Sorry this has taken so long. I've been battling a cold and haven't felt much like writing.
50. "The Brave One": While, on a personal level, I'm not a great fan of revenge films, this one at the very least skillfully made. Jodie Foster makes the grief and desperation real. Would even probably be a little higher if not for an ending that seems to be a bit of a cop out, taking a decision out of the hands of Foster's character when that choice would have helped define her character, for better or worse.
49. "The Simpsons Movie": It is, in essense, a solid episode of the TV show that inspired it, except longer. Nothing more, nothing less. It's entertaining and fun, but little about it really stands out on the big screen.
48. "Fracture": A moderately entertaining cat-and-mouse game. Gosling and Hopkins both give good, if not incredibly memorable performances. Never really works as anything but a mystery, but as a how-he-done-it, it works well enough.
47. "The Darjeeling Limited": There are moments here where you can remember why Anderson's first three films were so brilliant, moments that make you hopeful his next will be a return to form. Unfortunately, much like his characters, the film seems to be striving for an emotional connection it never seems to reach. The obvious change between the "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore," "Royal Tenenbaums" trio and Anderson's last two films is the absence of Owen Wilson as a screenwriter. Maybe he balanced Anderson out, added something that Baumbach, Coppola and Schwartzman just aren't able to do. Whatever the case may be, I don't think Anderson has lost it, but I do wish he go back to making movies that I'd still be marveling over days after seeing them.
46. "The Great Debaters": This film would have been a lot more powerful had it not undercut it characters' accomplishments at every turn. First, they never had to debate the "wrong" side of any issue, a near mathematical impossibility in debate. Arguing against something you believe in is part of debate, and the ability to do so effectively helps separate out the good debaters. Second, the pair of supposed national champion debaters from Harvard were portrayed as a couple of arrogant twits who even I could have wiped the floor with. And I'm a little peeved that they changed the school they beat from USC to Harvard just for a bit of heavy-handed beating the white power structure symbolism. In real life they beat the best, and the best didn't go to Harvard. While this might make it sound like I hated the film, I didn't. I just wished they hadn't taken a great story and turned it into a pretty good movie.
45. "Bridge to Terabithia": A good film, a solid film, but it wasn't really able to re-create the level of magic and sadness that I remember from reading the book when I was young. Maybe the book would have lost some of its appeal in the intervening years, but the film didn't quite live up to my childhood memories. It shouldn't affect the ranking, but since these are mine, it did. So take this number with a bit of a grain of salt.
44. "The Hoax": Not even the best Richard Gere movie of the year (that would be "The Hunting Party," which I saw too late for it to be on the list but which I consider to be one of the most underrated films of the year), but there is still a lot to like here, from Gere's solid lead performance to the way truth, lies and rumors all kind of blend together. And somehow I don't care that the story has at times as much basis in the factual events that happened in the real-life case as Irving's Hughes "autobiography" itself. It seems fitting in this case that storytelling should triumph over facts given the man who is being profiled.
43. "The Waterhorse": A surprisingly good family film. Nothing here is terribly striking or original, but it is simply a good story well told. In this case that is enough.
42. "Across the Universe": A bizarre mixture of genius and frustration. Some of the song pieces are absolutely amazing. I loved the bitter, ominous "Strawberry Fields Forever." The angry "Revolution" worked well too. Othertimes the action of the film felt forced in order to get the songs in. It's perhaps viewed, as a friend of mine at work said, as a series of music videos that happen to have the same actors. But when they are on, it's memorable.
41. "The Namesake": The first half of this film belongs in the top 10. Its picture of an Indian man and woman, both adjusting to living in a country they do not know and falling in love as they grow to know each other after an arranged marriage provides some of the best character work of the year, and Irfan Khan and Tabu are absolutely wonderful in these roles. The problem is, the second half of the film, which centers on their son ("Harold and Kumar's" Kal Penn) trying to discover his identity as a second generation immigrant, lacks the focus that made the first half so wonderful. It doesn't help that each of his love interests function as little more than signposts for how he is viewing his heritage at the time. There are still some good ideas, though. If the execution could have been better, this would have been one of the year's best.
Next up, a break for a review of George Clooney's "Leatherheads."
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Movies 51-60: The entertaining, but ...
Here is the continuation of my list. We're getting into the ones that I enjoyed to some extent, although none of them may have been of the particularly memorable variety.
60. "Wristcutters: A Love Story": Through the first third or half of this film, I would have guessed that you wouldn't be seeing it for another few entries here. Unfortunately it seems to run out of good ideas about halfway through. It's too bad because the beginning strikes just the right balance of sadness and dark humor.
59. "Year of the Dog": On the plus side, Molly Shannon apparently can act. Her performance elevates the film even during its most uneven moments. Unfortunately, those moments pop up with disturbing frequency during the movie's second half, and the usually great Peter Saarsgard seems a bit lost as to what notes he should be hitting. Another film that was a bit disappointing given its promising beginning.
58. "Chalk": This mocumentary about a group of school teachers has its moments, and some surprisingly good performances, but several of the storylines grate and the film never really develops any real kind of flow. Interesting, but not really essential viewing.
57. "Death at a Funeral": There are definitely laughs to be had here, many courtesy of the underrated Alan Tudyk (best known as Wash from "Firefly" and Steve the Pirate from "Dodgeball"). Too many jokes fall flat, however, and one excrement joke is particularly painful. Overall its mildly entertaining, but not as funny as the trailer hinted it could be.
56. "Paris Je Taime": Many of this series of short films by acclaimed directors, all set in the titular city, work. Some work very well. Others, well, not so much. I'd recommend it, if only to see the visions of the diverse series of directors that took part, but keep in mind that the quality is uneven and the tones varied.
55. "Talk to Me": This Petey Greene biopic is pretty solid throughout, and both Don Cheadle and Chewetel Ejiofor give charismatic performances. For some reason, it just never really took off for me. It just didn't prove all that memorable. Not quite sure why. The pieces seemed to all be there.
54. "Rocket Science": First the good: This film does a better job of portraying high school policy debate in all its peculiarities than any other film I've seen (although the resolution seems aimed at supplying jokes and really is probably too narrowly framed). It also sadly, I must admit, does a pretty decent job with the debaters. The problem is the rest of the film only works in fits and starts. Pieces of it, including one act of vandalism, work beautifully. Others, well, not so much, which is disappointing since I really was looking forward to the film.
53. "La Vie en Rose": This film is worth seeing for Marion Cotillard's Oscar winning performance. It truly does live up to expectations. Unfortunately the rest of the film is so bizarrely structured that it manages to twist large swathes of itself into a muddled mess. If it hadn't insisted on jumping around so much in time, Cotillard might have been able to make this film a great one instead of just a decent missed opportunity.
52. "Paprika": An almost unclassifiable bit of dream-focused anime, it is visually memorable and several of the sequences border on genius. However, overall, it just didn't leave a huge impression on me.
51. "Ocean's 13": An entertaining diversion for sure (and an improvement over "Ocean's 12"), the film feels too been-there-done-that for it to advance far above this level. It's still the third best of the sequels I saw last year, however.
Up next, a mixture of pretty good family films, mixed bags and solid-but-unmemorable films.
60. "Wristcutters: A Love Story": Through the first third or half of this film, I would have guessed that you wouldn't be seeing it for another few entries here. Unfortunately it seems to run out of good ideas about halfway through. It's too bad because the beginning strikes just the right balance of sadness and dark humor.
59. "Year of the Dog": On the plus side, Molly Shannon apparently can act. Her performance elevates the film even during its most uneven moments. Unfortunately, those moments pop up with disturbing frequency during the movie's second half, and the usually great Peter Saarsgard seems a bit lost as to what notes he should be hitting. Another film that was a bit disappointing given its promising beginning.
58. "Chalk": This mocumentary about a group of school teachers has its moments, and some surprisingly good performances, but several of the storylines grate and the film never really develops any real kind of flow. Interesting, but not really essential viewing.
57. "Death at a Funeral": There are definitely laughs to be had here, many courtesy of the underrated Alan Tudyk (best known as Wash from "Firefly" and Steve the Pirate from "Dodgeball"). Too many jokes fall flat, however, and one excrement joke is particularly painful. Overall its mildly entertaining, but not as funny as the trailer hinted it could be.
56. "Paris Je Taime": Many of this series of short films by acclaimed directors, all set in the titular city, work. Some work very well. Others, well, not so much. I'd recommend it, if only to see the visions of the diverse series of directors that took part, but keep in mind that the quality is uneven and the tones varied.
55. "Talk to Me": This Petey Greene biopic is pretty solid throughout, and both Don Cheadle and Chewetel Ejiofor give charismatic performances. For some reason, it just never really took off for me. It just didn't prove all that memorable. Not quite sure why. The pieces seemed to all be there.
54. "Rocket Science": First the good: This film does a better job of portraying high school policy debate in all its peculiarities than any other film I've seen (although the resolution seems aimed at supplying jokes and really is probably too narrowly framed). It also sadly, I must admit, does a pretty decent job with the debaters. The problem is the rest of the film only works in fits and starts. Pieces of it, including one act of vandalism, work beautifully. Others, well, not so much, which is disappointing since I really was looking forward to the film.
53. "La Vie en Rose": This film is worth seeing for Marion Cotillard's Oscar winning performance. It truly does live up to expectations. Unfortunately the rest of the film is so bizarrely structured that it manages to twist large swathes of itself into a muddled mess. If it hadn't insisted on jumping around so much in time, Cotillard might have been able to make this film a great one instead of just a decent missed opportunity.
52. "Paprika": An almost unclassifiable bit of dream-focused anime, it is visually memorable and several of the sequences border on genius. However, overall, it just didn't leave a huge impression on me.
51. "Ocean's 13": An entertaining diversion for sure (and an improvement over "Ocean's 12"), the film feels too been-there-done-that for it to advance far above this level. It's still the third best of the sequels I saw last year, however.
Up next, a mixture of pretty good family films, mixed bags and solid-but-unmemorable films.
Monday, April 21, 2008
2008 Movie #5: Forgetting Sarah Marshall
It's too bad that most of the talk surrounding "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" focuses on the nudity from star and writer Jason Segel. Segel deserves notice, but more for the fact that his first produced script became a movie this funny, sweet and quotable.
These three components should surprise no one, given that the film is the latest from Judd Apatow's gang, which has made its living creating films that combine those three elements. But all are definitely there, and while the film might never reach the emotional complexity of "Knocked Up," it is still better than any of the other films I've seen in the theater from this year.
These three components should surprise no one, given that the film is the latest from Judd Apatow's gang, which has made its living creating films that combine those three elements. But all are definitely there, and while the film might never reach the emotional complexity of "Knocked Up," it is still better than any of the other films I've seen in the theater from this year.
After Segel's Peter Bretter gets dumped in humiliating fashion by his girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell of "Veronica Mars" fame), an actress on a CSI-like crime procedural for which Peter writes the score, the hreat-broken sad-sack decides he needs a vacation. Unfortunately for him, he's decided to stay at the same Hawaiian resort where his ex is staying with her new boyfriend. In the midst of this awkwardness, Peter begins to move on with the help of a beautiful hotel employee played by "That '70s Show" alum Mila Kunis.
If the film has a flaw, it's that Kunis' Rachel Jansen isn't really fleshed out well enough to give the romance with Segel's Peter the emotional weight that has distinguished some of the Apatow gang's prior efforts (See Catherine Keener in "40 Year Old Virgin" or Katherine Heigl in "Knocked Up") . While this might keep the film from being a comedic classic, Segel deserves a lot of credit, both for crafting a script with this many laughs and for infusing his characters with a lot of humanity. In other films, Bell's titular Sarah Marshall might have been nothing more than the evil ex who broke Peter's heart. While some of her actions might be indefensible, the movie makes many of them understandable, and you can definitely understand how the two of them were once in love. Brand's over-sexed rocker boyfriend, as over-the-top as he gets, proves himself more than just a walking punchline.
And, as always, members of the Apatow gang create some really funny bit parts, most notably Bill Hader as Peter's step-brother and friend. The exchanges between the two are among the film's funniest moments.
"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" proved to be the first movie this year that I really didn't have to say "I kind of liked it, but ..." This is the early No. 1 for 2008.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Movies 61-70: Starting to get better
And we're back. Plus, if I'm awake enough when I finish this, we'll also have a "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" review.
70. "The Kingdom": The beginning and ending hint that Peter Berg wanted to do something interesting here. The problem was that the middle was so unbelievably predictable and formulaic that it made those portions feel like nothing more than a missed opportunity. They've certainly got a talented cast, but they're stuck playing people who are more archetypes than characters, and a few of the Jamie Foxx scenes seem overly manipulative, trying to force emotions that the film never really earns.
69. "Becoming Jane": Nothing really bad here. The problem is, I can't really remember much about it at all. Passable, but completely forgettable.
68. "Spider-Man 3": This isn't a bad film, but it is a massive disappointment. Back in 2004 I made the case that the second film in the series deserved Oscar consideration (It wasn't in my top five, but it was certainly close). This one just feels crowded and disjointed. Putting three villains in one film is overkill. I get that this might be the last one, at least with the original cast and directors, but that doesn't mean they have to try to throw in the kitchen sink. Enough of the talent that made the second (and to a lesser extent the first) so special keeps the film from falling into "Shrek 3" territory, but I was hoping for greatness from Raimi. This wasn't it.
67. "Sweeney Todd": Two quick notes on this one. The sound might have been bad at the theater I went to (if not, they should really have tried to allow the audience to catch more than every third word of the movie's most clever song). Also, I'm not a huge musical fan (well, at least traditional musicals). But, overall, I'm just not getting the love here. It had some solid performances, and beginning is great, but I'm not seeing what had everyone raving here. What exactly did I miss?
66. "Bug": This film works, to the extent it does, only because of Ashley Judd's performance. Some of the descent into paranoid delusions comes a bit fast, but Judd makes it believable, selling what had to be a difficult role. As far as horror dramas go, I'd take it above "28 Weeks Later."
65. "Sunshine": You can see potential brilliance here. You can see what Danny Boyle was shooting for. You can see enough to wish he'd gotten it right. The film just never coheres enough to really see the vision. It's too bad. There is a lot of potential here, and Boyle has shown in the past that he is up to the challenge.
64. "Planet Terror": A somewhat entertaining watch once, but nothing I'll rush back to. At the very least it runs with the dumb fun vibe and produces something that is, quite often, actually fun. The acting and dialogue are suitably over-the-top as is the gore. By far the more entertaining half of the "Grindhouse" pair.
63. "Interview": Steve Buscemi's film about mind games shows that Sienna Miller can indeed act. She arguably outperforms even Buscemi himself. But in the end, I'm just not sure there's enough here to justify placing higher than this.
62. "Lake of Fire": One of the single biggest disappointments of the year. Great reviews. An interesting topic (a level-headed and supposedly at least somewhat even-handed look at the abortion debate). And then I watched it. To start off with, the film itself is kind of a jumbled mess. Parts are only loosely connected to what is around them, with little in the way of transitioning or flowing in any kind of logical order. The movie's bigger sin, though, is that it arguably hurts the chances for a serious, thoughtful debate on abortion, something the film pretty much explicitly said that we need. For roughly 30 minutes of the film's 2 1/2-hour runtime, you see people on both sides of the issue discussing the central question of when does life begin. For this time, it is compelling and just a notch below the film that will be the top documentary on this list. Unfortunately, it has a fascination with the fringe groups on the right that advocate killing abortion doctors and in some cases even have done so. Some of the stuff is interesting, but it so dominates the movie that it is only going to reinforce some of the stereotypes that help prevent the kind of debate that the movie says we need.
61. "Sicko": Michael Moore's latest film never matches "Lake of Fire" at its best, but at the very least it is what it is, for better or worse. Yes, the Cuba stunt was unnecessary to the film and smacked the kind of gotcha showmanship that Moore is known for but which also sometimes really hurts the quality of his films. Still, the first half is effective at telling the horror stories some people have had with the health care industry. It's a call to action of some kind, whether or not you believe Moore's solution is the right one.
70. "The Kingdom": The beginning and ending hint that Peter Berg wanted to do something interesting here. The problem was that the middle was so unbelievably predictable and formulaic that it made those portions feel like nothing more than a missed opportunity. They've certainly got a talented cast, but they're stuck playing people who are more archetypes than characters, and a few of the Jamie Foxx scenes seem overly manipulative, trying to force emotions that the film never really earns.
69. "Becoming Jane": Nothing really bad here. The problem is, I can't really remember much about it at all. Passable, but completely forgettable.
68. "Spider-Man 3": This isn't a bad film, but it is a massive disappointment. Back in 2004 I made the case that the second film in the series deserved Oscar consideration (It wasn't in my top five, but it was certainly close). This one just feels crowded and disjointed. Putting three villains in one film is overkill. I get that this might be the last one, at least with the original cast and directors, but that doesn't mean they have to try to throw in the kitchen sink. Enough of the talent that made the second (and to a lesser extent the first) so special keeps the film from falling into "Shrek 3" territory, but I was hoping for greatness from Raimi. This wasn't it.
67. "Sweeney Todd": Two quick notes on this one. The sound might have been bad at the theater I went to (if not, they should really have tried to allow the audience to catch more than every third word of the movie's most clever song). Also, I'm not a huge musical fan (well, at least traditional musicals). But, overall, I'm just not getting the love here. It had some solid performances, and beginning is great, but I'm not seeing what had everyone raving here. What exactly did I miss?
66. "Bug": This film works, to the extent it does, only because of Ashley Judd's performance. Some of the descent into paranoid delusions comes a bit fast, but Judd makes it believable, selling what had to be a difficult role. As far as horror dramas go, I'd take it above "28 Weeks Later."
65. "Sunshine": You can see potential brilliance here. You can see what Danny Boyle was shooting for. You can see enough to wish he'd gotten it right. The film just never coheres enough to really see the vision. It's too bad. There is a lot of potential here, and Boyle has shown in the past that he is up to the challenge.
64. "Planet Terror": A somewhat entertaining watch once, but nothing I'll rush back to. At the very least it runs with the dumb fun vibe and produces something that is, quite often, actually fun. The acting and dialogue are suitably over-the-top as is the gore. By far the more entertaining half of the "Grindhouse" pair.
63. "Interview": Steve Buscemi's film about mind games shows that Sienna Miller can indeed act. She arguably outperforms even Buscemi himself. But in the end, I'm just not sure there's enough here to justify placing higher than this.
62. "Lake of Fire": One of the single biggest disappointments of the year. Great reviews. An interesting topic (a level-headed and supposedly at least somewhat even-handed look at the abortion debate). And then I watched it. To start off with, the film itself is kind of a jumbled mess. Parts are only loosely connected to what is around them, with little in the way of transitioning or flowing in any kind of logical order. The movie's bigger sin, though, is that it arguably hurts the chances for a serious, thoughtful debate on abortion, something the film pretty much explicitly said that we need. For roughly 30 minutes of the film's 2 1/2-hour runtime, you see people on both sides of the issue discussing the central question of when does life begin. For this time, it is compelling and just a notch below the film that will be the top documentary on this list. Unfortunately, it has a fascination with the fringe groups on the right that advocate killing abortion doctors and in some cases even have done so. Some of the stuff is interesting, but it so dominates the movie that it is only going to reinforce some of the stereotypes that help prevent the kind of debate that the movie says we need.
61. "Sicko": Michael Moore's latest film never matches "Lake of Fire" at its best, but at the very least it is what it is, for better or worse. Yes, the Cuba stunt was unnecessary to the film and smacked the kind of gotcha showmanship that Moore is known for but which also sometimes really hurts the quality of his films. Still, the first half is effective at telling the horror stories some people have had with the health care industry. It's a call to action of some kind, whether or not you believe Moore's solution is the right one.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Movies 71-80: The Disappointments
OK, let's get this list going again ...
80. "Elizabeth: The Golden Age": Man, talk about a letdown of a sequel. Yes, Blanchett's still fine. She's probably second to Jennifer Jason Leigh in "Margot at the Wedding" for the Frances McDormand in Laurel Canyon award for best performance in a bad movie. But the writing and plotting fluctuate between ludicrous and dull. Plays more like a soap opera than a historical piece and what history they do have is kind of laughably portrayed (Clive Owen almost singlehandedly destroying the Spanish Armada anyone?). A massive disappointment all the way around.
79. "Reign Over Me": Adam Sandler is the best thing about this film. Yes, that is weird to write. The psycho stalker storyline doesn't work; Don Cheadle is given next to nothing to do; and it manages to squeeze 30 minutes of decent material into a two-hour-long film. The trailer was far more interesting than the movie was.
78. "Disturbia": The fact that it isn't "Rear Window" isn't exactly a surprise. Given the generally good notices, though, I expected it to be suspenseful and entertaining. Unfortunately, the set up takes so long that there is no time for the suspicions to simmer, no time for the "is he or isn't he" suspense to build. Hopefully it encourages younger audiences to seek out Hitchcock's classic, though. That possibility might be the best thing about it.
77. "Stardust": I kept waiting for this film to get good. It seemed to always be on the verge of it. Unfortunately, it just never really does for any real length of time. Robert De Niro is kind of painful as a cross-dressing pirate and the leads are just pretty bland.
76. "Death Proof": Another of those massive disappointments. I thought everyone said Tarentino's film was supposed to be the better of the Grindhouse movies, not just the less interesting. Kurt Russell gives a stellar performance as "Stuntman Mike," but his performance is the only thing to really recommend here. Tarentino just never lets himself go enough here. The dialogue is banal to the extreme and every single part seems to be a series of exceptionally tightly controlled artistic choices, which wouldn't be a problem except for two things: 1. Wasn't "Grindhouse" supposed to be an exercise in schlocky, so-bad-it's-good filmmaking and 2. Most of them just don't work.
75. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End": There are interesting bits and pieces here. The problem is the elegiac tone that the filmmakers tried to infuse into some parts clashes with everything else in the movie. If you're going to make it darker, commit to it. Otherwise the film just feels disjointed and the darker elements undermine the the fun (which wasn't really all that much fun to begin with).
74. "We Own the Night": The film's first five or ten minutes are brilliant. Unfortunately the rest is by-the-book and just downright uninteresting. With this storyline and these actors, this coul have been a real winner. Instead, well, it's No. 74.
73. "National Treasure: Book of Secrets": There's some amount of dumb fun here, and Helen Mirren is a nice addition to the cast, but very little differentiates it from the first, including one giant set piece that seems almost exactly the same.
72. "The Kite Runner": This film epitomizes why I am thoroughly scared that Marc Forster is directing the next James Bond movie. Sometimes it simply seems as though he has become allergic to taking any chances. The first half of this film, focusing on the children, is good in the same safe way that Forster's "Finding Neverland" was good. Unfortunately, the second half, with its long abandonment of the main story thread and its surprise revelation never really clicks and Forster never really seems to want to do anything to elevate it.
71. "Live Free or Die Hard": Not the worst action film, and there are a few good lines from Justin Long, but the entire thing reaches a level of ludicrousness that eliminates any real suspense, and the villain, well, let's just say he is definitely no Hans Gruber.
Up next is 61-70, featuring the year's two most disappointing documentaries.
80. "Elizabeth: The Golden Age": Man, talk about a letdown of a sequel. Yes, Blanchett's still fine. She's probably second to Jennifer Jason Leigh in "Margot at the Wedding" for the Frances McDormand in Laurel Canyon award for best performance in a bad movie. But the writing and plotting fluctuate between ludicrous and dull. Plays more like a soap opera than a historical piece and what history they do have is kind of laughably portrayed (Clive Owen almost singlehandedly destroying the Spanish Armada anyone?). A massive disappointment all the way around.
79. "Reign Over Me": Adam Sandler is the best thing about this film. Yes, that is weird to write. The psycho stalker storyline doesn't work; Don Cheadle is given next to nothing to do; and it manages to squeeze 30 minutes of decent material into a two-hour-long film. The trailer was far more interesting than the movie was.
78. "Disturbia": The fact that it isn't "Rear Window" isn't exactly a surprise. Given the generally good notices, though, I expected it to be suspenseful and entertaining. Unfortunately, the set up takes so long that there is no time for the suspicions to simmer, no time for the "is he or isn't he" suspense to build. Hopefully it encourages younger audiences to seek out Hitchcock's classic, though. That possibility might be the best thing about it.
77. "Stardust": I kept waiting for this film to get good. It seemed to always be on the verge of it. Unfortunately, it just never really does for any real length of time. Robert De Niro is kind of painful as a cross-dressing pirate and the leads are just pretty bland.
76. "Death Proof": Another of those massive disappointments. I thought everyone said Tarentino's film was supposed to be the better of the Grindhouse movies, not just the less interesting. Kurt Russell gives a stellar performance as "Stuntman Mike," but his performance is the only thing to really recommend here. Tarentino just never lets himself go enough here. The dialogue is banal to the extreme and every single part seems to be a series of exceptionally tightly controlled artistic choices, which wouldn't be a problem except for two things: 1. Wasn't "Grindhouse" supposed to be an exercise in schlocky, so-bad-it's-good filmmaking and 2. Most of them just don't work.
75. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End": There are interesting bits and pieces here. The problem is the elegiac tone that the filmmakers tried to infuse into some parts clashes with everything else in the movie. If you're going to make it darker, commit to it. Otherwise the film just feels disjointed and the darker elements undermine the the fun (which wasn't really all that much fun to begin with).
74. "We Own the Night": The film's first five or ten minutes are brilliant. Unfortunately the rest is by-the-book and just downright uninteresting. With this storyline and these actors, this coul have been a real winner. Instead, well, it's No. 74.
73. "National Treasure: Book of Secrets": There's some amount of dumb fun here, and Helen Mirren is a nice addition to the cast, but very little differentiates it from the first, including one giant set piece that seems almost exactly the same.
72. "The Kite Runner": This film epitomizes why I am thoroughly scared that Marc Forster is directing the next James Bond movie. Sometimes it simply seems as though he has become allergic to taking any chances. The first half of this film, focusing on the children, is good in the same safe way that Forster's "Finding Neverland" was good. Unfortunately, the second half, with its long abandonment of the main story thread and its surprise revelation never really clicks and Forster never really seems to want to do anything to elevate it.
71. "Live Free or Die Hard": Not the worst action film, and there are a few good lines from Justin Long, but the entire thing reaches a level of ludicrousness that eliminates any real suspense, and the villain, well, let's just say he is definitely no Hans Gruber.
Up next is 61-70, featuring the year's two most disappointing documentaries.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
2007 films 90-81: The worst I've seen
Well, I hit 90 movies for 2007, so I decided to start my countdown now. As some of you know from the past two years, I post 10 movies at a time, starting with the worst and working my way toward the best. While 90 is a lot of movies, there are obviously many more that I didn't see. Ten not on this list (but that I will be seeing) are "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," "Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "The Savages," "I'm Not There," "Persepolis," "Control," "Lars and the Real Girl," "Starting Out in the Evening," Ten Canoes" and "This is England." So with no further ado ...
90. "300": Let's set aside the rather disturbing political and social subtext for a moment. This film is still bad. The dialogue is clunky and giggle inducing. The action sequences appear designed by someone most at home in front of a video game, given how each wave of the battle they face an increasingly tougher foe, occasionally with a "big bad" built in. The sloganeering is stupid. The emotional depth is naught. Most disturbing is the involvement of Dominic West as the mustache-twirling Spartan traitor. He's Jimmy freakin' McNulty for crying out loud. Yes, the film does look cool, but that's about the only good thing I can say for it.
89. "Evan Almighty": Maybe its heart is in the right place, but it still isn't the least bit funny. It takes work to make Steve Carell and Lauren Graham, two genuine comedic talents, this unfunny. Did I mention I didn't laugh?
88. "Smiley Face": While I was rather lukewarm on Gregg Araki's "Mysterious Skin," at least that film seemed to have a point (and helped show people Joseph Gordon Levitt is a legitimate acting talent). Araki's latest outing is the anti-"Harold and Kumar": a stoner comedy with plenty of pot but very few legitimate laughs. Anna Faris gives it her all, but other than the occasional amusing scene, there's not much here. Often simply annoying.
87. "Reno 911": The show can be guilty-pleasure funny at times. The problem is, the film packed roughly the same number of laughs as a 22-minute episode into a feature-length film. Yes, some parts are laugh-out-loud funny (including a scene with a chicken), but too many of the jokes simply bomb ... badly.
86. "Beowulf": CGI Angelina Jolie notwithstanding, this film is not nearly the visual achievement that "300" is and its first half is, if anything, even more eye-rollingly over-the-top. So why is this movie at least a little better than its similarly animated counterpart? Remember that subtext I briefly mentioned with "300"? Well, in its second half, "Beowulf" seems to acknowledge that the glory-seeking machismo trumpeted throughout "300" and the first half of this movie is a dangerous load of crap.
85. "Nancy Drew": This was not going to be one of my favorite movies anyway, but it might have been significantly more bearable if not for Josh Flitter. Given the fact that he's only 13, I'll refrain from getting meaner.
84. "Shrek 3": Is this probably a few places lower than it deserves? Yah, probably. But still, remember the typewriter in the "Atonement" soundtrack? They might as well have scored this thing with a cash register. Seemingly cynically soulless and crassly commercial, this film just left a bad taste in my mouth. At least when Disney plunders their classics they have the decency to release the result direct to video.
83. "Blades of Glory": I enjoyed "Napoleon Dynamite." I really did. But am I awful for suggesting that maybe it's time for Jon Heder to go away? At the very least, put him in movies better-suited to his particular comedic energy. What laughs there are here come mostly from supporting players Amy Poehler, Will Arnett and Jenna Fischer of "The Office." If you're looking for a funny Will Ferrell film, watch "Talladega Nights" ... or "Elf" ... or heck, even "Anchorman."
82. "Margot at the Wedding": Bitter and depressing does not always equal deep and thoughtful. Sometimes it's just bitter and depressing. Only Jennifer Jason Leigh resonates as even remotely human. It's not interesting, not moving and not the least bit enjoyable (three things that couldn't be said for "Margot" director Noah Baumbach's previous film "The Squid and the Whale." And will Nicole Kidman ever make another movie that I legitimately like. It's going on seven years since "The Others" came out (I don't count "Cold Mountain," because it was Jude Law's half that made the movie.
81. "28 Weeks Later": One of a series of disappointing sequels, this one is made even more so by the fact that the beginning is absolutely brilliant. Once the actual horror movie section starts, however, the movie goes downhill fast. You think it's going to develop thematically. It doesn't. You think it might recapture some of the ensemble magic that helped lift "28 Days Later" far above most of its horror brethren. Not even close. When one zombie starts acting in ways that seem to violate everything you saw in the previous movie, you know you've got some desperation going on. Rent the original instead.
Next up is 80-71, including several big-budget mediocrities and a few big disappointments.
90. "300": Let's set aside the rather disturbing political and social subtext for a moment. This film is still bad. The dialogue is clunky and giggle inducing. The action sequences appear designed by someone most at home in front of a video game, given how each wave of the battle they face an increasingly tougher foe, occasionally with a "big bad" built in. The sloganeering is stupid. The emotional depth is naught. Most disturbing is the involvement of Dominic West as the mustache-twirling Spartan traitor. He's Jimmy freakin' McNulty for crying out loud. Yes, the film does look cool, but that's about the only good thing I can say for it.
89. "Evan Almighty": Maybe its heart is in the right place, but it still isn't the least bit funny. It takes work to make Steve Carell and Lauren Graham, two genuine comedic talents, this unfunny. Did I mention I didn't laugh?
88. "Smiley Face": While I was rather lukewarm on Gregg Araki's "Mysterious Skin," at least that film seemed to have a point (and helped show people Joseph Gordon Levitt is a legitimate acting talent). Araki's latest outing is the anti-"Harold and Kumar": a stoner comedy with plenty of pot but very few legitimate laughs. Anna Faris gives it her all, but other than the occasional amusing scene, there's not much here. Often simply annoying.
87. "Reno 911": The show can be guilty-pleasure funny at times. The problem is, the film packed roughly the same number of laughs as a 22-minute episode into a feature-length film. Yes, some parts are laugh-out-loud funny (including a scene with a chicken), but too many of the jokes simply bomb ... badly.
86. "Beowulf": CGI Angelina Jolie notwithstanding, this film is not nearly the visual achievement that "300" is and its first half is, if anything, even more eye-rollingly over-the-top. So why is this movie at least a little better than its similarly animated counterpart? Remember that subtext I briefly mentioned with "300"? Well, in its second half, "Beowulf" seems to acknowledge that the glory-seeking machismo trumpeted throughout "300" and the first half of this movie is a dangerous load of crap.
85. "Nancy Drew": This was not going to be one of my favorite movies anyway, but it might have been significantly more bearable if not for Josh Flitter. Given the fact that he's only 13, I'll refrain from getting meaner.
84. "Shrek 3": Is this probably a few places lower than it deserves? Yah, probably. But still, remember the typewriter in the "Atonement" soundtrack? They might as well have scored this thing with a cash register. Seemingly cynically soulless and crassly commercial, this film just left a bad taste in my mouth. At least when Disney plunders their classics they have the decency to release the result direct to video.
83. "Blades of Glory": I enjoyed "Napoleon Dynamite." I really did. But am I awful for suggesting that maybe it's time for Jon Heder to go away? At the very least, put him in movies better-suited to his particular comedic energy. What laughs there are here come mostly from supporting players Amy Poehler, Will Arnett and Jenna Fischer of "The Office." If you're looking for a funny Will Ferrell film, watch "Talladega Nights" ... or "Elf" ... or heck, even "Anchorman."
82. "Margot at the Wedding": Bitter and depressing does not always equal deep and thoughtful. Sometimes it's just bitter and depressing. Only Jennifer Jason Leigh resonates as even remotely human. It's not interesting, not moving and not the least bit enjoyable (three things that couldn't be said for "Margot" director Noah Baumbach's previous film "The Squid and the Whale." And will Nicole Kidman ever make another movie that I legitimately like. It's going on seven years since "The Others" came out (I don't count "Cold Mountain," because it was Jude Law's half that made the movie.
81. "28 Weeks Later": One of a series of disappointing sequels, this one is made even more so by the fact that the beginning is absolutely brilliant. Once the actual horror movie section starts, however, the movie goes downhill fast. You think it's going to develop thematically. It doesn't. You think it might recapture some of the ensemble magic that helped lift "28 Days Later" far above most of its horror brethren. Not even close. When one zombie starts acting in ways that seem to violate everything you saw in the previous movie, you know you've got some desperation going on. Rent the original instead.
Next up is 80-71, including several big-budget mediocrities and a few big disappointments.
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