Public Enemies
My most anticipated 2009 film until the fall. Michael Mann uses a digital camera to document the fascinating life of John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) whose crime spree in 1933-34 gripped the nation. Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, and Billy Crudup costar. Reviews are generally positive, but don't really matter - Mann’s films always win the war by aging well.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
It’s the 3rd film in the Ice Age series which is apparently hell-bent on confusing kids about geology, zoology, and history. The first 2 were forgettable (literally – I think I saw them, but I don’t remember). Ray Romano, Denis Leary, and John Leguizamo voice the same characters. And I guess we all knew it was a matter of time before Simon Pegg cashed a cartoon voice paycheck.
I Hate Valentine's Day
Just in time for the 4th of July, Nia Vardalos and John Corbett team up again for a romantic “comedy” about Valentine's Day. The title lends itself to the easy joke. This will remain sight unseen – forever. As if the recession and My Life in Ruins wasn’t enough to deal with in 2009, now we get this. Vardalos writes and directs this one, though, so do with that what you will. Thankfully, it's in limited release.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Summer Movie Releases - 7/1/09
Monday, June 29, 2009
DVD and Blu-ray Releases 6/30/09
12 Rounds - #
Eastbound & Down: The Complete First Season
The Education of Charlie Banks
Entourage: The Complete Fifth Season
Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience - #
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li - #
Transmorphers: Fall of Man - #
Tunnel Rats
Two Lovers - #
Click below for this week's Blu-ray Releases
Do the Right Thing: 20th Anniversary - *
Flawless
# - also on Blu-Ray
* - Doctor approved
2 Interesting Articles
Here is David Carr's take on Oscar's Best Picture expansion to 10.
Here is an article about the historical accuracy of Hollywood gangster movies, including my most anticipated film until Shutter Island, Public Enemies. 
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Weekend Grosses - 6/28/09
The Transformers sequel made alot of buck in its 1st 5 days, second only to The Dark Knight whose 5 day total was 204 mil.
Weekend total / % Change / Cumulative total
1. Transformers 2: 112 mil / (-)/ 201 mil
2. The Proposal: 18.5 mil / (-45%)/ 69 mil
3. The Hangover: 17.2 mil / (-36%) / 183 mil
4. Up: 13.0 mil / (-44%) / 250 mil
5. My Sister’s Keeper: 12.0 mil
6. Year One: 5.8 mil / (-70%) / 32.2 mil
7. The Taking of Pelham 123: 5.4 mil / (-55%) / 53.4 mil
8. Star Trek: 3.6 mil / (- 35%) / 246 mil
9. Night at the Museum: BotS: 3.5 mil / (-55%) / 163 mil
10. Away We Go: 1.7 mil / (+93%) / 4.1 mil
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Summer Movie Releases - 6/26/09
The Hurt Locker
One the best reviewed films of the year apparently has director Kathryn Bigelow at the top of her game. She's easily the best female action director ever (Point Break, Blue Steel). Some unknowns (Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty) are members of a bomb dismantling team in Iraq. It's said to be extremely tense. Guy Pearce, David Morse, and Ralph Fiennes turn in supporting roles.
Cheri
Dangerous Liaisons, Michelle Pfeiffer's first (and last) film with director Stephen Frears remains exciting and involving even 21 years later. It also gave John Malkovich and Uma Thurman careers that remain valid today. Here's hoping Frears regains some of that magic. Or if not as great as that film or The Grifters, I'll settle for High Fidelity or The Queen level goodness.
My Sister's Keeper
It looks like Alec Baldwin and Cameron Diaz play a married couple with 2 daughters, one of which gets cancer. Tensions and tough decisions arise and everyone is tested. Sounds like a lifetime movie with A-list stars. If there's one thing that challenges my faith in a deity, it's kids with cancer.
Surveillance - C+
Another pre-theatrical release, pre-DVD HDNET preview happened last night. Surveillance stars Julia Ormond (Inland Empire) and Bill Pullman (Lost Highway) as 2 FBI agents on the trail of a serial killer pair who have struck again in Smalltown, USA. The film begins brutally as a man is hacked to death by a machete in his bed while his wife flees the house. Then the film settles down as the 2 agents interview local survivors, witnesses, and cops about the events of the past 2 days. They watch each other through video camera surveillance, though this device isn’t utilized nearly as effectively as it could, should, or would have been had the film been directed by executive producer David Lynch, rather than his daughter Jennifer . . .
Master Lynch’s imprint is all over the film, from the early scene where the woman escapes in a short nightgown (Ronette in TV’s Twin Peaks) to the FBI meets small town cops scene (Twin Peaks again) to the cast which Lynch has used previously. The most fascinating sequence in the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me has Agent Dale Cooper watching himself on video surveillance. Surveillance could have used more of that inspired craziness. D. Lynch’s worldview is often black and white with obvious good guys and bad guys, honor, duty, etc. He’s more interested in characters and so for awhile, you’re settled into the film honestly, looking past the overacting of the supporting roles, hyperviolence, and the many distracting expletives.
But after the interviews drag on for the majority of the film, you’ll realize there’s a huge, cheap plot twist coming which won’t be hard to spot. J. Lynch (who also co-writes) has made a watchable, pulpy film that never bores. It’s OK if she doesn’t reach the visceral and intellectual heights of her father; few have. The acting (especially by Ormond) is mostly good but some of the casting distracts (French Stewart, Cheri Oteri). Michael Ironside has put on a few pounds (so has Pullman), and isn’t given nearly enough to do. It’s an occasionally fascinating mess, worth seeing if you’re a fan of the horror, cop, or Ormond genres. C+
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
10 Nominees for Best Picture
AMPAS has decided to have 10 Best Picture nominees next year in an obvious attempt to boost ratings. After the snubs of The Dark Knight, Synecdoche New York, The Wrestler, Wall-E, In Bruges, and Revolutionary Road (not to mention Let the Right One In) in favor of instantly forgettable stuff like Milk, Frost/Nixon, and The Reader (not to mention overrated stuff like Slumdog Millionaire), it's easy to see why. Everyone knows the Best Director list will be the "real" Best Picture lineup. Looks like Up might have a shot at a Best Picture nominee after all.
Click here for a brief discussion, which I basically agree with.
Summer Movie Releases - 6/24/09
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
With that title, Michael Bay must think he's making a Star Wars movie. Early reviews would imply one of the Star Wars prequels since the words "incoherent" and "incomprehensible" keep popping up. Priest reviewed the first one here. This one is supposed to be bigger and messier. And expected to make a lot of cash. It opens today if you didn't know, instead of the usual Friday release.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Last 5 Downloads
1. All Summer Long - Kid Rock. An instant classic - best "feel good" song ever.
2. I'm on a Boat - The Lonely Island. Previously discussed by Doc, this was a must for the Wyoming soundtrack. Very funny.
3. There Goes My Life - Kenny Chesney. The wet rat strikes again - this is a good song aimed at fathers of daughters.
4. Right Round - Flo Rida. Obligatory great pop/rap song of the moment. Sounds like an updated version of MC Hammer's "Addams Family".
5. Broken - Lifehouse. The Time Traveler preview hooked me on this one. I do have a softer side.
Monday, June 22, 2009
DVD and Blu-ray Releases 6/23/09
Bob Funk
The Code - #
Confessions of a Shopaholic - #
FEMA City
Inkheart - #
Last Year at Marienbad (Criterion) - #,*
The Pink Panther 2 - #
Waltz with Bashir - #
# - also on Blu-ray
* - Doc's pick of the week
No extra Blu-ray releases this week. Must be a summer thing. I've been waiting for years for a proper Last Year at Marienbad DVD. I'm not sure I'll have the patience for it like I did 10 years ago, but I can't wait for another viewing. It's strictly for film enthusiasts (dorks) and will drive most people up the wall with its nonsensical plot and tomfoolery. I loved it when I first saw it and it remains in my top 150 or so.
Year One C+
Rated PG-13, In Theatres, 97 minutes
Pastors and traveling evangelists have been mining Old Testament stories for laughs (and scares) for years, so, when I heard one of the best comedic pedigrees in years not associated with Apatow and Co was taking on Python-esque Genesis farce Year One, I couldn’t have been more delighted. Comedy veteran Harold Ramis directs, and the players include Jack Black, Michael Cera, Oliver Platt, David Cross, Hank Azaria, Horatio Sans, Bill Hader, Paul Rudd, and Olivia Wilde (please see picture). Unfortunately, that amount of talent on the screen serves to magnify the (frequent) stretches of lame jokes. That, coupled with a too-heavy reliance on poop/fart jokes and an odd decision to stay politically correct bogs down this still occasionally hilarious film.
Director (and co-writer) Harold Ramis helmed and penned such comedic classics as Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, National Lampoon's Vacation, and Analyze This and shared writing duties on Stripes, Ghostbusters, Meatballs, and Animal House. The man can write and direct a yuckfest with the best of them. Unfortunately, the Bible is tricky territory, and the evangelical wallet, deemed the holy grail ever since The Passion of the Christ proved that the 80% of the U.S. population that self-identify as Christians go to movies, is no easier. You can’t help but hear evangelical test audiences and Fuller Old Testament consultants throughout. Ramis is hardly a study hand, first pandering to the Christian audience, then (understandably) concerned about offending the gays in the Sodom story line.
And then there’s the cast. Jack Black is in his usual over-the-top-lead-personae. Michael Cera is George Michael in the Stone Age. I like Cera’s schtick better and they both have moments, but they’re phoning it in. The stand-outs here are Oliver Platt as a transvestite priest in Sodom (to Molock, an actual ancient Semitic god, and they get the worship of him about right here) who has the hots for Cera’s character, and Hank Azaria as Abraham caught in the act of sacrificing his son (McLovin’, incidentally). Azaria and Platt get the joke and seem to realize that some people are going to be offended, so let them be, but most won’t unless they actually slander God or major teachings of the Bible. Of course, Platt can’t go wrong at that point. He’s a priest to the most loathed god in the Old Testament in a town that is burned by hellfire. Speaking of, the toughest parts to take in the film are the ones that stick close to the Biblical texts. Burning virgins alive is pretty rough. It’s hard to get laughs at one brother killing another, and a dad about to kill his son is pretty harsh. The film doesn’t dodge these Biblical points yet seems scared to really go to where the hard laughs are. In the end, there are laughs here, but I’d wait to video. C+
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog - the return
His first appearance on Conan's new show. Lots of laughs. Part two is after the jump.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Happy Father's Day
Click here for a short, brilliant comment piece from Garrison Keillor about parents and America, perfect for Father's Day. Take that essay and add it with the American ethos from Gran Torino and you've pretty much got my worldview, give or take a few degrees.
Box Office 6/21/09
Box Office successes and failures are usually more reliant on marketing, timing, and luck than the quality of the film so I don't typically comment on it. But there is something worth noting this June. The Hangover fell off an amazing 18% from its prior week. Along with the surprising successes of Gran Torino and Taken, I don't think I'm going too far in saying that the typical American male is fed up with political correctness and the Oprahfication of everything. Click below for the list.
This week's total, percentage change, cumulative total.
1. The Proposal= $34.1 mil
2. The Hangover = $26.9 mil (-18%) / ($153m)
3. Up = $21.3 mil (-31%) / ($224m)
4. Year One = $20.2
5. The Taking of Pelham 123 = $11.3 mil (-53%) / ($43m)
6. Night at the Museum: BotS = $7.3 mil (-24%) / ($156m)
7. Star Trek = $4.7 mil (-14%) / ($239m)
8. Land of the Lost = $4.0 mil (-56%) / ($44m)
9. Imagine That = $3.10 mil (-44%) / ($11m)
10. Terminator Salvation = $3.07 mil (-36%) / ($120m)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
New Trailers
1. Cold Souls - Paul Giamatti stars as a Synecdoche style unhappy New Yorker that has his soul removed to try and cure what ails him. Looks interesting - in the same vein as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Good luck with those comparisons.
2. 2012 - New one from Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Day After Tomorrow). Cool images as always in the trailer, and I actually like his two previous hits. Could be good.
3. Time Traveler's Wife - I am going soft. This weepy with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams hits all my family buttons.
4. Public Enemies - 10,000 bullets in 1 minute. This is a clip of a shoot-out. Awesome.
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 - B+
In theaters. Rated R, 112 minutes. Trailer.
Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Director Tony Scott, and writer Brian Helgeland have come together to produce my favorite film so far in 2009. I was very skeptical going in, but the film was consistently entertaining and even a little bit interesting. I should've known the script would be good (Helgeland wrote Doc/Lawyer fave LA Confidential, one of the best screenplays of the past 20 years), and apparently the original Pelham film from the 70's is decent, so there was a good foundation. Click below for more Pelham:
The film starts with Denzel as Garber, an up-from-his-bootstraps executive at the MTA (NY Subway) filling in as a lowly dispatcher as a result of an ongoing investigation into a possible bribe. Travolta (as Ryder) is shown menacingly walking the subway and then the two intersect after Travolta takes over the Pelham 123 train. The two bond as Ryder demands $10 million to release the hostages on the train - after the NYPD crisis negotiator (John Turturro, in a good, understated performance) gets rejected by Ryder, Garber is back in to work through the crisis. The rest of the plot plays out relatively predictably, but interestingly.
Along the way the outgoing Mayor of New York (James Gandolfini) gets involved, adding a subplot I enjoyed immensely. His character has lots of strengths and weaknesses and Helgeland imbues the character and his coterie of advisors with a world weariness and sense of humor that I identify with. Denzel is his predictably dependable working man with ethics, somewhat similar (but more understated) than his character in Inside Man. Travolta is perfect as a semi-interesting character that questions morality and discusses the ambiguity of society with Denzel.
Director Tony Scott balances the plot with the action perfectly. The film is perfectly suspenseful the whole time, with the predictable third act dragging just a little. He focuses on the redemption of Gandolfini, Travolta and Denzel, not high art, but interesting still. One false note was any scene with the hostages - I cringe when any hostage scene comes on in a movie because of the syrupy moments and forced heroism that completely turns me off.
Larry David
Larry was on Conan Wednesday night. Great stuff. Watch it here.
Here's an old clip of Ricky Gervais talking with Larry David (comic nirvana). Lots of great clips from Curb interspersed with their discussion.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Summer Movie Releases - 6/19/09
The Proposal
Sandra Bullock faces deportation to Canada and fakes an engagement with her assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to stay. Haven't I seen this before? Is this a remake? Reynolds's Alaskan relatives (Betty White, Craig T. Nelson, Mary Steenburgen) sound interesting and the leads are certainly likable. Looks like a possible Priest review.
Year One
In ancient times, Jack Black and Michael Cera crack some anachronistic jokes. On the plus side, David Cross co-stars and Harold Ramis directs. This could go either way. The trailer has a couple of laughs, but am I the only one that feels that Black has never been a good lead and much better in support (High Fidelity, Tropic Thunder).
Whatever Works
Woody Allen returns to New York after a 4-year European stint. A cranky Larry David romances a girl (Evan Rachel Wood) way too young for him and tries to find some meaning to life. Haven't I seen this before? Is this a remake? Michael McKean, Patricia Clarkson, and Ed Begley, Jr. co-star. Early word is mixed, but I love David's exasperated and frustrated shtick.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The Year 2000 Revisited
American Psycho
Given Christian Bale’s recent success, I though I should give American Psycho another look. I liked it on first viewing (almost 9 years ago), but found it too gory and strange to be taken seriously. I must have less literal eyes now since it balanced the absurdity and social commentary perfectly this time around. Bale’s performance is a little mannered, but it works in a crazy sort of way. It’s very well written and directed. I love the use of pop music (especially personal guilty favorites Huey Lewis and Phil Collins) and the ambiguousness of the ending is perfect. I also love the interchangeability of Bateman and his colleagues (Josh Lucas, Jared Leto, and Justin Theroux). And there are a couple great shots of the Twin Towers- A-
Onward.
Billy Elliot
After Stephen Daldry received his third Best Director Oscar nomination last winter for The Reader, I decided to give his first feature, Billy Elliot, another chance when I ran across it on cable. I found his framing of the scenes and blocking of the actors impressive. The first time I saw the film (over 8 years ago), I liked it but dismissed it as overly sentimental. Now, viewing it through a father’s eyes for the first time, the story of a boy reaching his full potential and the sacrifices a parent (in this case, a father) makes hit me like a ton of bricks. Great films can be seen in different ways at different stages of your life. The film forces itself a little too much with the striking worker stuff, but the acting is great (especially by a tough Julie Walters). Who knows? Maybe The Hours and The Reader will relevant in 8 years. A-
Updated Best Films of 2000 List:
1. Traffic
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
3. Erin Brockovich
4. Almost Famous
5. You Can Count On Me
6. Cast Away
7. Billy Elliot
8. American Psycho
9. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
10. Gladiator
11. State and Main
12. Pollock
