Movie Review - Robin Hood

Say what you will, I kind of liked the Ridley Scott take on the Robin Hood myth.  I would have much preferred the original conception of the film, which was to have the Sheriff of Nottingham be the protagonist (played by Russell Crowe), Robin Hood be the antagonist, and Maid Marion be the third side of the love triangle between the two.  Somewhere in the middle of development the plot changed to having Crowe play both the Sheriff and Robin Hood, and finally they decided to go with a prequel of the original Robin Hood tale.  Most of the film's faults could probably originated in the many script rewrites.

While not as good as Gladiator, the film is not awful and will probably improve dramatically if Scott gets to release a director's cut on DVD (or is it BluRay?).  The acting is superb, even though Crowe's accent is all over the UK, and the fighting scenes are well-shot, although there are not nearly enough guerrilla fighting scenes that I feel should be in a Robin Hood film.  Then again, if it was just another hash on what's been done many, many times before, the whole thing would have been boring, wouldn't it?

Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe have great chemistry together.  It's not an overt romance, and it's played delightfully.  As much of a cad as Crowe is, I'm still charmed whenever his eyes are lighted just-so and he smiles with his self-satisfied grin that he's done something nice to win the lady over.  And let's face it, the great favor he does for Marion *was* pretty amazing.  Excepting the last battle, Cate Blanchett perfectly nails her updated version of Marion.  Maybe it's because I'm getting older now, but I really wish Hollywood would just let women be women.  I'm all for female empowerment, but that doesn't necessarily translate to having a token woman fight alongside the guys.  I thought Marion's character was perfectly empowered for a woman of her time and situation.

Besides the "Marion does Joan-of-Arc" thread, the other thing I was fairly unhappy about was including Robin Hood in with the signing of the Magna Carta.  It felt a bit reaching and I'm certain most American viewers don't even know what the Magna Carta is, let alone its' significance in history.  I'm not quite sure how one would re-cut the film to minimize these scenes, as it's an fairly integrated subplot.

I did like how Robin Hood ends up in Nottingham to begin with, as it satisfactorily explains why the original stories have Robin with both peasant and noble roots.  The antagonist Godfrey is far more scary and dangerous than the Sheriff of Nottingham, and if they do make a sequel to this film, it will be hard to feel satisfied running around Nottingham when Robin and his men have fought off the French army on the shores of England.

While the film is all right and worth a viewing, it's probably all right to wait until you can rent it.  I would have much preferred seeing a film shot with the original version of the script, as it would have been ambitious and interesting without turning our protagonist into the Savior of England.

Also, here is a well-balanced review that I like.

Movie Review - Clash of the Titans (2010)

This update of the 1981 cult classic isn't bad when taken at face value. I'm honestly not sure exactly what all the critic hate is about. The original isn't exactly a gem, and already runs fast-and-loose with Greek myth.

I did take the critics' warning and shyed away from the 3-D theaters, since that seems where the bulk of the hate is centered. The film was intended as a 2-D picture, and the rushed up-conversion probably won't be worth your extra $5.

In all, I really enjoyed Clash of the Titans, which goes into the same campy/cheesy guilty pleasure bucket that films such as 300 belong to. Outside of the Kraken, I really liked all of the CGI character designs, my favorites being the Pegasus and Medusa. They really made horses fly, and it's absolutely fantastic. (I want one! My birthday is next week - can I have one for my birthday please?) The animators and character designers for Medusa really took the essence of her myth and brought it to the screen. She is both beautiful and hideous.

The throne room at Olympus is updated in several ways; the Greek stage human clay figurines "play" on has been converted into a satellite's view of the ground in the middle of the throne room, complete with cloud cover and water features. The clay figurines remain, but I didn't feel it was as hokey in this incarnation.

As much as people like to give Sam Worthington a hard time, I like his Perseus better. He's not nearly as silly Harry Hamlin's insipid version. I am both intrigued and annoyed with Gemma Arterton's Io. She's beautiful, we get that already. Using her as an expositionary device just makes her acting grating to watch (I can't imagine she'll be any better in Prince of Persia, where she plays a similar role). She does have the cheesiest line in the film, for whatever that's worth.

For fans of the original, Bebo is in the new film.

If you want to go see something fun and a bit mindless, I'd say this is a good film for that. It's definitely enjoyable if you don't expect it to be the next best thing to come out of Hollywood. Remember it's a remake of a cheesy flick, and it runs fast and loose with Greek myth. But then again, myths have changed to suit the teller's needs (one of the reasons so many versions of the "canon" myths exist). Buy popcorn and watch this from the back of the theater. And go see it in 2-D.

Hey Twilight Fans!

Please, please, please, for the love of homemade macaroni with real cheddar cheese, please explain to me why you love this series so much.

Because this synopsis of Breaking Dawn and this comparison of Edward's behavior to an abusive relationship signs checklist do not help your case.

I watched Twilight last night. On YouTube. And I do not understand the appeal of Edward's character *at* *all*. I was OK with his character until his conversation with Bella in the hallway when he tells her flat-out that no one would believe her version of what happened with the van. Holy crap. Any fascination I had for the character completely died in that moment.

I actually really liked the Jacob character (even though I *know* he forcibly kisses her in one of the later books). Given the choice between the two, at least it appears that Jacob genuinely cares about Bella (although the reason why escapes me. I think she's an awful human being, even for being an angsty teenager).

And yes, when they make the film version of Breaking Dawn, I think they should keep it as true to the novel as the synopsis. Because at least that film would be hilarious.

Polanski Media Circus

Polanski defenders lose sight of true victim

(Steve Lopez is the journalist who wrote the book that inspired the film "The Soloist". I blogged about the film earlier this year.)

This whole Roman Polanski extradition thing is really a media circus I do not want to watch.

I think this issue will last until Polanski dies, or until he is extradited and faces trial. No matter what the victim's wishes are, he still committed a crime. One which I don't feel was fairly served in the 42 days he spent in jail before bailing.

I don't feel the outcome of this case will cause more sex assaults to go unreported, as I think getting law enforcement officials to believe a crime has even taken place is hard enough.

If Polanski truly wanted this thing to be over, he wouldn't fight extradition and would just go pay his debt to society. But I guess it's easier to be a martyr.

Movie Review - Extract

As I sat through this funny film, I was bothered by my lack of ability to figure out the point. Maybe there was one, and I missed it. But it feels like there should be a clever point, with a film titled "Extract", centered around a flavoring extract owner whose side-kick at work is played by J.K. Simmons. Blame the Coen brothers and their brilliant dark comedy from last year, Burn After Reading (also involving J.K. Simmons).

Joel (Jason Bateman), the flavoring extract owner, ain't getting no loving at home. His wife, Suzie (Kristen Wiig), loses the loving feeling after 8:00 PM when she slips the sweatpants on. So every night he races the clock to get home before 8:00 PM, and every night gets sidelined by the annoying, well-meaning, socially clueless neighbor who lives across the street.

Dejected, Joel heads to a local bar, where he is consoled by Dean (Ben Affleck) who encourages Joel to have an affair.

Hilarity ensues.

This is probably not worth going to see in the theaters, although it is very entertaining at times. I think the best part of the film is near the end when Suzie berates the annoying neighbor. Poor guy just couldn't take the shock.

Movie Review - (500) Days of Summer

I saw this delightful romantic comedy a few weeks ago and have been slacking on blogging about it.

Here's a link to the trailer.

The film bounces around to different days in the relationship. You'll see Tom and Summer (played to perfection by Joesph Gordon-Leavitt and Zooey Deschanel) share an in-joke together, and then you'll see how the in-joke got started, for example. I'd love to see this film again and take notes, just to reorganize the days in order and see if the relationship becomes even more clear to me.

Tom is a true romantic, who believes he can never be happy until he finds The One girl for him. Summer is the delightful free spirit who becomes Tom's muse. She's independent, funny, charming, and doesn't believe in love. You can already see the disaster in the making, but like a car accident, can't tear your gaze away. Tom loves without reserve, and it's refreshing to see this in a film (as opposed to the woman-who-loves-without-reserve, which is more common).

Tom and Summer meet at work, but it doesn't seem there's a corporate fraternization policy in place at the greeting card company. Tom is bored to tears over his job (he quit following his calling to be an architect) and Summer has just been hired as the boss' new assistant. Tom falls in love immediately.

The song-and-dance number is fantastic and fits the film's quirky style perfectly. For Tom, on that morning, it's only natural that the sun will be shining, bluebirds will be singing, and the rest of Los Angeles will want to take part in his joy.

I think this is a romantic film for those who have already had some disappointments in love. Many of the behaviors remind us of similar crazy (or stupid) things we have all done or can relate to in relationships, and it's nice to see characters who actually grow in this film.

There is one fantastic scene which juxtaposes reality with Tom's expectations, and this was one of the most brilliant pieces of film I've seen all year.

Once the viewer can accept that Summer will definitely not end up with Tom in the film (it's hard to believe even though we're told the film is not a love story, and we're as blind as Tom when it comes to looking at Summer), the story becomes a font of possibilities. At a certain point I wanted to start pushing Tom to forget about her and go do his own thing, which he does, admirably. But only after several days of living in his bathrobe and going down to the convenience store in his slippers to buy bourbon and twinkies.

The film does toss the viewer one romantic bone at the end, and while it caps the film nicely it does seem to be overly predictable and disappointing compared to the 90 minutes that precede it.

Overall, this was a refreshing, funny, and very enjoyable film. It's probably not necessary to catch it in theaters, but there is a scene which highlights some of L.A.'s architecture that is nice to see on the big screen.

Movie Review - Public Enemies

Public Enemies is the kind of film where the fantasy of cinema is supposed to uphold the fantasy of the viewer and eclipse reality. At least the trailers give one that impression. I found the film almost free of cliche, and that was refreshing to see.

While there are elements of the John Dillinger mythos in the film, Michael Mann's collaboration with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale appears almost sterile at times. There's no clear-cut protagonist or antagonist in this picture, as it's obvious both Dillinger and Purvis are not nice men. However, most of the film does focus on what Dillinger is doing; apparently Purvis doesn't have much of a life outside the Bureau. Bale plays Purvis as a cold and completely uninteresting character.

I enjoyed watching Johnny Depp and Marion Cotillard together. I wish there was more of an intimate, emotional heart to this movie, because I would have loved to see more scenes between Dillinger and Billie Frechette. When Dillinger breaks out of prison, he calls Billie and says, "I love you". It is the only instance where either character acknowleges his/her feelings for the other, and Depp delivers the line so powerfully the viewer is compelled to believe Dillinger's drive to be near Billie and protect her must be love, no matter how messed up and unhealthy their relationship must be.

There is a lot of action and a lot of gun fights in this film, and while I suppose that is to be expected, I was under the impression Dillinger preferred the quick and sneaky getaway as opposed to fighting it out with the cops. The scenes where Dillinger escapes from jail were more exciting for me to watch, most especially his escape with the fake gun.

One big problem I did have with the film is that it never establishes who is who outside of Hoover, Purvis, Dillinger, Frechette, and Anna Sage. There would be a scene involving some big names in 30's crime and I would have no clue which of the suits-and-hats in the frame was the guy who's supposed to be such a big deal. This aspect is especially frustrating in war movies and I was surprised to have to deal with it in Public Enemies. By the end of it I just didn't care which random dude was Baby Face Nelson.

Not knowing much historical detail re: Dillinger and his bank robberies, I would have liked some sort of extra visual clue of the timeframe and location of events. The film starts out that way, but forgets the average viewer probably isn't intimately familiar with the timeline after that.

The cinematography and set dressing is excellent; I've read that filming locations include the actual street the Biograph theater sits on as well as the Little Bohemia Lodge. It's a neat little thrill to see something as it might have been on the big screen like that.

Overall, the film is enjoyable and is the kind of historical action-drama one would want to see in the theaters. But do keep in mind that it feels more like a documentary and less like a big gangster flick.

Movie Review - Star Trek (revised)

Star Trek in IMAX with a couple drinks is so much better.

There. I said it.

Movie Review - Moon

I've been craving some real, hard-core science fiction for a long time. It seems these days sci-fi skews closer to what I would consider fantasy, or is obscured by some action-packed, computer-graphics driven flick with a bad-to-really-bad plot and characters.

I had a lot of hope for Moon, the Duncan Jones-directed Sam Rockwell vehicle. The trailer makes it look a bit like 2001, with an isolated protagonist who keeps company with a supercomputer.

While there are aspects of Moon that I really enjoyed, I was also disappointed with several aspects of the film. The film doesn't confront the consequences of a major corporation being ethically corrupt, and the film doesn't give the audience much context on what might be considered acceptable in this futuristic society. What could have been a very interesting discussion of corporate ethics was left unexplored.

I felt the best parts of the film were when both the "past" Sam and the "present" Sam could be contrasted with each other, and I wished that the film explored this more. The reveal of how these multiple instances of characters come-to-be was a bit disappointing - I expected something truly fantastic like a time travel paradox or something like that.

The film does tell an interesting story and it is enjoyable overall. Sam Rockwell is compelling but not quite charismatic enough to pull off the role. By the end of the film you feel it doesn't matter if you care about all the Sam characters or not.

Kevin Spacey's voice fills in the role of Gerty, the HAL 9000 counterpart in this film. The emoticons are charming and provide comedic release.

If you are craving "real" science fiction, I would say to give this film a viewing, but don't expect to come away from the film having learned anything.

Movie Review - Departures

The 2009 Best Foreign Film Oscar went to the Japanese film Departures, which I feel was well deserved (although I have to admit I didn't see any of the other entries).

Downsized from his orchestra cellist's job, and not talented enough to find work in a better orchestra, Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) (Kane Schodel, I know what you're thinking!!!) decides to move back to his hometown and find something new to do. His adorable web designer wife (played superbly by Ryoko Hirosue) tags along out of a sense of duty and honor.

Lured in by a typo in the advertisement, Daigo finds work preparing the dead for cremation and burial. It's not a prestigious job in Japanese society, although it pays well. At first disgusted (to our great amusement), then fascinated, and finally accepting of the required duties, Daigo works under the instruction of Ikuei Sasaki (Tsutomo Yamazaki).

Wow. What a great film. From the writing to the music to the cinematography to the acting, this film is a must see. I want to buy this on DVD so I can watch this film again and pick up all the tiny nuances. It's a window to Japanese society and customs in a way that could only be brought to us by the Japanese. It's underlying philosophy of savoring life is heartwarming and touching. We should all eat so well that we "hate ourselves".

Movie Review - Up

Pixar's charming new film Up is a must-see for this summer. While at a level most children won't be able to appreciate for a few years, the story is solid and as a whole the movie is just adorable.

The opening montage of scenes from Carl's life with Ellie were so well done. At least half of the audience was bawling within the first fifteen minutes. The rumors are true. Michael Giacchino's score is absolutely perfect. I think he is slowly making himself my new favorite living film score composer.

I love the Dug character. Bob Petersen lends his voice to the earnest, devoted golden retriever perfectly. "I hid under your porch because I LOVE YOU!"

Pixar has definitely perfected the art of animated storytelling, infusing each protagonist character with charm. Because of the film's themes it will probably be best for adults and older children (I would say 10 and up).

Movie Review - The Hangover

The Hangover chronicles one wild night in Las Vegas gone horribly wrong. Three friends take their about-to-be-married friend on one last hurrah to single manhood. The next morning, the groom is nowhere to be found, and they are surrounded by the evidence of the night before. Hilarity ensues.

While there are a couple weak spots in the plot, the story is actually well done and the film is much better than I expected it to be. The only thing I didn't quite get was the gay Asian dude. It seemed to be a joke that lasted too long.

When the movie hits the mark it really strikes a bull's eye though. Possibly not worth the price of a movie ticket, it's definitely worth watching for a few laughs.

So Many Films. . . .So Little Free Time

There are a lot of great arthouse films out right now that I don't think I'll be able to review them all! So to summarize - the links take you to the respective trailer on YouTube:

Seraphine - French naive painter and cleaning woman Seraphine de Senlis is discovered by William Uhde. In French.

Departures - This year's winner of Best Foreign Film at the Oscars. Japanese cellist loses orchestra job, finds gainful employment in the undertaking business only to be ostracized by his family and wife. In Japanese.

Easy Virtue - Typical British comedy of manners based of a Noel Coward play. Critics concede it's not fantastic, with good performances by Kristen Scott Thomas and Colin Firth. Mediocre performance by Jessica Biel. I'd like to see it just because it seems like it's the only fun arthouse film available right now. And I'm a sucker for those Art Deco era society films.

Moon - Sam Rockwell's version of 2001 on the moon? Kevin Spacey stars as the HAL 9000 upgrade. Looks like the best pure sci-fi film to come out of any corner of Hollywood in a very long time. I definitely am going to see this.

Downloading Nancy - Just run the hell away from this one. Woman leaves husband to find "love" and "release" in S&M relationship from the internet (ahh, *this* is why I need to stop online dating!). This is probably a late-night-in-the-hotel-and-there's-nothing-on-TV kind of show to watch.

How long are Tweets supposed to be again? Maybe I should reconsider trying out Twitter.

Movie Review - O'Horten

If you like dry humor, please run to the nearest arthouse theater and see O'Horten (trailer here). It's hilarious, and touching.

O'Horten is about Odd Horten, a train engineer who is at the end of his career. There is a retirement party, and interesting situations ensue. After his retirement, he kind of wanders around in a world that he's become unfamiliar with. He wears his train engineer's jacket everywhere he goes, because what else would he wear? He falls asleep in strange places, and meets interesting people. He brings some closure to his past, and embarks on a new journey.

There is not a strong chronology to the film, as it feels like days, weeks, or months may have taken place between the episodes depicted. But I think it demonstrates how, in life, there are a few key events which we remember quite vividly among all the less-interesting days we have. Also I feel it demonstrates how we can get a better perspective on our lives once we have lived through it.

The cinematography is fantastic. There are several shots that are just so beautiful to watch. It's absolutely brilliant. Even if you hate this kind of movie (I have no idea what genre I would put this movie in. . . comedic drama doesn't quite do the film justice), go see it for the cinematography. The opening scene of O'Horten driving the train is particularly incredible.

The humor is dry. As in if you look at it funny, it will spontaneously combust. I could not stop giggling throughout the whole film. If you were at the screening I went to, those muffled giggles were coming from me. I'm sorry you didn't get the film as much as I did. I don't think I have a weird sense of humor - I think the film is supposed to be that funny.

The acting is very good. It can be hard to pay attention to acting when it's in a different language, especially an unfamiliar language, but there are several scenes that are not based on dialogue, and really highlight Bard Owe's talent.

The soundtrack is very good as well. A clip of it is used in the trailer.

I know in some parts of the country it may be difficult to find a theater showing this. Hopefully it will be out on DVD soon for rental or to purchase.

Starfleet Academy, No. 1 Party School

Scenes like this, with the point to set up how cool Kirk is supposed to be and how all the fanboiz want to be Kirk, totally miss the message. At least Bateman gets it.

Yeah. I'm also seriously depressed that in the future, there are still totally creepy douchebags.

Movie Review - Star Trek

Although not without its flaws, Star Trek is a good enough film to see in theaters. I have a feeling many scenes only work well if the viewer is acquainted with the characters (most notably the opening scene), and there are many nods to common quotes and mannerisms.

Karl Urban does a great job as McCoy, and I think is possibly the best in terms of how close to the character he is.
Zachary Quinto as Spock comes as a close second. I think this film is really Spock's film, as most of the character-driven parts of the story are for Spock.

I liked Eric Bana's Captain Nero, but I also felt his character was only written in broad strokes. Most of his character development is done in exposition near the end of the movie and by that time you don't much care. We're just going to have him die and throw him away. While I suppose that attitude is fine enough, he delivers a more memorable villain than most Trek films have.

I've been undecided how much I really like the film. It was an awesome experience to see Star Trek in the theaters (especially on opening night), and the film is not as bad as I feared it might be. It is definitely worth going to see, as it's probably the best offering of the May movie lineup.

The computer screen effects are really awesome. This was the biggest improvement to the Enterprise computer interface that I noticed, although I think I prefer the screens on the USS Kelvin a little better.

I like the new uniforms and most of the new set designs. I thought those all were well done. The music is also very good, excepting a bit of "this is how you should feel" music during the first scene. There is also a nod to the original theme written by Alexander Courage at the end.

I wasn't a fan of the new warp special effect or of the big corporate brand product placement. There is also a lot of "creative" lens flares and glaring light, which I think detracts from the film substantially. It's also hard during any of the combat scenes to have any sort of idea what's going on, who is hitting who, etc.

I didn't like how Starfleet Academy was used as the vehicle to bring the majority of the crew onboard the Enterprise, and how loose Abrams treated Starfleet protocol in general. While I like the characters that form a romantic relationship in the film (it recalls a TOS episode's backstory that is related in one of the cast's autobiography), HOW they generated the relationship seems inappropriate to me.

There are a few campy scenes, and for the most part they are well done. Funny not cheesy.

I feel undivided about the BIG AWFUL THING that happens. I'm not sure that was necessary.

Because of the way Abrams rebooted the franchise, I believe it's negated ALL of the Star Trek that came before. I don't like that. You can pretty much wipe the entire slate clean and start with Star Trek: TOS, season 1 again, minus the object and people concerned with the BIG AWFUL THING. (Really, you can find elsewhere what happens. I'm sure it's all over the web now.)

So yeah. Go see it. It's not perfection, but it's far from the crapfest I was expecting. I think they can do better.

What Star Trek Is To Me

There has been a lot of buzz this week regarding the new Star Trek movie J.J. Abrams directed. The buzz has been overwhelmingly positive, having a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes the last time I checked.

From the trailers and clips that I've seen, the movie could either be really good, or it could be just an action film with some Star Trek branding. I'll see for myself on Friday night.

I'm not overly familiar with the original series, although I've seen several episodes and have watched all the movies. I am much more familiar with the Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. When I first started watching Star Trek, I was in 8th grade and feeling fairly lonely and dejected. I felt I had few friends, and was isolated from the community I was living in by culture, religious views, and physical distance.

The first Star Trek episode I watched was Deep Space Nine's The Forsaken. Soon I was watching Deep Space Nine every night (and later The Next Generation) and had worked my sleeping schedule around school and Star Trek.

What did I find so alluring about the two series?

I loved the character-driven stories. I also loved the moral dilemmas that would be solved (or not) in a way that wouldn't sacrifice the characters' integrity. And throughout it all I loved the undercurrent of hope for a better tomorrow.

As far as canon goes, I really hope the new film stays true to the characters. It looks like Karl Urban has McCoy down, and Zachary Quinto will be passable as Spock. Chris Pine's Kirk just seems like a jerk to me, but maybe Kirk in his youth was a jerk. Hopefully something happens in the film and he turns out to be likable by the end.

From the trailer, I'm not buying that they would let a cadet command a starship, but OK. I'll let it fly if the movie is good.

I'm concerned about the antagonist. I adore the Romulans and really like Eric Bana's work but from what I've read his character comes across as poorly written and undeveloped. I wasn't impressed with how they handled the Romulans in the last movie and I'm going to be deeply disappointed if Nero just ends up being another rogue character. The Romulans really are cool enough they don't need anything "extra" to be in a movie.

I think time travel is OK, but I also think the whole "we're going to reboot the franchise and screw all the original continuity - we can just make our own!" attitude offputting. But we'll see.

I like the new set design of the bridge, even though it does look like an iPod puked on it.

I hope the "undercurrent of hope" in the film will not be summed up as "We hope we can make a sequal". That would be frustrating.

So we'll see. I hope the movie is good enough they will make some more films or series in the future, but I also hope that it doesn't get boiled down to just another action film. There needs to be something intelligent to ponder over too. If they can give me that I think I'll be OK with the movie.

Movie Review - The Soloist

Pride & Prejudice director Joe Wright serves up a somewhat uneven film in The Soloist, based on L.A. Times' reporter Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) and his relationship with homeless musical prodigy Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx).

The acting is pretty good; Ayers' delight over a gifted cello brought tears to my eyes. The music is incredible - listening to Beethoven's 3rd Symphony in surround sound was truly awesome. But overall there seems to be a few things out of place.

During the scene with Beethoven's 3rd the audience is treated to a Fantasia-esque spectacle of light, color and motion. Obviously, it's supposed to represent what Ayers feels or sees when he experiences music, but it's the only scene in the movie where it happens, and after the first ten seconds, it gets pretty boring and doesn't have as much of an emotional impact like when Lopez watches Ayers play in the street tunnel. It just doesn't fit.

We don't find out that Lopez's editor is also his ex-wife until halfway through the film. I would think that would be useful information. Also the urine gags were unnecessary.

There are a few scenes which explain Ayers backstory, but fall short of actually explaining how he ended up homeless in L.A. Much of Ayers' story seems whitewashed for cinema; I found out later online that Ayers did attempt treatment for his mental illness (it's suggested schizophrenia in the film) and underwent shock therapy. This was never covered in the film.

Like other films whose characters are based on real-life people, the ending is left fairly unsatisfying and open-ended. It just seems to end with a "look how much good we did!" message. I think they should have either went for the pretentious-newspaper-guy-makes-a-scoop story, or the homeless-guy-gets-discovered-and-redeemed story. I'm never quite sure what kind of point the film is trying to make.

Joe Wright is known for his extra-long shots, but I don't recall one being in this film. It may have been during the homeless riot scene, but I'm not sure.

On the other hand, it was nice as an Angelino to recognize parts of downtown on the big screen. This would be an enjoyable rental, unless you *really* want to hear Beethoven in the theater. It's a high quality recording. I enjoyed the film, and if it didn't feel directed-by-committee it probably would have been a lot better.

Movie Review - Watchmen

What can I say about this film that has not already been said?

I definitely think it would be possible to enjoy this movie without reading the graphic novel, but you would miss all the smiley-face and butterfly references. You'd miss the little bits of back story that are only glossed over in the opening credits.

I liked the new ending because I could not quite understand how a giant squid appearing in New York City would encourage world peace. Then again, I had to go back several times in that chapter to make sure it really was a squid that caused the catastrophe.

Maybe the graphic novel format is just not for me.

Jackie Earle Haley brings Rorschach to life. Every from-the-gut line is uttered as the imagination would have it. I was hoping they would insert the scene where he creates his mask, but I guess I can wait for the director's cut or special edition, if they even filmed the scene at all.

Billy Crudup's turn as Dr. Manhattan is good - he made Dr. Manhattan more sympathetic to me. Not to mention his voice is also perfect for the part, although there is a bit of the uncanny valley going on with his mouth movement.

Patrick Wilson turns Nite Owl from overly pathetic in the graphic novel to someone worthy to scoop up Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) after she's had enough of being around Dr. Manhattan and his detachment from humanity. I know a lot of people were overly disappointed and felt that the placement of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" was misplaced, but I thought it was quite appropriate.

In fact, I thought the music was spot-on.

Back to Malin Akerman, I didn't think she was bad as Silk Spectre. Silk Spectre I and II were not the best-crafted female characters I've ever read. All the important events are there, but somehow I feel Alan Moore doesn't understand women, and his writing reflects that. I thought Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre I was fantastic though. There's something about Sally's sassiness that she does just right.
Who am I missing? Matthew Goode as Veidt reminds me a little too much of someone I knew in high school. And Jackie Earle Haley as The Comedian was solid.

Although the film is quite long, the pacing is good and I felt the film's changes and omissions from the source were appropriate, with the exception of the gorification (but then maybe I'm getting too old to watch ultra gore) of several scenes. Many shots are lifted directly from the graphic novel.

Strangely, my biggest disappointment was when Silk Spectre shoots the big evil mastermind at the end of the film. In the graphic novel (at least in my recollection of the graphic novel), she is crying and pissed. In the film Silk Spectre was just pissed. I thought it undermined the scene a bit.

If you have the barest inkling to see the comic book hero mythology deconstructed, please go see this while it's still in theaters. The cinematography alone is incredible. I don't think it's particularly necessary to read the source before watching the film, but you will probably have a better understanding of the film if you do.

New Star Trek TV Series Proposed

(6 is theoretically a lucky number for me. Somehow this seems fitting to be my 600th post.)

Apparently someone, somewhere thinks it would be a good idea to reboot the Star Trek TV series, ala the new Star Trek film. Is there anyone else besides me who thinks this is a bad idea? From the article it sounds like they want to make it campy and silly, which tells me that they missed the point. Yes, there are silly episodes of Star Trek, but that was not the point.

I know I've mentioned this before, if not on the blog somewhere than in conversation. Star Trek is about the future, and not just any future. It's about a future filled with hope, and being decent people. It's about being a decent person and working through very real issues while maintaining decency.

I really enjoyed the Next Generation episode Lower Decks. Someone on the Slashdot thread mentioned Star Trek: Klingon being a great seed for a series. Many of the ideas that center around a captain and his starship (or space station) have been explored, and it would be great to see the same bright future from a different perspective. I'd personally love to see a series based on the Lower Decks episode, or from the Romulan point of view.

If anything I think Paramount should let Star Trek sit for a few more years before trying to revive it. On the other hand, I hope the new movie is successful, if only because it means that there will be a movie or series in the future. It would be awful if the concept was completely abandoned.