Category: 2004
-
The problem with The Life Aquatic reveals itself quite clearly in the final act, as the cast all gives Bill Murray shoulder squeezes of support. The scene is supposed to mean something profound. It’s Murray confronting not just his Moby Dick (a quest for vengeance lost in the film, maybe because they knew it was…
-
Chris Rock once lamented Jim Carrey’s attempts at drama, pointing out Hollywood has plenty of actors who can do the Tom Hanks roles, but only one who can do Ace Ventura–and I agreed with him. Seeing John C. Reilly in one of last actor roles, I finally realized Rock’s wrong, at least somewhat. Yes, there…
-
If I recall correctly, Mike Mignola never had Hellboy and Selma Blair’s firestarter get together (romantically) in the comics, even though Hellboy is flame resistant. That filmic development was all Guillermo del Toro’s. del Toro is responsible for everything successful in Hellboy and, subsequently, everything unsuccessful. Hellboy works, which is probably the film’s greatest achievement–it’s…
-
At its best, In Good Company is never very good–the soundtrack is one of the worst I can remember–but Chris Weitz’s ineptitude is something to behold. His plot is predictable, his characters are boring, and everything feels like it’s been done before. I mean, who would have thought Dennis Quaid would have found out his…
-
The Last Shot is a comedy–and a funny one–but I’m not sure it qualifies as a story. It’s an idea for a movie–the FBI fakes producing a movie to catch mobsters, hiring Hollywood wannabes without telling them–but Nathanson’s execution of the idea is flawed. Alec Baldwin’s FBI agent is lying to would-be director Matthew Broderick…
-
Not too long ago, I used to get excited when good actors would make movies together. They didn’t have to be great movies, Barbet Schroeder could have directed them or Sandra Bullock could have starred in them–I’m fairly certain this period was known as the 1990s. It’s taken me three years to see Piccadilly Jim,…
-
I actually had to go do some IMDb research (that bastion of scholarly data) before I started this post, because I had to know if Michael Mann intentionally made a movie starring Tom Cruise, with a reasonable Hollywood budget, and intentionally shot it to look like an episode of “Cops.” And he did. He wanted…
-
I’m trying to imagine Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle with different leads and I’m coming up empty. The movie works because of John Cho and Kal Penn. With the exception of the absolutely horrible direction by Danny Leiner and the terrible editing–so incompetent I actually need to mention the guy’s name, Jeff Betancourt,…
-
After Ed Burns’s last couple films, I’d forgotten to expect something great from him. Looking for Kitty opens with a shot straight out of The Brothers McMullen, or at least a camera move straight out of it. Kitty also borrows a lot of the same music style and, watching the film, I kept remembering Burns’s…
-
Trying to figure out how to start this post was incredibly difficult. As far as sequels go, Resident Evil: Apocalypse is, tonally, a terrible sequel to the first film, but it’s still a perfectly reasonable b-movie. The first film, visually, is classy compared to this one, which has lots of quick cuts during fight scenes.…
-
The amusement factor. Does that term even make any sense? Ocean’s Twelve is, in case anyone watching it was confused (which I find hard to believe, but of the principals, only George Clooney makes exclusively smart movies so Brad Pitt and Matt Damon fans are suspect), about enjoying itself. It throws itself a party no…
-
A-1 Headline is a good, old fashioned newspaper movie. There’s the conflicted editor, the smarter than he gets credit for photographer, the amusing guys around the office. Even the newspaper office looks like a good movie newspaper office: rows of desks, yellowing fluorescents, and antiquated computers. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t have a particularly interesting mystery.…
-
Now, who exactly thought a film entitled Alien vs. Predator could be good? I mean… just from the title, it’s obvious there’s a fairly low potential for the film. As such, Alien vs. Predator is fine. It’s wholly watchable. It’s stupid and there are some enormous plot holes–not just in the established Alien or Predator…
-
I watched Install because I was curious to see Ueto Aya in a non-Azumi role. She’s good in Install, though it’s impossible to determine whether or not she could have been bad. The film’s constructed very carefully not to put her–or any of the actors–in difficult situations. Acting situations. Ueto narrates the film and the…
-
Charming if problematic romantic caper comedy about divorced professional thieves Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng who have to do another heist together; they’re still in love, of course, which complicates things. The film works because it keeps the character count low and–for the first half–makes sure the cuteness and the charm are in full effect.…
-
Tedious samurai picture about honor and obligation; director Yamada tells it all in summary and set pieces, with thinly contrived manipulative actions to connect those set pieces and drive that summary. Nagase Masatoshi gives an excellent performance but it’s a depthless part. Based on stories by Fujiwara Shuhei, just like Yamada’s immediately previous film THE…
-
Toho’s last Godzilla entry before an extended break is homage to the seventies take on the monster with lots of monsters, lots of wrestling, lots of monsters wrestling. Sadly very long fight scenes and way too much reliance on wanting CGI. Director Kitamura doesn’t seem to have any interest in the giant monsters, which is…
-
Predictable teenage love story with some tragedy and a “present day” framing device thrown in. Osawa Takao has gotten engaged but he’s still not over teenage love Nagasawa Masami. What makes the film work–in addition to some truly wonderful direction from Yukisada–is the acting from Nagasawa and Moriyama Mirai (as the teenage version of Osawa).…
-
Rookie cop Go Soo already has his hands full with drug dealers then comes across TV reporter Song Ji-hyo, who may or may not be able to tell the future, and the two find themselves trapped in increasingly dangerous (and ominous) situations. Cute and occasionally lighthearted, the film still manages to be violent and threatening.…
-
Pretty good adaptation of Laurie Halse Anderson’s young adult novel features a great performance from Kristen Stewart as a high school freshman struggling in the aftermath of a sexual assault. Some strong direction from Sharzer. The short running time hurts it. DVD, Streaming.Continue reading →
-
Sometimes quite good cop movie about good cop Daniel Auteuil and good-but-complicated cop Gérard Depardieu jockeying for the same promotion and both becoming morally compromised (or worse). Loses its footing more and more as things progress. Auteuil’s good, Depardieu’s awesome, but they can’t save the film from director Marchal or the script. DVD.Continue reading →
-
Dreadful, condescending drama about addict Maggie Cheung trying to clean up to reclaim son James Dennis from disapproving in-laws Nick Nolte and Martha Henry. Visual stunning direction from Assayas, terrible writing from him too. Cheung’s bad, Nolte’s okay. DVD, Streaming.Continue reading →
-
I imagine you’re thinking, why would he watch that? And I agree, Blade: Trinity is hardly Stop Button material. Except… I have been insulting David S. Goyer a lot lately (because he sucks) and I wanted my insults to be more informed and, also, because I enjoyed Blade II. I’ve never seen more than fifteen…
-
Woody Allen has written around thirty films, probably thirty-four. Ten of these films are some of the finest in the last thirty years, give or take. But he tries something new in Melinda and Melinda and it doesn’t work. Of his recent work, his post-Miramax period, Melinda is the second strongest–Curse of the Jade Scorpion…
The Stop Button 