deltajvliet Reviews

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

The Matrix Reloaded to The Matrix

[8/10 · 10 February 2017]

Very very good, maybe great, but not quite the original. The first was so fresh, and good as this one is the relentless auto-aim headshots get to be fatiguing and monotonous. It's a small complaint but seems to be a common reaction.

Stahelski elaborates more on the world created by the first, but some of the universe building comes off as gratuitous or even, oddly enough, mundane. A good example - when we're first introduced to the coins in the last movie, their implications are fascinating. There's a whole currency for this underground world of assassins? How much are they worth? How do you get them? In Chapter 2, there's a brief scene where John approaches Winston as he's inspecting new coins from a man who presumably mints them. Winston says, "Exquisite work, put them into circulation." It's a fun nod, but there's something about it that takes away from the world's mythos and turns it into boring matter-of-fact hit-man logistics.

The first movie's action mostly took place at night, and the same is true here. But while that was surprisingly clean and crisp visually, I found this entry to have more motion blur. Looking it up, both movies use the Arri Alexa, and I've noticed digital cinematography seems more prone to that problem, but it was just a minor disappointment, minor being the operative word. It's still miles ahead of the 10-cuts-a-second shaky cam epidemic plaguing modern action cinema.

Last small complaint. While John Wick suffers from the John McClane "real but still invincible" action hero dilemma, he's also a superhuman weapons handling expert to a fault. For example, every time Wick reloads and racks his gun, he does a secondary press check to ensure there's a bullet in the chamber. In the middle of a heated and fast paced shootout, this step seems excessive, time consuming, and unnecessary. It looks cool, I guess, but it didn't need to be done every time. A small case of tactical trumping practical.

I'm nitpicking. I know that, and the movie was very good. Sometimes it's just easier to list a few things wrong than everything right, and there is a lot right here. It's not the masterpiece the original was, and ends on a maddeningly inconclusive cliffhanger, but it absolutely beats out 98% of action movies from the last decade.

John Wick - 9.5/10 John Wick: Chapter 2 - 8/10

The Hateful Eight (2015)

Not His Best, but Solid

[8/10 · 30 December 2015]

Got to see Tarantino's The Hateful Eight today in 70mm! For the uninitiated, most movies are, or rather were, shot with 35mm. However, the trend today is overwhelmingly becoming digital photography, which can be effective but is also inundating modern cinema with depressingly blurry camera pans and other adverse effects. Anyway, Tarantino's film was shot with 65mm film (the extra 5mm comes from the accompanying audio track), and the difference between 35mm and 65mm is like 720p vs. 4k; significantly higher image quality and resolution.

To get the full experience, you'd want to see it projected through an actual 70mm film projector. This is easier said than done since the cost of getting the proper equipment reportedly runs $80,000 per auditorium. To that end, the Weinstein Company has helped outfit a handful of theaters around the country with said equipment, and if you want a truly premium experience I encourage you to seek one out. There's at least one theater in most major cities.

However, as admirable as this audacious Roadshow is, I question Tarantino's choice of movie to do it with. On paper a Western sounds great to shoot with 70mm film; vast landscapes, grizzled faces, close-ups of holstered pistols with clenched hands around their grips… Unfortunately, most of The Hateful Eight takes place in a relatively small and dim interior. The movie looks nice, but not nearly as good as it would've with outside daylight bringing out every crisp detail. The contrast seemed a touch high, as well. I'm thinking of one shot in particular of a stagecoach moving alongside a stream outside. The snow is very white, and the stagecoach is very dark. Not much middle ground. I hate to say it but I'm looking forward to The Revenant's cinematography more now.

Tarantino's well known for his dialogue, and it doesn't let down here. I'm not sure it was intentional, but at one point several characters are accused of wrongdoing. I noticed two of the three were actors that came under suspicion from Tarantino for leaking his script of The Hateful Eight early. Very quickly I started noting parallels between the characters' defenses and the actors' real life defenses when accused of the script leak. Maybe it's coincidence, but that added some fascinating depth to the scene for me.

Direction is top notch too, and even at 3 hours the movie doesn't get boring. Maybe slow in some spots, but never boring. That being said, the story itself isn't particularly compelling or amazing. There's a very "whodunit" feel to the whole affair, with a sense of mystery evoking And Then There Were None or maybe The Thing. The buildup is better than the underwhelming payoff, sadly, but it's by no means unsatisfying.

Performances make up for story shortcomings. Kurt Russell, Walton Goggins (glad to see him getting some bigger roles after Justified), Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, and even Channing Tatum are all in top form. I was happy to see Zoë Bell get a small part too. Michael Madsen just recycles his old performances, however, but he was the only low point among the otherwise terrific ensemble cast. Similarly, Morricone lends his talents to great effect. It's not The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, but it's still a solid mix between The Untouchables and Two Mules for Sister Sara.

This isn't Tarantino's best movie, but it's probably one of my favorite 2015 releases alongside Mad Max, Ex Machina, Rogue Nation, and Sicario. I'd put it ahead of Death Proof and Jackie Brown, and about on par with Reservoir Dogs. Do yourself a favor and seek out one of the 70mm Roadshow locations if possible. It wouldn't be the end of the world to see it on a digital projector, but the image quality will degrade somewhat and you'll lose a big part of what makes the experience special.

8/10

Winter's Tale (2014)

Full of Heart

[8/10 · 6 March 2014]

I've had a few weeks to digest this admittedly criticized movie, and you know, I really like it. There's a true sense of movie magic to it, the kind I had seeing Back to the Future as a kid or going through MGM in Disney World. A sense of unrestrained optimism, of passion, of enthusiasm for exciting movie-making and the human spirit.

Colin Farrell is a likable tramp named Peter Lake circa 1916. He's a thief who has a falling out with his boss, Pearly, a gangster/demon played superbly by Russell Crowe. As Pearly says, Peter started having lots of unacceptable ideas: how to steal a ring without cutting off the finger or how to snatch a purse without assaulting the woman. Pearly eloquently explains that without that violence, what's the point? He can't have this, he's an agent of chaos and misery.

Peter isn't a hero, but he has a good heart. With Pearly closing in on him, Peter turns a corner to find a mysterious white horse. It nobly bows to offer a ride, and we gather very quickly this is more than a horse. Later on, in fact, Pearly suggests it's Peter's guardian angel. One of Winter's Tale's most wondrous elements are these miraculous happenings. I hate to call them supernatural because they're mostly grounded in allusion to Christianity, but it's no more a religious movie than, say, Constantine.

Back to the plot, Peter's getting out of Dodge. Fate has different plans. He meets Beverly, the love of his life, played with love and a subtle sadness by Jessica Brown Findlay. She is to Peter what Rose was to Jack Dawson. A beautiful, wonderful, goodhearted young woman being cut down far too early in life by Tuberculosis. There's a moment so beautiful and so tragic, too early in their time together, I was moved to tears. Some will accuse it of melodrama, objectively a defendable point, but then why are they at a romance to begin with?

Meanwhile, Pearly is still dead set on finding Peter. He convenes with his boss, Lou. As in Lucifer. Clever, eh? Lou is played by Will Smith, and I don't know if people expected a white guy or a red guy with a pitchfork, but this has had one of the biggest backlashes in recent memory. I couldn't tell you why, Smith does a fine job for the negligible time he's on screen.

Here some of the story's more fantastical elements take hold. Pearly finally catches up with Peter and there's a reckoning. Bloodied, beaten, and thrown off a bridge, Peter is left for dead, but wakes up with no memory, and drifts through life to 2014 without aging. I personally like that the movie left some questions unanswered here. Does he remember he's from 1916? Has he spent the last century working odd jobs? Does he have an apartment or a Social Security number? They're all insignificant and trivial questions. But I wonder. Meanwhile, Pearly is still alive and well. In one of the movie's most inspired shots, we see Pearly walking down the same corridor he walked down a hundred years earlier, previously with chalkboards, now with computer monitors and modern decor. He finds out Peter is still alive. This is a bona fide miracle and he is in the business of stopping miracles. This time he's out for blood.

Peter, through a little help from fate, happens upon an old picture of Beverly in one of the movie's most poignant moments. He remembers everything. Love is timeless, love is precious. If there's a weak link in the scene, it's Jennifer Connelly. Her character is underdeveloped, but it's understandable considering the film's sprawling and epic scope of time. She's also present in the final showdown between Pearly and Peter, and those with some imagination should be left satisfied by it.

I've been told the novel Winter's Tale was adapted from was considered by most to be unfilmable. Akiva Goldsman took that challenge as a passion project and owned it. I have tremendous respect for that, and tremendous appreciation for a movie with as much heart and soul and imagination as this. It's a genuine rarity these days.

Next time you have a date night, consider this.

8/10

Hit and Run (I) (2012)

One of the Best Movies of the Year

[9/10 · 1 September 2012]

This is a creative, original, funny, and action packed story, a wonderful example of independent filmmaking. Dax Shepard was able to get away with a $2 million budget by recruiting friends like Bradley Cooper and (real life GF) Kristen Bell to act. The other main characters, the cars, were largely his own.

The film has a True Romance feel, only infused into a chase movie. The action set-pieces are fantastic. Simple, beautiful, effective. Slow motion burnouts, lovingly filmed, fish tails, even one or two stunt jumps. And I'm 99% sure there was no CGI at any point. Just good old fashioned fast cars going fast. Seriously. Think of the last 10 minutes of Death Proof extended to half a movie.

I didn't know Shepard before this, but he's a funny guy. In his writing, in his content, in his delivery. At one point a redneck onlooker struts up to his prized Lincoln Continental and asks if it has nitrous. Dax's character Charlie matter of factly tells him, "Nitrous is for fags. This has cubic inches," then drives away. But it's more than just dialogue. Like when a wannabe tough guy bottoms out his Pontiac Solstice leaving the driveway. Sometimes it's the subtle things.

The movie got no marketing, and hardly anyone knows it's even in theaters. Too bad. This is a hidden gem, required viewing for fans of chase movies.

9/10

The Raid: Redemption (2011)

The Raid 8/10

[8/10 · 13 April 2012]

I had heard the film hailed as the greatest thing since Hard Boiled, perhaps even greater than John Woo's magnum opus. That was an exaggeration, but it was still very good.

The Raid is a brutal and violent movie. Its plot involves an Indonesian SWAT team infiltrating a criminal stronghold... a 15-story building occupied almost exclusively by violent criminals protecting the criminal mastermind at the top. The SWAT team makes it about a third of the way up before an alarm is sounded. A slaughter of the police quickly ensues, leaving the few survivors trapped with men seeking to kill them above and below. Oh, and they either lose their guns or run out of ammo.

What this sets up is about an hour and a half of near non-stop martial arts. The fighting is well choreographed, although editing occasionally broke the 180 degree rule. It's a pet peeve. Still, this is better than 99% of what Hollywood typically puts out. Fight sequences aren't butchered by quick cuts, and we can see that everyone here actually knows what they're doing. A bunch of stunt men clearly risked life and limb, and it shows.

The Raid also boasts solid suspense. One highlight I'd like to share: two SWAT officers are hiding in a small hidden room behind a wall. A criminal with a machete suspects they're there and begins stabbing through the wall. The stabbing inches closer and closer until it slices the cheek of the protagonist. You see, his head is pinned between one end of the room and the machete, forcing him to stay there and suppress his instinct to scream while the criminal gets distracted and walks away for a while, leaving the machete behind. And when he comes back to pull it out, our hero puts his glove on the blade to wipe off the cheek blood. Hitchcock would be proud.

Where The Raid falls short is in emotional investment. It's superior to the recent Navy SEAL movie Act of Valor, but where that movie succeeded was its emotional impact, particularly near the end. Both movies have a protagonist with a pregnant wife, but The Raid made that a fact rather than an emotional reality. So we're left with some very cool action and a respectable score by Mike Shinoda, but it's just not as satisfying as it might have been.

Hard Boiled it is not. But not every movie can be. The Raid is nonetheless a solid entry from a country we haven't seen much from.

8/10

Faster (2010)

Good Old R-rated Violence

[9/10 · 3 December 2010]

These movies are a dying breed. Studios opt for PG-13 when they can, and the few R-rated movies there are often fail financially. Unfortunately that looks to be the case for Faster.

I never cared about wrestling or The Rock, but since he switched to acting I've generally been impressed by Johnson. We can all agree material like Tooth Fairy is lame, but he was surprisingly solid early on in The Rundown and Walking Tall. The guy even out acted veterans like Travolta and Keitel in Be Cool.

Since then he's turned in a number of good performances: Get Smart, The Other Guys, and now Faster. While he works in lighter genres like comedy, this man was made for a movie like Faster. He exudes a sense of dark vengeance.

Johnson plays a man simply known to us as Driver. Driver has a serious score to settle with some guys, and fresh from a 10-year prison sentence, he's out for blood. Hot on his trail is Cop (Billy Bob Thornton). Also added to the mix is Killer, a professional hit-man hired by one of the men Driver's after. Killer is unessential to the story, but he's played surprisingly well, so it's hard to fault his presence.

The movie has its share of action, but not the amount the trailer made it look to have. In fact, a scene that was featured prominently in ads was completely cut from the film. You may recall - Johnson and Killer play chicken with their Chevelle and Ferrari. Neither gives, and the two cars collide head on, sending the Chevy flying.

I can't fault the filmmakers for this. They might have felt the confrontation to be superfluous, that the movie ended better without it. That's fine, and it did have a good ending, I was just expecting more and was very much let down when it went to credits. So that's my one beef, aside from a minor complaint about an unrealistic twist.

But neither was enough to hurt the movie too badly. In fact, I was impressed at Faster's emotional core. Johnson isn't a robotic killing machine, he's a man with a soul. Some of the men he hunts aren't entirely soulless, either. Morality is very much a problem for Driver, and it's this that elevates Faster above mindless R-rated violence. It's good R-rated violence.

7.5/10

Hereafter (2010)

I Am in Awe of Clint Eastwood

[9/10 · 22 October 2010]

Hereafter is Eastwood's fourth movie in a row where I sat through the credits, soaking in what I had just seen.

As with his other recent efforts, Hereafter has a sincere sentimentality to it, a touching sense of love. It evokes a number of emotions... Sadness, sympathy, love, understanding, happiness.

I sat stunned at the end, so in awe of how Eastwood appeals so much to my heart. This is a man I've come to admire after many years. He used to be a caricature of rogue action heroes, but as I began watching him, I found him to be a real badass. The original badass, as I actually told a friend earlier today. But when I speak of him in those terms, I am imagining a confident young man in the 60's, a gunslinger in the Old West who nobody could outdraw.

Eastwood is a different man today. An icon he remains, but ever since Mystic River, I've found he's so much more. I'll quote Ebert, Hereafter "is a film of a man at peace. He has nothing to prove except his care for the living." And Eastwood has so much care, so much love. I'll be mad at God when he dies; he's 80 years old but he's in his prime. He still has so much to offer.

Ride the High Country (1962)

Heroes vs. Anti-Heroes

[7/10 · 3 September 2010]

As far as I can tell, there are two kinds of Westerns. Those with heroes, and those with anti- heroes. While the protagonists of the latter category might be more interesting and, frankly, more badass to me, I have nothing against a character who believes in goodness and morality and stands up for those beliefs.

So it is in Ride the High Country; we have a hero who speaks of honor and self-respect and pride and goes to great lengths for the sake of justice. Even his partner that betrays him finds redemption at the end, thus creating a stark contrast between the good guys and bad guys, and therefore a definitive line between right and wrong.

I feel the pitfall of this category of Western is its decidedly idealistic outlook; the tone tends to reflect that outlook, and while idealism is all fine and well, what you're left with is a sense of innocence that doesn't quite mirror the real world.

The remake of 3:10 to Yuma managed to pull off a hero protagonist because it placed him in a highly cynical world. Though he was a good man himself, he knew he was surrounded by vice and greed and immorality; in short, he wasn't naive. Ride the High Country feels naive in some ways.

Was it simply a product of its era? I'm reminded of The Wild Bunch, made by Peckinpah only seven years later. Society did see a myriad changes in the 60's, but could it go from idealistic and innocent to cynical and jaded in that short a time? Or was Peckinpah just at a different stage of his career, hoping to express a darker set of themes?

It's interesting to consider. Why did Westerns take on a darker edge? How did we go from John Wayne to Clint Eastwood? Is naivete and innocence best? Or pessimistic knowledge of reality? Some might claim I'm presupposing the world is a bad place, but then I prefer Clint Eastwood.

In spite of the conflict it depicts, Ride the High Country romanticizes the West and shows a land where good prevails. It's a nice thought, one I'd like to believe, but it's just not what I see when I turn on the news.

He Was a Quiet Man (2007)

Christian Slater's Career Defining Performance

[8/10 · 23 May 2010]

Christian Slater gives an outstanding, career defining performance in this great little movie. He's Bob, a mix of Milton in Office Space and Michael Douglas in Falling Down, a psychopathic loner who brings a gun to work but can't quite get up the nerve to gun down all the people he hates.

In a nice little instance of dark comedy, a fellow psychopathic loner at work also brings a gun to work and begins killing people. At first Bob's somewhat pleased that someone did the dirty work for him, but when his coworker points the gun at a female colleague Bob has hidden affection for, he uses his own gun on the killer, thereby becoming a hero.

Nobody ever questions why Bob had a gun in the first place, but after reading some interpretations of the movie, I understood why. Yeah, this is one of those movies you interpret. It's thoughtful and provocative and not at all times literal, but for the most part it's easy enough to follow.

For an independent movie He Was a Quiet Man had quite a few moments of CGI, but it's a great example of when such a film-making tool is warranted. We're not talking Transformers or anything, it's the little things... Like when Bob talks to his fish, and we see it talk back. That was a nice little touch - the fish mirrors Bob's wants and desires and subconscious, and by doing that we're given further insight into Bob's clearly demented but fascinating mind, as well as one critical moment of foreshadowing.

The supporting cast includes Elisha Cuthbert and the always reliable William H. Macy. Still, this is Slater's show. I've always liked the guy, but he's never really struck me as a serious actor. I'll have to take him more seriously from now on.

8/10

The Losers (I) (2010)

The Losers - 7.5/10

[8/10 · 26 April 2010]

I saw it twice this weekend. Yes, twice. Why? Because I went Friday then found out my friend wanted to go Sunday, and it was good enough to warrant two viewings.

The Losers is no masterpiece, it won't win any awards, but it's a hell of an enjoyable movie with a high rewatchability factor. It's stylish, witty, and never takes itself too seriously.

Never heard of Jeffrey Dean Morgan prior to this, but he's effective as the group's leader. He exudes authority, and he's someone you'd feel confident following into battle. Jason Patric does the whole super villain thing, and it works. At one point he nods to his right hand man who then proceeds to throw a scientist they're intimidating off the roof. Patric is annoyed: "That was at most a hit him in the face nod. I think I speak for everyone here when I say your actions were excessive." He also wears a glove on one hand to cover up what appears to be a burn scar, because super villains always have to have some odd thing about them. Chris Evans is the other highlight. He's great at comic relief, and has a number of laugh out loud moments. His rendition of "Don't Stop Believing" was probably the best part of the movie. Zoe Saldana (Star Trek, Avatar) is another asset to the cast.

Camaraderie is an element I always appreciate seeing in films, whether it be the criminals in Johnnie To's The Mission or the soldiers in Black Hawk Down. The group here is like a mix of the two, soldiers turned mercenary outlaws. But they stick together, and in spite of the occasional argument you respect the relationship they have with one another; you believe any one of them would take a bullet for another.

Relative newcomer Sylvain White competently directs The Losers as a smart and stylish over the top shoot 'em up. It's witty, it's slick, and it's fun; I just wish there were more movies like this.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

[7/10 · 19 April 2010]

In many ways Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a homage to animation. It's filled with references to numerous iconic cartoons, and many famous characters make appearances: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Donald Duck, Jessica Rabbit, Mickey and Minnie, Dumbo, and a number of others, though admittedly some of their voice work felt a little off.

The film also plays with a lot of the conventions found in cartoons. Sight gags, slapstick, cartoon violence, and one-liners that fall somewhere between witty and campy.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit has fun with it subject matter, reveling in what it is—a zany cartoon noir comedy with memorable characters… There's the lovable Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer), the pessimistic private eye Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins), and the movie's antagonist Judge Doom (in a big change of pace from Back to the Future's likable Doc, Christopher Lloyd). Judge Doom's job description apparently includes jury and executioner as well. All the while I was wondering why Roger couldn't at least get a trial, but I guess L.A. doesn't bother with such trivialities in this universe. Doom has a squad of thugs at his disposal, several gum shoe-accented weasels wearing double-breasted suits and fedoras.

I understand that combining live action with animation was groundbreaking when this came out, and in fact the movie won a special achievement Oscar for it, but it's hard to be impressed in the era of Pixar. Today it all comes off as a little dated, but I suppose it doesn't hurt for nostalgia's sake.

Miami Vice (2006)

Review of the Director's Cut

[8/10 · 18 April 2010]

People weren't really gagging over Miami Vice back in 2006, some said it was decent but nothing special, others felt that was being too generous. And yet, there are those the movie has grown on, people who feel it gets better with subsequent viewings.

I'm a big fan of Mann. If I had to attribute my interest in film to any one movie it'd be Collateral. So naturally I was anticipating Miami Vice two years later. I even recall using the promotional desktop as my MySpace background. Yeah, that was when people still used MySpace.

Maybe it was due to an unreasonable level of anticipation, but I was a little disappointed when I saw it opening weekend. Not because it was bad - it was certainly a solid movie - but because it wasn't better. I was hoping for something great and got something good.

A year or two later I watched it on DVD, and while it did improve slightly, I had the same overall feeling.

Last weekend I saw the Director's Cut in the $5 bin at Walmart and decided to pick it up. Watching it a day or two after, I suddenly really like this movie. Still not at the level of Collateral or Heat, but it's a helluva lot closer. So, do I attribute this to it being the DC? I honestly only noticed two things that were different. First, the movie opens on a boat race instead of the super-abrupt club opening in the theatrical version. It's gorgeously shot, but then so is the rest of the movie. The second difference was that In the Air Tonight precedes the final shootout. Nonpoint, not Phil Collins.

These are welcome additions, but on their own don't seem to constitute much of an overall change. It's amazing then that all the littler, subtler changes made such a big difference. I'm not even sure what they were.

The end product, however, is fantastic. An intelligent, smart, and well written action movie underlined by a terrific soundtrack and beautiful visuals. I agree that Mann missed the mark with Public Enemies cinematography-wise, but the DV absolutely works here.

So check out the Director's Cut if you get the chance, your opinion might change.

8/10

Outpost (2008)

Tense and Effective

[7/10 · 1 April 2010]

This movie is about how to fight invincible Nazi ghosts, and somehow it manages to be awesome without the slightest hint of camp.

A band of mercenaries is hired to escort a mysterious businessman named Hunt through a dangerous, war-torn area of Eastern Europe; he claims to be a surveyor for a company that wants to purchase mineral-rich land once fighting ends, but the mercs suspect he's after something else. But a job's a job, and they agree.

It's not long before the story takes us to an isolated WWII-era German bunker, the mysterious businessman's real destination. Suspense has been mounting for fear of an ambush by rebels in the area, but that quickly becomes a secondary concern when the soldiers of fortune stumble upon a pile of bodies in the bunker, recently tortured and killed. One man is still alive, however, and while it isn't initially explained what happened to these poor souls, it nonetheless creates a sickening feeling.

As they hold down the fort for Hunt to find what he's looking for, the ex-soldiers are periodically attacked from the perimeter they've set up outside. And then a series of freak occurrences begin to occur. First little things, things that seem odd, maybe even borderline impossible, but they can be explained away. But then begin things that cannot be ignored. And one by one, the seasoned vets are picked off in brutal, violent ways.

The script has some really fascinating material woven throughout, especially references to and depictions of Nazi experiments gone terribly wrong, or worse, terribly right.

The explanation offered by Hunt for what's going on is convincing enough, so as ridiculous as the plot might sound on paper it's disturbingly believable while you're watching. The movie exudes foreboding tension throughout, made all the more real by characters played with conviction. It's an odd mix of horror and action, but it works.

7.5/10

Brooklyn's Finest (2009)

Unrelentingly Dark

[7/10 · 5 March 2010]

I appreciate dark films, in fact it's an attribute I commonly look for in a movie. When it comes down to it, I'm cynical at heart. So while the literal story of a dark movie might not be incredibly realistic or believable, in a lot of ways I still consider it to be true to reality, true in its depiction of the world as it is, often cold and unforgiving.

But this movie is something else. Not to shower it with hyperbole, but Brooklyn's Finest is bleak enough to make The Road look hopeful and optimistic. Watching it I wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing. Good people die, bad people die, and those fortunate enough to survive the plot might as well be dead for all the happiness they have.

When it took on a "Departed" vibe in the third act, I decided I liked the movie. Not for having instances of black humor or being stylish like The Departed, but it did share one key plot device. This device isn't inherently good on its own, but it helped me to realize how emotionally invested I was in each character.

And on that note, Cheadle and Hawke dominate this movie. Gere and Snipes did competent jobs, but the former two truly occupied their roles.

It seems like Fuqua wanted to push the envelope with this one. The stories him and guys like David Ayer create have become familiar territory to the point of being clichéd and tired, so I feel like he attempted to differentiate this one by really pushing the boundaries of the R- rating. Not that we haven't seen this content before, but there's just so much violence, nudity, sexuality, drugs, etc. it becomes extreme. And while it did start to feel excessive and unnecessary, I'll concede it helped to solidify the movie's dark, foreboding atmosphere.

The movie is intense. Filmmakers have honed in on editing and photography techniques that clue audiences in to something bad that's about to happen, and Brooklyn's Finest is no exception. But something interesting I noticed, and I'm not sure if this was intentional, was that there were several of these moments where the climactic act of violence or whatever never came. But it wasn't anticlimactic, it just built the suspense that much more. Each time another moment like this comes around, you're not sure if someone is about to bite the dust or live to fight another day.

Brooklyn's Finest is definitely not a film for everybody. It's dark and depressing. But even in such an extreme example like this, that can be so much more true to life than whatever crappy feel good comedy is playing right now.

7/10

Cop Out (2010)

Not That Bad

[7/10 · 27 February 2010]

Yeah, I know the trailer was underwhelming, but luckily this was one of those instances where they kept the best gags for the actual movie. The ads also paint Tracy Morgan as annoyingly over the top and goofy, but for the most part he's relatively toned down.

I laughed out loud many times, actually. Critics threw around terms like "potty humor" and "lame," but I didn't see that. A few lines might have fallen flat but they were so brief and so quickly overshadowed by jokes that did work I didn't notice. I'd cite a few examples of how this movie was funny, but thinking back quite a few would actually be spoilers. But here's one good example.

Tracy Morgan's Paul loves homaging movies, and at one point while "interrogating" a suspect he quotes the "Yippy Kay-Yay" line from Die Hard. Bruce Willis has been watching and naming all the movies Morgan references, but with this one he simply says: "I've never seen that movie."

That's great writing.

The movie has a number of great camp moments, and we also get an effective cameo from Jason Lee. No Ben Affleck or Matt Damon, but Seann William Scott gives a nice little performance.

It's not the greatest buddy cop comedy we've ever seen, but you could do a lot worse.

7/10

District 13: Ultimatum (2009)

Stick to the Original

[6/10 · 25 January 2010]

D13 Ultimatum is the sequel to the 2004 French cult flick District B13, a superstylized action movie boasting awe inspiring martial arts and mind blowing parkour.

Directed by Pierre Morel (Taken, From Paris with Love) and produced by Luc Besson, District B13 garnered a large fan base in the years after its release, and I strongly encourage anybody with a remote interest in the action genre to seek it out. For those with Netflix, it's on Instant View.

Just several weeks ago its sequel, District 13 Ultimatum, made its way to Xbox Live, and thus to the USA where it had previously been unavailable. Having just viewed it, I'm here to report that like most sequels to great movies, it was alright but nowhere near the original in quality.

The movie has decent production values, and the two leads played by David Belle (co- founder of parkour) and Cyril Raffaelli (the dude who jumps out of the helicopter in Live Free or Die Hard) return. But a lot of the story is just a retread of last time, and the same can be said of the action sequences. Where its predecessor really pushed the envelope and attempted to be innovative, Ultimatum just does the same things over.

Belle and Raffaelli have good chemistry, but they're surrounded by characters we frankly don't care about. The bad guys aren't very menacing, and the good guys are kind of dicks. So whatever.

The story was meh. Some Blackwater-ish government guys who answer to no one start some civil strife so the government has an excuse to level parts of District 13 (a Paris ghetto) and Harriburton, that's right, "Harriburton" can come in and rebuild. Yeah.

But the movie is saved by its action sequences, inferior as they are to its predecessor's. Those, and the two leads. I wouldn't say I'm disappointed, having heard it wasn't as good a year or two ago when those lucky Europeans got to see it way before me, but stick to the original.

6.25/10

Avatar (2009)

The Best Movie of 2009

[9/10 · 18 December 2009]

I wanted to see this in 3D as it was intended, but unfortunately the people I was going with just wanted to see it in 2D. Not all was lost, however, as the screen I saw it on was a large 70 X 30' screen. It had golden curtains that were pulled back prior to the movie starting, and the manager who introduced the film beforehand boasted that this was the largest screen in Arizona. I'm not entirely sure if that's true, what with there being IMAX's in the area and all, but I'll admit it was an impressive auditorium.

Several trailers played beforehand. The first was a great looking action comedy starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz called Knight and Day. Bad title, but it's now my second most anticipated movie of 2010, behind The Expendables. There were also trailers for Clash of the Titans, Salt, and one or two others I can't recall.

Alright, now for the actual movie. I was extremely impressed. And since I only saw it in 2D, I didn't even see the biggest part of what makes this film so special. That will change next week when I see it in IMAX 3D, but for now it's a tribute to the film's story, a rousing and compelling tale that doesn't rely on gimmicky 3D, only adds it as a bonus.

We all have an idea of the story by now, and some call it unoriginal, clichéd, etc. Being a remake of Infernal Affairs, you could say the same of The Departed, but like Ebert pointed out in his review of it, "a movie is not about what it's about; it's about how it's about it." This certainly applies to Avatar as well; it might be a retread of familiar stories like FernGully and Dances with Wolves, but it's just told - and shown - so well that it doesn't matter in the slightest.

Credit to the actors for making the story as good as it is. Sam Worthington is solid, as are Sigourney Weaver and Giovanni Ribisi, but the two people who really steal the show are Stephen Lang and Zoe Saldana. Lang is the perfect antagonist for the movie, a real evil hardass we love to hate. And Saldana... You'll remember her as Uhura from Star Trek. She plays Neytiri, the Na'vi female interest Worthington falls for as he comes to know the alien race. Saldana plays her as strong and fierce, but full of emotion as well. We can thank her for a lot of the emotional heavy lifting in Avatar - tragic events wouldn't be what they are without her gut wrenching reactions.

I'm unable to comment on the 3D, but the other effects were terrific. I had considered Terminator 3 to be the benchmark for CGI up until about 2007, at which point Transformers set the bar, but now it's Avatar. Pandora is photorealistic, plain and simple. I'd hesitate to say the same for the Na'vi, but they're close. To be fair, we've seen effects this good before, but what sets Avatar apart is the sheer magnitude of it all - we've seen great CGI but never to this extent. Cameron also makes effective use of motion capture, the same technology Peter Jackson used for Gollum in the LOTR trilogy and King Kong. I couldn't tell if he ever used models, but that's to the credit of the movie. After all, Cameron's goal was for us to be unable to differentiate between what was real and what wasn't. And he succeeds.

All in all, Avatar is a rousing, exciting, action/adventure epic, and I can't wait to see it again in IMAX 3D. This is the best movie of 2009.

9.5/10

The Great Dictator (1940)

The Great Dictator

[8/10 · 15 December 2009]

The Great Dictator succeeds brilliantly on two different levels. First, it works as a comedy, even by today's standards. Second, and more importantly, it was a brave and ahead of its time condemnation of Nazi Germany.

Chaplin has been called the master of slapstick, and The Great Dictator doesn't disappoint in the comedy department. Take the opening World War I battle. Chaplin finds himself wandering through smoke until he finally comes out alongside other soldiers. But wait, these are enemy soldiers. Chaplin drops his gun, exclaims, "Pardon me!" and runs away. Or when he makes his escape with Schutlz and their plane is inadvertently rolled upside down. Chaplin observes his watch dangling up and nonchalantly comments, "We seem to be defying the laws of gravity."

But what has truly made The Great Dictator so timeless was its scathing criticism of Nazi Germany. The movie began production in the late 1930's while the US was still at peace with Hitler, and in fact it was released more than a year before the US entered the war. Condemning Nazism was taboo, and Chaplin, a Jew himself, was only able to make the movie because of creative and financial independence. In fact, Chaplin put $1.5 million of his own money into the project, and this was at a time when it couldn't be shown in some places due to "neutrality." Needless to say the film didn't have the best box office prospects, but that only stands as a testament to Chaplin, a man more interested in artistic expression and fighting injustice than the bottom line.

Modern studios should take note; it became Chaplin's highest grossing film.

8.5/10

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Creation vs. Destruction

[9/10 · 12 December 2009]

At its core, The Bridge on the River Kwai is a film about creation and destruction. It alternates between two story lines that start and end in the same place.

One revolves around the efforts of British POW's to build a bridge in the middle of a Thai jungle. Despite their hardships and poor living conditions, these men work diligently on a bridge they hope will stand as a monument to British ingenuity and resourcefulness for generations to come. Essentially, it's their way of inflicting defeat on the enemy, even while in the confines of a POW camp. This subplot represents creation.

Meanwhile, a British Special Forces team is assembled with one simple task: to destroy the bridge the POW's are creating. Led by an ex-POW who had escaped the camp, the team manages to plant demolitions and explode the bridge as a train with high priority Japanese targets passes on it. These men are the harbingers of destruction.

What we're ultimately left with, then, are two inherently opposed forces that come head to head in the film. Traditionally, people associate creation with good and destruction with bad. It becomes less clear in a situation like this. Does the long-term vision of the POW's justify temporarily aiding the Japanese war effort? I don't believe so, and in that regard blowing up the bridge was the right thing to do.

So what Bridge on the River Kwai accomplishes is turning traditional preconceptions about destruction upside down. By taking out the bridge and the train on it, the Japanese will be that much closer to surrendering and the war will be that much closer to ending. This will save countless lives and prevent further destruction, so ironically the bridge is blown up in the name of preservation. It's a compelling and fascinating study of the greater good, and that only left me with one lingering question—is preservation not itself a form of creation?

9/10

Invictus (2009)

An Important Film

[9/10 · 11 December 2009]

It's interesting how well Eastwood balances political prisoner turned president Nelson Mandela with, of all things, rugby in his latest masterpiece. The biopic chronicles Mandela's rise to power and his efforts to unite South Africans, black and white alike, behind the national rugby team. It wasn't a political calculation, it was a human one.

Freeman absolutely disappears into his role as the iconic leader of post-Apartheid South Africa. This is an especially impressive feat for such a well known actor; it's not Morgan Freeman we're watching, it's Mandela. Damon does a good job as well. And while I'm no expert on accents, both sounded convincing to me.

The story is inspiring, absolutely inspiring. It's 1994, and blacks are granted the right to vote; Mandela is swept into office. Blacks are ecstatic, whites are fearful. How does Mandela overcome the hateful rift within the population? Rugby, of course. Mandela figures that if the South African rugby team can win the World Cup, the country will have something to rally behind as one.

What makes Invictus truly great is the universal truth found within its story. Sure, the end of Apartheid and South Africa's bright looking future make for a compelling story, but why stop there when you can make a powerful statement on what can be accomplished when hate, oppression, and violence end and peace begins. It works wonderfully in the context of the story between black and white, but it could be applied to Bosnian and Serb, Muslim and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Hutu and Tutsi...

Eastwood is on a roll. He's 79, but by God he's just getting started. The man has given us Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, Changeling, Gran Torino, and now Invictus all within six years; five of these movies are on the Top 250, and I have absolute confidence Invictus will make it six.

9/10

Very Bad Things (1998)

Now That's Dark Comedy

[9/10 · 5 December 2009]

I could see this movie turning a lot of people off, but it's just so God-awful terrible that I couldn't help but laugh at the hellish downward spiral a couple guys experience after accidentally killing a hooker and trying to cover it up. It's like how Tarantino violence can be laughable - it becomes so over the top you just can't take it seriously.

And with a cast that includes Jon Favreau, Christian Slater, Jeremy Piven, Daniel Stern, and Cameron Diaz, director Peter Berg's comedic creation is full of colorful characters condemning themselves to hell and disturbing moments a decent human being would never laugh at. Luckily I'm a terrible person.

9/10

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

[8/10 · 30 November 2009]

From Anthony Mann's T-Men to Jules Dassin's Rififi, my favorite noirs have always focused on crime. Crime and noir go hand in hand, a dark subject for a dark genre. It's not required, but the violence and deception and greed that one associates with crime is such appropriate subject matter.

Sunset Boulevard is mostly devoid of it, save a murder at the end, and this left me a little disappointed. In the movie's defense, though, it's got a lot of noir's other common elements… There's the 1950's California setting, the black and white visuals, a femme fatale, and a dark, sometimes eerie atmosphere.

William Holden does a solid job as usual, but props especially go to Gloria Swanson for essentially playing herself—a star of Cecil B. DeMille silent era movies whose popularity waned in the 30's. It's always admirable when actors can play caricatures of themselves, especially when it's in a negative light.

The movie has stayed with me in the days since watching it, a good sign that it was memorable. Still, I wonder what its point was. Joe Gillis would criticize me for wanting "one of those message pictures," for not being content with a simple story, and maybe he'd be right. After all, it was at least told well.

8/10

The Exorcist (1973)

Not Scary, But Still Pretty Good

[8/10 · 16 November 2009]

The Exorcist was one of those famous movies I had heard about all my life but never seen. A lot of people called it the definitive horror movie. Netflix claims, "If this horror classic doesn't terrify you, maybe you need a shrink."

Maybe I do. I didn't find the movie particularly scary, though I know it gained its reputation almost immediately upon release. A video on YouTube even shows crowd reactions from the audiences of 1973. A theater usher goes so far as to describe how "as soon as they faint, I get out the smelling salts." Another theater patron proclaims she's "not going back in there."

This huge rift in reaction can only be attributed to the desensitization of modern audiences. I actually saw Paranormal Activity the same day as The Exorcist and the former was easily the scarier of the two. Nonetheless, both films are miles ahead of the gory slasher flicks that masquerade as horror these days.

I'm not criticizing The Exorcist. While it's true the horror aspects are somewhat tame by today's standards, the film still excels in a number of ways. Take for example the intriguing verbal sparring match between the demon and Karras. The priest interrogates the demon, trying to find if this is an actual possession or a simple case of mental illness. The demon states it is Satan himself, a claim designed to fool Karras into thinking the latter, as Satan doesn't possess humans. The demon also attempts to torment Karras by claiming his recently deceased mother is being sodomized in hell; he responds that if it's true, the demon should be able to produce his mother's maiden name. He cannot.

The Exorcist boasts a memorable theme, characters that were well played and worthy of emotional investment, and a climax brimming with tension. It's not the scariest movie ever made as some might claim, but I won't fault the movie for that. Even without being scary it succeeds brilliantly.

8/10

Bravo Two Zero (1999 TV Movie)

Bravo Two Zero

[9/10 · 1 November 2009]

Based on the book of the same name by Andy McNab, a pseudonym for the squad leader of a real life, ill-fated SAS patrol during the Gulf War, Bravo Two Zero tells the story of several soldiers stuck behind enemy lines. They're outnumbered, hopelessly ill-equipped, and surrounded by the Iraqi army, conveniently standing in the way of their extraction point.

Patrol leader Andy McNab (Sean Bean) elects to go to Plan B, make a 160 km trek to the Syrian border through the freezing desert as Iraqi forces close in. What ensues is a desperate struggle for survival. The group gets split up, frost bite sets in, skirmishes transpire... It's a story of heroism and courage. But it's more than that. We also see how these men are only human, how in spite of their bravery they make a series of significant, occasionally deadly mistakes.

Many claim McNab changed or exaggerated parts of the story to save face and look good, but I'm mostly indifferent to the controversy. Whether or not parts were fabricated or the enemy kill count was embellished, the movie as it stands is a terrific modern warfare film boasting realistic tactics, believable characters, and the depiction of an immeasurable will to survive.

9/10

Duck, You Sucker! (1971)

A Fistful of Leone

[7/10 · 19 October 2009]

Legendary director Sergio Leone made one final Western following the success of Once Upon a Time in the West and the Dollars Trilogy, and while it doesn't stack up to the monumental greatness of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, it remains a noble effort and solid film.

Where the movie fails to meet the grandeur of its predecessor is in the scope of its execution. The score doesn't quite match Morricone's magnum opus. The characters aren't quite as colorful as Blondie, Tuco, or Angel Eyes. The battle doesn't quite have the magnitude of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly's. But these are minor criticisms if they can be called criticisms at all.

Duck, You Sucker! is easily identified as a Leone movie by the many elements found in his other work: gritty close-ups, sun-baked deserts, even a bridge explosion not at all unlike the Civil War battle's conclusion in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. But what differs this time around is the replacement of Eastwood with a new anti-hero, Mexican bandit Juan Miranda (Rod Steiger). Co-protagonist John Mallory (James Coburn) serves as an effective foil, a noble-minded revolutionary working alongside local guerrillas to create a better Mexico. There is something to be said for the pair's chemistry, and in many ways they're similar to Blondie and Tuco.

As with the Dollars Trilogy, Leone paints a beautiful film on his celluloid canvas. The aesthetic has a gritty, epic feel, and as always the most is made of the Southwest's (Spain's) grand, majestic, sweeping landscape.

What really sets the film apart is Morricone's score. The man is legendary in his own right, but the Leone / Morricone duo is nearly beyond superlative. Any time the two come together there is the potential for a masterpiece. And while Duck, You Sucker! doesn't quite attain such a status, it has repeatedly, and deservedly, been called one of the best Spaghetti Westerns.

7.5/10