Mud Songs

It Came From Outer Space is one of the few 1950s science fiction B-movies I’ve seen to-date that actually has a coherent story, one that is strong enough to maintain the momentum of the movie without having to spice it up with cheesy special effects every 5 minutes. And it’s always fun to play Spot The Star Trek Actor, or even better: Spot The Professor From Gilligan’s Island. That guy shows up all over the place in these old “sci-fi” classics. So anyhow, a spaceship crashes in the desert and the aliens need time to repair their ship. So they make copies of some guys who work for the power company and tell the one guy who knows where they’re hiding to not tell anyone. They promise to free all the original people they made copies of as soon as they’re done fixing their ship. That’s coherent, right? The aliens don’t show their true selves too much, but when they do, they look like the one-eyed alien blob from Space 1999. All said and done, It Came From Outer Space is a surprisingly half-decent and entertaining B-movie.

Destination Moon is the 1950s “sci-fi” B-movie version of 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick may have borrowed from Destination Moon; check out the review I’ve linked to). Dramatically, the story about the first rocket ship sent to the moon is irrelevant. As usual, the acting is horrible and the production values are dated — but the fun is in watching how much is achieved through 1950s special effects. Long drawn out scenes showing the g-forces on the astronauts faces as they’re blasted into space; weightlessness as they float around the cabin; looking down on the earth; walking on the moon — it’s all impressive, in a cheesy, B-movie kind of way. Zero story, but interesting and entertaining special effects.

I watched Fritz Lang’s 1931 film, M, last night. Generally, I’d say it’s not a bad movie (it’s pretty damn good in places), but it’s not likely to have much appeal to a general audience. It’s about a child-murderer and how the madness of crowds kicks in as people try to hunt him down. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open for some of it, specifically the scenes that have no sound. I made it to the end, but it felt like work. It’s the kind of film that’s probably more engaging for people who’ve studied German film history and know what to look for. I’ll have to watch it again some time when I’m more alert.

Flash of Genius tells the story of Bob Kearns, the guy who invented the intermittent wind shield wiper which was subsequently stolen by the Ford Motor Company. It’s a good movie for what it is, an underdog story that becomes a courtroom drama, but it’s a rental. There is no need to see it on a big screen.

Last Night is written and directed by Don McKellar. It’s about the end of the world and how various people in Toronto decide to live out their last night on earth. Some people want to have sex, or pray, or be with family, or commit suicide before the sun explodes (though we’re never told why the earth is coming to an end). Others want to be alone. The film moves along at a calm, quiet, reflective pace that allows the audience to feel for these people who are facing not just the end of their own lives, but the extinction of all life on the planet. Although the main character is too intellectual to engender much sympathy, the final scene makes up for it. Last Night is an usual but memorable end-of-the-world movie, one that might leave you thinking.

Choke tells the story of a guy, Sam Rockwell, who goes to Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings to hook up with other sex addicts. He also visits his free-spirited but crazy mother, Angelica Huston, in a hospital where she is slowly dying from dementia. The movie starts off as a comedy and gradually eases into a more dramatic (but still entertaining) mode as we learn why this guy became a sex addict. That may not sound like a fun movie, but it made me think about all the crazy stuff people deal with as children who are then expected to grow up and be “normal” functioning adults. You might like this one if you’re a fan of an obscure 1996 movie called Box of Moon Light. Not everyone will go for it, though. It’s not exactly mainstream, which is probably the reason I like it so much. I’m beginning to think if a movie gets anywhere between 50 and 60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s likely to be something I’ll appreciate. (This has been an extremely informative commentary. I know.)

Who Killed the Electric Car? is a documentary that tells the story of the EV1, the first modern electric car that was fast enough to drive on a highway. From Wikipedia: “The EV1 was the first modern production electric vehicle from a major automaker and also the first purpose-built electric car produced by General Motors (GM) in the United States. Introduced in 1996, The EV1 electric cars were available in California and Arizona as a lease only… and could be serviced at designated Saturn retailers. They were discontinued after 1999 and subsequently removed from the roads in 2003 by General Motors (except for a few). The car’s discontinuation was and remains a very controversial topic.” The documentary doesn’t explain much more than the Wikipedia entry, and it leans too much towards a conspiracy theory mentality at times, but it’s worth a look if you’re interested in zero-emission vehicles. I’m holding out as long as I can to buy a car. I’m hoping the Zenn electric car will be highway-worthy and affordable by the time I’m ready to buy.

Lost in La Mancha is a documentary about Terry Gilliam’s first attempt to make a film based on Don Quixote called The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. (I say first attempt, because Gilliam plans to start up a new production in 2009.) Nothing I’ve seen captures the insanity of an out-of-control film production better than Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse. Lost in La Mancha shows what can happen when you add extremely bad luck to the mix. It’s painful to watch and I’m sure there are plenty of filmmakers out there who know what it’s like. Recommended to anyone who thinks film work is glamorous.

Burn After Reading is the kind of movie I pick up at the video store when I can’t decide on anything else. It’s full of quirky, crazy characters who are fun to watch, and the last scene is hilarious. So it’s not a complete waste of time. But the story of a CIA agent who loses some classified files — and that’s a condensed version of the absurdly convoluted storyline — is simply a vehicle for a cast of A-list actors to have fun and go nuts. It’s deliberately inconsequential. You’d have to be a fan of the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou to appreciate this one.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is Woody Allen’s most satisfying movie since 2005’s Match Point. It’s an enjoyable and thoroughly entertaining story about two young women (Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson) on vacation in Barcelona who become involved with a local painter (Javier Bardem). The painter also has a love-hate relationship with his ex-wife (Penélope Cruz) that creates a dynamic tension within all their relationships. Scarlett Johansson plays a Barbie doll again, which is passable for her role. Rebecca Hall, Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem (the psycho killer from No Country For Old Men) give performances that are solid, right on the mark, energized but nuanced in a manner makes their characters seem like real people. Well-acted and well-written, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is neither an outright comedy or drama. Neither is it a masterpiece, but it’s fun.

I saw Traitor and liked it, though I have a feeling I’ll have forgotten all about it by Xmas. From James Berardinelli: “As a thriller for adults who don’t require manic chases, frenetic shoot-outs, and ten cuts per second, Traitor is smart, effective, and at times suspenseful. It’s one of a very few terrorist-themed movies that presents its situation without resorting to exploitation or oversimplification.” Don Cheadle has become an actor whose movies I’ll see even when I know the movie isn’t the greatest.

1h 09m. Peter Jackon’s version of King Kong begins at that point in the DVD, which marks the first appearance of Kong. You can start the movie there and not miss anything important, because just like the original 1933 version, the loneliness of this scary, fierce, misunderstood giant gorilla is the drama of story. The humans are window dressing next to the pathos that pour out of that big ape. If Jackson had cut at least an hour of the running time, kept his focus on Kong, and waited about 10 years to the point where CGI technology could do justice to his vision of Kong, he would have made a great movie. Still, it’s not hard to overlook these flaws during the Kong scenes, which are pretty damn spectacular. (I didn’t see the extended edition.)

The Savages has Philip Seymour Hoffman doing a version of William Wharton’s Dad, the story of a brother and sister (Laura Linney) coming together to take care of their ailing father. It seems almost lightweight compared to Hoffman’s performance in Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, but it’s a good story.

Although it can’t help but fall into comic book territory from time to time, The Dark Knight doesn’t feel like any super hero movie I’ve ever seen. It is a mean and twisted Batman movie made for adults. It may not be an emotionally engaging film (who cares if Batman’s girlfriend gets killed?), but the storyline keeps you on edge the whole time — because of Heath Ledger as the Joker (he’s likely to get a posthumous Academy Award for his performance). Ledger establishes his character within seconds of appearing on screen — and it’s powerful. By the time his first scene is over, everybody knows who and what the Joker is all about: he’s clever, calculating and 100% homicidal, so look out. Villains don’t get much better than this. There are also plenty of explosions, chase scenes and other neat stuff. I’m not a fan of any of the previous Batman movies, but I may see this one again before it leaves the theatres.

WALL-E is proof that if Pixar wanted to, they could make an excellent adult science fiction film. They have conceptual artists who can create creatures and landscapes as impressive as anything put on film. They have writers and directors who know how to develop strong characters and a good story. They know what they’re doing. Everybody loves them. They can’t do wrong. They’ve found a winning formula making CGI family films, but I’d still love to see them take a crack on at some hard science fiction. Instead they give us WALL-E, a touching, entertaining and engaging story of a little robot left behind on a post-apocalyptic earth where everything is so polluted that humans can’t live there anymore. He eventually meets up with another robot who looks like an iPod and things take off from there. It’s a nice, harmless kids movie with an environmental message: don’t pollute.

The Incredible Hulk is another Marvel comic book movie. The Hulk smashes the crap out of everything. Ed Norton and the rest of the cast play their roles well. The story isn’t as involving as Iron Man, but it’s done well and it’s never boring. What else do you want from a comic book movie? It’s fun for what it is.

Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a fun movie if you don’t take it seriously. The first and third Indian Jones movies have stories that are fun and characters you can care about. The second movie doesn’t. This, the fourth in the series, has one interesting character (Indiana Jones), and a story that just barely pulls the action forward. But it does manage to make it over the finish line without thoroughly disappointing. There is some CGI, but it’s not distracting. There are no scary or super evil villains, but there is plenty of entertaining action. I had fun watching Harrison Ford play Indiana Jones one last time. Every other aspect of movie is forgettable.

I’m not sure what to say about A Mighty Heart, so I’m quoting the linked review from James Berardinelli: “Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and subsequent death at the hands of terrorists became a major media story during January and February 2002… A video leaked to the Internet showing Pearl’s decapitation magnified the tragedy. A Mighty Heart… examines events of that one month period from the perspective of those who sought Daniel’s release: his pregnant wife [played well by Angelina Jolie], his friends and colleagues at The Wall Street Journal, and the Pakistani security forces. The film is fascinating and at times disturbing, but Winterbottom’s arms-length style mutes any emotional impact.” I felt like I was looking at real events, not actors. And thankfully they don’t show the beheading.

I enjoyed Iron Man more than any super hero movie that has come out in recent years. It’s well-acted and it tells a good story that doesn’t exist just to show off special effects. Had the producers gone heavy on the CGI, it could have easily slipped into mind-numbing territory like Transformers. Instead, it’s in a league of its own, presenting us with real characters and a compelling origin story that doesn’t feel childish or cartoonish but is still entertaining and full of really cool stuff.

The sequel to the apocalyptic zombie thriller 28 Days Later. That movie, which fell a little short of being great, scared the crap out of me and is worth watching because it presents such a convincing last-man-on-earth scenario. 28 Weeks Later gives us all-new characters and then brings on “the infected” (or the zombies) in full force. It effectively re-creates the run-for-life elements of the original movie. The ending is stupid, but it’s passable, creepy entertainment.