American dream becomes nightmare
GRADE: A-
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GRADE: A-
To a film critic, the idea of a perfect movie is an alien concept. There is and always will be a naysayer or an audience to whom a film does not appeal. A hiccup in action, plot or some inscrutable detail always leaves even the best films with a 99 percent rating. Although they are rare enough to be placed on the endangered species list, there is such a thing as a perfectly done film, for what it is. Everything, from the action to visuals to the special effects, is done just right; even those who did not like the film cannot deny it is as close to perfect as they come. "9" is such a film.
In "All About Steve," the title character's first instinct upon meeting Sandra Bullock's Mary is to run away. Do yourself a favor and follow his example.
Mike Judge's new comedy "Extract" is amusing while it lasts but is quick to fade into the background with the rest of funny but unremarkable cinema. While nothing stands out as really wrong with the film, it isn't particularly good. The acting is believable, the gags creative and the laughing genuine. But there is neither anything remarkable about it nor is there anything to elicit more than an average amount of chuckles.
As though diving headfirst into a full class schedule isn't hard enough, fall television brings new distractions to draw our attention and keep us sane. Television provides a plethora of shows to amuse, entertain and inspire -- or, at the very least, make us forget about the term paper due tomorrow. Here are some of the shows to look forward to this season.
Less than two weeks remain until we boldly go where no man has gone before, locking eyes on a reimagining of the most prolific science fiction franchise in history.
It's amazing how little of the title activity actually takes place in "Fighting." Channing Tatum plays Sean MacArthur, a garden-variety struggling citizen of the Big Apple who sells whatever anyone will buy and knows how to throw a punch. In formulaic fashion, he meets up with Terrence Howard's Harvey Boarden, who fixes MacArthur up with some illegal, high-bet prize fights. MacArthur intends to use his winnings to help his down-on-her-luck love interest, Zulay Valez (Zulay Henao). Moderately funny at times, "Fighting" meanders through its 105 minutes with little action and a needless and pointless plot.
The most likely question any member of the audience misguided enough to watch "The Informers" is likely to have is, "Am I meant to take this seriously?" Between the globbed-on hair gel, pointless plot, disconnected acting and copious amounts of random sex, the most likely answer is a resounding "no." One would hope director Gregor Jordan actually intended for viewers to leave the theater with a headache and the knowledge that early '80s Los Angeles was full of omni-sexual, drug-fueled mannequins attempting to pass for really shoddy impersonations of human beings.
"State of Play" is a relevant exploration of Washington and 21st century power that deftly navigates the streets of the city of D.C. from the eyes of a dying breed.
Frank Miller's "The Spirit" is an entirely different kind of superhero movie, and we only learn just how different it is by watching the special features on the DVD.
"Fast and Furious" has everything a growing boy needs: fast cars, hot women and enough fiery crashes to fill out the rest of the movie. The original cast is back, with Paul Walker's Brian O'Connor having moved up in the world to the FBI and forced to return to undercover street racing alongside Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto.
There must be something between Nicholas Cage and really, really weird movies: "Snake Eyes," "8MM," "The Wicker Man," "The Weather Man" and now director Alex Proyas' "Knowing." A solid premise, in the film a time capsule buried in the ground for 50 years accurately predicts every disaster over that time period and even a few that haven't happened yet. Naturally, the kid who discovers the meaning of the time capsule is the son of a brilliant MIT astrophysics professor, John Koestler (Nicholas Cage). Chaos, bedlam and far too much CGI ensue. Of course, good premises do not a good movie make.
In case you have not seen Zack Snyder's "Watchmen," which garnered an A- from The Eagle, go now - do not pass go and certainly do not collect $200. The film is a work of sheer brilliance on its own and, perhaps more importantly, it is the most faithful adaptation ever conceived and quite probably the most faithful adaptation that could possibly be made. If any literary work truly deserves such dedication and respect, it is Alan Moore's masterpiece - a Hugo Award winner, included in Time Magazine's top 100 works of the 20th century and generally acknowledged as the greatest graphic novel ever written. By all accounts, Zack Snyder agrees. In a phone interview with The Eagle, he displayed the fanboy devotion he has to the original work in every question answered and every personal anecdote.
In 1985, Alan Moore's graphic novel "Watchmen" deconstructed and analyzed superheroes, setting a new bar that is yet to be surpassed and laying the groundwork for the following decades of comic books. Now, Zack Snyder has managed to tap into that power, deftly adapting the genius that is "Watchmen" into a movie as brilliantly stylized as it is thematically relevant in a time where costumed heroes are inundating the silver screen.
The latest in the line of icons of the horror genre, the 2009 remake/re-imagining of "Friday the 13th," does its due diligence. With their heart rates accelerated, eyes wide and waiting for the next gruesome end, audiences expecting a slasher film that does Jason Voorhees justice will not be disappointed. "Friday the 13th" is exactly what viewers expect: ninety minutes of hip young people getting creatively butchered.
In today's capitalist society, no big movie comes out without a plethora of tie-ins, from action figures to lunch boxes to comic books, particularly if the film is of the superpowers-and-costumes variety. "Push," starring Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning, premieres Feb. 6, so Wildstorm/DC Comics is eager to milk it for every penny it's worth by pushing a comic book miniseries of the same name.
As far as expectations go, "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" is exactly what it appears to be. Kevin James plays the titular fat, moronic-but-lovable loser who dreams of being the hero, but finds himself stuck as a rent-a-cop in a non-descript New Jersey mall. Unfortunately, the mall is not the only thing that is non-descript about "Mall Cop." While there are laughs, there are also painful buildups to them - moments of stupidity and senselessness that leave the audience begging for something actually funny to happen.
Like it or not, there are rules by which we are at least tacitly supposed to abide, lines that law-abiding citizens dare not cross. On the other side of those lines is where morality becomes a fine distinction between murder and justifiable homicide, a world well tread by "Street Kings."
Movies of all shapes and sizes are bound to explore an issue as controversial as the Iraq war. While many are going to be mindless action flicks and gory stories of war, some are going to be profound trips into the human psyche. "Stop-Loss" is of the latter variety, a meaningful, albeit chaotic, imagining of the soldier's tragedy and the country's moral vortex.
Apparently, Jason Statham really can act. Coming from slam-bang action flicks like "The Transporter" and "Snatch" that portray him as a shirtless bad-ass with a heart of gold and fists of steel, Statham's newest film is the story of a real-life London bank robbery in 1971, simply titled "The Bank Job."