Day 192 - 7/11/09 - Movie #192
BEFORE: From moose to deer - or is that too much of a stretch? I saved this film for the weekend due to its length (3 hours plus), but it's one of the best-reviewed films that I've never seen (and probably should have).
THE PLOT: An in-depth examination of the way that the Vietnam war affects the lives of people in a small industrial town in the USA.
AFTER: Structurally, it's a brilliant film - the three hours are broken up neatly into three sections, taking place before, during and after the tour of duty in Vietnam. The contrast of the steel mill's fire and smoke to the war's Napalm, and comparing the brutality of deer hunt to the horrors of war, is just astounding.
But the movie tends to jump from Point A to Point C, without any mention of Point B. The war action starts in the middle of a firefight, for example - what happened to basic training? And even though it skips some steps, the movie is still three hours long. (Here's an editing tip - you don't need to show characters saying every line three times each...)
I'm also not convinced that being forced to play 1 game of Russian roulette by the Viet Cong would cause a soldier to go AWOL and turn pro (who even knew there was a pro circuit for that?) . Here's the problem - Russian roulette is not like ping pong - you can't get better at it, you can only hope to get lucky, and stay lucky. Statistically, it's just not going to happen - one day, your luck will run out. Even after 6 wins, you're pushing your luck - and the way the rules are portrayed here (two men enter, one leaves), odds are reduced to 50%. How long does this character stay alive playing the game - weeks? Months? Very unlikely.
RATING: 5 out of 10 medals
DENIR-O-METER: 7 - De Niro's Michael displays great fortitude on his tour, even going back to Saigon at a time when most people are trying to get out. His character seems a little flat when back home in the U.S., but I guess maybe that's the point.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
BEFORE: This movie was part of that trend in the past decade where every animated property from the past got its own moderately successful live-action film - "Dudley Do-Right", "George of the Jungle", "Alvin and the Chipmunks"...but it got really bad reviews - so let's see if it's as bad as its reputation. Yes, this counts as a De Niro film since he plays Fearless Leader, and also produced...
THE PLOT: Rocky and Bullwinkle have been seen only in reruns of their cartoon show since its cancellation. Boris and Natasha somehow manage to crossover into reality and team up with Fearless Leader, an evil criminal turned media mogul with some plans up his sleeve. Rocky and Bullwinkle must stop the three of them before they wreak havoc.
AFTER: Well, that was really horrible, start to finish. I think I've found a new low benchmark. The movie is filled with terrible puns (army leaders named General Foods, General Store and General Admission...) and coincidental plot points, combined with animated characters who KNOW that they're animated characters, launched into the "real" world. It worked in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", but not here.
There's no way this movie makes even a lick of sense - even in the animated world. So there are no trees in the forest - can't an animated character plant some animated acorns to make more animated trees? Why does Bullwinkle have to travel all the way out of the cartoon world to Washington DC to talk to the president about this? Talk to the animator, you'll get faster results!
By all rights, this should have been a career-ender for the actors involved, like Jason Alexander and Rene Russo as Boris + Natasha. There were lots of cameos, like Jonathan Winters (as 3 characters), Carl Reiner, Janeane Garofalo, John Goodman, Kenan + Kel, Jeffrey Ross, Whoopi Goldberg, David Alan Grier and Don "Fr. Guido Sarducci" Novello. But I'm probably not doing those actors any favors by mentioning this.
This had the irreverent humor of the old cartoon, but none of its charm. The best thing I can say about it is, now it's crossed off my list.
RATING: 1 out of 10 state troopers
DENIR-O-METER: 3, mostly for doing a European-accented spoof of his own "You talkin' to me?" lines from Taxi Driver, while in character as Fearless Leader.
THE PLOT: Rocky and Bullwinkle have been seen only in reruns of their cartoon show since its cancellation. Boris and Natasha somehow manage to crossover into reality and team up with Fearless Leader, an evil criminal turned media mogul with some plans up his sleeve. Rocky and Bullwinkle must stop the three of them before they wreak havoc.
AFTER: Well, that was really horrible, start to finish. I think I've found a new low benchmark. The movie is filled with terrible puns (army leaders named General Foods, General Store and General Admission...) and coincidental plot points, combined with animated characters who KNOW that they're animated characters, launched into the "real" world. It worked in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", but not here.
There's no way this movie makes even a lick of sense - even in the animated world. So there are no trees in the forest - can't an animated character plant some animated acorns to make more animated trees? Why does Bullwinkle have to travel all the way out of the cartoon world to Washington DC to talk to the president about this? Talk to the animator, you'll get faster results!
By all rights, this should have been a career-ender for the actors involved, like Jason Alexander and Rene Russo as Boris + Natasha. There were lots of cameos, like Jonathan Winters (as 3 characters), Carl Reiner, Janeane Garofalo, John Goodman, Kenan + Kel, Jeffrey Ross, Whoopi Goldberg, David Alan Grier and Don "Fr. Guido Sarducci" Novello. But I'm probably not doing those actors any favors by mentioning this.
This had the irreverent humor of the old cartoon, but none of its charm. The best thing I can say about it is, now it's crossed off my list.
RATING: 1 out of 10 state troopers
DENIR-O-METER: 3, mostly for doing a European-accented spoof of his own "You talkin' to me?" lines from Taxi Driver, while in character as Fearless Leader.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Meet the Fockers
Day 190 - 7/9/09 - Movie #190
BEFORE: Well, what did you think I was going to watch next - "Cape Fear"?
THE PLOT: All hell breaks loose when the Byrnes family meets the Focker family for the first time.
AFTER: I actually liked this a little better than "Meet the Parents", because it had more heart somehow. Again, it's a simple premise - in-laws meeting each other - carried to the extreme, as a weekend together spirals out of control. But this time even though Greg Focker has learned to follow his future father-in-law's rules, his parents (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) just keep on being their wacky selves.
There's still a lot of lowbrow comedy - too many puns on the name "Focker", like relatives Dom Focker and Randy Focker, and an overabundance of gross-out fluids - breast milk, RV toilet tank stuff - (were they attempting to capitalize on the success of "There's Something About Mary"?) but Hoffman and Streisand as an oversexed hippie Jewish couple are very endearing.
Some good cameos late in the film - Shelley Berman as a judge, and Tim Blake Nelson and Cedric Yarbrough (Reno 911) as cops.
RATING: 7 out of 10 sex manuals
DENIR-O-METER: 6 - I still think an ex-CIA man is a great character for Bobby D., but he softens up a bit in this film, so he loses a bit of his edge. Plus he's shown up by Dustin Hoffman, playing a much wackier parent.
BEFORE: Well, what did you think I was going to watch next - "Cape Fear"?
THE PLOT: All hell breaks loose when the Byrnes family meets the Focker family for the first time.
AFTER: I actually liked this a little better than "Meet the Parents", because it had more heart somehow. Again, it's a simple premise - in-laws meeting each other - carried to the extreme, as a weekend together spirals out of control. But this time even though Greg Focker has learned to follow his future father-in-law's rules, his parents (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) just keep on being their wacky selves.
There's still a lot of lowbrow comedy - too many puns on the name "Focker", like relatives Dom Focker and Randy Focker, and an overabundance of gross-out fluids - breast milk, RV toilet tank stuff - (were they attempting to capitalize on the success of "There's Something About Mary"?) but Hoffman and Streisand as an oversexed hippie Jewish couple are very endearing.
Some good cameos late in the film - Shelley Berman as a judge, and Tim Blake Nelson and Cedric Yarbrough (Reno 911) as cops.
RATING: 7 out of 10 sex manuals
DENIR-O-METER: 6 - I still think an ex-CIA man is a great character for Bobby D., but he softens up a bit in this film, so he loses a bit of his edge. Plus he's shown up by Dustin Hoffman, playing a much wackier parent.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Meet the Parents
Day 189 - 7/8/09 - Movie #189
BEFORE: I'm in desperate need of a comedy - but one that's actually, you know, funny.
THE PLOT: Male nurse Greg Focker meets his girlfriend's parents before proposing, but her suspicious father is every date's worst nightmare.
AFTER: This is an attempt to take a common situation - meeting prospective in-laws - and mine it for laughs by showing a series of worst-case scenarios. And Ben Stiller usually plays the beaten-down sad sack role very well. I suppose this is funny, if you like watching awkward family moments and poorly-phrased conversations, things that most of us try to avoid. And of course this all plays out during a family wedding that turns into a disaster, mostly through obvious physical slapstick comedy. Oh, and repeated over-use of the sound-alike name "Focker" - some real lowest-common-denominator material.
I think at some point the physical comedy went overboard for me - seeing a whole family covered in sewage is a bit much. At some point it turned into laughing AT people instead of with them, and the scenarios became a little too outlandish. The confrontations between Stiller and De Niro are better, though - lie detector and all - and the resolution and romantic ending went a long way toward redeeming the film.
RATING: 6 out of 10 hidden cameras
DENIR-O-METER: 7 - Bobby D. proves he can do comedy, mostly by playing off of his usual tough-guy image. An ex-CIA man protecting his daughter - that's just a great role for him.
BEFORE: I'm in desperate need of a comedy - but one that's actually, you know, funny.
THE PLOT: Male nurse Greg Focker meets his girlfriend's parents before proposing, but her suspicious father is every date's worst nightmare.
AFTER: This is an attempt to take a common situation - meeting prospective in-laws - and mine it for laughs by showing a series of worst-case scenarios. And Ben Stiller usually plays the beaten-down sad sack role very well. I suppose this is funny, if you like watching awkward family moments and poorly-phrased conversations, things that most of us try to avoid. And of course this all plays out during a family wedding that turns into a disaster, mostly through obvious physical slapstick comedy. Oh, and repeated over-use of the sound-alike name "Focker" - some real lowest-common-denominator material.
I think at some point the physical comedy went overboard for me - seeing a whole family covered in sewage is a bit much. At some point it turned into laughing AT people instead of with them, and the scenarios became a little too outlandish. The confrontations between Stiller and De Niro are better, though - lie detector and all - and the resolution and romantic ending went a long way toward redeeming the film.
RATING: 6 out of 10 hidden cameras
DENIR-O-METER: 7 - Bobby D. proves he can do comedy, mostly by playing off of his usual tough-guy image. An ex-CIA man protecting his daughter - that's just a great role for him.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Mistress
Day 188 - 7/7/09 - Movie #188
BEFORE: Maybe I need to lighten things up a little after movies about CIA agents and congressional hearings - this is another film about making films (De Niro plays a producer this time, instead of a director...), but that's often a bad sign since I've seen too many movies about the movie biz already. You know that old saying about how there are two things you don't want to see made - laws and sausages? Well, I'd add movies to that list. Oh sure, if you like a good "behind-the-scenes" extra on a DVD, by all means watch (I tend not to) - but making a film about making a film is usually a copout, with a few notable exceptions.
THE PLOT: A comedy about a screenwriter whose old movie script is read by a producer and the search for financial backers begins. But it seems that each money source has his own mistress that he wants put into the film. Gradually, the screenwriter is forced to make changes to his script.
AFTER: Jeez, we get it - Hollywood people are all either lying businessmen, their neurotic wanna-be actress wives, or their shrewd actress mistresses...except our noble screenwriting hero, of course. Who wrote this? This has got to be some giant ego boost for a screenwriter...
It's something of an ensemble piece, with Robert Wuhl as the screenwriter, Martin Landau as the deal-making producer, Eli Wallach, Danny Aiello and De Niro as the investors, and Jean Smart and Sheryl Lee Ralph as the actress/girlfriends. Except for Wuhl, the cast tries to make something good out of what they've been given.
The problem is, this film is not funny enough to be considered a good comedy, and not serious enough to be considered a good drama, and the concept of a Hollywood shoot (or script/deal, in this case) going off the rails has been done better many times before. ("The Player", for one) And none of the characters seem to learn anything from their mistakes here, so really, what's the point?
RATING: 3 out of 10 contracts
DENIR-O-METER: 2 - De Niro produced this mess, but only appears in 3 or 4 scenes. He does play a good slick (but non-distinctive) Hollywood weasel in a short time though.
BEFORE: Maybe I need to lighten things up a little after movies about CIA agents and congressional hearings - this is another film about making films (De Niro plays a producer this time, instead of a director...), but that's often a bad sign since I've seen too many movies about the movie biz already. You know that old saying about how there are two things you don't want to see made - laws and sausages? Well, I'd add movies to that list. Oh sure, if you like a good "behind-the-scenes" extra on a DVD, by all means watch (I tend not to) - but making a film about making a film is usually a copout, with a few notable exceptions.
THE PLOT: A comedy about a screenwriter whose old movie script is read by a producer and the search for financial backers begins. But it seems that each money source has his own mistress that he wants put into the film. Gradually, the screenwriter is forced to make changes to his script.
AFTER: Jeez, we get it - Hollywood people are all either lying businessmen, their neurotic wanna-be actress wives, or their shrewd actress mistresses...except our noble screenwriting hero, of course. Who wrote this? This has got to be some giant ego boost for a screenwriter...
It's something of an ensemble piece, with Robert Wuhl as the screenwriter, Martin Landau as the deal-making producer, Eli Wallach, Danny Aiello and De Niro as the investors, and Jean Smart and Sheryl Lee Ralph as the actress/girlfriends. Except for Wuhl, the cast tries to make something good out of what they've been given.
The problem is, this film is not funny enough to be considered a good comedy, and not serious enough to be considered a good drama, and the concept of a Hollywood shoot (or script/deal, in this case) going off the rails has been done better many times before. ("The Player", for one) And none of the characters seem to learn anything from their mistakes here, so really, what's the point?
RATING: 3 out of 10 contracts
DENIR-O-METER: 2 - De Niro produced this mess, but only appears in 3 or 4 scenes. He does play a good slick (but non-distinctive) Hollywood weasel in a short time though.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Guilty By Suspicion
Day 187 - 7/6/09 - Movie #187
BEFORE: Another tale from the Cold War 1950's, this time De Niro plays a film director who is blacklisted during the McCarthy hearings.
THE PLOT: David Merrill, a fictitious 1950s Hollywood director, returns from filming abroad in France to find that his loyalty has been called into question by the House Committee on Un-American Activities and he is unable to work until cleared.
AFTER: I know this represents a significant time in U.S. history, and the history of the film industry, but I just don't know if it made a great topic for a film. I'm just left feeling sort of ambivalent and very removed from the topic, though I know that the filmmakers called to testify went through agonizing decisions about naming their friends and associates as Communists - even though they were pretty much forced to do so in order to work in Hollywood. So, did the movie just fail to reach me, or am I starting to suffer from movie fatigue, or De Niro burnout?
RATING: 5 out of 10 gavels
DENIR-O-METER: 7 for a solid (but mostly restrained) performance which got livelier later on, particularly when testifying before Congress.
BEFORE: Another tale from the Cold War 1950's, this time De Niro plays a film director who is blacklisted during the McCarthy hearings.
THE PLOT: David Merrill, a fictitious 1950s Hollywood director, returns from filming abroad in France to find that his loyalty has been called into question by the House Committee on Un-American Activities and he is unable to work until cleared.
AFTER: I know this represents a significant time in U.S. history, and the history of the film industry, but I just don't know if it made a great topic for a film. I'm just left feeling sort of ambivalent and very removed from the topic, though I know that the filmmakers called to testify went through agonizing decisions about naming their friends and associates as Communists - even though they were pretty much forced to do so in order to work in Hollywood. So, did the movie just fail to reach me, or am I starting to suffer from movie fatigue, or De Niro burnout?
RATING: 5 out of 10 gavels
DENIR-O-METER: 7 for a solid (but mostly restrained) performance which got livelier later on, particularly when testifying before Congress.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Good Shepherd
Day 186 - 7/5/09 - Movie #186
BEFORE: We follow up a film about the U.S. Navy with this film about the formation of the C.I.A. - Matt Damon is the star, but De Niro has a supporting role, and also directed the film. This is a long movie, clocking in at 2 hr., 49 min., so I'm glad I saved it for the weekend.
THE PLOT: The tumultuous early history of the Central Intelligence Agency is viewed through the prism of one man's life.
AFTER: Putting length aside for a moment, I've got a real problem with films that don't follow a linear timeline (unless they're films about time travel...). This film keeps jumping back and forth between events directly after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, and earlier events during WWII and the 1950's that show the development of the agency. A scrambling of the timeline usually indicates that a narrative isn't strong enough to unfold in a completely linear way. I can justify long flashbacks within framing sequences, like in "Amadeus", provided that we gain more and more insight as the film progresses, but the plot points here seem to be withheld as classified. Also, I don't like seeing flashbacks WITHIN flashbacks.
I did like some of the insights into how spy operations are carried out - I figured that James Bond-style action and gadgets were a Hollywood invention, but a movie still needs to entertain, not just present events in a dry, matter-of-fact style. I'm used to staying up late on the weekends (usually going to bed as the sun comes up), but I had to take a break for a shower and a cup of tea in order to finish this film - some editing might have helped. Damon's character doesn't seem to show any signs of aging over a 20-year period, unlike his wife, (played by Angelina Jolie) - nor does he show much emotion, except in the presence of the woman he loves (not played by Angelina Jolie) - maybe that's a valid acting choice, but it doesn't help to brighten up the movie's tone.
A couple of quibbles - wouldn't a top C.I.A. man know how to avoid being photographed? Also, why introduce Joe Pesci late in the film, in a sub-plot that goes absolutely nowhere?
RATING: 4 out of 10 hidden cameras - for making international espionage boring.
DENIR-O-METER: 3 - he only makes three short appearances, as a retired general, but he directed the film, so it should be infused with his essence - I just didn't see it.
BEFORE: We follow up a film about the U.S. Navy with this film about the formation of the C.I.A. - Matt Damon is the star, but De Niro has a supporting role, and also directed the film. This is a long movie, clocking in at 2 hr., 49 min., so I'm glad I saved it for the weekend.
THE PLOT: The tumultuous early history of the Central Intelligence Agency is viewed through the prism of one man's life.
AFTER: Putting length aside for a moment, I've got a real problem with films that don't follow a linear timeline (unless they're films about time travel...). This film keeps jumping back and forth between events directly after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, and earlier events during WWII and the 1950's that show the development of the agency. A scrambling of the timeline usually indicates that a narrative isn't strong enough to unfold in a completely linear way. I can justify long flashbacks within framing sequences, like in "Amadeus", provided that we gain more and more insight as the film progresses, but the plot points here seem to be withheld as classified. Also, I don't like seeing flashbacks WITHIN flashbacks.
I did like some of the insights into how spy operations are carried out - I figured that James Bond-style action and gadgets were a Hollywood invention, but a movie still needs to entertain, not just present events in a dry, matter-of-fact style. I'm used to staying up late on the weekends (usually going to bed as the sun comes up), but I had to take a break for a shower and a cup of tea in order to finish this film - some editing might have helped. Damon's character doesn't seem to show any signs of aging over a 20-year period, unlike his wife, (played by Angelina Jolie) - nor does he show much emotion, except in the presence of the woman he loves (not played by Angelina Jolie) - maybe that's a valid acting choice, but it doesn't help to brighten up the movie's tone.
A couple of quibbles - wouldn't a top C.I.A. man know how to avoid being photographed? Also, why introduce Joe Pesci late in the film, in a sub-plot that goes absolutely nowhere?
RATING: 4 out of 10 hidden cameras - for making international espionage boring.
DENIR-O-METER: 3 - he only makes three short appearances, as a retired general, but he directed the film, so it should be infused with his essence - I just didn't see it.
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