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5-2-2011

March 10, 1957 - May 1, 2011

The Adjustment Bureau Battle: Los Angeles Red Riding Hood Sucker Punch

3-26-2011

Punch to the Head

Sucker Punch

Take 5 hot girls and put them in skimpy outfits, hand them some guns and toss them into the middle of an action film and you might as well just suck the $10 ticket money out of my pocket.  That's exactly the setup for me being at the 5:20 showing Friday night for Sucker Punch, the latest film from Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300).

Staring Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung (our Pentagon of Hotness ©), Sucker Punch is a quest-filled prison escape film wrapped in a fantasy world created by Baby Doll (Browning) to help her deal with the real horrors of being locked in a mental hospital.

Baby Doll's mother has just passed away, leaving her estate to Baby Doll and her younger sister.  Pissed, their Stepfather (Gerard Plunkett) attempts to sexually assault Baby Doll, but when she spoils his attack, he turns his attention to her sister.  In an attempt to protect her, Baby Doll accidently kills her sister and the stage is set for Stepfather to commit Baby Doll to the Lennox House insane asylum.

Stepfather pays off orderly Blue Jones (Oscar Isaac) to have Baby Doll lobotomized so he can make off with his dead wife's estate.  Overhearing Stepfather's plans with Blue, Baby Doll retreats into her mind, creating a fantasy world where she, along with the other inmates, live in a home that's part brothel, part burlesque show.  With five days till the arrival of the Doctor (John Hamm) to lobotomize her, Baby Doll becomes determined to escape.

In order to make that escape possible, Baby Doll needs five items.  As told to her by the Wise Man (Scott Glenn) of her fantasy world, she needs a map, fire, a knife, a key and a mystery item that will allow the escape plan to work.  Baby Doll enlists the help of Sweat Pea (Cornish), Rocket (Malone), Blondie (Hudgens) and Amber (Chung) to obtain these items.  Each quest for an item is wrapped in another layer of fantasy ranging from a WWI trench battle against steampunk soldiers to a medieval siege of a castle which is protected by a dragon.

The fantasy worlds give Sucker Punch its rich visual styling whether it's the girls performing a burlesque show for high rollers or battling robots on a train.  The fight sequences are large and intense with each of the girls holding her own as a believable soldier, handling the weapons and fighting with an expertise I've seen lacking from more traditional war films.  Snyder, who also wrote the film, has a history of creating huge environments with nothing more than green screen and an FX team, and he pulls it off again here.

All that's great, but if you try to dig past the two layers of fantasy world to suss out how they relate to the real world of Lennox House, the story that Snyder has built starts to fall apart.  But don't look that deep, you don't need to.  The fun in Sucker Punch is the journey through the fantasy worlds to effect the escape. 

The real world events that bookend the film have their own explanations that wrap up Baby Doll's story but other than Sweat Pea, there are questions about the fate of the other girls in the story. Since the fantasy worlds don't exactly translate to the real world of the asylum, that lack of explanation is probably the major disappointment for me.  The other thing I'm going to ding the film for is the final layer of metaphor that Snyder tried to tack on at the end.  The entire film was metaphor, in multiple layers, and the last was just one step too many.

Story aside, the film looks great.  The action is fast paced and the girls all look believable handling the weapons and equipment in the battle scenes.  The FX team did an excellent job creating a seamless world for the actors to live in.

All the actresses did a good job of portraying their characters, even if the dialog was a little stiff at times.  Jena Malone really had a good turn as Rocket and Oscar Isaac laid on just the right amount of creepy as Blue.  Carla Gugino, as Vera Gorski, also added a touchstone for the girls as both Blue's handler in the burlesque fantasy world and the resident doctor in the real world.

Fantasy and action adventure fans (not to mention comic and anime fans) should find a lot to love about this film, but while it may try to be an empowering film for female viewers, ultimately, the story is pretty hollow and easily falls apart if you try to dig too far under the surface.  I don't foresee this doing huge box office, but I think it'll ultimately find love as a cult hit on DVD and Blu-ray.

As I said, I really enjoyed this film for the action and fantasy aspects as well as the Pentagon of Hotness ©.  The film looks beautiful on the big screen and would recommend seeing it that way first.  I'll serve up 4 wheels of cheddar our of 5 for Sucker Punch.

3-17-2011

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone.  Drink a beer, sing a tune and don't puke on your buddy's shoes at the bar.

3-14-2011

Box Office Battle

Battle: Los Angeles

If you took Independence Day, War of the Worlds, and Blackhawk Down and rolled them up into a film, you'd have Battle: Los Angeles.  Luckily, I think the writers and director took most of the best parts of those films to come up with this one.

Before you think I'm off the reservation on the Blackhawk Down comparison, I'll point out that the main thing Battle: LA has in common with the true story is the realistic portrayal of the military in combat and the final scene where bruised and busted up Marines reload and head back into the fight.

The similarities to the other two films I mentioned are more easily recognized and I won't bother covering them.  But I will say that I think while this film did borrow some elements from those films, it didn't hurt.  I think that any alien invasion film since Independence Day almost has to have something in common with it because that film was basically a nod to every alien invasion film prior to its own release.

Anyway, B: LA, kicks off with a meteor shower that turns out to be an invading alien force.  SSgt. Michael Nantz, played by Aaron Eckhart, has just signed his retirement papers as this event begins, but he's pressed into one last mission with a platoon who's sergeant is on leave.

Led by green 2nd Lt. William Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez), the platoon is hesitant to work with Nantz who has a bad rep after losing men under his previous command.  That mistrust adds a layer of suspense to the film and provides for some of the few human interactions during the action-heavy film.

Tasked with evacuating civilians from a police station, Nantz and his platoon battle their way into and then out of downtown LA, on a deadline to beat a bombing raid that's supposed to halt the aliens who landed off the coast and are working their way in.  Unfortunately for our platoon, the aliens brought air support which nearly pushes the military out of LA.

Running battles dominate the film with a few minutes here and there of down time where the Marines learn how to kill the aliens, bond with the civilians travelling with them, meet up with other military personnel and are clued in to Air Force TSgt. Elena Santos' (Michelle Rodriguez) mission which was to identify an alien control ship.

The entire cast does an excellent job of depicting Marines in combat.  The action if fast, brutal, dirty, what you would expect from an urban war zone.  Director Jonathan Liebesman handled the action well and kept the pace fast and disorienting. 

The design team on the film did a good job with the aliens and their technology.  Some designs are reminiscent of previous films/TV of this nature, but there are enough unique ships and alien equipment to make it fresh.  The decimated Los Angeles area looked incredibly believable, I don't recall noticing any shots that looked like obvious CGI, kudos to the FX team.

I liked Aaron Eckhart in this film but his supporting cast worked well also.  The actors playing his platoon all did an excellent job with Will Rothhaar's Cpl Lee Imlay, Cory Hardrict's Cpl Lockett and Ne-Yo's Cpl Harris being standouts.  The always excellent Michael Pena and Bridget Moynahan played stranded civilians and Michelle Rodriguez proved again why she gets the call when a film of this nature needs a badass chick.

Action fans should eat this film up, it really is two hours of WOW.  Battle: Los Angeles looks excellent on the big screen and I'd recommend seeing it that way to get a feel for the scope of what Liebesman was able to capture.

I skipped Red Riding Hood this weekend to see B: LA and don't regret it at all.  I may catch up with the other film before Sucker Punch drops, but if I don't, I won't feel guilty.  Battle: Los Angeles was a good choice to finish off the weekend. 

Battle: Los Angeles is an excellent action film and accomplishes pretty much everything you would want from this type of movie.  It's big and loud and has high production values, excellent directing and acting that's in line with what's needed to bring it all home.  I'm thunking down all five wheels of cheddar, I can't recommend this movie enough to all the action junkies out there.

3-8-2011

Going Greek

Kind of a sad night last night, it was the final episode of "Greek" on ABC Family.  I've been watching this since the beginning and it's been a fun show.  While we didn't get to see Rusty graduate, we did get one final caper, in a bid to save the KT house from demolition (they didn't save it) and the fraternity from being kicked out of the Greek system (they saved their GPA).

But everything ended well for our friends.  Rusty will spend his senior year as president of Kappa Tau, Cappie graduated and left Cypress Roads with Casey to tackle Washington, Evan and Cappie fixed their friendship and Dale and Laura finally hooked up.  Oh, and so did Rusty and Ashleigh.  Calvin was headed overseas to volunteer, along with Heath, and Rebecca finally settled in as president of ZBZ, which won the Golden Lily award.  Plus, cameos by Wade and Jen K (Lonleygirl15), not to mention Frannie last week and Tegan earlier in the season.

And one final thing that was resolved, we finally found out Cappie's real nane; Captain John Paul Jones.  Yep, he was named for a Revolutionary War hero who was known for his bravery and unwillingness to surrender.  That's our Cappie.

Gonna miss "Greek" on Monday nights, but at least we got a happy ending.

3-4-2011

At the Theater

I don't know when March became so popular for new film releases, but this year it's loaded.  There are at least 10 films that I think would be fun to see, including:

I'm not going to them all, I don't have an extra $120 for a movie budget this month, but I think I will try to catch the films at the top; The Adjustment Bureau, Battle: Los Angeles, Red Riding Hood and Sucker Punch.  Ah, I'm probably fooling myself on The Adjustment Bureau though.  It looks good, but I don't think I'll make it. 

Battle: Los Angeles and Red Riding Hood both open on the 11th so that could be a busy weekend.  Sucker Punch is the film I'm most looking forward to, though, and I'll definitely see that opening night.

Last year was hit and miss for films, but so far, 2011 is looking stacked.  And we haven't even gotten to the meat of the year yet, we still have sequels for Harry Potter, Cars, Transformers, The Hangover, Fast Five and Pirates of the Caribbean to look forward to.  And let's not forget the comic movies, X-Men: First Class, Green Lantern and the two heavy hitters, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger.  Plus Cowboys & Aliens, a new Conan the Barbarian movie and the latest from J.J. Abrams, Super 8. 

It's going to be a busy year.

2-28-2011

Academy Awards

In a huge shock to no one, it looks like everyone that was "supposed" to win an Oscar last night, did.  The big six all dropped the way I picked them because, well, that's pretty much what Hollywood wanted.

Whatever.

I didn't even bother to watch the show, just checked the outcome on IMDB.com to see how I did.  I was happy to see Inception pick up four awards, and they're pretty much for what you'd expect, technical awards; Visual Effects, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Cinematography.

Good things for Natalie Portman, though.  She's a very good actress, even if she was pretty stiff in the Star Wars films, and it's nice to see her recognized.

2-27-2011

Academy Awards

Tonight is the big Oscar party and generally speaking, I don't give two shits about this year's list of nominees.  I've only seen one of the films up for Best Picture, none of the films for Best Director, Actor or Actress or any of the supporting roles.

However, based on the hype, here are my picks (highlighted and underlined) for who I think will win the big awards tonight.  Let's see how I do for not having paid any attention.

Best Picture

Best Director

Best Actor

Best Actress

Best Supporting Actor

Best Supporting Actress

Best Animated Feature

2-20-2011

Run for the Border

Or Borders bookstore anyway.  Unfortunately, Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week and as part of their reorganization they're closing about 200 stores.  That includes the local store which is my personal favorite.  I'm not a huge fan of Barnes & Noble so the loss of Borders, which is also closer to home, is a big loss.

Yesterday they started their clearance sales.  The main discount for the day was 20% for most of the books, toys, DVDs and CDs while magazines were 40%.  There were some 10% items around as well and it seemed that a lot of books that had already been marked down to $1 were exempt at this point.

I'll be stopping back through the week to see how long they take to start knocking prices down further.  Have my eye on a couple expensive books and DVD sets but until they get to 40% or higher, it may not be worth it since Borders routinely offered 40% coupons to their club members anyway.

2-19-2011

Just a Number

I Am Number Four

When I saw the first trailer for I Am Number Four I thought that it looked like a graphic novel adaptation that I hadn't heard of before.  Close.  The film is based on a novel by Pittacus Lore, which is the pen name for Jobie Hughes and James Frey.  The interesting thing is that the book only came out in August 2010 so the film was actually in production before the book dropped.

The film was backed by DreamWorks Pictures and counts Michael Bay among its producers.  Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who have worked on projects such as "Smallville," Spider-Man 2 and Lethal Weapon 4, wrote the screenplay along with Marti Noxon whose geek credit was earned on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel" and "Prison Break."  D.J. Caruso, who you know from Eagle Eye, Disturbia, and Taking Lives, helmed the film.

Alex Pettyfer plays Number Four, aka John Smith, one of nine alien children who have been on Earth since their home world of Lorien was destroyed.  Each of the Nine are children of Lorien Garde members and each have Legacies, or powers, that develop as they grow.  The Nine have been separated since they've been on Earth and each has a protector.  Henri, played by Timothy Olyphant, is John's.

The Nine are being hunted by another race of aliens called the Mogadorians.  Kevin Durand plays their leader and as the film opens, he and his team hunt down number Three and kill him.  John knows when it happens as each of the Nine has a connection to the others.  This puts John and Henri on the run from Florida to Ohio.  In an attempt to lead somewhat of a normal life, and blend in, John attends the local school where he meets Sarah (Dianna Agron), a loner photographer, geek outcast Sam (Callan McAuliffe) and Sarah's ex-boyfriend and high school bully, Mark (Jake Abel).

I Am Number Four spends a lot of time developing the characters and filling the audience in on why the Nine are on Earth and in the situation they're in now.  I realized about an hour into the film that this was more of a setup for a sequel than a standalone film.  Since the novel it's based on is the first of a planned series of six books, it make sense, except that if the film doesn't do well at the box office and we don't get a sequel, I think a lot of people will feel cheated by the ending.

But what an ending it is.  While we learn about John's powers as the film progresses, we don't know what the others can do till we meet Six, played by Teresa Palmer.  Six tracks down John to team up with him and search out the rest of the Nine.  The movie pays off when she arrives just as the Mogadorians corner John, Sarah and Sam in the school.  John and Six combine their powers for a balls-out showdown.

I Am Number Four didn't have a huge budget, but Caruso gets his money's worth in special effects and decent cinematography.  The film was shot mostly around Pittsburgh, PA and takes full advantage of the local scenery including both country locales and blue collar steel mill country.

Where Four lacks is in pacing.  The film is definitely a setup for a sequel but I think that they leaned too much in that direction and caused some parts of the film to drag.  While Six is featured heavily in the trailers, along with the action, we only see her for a few minutes total and most of the best action takes place in the last 20 minutes.

Pettyfer does a decent job as John, but there is definitely room for him to grow as an actor.  His upcoming film Beastly, a beauty and the beast story, looks good and it'll be interesting to see how he does in a film where he can't rely on his good looks.  I've seen several television shows that Agron has appeared in but honestly can't recall her in any of them.  I have never watched a full episode of "Glee" so I don't know how she is on that show, but she's kind of stiff in Four.  Palmer is excellent as ass kicking Six while McAuliffe's Sam carries his part as the disaffected yet loyal sidekick.  The best performances were turned in by Olyphant and Durand.  Durand can play creepy bad guys with the best of them and he was definitely in his element as a Mogadorian.

Overall, I liked this film.  I liked John and Sam and by the end I really wanted to see more stories about them and the rest of the Nine.  I can overlook some of the character building drag since they were setting this up as the first in a series, but feel that they should have found a better balance between that and the action.  The good news is that if there is no sequel film, the novel spent over nine weeks on the Times Best Seller list and the sequel is due for an August 2011 release so we'll be able to find out more about John and the rest.

As a series, I Am Number Four is a good starting point but as a one-off it falls short.  You won't miss out if you skip this in theaters and wait for DVD, but if you are a fan of this type of genre movie I'd recommend seeing it in theaters as the support may generate a much needed sequel.  I'll slice off 3 wheels of cheddar out of 5 for I Am Number Four.