Hankering After Greener Grass
By Lisa Miller
EXTRACT (2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Mike Judge
Starring Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Ben Affleck, Mila Kunis, Beth Grant, J.K. Simmons, Clifton Collins Jr., David Koechner, Gene Simmons, Javier Gutierrez, Dustin Milligan
Miramax-Rated R-Comedy-91 min
What if your carefully constructed empire proved to be your prison? This question is central to writer-director Mike Judge's new comedy -- and it's a doozie.
Everyman Joel Reynolds (Jason Bateman) thought he was living his dream. He invented a formula for a fine flavor extract and produces it in a factory owned by the company he built. When we meet Joel -- about 15 years into his entrepreneurial adventure -- he's realized his marriage to Suzie (Kristen Wiig) is on the brink of becoming a sexless, brother-sister-like relationship. The couple's upscale mansionette -- located in one of a those nouveau riche neighborhoods that popped up during the '90's -- has become a trap due to Joel's neighbor Nathan (David Koechner), ambushing Joel at every opportunity to hold long-winded discussions or to foist unwanted invitations onto Joel and his wife.
Joel blames his domestic unhappiness on long hours spent at work where he frequently finds his employees mired in resentment, racism, stupidity and greed. Low factory worker morale ought to be the concern of Joel's plant manager Brian (the ubiquitous, hilarious J. K. Simmons), but instead, Brian's superiority complex prevents him from learning the worker's names let alone familiarizing himself with their complaints.
Joel's professional problems might be solved by selling his factory to General Mills -- provided he can pass that corporation's sniff test -- but Joel's company acquires a bad smell soon after the arrival of temp worker Cindy (Mila Kunis). A flirty young grifter possessing a criminal history and a half dozen IDs, Cindy steals coworkers' wallets. Her grand scheme is to persuade redneck floor manager Step (Clifton Collins Jr.) to sue Joel for an injury resulting from a bizarre on-the-job-accident. Unaware of Cindy's real motives, Joel's lustful obsession with the pretty employee grows day by day.
Joel's adviser on personal problems is his bartender Dean (Ben Affleck), a pot head who sees the world through a smoky haze. Affleck, perhaps the funniest character in this stellar cast, gets just the right inflection of cross-eyed justifications into his character's many schemes. His most intriguing idea calls for Joel to hire an incredibly dense young stud muffin to clean Joel's swimming pool and service Joel's wife so that Joel can pursue a guilt-free affair with Cindy.
While few of the film's characters are completely without redeeming qualities, all are desirous of the forbidden. Judge reasons that it's in our nature to want what we're not entitled to without reaping the consequences of our actions. However, he rightly observes that every now and then we regret our actions, become willing to change and do our best to make amends. Rather than create a misanthropic comedy, Judge gives us a 4-step program to extract ourselves from the addictive effects of bad behavior. Step one is easy enough: See "Extract."
Gamer (2009)
* (Grade D)
Directed by Mark Neveldine Brian Taylor
Starring Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, Ludacris
Lionsgate-Rated R-Sci-Fi, Action-95 min
Following a lackluster Los Angeles test screening, "Gamer" has been kept under wraps. This ambitious story casts Butler as Kable, a living, breathing person controlled by a nanochip in his brain and forced to fight combatants -- gladiator style -- in the video game "Slayer." Kable desperately wants the freedom he was promised as reward for winning 30 games so he can rescue his wife trapped in yet another video game, "Society." Kable's wife is controlled by a creepy, obese gamer forcing her to explore the seamy underbelly of a dangerous city. Chaotic action relies on many a jump-cuts while the storyline struggles to move the action past bloody confrontations. Michael C. Hall, of "Dexter" fame, appears in a brief role as the game's cruel inventor, but since he and his adversary, Kable barely meet, the "Gamer" hasn't got much "game."
All About Steve (2009)
* (Grade D)
Directed by Phil Traill
Starring Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, Thomas Haden Church, Ken Jeong
Fox 2000-Rated PG-13-Comedy
Sandra Bullock goes blonde and eccentric for the role of Mary Horowitz, a crossword puzzle constructor. Following a brief blind date with handsome news cameraman Steve (Cooper), Mary becomes obsessed with him. She follows Steve cross country, disrupting his assignments. The film is saved by Church playing self-serving news reporter Hartman Hughes (Church), a blowhard encouraging Mary to follow her heart whatever the cost. Neither Steve nor Hartman could predict that Mary's oddball ways would garner her a collection of fans prompting Steve to take another look at Mary. Wouldn't it be cool if we could push a button to vote for who should get the girl? Why not Church?
The Final Destination (2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by David R. Ellis
Starring Nick Zano, Krista Allen, Andrew Fiscella, Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Haley Webb
New Line-Rated R-Horror-81 min
What promises to be a fun-filled day at the races is anything but after Nick's (Campo) premonition that a bizarre racing accident will kill him, his friends, and those around them. Having persuaded his girlfriend (VanSanten) and their companions (Webb and Zano) along with others, to leave the stands, the escapees are horrified to see Nick's prediction come true moments later. None is prepared for death to stalk them in the order they were scheduled to die, nor for the increasingly gruesome methods by which they will be killed. Can any of these kids cheat death again? If so, they'll need to understand the grim reaper's convoluted rules. The fourth "Final Destination" film marks the series's first 3D outing, a format that promises to intensify the visceral experience.
Halloween II (2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Rob Zombie
Starring Scout Taylor-Compton, Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell, Margaret Kidder, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Richard Brake, Sheri Moon Zombie
Dimension Films-Rated R-Horror-101 mins
Now that Rob Zombie has established the murderous Michael Meyers as the product of an abusive home, the director plans to explore the psychological effect on Michael's sister Laurie (Taylor-Compton), but not until Michael has escaped the mental institution and is determined to kill her. Zombie moves the action to Georgia where he hopes to "open up" the movie by using rural locations as the setting for the numerous grisly killings and employing longer shots to frame Michael's pursuit of Laurie. The return of Dr. Loomis (McDowell) as Michael's psychiatrist should be a plus. Zombie, who initially had no plans to direct a sequel, couldn't resist this opportunity though he claims to be striking out in a new direction. One thing's certain, "Halloween II," will be much darker than its competition, "The Final Destination" 3D.
Taking Woodstock (2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Ang Lee
Starring Demetri Martin, Paul Dano, Emile Hirsch, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Live Schreiber and Eugene Levy
Focus Features-Rated R-Comedy-110 min
Woodstock might never have happened if not for the efforts of Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin), a gay, Jewish interior designer, son of local motel owners. Based on the book by Tiber and Tom Monte, director Ang Lee mines the comedy arising from Tiber's efforts to locate the concert in the pastures of a local dairy farmer (Levy). As the event comes together, Tiber's family motel hits the jackpot, and Tiber meets a free-spirited transvestite (Schreiber) who helps the youth find his way out of the closet. Trivia note: Schreiber also starred in the often overlooked Woodstock-centric movie, 1999's "A Walk On The Moon."
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger
Weinstein Co.-Rated R-Drama-153 min
A small group of American soldiers, commanded by Aldo Raine (Pitt), plot to terrorize Nazi soldiers in Occupied France. Though Tarantino worked on his script for more than a decade, this rather conventional war movie is lacking his trademark rapier wit. Tension mounts when Hitler's SS plans a Paris film premiere to celebrate the exploits of their best sniper, Fredrick Zoller (Bruhl). A British lieutenant (Fassbender) organizes an Allied group known as the Basterds to blow up the theater. However, the cinema's owner (Laurent), has an even better idea. With spies everywhere, the Nazis come perilously close to uncovering both schemes. Expect an old-fashioned WWII drama and enjoy the film for Tarantino's expert technical construction.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Sept 3, 2009
District 9 (2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Neill Blomkamp
Starring Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Vanessa Haywood, Louis Minnaar
TriStar Pictures-Rated R-Science Fiction-152 min
Most alien invasion films envision an advanced race poised to conquer mankind, “District 9” imagines that given a chance, we will mistreat displaced extraterrestrials. This scenario gains credibility once we meet the "prawns," via pseudo-newsreel and documentary footage.
Arriving in a malfunctioning mothership, they look like an insect-lobster hybrid, stronger and are larger than humans. They speak in whirs and clicks through fluttering tentacles resembling a billowing mustache dangling over their mouthparts. These are not cuddly, endearing, nor even vaguely humanoid creatures.
The story begins 20 years after the prawn ship becomes marooned over Johannesburg, South Africa. A million prawns disembark at gunpoint to be interred in a miserable refugee camp called "District 9." Despite the camp's squalid conditions, the prawns double in number over the following two decades, causing unrest in the camp and provoking fear amongst Johannesburg's residents who want the camp relocated further from their city.
The film stereotypes the aliens as shiftless and violent, contained in camps where they can be controlled. The parallels to Nazi concentration camps or to Apartheid are obvious. Initially settling the camp on a garbage dump, the increasing value of this real estate constitutes the real motivation to relocate the aliens to a smaller, more isolated location.
The care and feeding of these creatures is contracted to the Multi-National United Corporation known as M.N.U. The movie plays into our notion that all big corporations are greedy and corrupt with hidden agendas of their own. The company's legal team insists that each prawn household must be served with an eviction notice 24 hours prior to moving to the camp. District 9's lawless conditions are worsened by gun-toting Nigerian gangsters selling goods at outrageous prices.
The daunting task of serving eviction notices falls to Wikus (Sharlto Copley), a somewhat naive, but gung-ho son-in-law of the region's M.N.U. overseer. Anything can and does go wrong when Wikus and dozens of heavily armed soldiers begin knocking on prawn doors. It's only fair to warn viewers that the film's violence is off the charts. Death by exploding bullet is a riot of blood and slime set against the muddied camp and pushing the squeamish factor through the roof.
Occurring in the present day, the developing plot sees Wikus targeted by his own company, but it was difficult to focus on his dilemma because my mind kept replaying the inhumane treatment of the prawns. Where was Amnesty International, Africa Rights, Advocates International, or Better World Campaign? Why didn't the Red Cross step up? Was there no underground movement on behalf of the prawns?
Though unbalanced by its one-sided perspective, the straight ahead storytelling is somewhat rescued by fascinating aliens, and by the humor and irony of Wikus' predicament. "District 9" succeeds as satire in an era ripe for spoofs masquerading as science fiction.
Inglourious Bastards (2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger
Weinstein Co.-Rated R-Drama-153 min
A small group of American soldiers, commanded by Aldo Raine (Pitt), plot to terrorize Nazi soldiers in Occupied France. Though Tarantino worked on his script for more than a decade, this rather conventional war movie is lacking his trademark rapier wit. Tension mounts when Hitler's SS plans a Paris film premiere to celebrate the exploits of their best sniper, Fredrick Zoller (Bruhl). A British lieutenant (Fassbender) organizes an Allied group known as the Bastards to blow up the theater. However, the cinema's owner (Laurent), has an even better idea. With spies everywhere, the Nazis come perilously close to uncovering both schemes. Expect an old-fashioned WWII drama and enjoy the film for Tarantino's expert technical construction.
Post Grad (2009)
* * (Grade C-)
Directed by Vicky Jenson
Starring Alexis Bledel, Catherine Reitman, Jane Lynch, Michael Keaton, Carol Burnett, Bobby Coleman, Zach Gilford, Rodrigo Santoro
Fox Searchlight-Rated PG-13-Comedy-89 min
Cute-as-a-button college grad Ryden Malby (Bledel), is compelled to move back home with her quirky family (Keaton, Lynch, Burnett and Coleman) because even her college fails to land her a good job. Between romantic misfires, domestic drama, and a series of humiliating, low-paying jobs, Ryden's path to independence remains elusive. Sadly, what begins as an effort to voice the frustrations of unemployed grads becomes a happy sappy romantic comedy. Lacking unique content, this film may quickly join the ranks of the unwatched.
The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Starring Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston, Jane McLean, Arliss Howard, Hailey McCann, Brooklynn Proulx
New Line Cinema-Rated PG-13-Drama, Science Fiction-147 min
This weepy drama is adapted from Audrey Niffenegger's novel positioning Henry (Bana) as a time-traveling librarian. Henry, stricken by a genetic "anomaly," lives his life in random order, disappearing into the past or future with no control over where or when, but he always returns to the beautiful Clare (McAdams) who first met a handsome adult version of Henry while still a child. She anxiously wants to grow up so Henry can fulfill his promise to marry her, but domestic bliss proves to be a fantasy since Henry frequently disappears, only to reappear days, weeks or months later. For every element of the wondrous "Benjamin Button," there's a chunk of the weepy "Notebook," meant to stir romantic notions into a tearful potboiler.
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Neal Brennan
Starring Jeremy Piven, Ving Rhames, David Koechner
Paramount Vantage-Rated R-Comedy-90 min
The second project from Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions, (the first being "The Foot Fist Way"), "The Goods" smartly relies on a maniacal Jeremy Piven to deliver the laughs. As Don Ready, a used-car liquidator, Piven's character is hired to turn a troubled car dealer's Fourth of July event into a money-maker. Colorful characters are played by Ving Rhames and David Koechner, while director Neal Brennan, known for his involvement on the hit, "Chappelle's Show," comes on board to synchronize the film's fireworks.
Ponyo (2008)
* * *1/2 (Grade A-)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, Peter Sohn
Voiced by Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Noah Lindsey Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Cloris Leachman, Lily Tomlin, Betty White
Disney-Rated G-Animated, Family-100 min
Hayao Miyazaki's latest family film is rendered in traditional 2-D animation and retrofitted with an all-star English voice cast for its American release. The story, loosely based on "The Little Mermaid," finds young fish princess Ponyo (voiced by Cyrus) longing to become human after being pulled from the sea by a 5-year-old boy named Sosuke (Jonas). The children must prove the power of their love by using it to realign a precariously unbalanced natural world. Liam Neeson intones Ponyo's overprotective father -- once a man who transformed himself into a fish king while Cate Blanchett voices Ponyo's mother. In Miyazaki's imaginative vision, all animate and inanimate objects are changelings, a concept easily understood by children everywhere.
Bandslam (2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Todd Graff
Starring Alyson Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell, Lisa Kudrow
Summit Entertainment-Rated PG-Drama-151 min
Another year, another tweeny performance-centric drama set against the backdrop of high school. A girl-meets-boy romance evolves when the school's popular Charlotte (Michalka) persuades the school outcast Will (Connell) and his friend Sa5m played by Hudgens (the 5 is silent, hee hee) to help form a rock band for an upcoming competition known as "Bandslam." Lisa Kudrow appears as Will's mom in this original screenplay, unusual because it doesn't rely on previously established Disney or Nickelodeon Channel characters, but takes its chances on the tween movie-going wave that has made productions of this ilk both popular and profitable.
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Neill Blomkamp
Starring Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Vanessa Haywood, Louis Minnaar
TriStar Pictures-Rated R-Science Fiction-152 min
Most alien invasion films envision an advanced race poised to conquer mankind, “District 9” imagines that given a chance, we will mistreat displaced extraterrestrials. This scenario gains credibility once we meet the "prawns," via pseudo-newsreel and documentary footage.
Arriving in a malfunctioning mothership, they look like an insect-lobster hybrid, stronger and are larger than humans. They speak in whirs and clicks through fluttering tentacles resembling a billowing mustache dangling over their mouthparts. These are not cuddly, endearing, nor even vaguely humanoid creatures.
The story begins 20 years after the prawn ship becomes marooned over Johannesburg, South Africa. A million prawns disembark at gunpoint to be interred in a miserable refugee camp called "District 9." Despite the camp's squalid conditions, the prawns double in number over the following two decades, causing unrest in the camp and provoking fear amongst Johannesburg's residents who want the camp relocated further from their city.
The film stereotypes the aliens as shiftless and violent, contained in camps where they can be controlled. The parallels to Nazi concentration camps or to Apartheid are obvious. Initially settling the camp on a garbage dump, the increasing value of this real estate constitutes the real motivation to relocate the aliens to a smaller, more isolated location.
The care and feeding of these creatures is contracted to the Multi-National United Corporation known as M.N.U. The movie plays into our notion that all big corporations are greedy and corrupt with hidden agendas of their own. The company's legal team insists that each prawn household must be served with an eviction notice 24 hours prior to moving to the camp. District 9's lawless conditions are worsened by gun-toting Nigerian gangsters selling goods at outrageous prices.
The daunting task of serving eviction notices falls to Wikus (Sharlto Copley), a somewhat naive, but gung-ho son-in-law of the region's M.N.U. overseer. Anything can and does go wrong when Wikus and dozens of heavily armed soldiers begin knocking on prawn doors. It's only fair to warn viewers that the film's violence is off the charts. Death by exploding bullet is a riot of blood and slime set against the muddied camp and pushing the squeamish factor through the roof.
Occurring in the present day, the developing plot sees Wikus targeted by his own company, but it was difficult to focus on his dilemma because my mind kept replaying the inhumane treatment of the prawns. Where was Amnesty International, Africa Rights, Advocates International, or Better World Campaign? Why didn't the Red Cross step up? Was there no underground movement on behalf of the prawns?
Though unbalanced by its one-sided perspective, the straight ahead storytelling is somewhat rescued by fascinating aliens, and by the humor and irony of Wikus' predicament. "District 9" succeeds as satire in an era ripe for spoofs masquerading as science fiction.
Inglourious Bastards (2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger
Weinstein Co.-Rated R-Drama-153 min
A small group of American soldiers, commanded by Aldo Raine (Pitt), plot to terrorize Nazi soldiers in Occupied France. Though Tarantino worked on his script for more than a decade, this rather conventional war movie is lacking his trademark rapier wit. Tension mounts when Hitler's SS plans a Paris film premiere to celebrate the exploits of their best sniper, Fredrick Zoller (Bruhl). A British lieutenant (Fassbender) organizes an Allied group known as the Bastards to blow up the theater. However, the cinema's owner (Laurent), has an even better idea. With spies everywhere, the Nazis come perilously close to uncovering both schemes. Expect an old-fashioned WWII drama and enjoy the film for Tarantino's expert technical construction.
Post Grad (2009)
* * (Grade C-)
Directed by Vicky Jenson
Starring Alexis Bledel, Catherine Reitman, Jane Lynch, Michael Keaton, Carol Burnett, Bobby Coleman, Zach Gilford, Rodrigo Santoro
Fox Searchlight-Rated PG-13-Comedy-89 min
Cute-as-a-button college grad Ryden Malby (Bledel), is compelled to move back home with her quirky family (Keaton, Lynch, Burnett and Coleman) because even her college fails to land her a good job. Between romantic misfires, domestic drama, and a series of humiliating, low-paying jobs, Ryden's path to independence remains elusive. Sadly, what begins as an effort to voice the frustrations of unemployed grads becomes a happy sappy romantic comedy. Lacking unique content, this film may quickly join the ranks of the unwatched.
The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Starring Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston, Jane McLean, Arliss Howard, Hailey McCann, Brooklynn Proulx
New Line Cinema-Rated PG-13-Drama, Science Fiction-147 min
This weepy drama is adapted from Audrey Niffenegger's novel positioning Henry (Bana) as a time-traveling librarian. Henry, stricken by a genetic "anomaly," lives his life in random order, disappearing into the past or future with no control over where or when, but he always returns to the beautiful Clare (McAdams) who first met a handsome adult version of Henry while still a child. She anxiously wants to grow up so Henry can fulfill his promise to marry her, but domestic bliss proves to be a fantasy since Henry frequently disappears, only to reappear days, weeks or months later. For every element of the wondrous "Benjamin Button," there's a chunk of the weepy "Notebook," meant to stir romantic notions into a tearful potboiler.
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Neal Brennan
Starring Jeremy Piven, Ving Rhames, David Koechner
Paramount Vantage-Rated R-Comedy-90 min
The second project from Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions, (the first being "The Foot Fist Way"), "The Goods" smartly relies on a maniacal Jeremy Piven to deliver the laughs. As Don Ready, a used-car liquidator, Piven's character is hired to turn a troubled car dealer's Fourth of July event into a money-maker. Colorful characters are played by Ving Rhames and David Koechner, while director Neal Brennan, known for his involvement on the hit, "Chappelle's Show," comes on board to synchronize the film's fireworks.
Ponyo (2008)
* * *1/2 (Grade A-)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, Peter Sohn
Voiced by Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Noah Lindsey Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Cloris Leachman, Lily Tomlin, Betty White
Disney-Rated G-Animated, Family-100 min
Hayao Miyazaki's latest family film is rendered in traditional 2-D animation and retrofitted with an all-star English voice cast for its American release. The story, loosely based on "The Little Mermaid," finds young fish princess Ponyo (voiced by Cyrus) longing to become human after being pulled from the sea by a 5-year-old boy named Sosuke (Jonas). The children must prove the power of their love by using it to realign a precariously unbalanced natural world. Liam Neeson intones Ponyo's overprotective father -- once a man who transformed himself into a fish king while Cate Blanchett voices Ponyo's mother. In Miyazaki's imaginative vision, all animate and inanimate objects are changelings, a concept easily understood by children everywhere.
Bandslam (2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Todd Graff
Starring Alyson Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell, Lisa Kudrow
Summit Entertainment-Rated PG-Drama-151 min
Another year, another tweeny performance-centric drama set against the backdrop of high school. A girl-meets-boy romance evolves when the school's popular Charlotte (Michalka) persuades the school outcast Will (Connell) and his friend Sa5m played by Hudgens (the 5 is silent, hee hee) to help form a rock band for an upcoming competition known as "Bandslam." Lisa Kudrow appears as Will's mom in this original screenplay, unusual because it doesn't rely on previously established Disney or Nickelodeon Channel characters, but takes its chances on the tween movie-going wave that has made productions of this ilk both popular and profitable.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
