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Superman Returns

by Drey on June 30, 2006 in Movies with No comments

I saw Superman Returns Tuesday night. I expected a packed theater with a line out the door, but I guess everyone was at the Rio. Juan, Jeremy and Rob had been waiting there for three hours and they were the first in line.

I had watched the original Donner film just before heading to the theater. I hadn’t seen this extended cut (2.5 hours!) before and it had a lot of interesting additions which I guess they extracted from unused footage from filming Superman 1 and 2. Anyhow, the film was fresh in my mind, so the homage Superman Returns makes to the original was very obvious. For the most part it worked, but I thought there was a big continuity problem because of this. Superman Returns is supposed to be a sequel to Superman 2, yet a big plot element is basically identical to one in the first film. I was thinking “Wait a minute, didn’t he try this stunt before?”

Other than that, I really enjoyed the movie and found Brandon Routh convincing as both Superman and Clark Kent, though he does seem to be mimicking Reeve’s Kent rather closely. Kevin Spacey does the same thing with his Lex Luthor, following Hackman very closely. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just that in recent years I have become used to Clancy Brown’s more serious portrayal on Justice League.

The effects are superb and you can see the money up there on the screen. I love how they did the opening titles just like the original films, only with astonishing outer space scenes instead of sparklers and weird glowing goo. The opening credit sequence is a film in itself, like the intro to Star Trek Voyager on acid.

Drey’s Top 10 Movies seen in 2006

1. Brick
2. Inside Man
3. Day Watch
4. Night Watch
5. Howl’s Moving Castle
6. Superman Returns
7. Cars
8. Mission Impossible 3
9. V for Vendetta
10. Layer Cake

Drey’s Top 10

by Drey on June 25, 2006 in Movies with No comments

Because of my fascination with lists, I’ve decided to start a little experiment. Rather than trying to enumarate my top favorite of any particular thing of all time, I will keep track of these things in real time, updating the lists as things change. This will be completely unscientific and subjective, based on mood and gut instinct.

Drey’s Top 10 Movies Seen in 2006

1. Brick
2. Inside Man
3. Day Watch
4. Night Watch
5. Howl’s Moving Castle
6. Cars
7. Mission Impossible 3
8. V for Vendetta
9. Layer Cake
10. Dirty Pretty Things

Welcome to Fight Club

by Drey on March 5, 2006 in Movies with 3 Comments

This Is Your Life

– Tyler Durden

And you open the door and you step inside
Where inside our hearts
Now imagine your pain as a white ball of healing light
That's right, your pain
The pain itself is a white ball of healing light
I don't think so

This is your life, good to the last drop
Doesn't get any better than this
This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time

This isn't a seminar, this isn't a weekend retreat
Where you are now you can't even imagine what the bottom will be like
Only after disaster can we be resurrected
It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything
Nothing is static, everything is evolving, everything is falling apart

This is your life, this is your life, this is your life, this is your life
Doesn't get any better than this
This is your life, this is your life, this is your life, this is your life
And it and it's ending one-minute at a time

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake
You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else
We are all part of the same compost heap
We are the all singing, all dancing, crap of the world

You are not your bank account
You are not the clothes you wear
You are not the contents of your wallet
You are not your bowel cancer
You are not your grande latte
You are not the car you drive
You are not your fucking khaki's

You have to give up, you have to give up
You have to realize that someday you will die
Until you know that, you are useless

I say let me never be complete
I say may I never be content
I say deliver me from Swedish furniture
I say deliver me from clever art
I say deliver me from clear skin and perfect teeth
I say you have to give up
I say evolve, and let the chips fall where they may

This is your life, this is your life, this is your life, this is your life
Doesn't get any better than this
This is your life, this is your life, this is your life, this is your life
And it and it's ending one minute at a time

You have to give up, you have to give up

Welcome to Fight Club
If this is your first night, you have to fight

Narnia

by Drey on December 9, 2005 in Movies with No comments

I simply cannot be objective about this movie. I have *always* wanted to go to Narnia and those books are forever imprinted on me. They are important and formative works for me. Even as the opening credits started, my eyes were already welling with tears. As best as I can recollect, nothing was left out. Several dramatic sequences were added, but they seemed entirely appropriate. The movie took its time to tell the story. All the perfect, holy moments were unchanged. And there were gryphons! My heart filled to the brim with joy for the entire movie. At the end I had to go to the restroom to compose myself. And then Stavros asked me what I thought of it and I just started blubbering, unable to speak. I eventually managed to say, “I can’t talk about it right now, but it was perfect.”

The movie spoke to a part of me that doesn’t often get to come out so fully and express his deep childlike wonder and innocence.

Serenity

by Drey on September 23, 2005 in Movies with No comments

Thanks to a heads up from Stavros, I now hold a pass to the advance screening of Serenity on the 28th! Yes!

Hastings = Evil

by Drey on June 21, 2005 in Movies with No comments

Here’s why I should not be allowed to enter Hastings. When confronted with cool designer magazines and bargain DVDs, my willpower withers like a marshmallow tossed upon flaming coals and I will gladly spend my grocery money on these “necessities”. I was doing some shopping at Hobby Lobby, you know, crafts and such. Upon exiting, I felt the magnetic pull of Hastings, right next door, as though its very structure were composed of oppositely charged Drey particles.

The design section of the magazine sector was choked with slick European graphics magazines, AKA designer porn. I feel as if the mere presence of such a magazine near my computer will substantially increase my mad skillz. And then Cinefex decided to cram Sin City, Constantine, Revenge of the Sith AND Hitchhiker’s Guide into a single issue. Bastards.

I could have just made a break for the checkout aisle, but no, I completed a circuit of the entire store. Near the home stretch they have this new section of DVDs: Buy 2, get 1 for 1 cent. When I looked down, I was somehow carrying a copy of Sideways, The Life Aquatic and House of Flying Daggers (for about $7 each!).

At the checkout counter, I avoided the cashier’s gaze. I might as well have been buying a six pack of dildos and a tub of Vaseline. I then fled the scene, lest the temptation to reserve a copy of Harry Potter overwhelmed me (besides, I already reserved it on Amazon.).

Episode 3

by Drey on May 23, 2005 in Movies with No comments

And so it ends. Having seen very little to spoil any part of the movie, I was able to enjoy a Star Wars movie with a fresh perspective. I’ve come to judge these films in a class by themselves, comparing them to each other. For if they were to set foot into the larger realm of fantasy and sci-fi cinema, they are instantly decimated on several fronts by Lord of the Rings, Firefly, any number of anime series, the list goes on.

From a technical aspect, Episode 3 seemed to be about pushing the envelope in terms of scope, speed and detail. Once you have mastered the massive completely CGI set piece, there is little room for innovation. So when there’s an epic space battle, the results are astonishing and no one does it better than ILM. Lightsaber battles have also been perfected in this film and it is difficult to imagine any improvements in this arena. The fights are almost too fast, an impossible blur of flashing light.

From an acting standpoint, I felt that everyone turned it up a notch since Episode 2. Ewan definitely inhabited the role of Obi-wan this time around. Ian was perfect as Palpatine/Sidious. Even Hayden was tolerable, though slightly stiff. A big disappointment was Natalie Portman who was given nothing to work with and was downgraded to Anakin’s hand-wringing wife.

I’ve always felt that Lucas is more of a technician than a director. He has this vision in his head and at last he has the technology to translate that into a film. This visual translation seems foremost in his mind. The transmission of any kind of story seems to be secondary. While his handling of the overarching story is genius, he falters in the details, writing dialogue heavy with exposition, encouraging only passable wooden performances from his actors. If only the writers from Knights of the Old Republic could have had a crack at the script, we could have seen something more elegant. Instead, the story plods methodically towards its inexorable conclusion, words falling from the character’s mouths simply because they have to.

This is not to say that there are no brilliant moments. The seduction of Anakin, the scene at the opera, Obi-wan’s confrontation with Padme, Vader’s first words… these stuck with me. The sense of descending darkness is also effective, culminating in Obi-wan turning his back on Anakin’s charred and mutilated form.

The visual orchestration of this film was also very powerful, with Lucas quoting scenes from the original trilogy, giving moments a deep resonance. Seeing Palpatine seated on the throne-like chair as Anakin and Dooku crossed sabers in that mirror of Return of the Jedi’s Luke/Vader duel gave me chills. So too the scene of Owen Lars gazing into the twin Tatooine sunset…beautiful.

On the whole, it was a good experience which I enjoyed more than the first two films. While technical excellence won out over passion and artful storytelling, the epic themes of Star Wars were made complete in this film. The nature of Anakin’s fall is revealed and his redemption in Jedi is made much more satisfying now that we know the depth of the descent.

Episode III is PG-13

by Drey on April 11, 2005 in Movies with No comments

Revenge of the Sith has received a PG-13 rating. This can only mean good things. I remain cautiously optimistic. I almost saw a spot they played during Lost with the “Arise, Lord Vader” scene. There was a flash of Vader sitting up from a table before I turned it off. This is going to be great: I’ve literally only seen about 2 second’s worth of images from this movie. I’ll go in completely fresh. It’s the last time I can experience a new Star Wars movie and I want to see if I can recapture the childhood wonder I felt during the original trilogy.

Sin City

by Drey on April 1, 2005 in Movies with No comments

If you’ve come within a stone’s throw of any press about Sin City, you already know Rodriguez hit a home run. I don’t have to tell you it’s fantastic.

I love Rodriguez’ maverick style and his way of making films. He writes and directs. He uses his own cameras, he shoots and edits the thing himself and usually writes a good deal of the music. Nothing compromises his vision. And when he wanted Frank Miller as co-director, he resigned from the Director’s Guild to make it happen. He cares more about the art and staying true to the source material than anything else. Rodriguez reminds me that it is still possible to do fantastic, large scale creative things if you are passionate enough.

What I expected from Sin City was a dazzling demonstration of digital technology, a la Sky Captain. What I got instead was fantastic storytelling supported by a mature and painterly use of what digital can deliver. This is not a living graphic novel. For that, you’ll need to hold out for Linklater’s Scanner Darkly (2006?! WTF?).

This is a film noir Pulp Fiction, completely confident and unapologetic. Everyone you see on screen is either rough and used or beautiful as a diamond knife. It’s violent on a Tarantino scale, even with most of the blood colored white. The anti-heroes you meet are such badasses that you can’t kill them by running them down or merely shooting them. No, you have to be really dedicated to taking them out. And when I say “anti-heroes” I mean that not a one of them is pleasant. Mickey Rourke was my favorite as “Marv.” His exploits cross over into the realm of superheroics and anime. When you meet the villains, the slimy and soulless cretins of Sin City, you almost don’t care how the heroes take them down. If anyone was concerned about Elijah Wood being typecast as Frodo, you can put such fears to rest. He is freakish and utterly evil as the silent assassin, Kevin.

Fun, dark and brutal. That’s Sin City.

Episode 3

by Drey on April 1, 2005 in Movies with No comments

When I went to see Sin City today, the excellent Hitchhiker’s trailer had just finished when that slightly-too bright digital green of the next trailer warned me even before I saw the Lucasfilm logo. There was a flash of a spaceship before I shut my eyes and tried to cover my ears as best as possible. Yes, my resolve was tested for what seemed like five minutes. I could still hear some of the dialogue, so I had to kind of hum inside my head so as not to disturb the other movie-goers.

I am on a complete media blackout for Star Wars Episode III. I don’t want to know anything about it until I see it. I feel guilty for seeing cereal boxes with Darth Vader on them. I don’t want to see the toys or video games or anything else until after May 19th.

One more chance, George. You’ve got one more chance.

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