Showing posts with label 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2013. Show all posts
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| Superman carries Lois Lane to safety, naturally |
Shot to Earth as an infant from dying Krypton by his father, scientist Jor-El (Russell Crowe), Kal-El (Henry Cavill) is adopted by the Kents and faces his greatest challenge before he's even begun his career as Superman proper: General Zod (Michael Shannon), an evil Krptonian despot, has escaped from the Phantom Zone and wants the codex that can make Krypton live again. Unfortunately, this will result in Earth and its inhabitants being destroyed. Superman sets out to stop him with the aid of the military, but it's an uphill battle. There's the germ of a good idea in Man of Steel, but its execution is highly disappointing. The story isn't told in a linear fashion but is interrupted with frequent annoying flashbacks, giving the whole project a disjointed continuity that pulls you out of the story instead of pulling you in. There are also some pretty stupid moments, such as when Johnathan Kent (Kevin Costner) simply allows himself to die so that Superman won't reveal himself too soon [even though Superman can move super-fast, and the awful effect Kent's death will have on his wife]! The prologue on Krypton is overlong and relatively uninteresting, and dead Jor-El (or rather his "consciousness") seems to pop up all the time more to make use of Crowe than for any other logical reason. The movie has a kind of Marvel X-Men flavor to it, especially in Superman's uneasy relationship with the authorities. Handsome Cavill strikes the right note as a Superman at the very start of his career, but the rest of the casting is problematic. A lady reporter doesn't always have to be aggressive and perky to a fault, but Amy Adams is a bit too drab as Lois Lane. Laurence Fishburne as an African-Amerrican Perry White is adequate, but he wasn't that great as a leading man, let alone a character actor. Crowe, Costner, and Diane Lane as Martha Kent are okay, but Christopher Meloni quit Law and Order: Special Victims Unit for only a small role as an Army man? You don't really see enough of Ayelet Zurer to judge her performance as the evil Krptonian Lara Lor-Van. As Zod, Shannon isn't bad, but he's somewhat lacking in dramatic flair but for a couple of sequences [after all, this is a comic book movie, not a drama, and a little overplaying is allowable]. The best thing in the movie -- and virtually the only time it really comes alive -- is when Zod and Superman take to the skies and have a lively, protracted fight to the death. Otherwise, this Man of Steel rarely flies. The original Christopher Reeve version may have had its flaws, but it was better than this. Man of Steel is about on the level of the equally disappointing Superman Returns. As I predicted Man of Steel is much less entertaining than the excellent animated feature, Superman vs. the Elite. Cavill will reprise the role of Superman in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman, and will also play Napoleon Solo in the big-screen version of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; he was also in the crappy Immortals.
Verdict: The really great Superman movie has yet to be made. **1/2.
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| Senior Batman vs eternally young Superman |
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Part One/Part Two (/Video/2012 - 2013). Director: Jay Oliva.
Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, this two-part animated feature looks at the dark side and older years of Batman/Bruce Wayne. Batman has not appeared in Gotham city for a decade, but the threat of a homicidal gang that calls itself the Mutants, and whose activities are becoming more and more violent, bring him out of retirement. Eventually this brings him into conflict with the Gotham police department, which gets a new female commissioner in part two, and then with Superman in the final sequences. Taking care of the Mutants with blunt brutality, something the police were not able to do, makes the now-senior Batman a hero in the eyes of some Gothamites, and a fascist in others, such as the Joker's nutty psychiatrist, who thinks Batman is the real sociopath and is responsible for villains like the Joker. This is all played out before a backdrop of social and political commentary. A new, very young female Robin named Carrie at first seems like a frivolous character, as she comes out of nowhere and seems to have had absolutely no training, but she grows on you after awhile. There's more than one suggestion that the Joker in this might be gay -- his final confrontation with Batman is in a Tunnel of Love! -- as well as other sexually ambiguous characters, but whether this is to give them added color or is mere LGBT exploitation is debatable. [One villainess has a butch haircut and swastikas painted on her naked, substantial breasts!] Peter Weller makes a fine Batman, with David Selby also notable as Commissioner Gordon, and other voice roles are well cast.The animation is fluid and Oliva's direction is fast-paced and cinematic. This is not your father's Batman.
Verdict: Sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes childish, but it holds the attention. ***.
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| Hanno Koffler (top) and Max Riemelt |
Marc Borgmann (Hanno Koffler), a German in the police academy, has a pregnant girlfriend (Katharine Schuttler) but finds himself attracted to the more open Kay (Max Riemelt), a very handsome fellow male cop. Marc tries to resist his attraction, but the affair has repercussions both on the job and within his family. Free Fall seems somewhat dated for the 21st century -- its story of a closeted, guilt-wracked man, although such men certainly still exist, smacks more of the 1970's. The characters are not developed enough, which is particularly true for Kay, who seems to exist only to be sexy and "torment" Marc. [You might also be left with the sense that Kay is a bit out of Marc's league.] In other words, it's all been done before and done better. Even That Certain Summer, made forty years (!) earlier for American television, was more progressive. The acting is quite good, however. This got much more enthusiastic reactions than it deserved. If taken as a parable that shows how old-fashioned shame screws up a gay person's life it might have some resonance, but that may be giving it too much credit.
Verdict: Downbeat, rather regressive (however unintended), and a little pointless. **.
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| "A repulsive and obnoxious fat woman" |
IDENTITY THIEF (2012). Director: Seth Gordon.
A businessman named Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) doesn't realize that his identity has been stolen by a repulsive and obnoxious fat woman (Melissa McCarthy) who supposedly has the same name but is actually Diana or something else. When his new boss threatens to fire him, Sandy decides to track down Diana, who's been running riot with his credit cards, so he can keep his job and bring her to justice. This alleged "comedy " is scripted by the supremely untalented Craig Mazin. I mean, I didn't expect Bringing Up Baby but I thought the film might have a chuckle or two. The first problem is that anyone who's ever had their identity stolen, or is afraid it might happen to them, is not going to find much amusement in the premise, nor in the fact that Patterson bonds and becomes friends with the woman who screwed up his life, who, of course, blames it all on a difficult childhood. The movie tries too hard and unconvincingly to create sympathy for someone who, until the unreal and sentimental conclusion, has no sympathy for anyone but herself. In one amazingly moronic moment, an imprisoned Diana talks about "dykes" trying to get at her "sweet stuff" in front of the hero's wife and children, both of whom seem more bothered by her vulgarity than her homophobia [the character also seems racist, although she never utters the "n" word that, at least, still being more or less verboten]. Sitcom star Bateman is okay but has little big-screen charisma, while McCarthy's character is so utterly repellent that it's hard to judge her acting skill. Adding insult to injury, the movie is more boring than anything else and is nearly two hours long! Two hours with one of the most odious and unattractive characters in the movies. The best scene has the chunky anti-heroine hit by a car, but, unfortunately, she survives.
Verdict: Why fast forward buttons were invented. Dreadful. 0 stars.
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| Lily Taylor finds something worth investigating |
THE CONJURING (2013). Director: James Wan.
When Carolyn and Roger Perron (Lili Taylor; Ron Livingston) and their several children are subjected to frightening supernatural events in a new house they've moved into, they call on [real-life] psychic researchers and demonologists Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson). That's the plot of this rather dull horror flick that purports to be "based on the true story." Yeah, right. The Warrens also "investigated" the now thoroughly debunked Amityville Horror hoax, and this movie is little more than a retread of that film -- you get the little girl with the imaginary friend, doors that open by themselves, hidden rooms and a spooky basement; no cliche is left unturned -- and The Exorcist. How this completely unoriginal and rather tedious movie -- even when it gets "exciting" near the end it's still a bore -- got good reviews from some critics [or got some people to proclaim it was the "scariest" film they ever saw] is beyond me. The actors are all okay, but they'd be advised to be choosier about their projects in the future. The Conjuring, like the equally sub-literate Amityville Horror, made enough money for a sequel [and I suppose a remake in about twenty years], but it's not the kind of movie that exactly enhances anybody's career. It's not even that well directed. The only funny moment is at the very end when the Warrens take off to meet a priest who wants to talk to them "about a house on Long Island."
Verdict: Schlock feeding off schlock. *.
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| Kirk and Spock witness the wrath of Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) |
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (2013). Director: J. J. Abrams.
Violating the prime directive to save Spock's life on a primitive world, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) finds himself demoted. But when a terrorist named Harrison, who turns out to be super-being Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch), attacks the Federation, Kirk finds himself in command once again, and heading toward the Klingon home world, Kronos, to kill him. But what's inside those photon torpedoes that have been put on board the Enterprise? And whose side is Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) really on? It all leads to deadly battles both on Kronos, in warp space, and on Earth. Whatever its flaws, Star Trek Into Darkness is a big improvement over Abrams' initial reboot of the Star Trek franchise, with a better storyline and more exciting action sequences. The actors seem a little more comfortable in their roles, although Pine will never seem like James Kirk the way William Shatner did. Zachary Quinto is fine as Spock; Zoe Saldana is given more to do as his lover, Lt. Uhura; Karl Urban is an okay Bones; and Simon Pegg [Mission Impossible -- Ghost Protocol] seems to be channeling his inner Pee Wee Herman as Scotty. Weller and the unlikely-named Cumberbatch give the most dynamic performances. Alice Eve is a new character, Carol, a science officer and daughter of Admiral Marcus. Leonard Nimoy shows up briefly as the older Spock.
Verdict: Entertaining, fast-paced and frequently exciting. ***.
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| Brad Pitt in one of the film's few quiet moments |
"You can't make a dead person sick."
Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and his family suddenly find themselves in the midst of chaos when a plague breaks out in their city -- indeed, around the world -- driving people crazy and making them violently attack others. These people turn out to be zombies, reanimated after death by a virus. UN representative Thierry Umutoni (Fana Mokoena) gets Lane out, but he learns that his family can not stay in their safe refuge unless he agrees to accompany a biologist, hoping to create a vaccine, to the spot where the virus originated to look for clues. Lane later winds up in Israel, were the undead pile atop one another in a grotesque exhibition so they can launch themselves over a wall to get at the living people on the other side. [Unlike the dead in Night of the Living Dead, these zombies movie very quickly]. Lane saves the life of a young female Israeli soldier named Segen (Daniella Kertesz), and both wind up on a plane when the passengers become infected. They wind up at a research center in England where Lane thinks he's come up with a novel way of protecting people against the zombies. Despite some arresting passages -- such as the wall sequence in Israel and the outbreak on the plane -- World War Z can't quite overcome the fact that it's just another apocalyptic zombie movie [like 28 Days Later] with over-familiar ideas. Based on a novel, it still owes a lot to Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. However, it is generally fast-paced, creepy, well-acted, and often quite exciting. [Gore geeks must have been quite disappointed that despite the gruesome tone the movie does not indulge in much graphic bloodiness.] Humanism is in short supply -- there's little talk of compassion for the dead victims nor scenes where a living person sees a dead one that they loved -- and the ending is kind of flat. Foster also directed one of the worst James Bond movies, Quantum of Solace.
Verdict: More zombies that you can shake a stick at. **1/2.
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| Brainiac versus Superman |
Based on a graphic novel, this full-length animated feature details Superman and Supergirl's battle with the alien villain Brainiac, who shrinks and steals cities from around the galaxy; Supergirl's home town Kandor is now in a bottle on his spaceship, which is actually an extension of himself. [Brainiac first appeared in more human form in Superman comics of the silver age.] Sub-plots have to do with Supergirl's fear over going into combat with the powerful alien. as well as Clark Ken'ts relationship with Lois Lane, which the two are keeping secret [leading one character to suggest that Kent is gay in a stupid bit]. Superman has a fierce, final battle with Brainiac while Supergirl handles a deadly missile. Superman: Unbound has fluid animation and is typically colorful, but there's nothing very impressive about it, either. Certainly this isn't terrible but it doesn't have the quality nor the interesting storyline of Superman vs. The Elite. Matt Bomer is fine as Superman/Clark Kent.
Verdict: Disappointing comic book adaptation. **1/2.
Anthony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), whom the world knows is the hero Iron Man, issues a challenge to a terrorist known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) and shortly after Stark's cliffside house is demolished by missiles. Another threat is posed by one Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who has developed Extremis technology that gives human beings explosive and fiery super-powers that can easily get out of control. Are Killian and the Mandarin working together? The Mandarin in this movie is nothing like the character in the comics, but the business with Extremis was taken from relatively recent Iron Man stories. Iron Man 3 is entertaining [although non-comics fans may wonder what the hell is going on] and generally fast-paced, although it can be awfully talky at times. The action scenes are pretty well-orchestrated, and the two best scenes detail the attack on Stark's house and a knock-out sequence when Iron Man rescues eleven people who have been sucked out of an airplane [surely some of them would have died from terror?]. The climax has Iron Man and Iron Patriot (Don Cheadle) -- formerly known as War Machine -- rescuing the president and having a knock-down drag-out with a super-charged Killian. Iron Man 3 has a little too much humor and comes dangerously close to camp at times. Downey gets across the movie Stark's flippancy, but not much else. Guy Pearce steals the picture as Killian, easily giving the most impressive and intense performance. Don Cheadle is miscast, but Gwyneth Paltrow is fine as Stark's girlfriend and associate Pepper, and there are notable turns by Rebecca Hall as Myra Hansen, James Badge Dale as Savin [both associates of Killian's], and Ty Simpkins as little Harley, who helps Tony midway through the picture. Ben Kingsley is also good as the movie's rather weird reinterpretation of Iron Man's arch-enemy, the Mandarin. To read more about the comic book adventures of Iron Man, see The Silver Age of Comics.
Verdict: Iron Man fans may scratch their heads but otherwise enjoy this. ***.
We all know how many fans there are of old movies, but you may not know that there are also many fans of old-time radio. There are CDs collecting episodes of classic radio shows, and on Amazon.com you can download episodes of Lights Out! and other shows.
Harry Heuser has just come out with a book entitled Immaterial Culture: Literature, Drama, and the American Radio Play 1929 - 1954. As the publisher, Peter Land puts it, "Immaterial Culture engages with texts that are now largely unread and dismissed as trivial or dubious: the vast body of plays – thrillers, narrative poetry, comedy sketches, documentaries and adaptations of literature and drama – that aired on American network radio during the medium’s so-called golden age."
Lest one think the book might be dry reading, take a gander at the chapter titles:
Chapter 1
The “time between commercials”: Radio Culture and Criticism 1
Chapter 2
“Barbarians ready! Flash the orchestra!”: Stage and Studio 15
Chapter 3
“Yeah, hit’s jist like a library”: Broadcasting and Print 53
Chapter 4
“Rise up and speak, you voices!”: Medium and Zeitgeist 93
Chapter 5
“It’s going to hurt, but think of this”: Service and Self-Effacement 133
Chapter 6
“Until I know the thing I want to know”: Puzzles and Propaganda 173
Chapter 7
“If I’m alone one more second, I’ll go mad”: Dialogue and Interiority 209
Chapter 8
“This is Norman Corwin”: Voice and Vocabulary 255
Chapter 9
“Hawkers of feces? Costermongers of shit?”: Exits and Recantations 299
You can read more about the book here and order a copy -- print or ebook -- here or from Amazon.
Now that pretty much all of the major stars of classic Hollywood have been written about ad nauseam, authors have turned to supporting players [Mary Wickes] or talented minor stars who never quite got the breaks [Ann Dvorak]. And now The Man Who Seduced Hollywood is about a fringe figure who has wandered into biographies over the years, lawyer Gregson Bautzer, who dated famous stars such as Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Ginger Rogers, and Dorothy Lamour [and who married Dana Wynter of Invasion of the Body Snatchers fame], and who made a great many deals for the power brokers of Hollywood, as well as representing them and their players in court. Bautzer was tall, dark and handsome, but he also had a severe drinking and anger management problem; he also had completely undistinguished WW2 military service. At times the hero worshiping-tone seems overdone and unwarranted, but while the material isn't always presented in the most dramatic fashion, this is still a workmanlike and interesting job.
Verdict: Behind the scenes in Old Hollywood. ***.
This is a very entertaining overview of the life and career of Lord Laurence Olivier which makes it clear that if he lived for anything, it was his art. The book examines his emergence as a fine if often controversial Shakespearean actor, his three troubled marriages (to Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright), his career in films, including work in Hitchcock's Rebecca, The Prince and the Showgirl, Carrie (in which he gave a particularly superb performance), and other films, and especially his job as director of the National Theater, which was beset with difficulties but which he was determined to hold on to. There are also behind-the-scenes details of the productions of Olivier's Shakespeare films to go along with his numerous stage performances of the Bard. Whether he was director, star, or both, Olivier always liked to take charge, which sometimes put him in conflict with the rest of the cast. One of the most amusing aspects of the book is how it recounts Olivier's rivalry with the other two Great Actors of his day, Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, not to mention his attitude towards American film stars such as Kirk Douglas. Olivier may well have loved his wives and children, but he was, above all, An Actor. Author Ziegler may not have a background in film or theater -- most of his books are historical works -- but he still manages to do well by his subject.
Verdict: Absorbing look at the world of Laurence Olivier. ***1/2.
Like many of us, Christina Rice first discovered Ann Dvorak in a videocassette of Three on a Match decades after the film had been released, and became a fan, intrigued by the reasons why this talented actress didn't have a much bigger career. Biographies written by fans can often be superficial love-fests, but Ms. Rice has avoided that trap by not only doing solid research, having access to personal letters, but by recognizing that Dvorak could sometimes be her own worst enemy. Dvorak took on Warner Brothers in court before Bette Davis did; the trouble was, Bette Davis was Bette Davis and Ms. Dvorak was nowhere in that league of fame and clout. She was poised for potential stardom when she got married [to first husband, actor-director Leslie Fenton of The House of Secrets and Pardon My Past] and simply took off for a several months-long honeymoon all over the world and never quite got back in the studio's good graces. She had ambition but it was at war with a certain need for independence which was frequently stymied by her marriages, all three of which had definite difficulties, to put it mildly. Rice not only examines Dvorak's film roles thoroughly, but absorbingly details her personal life, such as when she followed British Fenton overseas during WW2 out of devotion to him, but afterward found she'd outgrown him; her troubled relationship with her mother, who'd appeared in silent pictures but was long forgotten; and her on-again off-again third marriage to Nick Wade which played out in Hawaii and elsewhere; not to mention her austere final days when she worked on various abortive projects to no avail. Dvorak gave some fine performances throughout the years, with a particularly excellent portrayal in A Life of Her Own; she also appeared in such films as Scarface, The Strange Love of Molly Louvain, Gangs of New York, Flame of Barbary Coast, The Private Affairs of Bel Ami and The Walls of Jericho, among many others. The book is enriched with some great personal photos as well.
Verdict: Excellent biography of an actress forgotten by all but old film buffs. ***1/2.
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| Iron Man prepares for battle |
IRON MAN: RISE OF TECHNOVORE (2013 direct-to-video animated feature). Director: Hiroshi Hamazaki.
"Next time I see you I'll buy you the best therapist money can buy."
Anthony Stark, aka Iron Man, prepares to launch a "Howard" [named after his father] satellite that will monitor and presumably safeguard activity on earth, but it is destroyed by a "weird kid" in strange armor that employs a technology unfamiliar to Stark. The kid is Ezekiel Stane, son of the late Obediah Stane, an old adversary of Stark's, and he is certifiable. Eventually Stane transforms into a hulking monster that Iron Man has trouble taking out. Guest-stars in this animated feature include Nick Fury of SHIELD, the Punisher, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow, some of whom, in a contrived bit of business, wind up fighting Stark. The movie has a wide range of styles, as well as that annoying anime influence, and the flat direction doesn't help. Stark is very well voiced by Matthew Mercer.
Verdict: Not very memorable. **.
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| London gets obliterated by Cobra Commander |
G. I. JOE: RETALIATION (2013). Director: Jon M. Chu.
In this follow-up to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the president of the United States has been replaced by a double, the evil Zartan (Arnold Vosloo), a lieutenant in the Cobra organization. While the Cobra operatives who were captured and imprisoned in the last film manage to break out, an operation to wipe out the "Joes" -- a crack fighting unit whose main opponents are Cobra Commander and his gang of terrorists -- nearly succeeds in obliterating the entire team; Duke (Channing Tatum) is one of the casualties. Fortunately, the survivors -- Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Flint (D. J. Cotrona) and Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) -- join forces with grizzled General Joe Colton (Bruce Willis) -- to take down the "president" before he and the Cobra Commander can cause havoc and mayhem throughout the world. Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) is a Cobra agent who decides to help the Joes when he realizes how much he's been manipulated by Zartan. Unless you're a G. I. Joe fanatic, Retaliation can be confusing, but there are some genuinely impressive stunts and FX work, especially the chilling destruction of London by the Cobra Commander's special missiles. [This obliteration of a world capitol seems pretty much forgotten by the movies' end -- huh?] The acting is serviceable for this kind of stuff, nothing more, although Jonathan Pryce does manage to impress as the president and his duplicate. Like the previous film, this is sometimes too frenetic for its own good. A bit with some weird mechanical bugs is notable.
Verdict: For Joe fans mostly. **1/2.
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| Eboard vs Barry: Reverse-Flash tries to kill the Flash |
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX (2013 video animated feature). Director: Jay Oliva.
Based on a DC Comics mini-series entitled Flashpoint, this shows what unexpectedly happens when super-speedster the Flash (Barry Allen) goes back in time to prevent his mother's murder at the hands of his nemesis from the future, the Reverse-Flash (Eboard Thane). He has many more years with his mother, but the rippling effect creates a new reality in which Atlantis [ruled by Aquaman] is at war with the Amazons headed by Wonder Woman, with the whole world being slowly decimated by the violent conflict. In this new reality, Bruce Wayne was killed as a boy and it is his father, Thomas Wayne, who is a grizzled, ruthless and middle-aged Batman. And there are other changes as well. Frankly this adaptation gets a little confusing even if you've read the comics [apparently Aquaman and WW simply have an affair in this version while in the comics they nearly get married], but it has enough exciting moments to hold your attention. Some of the faces look a little too much like what you'd see in anime, and Cary Elwes is perhaps not the best choice to do the voice for Aquaman. C. Thomas Howell is fine as Reverse-Flash, however, as is Justin Chambers as Barry Allen and Kevin McKidd as Batman. One of the most magical moments has the Flash happily traveling at high speed, flying really, across the city at the end.
Verdict: For comics, super-hero and animation fans. ***.
In a brand-new Doc Savage adventure, King Kong has already attacked New York and fallen from the Empire State building when the novel begins. The 1930's pulp magazine hero tells his comrades about how he met Kong some years before in 1920, when he accompanied his stern father on a search of the Indian Ocean for Doc's grandfather, sailor Stormalong Savage. Grandpappy has been marooned on Skull Mountain Island and the pet of the big ape-like creature for many years. In addition to staying out of the way of Kong and dodging all manner of hungry dinosaurs, Doc and his family members have to deal with murderous attacks by a band of head-hunting dyaks with poisonous blowguns. Skull Island has some exciting and intriguing moments, but it's not as memorable as the classic Doc- Savage-meets-Dinosaurs novel The Land of Terror. The attempts to sort of humanize a completely unreal character, Doc, are admirable but don't really work, Doc's father comes off like a major asshole, and there's far too much of those annoying Dayaks, until the book simply runs out of steam. An unintentionally hilarious moment occurs when Savage Sr. tells Clark that he was hoping to "cleanse" him of war [the book takes place post-WW1] when Doc is hacking and hewing at and disemboweling and beheading dyaks right and left! This is one of a new series of "wild" adventures of Doc published by Altus Press. NOTE: There was one film based on Doc Savage made back in 1975 and a new one is now in pre-production.
Verdict: For Kong and Doc Savage completists. **1/2.
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| Sharks fly through the air in Sharknado |
A hurricane picks sharks right up out of the water and sends them flying inland where they cause havoc. Leading the charge against the sharks are Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering), feisty if annoying Nova (Cassie Scerbo), and grizzled "old" George (John Heard). This Syfy channel original may have a unique premise but it's sunk by a bad script and mostly mediocre acting, with fair-to-middling computer FX. A scene when Fin attacks a shark falling out of the air with a chainsaw makes little sense since it's unlikely the shark would even survive the drop. Even if you love monster movies there's absolutely no reason to go out of your way to see this one. Gore-geeks will be disappointed that there are no grisly beheadings or disembowelments.
Verdict: For the most part clumsy and stupid. **.
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| The cast of American Hustle |
"Sometimes all you have in life are fucked-up, poisonous choices."
Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a married con artist/loan shark with a really elaborate comb-over who works with his lover, Sydney (Amy Adams), in conning desperate and larcenous people out of their money. They get caught by arrogant, ambitious agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), who tells them they can stay out of jail if they help him in a sting operation. The target for entrapment is Atlantic City mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner of Mission Impossible -- Ghost Protocol), who needs money to bring gambling to AC [this takes place in the late seventies]. When Polito begins making deals with gambling experts who happen to be mobsters, such as Victor Tellegio (Robert De Niro), Richie, who begins an affair with Sydney, figures he can bring down even bigger fish than Polito. Realizing they are the ones the gangsters will go after when the whole thing blows up, Irving and Sydney come up with a secret counter-scheme, but will Irving's jealous wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), cause more problems than they can handle? American Hustle is an okay movie with some clever moments and a fairly satisfying ending, but it's incredible that it won an Oscar as Best Picture -- all four lead actors won Oscars as well -- proving that studio backing and aggressiveness can and often is more responsible for the garnering of awards than genuine quality. The acting is okay [but never outstanding] for the most part -- one could single out Bale [American Psycho] for his character role -- but the cast members all seem to be exuding personality in a naturalistic manner rather than acting [a common occurrence in modern-day movies]. Also the movie is played as a black comedy, which is also typical of many new movies, and has not a single likable character. It also has senseless scenes, such as a girl-on-girl kiss between wife and startled mistress in a ladies room, that seem thrown in for titillation and nothing else. American Hustle also tells an 80 minute story in two and a half hours! It in no way compares to great con man/film noir classics of the past such as Too Late for Tears/Killer Bait.
Verdict: This isn't terrible, but a masterpiece with truly great acting it is not. **1/2.
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| Matt Damon and Michael Douglas |
There seems to be no way around the fact that popular entertainer Liberace (Michael Douglas) was a big, flamboyant, outrageous gay stereotype, and this telefilm makes no attempt to get around it. It is also based on the book by Liberace's [ex] lover Scott Thorson (Matt Damon), so really has to be taken with a grain of salt. Thorson appears to be a type of [supposedly bisexual] hustler who moves in on Liberace even as Liberace moves in on him -- and suggests he move in with him. The movie suggests that the promiscuous entertainer eventually wanted to replace Thorson with a younger model, making him little different from a lot of straight guys. The one thing the telefilm has going for it is the acting, with Douglas [The China Syndrome] giving an outstanding performance that almost makes Liberace likable, and Matt Damon [The Departed] is not far behind him. Rob Lowe is also quite good as the shady "feelgood" Dr. Startz. Dan Ackroyd and Cheyenne Jackson [The Most Happy Fella] also have significant roles, and Debbie Reynolds is fine as Liberace's mother. Soderbergh also directed Douglas in Traffic.
Verdict: It's well-acted and certainly holds your attention, even if it often comes off like a gay dirty joke. ***.