Appaloosa A new western. The genre simply will not die, and I for one, am delighted. This one is based on the Novel of the same name, and stars, is directed by, and was co-written for the screen by, Ed Harris. We love Ed Harris. It also stars Rene Zellweger, Vigo Mortensen, Jeremy Irons and Lance Henriksen and a host of other excellent character actors.
It takes place in the 1880’s in the New Mexico Territory. Right away that makes it worth watching. I love the geology and landscape of New Mexico. The story is a classic western tale. Two men, beginning to age, are long-time partners, making a living as temporary lawmen, cleaning up towns where the law is far away. Ed Harris is Virgil Cole, the leader, and Vigo Mortensen is Everett Hitch, his faithful, more-than-competent side-kick.
They are hired to clean-up a town being besieged by Jeremy Irons, an ambitious rancher who has murdered the marshal and his two deputies. Rene Zellweger arrives, a recent widow, and muddies the water.
At first, I thought it was going to be just a rip-off of Lonesome Dove, with the two iconic lawmen, one wound too tight and the other too loose, but the relationship, despite a few obvious similarities to Gus And Call, is complicated and has nuances of its own.
The characters are wonderful, complex, and full of pathos. (You like that word? I heard it on a Peter Paul and Mary album) The drama is excellent; with good pacing and suspense. The action is great, although it cannot be described as an action movie. It is in the same vein as The Unforgiving.
Cole, the hard-nosed, unbending, fearless lawman, has seen it all and knows he is better than the rest. Everett is more easy-going, understanding, and better educated. His character seems to me to be the most interesting. But he is clearly a follower, content to let Cole lead, despite his own superior skills. Vigo Mortensen, as Everett, is great. I loved the character. The story is complicated. The scenery is magical. The sets and costumes are authentic. Little things make the difference. The Indians they encounter are Chiricahua, which is correct for that part of the world, and they are from the San Carlos tribe, which is accurate as well. The San Carlos were some of the last to surrender to a reservation, and were raiding that part of the world at the time the story takes place. I like accuracy.
This is a superior movie. Not perfect, but well worth seeing. It has strong language, nudity, and fairly graphic violence, and is rated R. Nita would like it without the cussing and naked Rene.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Movie Review Quarantine
Quarantine I’m sure you’ve seen the previews. A disparate group of people are quarantined inside an apartment building after fire and police respond to a 911 call. A two-person news team is following the fire department that night and are caught inside as well. The authorities are not telling them anything, but something is killing the people inside. A scene from the trailer has already become iconic—a woman lying on the floor in front of a night vision video camera, terrified, her eyes glowing, crawling in the pitch dark. Suddenly she is being dragged back into the shadows by an unseen force, screaming as she vanishes. That scene made me go see the move, despite knowing it would be terrible. Besides, the evil thing might be Zombies, right?
Surprise! It isn’t a terrible movie. It is inventive, scary, suspenseful, violent, gory and very well written. The entire movie—every frame—is seen from the vantage point of the news camera, similar to Cloverfield but still manages to bring a different look and perspective to the movie. We know what the people trapped in the building know, which is very little, as they try to find out what is happening, why the government has locked them inside without telling them anything, and as they figure out how to survive. Slowly clues begin to emerge and connect, but we never do (which means they never do) find out exactly what is happening—other than people being killed and ripped to pieces, or shot if they try to escape.
It doesn’t have the holes most of these kinds of features are subject to, mostly because they give us so little information. But the people inside are believable, human, terrified, and behave in ways that come across as genuine, valid responses to something fundamentally beyond their experience or even imagination. It isn’t a Zombie move. It is much more sinister because it is much closer to the realm of reality.
Everyone in it does a first rate job of acting. There are no big names in it.
I recommend it if you are a true aficionado, otherwise stay away. It’s good, but it’s in-your-face violence and terror. It is rated R and deservedly so.
Surprise! It isn’t a terrible movie. It is inventive, scary, suspenseful, violent, gory and very well written. The entire movie—every frame—is seen from the vantage point of the news camera, similar to Cloverfield but still manages to bring a different look and perspective to the movie. We know what the people trapped in the building know, which is very little, as they try to find out what is happening, why the government has locked them inside without telling them anything, and as they figure out how to survive. Slowly clues begin to emerge and connect, but we never do (which means they never do) find out exactly what is happening—other than people being killed and ripped to pieces, or shot if they try to escape.
It doesn’t have the holes most of these kinds of features are subject to, mostly because they give us so little information. But the people inside are believable, human, terrified, and behave in ways that come across as genuine, valid responses to something fundamentally beyond their experience or even imagination. It isn’t a Zombie move. It is much more sinister because it is much closer to the realm of reality.
Everyone in it does a first rate job of acting. There are no big names in it.
I recommend it if you are a true aficionado, otherwise stay away. It’s good, but it’s in-your-face violence and terror. It is rated R and deservedly so.
Movie Review Max Payne
Max Payne This is the latest in what is becoming its own sub-genre; the underground comic movie. Mainstream comics have become, as we all know by now, huge money makers when done well, and there seems to be a niche consistent enough for these (usually darker) undergrounds to find an audience as well. I’m not sure what an underground comic is. The mainstream comics are DC and Marvel, by and large, so maybe underground is anything not DC or Marvel. They also usually have a more adult-oriented theme, are longer and darker, and the artwork is often better—or maybe just the printing.
At any rate, Max Payne is a good example of the film noir look the undergrounds seem to prefer.
The story revolves around a burnt-out DEA agent (Mark Wahlberg) whose wife and infant son were murdered, and one of the three perps is still out there. He chances into some kind of bizarre cabal, the members of which all wear a stylized tattoo of wings. The wings represent the Valkyrie, denizens of Norse mythology whose task it was to sweep the honored dead (anyone who died in battle) from the field and fly them to Valhalla. People are dying. Valkyries are involved, but no one is certain if they are real or hallucinations. Payne’s murdered family is connected. As he gets closer to the truth, he discovers a huge conspiracy behind the corporation his wife used to work for. And blah, blah, blah.
The movie has a look and a feel to it. In every scene it is either snowing or raining. It is cold and dreary with snow piled up everywhere. I don’t know why. It was filmed in color, but it looked as if they muted the colors to give it a dour look.
Wahlberg is good. He has turned into a decent, consistent actor. Beau Bridges turns in a fine piece of work as Payne’s fathers old partner, now head of security for the same corporation. Needless to say, our anti-hero gets to the bottom of things, makes extreme decisions and saves the day, sort of. His wife and child are still dead.
But he has a new girl, Mila Kunis, who, in one feature role, manages to put a bullet right between the eyes of her That 70’s Show character, Jackie. Mila has grown up. It’s fun to listen to her speak her native tongue in the movie (she is Russian) and know she isn’t doing it phonetically.
It’s a pretty good movie if you like the genre. I don’t recommend it to the grown-up middle-agers who are in the mood for a date movie. PG-13. Barely. Nita would have hated it.
At any rate, Max Payne is a good example of the film noir look the undergrounds seem to prefer.
The story revolves around a burnt-out DEA agent (Mark Wahlberg) whose wife and infant son were murdered, and one of the three perps is still out there. He chances into some kind of bizarre cabal, the members of which all wear a stylized tattoo of wings. The wings represent the Valkyrie, denizens of Norse mythology whose task it was to sweep the honored dead (anyone who died in battle) from the field and fly them to Valhalla. People are dying. Valkyries are involved, but no one is certain if they are real or hallucinations. Payne’s murdered family is connected. As he gets closer to the truth, he discovers a huge conspiracy behind the corporation his wife used to work for. And blah, blah, blah.
The movie has a look and a feel to it. In every scene it is either snowing or raining. It is cold and dreary with snow piled up everywhere. I don’t know why. It was filmed in color, but it looked as if they muted the colors to give it a dour look.
Wahlberg is good. He has turned into a decent, consistent actor. Beau Bridges turns in a fine piece of work as Payne’s fathers old partner, now head of security for the same corporation. Needless to say, our anti-hero gets to the bottom of things, makes extreme decisions and saves the day, sort of. His wife and child are still dead.
But he has a new girl, Mila Kunis, who, in one feature role, manages to put a bullet right between the eyes of her That 70’s Show character, Jackie. Mila has grown up. It’s fun to listen to her speak her native tongue in the movie (she is Russian) and know she isn’t doing it phonetically.
It’s a pretty good movie if you like the genre. I don’t recommend it to the grown-up middle-agers who are in the mood for a date movie. PG-13. Barely. Nita would have hated it.
Movie Review Eagle Eye
Eagle Eye An action cyber-thriller which takes place the “day after tomorrow”. It is a technical fantasy. The stars are Shia LaBeouf (from Transformers) and Michelle Monaghan (Made of Honor and Gone Baby Gone). They are two seemingly random people, living their lives, total strangers, when they both receive phone calls from a mysterious woman which throws them together and into a series of harrowing escapades as they try to figure out who the woman is, how she is doing these impossible and bizarre things to them and what she wants. It is centered around a hi-tech anti-terrorism scenario.
The action is nonstop, the tension is set to ‘high’ and never lets up. The special effects are great, inventive and high quality.
The basic premise, and the god-like technical expertise of the mysterious woman, are sheer fantasy.
The problem with trying to write a review for a movie like this, is anything I say about the plot will give too much away. The story is convoluted, clever, and basically unbelievable, but lots of fun. It does require the traditional and willing suspension of disbelief. We are required to believe that a terrestrial agency is capable of simultaneously controlling and manipulating every electronic and digital device on the planet. It paints a very spooky picture and you may leave with a profound sense of paranoia.
Ultimately, it is a cautionary tale, warning us that humans need to be careful when creating artificial intelligence. This is by no means the first movie to warn us about that. Remember The Corbin Project? But not to worry. It occurred to me, while sitting in the darkened theater, that humans will never build computers or robots smarter that we are. The reason? We’re not smart enough.
Billy Bob Thornton is great as the FBI agent. It is rated PG-13. It’s pretty good, but not great. If you’re looking for a thriller and non-stop action, and don’t mind some gaping holes and sci-fi gimmicks, this is a good date movie. Nita would like it, but she’d have screamed a dozen times and feinted twice, so I’m glad I didn’t take her.
The action is nonstop, the tension is set to ‘high’ and never lets up. The special effects are great, inventive and high quality.
The basic premise, and the god-like technical expertise of the mysterious woman, are sheer fantasy.
The problem with trying to write a review for a movie like this, is anything I say about the plot will give too much away. The story is convoluted, clever, and basically unbelievable, but lots of fun. It does require the traditional and willing suspension of disbelief. We are required to believe that a terrestrial agency is capable of simultaneously controlling and manipulating every electronic and digital device on the planet. It paints a very spooky picture and you may leave with a profound sense of paranoia.
Ultimately, it is a cautionary tale, warning us that humans need to be careful when creating artificial intelligence. This is by no means the first movie to warn us about that. Remember The Corbin Project? But not to worry. It occurred to me, while sitting in the darkened theater, that humans will never build computers or robots smarter that we are. The reason? We’re not smart enough.
Billy Bob Thornton is great as the FBI agent. It is rated PG-13. It’s pretty good, but not great. If you’re looking for a thriller and non-stop action, and don’t mind some gaping holes and sci-fi gimmicks, this is a good date movie. Nita would like it, but she’d have screamed a dozen times and feinted twice, so I’m glad I didn’t take her.
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