Featured Review: DECEMBER

Holidays and finals and work and church and friends have me overloaded, so I have not seen very many films lately, but more of the award movies are coming out and if I don't write legitimate reviews they'll be updated here.

BOLT - Starring John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Sussie Essman
Grade: B

BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS - Starring Vera Farmiga
Grade: C+

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON - Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton
Grade: B

DOUBT - Starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams
Grade: A

FROST/NIXON - Starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Sam Rockwell
Grade: A-

IGOR - Starring John Cusack,
Grade: F

MADAGASCAR 2 - Starring Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett
Grade: C

MILK - Starring Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin
Grade: B-

NOBEL SON - Starring Alan Rickman, Bryan Greenberg, Mary Steenburgen
Grade: D+

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED - Starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie Dewitt, Debra Winger
Grade: A-

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD - Starring Leo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Michael Shannon
Grade: TBA

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - Starring Dev Patel
Grade: A+

VALKYRIE - Starring Tom Cruise, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy
Grade: B+

YES MAN - Starring Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper
Grade: B

Featured Review: CHANGELING

Changeling

Starring - Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Amy Ryan, Colm Feore, Jason Butler Harner, Michael Kelly, Geoff Pierson

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Grade: B

"I want my son back! I want my son back!"

Watching the details so intricately placed in Changeling, I began to notice something. So we have standardized the telephones since the 1920s. We've standardized refrigerators, cars, public transportation, cereal boxes, arrest warrants, and mental institutions. So now, have we standardized award movies?

Changeling turned into what invariably happens to several films of its caliber every year; it went from a good film that otherwise would be an engrossing period biopic, into a forgettable "award" movie. The entire production is full of pedigree that screams from its every ounce of life that it wants to be a big contender come February's Oscars. However, it lacks the true gumption and risk some of the best movies ever made had to deservedly get there.

Angelina Jolie stars as Christine Collins, a single mother in the working world of 1920's Los Angeles. When her son Walter goes missing during an emergency shift at the Pacific Telephone Company, Christine is soon embroiled in hardships and controversy with the Los Angeles Police Department, a devious and corrupted lot led by Captain J.J. Jones (Burn Notice's Jeffrey Donovan). They give her a different boy, send her to a mental institution, subject her to a serial killer's dementia, and out and out lie and underhand her plight. The only humane person it seems is Reverend Gustav Briegleb, a radio pastor who uses her to highlight the treacherous police force.

Unlike the flappers we've seen in Chicago, Christine is an honest, hardworking woman active in the retro society dominated by men and corruption, just touching as a precursor to the equal rights and power women would fight for decades later. The title doesn't necessarily invoke the change in Christine's "son", but rather the strength she acquires through her ordeals. Jolie is very strong at purporting this, mixing a shy, trampled demeanor with a little bit of "We Can Do It" slogan spirit as her terrible circumstances go on through the years. Since the Best Actress category is always a little weak, Jolie seems to be a shoo-in to get a nomination.

Other performers vary, but all are adept. Jason Butler Harner is as outstanding as he is creepy playing Gordon Northcott, a demented, abusive, but almost child-like Canadian serial killer involved with Walter's disappearance. Amy Ryan is subtly good as a "woman of the night" Christine meets in the mental ward, as is Malkovich as the reverend out for justice, a rare restrained role for him. Only Jeffrey Donovan, struggling to rid himself of his New England accent, seemed a bit stiff.

The biggest problem I had with Changeling as a complete film was the same I had with David Fincher's Zodiac last year. Both biopics were definitely watchable with an invigorating cast and a sharp story, based on true-to-life serial killer cases and the people involved on the investigative side. But like Zodiac, Changeling drew back from any prestige with a procedural feel and too many subplot elements distracting away from the heart of the story, which Eastwood chose to make about the plight of Christine Collins.

Eastwood's direction is deceptively simple, which is both a positive and negative. His style invokes an old school Chinatown feeling (both films are about power and corruption in Depression-era Los Angeles), with pinpoint accuracy of the styles, colors, models and fads of the time. However, it's done to such a fault that Changeling plays like a straightforward period movie, without much suspense. There's some ambiguity within the context of the story, but Eastwood piles everything together in such a simple manner that the film tends to drag on during the times when the acting isn't being put on showcase.

Changeling is by all accounts a good film; solid acting, swift direction, and the pace was steady enough to stay alert and comprehensive throughout. But for such a lofty pedestal it placed itself on, Eastwood and company failed to trigger a real emotional reaction. When a film wants to puff itself up as an award worthy film, it has to fire on all cylinders. Instead Changeling went through all the motions of a forgettable award movie.

Featured Reviews: NOVEMBER

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Yikes, I'm really behind! So many things going on right now, and it's a shame for my movie watching because I haven't had time to do any personal choices, only going with friends & family, thus I haven't even seen Changeling yet. As always though, check out the mini review database blog for every movie I've seen this year. So here's a roundup of films I've seen since the last front page update:

Body Of Lies - Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong
Director Ridley Scott peppers some unorthodox moods and settings into an otherwise typical cat and mouse chess game of spy intrigue, thus making Body Of Lies interesting and watchable aside from its two main stars. DiCaprio and Crowe are certainly fine here, but the film just nearly misses going south on its own prestige, ala Scott's American Gangster a year ago. Mark Strong, as a Jordanian leader and possibly the British equivalent to Andy Garcia, is a quiet force that hits the right marks.
Grade: B (10/10/08)

City Of Ember - Starring Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadway, Bill Murray
Usually obscurer, secondhand children fantasy novels such as City Of Ember fizzle out as movie adaptations. But unlike say, The Seeker or The Golden Compass (though Ember's box office numbers say otherwise), Ember has the feel of a cult classic kids adventure that hasn't been seen widespread since the 1980s. Though it treads into some mundane and quirky aspects, the film features some fun performances and Oscar/Prezzie deserving Set Design/Costumes.
Grade: A- (10/10/08)

The Express - Starring Dennis Quaid, Rob Brown, Omar Benson Miller
Saved by the surprisingly nuanced performance by Brown as the titularly nicknamed player, The Express is an otherwise stereotypical feel-good-to-feel-bad sports drama ala previous football films about race and death such as Remember The Titans and Brian's Song. Frankly it's amazing a story like Ernie Davis' has went this long without a film treatment. Solid film to watch, even if you've seen similar variations of every cliche in the football film playbook several times before.
Grade: B- (10/10/08)

Passengers- Starring Anne Hathaway, Patrick Wilson, Andre Braugher
It's not the out and out worst movie of the year, but Passengers is so boring and cluttered with curious mistakes that it fares worse than many pointless films that you know are going to be bad. Horrendous story with a nonsensical ending that flips between vague thriller and peppy romance, anchored by uninspired performances and the dreariest shot location in history. Has there EVER been a good film made in Vancouver?
Grade: F

RockNRolla - Starring Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Strong
Entertaining if stereotypical Guy Ritchie British gangster noir, RockNRolla has a mix of great performances (Wilkinson, Strong, Toby Kebbell as the title nickname) and atrocious ones by Jeremy Piven (a surprise) and Thandie Newton (no surprise). Although quick-paced and fun, the quirkiness of Ritchie's characters and situations have never been this full tilt, and it starts to get annoying towards the end.
Grade: C+ (11/9/2008)

Role Models - Starring Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Elizabeth Banks
There's something about a little boy, not even yet a teenager, shouting extreme expletives that kind of bothers me. Curse words are a great tool for humor, but not when it's so out-and-out obvious. I can watch kids get blown up, shot, murdered all sorts of ways on screen, but Role Models' sort of lopsided raunch-to-heart ratio couldn't muster up the affection. File this under the underwhelming category with the similar but blander Drillbit Taylor.
Grade: D+ (11/9/2008)

Zack & Miri Make A Porno - Starring Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson
Though not as cohesively funny and warm as Judd Apatow's 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, director/writer Kevin Smith fills in for Apatow's producer misfires this year with his own knock-off that follows the same raunchy-but-sweet formula. Crude, quite possibly deserves an NC-17 in its own right, but downright more touching and funny than 95% of PG-13 movies. Justin Long, Brandon Routh and surprisingly Jason Mewes are highlights along with usually durable Rogen & Banks.
Grade: B+

Featured Review: OCTOBER I

Continuing the trend of short reviews, I had free time on Friday & Saturday to see 7 films (4 on Friday for a grand total of $5, 3 on Saturday for $5, equaling 7 films for $10). Also added Choke from a random Tuesday night screening after class.

Appaloosa - Starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger
Harris starred, directed, co-wrote and co-produced this lumbering western that re-teams him with his A History Of Violence co-star Mortensen. The performances are all solid and edgy, menacing in their surroundings (though Jeremy Irons' character voice is remarkably similar to that of Daniel Plainview), but Appaloosa slowly builds and builds to a climax that never really comes. Pretty to look at, not very interesting to watch.
Grade: C (10/4/08)

Beverly Hills Chihuahua - Starring Piper Perabo, Jamie Lee Curtis, Drew Barrymore
The premise and the marketing for this film is outlandishly and garishly stupid by all means, but Chihuahua IS a Disney movie. Given the chance, Chihuahua isn't half bad, and actually spreads a positive moral message to its key demographic of little kids. Director Raja Gosnell (Scooby Doo) refrains from taking the film's annoying qualities to an absolute hilt. Sort of like this generation's Homeward Bound, except for slightly less intelligent and focused kids. AKA, perfect for the YouTube generation.
Grade: C (10/3/08)

Blindness - Starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garcia Bernal
Blindness, Fernando Meirelles' much anticipated follow-up to Cidade de Deus and The Constant Gardner, is extremely ambitious visually, ironic for such a story about quarantined blind people. It has Children Of Men and I Am Legend vibes, inserting a we-take-our-lives-for-granted rhetoric in the midst of an almost apocalyptic disaster quality film. In the end Blindness fails to see a grander picture of allegorical democracy, but is interesting enough for an artsy two hour commentary on the beauty of vision.
Grade: B (10/4/08)

Choke - Starring Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald
Anjelica Huston gives a knockout performance, as does Rockwell as always, but it's hard to take their merits seriously in such a bizarre story of bizarre characters. Sort of true to Chuck Palahiuk's book, everything is disjointed until the very end, but it takes a lot of investment to understand any of the character's motives beyond the simple premises. Entertaining, but strange and hard to warm up to.
Grade: B- (9/30/08)

Fireproof - Starring Kirk Cameron, Erin Bethea, Ken Bevel
It's a simple matter of personal faith; if you're a die-hard Christian, you'll probably love Fireproof. If you're an atheist, agnostic or someone who couldn't give a crap about Kirk Cameron, Fireproof will make you burn with hate. Yes, the acting is kind of cheesy at points, and it is more or less shot like a Lifetime movie. But for a film that was made on half a million dollars and starring Cameron and a bunch of Georgia church volunteers, it's surprisingly durable.
Grade: B (10/3/08)

How To Lose Friends & Alienate People - Starring Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox
Whereas Pegg's "Brit conquering the States" contemporary Ricky Gervais found himself working seamlessly in the mainstream Ghost Town, Pegg has yet to break out of the sheer brilliance of Shaun Of The Dead. How To Lose Friends is full of pompous revelation and cliche hyperbole. It gets tolerable in the second half, but save the pig and chihuahuas for a family comedy. Fox is spot-on as an airhead actress, but she's still only used for her body here.
Grade: C- (10/3/08)

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist - Starring Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Alexis Dziena
With its cooler-than-thou New York suburbanites crawling the city spouting lyrics and gusto within every square inch of prime hipster real estate, Nick & Norah should be a casualty of the MTV generation lambasting the indie generation. But the film features a charming cast of up-and-comers who fit into their roles like beautiful stereotypes, and we're left with a pocketful of music rebellion nostalgia that hasn't really been seen since the 1980s.
Grade: B- (10/3/08)

Righteous Kill - Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, John Leguizamo
On the bright side, director Jon Avnet improves on his technique over 88 Minutes. While De Niro and Pacino are nowhere near the brilliance their careers were 20-30 years ago, they don't embarrass themselves too badly here. The big hitch however is the fact that the "grand twist" is obvious to anyone who's ever seen a NYPD noir 20 minutes into the movie, and thus we're forced to watch this tepid cat and mouse game go on for another hour before anything gets resolved.
Grade: D+ (10/4/08)

Featured Review: SEPTEMBER

So I've been incredibly busy lately with college, relationships and a new job, so for now I'm just going to post short reviews of the films I've seen this September, and at worst post every 2 weeks or so the new things that come up. Still planning to do a major awards ceremony this winter.

Bangkok Dangerous- Starring Nicolas Cage, Shahkrit, Yamnarm, Charlie Young
Laughably bad and exceedingly boring, Bangkok Dangerous plays like Nic Cage's steely Asian action version of An American In Paris. He fights some bad guys, trains his Thai courier boy the ways of the American dojo, and falls in love with a deaf mute pharmacy clerk. And the hair, oh Lord child, the hair. Cage's pantomime skills are classic.
Grade: D (9/5/08)

Burn After Reading - Starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt
Though not nearly as funny or heartwarming as some of the Coens' best parables, Burn After Reading doesn't necessarily let it's big name actors get in the way of an interesting and well-made, if ultimately pointless film. The main stars range from excellent (Pitt is a considerable Supporting Actor nomination) to weary (John Malkovich is a great actor, but kind of slows down the film here).
Grade: B+ (9/13/08)

College - Starring Drake Bell, Kevin Covais, Andrew Caldwell
It's pretty sad when a film titled College is still more infinitely forgettable than a simple T-shirt with the word on it. Though it has some genuinely funny laughs occasionally, the movie suffers from a slew of perplexing decisions going against it. Targeting high schoolers and Drake Bell fans with an R-rating? Making all your characters except Covais truly detestable? This ain't your older brother's Superbad.
Grade: D+ (9/5/08)

Eagle Eye - Starring Shia LeBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Bob Thornton
Eagle Eye is sort of a coming out party for director D.J. Caruso to be the next Michael Bay. Vastly entertaining yet insufferably over-the-top and cliche, Eagle Eye curbs itself from a host of movies, including Enemy Of The State, I Robot and without spoiling TOO much, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Sure, it has a cheeky sense of humor and never truly takes itself completely seriously, but even if it was thrilling enough to finish the popcorn bag, you find yourself asking WHY?
Grade: C+ (9/27/08)

Fool's Gold* - Starring Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Donald Sutherland
Despite the easy affability, chemistry and charm of the leading actors- a pair that should be together in real life- Fool's Gold sinks to the bottom of the filmmaking depths with shallow caricatures and some jarring violence for such a breezy and hollow effort. It's like an exotic vacation that you spent the entire time in the lavatory for.
Grade: D+

Ghost Town - Starring Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Tea Leoni
It takes a lot of gall to appreciate Gervais' awkward and dread based sitcom comedies (including the brilliant, original UK version of The Office), but surprisingly Gervais is easily accessible here. He alone turns what would normally be a middling romantic comedy of the updated Topper variety into a charming spectacle with a little bit of off-color bite. Ghost Town is the kind of film that one shouldn't necessarily be excited to see, but is proof that there is fresh life in the romantic comedy genre. Surprising little gem of a movie.
Grade: B+ (9/25/08)

Man On Wire - Starring Philippe Petit, Annie Allix, Jean-Louis Blondeau
Usually when one thinks of a documentary, they think of a subject that is either made to change a point of view, or to enlighten. Certainly Man On Wire enlightens, but for a subject so seemingly inconsequential in the grand scope of the world- a man tightrope walking across the World Trade Center almost 35 years ago- it is highly entertaining. Blending a unique spin of straight documentary and heist film, director James Marsh doesn't mince on 9/11 despite an easy target to do so, and thus the absence of the subject makes the legacy of the WTC that much more bittersweet.
Grade: A- (9/16/08)

Miracle At St. Anna - Starring Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso
For every ingenious thing Spike Lee crafts within this quasi-true story of black soldiers holed up in Italy during WWII, Lee seems to make 1 1/2 times more mistakes with the storyline. While his "struggling race in the face of white supremacy" slant has been toned down over the years, Lee still manages to make a couple of toothless jabs at the subject. An interesting tale with a couple of stellar performances (Omar Benson Miller in particular is sweet natured), Miracle At St. Anna ends up disappointing in the long run.
Grade: B- (9/26/08)

Indie Review: BRIDESHEAD

For the mini-review of the indie film of lesser importance, Bottle Shock, click here.


Brideshead Revisited



Starring- Matthew Goode, Ben Whislaw, Hayley Atwell, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon, Patrick Malahide



Directed by Julian Jarrold



Grade: B-




"Sebastian and I are a couple of heathens."
"I am not a heathen. I'm a sinner."

To anyone who's seen Atonement and has fallen in love with it, Brideshead Revisited may seem like a blatant knockoff of Joe Wright's vision of Ian McEwan's novel. But very much like a teen slasher picture or a Matthew McConaughey film, the British Period Epic is just its own separate genre. Each one will feature sweeping choreography, immaculate theatre-trained class acting, and high society drama. From Howard's End to The English Patient to The Heart Of Me, British Period Epics are its own brand of demographics.

The true key of distancing Brideshead to the far superior Atonement is less subtle. The acting here is top notch, but just a shade underneath the performances of Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Vanessa Redgrave. The direction by Julian Jarrold is classy, but doesn't quite have the same aesthic pleasure. The writing, based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh, Overall it does indeed share many similarities with Atonement done to a lesser quality, but Brideshead Revisited gets judged by its own highlights and demerits.

Charles Ryder (Match Point's Matthew Goode) is a middle-class young man off to Oxford in the years prior to World War II. While there, he begins a friendship with the flamboyantly gay Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whislaw), who invites Charles to his family's huge estate, aptly titled Brideshead. Therein lies a mess of conflict; Charles is a modern-day atheist, unsure of what he wants out of his life, but begins to fall for Sebastian's sister Julia (Hayley Atwell). Sebastian is part of a devoutly Catholic family, and being homosexual and confused about the contrasts of who he's supposed to be, turns to alcohol. Their mother, Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson), is one of the last of dying breed of nobility and class from England's past, clinging onto to her religion in the face of the problems surrounding her.

Firstly, I've never personally read the book, but knowing what it entails, the film version of Brideshead Revisited seems to lose its deeper meaning. Waugh's novel was chiefly entrenched on the roles Catholicism and atheism played on the wealthy elite and middle class alike, and while Waugh himself was pro-Catholic, he gave principal allusions to both of its faults as well as its merits.

The film hints at it, but neither Jarrold or the screen adapters Andrew Davies or Jeremy Brock are fearless enough to tackle the subject straight on. Instead it just sort of resides off to the side while the temptations of love become the focus of the fim. Rather than looking at Lady Marchmain and Sebastian's religiousness in the face of each of their problems, Brideshead devolves into a mostly straightforward love triangle.

Secondly was the odd nature of the relationships. There were allusions to homosexual experimenting and love trysts in the novel, but the kiss between Charles and Sebastian in the film seemed almost done in exploitation than necessary to the story. Charles' pursuit of Julia rings somewhat hollow as well. It's not that these subjects are bad, but a bigger focus on the way the family crumbles yet finds its strength in its religious beliefs (the death bed scene of their spiritually wavering father is the acme of the film), more akin to the book, would have distanced Brideshead Revisited from its Atonement comparisons.

Wrapping up the film also proves fairly troublesome. It's pretty true to the book in story towards the end, but drags on for a good 20-30 minutes with several false endings that ultimately does not lead us to any particularly better conclusion. There was a proper climax, but it gets ruined with 20 minutes of almost needless extra explanation. We go from 100 minutes of blossoming drama, to 20 minutes of rapid-fire tying of loose ends.

Despite all of these faults, Brideshead Revisited is buoyant with some fine acting. Goode, known to many American audiences for films such as The Lookout and Chasing Liberty is dependable as the lead, performing like a standard Brit of class, never once breaking emotion unless its called for. Whislaw (I'm Not There) is as endearingly touching as Sebastian as he is revolting in his despair. Emma Thompson, matriarch of the Flyte clan, may follow Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and her own footsteps (Sense & Sensibility) to another Oscar nomination with her domineering performance that voters eat up.

I'm almost tempted to check out the fabled 1981 BBC miniseries, because it is there that Waugh's book has supposedly been done justice. But I'm not a big enough fan of the British Period Epic to seek it out. If you're naturally a fan of the British Period Epic, you won't be too disappointed with Brideshead Revisited, other than maybe that BPE's poster girl Keira Knightley isn't in the film. But if you're new to exploring the genre, I'd advise you to check out Atonement first. Not because this is 'too British' as one may lead you to believe, but because it has

Featured Review: TRAITOR

Traitor



Starring- Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Said Taghmaoui, Neal McDonough, Aly Khan, Jeff Daniels




Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff



Grade: A-



"You must be willing to sacrifice some of your pawns if you want to win the game."

There seems to be a misconception in Hollywood; that action films have to be dumb for the sake of the fight sequences, and that independent drama films with artistic ties cannot be violent, lest their fickle critics debase it as a said action film. Thankfully, Traitor blends both worlds together into a mostly captivating and engrossing spy thriller that offers the audience something different to think about. Something less patriotically jingoism in its actions, and more , even if that worldview isn't fully realized.

Surprisingly, Steve Martin, the guy still making Pink Panther and Cheaper By The Dozen sequels, is a co-conspirator behind Traitor's story. It's understandable to see him delve into a softer side with such Anglo-urban schmaltz as Shopgirl, but to come up with truly unique anti-American perspective (even if the film doesn't always stay anti-American) that isn't seen in too many mainstream films, Martin deserves a chance to branch out from the inane family comedies he's been stuck with as of late.

Don Cheadle stars as Samir Horn, a Sudanese native who had military ties to the United States. Currently he's in Yemen, selling explosives to American officials and Islamic terrorists alike; whoever is the highest bidder for his services. When Roy Clayton (Memento's Guy Pearce) and his partner Max Archer (Neal McDonough) step into the investigation, Samir finds himself in a worldwide cat and mouse game not only with them on his trail, but also navigating

Cheadle is certainly a treat to watch as he usually is, even if his character slowly becomes the "sensitive, slightly offended Black man out to do good", a Cheadle staple (see Hotel Rwanda, Boogie Nights, Reign Over Me). But it's still a great act. For at least the first half of the film his intentions are ambiguous and the audience is unsure how to like the character. It's no question that he'll end up being a good guy, but how good? He's no knight in shining armor, but can he redeem himself as a whole, or has his past rendered him to a life of guiltless solidarity? Cheadle leads us on a pretty decent journey of his emotions.

Also engaging is Said Taghmaoui, as Omar. He, more often that Cheadle's Samir, represents the conflicting views and sentimentality of what we consider terrorists. Omar is very much a part of the spree of violence, but has a pathos worked into the fabric of his character. Taghmaoui was one of the more interesting actors in Vantage Point, and has a real ability to be a principal star ala Omar Sharif if he's given his chance.

As a message film, Traitor doesn't pack much of a punch, but doesn't limp to its conclusion either. Obviously it strives to look deeper into the world and reasoning of people who commit such brutal acts of violence against Americans and their fellow countrymen. While its biggest points don't hit hard enough to truly get people debate the ramifications of America's status as First-World "peacemaker", it does offer more insight to its subject than most films claim to have.

The film can excuse itself from its intellectual faults by being a solid spy thriller. As far as action goes, it may even be considered a little slow paced for people expecting to see something as gung-ho as the Bourne trilogy. But there's twists and turns among the espionage, with plenty of violence, that give Traitor a few ounces of extra adrenaline over other dramas. It'll keep you guessing and interested throughout.

At times a bit cloying, but mostly enjoyable and thoughtful, Traitor is a rousing drama in the September midst of Hollywood dumping ground cinema. It's at times smarter than the Bourne series, but not as adventurous or . For a film conceived by a guy who's next film project is a comedic remake of Topper, and directed by the writer of The Day After Tomorrow, Traitor is however unusually engrossing thriller drama to watch. Unlike say, 88 Minutes, Traitor doesn't sabotage us on that.

Featured Review: DISASTER MOVIE

To read last week's mini review on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, or any other of the 94 movies from 2008 I've seen, CLICK HERE.


Disaster Movie



Starring- Matt Lanter, Vanessa Minnillo, Nicole Parker, Crista Flanagan, Calvin 'G Thang' Johnson, Ike Barinholtz, Kim Kardashian



Directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer



Grade: F


"That sounds kind of gay, dude."

WRITER'S NOTE: I did not pay to see this film. I have a reputation to uphold.

I try to be a consummate professional when critiquing movies; I don't want to be like the filmmakers of Disaster Movie and delve into the lowest forms of trepidation by mocking something so mercilessly and pointlessly infantile like Disaster Movie, and make an entire article one long ode to terrible filmmaking. It may certainly seem futile on such a wispy and unnecessary movie, but I'll give this short review my best academic reasoning behind why I and many, many, many others will hate this film, many without even seeing it.

By calling their film Disaster Movie, directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer purposefully and openly set themselves up for a barrage of reviews that use a pun along the lines of "a complete disaster of a movie". They don't need the critics. Instead they have a built-in audience of ADHD-riddled pre-teens and their parents who read the glossy supermarket magazines about Brangelina's latest adoption news. Friedberg, Seltzer and Lionsgate can laugh all the way to the bank while their "fans" hopelessly sit through 90 minutes of laughless celluloid. But gaging the audience that showed up for the screening, perhaps once and for all the last laugh will be on them.

If you've actually sat through one of these films, you know the title is misleading. While each film has a threadbare plot throughout that coincide with the name, every film is just weak satire on the minute pop culture of our society. The most sensible way to describe the plot goes like this: Will (Matt Lanter) and Amy (MTV's Vanessa Minnillo) break up because of his commitment issues. Will's friend Calvin (Gary 'G Thang' Johnson) then throws him a birthday party. When the city is under attack by some hurricane or what have you and Amy is trapped in a museum where she works, Will, Calvin, and other characters face strange encounters, most not involving any sort of actual 'disaster'. It's best left not to describe it.

The plot, or whatever you make of it, is more or less a patchwork of Cloverfield and The Day After Tomorrow. But they won't reference the latter by name because the core audience of Disaster Movie were but mere babies when that film was released in 2004. A real satire on disaster movies (which in effect was already done by David Zucker's Airplane! spoof on the Airport series) would have highlighted the Irwin Allen years, the random star power of those films (no Carmen Electra is not a 'star') or at least thrown in some sly winks to the 1990's revival of the genre. No Charleston Heston tributes? No dice.

Instead it's the kind of film that references one of the most quotable lines in the Rocky franchise, forever over-saturated on t-shirts and pop culture shows, by saying "Like Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV, 'I must break you'". You know, in case the kids younger than 11 don't get the reference in between the 'jokes' of a film of which the oldest parody reference is December 2006's Night At The Museum.

It's the kind of film that sings TWO musical numbers that are so annoyingly bad and random that it actually makes you think "Prom Tonight" from 2001's Not Another Teen Movie deserved a Grammy. Or at least a Juno award.

It's the kind of film that drags on for 5 minutes "making fun" of Hannah Montana's self-promotion. But really, it sounded like they were giving Miley Cyrus a pitch more than actually making fun of her. Maybe when Cyrus' show ends and she's about 2 months away from defying daddy in a Playboy or Maxim spread, she'll star in Oscar Movie or Animated Movie (or isn't she already doing that in Bolt?).

It's the kind of film that doesn't even bother hiring lookalike actors anymore. The guy who did Dr. Phil looked, talked and acted nothing like the real subject, and the way they wrote his character can't even be considered a 'parody' since it wasn't even making fun of things he's known for.

It's the kind of film that has a guy named 'G Thang' as one of its stars.

Sadly I have to admit that Disaster Movie edges out Friedberg/Seltzer's previous installment Meet The Spartans just an infinite fraction of an iota. While Spartans was devoid of a single laugh, Disaster did throw me for a couple of "I cannot believe they are doing this" chuckles. Perhaps the only genuinely funny moment, and an awkward one at that, was Nicole Parker's take of Amy Adams' Enchanted princess, describing her drug tolerance. But considering she did cheap impersonations of Jessica Simpson and Amy Winehouse as well, she deserves just as much ire as the rest of the prorated MadTV cast.

I refuse to end this article with a cheap titular pun. Friedberg and Seltzer know they want it, but they don't deserve it.

DVD Review: RAISING ARIZONA (1987)

Raising Arizona

Released: March 13, 1987

Box Office: $22.8 million
(ranked approx 51st of 1987)

Starring- Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, John Goodman, William Forsythe, Trey Wilson, Sam McMurray, Frances McDormand, Randall 'Tex' Cobb

Directed by Joel Coen

DVD Issue: 1999

Grade: B+


Before he became the action guy of The Rock and Con-Air, and later the terrible star of vehicular catastrophes like The Wicker Man and Next, Nicolas Cage was a normal actor of varying star power. Once he had a footing in the Hollywood script machine, he struggled between serious projects like The Boy In Blue, Moonstruck, and Leaving Las Vegas and curious misfires like Vampire's Kiss, Amos & Andrew and Deadfall. Sometimes lost in the shuffle of his spotty early career before 1996 is the 1987 Coen Brothers gem, Raising Arizona.

Raising Arizona is only the 2nd feature the Coen Brothers- Ethan and Joel- ever wrote and directed, the first comedy, but viewing it more than 20 years and 11 films later reveals many similarities in context and style that they would revisit later. Despite a flair of 1980's family comedy absurdity that runs throughout, Raising Arizona is very much a smartly written comedy for the time, one that would set a template for such Coen classics as Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and the tentatively released Burn After Reading.

Cage stars as Herbert "H.I." McDunnough (a perfect Coen name), a petty convenience store robber in Tempe, Arizona who falls in love with Edwina, nicknamed "Ed" (Holly Hunter), a police station photographer, while going through the justice system time and again. They get married, and H.I. is determined to settle down and raise a family. However, Ed is discovered to be barren, and H.I. gets the itch to fall back into his criminal life. When the television news stations cover the birth of quintuplets to a wealthy local furniture magnate, the pair get the idea to steal one of the babies. Getting their hands on one proves to be easy. Keeping it is an entirely different matter.

As a native to the great state of Arizona, I could have taken offense to the hillbilly existence the state is portrayed as (as Cage's H.I. declares, maybe happiness is just Utah). Even 20 years ago the suburban city of Tempe was not made of poor white trash trailers in wide-open desert. Contrary to belief, not everybody wore printed leisure shirts, bola ties, and drove around in wood-paneled sedans.

But anyone familiar with the Coens' regular style of characters, especially in their comedies- primary examples being in Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou, and The Ladykillers- will know that at least one character in these films possess the Coen rhetoric. They may talk like country bumpkins, but also possess the verbal abilities of uniquely American folklore and speak. Some fans took the stereotypes of Minnesota and the north to heart in Fargo, but like Raising Arizona, it's not so much the product of the environment as it is the product of the Coens' world.

Also like many other Ethan and Joel films, the imagery in Raising Arizona stands out in particular. While some shots, such as Cage's legs swinging in the air while fighting with Goodman or Cobb's Leonard Smalls getting knocked off his motorcycle, scream of the slapstick antics that were popular in the decade of comedy, there are thought invoking scenery. The film is littered with allusions to hope and despair, partially influenced by the Cold War, including the burning car behind Edwina.

Because this is in essence a self-conscious comedy film of the 1980s, the acting will undoubtedly get a little tiresome. Sam McMurray and Frances McDormand (wife of Joel, hence why she stars in almost all Coen works and has been made a certifiably noted actress) screech their way through their big scene as suburban yuppies. There's a lot of hollering involved with Goodman and William Forsythe's characters, much crying from Hunter (who became a legitimate leading actress after this and Broadcast News later in the year), and many a stupid quip by Cage.

Granted, for this kind of slapstick humor mixed with folklore pathos, Raising Arizona is funny if not outright ribald, and actually quite sweet. Some of Cage's dumbfounded looks are genuinely hilarious, and the way almost each character speaks real dialogue in eloquent fashion compared with the poor diction that they have, is funny

Raising Arizona is one of just many, many cult classics from the decade that brought the art of a family comedy to the Hollywood conscience. But unlike quite a few that hinges on its stupid premise or all-star cast, Arizona is graced with a good script and direction by its up-and-coming sibling duo, which foretells of many of the Coens' projects to come.

Featured Review: HOUSE BUNNY

The House Bunny

Starring- Anna Faris, Emma Stone, Kat Dennings, Katherine McPhee, Rumer Willis, Colin Hanks, Christopher McDonald, Beverly D'Angelo

Directed by Fred Wolf

Grade: D

"I gotta meet this frickin' bird!"

If while watching The House Bunny, you start to feel deja vu, you're not alone. Written by the co-writers of Legally Blonde, this film plays like a tired mixture of 50% Blonde, 30% Revenge Of The Nerds, and 20% Sydney White. Lots of ditsy blondes, lots of pink, lots of stereotypes about college make the film so vapid that it refuses to listen to the genial goodwill message it tacks on at the end.

While Anna Faris is no Reese Witherspoon in the acting pantheon, she deviates away from Witherspoon's Elle Woods enough to find a character on her own. Faris at times is really annoying, playing up the Marilyn Monroe-voiced, clueless but means well bimbo, but her comic timing and natural likability is one of the few saving graces for a pretty cliche and tumescent film.

The House Bunny has an undeniable mark left by Happy Madison, the Adam Sandler-owned production company in charge of it. It is at times just as raunchy as some of Sandler and his crew's dirtiest films, and if there is anything positive to say about the movie besides Faris' comic timing, it would be the equal way that the girls can perform gross-out gags alongside the boys. But then, is that really a good thing when it results in The House Bunny?

Shelley (Faris) is a former orphan, now a staple in Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion. But unbeknown to her, some of her fellow Playmates want her gone. Therefore, a day after turning 27, she is forced to move out. Where can an unschooled, unintelligent, poor, former Playboy bunny go to? Naturally, after a night in jail, she finds a sorority house further down the block. This leads Shelley to an unlikely facade as House Mother to the worst and most ragtag house on campus. These girls need pledges to keep their chapter, but who wants to pledge at a place that doesn't feature rockin' parties and kickass social events?. Shelley has ideas.

Pretty much every cliche about college and female outcasts are presented here. The girls range from being nerds to feminist rebels to pregnant hippies to exceedingly tomboyish. They are purposely and exagerratedly ugly, their house is ugly, and naturally, in the case of Emma Stone and Katherine McPhee, and mostly, in the case of Kat Dennings and Rumer Willis (eerily similar looking to father Bruce) become beautiful with a quick She's All That montage makeover that exceeds no cost.

The movie throws in a quick feel-good ending about the dangers of over-hyping the value of looks, but after spending the bulk center of the film glorifying the girls' new wealth in popularity and outer gravitas, the final moments feels as contrite and hollow as the jokes that reside in those moments.

The humor here is a bit overlapping at times. There's a dearth of dumb blonde jokes as expected, but once in awhile the screenwriters slip in a genuinely witty little tidbit that almost goes unnoticed. Instead the movie focuses on the dimwit musings that a 'typical blonde' from Playboy like Shelley might conceive in her head.

Anna Faris has come a long way from being the slightly-built, raven-haired Cindy Campbell of the Scary Movie franchise. One could say that when Reese Witherspoon left the vapid blonde role for bigger and artsier pictures like Walk The Line and, uh, Just Like Heaven, Faris ably filled in on her own terms. But how many films do we need, in which a ditsy woman learns how to deal with her life and the people that surround her in cutesy fashion and fabulous, FABULOUS clothes?

Overall, The House Bunny feels like just another comedy that curbs its ideas from the wacky hi-jinks movies from the 1980s, without as much family-friendly camp. Perhaps in 25 years our generation and the next will look at movies like The House Bunny with the same kind of cult reverence that we do for Revenge Of The Nerds; never as a particularly good film, but enjoying the somewhat dated 'product of the times' and humor with genial affection. Shelley may have hoped to be a Playboy Centerfold, but that's the best The House Bunny can hope for.