Summer 2010: The Few Highs and the Several Lows

Often the summer movie season gets a bad rap from showcasing films that lack what the majority of the cinema literate would call class or the human condition. These are usual big spectacle movies that are there to bring in the people for what could be a really great entertaining experience that isn't so in need to getting heavy critical attention. And really without those money making, often empty headed films... those art pictures or award pictures either wouldn't have the funding (because 90% of them never really make back their budgets) or in the case of foreign films, wouldn't be bought by our companies for distribution here. So perhaps some film snobs (or wannabe film snobs) ought to think before they're so quick to condemn the profit season.

All this said for the most part this past summer sucked. The few bits of relief that all hope in the creative world wasn't lost came near the end of the summer or from getting to watch spring released films that got to my location late (like 'Exit Through the Gift Shop', which is still the best film I've seen all year). In truth before hand there wasn't nearly as much to look forward to as it had been in previous years. In 2009 for example there was something almost every weekend that had potential to be a lot of fun and even with junk like "Terminator Salvation" and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" I still think overall it was a pretty descent summer season. This time around not so much. Generally what seemed to be the biggest issue was either films played things too safe or just flat out didn't try at all. Coming up with a best and worst of the summer was rather tough, but this is what I've boiled it down to. Enjoy.

BEST

1."Scott Pilgrim vs. The World"
Edgar Wright didn't just make a movie, he made a love letter to the medium. He filled this movie with so much care and attention to the things he enjoys and by extension his fans tend to enjoy with geeky delight. He also effectively makes Michael Cera into an impressive fighter while making us constantly laugh. It's creative, fun, joyful and packed with hilarity. The biggest shame of all is that the film has yet to really find an audience. My wish is that come DVD that will all change and people will get to see Cera in a new light as well as experience just how gleefully cool the movie is.

2. "Inception"
Gotta love the success of a twisty sci-fi action, thriller about dreams. Along with S.P. I've been meaning to re-watch this in theaters, but from that first viewing and all the after thoughts I simply was engrossed from beginning to end. DiCaprio has done two of his best performances this year (the other being 'Shutter Island') and Christopher Nolan has added another impressive mark to his filmography.

3. "Valhalla Rising"
Brutal, transcendental and thought provoking. Nicolas Winding Refn's "Valhalla Rising" is simply a film that has got to be seen to be understood. It's as nasty as any hard R-action film, but with so much soul and haunting beauty filling the frames. A real work of art.

4. "Salt"
A type A-summer action movie with the big star, the violence and the attitude, but damn if it wasn't effective and fun. I've liked to various extents Jolie's action work, but not until this did I really, really dig her at it. As Salt, the pursued possible Russian assassin she takes part in a lot of CGI-less stunt sequences, geekily fun espionage scenes (like the 'Mission: Impossible' homage that's far more realistic, but also silly) and some surprisingly rough and bloody fights. Director Philip Noyce really just reminded me about all the fun summer movies CAN have in the right hands.

5. "Piranha 3D"
Cheerfully stupid and proud of it is the way Alexandre Aja's reboot aimed and accomplished with flying colors. The difference between this film and the many, many imitation B-movies we see is that this is the real macoy. Aja seems to have finally hit the right mark with his casting of C to D level stars that we know, giving them all their moments and then providing us with exactly what he said he would; gore, breasts and laughs in gimmicky 3D.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
-"Toy Story 3"
-"Splice"
-"The Last Exorcism"
-"The Other Guys"
-"Dinner for Schmucks"

WORST

1. "Grown Ups"
A bitter, bitter taste was left after seeing this movie. A taste that has stuck with myself and my friends. So bad is this taste that it has hurt our ability to sit back and endure shitty movies for the sake of enduring them. I don't hate Adam Sandler movies generally. And I'm not saying that because of "Punch Drunk Love" or "Funny People", I'm talking about traditional Sandler fair. I still enjoy 'The Waterboy', '50 First Dates', 'Happy Gilmore' and a couple of others, but this is like the lowest of the low for him. This is "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" bad. And worst yet all these comedians deliver their worst work here. However bad Chris Rock or David Spade or Kevin James has been... they top themselves.

2. "Sex and the City 2"
142 minutes of piss poor jokes and women behaving like self important, ignorant savages in foreign and domestic lands. It's a film that might make you hate women for a while. Or rather women who think THIS is how they should act.

3. "Macgruber"
Will Forte is not funny. I'd like to find him funny, but I don't. "Macgruber" ends up being a testament to just how painfully unfunny he actually is and how crappy of a character and satire the whole mess is. Barely any of the jokes work and often it's own irreverence works so strongly against it that you start to wonder were they trying to make the movie THIS unfunny. If so mission accomplished.

4. "Marmaduke"
Boring and crappy kids movie SUCK to endure. At least with some other films you might be able to see some nice locations or have a vice to fall back on, but traditionally in really bad kids films there is nothing. "Marmaduke" is no exception. All there is are rough CGI mouth movements, bad writing filled with puns and somewhat creepy animal romances.

5. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
Better than the first two, but still crap. The other day I actually re-watched a few scenes and realized just how goofy and funny some of finale really is. Pretty much all the mountain soap opera stuff was way funnier this time around and the set looked even more unrealistic. Furthermore 'Eclipse' actually serves to show even more than NOTHING happened in "New Moon". How these books got so popular out of re-treading the same plot with characters saying the same things the entire time is beyond me. All I know is that with two movies left based on the final book there is a chance (a slim one) that acclaimed director Bill Condon can do something to make them at least bearable.

And now we look forward to the fall season. From how it looks right now we could be in for A LOT of really impressive stuff. For me cinema is working at it's best when we're seeing a nice diversity of art and entertainment. It's great looking forward to new films by Fincher, Aronofsky, Boyle, Eastwood, Stone, Redford, the Coens, Rodriguez, Noe, Russell and possibly new stuff from Malik, Payne and Weir. What'll end up being the big talk of the season? The field is wide open right now and the possibilities are currently endless.

The Best and Worst of 2010's Spring Season

Time for a countdown blog already? Well kids now that it's May and this Friday the summer movie season gusts in with "Iron Man 2", the spring season is now behind us. So this will be my little step back and look at some of the films I had a blast with, along with the ones I... didn't have a blast with. These lists are always fun and work as a great reminder of really impressive work that sometimes gets forgotten after the giant run of blockbusters so these gems usually have to just sit it out on DVD and blu ray and hope that people who missed them before didn't forget them and do give them a watch. All and all I was actually very pleased with the spring and I'm hoping I have the same surprise level with some of these summer movies, as there's far less than usual that have me really on board to see them. But regardless of how that goes, I'll always have these.

*******************THE BEST********************************
(in no particular order)

-"Green Zone"
The whole deal with Iraq movies is just that it doesn't seem to matter who's in it or what awards it's won, it's just not going to be a movie that people rush out to see. Yes, Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" was great (I maintain it was NOT the best film of 2009, but still worthy of it's nomination(s)) however even on DVD it's not been a big seller. It just boils down to what people want right now is escape and if that means missing stuff that's good and doesn't necessarily provide that, then so what. I place Paul Greengrass' "Green Zone" is this because it's an Iraq movie that successes on multiple levels. It's an entertaining thriller that bares an unpolished 'Bourne' look, but is far from a 'Bourne' film in just about every other way. It's also a smart thriller that makes it's ideas known and doesn't try to sugar coat it (which is always nice to see in this day and age of sugar coating controversial politic thoughts. It's an ensemble peace and a war story where the hero isn't trying to be a hero so much as he wants to know the truth behind all the bogus info that's been putting himself and his team in danger constantly. No speeches, no war sympathy, just a out and out strong, ballsy thriller that remains unseen because of lackluster trailers and a bad case of Iraqi movie syndrome in the public eye.

-"The Book of Eli"
Nowadays it's hard as hell to make a movie with a religious undertone and not attract eighty idiots wanting to bitch about it. You know cause there's nothing else going on in the world of major importance, so let's complain about a movie using a religion as a piece of it's story; yes this sounds like a great cause to rally together for. Ok, rant over. The Hughes brothers have reemerged with a futuristic science fiction samurai western in which they give Denzel Washington a far differing persona than usual (i.e. someone who doesn't have all the answers) and allows Gary Oldman to go bug nuts as the bad guy for what seems like the first time since Luc Besson's "The Professional". However it's the vast supporting cast and the attention to imagery that made me love the film. Tom Waits, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Beals, Malcom McDowell, Ray Stevenson and Michael Gambon all ranging in their roles, but they paint this post apocalyptic world in such a bold light ranging from dark humor to straight iron clad badassery. Is it a religious film? Yes and no. Is it trying to push religion on you? Absolutely not. By the end there's many questions involved with even why the world is the way it is and did religion have something to do with it. Does it matter in the end? I don't really know, but here was a much more involving apocalypse film then we're used to seeing, far more exciting and far more creative in many respects.

-"The Runaways"
Kristen Stewart made likable? Yup. Finally that snarl and look on her face like she smelled some piss is put to not just to good, but pretty damn great use as Joan Jett. But wait... she smiles?! And laughs to? Damn she's on her way to actually playing someone who doesn't just stand in one place looking like a porcelain dollar while cock-teasing two mythical creatures. Not to be outdone Dakota Fanning makes damn sure she's picking up roles like this that really display range, a bit of grace and a good deal of roughness. This ain't a teenage angst movie or a straight and arrow band film per say. But a stylish explosion of rock, excess, teen girls already bad and getting worst and Michael Shannon killing it in every single over the top scene he has. Honestly, just about everything in this film rocked the shit.

-"The Ghost Writer"
Roman Polanski may not be a particularly good person, but as a filmmaker... well... simply put he's still top drawer. 'The Ghost Writer' will arise to the top of his filmography resting aside his classics like "Chinatown", "Rosemary's Baby" and his Oscar winning WWII story "The Pianist". Taunt, smart and never in a hurry is the best kind of mystery and damn if he doesn't get it right on the nose. In addition to that all the performances in the film are pitch perfect, including Pierce Bronsnan, who sells me completely as this qusi-shady former prime minister who wants to be liked desperately, but doesn't want to tell the truth. It's a surprising picture and Polanski employs some subtle old tricks engross you more in the sorted tale. Seriously if this is playing near you, see it.

-"Shutter Island"
Well worth the wait I'd say. The last time Martin Scorsese made a thriller was 1991 with the well done remake of "Cape Fear", however with "Shutter Island" he provides the kind of old school, smart, scare-house mystery that almost never come around anymore. He directs it beautifully and master cinematographer Robert Richardson knows how to paint the scene with tension and foreboding whether in broad day light or grim nights. Leonardo DiCaprio also has fun giving a well ranged performance that is among his tip-top best, up there with his work in "Revolutionary Road". The films imagery is also among some of the best looking stuff Scorsese has ever done and I really hope that come awards season this one isn't forgotten in the ways that "Zodiac" was.

***************SILVER STAR AWARDS***************
-"Edge of Darkness"
A damn well done UK styled noir story that reminded me why Mel Gibson was still important to the film world. Filled with surprises, a little cheese, some great character acting by all and Martin Campbell (for whom this is a remake as he was the director of the 80's BBC miniseries) shows that his impressive work on "Casino Royale" wasn't a fluke.

-"Hot Tub Time Machine"
Far more creative and funnier than "The Hangover", with it's 80's pride flag flying high it brings together a perfect comedic cast that's perfectly balanced. This is a breed of comedy not so much out to dictate a story, but really to tell jokes that 9 times out of 10 kill. No easy feet.

-"Kick-Ass"
How many independently made films can you say involve this much gleefully over the top situations? Probably not too many since the early 90's of hard R-rated (and some NC-17) rated ideas. Matthew Vaughn and company have hit a creative nerve with their adaptation and hopefully it'll cause for more and more daring and creative minds to do the same. Or at least try.

-"The Losers"
PG-13 rated, action exploitation can't work anymore. Says wh0? Apparently the hipster working at the art house sporting skinny jeans, a flamboyant fanny pack he obviously made himself and an odor as if he's been living in a hut with twelve camels for three weeks. Ah, actually show me a hipster that knows what an exploitation film is and I'll be impressed; anyways yes, here's a movie we've seen but here it is again done better and done in a time when we don't really get gleefully, over the top PG-13 man on a mission movies. Furthermore it's against the grain casting choices were a great call and the films look is a nice lightened degree. Really just a cruise controlled fun film when everything out right now has a message or is trying to be dark and have a message. Bruckheimer and Besson would be pleased.

*********************THE WORST*************************
-"Cop Out"
If you have Kevin Smith on your twitter then you know that he's a pretty funny and witty guy. He knows how to handle high and low brow comedy well, but why he would think anything about this turd works is beyond me. "Cop Out" wants to be a comedy, it dreams of being a comedy, but it isn't funny. So unfunny that it almost reaches that headache inducing unfunniness level. The only thing I'm thankful for is that at least Willis and Morgan didn't play the kind of bitchy, self-absorbed characters that fill some of Smith's other films I really didn't like ('Mallrats', 'Dogma', 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back')

-"How to Train Your Dragon"
I wasn't a aware that as long as you place currently hip names in an animated film, throw in some horribly dated jokes that were never funny and try to make badass creatures overly cute that you could get one of the best reviewed films on the year so far. Honestly a small part of me wants to suck it up and brush this off, but far more of me wants people to wake up and start accepting just anything as a good animated movie because it's cute. Honestly that's a pretty lame ass reason so say it's a good movie because beyond it making dragons seem cute and cuddly it fails.

-"A Nightmare on Elm Street"
One of Platinum Dunes worst and wimpiest films to date with the only plus being Jackie Earle Haley's casting as Freddy Kruger. Nothing else in the film works, plain and simple. Nothing is scary, there's only a couple of dream sequences that work, a lot of the acting by the 'teens' is rancid and worst of all the mid section which involves an alright story turns into boring mush after it drones on for too long.

-"Alice in Wonderland"
Ok, if Jackie Earle was the one thing that helped 'Nightmare...' not lay face down in a pool of it's own vomit, then this would be the passed out party goer who's goin' out like Hendrix. Tim Burton has made his worst film since "Corpse Bride". Not only is 'Alice...' visually boring, but the writing is awful, Johnny Depp almost appears to know that this isn't going so hot while shooting this mess and the injected action sequences look like they're out of a really cheap video game. The film was boring as sin and not anywhere near as creative as it should've been given the director and it's impressive cast list.