Bump In The Night

I just watched this movie called Trick ‘r Treat.  Good horror movies, even decent horror movies, are hard to come by these days.  I was pleasantly surprised with this movie because it hearkened back to the glory days of horror flicks.

Trick ‘r Treat tells four interwoven stories that all occur on Halloween.  I was very impressed with the way the four stories in the movie inter-weaved with each other.  I typically do not like it when a movie flashbacks to “Earlier…” in the story, and then fast forwards to “Later…”, but with Trick ‘r Treat this was actually a very useful storytelling device.  This movie also pays tribute to the horror movies of the 80’s because of the whole “have sex and get killed” plot device. 

Michael Dougherty is the director of Trick ‘r Treat.  I mentioned earlier that this movie reminded me of the days when horror movies were actually great, and that is absolutely true.  The way things are framed, and also the way objects occupy the frame, feels very natural and does not feel predictable at all.  There is a genuine creepiness to this movie that makes you feel uneasy.  There are also quite a number of well-timed jump scares that will make you wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. 

Trick ‘r Treat is one of the better horror movies I have seen, especially these days.  It has the classic horror feel to it, so do not watch it in the dark.  If you are a fan of 80’s horror, you should definitely check this one out.

Going Against Guidelines

Good Morning, Vietnam is the movie that makes me miss Robin Williams the most.  It is the ultimate Robin Williams showcase which is why I love it so dearly.  It is a movie that makes you laugh, but it can also make you cry.

Good Morning, Vietnam is the story of Adrian Cronauer who shakes things up on the radio waves in Vietnam.  We clearly see at the beginning of the movie that the radio broadcasts are quite boring and very monotone.  As soon as Adrian Cronauer arrives, Vietnam’s airwaves are filled with his energetic comedy that gives the country a completely different vibe.  If you keep a keen eye, you can catch the cutaway to the radio loudness meter being overblown that signals Cronauer’s arrival.  I love the fact that Cronauer’s superior officers do not like his humor except for the man who hired him, General Taylor.  Cronauer knows this too, which leads to some brilliant rebelliousness.  There is also a moment in the film where “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong is wonderfully set against the violent backdrop of the conflict of Vietnam.

Robin Williams plays Adrian Cronauer.  He is tour de force in this movie, perhaps more than any other movie he is in.  While this movie is certainly driven by William’s comedy, there are also a number of wonderful moments where he displays his talent as a dramatic actor.  We see that Vietnam is a bit of a culture shock for Cronauer.  He has never seen violence like this, and it is hard for him to deal with it.  In a moment of brilliance, he reports “unofficial” news on the air.  Why?  Because he was there.  It DID happen.  However, the army does not want the world to know how violent the conflict in Vietnam really is.  This leads to a couple of moments where Cronauer says that he is tired of being told what he can and can’t say.  These are ironic moments from an actor who got his start in stand-up comedy, where you get away with saying almost anything.

Barry Levinson is the director of Good Morning, Vietnam.  He does a very good job of capturing the culture and the violent world of Vietnam.  He also realizes that Robin Williams is the focal point of the movie.  You really get the feeling that Levinson put a microphone in front of Williams and just let him go.

Robin Williams gives one of his greatest performances in this movie, and I am sure he is rocking the airwaves up in the Big House.  I miss him every day, almost as if I have lost a member of my own family.  Good Morning, Vietnam is a classic, and if you have not seen it you should do so immediately.

I'll Have The "Total Destruction" With A Side Of Cheese, Please

Well, chalk up another movie on the “heard of but never seen” list.  I just watched Demolition Man for the first time.  I love action movies, so I was very much looking forward to watching it.  Overall, I was pleased with the film.

Demolition Man is the story of an officer who gets revived out of suspended animation to hunt down an old enemy. I liked this movie.  Personally, I do not always need action movies to be on the level of “Terminator” or “Rambo”.  I am perfectly happy sitting in on a Saturday night and watching movies like Judge Dredd, or in this case Demolition Man.  Demolition Man is a great example of an average, cheesy action flick.  When I say it is average, I do not mean that in a degrading way.  This is a movie that does not pretend to be anything more than what it is.  It does not take itself too seriously, and there is nothing wrong with that.  That being said, I think this movie could have done without the cheesy hand gestures.  I understand that the people of 2032 do things a bit differently and have never experienced violence, but to suggest that they have never shaken a person’s hand is just ridiculous.  Also, at one point Sandra Bullock’s character gets security footage for John Spartan because he asked for it…even though we never actually seem him ask her to get it for him.  This is a minor plot hole that honestly did not detract from my enjoyment of the movie.  Speaking of enjoying the movie, there is actually a B-story involving Denis Leary that is integrated quite well alongside the main story.

I have always been a fan of Sylvester Stallone because of the “Rambo” series and the “Rocky” series.  The man is a legend, and to think anything less would be disrespectful.  He helped usher in an era of action movies, and we should all be thankful for that.  In Demolition Man, he plays John Spartan.  Spartan is a man out of time, not familiar with the era that he lives in.  Knowing this, Stallone actually brings a wonderful sense of humor to the role that I honestly did not know he had.  Typically in a movie like this another character would provide the levity, but seeing Stallone do it is quite pleasantly surprising.  At the end of day, though, it is always great to see Stallone do what he does best: cause mayhem and destruction as only he can.

Wesley Snipes is someone that I have also been a huge fan of for years.  In this movie, he plays Simon Phoenix.  Phoenix is a one-man killing machine, which is perfect for Wesley Snipes.  He oozes charisma and confidence, so much so that you might actually find yourself rooting for him.  It is also great to see him unload his 5^th Degree Black Belt on his victims.  Also for all you EXPENDABLES fans like myself, the final showdown between Stallone and Snipes is awesome, even though this movie was released years before.

Marco Brambilla is the director of Demolition Man.  He does a good job of blending the cheesiness with full-blown action.  He also captures the look of the future very well.  I love the designs of the vehicles and buildings. This movie is also edited to perfection thanks to the legendary Stuart Baird (I’m not kidding, look him up). 

If you want to have the guys over for pizza one night and watch a movie, Demolition Man is a great choice.  It has great action, great humor, and even a couple inside-the-industry jokes concerning some future Expendables.  I would recommend this just for the star power of Stallone and Snipes alone.  

Let's Go To The Mall

Mallrats is a movie I had not heard of until I started following Kevin Smith’s work.  While this movie failed financially at the box office, it has since become a cult classic and a favorite among fans.  While I personally think it is Smith’s weakest film, I still enjoy the movie very much.

Mallrats is the story of two friends who go to the mall after their girlfriends break up with them.  One of the things I enjoy most about this movie is that it is a time-capsule movie.  Everything about Mallrats oozes the 90’s.  This movie is also special because it reminds you that at some point in your life it was cool to just go to the mall and chill.

Jason Lee plays Brodie and Shannon Doherty plays his girlfriend, Rene.  The character of Brodie is one that was ahead of his time back when Mallrats was released in 1995.  Brodie is a man who loves comics, however comic book readers were looked down upon in those days, unlike today when they are at the top of the pop culture totem pole.  He is also a lazy idiot who goes to the mall and worships it like a shrine, and has no clue that he has a great girl to call his own.  Jason Lee does not have to try too hard to play this character because he is essentially playing himself.  Rene wants a man who has ambition so she starts seeing this rich prick who owns a store at the mall.  However, she does feel bad for leaving Brodie because she really did love him.  Shannon Doherty is one of the best things about the movie.  You really believe every word she says to Brodie, and you also want her to find someone better than Brodie even though the two are made for each other.  I enjoy characters like that, and Doherty plays it perfectly.

Claire Forlani and Jeremy London play Brandi and T.S., respectively.  Their relationship is similar to Brodie and Rene’s.  T.S. is an asshole so Brandi breaks up with him, and it is only after some major soul-searching that T.S. realizes that Brandi is the one for him.  I like the fact that T.S. professes his love for Brandi on TRUTH OR DATE in front of complete strangers.  It takes guts to do something like that.

Mallrats is a cult classic in every sense of the word.  Again, while it failed financially at the box office it did prove that Kevin Smith can handle a multi-million dollar production.  If you are fan of Kevin Smith, you should definitely check this one out.

The Almost Unsinkable Movie

Titanic is one of the rare times I have seen a movie in theaters that has gone on to win Best Picture.  I vividly remember being a 13 years old and going to see it with my mother and younger sister.  While I absolutely believe Titanic deserved to win that particular award, I do have mixed feelings about the film. 

Titanic is the story of two people who fall in love while aboard the R.M.S. Titanic.  James Cameron essentially created the greatest disaster movie of all time with this film.  We all know what is going to happen in the movie.  We even know how it happened.  The fact that the movie is based on something that actually happened makes it a more emotional movie.  Having known all that, the success of this film is one of the greatest unanswered questions: why?  In the 90’s, research on the R.M.S. Titanic was at an all-time high.  The beginning of the movie even shows divers going down to the bottom of the ocean to study.  I believe that is one of the reasons why Titanic was so successful.  Is this a great movie?  No.  Is it a good movie?  Yes.  The second half of the movie is far better than the first half in every way.  The sequence where the band plays “Nearer My God To Thee” is quite moving and heartbreaking.  Just one thing: at one point Jack sends one of his friends to check for boats on the other side of the ship even though it has been made clear that there are not any more.  This is a very minor flaw, but a noticeable one.  I quite like Titanic, and am very proud to own it.

I was a Leonardo DiCaprio fan before it was considered cool to be one.  He is like a fine wine in that he keeps getting better with age.  In Titanic he plays Jack Dawson, a “person of limited means”.  He is quick-witted and is able to keep his composure in tense situations.  He also recognizes that he has flaws, which I think is quite admirable.  You can tell by watching DiCaprio in this movie that he is on the cusp of becoming great.  However, I have never seen him talk about Titanic in interviews so I wonder how he truly feels about the film.

Kate Winslet plays Rose Dewitt Bukater.  Rose’s mother is forcing her to marry for money, and not love.  Jack rescues her from all of that, and with him she finds more happiness than she ever did with her mother and Cal.  Like DiCaprio, you can tell that Winslet is on the verge of become a truly great actress.  Unfortunately, she gets truly loathsome dialogue for a majority of the movie.  Somehow she makes it work, and I get the feeling she is the only actress who could have done so.

I often compare James Cameron to Robert Zemeckis at times because both directors combine visual spectacle with great characters.  Titanic is meticulously directed by James Cameron.  The year of 1912 is recreated flawlessly.  I love the ways he uses the camera in this movie.  He shows the inner workings of the ship towards the beginning of the film, which gives me goosebumps.  When Jack goes to the upper decks to have dinner with Rose, Cameron uses the camera as a metaphor for Jack experiencing what Rose’s world is like.  Of course, the second half of the movie is visually breathtaking.  The shots that are used when the ship is sinking are awe-inspiring, and the visual effects still hold up by today’s standards. 

Titanic truly is one of the greatest motion pictures of all time.  For twelve years, it stood as the most successful movie ever.  However, I think James Cameron should hire someone else to write romance because the dialogue is straight out of a romance novel.  

Wise Men Say....

Up until now, Fools Rush In was another one of those “heard of but never saw” movies.  I had some reservations about seeing it for reasons that I will explain later.  I have always maintained that a good romantic comedy can be really fun to watch, however Fools Rush In falters on many levels.

Fools Rush In is the story of Alex Whitman and Isabel Fuentes who have a one night stand, and then decide to get married.  I found this movie a little hard to follow at times, which lead to me raising quite a few questions.  Firstly, Isabel Fuentes (Salma Hayek) travels over state lines to break up with someone over the phone at a bar???  This is not a good introduction for a character.  This is also the first time we see Alex Whitman (Matthew Perry) and while there some flirting going on between the two characters, there is nothing to suggest that they would go home together (even if it is for one night).  Also, Alex Whitman has a business meeting with a potential investor at his own home.  Would this meeting not be better suited in an office of some kind?  When Isabel shows up at Alex’s place 3 months after they slept together to tell him she is pregnant, Alex says he has been looking for her all this time.  No he has not!!!  We have seen no evidence of this!!!  Speaking of Alex’s home, it is never actually clear where he lives.  He says he is from Manhattan, but then he goes home to New Mexico??  In regards to Isabel’s pregnancy, there is a moment in the movie when Alex thinks that she is not going to have the baby.  The expression on his face is meant to be funny, but completely falls flat.  Speaking of jokes, there are many ill-timed racial and religious jokes that make you scowl instead of smile.   Also, can you really park on top of Hoover Dam?  If so, fine.  That is news to me.  If not, then why would you???  Another thing that bothers me about the movie is that we do not know what Isabel does for a living.  Is she photographer?  Is she a waitress?  *Whew*  That was exhausting.  There actually are some redeeming qualities about Fools Rush In which I am about to get to.

Matthew Perry plays Alex Whitman.  Remember those reservations about the movie I spoke of earlier?  Well, Matthew Perry is one of them.  No matter what movie I see him in, I always see his character Chandler from the television show FRIENDS.  Do not get me wrong, I love him as Chandler, but it would be nice to see him actually act.  That being said, there are moments in this movie where you can see him attempting to shed that character and become a good actor.  Good try, Matthew Perry.  A for effort.

I have always been a fan of Salma Hayek, and yes half of that is because she is stunningly gorgeous.  There are not many female actresses that are both beautiful and talented, but she is one of them.  She plays Isabel Fuentes in the movie.  She actually has a wonderful character arc in the movie.  You can tell that the night she spent with Alex meant a lot to her, and even after they get married she struggles to cope with the fact that they come from two different ways of life.  Hayek is one of the few good things about the movie. 

Andy Tennant is the director of Fools Rush In.  There are some great exposition shots at the beginning of the film that really help us understand that Alex and Isabel are two very different people.  Alex is from the bustling city of New York, while Isabel is from the landscape of New Mexico.  The relationship between Alex and Isabel is the clear focal point of the movie, and Salma Hayek and Matthew Perry actually have very good chemistry together.  The last 20 minutes of the movie are actually very enjoyable because there are some moments that are very funny, and you also see that Isabel and Alex really do love each other and want to have a baby together. 

I feel like Fools Rush In would be a good date movie.  There are things that guys are going to like, and there things that women are going to like.  If you are a fan of the cast, I would encourage you to see this movie.  Otherwise, just skip it.

Old-Timers Still Matter

I love No Country for Old Men more and more every time I see it.  I have also found that it is a very divisive movie among film fans and the general movie-going audience.  I always love a movie that gets people talking, regardless of how I feel about said movie.

No Country for Old Men is the story of a hunter who stumbles on a deal gone wrong, and takes more than two million dollars.  The screenplay for this movie is damn near perfect.  This is a movie that makes you pay attention to the detail of the writing as you watch the film play out on screen.  This is why the Coen Brothers are such brilliant writers as well as directors.

I have been a huge of Tommy Lee Jones for almost 20 years.  He is a very naturalistic actor, and he brings all of his natural gifts to his role as Ed Tom Bell.  Bell is a man who has been a Sheriff all his life.  He is a very experienced man who remains cool and calm, even in the tensest of situations.  You can also see that he wants to get to the bottom of the situation as soon as possible.  Tommy Lee Jones gives a very well-rounded performance that gets more enjoyable to watch every time I see this movie.

Javier Bardem plays Anton Chigurh.  Chigurh is a sociopathic killer who is prepared for virtually any situation.  I have a soft spot for characters who only talk when necessary, and do their job and move on.  Chigurh is exactly that.  This makes him a very menacing character because everything he says is in his facial expressions.  I am stricken with fear every time I watch this movie because of Bardem’s work, which is why he deserved to win Best Supporting Actor.

Josh Brolin plays Llewelyn Moss.  It took me a while to understand his motivations in the movie.  What is he going to do with the money now that he has stolen it?  The answer is nothing.  He takes the money because he wants it for himself.  This greedy, selfish act is what causes everything else in the movie to happen.  I always like ordinary characters who are thrust into extraordinary situations.  Moss knows Chigurh is after him because of the money, and yet he still will not give it up.  He is a very intelligent man who seemingly covers his tracks very well, even though Chigurh is always right behind him.  I have to say that Brolin plays a Texan very convincingly.  He does a very good job of playing the “every-man”.  There is also a persistence to Moss that Brolin plays very convincingly.

Joel and Ethan Coen are the directors of No Country for Old Men.  I love what they do as directors because every shot is framed so perfectly.  I also really like that there is a supreme lack of lighting in the movie.  The darkness really adds to the eeriness and creepiness of the movie.  Also, the lack of music makes you feel the tension of the situations along with the characters.

No Country for Old Men is a masterpiece.  I like the fact that the ending is open-ended because you get to use your imagination about what happens to these characters.  As I said before, this is a very divisive movie among film fans.  I think many people found it odd that it won Best Picture.  Based on the controversy alone, I highly recommend you see this movie.