Cars

The thing about Pixar movies is that they are always better than you expect. You think, kids movie eh? Not for me. Animated you say? No thanks. G rating? No way. And then you watch it, and you wind up with a smile on your face the whole time, laughing out loud at subtle references, homages, and hidden jokes, forgetting its even supposed to be a kids movie.

I know a 5 year-old who loves this movie. The idea of talking cars alone is enough to drive them wild. Plus this movie is awesome looking. Colorful, loud, shiney, almost photo-realistic. It really is one of the best looking Pixar movies out there.

Basically the movie is about a rookie racecar named Lightning McQueen who is cocky and full of himself. He gets stranded along Route 66 and meets a bunch of colorful and endearing cars of Radiator Springs, a town abandoned by the interstate that bypasses their town. He meets an old racing legend and gains a love interest (Sally), and learns about friends and humility etc and so forth. The movie is heartwarming and teaches the kids life lessons and such, but the best part about this movie comes from the stuff that is clearly for the adults.

For instance: I doubt that my little 5 year old friend caught such subtleties like George Carlin voicing the Volkswagon van, who pushes people to try some of his "organic blend gasoliiine, man" while high off of some himself. ("Duuuude, I swear every third blink of that light is totally slower. Am I the only one who is seeing this?") I don't think children would understand why its funny that Cheech Marin is the voice of an obnoxiously painted 1959 Impala lowrider, or get the sterotypes at work behind the Italian Fiat 500 Ferrari-loving tire experts voiced by Tony Shalhoub. (For me, they were the funniest part about this movie.)

Lost on such youngin's would be the history behind the name McQueen and the great car scenes from Bullitt the name evokes, as well as the storied past of the actual Fabulous Hudson Hornet of the early 50's. I doubt many children have encountered the ubiquitous group of Rice-Rockets (called the Delinquent Road Hazards here) that torment the road in their Nissans, Mitsubishis and Scions.

I'd like to think young kids won't understand the subtle innuendo when McQueen catches a glimpse of a pinstriped tattoo on the tail of Sally's back. (Tramp Stamp anyone?) My favorite reference however came in the form of Harv, McQueen's agent, voiced by Jeremy Piven and alluding to the character of Ari Gold from Entourage. (I don't know of many 5 year-olds who watch Entourage.)

And if you're not a racing fan at all (i'm not) you might even miss all the big name cameos by the likes of Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Darrell Waltrip and Mario Andretti, amongst others.

As always with Pixar movies, Cars is packed with jokes and references such as these that make it both a kid's movie and a grown-up's movie. The makers of this movie spent time on their own trip down Route 66 to soak up the atmosphere and warm feeling of a good road trip themselves. Each character is lovingly crafted and created, and yet this still winds up being just a very average Pixar movie, amongst the low end of all the Pixar movies made. While it is one of the best looking, the script lacks somewhat in the creativity and pure heart that we have come to love from Pixar, and often the stereotypes are overdone. The movie is also on the long side for a movie of its type, at 2 hours. Even an average Pixar movie is worth seeing though, and it will bring a smile to your face. I just hope this isn't a sign of things to come under the new Disney ownership of Pixar.

Be sure to stick around for the end credits, where the cars watch drive in movies parodied after other Pixar movies, with cars as the main characters. Its the funniest part of the movie.

"Cars" at Rotten Tomatoes - 76%
"Cars" at IMDB

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3:10 to Yuma

As the saying goes, they don't make things like they used to. American cars, game shows, appliances.

That's sort of been the case with Hollywood Westerns. Not much in the last 40 years can compare with the classics like Shane, The Searchers, and Butch Cassidy. That said, at least, there hasn't been an 'old fashioned' Hollywood western as good as 3:10 To Yuma since Unforgiven back in '92.

That's not entirely fair to say however, as this year's version of 3:10 to Yuma is in fact a remake of the 1957 classic of the same name. This movie, from what I gather, stays pretty faithful to the original, right up to the rather odd ending.

The movie stars Christian Bale as Dan Evans, a strapped-for-cash down-on-his-luck rancher who manages to cross paths with badass outlaw Ben Wade, played absolutely brilliantly by Russell Crowe. In exchange for the reward money offered for his capture, Bale's character must help escort Ben Wade to the 3:10 train to the Yuma prison. (And now you know where the title comes from.)

Christian Bale has become quite adept at playing the weak, distraught, pitiful man (See: The Machinist, Rescue Dawn), and he plays it well here in a solid performance. The movie, in what would have been a fairly average shoot-em-up gunfight western, is taken to a much higher level by the mesmerizing performance of Crowe.

I used to hate Russell Crowe - at least his off-screen personality. I still sort of do, but with every role he takes on, his on-screen acting genius is further revealed. Think about it, has he turned in a bad performance in recent memory? I mean, not only is he good, he's versatile. A detective, an outlaw, a boxer, a naval commander, a genius, and a gladiator.

And, as with his other movies, he takes over 3:10 to Yuma. This movie is about him. For all the action in this movie (and there is a lot), the most memorable scenes are those between Crowe and Bale, playing off each others stone cold cynicism. Crowe plays the bad guy so well that by the end of the movie, we find ourselves rather confused about our feelings toward him. And the rather unexpected ending just adds to that confusion.

For all the strong acting and great cinematography (this is a great looking movie), the plot sort of fell apart for me at the end. Not to spoil anything, but the final climactic scene is a prolonged shootout a-la James Bond films where characters dodge thousands of bullets and should have died 10 times over. The worst part is that the whole scene is really rather pointless anyway, unless you buy into the "emotional" necessity of it (spoiler: a father "proving himself" to his son.) And in the very final scene, a main character does something so unexpected that it almost seems to go against the logic of the entire film, unless I just misread something along the way. The ending may not sit well with some, and in a few days time or after another viewing it might make sense, but for me it was flawed.

3:10 to Yuma is still very entertaining and even thought provoking, which is rare for a western. Russell Crowe's creation of a Wild West Outlaw alone is worth the viewing.

"3:10 to Yuma" at Rotten Tomoatoes - 88%
"3:10 to Yuma" at IMDB

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Death at a Funeral

If anyone knows how to make death and funerals funny, its the English.

Death at a Funeral is an English black comedy, directed by Frank Oz, about well, a funeral.

The thing about English humor is that it is either so understated that its easy to miss, or it is so over-the-top that it becomes slapstick or farcical. Death at a Funeral opts for the latter.

Basically, the movie is about a family that gathers together for a funeral. The family is full of absurd characters with every sort of personality flaw. Throw in a skin rash, some hallucinogenic drugs, a gay midget, and nudity, and in typical English style, things wildly spiral out of control as every possible thing that could go wrong, does. This is another one of those movies that draws on awkwardness, embarassment, and inappropriateness of all sorts, as we find ourself laughing at things we're not sure we should be laughing at. (Beware of a rather surprising fecal matter gag that comes out of nowhere.)

That being said, while the humor is silly at (most) times, it is still smartly done and cleverly paced. There are great laughs scattered throughout the whole short running time, and its all very entertaining. With a running time of only about 1 hour and 15 minutes, you don't have to invest a lot in this movie to enjoy it. Overall, a slightly above average comedy, that, because of English tone and delivery, succeeds more than probably any American attempt at the same type of humor.

"Death at a Funeral" at Rotten Tomatoes - 62%
"Death at a Funeral" at IMDB

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Dreamgirls

I guess i'm in a musical mood or something, with my last review of Once and now Dreamgirls, which is odd seeing as how its the genre I try to stay away from the most. But flipping through the channels this afternoon, Dreamgirls was on, and I had heard it was good or something, so I watched it.

Dreamgirls came out a year ago, so i'm a little late to the show, but remember the point of this blog is to just tell you about whatever I happen to watch, not just shiny new stuff. Basically, Dreamgirls the movie is based off of Dreamgirls the successful broadway musical of the 80's. As fair warning, i've never been a huge fan of Broadway, Broadway Musicals, or Hollywood film adaptations of Broadway Musicals, so this movie kind of had three strikes against going into it.

Dreamgirls tells the story of R&B during the doo-wop era and onward, and follows the story of the Dreamettes-turned-Dreams, a Supremes-like trio of Effie White (Jennifer Hudson), Deena Jones (Beyoncé), and Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni rose) and their quick rise to fame on the Billboard Charts. Like all good episodes of VH1's Behind the Music, Dreamgirls soon shows us that fame has a price in "Act II" of the movie, but leaves us with a uplifting final note.

In contrast to the touching simplicity and stripped down musical arrangements of Once, Dreamgirls boasts elaborate musical numbers and stage performances, in what I can only imagine stays faithful to the spirit of Motown and a broadway production. However in keeping with that spirit, the musical elements of this "musical" are not merely contained to the on stage performances, but rather characters sometimes break into spontaneous recitative song. I have to say, there is nothing I hate more than when characters speak to each other in song and dance out their feelings (thus my dislike of musicals and broadway.) So really, for me, that is where this movie went a little off. I would have enjoyed it much more had the singing been kept just for actual performances.

That being said though, the musical numbers are well produced and performed, and enjoyable. Jennifer Hudson, in keeping with the theme of those NOT winning American Idol being more successful than those that do, is awesome in this, both in voice and in acting. (She of course won the oscar for supporting actress.)

However I thought the movie as a whole had little substance outside of the musical performances, and relied too heavily on great singing to get by. For such a very talented cast, great individual performances failed to connect into a cohesive achievement. Like I said, it was like rushing through a musical version of VH1's Behind the Music, pulling clichéd elements of all the other music biopics out there (Foxx's Ray for one). The movie started out on all cylinders, and kept it going without a rest for the entire two hours - and that isn't a good thing. It didn't stop to take a much needed breath.

Watch it for the music, and to look at Beyoncé - but don't expect much of substance out of it.

"Dreamgirls" at Rotten Tomatoes - 78%
"Dreamgirls" at IMDB

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Once

Is it possible to fall in love with a movie? I think I did.

Every now and then a movie comes along that hits you in exactly the right spot, providing you with that feeling you need most, when you need it most. Some movies genuinely effect you. "Once" was that movie for me. (In fact, I had wanted to start this blog for a while, but seeing this movie finally convinced me to go ahead and do it, just so I could tell you about Once.)

Once is one of those movies that reminds you of everything that is good and right about cinema, and why movies are made in the first place. It reminds you of the power of the medium - stripped of special effects, in-your-face promotion, hollywood stars, and orchestral scores - leaving only the very simple story of two people, and the music they play.

As a self-proclaimed Anglophile (or as with this Irish film - an Hibernophile), I try to pay attention to many things going on in Britain these days. "Once" is just one of the many exceptional films to come out of the Isles this year (Control, This Is England, Atonement, Eastern Promises), but I believe that it is definitely the best. Hell, it is probably the best film to come out of any country this year. (Juno had held that distinction for me until now, but Once is just flawless.)

The film takes place in Dublin. The plot couldn't be simpler: Girl meets Guy. Guy plays music. Girl also plays music. Guy and Girl play music together. Guy and Girl fall in love. In fact, the two unnamed main characters are simply credited as "Guy" and "Girl".

"Guy" is played by the very talented Glen Hansard. Hansard comes to this movie with no acting experience, but he is the front man of a very popular Irish rock band called "The Frames." (The Frames' ex-bassist John Carney directs.) "Girl" is played by Czech-born musician Markéta Irglová, who, as Roger Ebert mentions, "has the kind of smile that makes a man want to be a better person, so he can deserve being smiled at." Hansard and Irglová compose and perform all of the music in the film.

Shot in 17 days for just $160,000 (and earning almost $14 million to date), Once is the story of a broken-hearted vacuum repair man (Hansard) who also tries to get by as a busker (street performer). He meets an immigrant girl (Irglová) whose job is to sell flowers on the street. Upon learning she also plays music (the piano), they duck into a music shop where the owner lets them play together in what stands out as the most powerful and charming scene of the movie. I won't ruin any of the magic that unfolds in the rest of this movie, but what is interesting to note is that during filming, Irglová and Hansard quickly developed an on-set relationship, and are still seeing each other to this day. Thus, what unfolds on the screen between them is genuine chemistry, and combined with low production values and intimate style of shooting, we quickly begin to feel as if we are not watching two people acting, but rather are given a privileged view into two real people as they fall in love.

The ending (guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and a lump to your throat - unless you are incapable of emotion) is indicative of just how flawless a movie this is.

This year, you can have your Hairsprays and Sweeny Todds. Take your Oscar buzz, hollywood propaganda machine, and your Golden Globe nominations and shove them. Although Once was shockingly snubbed for any Golden Globe nominations, you don't need critics, fixed awards shows, or even me to tell you this is a good movie. You just need to see it for yourself.

Once was released on DVD December 17.

"Once" at Rotten Tomatoes - 98%
"Once" at IMDB
Official "Once" Trailer

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