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Film/Media Journal Archives

2008 Journal

January February March April
May June July August
September October November December

 

A word about the ratings system used

I use a four-star rating system similar to that used by Leonard Maltin and Roger Ebert. While I'm aware there are other ratings systems, this is the one I'm most familiar with and comfortable with.

It has been observed that I have a lot of 3-star ratings, and in fact the films and books in my media journal generally receive better than average ratings. The answer for this is simple: unlike professional film or book critics, I have the luxury of being selective. I'm far less likely to buy a book or go to a film that has gotten poor reviews or word-of-mouth.

**** My highest rating, reserved only for deserving classics and for what I consider "perfect" films/book. These are works I feel everyone should see or read.
***1/2 Very strong recommendation. If a film, this is a film which -- if in the theaters -- I would urge my friends to go see.
*** Recommended. This is generally a good, solid entertaining work.
**1/2 If a film, a reasonable video rental. I might recommend it to certain people depending on specific elements. If a book, perhaps better borrowed than bought.
** A disappointment. Not worth the time it takes to watch or read.
* Horrid. Something somewhere has gone horribly wrong in the universe for this film or book to have been created.

 

January

Stardust (1/1/08) Air New Zealand Flight (2007 ***) Directed by Matthew Vaughn, based on the fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman. I'd been meaning to watch this movie when it first came out, but career obligations got in the way. I understand that the video-on-demand sytem on an airplane doesn't do a film like this justice, but what the hell. I'm glad I got to see it. It wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped, but it was still pleasant enough. I especially enjoyed all the inventive Gaiman-esque story touches, and overall it "felt" like his work. Perhaps I should read the actual book someday.

Extras: Series 2 (1/1/08) Air New Zealand (2005 ***1/2) I watched all six episodes of series 2 while flying across the Atlantic. I had truly enjoyed Ricky Gervais' British version of The Office and had been meaning to watch Extras. It was in my Netflix queue and everything. The writing is simply brilliant throughout.
Showcase Presents: The Teen Titans, Vol. 2 (1/2/08) Graphic Novel (2007 ***1/2) Written and illustrated by various. You know what's wild? I read the first volume on 7/1/06, about a year and a half ago. At the time I wrote that review I hoped DC would publish the second volume, which I figured would complete all the issues of the Titan's original run. This volume (which was delayed several times for reasons I don't know) doesn't quite do that, but it gets close. This volume does, however, include issue 36, which I'm pretty sure is the comic my uncle had that got me hooked on them in the first place. Anyhow, it was a real trip to read these stories again. It was interesting that DC was using the Titan's book in the late 60's / early 70's to try to connect with its teen audience. This is reflected in the stories, many of which dealt with social unrest and race relations. The volume starts out with the three issues of the book that were written and illustrated by Neal Adams, then moves on to the landmark issue #25, where the titans are at a peace rally and inadvertently are semi-responsible for the death of a "man of peace" who looks suspiciously like Albert Einstein. Immediately afterwards they exchange their colorful superhero costumes for new, gray ones provided by the mysterious "Mr. Jupiter." I'm not sure what was in the water back then or why the editors thought this would be a good move for the Titans, but it did seem to work. A similar thing was tried with Wonder Woman, who lost her powers and turned in her costume right around the same time.
Kiss Me Kate (1/5/08) Netflix (1953 **) Directed by George Sidney, starring Katheryn Grayson, Howard Keel and Ann Miller. Yeah, I didn't enjoy this film so much. The premise (action taking place behind the scenes and onstage during a production of The Taming of the Shrew) was fine, I suppose, but I was just never fully engaged. I only liked about half of Cole Porter's songs, with my pleasure lessened somewhat by the barely audible voices of Grayson and Keel. Ann Miller was by far the highlight of the movie. Bob Fosse apparently played one of the minor roles, but I could never figure out which one he was.
Oliver! (1/5/08) Netflix (1968 ***1/2) Directed by Carol Reed. Winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. I have fond childhood memories of seeing this movie on the big screen and subsequently listening to the soundtrack until I nearly wore it out. (Sometimes I think it's a miracle I didn't end up gay...) One historical note: I happen to know there are legions of bitter Stanley Kubrick fans who were enraged that Oliver! beat out 2001: A Space Odyssey, which wasn't even nominated in the best picture category.
Charlie Wilson's War (1/6/08) Glendale Mann 10 (2007 ***1/4) Directed by Mike Nichols, screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. My wife and I were big fans of Sorkin's The West Wing, and we went to this movie specifically to enjoy his writing. I wasn't disappointed by the words, only by some of the delivery: Philip Seymour Hoffman was superb, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts somewhat less so. I couldn't help but have the following two thoughts as I watched: (1) Big-name stars aside, with all the dialogue-driven interior scenes, this must have been an awfully easy movie to shoot. I mean, what was the shooting schedule? Ten days? (2) Having watched every episode of the eagerly-anticipated, then largely disappointing Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, I wonder if Sorkin wasn't spending time on the screenplay for Charlie Wilson's War that he should have been spending on making that TV show not suck quite as much.
Avengers Legends, Vol 1: Avengers Forever (1/6/08) Graphic Novel (2001 **1/2) Written by Kurt Busiek, illustrated by Carlos Pacheco. I gotta be honest: for about 90% of this book I didn't have a clue as to what was going on. It was only near the end that I finally sort of put the pieces together. I have loved Busiek's writing for some time, but this storyline just seemed too much like reading a research paper masquerading as a comic book. I think at some point Busiek re-read every Marvel story ever that included Kang the Conqueror and Immortus and decided to shoehorn them all together into a single tale that takes place adjacent to normal continuity. My problem as a reader is (being more steeped in DC than Marvel continuity) that I didn't have the background to appreciate this. The story just felt largely confusing and arbitrary to me. Some of the explanation for this lies in the introduction: Busiek tells how artist Carlos Pacheco had become available and they had a storyline they were going to pursue, but then it turned out that another, nearly identical project was in the works and the first idea had to be abandoned. Busiek explains that in order to get production started he had to start writing pages without knowing where he was going. So basically he was just making stuff up for awhile until he figured out what the story was. That explains a lot. What it doesn't explain is how this largely confusing (though nicely illustrated) mess became (as Busiek calls it) one of the readers' favorite Avengers story-arcs of all time.
A History of Violence (1/6/08) Graphic Novel (1997 **) Written by John Wagner, illustrated by Vice Locke. I never got around to seeing the 2005 Viggo Mortensen film version of this graphic novel, but I'd heard good things about it and so when I saw the book at a good price I figured I had little to lose. Honestly, I was disappointed. It wasn't horrible, but it certainly wasn't on the same level as Max Allan Collins' The Road to Perdition. I have to place some of the blame on the story construction, which seemed lopsided and clunky. The story itself is simple to the point of being minimalist and it never elevates itself above that. Moral ambivalence bordering on the sociopathic is implied (the main character committed armed robbery as a teen with apparently zero remorse) but is never explored. Unfortunately there's little to recommend art-wise either: Locke's sketchy illustrations get the job done, but that's about as far as they go.
Ghost of Hoppers (1/6/08) Graphic Novel (2006 ***1/4) Written and Illustrated by Jaime Hernandez. I'd forgotten how much I love Jaime Hernandez' clean and graphic illustration style. Man, he's good. It's been a couple of years since I last read one of the Love and Rockets books and after reading Ghost of Hoppers I may just have to start reading the series all over again.
The Golden Compass (1/7/08) DWA Screening (2007 ***) Directed by Chris Weitz, based on the novel by Philip Pullman. There were times when I was genuinely charmed by this film. The magical inventiveness in scene after scene made me feel like a kid again. It definitely is a story aimed at children, even though some of the sequences are intense enough to straighten the hair of a curly-headed ten-year-old. When the film was released I had read some of the commentary, discussing the author's pro-atheistic message. Some of that was in evidence here but only a hint. I wasn't bothered by it, actually. Unfortunately the story seemed to sag toward the end and the final battle sequence was less than exciting. The end of the film is also devoted to setting up a sequel that may or may not get made due to lackluster box office.
Save the Tiger (1/9/08) Netflix (1973 ***1/2) Directed by John G. Avildsen, screenplay by Steve Shagan. Set in a bleak 1970's L.A., Jack Lemmon deservedly won the best acting Oscar for his gutsy performance as aging retail clothier president Harry Stoner. I watched this film once in my early twenties and wasn't all that impressed. Watching it again with considerably more gray in my beard, I have a greater appreciation for it and far more sympathy for the main character. This isn't a film for everybody: a lot of plot elements aren't resolved. But I was more accepting of that than I once was. For many, who we are in middle age isn't exactly who we set out to be. Along the way compromises were made and the world changed around us, often in unkind ways. Baseball is featured as a motif that comes to represent a more innocent time and it plays a role in the first and final scenes. I was moved to the point of tears late in the film as Harry plays a "name game" of his own invention with a young woman he's picked up on Sunset Boulevard. Each takes turns saying the first meaningful celebrity name that pops into their heads. Mick Jagger and Janis Joplin, Artie Shaw and Billie Holiday. It doesn't seem like much, but even in my early forties I often feel my own relevance to the zeitgeist slipping away. On a completely different note, I found it both geeky-fun and distracting to see Dark Shadows stars Lara Parker and Thayer David as professional prostitute and professional arsonist... er, respectively.
Juno (1/13/08) Glendale Mann 10 (2007 ****) Directed by Jason Reitman, screenplay by Diablo Cody. Well, I guess I didn't have to wait too long for my first four-star movie of 2008. I'd heard really great things about Juno and it was one of those rare films that lived up to high expectations. Juno has been compared to Little Miss Sunshine but I definitely preferred Juno. Screenwriter Diablo Cody and her past experience as a stripper was featured recently on CNN.com. This is her first screenplay and she has a wonderful voice: I particularly admired her ability to stop just short of letting her hip dialogue get in the way of creating a variety of memorable characters. Though they all sparkle in different ways, there's a ring of truth to them all as well. Ellen Page is absolutely adorable as the title character; She plays Juno with the right mix of self-possession and frailty that creates a character the audience can truly love. For that matter, the entire cast is terrific, delivering some of the best performances of their careers. Juno is simply an all-around wonderful, sweet film and is definitely a must-see.
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture (1/14/08) Nonfiction (2003 ***1/2) Written by David Kushner. It was an interesting choice that the publisher of this book left the words "video game" out of the title of this book. I guess it doesn't matter; Doom as a game and phenomenon has certainly impacted (some would say scarred) the cultural zeitgeist. I was drawn to buying this book primarily because of my recent experience playing Resident Evil 4, a game that certainly owes part of its DNA to those first-person shooters produced by id in the early to mid 1990's: Wolfenstein 3-D, Doom, and Quake. The book centers on two of the founding members of that company, John Carmack and John Romero. I've never met either man, though one of my friends once interviewed with Carmack. I was fascinated throughout the book. Kushner's style is simple but well-organized and easy to read. It was particularly interesting for me to read about their early Apple II days and compare them to my own experiences and development as a 3-D graphics programmer. It wasn't hard for me to identify with what they went through. It even brought back some especially happy memories of the sense of exploration and discovery that came from writing code into the wee hours of the morning, trying to discover the outer boundaries of what they (or I) could do with computer graphics. But there was a dark side to it all too: Reading about their later deathmarch projects brought back fairly unpleasant memories of anxiety and sleep deprivation brought about by working far too many hours under far more pressure than a sane man should on projects that never seemed to end.
Extras: Series 1 (1/12/08) Netflix (2005 ***1/2) Having watched series 2, I wanted to get caught up. It's a pity there are only twelve episodes and a Christmas special (not yet available on DVD) to enjoy. I began to notice a recurring theme: Andy Millman seems to consistently encounter people who have far more difficult lives than his, including the handicapped and the seriously infirm.
In a Lonely Place (1/17/08) Netflix (1950 ***) Directed by Nicholas Ray. For the first ten or fifteen minutes I was convinced I had discovered a "lost classic," that is to say a great film I'd never seen before, one I'm able to discover and enjoy. Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Gaynor sizzled on the screen. The film begins looking like a two-fisted noir detective story, with hothead Bogart the prime suspect in a murder investigation. The story takes a detour, however and soon steers into the territory of melodrama. The mystery plot takes a backseat and effectively ends up being solved off screen while we take an in-depth look at Bogie's anger management skills or lack thereof. The film was risk taking in its day and certainly gave its contemporary audiences something to talk about. From the vantage point of the early twenty-first century I was somewhat less engaged. It's still a good film though, if not great, and it's certainly worth seeing.
A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey (1/19/08) Nonfiction (2002 ***) Written by Kevin Murphy. I admire that Murphy (who was one of the writers of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the voice of Tom Servo) took his obsessive love of film and turned it into a book. In 2001 he set out to watch a theatrically-screened movie every day for a year and write about the experience in 52 stand-alone essays, each representing one week of filmgoing. While I think it was very smart to organize the essays thematically, I was disappointed that he didn't include at least a passing mention of most of the films he saw. There are a lot of movies he watched in 2001 and I would've loved to know how he felt about them. By not sharing his reviews with his readers, he negated the relevance of the basic "a movie a day" premise of his experiment. I guess I'll just have to forgive him for that. His essays dealt with various aspects of the theatergoing experience, and he did a lot of traveling to various theaters throughout the year, visiting one made of ice and the world's smallest, among others. It was generally interesting and his easy-to-read style made the book a quick read.
Cloverfield (1/20/08) Glendale Mann 10 (2008 ***1/2) Directed by Matt Reeves. Once again I find myself really torn on what rating to give this movie, but here's the bottom line: I loved about five to ten minutes of this movie so much that I'm willing to recommend it in spite of the remainder. Scanning the reviews on rottentomatoes.com, it's clear that the whole "Godzilla meets Blair Witch Project" shorthand had been worn out, but that doesn't make it any less valid. I might have liked to have seen more reviewers using the word "verisimilitude," but what the hell. I like to think of it as the story of Godzilla told from the perspective of the teeny tiny little people running away screaming in background. To my friends who haven't seen it, I've been describing Cloverfield like this: it takes the super-memorable, super-awesome shots and sequences from the Spielberg / Tom Cruise version of The War of the Worlds and punctuates a feature-length film with them. By now reports of the motion sickness inducing qualities of the shaky-cam technique are being reported. My wife and I went to see it and were clever enough to sit in the back row. Even so, my wife had to leave in the middle of the film for a few minutes due to feelings of nausea.
Angels in America (1/20/08) Netflix (2003 ***1/2) Directed by Mike Nichols, based on the play by Tony Kushner. A friend has recommended this 6-part HBO original miniseries to me twice and I'm glad it finally floated up to the top of my Netflix queue. The subject matter (AIDS in the mid-1980's) will probably dissuade people from watching it, but that would be unfortunate. Kushner's material is an utter delight and I found it to be funny, intense, and uplifting. Angels in America is an ensemble piece, and as such is only as strong as its weakest player. Fortunately, amazing performances can be found from beginning to end, with most of the principles playing multiple roles. Al Pacino and Meryl Streep remind us of why they are so worthy of the awards they've won. Also, I was only familiar with Justin Kirk from his role as the deadbeat brother-in-law in the Showtime series Weeds; it was nice to see what he could do with a real character.
Spent (1/21/08) Graphic Novel (2007 **) Written and Illustrated by Joe Matt. Oh Joe Matt. Poor Joe Matt. Want a sound byte? Here you go: "Spent is the graphic novel equivalent of watching someone going to the bathroom for an hour... unsuccessfully." Six years ago when I read Peepshow: The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt it not only showed me how gutsy autobiographical comics could be, it also inspired me to undertake my own self-published collection of stories. When Matt created Peepshow he was in his twenties. Now he's in his forties and he clearly has not progressed as an artist or as a human being. The fact that he uses this as the basis of this book doesn't necessarily make it entertaining. A couple of times in the book Matt made a deliberate effort to alienate any remaining fan base. I felt as though I'd been poked in the eye with a sharp stick. Why did he do that, I wonder. I can't imagine this collection has been making much money for the publisher, Drawn and Quarterly. After Peepshow, I considered myself a fan, but now I think I'd be ashamed to call myself one. The book begins with Matt living a solitary existence, his life lost to a powerful pornography addiction. Little has changed by the end of the book; if anything his life is even more hopeless. I was reminded of Neil in the "Up" series of films. For many years Neil was a somewhat of a "little boy lost," himself: adrift, homeless. But eventually Neil found his footing again and gave us, the fans of the series, cause for hope. For Joe Matt's sake I hope something like that is in store for him. Will I buy his next book? I don't know. It depends. Will there be a next book?
Film Crew: Hollywood After Dark (1/24/08) Netflix (1968/2007 **1/2) Walk the Angry Beach (AKA Hollywood After Dark) was written and directed by John Hayes and stars a young (-ish) Rue McClanahan of Maude / Golden Girls fame. The Film Crew is comprised of Bill Corbett, Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy, three of the writers/performers of the old Mystery Science Theater 3000 show. This direct-to-video series is much like the old one, but without the puppets or silhouettes at the bottom of the screen. Please don't take this the wrong way, Bill and Kevin, but I'm afraid heavyset middle-aged men -- no matter how articulate -- are no substitute for robot puppets. Sorry, guys. It will be interesting how this series compares to the Cinematic Titanic series (not currently available on Netflix), headed up by MST3K's original host, Joel Hodgson.
Targets (1/25/08) Netflix (1968 ***1/4) Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Boris Karloff. I'm not sure exactly how I selected this movie for my Netflix queue, but I'm glad I did. I came away from watching it with a newfound respect for Bogdanovich but also for Boris Karloff! Targets is Bogdanovich's first directorial effort (before The Last Picture Show), and story behind the making of the film is sensational: Karloff owed Roger Corman two days of shooting, and Corman, being the legendary businessman he was, wanted to build an entire feature film around that footage. It was up to Bogdanovich to come up with a creative solution (a shootable script) within that apparently impossible production constraint. What he came up with was positively brilliant. Next, his skills as a director elevated the overall quality of the project, and what -- in lesser hands -- would normally have been forgettable exploitative schlock became surprisingly good, garnering good reviews. It's not perfect by any means, but Targets is definitely a movie that should be shown to aspiring film students to demonstrate what can be done with a limited schedule and budget.
Real Stuff (1/26/08) Graphic Novel (2004 **1/2) Written by Dennis P. Eichhorn, illustrated by various. This edition collects stories originally printed in serial form in the early 1990's. I bought this book about four years ago from the author himself at the Alternative Press Expo (A.P.E.) comic convention in San Francisco. This is the first time I've re-read the collection since originally buying it. Sex, drugs and violence are the major themes to be found in these mini-stories from Eichhorn's life, and those themes are present in abundance. The quality of illustration ranges from amateurish to professional. It's definitely not for everyone, but if you like the work of Joe Matt, R. Crumb, Harvey Pekar and others who specialize in the autobiographical comix genre, this may be worth checking out.
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1/27/08) Netflix (1995 ***1/4) Directed by Gary Felder, screenplay by Scott Rosenberg. Andy Garcia plays Jimmy "The Saint" Tosnia and Christopher Walker plays "The Man With the Plan" in this surprisingly overlooked film about a caper gone terribly wrong. Rosenberg peppers his smart script with idiosyncratic dialogue and that's part of the fun. He also manages to take an ending that could be a real downer and give it an upbeat spin. (Boat drinks!) Things to Do in Denver... would fit quite nicely on a double-bill with Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction.
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1/29/08) Netflix (1942 ***1/2) Directed by John Rawlins. Holmes and Watson (Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce) are back, this time in present-day (WWII-era) London. There's a cute moment when Holmes reaches for his familiar deerstalker hat and Watson chides him: "No, no -- You promised..." Granted this film is propaganda through and through and there's little in the way of real detective work, but there's still something so compelling -- bordering on hypnotic -- about these characters. Maybe it's partially sentimental: my inner child claps with glee whenever I see the plane and hear the accompanying music of the 1940's era Universal Films logo. My personal fantasy is that someday before I shuffle from this mortal coil that the state of the art in computer graphics will advance to the point where studios can offer up Abbott and Costello Meet Sherlock Holmes to the movie-going public.
The Big Book of the Unexplained (1/29/08) Graphic Novel (1997 ***) Written by Doug Moench, illustrated by various. It's been a few years since reading any of Paradox Press' entries in the "Big Book" series. This volume isn't necessarily my favorite, but it's a good starting point nonetheless. The premise of the series is that potentially dry factual information is made more exciting by presenting it in comic book form. When I stumbled upon the first volume (The Big Book of Urban Legends) I was thrilled that my appetite for quirky nonfiction subject matter could be combined with comic books. I didn't mind the black-and-white presentation or the variety of comics illustration styles. For the next several years I sought out the books whenever I could find them and was sorely disappointed when the series ended.
U2 3D (1/31/08) DWA Screening (2007 ***) Directed by Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington. Bono, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr. and... The Edge. I am going to admit something I'm a little embarrassed to: I have very eclectic musical tastes but have never really familiarized myself with U2's music. I've meant to, but never actually got around to doing so. Sorry, folks. For a non-fan like myself, seeing this film is undoubtedly a very different experience than for a fan. Music aside, most of the appeal lay in the 3-D visuals. I'd seen a clip of U2 3D at a special Dreamworks presentation about a year ago and I was totally blown away by it. This time around... eh, not so much. The images seemed soft in the way that sometimes digital images do, and the 3D effect wasn't as compelling. In the past two years I've seen the following in digital 3-D: Monster House, Meet the Robinsons, A Nightmare Before Christmas and Beowulf. In all cases except Nightmare and U2 3D I had a very positive experience. So what happened? Was it the projection system in our screening room? At any rate, I'm now concerned the presentation of 3D films and the whole 3D experience may be more fragile than I previously thought.

February

Going in Style (2/1/08) Netflix (1979 ***1/4) Written and Directed by Martin Brest, based on a story by Edward Cannon. George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg play three old friends who decide to supplement their social security checks by holding up a bank. I had fond memories of this sweet movie which was released two years after the first Oh, God! movie. Though nominally a comedy, I was moved to tears several times by the honest performances by Burns and Strasberg. Watching it for the first time in years, I was surprised how quickly the story got going; for three old codgers, they certainly didn't beat around the bush when it came to committing armed robbery! If you're looking for a heartwarming rental, this is definitely a little movie you should consider. Ultimately the film tells a simple story in a straightforward way and isn't particularly deep, but it's still damned charming.

The Big Book of Hoaxes: True Tales of the Greatest Lies Ever Told! (2/3/08) Graphic Novel (1996 ***1/4) Written by Carl Sifakis, illustrated by various. Paradox Press / DC's Big Book series turns an eye on Hoaxes, Hoaxsters and the women that love them. Clifford Irving's Diary of Howard Hughes to Hitler's Diary, they're all here in dazzling black and white. Sifakis' writing struck a good balance between presenting a lot of condensed factual information and still being light and conversational in tone, making it an easy read. It's worth noting that while many of the Big Book's (including The Big Book of the Unexplained) have a narrator / host, this one didn't, but it still felt quite unified.

New Invaders: To End All Wars (2/3/08) Graphic Novel (2005 **) Written by Allan Jacobsen, illustrated by C.P. Smith. When I was a kid I read a few issues of Marvel's mid-1970's run of The Invaders, which featured Captain America, The Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch. Those stories were set in the 1940's and had The Invaders (along with sidekicks Bucky and Toro) battling The Red Skull and the Nazis. I picked up this collection (which includes the new series' entire 9-issue run) at my favorite used book store. Why? The book represented a value: $9.95 for a hefty volume with cool art and glossy color printing. Later at home, about ten pages into the book, I realized I had probably made a mistake. C.P. Smith's realistic drawing style is eye-catching but wasn't quite simpatico with Jacobsen's writing. And as for the writing, there are an awful lot of long stretches of talking in New Invaders, and not an interesting kind of Kevin Smith's dialogue in Green Arrow either. There's also this weird thing with this USAgent character who's dressed as Captain America and then the real Cap shows up and.... Aaarrrggghhh! Yeah, all in all I found New Invaders to be a definite miss.
Michael Clayton (2/4/08) DWA Screening (2007 ****) Written and directed by Tony Gilroy, starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Sydney Pollack and Tilda Swinton. Clooney plays the title character, a "fixer" at a prestigious law firm who also owes money to the mob. Wilkinson plays an trial attorney who -- though he may have had a breakdown after going off his meds -- still presents a substantial threat. I was thoroughly engrossed in Michael Clayton. Its smart writing, acting and directing made me feel like I was watching a movie for grown-ups. Gilroy wrote the screenplay for The Bourne Ultimatum and he really knows how to write action and suspense. There were several times in the story when choices could have easily been made toward the cliché', but instead fresh directions were taken.
Persepolis (2/7/08) DWA Screening (2007 ***) Directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi. At the risk of sounding uncultured, I didn't like this animated version of Satrapi's two-part graphic novel nearly as much as I'd expected to. Maybe it's because I was already familiar with the source material and maybe it's because I had high expectations going in. While I enjoyed the visual style, which was both and upgrade of and respectful of Satrapi's original artwork, I had several issues with the storytelling: (1) For me the pace seemed way too slow, and I kept losing interested and becoming bored. There's a long section in which Marjane suffers from depression, and that's never going to translate to something that's visually interesting onscreen. (2) The autobiographical story is particularly linear. While that works in a book it works less well as an animated film, in that there was no emotional beginning, middle and end. (3) The short stand-alone vignettes, which played out as one or two-page side-stories in the book felt out of place in the film. They interrupted the flow and took away from any sense of unity. The litmus test with any scene is this: If it can be removed and the audience wouldn't know the difference, did it belong in the first place? Undoubtedly many will disagree with my critique and I admit that perhaps I'm being too harsh. Persepolis is a remarkable accomplishment and I'm glad it's been nominated this year as Best Animated Feature along with Ratatouille and Surf's Up. Unfortunately, respecting the accomplishment of a film and enjoying it are two different things.
Paper Moon (2/8/08) Netflix (1973 ***1/2) Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, screenplay by Alvin Sargent, adapted from the novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown. Tatum O'Neal played Addie Loggins, a nine-year-old who loses her mother and goes on the road with a con man who may or may not be her father. I have fond memories of this film, one I watched several times when I was younger. In the sixth grade I bought and read the book, which was very different from the movie. Watching the "making of" featurettes on the DVD, I learned why: Bogdanovich and Sargent made a lot of changes, all of them for the better. Did Tatum O'Neal deserve to win the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar (TM)? That's a question for the ages. For starters, who was she supporting? She's the central character of the film! Besides, as cute as she was, she always seemed to be acting. One personal note: As I often do with my Netflix movies, I watched it right after work. When my wife got home and told me she'd never seen it I watched it a second time with her. I can't remember the last time I've watched the same movie twice in the same day.
Electric Girl, Volume 1 (2/10/08) Graphic Novel (2000 **) Written and illustrated by Michael Brennan. As I have many times in the past, I picked up this volume at a used book store at a used book price. The artwork looked cute enough, indicating an indy-comix potential. Sadly, upon reading the stories contained within, Electric Girl had far too many empty calories for my personal taste.
The Last Picture Show (2/12/08) Netflix (1971 ***1/4) Directed by Peter Bogdanovich. This is the third Bogdanovich film I've watched in as many weeks, proving the adage, "Bet you can't watch just one!" The last time I watched The Last Picture Show I was in my late teens or early twenties. At the time I think I was far more interested in catching the occasional glimpse of Cybill Shepherd's breasts than in the stories to be found in Anarene, Texas in 1951. Older now, I appreciated this exploration of the feelings of loss, hopelessness and confinement. Let's be honest, the film is still pretty damned depressing. As I watched I was often reminded of similarities to American Graffiti (1973). They both certainly launched a lot of acting careers. The two films might make an interesting double-feature, but who would buy tickets?
Chronicles of Narnia, The: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2/16/08) Netflix (2005 ***1/2) Directed by Andrew Adamson. Though I watched the BBC version last year on video, I hadn't watched this big-budget version since it was originally released. It's wonderful family film, the kind I hope to watch with my kids someday (if and when I have kids). I'm looking forward to seeing what Adamson and the others do with Prince Caspian.
Watchmen (2/17/08) Graphic Novel (1985 ****) Written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons. On anyone's list of top ten most influential graphic novels, Watchmen would be pretty high up. What exactly was in the water (or in the wind) in the mid-1980's? Twenty years have passed since I first read Watchmen in serial comic form and it's been five years or more since I last read it as a collected volume. I'm happy to report it still stands up. I'm looking forward to next year's release of the Zack Snyder-directed movie, which features Jackie Earle Haley of Bad New Bears fame as Rorschach.
Once (2/21/08) Netflix (2006 ***1/2) Written and Directed by John Carney. Set in Dublin, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova play "guy" and "girl" in this infectious, highly satisfying musical fable. As Carney states in the DVD extras, the story is deliberately simple, which makes it all the more effective. Shot on a "micro-budget" of $100,000, Carney was freed from many of the pressures of a larger budget. As I watched, I was reminded of Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004), similarly simple movies in which dense dialogue between a man and a woman took the place of the music in Once.
Double Indemnity (2/22/08) Netflix (1944 ****) Directed by Billy Wilder, screenplay by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson. The last time I saw this film was at the Stanford Theater, before I moved south. Now that I've been living in L.A. for a few years it's kind of a treat to hear so many familiar locations mentioned. According to the unusually good "making of" DVD featurette, Wilder and Chandler hated each other every minute they were working on the screenplay. Somewhere in that unholy union they managed to invent most of the conventions of the film noir, and for that we should all be grateful. Some of the dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny, but maybe that's part of the point. Wilder's direction is still amazing: It's somehow omnipresent and invisible at the same time. This film is deservedly a must-see for any serious film student.
Pal Joey (2/23/08) HDMOV (1957 **) Directed by George Sidney, starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak, music by Rodgers and Hart. Perhaps it's worth explaining that we recently moved to AT&T U-Verse digital television. For the first time we've got access to some of the HD-content channels, one of them being HDNET-Movies, which airs uninterrupted movies in HD. From time to time I'll be reviewing these films and Pal Joey (not currently available through Netflix) is the first. This film (based on the Broadway musical) is a vehicle for Sinatra that places him in a love triangle with Hayworth and Novak. Pal Joey is blatantly sexist and ripe with dated sexual innuendo throughout, so much so that it made me cringe. Die hard Sinatra fans may pardon its sins, however. Ultimately, the songs are wonderful but there's not much in the plot to recommend Pal Joey.
The Associated Press Guide to News Writing (2/23/08) Nonfiction (1991 ***) Written by Rene J. Cappon. I somehow managed to get through college without ever taking a journalism class or working for The Iowa State Daily. Sometimes I regret that. I have a great respect for journalism, even more so these days: I'm taking a creative nonfiction class through UCLA Extension and having a background in "straight" news reporting would come in handy sometimes. It is for this reason I bought and read this book. Much like Strunk and White, it is an excellent writing reference book, one that permits itself the luxury of brevity.
Spiral Bound (2/23/08) Graphic Novel (2005 ***) Written and illustrated by Aaron Renier. One of the blurbs on the back calls this all-ages graphic novel a wonderful read for a rainy day afternoon. I don't necessarily disagree. The story didn't particularly move me but I'll take responsibility for that and not blame the book. I enjoyed Renier's deceptively-simple illustration style, and there's something in the pacing of his storytelling that reminded me of the Herge Tin-Tin books. I think the book is probably better suited to younger readers. It might make a good entre into the graphic novel format for some.
Advise and Consent (2/24/08) Netflix (1962 ***1/4) Directed by Otto Preminger. Watching the first minutes of this film, my response was that it shares a lot of DNA with Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing. It is surprisingly modern in its portrayal of Washington's corridors of power. Shot on actual locations within the Capital building, there's something very cool about the fact that it was released while JFK was in office. This could have been a great film had it not been for one thing: Unfortunately, at about the halfway point, the story takes a nosedive into potboiler territory. It gives up all its momentum to a melodramatic subplot about a senator haunted by homosexual experimentation in his past. The fact that homosexuality was portrayed at all in a 1962 film was surprising. It's just too bad the way in which it was shown (Who knew gay men could be so creepy?) was so embarrassing to a modern audience.
Last Action Hero (2/28/08) HDMOV (1993 ***) Directed by John McTeirnan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Danny Madigan (played by Austin O'Brien) is given a golden movie ticket that opens a portal to an action-packed world that works very differently than real life. I'm going to admit something a little embarrassing: I have always had a fondness for this movie, which I probably haven't seen since it was first released. Watching it again after all this time, I'm not even going to try to pretend that it's gotten a bad rap. There are portions of this film -- the long set piece with the explosive flatulent corpse comes to mind -- that aren't good by any standard. I guess the left side of my brain just appreciates the postmodern premise and there's enough action to keep the right side from getting too antsy. Maybe 1993 was too early for an action movie that satirizes action movies, but I gotta give it credit for trying, even if it was only marginally successful.

March

The Endless Summer (3/1/08) Netflix (1966 **1/2) Written and directed by Bruce Brown. For those who haven't seen this documentary, Brown followed surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August around the world as they searched for "the perfect wave." He combined this with additional footage to stretch the project to feature-film dimensions. According to my wife -- who grew up in Manhattan Beach, California and has hung out with a lot of surfers in her time -- this film changed a lot of people's lives. By "changed" I guess they went from being recreational surfers to die-hard zealots. While much of the footage Bruce Brown shot remains impressive even in this day of Hi-Def video and Imax cinematography, I was never really able to get into this film. Maybe it's because I grew up in the Midwest (where surfers are a bit more rare) or maybe it was because I was never able to get over the voice-over narration / home movie quality of The Endless Summer.

Auntie Mame (3/4/08) HDMOV (1958 *1/2) Directed by Morton DaCosta, starring Rosalind Russell. It's unfathomable to me how this awful film was nominated for six Academy Awards! I also can't explain how or why I watched the whole thing: the running time is 143 minutes, but it felt like six hours. Why so bad? I'll tell you: What the film lacks in subtlety it makes up for in tiresome predictability. Without exception all the characters were one-dimensional, frequently behaving far more like puppets than living sentient beings. On top of that, any plot twists the film had to offer were telegraphed at least fifteen minutes in advance. And yet in spite of my criticisms the film is beloved. Why, why, why? I can only guess people were taken in by Ms. Russell's charms, even though her acting mannerisms were repeated endlessly and without variation. Or perhaps Auntie Mame spoke to the hearts of those sad, pathetic creatures living in the world of 1958 (fifty years ago!). Still, I can't imagine what message it was they so desperately needed to hear.
The Natural (3/7/08) HDMOV (1984 ***1/4) Directed by Barry Levinson, starring Robert Redford. I was curious, so I looked it up: Levinson directed The Natural after Diner (1982) but before Young Sherlock Holmes (1985). For me, the quintessential Levinson movie will always be Avalon (1990), but that's probably not relevant. The Natural demonstrated to the world Levinson's ability to helm a big-budget Hollywood film. It seems impossible, but I'd managed to not watch this film until now. It's not a film for the cynical at heart, that's for sure, but if you're: (a) willing to overlook a couple of on-the-nose plot elements and (b) buy into the idea that dreams can come true on the baseball diamond and it's never too late for a second chance, then this is the film for you. But hell, why am I even bothering? You've probably already seen it, haven't you?
Hustle &Flow (3/8/08) Netflix (2005 ***1/2) Written and directed by Craig Brewer, starring Terrence Howard as Djay. Is it, in fact as hard out there for a pimp as this movie would have you believe? I don't know the answer to that, but this is a pretty compelling and surprisingly inspirational film. Howard turns in an amazing performance as a pimp-slash-drug-dealer with a dream. The behind-the-scenes DVDs extras tell a fascinating story of how this little film got made, and it's well worth the effort.
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Diabetes (3/9/08) Nonfiction (2008 **1/2) Written by Steven V. Joyal, M.D. I got the sad news two weeks ago that I have type 2 (adult onset) diabetes, which runs in my family. The good news is I can do something about it, and that's really what this book is about. The book offers not only a lot of approaches for battling the effects of the disease, but also how to prevent it. Now while it's nice to know what preventative steps I might have taken, in the absence of a time machine the passages that addressed this group were more discouraging than helpful. The author also writes at length about the dangers of glycotoxins, which apparently come from heating foods above the boiling point of water. I guess I'm not quite ready to fully embrace that aspect of the book, as it has widespread ramifications and greatly reduces my food choices.
Hoosiers (3/10/08) HDMOV (1986 ***1/4) Directed by David Anspaugh. I have no idea why it is that I have no interest in televised sports, yet I'm a sucker for inspirational sports movies. I'd never seen Hoosiers, but I'd heard good things about it. It's a pretty damned good movie. Gene Hackman does a decent job as Coach Norman Dale, but I must admit it's hard for me to see him without thinking of his role in Superman. I kept wanting to yell out to the basketball kids: "Don't trust him -- he's Lex Luthor! He's just trying to get your Indiana Kryptonite so he can kill Superman!"
The Film Crew: Killers From Space (3/11/08) Netflix (2007/1954 **) Directed by W. Lee Wilder, starring Peter Graves as Doc Martin. Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy are back to once more to relive their Mystery Science Theater 3000 glory days. I wish I could say I liked it as much as the original incarnation, but I just can't. Part of it is that the new premise isn't as engaging as the old one. I said it before and it’s a lesson worth repeating: Robot puppets in outer space are just plain more appealing than middle-aged men sitting in a basement.
Glengarry Glen Ross (3/14/08) HDMOV (1992 ***1/2) Directed by James Foley, screenplay by David Mamet. God bless Jack Lemmon. It wasn't so long ago I watched one of his best performances in Save the Tiger. His performance in this film is right up there too. Depressing as hell, there's a lot to like in this film. Alec Baldwin's brief appearance is brilliant and deserves to be a classic. Yeah, I loved every minute, even if I couldn't honestly tell you what it's all about.
Moulin Rouge! (3/14/08) Netflix (2001 **1/2) Directed by Baz Luhrmann. "There was a boy, a very strange enchanted boy...." Boy oh boy, I truly want to like this movie more. I respect it, but that's far from the same thing. Frustrating. My main criticism when I first saw it during its theatrical release was that fifteen minutes worth of story was dragged out over two hours. My opinion hasn't changed in the interim. I liked the first half somewhat more than the second, and I will admit that Ewan McGregor singing "We Can Be Heroes" to Nicole Kidman atop her jeweled elephant was a fantastic and uplifting scene. Ultimately, though, we're told in the first few minutes how the story is going to turn out and no matter how you slice it, it's a real downer of an ending.
Batman & Superman: World's Finest (3/15/08) Graphic Novel (2003 **1/2) Written by Karl Kesel, Illustrated by Dave Taylor & Robert Campanella. I like the concept, which was to tell the evolution of Batman and Superman's relationship over the course of ten years. Unfortunately the framing device used -- the death of an innocent man was indirectly caused by the two heroes failing to effectively work together -- was clunky and problematic.
No Country for Old Men (3/16/08) Netflix (2007 ****) Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. This film won the Academy Award for best picture, placing it forever more in the company of some of the greatest movies of all time. Much has been made about the ending and whether or not it is properly satisfying. In my mind it is the right ending for this story. I have heard the story described as a good man hunting a bad man and a man caught in the middle. All of the actors were remarkable, with Tommy Lee Jones giving probably the best performance of his career.
Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume 3 (3/17/08) Graphic Novel (2007 ****) Written by Robert Kerkman, illustrated by Ryan Ottley. I'll do my best to put my finger on what makes Invincible so great. I think it really boils down to how fresh and clean the central teenage character and storytelling is. In many ways it would be suitable for all-ages, but of course it's not. Invincible contains some incredibly graphic and violent scenes. Maybe that's part of what makes it work: the juxtaposition of violence and innocence heightens the impact of both. Ottley's solid illustration style is a perfect match for Kerkman's writing. The high-quality art production is breathtaking, and the beautiful color design practically leaps from the page.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (3/20/08) HDMOV (1962 ***) Directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne and James Stewart. I'm of two minds on this film: At times it was emotionally engaging, but at other times I felt I was watching an extended civics lesson. It's certainly a classic, but is it a great film? I was surprised when I saw the film was made in 1962. My estimate would have placed it ten years before that, as the dialogue is quite dated by modern standards. As I watched, it was obvious that this film was taken as the model for Back to the Future Part III (1990). Lee Marvin's Liberty Valence was clearly the model for Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen, who also had a tendency to call everybody 'dude.' In addition to Stewart, Wayne and Lee Marvin, there are a lot of familiar faces and some good performances. However, at the risk of being strung up by an angry lynch mob, I think the beloved James Stewart did more than a little overacting. One final note: I could have sworn that the last time I watched this film there was a catchy song that accompanied the opening title sequence, but apparently my memory is faulty. Now, just where did I hear that song?
Enchanted (3/21/08) Netflix (2007 ***1/4) Directed by Kevin Lima, starring Amy Adams as Giselle, an animated (near) princess exiled to the real-world chaos of New York City. I love that Disney is finally taking ownership of the right to comment on their rich history. It's not a perfect film, nor is it a tale told from a particularly sardonic viewpoint, but it is a lot of fun. Amy Adams was a perfect choice to play a wannabe princess. The songs (three of which were nominated for Oscar consideration) were pleasant enough, and I even caught myself with the "Happy Working Song" stuck in my head, but I'm not sad they were beaten by "Falling Slowly" from Once.
Get Rich or Die Tryin' (3/23/08) Netflix (2005 **) Directed by Jim Sheridan, starring Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson. Once upon a time there was a hopeful young man who kept waiting for this movie to get better, but it never did. The end.
Showcase Presents: Superman, Vol. 1 (3/24/08) Graphic Novel (2005 **1/2) Written and illustrated by various. Much of the appeal of reading these old stories from the late-1950's is that they often take on a surreal quality. Unfortunately, there was much less of that in these Superman-centric stories than in the Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane stories in the first Superman Family volume. To be honest, I got somewhat bored by the juvenile stories in this volume. Maybe, just maybe, I'm finally growing up.
Sandman Mystery Theater: Dr. Death and the Night of the Butcher -- Volume 5 (3/25/08) Graphic Novel (2007 ***1/4) Written by Matt Wagner, illustrated by Guy Davis and Vince Locke. Like many of the books in my graphic novel collection, I picked this up at my favorite used book store, largely on a whim. Volume 5 was actually my first introduction to this incarnation of Wesley Dodds, the pre-WWII Sandman. The storytelling was strong and the realistic/sketchy art was totally appropriate to the material. I enjoyed this volume a lot, especially the decidedly non-superhero approach to one of the classic, albeit minor, golden age heros. It was also fun to see the subtlety by which Gaiman's Sandman influenced Dodds. I will definitely make an effort to seek out other volumes in the series.
Justice League: The New Frontier (3/28/08) Netflix (2008 ***) Directed by Dave Bullock, based on the graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke. I appreciate that they even attempted to make a "feature" length version of Cooke's graphic novel. Unfortunately, it was painfully obvious they were working with a limited animation budget. I understand the need to work within production constraints, I really do, but in this case it really diminished the potential of the source material.
Mary Poppins (3/29/08) Netflix (1964 **1/2) Directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and David Tomlinson. I had such fond memories of this movie from my childhood. It seemed so magic, so wonderful. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but Mary Poppins absolutely fails to hold up. I'm reminded of a similar disappointment I suffered a few years ago when I made the mistake of watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The visual effects, which were wonderful and inventive, were probably the highlight. At the risk of offending, I thought Robert Stevenson's direction was half-hearted at best. Much of my childhood adoration was based on the music, and there were a few top-notch, memorable songs, but about half the musical numbers were utterly forgettable. I also noticed that with only a few exceptions, the songs totally stopped dead any story progression. And what was that bird lady and her "tuppence a bag" thing? It barely made any sense at all. One final note: Julie Andrews didn't have much to work with in terms of character with Mary Poppins. Bert (Van Dyke) kept going on and on about how everybody loves Mary Poppins. I actually thought she was a bit of a bitch.
Hulk: Gray (3/30/08) Graphic Novel (2005 ***) Written by Jeph Loeb, illustrated by Tim Sale. This is a simple story, simply told about the days following Bruce Banner's exposure to the deadly rays of his gamma bomb. I found it consistently effective, with Sale's artwork and Loeb's words complimenting one another. My only reservation is that there's really so little story-wise to recommend the book more. Though it's glossed over in this book, the real story of why The Incredible Hulk started out gray and quickly became green is a pretty mundane one: The early 1960's comic book printing technology had a hard time printing consistent gray values, and so to get around this production glitch, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby decided Hulk would be better off emerald-hued.
Used Cars (3/30/08) HDMOV (1980 **1/2) Directed by Robert Zemeckis, screenplay by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, starring Kurt Russell and Jack Warden. Michael McKean and David L. Lander (TV's Lenny and Squiggy) appear in a small role. This is a little embarrassing, but when I was a teenager, my grandfather took me to a handful of R-rated movies. Used Cars was one of them. Watching it now, for the first time in decades, I made a couple of observations, with the biggest being how much Kurt Russell's character reminded me of Marty McFly in Back to the Future, which Zemeckis directed five years later. I'd never made that connection before.
Be Kind Rewind (3/31/08) DWA Screening (2008 ***) Written and directed by Michel Gondry, starring Jack Black and Mos Def. I recognized Gondry's name. Looking him up on imdb.com, he directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and The Science of Sleep (2006). Be Kind Rewind is a sweet film that almost works but doesn't quite. The premise is that a ragtag group of misfits make their neighborhood (and their world) a better place by using their wacky inventiveness to make their own versions of famous films. Like I said, it's sweet as hell, and I surely wish I could give it a higher recommendation.
Funny Girl (3/31/08) Netflix (1968 ***) Directed by William Wyler, starring Barbara Streisand and Omar Shariff as Fanny Brice and Nick Arnstein. Hello gorgeous, indeed. Streisand exploded to superstardom, winning an Oscar for best actress in a leading role. I have pretty seminal childhood memories of my mother taking me to see this when it was first released. Doing the math, I would have been three or four at the time. I definitely remember Streisand singing on the tugboat just before the intermission. Oddly enough, I remember being bored and wandering around in the theater while Mom and the other adults watched. At 2hrs:45min, Funny Girl is a movie that would tax most adult attention spans, let alone that of a 3-year-old. Watching it now, it's clear that Streisand's performance and vocals really carry a film that has more than a few story-related problems. On the whole, I liked Wyler's directing (he'd won three best director Oscars), except for his tendency to use way too many damned lights in every damned scene.

April

Hannah and Her Sisters (4/1/08) Screenplay (1986 ***) Written by Woody Allen. So I decided to try something new. I was at my favorite used book store and I picked up a couple of screenplays in book form. Being a big fan of Woody Allen, and Hannah and Her Sisters being one of my all-time favorite films, I thought it would be an interesting read. In a sense it was: Several of the techniques Woody Allen uses (off-screen and overlapping dialogue) are specified in the script. It was also interesting to see how he specified detail and hesitation in line delivery as well. Still, it wasn't as compelling a process as I'd hoped, but it didn't discourage me from reading more screenplays in the future. Next up: My Dinner with Andre!

Wet Hot American Summer (4/1/08) Netflix (2001 ***) Directed by David Wain. I can't remember who or what recommended this movie to me. It was actually pretty cute. It's a small movie that attempts to capture the fun of Meatballs. Set in 1981, the movie depicts the madcap antics of the last day of summer camp. Most of the time it's a spoof of movies in the genre, but it also works on its own. It is fun to see some familiar faces all in the same movie: Janeane Garafolo, David Hyde Pierce, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon and Amy Poehler. Watching the behind-the-scenes featurette on the DVD, my heart really goes out to the cast and crew: apparently it rained 20 of the 28 days of their shoot and everybody was pretty miserable.
A Star is Born (4/3/08) Netflix (1976 ***) Directed by Frank Pierson, starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. When my wife was six, her mother took her to see this film and she loved it. I somehow managed to get to the ripe old age of 43 before seeing it for the first time, and I have mixed feelings. The music (much of it written or co-written by Paul Williams) was good. The whole film was really "of its time," and serves as a beautiful example of mid-seventies filmmaking technique. I tried to put myself in the shoes of the people living in 1976 when this remake was released. Having not seen the previous 1937 or 1954 versions I didn't have that as a frame of reference. Having Streisand star in a remake of a movie starring Judy Garland must have felt bold. Unfortunately, as modern as it was at the time, it still couldn't escape the weight of a largely melodramatic story about a woman in love with a washed-up has-been drunk. My favorite dialogue exchange in the whole film bar none: Her: "Are you an alcoholic?" Him: "Probably."
Powers: Volume 8: Legends (4/12/08) Graphic Novel (200? ***1/4) Written by Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Michael Avon Oeming. Awhile back I re-read my entire run of Powers and realized at that time that I'd never bought Volume 8. It's interesting to note that my reviews of that series were a little lukewarm, so my expectation with this volume was low, which may have contributed to my enjoyment. In Legends the city reacts to sightings of a new Retro Girl and Deena returns to the police force and gets herself into a pretty bad situation. This all added up to a more interesting story arc than others in the series.
Who Lives? (4/12/08) Play (2006 ***) Written by Christopher Meeks. Meeks is a writing teacher of mine who wrote this play a decade ago. Set in the early 1960's it's nominally about a selection board who decided which patients would be allowed to use a small number of experimental kidney dialysis machines. The play is about more than that of course, it's also about how one measures a life.
Blazing Saddles (4/12/08) HDMOV (1974 ***) Directed by Mel Brooks. I have probably seen this at some point in my life, but I'll be damned if I can pinpoint exactly when. Probably sometime in the early eighties during the early days of R-rated cable TV. It's fun enough -- some consider it a classic. Hell, it made #6 on AFI's "100 Years... 100 Laughs" list. You know what? I didn't find it all that funny, actually. Let me try to explain: Blazing Saddles, from start to finish felt like really polished 1960's-era sketch comedy that had been made more adult via language and sex, race and drug references. And that's pretty much what it was. I wanted to like it more.
The Sons of Katie Elder (4/13/08) HDMOV (1965 *1/2) Directed by Henry Hathaway. John Wayne and Dean Martin play two of the four sons of a beloved woman, now dead. When they return to town for her funeral, they get (as they say) more than they bargained for. At 122 minutes, this film dragged, and I was relieved when it was done. The only bright light in the whole thing was seeing a young Dennis Hopper as the twitchy son of a land-grabbing jerk, played by infinitely recognizable James Gregory.
Superman for All Seasons (4/13/08) Graphic Novel (2002 **1/2) Written by Jeph Loeb, illustrated by Tim Sale. Several of the reviews of this book I read referred to Frank Capra and Norman Rockwell's America. I sort of got that, though this version of Superman's origin made less of an impression on me than it evidently has on some. Maybe it's because the effect was too superficial, too much a modern pastiche of 1930's life in the United States. It was pleasant enough, but lacked any true emotional depth, and I was unmoved from start to finish. That's too bad. One day someone will write a story about the "Man of Steel" that will have me weeping inconsolably. Kurt Busiek came close in 2005's Superman: Secret Identity. Unfortunately, Superman is easier to work with as an icon than he is as a character. Finding depth in Superman the man has always been problematic in that regard, but with the setup Joeb was working with in this book I think that might have been possible.
West Side Story (4/16/08) Netflix (1961 ****) Directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn and Rita Moreno. Winner of 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. No two ways about it, this is a brilliant movie from start to finish. The music is some of the best ever written for the Broadway stage. I frequently marveled at how well directors Wise and Robbins worked together. The camera angles and movement and editing caressed the choreography, creating a drama and a sense of depth that is still as fresh today as it was in 1961. There is so damned much to learn about filmmaking from watching this film! Sadly, of the half-dozen times I've watched West Side Story in my life, it's always been on video. It is absolutely one of those great films I hope to someday watch on the silver screen.
The Guns of Navarone (4/23/08) HDMOV (1961 **) Directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn. Often when I watch an older film I try to imagine how it might have been appreciated by the audience of the time. In the case of The Guns of Navarone, I imagine this big-screen, big-budget, star-studded action war thriller must have made quite an impression in 1961. Unfortunately, watching it in 2008 on my 32-inch LCD flatscreen I found it a little melodramatic and by the end I kept looking at my watch, waiting for it to end.
The Mind-Body Diabetes Revolution: The Proven Way to Control Your Blood Sugar by Managing Stress, Depression, Anger and Other Emotions (4/29/08) Nonfiction (2005 ***1/4) Written by Richard S. Surwit. Man, what long titles some of these nonfiction books have! The primary message of Dr. Surwit's book is that the big three behavioral stressors (stress, depression and hostility) have been shown to contribute to the development of diabetes and patients can make positive changes in their blood chemistry by learning how to address these problems head-on. The primary method recommended is visualization and relaxation, and this approach is covered in depth. However, other approaches (including pharmaceutical ones) are addressed as well. In all, it's an excellent book for anyone with diabetes (like me) who also has a history of one or more of these other stressors (like me). The next time I'm driving and get pissed off at the other idiots on the road I have a nice, selfish reason for throttling back the ol' hostility: my blood sugar.

May 2008

Somebody Up There Likes Me (5/1/08) Netflix (1956 ***) Directed by Robert Wise, starring Paul Newman as Rocky Graziano. There are a lot of reasons to like a movie. In the case of this film, based on Graziano's autobiography, isn't a great film by any stretch of imagination, but it's a lot of fun to watch. I especially loved the exterior New York scenes, and the imagery truly transported me to another place and time. Newman's over-the-top performance was weird, but fascinating. He seemed at all times to be imitating either Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski or -- and I know this doesn't make sense in linear time -- Sylvestor Stallone's 1976 Rocky. I'm being facetious, but it's clear that Stallone owed a great deal to Newman's earlier performance.

My Dinner With Andre (Screenplay) (5/2/08) Screenplay (1981 ***1/4) Written by Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory. I was eighteen the first time I saw the film version of My Dinner With Andre. At the time I remember being excited about the possible world of ideas the film represented. There are very few movies that could be classified as "philosophical conversation" films. Several of Richard Linklater's films come to mind, especially Slacker and Waking Life. Not so long ago I read and reviewed the book containing the teleplays from Steve Allen's first Meeting Of Minds series, and that PBS show had a great deal of common with this film. There are those who may be critical of the goal or value of a movie (or a play) that consists of two people talking. Reading the screenplay made me want to see the movie again, and perhaps I will do just that in the coming weeks or months. I'm interested to see if it holds up to my own memories. As for the screenplay, reading its dense multi-page passages I felt something vital was missing, that the words were insufficient to carry the whole meaning. I missed seeing Andre and Wally. This strikes me somehow as ironic.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (5/2/08) Glendale Mann 10 (2008 ***1/4) Directed by Nicholas Stoller, starring (and written by) Jason Segel. So much has been made in the press about Segel's full-frontal nudity in this film. I personally was underwhelmed. As I watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I was frequently reminded of last year's Knocked Up. Unfortunately, as likeable as he is, Jason Segel is no Seth Rogen. Overall I found this film a little flabby, not nearly as tight as it could have been, and it seemed about twenty minutes too long. Milana Kunis of That Seventies Show was surprisingly good as Segel's love interest, and I hope her performance here is enough to earn her lead roles.
Iron Man (5/4/08) La Canada (2008 ***1/2) Directed by Jon Favreau, starring Robert Downey Jr. Thank you, Iron Man, for kicking off the 2008 summer movie season. I wasn't particularly a fan of Iron Man growing up. His red and gold costume was cool but I couldn't really relate to him. As an adult it's easier to appreciate the story of a merchant-of-death turned super-hero. There were plenty of cool cars and toys and guns and stuff blowing up to satisfy the 12-year-old boy in me. I have a great deal of respect for Favreau's directing talents and his passion for film as evidenced in 2003's Elf and 2005's Zathura. Robert Downey Jr. was born to play millionaire playboy industrialist Tony Stark and he plays the role with both humor and sincerity. Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges did fine jobs in their respective supporting roles, but from beginning to end it was Downey's movie.
The Cat's Meow (5/5/08) Netflix (2001 **1/2) Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, screenplay by Steven Peros, based on his play. Kirsten Dunst and Edward Herrmann play Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst in this story of what may have happened on Hearst's yacht in 1924. There have been rumors over the years of a love-triangle gone wrong that resulted in studio head Thomas Ince's death. Whether you believe the rumors or not, it's still a compelling story. Unfortunately, the dialogue didn't quite live up to the potential of the premise and the action was necessarily limited by the geography of the boat. Finally, there wasn't a moment during the entire film when I forgot it was derived from a play.
Wristcutters: A Love Story (5/7/08) Netflix (2006 ***1/4) Directed by Goran Dukic, starring Patrick Fugit as Zia. The imminently likeable Fugit previously starred in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous (2000), a movie high on my list of films I wish I‘d made. Wristcutters takes place in a sad, gray afterworld inhabited by suicides, where no one is able to smile. It’s a surprisingly charming, low-key film, with just a hint of magic and hope. I loved seeing how broken-down junk and trash can work as an effective visual motif. Wristcutters is probably not for every taste, but fun nonetheless.
Gødland Volume 1: Hello, Cosmic! (5/9/08) Graphic Novel (2006 **½) Written by Joe Casey, illustrated by Tom Scioli. This is another one of those semi-random books I picked up used. I was intrigued by a blurb on the back that read: "Casey & Scioli surprised me by taking Kirby as a genre… and presenting an original concept within that genre." In fact, the books dominant feature is Scioli’s over-the-top Jack Kirby-esque art. Unfortunately, it’s often very bad Kirby-esque art that reminded me of my own teenage efforts. In fact, I think I have some old drawings somewhere that would have fit in nicely in the pages of Godland. I don’t want to be overly harsh -- some of it was fun to read -- but overall the execution did not live up to the potential of the concept.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (5/9/08) DVD (1981 ****) Directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Harrison Ford and Karen Allen. With the fourth Indiana Jones film coming out on May 22nd, I thought it would be fun to watch the original trio of films for the first time in years. There was definitely something potent at work on this first one. There’s a reason this film is used as an example over and over in books on screenwriting. From first frame to last, watching it is like taking a ride on your favorite roller coaster. It is effortless and exhilarating at the same time. Raiders of the Lost Ark will also forever have a special place in my heart: the first time I saw it was also my first date!
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984 **) Directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Harrison Ford and Kate Capshaw. In the behind-the-scenes DVD commentary, Spielberg and Lucas blame this film’s "darkness" for its critical failure. For years I’ve joked that somebody really should’ve known better than to have the beloved Indy become evil and slap a kid, that it violated a basic tenet of movie storytelling. Watching it again after all these years, I think the true source of the film’s mediocrity is not the darkness, but is actually far simpler: The script just wasn’t very good. In the first movie, the relationship between Indy and Marion Ravenwood was both believable and interesting. The romantic subplot in Temple of Doom played as a watered down imitation of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in Robert Zemeckis’ Romancing the Stone. The bottom line is this movie has a lot of problems and everybody knows it. I can’t help but wonder if it would be possible to re-edit the film and make it suck a little less.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (5/11/08) DVD (1989 ***1/2) Directed by Steven Spielberg. I would love to know technically why the third Indy movie looks so different from the other two. The images are altogether crisper and brighter. I suspect the film stock and lenses used, as well as the use of a lot of rim lights in the lighting design, but that's just a guess. Don't get me wrong, it's a marvelous story with a solid core (the relationship between Indy and his father), but some of the scenes looked like they were lit like an episode of Laverne and Shirley. Maybe Spielberg and others were trying to make up for the darkness of Temple of Doom. So... now that I've watched all three of the original films and they're all fresh in my mind, I'm ready for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls! Now all I have to do is try my best to sidestep spoilers and keep my expectations in check!
Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold, Vol 2 (5/15/08) Graphic Novel (2008 ***1/2) Written by Bob Haney (except for one story by Denny O'Neil), illustrated by various artists, primarily Nick Cardy and Jim Aparo. This book contains comic issues 88-109, which were originally published in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Bob Haney (who also wrote the original Teen Titans comics that got me collecting as a kid) has a reputation for the worst teen dialogue of all time. This is an unfortunate truth, but as I read this collection I felt as though I was watching Haney grow as a writer and really hit his stride. For anyone who doesn't know, The Brave and the Bold was a team-up book and in each issue different stars from the DC Comics universe would assist Batman in solving some crime or crisis. I would love to know what editorial process was used in choosing who would appear; some of the choices were surprising and inspired, including appearances by Wildcat, Black Canary, Sgt. Rock, and even Plastic Man. And here's a comics trivia question for the ages: whatever happened to the London-based Bat Squad? I also appreciated the scope of the stories Haney told. Many were set in foreign countries and had the feel of an adventure movie in miniature. Finally: Jim Aparo passed away a couple years back, and re-reading the stories he illustrated (in black and white you can really appreciate the artwork) reminded me of how brilliant he was. Along with Neal Adams (who illustrated many of the covers in this collection), Aparo remains one of the definitive Batman artists.
I'm Not There (5/15/08) Netflix (2007 ****) Directed by Todd Haynes, screenplay by Haynes and Oren Moverman. This is an amazing and original film, based on the "many lives" of Bob Dylan. I was captivated from beginning to end. As a Dylan / Woody Guthrie fan there was plenty to love. Six actors (including the late Heath Ledger) play facets / aspects of Dylan. Cate Blanchet was nothing short of amazing as Jude Quinn, the most easily recognizable incarnation. Is it for everybody? Probably not, no. The storytelling is deliberately fragmented and at the very least non-conventional. It fails the "would I want to watch this film with my grandmother?" test. I'm Not There falls solidly into the experimental-yet-still-commercial genre I've long referred to as "mindf**k" films. The studios don't make a lot of them, but there are others, such as David Lynch's Eraserhead (1977) and Mulholland Drive (2001), as well as Head (1968), Pink Floyd The Wall (1982) and Waking Life (2001).
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (5/23/08) Glendale Mann 4 (2008 ***1/4) Directed by Steven Spielberg. Apparently the U.S. Government recently passed a law stating that all reviews of this film must begin with "It's been 19 years since Indiana Jones literally rode off into the sunset..." There. Satisfied? I did my best to prepare myself properly for this event: I watched all three of the previous films on DVD. I avoided spoilers. I glanced at reviews enough to know (Tomato-meter: 70%) to keep my expectations in check. I went into it with an open mind, knowing it wasn't going the be the greatest movie of all time. And you know what? I enjoyed it. It was a fun ride, one that was in keeping with the franchise. Some of my colleagues have been playing a game where they rank the Indy films in order of their enjoyment. Raiders is still my favorite, of course, but I liked some parts of this film even more than Last Crusade. Tonally, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull seemed closer to the first film than the third, which descended into slapstick a few times too often.
Bigger Than Life: A Murder, a Memoir (5/24/08) Nonfiction (2007 ***1/2) Written by Dinah Lenney. I'm currently taking a UCLA Extension memoir class taught by Lenney. I already had high regard for her as a teacher who both inspires and nurtures. Having read her book -- in which she interweaves her father's murder and its aftermath with reflections on her life -- I have further respect for her as a writer. I especially appreciated her ability to write clear prose that still manages to communicates complex thoughts and emotions. In addition, I admired her deft handling when writing about members of her family. She was able to capture good and bad, sometimes at the same time, painting what felt like an honest portrait.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (5/25/08) Netflix (2007 **) Directed by Jake Kasdan, starring John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer. This biopic parody follows directly in the footsteps of Ray and Walk the Line. While I appreciated what the writers were trying to do, which was to poke fun at the conventions of the genre, I just wish they'd done it in a funnier way. Also, as much as I like Reilly as a comic actor, he doesn't quite have the charisma to carry a film like this on his own.
Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters (5/26/08) Graphic Novel (2007 **1/2) Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, illustrated by Daniel Acuna. This is a reboot of the classic team whose members were frivolously killed off in Infinite Crisis. As with many of the "random" books I buy, I bought it used, on sale and at leat in part due to the quality of its artwork. It's not a bad read, and it has a fairly simple story-arc. It is unnecessarily violent at times, though. Uncle Sam is literally the embodiment of the American spirit, which makes him a challenge as a character. There's a political subtext I found interesting: the American people are fed up with their government but are, against all odds, hopeful about the future.
Kung Fu Panda (5/29/08) Hollywood Mann Chinese (2008 ****) Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson. Wow. I can honestly say without any irony whatsoever that the word "awesome" comes to mind. KFP is a beautiful film and an amazing achievement. The animation is great, the lighting is great, the story is elegant in its simplicity, the hero is likeable and easy to identify with. It's my favorite Dreamworks movie since the first Shrek. I'm ashamed to admit I'm more than a little envious of my co-workers who worked on the film. My sole contribution was wearing a panda costume in New York for two days, but that's another story. Oh well, maybe if this film makes the money it deserves I'll get a chance to work on Kung Fu Panda II!
My Fair Lady (5/30/08) Netflix (1964 ***) Directed by George Cukor, starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, with Wilfrid Hyde-White as Colonel Pickering. You want to hear something crazy? As beloved as this film is, with a running length of nearly three hours, I thought this film was about an hour too long. I saw plenty of opportunities to cut it down, too. In many places Cukor's editing philosophy appeared to be: "Don't use three shots when you can use ten!" On top of that, it's a misogynistic (often bordering on offensive) film with a weird ending. In spite of all of this, Hepburn is radiant and Marnie Nixon (Hepburn's singing voice) sings and Rex Harrison talk-sings their way through some memorable songs.
Kung Fu Panda (5/31/08) DWA friends and family Screening -- Universal Citywalk IMAX (2008 ****) Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson. I know, I know, I just saw this two days ago at the cast & crew screening. I sure didn't mind seeing it again, though! The film looked absolutely amazing on the big IMAX screen. I hope it does well at the box office. What with Iron Man and Indy and Sex and the City and Hulk and Wall-E, the theaters are so damned crowded with content this summer. I always get so paranoid whenever one of Dreamworks' films opens. I wonder: "Is this the film where people decide they don't want to see any more animated movies?" So, will I see it again? You know what? I just might -- it's that good! (One sad side-note: The day after this screening [6/1/08] Universal Studios had a terrible fire that destroyed the New York set, the Back to the Future town square and the King Kong attraction.)

June

Iron Man (6/2/08) DWA Screening (2008 ***1/2) Directed by Jon Favreau. Dreamworks had a free employee screening and so I went for a second time, and yes, it is still an amazing ride. This may be a good opportunity for me to point out that, so far, the summer blockbusters of 2008 (Iron Man, Indy, Panda) put last year's offerings (Pirates 3, Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3) to shame! But before you get too smug, summer of '08, let me remind you: I didn't actually see Speed Racer, did I?

Comic Books and Other Necessities of Life (6/3/08) Nonfiction (2002 ****) Written by Mark Evanier. I've been a regular reader (and fan) of Mr. Evanier's blog (www.newsfromme.com) for more than two years. His career in comics, animation and TV interests me a great deal. He's about a decade older than I, but there are definite similarities between his early influences and work experience and my own. After reading this collection of columns originally printed in The Comic Buyer's Guide, I have even mor