What an odd movie. I went in thinking there was an interesting concept at work, I was hoping for an interesting movie, but my hopes were kept in check by the cast. Honestly, in my opinion Kevin Costner's filmography is spotty, I have never been a big fan of Demi Moore, and Dane Cook in a thriller? Pretty early in his movie career to be trying his hand at drama, methinks he needs to work on his comedy first. The bright spot going in had to be William Hurt, who has had a couple of great roles in recent years in A History of Violence and the Battleground episode of Nightmares & Dreamscapes. Anyway, I went in with low expectations and I walked out with rather conflicting feelings. On one hand the movie has some serious flaws, but on the other, I found myself being entertained to no end. It was a weird experience.
I am sure all of you have had that experience at one time or another. You go into a movie, you recognize it as being pretty bad, but you find yourself enjoying every moment. Usually, they are the kind of movies that you find on late at night on some random cable station. You watch it and are amazed that you are smiling at it, enjoying every odd minute of it. You marvel at the concept which may be interesting, watch as scenes whither and die no matter how hard they try. When it ends, you are like "Wow, that was kind of bad, but damn if it wasn't enjoyable." Mr. Brooks is that kind of movie.The story follows Earl Brooks (Costner), a successful businessman and loving family man. On the surface, Earl seems like a great guy, but this great guy has a dark side that he has successfully hid from his loved ones, and everyone else. You see, Brooks has a voice in his head who loves to kill. The voice, embodied by William Hurt, is named Marshall, he and Earl will go out and kill every once in awhile. However, Earl doesn't want to do it anymore, he even goes to AA meetings to help control himself. Marshall isn't quite ready to give up, and the two head out on one final kill. Things go a bit sideways as Earl is photographed on his latest evening of fun. A man who calls himself Mr. Smith (Dane Cook) approaches Mr. Brooks with an offer, in return for not going to the police, he wants to go with him on his next kill, he wants to get a taste of the blood rush of murdering a living person. An odd request to be sure, but one that seems to work out for our killer of the title.
Now, that sounds like it would be a pretty cool movie on its own, but that is not all that we get. We get the added bonus of a detective (played by Demi Moore) hot on the trail of our killer. OK, that doesn't sound so bad, but that isn't all. The detective is also going through a nasty divorce and is being pursued herself, by another serial killer. If that isn't enough, Mr. Brooks daughter, Jane (Danielle Panabaker, who I thought was Amber Tamblyn for the whole movie), is back from college, and she has a secret of her own.OK, not I really like the Jekyl & Hyde elements of the story. Costner and Hurt work wonderfully together, Hurt being the bloodthirsty heavy of the relationship, not to mention the brains. Watching them go to work together is a thing of beauty, Hurt goads Costner, Costner tries to resist, repeat. Another good thing about the movie is, believe it or not, Dane Cook. He is not great, and I am still a little surprised at how early he is trying the whole drama thing. Still, his role as the wannabe killer is pretty good, I was convinced by his earnestness.
I like how it plays out, however that falls under the guilty pleasure type of like. The story goes through so many convenient coincidences and acrobatic moves to make everything work. Everything is made to tie together with a nice little bow, but it felt so manufactured. Nothing felt organic to the way everything ties together. The other killer, is tied into the plot, indirectly, the divorce is tied into the plot. That brings up another point, the world of Mr. Brooks is not unlike the comic book world of a superhero, what with Costner called the Thumbprint Killer and the other guy called Hangman, all we need now is a Super-something to do battle with them.
As for the bad, there are issues with day turning into night, and vice versa, without rhyme or reason, and forget about scene continuity. The very beginning is a little awkward as the opening text indicates that the "hunger has returned to Mr. Brooks," it is inadequate shorthand exposition for the Brooks character. It seems to me that there could be some very interesting exposition for the character and his "head" person, far and beyond what is offered here. Then there is pretty much every scene with Demi Moore, each one grinds the story to a halt. I was amazed at how bad she was in this film, it was like she wasn't even trying. Pacing is also an issue, partially due to Moore's scenes, but also due to the Costner/Hurt interactions. Now, they worked great together, but the way they play out, as if the other characters are unaware of these conversations, the method that is used is essentially no method at all, therefore the pacing just gets all out of whack. Finally, there is the ending, no I won't give it away, I just wish it had the courage of its convictions and didn't bail out at the last moment, that would have been great.As unlikely as it is that I was actually entertained by this, I was, yet I also could not help but think that this could have been so much better. The whole voice/person in the head thing was great, I would have loved a deeper examination of how that came to be, where he came from, what led him to give birth to this monstrosity. There are also threads that hint at bigger things in his family that would have been great psychological horror/thriller fodder. If only they had cutdown Demi Moore's role, not eliminate the detective on the prowl, but all of this other killer and divorce stuff, it was unnecessary and forced the screenplay through hoops to make everything fit.
Bottomline. It is a seriously flawed thriller that is not a good movie, but stil entertained me to no end. It is a strange feeling, but that is how it is. The critic in me wants to trash it and give it a poor rating, but the movie fan in me wants to give it a good rating. I am reminded of Roger Ebert's review of the awful Basic Instinct 2:
I cannot recommend the movie, but ... why the hell can't I? Just because
it's godawful? What kind of reason is that for staying away from a movie?
Godawful and boring, that would be a reason.
So, here is my compromised rating:
Mildly Recommended.
Viking metal, like many other sub genres and offshoots of metal is something of new ground for me, with my one main introduction being Amon Amarth's With Oden on Our Side. Now along comes Runic, a band that doesn't even originate from Scandinavia! In fact, they come from the south of Spain, a land that is decidedly non-Viking like. So what are these guys doing pretending to be from the cold country? Well, I can tell you one thing, they are delivering a pretty darn tasty slab of sword swinging, ale swilling Viking metal as if they did come from the north. Liar Flags is Runic's debut album, and I have to say, it my be a few notches below my Amon Amarth experience, it is still a good album that is impressive particularly as a debut release.
Runic does not strike me, an admitted rookie in the land of Vikings, as a band that is trying to sound like Nordic metal. There is a sincerity to their music that translates as strong music that if you didn't know, you would think was from a band whose ancestors were Vikings. Their adopted sound is true, they integrate the traditional instruments seamlessly and at just the right points to not only accent the music, but to be a integral part of the success of the music.
In 2006, director Neil Marshall made his debut on the big screen in the US with the supremely scary The Descent. Now, if you have not seen that film, do yourself a favor, go rent it, buy it, whatever, just treat yourself to a horror film that has guine scares and chills. Neil Marshall's story does not begin there, it actually goes back a few years, 2002, to be exact, he made his American debut in a rather inauspicious manner when Dog Soldiers premiered as a Sci-Fi Original Movie on the Sci-Fi Channel. If you watch any of those movies, you will know that quality is not always their primary concern, however, every once in awhile a gem will slip through and prove to be well worth seeking out. Dog Soldiers, edited for content premiere was October 15, 2002.
The film opens with a couple camping in the woods, just as they are to get intimate, the tent zipper starts to open and the young woman is dragged out in a shower of blood. Fast forward a few weeks, and a regiment of British soldiers are in the same woods on maneuvers. They are split into two groups and sent out into the tangle of trees. It is not long before they are surprised by a gutted cow dropped into their midst. They set out to investigate, not liking what they find. They soon find themselves being chased through the dark by an unseen enemy. Eventually, the fast dwindling group find themselves holed up in an empty farmhouse. It is here where they make their stand against the foes that have surrounded them and have no intention of allowing them to leave.
May is over, three of the summers expected big hits are already out there. It is now time for a bit of a lull while we wait for the next high profile title to suck up screens at the local multiplex. So, we may not be getting a new gigantic release this week, that does not mean we will not have anything new to watch. This weekend brings two new wide releases, both of which are R rated and targeting the adult audience, if slightly different demographics. One is a raunchy comedy in the vein of 40 Year Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers, and the other is a thriller reminiscent of A History of Violence. Both seem to offer up intriguing premises and could prove to be box office hits. Time will tell how they stack up to the blockbusters already on the screens.
The story centers on a Manhattan couple (Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga) who are celebrating the birth of their second child, Lily. However, it looks like their first born, the child prodigy Joshua, is not all that keen on this new interloper in his home, and he begins to use his advanced beyond his years intellect to wage a creepy, and deadly, psychological battle with his parents. Frankly, I think I am going to enjoy this ride.
This is a collection of rarities, live cuts, and remixes, none of which I am terribly familiar with. I became acquainted with the band primarily through their Dark Light album, and more recently with their And Love Said No greatest hits compilation. So now I have taken a turn from their main studio work, took a tour of the past hits, and am now checking in with the stuff that is usually a treat for the long time fans. So, while this may be a treat for some, it is just another look at the enigma that is HIM.
Being unfamiliar with most of the songs here, I cannot compare them to the original versions, save for two. The original versions of "Buried Alive by Love" and "Right Here in My Arms" appear on the And Love Said No compilation. Here we get the 616 Version of "Buried Alive by Love" and it has a distinctly edgier sound, though it still has that smooth production values I have come to identify them with. This version amps the guitars up and turns up the fuzz, it is a good alternate take. "Right Here in My Arms" is a live recording, and it features the unfettered charisma of Ville Valo, and gives the song a slightly rougher edge that can be had in the live environment. Both songs are quite good in these versions, each offering something that the original recordings don't.
HIM is an intriguing band, they have this gorgeously melodic sound unlike most anything that I have come into contact in recent years. The best I can think of to describe it is gothic love metal, which I believe to be pretty close to what their fans call it. I am a relatively recent discoverer of their music, so while this is a greatest hits collection, it is my first exposure to any of them. This is a strong collection of songs that can only be called metal by the loosest of definitions, but it seems to fit the melodic nature of the band moreso than the rock moniker. Whatever you call it, you cannot help but get caught up in the haunting music.
The album was recently released by Universal Republic Records, although I am sure it was out last year on RCA. The re-release must have something to do with the record label shakeups that have gone on of late. Whatever the case, the album is in my hands and getting plenty of play. It contains 16 tracks, 2 previously unreleased, spanning their first seven years of releases, covering the four albums leading up to the release of Darklight.
Long before Jackie Chan teamed with Owen Wilson to bring the Far East to the Old West in Shanghai Noon, and even before Jet Li brought the East to the West in Once Upon a Time in China and America, actor/director Sammo Hung brought the two together within the Chinese confines with Shanghai Express, originally known as Millionaire's Express. This film combines screwball comedy with martial arts action with a bit of a Western bent. It is partially successful in creating an entertaining film, but I have to admit to being a bit underwhelmed by the endeavor.
The last of the big three thirds for the month of May has arrived, and while it may have opened with the lowest box office total, it was the most satisfying of the lot. It opened to the tune of $115 million dollars making it the fourth biggest opening ever. That is nothing to sneeze at, no matter how much the studios want you to believe that it is a disappointment. It could be the one to show the strongest staying power over the other two, due to it drawing pretty strongly across all demographics. Still, it wil be interesting to see how well it does through the week, and with nothing that I would call strong competition coming next weekend.
This week's pick is a film from 1986 called Above the Law, no, not the Steven Seagal flick. This is a movie from Hong Kong starring Yuen Biao and Cynthia Rothrock. It has a very minor story that concerns a statement on vigilantisim, police corruption, but moreso than that it strings together a number of first rate fight sequences.
It was almost a year ago since we last saw a drunken, wise cracking Captain Jack Sparrow on the big screen. When we last saw him, he had been betrayed, somewhat, by Elizabeth Swann, who had left him as a diversion to the Kraken, who was after the good Captain. This was followed by Swann, Will Turner, and the crew of the Black Pearl meeting with Tia Dalma about the loss of Jack. They are offered a chance of saving the lost man, with the help of Barbossa, who had been thought deceased after the end of the first movie. Now, we pick up our intrepid band of would be rescuers as they travel to the otherside of the globe in search of the means with which to save Captain Jack.
Is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End a great movie? No. Is it a great conclusion to the trilogy? Not really. Do we get all the answers to the questions from the second film? Nope. Why should we see this then? Sheer entertainment. If nothing else, the movie is insanely entertaining, even at its near three hour running time it is addictively entertaining to the very end. This is a series that was large in scope and very ambitious in what it was trying to do, but on top of that, the creative team made sure to keep it entertaining at every step of the way. I think it is the root desire to make a movie that people will want to spend so much time with that was a detriment to making the story wrap up cleanly. Still, there is so much to like that I am hard pressed to really want to pull it apart as a means of criticizing the final product. Sure, I would be up for discussions of its faults and omissions, just as a means of discussing the universe that was created.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth, Mr. Dobbs, Barbossa, Tia Dalma, and the rest are in Singapore. They are meeting with Sao Feng (Chow Yun Fat), one of the nine pirate lords who knows the route to find Jack, another of the pirate lords. Now, beyond the desire to rescue Jack, he is needed to attend a meeting of the pirate lords to plan out the defense against Beckett's incursions.
The humor is not as deftly blended as in the first two films, but everything still works for me. It is a movie that does more than its share of coasting on the goodwill built up by the first and a good chunk of the second, besides being a franchise that is built on fun swashbuckling rather than a deep and meaningful plot. The story, as big as it tries to be, fails to tie everything up and fails to even mention a few plot points, but still I found myself enjoying the heck out of it.
The effects are fantastic, and the final hour is as good as anything in the series, with the sea battle, swordplay, doublecrosses, surprises, and an intriguing finale that more or less wraps up the trilogy and plants seeds for the future.
This is a movie that will put a smile on your face and a grumble in your tummy. Waitress is a sweet film that moves at a poetic pace through the dramatic comedy landscape. It successfully brings a lead character to empathize with. I found it near impossible not to enjoy this film, it has such a sweet heart, both literally and figuratively, that it is easy to forgive areas that may be a bit lacking. If you are looking for a movie that is upbeat and positive and bright without the cynicism that can creep into modern comedy, not to mention steering away from the popular improvised comedy that can be found in Will Ferrell style comedies, this is the movie for you.
Waitress exists in a world that is not quite our own, but not so far removed as to not be recognized. It is a fairy tale world where you know that things will work out in the end, you know that the heroine will make the right choices tobe able to start her life over. There are no real surprises in the movie, but it does play out in such a way that you become involved in the lives of those on screen, at least I did. I found myself caring about Jenna, her friends, and her doctor, while came to quickly despise Jenna's husband, someone who shouldn't be allowed to have contact with any human being.
Once she finds herself pregnant, the doctor visits commence. This brings in Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion) to the story. He is a stuttering, slightly clumsy, doctor who is new to town, and has a near immediate attraction to his new patient, and likewise. The relationship starts professionally, although you can tell there are sparks flying between the two, and before you know it, they are involved in an affair.
What can I say? The movie was an absolute delight, and it didn't quite go the way I expected. While it was a definite crowd pleaser, it was far from your typical Hollywood style pleaser. That isn't to say it was without its faults, it is just they were overshadowed by everything that was good. The biggest problem I had was the Doctor's entering the affair. We do not get much of his background, his relationship with his wife, or his readiness to enter into an affair. But I guess that is a minor complaint, as the story was much more about and centered on Jenna.