Banzai! 2010 Catch-Up, Part II

I think I have one more 2010 Catch-Up in me, so expect that before months end. I want to enter April completely anew without thinking of last year releases. Enjoy!

The Fighter

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, Jack McGee
Written by Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
Directed by David O. Russell
Release: 10 December 2010
Relativity Media, 115 mins., Rated R

Plot: Mickey Ward is a boxer with a crazy family life that may either be his strength or weakness.

I made a serious error in judgment with choosing not to see The Fighter until yesterday. Can't blame me, really. The trailer, the title, the poster - it all stank of those damn inspirational Disney flicks where a underdog builds himself into a legend, overcoming any and all roadblocks that may confront him and in the end, succeeds and lives his dream. I did not, and still do not, want to see another retelling of that damn story. It's no longer inspirational or 'impossible' (as the trailer for Secretariat likes us to believe), it's just redundant with no value whatsoever.

Luckily The Fighter is not this.

Yes, The Fighter is about a man overcoming obstacles and becoming something and fulfilling an ambition, but it's also about a lot more than that, and with all those elements and the interesting angle the film takes - emphasizing the family dynamic and rounded personality of our protagonist - the movie ended up exceeding my expectations and becoming an completely enjoyable film that I daresay I liked a lot.

Direction by David O. Russell, although not award worthy, is definitely worth recognition: the title shot with the speedy pullback was quite cool, the hand held cinematography (especially in the boxing scenes) worked quite well, despite being overused in films these days. As mentioned a thousand times before, Christian Bale is quite awesome as Micky's troubled brother Dicky, but frankly, I found the real powerhouse performance to be Amy Adams as Micky's love interest (and mine, too!) Charlene. Full of sass, vigor, and ass-whoopin', Charlene is a great character brilliantly brought to life by Adams. And what's more, it's Charlene who knocks some sense into Micky, who makes him take charge of his life more instead of being submissive to what his mother, Melissa Leo, and family want for him. So what it's worth, Adams is amazing in this movie. But that's not to underscore the great job Mark Wahlberg and Bale provided, cementing a brotherly love constantly tried by a crazy family, loads of cocaine use, and other really shitty events that seem to blow up in Micky's face.

I liked the emphasis on family, and Micky's attempt to go down his own path made up by his own choices, not directed by his mother or bazillion sisters who seem to speak in unison. In the end, Micky settles with needing his family involved somehow, but not being overbearing. It's the sort of development I'm not 100% behind - it seems a little backpedaling, really: a few steps forward, one step back - but it's sweet and displayed with unflinching honesty by the screenwriters and director Russell. In fact, it's the blunt honesty of everything onscreen (in addition to the fine performances) that make this movie work well.

The Fighter is not amazing, it's not something you've never seen before, but it works, and it feels fresh and original while you're watching it and never fails to keep your interest. The really odd but good-willing family dynamic and sassy performance from Adams make this movie. It's all in the title: it's not the fights, it's the fighter that's on display here, and for my two cents, it's pretty damn good.

Rating: 8/10 = A fight you can believe in.

How Do You Know

Starring Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd, Jack Nicholson
Written and Directed by James L. Brooks
Release: 17 December 2010
Gracie Films, 117 mins., Rated R

The first thing one should know about How Do You Know is that it is not a romantic comedy. Yes, there are moments of funny, but first and foremost, it seems to be a drama. Here we have two characters with dark, depressing lives: an 31-year old athlete (Witherspoon) who is let go from her team, and a business man being investigated for fraud and facing three years in prison (Rudd). The comedy stems from the utter disbelief off Rudd's face and, mostly, Owen Wilson's womanizing millionaire who fancies himself in "love" with Witherspoon's Lisa. But for the most part, the movie isn't funny, it's a bit confusing, and is most definitely does not adhere to expectations. For one, the characters come off extremely unlikable, particularly Lisa who seems like a bitch far more than remotely likable. Were it not for Rudd's George and his ability to sell love-struck puppy magnificently, I wouldn't have one iota of a clue that there was some sort of attraction between these two. If there's one way to sum up How Do You Know, it's unconventional. These characters' lives suck, they're either a bitch, super freaked out, or a clueless stud who is new to the whole relationship thing. And surprisingly, I was at a point where I genuinely didn't know where this story was headed. In retrospect, it's all very obvious now, but the film throws a bunch of elements into the mix that what one is expecting seems like it might not come to pass, which is a good thing. Overall, How Do You Know means well, and the actors do all they can (especially Rudd and Wilson, the true stars of the film), but it isn't successful in conveying its story, making us really fall in love or even care for these characters, and ends up being a mess moreso than an enjoyable movie.

Rating: 4/10 = Most definitely odd, misguided, and not for everyone, and very much "meh"

It's Kind of a Funny Story

Starring Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Viola Davis, Lauren Graham, Jim Gaffigan
Written and Directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
Release: 8 October 2010
Focus Features, 101 mins., Rated PG-13

Plot: Craig feels like he's about to burst, getting to the point where he's contemplating suicide, and checks himself into a hospital for some help in dealing with his issues.

I'm just going to be straight up: I loved It's Kind of a Funny Story, and in fact, I plan on buying it on DVD next paycheck. I don't think it's for everyone - it may seem unoriginal, a bit forced, and at times groan-worthy with the acting (particularly the lead) - but I think it all works from beginning to end, this is a solid movie with a clever script and some damn fine performances. I love this movie, and this is why:

Zack Galifianakis, for the first time ever, was restrained, not obnoxious, and actually delivered one hell of a fine performance. Zack plays Bobby, someone who establishes a friendship with our protagonist Craig (even nicknaming him 'Cool Craig') and plays a sort of mentor for Craig. Galifianakis is all about the acting here, not so much preoccupied with acting like a dumbass and bringing on the laughs - he's completely in character, and thanks to the very cool script, his character becomes just as cool and entirely memorable.

Youngsters Emma Roberts and Keir Gilchrist are great in their respective roles, Keir as Craig the awkward boy who feels boggled down by stress, and Roberts as Noelle, a girl with her own problems and ends up sparking a relationship with Craig. The chemistry and relationship between these two is fantastic, and definitely a highlight. Can't help it, I got all giddy like a girl watching The O.C. or something when these two leads were onscreen and their friendship was building.

The script is superb. Craig has quite the comical personality, full of sarcastic asides and humorous awkward moments. Craig is a teen, falls into the same teen traps: hormones, stress, need for fun, and it's all brought to screen wonderfully. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have written and directed a movie that accomplishes so much. It has heart, it has some great characters that are not stereotypes and are very much rounded and completely interesting, it has a nice, fast-paced story worth telling, and loads of comedy and genuine humor. It doesn't get hammy like a bloody Hallmark movie; it does say, 'hey, mental illness sucks', it's simply about a teenage boy who is going through a lot in life to the point where he's contemplating ending it, and he finds help in the friendships and relationship he starts at the hospital. It's a happy story that's told honestly in a non-corny way, and I give kudos to it for that.

Overall, just give it a chance. It's smart, it's funny, it's endearing. At the very least this will be the only time Zack BeardedMan gives a great performance, so that's definitely worth checking out, no?

Rating: 9/10 = It's Kind of a Great Movie.

My Soul to Take

Starring Max Thieriot, Denzel Whitaker, Raul Esparza, Shareeka Epps, Emily Meade, Zena Grey
Written and Directed by Wes Craven
Release: 8 October 2010
Rogue Pics, 107 mins., Rated R

Plot: The soul of a serial killer may just have implanted itself in one of the kids who were born sixteen years ago on the night its original host 'died'.

My Soul to Take is something special. It's written and directed by Wes Craven, one of the true masters of horror, and one of the directors in that field I super respect thanks to the Scream trilogy. And honestly, that's quite puzzling, cos Craven is known for some really great cinematic ventures. This is not one of them. In fact, My Soul to Take is special because it's so damn weird, so damn horribly written and acted and completely messed up, it therefore enables me to say this:

What the FRAK?

Just a word of caution: this review is going to be all over the place, because even hours later, I'm still in a state of disbelief of what I just watched. I went in expecting badness, knowing full well I would get that in spades, but what I got in addition to that is rather surprising. I went in with the expectation of something like David S. Goyer's The Invisible mixed in with a serial killer which isn't actually a serial killer but one of the kids. Well, I was sorta right, but mostly wrong. Yes, the killer does end up being a bit obvious, but whereas The Invisible but a coherent script that knew full well what it was, what direction to go, and wrote logical, dare I say dimensional characters, My Soul to Take boasts characters that I feel were written by a kid in sixth grade.

Let's take, for example, the character of Leah, or as she's known around campus "Fang". Firstly, her character comes across as a complete cartoon throughout most of the film, and it's not until the last act where she is given greater depth. Well, it just so happens that she has a sordid past that has made her act out and be generally crazy. One case that particularly left me smiling wondering what the frak was going on was when she flat out beats the shit out of her brother, Bug. And not just a bunch here or there, but something from a less spectacular kung fu movie, as she knees him in the stomach, punches him in the face, pushes him to the ground, etc., and the real kicker is Bug has no friggin' idea why the hell she's doing this or why he even bloody deserves it! Sure, it may stay in character considering Leah is a bit of a hardass, but the whole affair comes off as a hugely comical skit from a satire.

Actually, to keep with that line of thinking, I firmly believe My Soul to Take was intended as a comedy. There's no way writer/director Craven could think audiences would suck up the lame characters and lazily written 'foreshadowing' and kills and...well, just about everything that makes up a horror movie. Hell, y'know, these characters aren't bad because they're cliches - cos there's plenty of those [e.g., religious redhead nut] - but exactly because they scream of fakeyness and jocularity. Take another example: the jock of the movie gets killed by the Ripper (surprise), and as the Ripper gets his knife on he asks the jock if he wants to say goodbye to someone, and the jock replies, "my unborn child", and the Ripper says as the jock falls: "fuck you and fuck your unborn child."

This cannot be anything other than a comedy, right?

And the kills. Oh, the kills! This is a horror/slasher movie, so at the very VERY least, the kills should be the highlight, no? The moment where all the viewers in unison watch with delight as the special effects guys come up with some cool deaths with plenty of blood spraying all over the place. Well, sadly, that ain't this movie. It's as if the deaths were an afterthought. 'Oh, wait, we gotta kill this person, right?' So we have the Ripper come out of nowhere sometimes (and at one point comically yells, 'Fear yee the Ripper!' or something like that) and just slice someone's throat or knife them in the gut a whole bunch of times. It's not brutal like, say, the Scream franchise, it instead just comes across as lazy. I would be a bit more okay with that if we at the very least cared about the characters, had one iota of connection to them. Instead, they literally are just cardboard things to be killed and taken off the board.

And let's talk about the lead. Max Thieriot is Bug, the protagonist, who the Ripper is primarily targeting because of who he is. I know that's vague, but Bug's past is one of the very few things the movie has going for it, so I'll conceal that little bit here. Thieriot delivers his lines so, so horribly. Imagine a braindead zombie, or a teenage boy who had his brain liquefied or lobotomized, and that's exactly how Thieriot sounds. The thing is, Thieriot is actually pretty damn good at mimicking the voices of his deceased co-stars (apparently their souls are apart of him, now, for some reason or another), so it's odd that he's impressive in that regard, but absolutely lacks any acting talent when it comes to his solo lines. Bloody hell, y'know?

One last note: I can't fathom how on earth 3-D would have helped this movie. At no point did it appear that Craven made a effort to show off the 3-D technique, with no special camera angles or somethingorrather heading straight towards the lens. Nada. Zilch. It was a regular 2D movie with 2D visuals, and I have very little doubt those who chose the 3-D option were a tad disappointed by the lack of 'awe' factor.

In conclusion, My Soul to Take is a train wreck of a movie (hehe, train wreck; and the next review is about a train...that wrecks...hehehe), but miraculously, it was fun. Everything is written so horribly, from the characters and plot to the dialogue, it's all one big mess, and definitely a black spot in Craven's resume (here's hoping Scream 4 kicks ass). So if you're in the mood for a wickedly bad time and some laughs on the side, My Soul to Take is for you!

Rating: 4.5/10 = I'm appalled and yet can't look away.

Unstoppable

Starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee
Written by Mark Bomback
Directed by Tony Scott
Release: 12 November 2010
Telecino Cinema, 98 mins., Rated PG-13

Let's be honest here: the real star of Unstoppable is the train. After all, that's what people came to see, and in that regard, Tony Scott delivers. The train zooms, the train BOOMs, and the train causes a look of ruckus and chaos. The characters Denzel Washington and Chris Pine play are just there to be the saving grace at the end of the day, but really, they're one-dimensional puppets placed here and there in order to bring the desired outcome into fruition. Attempts at creating character is given in-between Scott's trademark quick cuts and circling shots, but they don't overall add up to anything substantial. But like I said, we're not here for characters, we're here to experience this motherfrakking train be motherfrakking unstoppable. And oh yes, it does do that. Thanks to Tony Scott, the only director who could have pulled off this "missile the size of the Chrysler building" story, the visuals of the train are spectacular, the scenes of Denzel and Chris racing to save the day intense (especially in the third act), and the enjoyment factor major high.

Rating: 5/10 = Look at things go BOOM! Wait, hold it, character moment for a sec. Okay, good, time for more BOOM! Did you see that BOOM!? There was a BOOM!

Buried

Buried

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Robert Paterson, Stephen Tobolowsky, Samanta Mathis. Chris Sparling. Directed by Rodrigo Cortés. Release: 27 September 2010. Lionsgate, 93 mins., Rated R

Plot: Paul Conroy wakes up to find himself buried in a wooden coffin. Oh, shit.

They did it. They actually did it. Somehow, someway, they made an entire 1hr. 33 min. movie set entirely in the confines of a wooden coffin, and made it as riveting and pulse-pounding as a Jason Bourne movie. Major kudos to Ryan Reynolds and director Rodrigo Cortes, especially for Cortes who had the difficult job of filming such a confined space and ended up using that to his advantage: the best example I can think of immediately is some exquisite use of zooms on Paul's face in moments of heightened excitement or tension.

Although the situation is dire, that doesn't mean there's not room for comedy. Perhaps this is why they cast Reynolds, because he has this amazing ability to be dramatic and comedic at the same time. Rare gift, and he pulls it off in spades. Not saying this happens a lot, but just enough to make Paul an instantly likable personality.

Perhaps my most appreciative thing about BURIED is the intelligence of the script. Although we follow only one character the entire movie, thanks to the presence of a cell phone (which makes sense in the context of the film) he's able to talk to multiple people (wife, wife's friends, Company Man, hostage negotiators, etc.), and with each conversation the script delivers enough hints and information about Paul's life and personality that by the end of the movie, we get a pretty good idea of who this man is, the life he leads, and a bit of his history. Nothing is outright spoken like exposition, instead the script and director allows the phone calls and actor performances tell the story. Great stuff, there. Now, a complete 360 from that: the script has one of the top five most intense scenes of the year: Paul vs. the Snake. Similar to Indiana Jones, I HATE snakes, so those five minutes nothing could have pried my eyes from the screen to see how he got out of that particular situation.

Another fantastic moment is a phone conversation between Paul and Alan Davenport, a representative of the company Paul was driving trucks for. It's heartbreaking, moreso than his call to his wife Linda, and Reynolds delivers not the comedy, but the drama and outrageous proportions of the conversation magnificently. Really, I can't give this movie enough accolades.

In the end, BURIED was spectacular. Sure, there was the side of me who had KILL BILL VOL. 2 on my mind thinking, 'Why doesn't he just pull a Pai Mei and punch his way out?', but that didn't distract from the intense and dramatic experience of the film. I'm sure if I watched this in theaters I would have been even more glued in and sucked into the events unfolding, but on DVD it did just fine. 30 minutes had passed before I even thought about checking how far in the flick was in (something I regrettably do quite often), and I was befuddled cos it felt nothing more than five minutes had passed. Reynolds, the script, the camera work, and even the music all come together to make one hell of an unforgettable movie experience. BURIED is highly recommended.

Devil

the night chronicles 1: Devil

Starring Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Jenny O'Hara, Bojana Novakovic, Bokeem Woodbine, Geoffrey Arend, Jacob Vargas, Matt Craven. Story by M. Night Shyamalan. Written by Brian Nelson, Directed by John Erick Dowdle. Release: 17 September 2010. Universal, 80 mins., Rated PG-13

Plot: Five people are trapped in a elevator, one of them is the Devil.

Semi-related rant: oh boy was I happy DEVIL finally came out. Not so much for a eagerness to see it, which didn't so much happen anyway (just saw it a couple days ago), but more for the release of having to watch the damn commercial every time a break came about on Hulu. Blimey.

The truth is, I rather enjoyed DEVIL. Specifically, I enjoyed the story and the resolution. The script was rubbish, truly, really rubbish, but more on that later. Before I go on, I must clarify: yes, I had a pleasant time watching the flick, and I find myself recommending a blind rental to fellow movie lovers, and I will praise where necessary, but the majority of this review will be a critical eye concerning the films many pitfalls and minor but admirable successes. But just remember: I liked it.

There's something inherently chilling and simultaneously captivating about the notion of five strangers stuck in a elevator with the Devil. It's not so much the guessing game of which one of them is the Devil, but the journey of the characters, and how the situation deteriorates from bad to worse. A story like so has infinite possibilities, and the tone of the executed story could be both dark and comical at the same time. Frankly, I fell in love with the concept, but going in, I knew not to expect much based off the countless times I saw the trailer. But first and foremost, I thought I'd start the review on a positive note: story, fantastic. And the resolution - "twists" aside (although I was very pleased the individual I thought was the Devil was indeed the Devil, and damn that was a good performance) - was very satisfying and pretty much brilliant. Not like oh my god, you're a genius!!! brilliant, but in the same category of that was clever, and I quite liked that.

Now when I mentioned the script was rubbish but yet I loved the story, how so, you ask? Dialogue, my friend, the dialogue. About just as bad as the stock, zero dimensional characters that take up the screen. The script isn't as bad as MARMADUKE, no doubt, but every line, from the police to the sporadic narration, just comes off forced (let alone delivered with no enthusiasm from the cast) and worthy of overused-cliched-lines-of-dialogue award of some sort. There is a nice bit mentioned in the script that when "He" shows up, things go all upside down, and is visually presented not just by the poor jelly sandwich, but also the opening sequence panning across Philadelphia, and when the evil is gone, similar shots are correct and 'normal' again. It's the small little touches I appreciate the most, I guess. Oh, and in case the title didn't give it away, there is a dose of religious concepts in the flick, spoken primarily by one of the elevator monitor workers, spouting off basically exposition and ominous, foreboding lines about Him. And that this is, of course, happening for a reason. If scripter Brian Nelson could have found a more clever way of realizing these ideas through the script instead of the horribly contrived fashion it is now, I would be far more pleased.

As mentioned briefly, I also thought most of the performances were sucktacular. Bokeem Woodbine as The Guard was obnoxious from beginning to end, and his final fate had me clapping with glee. Jenny O'Hara gave the most interesting performance, frankly, even though she wasn't given a great amount of material to work with. Another performance just as interesting and impress was Bojana Novakovic as the younger gal, Sarah. Novakovic successfully made me second guess my assumption of the Devil's identity, and when I wasn't thinking about that possibility, I was simply engaged by the frightened, manipulative, and stone cold individual this character was. Interesting, indeed. The (500) DAYS OF SUMMER guy who I was looking forward to watching somehow came across more obnoxious than Woodbine (gasp). Jacob Vargas as Ramirez is the one spouting off the forced religion mumbo jumbo, and he simply couldn't pass it off remotely convincingly, instead coming across as a bad inside joke ("It's a Shyamalan produced flick; we gotta get at least one really bad actor"). And as Detective Bowden, well, I frankly found all the police performances from the SAW movies to be more convincing and dramatically engaging. Throw us another Detective Hoffman. However, I did like the final twist between him and the mechanic - that was good stuff.

In the end, DEVIL has some downfalls, plenty of 'em, but the overall movie is pretty good. Until the final act, then it just gets really, really good. Two twists, a bookending conclusion, and a nice dramatic moment between two survivors. Oh! And I would be remiss to leave this review without mentioning the terrific score, especially prominent in the opening credits sequence (chills, man, chills!), composed by Fernando Velázquez (worked on THE ORPHANAGE). Sadly no CD seems to be on the horizon, but I'd most definitely be interested. The first of a series called The Night Chronicles, a story that had some momentously awesome potential that fell short a bit, I'll nonetheless be tuning in for the other two.

The Horseman

The Horseman
Starring Peter Marshall, Caroline Marohasy
Written & Directed by Steven Kastrissios
Release: 29 June 2008
Umbrella Entertainment, 96 mins., Rated R

Plot: Christian wants revenge on whoever was complicit in the death of his daughter.

Brutal. Grainy. Hand-held camera. Australian. Blood. Ouch, nipples. Grounded, very real.

That's The Horseman for you. Flipping through the recent FANGORIA issue on my break at work, the DVD movie review section picked this production as Movie of the Month (or something to that extent). Turns out it's a revenge story, a fathering avenging the death of his daughter. Alright, I can get behind that; I dig revenge stories. Sounds like Taken without Liam Neeson's CIA contacts and a PG-13 rating. Well, it's only a tiny bit similar to Taken. See, Taken has boundaries, Horseman is almost like a documentary of a real-life father who is just a bit disconnected to the environment around him but is determined about one thing: killing with any means possible anyone connected to his daughter's death. This guy does anything and everything - there are no boundaries. He's not like Jack Bauer, who gets hit maybe twice and then beats the bad guys. On the contrary, he gets as pulverized as much as he dishes it out.

Blood is in abundance in nearly every scene, punching and the utmost pain is a regular sight in the film's hour and thirty-some minute run-time. The brutality and violence of The Horseman gets a lot of flak by critics, but honestly - it's necessary. It's obvious that, unlike Lionsgate's SAW films, there's a real reason for it all - the blood, the pain, the violence. And it all feels real - we the audience feel every hard punch Christian (our anti-hero father) receives, and the major amount of ouchness he endures during the third act of the picture. It's not cartoony, it's not James Bond-y, it's not over-the-top. This is mono-a-mono, fights to the death. I'm sure the writer/director was trying to make a point about showcasing the violence in such a light: the road of revenge gives you nothing in turn but pain and agony, perhaps? Blood for blood? Eh, dunno. Not good with the metaphorical or philosophical undercurrents of a show.

Overall, The Horseman is a alright movie. It kept me interested, but for the most part I wasn't really hooked or grabbed until the third act, when the tables are turned on Christian and it becomes a fight for survival. If there's any one thing I think that hinders the movie, I would say it's the hand-held camerawork. More often than not, I don't have a problem with it. None. But it just felt unnecessary for 85% of the time. Sequences where it's a chaotic fight, when Christian is pulling out any tricks he can to win the battle, than sure, hand-held away. But I think the production could have benefited from a few more Steadicam shots. Script-wise...well, it's a revenge story. Not much to tell. But I really do think there needed to be more. At least a scene between Christian and his daughter, perhaps a flashback to the last time they ever see each other. Y'know, give us a real deep emotional moment that grabs us and really makes us root for him to succeed.

In the end, I can't say I'd particularly recommend The Horseman. Out of the pantheon of revenge stories out there in the world, there's certainly others that rank above this modest production. But if you're curious, I would just heed a rental first. Not sure if it warrants a blind buy.

Inception

Inception
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine
Written & Directed by Christopher Nolan
Release: 16 July 2010
Warner Bros., 148 mins., PG-13

What follows is written for folks who came to this site and reading this post to decide whether or not to see Christopher Nolan's Inception, opening today in wide release. My answer is as follows:

OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!! THAT WAS AWESOME!!!

RUN - DON'T WALK - TO YOUR NEAREST MULTIPLEX, PAY WHATEVER PRICE THEY FORCE, AND SEE THIS MOVIE RIGHT AWAY!!! LIKE NOW-ISH!!!

Go ahead, I'll wait. Honestly, go out right now and see it. I'll expect you back at this very page in about two hours and fifty minutes, give and take driving and trailers. Nah, OK, three hours. Have fun. And don't forget pop and popcorn, though try to maintain your bladder because you won't want to miss a second. Cheerio!

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Alright, you're back! Didn't yah just love it? Well, I'm choosing not to give a full, in-depth review. There will no doubt be countless other websites and blogs posting their two cents, so I figure I'll wait until the DVD release around December-ish to really delve into the nitty gritty of the flick. Therefore, here's just a few thoughts that I have:



I am so, so, so very jealous of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Not only does he get to smooch Zoey in (500) Days of Summer, he sneaks in a kiss with Ellen Page, too! Sly dog. Teach me your tricks!

Folks hailed Avatar as a game-changer, as something we've never seen before. Ladies and gents, I was more wowed by the visuals and creativity of Inception than one single frame of Avatar. This type of brilliance is mesmerizing.

Simply put, a movie like Inception should not exist. This is a fantastic, imaginative, and awe-inspiring masterpiece that by all realms of the imagination would never get financed by a major studio. So, thank you Dark Knight.

The story of Inception is actually quite simplistic, in retrospect. It just seems, y'know, really freakin' complicated.

The battle of the summer: Hans Zimmer (Inception) vs. James Newton Howard (The Last Airbender). Both scores were marvelous. Right now...I'm thinking Airbender, but Inception demands not only more screenings but more listenings to the score.

DiCaprio's best work since The Departed and Blood Diamond, both movies of which I really love. Not only is Nolan a brilliant writer, but he also has a fantastic knack for casting great actors.

Sometimes I acknowledged the running time, but then something happened that made me completely forget what I was thinking about. And then the same thought would spark up again, and then some big event would happen and I'd forget again. Repeat.

There were some really, really intense sequences. Wowza.

A marvelous, brilliant, beautiful movie. Another knock-out. And no, I'm not just saying that due to some allegiance to Nolan.

Shutter Island

SHUTTER ISLAND

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kinglsey, Max Von Sydow, John Carroll Lynch
Written by Laeta Kalogrids, Steven Knight
Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Release: 19 February 2010
Paramount Pictures, 138 mins., Rated R

Plot: It's 1954, and Special Agent Teddy Daniels and his new partner Chuck arrive at Shutter Island - a institute for the insane and disturbed - to find a missing patient, but their search brings them closer to cover-ups, bizarre situations, and untrustworthy guards.

Everybody and their grandmother already have their two cents in on Martin Scorcece's Shutter Island spoken. I'm a little late to the game, and I probably won't cover any new ground, but I thought I'd give it a go anyhow.

Very effective as a mystery thriller, Shutter Island has got a lot of lovin' for its major twist in the last 20 minutes. I won't go as crazy as to say I figured it out early on, and I did start to get some of the clues, but once the major revelation came, I was satisfied, a little shocked, and completely in love. I dig this revelation so much, and it completely changes the dynamic of the story being told [which I love/hate - I came to the film to see a thrilling story, not a story about...well, y'know; but I still love it!].

Leonardo DiCaprio has left a large impression on me the last few years. Notably, his work in Blood Diamond and The Departed impressed me more than any performance of '06. Here was a guy who made big with his pretty looks, and actually evolved to be a actor with range, with talent, with the ability to glue the audience in to every word he says. In Shutter Island, his performance is overall quite good, but it seems to range from bad, good, to corny every other scene. Although, the corn factor could be attributed to a directorial choice to help along the 1950's atmosphere. DiCaprio's co-star, Mark Ruffalo, definitely seemed to be spicing up the cornball performance, as he ranges from cartoonish to overblown, although he does have one really cool dramatic sequence in a cemetery.

Ben Kingsley, who threw me for a loop using a regular everyday voice instead of his Lucky Number Slevin accent (which I initially thought to be his normal voice), is terrific as Dr. John Cawley, the man who is basically in charge of the facility and the patients. When he needs to be a freaky dude who can be both a villain and a cunning individual, Kingsley sells it in spades. When the script calls for him to be calm, understanding, compassionate, civilized - well, he's got that covered as well. Kingsley owned. The much-praised Jackie Earl Haley (Watchmen) had but one scene, but it was a memorable one. Second biggest surprise (next to Ben) was Michelle Williams, who has really grown into her own as a actress, after enduring three seasons of Dawson's Creek (no, I didn't miscount; I just gave up after the third). Michelle plays Teddy's deceased wife, and she is quite beautiful and quite wonderful in her role.

The cinematography, provided by one Robert Richardson (Inglourious Basterds), is marvelous. Take the opening shot for instance: pure gray mist, and then a ship emerges, a ship looking nearly as eerie as the surroundings. [The music - devoid of a original score but instead a compilation of previous released compositions - and several well constructed sound effects help sell a good 60% of this movie's power] Not only are the outdoor shots glamorous (and spooky), but even the inside stuff is nicely composed - and in this instance, I'm thinking about post-storm, where Teddy walks through the 'off-limits' building and comes face to face with some unbound crazies. It's films like this that exemplify the beauty of cinematography, and it's great importance to a viewer's overall opinion of a film.

The general story - a escaped patient becomes a case for the FBI who arrive at Shutter Island to investigate - is simply the set-up for a larger story, and it's a juicy one. There's Teddy Daniels, a man cursed with memories of his days in World War II - the atrocities that he witnessed and help commit (beautifully realized through quick flashbacks), and also suffering from bizarre nightmares of dead children and his wife, and with a lot of fire and water thrown into the mix (a running motif). Then there's the subplot of what Teddy's real reason for arriving at Shutter Island is, and then the other subplot of who to trust? and is there something up with this place? To say that all these story-lines are completely engrossing is a understatement - my eyes were glued to the screen the entire time, and I was clinging onto every little ounce of dialogue. Even with its over two hour running time, which I know many have expressed objection to, I think the pace was pitch-perfect.

An thoroughly engaging storyline complimented by phenomenal actors, beautiful cinematography, freaky eerie music, good pacing, and overall awesomeness, Shutter Island is a damn good flick. But...

With the hype surrounding the movie since late last year - after countless times watching the same trailer nearly every visit to the theater - I guess the expectation was that I would be watching a mystery/thriller to end all thrillers, or at least be something so profound that all other thrillers must live up to this flick's excellence. That's not the case here, but that's far from saying Shutter Island is a meager movie. It's not. It's a movie that, even after a week and a half seeing it, still resonates with me - certain scenes, flashbacks, dialogue still float through my head. The whole last 20 minutes replays multiple times, and I continue to appreciate it. Shutter Island is a very, very good movie, and is absolutely recommended. Just don't go in believing it to be a masterpiece that the advertisements hype.

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day

THE BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINTS DAY
Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Billy Connolly, Clifton Collins Jr., Julie Benz, Peter Fonda
Written & Directed by Troy Duffy
Release date: 31 October 2009 (limited), 13 November 2009 (wide)
Stage 6 Films, 117 mins, Rated R

“The saints…are coming, the saints…are coming”

Back in May I discovered a movie that people have been going ga-ga over for a decade. 1999’s “The Boondock Saints”, the debut of writer and director Troy Duffy, went largely unnoticed by me, uninterested in the bland covers and furthermore unaffected by the ginormous hype surrounding the flick the past few years. It wasn't until someone sat me down, popcorn in hand, and forced me to watch it; and wouldn't yah know it - within the first 6 minutes, I knew it was a movie that I not only loved, but would be owning in the very immediate future (and I did; bought the Steelbook DVD edition the day after). And, as luck would have it, I found out that a sequel was already in development and would probably be out by the end of the year! (it was)

So, moral of the story, wait 10 years to really get into a much loved movie because by that time a sequel will probably already have been made or be out really, really soon.

Anyway, the day has finally arrived, and "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" premiered at my local Marcus Theater (much to my utter surprise when surfing through the theater's website; I thought I was going to have to practice patience and wait for the eventual DVD and Blu-Ray release), and [duh], I raced my butt over there right after my lovely Intro to Mass Communications class (read: the media's evil).

The movie begins in a familiar fashion – Duffy’s much treasured fade in and outs accompanied by vocal, chanting-ish music (then followed by some rock music; if nothing else, “All Saints Day” serves as a good jukebox). In Boston, a priest is killing in a manner resembling the Saints, the vigilante group that disappeared without a trace eight years before after the public murder of mafia crime lord Yakavetta. The murder reaches the Saints – Connor and Murphy McManus (Flanery, Reedus), living the peaceful life in Ireland with their Da (Connolly). Immediately, they suit up and travel back to Boston to execute everyone involved in the murder, and cause some “gratuitous violence.” Along the way, they meet up with Romeo (Collins), a spirited kick-ass kind of guy who believes in the Saints and find them just and wants to be a member of the gang; plus he has a few connections that could be useful.

Meanwhile, Special Agent Eunice Bloom (Benz) is on the trail of the Priest’s killer, along with Agents Duffy, Dolly and Greenly. Similar to eight years ago, things get major bloody. It's revealed that the murder of the priest is connected to Concezio Yakavetta (Nelson), son of Joe Yakavetta (said crime lord the Saints executed), who wants the Saints dead out of revenge. But things may not be as they seem, as there's another layer to the killing that no one predicted.

First off: excitement levels were OFF THE CHART walking in and sitting in the theater.
It’s quite evident everyone involved had a bloody BLAST making this flick, and it shows, but unfortunately there’s a overarching feeling that Duffy & Co. are trying too hard to rekindle the awesomeness of the first one.

Returning as the McManus brothers, Flanery and Reedus seem giddy as ever to come back, although they look a tad weary than ten years before. Billy Connolly has a expanded role as their Father, and even factors into the story during its final 30 (although, seen in Godfather Part 2-ish flashbacks, we get a history lesson of Papa McManus, and boy is it good). Basically, just don't mess with this guy - or the family for that matter. Newcomer Clifton Collins, Jr. joins the boys as Romeo, providing more of the funnies as well as a lot of kick-assery. One particularly funny sequence with his character is when he's trying to think of a good final line after a shoot-out. And as for Julie Benz - well, not her best performance, looks a little freaky, frankly. Sirs, if you're interested in this gal, may I refer you to her stint on Angel, specifically the entirety of season 2: to say her every performance in every episode was flabbergasting would not be an understatement.

There are also three surprise appearances that brought a smile to my face; one of them is far too juicy to spoil, but I will say to that one question all "Boondock" fans are asking, it’s a yes, but for a limited time, but it was absolutely awesome. There’s also a cameo from a deceased character that brought a very man-macho moment to the picture (near the last half hour when shit really began to hit the fan), and the appearance of a actor that surprised the hell outta me for being in this. That’s Paul Johansson, infamous for his portrayal as the deliciously wicked Dan Scott in The CW’s “One Tree Hill”. I haven’t been this surprised or giddy about a surprise starring role since Scott Patterson (Luke on The CW’s “Gilmore Girls”) graced the screen in “Saw IV.” Johansson plays the edgy FBI Agent who takes over the Saints investigation and is basically just a hard-ass, something he can do quite well.

You want action? "All Saints Day" has action galore. Although it takes about 30 to 40 mins. for the Saints to do what they do best, it's not until the last 30 really that the action is totally completely awesome. A group of maybe 20 people coming down on the Saints, guns ablazing; the Saints trying to break into a building, inspired by a crazy idea from a movie one of them had seen; a fun and quick bar duel, etc., etc. More action than the first, but sadly not as, well, fun. At least, there wasn't that sense of joy for most of the movie that I felt with the first one; there was more or less of my brain thinking, '2 guys versus 10 of these dudes? How are they NOT shot even ONCE?' But, whatev - hold onto that suspension of disbelief.

As for the script, and basically the whole reason the movie exists: well, it's alright. To start off, I'm going to bring up a point I didn't even think about until I was reading some other reviews. Film.com reviewer mentioned the rather dumb reason the boys go out of retirement and go back to Boston to exact some revenge; indeed, they knew of the priest, they didn't know him personally nor was he important in some way. So, in that respect, the MacGuffin sort of didn't work all that well. There's plenty of callbacks to the first movie, a lot of trying to rekindle the flare that worked so well before. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't (although the dream sequence with a deceased character was sorta fun).

I did enjoy the sorta possible theme of that whoever the brothers associate with, they put in harms way; but these people make their own choices, and they believe in them and what the boys are doing is good and right, so they continue on regardless of the perils. It's little nuggets like that which I enjoy in vigilante movies that sadly goes mostly unnoticed here.

The interesting thing is that after all the anticipation, I don't have too much to say. The performances were good, the script was good, the music was okay, the editing alright (could be tighter); basically, it was all good. There does seem a sense of overindulging, like Duffy thought himself invincible to a long-ish feel to his movie and possible flat jokes (there's a sorry few), and a lot of music, enough to the point that I thought 'why not make this a music video?' I really don't want to rag on the flick, nor do I wish to cast it in a negative light - there are areas of improvement, but it was, overall, a fun movie-going experience and worth the wait.

So, in the end, “All Saints Day” had its ups and downs, boasts action galore, one helluva movie soundtrack (I’ll have “The Saints Are Coming” stuck in my head for at least two weeks), and the potential of a third installment (fingers crossed, and hopefully another 10 years won’t elapse). Actually, speaking about a third picture, the Wikipedia page mentions a interview with Duffy and Connolly about said third movie, with a tentative working title of "Boondock Saints III: Saints Preserve Us". Duffy & Co., count my ticket already bought.

Knowing

Knowing
starring Nicolas Cage, Chandler Canterbury, Rose Byrne
written by Ryne Douglas Pearson, Juliet Snowden, Stiles White
directed by Alex Proyas
original release date: 20 March 2009
Summit Entertainment, 121 mins.

There's Frakking Worse Things

Nic Cage; musings about aliens; negative word-of-mouth; the crappy aftertaste of NEXT lingering - I wasn't all that gun-ho about seeing KNOWING. But hey, my World Religions professor said we'd get 10 extra credit points if we write a little something about it because it discusses different viewpoints of the creation of earth. Plus, $30 Marcus theater gift card equals sold.

And wouldn't you know it, KNOWING's actually pretty good. It's a gazillion times better than NEXT (though that's not hard to accomplish), and I actually enjoyed myself the entire time. Go figure. In fact, I might actually recommend you check out KNOWING at some point, though I'd caution you wait for DVD (although there is one sequence which I think is profoundly impactful on the big-screen). Actually, in retrospect, I think the only thing wrong with KNOWING would be Nic Cage himself. More on that later...

In 1959, a strange girl at an elementary school goes bonkers and writes a zillion numbers in seemingly random orders on the front and back sides of a piece of paper. This paper is then put into a time capsule to be opened in 50 years time. Fast forward to 2009, when John Koestler (Cage)'s son Caleb (Canterbury) goes to the same school and witness the opening of said capsule. Caleb, through some twist of 'fate', gets a hold of this paper with all the numbers, and John grows a particular interest in it. In fact, he becomes obsessed; and by morning, he's related the numbers to catastrophes in the past; but the bad news is, there's still two dates that have yet to come to pass, and judging by the paper, they're happening soon. John resides himself to do anything in his power to stop the events from happening, but perhaps he can't change what is written, perhaps destiny can't be prevented...

KNOWING actually boasts a cool, engrossing story. Watching Cage putting the pieces together, and subsequently trying to avert the ones he can control is quite fun. Although, granted, I couldn't help but groan as one of the events from the piece of paper becomes connected to 9/11/01; but luckily the concept is intriguing enough to play along with the script. Additionally, there's another element added to the film which is perhaps more creepy than any horror or thriller films of the year yet - these strange, tall, pale men in trench-coats that have grown a particular liking to Caleb. It's freaky, and coupled with the haunting, eerie music from Tyler Bates (WATCHMEN) which is damn good enough that I'm thinking about picking it up, KNOWING works both as a thriller and horror film. Sorta.

For anyone who has a problem with Keanu Reeves' "acting" ability (as evident by nearly 90% of all DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and MATRIX reviews), I present to you Nic Cage. Compared to our anchoring actor, Reeves can invoke emotion and inflection into his lines like nobodies business. Cage, to his credit, goes bye-bye with the ridiculous DA VINCI CODE-inspired hairdo of NEXT in favor of a more GHOST RIDER look [I can't believe I'm discussing hair styles in a bloody movie review]. Maybe I'm the only one, but I think it's time to say goodbye to the Cage. His character, for the most part, is interesting enough for us to give a damn about his predicament, but hell, I was far more interested in his son and Diana, a strange woman with a connection to the little girl who jotted down the numbers. Everyone's given equal screentime, so I guess it's all fair game.

[Spoiler follows]And yes, the rumors are true - KNOWING takes the INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL route and introduces aliens into the mix [ahem, excuse me Mr. Lucas, they were "inter-dimensional beings", not aliens]. And somehow they managed to come outta left field more so than INDY 4 did. Anyhow, it's a interesting plot twist, I'll give 'em that. I was curious as to what purpose these tall, trench-coat wearing scary guys were to serve to the story, and I guess this is about as satisfying an answer as any. Plus, when they take off their human skin to reveal their actual physical appearance - that was sorta cool. And one of the final shots of several spaceships leaving earth's orbit [reminded me of the "Arks" in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL re-imagining] is just beautiful to look at. In fact, that sorta leads me to my next point...

If for no other reason, give KNOWING a try for its visual effects, which are spectacular. It may have a messy plot that will leave you scratching your head in bewilderment, and 'oh-my-god-are-they-serious?' performances, but the effects are wonderful. One such example I wish to point out is the much talked about airplane sequence, in which our protagonist just happens to be at the exact location of a major catastrophe in the making: an airplane rips into a highway and crashes into the ground in an giant explosion, and in a supposedly single shot, Nic Cage runs to the wreckage to...help or something. It's quite impressive, and this entire segment alone is worth the price of admission.

In a nutshell, KNOWING is actually worth your time. It's a fun thriller with some pretty nifty action sequences, a strange and slightly daring finale, and successfully grabs your interest as John runs against time to stop whatever's coming. When you're not smirking at the absurdity of some of the situations and plot points and you just roll with it, it's friggin' awesome. As the newly appointed rating system says, there's a lot frakking worse things out there.

Point Pleasant: The Complete Series

Point Pleasant: The Complete Series
created by & Marti Noxon
starring Elizabeth Harnois, Aubrey Dollar, Grant Show
FOX, 2005, 13 episodes, 43 mins.

**1/5 (out of ****)

Bikinis and Devils. That's how I was pretty much going to disregard this entire show after sitting through the first two episodes. They were your standard fare of girls clad in bikinis, walking around aimlessly on a beach talking about super hunky role-modely boys who just happen to reside in the town, with a supernatural aspect thrown in every once and a while when Christina suddenly becomes discontent or narrows her eyes a little more scarier than usual. The O.C. with a mix of Buffy, as it's compared to.

But luckily, by the time episode seven rolled around, Point Pleasant was on a roll, and it hooked me.

Perhaps I'm juist suseptable to shows that are actually really, really bad and I just don't know it, because the overwhelming majority of reviews for the program ain't pretty, but I find myself nearly in love with it. Hell, I'm actually negotiating with myself whether or not I purchase a copy if I ever find it around [I believe it's since gone OOP], and if not - well, I'll just keep my Netflix copies...I kid, I kid...

Point Pleasant won't be winning any awards, nor will it be placed up on such a high mantle like Lost and (gasp) Grey's Anatomy, but for the most part, it was extremely entertaining and very well written, with some really interesting story ideas explored sufficently enough to keep one satisfied but simultaneously a little dissapointed that it wouldn't be expounded upon in another season.

A shiny day at Point Pleasant, New Jersey turns stormy when a mysterious girl is saved from the water by hunky lifeguard Jesse. Her name is Christina, who supposedly fell off a boat from a tourist trip. Unable to contact family, Christina moves into the Kramer house, a family still reeling from a tragic death of a daughter a year before. Everything’s fine and dandy until Christina realizes there are certain oddities that happen around her, oddities that seem to sprout from her. The arrival of a mysterious, blunt, suave man named Mr. Boyd, who intends to buy all of Point Pleasant, causes tension amongst all the families of the town. All these strange occurrences bring Christina closer to the truth – she is, in fact, the daughter of Satan! Can Christina keep her diabolical evil ways in check to become an instrument of good instead of evil? Or will the whole world burn at her feet?

Point Pleasent debuted in early 2005, but by the time episode eight rolled around, FOX – and its viewers – were done with the show. Thus, FOX axed it, and never aired the remaining episodes. [Of course, this was a time where Fox was cancelation-heavy with Reunion and Tru Calling axed quite quickly - though Tru through some twist of fate had a short second season] Luckily, the DVD release a few months later in October included the final four episodes (stellar as they are). Although the show concludes on a semi-cliffhanger, by its end, it feels as though a full story has been told, with this story not having a conclusive, definitive ending, but deliberately ambiguous. It mixes religion, fate, choice, hate, humanity, good and evil in a program that you’d probably expect to be kiddy fare. It asks us to question why on earth, if such a situation like this would be possible, that we deserve to live? What makes us worthwhile? Why should the daughter of Satan not destroy us? It’s fascinating enough that once the first bridge of so & so episodes are over, the rest are about as awesome of storytelling you’ve seen since the Joss Whedon Buffy & Angel days.

The series kicks off with a decent, although not-so-stellar premiere (101 “Pilot”), written by show creators Marti Noxon & John J. McLaughlin and directed by Tucker Gates (Alias). It, of course, introduces us to all the particular families that will play major roles in the story to come, as well as all the romantic entanglements between the teenagers and the possible on/off again storylines they could produce. You have the clichéd adult characters – the slutty woman who tramps around town with a equally slutty teenage daughter whose frustrated her mom never truly pays attention to her; the goodie-two-shoes Christian family with their underwear-modeling son who has a religious destiny but also a bit of intrigue as to his own mysterious past; the Kramers, some still in agony over the death of Isabelle a year ago; and the family that’s broken, with the son taking care of the father. Overall, it’s a satisfactory but not extraordinary series premiere that doesn’t exactly hook or entice viewers to tune in the following week. There are some really great moments, such as the sequence in which Christina’s waking re-lights all the electricity in town.

We’re also introduced to the shows long, dreary opening credits boasting a composition credit to a one Danny Elfman (nearly every Tim Burton movie in existence). Honestly, the opening credits do nothing for me, and after the first time watching them, I skipped them every time since. This is the type of show that would have benefited from a simple title card with some eerie music, like a cross between Supernatural (The CW) and Lost (ABC).

The premiere ranked in 11.68 million viewers when it aired January 19, 2005, which isn’t too shabby. No doubt plenty of Buffy devotees tuned in just to see what post-Buffy projects then executive producer Noxon was developing. Unfortunately, the majority of them must have scrammed, as the following week, the show dropped 49% in ratings with 5.6 million viewers.

Unfortunately, the following onslaught of episodes weren’t all that memorable, and it’s quite understandable why viewership fell. The program delved knee-deep into the world of teenage romance and hook-ups, as well as the adults’ own little problems. It did, in nearly all sense of the word, become The O.C. Beach parties, dances, adult affairs, boy-falling-for-wrong-girl scenarios – all been done before and to a much better degree. However, it is sometimes difficult to argue about it all since it works quite well in the grand scheme of things. Sure, there were undertones of supernatural menace, and Christina still pursued any lead that would tell her about her past or what the deal was with her always-gone father, but it seemed to take a back seat for the teen drama, which wasn’t nearly as intriguing as the supernatural aspects.

With Christina newly instated into the Kramer family, Judy is ecstatic she has a new sister, Meg is happy she has another daughter to care for, and Ben is just glad Meg is lighting up a little. However, he has a few problems of his own: the town woman-who-gets-around, Amber, has set her eyes on hooking up with Ben, and enlists Mr. Boyd’s help to do so, thus creating a sort of bond between these two manipulative demons. Jesse finds himself increasingly attracted to Christina, regardless of his relationship with Paula, who finds comfort in the arms of Terry, the unfortunate boy with a comatose father in bed. Terry wishes his father better, and to improve what little life that he has, so when a offer from Mr. Boyd presents itself, Terry snatches it up.

During this period of time, Christina seeks counsel with Father Tomas, a young, recently appointed minister of the nearby church. Tomas is wearisome of Christina as some surely freak accidents follow her around, including the death (er, “disappearance” is the terminology the church uses) of Father David. But during a sequence when Christina urges Father Tomas to pray with her and help her, Tomas is overcome with such a powerful feeling of love that his assumptions of her evilness is brought into question, and vows to help her battle the demon within. The dynamic between Christina and Father Tomas is interesting, although they share far too few scenes together. His storyline is brought to a abrupt, but strangely satisfying (although the method it’s done through is rather ridiculous) end.

Meanwhile, Judy’s beginning to have doubts about Christina – questioning who she is, and why all these freak occurrences happen around her. Jesse joins the paranoia wagon and discovers something about himself that is pivotal to the rest of his arc. Judy, feeling betrayed by Christina’s lies, kicks her out.

And it’s here that the show finally picks up and becomes absolutely exciting. It leaves the rather bad soap opera elements behind in favor of what its main storyline is – Good vs. Evil, and what side will Christina choose? 107 “Unraveling” has Christina and Jesse trying their damnest to leave Point Pleasant, but as Boyd says, none of the major players can leave town. Tension rises as everyone begins to understand who they are, and what particular destinies are associated with them. No one’s life is as simple as it once was before Christian showed up – they now find themselves as part of this big chess game that’s about to hit its crescendo.

(Spoilers about the series finale follow!!!)

111 “Missing” begins the three-part finale that would have been an awesome starting point for season two. Throughout Point Pleasant, people are missing (hence the intricately complex title) and all signs lead to the church (bringing up Left Behind vibes for a while – perhaps the Rapture has commenced?). Jesse is recruited by a group of religious warriors saying that it’s his destiny to destroy The Beast – kill Christina. That when he died for seven hours and was brought back to life, it was for a purpose; it was only he that would attract Christina, only he that she could let her guard down, only he who for some reason grows stronger around her, and only he that has any chance to kill her and stop the Apocalypse before all Hell breaks loose.

112 “Mother’s Day” is the one that truly sets everything up, and definitely has one of the most awesome endings to a episode I’ve seen in a while (be mindful that it’s more of a dramatic conclusion than a twisty, shocking cliffhanger). Ben, feeling as though he’s doing the right thing, institutionizes Meg, which pretty much rips the family apart; Judy tells Christina off, bitter at her for all the problems she’s caused since her arrival and essentially saying, “You’re not part of this family.” Christina, heartbroken, leaves – all alone (her emotional state visualized by the death of all the plants in the surrounding area); but the sudden arrival of Ann, her mom, sparks hope.

Jesse, meanwhile, prepares himself mentally for the task at hand, ready to do what must be done to his lover. Boyd, rascal that he is, finds out the truth about Ann’s presence, and by using his persuasive abilities, Ann spills the beans which breaks Christina down more than anything: Ann’s not here to help her, but to kill her. As she venomously says to her daughter, “I begged to hold you, not to care for you, but to snap your neck.” Ouch, harsh.

This is the breaking point. Christina enters the Kramers home, mentally lost and honed in on what appears to be nothing but anger and vengeance, and using her telekinetic powers, shuts and seals every door and window in the house, barricading everyone inside. “It’s a family matter,” she spats, echoing Judy’s last words to Christina when she told her to get lost.

The series concludes with “Let the War Commence” (113), which delivers and yet disappoints ever so slightly. The only disappointment comes from the big ending of the previous episode is followed up with some rather uneventful stuff. Christina, in the midst of rage and betrayal, takes the Kramers hostage, and forces them to have a nice, family meal. It’s a interesting idea – one I didn’t think would happen (I thought all hell would break loose) – and is perfectly in-tuned with Christina’s character. My only problem is that this is the opportunity for Christina to say everything that needs to be said, the obvious stuff that Judy, Ben and Jesse had been too ignorant enough to see or stupid enough to ignore. Instead, she blinds Ben so he can finally listen to his family (smart move), but I would have liked more. Bring a little bit of venom into the mix, like Willow in her awesome season six finale when she went all dark and veiny.

But let’s examine the whole three-part series finale for a moment, and it’s probably for this reason why I love the show as much as I do. Christina’s turn is a result of circumstance and the choices of the people around her; it’s based on an emotional rollercoaster; everything and everyone that she clinged onto to keep her in balance either abandoned her or tried to kill her. Boyd’s constant monologues about humanities worthlessness is completely validated to Christina. When her own mother – her last hope – admits to wanting to kill her since the day she was born, all ties to this world was severed, and she was fueled by pain.

I don't blame Christina at all. Actually, I'd probably support her. The people around her have shown her zero reason whatsoever that they should keep on living, that humanity's worth saving. No one. Zero. Zilch-o.

The real kicker of irony is that the residents of Point Pleasant basically made it happen; it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they hadn’t done a thing to stop it, if none of Christina’s secrets made it out in the open (or at the very least were respected by the Kramers), then quite frankly nothing would have happened. Boyd couldn’t have forced Christina to turn bad, so that argument is null; it could be said that Christina would turn no matter what because it’s her nature, but I disagree: although I think she would occasionally slip and a bit of her demony side would rear its ugly head, I wager she’d be battling her demons ‘till the very end. This religious group’s so-called proactive extermination of the Antichrist (which might piss off a few folks, because isn’t the Antichrist supposed to not only be male but from a foreign country?) resulted in the thing they tried their damnest to stop.

And what exactly happened with the knife? At one point, Meg said “God had nothing to do with them,” (referring to the people who recruited Jesse) and I thought for a fleeting moment perhaps these religious zealots were worshipers of another flock of demons who want to overthrow Satan. That would have been a nifty idea, but in the end, not so much. But this actually refers to another nice touch on the writer's part: a Oracle of sorts reveals himself to Jesse before he goes out to do the Terrible Deed, and reminds him of a worldly known virtue from the Holy Bible. It creates some nice dramatic tension, and what Jesse decides to do with this, er, 'revelation' sorta sucks and it's really his fault that the show ends the way it does.

As I might have mentioned before, the series concludes in such a way that it's a sorta cliffhanger but final enough to be satisfactory. I would have enjoyed a second season, no doubt (especially reading Noxon's short remark on Scifi411), but with what we're given here (a glimpse of the awesomeness that could have been), I'm pleased. The main overall story arc of season one wrapped up nicely. It leaves you with questions, it leaves you with answers, and it leaves you with adrenaline (you can't help it - it's the battle for humanity, man!) Though, I wouldn't have minded if Christina killed Judy after her final remark.. I mean, Judy had no right to say that; a large portion of fault concerning Christina's turn rests on her shoulders, but her being the self-centered bitch she is, she probably doesn't realize.

(End series finale spoilers)

Obviously, the show has its problems. One such problem story-wise that I had was the Kramers’ willingness to adopt Christina almost within 48 hours of knowing the girl. Granted, it can be argued that Christina had a powerful influence on her decision, as unaware of it as she was; or that it was Ben’s wish to make his family right again after Isabelle’s death that he was so receptive to the notion. I understand for story purposes that it was necessary, but the fact that everything was put together within a single episode is a little far-fetched, and I would have appreciated a tad more depth to accompany the situation. It’s a little distracting, but not enough to ruin overall enjoyment. I also despised the use of the number “666”; I’ve never been more ticked off of its involvement in a show since Digimon used the number as the time when Myotisman turned into a hulking Godzilla beast. Of course, the number applies more here to Point Pleasant than Digimon, and it’s etched in Satanic mythology, but I feel that’s one element that could have been excluded. Again, these are all simple nitpicks, and can easily be overlooked because the good outweighs the bad.

As the lead character and daughter of Satan, Elisabeth Harnois (One Tree Hill) has a lot resting on her shoulders. Luckily, for the most part, she’s able to pull it off effectively. Harnois can balance the darkness inside her as well as her sweet, innocent, sometimes clueless side well enough to adequately depict Christina’s transformation throughout the series. The first batch of episodes is perfect for Harnois to show off her beauty and innocence, as she’s pretty much bikini-clad and has fallen deeply in love with her savior of a man. But once strange accidents happen around her whenever she’s feeling a tad, er, angry – she easily slips into dazed & confusedville. Though, sometimes it’s simply laughable when she squints her eyes to give the audience the cue that something bad’s going to happen; it reminds me of the early days of Charmed. As she turns from the sweet child of blissful ignorance and begins to understand who she is and what she can do, what that means, and the danger that surrounds her – it’s quite awesome and convincingly pulled off by this relatively unknown actress.

To say that Grant Show steals the…uhum, show is an understatement. There’s such a diabolical glee to his performance that one can’t help but fall in love with this guy. I’ve never seen Show in any other program, but I will quite actively pursue his other works, now – ‘cuz, the guy is simply that damn good. He plays evil mastermind perfectly, and on top of that, he has one helluva warped sense of humor that appeals to you. Grant’s Mr. Boyd tells you how it is, no bullshit, and it’s admirable. Plus he has that whole charismatic presence thing about him. The first few episodes, Show is given free rein to be as bastardy as possible – maybe even out bastarding John Glover’s Lionel Luthor on Smallville. But then, as the plot thickens, we get to see his darker, calculating side, his eviler half – cold and careless as ice. And boy does he scare the shit out of me; I wouldn’t want to cross this guy, let alone make him pissed. The great thing about this character is that he is also given a sorta back story of his own, as a little bit about his past and the woman he loved is revealed, which equals in importance to the current situation at the present. Simply put, if for no other reason, Grant Show is the reason to watch Point Pleasant. There’s just something so…delightful about his earnest, fun performance that makes working for Hell seem nifty.

The remainder of the cast do their jobs just fine. Aubrey Dollar as Judy is beautiful and a rather fine actress, and it's unfortuante she's given such dodgy material to work with. By that I mean crappy dialog and illogical choices. Adam Bush (Warren from Buffy seasons 5 & 6) guest stars in four or five episodes as Mr. Boyd's assistant, and for the most part, he's doesn't have much to do other than stand around and give Boyd puppy-eyes. Homoerotic innuendos, anyone? Dina Meyer (SAW IV) doesn't bring anything new to the table as the Julie Cooper character of Point Pleasant, while her daughter Paula played by Cameron Richardson (Open Water 2) reminds me of Anna Faris in that I can't stop concentrating on her lips instead of what she's saying. Richard Burgi (24) plays Ben Kramer, but looks more like a guy recovering from steroid abuse. I would compare his acting ability to John Cena. Samuel Page (Jesse) is little more than the hunky lifeguard, every once and a while infusing his character with a sufficent amount of emotion to make us care. Luckily for Page, his character has a interesting enough story that we'll stick through watching this guy.

The show has its moments of fantastic writing and 'Holy crap, I can't believe sentences like this made it past FOX out of the cringe-worthy factor of 'em all'. It's apparent that Noxon has her hand in the scripts, since there's some brilliant Whedon-like humor. Such examples are Holly's (Mr. Boyd's dead/not dead girlfriend from some good decades ago) reaction to see the Antichrist: "Fluffy!", as well as Christina's reaction to getting stabbed: "I had such a crush on you" and subsequent response to a particular character's death: "I guess he lost his 'get out of death free' card." Really, it's funnier when you watch it. In another way the show's similar to The O.C. is that it has some pretty witty cultural references (not to the like of Adam Brody's awesome Seth Cohen, but a good amount nonetheless). Something that drags the show down a few pecks is how stereotypical the characters come across in the early episodes; a 10-year old with a two-month experience to television could anticipate the next sentence these overly-dramatic teenagers would say. But hey, it's a minor scribble when compared to the overall scheme of things, which is...

Good vs. Evil – a classic, resonating theme that’s been explored for centuries. What better way to pursue this timeless battle than through the choice of a single person? And how much sweet could it be that that person who makes the choice is none other than the daughter of Satan? We're constantly battling our demons within ourselves, and if anything, this show is a nice form of therapy.

As you can tell, I dug the show. I enjoyed what it was trying to accomplish and what type of story it told. Obviously, this holding religious implications and concepts that might offend some uber-devoted mates, this show isn't for anyone. If you love supernatural phenomenon or followed any of Marti Noxon's work, give the show a try. At the very least, you'll be entertained by the second disc. As far as the first disc is concerned, call up a few of your buddies, make some popcorn, and have a nice MS3K type riff on the soapy elements - it'll make everything more bearable. Check out Point Pleasant. Rent it before you buy it, though.

Duplicity, I Love You, Man

Duplicity
starring Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Paul Giamatti, Tom Wilkinson
written & directed by Tony Gilroy
Universal, 2009, 125 mins., Rated PG-13

** (out of ****)

It's within the last two minutes of this very, very long heist thriller that everything suddenly becomes worth it. Granted, the finale might make you feel like you wasted two hours of your life, but it's so fitting and tidy - not to mention quite humorous - that nearly everything is forgiven. Besides, we're treated with two awesome performances from Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson playing big-time corporate CEOs, who quite easily steal the entire film from our two leads. When the closing credits rolled, the only scene that I really thought about was during the opening credits, when Giamatti and Wilkinson walk toward eat other at a airfield, barking profanities (one assumes - dialog takes backstage to the music) and engaging in a knock-out dragfight until their respective goonies come in to stop them. You could stop the entire movie right there, and you'd be satisfied. But sadly, and I say this with a heavy heart because I want to throw accolades to everything Clive Owen does, the movie is rather boring, potentially losing your interest relatively quickly.

Or, of course, that could just be me and your eyes are glued to the screen every second of its running time.

Keep in mind, I'm not saying the flick's bad - not by a bloody longshot. In fact, it has a pretty fun script that occasionally thinks it's smarter than it actually is, and all the cast members give top-notch performances that are so giddy and fun that you sorta wish you were there when they were filming this movie, because it's obvious they had a jolly good time. And if those two factors don't work for you, and you're a soundtrack-phile, Duplicity works for you, too.

Getting ahead of myself - anyway, Duplicity is about a very intricate, complicated "Ha! Fooled you!" type movie where our two leads - Owen and Roberts - are two highly skilled ex-government agents (one ex-M16, one ex-CIA) infiltrate the perspective companies of the two head honchos: Giamatti and Wilkinson. Wilkinson announces that he is developing a product that will change the world of something to that degree - in essence, very important. Owen and Roberts are on a mission to get that product formula and collect some mullah from the highest bidder. There's so much more than that going on, but I felt I'd make it simple.

Let's get this part out of the way: the cast is excellent, as stated above. Owen and Roberts are a awesome pair that develop a sufficient enough spark to make their so-called 'relationship' interesting enough to suffer through (more on this later). But, as I also said above, the show-stealers are Giamatti and Wilkinson. I don't think these guys have a bad performance bone in their body. Of course, I haven't seen their whole body of work, so it's a premature statement, but from what I've seen of them, they're convicted to their roles wholeheartedly, and I always seem to walk away from one of their movies with even more respect to 'em.

As for the 'suffer through' comment, Duplicity is also needlessly long and has giant leaps of boringness. And the real kicker is that even during particular heist sequences and plans gone awry moments...I was bored. Perhaps something's wrong with me - I mean, I didn't exactly feel the tension of the Frost and Nixon interviews in Ron Howard's creatively titled Frost/Nixon whereas many others were glued to every second of screentime. Point is, the film coulda used a little longer in the cutting room.

For a "thrilling" heist movie, Duplicity bores one a little bit, but the last two minutes either make or break the film. Some will love it, some will not-so-much dig it. Me, being one of those who loved it, find that it salvaged the film. Let me reiterate: Duplicity is NOT bad, it's just boring.

I Love You, Man
starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, J.K. Simmons, Jon Favreau
written by John Hamburg & Larry Levin
directed by John Hamburg
Dreamworks, 2009, 104 mins., Rated R

**1/2 (out of ****)

I love Paul Rudd. I didn't care that I Love You, Man looked to be a rehash of comedies that have come before; the simple fact that Rudd was the leading man with Segel as co-star was enough for me. So with the awesomeness of Rudd already in play, all I really cared about was that it was funny. Thankfully, it is.

I Love You, Man may not break any new territory in the plot department, but admittedly, the film's premise isn't exactly something explored thoroughly in films. It's either that the guy does something stupid and must make amends to his fiance, and his wise-cracking sidekick bud is there to tell him what's up and how to save the day; or a guy whose stuck in his childhood state but needs to grow up now. Here, we're treated with a grown-up, well-respected man with a wonderful, beautiful, understanding and independent fiancée, but he has no "best man", let alone a close male friend. All his life, he's pretty much been friends with the female persuasion, finding conversations with guys more awkward than anything else (and by extension, his scenes are awkward for us, too - but I enjoyed the hell out of it). But with a wedding coming up, he's desperate to find a close guy friend. And that's basically the plot of the film padded out with a lot of improv jokes and gags (is there any other these days?) and a ridiculous obsession with music [which seems to becoming a trend for Rudd, after playing a KISS-nerd in Role Models].

In a nutshell, Rudd is at his best [though I think I loved him the most - despite his lack of actual screentime - in last year's Forgetting Sarah Marshall] and Segel brings his down-to-earth, real-life type of guy persona to the table again, making him instantly relatable and likable. Rashida Jones, who has evidently had a already stable body of work of which I've apparently never seen, is quite the ideal wife with impeccable comedic skills. It's truly an ensemble cast that works together to make potentially mundane jokes seem like the best thing since sliced bread! [oh, how I hate that expression] One thing that irks me is that the great J.K. Simmons is sadistically underused. This guy was arguably one of the best things about such critically acclaimed films like Juno and Burn After Reading! It's a real kicker in the knockers that he doesn't have more scenes. In fact, I would pay big bucks just to watch him and one other co-star (preferably Rudd) bicker for a hour and a half without advancing any sort of a thing resembling a plot; he's that damn awesome.

I think the best compliment I can give I Love You, Man is that it felt real. Projects like 40-Year Old Virgin, Superbad, Knocked Up, Drillbit Taylor, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall - nothing felt real; it all came across as a heightened reality of sorts. Within the first 10 minutes of ILYM, there's a proposal and oral sex discussions via a speaker-phoned conversation with girlfriends, and none of that felt forced or made deliberately for laughs. Obviously, the main draw of a comedy is to elicit some "heheheh's" and "hahaha's", but a little bit of grounded reality goes a long way...

I highly recommend I Love You, Man, because not only is it a riot with phenomenal performances that you can identify with and earn your respect, but because it's a step above a majority of those other widely known projects that have that "Apatow Stamp of Approval." This flick proves you don't need to be in his wonderful graces to have one helluva fantastic film. Oh, and to see Rashida Jones - marry me, girl! I really wish I had more to say about I Love You, Man, but for some reason, I can never seen to write enough about comedies other than "it made me laugh" or "holy potatoes, Batman, this blows major shark chunks." Luckily, this film rocks. So go see it. Like, now-ish.