Die Hard goes to Washington, with a hot, young hero. There's not much else to be said about the absurd and bombastic summer blockbuster. John Cale was only trying to win over his daughter's affections by taking her on a tour of the White House. Little did he know that he'd be fighting for his life - and the President's - before nightfall.
Honestly, I didn't even want to dignify the film with a post - it's popcorn fare, what else is there to say about it? One or two decent jokes, and thank God for Aussie Jason Clarke as a black-clad baddie. His American accent is excellent, and his blue eyes are a welcome distraction from... the rest of the film. Seriously, Hollywood, stop making the bad guys so attractive!
That's all.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Man of Steel
This is going to be divisive. I was really excited for Man of Steel. I remember when Henry Cavill's name was being bandied about for the last film, and I thought then that he would make a great Superman. I liked him in The Count of Monte Cristo, which was about all he had done at the time. Look at him, though. He's a perfect specimen, who did a great job with what he was given. But what the crap was that? I think it might have been about twenty pages of dialogue (if you know how movie scripts are formatted, it might be about fifty), and a hundred-fifty pages of flying/fighting/explosions.
I wanted to like Zach Snyder's Watchmen movie, too, but I had many of the same feelings then as I did with Man of Steel. I wonder if Snyder knows that not every moment in an epic is epic - not every single beat needs to be imbued with self-importance. Man of Steel has a hard line to walk, for sure. It doesn't want to be Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (which I quite enjoyed as a series), or Smallville (about Clark's adolescence and teenage drama), or Superman Returns (I knew not to waste my time on that one), but it never captures the magic of 1978's classic Superman that introduced us to Christopher Reeve as our nation's favorite hero. Not even with Kevin Costner surrounded again by his Field of Dreams cornstalks.
None of which is to say that the film is without merit. On the contrary, some of the choices were well-made, and the performances were good. How fascinating, that the infamous "S" is not a letter but a symbol, for hope. Things we learn from Jor-El. Russell Crowe is much more comfortable than the last time we saw him onscreen (coughLesMiserablescough), that's for sure. His Jor-El figures more prominently in the story than I'd have imagined, becomes more of a father figure than one might have expected for Kal-El/Clark. As the other father figure, Costner is great as Jonathan Kent. With Diane Lane for Martha, they're apple pie and lemonade, American midwest personified, loving and affectionate parents for a child whose senses are out of this world (har har).
Before I go further, I should say that I fully and readily admit that I have not read the comics. I do not know exactly what deviations have been made from the canon, but boy do I have some questions I would like to pose to someone who does. Man of Steel poses that Jonathan Kent's demise is an early, formative event for Clark - does he lose his father so soon? Man of Steel also poses that Lois uncovers Clark's secret far earlier than she traditionally has. This may be logical, and an extension of the progress of feminism and a rejection of the idea that an intelligent lady reporter couldn't figure out where the bloke in the cape came from. Not that it seems terribly difficult for her, either. Arctic terrain? No biggie. Lied about his work history and references? Amateur. It's not even supposed to be questioned, or a plot point - she just finds him. Adams's daintiness is a physical complement to Cavill's chiseled physique, but I'm not quite sure I buy her as a reporter apt to get into trouble. But who was our last Lois? Kate Bosworth? Maybe it means I've watched too much television, but Terri Hatcher struck me as a great Lois Lane. Where's the girl with gumption?
There's no doubt that director Snyder has a taste for visuals and a knack for action scenes, but I do wish someone had done something to rein in that script. Early trailers made it clear that this would be about Superman's past, about growing up to become Superman, but there's so much material here that any pronounced themes are obscured by whatever was going on with the film's timeline. At times, it feels like a stream-of-consciousness thing, free-association, with video. The shadings of light and dark that were promised by the morality questions raised, even in the film's trailer, are all awash. Nothing struck me quite so much as when a young Clark asks his father if he was to let his classmate die, and Jonathan says, "Maybe." What? But Clark's struggle is never about right or wrong, it's unfailingly about identity and self-discovery, and blah blah blah. Don't even get me started on the way things end for our villain. Michael Shannon plays General Zod, and I remember hearing six or seven years ago when he was in The Pillowman that he was very good. Unfortunately, his big threat to "harvest the Codex from [Kal-El's] corpse" and whatever, was totally eclipsed by Khan's "I will walk over your cold corpses to recover my people" in Star Trek Into Darkness. Seen it!
Ah, now there's a movie that knows how to blend action, plot, humor, battle, and sexy, sexy actors into a damn good time. Excuse me, while I go see Star Trek again.
Notes:
- The spaceships are phallic or floral, or they look like Nero's ship from Abrams's 2009 Star Trek. And yet Jor-El rides a dragon? What?
- This Reddit post, or this fact: both of this Superman's fathers (Crowe and Costner) have played Robin Hood.
- Metropolis is a real place, but it's not in Kansas. There is a Superman statue in Metropolis, Illinois, a Supermuseum, and The Weekly Planet.
- I just read that Stana Katic voiced Lois Lane in a recent animated Superman feature (Superman: Unbound). Anyone who watches Castle will agree: that's brilliant casting. Although it would be tough if not impossible to find a Superman better looking than she. Matt Bomer voiced the hero opposite Katic. He's also been up for the live-action role more than once.
- Who doesn't love Christopher Meloni?
I wanted to like Zach Snyder's Watchmen movie, too, but I had many of the same feelings then as I did with Man of Steel. I wonder if Snyder knows that not every moment in an epic is epic - not every single beat needs to be imbued with self-importance. Man of Steel has a hard line to walk, for sure. It doesn't want to be Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (which I quite enjoyed as a series), or Smallville (about Clark's adolescence and teenage drama), or Superman Returns (I knew not to waste my time on that one), but it never captures the magic of 1978's classic Superman that introduced us to Christopher Reeve as our nation's favorite hero. Not even with Kevin Costner surrounded again by his Field of Dreams cornstalks.
None of which is to say that the film is without merit. On the contrary, some of the choices were well-made, and the performances were good. How fascinating, that the infamous "S" is not a letter but a symbol, for hope. Things we learn from Jor-El. Russell Crowe is much more comfortable than the last time we saw him onscreen (coughLesMiserablescough), that's for sure. His Jor-El figures more prominently in the story than I'd have imagined, becomes more of a father figure than one might have expected for Kal-El/Clark. As the other father figure, Costner is great as Jonathan Kent. With Diane Lane for Martha, they're apple pie and lemonade, American midwest personified, loving and affectionate parents for a child whose senses are out of this world (har har).
Before I go further, I should say that I fully and readily admit that I have not read the comics. I do not know exactly what deviations have been made from the canon, but boy do I have some questions I would like to pose to someone who does. Man of Steel poses that Jonathan Kent's demise is an early, formative event for Clark - does he lose his father so soon? Man of Steel also poses that Lois uncovers Clark's secret far earlier than she traditionally has. This may be logical, and an extension of the progress of feminism and a rejection of the idea that an intelligent lady reporter couldn't figure out where the bloke in the cape came from. Not that it seems terribly difficult for her, either. Arctic terrain? No biggie. Lied about his work history and references? Amateur. It's not even supposed to be questioned, or a plot point - she just finds him. Adams's daintiness is a physical complement to Cavill's chiseled physique, but I'm not quite sure I buy her as a reporter apt to get into trouble. But who was our last Lois? Kate Bosworth? Maybe it means I've watched too much television, but Terri Hatcher struck me as a great Lois Lane. Where's the girl with gumption?
There's no doubt that director Snyder has a taste for visuals and a knack for action scenes, but I do wish someone had done something to rein in that script. Early trailers made it clear that this would be about Superman's past, about growing up to become Superman, but there's so much material here that any pronounced themes are obscured by whatever was going on with the film's timeline. At times, it feels like a stream-of-consciousness thing, free-association, with video. The shadings of light and dark that were promised by the morality questions raised, even in the film's trailer, are all awash. Nothing struck me quite so much as when a young Clark asks his father if he was to let his classmate die, and Jonathan says, "Maybe." What? But Clark's struggle is never about right or wrong, it's unfailingly about identity and self-discovery, and blah blah blah. Don't even get me started on the way things end for our villain. Michael Shannon plays General Zod, and I remember hearing six or seven years ago when he was in The Pillowman that he was very good. Unfortunately, his big threat to "harvest the Codex from [Kal-El's] corpse" and whatever, was totally eclipsed by Khan's "I will walk over your cold corpses to recover my people" in Star Trek Into Darkness. Seen it!
Ah, now there's a movie that knows how to blend action, plot, humor, battle, and sexy, sexy actors into a damn good time. Excuse me, while I go see Star Trek again.
Notes:
- The spaceships are phallic or floral, or they look like Nero's ship from Abrams's 2009 Star Trek. And yet Jor-El rides a dragon? What?
- This Reddit post, or this fact: both of this Superman's fathers (Crowe and Costner) have played Robin Hood.
- Metropolis is a real place, but it's not in Kansas. There is a Superman statue in Metropolis, Illinois, a Supermuseum, and The Weekly Planet.
- I just read that Stana Katic voiced Lois Lane in a recent animated Superman feature (Superman: Unbound). Anyone who watches Castle will agree: that's brilliant casting. Although it would be tough if not impossible to find a Superman better looking than she. Matt Bomer voiced the hero opposite Katic. He's also been up for the live-action role more than once.
- Who doesn't love Christopher Meloni?
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
What Maisie Knew
I'm fascinated by adaptations. What things were chosen for inclusion, bits left out, details changed - and why? That's the real question. Adaptations are part of our artistic culture; in the Early Middle Ages, performers would adapt scenes from the Bible. Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky is currently in production with his big-screen adaptation of Noah's ark. As we know from the recent Great Gatsby film, the Hunger Games trilogy, etc., people can be extremely sensitive about their adaptations. The more beloved a text, the louder the outcry. This may (partly) explain why Nancy Doyne and Caroll Cartwright chose a lesser-known, rarely adapted Henry James work for their most recent project.
(Note: I haven't read the book yet. I used Wikipedia.)
For the film, Doyne and Cartwright have updated James's 1897 novel What Maisie Knew to modern day, with modern names and values, giving the parents suitable careers, and providing what sounds like a happier resolution (than the novel's). Maisie's mother, Susanna, is an aging rock star, who can't seem to give enough attention to her marriage, her career, and her daughter. Beale, Maisie's father, has business prospects that keep sending him abroad, or providing him with excuses to cover his extramarital affairs. Maisie herself is a happy girl - excepting the times she hears her parents argue, having to fall asleep to the din, waking in the middle of the night to the doorbell after Susanna changes the locks to spite Beale. When they divorce, Susanna and Beale are forced to share custody of Maisie, shuffling her back and forth every ten days. Which, as difficult as this must be for Maisie, seems to be even more of a challenge for her parents. Unable to take responsibility themselves, Susanna and Beale rely on their new significant others (a sexy bartender for Susanna and Maisie's former nanny for Beale) to help keep control of the situation. Maisie, dear, sweet, sensitive, thoughtful Maisie, quietly goes where she's sent, waiting patiently, adrently loving each of her caretakers individually. Maisie tries to make the best of her bad situation. She gets two rooms, two sets of toys - and while it's seems less likely that her parents are trying to buy her love, it does seem that gifts and treats, intended as distractions, are all they are willing give.
The performances are what drive this film. What fun it must have been for Julianne Moore to play a rock star and mother. In an interview with NPR's Terry Gross, Moore says she found Susanna's inconsistency interesting - the duality of the character that she wanted to play. Party-like-a-rock-star mentality juxtaposed with a wholesome love of her daughter. Inspired by Courtney Love and Patti Smith - Moore is excellent, jealously craving both the spotlight and her daughter's affection. What's a woman to do? On the flip side, there's Steve Coogan's Beale, a detatched father figure who seems content to have his little girl around, but not particularly driven to keep her there. Driven to distraction, it seems, by his commitment to his job. After his divorce, after his remarriage to nanny Margo (Joanna Vanderham), he expects Margo and Susanna to look after Maisie. Both Susanna and Beale love Maisie and want custody - until it conflicts with their career opportunities.
As Maisie's secondary caretakers, Margo and Lincoln do what they can to avoid being caught in the middle. It's hard not to fall in love with Maisie; she's precocious, she loves animals, she's friendly and fun. Onata Aprile is a true find, her big, wet eyes taking in her surroundings, knowing and understanding more than she lets on. She's confident with Joanna Vanderham, which helps us think highly of Margo as a nanny - even if she does take up with Maisie's father rather quickly after the divorce. Lincoln, on the other hand, is a little harder to gauge. I wonder if the filmmakers banked on Alexander Skarsgård's popularity with the ladies to tip the scales in his favor. He's not my type, but the friendship that evolves between Lincoln and Maisie is one that will melt any hardened heart. Maisie's affection is something that Lincoln truly earns, simply by bearing the qualities that every little girl looks for in a man - reliability and respect. They're quite a sight, the tall bartender, whose every shirt bears a hole or a frayed seam, and the little bohemian girl.
What Maisie knows is what her priorities are, who her mother is, and what makes her happy. Old as the story is, this update of Henry James's novel still resonates, and if anything, proves that we as people have not changed so much - despite our technological advances. All the great works illuminate the feelings, hopes, and dreams that do not change through the ages. And so, it is not about the originality of the script, or the innovation of the storytelling, but it is the emotive qualities, the experience that make What Maisie Knew into something special.
Notes:
- Ladies, beware. Adorableness ahead: Skarsgård and Aprile.
- Shockya.com interview with Alexander Skarsgård and Onata Aprile, aka more adorableness.
- Mother roles have been very important to Julianne Moore's career. Noteworthy maternal performances include: Nine Months, The Hours, Far From Heaven, The Forgotten, Trust the Man, The Kids Are Alright, and Crazy, Stupid, Love.
- Did you know Alexander Skarsgård was in Zoolander? Skarsgård played "Meekus," one of Derek's model friends. HAHAHA.
(Note: I haven't read the book yet. I used Wikipedia.)
For the film, Doyne and Cartwright have updated James's 1897 novel What Maisie Knew to modern day, with modern names and values, giving the parents suitable careers, and providing what sounds like a happier resolution (than the novel's). Maisie's mother, Susanna, is an aging rock star, who can't seem to give enough attention to her marriage, her career, and her daughter. Beale, Maisie's father, has business prospects that keep sending him abroad, or providing him with excuses to cover his extramarital affairs. Maisie herself is a happy girl - excepting the times she hears her parents argue, having to fall asleep to the din, waking in the middle of the night to the doorbell after Susanna changes the locks to spite Beale. When they divorce, Susanna and Beale are forced to share custody of Maisie, shuffling her back and forth every ten days. Which, as difficult as this must be for Maisie, seems to be even more of a challenge for her parents. Unable to take responsibility themselves, Susanna and Beale rely on their new significant others (a sexy bartender for Susanna and Maisie's former nanny for Beale) to help keep control of the situation. Maisie, dear, sweet, sensitive, thoughtful Maisie, quietly goes where she's sent, waiting patiently, adrently loving each of her caretakers individually. Maisie tries to make the best of her bad situation. She gets two rooms, two sets of toys - and while it's seems less likely that her parents are trying to buy her love, it does seem that gifts and treats, intended as distractions, are all they are willing give.
The performances are what drive this film. What fun it must have been for Julianne Moore to play a rock star and mother. In an interview with NPR's Terry Gross, Moore says she found Susanna's inconsistency interesting - the duality of the character that she wanted to play. Party-like-a-rock-star mentality juxtaposed with a wholesome love of her daughter. Inspired by Courtney Love and Patti Smith - Moore is excellent, jealously craving both the spotlight and her daughter's affection. What's a woman to do? On the flip side, there's Steve Coogan's Beale, a detatched father figure who seems content to have his little girl around, but not particularly driven to keep her there. Driven to distraction, it seems, by his commitment to his job. After his divorce, after his remarriage to nanny Margo (Joanna Vanderham), he expects Margo and Susanna to look after Maisie. Both Susanna and Beale love Maisie and want custody - until it conflicts with their career opportunities.
As Maisie's secondary caretakers, Margo and Lincoln do what they can to avoid being caught in the middle. It's hard not to fall in love with Maisie; she's precocious, she loves animals, she's friendly and fun. Onata Aprile is a true find, her big, wet eyes taking in her surroundings, knowing and understanding more than she lets on. She's confident with Joanna Vanderham, which helps us think highly of Margo as a nanny - even if she does take up with Maisie's father rather quickly after the divorce. Lincoln, on the other hand, is a little harder to gauge. I wonder if the filmmakers banked on Alexander Skarsgård's popularity with the ladies to tip the scales in his favor. He's not my type, but the friendship that evolves between Lincoln and Maisie is one that will melt any hardened heart. Maisie's affection is something that Lincoln truly earns, simply by bearing the qualities that every little girl looks for in a man - reliability and respect. They're quite a sight, the tall bartender, whose every shirt bears a hole or a frayed seam, and the little bohemian girl.
What Maisie knows is what her priorities are, who her mother is, and what makes her happy. Old as the story is, this update of Henry James's novel still resonates, and if anything, proves that we as people have not changed so much - despite our technological advances. All the great works illuminate the feelings, hopes, and dreams that do not change through the ages. And so, it is not about the originality of the script, or the innovation of the storytelling, but it is the emotive qualities, the experience that make What Maisie Knew into something special.
Notes:
- Ladies, beware. Adorableness ahead: Skarsgård and Aprile.
- Shockya.com interview with Alexander Skarsgård and Onata Aprile, aka more adorableness.
- Mother roles have been very important to Julianne Moore's career. Noteworthy maternal performances include: Nine Months, The Hours, Far From Heaven, The Forgotten, Trust the Man, The Kids Are Alright, and Crazy, Stupid, Love.
- Did you know Alexander Skarsgård was in Zoolander? Skarsgård played "Meekus," one of Derek's model friends. HAHAHA.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Now You See Me
Do you believe in magic?
Summertime films have crept into theaters this year, with less of a bang than Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man 3, or really any of the other films probably would have liked. Box office is fine, but nothing has generated much buzz - at least not in my circles, and not that I've noticed. Well, other than making Benedict Cumberbatch becoming a familiar name on this side of the Atlantic. It's not just me, I saw it on E!
I didn't know what to expect from Now You See Me, but it's a pretty good summertime heist movie - and who doesn't love a good heist? Somewhere in the company of Catch Me If You Can, The Italian Job and the Ocean's Eleven series, there's Now You See Me. Not quite as grand, but entertaining, nonetheless. There's a roster of great performers and an elegance that raises Now You See Me above the blink-and-you-missed-it releases of Seven Psychopaths and Hit and Run a few months back. The cast's sex appeal and the whimsical attitude of Now You See Me helped make my Tuesday night viewing a packed house.
Four illusionists - with their powers combined! - team up to pull off one grand illusion, moving from independent obscurity to international fame with a fantastical bank robbery. From the trailer, it seems that this is their M.O., but there's so much more to it than that. Pursued by the FBI, Interpol, and a former magician who has devoted his career to revealing the tricks of the trade, the Four Horsemen (as the illusionists call themselves) put on a heck of a show in Vegas, New Orleans, and New York City.
French director Louis Leterrier's resume is action films: The Transporter and its sequel, The Incredible Hulk, Clash of the Titans... so it's no surprise that this film feels like a couple of action scenes - and the stuff inbetween. There's no denying that the chase and fight scenes are dynamic, but the character scenes are somewhat lacking. Thankfully, the actors are capable of holding their own. As Daniel Atlas, specialist in slight-of-hand, Jesse Eisenberg revisits a more fun version of his Social Network brand of cocky bastard. Isla Fisher's Henley masters physical illusions, having moved on from playing assistant to Daniel, and infinitely more in her element than she was in The Great Gatsby. Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson, ever the imp) uses his skills as a mentalist to call out the sexual tension between Daniel and Henley. And then there's Jack Wilder, manipulator of objects, youngest of the bunch, least confident, played by Dave Franco - edging out from James's shadow. Pursuing The Four Horsemen are FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo, who I kept expecting to Hulk out) and Interpol agent Alma Dray (Wait, that was her name? What kind of name is that?) Mélanie Laurent plays Dray, lovely, French, with most excellent English. Some performers are fluent in English, and yet something about their character feels like they're mentally translating; Laurent does not. I loved her in Beginners, and she does not disappoint here. What can be said of Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine? That these are hardly among the actors' most memorable roles, though they do entertain.
I understand the need to give Daniel and Henley a backstory (otherwise there is very little but the characters' charm to make us root for them, and no time to establish that), but the maybe-maybe-not that's going on between Laurent's character and Ruffalo's character was a little silly and unbelievable. Y'all know I love New Orleans - but the unsteady cam got to feeling excessive, especially in the morning after Rhodes chased Daniel through Mardi Gras. At least the plot twists were interesting, and fun to watch. No single performer steals the film, but all the elements work together for one grand result. For a summertime movie, Now You See Me is certainly worth seeing.
Notes:
- Eisenberg and Harrelson worked together previously on the comedy Zombieland.
- Didja catch that? Leterrier directs Ruffalo in Now You See Me, but he also directed The Incredible Hulk; Ruffalo played Bruce Banner/Hulk in The Avengers. You may also have noticed that the film reuintes Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, the pair having worked together on Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.
- Producer Alex Kurtzman is having a good summer; he also produced Star Trek Into Darkness.
Summertime films have crept into theaters this year, with less of a bang than Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man 3, or really any of the other films probably would have liked. Box office is fine, but nothing has generated much buzz - at least not in my circles, and not that I've noticed. Well, other than making Benedict Cumberbatch becoming a familiar name on this side of the Atlantic. It's not just me, I saw it on E!
I didn't know what to expect from Now You See Me, but it's a pretty good summertime heist movie - and who doesn't love a good heist? Somewhere in the company of Catch Me If You Can, The Italian Job and the Ocean's Eleven series, there's Now You See Me. Not quite as grand, but entertaining, nonetheless. There's a roster of great performers and an elegance that raises Now You See Me above the blink-and-you-missed-it releases of Seven Psychopaths and Hit and Run a few months back. The cast's sex appeal and the whimsical attitude of Now You See Me helped make my Tuesday night viewing a packed house.
Four illusionists - with their powers combined! - team up to pull off one grand illusion, moving from independent obscurity to international fame with a fantastical bank robbery. From the trailer, it seems that this is their M.O., but there's so much more to it than that. Pursued by the FBI, Interpol, and a former magician who has devoted his career to revealing the tricks of the trade, the Four Horsemen (as the illusionists call themselves) put on a heck of a show in Vegas, New Orleans, and New York City.
French director Louis Leterrier's resume is action films: The Transporter and its sequel, The Incredible Hulk, Clash of the Titans... so it's no surprise that this film feels like a couple of action scenes - and the stuff inbetween. There's no denying that the chase and fight scenes are dynamic, but the character scenes are somewhat lacking. Thankfully, the actors are capable of holding their own. As Daniel Atlas, specialist in slight-of-hand, Jesse Eisenberg revisits a more fun version of his Social Network brand of cocky bastard. Isla Fisher's Henley masters physical illusions, having moved on from playing assistant to Daniel, and infinitely more in her element than she was in The Great Gatsby. Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson, ever the imp) uses his skills as a mentalist to call out the sexual tension between Daniel and Henley. And then there's Jack Wilder, manipulator of objects, youngest of the bunch, least confident, played by Dave Franco - edging out from James's shadow. Pursuing The Four Horsemen are FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo, who I kept expecting to Hulk out) and Interpol agent Alma Dray (Wait, that was her name? What kind of name is that?) Mélanie Laurent plays Dray, lovely, French, with most excellent English. Some performers are fluent in English, and yet something about their character feels like they're mentally translating; Laurent does not. I loved her in Beginners, and she does not disappoint here. What can be said of Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine? That these are hardly among the actors' most memorable roles, though they do entertain.
I understand the need to give Daniel and Henley a backstory (otherwise there is very little but the characters' charm to make us root for them, and no time to establish that), but the maybe-maybe-not that's going on between Laurent's character and Ruffalo's character was a little silly and unbelievable. Y'all know I love New Orleans - but the unsteady cam got to feeling excessive, especially in the morning after Rhodes chased Daniel through Mardi Gras. At least the plot twists were interesting, and fun to watch. No single performer steals the film, but all the elements work together for one grand result. For a summertime movie, Now You See Me is certainly worth seeing.
Notes:
- Eisenberg and Harrelson worked together previously on the comedy Zombieland.
- Didja catch that? Leterrier directs Ruffalo in Now You See Me, but he also directed The Incredible Hulk; Ruffalo played Bruce Banner/Hulk in The Avengers. You may also have noticed that the film reuintes Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, the pair having worked together on Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.
- Producer Alex Kurtzman is having a good summer; he also produced Star Trek Into Darkness.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Family Movies: Angels in the Outfield and How to Train Your Dragon
There have been a lot of external stressors in my life lately, so I decided to take a break from the high-octane drama and action to settle down with some family movies.
First in the lineup was Angels in the Outfield. One of the few movies my sister and I could agree on back in 1994, I must have known even then that Joseph Gordon Levitt was the real deal. Have you ever noticed how many soon-to-be-famous-faces were in this thing? I mean, yes, there's Gordon Levitt and Danny Glover, but Dylan McDermott played JGL's father, Matthew McConaughey was an outfielder, Adrien Brody popped up as a pinch hitter, and I now know that Ben Johnson, playing the Angels' owner, was famous in his own right (recently mentioned/seen in The Last Picture Show). And did you know the film was a remake? Based on a 1951 movie of the same title, Roger is a ward of the state whose father pessimistically guesses that they'll be a family again when last-place hometown team the Anaheim Angels win the pennant. Roger longingly makes a prayer for the Angels to be able to do so, and nothing short of divine interference will help. It's good family fun, wholesome, if less-than-secular. If you want to boil it down to something secular, as they do toward the end of the film, it's about believing in something, even if no one else does, and finally, believing in one's self. Now, it feels like watching someone climb the Hollywood ladder. After Dark Shadows and before Third Rock from the Sun, Angels was a major cinematic role for Gordon Levitt. He has, of course, come a long way since then. In his directorial and screenwriting debut, the forthcoming Don John, Tony Danza plays Joseph Gordon Levitt's father. Life imitates art: in Angels, it's Gordon Levitt's character's idea to pull Danza's character off the disabled list and make him an active player.
(Note: I don't mean to imply that Danza's been disabled. Merely... inactive, in a cinematic kind of way.)
Anyhoo, I also (finally) caught How to Train Your Dragon, and I loved it. I remember shelving the books when I worked at Borders, and hoping that when I have kids that they will want to read them. I imagine the series is wonderful, basing this assumption on the fact that books are almost always better than their subsequent films. Ever since I saw the trailer, it was Jay Baruchel's voice work that intrigued me the most. Baruchel voices Hiccup, the weakling child of a viking leader, relegated to working in a blacksmith's shop instead of fighting dragons. Hiccup's entire village is frequently roasted by fire-breathing dragons attempting to steal the local foodstock, making dragon-slaying a matter of utmost importance to the viking culture. Hiccup manages to wound one particular dragon - and in pursing it in the nearby woods, finds it grounded, missing part of its tail, and unable to fly. Hiccup would seize the opportunity to kill the dragon and achieve fame throughout his village, but he recognizes fear in the dragon's eyes, and instead lets it go. They become friends, and Hiccup slowly but surely learns how to train the dragon. Meanwhile, he attends dragon-slayer training with his peers, suddenly the most skilled of the lot. But how will he reconcile his dragon-wielding ways with the viking's dragon-slaying mission? It's a deftly animated story, and Hiccup's experience with Toothless (the dragon) reminds me a bit of my experience with my cat. Except that my cat will not be trained, and is not likely to come to my defense... so maybe they're nothing alike.
I liked How to Train Your Dragon especially for its imperfectly happy ending. I'm interested to see what the already-slated second and third films will be like... hopefully more in the Toy Story vein than The Land Before Time, ie: more of a saga with developments than a straight-to-video, forgettable serial.
"Hey, it could happen!" - JP, Angels in the Outfield.
Notes:
- How to Train Your Dragon was nominated for two Academy Awards in 2011: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score (John Powell) and Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. It lost to The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) and Toy Story 3, respectively.
- Both films were based on existing stories. Angels in the Outfield was written by Richard Conlin and published in 1951, How to Train Your Dragon is part of the Hiccup Horrendus Haddock III series by Cressida Cowell.
- Baruchel starred in She's Out of My League with T.J. Miller, who voices Tuffnut in How to Train Your Dragon. Miller worked with Jonah Hill (voicing Snoutlout in HtTYD) on Get Him to the Greek. Hill worked with Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Fishlegs in HtTYD) in Superbad and with Kristen Wiig (Ruffnut in HtTYD) in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Any more connections you guuys know of that I missed? I love this kind of thing - with or without Kevin Bacon.
First in the lineup was Angels in the Outfield. One of the few movies my sister and I could agree on back in 1994, I must have known even then that Joseph Gordon Levitt was the real deal. Have you ever noticed how many soon-to-be-famous-faces were in this thing? I mean, yes, there's Gordon Levitt and Danny Glover, but Dylan McDermott played JGL's father, Matthew McConaughey was an outfielder, Adrien Brody popped up as a pinch hitter, and I now know that Ben Johnson, playing the Angels' owner, was famous in his own right (recently mentioned/seen in The Last Picture Show). And did you know the film was a remake? Based on a 1951 movie of the same title, Roger is a ward of the state whose father pessimistically guesses that they'll be a family again when last-place hometown team the Anaheim Angels win the pennant. Roger longingly makes a prayer for the Angels to be able to do so, and nothing short of divine interference will help. It's good family fun, wholesome, if less-than-secular. If you want to boil it down to something secular, as they do toward the end of the film, it's about believing in something, even if no one else does, and finally, believing in one's self. Now, it feels like watching someone climb the Hollywood ladder. After Dark Shadows and before Third Rock from the Sun, Angels was a major cinematic role for Gordon Levitt. He has, of course, come a long way since then. In his directorial and screenwriting debut, the forthcoming Don John, Tony Danza plays Joseph Gordon Levitt's father. Life imitates art: in Angels, it's Gordon Levitt's character's idea to pull Danza's character off the disabled list and make him an active player.
(Note: I don't mean to imply that Danza's been disabled. Merely... inactive, in a cinematic kind of way.)
Anyhoo, I also (finally) caught How to Train Your Dragon, and I loved it. I remember shelving the books when I worked at Borders, and hoping that when I have kids that they will want to read them. I imagine the series is wonderful, basing this assumption on the fact that books are almost always better than their subsequent films. Ever since I saw the trailer, it was Jay Baruchel's voice work that intrigued me the most. Baruchel voices Hiccup, the weakling child of a viking leader, relegated to working in a blacksmith's shop instead of fighting dragons. Hiccup's entire village is frequently roasted by fire-breathing dragons attempting to steal the local foodstock, making dragon-slaying a matter of utmost importance to the viking culture. Hiccup manages to wound one particular dragon - and in pursing it in the nearby woods, finds it grounded, missing part of its tail, and unable to fly. Hiccup would seize the opportunity to kill the dragon and achieve fame throughout his village, but he recognizes fear in the dragon's eyes, and instead lets it go. They become friends, and Hiccup slowly but surely learns how to train the dragon. Meanwhile, he attends dragon-slayer training with his peers, suddenly the most skilled of the lot. But how will he reconcile his dragon-wielding ways with the viking's dragon-slaying mission? It's a deftly animated story, and Hiccup's experience with Toothless (the dragon) reminds me a bit of my experience with my cat. Except that my cat will not be trained, and is not likely to come to my defense... so maybe they're nothing alike.
I liked How to Train Your Dragon especially for its imperfectly happy ending. I'm interested to see what the already-slated second and third films will be like... hopefully more in the Toy Story vein than The Land Before Time, ie: more of a saga with developments than a straight-to-video, forgettable serial.
"Hey, it could happen!" - JP, Angels in the Outfield.
Notes:
- How to Train Your Dragon was nominated for two Academy Awards in 2011: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score (John Powell) and Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. It lost to The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) and Toy Story 3, respectively.
- Both films were based on existing stories. Angels in the Outfield was written by Richard Conlin and published in 1951, How to Train Your Dragon is part of the Hiccup Horrendus Haddock III series by Cressida Cowell.
- Baruchel starred in She's Out of My League with T.J. Miller, who voices Tuffnut in How to Train Your Dragon. Miller worked with Jonah Hill (voicing Snoutlout in HtTYD) on Get Him to the Greek. Hill worked with Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Fishlegs in HtTYD) in Superbad and with Kristen Wiig (Ruffnut in HtTYD) in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Any more connections you guuys know of that I missed? I love this kind of thing - with or without Kevin Bacon.
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