Satoshi Kon Month: Perfect Blue

 
 
As February comes to a close, I come to the final work that I’ve chosen to cover by famed anime film director Satoshi Kon. All month I’ve talked about Kon’s ability to use surreal imagery to explore human nature and as he continued his career, he slowly but surely came to perfect his method of storytelling. His directorial debut however, was noteworthy in not only showcasing his potential but what the things that he would soon improve on in hindsight. Don’t misunderstand me, I absolutely adore his first film but it does have more than its fair share of differences from the rest of his work. How so, you ask? Let’s find out and wrap up my tribute to one of Japan’s finest directors by taking a look at the launch pad for his career, “Perfect Blue”.

Popular pop idol singer Mima Kirigoe has received much praise for her abilities in the entertainment arts, not only being a good singer but showing potential as an actress. Seeking to break out into an acting career, Mima leaves her group for a role on popular direct-to-video drama series “Double Bind”. Although things start optimistically, the camera shy Mima soon begins to crumble under the pressures of performing, which culminates in her hallucinating about her pop idol self demanding her to return to singing. In addition, she has also found an online diary of her life that she hasn’t written but is too detailed to be written by somebody else, begging the question of whether or not somebody is truly posting about her life without her consent or if she is subconsciously writing what she feels.

I have to say for a 13 year old animated film, “Perfect Blue” holds up exceptionally well. Technically speaking, the animation of the film still looks as great now as it did back then by any standards. The crisp and realistic movement animations combine with the dark, unsettling lighting of the movie to not only serves to fully immerse you into Mima’s world but make her descent into madness that much more disturbing as you not only experience it firsthand but feels as if your watching it happen to yourself.

The spectacular sound editing adds to the atmosphere of every moment. The music is tense when Mima is under pressure, the sudden stops in sound bring everything to a standstill for more contemplative moments, and despite a few instances of overacting at in the very begin, the voice work ranges from solid to stellar throughout the film. Mima’s sense of panic feels genuine as does the care that her manager has for her as she suffers from the stress of her shift in career along with the many other performances.

Mima’s ever growing pressure and concern over public image that is pushing her over the edge is demonstrated by the film’s editing to make almost every scene after she starts her acting job seem like an illusion. By doing this, the film regularly subverts the expectations one can come up with at the moment by immediately contradicting it, making the film hard to decipher until its climax, which is so tense and nearly horrifying that you’ll be up right and glued to the screen for the last 20 minutes of the movie. Unfortunately, this can lead to some confusion when first watching the film. In doing this, it somewhat sacrifices the overall quality of the initial viewing for rewatchability but it ultimately resonates powerfully nonetheless.

“Perfect Blue” is a fantastic character study that only gets better with subsequent views. Although Satoshi Kon would improve his filmmaking ability in the years to come, his creation of one of the greatest thrillers ever made, animated or otherwise, was a spectacular kick off to his career. He was an underrated genius as far as I’m concerned and he will be sorely missed.

Satoshi Kon Month: Millennium Actress

In my Paprika review, I talked about director Satoshi Kon’s ability to explore the human condition through surreal art. Paprika was a masterpiece that deconstructed the human mind to create a psychological thriller like no other. Despite its exploration of the human mind however, something lacking from it, not to a fault mind you, but still rather noticeably is the element of human emotion. Fortunately his catalogue is not devoid of stories that tug at the heartstrings. If Paprika was his mindbender, “Millennium Actress” is undoubtedly his art house film, minus the pretention.

Chiyoko Fujiwara is a famous actress, now living her life as an old woman, retired and in seclusion. Aiming to create a documentary about her, film director Genya Tachibana tracks her down hoping to have a conversation with her for his film, leading to the telling of Chiyoko’s life story. Through the use of Chiyoko’s filmography to interpret specific events in her life, the film tells the story of Chiyoko’s life, starting from living in fascist pre-World War II era Japan as a teenager, where she encounters an artist running from the government and falls in love with him. His opposition to the government forces him to flee but when she realizes that he has left behind the key to his art supplies, she dedicates herself to tracking him down to return it and profess her love to him. In order to do this, she takes an offer by a director to for a lead role in his film which shoots in the location that the artist fled in, marking the start of her long career and journey to find him by using her job as an actress as a means to travel.

The movie is essentially a telling of Chiyoko’s life story, covering her growth from a teenage girl into a woman and detailing her search for the artist. Where the story takes a different turn however, it that story is not simply narrated through flashback but rather it uses cinematic settings, that are hinted to be films that Chiyoko has worked on, as an illustration of different points in her life and a representation of her own personal conflict within those moments. For example, when Chiyoko is being told to let go of her childish goals of finding her lost love, it’s done while shooting a drama in which the character she is playing struggles to grasp control of her own life and stop listening to her mother. When she is reunited with her love and he is taken into custody, the scene unfolds in a feudal era Japan complete with the arresting police depicted as samurai. Told in a very metafictional fashion, the film leaves you constantly guessing as to how to interpret the story unfolding on screen.

The film never deliberately tells you what is real, what is fictional, what is symbolic, or even if any of it is real in the first place. A room of three people can watch this film and come up with six different interpretations total, neither of them having any less credibility than the other.

“Millennium Actress” keeps you thinking throughout the course of its entire hour and a half run time, as you not only cheer Chiyoko on in her goal but hope and pray that wherever her journey takes her, she ends it being happy. I found myself emotionally invested in every second of the film from start to finish, holding my breath when it got suspenseful, being genuinely surprised at the twists and turns that the story makes and ultimately being nearly moved to tears at the heart wrenching final revelation of the ending.

Kon proves his understanding of the human condition with “Millennium Actress”. This film has instilled in me every possible emotion in the spectrum and my only regret is that it took me this long to discover its greatness.


10/10

Satoshi Kon Month: Paprika review

Before I begin discussion of the masterpiece that I have been treated to, I’m sure there is a good number of those reading this that have no idea who Satoshi Kon is, whether you’ve seen his work or not. To those people, I say, Google was created for a reason, so stop wallowing in ignorance, this review will still be here when you get back. For those too lazy to direct their browsers to the nearest search engine, Satoshi Kon was a Japanese writer, animator, and director that earned his fame for his stories that explored the nature of the human mind, presenting stories in such a fashion that required the viewer to actively analyze and sort out which events are real and which events are fabrications of the protagonist’s psyche. The more mainstream anime fan may have heard of his lone television series, “Paranoia Agent”. Unfortunately, after a battle with terminal pancreatic cancer, he passed away at the age of 46 years old in August of 2010. So in honor of the 6 month anniversary of his loss, what better way to celebrate his legacy by reviewing some of his most noteworthy work, starting with his last complete project and what in my opinion is his opus?


If there is one thing in modern day stories that I cannot stand, it is surrealism. For those unfamiliar with the term, surrealism is an artistic visual style reliant on surprise and unexpected imagery in order to convey some form of hidden meaning. I can appreciate it by all means when it’s done properly but my problem with it stems from the fact that it has become a crutch for more pretentious artists to fall back on. What was once a genuinely unique and offbeat way of conveying ideas has become a safety net for sequential artists and storytellers, that don’t know how to tell stories using sequential art. Anybody can do it but it can only be done right when talent is involved in making it happen. Keeping all of this in mind, I went into “Paprika” with my fair amount of reservations. After seeing some of Satoshi Kon’s previous work, I was put slightly at ease at the evidence that he was indeed capable of succeeding in accomplishing such a feat. However, no amount of faith that I had in his directing could have prepared me for the treat I was in for; a movie that seems to be constructed entirely around the concept I’m so critical of and yet so coherent that I was forced to think just as much about what I was watching during my viewing of the film as much as I was after it was said and done.

In the near future, advancements in technology have allowed the process of psychotherapy to be performed much more thoroughly. Through the use of an experimental device known as the DC Mini, users of the device can interact with others through their dreams, allowing them to peak into their subconscious and even persuade them to do things in the outside world. Unfortunately, a man with high connections takes advantage of this form of mind control, killing people within the company that produces the device that can stop his plans. This leaves Doctor Atsuko Chiba with the responsibility of unraveling the mystery of this secret hypnotist in the dreamscape through the use of her alter ego, a red haired manipulator of the dreamscape named Paprika.

As I’ve stated before, my problems with surrealism is that it rarely serves a purpose in the long run. If you’re going to rip me out of the story that I’m invested in to show me something odd, it better damn well contribute to something. “Paprika” has got to have some of the most psychedelic imagery that I’ve seen in quite some time; anthropomorphized objects, manipulating physics and space, and quite a few scenes of fetish and nightmare fuel alike that have been burned into my head. That said, I loved every second of it. The way that the film presents its dreamscape and seamlessly blends in its own set of physics gives you a clear distinction between what is reality and what takes place in the mind for the sake of story coherence, yet contains a slightly unsettling undertone that makes you feel that anything can happen at the most unexpected of times. It leaves the viewer wondering in the back of their minds what they’re actually watching but presents a traditional narrative that can still be viewed and followed clearly, making it just as powerful on its initial viewing as it is on all subsequent views. All of it is presented through crisp high quality animation that never ceases to be a treat to the eyes.

The characters however, are what make the story so compelling. The psychological issues studied by the film through each character that makes the dream setting so fascinating, such as a psychiatric patient that feels as though he’s failed his dead friend because of his failure to commit to a personal project and a doctors obsession with perfecting the DC Mini technology despite the dangers of the current predicament. The movie explores all of these issues using Paprika as a sort of guide for the audience to focus on and her fascinating and unpredictable nature of her makes her that much more endearing to watch. All of this is compounded by top quality voice acting, making it a terrific sci-fi drama regardless of its animated status.

This is the last film that Kon worked on before his death, dying in the middle of his next project, a movie called “The Dream Machine”. I can’t predict how well that film would have been and I’m curious to see what it will be like when the new production team brings it to fruition but had this been his final film, he would have went out with a bang. “Paprika” is one of the freshest, most thought provoking, and simply entertaining movies that I have seen in years and after renting it via Netflix, I intend to buy it the second I come into disposable income. I implore you all to celebrate his legacy by enjoying it and be sure to return sporadically throughout the month to see what else of his work you should look into.

10/10


I'd like to thank Imageshack (http://img147.imageshack.us/i/paprika.jpg/sr=1),  ADTR Wiki (http://www.adtrwiki.com/index.php?title=Paprika), and Girl Power Anime (http://girlpoweranime.blogspot.com/2010/08/paprika.html), for the images used in this review.

CrapShoot 2011: Cop Out

 
Before I talk about Kevin Smith’s recent failure to live up to expectations, I would like to apologize for the lack of posts over the course of the last week. When I started CrapShoot, I was truly excited at the prospect of getting to chew out the crap that deserves no mercy. I rarely get to vent about the things that I hate so it has been a genuinely refreshing experience. After suffering a massive hardware failure of something very important to me however, I was cut off from the means by which I intended to review two of the last films in the lineup.


The situation is taken care of now but after dropping a lot of money to fix it and feeling the wear of 5 bad movies in a row, I am left feeling that if I have to stomach one more bad movie piled on with the hassle of the last week, I will be powerfully tempted to jump out of the next elevated window that I see. So for the sake of my own sanity, if nothing else, I feel the need to change pace early and start thinking positively. By no means is this a cancellation; I still intend to watch the remaining garbage that I have picked out, just don’t expect it in the coming weeks. With that said however, I still have one more to tackle before I put this event behind me for the time being.

 

 
 
In all honesty, despite the mixed reception of his career in the critical and public eye (or perhaps in spite of it), I have no true opinion of Kevin Smith. I’ve heard the praise over “Clerks” and “Chasing Amy”, I’ve heard the criticism over “Mallrats” and “Clerks 2” and I’ve heard every comment regarding “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” under the sun, from stupid to underrated but I have not seen enough of the man’s work to give a genuine comment on his career. So keep in mind, the fact that I hold no ill will towards him when I say “Cop Out” sucks.


I may have brought it up before but in case I haven’t, the worst bad movies always end up being the bad comedies. Nothing is worse than being pummeled with joke after joke without having a single laugh. It turns what is intended to be light fun into a dull chore to sit through.


In what is supposedly an homage to the buddy cop film, “Cop Out” stars Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as loose cannon NYPD officers Jimmy Monroe and Paul Hodges respectively. Hoping to pay for his daughter’s wedding, Jimmy takes on a case in hopes that the payoff will be able to cover the expensive ceremony.


So as anybody that could have watched a trailer could guess, the biggest problem with “Cop Out” is that it just isn’t funny. I can count maybe 4 to 5 times that I may have chuckled throughout the movie but never once was the viewing experience worthwhile. Most of the jokes fall between random and obnoxious or simply flat. Furthermore I don’t exactly know what kind of “homage” this film is supposed to be paying but spouting off random lines from completely unrelated genre fiction to unbelievably disorient a criminal into spilling secrets is not exactly the first image that comes to mind when I think of a buddy cop movie.


The comedy isn’t helped by the fact that acting is all of the place. As a whole, the acting is consistently bland with the odd exception of the Willis and Morgan. Morgan is the typical high energy, over the top, black, annoying comic relief. I found myself mesmerized by Willis however, who spends the entire movie with this tired, dull look on his face as if he knew this was not going to go well for his career. It’s like that feeling you get whenever you have to get out of bed for work on a Monday morning because it’s the start of a long week. It’s often joked that certain people in Hollywood should apologize for the terrible work that they’re in. This movie was by no means bad enough to demand an apology for but judging from the look on his face in the film, you get the feeling that getting one out of him wouldn’t be that difficult.


What may be even worse than the comedy of the movie however, is that I was somehow disappointed after sitting through the whole thing. I saw potential in this thing, I really did. There are a few jokes here and there that elicited a chuckle from me and I was actually surprised to find a moment or two in which Morgan and Willis both had genuine chemistry, leading to scenes that were actually touching. I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing this movie rewritten and reshot with competent writing and direction.


As far as bad movies go, this one may waste the most potential out of everything that I’ve seen on this list so far. If you’re really curious, you won’t beat yourself up for renting it but after all is said and done, you may be left asking why you bothered in the first place.

4/10

CrapShoot 2011: Marmaduke

I remember a special, more magical time years ago when 20^th Century Fox used to put out movies that were actually worth a damn. It was a time when you knew you were probably in for fun whenever you heard those drums playing into a shot of searchlights highlighting one of the most iconic logos in American history. Following in the footsteps of “Alvin and the Chipmunks” before it, “Marmaduke”, based on the newspaper comic strip of the same name continues 20^th Century Fox’s marketing plan to bank on the ignorance of kids while slowly erasing any credibility They may have left. 

Marmaduke (voiced by Owen Wilson) is the fun loving yet trouble making dog of the Winslow family. His owner and head of the family, Phil (Lee Pace), in an attempt to offer his ungrateful, disneyfied family a better life, decides to take a job offer that has the family move to California. There, Marmaduke makes new friends and learns life lessons as he tries to win the affections of the most popular female dog of the town (Fergie), who happens to be the girlfriend of the alpha dog of the town (Kiefer Sutherland) as well, oblivious to the feelings that his new best friend (Emma Stone) has for him.

            

“Marmaduke” was a particularly hard one to sit through. It’s bad, no doubts or arguments about it but what I genuinely found annoying about “Marmaduke” was the formula and clichés of its story. I am a huge fan of the late great director, producer, and screenwriter, John Hughes. The man knew how to perfectly humanize teenagers in film, depicting their realistic drama and problems with a realistic weight and logical solutions rather than putting them on an annoying melodramatic level of most bad teen soap operatic stories of modern and bygone periods, “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” being two of my absolute favorite movies of all time. I bring this up because “Marmaduke” follows the tropes of Hughes’ films to a T, which makes it all the more painful to watch as it’s insipid, yet constantly ripping off a plethora of films that I genuinely love.

            

“Marmaduke” has all of the trappings of a stereotypical juvenile kid’s flick; fart jokes, pee jokes, dog puns, pop-culture references, an agonizingly annoying dance number before the credits, you name it, and this movie is guilty of it. Add to that, the horrible CGI talking mouths for the pets that never once stop being jarring to look at, and you’ve got a successful helping of insult added to your injury. All of that is just revolving around Marmaduke himself however. When the film doesn’t focus on his zany (un)funny antics, you’ve got Phil trying to desperately overcome his crippling case of “Disney Dad Syndrome”, the symptoms of which include, an unappreciative, unforgiving, and ungrateful family that criticizes every move he makes for his job to pay for their way of life, for simply not dropping his work completely to spend quality time with them.

            

Okay now for a few positives. As bad as the product is as a whole, I am genuinely surprised at how excellent the voice acting was. They may not have had much material to work with but this is one of the few instances in which a star studded cast for a studio film actually enhanced the movie rather than do nothing for it. In addition, Phil’s boss, played by William H. Macy, also has a few funny moments that are enhanced by Macy’s performance. They were the only chuckles I got out of the entire movie

            

All faults aside, the problems of “Marmaduke” can be seen coming a mile away if you were to so much as a take a 5 second glance at a poster for the movie. I wasn’t expecting much and I essentially got just that. It is what it is and what it is is simply a bad children’s movie. Not a terrible one but a bad one nonetheless.

3.5/10

CrapShoot 2011: Jonah Hex

Watching “The Last Airbender” was like crossing an event horizon that I hoped to never see in my life. When I started this week, I went in hoping to have fun poking at bad movies but all I’ve been treated to so far is bland animation and a cinematic travesty that I am convinced has shaved two years off of my life expectancy. Maybe I’ve been beaten into submission by the horrors of M. Night’s career killer and I’ll freely admit that watching an Uwe Boll movie probably would have been an improvement over subjecting me to that nightmare again. That said however, I find myself shocked and pleasantly surprised to find that the film of the bunch that I expected to spit the most venom at has so far been the most enjoyable of the week. Every element of “Jonah Hex” was calculated for me to hate it; a non-superhero story and character amped up to be over the top to appeal to the lowest common denominator, period inappropriate music despite imagery clearly designed to evoke the feel of a western, Megan Fox acting. Despite all of this, I had an undeniable amount of fun with “Jonah Hex”.

Based on the DC comic book character, “Jonah Hex” features the titular character, portrayed by Josh Brolin, on a quest for revenge against Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich), a confederate Civil War veteran that killed his family after disobeying an order to burn down a hospital. The twist; Turnbull is a member of an anarchist cult planning a convoluted plot to plunge the United States into chaos through the use of an impossible war machine.

The key to accepting “Jonah Hex” is to accept the nature of “Jonah Hex”. “Jonah Hex” just may possibly be the dumbest movie that I have come across in recent history and applaud it for that. Jonah speaks to the dead because he almost died, sure. Horse mounted rail guns, why not? An implausible doomsday weapon that puts the mechanical spider from “Wild Wild West” to shame, god speed. This movie is so gloriously stupid that it makes Michael Bay films look like high art. The saving grace of its lack of logic however is that Jonah Hex never takes itself seriously for one second. It’s cheesy but not lazy or pretentious.

A good deal of the enjoyment stems from the surprisingly solid performances of the cast. It’s a shame that the film took the path that it ultimately did (For which I blame the director’s approach and blatant Hollywood influence) because Josh Brolin actually makes for a fantastic Jonah Hex, being dry, sarcastic and angry with just a hint of remorse that make the character himself so compelling. If Warner Bros. ever decides to reboot this property and do it right, I wouldn’t mind seeing him reprise his role. Although John Malkovich’s performance is ultimately forgettable, his Irish sidekick played by Michael Fassbender steals the show whenever he’s onscreen. You can tell he had fun with his role. And of course Megan Fox is Megan Fox. I’d complain about her bland acting but at this point, if she’s decided to spend her career being nothing but eye candy, I’ve given up on expecting more from her.

Clocking in at only 80 minutes in length, “Jonah Hex” is less than 10 minutes over the required length to be a theatrical release. This may be a technical flaw but I truly appreciate its brevity as watching such poor direction and executive mandate over a screenplay that was actually solid probably would have worn on my nerves after a while.

Ultimately, “Jonah Hex” is a fine textbook example of junk food cinema. It is by all means a bad movie and at a time in which studios are finally beginning to treat comic book adaptations with some integrity, it promotes a regressive image that makes me thankful that it was such a huge financial bomb at the box office. That said however, I had genuine fun with it and as far as failures go, it is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining mishandlings of any source material that I have ever seen. And for that, I salute it.

6.5/10 

CrapShoot 2011: The Last Airbender

I sit here at my keyboard speechless, as I write of my experience with what may possibly be one of the most horrendous cinematic abominations that dares to call itself a movie. I am in genuine shock; not since “Battlefield Earth” have I seen a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster fail so spectacularly to tell a story, visually wow or just flat out entertain on every conceivable level possible. How the man that directed the phenomenal “Unbreakable” managed to adapt such a travesty out of one of the best cartoons of the last decade continues to just baffle me but somehow M. Night Shyamalan has managed to create in his adaptation of the critically acclaimed “Avatar: The Last Airbender” a film so god-awful that it should be preserved, studied, and dissected in film classes in lessons of what never to do when telling a story.


“The Last Airbender” is set in a fantasy world in which the civilizations of ancient Asia (or what is supposed to be Asia) are split into 4 groups that each worships a different element of nature: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. The titular character, Aang, is the last of his people, the Air Nomads, who held a mastery over air and were wiped out by the power-hungry Fire Nation. Shortly before their invasion, Aang learned that he was the most recent airbending reincarnation of the Avatar, a human being capable of mastering all 4 elements and tasked with keeping the peace between the nations, thus the world. Upon the discovery of his destiny, Aang flees before he could receive his training, overwhelmed by the responsibilities that lie ahead of him. Through means that go unexplained however, he somehow gets frozen in an iceberg for 100 years, only to be found by South Pole Water Tribe members and siblings Katara and Sokka who have lived under the oppression of the ruling Fire Nation their entire lives. Together, the group seeks to accomplish the poorly defined goals of the plot that will somehow lead to the restoration of world peace.


This paragraph long synopsis may be one of the hardest things that I have ever had to write because it somehow contains more depth and detail about the story than the entire length of the movie itself. “The Last Airbender” is like being told a spoiler-free plot synopsis of the first season of the cartoon; it gives you enough to know what the point of the story is but fails to give you any of the character development, emotion, twists, revelations, action set pieces, or humor that is actually necessary to make a story satisfying. Never once does this movie truly define the personalities of the actors’ characters, tell you what is supposed to be the goal or motivation of the characters, tell you how they reach certain points and conclusions, or simply give you a reason to care about them. I had to frequently stop the film for entire minutes on hand to rant and rave against the gaping plot holes and inconsistencies that seemed to pop up every minute and a half.


For example, one scene involves Aang, Katara and Sokka being captured by Fire Nation soldiers and imprisoned in a prison camp composed primarily of earthbenders. The earthbenders are completely surrounded by their natural element; why didn’t they revolt against the soldiers before? Furthermore, it is only after this scene that Aang makes the revelation that he must master all of the remaining elements, beginning with water. If he didn’t already know that, where the hell was he even traveling to begin with? I’ve read crappy internet fan fiction with more consistency than this movie.


Every performance is bland and stilted, from newcomer Noah Ringer as Aang to rising stars Nicole Peltz and Jackson Rathbone as his travelling companions. Even real talent like Dev Patel and Shaun Toub, whom I adore in “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Iron Man” respectively, can’t help but go between stoic and overacting thanks to the piss poor material that they are given. The costume design and lame fight choreography only help to further dig the hole that this movie finds itself in within 15 minutes of its opening. It doesn’t help that the casting of the movie is all over the place, such as the main water tribe protagonists and their grandmother conveniently being the only Caucasians in a tribe of Eskimos (Hollywood White-washing or director incompetence? I believe that it’s a little bit of both). Watching convention cosplayers give a stage performance of fight sequences without wiring would probably look more convincing than any scene of this movie.


Even the special effects are highly unremarkable. When the bending doesn’t look like unconvincing CGI, it lacks the speed, impact or fury to really feel like an attack that was meant to hurt somebody. Special mention to the dull grey barely visible wind effect on the airbending and the pathetic flames of the fire bending that look like they can extinguished by turning on my bedroom ceiling fan.


I was ready to dislike this one, I was ready to watch a film that was more than likely going to be utter garbage and I was more than ready to type up a scathing review afterward but I could not have prepared myself for what I just sat through no matter how hard I tried. I knew there were some stinkers on the list that I have lined up but I am now officially walking away with battle scars on my very soul. “The Last Airbender” is so light on actual content and substance that it makes cotton candy look like a steak dinner by comparison yet makes 90 minutes feel like almost 3 hours.


It is not simply a bastardization of a terrific source material but the final nail in the coffin for M. Night Shyamalan’s credibility as a filmmaker, an embarrassment that every actor involved is dying to put behind them, and is far beyond the shadow of a doubt, one of the worst theatrically released movies that I have ever seen in my life and I feel dumber for having sat through it. Don’t suffer my fate and avoid it like the plague. After watching this, I feel that I now have to rewatch the series, despite pulling what I had intended to be a final viewing of it last summer, just to remove the bad taste from my mouth. All I can do is pray that this is as low as it gets.


1.5/10

CrapShoot 2011: Alpha and Omega

Ah, the animated classics of 2010. Toy Story 3, How to train your Dragon, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, Alpha and Omega, all excellent… hang on a minute, one of these does not belong but which is it? Imaginative tale of living toys coming to term with the success of their life mission and what to do with it accomplished, touching fantasy about a boy and his pet that is shunned by society, the hero’s journey of a young owl with some of the best animation ever seen, or bland and generic star studded road trip comedy about 2 wolves that fall in love over the epically long course of 2 days? So help me god if any of you single out the owl movie I will track you down and show no mercy.

All joking aside, there are many of you that apparently have not heard of or seen “Alpha and Omega” as the film just barely made back its low $20 million budget in its theatrical run. Although I can easily understand why the marketing played a big role in sinking this movie, its actual quality didn’t exactly help matters either. “Alpha and Omega” plays on the road trip and rom-com clichés of every film, animated and live action that has come before it. Kate (voiced by Hayden Panettiere) is a hardworking duty bound alpha wolf forced to work together with Humphrey (Justin Long), a lighthearted wisecracking omega from the same pack, in order to return home to after being captured by wildlife preservers for a national park. Does that synopsis sound rather soulless to you? I assure you that it had more heart than this movie.

It may seem like I’m dodging the question of how bad “Alpha and Omega” really is. And in all honesty, I am, because this movie is ultimately the worst kind of bad a film can possibly be; dry, mediocre, and just flat out boring. This movie does not miss a beat, painfully performing every possible trope of animated films to a T, from dance numbers, to excruciating music numbers, all coupled with a plot that is lacks any true drama or danger to it. The voice cast does the best with what they have to work with but that is unfortunately not much as there is not a single stand out performance of the film. Okay maybe that’s not true; there is one performance that stands out for disappointing reasons. The voice of rival wolf pack alpha male Tony, voiced by the late Dennis Hopper. Poor Hopper, I can only imagine that he must be spinning in his grave right now having died knowing this is the final performance that he left us with. A major player in such classics as “Easy Rider” and “Apocalypse Now” leaves the world of the living with a phoned in performance in bad kids flick. Unfortunate.

The humor is weak, the plot is entirely predicatble, and the animation shifts back and forth between unique stylization and cheap motions over a static background. I can not by any means say that “Alpha and Omega” is a good movie but I do appreciate one aspect of it. It’s stupid, bland, it’s pointless, and many other things. It is not however, awful. Despite all of my previous criticisms, the film is somewhat saved from my wrath by the bittersweet fact that its filmakers clearly aimed low with their goals. As grating as it may be to see such a bland piece of work, it lacks some rather annoying tropes of modern day animated films such as popculture refferences and gratuitous soundtrack placement. It makes no pretentions of being for an audience older than 10 and I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt that that was the intention. Even so however, with the last 3-4 years being so stellar for animated movies, from the major blockbusters of “Bolt” and “How to Train Your Dragon”, to the ambitious storytellers such as “WALL-E” and “Up” to the incredibly underrated “Legend of The Guardians” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, I can’t help but wonder why this one couldn’t have tried at least a tad bit harder so that I could at least give it points for trying.

“Alpha and Omega” may work best as a weekend rental if your young one is looking for something interesting to watch but if they have not yet seen any of the movies that I’ve mentioned above, I’d highly recommend those before even browsing this. Still, it was far from the worst family film that I’ve seen of 2010’s releases, as the rest of the week will soon reveal.

5/10

CrapShoot 2011: A look back at some of the bad films of 2010

 
When speaking about theater experiences, I typically end up praising my experience in regards to the quality of the film itself. This is because I am not only relatively undemanding in terms of my service (as long as I get the ticket and the projector and sound system are operating appropriately I can careless about concessions) but I am highly selective about the films that I go to watch. Surprises today are rare; if something looks like crap, 9 times out of 10, it ultimately will be. Researching trailers, actors, directors, reviews and budgets are a surefire way of avoiding what everybody else wants to waste their time whining about. I don’t bother going into bad films intentionally because being assaulted with poor performances, bad dialogue, horrendous direction and an overall poor product in a dark room for 2 hours after forking over $5-$15 is a form of torture, not entertainment.
 
That being said, I’ve dodged a lot of bullets in 2010 and now it’s time to pay my dues. Before I begin to truly take in all of the glory of the new year, I think I should learn to appreciate what I truly did get in the old. So join me starting on Sunday, January 16, as I kick off a new year and a new semester of school by watching 8 days (1 movie per night) of some of the more poorly received mainstream movies of 2010 to see just how far I truly stayed in the safe zone last year. Reviews, whether scathing or (however unlikely) complimentary will appear after the night of the viewing.
 
From bad comedies, to generic kids movies, to stupid action, I am prejudice against no genre in what I like to call “CrapShoot 2011”. What films should you expect? Read the reviews and find out.

Top 10 films of 2010 part 2

3. Splice =

With the first half of 2010 being what may have possibly been the worst drought of quality films in recent history, “Splice” was a genuinely ignored diamond in the rough. Be it a piss poor marketing campaign or a string of rather cliché previews, “Cube” director Vincenzo Natali’s Cronenberg-esque story of two ambitious genetic engineers (played remarkably well by Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley) that accidentally create and illegally raise an organism of a new humanoid species was a gem that many, including myself, missed in theaters, something that I regret immensely.  

The film begins with asking the typical questions regarding the moral ambiguity of genetic manipulation and playing god but begins to illustrate its point in such a way that never for a single moment ceases to irk and unnerve its audience in any fashion possible, while doing so in such a way that never feels gratuitous. After watching this movie for the first time, I felt an immediate desire to take a shower after witnessing the disturbing yet slightly surreal content of the ending.

I have watched “Splice” 3 times as of the time of this article is to be published. It still gets a reaction out of me, it still makes me feel unclean by the time the credits role and is one of the most subtle films that I have seen this year. Please check it out, we need smarter sci-fi like this.

2. Inception =

What more can be said about Christopher Nolan? What does it say about your career as a filmmaker when your weakest film on Rotten Tomatoes still scores a 75%? This man started down the path to being a big time director with his non-linear jigsaw puzzle of narrative, “Memento” but if rebooting the Batman franchise was just a stepping stone of his career, “Inception” is what locks him down as one of the best directors currently working in Hollywood today.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as fugitive government agent Dominic Cobb, who has access to a secret government device that allows its users to fully control their dreams as well as use said dreams to manipulate human psychology. Framed for a murder he did not commit and using the device with the help of a crew for corporate espionage to earn enough money to stay afloat, Cobb must now use the technology to take on a final job that promises him a return home to his children and the life that he left behind. The job in question, an inception; uses the device to manipulate the dreams of a CEO in order to implant an idea into his subconscious mind that he will eventually be inspired to carry out. Or so it would appear to be on the surface.

If the above description sounds complicated in any way, don’t fear because that is simply the nature of “Inception”. If one were to define the story alone, it would be a heist film with a science-fiction twist. What “Inception” truly is however, is a beautifully crafted 2½ hour puzzle with multiple solutions. The twists and turns that the story takes question the viewer on the nature of the film’s perceived reality. Are you willing to accept everything that the movie tells you as fact or call it out on the questions that it leaves intentionally unanswered? The ending of the film shifts the very nature of it in such a way that leaves nearly every aspect of the film up to personal interpretation, making it easy to be caught piecing together different theories for hours at a time, of which none can necessarily disprove the other.

“Inception” wowed me with its budget, impressed me with its performances, and has left me thinking for nearly 7 months with the complexities of its writing. It’s my 2^nd favorite film of the year and I’ll carry my experiences of it with me until the day that I die.

1. Toy Story 3 =

A Pixar movie and a follow-up to 2 great films and yet somehow I find myself surprised that this one tops everything before it. This is not a decision that I have come to lightly; I’ve taken into consideration everything that I have seen this year, everything that I have liked, loved, bought on DVD and ultimately, I cannot think of a single film that I’ve seen this year that has touched me the way that “Toy Story 3” has. This movie has not only marked the end of 2010’s drought of quality but may possibly be a landmark in filmmaking and arguably Pixar’s best film yet.

Ignoring the Great Escape plot of the film, the most recurring theme of the movie seems to be retirement. There’s a definitive sense of finality that follows the film. As it showcases its themes of growing and accepting the changes that the future brings, you feel as if you are fully aware that this movie is the swan song to all of these characters we have grown to know and love so much over the years. The goodbye is heartfelt and the last hurrah of an adventure for Woody, Buzz, Jessie and their friends has created what is arguably the first perfect trilogy of movies; a series in which the first film was excellent, with every sequel getting progressively better.

For its quality, its entertainment value, and sheer ambitions, Toy Story 3“ takes film of the year for 2010 and is easily one of the best films that I have seen in my life.

Overall I would day that 2010 was a year full of surprises but more disappointments. Despite a few diamonds in the rough early on, the first half of the year was rather pathetic. There were good movies (Shutter Island, How to Train Your Dragon), there were bad movies (Jonah Hex, The Last Airbender) and then there were the severe disappointments (Iron Man 2) but not much that inspired a theater going experience.

Following the stellar 2008 and 2009, 2010 was an undeniably disappointing year for film but I have to give the second half of the year its due credit for saving the year from being bad. I have never seen so many art films in my life and if there is anything that I can say positive about 2010, it’s that I had to broaden my horizons to maximize my enjoyment of the theater experience, watching films this year that I never would have thought to watch in theaters.

So with one year reaching its close, here’s to hoping the best for 2011. Good day to you all and thanks for reading.

Top 10 films of 2010 part 1

Another year has come and gone and with it a new crop of DVDs I have to buy this year. In all honesty, I would be lying if I said that 2010 wasn't a severe disappointment for film, with many of the better releases of the year hitting in the Fall rather than the first half but the year was not without its gems, whether they made this list or not.

10. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole =

As with lists that I’ve made of previous years, I prefer to reserve my number 10 slot for a personal piece of quality self-indulgence. I’ve seen a decent number of great films this year, but one that I consistently return to, something that remains consistently fun to watch with every viewing is Zack Snyder’s adaptation of the “Guardians of Ga'Hoole” book series, featuring armored owl beating the hell out of each other. “Legend of the Guardians” is the tale of the hero’s journey told through the trials of Soren, a young owl that seeks out his legendary heroes upon learning of a world domination conspiracy conceived of by the bigoted Pure Ones.

Despite following its story formula to a T, “Legend of The Guardians” does what it does well, with well written dialogue, superb voice acting, and visuals that are simply stunning. Snyder has finally found a place to make all of his slow-motion editing work to stellar effect, allowing for animation showcase like no other. More importantly, I have to give credit to animation studio Animal Logic, who has shown with their previous release of “Happy Feet” that they have no intention of stepping in on the Disney, Pixar, or DreamWorks story models or make something cheap and profitable to take the easy way out. Despite an exceptional year for all 3 of the aforementioned studios, “Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” may not be the best animated film that I have seen this year but it is absolutely the most refreshing and that alone is enough to earn it a slot on this list.

9. Kick-Ass =

I love superheroes. I absolutely adore them; the duality of their nature, their individual code of ethics, their inspirational nature, etc. And although I still have fantasies of donning a costume, righting the injustices thrust upon innocent civilians, and inspiring others around me to do the right thing, I accept that the painful reality is that costumed crusaders are nothing more than objects of fiction. If you know anybody that hasn’t, a viewing of my number 9 film should set them straight immediately.

“Kick-Ass” deconstructs every aspect of superhero culture that it possibly can to show just how stupid or insane you would have to be to actually pursue such a lifestyle, making for the funniest 2 hour experience that I have had in a theater this year. Every performance is played straight, refusing to succumb to the slightly goofy nature of the subject matter, save for the slightly over the top climax, which helps the world that these characters inhabit feel that much more believable. However, as great as the acting, comedy, and action choreography are, what I love most is that the film never becomes stupid.

The movie is a character study of superhero archetypes, a satire on superhero stories, and a social commentary on public apathy to crime, but as exploitive and as ridiculous as it can get at times, it never shoehorns in content that does not need to exist. The lack of studio influence shows, because every scene in “Kick-Ass” serves a purpose to its own story. It earns its spot on this list for refusal to conform to stereotypical Hollywood tropes, making a statement regarding American icons, and for simply being damn good entertainment.

8. The Town =

After 14 years of movie acting ranging from passable to embarrassing, Ben Affleck found his calling behind the camera in 2007 with his directorial debut, “Gone Baby Gone” but the “The Town” shows that his success was by no means a fluke. He may have played a hand in screwing up “Daredevil”, but this man clearly has talent for telling crime stories.

Starring as bank robbing gang head Doug MacRay, Affleck coordinates his men, who are like his brothers, through their own personal dramas and conflicts with one another to pull off a last string of jobs that are bringing them dangerously close to FBI custody, while watching over a hostage of a previous robbery that he has unexpectedly ended up in a relationship with. Oddly enough, despite his strengths clearly being in direction, Affleck actually turns in a solid performance. Whether he works better under his own direction or has actually improved his acting but he feels much more natural than he does in previous performances. It’s still not exactly Oscar caliber but his chemistry with fellow actors Jeremy Renner and Rebecca Hall are among some of the most emotionally touching moments I’ve seen of the year.

The heists are gripping from start to getaway as you grow to genuinely fear for these characters that are no less human than you or I, despite being criminals. The Town is one of those movies that you may go into slightly skeptical but like it by the time it’s over and love it the more you let it mull over in your head.

7. The Social Network =

Talk about conflict. Beyond this film, I was absolutely torn on what to make of it before its release. The cynic in me screamed “A movie about a website you had no use for until about 8 months ago based on a “true story”,” whereas the film fan in me said “A drama written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher”. Fortunately, I trusted the latter and received a real treat of a film.

I’m not a fan of biographical films, mostly because they use the true story catch as a gimmick to sit you through a dull as dirt flick or a tale that manipulates and distorts the facts so disgustingly that they might as well have created an original story from scratch. That said, I can’t praise “The Social Network” enough. Telling the story of the lawsuits surrounding Founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, the movie is fast, witty, nonlinear, and generally determined to keep you on your toes. Even after thoroughly researching the events of which this film is based, I found nearly every moment of the movie virtually unpredictable. Performances were excellent as well, providing what I think may be a breakout role for Andrew Garfield (the new Spider-Man in 2012), but Jesse Eisenberg steals the show as Zuckerberg with a performance that would be criminal for the Academy Awards to ignore when creating the list of nominees.

“The Social Network” enthralled me for nearly 2 hours, being part of a genre that I largely ignore. Coupled with the excellent musical score and superb sound editing, it is more than worthy of my number 7 slot.

6. Let Me In =

A vampire movie released after 2008 that is an American remake of a brilliant foreign art film sounds like a disaster that should have been number 6 on a worst of list. As a fan of the Swedish film, “Let The Right One In”, I dreaded the release of “Let Me In” for almost a year and a half, violently condemning the numerous preproduction alteration to the original film that were being negotiated to be made. Although the proposed alterations that could have sunken the film had been long dropped, Even the announcement of Matt Reeves, director of the criminally underrated “Cloverfield”, as director of the film couldn’t salvage my faith for the project. Only after I saw it, did I immediately serve myself up a nice big helping of crow because “Let Me In” just may arguably be better than its foreign counterpart.

The story of a child daily victimized by bullies until he develops a relationship with a manipulative vampire girl was compelling in 2008 and remains equally so after localization, even taking on a few benefits along the way. I appreciate being able to enjoy such a beautiful story without the distraction of subtitles but I love even more that the acting is actually superb. Unlike the admirable yet stoic performances of the Swedish film, the cast of “Let Me In” is not afraid to appropriately demonstrate every emotion necessary to create atmosphere. It helps that the film better highlights moments that become key to the story, such as the protagonist’s slightly sociopathic tendencies and the demonic nature of vampire Abby (Eli in the original).

With the original story intact however, where “Let Me In” excels even further is the production value. The gorgeous cinematography and camera work enhance the story, as well as creating some of the tensest sequences that I have ever seen in film. In addition to the score and soundtrack composed primarily of 80s music, “Let Me In” works effectively as not only a horror film but a period piece, an origin of a sociopath and a gripping drama. It’s an excellent example of filmmaking that manages not to be stuck in the shadow of its counterpart but the American equivalent and I highly recommend it.

5. The Fighter =

I am not fond of sports in reality. Therefore, by guilt of association, I am not fond of sports as a theme in movies. I do however enjoy character studies, great acting and characters fighting passionately for what they desire. Telling the story of the rise of boxing champion Mickey Ward (played by Mark Wahlberg), “The Fighter” is undoubtedly one of the best sports based films that I have ever seen.

The story lacks the usual level of Hollywood gloss coated over these types of stories, making every moment of the film feel very down to earth. Every moment of the film is genuine, from the heartfelt to tough love. However, despite, how great the writing, direction and cast performances however, I cannot deny that the sole factor that planted this movie so high on the list is Christian Bale’s performance.

Make no mistake, this is a great film and absolutely worthy enough to be on this list by its own merits but Bale’s performance as crack addicted has-been boxing champion Dicky Eklund steals the show. His charisma, unnatural energy and alertness, and need to be the center of attention provided for what is hands down, the best performance of his career and one of the best acting jobs I’ve seen this year. If I had to pick the most inspiring film that I have seen this year, this would have to be the one, bar none.

4. Black Swan =

If “The Fighter” was an inspirational tale of hard work, dedication, and perseverance to achieve one’s goals, “Black Swan” is tonally on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. As ballerina Nina Sayers (played by Natalie Portman) struggles to keep her role as both the Black and White Swans in her company’s performance of Swan Lake, her obsession with perfecting the performance of the Black Swan slowly begins to drive her insane as she begins to dangerously lose her grip on reality.

I hold firm in my belief that the human mind is more powerful than most give it credit for. It can drive us to kill, make the mundane scary and vice versa and change what we accept as normal in life. “Black Swan” demonstrates all of the above exceptionally well, constantly making the audience question what is actually happening, what is allegory, and what is simply a hallucination, none of which is ever made quite entirely clear until the ending. I’ve never been a ballet aficionado but this trip into the psyche of a perfectionist has made for one of the most gripping thrillers that I have seen in year. 

What of the rest of the list? Check back Wednesday to find out what the top 3 are and my impression of 2010 as a whole.