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Hugo Weaving is the fucking shit.
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*sigh
I guess I'll just have to settle with The Book of Eli being over The Kids Are All Right.Comment
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Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Directed by Rupert Wyatt.
2011. Rated PG-13, 105 minutes.
Cast:
Andy Serkis
James Franco
John Lithgow
Freida Pinto
David Oyelowo
Brian Cox
Tom Felton
Tyler Labine
Jamie Harris
Ty Olsson
David Hewlett
Will (Franco) is a scientist for the cleverly named Gen-Sys (think genesis). He is hard at work on a cure for Alzheimer’s, which his father (Lithgow) suffers from. The drug he’s invented is being tested on chimpanzees. He’s had a breakthrough with the one named Bright Eyes. However, after she goes wild and is shot dead right in front of potential investors things seem to go kaput. It’s then discovered that the chimp was hiding a baby. Will takes the baby home to raise and names him Caesar (Serkis). Due to Will’s drug having been given to Bright Eyes during pregnancy, Caesar has heightened intelligence and awareness. Apparently unsure of his place in the world, the chimp becomes depressed and eventually attacks the next door neighbor while trying to protect Will’s dad. For this he’s sent to a not-so-well run shelter for apes, gets even more depressed and decides things are gonna change.
Making Caesar a character we really feel for is done through a perfect marriage of technology and acting. The fact we’re not looking at a real chimp 100% of the time is difficult to discern. He looks real enough. He’s certainly more realistic than recent kiddie flick stars Yogi Bear and Garfield. He also has much more depth and personality. It’s a remarkable performance by the man in the computerized monkey suit, Andy Serkis. If I had my druthers, which I don’t in this case, he’d receive Oscar consideration. However, since it’s hard to say how much is him and how much is animation I don’t think he will.
As a whole, the movie is well-written, drawing us in as it goes along. This is no small feat considering it’s a prequel to a movie in which the apes are the villains. It’s an about-face in viewpoint that is pulled off quite nicely. This is not only due to the empathy we’ve developed for Caesar. It also helps that although there are human villains, all humans aren’t evil. Likewise, Caesar does not go completely mad with rage and start killing people at will. Things seem to balance out and we understand his side of the equation.
When it’s all said and done, Rise… makes itself into a fun popcorn flick that somehow manages to be a little deeper. The visuals are often remarkable but the story gives us a bit more to hold on to. Normally, a prequel to a forty year old movie is a bad idea. Maybe this “was” a bad idea. However, it’s brilliantly executed. They’ve done the franchise proud.
MY SCORE: 8/10Comment
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The Kentucky Fried Movie
Directed by John Landis.
1977. Rated R, 83 minutes.
Cast:
Bill Bixby
Donald Sutherland
George Lazenby
Evan C. Kim
Bong Soo Hun
Marilyn Joi
Uschi Digard
Marcy Goldman
Saul Kahan
Tara Strohmeier
Richard Gates
Jeff Maxwell
Jack Baker
Manny Perry
If the nineteen-sixties had thrown off the nation’s cloak of innocence, the seventies found the country disrobing completely. Grindhouse cinema was at its absolute peak. Even porn found mainstream acceptance as people openly flocked to theaters showing Deep Throat and Behind the Green Door. Raunchy comedy became our preferred style of humor. “Blue” comedians like Richard Pryor and George Carlin became superstars. Ushered in by the success of Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” the “not ready for primetime players” of the first season of Saturday Night Live becoming household names was only the next logical step. Despite our seemingly collective attitudes towards the depiction of sex and potty-mouthed comics, a few issues weighed heavy on our minds. The ever escalating Cold War made the threat of nuclear destruction feel imminent. Many of us felt like the leaders of both the Soviet Union and our own USA spent much of the day with their fingers on the proverbial button waiting for the other to give them an excuse to lauch their growing arsenals. We were also dealing with a national oil crises which saw gas prices practically multiply. Perhaps things weren’t so different, after all. This is the climate which created The Kentucky Fried Movie.
As you can probably tell by the title, this is not your typical movie. There is no plot, no conflict, no love story, heroes nor villains. TKFM is a collection of skits and faux-movie trailers. Some of it makes what was then very pointed social commentary, a surprising amount of which remains relevant. Some is raunchy and/or silly simply for the sake of being so. Finally, the trailers pay homage to the exploitation flicks that inspired them. Almost all of it will be funny to the right viewer. I fear that those under thirty-five just may not get it unless they have both knowledge of and appreciation for the era. No, being a fan of That 70s Show doesn’t count. So many things seem to be a product of that time they’ve become in-jokes for those of us old enough to remember and young enough not to have forgotten.
Due to the recent spike of the interest in exploitation flicks, the faux movie trailers hold up best. They are so much something either Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez could’ve dreamed up. You’ll likely howl, and possibly be titillated by the “ads” for “Catholic High School Girls in Trouble” and “Cleopatra Schwartz.” Ironically, it’s the movie within the movie that falls most flat. Instead of a trailer, we get a full-blown spoof of Bruce Lee’s most well-known movie, Enter the Dragon. It certainly has its moments. However, clocking in at over twenty minutes, it drags considerably in comparison with the reast of the film’s rapid-fire assault.
The passage of time has made TKFM feel like a love it or hate it affair. Oldheads like me are likely to lap up every minute of it and giggle throughout most of its runtime. Younger folks will likely think parts here and there are hilarious but find it lacking as a whole. They’ll wonder what the big deal is while we admonish them for not knowing.
MY SCORE: 8/10Comment
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The Help
Directed by Tate Taylor.
2011. Rated PG-13, 146 minutes.
Cast:
Emma Stone
Viola Davis
Bryce Dallas Howard
Octavia Spencer
Sissy Spacek
Jessica Chastain
Ahna O’Reilly
Allison Janney
Anna Camp
Cicely Tyson
Chris Lowell
Skeeter (Stone) has returned home from college and aspires to be a serious writer. Home is Jackson, Mississippi and this is the 1960s. It is common for the affluent white families to have black maids who not only cook and clean but practically raise their children. Constantine (Tyson), the maid who raised Skeeter no longer works for the family, much to Skeeter’s dismay.
Also not to Skeeter’s liking is the way the town’s maids are treated in general. They are often mistreated and demeaned. Since this appears to be the only type of employment available to black women, they perform their duties and bite their tongues. Skeeter decides she wants to write a book telling the perspective of these women. As you might imagine, this is no easy task.
The chief characters on each side of the racial line assume the roles of hero and villain. For the maids Aibileen (Davis) becomes one of the heroes. She’s the first one to agree to talk to Skeeter. Given the climate of the times, she’s literally putting her life on the line. Our villain is Hilly (Howard). Hilly rules Jackson’s group of wealthy white housewives with an iron fist. She’s the one the others aspire to please and fear incurring her wrath.
I guess here is where I should mention that men are only on the periphery of this world. White men appear occasionally. Mostly, they’re off to work ruling the parts of Jackson outside of their own households. Black men are almost non-existent except for distant civil rights leaders (distant meaning only seen on television) and Minny’s (Spencer) abusive husband Leroy. Even he is only heard and never seen. If this movie has flaws they come from this setup. White men have nothing of consequence to say, showing no backbone despite either being responsible for or at least presumably supportive of society’s design. Black men are either far away martyrs or, as represented by our most tangible vessel, angry wife-beaters totally dependent on their women to support the family.
Luckily, this world full of women is deeply engrossing. There are demons to exorcise and obstacles to overcome on all sides. Not only is Skeeter having a difficult time putting together her book, but her mother is withering away due to cancer. That’s not to mention all the issues others have. However, they all come together in a manner that enhances the ending without overwhelming the movie.
It also helps that there are a bevy of wonderful performances. Fresh off her outstanding work in Easy A, Emma Stone is again very good. However, she’s outdone by the cast around her. As Aibileen, Viola Davis is perfectly restrained, exuding the quiet strength it takes to do her job and then to speak about it to Skeeter. Octavia Spencer is much the opposite as Minny. She’s loud and short-tempered. She plays it perfectly, stealing nearly all of her scenes. Some may complain Minny is a stereotypical character but she’s a perfect complement to the reserved Aibileen. The other scene-stealer is Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly. It’s a thankless role but she fully embraces it and runs with it. By the end she becomes one of 2011’s best villains.
Without question, the subject matter is touchy. Racism has not disappeared yet. This is a movie that will inspire strong feelings. As such, it’s a film that deserves to be seen. Even if you don’t like it, it gives us something to discuss and possibly learn from. It is flawed but poignant.
MY SCORE: 8/10Comment
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What did you think about the running time?Comment
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Thats actually good to hear, its one of the main reasons I avoided it.Comment
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Yeah I didn't have a problem with it either. Even when the story isn't really moving along, the really good cast/characters are more then enough to make up for it.Comment
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I still need to watch The Help and Planet Of The Apes. I hope to do both this week sometime."It's the revenge of the dicks that's nine cocks that cock nines"Comment
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Dell, have you seen Pulp Fiction? Thoughts on it if you have.Comment
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I thought both The Help and ROTPOTA were great. I have more respect for Franco every new movie I see him in.
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One of my all time faves. Haven't watched it in a while though.
To be honest I thoght how good "Rise..." was had very very little to do with Franco. He played the role, but didn't do anything to distinguish himself good or bad. For me, this was all about Andy Serkis & Caesar.Comment
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Hobo with a Shotgun
Directed by Jason Eisener.
2011. Not Rated, 86 minutes.
Cast:
Rutger Hauer
Molly Dunsworth
Brian Downey
Gregory Smith
Nick Bateman
Pasha Ebrahimi
Robb Wells
Timothy Dunn
This is for gore-freaks. Yeah, I’ll start there. After all, that’s where the movie starts. Almost no time is wasted before we get the first decapitation and subsequent geyser of blood splattering the screen. A damp cloth clears it nicely. Keep it handy, along with a poncho to wear over your clothing. That stuff is tough to get out of cotton. Throughout Hobo with a Shotgun we’re treated to all sorts of messy deaths and dismemberments. All of it is rendered in glorious, but not seen in quite some time, Technicolor. At least that’s what the opening credits say.
Technicolor is an appropriate choice for this movie. Everything about it feels like it’s from a bygone era. This includes the film’s star, Rutger Hauer. True, this is a more weathered version but he seems to have pulled this from the same pile of scripts he regularly drew from back in the 1980s. I mean that in a literal sense. The movie appears to be set back then, but it’s not something we’re told. The one possible exception is the guy that films bum fights, an internet era thing. However, even that guy uses VHS tapes and an old school camcorder.
What we are told is the town where our hobo (Hauer) finds himself is a very bad place. If you saw Sin City, think that and multiply it a few times. Local gangster The Drake (Downey) runs thins along with the two goons he calls his sons. The Drake starts things off by cutting his own brother’s head off in broad daylight and in public where he makes dozens of bystanders watch. Why? Mostly just so you know what kind of movie you’re getting into. Soon enough, the hobo is at odds with the bad guys over Abby (Dunsworth), the prostitute he’s taken a shine to in a fatherly sort of way. With that, he acquires a shotgun from the town pawn shop while stopping a robbery attempt. He then sets out trying to clean up the streets “one shell at a time.”
From beginning to end “Hobo” is a smorgasbord of ridiculousness. The story itself is rather simple. To say the acting is over the top is a massive understatement. Aside from Hauer’s relative subtlety, everyone is in full-ham mode. It helps they’re spouting lines ranging from hilariously bad to cringe inducing. To their credit, they say them with all the gusto they could possibly muster. Most important to this production though is the human body. It is destroyed and/or mutilated repeatedly in extremely graphic fashion. This is where it will either grab you or lose you. I can see plenty of people giving up after ten or twenty minutes. If we’re being honest, it’s disgusting. For us twisted folks who eagerly devour Saw movies, it’s so bad it’s awesome!
MY SCORE: -10/10Comment
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Chinese Hercules
Directed by Ta Huang.
1973. Rated R, 90 minutes.
Cast:
Michael Chan
Bolo Yeung
Liang Tin
Wang Chung Tsung
Yeh Fang
Yuan Feng
Fan Chiang
As a child of the seventies and eighties, I’ve learned some interesting things. One of them is if I ever see Bolo Yeung coming towards me I should run screaming in the another direction. If I somehow wind up in a position where I have no choice but to engage him I’ll simply scan the area for any sign of Bruce Lee or John Saxson before resigning myself to a bloody and painful fate. Not the machismo of my full-blown masculinity nor the passage of time has quelled my cowardice in regards to Mr. Yeung.
Such fear, rational or otherwise is what brought me to Chinese Hercules. The brief blurb on the back of the DVD doesn’t say much but seems to suggest something I’ve never seen: Bolo as the hero. That and the slum-friendly $1 price tag were too much to resist. Buying this movie wasn’t a choice, but the fulfilling of a destiny.
Alas, such a lofty buildup can only lead to disappointment. For starters, Bolo is not the hero. Once again, he plays the monosyllabic hulk of a henchman. Given that, I have no problem with anything he does. Do you hear that Mr. Yeung? If you’re reading this I want the record to show I think this and every other performance you’ve ever given is perfect. As for the rest of you, don’t judge me.
The movie’s problems really are elsewhere. As low-budget kung-fu flicks go the story is solid. Our hero Kang (Chan) is dedicated to studying kung-fu. He also subscribes to the action of living the disciplined, honorable life of a martial artist. However, when trouble finds him he makes the mistake of killing the man he’s fighting. So distraught is he over his failure as a person he leaves town without his girl, vows never to fight again and takes a job by a pier, loading and unloading ships. To make a long story short, Bolo’s boss takes over the pier, has all the workers fired and bada-boom, bada-bing Kang’s gotta do some fighting.
Sadly, this is that odd martial arts movie in which the action is the problem. This includes the way things are shot and/or were transformed from their previous format onto DVD. The fight choreography is often bland and poorly filmed. Too many missed blows are clearly visible and the camera is often too close and at bad angles. It becomes a chore to watch. Again, at least a portion of that is due to the shoddy manner in which it was transferred. It looks haphazardly done and subtracts from what may have been somewhat enjoyable. Was it worth my dollar? Well…if you’re reading this Mr. Yeung, it was indeed worth all 100 of those pennies. In fact, I tried to give the clerk two dollars but he wouldn’t hear of it. Wink.
MY SCORE: 2/10Comment
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