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Max
The original focus of this blog was for me to write about the films in my DVD collection, posting a review each day. WOW, did real life mess with that plan. I posted a new review each day in January, then it's pretty much been nothing since. So I'm going back to the drawing board, and VERY VERY SOON (like, within a week or two - hopefully by June) you will find a completely redesigned Max on Movies page here, with links to my Twitter and Facebook (to be created soon) pages, and of course to my radio page as well. This will be a one-stop shop for all things Max on Movies, with classic film reviews right alongside new releases. Expect to see a relaunch of this page soon, with new reviews of A Nightmare on Elm Street (remake), Iron Man 2, Robin Hood, MacGruber, and Prince of Persia. But probably not Sex and the City 2.
Max
I enjoyed this animated flick so much I wanted to buy a 'Piper' action figure. I kinda still do. Here's my review of Robots from 2005.
Release Date: March
11
Director: Chris Wedge
& Carlos Saldanha
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry and Greg Kinnear
Even after brilliant works such as The Secret of Nimh and Spirited Away, animated films have yet to get their fair shake, usually being dismissed as nothing more than children's fare. Disney's early output (Snow White, Pinocchio) was an exception, appealing to children while captivating adults.
While Disney floundered in the 80's, Japanese Anime started picking up the slack, with intelligent stories and innovative techniques. About ten years ago, Disney briefly returned to form, making strides in presenting films adults could respect, (notably Beauty and the Beast) but have recently fallen back on the cash cow of endless sequels. (Pocahontas 2, anyone?)
Animation is currently having a bit of a renaissance thanks to other studios, like DreamWorks (Shrek) and Pixar (The Incredibles). And I know plenty of adults who enjoy Spongebob Squarepants on a completely different level than their kids.
As much as I enjoy the "serious animation" of Akira or the grown-up humor found in Shrek, there is something to be said for animation just for kids. Cartoons, if you will. Robots falls into this category; adults can enjoy it, but it's important to realize this isn't SERIOUS ART, this is for the children (like the Wu-Tang Clan!).
When introduced to a world completely populated with sentient machines, my first thoughts were "Who makes these Robots?" "How do they age?" and "What happens if it rains?" I suppose it never rains in robot city, but my other two questions were answered in a very clever opening scene as we watch Herb Copperbottom (Stanley Tucci) rush home to find his wife (Dianne Wiest) holding a box full of baby-bot parts. ("I'm sorry dear, you missed the delivery...but making the baby is the fun part.")
Some robots are able to afford new "upgrades" of body parts once a year (effectively "growing up") but Copperbottom baby Rodney (Ewan McGregor) receives hand-me-down parts from relatives. Hand-me-down vs. new robo-parts turns out to be a major part of this story as the film takes a slightly anti-capitalist turn. Wait, I did say this was a movie for the kids, right?
Rodney is a young inventor who travels from his hometown of Rivet City to the metropolis of Robot City, hoping to meet and work for famed industrialist Bigweld (Mel Brooks). However Bigweld is nowhere to be found and his robot-friendly empire has been taken over by Ratchet (Greg Kinnear) and his Manchurian Candidate-esque mother (Jim Broadbent), who looks very much like a robotic version of the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland and inhabits a "chop shop" vision of hell, complete with Tom Waits soundtrack (Go Tom Waits! Yeah!).
Ratchet's plan is to stop offering "spare parts" to robots, thus forcing them to pay for shiny new "upgrades" at steep prices. In his quest to stop Ratchet and restore Bigweld to power, Rodney meets an array of misfits, from love interest Cappy (Halle Berry) to robo-vagabond Fender (Robin Williams - basically channeling Aladdin's Genie, and doing a bang-up job). The gifted Amanda Bynes also shines as Fender's younger sister Piper ("The name's Piper. Rhymes with viper. Hiss!"). There are sight gags aplenty with many standout scenes, including Rodney's first trip to find Bigweld where he runs into Tim the Gate Guard, voiced hilariously by Paul Giamatti.
There are bad reviews of this flick out there, so I'll say this to my fellow reviewers: take off your jaded critic hat and have some fun. After all is said and done, I liked these characters, and had a good time with the film. What's even more important is the kids in the theater did too.
Tomorrow: Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Edge of Darkness
Release Date: January 29th, 2010
Directed by Martin Campbell
Starring Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston
This is Mel Gibson's first leading role since being
arrested for drunk driving, an event during which Gibson uttered racist and
sexist comments at the arresting officers.
America loves giving celebrities second chances, but I wonder
if audiences will so easily forgive Gibson's anti-Semitic comments, and flock
to the theaters to throw down their ten dollars on this film.
With Edge of Darkness Gibson has chosen an interesting as his first
vehicle back in the public eye, that of a grieving father tracking down his
daughter's killer.
The film is set in Boston and sure enough Mel speaks
with a Bostonian accent, and I think I even detected a bit of his old Aussie
accent creeping in there too. This really worked for me until about halfway through
the film when I realized he sounded like an angry Jay Leno. I kept expecting
him to find and punch Conan O'Brien.
Ray Winstone plays a cleaner, a hitman of sorts who
'fixes' the loose ends other hitmen create. We've seen this type of character
before in La Femme Nikita, Pulp Fiction, and The Way of the Gun, and Winstone
really knocks it out of the part.
He is easily the best part of the movie, and his scenes with Gibson made me wish the film would have been more about them and less about the shady powers that be who may have had a hand in the death of Gibson's daughter.
The opening scenes are fantastic, and had me excited to
see where the movie went. Then the rest of the film unfolded, and it became
apparent I was on a wild goose chase. Edge of Darkness is the most
over-the-top, preposterous mess of a mystery I've seen in some time.
It's one thing if the Butler Did It, but it's asking a
lot of the audience to say The Butler Did It but he was working for the International
Butler Association, so They Did It, but they're in league with the secret US
Government Butler Board, so They Did It too. At one point Winstone's character
says his job is to make the story so convoluted people won't understand. It
seems they used that approach in making the movie as well.
Directed by Martin Campbell, who helmed Casino Royale
(the best of the James Bond films), Edge of Darkness starts with a bang but
ends with a whimper.
I don't mean to nitpick too much, but can Hollywood
please stop churning out movies with these silly titles that don't mean
anything? Edge of Darkness? What does that even mean? What does it tell you
about the story? I expected a character to reference the title in a hushed, serious
tone, something like "We're standing on the Edge of Darkness" but
that never happened. It's a forgettable, arbitrary title that will disappear
among the many like it once it hits the video shelf.
Tomorrow: Robots
I like Will Smith. He's a funny guy and a good dramatic actor to boot. This film was not his finest moment.
Hitch
Release Date:
February 11th, 2005
Director: Andy
Tennant
Starring: Will Smith, Kevin James, and Eva Mendes
Romantic
Comedies have followed the same strict, safe formula for the last twenty years;
Take a woman who has sworn off relationships, introduce the shady-but-lovable
guy who will LEARN HIS LESSON by the closing credits, add a few cartoony
sidekicks, and just add water for instant Box Office Gold.
Will
Smith's latest opus is no different. We're introduced to Sara (Eva Mendes), a
gossip columnist who has, yes, sworn off relationships. She has a chance
encounter with Alex Hitchens (Will Smith), a cupid-of-sorts who makes his living
conning women into dating guys they normally would dismiss.
Let's stop right there. I realize this is light comedy fare, but does anyone else find this premise vaguely sexist?
Sure, Hitch has his redemption at the end of
the film where he LEARNS HIS LESSON, but for an hour and a half we're buying
into this concept that every woman is a prize to be won, and all it takes is
the right pick up line.
Which is what exactly what downtrodden accountant Albert (Kevin James) is counting on when he hires Hitch to play Cyrano to help him win the celebrity of his dreams, one Allegra Cole (SuperDuperModel Amber Valetta).
Kevin James turns in the same performance we've seen every week on his TV show King of Queens which is to say he plays the lovable fat guy. (What, they couldn't get Horatio Sanz?)
Valetta, however, winningly plays Cole with bundles of
charm, and it may be worth the price of admission just to see her bust loose
with "The Robot" during a dance sequence at the end.
If you can check your feminism at the door (and the mostly female audience I saw this with seemed to do just that) then this is actually a pretty amusing flick.
If you'd rather see a romantic film that doesn't talk down to its audience, may
I suggest you rent Gwyneth Paltrow's Sliding Doors instead of getting Hitched.
Tomorrow: Edge of Darkness
Soon I'll review Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness. For today, a much, much worse film. When is a scary movie not scary? When it's Boogeyman.
Boogeyman
Release
Date: February 4
Director: Stephen T. Kay
Starring: Barry Watson, Emily Deschanel, and Lucy Lawless
Rating: PG-13
Almost all of us were scared of the dark as kids or frightened of imagined monsters under the bed or in the closet - that's why I was looking forward to this movie, because you couldn't ask for a better premise than the Boogeyman for a horror film.
This version of the story tells the tale of a young man traumatized by memories of terrible events he experienced in his childhood bedroom and who, years later, returns home to face his fears of a monstrous entity that could be real or merely a figment of his imagination.
At least that's what the promotional material tells us.
I'm surprised the studio could come up with even one paragraph of a synopsis, seeing as how there was apparently no script to speak of. Scenes come and go with very little point or consequence, with the paper-thin-plot giving Barry Watson (7th Heaven) very little to do besides staring blankly at empty closets.
As a matter of fact, the real title of this film should have been "OH NO, CLOSETS!" because that's the theme running through the entire production. We get lots and lots of slow zooms on empty closets. Ooooh! Look at that dried paint! Scary stuff!
This is without a doubt the most uninspired, worthless waste of celluloid I have seen in ages. Unlike Alone in the Dark you can't even have a good time making fun of this one. It's just that bad.
While I was watching it I kept coming up with scenarios that would have made the film much better... (It's all in Watson's head; he's the one killing people! Or the little girl is really the Boogeyman!) ...but I gave up all hope for a decent scare once the Boogeyman appeared looking like leftover CGI from The Lawnmower Man.
This could have been
a golden opportunity to unleash a new horror icon, but turns out to be another
candidate for the gang on Mystery Science Theater 3000 to spoof. If only they
were still around to save the day.
Tomorrow: Hitch
I recently watched Clint Eastwood's Invictus, and was rather unimpressed. Eastwood has matured into a great director however, so I'm sure his next effort (a supernatural film!) will be worth checking out. Here's a review from 2005 of one of Eastwood's films - one that I didn't think I'd enjoy, but boy howdy did I.
Million Dollar Baby
Release Date: January 28
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman
Rating: PG-13
This
is a fight movie - about boxing for the first half, and a fight of a different
kind for the second. Much has been made over the controversial plot twist in
Clint Eastwood's latest, and it threatens to overshadow what is actually an
intensely personal film.
Eastwood
plays Frankie Dunn, a boxing trainer who begrudgingly agrees to take on Maggie
Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) a waitress who dreams of a future as a professional boxer,
though she's thirty-two and armed with little more than a plucky smile and
sheer determination.
Frankie,
estranged from his daughter, attempts to fill that hole in his soul with his
mentoring of Maggie. Maggie in turn finds more of a sense of family with
Frankie than she had ever felt with her family back home in Missouri.
There is plenty to like in this film, including strong work from Swank, who thankfully is not content to coast on her 1999 Oscar win for the amazing Boys Don't Cry. Morgan Freeman is in his element, playing yet another wise old sage, but it works well here, and unlike some of his recent roles, doesn't feel like a re-tread.
I especially enjoyed how Freeman's
narration actually served a purpose at the end of the film, deftly adding
another dimension to the proceedings. Eastwood is a jazz fan, and it shows in
his smooth, easygoing direction. Maybe playing a cranky curmudgeon isn't a
stretch, but this is still the best role Clint has had in years.
Now
about that twist. Eastwood denies he's taking sides on the film's controversial
issue, saying, quote; "I'm just telling a story. I don't advocate. I'm
playing a part. I've gone around in movies blowing people away with a .44
Magnum. But that doesn't mean I think that's a proper thing to do."
I'm
not going to disclose what happens, although you may have heard by now as this
issue is a lightning rod for debate. Knowing the ending certainly didn't hurt
Passion of the Christ or Titanic, and I believe the
same will hold true for this fine film, which takes on questions of faith,
family and forgiveness with class.
Tomorrow: Boogeyman
Just saw Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness, but can't write about it until Friday. In the meantime, here is another movie that get more and more convoluted as it goes on.
Are We There Yet?
Release Date: January 21
Director: Brian Levant
Starring: Ice Cube, Nia Long, and Jay Mohr
Rating: PG
Back in the early 90's, when Ice Cube was a member of Gangsta Rap pioneers N.W.A., few would have imagined he would be involved in Hollywood, let alone starring in a cutesy family film. But that's exactly where we find Cube now, playing what would have been the "Chevy Chase role" in the 80's, or the "Ben Stiller role" in the late 90's. (The hapless good guy, who befalls tragedy after tragedy for our amusement)
Cube plays Nick, a ladies man in his own mind, who falls for Suzanne (Nia Long, who spends the entire film looking annoyed), a divorced mother of two. While Suzanne's work keeps her busy in Canada for New Year's Eve, her kids are supposed to spend the holiday with their Father. But when he bails at the last second Nick offers to drive the kids to Vancouver from Portland, Oregon.
Having never liked any of the men their mom has dated, the rugrats immediately begin making Nick's life a living hell, and Cube is reduced to being the fall guy for two Home Alone rejects (Aleisha Allen and Philip Bolden) who are some of the worst child actors in recent memory. Haley Joel Osment and Dakota Fanning, you have nothing to worry about.
One thing that left me scratching my head is Nick's constant companion, a Satchel Paige bobblehead that only Cube can hear. Yes, you read that correctly, a talking bobblehead - voiced by frequent Cube collaborator John Witherspoon, who makes the most of the lame groaners he throws at the audience. This CGI sidekick seemed out of place in the film, and frankly, made absolutely no sense. (How come only Cube can hear him talk? Is Cube HIGH the whole film?)
What's really disappointing is Cube has turned in good work in the past, most notably in John Singleton's influential Boyz N The Hood and of course the modern comedy classic Friday. (Rent it now if you haven't seen it.) But Are We There Yet? feels like the script was thrown together after a boardroom full of Hollywood consultants came up with the title. The movie is too long, ultra-sugary, and worse of all, just not funny.
Ice Cube's debut solo album was 1990's Amerikkka's Most Wanted. He's going to need a better script if he's going to become Amerikkka's Sweetheart.
Tomorrow: Million Dollar Baby
I love horror movies, and I'm a big fan of Michael Keaton. You'd think I would have loved White Noise. Think again. Here's my review from January 7th, 2005.
Release Date: January 7
Director: Geoffrey Sax
Starring: Michael Keaton, Deborah Kara Unger, Chandra West
Rating: PG-13
Not
since Poltergeist has a film used so many static-filled televisions to terrify. Unfortunately here it fails to be as frightening.
Electronic
Voice Phenomenon (EVP) is the process through which the dead supposedly
communicate with the living through household recording devices. You with me so
far? Alright. So what is White Noise? I think it goes something like this: "Scchhhhh." "Errrawschhhh."
"Schshhshs."
Freaked out yet?
"Schhchhchh."
How
about now? No? Hmmm. Yeah, me neither.
The underrated and almost forgotten Michael Keaton plays Jonathan Rivers, an
architect whose wife Anna (Chandra West) disappears. After a few weeks Jonathan is contacted by a man (Ian McNeice) who claims Anna is dead, but has
been sending messages to him through EVP.
Through this man (heretofore referred
to as "EVP-Plot-Device-Man") Jonathan meets a woman (Deborah Kara
Unger) who has been interested in EVP since her fiancé died.
Soon after learning all about white noise from the EVP-Plot-Device-Man, it is confirmed Jonathan's wife is in fact dead (nothing you didn't already know if you've seen the trailer).
And so Jonathan becomes obsessed with trying to
contact her on his own, using multiple TVs, radios, Minidisk players, and a ton
of audio editing equipment he somehow instantly knows how to use.
What
Jonathan gets is static, and lots of it. On his radios he hears screams, and on
his TVs he sees evil shadowy figures...but he soldiers on, because he believes
he has found a possible link to his dead wife, who may or may not be trying to
tell him to save innocent lives. (What? Why?)
The
Keaton-as-savior thread is one of many story ideas that goes nowhere. In many
instances the script makes absolutely no sense, and the filmmakers just don't
seem to care. It can't decide if it's supposed to be Unbreakable, What Lies Beneath, or a mean-spirited take on Ghost. Where the film really falls apart is the ending, with bad CGI unnecessarily
thrown in.
I
left the theater with a lot of questions, and sadly, "Will I have to sleep
with the light on?" was not one of them.
That said, if you can suspend your disbelief and forgive the massive plot holes, the film IS moderately creepy, and may be slightly satisfying if loud undecipherable sounds and lots of static give you the willies.
... scchhhh .. ... scchhhh ... ... scchhhh ... ... scchhhh ... ... scchhhh .. ... scchhhh .. ... schhhh ...
Tomorrow: Are We There Yet?
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Release Date: May 16th, 2008
Directed By: Andrew Adamson
Starring:Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell
Rating: PG
I'm excited about the upcoming release of the fourth Indiana Jones movie, as I am a big fan of that franchise. If I wasn't, I'd most likely feel indifferent about seeing old Indy crack his whip again, and indifferent is more or less where I'm at when it comes to The Chronicles of Narnia. C.S. Lewis' books are highly regarded, and in my younger days I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian before calling it a day. The world of Narnia just didn't grab me. My sister named her dog Prince Caspian so I'm guessing she was more a fan than I was.
I hoped to be pleasantly surprised by Andrew Adamson's 2005 feature adaptation of Lion/Witch/Wardrobe, but instead was let down by a film I found featured shoddy special effects and wooden acting. In my review of that flick I said "I doubt this film will please Narnia fans, and would be surprised if the second published book was adapted at all." I was, obviously, quite wrong. Here I am reviewing Prince Caspian, because audiences loved the first installment in the chronicles. How could I have predicted SNL's awesome Chroni-WHAT?-cles of Narnia digital short?
Make no mistake, this is a much better film than its predecessor, but that's not to say it's a very good film. The same actors who portrayed the four Pevensie children in the first film are back and sadly their collective acting has not improved. As Lucy, young Georgie Henley fares the best of the group as her character is given more to do than just look Narnians in awe, but Anna Popplewell (she of the Angelina Jolie lips) seems to equate scowling with acting. As Edmund, Skandar Keynes is lost in the background, and William Moseley simply cannot convincingly pull off what is asked of him as High King Peter.
When the four return to Narnia after being gone for a year, they find more than a thousand years has passed in the fantastical land and things don't look so good. The evil king Miraz has driven the magical creatures so far into exile most believe them fairy tales, and only his nephew, the young Prince Caspian, can help the Pevensie kids restore Narnia to its former talking-animal-tolerating glory.
I enjoyed Ben Barnes as the unassuming hero in last year's underrated Stardust, and he turns in solid work (albeit with a wonky accent) here. He won't have a problem carrying Voyage of the Dawn Treader should the next chapter in the Narnia chronicles make it to the big screen. It's nice to see fan-favorite Warwick Davis cast against-type as a shady little guy not to be trusted, and Peter Dinklage shows up as a dwarf curmudgeon with a heart of gold, but the role seems thankless after his impressive work in The Station Agent.
I found Sergio Castellitto and Pierfrancesco Favino as King Miraz and his trusted General, respectively, the most interesting and entertaining performances in the film. Miraz is as good a villain as Tilda Swinton's White Witch from Wardrobe. Speaking of Swinton, her Caspian cameo may be the highlight of the film. The story, ostensibly about faith, demands a cameo is all there is room for the lion Aslan, again ably voiced by Liam Neeson. (After all, if he was in every scene, why would our heroes need to have faith?) Reepicheep fans can rest easy, comedian Eddie Izzard's persona doesn't overshadow the sword wielding mouse.
The screenplay is a bit clunky in the first half, as we wait for the action to kick in, and once it does I still didn't find myself drawn into the overall story. The attempts at humor more often than not fall flat, but the action sequences are pretty well staged - and decidedly not kiddy fare. Be warned: Prince Caspian is darker than its PG rating would lead you to believe. With all the violence, death, and (bloodless) beheadings I'd be happier if this film got the PG-13 rating it deserves.
The latest chapter in the Narnia saga left me cold, but if you're a fan of the books, or especially the first film, you may find something here to enjoy.
Tomorrow: White Noise
