The Other Guys

I have waited since 2004 to see a Will Ferrell movie I really really liked. Stranger Than Fiction was a good role for him, although I don't think I loved it as much as most people. Talladega Nights had its moments, but then Ferrell seemed to be typecast into a collection of sports-comedy roles, which I chose not to see. I hated Land of the Lost last year, worrying that Ferell might have permanently lost his comedic way. Finally, here he is back in a film that has consistent laughs and feels fresh for him.

He plays Detective Allen Gamble, a forensic detective who prefers to be at his desk rather than on the streets. He has had Terry Hoitz (played by Mark Wahlberg) as his partner ever since Hoitz accidently shot Derek Jeter during the World Series. Though the rest of the department thinks of the duo as butt-ends for office jokes and pranks, the pair get the break they never thought they'd get when their idol police detectives take a literally unexpected drop (which I found hilarious).

There are many great comedic moments in this movie, one of my favorites being an old lady with a walker being used as a go-between messenger when Gamble tries to make up with his extremely hot wife. I tend not to watch a funny movie too often for fear that the jokes will wear off on me if I overkill viewing them, but this along with Hot Tub Time Machine are two 2010 movies you should consider seeing more than once for a good laugh.

Inception

I have yet to walk out of a Christopher Nolan film saying, "Well that sucked!" Considering how much I love his work so far, I really hope I never will. What Nolan does so well is that he tells a great story while dazzling us with great special effects. That is never more apparent than in this film, where the topic of entering people's dreams allows computer technology to have a field day making these imaginative worlds come to life. Then we get into dreams within dreams. Everything goes much faster the deeper you get, allowing for certain ideas to be implanted into one's mind without the dreamer noticing these are not truly his original thoughts.

This has been a good year for Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in the also quirky Shutter Island. I liked Shutter, and I think I liked Inception even more. DiCaprio has a great character to play, dealing with the loss of a his wife, whose memory sabotages his dream extraction missions. One day, he is offered a job that will clear him of murder charges and allow him to see his kids. Does he succeed and see his family? I won't reveal it here of course, but the ending, like Shutter Island, is one that will have its audience members talking. An early candidate for one of my top ten films of the year.

Despicable Me or Jason was going to talk about the subtext of therapy in the movie but un-unfortunately became distracted.

1. Did I enjoy it? YES
As I watched the years worth of raccoon feces slide off my in-laws deck, I realized Despicable Me is the second best animated film I've seen all year. Yeah my brain works that way. I wonder...am I scatterbrained or do my thoughts travel hyper-dimensional vectors moving across and outside time's arrow appearing as scattering non-sequiters to us poor linear-bound perspectivists? 

2. Would I watch it again? YES
Absolutely, who doesn't want to laugh. I'd even make time to watch it again and not make some vague plan to accidentally catch it on television at a time I have nothing else going on. Nope. I'd definitely make time to watch it again.

Wolfman or Jason joins in the screaming.

1. Did I enjoy the movie? YES
Almost as enjoyable as the decidedly Gothic setting of the film was the man behind me shouting at the screen. As if the characters could hear his warning. As if in some metaplot twist actually comprehend his warnings and violate the narrative course of events. As if I could help myself and avoid joining in.
2. Would I watch it again? MAYBE
 I really enjoyed this movie with its dark Gothic landscape, characters who chew their dialogue more than deliver it, and unbridled gore, I do not know if I would enjoy it a second time. Part of the fun of a movie like this is seeing it with a crowd. Everybody starts to get pulled in, screaming and yelling at the screen, that it becomes a communal event. There is a power in that moment of inter-connectivity. Sitting on my couch by myself...not so much. Even if it is Blu-ray.

Toy Story 3 or did that little kid just call me a pussy for crying?

1. Did I enjoy it: YES
There is a wonderful alchemy at work in film, especially the Pixar films. A story told in the right way can slip past all your emotional barriers and bring out all those buried emotions. Or at least bring on that sensation where your heart expands in joy pushing out the tears. Tears of joy as they used to call it. Such an odd oxymoronic concept. I count myself lucky any time a movie can make me cry. Lucky and fortunate.
There was a period in my life where I could not cry. It was miserable. I would feel the sadness welling up, and instead of being released through tears, my body would clamp down and nothing. The sadness remained just sitting there, like a weight. I do remember crying as a kid. Mainly from when report cards came home. Once I hit fourth grade, this was a time of terror for me. It became routine even. The report cards would arrive and my parents would yell at me for not getting good grades. A's were the only grade good enough. How I needed to do all my homework. How I needed good grades because Mom and Dad would never have the money to send me to college and I needed a scholarship for college because if I don't get a good education I'll starve. How I was wasn't living up to my potential. Then the waterworks would start.

How I hated report card day.

I still remember the day I stopped crying. It was my birthday during my freshman year of high school. My first order with the Science Fiction bookclub had arrived and my parents got Little Ceasar's pizza. Everything was going fine till the food poisoning set in. I never vomited that much in my life. That was the last day I cried, and incidentally vomited, for about ten years.

Over time I came to realize how precious crying was. It is very important to our well-being and should never be viewed as weak. The act of crying serves as a pressure release valve to a build up of negative emotions. The body is forced into a reaction and uses up all its energy, thereby not having the strength to put into whatever foolish coping patterns you were engaged in. Tired and exhausted, we have a chance to choose a new path in life.

So here I am in Toy Story 3 watching as these characters I have grown with, have grown to love, deal with such sour notes and still have the capacity to love. I am moved. Deeply moved. I let the hot tears roll down my cheek. I hug Felix. I hug Suzanne. I would of hugged my dog had she been there. Toy Story 3 slipped past my adult cynicism and defences to remind me of the preciousness of life. And with each tear, I am thankful.

2. Would I watch it again? YES
This movie basically summed up everything I can think of as important in life. Stuck inside the furnace, our heroes are going to die. What do they do? They hold hands. They decide to spend what short time is left enjoying each other's company. That is a simple yet powerful message. One I, and probably others, could do with reminding.

It Came From Kuchar

According to wikipedia, which we all know is never wrong, an underground film is a film "that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre, or financing." George and Mike Kuchar certainly made films fitting that description, not to mention experimental and exploitative in the extreme.

I love documentaries about filmmakers, and this one is particularly interesting because these brothers are some of the weirdest looking guys I have seen who enjoy making pictures that are some of the weirdest looking films I have ever seen. As the documentary shows clips of the Kuchar films, all of them seem to be made on micro budgets (Roger Corman would be proud), concentrate on the vile and disgusting, and usually deal with some strange sexual perversions. I'm not sure if George Kuchar was high throughout his filmmaking career or if he was simply channeling Corman, Ed Wood and Herschell Gordon Lewis. Most of these films I would probably hate and walk out of if shown in a theater, but the fact that the Kuchars are willing to show films with feces, vomit and men in love with gorillas makes them stand out as filmmakers who took film to places you never thought it went, but did.

Shutter Island

While I'm not ready to say that Leonardo DiCaprio is the best male actor of his generation, it is becoming obvious at least to me that each year he is offered some of the most choice pictures in Hollywood. 2010 is no exception for DiCaprio, although Shutter Island was originally scheduled to be released in 2009 before being pushed forward to its current year.

The film follows U.S. Marshal Edward Daniels, as he and new partner Chuck Aule arrive at the Ashecliff Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island. They are there, Daniels believes, to investigate the disappearance of Rachel Solando, a patient who has unexplainably vanished.

Then the film takes several turns into the unexpected and the bizarre. Is Rachel really missing? Does she really exist? Why is Daniels really at Shutter Island? Is he even who he thinks he is? These questions and their answers are mused over and hinted at throughout the film and will have viewers wondering even after the credits role what the truth really is. This is not Martin Scorsese's best film, but this psychological thriller is ground he hasn't covered quite in this way before. In any case, this movie still stacks up as a noteworthy film and one I dare you not to see more than once. This is good stuff.

Leap Year or Undistracted by what is going on on the screen, Jason has time to wax philosophical.

1. Did I enjoy it? NO
Spraining my knee has given me time to catch up on my film reviews. But the question that keeps coming back to me is why did I ever get behind in the first place. Really great films, and even really bad films for that matter, generate conversation. You can't wait to tell your friends about what excited or outraged you. You quote the movie. The movie shows things about yourself you did not know.

Then there's mediocre movies. They just slip out of thoughts after you leave the theatre. Leaving you with nothing to talk about or be excited about. Or maybe the problem is not the movie but me.

Many my modern American lifestyle has blinded me to the subtleties of cinema. (The fact I enjoyed Furry Vengeance may be a supporting factor in that argument.) Has the dichotomy of great indie films versus big blockbusters blinded me to the charms of simple middle of the road film making. Amy Adams was cute. Matthew Goode was charming. The Irish countryside was beautiful. Shouldn't that be enough. Unfortunately it isn't. Perhaps if it was I'd be a happier person.

2. Would I watch the movie again? NO
One time is enough thank you.

Furry Venegence or My two year old son tried to walk out of this film then came back and grabbed my hand so I could help him walk down the stairs so he could leave.

1. Did I enjoy the movie? YES
I don't normally find myself contemplating bear rape when I look at movie poster, but when I do a few thoughts run through my mind. Does the bear represent the wilderness "coming" into the hero and changing him from a city-boy to a feral-child. Is the bear rape symbolic of the character's mental disturbance that finally comes to the surface? Or, maybe, the scriptwriters drew words at random during a moment of writer's block.  Furry Vengeance let me down.

Let it be known: If like me, you looked at the movie poster and thought to yourself that bear looks like he's going to rape Brendan Frasier, know no bear raping occurs in this movie. The bear merely steals Brendan Frazier's pants. Steals them in a way that seems physically impossible, even if said bear was propelled from the doomed planet krypton and upon arriving at earth found he had superpowers from earth's yellow sunlight.

The bear's superpowers or lack of superpowers aside, the bear and Brandon Frazier share a scene that defies description in it's awfulness. Watching Furry Vengeance, I found myself in a two part viscous cycle. First I would watch a scene and think how the movie has set a new low in every one's career. Then the next scene would lower the bar even more.
But through it all there was Brandon Frazier. For me it was method acting taking to the next level. The actor becomes the character in that moment so thoroughly that it transcends the medium and starts to work voodoo magic on the audience.

Then Felix, my two-year old son, had enough and wanted to leave. Guess the kid has no taste for camp.

2. Would I watch it again? MAYBE
When I first saw this movie, I thought it was so campy I could watch it again and again. Bring all my friends over and laugh at how ridiculous and awful the movie is. Then I watched it a second time for work, and well, no. I never want to watch this film again. Each scene of this movie is like a clip from a future retrospective on Brendan Frazier's career. The low points. It only gets the Maybe because I actually did see it again, but not from choice.

Edge of Darkness

For the past decade, Mel Gibson has received more attention for his work behind the camera than in front of it. Passion of the Christ, a powerful film that uses the graphicness of violence inflicted on Jesus to demonstrate the suffering he endured because of his love for humanity, was a box office smash upon its release in 2004. Then he received quite a bit of negative press for such incidents as a receiving a DUI in 2006 and making anti-Semitic remarks to the officer. Now he's back in the spotlight in an acting role, doing an admirable job in a film that draws some comparison to last year's Taken. In this story, however, Gibson's daughter is killed within the first ten minutes of the film, and Gibson's character, Thomas Craven, wants revenge. Will Craven be able to stay level headed in his pursuit of justice or will his quest for retribution be too much for him to handle? This is a pretty good thriller, one I would recommend, but ultimately fogettable in the grand scheme of things.

American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein

There's something about outspoken people that always gets my attention. People who have strong views on things and are not afraid to speak of them in public draws both feelings of irritation and admiration from me. Initially, I'm angry that they don't seem to give a crap about other people's thoughts and feelings when they express them. Then again, maybe I'm just too worried about what people think. Ultimately, I admire them because they are willing to make a stand on something they believe to be the truth and are not swayed by negative comments from others. Norman Finkelstein certainly falls under the outspoken category, and definitely the controversial category as well. A Jew raised by parents who survived the Holocaust, Finkelstein went on to teach at several universities in the United States while expressing critical views on Israel in what he calls the Holocaust Industry. Finkelstein believes Israel must take responsibility for its murder of countless Palestinians and using the memory of the Holocaust to gain immunity from any criticism by other nations on its policies and to further its financial interests. Wherever he speaks, Finkelstein is greeted with hardcore supporters and opponents. Although I have neither ties to Israel nor Palestine, I found it very interesting to watch this man and the way he spread his message. I'm not sure he's somebody I'd have a beer with, but Finkelstein is a great example of a man committed to standing firm even when it's unpopular to do so.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief or Jason makes a savings throw versus nostalgia

1. Did I enjoy the movie? YES
I have not enjoyed Chris Columbus' movies in the past. Yet, with this film he hit the right notes. Notes building to chords of myth, action, and magic reminding me of a summer past.

I don't know why my dad asked me to keep Kevin Ryan's nephew company that summer before sixth grade. I did not mind. He seemed like a cool kid. A little older than me but not haughty. (Wanting to watch Clash Of The Titans was a big plus.) Something in that movie clicked with me.

My classmates knew the latest sexual innuendo and I knew the Olympians. They had access to cable without adult supervision. I had access to the Kankakee Public Library's children section. Oh it was marvelous. I would love to walk down the dull stone stairs turn and be blasted by the primary intensity of colors. There was a series of books covering the myths of the world. Those were my go-to books. I would be lost in the stories. When waiting for class to begin I would devour these stories of heroes and monsters from afar-ago. There was a realness, without being real if that makes sense, that the Bozo Show lacked. (Side note: as I type this I am trying to decide if I just drank a glass of urine or bad smelling water.)

"You should be playing Dungeons and Dragons," Kevin Ryan's nephew said to me as I explain the myths that were cobbled together to build Clash Of The Titans' narrative.

Wow, was he right. I LOVED it. Loved it like how you love your your first girlfriend and don't notice her flaws but everyone else does. Yeah. Like that. I bought the red Basic Set and it was brought to a new world. A place where I had powers and weapons. A world with no homework, gym class, indifferent classmates, and angry fathers.

2. Would I watch the movie again? MAYBE
I enjoyed all of the book but only most of the movie. The divergence in the character of Luke from the book to the movie gives me pause. Patriarchal rage is converted to blind megalomania. It cheapens the character and also reduces the power of the "absent parents" theme running through the movie.

Extraordinary Measures

Harrison Ford is one of those actors who has been in a lot of good movies, but not many great ones (aside from the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series). He really deserves to have an Oscar winning role at some point, although he will now have to win it in what might be the final decade of his career. It will not happen for his role in Extraordinary Measures, however, which is another good film with Ford, but far from great. He costars with Brendan Frasier, the latter of whom plays a father desperately trying to save his son and daughter from a disease known as Pompe. All the doctors say there is no cure, so Frasier decides to contact Ford, who plays a researcher trying to develop an enzyme treatment for the disease. There are really no surprises here, but this is a feel-good film that made me aware of a disease I never knew existed. If you think of it, Redbox it next time you shop for groceries.

Date Night

Steve Carrell first caught my attention in Bruce Almighty as a news anchorman who was suddenly controlled by the Godlike powers of Jim Carrey. After the 40 Year Old Virgin and the hilarious TV show The Office, I was hooked on Carrell's brand of humor. Here he teams up with fellow NBC comedian Tiny Fey. Together they play a couple that tries to spice up their marriage by going to a really expensive restaurant. However, when they pretend to be another couple in order to get a table, the evening takes an unexpected turn into a night of danger. I smiled quite a few times during this film and was pleasantly entertained for the evening, which was enough for me to recommend it. This is not a pee-in-your-pants comedy but it is fun, especially for fans of the two leads.

Hot Tub Time Machine

I had very low expectations for this film and boy was I pleasantly surprised! What a crazy idea, four guys going back to the 1980s after an accidental mishap in the hot tub. And that's just the beginning! To give away the laughs in this movie would just be wrong because so many of the gags work because they take you by surprise. All I will say is that the jokes with animals are in my opinion the best. I will admit that several jokes with sexual humor went too far for me, but the jokes that did work were so pee-in-your-pants funny that I forgave these crude interludes. If you're looking for some solid belly laughs and know going in some parts might be a bit offensive, you'll be in for a hilarious surprise.

The Wolfman

When I saw the trailer for this film and the werewolf makeup on the poster, I was really excited to see this re-imagined classic horror tale. To be fair, the makeup and look of the picture is the best I have seen in a werewolf film. However, I was really let down by most everything else. Let's start with the acting. Anthony Hopkins is going through the motions in this movie. The other actors are okay, although I didn't sense a strong chemistry in the romance part of the story. The screenplay has some really laughable dialogue, with several of these howls (the wrong kind) being delivered by Hopkins himself. The pacing and the use of music and sound is also wrong. It begins way too fast, the werewolf attacks at super-powered speed and the sound and music tell us when to be scared rather than support the natural scares. The technology is also faulty, the obvious CGI werewolf running through the woods looks fake. I could go on, but you get the point. I'm sad that such excellent costumes, sets and makeup were placed in such a bad movie. An early candidate for my least favorite films of the year.

Hot Tub Time Machine or Jason drinks 12 Chernobyly and can see through time! (Though he can also see through time anytime he sits down to watch television, so maybe its not that big a deal.)

1. Did I enjoy the movie?     YES
I have to love a movie where a man says to a group of people, gathered in the back of a bar to watch him preform fellatio on his best friend after losing a bet on a football game because the squirrell he had puked on earlier disrupted the timestream, "Where do you people come from?"

2. Would I watch it again? YES
It's been almost two weeks since I've seen the film and I'm still talking about. This is going to be a cult film and I will need to work on memorizing the lines. I do wonder who I will be bonding with over quips from this film?

If I had a time machine would I go back to that sad glad rightside down time of my life that was nineteen. Being thirty-five, the obvious answer is no. No thank you! I am old enough to realize my youthfull dream to marry Corrine from Sleater-kinney would still not happen. Even with my older mature knowledge. (Knowing how to program an Ipod really won't help much here) I am wise enough to be okay with that. Time does that. Heals all wounds as our forefathers used to say.

And maybe the men in this movie did the same. They did not actually travel through time. Maybe these three men did not travel through time back to when they were eighteen, but merely entered their memories of being eighteen and came to grips with what happenned. In the Tarot, the symbol of the cups represents emotion and the memory.  Isn't a hot tub nothing but a giant cup. Introduce the power of will and intellect through the symbol of air: the lightning bolt on the Chernobyly, and BAM! Time-Travel! Back in the past, back inside their memories of the past, they find things are not as they remember. It's called maturation. It happens to everyone. Most memories when closely examined are not what we thought they were.  The schoolyard seems smaller then you remember. You have kids and understand why your parents did what they did. This is the mechanism of memory at work. You travel back to a past point of time. You inhabit the person you were but can't help but think like the person you are. You realize the past wasn't everything you thought it was. You come to accept that what you considered failures might actually be successes. You return from your memories. You now see what you thought was the life you ended up with is actually the life you have built. Empowered you make new choices, hopefully better choices. Or at least, that's what I try to do. How about you?

Mystery Team

Mystery Team is a fun film written and starring its three leads: D.C Pierson, Donald Glover and Dominic Dierkes. Its basic premise involves three kid detectives dedicated to solving child-sized mysteries. The kids are now teenagers and about to graduate high school. Is it time to finally put their childish mystery gang to rest? That question is more difficult than it initially appears when a little girl asks them to solve a grown up mystery: find out who killed her parents!

I enjoyed this film, its primary strength being its rapid gags and one-liners. For a movie made by young performers just breaking into the industry, this shows a lot of promise. I was also pleased to see Aubrey Plaza in this film, who I also liked in last year's Funny People.

The filmmakers also informed the audience I was with that they believe their debut feature film rises above their short films because it has good character development and an actual story rather than just being a series of gags. While there is evidence the writers desired to produce these things, I don't think that is why the film works. Like films such as Airplane! or even the Ernest P. Worrell movies, we don't go to see them for a breathtaking story and well-rounded characters. It's the gags, the funny parts, not the tacked-on message. While this was only a one-time viewing movie for me, what good fun that time was!

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel or Jason doesn't want all his money back, just some of it.

If you won't do it for the children, then do it for the parents that are dragged along.

Do what? Why develop the story fully so I can "enjoy" a movie with my son instead of "sit" through a movie with my son.

For example: Why did Alvin turn his back on his brothers. I could not tell you. Nor could my wife or anyone else I asked. The movie presents no basis for why Alvin, who is a world famous rock musician, is driven to win over the approval of some high school jocks. I am sure I could come up with any number of reasons on my own, but that is not my job. It is the filmmaker's. I feel sorry for kids nowadays if this is the state of children's filmmaking.

Why is it the criteria for good cinema seems to only apply to movies for grown-ups.  Plot, characterization, theme, and symbolism should be a criteria for ALL cinema regardless of the audience. Children are more creative and aware than people think. There is a complexity at work in children most people miss. Would Pixar have done as well as they have if children could only digest mindless or half-formed stories.

Even something as commercial and profit-driven as Alvin can have depth and resonance. Use the Chippettes memories of struggle to make it in their small town as a a foil for the Chipmunks. Place a few literary references in the back ground or on a chalkboard. Stop having Alvin just regurgitate random pop phrases. (That last one will most likely remain because little kids do talk like that.) Have Toby explain a plot for a video game that foreshadows the coming split between the brothers. Stuff like that.

Avatar or Jason goes to watch Avatar, says fuck it, and sneaks into Sherlock Holmes.

I tried to sit through Avatar. I really did. But I just couldn't do it. Large soda and large popcorn in hand, I walked out. A smile broke over my face as the door to that auditorium closed behind me. As I nervously scanned for any ushers when I snuck into Sherlock Holmes, I joined the "Yeah But" crowd.

"Yeah the special effects were good but the story...well that's another story."

What really bugged me, to the point where I could no longer suspend disbelief, was there was no point to making the movie. I am not saying the story had no point. It follows the monomyth: hero is given a task, ventures to a strange land, engages in conflict, and emerges with what he was missing. There was no reason for the filmmakers to make this specific story. James Cameron spent over ten years and three billion dollars to make Avatar. Ten years and three billion dollars to essentially remake Dances with Wolves. It is the exact same story of the lost man discovering himself when he joins the indigeous or aboriginal people. Didn't anyone notice this. They had ten years.

As I exited the theater I overheard a grandmother and her ten year old grandson talking.
"Have you seen Avatar," the grandma asks.
"Yeah. IT WAS AMAZING," he exclaimed.
Maybe Avatar is beyond me. I might finally be "too old" to get it. Avatar is this nascent generation's Star Wars. A film that inspires less from the message the hero learns but more from the filmmaker making a world people want to live in.