Hard at Work

I am hard at work on many projects right now. Some more urgent than others. But I want to give the heads up. On the back burner I am slowly working on
A.) A revamp of the Top 30 Soundtracks list
B.) A list of my choices for Best Picture for every year
and
C.) My Top 10 Films in every genre

...and Disappointment

With high expectations two brothers set out to their local AMC to find a a great film. Unfortunately "Where the Wild Things Are" disappoints. This is not to say its a bad film as we had very high hopes. It just didn't meet our high bar. What's truly disappointing though is how the potential was there. The cinematography is great. Jonze gets a phenomenal performance out of Max Records who for the most part is by himself on screen for the majority of the film. The mechanical effects from the life size puppets is so lifelike that the visual just take you in. The sad part is the emotion kicks you back out. The creatures aren't likable enough and the pathos is so sporadic you feel like your emotions are being thrown around like a bad rag doll. You want to have a good time and that lollipop of fun is pulled away every time you are within its grasp. Basically the film doesn't want to commit itself one way or another. The film definitely has it's moments and is a visual stunner so I would like to recommend it and just remind you it's a good film, just not the great one it could be.
3.5 out of 5 Stars

Excitement

I am seeing "Where the Wild Things Are" tomorrow morning. YAY!

Be a Patriot: Don't see 2012!

Back in 1996 Roland Emmerich made the film "Independence Day", with such memorable scenes such as the one of Bill Pullman saying "This is our Independence Day!" One might think that this is a pro- American film. As a child at the time and not knowing any better, I, like many others thought so. I also thought it was a good movie and had no qualms about Emmerich's directing. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Not only is Roland Emmerich a hack, he might be the most anti-american filmmaker since Michael Moore and Leni Riefenstahl. Look at the evidence: He's German. In 1995 he blew up the White House. In 2004 he froze over the Statue of Liberty. Now in his next movie, 2012, he has the Capitol building substituting as a bowling ball and has Air Force One chopping the Washington monument in half! The man's favorite activity is destroying American icons. Sure he made Independence Day but that film was really about the earth's independence from evil aliens. Sure he made "The Patriot" but I am sure he just needed a paycheck by then. But we need to send a message to Hollywood. We don't like seeing bad movies, especially when they show the destruction of our country. So whatever you do, don't see 2012. Be a Patriot! If it is a big enough of a bust for the investors we just may get rid of Emmerich!

P.S.- I bet that Sprint cellphone ad where that pompous director is trying to blow up Mt. Rushmore is a parody on Emmerich! Robots from space blowing a historical site? Sounds like Emmerich to me!

Link to the trailer: HERE
Link to a better version of the trailer: HERE

Miyazaki Update: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

One of Miyazaki's more child friendly pieces, with no real villainy at hand, but that doesn't make it any less magical. Again the level of artistry and imagination is top notch showing Miyazaki's only failure is the failure to disappoint. Surprisingly Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus did not bug the hell out of me until their insipid credits song came on, obviously that was the Disney marketing machine at hand and not Miyazaki's idea so I just ignored that little bit. I highly recommended this film to anyone who still has an inner child at heart.
4/5 Stars

Review from the Vault: Cashback

Every now and then I would like to review a film that's not brand new. One doesn't need to run out to the theater every weekend, especially in this economy. Have you seen Cashback? If not, go to your Netflix account or what have you and put it in your queue now. GO! Do it now I can wait.

Is it done? Good.

A film from 2006, it is a feature length version of a short by Sean Ellis done in 2004. The actual short is contained in the feature film. Ths short is a brilliantly creative piece with great writing but the full film becomes so much more when Ellis added the complete love story. Simply stunning and beautifulkly shot. This is not surprising as Ellis by trade is a fashion photographer.

When Ben Willis breaks up with his girlfriend he finds he can no longer sleep at night. He decided to make use of his extra 8 hours a day by working the night shift at the local supermarket. There he learns he can freeze time and decideds to draw the customers in the buff as he dreams of one day being an artist.

The nudity is handled in a very delicate way and does not comes off as exploitation at all. The film admires the everyday women and it is not demeaning in any way. Along with the the technical excellence of the staging of all these events in remarkable. Do yourself a favor and check out Cashback.

2009 Mid-Year Report

Last time I did a mid year report some people didn't know I was exaggerating to make a point and got upset. So I am doing two things:

1. I am going to give you a disclaimer if I exaggerate.
2. I am not going to exaggerate.

I need a job.

Yeah by this time last year I had seen a lot more than 10 movies...and this has effected the outlook on the year in a major way but even so taking into account I have seen the big movies up to this point and some of the smaller ones and if I were to take this as a cross section sample of the whole... (It's a math thing lets skip over this boring stuff)

AHEM- My conclusions: 2008 was a very good year as a lot of very good movies came out that year, probably one of my favorite years overall. Now this may be because I have seen more movies but like a I said 2009's sample isn't faring too well as a example. Now by this time 2008 had a lot of bad movies too. So 2009 is kinda sharing a mediocre rating as everything is kinda hanging around the middle. On the flip side there are some exceptions and we have learned some things. So some awards:

The "Sam Raimi didn't lose his mind" award: Drag Me to Hell
The "Tom Cruise was not in Prom Night" award: Christian Bale for Watchmen
The "Isn't Really as Bad as Everyone Says but its Still Lousy" award: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
The "Good Sequel" award: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
The" Better than the Last One but Isn't the Best Installment" award: Terminator Salvation
The "Underachieving Sequel/ Paul is going to hate me" award: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The "I am in freaking everything this year" award: Eric Bana (For Mary and Max, Star Trek, Love the Beast, Funny People, The Time Traveler's Wife and Armored)
Biggest Surprise: Star Trek
The Consistency Award: Pixar for Up and Sam Mendes for Away We Go
Best Poster: Drag Me to Hell

So in Conclusion:
Films I most likely will still be talking about at the end of the year: Watchmen, Up, Away We Go
Other Noble Efforts: Star Trek, Taken, Drag Me to Hell

Everything else has been fun for the moment to forgettable, but luckily nothing has been pure garbage. So like I said, not bad but nothing special. So who do we look for to save the year. Lots of good looking things ahead, my anticipated movie list runs strong but two film stand above them all. Two films I really cant wait for. Two films that look so good that it reignites that fire, they reminds me why I go to movies and make movies: