Movie Review: Get Smart
06.23.2008
Get Smart, a spy guy tale of good vs. evil and Smart vs. dumb. Get Smart should follow their own advice when it comes to the script, the acting and the action.
After overcoming personal obstacles, Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) would give almost anything to be a field agent for Control, a covert American agency who battles the evil group KAOS. After his overwhelming talent gets him stuck as an analyst, he finally gets his break when Control is infiltrated and The Chief (Alan Arkin) gives him the bump to agent. He is assigned to be the partner of the beautiful and bad-ass Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). Together they take on KAOS and try to stop them from handing out nuclear weapons like candy and killing exposed Control agents.
There are a few scenes, particularly pertaining to our current presidential situation, that earned a hearty chuckle. A few non-electoral scenes also went over well. How can you not laugh at "Holy Shit! Holy Shit! A sword fish almost went through my head!"
Even still, it's obvious throughout the movie that director Peter Segal and writers Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember are desperately struggling to create moments of brilliance and silly splendor. Like a swimmer fighting a rip tide, their attempts only make Get Smart exhausting. The situational jokes are that a five year old boy might think up, and the visuals are often childish and shallow.
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Movie Review: The Happening
06.18.2008
M. Night Shyamalan is absolutely brilliant at what he does; when he's at his best, he can turn up the suspense in a way that hasn't been duplicated since the days of the immortal Hitch, the undisputed master of suspense. Shyamalan's previous successes in The Sixth Sense, and Signs was a refreshing surprise to an audience that was well used to and quite sick of the boring, and predictable slasher flicks. Unfortunately for Shyamalan, we have come to expect amazing things from him; sadly, this is not what we get in The Happening.
The Happening starts off with a promising bang. A freakish pandemic of ghastly mass suicides is occurring across the upper East Coast. Mark Wahlberg plays a science teacher who tries to outrun the threat with his wife, played by Zooey Deschanel, and the young daughter of his best friend. We are drawn into the story as we try to figure out the source of the menacing danger that constantly dogs them. The initial assumption is that the country is undergoing the first phase of a well planned and masterfully executed terrorist attack. Wahlberg's character surmises that the threat is far more ominous than terrorists, he believes that the attack is being waged upon humans...by nature, and he's probably correct. The story is sprinkled with a couple of honestly unsettling sights as our protagonist and his charges try to find their way through the disaster that they face. There are even a few funny moments thrown in for good measure. However, the film never really delivers on the bang it promises in the beginning. Halfway through the film, we are beset by an overwhelming desire to feel the punch of the movie...disappointingly though, we are left hanging.
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Movie News: Iron Man 2: Sequel Plans
06.18.2008
Director Jon Favreau has been very clear that Iron Man is the start of his trilogy - "I've got another 2 movies in my head; I'm ready to go." All the stars are signed for Iron Man 2. So what direction is the sequel going to go in?
Iron Man's main nemesis in the comics is Manderin, a descendent of Genghis Khan who wears ten alien rings, each with their own special ability. As long time fans will have noticed, Manderin's presence is foreshadowed in the first film - the terrorists who kidnap Stark are called the 'Ten Rings'. Favreau wants to see Manderin emerge from the shadows, but whether that's for the 2nd or 3rd movie is unknown.
One character we will see in Iron Man 2 is War Machine. Not only does Rhodes look at the Iron Man outfit during the first film and say "Next time baby," but actor Terrence Howard has stated - "In the next one they make a suit for me and I become War Machine."
How does he end up in it? "The beautiful thing about Marvel," Howard says "Is that they've always stuck with the tradition of staying truthful to the comics." - In the comics, Tony Stark turned to alcoholism after a hostile takeover of Stark Enterprises, and Rhodes was forced to take his place in the Mark III suit. But, in the same way as would happen if you borrowed a friend's underpants, Rhodes soon got headaches, started behaving erratically and eventually went on a rampage. A recovering Stark then donned a crude prototype suit to bring him down. Stark subsequently designed a heavier-armed version of the Iron Man suit for Rhodes, which became known as the War Machine armor.
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Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Review
05.25.2008
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have created their share of iconic movies and characters over three decades. But even among the likes of Luke Skywalker, Jaws, Darth Vader, and many many aliens, Indiana Jones has his special place in Spielberg and Lucas's universe. The two visionaries love to harken back to old time adventures, with Indiana Jones the most blatant example of their homages to the movie serial era. Bringing the spirit and adventures of those ancient films to life with 80's movie making cemented Spielberg and Lucas's place in movie history, while bringing Harrison Ford to the top of the A list. But in 1989, Indiana Jones was supposed to have ridden off in the sunset for good with Sean Connery. However, Spielberg and Lucas brought him back to pay a little visit to a "Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull."
Indiana Jones is older and less imposing now- at least until you get him in a fight. This time, it's 1957 and the villains who want to pick a fight with him are Russians, led by psychic villainess Irina Spalko. They force Indy to retrieve a special artifact from the same warehouse where the Ark of the Covenant was held. Despite escaping, Dr Jones is put under suspicion by the government for having to aid the Russians. But when things look worst, Indiana is called upon by a motorcycle riding youngster named Mutt for help, as his mother and an old friend of Jones is being held in Peru. There, Spalko and the Russians are after an artifact called the Crystal Skull, which is said to grant great power to whoever returns it to the ancient city of Akator. Aliens, a city of gold, and Spanish conquistadors are also involved in the legend for good measure. So Indiana and Mutt travel across South America to find the clues and the Crystal Skull before Spalko does- with Indy discovering another old friend and a family secret in the process.
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Movie Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
05.25.2008
It has been one year since the Pevensie children (Georgia Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, and Anna Popplewell) first visited Narnia, but one year for them is 1000 years for the people of Narnia and a lot has changed since their Kings and Queens of Old left them. The land has been invaded by the Telmarines who have all but wiped out the Narnians leaving them as nothing more then myth and legend in the stories for school children.
When the Pevensies are called back to the land they so dearly have missed it is to save the land of Narnia and return the Telmarine throne back to its rightful ere Prince Caspian. Writer & director Andrew Adamson returns to craft this darker second chapter in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN. Much of the magic and splendor is gone from the world replaced instead by machines and deceit and murder.
Bringing the second C.S. Lewis chapter to the screen is an even bigger feet then the first one as there are many more battle scenes and the tone is more serious. It's tough to say if very young children should even be able to see this film as it depicts the darker side of mankind.
Forgiving the subtle change of tone and mood from the first film PRINCE CASPIAN is a richer film in terms of showing the worlds in which the Narnians and the Telmarines live in. It's almost as if this film came out twenty or thirty years ago people would derive a sence that the film was speaking out against racism and racial injustice due in part to the way in which the Telmarines see and treat the Narnians. This is a film about segregation and war and what some people will do to continue hiding in the face of racism no matter how many times they're hit upon the head.
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Little Known Facts from the Indiana Jones Movies
05.14.2008
The Indiana Jones films may be among the most popular films in Hollywood history, but there is plenty you may not know about the series. See if you knew the following facts.
George Lucas first pitched the idea of Indiana Jones to his friend Steven Spielberg in 1977, the weekend Star Wars opened in theaters. Lucas and Spielberg were in Hawaii on vacation when Lucas suggested his idea...
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The Forbidden Kingdom
05.13.2008
A much anticipated film delivered by Jacky Chan and Jet Li(who has repeatedly been quoted as wanting to retire from the Kung Fu movie scene) is as much a disappointment as a chocolate sundae with no cherry on top, it simply doesn't hit the spot. Sure, we've got the cool fight scenes that floods the movie over and over again, and some may argue that that is the whole point of the movie, but we've c...
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I Am Legend: Amazing Acting, Poor Climax
05.13.2008
I remember watching the Fresh Prince of Bell-air. Will Smith would open the show with his witty rap about how he ended up in Bell-Air, then probably make fun of Carlton's awkwardness with girls, and at some point probably get smacked by Uncle Phil (or at least threatened).
Doctor Robert Neville--his character in I am Legend--is a huge departure from the Fresh Prince days. Will Smit...
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"P.S. I Love You"
05.13.2008
I'm a huge Hillary Swank fan. I particularly like her because she comes across as a typical woman. She's not movie star gorgeous, although she is beautiful in her own way. She is well grounded, unassuming, and sweet.
Swank isn't full of herself. She doesn't think that her amazing talent means that she should step over the little people in order to get to the top. She doesn't act "e...
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