Poll Results - Summer movies

Which summer movie are you most excited about?

Iron Man 44%
The Dark Knight 27%
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 11%
Sex and the City 11%
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 5%

Review - Horton Hears a Who

Horton Hears a Who proves that animated movies don't have to be huge spectacles to succeed. Based on the Dr. Seuss picture book of the same name, Horton remains just as charming and lyrical as the Seuss material. If The Cat in the Hat had tried that, perhaps it would have been more successful.
The film follows a gentle elephant, Horton, who hears a cry from a speck in the air and spends the rest of the movie trying to get said speck (which just happens to house Whoville) to the mountain where it will be saved. Along the way, he must overcome Seuss's version of Hitler in the form of a dictatorial kangaroo and an entire jungle who believes him crazy. On the speck is the mayor of Whoville who is powerless to protect Whoville and must rely on Horton to save them while trying to convince the citizens of Whoville that their world is not perfect and is indeed in danger and work around the somewhat fascist board who refuses to postpone some giant celebration in Whoville.
The colors and visual design of the movie are simply amazing. The lush jungles of Noole are a nice contrast to the geometric Whoville but its the characters that really work. Horton and all of his compatriots are fully realized and full of expression, due not only to the creative teams but also to the amazing ensemble of voice actors assembled for this film. Whoville is graced by not only Steve Carell, and Jim Carrey (in his least annoying role yet) but also by Amy Poehler, Jonah Hill, Will Arnett, Isla fisher, and even Carol Burnett. It's a children's movie that has heart and enough genuine fun to be a nice ride for adults as well.
Particularly inspired are the cutscenes featuring Horton in a variety of different animation styles. For example, one shows his daydream as he imagines himself a ninja of some sort and is styled to resemble anime. Though they don't add anything to the story these scenes show that the movie doesn't take itself too seriously, nor is it devoid of ideas. The film pays remarkable respect to Dr. Seuss, a loving homage to the illustrious Theodore Geisel while also adding some wit and charm to aid the transition to the big screen. It is one of the better children's adaptations to come out of Hollywood in this past year which seems to have preferred bloated, overdrawn crap as opposed to actual entertainment.

Review - Dan in Real Life

Peter Hedges' Dan in Real Life is one of my favorite movies of last year. It is one movie that I can't describe any other way than 'heartwarming'. Well, that's not true--I could also describe it as awkward or painful, fraught with laughter and tears. In other words, i could describe it just like a real family.
Steve Carell is an affable widowed father who falls into 'like' with a woman (Juliette Binoche) in a bookstore who turns out to be his brother's girlfriend. This simple premise could have resulted in a stupid movie about two brothers competing or a saccharine drama about one woman torn between two men but Hedges has instead created a relatable family comedy with a certain touch of class. Carell's performance is certainly passable mainly due to his everyman quality but it is nothing spectacular. The movie really works because of the chemistry between the characters. It's Binoche and the supporting cast that really stand out.
Binoche is a superb example of the power of underacting. Not once does her performance seem over the top. Rather, she is wholly genuine and believable. Her chemistry with Carell is a real force from their initial encounter in the bookstore to their final moments together. Her accent and unique style make her instantly memorable and believable as the world traveler who is trying to settle down with this large, sort of backwoods family. Both her and Dan excel at playing characters who have obligations to other people that means they can't be together. It's a hard sell to make us believe their innocent dalliances as they begin to fall in love and remain true to Mitch but Binoche and Carell really do manage to pull it off.
In addition to Binoche, we have a whole cast of talented actors and actresses, all of whom create real, flawed characters who you can't help but love in spite of those flaws. Dan's daughters are also particularly well-cast. Played by Alison Pill, Brittany Robertson and Marlene Lawston, all three daughters are beautiful young woman who all just happen to be at that difficult stage in life. One strives for independence (and a drivers license), one strives for....let's just say, she is very hormonal and the youngest just wants her dad to be happy. All three are great little actresses, completely embodying the competition and love inherent in any relationship between young girls. They are annoying but ultimately lovable and deserve credit for some of the funniest moments of the movies.
Emily Blunt even shows up for a few minutes as Ruthie Draper, a sultry, exotic little vixen who speeds up in a hot little mustang and has her eyes set on Dan. She not only gives Dan a chance to shine on the dance floor but also provides an opportunity for some very disapproving, yet understated glares from Binoche.
This film is the perfect unassuming comedy that doesn't try too hard and yet still finds a way into your heart. It's everything movies like The Family Stone are not. The screenplay doesn't require any great leaps of faith or stretches of the imagination but just asks you to join this family for a weekend, revel in their eccentricities and leave a little bit happier than when you came in. Its charm is blatantly obvious because despite featuring such an influential cast, it remains low-key and enjoyable. It is most definitely one of those films people may not remember after seeing until it is mentioned one day in conversation and the rush of happiness laced with pain and social awkwardness that it embodies comes flooding back.
Unfortunately, the film falters a bit at the end--just the smallest amount, by adhering to conventions in the end. What has felt like a guilty pleasure up until this point, like a little glimpse into someone's life suddenly feels far too much like a movie. We know what's going to happen and it almost cheapens the experience of the rest of the movie but the stellar cast manages to keep it from derailing and allows it to remain one of those movies that isn't great but feels so much like 'real life' that you don't want it to be over.

Review - Bee Movie

I don't have much to say about Bee Movie. Unfortunately, I just wasn't impressed. I've seen animated bugs before: Antz, A Bug's Life, etc. And they were all much better done than this. Barry B. Benson isn't a character, he is a mask for Jerry Seinfeld who continues to make the same jokes he did on his show. Only now, they are a decade old.
Firstly, Bee Movie fails because the animation is completely uninventive. In the year of Ratatouille and Surf's Up, Dreamworks really needed to step it up with Bee. With the exception of the inspired twist on the Dreamworks logo, they failed miserably.
The plot starts out with a unique, but serviceable and enjoyable premise. A bee who doesn't want to work for the rest of his life in the hive flies into a womans house, becomes friends with her, discovers that humans eat honey and then sues the human race for exploiting bees. Silly? of course but still enjoyable. However, the film just ends up being one unbelieveable situation after another. I still haven't figured out why they end up trying to fly a plane at the end. Though there are a few laughs, mostly puns on the word/letter bee, the majority of the film's humor falls flat. Without the animation to back it up, this film needed to have an amazing screenplay and it just doesn't.
The final nail in its coffin is Jerry Seinfeld himself whose annoying, wheedling voice makes me want to gouge my eyes out. Not only is his humor flat, his acting unbelievable but he couldn't even manage to do basic research on bees!! The glaring inaccuracies in the film are astounding. I understand that some things have to be foregone when you're making movie about talking bees but still!
Finally, the moral lesson seems to have something to do with the importance of bees in the ecosystem. Nobody cares. Movies like this need a theme, like alienation or overcoming loss-- something kids can relate to. Nobody wants to watch a movie about insect marxism, not even me.

Review - The Brave One

The Brave One reeks of cinematic call-backs, to Taxi Driver and the Death Wish movies especially, but it still manages to bring something new to the vigilante genre largely due to Jodie Foster's performance.
The story is about Erica Bain, who hosts a radio show in New York City. She is engaged to a young doctor (Naveen Andrews) and both are attacked while walking through Central Park one day. He dies but she survives, waking up from a coma into an unrecognizable city, filled with shadows, violence and death. She soon finds herself driven by fear to purchase a handgun and become a sort of vigilante, offering herself as bait for the killers, rapists, drug addicts and thieves that are suddenly on every corner and then shooting them, all while ruminating on the ultimate meaning of it all, wondering why nobody stops her. She soon meets a detective (Terrence Howard) who is on the trail of the vigilante that has been stalking the streets and strives to accomplish the same thing as Erica, albeit legally. The conflict of these two ideologies is one of the meatier aspects of the film, especially as their two independent stories converge upon one man that the law has been unable to touch.
The plot itself is nothing remarkable but Jodie Foster anchors the film in such a way that it doesn't really matter. By now she has proven time and time again that she is one of this generation's best actresses. As Erica Bain, she again demonstrates the perfect balance of inner turmoil. Bain is at once destroyed by what has happened to her, tenuously holding onto her sanity and her previous life and a sort of modern day female Batman, lurking in the shadows at night, looking for evil. Her performance is intense and yet detached, evidence of how much Foster understands every character she plays.
Foster is assisted by the always excellent Terrence Howard whose Detective Mercer exudes inner strength, despite his recognizable flaws. Both performances are remarkable for showing the conflicts, both internal and external of the characters. It is obvious from early on that both of these characters understand the other and that there is some degree of respect and love bound up in their relationship. (Thankfully, director Neil Jordan knows better than to try to force romance into this dark screenplay.)
One gets the feeling that this screenplay was fairly run of the mill and unimpressive. It's the individual flourishes of its lead performers and director that make it worthy of any attention.
Jordan, despite using unimaginative and cliched shots, shows that he really understands what this movie is about by avoiding the plunge into the blockbuster trap. He doesn't try to use the violence to lure in audiences. In fact, he makes it very uncomfortable and difficult to sit through. Rather, he has created a somewhat silent movie. Much of the film simply relies on Foster's impassioned voiceovers, whether they be actual voiceovers or recordings from her radio show. Her show itself is an ingenious dramatic device, allowing the opportunity to not only reflect her relationship with the city she once loved so much but also to give us a glimpse into the city itself.
One particularly inspired scene, where she is forced by an obnoxious producer to allow callers to weigh in on the vigilante killer, allows us to see the myriad responses to such cases of extreme violence, everything from fear to admiration to copycats. This scene is even more powerful for Bain's breakdown on the air as she hears the extent of the animosity and hatred and fear that run through her city.
It is this quiet, subtle psychological suspense that makes The Brave One so successful and once again proves that Foster has the acting chops to pull off almost any role.

Screenshot - - - Apocalypto

Because sometimes a picture says it all...

Feature - Top 10 Movie Sidekicks

The thing about sidekicks is that their loyalty is undying and they are incredibly enduring. Consequently, many of the Top 10 sidekicks have seen more than one incarnation. This list is in honor of the characters and their legacy, not necessarily the actor.


1.) R2D2, C3PO and Chewbacca
The trifecta of perfect sidekicks R2D2, C3PO and Chewbacca were everything that sidekicks should be-- often stealing the scenes from the heavy hitters, Luke, Leia and Han.
2.) Tonto
Possibly the only sidekick to have achieved more notoriety than the one who overshadows them. Tonto is far, far cooler than the Lone Ranger will ever be.
3.) Robin
The Boy Wonder redefined cheese with Adam West in the old Batman series and saw an absolutely terrible reincarnation in Schumacher's Batman & Robin. But, as arguably the ultimate sidekick, a list like this wouldn't be complete without him on it.
4.) Donkey
He annoyed Shrek more than he helped him, at least in the beginning but soon the Shrek and Donkey friendship/ partnership became one to remember. Plus, it's endured through three movies...and probably several more.
5.) Samwise Gamgee
The archetypical best friend-sidekick, Samwise pretty much defined sidekick-dom when he told Frodo "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you."
6.) Mr. Spock
What can be said about the coldly, rational Vulcan except that Kirk's philandering and lack of professionalism would have driven the Enterprise into the ground early on if not for Spock's guiding hand (and unique hand gestures)
7.) Hermione Granger
Hermione Granger, the saving grace of the Harry Potter universe. She not only saves Harry and everyone else on a daily basis but she also makes nerdom cool. With the exception of Minerva McConaghall, Hermione is the only character really worth watching for. She beats out Ron for two reasons. 1.) he sucks, 2.)he is useless
8.) Igor
Probably the most recreated on this list, Igor has been a master of all genres: drama, comedy, horror. His unyielding loyalty to Dr. Frankenstein is a sign of his being the consummate sidekick and his unique profile and moniker make him distinctly worth remembering in his own right.
9.) Barney Rubble
Fred Flinstone couldn't exist without Barney Rubble and vice-versa. But as one of the most enduring on this list, Barney couldn't go without mention.
10.) Dr. Watson
It's elementary that Dr. Watson has to be included. As one of the most unique friendships in all of literary or film history, that of "dear Watson" and Sherlock Holmes must be documented.