Needing A Woman's Touch

I had never seen Tootsie until a few days ago.  Of course, I had heard great things about it beforehand so I was very much looking forward to watching it.  I must say that I thought it was a very good movie that deals with some very important issues.

Tootsie is the story of a struggling actor who disguises himself as a woman so that he can get work.  Even though this movie does have some funny moments, I do not think of it as comedy.  This movie deals with some very important issues that are still relevant today, even though it has been almost 35 years since it was released.  One of the things that I found quite interesting about this movie is that once Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) starts dressing up as Dorothy Michaels, he starts to see things from a woman's perspective.  He mentions how hard it must be for a woman to keep herself attractive while not starving to death at the same time.  The issue of women being successful in Hollywood has always been a controversial one.  There is even a point in the movie where Michael, dressed up as Dorothy, goes off on a television director over his reasons why certain women are not hired ("power makes women masculine" and "masculine women are ugly").  The director also continues to call her "tootsie" and "baby" until she yells at him that she actually has a name and he needs to refer to her as such. Needless to say, it is harder for women to get certain roles and be successful.  I do not personally know why that is, as there are several actresses whose work I follow.  The equality of women in the movie business is an issue that continues to be addressed, and quite honestly it needs to be solved.  

Dustin Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels.  Hoffman brilliantly plays a man who knows how good he is.  However, Michael Dorsey is also a man who is struggling to find work, and there are many instances where you can see that desperate look in Hoffman's eyes.  Michael Dorsey is an actor who is hard to work with, but he is in complete denial about it, which Hoffman also plays to a "T."  When Michael is playing Dorothy Michaels, you can really see the spark within Michael and his light truly shines, much like Hoffman in this role.  This is a character of many layers, and Dustin Hoffman is perfect at playing the role.

Sydney Pollack is the director of Tootsie.  I love the way he directed this film because it really is a character piece about what Michael Dorsey is going through throughout the movie.  The focus is entirely on him, as it should be.  There are also several moments where Pollack shows us how brutal the business can be and what it is like to work behind-the-scenes on set, all of which I love.  He is also in the movie as Michael Dorsey's agent and he is great in the role!

Although I would have liked to see the movie end with Michael Dorsey acting in his roommates play, I will say that Tootsie is a classic, plain and simple.  It is also wonderful to watch Dustin Hoffman, an actor who I greatly respect and admire, in such an iconic role.  This is a great movie and if you have not seen it, do yourself a favor and go watch it.

The Best Action Hero

I had always wanted to see the movie Eraser because I have always been a huge fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger.  I have to be honest and say that I was not expecting much simply because I had not heard much about it.  I have to say that I was so pleasantly surprised with this movie.  I absolutely loved it.

Eraser is the story of a Witness Protection specialist who deals with a case involving high-tech weaponry.  As usual, when it comes to Schwarzenegger action movies, I felt my adrenaline rush the whole time.  Just when you think you have seen Arnold do it all, he does things in this movie that are crazier than anything else he has ever done.  The action and the stunts are all amazing.  However, I am not going to sugar-coat this movie; it does have some problems.  For example, during the action scene at the beginning of the movie, the witness asks Arnold who he is, then proceeds to tell his wife to do everything Arnold tells them to do.  Why?  You just met this guy, you do not know anything about him, and you already trust him?  That does not make any sense.  Also, there is a scene where James Cromwell's character shoots himself.  The bullet goes through his head, out the window, and then the air gets sucked out of the room as if they were in an airplane.  This is so scientifically inaccurate that it is ridiculous.  Now on to something I hate more than anything: bad visual effects.  During the scene where there is a shootout at the zoo, we see some alligators.  The problem is, the CGI is so painful to watch.  If you cannot afford good visual effects, either do it practically or just take out the alligators altogether.  Finally, having "You've just been erased" come on the computer screen is incredibly tacky.  Bearing all these problems in mind, Eraser is still a great action movie that once again shows Schwarzenegger in all his glory.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is the greatest action movie star of all time.  I saw most of his movies when I was a kid, before I was even 13 years old.  The thing about Arnold is that he has never been a great actor, but I do not think he necessarily needs to be.  I think he knows what he is good at, I think we as the audience know what he is good at, and I think film fans know what to expect from his movies which is not a bad thing at all.  In Eraser, he plays U.S. Marshal John "The Eraser" Kruger.  In typical Arnold fashion, lots of things get blown up and lots of people get shot in this movie.  Again, some of the stunts in this movie are incredible.  I have always loved cheering for Arnold Schwarzenegger, and I did so again with this movie.

Charles Russell is the director of Eraser.  When you have seen as many action movies as I have, sometimes it can be hard to be impressed.  I have to say that there were moments in this movie where my jaw dropped and I was wide-eyed.  What is key about Eraser, and I cannot emphasize this enough, is the way the action is filmed.  Sometimes you feel like you are right there in the movie.

I do not know why Eraser is not in the everyday conversation of great action movies.  Personally, I thought it was great.  If you are fan of Schwarzenegger, definitely check it out!

The Art Of Death

I have generally never cared for remakes.  I never have, and I never will.  For every remake that gets made, there is one less original story that gets told.  However, there are a handful of remakes that I have seen that I personally think are quite good.  The 2004 film Man on Fire is one of them.

Man on Fire is the story of an assassin who seeks revenge upon those kidnapped a girl he was hired to protect.  Man on Fire is one of my favorite films from one of my favorite directors in Tony Scott.      Personally, I think this film is extraordinary.  This is an expertly crafted film, from the acting, to the action, to the details in the writing.  There are a couple issues I would like to address.  First: why are there occasional English subtitles?  I am American, therefore I understand what the people are saying.  Also, at the end of the movie John Creasy (Denzel Washington) gives himself up to rescue Lupita (Dakota Fanning).  Why does this happen?  The deal Creasy makes with "The Voice" is a life for a life.  It is not a life for two lives.  Plus, Creasy is just about dead at the end of the movie anyway.  It is not as if the bad guys can kill him again.  That decision makes no sense to me.  However, these couple of details do not at all detract from this epic, emotional, action-packed story.

Denzel Washington is one of my favorite actors, and is one of the reasons I got into movies in the first place.  In Man on Fire, he plays John Creasy.  Creasy is a drunk who has a very dark past, but it is his relationship that he forms with Lupita that rescues him from being depressed and wanting to die.  When Lupita gets kidnapped, Creasy unleashes his violent fury upon the city to get to the ones responsible.  I love characters like John Creasy who have a dark side that they are not necessarily proud of, but then are forced to show and use it through a series of circumstances.  This is one of my favorite Denzel Washington roles.  His relationship with Luptia grows over time, and she helps him see the better parts of himself.  This, I truly believe, is why Creasy stops at nothing to exact revenge (even after being shot three times).  Finding her kidnapper is literally killing him, but he does not care.  He is good at what he does, and he knows it.  He is cold, confident, and the ways in which he punishes his victims are so beautifully gruesome.  This is very much an emotional journey for Creasy, and Denzel Washington gives one of his finest performances as this character.

Tony Scott was one of my favorite directors, and he was truly under-rated and under-appreciated in his time.  He is the director of Man on Fire, and it is one of his best films.  His trademark flashy cuts are used to perfection to signify the passage of time.  The action is beautifully shot, and Scott, as I mentioned before, also makes this a very emotional movie.  The dialogue scenes, particularly between Washington and Fanning, are so well done that by the end of the movie you might be in tears because of the journey this movie takes you on.

I absolutely love Man on Fire.  It is such a shame that Tony Scott is no longer with us because there are many film fans out there who loved his movies.  If you love action movies and if you are a fan of Denzel Washington, I highly recommend watching it.