Friday Roundup

This is it folks, the last week of spring. Sure, spring started only about a month ago in celestial terms but the stars don't make movies. Next week is May and that means that today is the last Friday before the movies start to kick ass. Though some of you may have seen it already, I have not seen Wolverine and am waiting until it makes it to the big screen. Look at me, like a little kid excited for next week. This week's movie's are:

• The Soloist
• Fighting
• Obsessed
• Earth
• The Informers (limited)
• Tyson (limited)
• The Garden (limited)
• Il Divo (limited)
• The Mutant Chronicles

If by the time you got to the bottom of the list you forgot what was at the top that is because this is considered the worst week to release a movie in the year because come next week everyone of these movies will get trounced. So stay tuned for next week when Wolverine slashed this week's favorite the soloist a new one.

Wrong Side of the Bay

Crusing the blogs I keep hearing the third dimension referred to as a gimmick. This is to me a case of people being unable to step off of the stepping stones of a technique and embrace it for the boulder it is about to become. I have seen many movies in 3-D but the most notable one the most recent Coraline. In Coraline director Harry Selik absolves the former mistakes of 3-d gimmickry by creating something both beautiful and functional. Whiel there were the occasional objects angled in your direction the majority of the work was used to create perspective. It was done with the hope of illuiminating an imaginary world and turning it into something believeable. It became a much more sensory thrill and the expereicne was more dynamically enthralling. The 3-d did not exist to jolt you only to enable you to more fully imagine what the character on the screen was experiencing, or to better progress the story.
I have heard two directors refer to James Cameron's December 3-D release Avatar. The first is Michael Bay who called 3-D a gimmick. The second is Ridley Scott, whose work far surpasses that of Bay, who had seen the movie and called himself a convert. Many people are docking their ships of reason on the Bay Bay and they are wrong. Their anchors are too weighted by the past that they cannot embrace the potential opporutnities 3-D is about to afford them. Perhaps if they had seen Coraline they would understand.

Will Wednesday Work Wonders for Warner Wizards?

Potter fans can watch their favorite literary teenagers deal with their darkest issues a few days early now that Warner Brothers has moved the release date of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince from Friday July 17th to Wednesday July 15th. The film is the second from writer-director team of Steve Kloves and David Yates who previously worked together on the most recent film in the series Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. That is not the only similarity Half Blood Prince will have to its predecessor, however, both films were released on a Wednesday summers day, which WB President Dan Fellman credits for turning the summer week into a five day set of Saturdays.
Wednesday releases historically rely on word of mouth to get more people to the theater by the time the weekend box office closes. It replaced the sneak preview for many audiences and has become the standard for many films that want to earn more during their opening weekend but need to rely on more days in the week. So does Warner Brothers feel it needs days of fan chatter to combat potential negative reviews?
Order of the Phoenix received the poorest reviews since the first Harry Potter film six years ago. Many critics found the film too short and claimed a cursory glance to some of the darker issues that Harry and the gang faced. Well, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is the darkest book in the series and guess what, it has been given a PG rating.
On the other hand Order of the Phoenix set the record for a Wednesday release. But as Dan Fellman point out during the summer, people often have Thursdays free. And besides, Spiderman 3 set a record too. So does this move to Wednesday simply indicate that Warner Brothers wants to replicate its past success or does it indicate something a little more foreboding. Perhaps as Harry Potter grows older and the books become longer it becomes more difficult to balance the childhood fantasies with the adult themes. I certainly hope not because I am a fan of the series and the team of Kloves and Yates is riding the Hogwarts Express straight down the line. I’m sure I will see this movie Tuesday night at midnight but then again I like my Potter dark.

Teenaged Franchise Filled with Mutant Angst

Marvel franchise producer Lauren Shuler Donner announced today that X-Men: First Class is not going to be a spin off but the beginning of another X-Men franchise. “It’s young Scott, young Jean, young Beast and that’ll be really fun,” she said. “The plan is to follow some of the characters into their own stories, and weave them back into the X-Men world. And hopefully First Class will become its own franchise and we can follow them as they grow up.”
Because the characters of X-Men: First Class, Beast, Angel, Iceman, Cyclops and Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), have already been portrayed at differing ages in the previous X-Men films, First Class will have to be not just a spin-off but a reboot.
Christopher Nolan gave us eight years to forget Batman and Robin before he rebooted the Batman franchise whereas X-Men: The Last Stand came out only three years ago. The Wolverine spin-off hasn’t been formally released yet and X-Men Origins: Magneto is still in the works to be made. Fox is certainly taking every opportunity it can to capitalize on their superhero property now that Marvel has its own production company and it is only a matter of time before the mutants get back where they belong.
I am a fan of superheroes as teenagers and an especially big fan of the comic series. Every time I have seen this done before, however, has been on a television show. Superman had Smallville, Batman had Batman Beyond and even the X-Men had X-Men: Evolutions. The serial quality of television works well at dealing with the melodrama of teenage angst, especially when that angst is coupled with new powers. Which leads me to believe that the films writer, Josh Schwartz will be able to script a quality film.
Schwartz earned the title of the youngest show-runner for a one hour drama while writing The OC and later adapted the teenage books, of the same name, into the hit series Gossip Girl. Likewise, this will not be his first time rebooting a series with a teenaged spin-off. The mother of one of the Gossip Girl characters is getting her own show, tracking her time as a troubled teen and starring Brittany Snow. The episodes that Schwartz writes are infused with a semi-satirical quality reminiscent of a young Cameron Crowe. Hopefully he can harness that quality into something that pays tribute to the genre of comic books while at the same time embracing the melodrama that made Raimi’s Spider-Man originally so strong.

Top Ten Pop Songs Used in Movies

Many will agree that the finest moment in Watchmen is the montage of Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A Changin' at the film's beginning. Snyder already proved his skill at this when he began Dawn of the Dead with When the Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash. Some movies are notroious for their soundtracks. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid broke new ground when in the middle of the wild west when Butch rides a bicycle to the tune of Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head. When working on the Graduate Mike Nichols convinced Simon and Garfunkel to change a song about Mrs. Roosevelt to the now infamous Mrs. Robinson. For me, a pop song in a movie gives both the song and the movie new life. Often times I become emotionally attached to a song that I have never heard before. So, in celebration of pop songs in film I present a list of my top ten favorites. Enjoy!

10. Mad World by Gary Jules in Donnie Darko:
This song earns its spot on the list beating out all of the honorable mentions because it embodies the feeling of the movie in the strongest way. It is a dark and moody piece envelopped in mystery. It speaks of a world in which nothing really matters and everyone is sad. Donnie's apocalyptic views are echoed in the line "the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had." Jules sings as though he is a misunderstood teen akin to Darko who sees the madness of the world around him despite the fact that nobody believes him.

9. All Songs in Moulin Rouge
It is near impossible for me to pick a favorite moment from Baz Luhrman's manic opus about Bohemia. His movie musical is made up of pop songs many of which represent the most transcendent moments in musical history. I know that sound large but bear with me. He includes songs that strongly define generations of rock and roll from the necessary Beatles to the Police of the eighties to the grunge rock of Nirvana. He even includes a disco classic redone by hip-hop, pop and "rock" stars.

8.Tiny Dancer by Elton John in Almost Famous
While John Cusack's stereo serenade in Say Anything is probably a more important moment in cinema history Tiny Dancer won the battle because of the beautiful way in which it solves the problems for the rock band Stillwater. After the lead singer has an acid-filled departure from the group he returns broken and far from the "golden god" he thought he was when he left the band. One by one they all join in to sing a song that poignantly describes the ever-mysterious band-aid Penny Lane whose importance is paramount to making the experience of Stillwater as enjoyable as the films portrays.

7. Everyone by Van Morrison in The Royal Tenenbaums
Wes Anderson's soundtracks are among some of my favorite. Coupled with Mark Mothersbaugh's scores the songs on these soundtracks match the colors and neatly designed camera shots with the skill of a meticulous teenage girl decorating her notebook. While this song does not appear on the cd of the movie it is my favorite of Anderson's choices. Boasting the tagline "Family Isn't A Word... It's A Sentence" The Royal Tenenbaums is truly a film about everyone in one of cinema's quirkiest families.

6. Where is My Mind by the Pixies in Fight Club
I don't know anyone who watched this movie who at one point after didn't ponder the lunacy of a fight club while still admiring Tyler Durden as the quintessential modern American renegade and being just slightly jealous of Jack's burdensome counterpart. All of this is of course crazy but when a film makes you think about the transcendental nature of project chaos you have to ask yourself this very question.

5. The Man in Me by Bob Dylan in The Big Lebowski
After being drugged the Dude embarks on my favorite dream sequence since Eraserhead. Complete with Julianne Moore dressed in a viking hat and synchronized dancers dressed as bowling pins the Coen brothers perfectly imagine what the Dude's dreamlife would be like. When I was a kid I used to imagine what happened to the ball as it went on its course and now we get to experience it through proabbly the only camera angle of its kind. On top of all of the stylistic magestry the sequence includes a rare Bob Dylan song that I would never have heard were it not for the brothers' stonoir.

4. Wise Up by Aimee Mann in Magnolia
When writing Magnolia PT Anderson listened frequently to Aimee Mann meriting many references along the way including my favorite line, "Now that you've met me, would you object to never seeing me again," but nothing comes close to this bizarre destruction of the fourth wall as each of the characters, including the unconscious Julianne Moore in her second appearance on the list, turns to face the camera and one by one sing a line from this song. It makes no logical sense but that's part of the beauty of Magnolia.

3. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen in Wayne's World
Recreating the several harmonies mastered by Freddy Mercury the metalheads in the Garthmobile know how to rock out in the same way that Cassandra knows how to wail. I cannot hear this song and not think of this scene while wishing that my hair was long enough to headbang like the boys of SNL.

2. Stuck in the Middle With You by Steelers Wheel in Reservoir Dogs
Listening to this Dylanesque bubblegum pop ballad from Steeler's Wheel makes me glad I still have both my ears. Tarantino's first full length feature made him a notable name not only for his pop-infused direction but also for his pop-infused soundtracks. Making good use of the songs of his youth in the seventies Tarantino soundtracks are as good and referential as his films. Though Kill Bill's soundtrack sold more copies than those of his other films, it is the infamous torture scene in Reservoir Dogs that is "a cut" above the rest.

1. Layla by Eric Clapton in Goodfellas
Ever since I can remember (or at least the first time I saw this scene in Goodfellas) I wanted to be a gangster. Earning the spot at number one on this list Martin Scorcese makes use of pop music perhaps better than anyone else. Scorcese not only uses pop music to enhance his films but he relies on them to move the audience for him. The filmmaker takes a passive stance and lets the musician do the work. No better place does he do this than in Goodfellas and no place more notable than the montage of death to the tune of Eric Clapton's Layla: a tune that changes pace midway foreshadowing for the audience that all good things must come to an end.



That's my list. Can you think of any others?

Watching the Watchmen

If the film adaptation of Watchmen has taught me about anything, it is the diehard blindsighted loyalty of fans who, unable to separate a project from its parent, will stay aboard the Titanic knowing all the while that it must sink.
Watchmen, the comic series, is a rich, emotional, controversial and provocative piece of fiction meriting its place as one of Time Magazine's 100 best English language novels. It has, however, long been deemed unfilmable by its author, fans and great filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Terry Gilliam. Still, many clamored for someone to take the reins and attempt the unthinkable and in March 2009, in what will be known for a long time as the Berlin wall of fanboys, Watchmen was made.
Many believe that this is the greatest Watchmen that could ever have been made and should thus be celebrated on par with the novel. Others feel that the film gave a cursory glance at greatness and would have been better suited for an HBO mini-series. And, as the former prepares their pitchforks and torches, I declare loyalty to the failurists.
Even as a three hour movie the film feels shortened, truncated and superficial. In what could be a fine emotionally driven exploration about what it really means to be a superhero, Snyder has instead provided us with, as he has called it, a trailer for the novel. Apparently this is an incomplete version of the film and several other versions will be released either in theaters or on dvd in the future with the hopes of rounding up fans who felt the movie lacked elements of the novel.
I will be curious to see this though my hopes are small as Snyder ultimately missed the enormity of the novel in hopes of making something more commerically accessible.
The film begins with a montage sequence to the tune of Dylan's The Times They Are A Changin' so beautiful it gave me chills. I was thrilled to see some of my favorite comic book characters be brought to life in what begins as something faithful to the spirit of the novel but entirely of its own creation.
Unfortunately, the movie then transform into something altogether acutely faithful to the novel though unable to provide more than a cursory glance at something rich and unique. Instead of plunging headfirst into the waters of Watchmen Snyder recreates panel by panel the comic book using the brilliant words of Alan Moore to guide this heavily intellectual piece along.
The problem, however, is that for almost three hours, it doesn't stop. The dense intellectualism of the novel, which transcended the superhero genre, is not an alien beast for film to slay. Such a high level of intellectualism has been done before with films like 2007's Syrianna. What is missing, however, is the emotional depth that makes Watchmen so special. The characters, so well conceived by Moore, are given a superficial rendering that by all means looks amazing but amounts to nothing at the same time. It doesn't take a great film to make you care about flawed characters maybe just a little more time, and coming in at close to three hours, time is something Snyder has used up.
Instead Snyder hopes spoonfeed songs as heavy handed as Unforgettable during a funeral and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah (?!) during a passionate sex scene that are offensively two-dimensional renderings of a three dimensional drama. Ironic, considering it was transferred from two to three dimensional images.
The costumes, plucked directly from artist Dave Gibbons' comic book panels, are fantastic and worn well by a mostly strong cast led by Jackie Earle Haley's fascinating Rorscach and rounded out by Billy Crudup's Dr. Manhattan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian.
In the end, Watchmen succeeds in giving the viewer three hours of eye candy but it is a lollipop without a bubblegum center. There is nothing for us to chew on, except maybe the memory of a flavor

A cultureless ratings system

It is really a shame that McG is having to fight for a shot of a topless woman to be featured in his new Terminator flick. The Man err I mean studios are requesting that the shot be removed so that they can have a PG-13 rating and appeal to a larger audience and have a larger marketing schema. Clearly art is not of consequence here.

Ironically enough, the original Terminator movies were both rating R and had enormous marketing abilities. I still remember playing the video game in the arcade.

But this brings up a greater issue: that of ratings. Why are we still stuck in such a puritanical society where a the site of a woman breast, something I can assure you we have ALL seen, demands such and outcry? It seems ridiculous to me that at 17 years old a young adult must be required to sit with a parent to see a breast when in many states the age of consent is 16 and one year later these young adults are then encouraged to go off and kill.

\The primary problem is American views on sexuality and profanity, while violence, for whatever reason, is easy to get past. b Ratings are optional. they are not enforceable by law. Video and DVD should render them null because of the success of movies such as the Dreamers which fare better on the dvd as unrated or NC-17.

Interestingly enough, ratings further dumb down our nation by relying on a superficial quality of a film rather than the overall message of the film. Some films talk about the dangers of sex and violence while others promote it. Tarantino films clearly demand an R rating but there are other films that deal with themes of violence and the terrible effects of it and should thus garner a lesser rating. There should be a pursuit of education in creating these ratings rather than a acquiescence to a religiously fanatic group who preaches moral values that in this day and age are wholly unrealistic.

Film ratings should be evaluated not on what makes up the film but what the product of the overall film espouses. Horror movies merit R Ratings because they don't teach anything but a film like Night of the Living Dead should receive a PG-13 rating because people should be smart enough or given enough credit to discover the thematic value of a piece rather than looking superficially at the violent nature. Sooner or later these movies will make it onto television and kids will see them anyway. We may as well stand for some sort of cultural efficacy and nourishment of children's minds at understanding one of the fundamental solids in American Culture.