Wow.

9 comments January 31st, 2008

I caught a showing of “There Will Be Blood” last night, and though I don’t have time to post much at the moment, I do want to say this: If Daniel Day-Lewis doesn’t win the Best Actor Oscar this year, he should stomp up onto the stage and take it by force.

That’s what his character, Daniel Plainview, would do.

You saw “Star Wars” how many times?

8 comments January 30th, 2008

Watching “Cars” with my daughter again (it’s her current obsession, following months of nonstop “Finding Nemo”), I got to thinking about how these kids today, with their DVDs and DVRs and Netflix and Blu-Rays, they don’t know what it was like to be a kid way back in the long ago days of the 1970s, like I was. We couldn’t just watch a movie any time we wanted, then watch it again (and again and again). No, back then (and, according to the legends I’ve heard, in the years before the 197os) movies were seen in the theaters and then — if you were patient and lucky — they might show up on TV.

And, this being the early days of cable, those movies would be hacked up, censored and slapped between some commercials. Even the theaters were different. No megaplexes then, kids. My hometown had one theater with two screens. If there were more than two movies playing at the same time, you were going to miss something. You just had to hope it wasn’t something you were dying to see. Or, if something was showing that you were dying to see, that it stayed in town for as long as possible.

Which brings me to “Star Wars.”

Hitting my town like it hit the rest of the world, “Star Wars” changed snagged a spot on one of those two screens and, believe it or not, stayed there almost an entire year. During the holidays, the Cleveland Plain Dealer ran a Christmas-themed ad with the “Star Wars” characters because the movie was still packing houses, seven months after it hit theaters. Ten years old at the time, I loved “Star Wars” like no other movie — like no other thing– I’d yet encountered. And, because I was living in the pre-VCR age and didn’t know when — if ever — it would show up on TV, I saw it as many times as I could. I dragged mom, dad, grandparents, friends and mere acquaintances along for showing after showing, trying to commit every frame of the film to memory before it left town. After all, once it did, I might never see it again.

I’m pretty sure my final total was 10 viewings, not counting any re-releases or TV/video viewings. Three years later, I saw “Empire Strikes Back” four or five times, but by the time “Return of the Jedi” rolled around in 1983, VCRs were pretty common and though my family didn’t have one yet, I could see my dad (a movie fan himself) getting the itch to buy one. I knew my days of seeing the same movie 10 times in the theater were over.

Now on video, well, that was another story. Check this space tomorrow to read it.

In the meantime, now that I’ve confessed my “Star Wars” obsession, it’s your turn. What movie have you seen the most times in a theater (video and TV don’t count — we’ll cover them later.) Maybe it’s “Jaws” or “Titanic” or maybe even “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Whatever it is, don’t be shy. We’ve all got cinematic skeletons in our closets.

DVD REVIEWS: ‘KILLER OF SHEEP’ AND ‘SUNSHINE’

3 comments January 29th, 2008

This week’s column gets down to Earth and heads for the sun, with reviews of the re-released low-budget drama “Killer of Sheep” and the low-box-office sci-fi flick “Sunshine.” Here’s a quick take from each:

“Killer of Sheep” — “It’s rough around the edges — heck, it’s rough all the way through — but that’s what makes it memorable. It feels more like a documentary than a fictional film, with tiny, seemingly meaningless moments adding up to paint a compelling picture of poverty in America.”

“Sunshine” — While it’s frustrating to see such a visionary movie become another “Alien” ripoff, at least “Sunshine” redeems itself in its final moments. Where the movie excels is conveying the sheer majesty of the sun. If it looks this bright from 93 million miles away, imagine what it would look like up close. Sure, your eyes would sizzle in a split-second, but what would you see in that split second? “Sunshine” is at its best when it asks — and sort of answers — that provocative question.”

Want to read both reviews in their entirety? Go here. See either of the films and want to toss in your two cents? That’s what the comment section is for!

Review: ‘Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’

8 comments January 28th, 2008

I’m not a big fan of musicals, and I’ve never seen the stage version of “Sweeney Todd.” But I liked the movie. I liked it a lot, in fact.

But I want to warn potential viewers of two things:

1. It definitely is a musical. This might sound obvious, but most of the commercials I’ve seen emphasize Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton, but don’t dwell on the fact that this is the same “Sweeney Todd” who carved a bloody path through Broadway years ago, and most — if not all — of the Stephen Sondheim songs remain intact. Don’t be surprised when people start singing right off the bat.

2. It’s bloody. Really, really bloody. Again, this might seem obvious given the R rating and constant prescence of straight razors, but “Sweeney Todd” is a gory little movie. Plenty of throats get slit, and Burton doesn’t skimp on the stage blood. If you’re think it’s going to be “Chicago” or “Dreamgirls,” think again.

That being said, ”Todd” entertained me from beginning to end. The story is simple: A London barber wants revenge against a corrupt judge and, eventually, he gets it. With its smog-shrouded London location and darker-than-dark humor, Burton was the perfect director for the movie. He’s had his good days (”Ed Wood,” “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure,” “Edward Scissorhands”) and his bad (um, “Planet of the Apes”), but this is Burton at his best, bringing a surreal intensity to a story that truly deserves it.

Depp is perfect for the title role, and even if he doesn’t have the strongest singing voice in the world, he makes it work wonders here. When downshifts those vocals into a growl, it’s a chilling, thrilling moment. Helena Bonham Carter, looking more ”Fight Club” than ”Howard’s End,” is both creepy and kindly as meat-pie maker Mrs. Lovett. And the rest of the cast — Alan Rickman as the judge, Sacha Baron Cohen (yes, Borat) as a rival barber and Ed Sanders as a weird little kid with a taste for gin — are all fine, too. But the real star here is the grimy, ghastly city of London that Burton and Co. create. It’s a setting that makes you wonder why everyone doesn’t go mad and reach for the nearest straight razor.

“Sweeny Todd” really packs a wallop in the last act, when Todd’s plans finally come to fruition — and horribly, horribly backfire. What I thought was going to be a pleasant little black comedy turns into a wonderfully over the top slice of grand guignol, with Todd dropping his sad, mopey facade and becoming the monster he was always meant to be, bless his dark little heart.

 Anyone else see it? What did you think?

It’s that time of year again

14 comments January 27th, 2008

If you’re a big enough film fan to be reading this blog, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t take a shot at the Register Star’s annual “Beat the Movie Man” contest. It’s simple — just go to this link, make your Oscar picks in eight categories, take a guess at the tie-breaker (namely, how long is that ceremony going to last?), fill out a bit of personal info and hit submit. Like I said — simple.

I’ll reveal my own picks on Sunday, Feb. 24 (which happens to be Oscar day), then we’ll reveal the winner on the following Tuesday. I’m not sure what the prize is this year, but last year it was an iPod, and we’re hoping for something at least as good. Either way, if you pick more correct winners than me, you get a certificate commemorating your achievement — and, of course, you can lord it over me here in the comments section.

Good luck! 

Count along with Rambo

4 comments January 25th, 2008

Sylvester Stallone’s new Rambo movie (called, imaginatively enough, “Rambo”) has been getting slaughtered by the critics, but that’s no surprise. What’s surprising is just how much slaughtering the movie itself is doing. According to a professor at Ohio State who saw an advance copy, the fourth movie in the “Rambo” series contains a whopping 236 onscreen killings. Given that the movie has a (mercifully) short running time of 93 minutes, that averages out to more than 2.5 deaths per minute, or one death every 24 seconds.

Depending on your reading speed, a couple of “Rambo” badguys bit the bullet (possibly quite literally) while you read that last paragraph. In other words, “Rambo” sounds like perfect family viewing — take the kids and let them count along. It might even sharpen their math skills.

It’s hard to believe that in the first “Rambo” movie, 1982’s remarkably restrained “First Blood,” a mere four characters met their maker, and most of them did so accidentally. It’s even harder to believe that originally, the script had John Rambo die at the end.

Sure, it would’ve been a downer, but just think how many fictional lives would’ve been saved.

The what of what?

1 comment January 25th, 2008

And the title of the next James Bond movie is  … drum roll please … “The Quantum of Solace.”

Confusing? Sure. Intriguing? Maybe. Better than “Octopussy”? Definitely.

Apparently, the title comes from one of Bond author Ian Fleming’s old short story collections. Truth is, the title barely matters. All people need to know is that it’s the new James Bond movie, and that Daniel Craig is back as 007. Who cares what it’s called?

The stories never have much to do with the movies anyway — if you don’t believe me, read “The Spy Who Loved Me” and try to find the character with the steel teeth named “Jaws.” In fact, try to find James Bond in the first half of the book. Good luck.

Hey! Where’s my Oscar?!?

16 comments January 24th, 2008

The thing to remember during this season of Oscar fever is that the movie that wins Best Picture is almost never the actual best picture. Usually it’s a pretty-good, fairly safe mainstream movie that either captures the mood of the moment or rewards someone who’s been in the business a long time and has (according to the Academy) earned the honor for previous work. A few recent examples:

Clive Owen stars in “Children of Men,” the real best picture of 2006.

2006: Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” won both Best Picture and Best Director. It’s solid, don’t get me wrong, but it’s nowhere near Scorsese’s best work. Too bad “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull” and “Goodfellas” were beaten by “Rocky,” “Ordinary People” and “Dances With Wolves,” respectively. For my money, last year’s best movie was “Children of Men,” a pretty amazing piece of cinema that combined powerful themes with jaw-dropping filmmaking.

2004: “Million Dollar Baby”? Really? I love Clint Eastwood, and I’m glad he’s still making interesting movies in his autumn years, but this cliched boxing drama wasn’t one of them. With cardboard characters, a by-the-numbers plot and a “controversial” ending few would find controversial, all it needed was warm, homey narration from Morgan Freeman to cement its mediocre status. Oh, wait. It had that, too. The real shame is that two truly excellent movies came out the same year: “The Incredibles” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” I know the academy won’t give the statue to an animated film (that’s why they created the “Best Animated Feature” category), but “The Incredibles,” animated or not, was exciting and complex in a way few live-action moves are. And “Eternal Sunshine,” with direction by Michel Gondry and a truly brilliant script by Charlie Kaufman, was — no kidding — the best love story of the last 25 years. (At least it won the screenplay Oscar.)

1999: This was the best year for films in recent memory, but “American Beauty” — 1999’s Oscar winner — was far from the year’s best film. Too pleased with itself for its supposedly “edgy” plot, “Beauty” wasted strong performances from Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening in its quest to be both hip and heartwarming. Meanwhile, truly edgy movies like “Fight Club,” “Being John Malkovich” and “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” were ignored, along with just-plain-good movies like “The Limey,” “The Matrix,” “Office Space,” “American Movie,” “Toy Story 2,” “Iron Giant” and the list goes on … and on. All of them better than “American Beauty” by a long shot.

I could say more —  and probably will in a later post — but I’d like to hear your take. Agree? Disagree? Have examples of your own? Share ‘em with us!

THERE WILL BE BLOOD … IN ROCKFORD

2 comments January 23rd, 2008

Here’s a bit of good news for local movie fans. “There Will Be Blood,” the new movie from director Paul Thomas Anderson that nabbed eight Oscar nominations yesterday, will final be shown on Rockford screens. The acclaimed drama (a Best Picture contender) is slated to arrive at ShowPlace 16 starting Friday. Critics can’t say enough good things about this movie (and about Daniel Day Lewis’ central performance), so I’m going to make sure to catch it on the big screen before it gets replaced by “Good Luck Chuck II: Better Luck Next Time, Chuck.”

Other new arrivals in local theaters this week include the step-dancing drama “How She Move,” the movie spoof “Meet the Spartans,” the wasn’t-this-movie-already-released-under-the-title-”The Net” Untraceable” and the long-awaited (long-dreaded?) sequel to “Rambo: Part III,” the simply titled “Rambo.” If it’s half as violent as the trailer suggests, it’ll be the funniest movie of the year. 

But please, if you want to see what is, by all accounts, a truly memorable movie, check out “There Will Be Blood.” I’ll report back here as soon as I’ve seen it to let you know how it is.

THE OSCAR NOMINATING COMMITTEE’S BIGGEST CRIME…

14 comments January 23rd, 2008

Is the fact that this movie got one nomination (for Best Makeup)…

And this movie — the best one I saw all year — didn’t get a single one. Not one. It’s “Zodiac,” by the way, and trust me — it’s one of the movies we’ll still be talking about long after dreck like “Norbit” is (hopefully) long forgotten.

How about you? Anything in the nominations that makes you see red? There’s a complete list here.