Zack Snyder puts his unique stamp on this animated adventure. Based on Kathryn Lasky's young adult book series, the film is like LORD OF THE RINGS performed by owls via photoreal animation. The straightforward narrative is made more compelling simply through the visual originality.
Zack Snyder puts his unique stamp on this animated adventure. Based on Kathryn Lasky's young adult book series, the film is like LORD OF THE RINGS performed by owls via photoreal animation. The straightforward narrative is made more compelling simply through the visual originality.
The story begins with the young owl Soren (Jim Sturgess, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE) telling his little sister Eglantine (Adrienne DeFaria) the tales about the great battles of the Guardians. His brother Kludd (Ryan Kwanten, TV's TRUE BLOOD) is tried of hearing about these old myths. Excited following their first flying lessons, the two brothers sneak out of the nest to practice without parental supervision. By accident they fall to the forest floor where they are kidnapped by agents of St. Aegolius, an orphanage that brainwashes its young owlets into being soldiers for the Pure Ones, led by Metal Beak (Joel Edgerton, THE SQUARE) and his bride Nyra (Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN). If the owlets are not the right breed or refuse to conform, they are hypnotized by the moon and forced to pick out metal flecks from the pellets owl cough up.
This is a lighter week leading up to some packed weeks to come. The Pick of the Week is the best Hitchcock film Hitchcock never directed. Two Oscar winners and two interesting new releases are also here.
Pick of the Week
Charade
Stanley Donen's thriller is what many have called the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never directed. Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn star in this thriller that surrounds Hepburn's dead husband, stolen money and hidden identities. The repartee between the leads with the sharp dialogue is a highlight of the pure joy of this picture. The stars are stalked by James Bond-esque villains, played by James Coburn, George Kennedy and Dominique Minot. Additionally, Walter Matthau plays a CIA agent who keeps us in tune with how dangerous the situation is getting. The plot keeps the audience guessing what is really going on right up until the fantastic conclusion. In preparing this week's column, I ran over an interesting trivia fact about the film too. Universal Pictures mistakenly did not include a copyright at the end of the credits and therefore the film fell into public domain immediately on release due to the pre-1978 U.S. copyright law. Now that's a serious oops.
Based on the Vertigo comic book series, the film is the better A-TEAM movie released in 2010. The backstabbed black ops team tale doesn't blaze new ground, but unlike the other A-TEAM film of 2010, it mixes violence, humor and some over-the-top action with a dash of character motivation.
Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, WATCHMEN) leads his black ops team into Bolivia to hit a high profile target. But in the midst of the action, the team discovers children at the compound. They decide to rescue the kids, but discover no one, even the team, was to survive the mission. The operation was being run by Max (Jason Patric, THE LOST BOYS), a powerful government spy who ruthlessly makes deals to defend America and his own self interests — the latter is his chief objective.
There are a lot of well-written scenes in this indie romance, but they don't quite add up to a fully fleshed out film. Writer/director Jay DiPietro has a good ear for the way people really talk and how arguments in relationships tend to center around mundane things like ordering food. He shows us many episodes like this in a relationship that starts passionately and descends into ugliness. These episodes jump through time to juxtapose the good and the bad. There is good and bad in this approach.
We first meet Peter (Jason Ritter, MUMFORD) and Vandy (Jess Weixler, TEETH) during a romantic picnic looking out at the Statue of Liberty. The idyllic scene doesn't end as romantic as either hoped for. They met on a park bench during lunch as Peter tells Vandy that the Chinese restaurant she order from will make a chicken salad instead of the fattening fried rice. An awkward meet cute for sure. Vandy is dating someone, but Peter impresses her with a sweet gesture. Soon enough they are dating and hurling insults at each other over how to make a peanut butter sandwich.
As the film tells us at the start, the Charlestown section of Boston is the bank robbery capital of the U.S. It also gives a quote from a Charlestown resident stating that the town was a great place to grow up, but it ruined his life. The characters are products of this environment. It defines them whether they like it or not.
Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck, GOOD WILL HUNTING) is the brains of a bank robbery crew. It's sort of the family business; his father Stephen (Chris Cooper, AMERICAN BEAUTY) is serving time for robbery. During the latest heist, his best friend James Coughlin (Jeremy Renner, THE HURT LOCKER) takes an unnecessary hostage in petrified assistant bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA). Doug feels bad about the whole thing, so he follows Claire to make sure that she is okay. It also doesn't hurt to know what she knows.
Serendipity often plays a huge part in some of the greatest documentaries ever made. Like Errol Morris with THE THIN BLUE LINE or Ross McElwee with SHERMAN'S MARCH, filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman had their cameras ready when a story presented itself. They began filming before they really knew what they had. When they started there is no way they could have imagined how crazy the journey to the end would be.
Ariel's brother Nev is a professional photographer. He often shoots dancers. After one of his pictures appeared in the newspaper, he received a painting of the photograph from Abby, an eight year old living in Michigan. The paintings show talent. Over time he develops a pen pal relationship with the young girl. Her mother Angela says that her daughter's paintings have sold for upwards of $7,000. Nev becomes friends with them on Facebook and starts chatting up Abby's older sister Megan, a singer and wannabe model. They talk on the phone and Nev certainly is falling for the pretty girl. His brother and Joost thought they were filming a story of how technology affects modern romance. They got that and so much more.
Due to its subject matter, this film should be called sci-fi. But its tone is far closer to a somber period piece. Mark Romanek, whose only other feature film was the sad thriller ONE HOUR PHOTO, has kept the same straightforward tone of the book from Kazuo Ishiguro, whose novel REMAINS OF THE DAY was adapted into a somber film as well. Romanek never sensationalizes the material into some kind of conspiracy thriller. He asks one philosophical question and spends the film answering that question in an emotionally powerful way.
Due to its subject matter, this film should be called sci-fi. But its tone is far closer to a somber period piece. Mark Romanek, whose only other feature film was the sad thriller ONE HOUR PHOTO, has kept the same straightforward tone of the book from Kazuo Ishiguro, whose novel REMAINS OF THE DAY was adapted into a somber film as well. Romanek never sensationalizes the material into some kind of conspiracy thriller. He asks one philosophical question and spends the film answering that question in an emotionally powerful way.
Kathy (Carey Mulligan, AN EDUCATION), Tommy (Andrew Garfield, RED RIDING TRILOGY) and Ruth (Keira Knightley, PRIDE & PREJUDICE) have grown up together at the highly controlled boarding school Hailsham. The headmistress Miss Emily (Charlotte Rampling, SWIMMING POOL) does not stand for anyone breaking the rules. The children were told stories that if they left the grounds even for a second they might be savagely murdered. They wear wristbands to make sure they are all accounted for. The new teacher Miss Lucy (Sally Hawkins, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY) begins to question the morality of how the children are being treated, but her views are seen as subversion.
Many critics put this as one of the lowest, if not the lowest point, in Disney Feature Animation history. While it's not as big a failure as a film as so many say, its financial disaster has put an extra pall over its history. Getting crushed by THE CARE BEAR MOVIE at the box office will do that. The straightforward fantasy adventure is undercut by weak characters mainly.
Many critics put this as one of the lowest, if not the lowest point, in Disney Feature Animation history. While it's not as big a failure as a film as so many say, its financial disaster has put an extra pall over its history. Getting crushed by THE CARE BEAR MOVIE at the box office will do that. The straightforward fantasy adventure is undercut by weak characters mainly.
Based on Lloyd Alexander's CHRONICLES OF PRYDAIN book series, the LORD OF THE RINGS-like adventure with a coming of age twist seemed like a perfect story for the Disney animators to tackle. Taran (Grant Bardsley) is an assistant pig farmer who dreams of becoming a great warrior. His mentor Dallben (Freddie Jones, DUNE) is really an enchanter who is protecting the mystical pig Hen Wen from falling into the clutches of The Horned King (John Hurt, THE ELEPHANT MAN), who wants to use the swine to locate the Black Cauldron, which could allow him to raise an army of the undead and take over the world.
When I was five, there were two films that completely captured by imagination — STAR WARS and CLASH OF THE TITANS. The original is a campy classic epic adventure punctuated by Ray Harryhausen's awesome special effects. In this remake, I looked forward to seeing some of the plot hiccups reworked and combined with modern visual effects. All I got was more plot hiccups that ultimately render the modern visual effects less than thrilling.
Zeus (Liam Neeson, TAKEN) and the gods need the prayers of humans to retain their power. When humans challenge the gods, they seek revenge. King Acrisius (Jason Flemyng, KICK-ASS) challenges the gods' rule, so Zeus rapes his wife, impregnating her. In defiance, Acrisius nails his wife and bastard son Perseus in a coffin and plans to drop them into the sea. Right when he's about to carry out the deed, he is struck by lightning. Disfigured, he changes his name to Calibos and goes into hiding. The coffin is recovered by a fisherman named Spyros (Pete Postlethwaite, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER), who finds Perseus alive and adopts the boy.
This is a full week. Classics and cult flicks abound on Blu-ray. The Buzzed About section is full of interesting indie titles arriving on DVD only. So let the list begin.
Pick of the Week
One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest
Milos Forman's adaptation of Ken Kesey's classic novel is one of the best films of the 1970s. The film earned Oscars for Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, Forman, and Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as Best Picture. Nominations went to Brad Dourif for Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Score. Nicholson's R.P. McMurphy is an archetype of the '70s antihero. He manipulates himself into getting institutionalized instead of going to jail. His rebellion against the petty and pointless rules of Nurse Ratched (Fletcher) only verifies his insanity to the powers that be. In addition to Nicholson, Fletcher and Dourif, the cast includes Scatman Crothers, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd and Vincent Schiavelli. Will Sampson made an impression as the iconic mute Native American named Chief. Funny and heartbreaking, this is one of my favorite films.
In the 1950s, science fiction began to step out of kid adventure mode and deal with more adult themes. This coy sci-fi adventure dealt with the secret thoughts that lurk within us all. Its influence on the genre is endless, most notably inspiring the tone and psychological themes of STAR TREK.
Inspired by Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST, the story follows Commander J.J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen, NAKED GUN) as he leads an expedition to the distant planet of Altair IV where a previous expedition has gone missing. When they arrive at the planet, the only surviving member of the last crew, Dr. Edward Morbius (Walter Pidgeon, MADAME CURIE), warns them to turn around and go home. Adams ignores the warning and lands to find that the previous crew was wiped out by an unseen entity. Dr. Morbius has utilized the highly advanced technology of the previous inhabitants of the planet, the Krell, to build an advanced robot named Robby (Marvin Miller, M*A*S*H). What he's less willing to reveal is his beautiful daughter Altaria (Anne Francis, BLACKBOARD JUNGLE). How Lt. "Doc" Ostrow (Warren Stevens, THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA) and Lt. Jerry Farman (Jack Kelly, TV's MAVERICK) react to her, he might have legitimate concerns.
Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope was supposed to be a haven for young San Francisco filmmakers. But Warner Bros. backed away from its deal with the company before it really got started. However, this wasn't before a young George Lucas had the chance to do a feature length version of his short from USC. This low-budget sci-fi film set the groundwork for Lucas to get the funding for STAR WARS. Yet this film is a starkly different kind of sci-fi than the Flash Gordon serial adventure that came in 1977.
In the 25th century, humans live in a highly controlled underground society. They are feed drugs to dampen their emotions. Physical sex is outlawed and roommates are simply assigned. One deity called OMM 0910 has been approved to worship. (He looks a lot like Hans Memling's Christ.) Androids police the human population.
After a solo showing last week, this week has eight featured titles. Classics and some fun fill the Pick of the Week and Queue Qualified sections, while some critical acclaimed films from earlier this year are coming to DVD and Blu-ray for the first time in the Buzzed About section. Lots of interesting flicks to consider.
Pick of the Week
In Cold Blood
Richard Brooks' film adaptation of Truman Capote's legendary true crime novel is also one of the great true crime movies. Gritty realism makes this black & white production as modern feeling as any film today. Often filmed in the real locations where the real life events took place, the film follows the police's pursuit of Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock after their ruthlessly slaughter the Clutter family. Robert Blake as Perry and Scott Wilson as Hickcock are like lost children, never realizing what they've done until it's too late. With its even-handed approach, it's a complex study of crime that has been rarely matched.
This comedy comes from Raymond De Felitta, who made the wonderfully charming romance TWO FAMILY HOUSE. The title takes its name from the mile and a half island in the Bronx. It's a fishing town and seems completely alien to the rest of NYC. Each of the members of the film's central family seem completely alien to the other members. It's a film about secrets and how they bring unneeded chaos to this one family.
Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia, THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS) is keeping something from his family. He tells them that he's going to a weekly poker game, but really he's taking an acting class. His wife Joyce (Julianna Margulies, TV's THE GOOD WIFE) is pretty tough on him for being a prison guard. She also rides him for sneaking a smoke, despite the fact that she does the same. Oh, he has another secret. He has a grown son from a previous relationship that he walked out on and now that son Tony (Steven Strait, SKY HIGH) has been transferred to his prison for boosting cars.
I heard a story once about Melvin Van Peebles going to see his SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG on opening day with only one other person in the theater, a Black Panther. He went to a later showing and the house was full. That one Black Panther had come back and brought all this friends, who loved the film. I can see the same scenario playing out with this film, only replacing the Black Panther with an illegal immigrant.
I heard a story once about Melvin Van Peebles going to see his SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG on opening day with only one other person in the theater, a Black Panther. He went to a later showing and the house was full. That one Black Panther had come back and brought all this friends, who loved the film. I can see the same scenario playing out with this film, only replacing the Black Panther with an illegal immigrant.
Machete (Danny Trejo, HEAT) was a Federale when his wife and daughter were killed by drug kingpin Torrez (Steven Seagal, UNDER SIEGE). Left for dead, he managed to survive and make his way to the U.S. where he finds work as a day laborer. A businessman named Booth (Jeff Fahey, TV's LOST) makes him an offer of $150,000 to assassinate Senator McLaughlin (Robert DeNiro, HEAT), who is running on an extreme anti-illegal immigrant platform in Texas. What is unknown is that the politician is linked to a border vigilante group led by murderous cop Lt. Stillman (Don Johnson, TV's MIAMI VICE). But when dealing with corrupt men like these men nothing appears as it seems.
This isn't a thriller in the American sense of the term. It certainly has more in common with meticulously paced French thrillers, which were as much character studies as they were genre pieces. Director Anton Corbijn has no intentions of making this film for the ADD crowd accustomed to lightning fast editing and adrenaline-fueled action sequences at regular intervals. He is certainly asking his audience to be patient.
This isn't a thriller in the American sense of the term. It certainly has more in common with meticulously paced French thrillers, which were as much character studies as they were genre pieces. Director Anton Corbijn has no intentions of making this film for the ADD crowd accustomed to lightning fast editing and adrenaline-fueled action sequences at regular intervals. He is certainly asking his audience to be patient.
Jack, or Edward, (we're really not sure which name is true) (George Clooney, SYRIANA) is a master assassin. He's as cold and remote as the wintery mountain setting the film begins in. He is being hunted by Swede assassins. His handler Pavel (Johan Leysen, BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) says he is slipping and needs to lay low. He doesn't like the safe house set up for him, so he changes the plans. One might expect this to really piss off his boss, but Jack is the best at engineering weapons to precise specifications and Pavel has a new client.
Young teens dream of rock 'n roll stardom. They make it. Drugs and egos fuel their spiral down. Sounds like every music biopic and you're not going to get much more here. But what you will get is three fine performances that lift up the material to a more compelling level.
As the film proposes, Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart, TWILIGHT) wanted to form an all-girl rock band to prove that the girls can rock as hard as the boys. At a club, she meets Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD), a notorious record producer who trolls the clubs looking for the next it act. He introduces Jett to Sandy West (Stella Maeve, BROOKLYN'S FINEST), a drummer who has the same all-girl rock 'n roll dream. To Fowley's great surprise, they can rock. So he gets the idea to put the ultimate jailbait in the lead. He finds Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning, WAR OF THE WORLDS), a Bowie-obsessed 15-year-old and transforms her from a pussycat into a tigress.
With a great deal of TV dominating the new releases for the week, this is a very light week. The Pick of the Week is it. It's part recommend and part Buzzed About. You'll see what I mean.
Pick of the Week
Red Riding Trilogy
This BBC film series is a trilogy based on David Peace's novel. The trio went streaming last week on Netflix from IFC and I caught the first film and I'm eagerly awaiting the chance to catch the others. The story follows the murder investigation of murdered girls. When an investigator looks into the killings, he finds a cover-up that reaches every level of power. Julian Jarrold (BRIDESHEAD REVISITED) directed the first film and brings a bleak, ominous feel to the material. James Marsh (MAN ON WIRE) helmed the second and Anand Tucker (SHOPGIRL) the third. Of the first film, I was impressed with the screen presence of Andrew Garfield, the young actor selected to be the new Spider-Man. The rest of the cast is no less impressive — Sean Bean, Rebecca Hall, Eddie Marsan and David Morrissey. And that's just the first film. The following two include Paddy Considine, Mark Addy and Peter Mullan. This kind of corruption is a daunting thing to fight against; the corrupt have more resources. The first film only scratches the surface. On its own, it stands as a disturbing look at the extents those in power will go to hold on to it.
This is the first film in a trilogy based on David Peace's novel, which was produced for the BBC. The first installment of this crime drama series was directed by Julian Jarrold (BRIDESHEAD REVISITED). He brings a somber ominous tone to the material that puts an increasing weight on the shoulders of the viewer as it's central character gets more and more bogged down in the corruption that surround the case he is investigating.
Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield, upcoming SPIDER-MAN reboot) is a young reporter digging into a string of child murders that have gone unsolved. His friend Barry Gannon (Anthony Flanagan, STATE OF PLAY) takes him to meet the mother of one of girls, Paula Garland (Rebecca Hall, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA) at first she throws him out for being insensitive, but over time she comes to realize that he might the only person truly dedicated to finding the killer. Barry gets an ominous warning that he's in danger for his investigation into the murders from the mental ill wife of powerful businessman John Dawson (Sean Bean, LORD OF THE RINGS). When Barry turns up dead, Eddie begins to see the cover-up that surrounds the child murders.
Every season a take a look over the release schedule and compile a list of the films I'm most excited about seeing. As it is for most serious movie fans, the fall is the most exciting time for movie going. This fall is no exception with new films from a host of major and up-and-coming filmmakers. Because the fall is so jam-packed with films I've also included an Honorable Mention list and an On the Look Out list, which features titles with no firm dates that could easily sneak into the fall schedule. So lets get going.
Must-See List
CATFISH (Sept. 17)
Trailer
This is the story behind this documentary — filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman saw Ariel's brother Nev developing a relationship with a family over the Net and decided to film it. When he goes to meet them, what he finds is shocking. The trailer really hooked me and I had to see what happens and let me tell you it's astonishing. I was lucky enough to see this one really early and let me tell you it's the best film I've seen this year so far. There is nothing like it. The only way I could describe it is to say it's like an Errol Morris documentary filtered through a modern cyber thriller that provides unbelievable twists. It's the kind of film I want to take different people to just to witness their reactions to it.
