Monday, July 24, 2006

Lady in the Water

Cleveland Heep has been quietly trying to disappear among the burned-out light bulbs and broken appliances of the Cove apartment complex. But on the night that irrevocably changes his life, Cleveland finds someone else hiding in the mundane routine of this modest building--a mysterious young woman named Story, who has been living in the passageways beneath the building's swimming pool.

"A bedtime story" is a great tagline for this film. From the very beginning we are thrust into a world where make-believe comes true and good creatures need our help to protect them from the evil. M. Night may be arrogant and think more highly of himself than he deserves (he's not another Hitchcock), but this movie is, in my opinion, one of his best. Ever since the Sixth Sense, he has been expected to put a twist in every film he makes. Yes, it worked great for Sixth Sense but I've always hoped to see M. Night as more than just a one-trick pony. Lady in the Water solidifies my opinion that M. Night has, not only a good director's eye, but also an incredible imagination. Make no mistake, Paul Giamatti as Cleveland Heap carries this film. Bryce Dallas Howard is great, but Giamatti makes you really care about what happens, humanizes the experience and helps you feel what he feels. Without Giamatti this film wouldn't have been even nearly as good.

The PG-13 rating is almost completely for "frightening images" and it's well deserved. The Scrunts (the wolf-like animals), are extremely frightening. That part of the bedtime story may give little ones nightmares.

Why is this movie getting such bad reviews? It couldn't possibly be because M. Night Shyamalan portrays a movie reviewer as being out-of-touch, arrogant and stupid could it? While the film isn't as good as it could be because of M. Night's insistence to put himself as a major character (a very distracting choice), this is a solid fairy tale that I really enjoyed. I hope all of M. Night's films continue to be as good as this one.

4.4 out of 5

Friday, July 21, 2006

Accepted

High school senior Bartleby “B” Gaines is on his way to scoring eight out of eight rejection letters from colleges—which isn’t going to go over big with Mom and Dad. At least he’s not alone in the exclusion. Several of his crew of outcast friends are in the same, college-less boat. So…how does a guy facing a bleak career please his parents and get noticed by dream girl Monica?

A good movie reviewer reviews a film on what it is trying to be, not what he/she wants it to be. In that vein, Accepted is great. It was fun to enjoy such a light-hearted, hilarious take on the college entrance process that is such a stressful time for students. Lewis Black is great as the pretend dean of the "college" but only because he's only playing himself, nothing more. It's really just the age-old story of non-popular, yet smart and nice boy likes popular girl who is dating popular jock. Jock cheats on girl, girl gets with smart and nice boy. But the avenue we take to get through that story is really incredible. Honestly, I think the whole "good guy gets the girl" substory was a bit distracting and unnecessary. This movie is in the vein of Old School: lots of language and lots of fun.

Language is 100% of the PG-13 rating for this movie. That and sexual dialogue is pervasive.

This movie won't win any Oscars, neither will it make a ton of money. However, if you are looking for mindless fun that is short (about 90 min) and sweet, Accepted is a great choice.

4.0 out of 5

Monday, July 10, 2006

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Captain Jack Sparrow discovers he owes a blood debt to the legendary Davey Jones, Captain of the ghostly Flying Dutchman. With time running out, Jack must find a way out of his debt or else be doomed to eternal damnation and servitude in the afterlife. Making matters worse, Sparrow's problems manage to interefere with the wedding plans of a certain Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, who are forced to join Jack on yet another one of his misadventures.

Does sequel mean copy? Does it mean that you feel like you are watching the original only with a bit of a different story line? The makers of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest sure seem to think so. I feel like we have already seen this movie the last go around with Pirates. Let's recap, there is a Captain Jack Sparrow who is trying to get something from an otherworldly foe, he enlists the help of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann whose romance is being threatened by a overzealous British higher-up. Which movie am I talking about, the first or the second? Either one and that's what makes the 2 and 1/2 hours feel so long. That being said, Johnny Depp does an outstanding job reprising his role as Captain Jack Sparrow and his amazing ability to become that character really carries this movie. Much more of a humorous movie than the last with some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. The visuals in this movie are absolutely amazing. The Kraken is awesome but Davy Jones is the effect that really steals the show. The special effects team should win an Oscar for this. It is very apparent that this movie is meant to be a transition and it does a good job with that.

Nothing new in the way of inappropriate content. Typical for a PG-13 movie. Violence and language carry the rating.


Sequels have gotten the bad rap of being worse than the original, but in a few cases (such as Batman Begins and Xmen 2) they can be better than the original. For Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, neither of the above cases are true. This movie is just more of the original with a few running jokes thrown in for a laugh. Good transition movie that could have been so much better.

3.7 out of 5

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Superman Returns

Superman--born on a planet which has long since died--has been raised by adoptive parents on the Kent farm in Kansas. The young boy Kal-El is renamed Clark Kent, and though he has grown up among humans, he is not one of them

Wow. That is a great word to sum up this movie. Honestly if I didn't know people couldn't fly I would have thought Brandon Routh as Superman was flying. It was that well done. Other times I had to look twice to remember that this wasn't Christopher Reeves as Brandon was so much like him. Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor was inspired. His previous stint as a bald bad guy in se7en was incredible and apparently the director remembered that. This is another Superman movie like Batman Begins was another Batman movie. It's like the franchises were killed with so many bad sequels and then someone who truly loved the heroes took the reins and made something memorable.

What you'd expect from a Superhero movie in the way of violence and language can be found here. Nothing unexpected.

Bryan Singer, the director of this film and the first two Xmen films, has consistently gone above and beyond in his directing of superhero films. I was never bored in this movie, never wished it was shorter and loved every minute of it. While this movie isn't perfect as it does drag a bit but not in that noticable of a way, it is pretty darn close. If every summer blockbuster was like this I'd never miss one.

4.9 out of 5