the look, feel, and cadence of a 1920’s movie star perfectly.  I hope he isn’t overlooked at Oscar time.  Even  Valentin’s spunky terrier dog is right out of every pet cliché of that era.  With an almost Lassie like intelligence, he is Valentin’s constant companion and confidant.

Into this life stumbles aspiring actress/dancer; Peppy Miller (played by the also French Bérénice Bejo).  Peppy is young and beautiful and star struck by the debonair Valentin with whom she instantly clicks.  Valentin takes Peppy under his wing and sweeps her off her feet.  Bejo’s sophisticated European beauty captures the feel of the time as well.  Like her name implies, she is full of pep and her star starts to rise after the studio takes a chance on her with Valentin’s insistence.

Studio exec Al Zimmer (John Goodman) breaks it to Valentin that talkies are the wave of the future and it will no longer finance Valentin’s silent endeavors.  Full of ego and bravado, Valentin self finances a film that brings him to financial ruin.  As Valentin’s star falls, Peppy’s star rises as the darling of the new talking film era.  Their roles quickly reverse.  Something that is too much for Valentin’s actor ego to accept.  He descends into hard times and depression as Peppy desperately tries to help him revive his career.

Like I said, for the typical movie goer, this might be a challenge to sit through.  But despite my discomfort, I’m glad this film was made and I applaud writer/director Michel Hazanavicius for taking chances.  I also applaud the film studio for producing something this daring in today’s cookie cutter world of movie making.  I can’t see this idea going over well in a concept pitch, so it took a lot of courage to give this the green light.

I don’t feel that this is a ‘must see’, but I do recommend it just for its’ sheer novelty.  It won the Golden Globe for Best Picture which usually means it will be in contention for the Oscar, but I didn’t feel it rose to quite that level.  I would say that if you took away the silent film ‘gimmick’ the story wasn’t all that impressive, but the ‘gimmick’ was what the film was all about.  It’s like saying without the special effects, Avatar wasn’t that great of a movie.  Well yeah, but come on, Avatar was incredible.  Film is a multi tiered artistic expression medium and story is just one aspect.

I give this film *** stars