Killshot: Resurrected From the Depths of the Weinstein Vaults

Yet another shelved movie comes to light on DVD this week in “Killshot.” You already know the Weinstein routine – reshoots, delayed release dates, editors removing a major character (Johnny Knoxville), producer Quentin Tarantino removing his name, and a theatrical release covering a pathetic five theaters. What’s left is a movie gutted to just 90 minutes – essentially a straight to DVD release.

Mickey Rourke plays Armand ‘The Blackbird’ Degas, a half Native American hitman for the Toronto mob. Blackbird’s first rule on the job is that you kill anyone that sees your face. (Except for Rosario Dawson because he loved her in “Rent.”)

During a job in Detroit, Blackbird manages to royally P.O. his former boss by snuffing “one of his best girls.” (Bros before Hos, gentleman. Bros before Hos.) So he runs to the sticks, where a pseudo-psychotic small-time criminal named Richie Nix (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) attempts to relieve him of his wallet and car. These two knuckleheads bond over the experience and decide to team up, Captain Planet style. Richie hatches an elaborate scheme to extort some cash from the owner of a real estate agency by – wait for it – threatening to kill him if he doesn’t pay. (Why didn’t I think of that!)

TV Casualties Rating:

Run Time: 95 minutes

Directed by: John Madden

Written by: Hossein Amini, Elmore Leonard

Starring: Mickey Rourke, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Diane Lane, Thomas Jane

Theatrical Release: 01/23/09

DVD Release: 05/26/09

Production Budget: N/A

Domestic Gross: $18,000

Metacritic Score: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: N/A

As in all pulp crime stories, the plan goes horrible awry. The two miscreants arrive at the real estate office during lunch hour (Classic mistake!) and confuse a realtor’s husband, Wayne (Thomas Jane), with the man with the deep pockets. Wayne makes short shrift of the criminals, of course, defusing their plan, saving his lovely wife and breaking pretty much every window in the building – all with one length of pipe.

Wayne and his wife Carmen (Diane Lane) made a grave error during the bungled heist, though: they looked at Blackbird’s face. (Let’s not forget Bird’s very clear “See my face – shoot your face” rule.) The couple enlist in witness protection and head to Missouri for a few bland scenes before we get to the big confrontation.

“Killshot” is more style than substance, and even the style loses its luster after 15 minutes. The characters are paper thin and boring, and even though this is a talented cast, the performances are equally dull. Gordon-Levitt plays the only character with any color, but he goes so far over the top, you’re begging Blackbird to put a cap in his face after five minutes. Rourke has solid moments but spends most of the movie talking in an annoying clipped English (to prove he’s part Indian, I guess). Similarly, Jane speaks with a ludicrous accent that I can only assume is his attempt at sounding like a Detroit-native. Instead he sounds more like the “Da Bears” skit from SNL. Despite the fact that Lane graces the posters and DVD cover, she’s the least compelling of all.

If the Weinstein’s were going to give “Killshot” such a non-existent release, why bother with all of the editing and reshoots in the first place? When a movie is stripped down for a straight to DVD release like this, I always wonder what could have been. What exactly was in the 30+ minutes they left on the cutting room floor? How would Johnny Knoxville’s character have fit into the plot? We will likely never know.

The Shield, Season 7: All Things Must Pass

In 2002, a gritty cop drama called “The Shield” stormed out of nowhere, landing an Emmy and a pair of Golden Globes and putting FX on the map as the HBO of basic cable.  The future looked impossibly bright.  This would be “The Sopranos” of cop shows, with Michael Chiklis’ Vic Mackey playing the morally gray (bordering on pitch black) main character ala James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano. (Chiklis even sported the Emmy and Golden Globe hardware to prove it with a clean sweep of the 2002-3 best actor awards.)  By the time the finale of its seventh and final season aired on November, 25, 2008, to an initial audience of just 1.9 million, however, it was plain to look back and see that the rookie season was the peak of the series, at least in terms of hype, awards and gushing critical praise.  (For the uninitiated, the first season is well worth picking up – it’s an adrenalin rush in television form.)

Even if the awards abruptly stopped flowing in and the show never gained footing with a huge audience (though it was always big by FX standards,) many devoted fans greatly appreciated the ride well after the first season. The plot rocketed along, burning bright and hot, following Mackey and the strike team along their path of murder, betrayal and greed.  From ripping off the Armenian money train, to Julien’s (Michael Jace) aversion therapy, to Detective Dutch Waggenbach (Jay Karnes) strangling a cat, to Police Captain and future Mayoral Candidate David Acevada (Benito Martinez) suffering a prison style mouth rape, to Shane Vendrell (Walton Goggins) dropping a grenade in fellow strike team member Curtis Lemanski’s (Kenny Johnson) lap, “The Shield” was loaded with the kinds of grit and dirt cop stories you couldn’t find in the squeaky clean worlds of “Law & Order” and “CSI.”  Season Seven faced the tall task of tying up a bunch of loose ends and bringing all of those stories to a close.

TV Casualties Rating:

Created by: Shawn Ryan

Starring: Michael Chiklis, Walton Goggins, CCH Pounder

Season Premiere: 09/02/08

DVD Release: 06/09/09

Nielsen Rating: 1.9 million viewers

Metacritic Score: 85/100

Picking up immediately after the sixth season, the final act continues to revolve around the conflict between Mackey and Vendrell in the wake of Lem’s murder by grenade.  They start out in a reluctant alliance that quickly explodes into a full out blood feud, leaving both men jobless and scrambling to avoid prison in different ways.  After walking the line for so many years and, with a lot of good luck, avoiding any real trouble, Mackey, Vendrell and their long time strike team partner Ronnie Gardocki (David Rees Snell) finally tumble over it into the land of no return.  Death or imprisonment looks extremely likely for all three from pretty early on.

Other characters, like Acevada, Julien, Danni (Catherine Dent), and to a lesser extent Dutch and Claudette (CCH Pounder,) see their stories take a backseat to the strike team.  This has been the case for the series since the first season or two, and looking back, I think it may have been a mistake.  The show did work best when the audience was truly invested in all of the characters as both police officers and people with personal lives.  The show veered from showing us many of those non-strike team characters outside of the office and lost a lot of variety, and maybe even humanity, for it.

In most other respects, in fact, the last season is more of the same – in a good way.  The show always centered around the intrigue of the web of strategy between opposing gangs, the cops and the semi-crooked strike team kind of playing all sides.  The twists and turns of those plot elements remain strong and as always are told at the breakneck pace of the pilot’s opening chase scene.  Pretty much the entire cast kicks ass here as usual, nailing both the funny scenes and the intense ones.  Goggins has to cover the most territory this year, and he rises to the challenge.  Chiklis, Karnes and Pounder are always awesome.

So does story of the strike team ultimately pay off?  Justice was never easy or simple in “The Shield.”  Nothing was ever quite black and white.  The story of Vic Mackey and the strike team climaxes with a lot of justice, though – some literal, some poetic and some rough.

Powder Blue: The Jessica Biel Stripper Movie

How does a movie starring Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, Jessica Biel, Lisa Kudrow, Patrick Swayze and Ray Liotta go straight to DVD?

That is apparently the case for “Powder Blue,” which hits the DVD shelves May 26th, roughly 20 months after filming wrapped and without ever seeing a legit theatrical release.  So what happened?  All we really have in way of explanation is the film itself.

“Powder Blue” weaves a web of several loosely connected storylines in the same style as “Crash” or “Magnolia.”  The holidays draw near, and four LA residents close in on personal crises as well.  Rose Johnny (Biel) strips to pay the medical bills of her comatose 7 year old son.  She also appears to have a coke problem, though to what extent remains unclear.  Somewhere across town, Charlie (Whitaker) offers strangers $50,000 cash to shoot him “in the heart.”  He’s desperate and in pain but, as the film quickly explains, is a religious man and can’t risk killing himself for fear of eternal hellfire.  Elsewhere, scrawny Qwerty Doolittle (Eddie Redmayne) receives a rejection on his loan as his father ran up some bad debt for their mortuary business.  He’s never had a real girlfriend, and when he attempts to attend a dating function, he passes out from nerves.  Jack Doheny (Liotta) is an ex-con dying of cancer. Allegedly, he’s “just passing through” town, though we know right away that something more is going on.

TV Casualties Rating:

Run Time: 106 minutes

Directed by: Timothy Linh Bui

Written by: Timothy Linh Bui

Starring: Jessica Biel, Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta, Lisa Kudrow

Theatrical Release: 05/08/09

DVD Release: 05/26/09

Production Budget: N/A

Domestic Gross: N/A

Metacritic Score: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: N/A

This ambitious setup shows some promise.  Early on, a spark of energy catapults the action as the film jumps back and forth to the different strands of story.  At spots where the movie leans toward quirky rather than intense, it actually works really well.  Lisa Kudrow was especially funny as a neurotic waitress.  As the bigger picture comes into focus, and the direction of each story fully takes shape, unfortunately, that energy seems to drain away in a hurry – the spark extinguished by cold, blue snow.

“Powder Blue” doesn’t have deep enough characters to work as a character study, and it similarly fails to deliver a twisty or surprising enough plot to carry the film. There are unintentionally laughable lines of dialogue at crucial moments, and similar missteps of tone throughout the last half of the movie – some of the love scenes come off awkwardly, and some of the over the top “sad scenes” with swelling music seem to misjudge (by a lot) how connected (or not) the audience feels to certain characters and their predicaments.  There didn’t seem to be a clear storytelling vision behind this.  Despite the openly derivative elements, it doesn’t manipulate as well as “Crash” or give us the cast of rich characters like “Magnolia.”  It failed to rip off either one all that well.

The gravest sin?  The tragic elements here, like Rose’s drug problem and Charlie’s suicidal tendencies, while intriguing at first, stay on a very surface level.  The pain here is flat, superficial – a  mere plot device.  It doesn’t resonate.  I feel like writer/director Timothy Linh Bui couldn’t decide if he wanted the movie to be clever or pack an emotional haymaker, and as a result it does neither, ultimately trying to force each storyline into paying off with a sentimental cheesefest.

Oh well.  Years from now “Powder Blue” will simply be remembered as the “Jessica Biel stripper movie,” if it’s remembered at all.  She does splash hot candle wax all over her boobs… in case you were wondering.  That actually does sound like a lot of straight to DVD movies, now that I think about it.

Handmade Awesomeness: Vampire Edition

With the release of Season 1 of HBO’s “True Blood” on DVD this week, we scoured Etsy for the best handmade vampire gear.

Here are the choicest nugs:

Vamp Clothing

Gothic Bridal skirt, floor length tulle tutu skirt by MTcoffinzUnderground
Mens Glow in the Dark Nosferatu t-shirt by nwshirts
Widow Corset Top DiY by aNGrYGiRLGear
driving me BATTY dress by smarmyclothes

Vamp Jewelry

Lolita Skull Bow Earrings by StarrlightJewelry
A Little Drop Of Bella by BuyMyCrap
TrueBlood Fangbanger wooden bangle by faboo
Vampire Protection Necklace by Arete
Purple Dead Rose Demon Skull Heart Necklace by devilandmouse
TrueBlood Sookie Insipired Bitten Hand Stamped Bracelet by MindyKuen
Bloody Bat Heart Necklace by SyntheticSeduction
Carpe Noctem by UntamedMenagerie

More Vampy Fun

Too Bad You Are Not a Vampire Valentine Card Hand Printed Gocco by tinaseamonster
Vampire Martini Glass Set by cccreations
Plush Stake – Essential Tool by FurWillFly
Vampires Welcome by CountryWorkshop
Vampire Spell Spell Candle by purplesuncandles
HORRORSHOW Soap – GLOWS in the DARK -TRUE BLOOD – DRAGONS BLOOD Scent by dugshop

True Blood, Season 1: Once Bitten, Twice Shy

One part small town murder mystery, one part paranormal romance, and quirky comedy to taste – “True Blood” is a delicious cocktail of genres.

The show’s title comes from the name of a synthetic blood beverage that has allowed vampires to come out of the coffin and rock it among the living. I think you know what that means. Hot girl on vampire action and pla-enty of it, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

One such bloodsucker has recently moved to the tiny burg of Bon Temps, Louisiana, home of a telepathic waitress slash blond bombshell by the name of Sookie Stackhouse. That rascally vamp’s name? Bill. Vampire Bill Compton. Coincidentally (or is it!?) a string of young female residents start turning up murdered. Who the hell done it?

Alan Ball’s vampire series came with a wide range of high expectations, both as Ball’s follow up to “Six Feet Under” and as the adaptation of Charlaine Harris’ bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series. Rabid fans of each had wildly different expectations. The possibilities seemed endless. Would this be an HBO version of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer?” (Fun fact: Ball claims to have never watched the Joss Whedon series.) Would it lean to the quirky or scary side?

TV Casualties Rating:

Created by: Alan Ball

Starring: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Ryan Kwanten

Season Premiere: 09/07/08

DVD Release: 05/19/09

Nielsen Rating: 2.4 million viewers

Metacritic Score: 64/100

The biggest question for fans of the books: Who would play heroine/narrator Sookie? Oscar winner Anna Paquin landed the role to a mixed reaction. She had the reputation, though she wasn’t much of a match in the blond bombshell department. How’d she do?

Not great, unfortunately. Paquin plays Sookie a little too airheaded and lacks the charisma to carry the series the way the character does in the books. Don’t get me wrong, I would happily forgive the mismatch in looks in exchange for a strong performance. She doesn’t deliver. She’s so uncharismatic, in fact, that she often borders on unlikable.

Conversely, Stephen Moyer brings an understated charm to Vampire Bill. There is a lot of subtle humor in his drawn out delivery, which is a far cry from Paquin’s pouting and yelling.

Whether that’s a bad acting choice or bad writing is certainly questionable, though. All of the female characters often come off as shrill and irrational, while the men get the bulk of the funny lines and are generally more generous. The second most likable character after Bill is Sookie’s dimwitted hornball brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten.) Despite the fact that he’s a selfish, womanizing prick, he grows into one of the most sympathetic characters and the primary source of comedy. The writers aren’t nearly so inspired when writing for the girls.

Similarly, the murder mystery is mishandled. The basic plot elements follow the book faithfully enough, but the pacing is erratic and suspense is practically non-existent. The dramatic reveals weren’t.

On the other hand, the show pulls off the spooky deep south atmosphere well. From Bill’s decrepit yet distinguished house to a bevy of mossy exterior locations, it all looks pretty kick ass.

“True Blood” also makes for a weird juxtaposition of lighthearted humor and graphic sex scenes that come pretty damn close to raunch-o-rama.

So what does that all add up to? Honestly, I’m still not sure how I feel. I am curious to see where the second season (premiers June 14th) will go, which must be a good sign. Maybe what happens next will ultimately cement my feelings about season one.

Hankering for more vampy goodness?
Check out our awesome vamp-friendly handmade finds here!

Paul Blart: Mall Cop… his last name rhymes with fart!!

One of the first scenes in “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” is a hilariously awkward dinner table conversation about failure, shame and fatness, finding humor in the darkest places à la “The Office” or “Extras.” I wondered if my preconceived notions were all wrong. Maybe this wouldn’t be just another saccharine sweet family comedy with the flat, smarmy characters and the cheesy romance. Maybe this would have real substance. Of course, it’s all downhill from there. The film dives (or should I say rolls) directly into a montage of Kevin James-on-a-Segway sight gags. (Because that wasn’t already done 6 years ago on “Arrested Development.”)

Fool me once, Paul Blart, shame on you.

James plays Blart, a “security officer” at the local megamall with dreams of becoming a State Trooper (I’m already raising my eyebrows in doubt right there.) He has failed the test eight times. Not due to the fact that he’s in his 40′s or overweight, but because he’s hypoglycemic and passes out if his sugar gets too low. Which happens quite often, despite the fact that he’s constantly mentioning his condition to anyone who will listen.

But that’s not all! Poor Paul Blart has been without female companionship since his wife left him. (Sigh.) Enter Amy (Jayma Mays), the sweet, perky love interest who is a mere decade younger (at least) than our leading man. For the Brad Pitts and Johnny Depps and even the Seth Rogens of Hollywood, I’ll buy it. But I put my foot down at the middle-aged mall security guard with a mustache.

TV Casualties Rating:

Run Time: 91 minutes

Directed by: Steve Carr

Written by: Kevin James, Nick Bakay

Starring: Kevin James, Jayma Mays, Keir O’Donnell

Theatrical Release: 01/16/09

DVD Release: 05/19/09

Production Budget: $26 million

Domestic Gross: $146 million

Metacritic Score: 39/100

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 33%

The plotlines in these kinds of movies are so formulaic, I’m starting to wonder if the writers are using some sort of fam-com Mad Libs. Sweet, innocent [name that rhymes with body part or bodily function] is a [crappy profession] who dreams of being a [slightly less crappy profession]. He is single because [romantic sob story]. He meets [name that ends with “y”], whom is the perfect match for him because she is also sweet and innocent, except that she [thinks he's a loser OR has a dickheaded boyfriend]. So he must prove to her his love and awesomeness by [heroic act].

There are a handful of surprising laughs, but overall I got the impression that “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” was a movie that fairly smart, funny people wrote for a dumb audience.  There are clever moments (like the opening dinner scene) but they are outweighed (pun intended!) by the idiocy.

Valkyrie: The Plot to Kill Hitler

“Valkyrie” is based on the true story of Operation Valkyrie: a well organized attempt by an arm of the German military to overthrow Hitler. The details of the conspiracy fascinate, particularly in how the months of planning and organization ultimately rest on the whim of a moved briefcase. In fact, it works against the film that the story is already so well known.

Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) manipulates through back channels to undermine Hitler before he even joins up with the blossoming movement toward a coup. He feels it’s his duty to “sacred Germany” to stop the Fuhrer – to show, in dramatic fashion, that not all Germans are like their leader. He brings a sense of urgency to the group plotting against Hitler. His results-oriented single mindedness, that dogged determination of a soldier, counteracts the highfalutin politicians in the movement as they find various ways to sit on their hands. (One even suggests Stauffenberg’s proposed assassination of Hitler wouldn’t be honorable.) Stauffenberg makes the whole thing go. At a crucial moment later in the film, General Olbricht (Bill Nighy) hesitates at the thought of how great the cost will be if any piece of their plan doesn’t come off smoothly. Stauffenberg explains in an even voice why and how it must be done. The General launches into action immediately.

TV Casualties Rating:

Run Time: 120 minutes

Directed by: Bryan Singer

Written by: Christopher McQuarrie, Nathan Alexander

Starring: Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson

Theatrical Release: 12/25/08

DVD Release: 05/19/09

Production Budget: $75 million

Domestic Gross: $83 million

Metacritic Score: 56/100

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 59%

The film opens with a rad bombing scene that costs Stauffenberg a hand and an eye – a sequence that sets the bar for production value very high. The rest of the film delivers on that promise. From scenes of whispered dialogue to sets torn apart by explosions, this is a flawless big budget production. The director’s eyes and ears reveal themselves to be just as keenly focused as his hands. With details like Stauffenberg’s glass eye periodically looking in the wrong direction, plane rides where the growl of the engine drowns all sound out, and sweeping overhead shots of the car as it weaves through a dense German forest – creativity and inspiration can be found in the myriad of little ways this movie reaches out to the audience.

The acting excels as well. Cruise impresses as the driven yet reserved Stauffenberg. Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Christian Berkel and Kevin McNally also deserve mention. Nighy may stand out the most. With facial expressions and a few gestures, he brings real fear and real pain – a wealth of humanity – to a role that could have easily come off purely functional and flat.

Which brings me to the film’s arguable flaw – the story is one of duty and duty alone, of standing up to do the right thing at great personal cost. It follows the details of the infamous true story faithfully, and aside from a handful of shots of Stauffenberg’s wife and children, makes little attempt to show us these characters as men beyond the military. The plot is strong enough that this could work if I didn’t already know many of the details of Stauffenberg’s story. Since I did, a little of the tension seeps out. The lack of any underlying drama to flesh the characters out serves as a detriment, at least for me. It’s meticulous. It’s intriguing. It’s not quite captivating on an emotional level.

Still, the story of Stauffenberg and Operation Valkyrie is an unbelievable one, and this film does it justice. It’s worth watching even if you already know many of those details. If not, “Valkyrie” will blow you away – unless someone moves the briefcase.

My Bloody Valentine 3D cuts straight to the heart of things. (Pun!)

Get out your 3D specs, dudes and dudettes.  It’s about to get real slasher-y real fast. “My Bloody Valentine 3D” is a film that does not waste time on such trivial matters as fully formed characters, meaningful dialogue or really anything at all beyond suspense and stylized kill scenes.  That tunnel vision focus on spectacular violence basically makes this a throwback to the old school slasher, which is no surprise considering it’s a remake of a lofi 1981 horror movie of the same name. (Fun fact:  Quentin Tarantino called the original his favorite slasher movie of all time.)

TV Casualties Rating:

Run Time: 101 minutes

Directed by: Patrick Lussier

Written by: Todd Farmer, Zane Smith

Starring: Jensen Ackles, Jaime King, Kerr Smith

Theatrical Release: 01/16/09

DVD Release: 05/19/09

Production Budget: $15 million

Domestic Gross: $52 million

Metacritic Score: 51/100

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 59%

The pitch must’ve been:  “Jason Vorhees… wait for it… in a coal mine.”  The story setup appears to follow the “unstoppable psychotic killer on the loose” formula pretty faithfully.  Just replace the standard ax with a pick ax and the hockey mask with some mining gear.

We learn, through a montage of headlines, that an accident in a Pennsylvania mineshaft preceded a trapped miner, Harry Warden (Richard John Walters,) going on a killing spree to conserve oxygen in the closed shaft.  It’s a year later, and the killer has just woken from a coma.  Naturally, he has just one thing in mind:  ruining the keg party taking place in his beloved mine with two simple techniques:  slashing and bashing.  (He is delayed en route when a detour requires him to murder everyone in a hospital.)

The rest of the movie transpires 10 years later, following a group of kids that managed to survive the worst kegger ever and are now adults.  The murders start up again, and it’s a classic case of “I thought that psycho was dead!”  Is Harry Warden back?  Is someone copying his patented slash and bash techniques?  A whodunit ensues, ultimately culminating in a predictable ending that is supposed to be a surprise ending.  The plot elements honestly don’t matter, and the script wastes little time developing the characters and their relationships, so I won’t waste mine describing them.

Every shred of artistic talent here focused on creative slasher-ing, particularly mining (pun!) the 3D gimmick for sight gags, and the film delivers with style in this regard.  Anyone watching this movie for any other reason than having a pick ax come flying out of the screen at them is going to be disappointed.

Did it have some painfully bad moments?  Sure.  Could it have been better?  Absolutely.  Still, on some level I can respect that My Bloody Valentine 3D trims almost all of the fat and cuts right to core of what a slasher fan would want to see.  So yes, the story basically sucks, and the (non-surprise) ending is a major letdown.  Purely as a gimmicky 3D movie, though, this was still decent entertainment, especially if you don’t mind laughing at it here and there.

Taken: Liam Neeson Will Rip Your Damn Face Off

Who doesn’t want to spend 93 minutes watching Liam Neeson get hands on with some perps?

And hands on with the bad guys Neeson does get – early, often and hard.  He also gets feet on, knife in, electricity through and several bullets lodged within them.  Yep.  The man who played Schindler is one ruthless son of a bitch this time out.  The possibility of a Liam Neeson/Chuck Norris vehicle looks more likely than ever.

The pace in “Taken” doesn’t just sizzle, the plot itself combusts.  After a brief setup, retired spy Bryan Mills (Neeson) gets thrust into an international rescue mission.  While vacationing in Paris, his daughter (Maggie Grace) is kidnapped by Albanian mobsters that plan to sell her into prostitution.  Let the head cracking, neck breaking and face shooting begin!  Mills bashes his way toward answers with fury and speed.  93 minutes fly by.

TV Casualties Rating:

Run Time: 93 minutes

Directed by: Pierre Morel

Written by: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Olivier Rabourdin

Theatrical Release: 01/30/09

DVD Release: 05/12/09

Production Budget: N/A

Box Office Gross: $144 million

Metacritic Score: 50/100

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 57%

I’m not easily impressed in this area, but the action sequences were executed extremely well, both in terms of choreography and cinematography.

Action means little to me, typically, but this had me on the edge of my seat several times.  A few fairly unbelievable moments popped up here and there, of course – especially during a big car chase scene – but on the whole, the action was strong, and I’m surprised this movie wasn’t a little more popular on the strength of that alone.

On that note, Neeson actually made a fine action star.  His imposing frame (6’4” according to IMDB) made this seem plausible, of course, but he has always struck me as a gentle personality.  (If I were Irish, I may even call him a bit of a puff.)  Early on, I was skeptical.  He won me over in a hurry, though, and he actually brought a believable intensity, even a hard-nosed negativity, to the role that went above and beyond what a cardboard action hero would’ve been able to muster.  This wasn’t the smirking hero with a one liner ready at all times.  Liam Neeson will rip your damn face off.

I’d go beyond the praise for Neeson to say that the whole cast did very well with what they had to work with. That said, the characterization (outside of Neeson’s fierceness) proved weak – a massive Achilles heel for what was an otherwise quality production.  I can respect that “Taken” didn’t waste much time establishing relationships and feelings and such when the movie revolved around action.  Non-existent characterization would’ve been better than the painfully cheesy “awesome dad” fantasy that this became.  The last scene proved needless and sentimental, not only highlighting this weakness but foolishly making it the final flavor in the audience’s mouth.

Life is Like a Box of Buttons: Benjamin Button and Forrest Gump

Roughly 10 years after Brad Pitt and David Fincher teamed up to make the ultra-violent, ultra-rebellious “Fight Club,” they reunited to make… a tearjerker that’s extremely reminiscent of “Forrest Gump“? I call that a curious case of WTF!

TV Casualties Rating:

Run Time: 166 minutes

Directed by: David Fincher

Written by: Eric Roth

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton

Theatrical Release: 12/25/08

DVD Release: 05/05/09

Production Budget: $150 million

Domestic Gross: $127 million

Metacritic Score: 70/100

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 72%

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” follows Benjamin (Pitt) on a journey from death to birth – born a wrinkled 85 year old man, he grows younger as those around him advance in age. The plot unfolds through a series of (somewhat formulaic) episodes, and there are heaping helpings of narration to fill in the blanks via Benjamin’s slow Louisiana drawl.

That sounds a lot like a slow Alabama drawl talking about mama and a box of chocolates, right? Button’s story actually mirrors Forrest Gump’s from top to bottom. Both center around a romantic relationship that begins in childhood, both main characters survive bloodbaths in combat, both also have complicated relationships with their offspring, and both movies try their best to (pretty openly) tug at our heartstrings.

To the film’s credit, Button’s world is more adult, less black and white, than that of Gump. As a young man, (though he appears old,) Benjamin drinks and enjoys the company of a prostitute. Later he engages in an affair with a married woman. He is not a war hero, merely the lone survivor on his ship. And in his relationship with his daughter, he serves as the tragically absent figure, while the mother, Daisy (Cate Blanchett,) is left to pick up the pieces. The parental roles stand in direct opposition to those of Jenny and Gump, where Forrest plays the hero.

Everything looks great, which is no surprise considering Fincher’s past work. The special effects used to portray Pitt as a little old man received a lot of attention and deservedly so. The effects used to make both Pitt and Blanchett appear younger were even more flawless and convincing, in my opinion. The Oscars for art direction, visual effects and makeup really tell the story – this is great work. Clearly the visuals came from the hands of a master (or more likely a team of masters.)

The story, however, seems to rest in hands not quite so deft. The humor misses as often as it hits, and the dramatic element is sparse on fully developed relationships and heavy handed.

The clever sequences, such as the series of lightning strikes and the chain of events leading to a car crash, border on brilliant. The drama, though, like Gump, veers directly into sentimental mush. The puppet strings become a little too visible, the contrivances and manipulations a little too clear. So much so, in fact, that by the end character behavior began to lose believability. The script works toward the dramatic end the writer had in mind without making the details add up. I’d go so far as to say that the “myth” of Benjamin Button is deeply unsatisfying.

On the whole, the movie is a visual marvel with an interesting story gimmick – aging in reverse. The script, unfortunately, just doesn’t quite deliver the goods. An excellent cast salvages it some by playing things fairly subtly, to the point that it was well worth watching. Still, I think the Best Picture nomination was a bit of a stretch – the movie was not one of my 10 favorite of 2008.

Then again, it’s interesting to see the director of “Seven,” “Fight Club” and “Zodiac” take a step in a different direction. Just like “Forrest Gump,” that step connected with a huge audience, too.