Thursday, Jan. 01, 2009

Thoughts of movies from 2008

By Gary Wolcott, atomictown.com

Violence on-screen and off

I occasionally complain about theater etiquette. People have become increasingly rude. They talk on their phones, talk to each other, text message and bring bratty kids to films that even adults should think twice about attending.

Texting is what boggles my mind the most. Movies aren’t cheap. Once you grab some popcorn and a soda, the price tag is in excess of $20. After shelling out that amount for one person -- and maybe twice that for two -- people multitask and receive/write texts two, three, or four times during a movie.

I’m not alone in being miffed. The bright lights of today’s cell phones, iPhones and BlackBerries are distracting and annoying.

A lot of people can’t find babysitters and take their kids to the movies. That’s fine -- even encouraged -- if the film is aimed at children. But kids don’t belong at gory, bloody, violent movies. Last year, I was shocked and I complained about unthinking parents who took 5- and 6-year old children to 30 Days of Night. That’s child abuse.

Children are bored at adult movies. They fidget, fuss, talk, kick seats, run up and down aisles, cry -- did I leave anything out?

A man and his son were talking through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in Philadelphia. After shushing the two several times, a frustrated young man started throwing popcorn at the child. That began a war of words between him and the child’s father. That lead to a gun being pulled, and the father being shot.

I can’t approve of people shooting people at movies -- or anywhere else -- but the report isn’t surprising.

I do a couple of hundred movies a year and will admit that cell phone etiquette is improving. Credit a big push by theaters, directors such as Martin Scorsese, the late Sidney Pollack, actor John C. Reilly and other prominent moviemakers who have done pre-movie features asking all of us to be more courteous about answering our cell phones and sending text messages. Though the practice continues, I do see more of an effort by those offending to keep their phones out of sight and texting to a minimum.

Constant and loud talking during movies and kids in theaters are another story. Hopefully once theaters, film producers and film talent get cell phone etiquette under control that will be the next big push.

What we watched

The top four grossing films of 2008 involved super heroes and a much-anticipated return of an action hero icon.

The Heath Ledger-fueled The Dark Knight and Batman brought in just more than $500 million. Iron Man was No. 2 with $318 million. The super hero spoof Hancock was fourth at $227 million.

The long awaited Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Harrison Ford collaboration that returned Indiana Jones to movie screens turned into Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The movie was so-so but made megabucks at the box office bringing in $317 million.

Four of the next six were animated features: Wall-E, Kung-Fu Panda and Madagascar 2 were sixth through eighth.

Horton Hears a Who was No. 9. Super spy/action hero James Bond’s Quantum of Solace brought in $157 million at No. 10.

Sex and the City was 10.

Just missing the top 10 and perhaps by the time the counting is done a month or so from now Twilight, the very popular teen-aimed vampire flick, will crash the top 10 and knock Sex down to 11.

Ten of 10 are fictional super hero-like characters, animated features or fantasy characters. And don’t tell me Sex and the City is real life. Get real. These characters aren’t close to real people. It is pure fantasy. Big time.

Is there some sort of deep meaning here? Has life become such a drudge, so busy, and so stressful that fantasy and larger than life characters have become more appealing than ordinary meat-and-potatoes characters?

Are we so addicted to our computers, cell phones and electronic gadgets and to violent, fantasy video games that only super heroes, familiar action heroes or pique our movie interest?

An ordinary year
The year 2008 wasn’t a great year for movies. Other than The Dark Knight, Twilight, Sex in the City, and to a certain extent, seeing how Daniel Craig did in his second stint as James Bond in Quantum of Solace, there wasn’t much to anticipate in 2008. Movies weren’t bad, and movies weren’t good. They were just -- well -- movies.

Feedback

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed garnered the most response of all of 2008’s reviews.

My praise of Ben Stein’s critique of the science of evolution and the attitudes of academia to those believing in intelligent design ticked off a lot of readers. And they weren’t just from the Tri-Cities. A scientist from one of the groups interviewed by Stein wrote and attempted to “straighten” me out.

I suspect most of the criticism of my praise of Stein’s position came from people who didn’t see the movie. A lot of criticism I receive about my critiques is from individuals who don’t actually see the movie they’re defending.

Quite often people get mad just to get mad. It has always bothered me. Not the criticism but criticism from people honked off at a movie critic and who use all that energy righting what they perceive as a movie wrong. There are so many worthy causes needing that kind of enthusiasm. It seems such a waste.

My advice to my critics: Spend more time worrying about what’s happening in your community, what city hall is doing, or the county, or the state, or the feds. Injustice is rampant. Find a cause. Make a sign. Organize a protest.

Here’s another example of wasted energy. Several readers took exception to my negative review of the drug-heavy Pineapple Express. Here’s what I wrote:

“Get some ganja. Light up, and we laugh. Nothing funnier than a bozo with a bong. And to couch such crap in a comedy and pass off these characters and their anti-social antics as cool is unconscionable. Though each finds a new definition of the value of friendship it's impossible to find anything redeeming or funny about losers abusing drugs.”

Those thinking my view is over-the-top and that I’m way too critical of potheads need to read a letter sent to a theater chain executive by a moviegoer upset that Pineapple Express didn’t open in his market. I’m sharing it with you as it was shared with me full of spelling and grammatical errors and left exactly how the person sent it.

“If your goal is to make money, put Pineapple Express in the theaters. This is a Big pothead town and big pothead film = lots of cash... Im talkin people goin with the munchies, cotton mouth, the need to play video games... come on guys. You gotta think about these things. I personally know at least 50 people (420 friendly people) that are mad as hell that pineapple express isnt in your theatres, there All adults that are gonna go at night, with the munchies and will go back again the next week since the movie is as good as everyone says it is... with their friends... if you want to make some cash and make a lot of satisfied customers put pineapple express in your facility. It would be GREATLY appreciated. thanks for listening.”

I rest my case.

Funny you should ask

Zack and Miri Make a Porno is the year’s most risky title. If I sent the title to you in an email, your computer would recognize it as spam and send me to junk mail or worse. Writer/director Kevin Smith and the studio eventually changed the film’s title to just Zack and Miri.

It was a sweet but predictable love story.

The year’s best love story was Wall-E. Two animated robots got more mileage expressing love with zero words and lots of gestures than most actors get with pages of dialogue. It also had terrific slapstick comedy bits.

Zack and Miri and Tropic Thunder topped my comedy book and the latter more because of Tom Cruise’s unrecognizable character and great comic lines.

I also had some discomfort praising a movie about a couple making a porn film. There’s nothing positive about porn and explaining this to my mom -- who is a regular reader -- was a bit uncomfortable.

Acting

Wow. What stands out most for 2008 is the acting.

Most of the raves last year were tossed Heath Ledger’s way. His performance as The Joker blew a lot of minds. He is a shoo-in for a Golden Globe, the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and a dozen other awards.

Comparisons began immediately between his version and Jack Nicholson’s legendary work from 1989’s Batman. Nicholson didn’t get nominated for anything. Denzel Washington took home the Oscar for Glory. Danny Aiello was nominated for Do the Right Thing Dan Aykroyd got one for Driving Miss Daisy, Marlon Brando wowed some people with A Dry White Season and Martin Landau shined in Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Great work all and outside of Washington’s Glory, none were better than Nicholson. Comic book characters rarely get award “glory” or much else.

Some wonder, though, if Ledger’s work would be Golden Globe or Oscar worthy if he hadn’t died tragically from an accidental overdose. I think so. It was a very, very good performance.

Other actors also worked in 2008. Some of them gave exceptional performances and some of those performances topped Ledger’s. In fact, you have to feel sorry for those having to pick the award winners for best actor from this year’s movie crop. Frank Langella’s Richard Nixon from Frost/Nixon managed to make the disgraced president sympathetic and even almost likeable.

Sean Penn could be the cream of the crop. He was stunning in Milk -- the slightly homogenized version of the political rise of gay advocate and former San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk. James Franco also had an exceptional supporting part in Milk. Franco is one of the most underrated actors working today. It is nice to see him get some deserved raves for outstanding comedy work in Pineapple Express. His performance is all there is to like about the movie.

Then there’s Mickey Rourke. A life of drugging, drinking and debauchery haven’t been kind to Rourke’s looks but -- man -- it is the perfect recipe for garnering nods for awards for The Wrestler. Of the three, Rourke’s work is my favorite.

And the movie was good, too.

No year would be complete without a gem from Meryl Streep. She exchanged verbal punches at an award-winning caliber with Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt. Streep also put a ton of energy into the less than noteworthy -- but very popular -- Mamma Mia.

Anne Hathaway showed surprising depth as a recovering addict in Rachel Getting Married. Few performances by actresses rocked my world more than Melissa Leo’s for Frozen River. Unfortunately, when it comes to awards not enough people saw the movie. Catch it on DVD if you get a chance.

It was another solid year for Kate Winslet. She teamed again with Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road and had a supporting role in The Reader. Both were award worthy.

Speaking of award-worthy plus fun. Frances McDormand had a blast in Burn After Reading and shined in Miss Pettygrew Lives for a Day

If you missed these when they were in theaters or can’t catch them when they finally get here, do see them on DVD.

You didn’t have to be so nice

W is Oliver Stone’s biopic on the life of President George W. Bush. It is part comedy, part history lesson and an even-handed, almost nice telling of Bush’s story through the end of the first term.

Stone’s casting is uncanny. Josh Brolin nails Bush’s mannerisms and speaking style. If you close your eyes, then you won’t be able to tell the difference between imitation and the real thing. Eyes open and Brolin looks more like NBC TV’s Tom Brokaw.

Others are practically clones of their real-life counterparts. Richard Dreyfuss looks so much like Vice President Dick Cheney that it is spooky. Thandie Newton and her whiney, nasal delivery is totally irritating as Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell’s voice of reason is found in a pitch perfect performance by Jeffrey Wright.

Rounding out the exceptional performances from the main players is James Cromwell as George Herbert Walker Bush and Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush. If you missed this in theaters, don’t miss it on DVD.

A few of the best you didn’t see

Here’s a switch. Tell No One is a French thriller based on an American novel instead of the other way around. A woman is murdered. Her husband can’t get over her. Then one day he gets an email…she might be alive. It’s a terrific mystery and has been hanging around in art house theaters in the nation’s larger cities since early last summer.

Choke got released in big cities first and was supposed to layer out into smaller markets. For some reason that didn’t happen. Too bad for the Tri-Cities. Though it’s not for everyone, this is a comedy about a sex addict who runs a con game based on choking. And no, it’s not what you’re thinking.

Sam Rockwell, Kelly MacDonald, Anjelica Huston and others star. Actor Clark Gregg has a bit part, wrote the screenplay based on Chuck Palahniuk’s novel and directs.

Shine a Light is director Martin Scorsese’s homage to the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts have more wrinkles than an average Shar Pei but this two-hour IMAX concert proves that being over 60 -- and in some cases nearly 70 -- doesn’t mean you can’t rock with the best of them.

The music will blow your mind. See this on a big-screen, high def TV with the best sound system you can get and crank it up. One “ew” moment has the anorexic looking Mick Jagger shaking his butt at squealing 20-something beautiful babes. There is just something really wrong with that picture.

And why is it producers of concert films and concert TV events always pack the front with beautiful people? Average looking and -- yes -- even ugly people go to concerts and to movies.

They will be missed

This is a partial list of actors who died in 2008. There are more, but these are the losses that stood out to me.

Heath Ledger: After doing The Joker in The Dark Knight, it’s almost as if Ledger did nothing else. He was a brilliant actor who -- if I did the picking -- would have gotten the Oscar for Brokeback Mountain and who shined in films few people saw like Lords of Dogtown.

Paul Newman: The most natural actor of all-time. No one other than Denzel Washington has ever been more comfortable on-camera. And Newman gave us more than just great movies. His enduring marriage set an example for us all and his humanitarian efforts made the world a better place.

Bernie Mac: The most disgusting food scene in history is Mac eating an orange in Bad Santa. He was a talented and funny supporting actor who was just hitting his stride.

Roy Scheider: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” from Jaws is one of the most famous movie lines in history.

Van Johnson: Comedy, drama, you name it. Johnson could do it and brilliantly. In his day, he was a matinee idol.

George Carlin: The funniest man ever in the history of Earth. Period. And he was an excellent actor.

Charlton Heston: His most famous line didn’t come from a movie. As the president of the National Rifle Association, Heston said the only way you’d take away his gun is from his “cold, dead hands.” As an actor, we loved him as Moses, as an Oscar winning Ben Hurand doing two of my favorite sci-fi flicks -- Planet of the Apes and The Omega Man.

Sidney Pollack: A great actor. A great director. And he became my hero as the first celebrity to do an advertisement before movies urging people to turn off their cell phones. He interrupts a young man having an intimate conversation with his girlfriend and saying something like, “Oh, I’m sorry. Is my directing ruining your phone call? How rude of me.”

Harvey Korman: Known more for TV and The Carol Burnett Show than movies, Korman was one of the best straight men in comedy history.

The Best of 2008

Doing a top-10 list of favorites is my least favorite task of the year. Critics usually have a small pile of movies that they like in a year. Once in awhile a film such as Wall-E makes the top pick easy. And a few others will naturally fall into line. But to pick 10 of them is nearly impossible. I had about 25 on my semi-final list. This whittled-down list is based on films that have been on Tri-City screens or should be soon.

1. Wall-E: The year’s best movie, the year’s best love story and the year’s deepest characters. I love this movie.
2. Young @ Heart: People whose ages average over 80 singing rock and roll like you’ve never heard it sung. I laughed. I cried.
3. Slumdog Millionaire: Original, intense, fascinating with a dead-on moral. Danny Boyle -- please make more movies.
4. The Wrestler: Fascinating character study of the downside of fame anchored by a stunning performance from Mickey Rourke.
5. Frost/Nixon: I saw the televised interviews. They weren’t memorable. I’ll find it impossible to forget the movie. Frank Langella made you almost like disgraced ex-president Richard Nixon. The phone call scene is worth the price of the ticket.
6. Revolutionary Road: One of those movies that grows on you. It reunites Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in a difficult character study about people trying to break away from the trappings of ordinary life in the late 1950s and early 60s.
7. Doubt: The story is intense. As a play, it won a Pulitzer Prize. Who cares? It’s the acting. Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman go toe-to-toe and the sparks fly.
8. Iron Man: Only Robert Downey Jr. could have pulled this character off. His performance punctuates a terrific tale packed with dynamite special effects.
9. Milk: A slightly homogenized version of San Francisco’s first openly-gay elected politician. Sean Penn shines and you have to wonder how California’s no-to-gay-marriage Proposition 8 would have fared if this came out two months earlier in September rather than November.
10. The Dark Knight: Only the acting of Heath Ledger puts this in the top 10. It’s a great movie, but it's an hour too long. Take Ledger out of the equation and this is average at best.

Just missing the list but as good as films five through 10: Burn After Reading, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Rachel Getting Married, Snow Angels, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Reader

The Worst of 2008

This list is just about as difficult to do as the best. There are so many deserving movies produced by people who have no clue. Most of these movies have appeared on Tri-City screens. Those that haven’t shouldn’t.

1. Synechode, NY: This one didn’t make it to the Tri-Cities. Pray that it doesn’t. Charlie Kaufman’s script Adaptation turned into a great movie about a book that couldn’t be adapted into a movie. This is an incoherent mess of a movie about a movie that couldn’t be adapted into a movie.
2. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan: Redefines disgusting. Even for Adam Sandler the bad taste hits an all-time low.
3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars: An animated concept so boring that a kid in the row behind me kept asking mom and dad if he could go bye-bye. The Force has, indeed, left George Lucas.
4. Speed Racer: Spiffy, other-worldly effects and colors that probably haven’t been invented yet dominate this overly long, plotless, pointless piece of crap from the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix).
5. 88 Minutes: A 108-minute Al Pacino star vehicle that is 88 minutes too long.
6. Love Guru: Finally. Proof that outside of Austin Powers and voicing Shrek, Mike Myers isn’t funny. Not even close.
7. Seven Pounds: Seven pounds of what? My answer is as unprintable as this Will Smith star vehicle was unintelligible.
8. Nim’s Island: Jodie Foster hammered a final nail in her dying career. Child star Abigail Breslin didn’t help hers. Someone on Nimwit Island produced this one.
9. Tie Fly Me to the Moon 3-D and Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D: Brilliant effects, brain death for a plot. Fly was made for children and has dialogue and a storyline with all the class of a play for second graders. Journey is a remake that completely destroys one of one of the best sci-fi concepts of all time.
10. Tie Made of Honor and Nights in Rodanthe: Padded plots, cardboard characters and paint-by-numbers romance. What’s not to not like?

Dishonorable mention: 10,000 B.C., Hancock, The Happening, The Spirit, Step Brothers, Wanted, Twilight.