Flick Notes

Directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon. Starring (voices) Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Stephen Colbert. Animated/Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Comedy Synopsis: A bride to be is hit by a meteor on her wedding day, causing her to grown to enormous size. She is captured by the government, who harbors her in secret along with other monsters who are called on to fight an alien invasion. 

Really loved this one. First off, you need to know you will see some excellent animation in this flick which was shot in 3-D. Its just amazing that modern animation can be so life like, totally different from the time when I was a kid and I make no bones about the fact that, even as an old codger, I enjoy animated films/cartoons.

Even more importantly, the story is good. Not only that, its funny and well directed. Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon Freeway) is about to take her vows with her intended (Derek Dietl), who is a weatherman, and informs Susan that will be heading to Fresno for their honeymoon instead of the previously intended Paris, as he has an interview with a TV station there. Susan is a little disappointed, but supportive, although her special day is about to get worse.

See a meteor dang near hits Susan in the head but, despite being a little shaken up and dusty, she thinks she is good to go for her wedding. She's wrong. Before exchanging vows, she starts to glow a shade of green and, before you know it, she grows to 10 stories tall. Well, something like that will put a crimp in the wedding style.

One curious thing is how fast the military seems to respond, in fact, it is almost like they were expecting something. They shoot a tranquilizer into Susan and when she wakes up, she is in some type of top secret government facility. Moreover, she wakes up to some new pals, including a cockroach/human hybrid mad scientist named, appropriately enough, Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie Flight Of The Phoenix ), a friendly, one-eyed talking blob of gelatin named Bob (Seth Rogen Observe and Report) , a vain, weight pumping amphibian called 'The Missing Link"(Will Arnett), and a 350 foot tall insect called, as you might guess, Insecto.

You see, Susan is now a monster and she is being kept out of sight with all the other monsters who have secretly emerged over the years. Running the whole show is crusty General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland The Sentinel) , who never seems to go anywhere without a parachute or his individual jet propulsion pack.

Susan is now to be kept out sight and mind as an official United States monster forever or, as General Monger tells her "...think of it as a nice hotel that you just can't check out of." Well, that news would depress anyone, much less a bride to be who just wants to go ahead and get hitched.

Luckily, the situation is about to change. There are some evil aliens on the way to Earth and they possess one heck of an imposing robot that seems invincible, plus they are led by the diabolical, five eyed,  Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson My Super Ex-Girlfriend) who is single minded in his determination to get back the precious element that one inhabitant of Earth has (guess who?) and the destruction of a species is no big thing for him...he's done it before.

Upon the emergence of the alien threat, as you might guess, the higher ups of the U.S. government get involved, including the keyboard playing, latte drinking  President (Stephen Colbert) himself . General Monger convinces the Prez and his Cabinet that the only hope to ward off the alien intruders is his coterie of kep 'monsters' and, well, the showdown is on.

As I said before, the story is good. Not only that, the graphic animation is stunning and, not to be a cliche spewer, but it is hard to imagine choosing better voices for the characters, particularly Witherspoon's Susan, Rogen's Bob, and Sutherland's General Monger. There is plenty of satire, much of it brilliant, of our society, goverment, and cultural attitudes but none of it is mean spirited and all family friendly, in my humble opinion.

And, as with all wonderful animated film, there is an overriding theme that we all will (or should) agree on and in this flick its that what you look like on the outside is nowhere near as important as who you are on the inside.

Not groundbreaking stuff, but relevant and undoubtedly true nevertheless. Monsters vs. Aliens is simply a wonderful film, and those who pick up the DVD will be additionally treated to an informative menu of special features.

Do yourself a favor and watch this movie when you have the chance.   

Directed by Gideon Raff. Starring: Thora Birch, Gideon Emery, Kavan Reece, Derek Magyar, Gloria Motsis, Koyna Ruseva, Vladimir Vladimirov. Gore. Synopsis: A group of college wrestlers and their coach get duped into boarding a train where they are immediately the objects of  organ harvesters.

Disappointed in this one. Don't mind telling you. Now, I can't say its a huge disappointment, because its not like I was waiting with bated breath to see it or anything, but I picked it up specifically because I'm becoming a big fan of Thora Birch (Dark Corners)  and the nuanced, psycho thrillers she has done so well and I expected Train to be along those lines.

Well, its not. Don't get me wrong, that isn't meant as a slap at Ms. Birch, who is easily the best thing about this flick, but when the history of what I predict will be an exceptional career for her is written, I think Train will only be referenced, if at all, at the bottom of the list.

For me, the primary problem is the script/story. Its just silly. I do appreciate new ideas and twists on well worn themes, but its got to be believable even using the "suspension of disbelief" standard we movie buffs need to have when watching flicks in general and those purporting to be horror flicks in particular. Frankly, I didn't list this one under horror because, in my opinion, it didn't make even a slight attempt to be true horror, only gore, which in my view is a distinct category although the two often go together.

The premise is 5 young American college kids who are part of a coed wrestling team (no, I'm not making that up) with a tightly wound coach on a competitive tour in Russia. After a match, the wrestlers disobey the coach's orders to stay in for the night and head out to a night club, aided by the marijuana fueled assistant coach. Well, I can't say anything major happens at the club, but when they return its inexplicably daylight (midday judging from the position of the sun) and their coach is upset that they've missed their train to the next match in the Ukraine.

But, all is not lost (well, maybe some things will be) as a seductive woman (Koyna Ruseva) comes up the coach in broken English and tells him she knows of a train that will take them to their destination. To paraphrase the great R&B/Gospel song from the '60s, There's A Train A Comin' "you don't need  a ticket, just get on board".   Well, that might be wonderful news when you're thinking of it as an allegory for a spiritual occurence for those of a certain faith, but when you're traveling through a country in which you don't know the native language and English isn't spoken regularly...well, I don't know, I might ask a couple of questions.

Anyway, against this unlikely scenario, our protagonists board the train, with its menacing looking conductor and downright nasty looking porters and, unbelievably, surrender their passports upon request.

Well, the massacre soon begins and, I must say, its high level in gore/torture. For those of you looking for a gore fest and relatively unconcerned about setup/story, etc., you'll be pleased. Just to give you an overview, we see organ extractions such as kidneys and eyes, all while the victims are alive. There are also tongues and male sexual organs being cut off, not to mention a situation where a soon-to-be victim is urinated on prior to being cut up. Last, and least, in my opinion, is the attempted rape/necrophilia scene.(I know there is a compelling legal argument that all necrophilia is rape as well as a compelling legal/logical argument that it's not...I'd just rather not go there, you know?)

Now, you might think that a bunch of young wrestlers with bodies packed with sinewy muscle might put up a hell of a fight, but you will be disappointed...until the end when Thora Birch's character finally fights back with some passion. Look, I know its easy to say what you would do in a stressful situation-and most of the time we're really saying what we hope we would do-but I think its fair to say if you saw some psychopath put a meat hook through your friend's skull and you momentarily stunned him by slashing him with a knife you might-just might-consider trying to finish him off instead of throwing the knife away and letting him (surprise!) recover to torment you for another 30 minutes.

There's more,  I won't list all of the issues I had, but just to give you a better idea of where I'm coming from, you'll also see a man push a stationary train for several feet, though in fairness, he is a big guy (tongue firmly in cheek), a slender woman unhook a train car while its moving,  a train full of passengers who are strangely compliant and unmoved as victims run through the cars with blood gushing,  our heroine fry one of the villians with gasoline (two full cans just happened to be in the train car where the confrontation takes place) and, in the time honored tradition of movie justice, despite the hero sloshing gas all over him/herself while dousing everything else, when the match is lit the flame obediently goes only towards the villian and the resulting fire conveniently leaves a nice, safe path for the hero(ine) to escape without so much as a a scratch or heat residue.

There's more, but as you can tell, I'm just not buying it and I don't think you will, either. Some will call this a blatant rip off of Hostel, merely set on a train. I don't know, maybe. I do respect what director Gideon Raff was trying to do and there are some visually compelling scenes, but there are also a few poorly choreographed "fight" scenes that negate that, such as when Birch hits the villainess, her fist visibly does not come within feet of her face.

But, when you don't have a good story, all is for naught and not even the good acting of Birch and graphic gore scenes can save that. The attempt at a "twist' is weak at best, especially since the motive for whats the point of all this is revealed too early, in awkward fashion, and doesn't make sense. In Hostel, it was killing for the sport of it.

Those of us who have lived long enough in this world can admit that there are (thankfully) few people out there who would do that. Here, the motive is organ harvesting. Not that there aren't folks who would do it, but performing the "operations" on a moving train? And just randomly luring incredibly dopey victims and just hoping they'll have the right blood types, etc? Not to mention just hoping someone will actually board the unscheduled train to nowhere? C'mon.

Those of you who have read my reviews know I'm pretty liberal in giving props to flicks because I truly believe-for serious film buffs-that it is the rare movie that has no redeeming value and should be avoided at all costs. Plus, you know the saying, "One man's trash is another's treasure." And, just to be clear, I'm not saying this one should be avoided at all costs, undoubtedly, a few will like it, if for not other reason than the gore and/or Ms. Birch, or the revenge theme, which is (almost) always fun.  But, I've always been honest with you guys and I won't stop now.

Train is a dud.   


   

Directed by Michael Mann. Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotilliard, Giovanni Ribisi, Billy Crudup, Lili Taylor, Branka Tatic, Leelee Sobieski. Drama/True Crime/Gangsters/HIstorical. Synopsis: A biopic of famed gangster John Dillinger focusing on his meteoric rise to being "Public Enemy #1" and eventual death at the hands of federal agents on the streets of Chicago, a span of little more than 1 year. 

Its hard to imagine a flick starring Johnny Depp not being good on some level, and when you have an interesting story and a talented and large supporting cast, you would think the flick is going to be pretty good and Public Enemies is pretty good.

The first thing you should know is, though the flick focuses on John Dillinger (Johnny Deep From Hell), this historical movie also spends quite a bit of time with other real life individuals, including contemporary gangsters like Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi Flight Of The Phoenix) and Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum G.I.Joe) as well as the lawmen pursuing them such as Bureau agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale The Dark Knight) and Bureau director J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup Sleepers). So, in a way, this is an ensemble cast, but to me its more the story of two people. Dillinger and Purvis, and their parallel lives which are about to intersect.

Also understand that this isn't a real biographical movie. Yes, its about legendary bank robber John Dillinger, but don't expect to see his life story portrayed here, nor even fleeting scenes or references to his childhood or early adulthood (which is really his life since the man was only 31 when he was killed). This film focuses on what is only 13 months of his life, from his release from prison through his some of his more infamous bank robberies and prison raids, and his relationship with Billie Frenchette (Marion Cotilliard).

Mann does a wonderful job of bringing 30s/Depression era middle America to life, which isn't easy since so few are now old enough to remember this era. Usually, in period pieces, when we say, "that really looked like the '30s", or 40s or 1860s or whatever, what we're really saying is the flick looked like what we think the period was like based on other movies we've seen.  In Public Enemies, I think you'll really get the sense that you're watching something unfold in 1933 and '34 onscreen, from the set design, costume design, dialogue, and score.

As always, whenever a movie is done about historical events, especially those which are easy to document, I'm a stickler for historical accuracy. My thought is, if the event is interesting or important enough to make a movie about 5, 10, 20,100 or 500 years after it occurred, why do filmmakers need to change things for the purpose of dramatic license? As far as I can determine from my background research and limited knowledge of Dillinger, Public Enemies is extremely accurate in the actual events, and only takes dramtic license in the sequence of some secondary events (e.g a very powerful scene which occurs between Bureau of Investigation Director Hoover and Senator McKellar, which in fact did occur, but not until 1935, after Dillinger's death, when the movie implies it happened during the manhunt for Dillinger) and, of course, personal communications between historical figures that no one can know for certain.

The acting is very good, as you would expect from glancing at the names in the cast. When you have actors as talented as Lili Taylor and Giovanni Ribisi playing minor roles, you've probably got some outstanding talent in your flick. Depp was great, as always, but I don't think this will be remembered as one of his best roles, which is not a criticism but an an acknowledgment of how good this guy is. I thought Christian Bale was outstanding. His ability to disappear into a role is not quite on the level of Sean Penn or Morgan Freeman or Jack Nicholson....yet. But, he's on his way.

I didn't know much about Cotilliard prior to this flick, but her performance as Billie Frechette, whom the movie strongly designates as the love of Dillinger's life, is simmering and the chemistry with Depp works very well. My favorite scene is one in which she is harshly treated and beaten by a federal agent in an attempt to elicit information about Dillinger. Its not my favorite because of the violence, but because Cotilliard plays it so well. Everyone will have empathy for her. An interesting tidbit on this scene is that a witness to it, the secretary of Melvin Purvis, was still alive at the time of the filming of this movie and told Mann about it in detail, something he shares with us on the excellent director's commentary feature on the DVD.             

I also need to give a shout out to Branka Tatic, who I thought nailed the role of Anna Sage, the real life "Lady In Red" who helped the feds set up Dillinger for his assassination outside a Chicago theater. Along those lines, those of you who might be interested in seeing other stuff about Dillinger or specifically about how he met his end might want to check out a '70s flick called The Lady In Red which tells the story from the perspective of one of Dillinger's reputed gbirlfriends, Polly Hamilton, who was present with him on his last night at the theater. (Pamela Sue Martin of Nancy Drew fame is Polly in the '79, flick. Leelee Sobieski plays Polly in Public Enemies) Louise Fletcher plays Anna in that movie with Robert Conrad as Dillinger.

Bottom line, Public Enemies is a very well directed and well acted flick that all fans of true crime, Depp or Bale will enjoy. I'm not saying its a great film, but it sure as hell is a very good one, no doubt about it.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

Directed by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson. Starring: (Voice) Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Delroy Lindo.Animated/Family/Fantasy. Synopsis: An elderly widower seeks out his ultimate adventure and flys away in his house to a mystical island in South America he's dreamed of since he was a boy. Unknown to him, he has an ambitious young wilderness explorer has stowed away in the house and the two reach Paradise Falls where they encounter exoctic animals and a long forgotten adventure hero.  

Delightful. Great story. Incredible animation and videography. Its pretty simple, this is an excellent film. The only even minimal criticism I could level at this one is that there are bonus features on the DVD, my understanding is that there will be a special edition DVD with those things on it and I'll bet that one is excellent, too, but it would have been nice to have both on one disc.

UP  is the story of Carl Frederickson (Ed Asner JFK), and we meet him as a boy who is mesmerized by news reel footage of an adventurer named Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer Malcolm X Somewhere In Time) who has visited a strange and exotic place in South America called Paradise Falls. Muntz becomes Carl's hero and Carl starts acting out his adventure fantasies around the neighborhood. One day he meets a young girl named Ellie who is playing alone in an abandoned house and the two become friends and end up getting married. From that point starts a delightful montage-with no dialogue-where we see Carl and Ellie progress as young adults, buy the abandoned home where they met and fix up; experience the heartbreak of not being able to have children, grow old together, and ultimately Ellie's death. It is a surprisingly powerful theme for an animated flick but it is very well done and, if I can use the cliche, heartwarming.

Its at this point in the present day when the story really starts, Carl the widower still living in his beloved house, now surrounded by urban sprawl, talking out loud to his beloved Ellie and refusing to either sell his property or move to the Shady Oaks retirment home.

Carl (a dead ringer in animation for Spencer Tracy in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?)  is aq bit crotchety, as we see with a young boy named Russell (Jordan Nagai) who is an aspiring Wilderness Explorer looking to get his badge for assisting the elderly, as well as when Carl gets a little rough with a construction worker which ends up getting him ordered to a retirement home.

But, Carl has other ideas. The morning that they come to "take him away", the former balloon salesman has a surprise for them when he frees hundreds of balloons that lift his home off of its foundation and floating high above the clouds towards Paradise Falls. The industrious Carl has also installed a navigation system to steer so its all good and peaceful...until there is a knock at the door! Yes, it seems Russell happened to be in the foundation of the house, looking for "snipe" (which Carl had said to him to get Russell off his front stoop at their first meeting)

So, Carl has company and it comes in handy when they have sort of a rough landing near Paradise Falls. There, they encounter never seen before animals such as a colorful giant bird who playfully loves to swallow things whole and then spit them out and also loves chocolate. Russell names him Kevin. Next up comes 'Dug', a friendly dog who, when his collar is enabled, can talk.

All Carl wants to do is get his home settled and get Russell home, but it seems Dug is just one of many dogs who can talk with the special collar. And, who is the mastermind behind the talking dogs? Well, none other than the long gone and forgotten Charles Muntz, who has dedicated his long life to proving the existence of a specific breed of bird to the world of doubters, namely, capturing Kevin.

The whole story is just fun from start to finish, with the growing relationship between Russell and Carl being the main centerpiece of the story, but there are also plenty of laughs throughout as well. Charles Muntz is a wonderfully sinister character, but in the end we see he was completely warped by his own desire for adventure in the opposite way that Carl comes to realize he already, and can continue to have, his own wonderful adventure without going to the other side of the planet.

I'm no expert on animation (or anything else, for that matter), but what Pixar does is exceptional, in my opinion. I mean, you feel like these are real characters at times. One example is the stubble that develops on Carl's chin. And, of course, what classic animated picture could be complete without adorable, talking animals? (Listen for the voice of Delroy Lindo Ransom, as one of Muntz's talking dogs) 

This is a wonderful movie and I can't imagine any movie fan of any age or genre preference who would not enjoy it as some level.         

Directed by Robbie Bryan Starring Terri Colombino, Frank Grillo, Gabrielle Anwar, Tony Todd, Billy Dee Williams, William Forsythe, Margaret Colin, Charles Durning, Joanne Baron, Brooke Lewis, Miranda Kwok. Suspense/Mystery. Synopsis: A killer is systematically targeting members of a web chat room who seem to have no other connection to one another.

When you look at the cast in this one, you probably have a hard time believing its a smaller budget production, but it is, and that is not to criticize it in anyway. Frankly, the more I look at film the more I become convinced that a lot of the best stories on film come from the indie (by definition "small budget") film world. And, in terms of acting, you could not ask for more talent on a smaller film and the story is interesting as well.

What keeps iMurders from being the excellent film I feel it could have been is a slightly choppy script, a couple of underdeveloped characters/back story, and a couple of holes in a far fetched plot.

The story begins with a woman who catchers her husband in the middle of adulterous activity and what then seems to be (we hear it but don't see it) a murder. Then we skip forward about one year and the plot centers around a group of people who are either a member or close to someone who is an active member of a chat room on "facespace", an internet social networking group. (Some might think the combination of the names from the two most popular real life social networks is cheesy, but I kind of got a kick out of it).

We've got a cast of characters worthy of a fairly distinguished ensemble cast: the young professional woman who is new in her New Jersey town and kind of vague about her recent past (Terri Colombino); the eligible bachelor in her new complex who is an ex-cop (Frank Grillo); the nosy temporary landlord (Joanne Baron); on the other side of the country in northern CA we have the philandering college professor (William Forsythe The Devil's Rejects) , his wife who does not seem to have any clue (Margaret Colin Independence Day) ; in New York we have the slick talking personal injury lawyer (Billy Dee Williams Undercover Brother)  and his disfigured former model client (Gabriel Anwar) and in Boston an intense woman (Miranda Kwok) looking to avenge the death of her lover who relates her feelings to her shrink (Charles Durning Dog Day Afternoon)

Sound kind of far flung? Well, it is and it makes some of the story kind of hard to follow and when you figure it out, a little hard to buy. Anyway, like I said, these folks are connected by their participation in the chat room and one by one, someone is getting whacked. The problem is, these folks don't really know one another and aren't even sure that their fellow chat buddies are really being killed. Couldn't it all just be a part of the 'game'? Luckily enough, into the breach comes the FBI with two agents hot on the trail (Tony Todd Murder Set Pieces and Brooke Lewis). For a little added spice the female FBI agent is the sister of our ex-cop and, they both have a connection to the attorney who (big surprise!!!) turns out to be a slimeball.

I will say that it will likely be obvious to most who watch this who the killer is fairly early in the story. The problem is that experienced fans of this genre will spot the red herrings early on and, even if not, the red herrings are removed from the equation too soon. I'm not one who says a mystery flick where the mystery is a little obvious necessarily ruins the film, because I'm not sure that it does. However, I do have to say that I thought some of the characters and their back story(ies) were not developed very well. My opinion is that the film bites off more than it can chew with the number of characters we're supposed to get to know. In fairness, I think this was done to give us more suspects but it didn't necessarily work, we know full well the killer is one of a couple of people.

Also, I think most of you who watch would probably agree that a couple of characters and their side stories were unnecessary for the film. Specifically, I think the film would have been stronger without Billy Dee Williams and William Forsythe's characters. They both did well, Billy Dee is as cool as ever and I got a kick out of seeing William Forsythe in a different type of role for him as the pony tailed professor who sees himself as Lothario. I can certainly understand the desire to get these two actors some screen time, but I think it took from the primary story.

The dialogue is kind of choppy and "dorky" at times, plus some of the situations are just hard to buy, especially Brooke Lewis as an FBI agent and the choreography of the gun play near the end.

I think my main shout outs in terms of the acting have to go to Todd and Baron. Todd just nails it as the hulking FBI guy and Baron had the most depth of any character as well as the most interesting dialogue.

Like I said, there is no pretending you're not watching a small film when you see some of the set dressings and locations. The story and cast could have been enough to make this one a home run but it doesn't happen, primarily I think because of the script which was awkward due to all the different layers it tried to deal with.

But, by all means, don't steer clear of this one at all. Its good enough that you will be talking about it when its done no matter what you think of the ending, and when you get right down to it with suspense/mystery, that is all you can expect from the flick.