MOVIE REVIEW - Malcolm X (1992)

Admittedly, I have little-to-no first hand understanding of the civil rights struggles of African Americans, and that probably limits my appreciation for this Denzel Oscar nomination. And I know little history of the actual man, though I assume the movie is fairly accurate in its portrayal of his life and beliefs. Overall, I was bored and disengaged, though I guess it was a fairly well done biopic.

MOVIE REVIEW - Fun With Dick And Jane (2005)

Mostly average Carrey shtick - same goofy face, thankfully a little downplayed on the bodily function humor. But overall, just not very funny, and only mildly cute. The cute factor is lowered significantly since the movie is blatantly an indictment against corporate America and corrupt CEOs (the initial rolling credits at the end is a long list of fallen CEOs whom the producers thank for the inspiration; they set the movie in 2000, with Gore/Lieberman posters everywhere [as though they would've prevented corporate corruption], just so that the can get an end-of-movie punch line about Enron). A few of the capers were fun, especially seeing the Sonny-and-Cher-in-reverse stickup. But mostly, I was just sad to see the delightful Tea Leoni join the whacko-liberal crusade.

MOVIE REVIEW - Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic (2005)

More a standup routine with a few songs and skits than a movie, and thankfully so. The songs and skits are a bit lame, but Sarah is riotously funny and wildly inappropriate in the standup. 'What kind of world are we living in when a sweet, cute Jewish girl can't make fun of blacks in public?" "I don't care if you think I'm racist. I only care if you think I'm thin." Wow, so very wrong all over the place, and yet so right (or at least, so funny). A huge source of her comedy is crossing PC lines. This is also one of her drawbacks - there are some lines she really just couldn't cross, because they just aren't funny. And she doesn't quite know which lines are which. But when she's on, I'm busting a gut.

MOVIE REVIEW - World Trade Center (2006)

Such a wasted opportunity. They have the most dramatic moment of the current century, and they shoot a film from the perspective of someone who has no idea what is going on. We don't see the planes hit. We don't see the towers fall. We never see any of our familiar dramatic moments of the day. Yes, I'm sure Mr. Stone was trying to convey the confusion felt by the trapped workers, but there is a way to show the confusion without depleting all drama for the viewer. While it was great to see Donna Murphy on the big screen again, her character just added to the confusion. She's the first wife they show outside of ground zero - shows her crying - and it makes you think she is Nicolas Cage's wife. Five minutes in, you wonder, wait, is Maria Bello Cage's wife? Hmm, oh ok, Maria is his wife. Then who is Donna Murphy's character? And we never find out - so why did you start with her?

In the beginning, the characters were not well-developed, because Stone was relying on the drama of the day to bring the viewer into the story. But then, he didn't show any of our typical experience with the drama of that day - so when he switched and asked us to care about the characters, the groundwork had not been laid, and we the viewers are left with no one to care about. This is the story of guys who were about to be heroes, but they hadn't even started up the stairs yet. The tower collapsed while they were still hanging out in the lobby making preparations. It doesn't lessen their courage that they hadn't saved anyone yet, but it's one more thing that lessens the intimacy of the film.

Prior to the collapse, the sound editing was terrible - loud noises came in and out (yes, as it would've been that day), but then the dialog would be clear, with no background noises - then nothing but loud noises - then back to clear dialog. Also, in these pre-collapse street scenes, the wreckage looked like a fake movie set. There was an unrealistic lack of activity in the lobby.

Cage and Pena spent about 3 minutes saying their kids names to each other. While the actual situation may have taken that long due to their injuries and exhaustion, this is not interesting filmmaking. The movie was replete with boring dialog. Even the dialog in the families at home was stupid - "Come on mom, let's go down there and find dad." Cage's son was a terrible actor. Cage was horrible throughout, as always. "You kept me alive." Ugh.

Maybe I misunderstood something, but it seemed that the officials in the movie called off the rescue because it was dark; when in fact, they postponed it because of the instability of the wreckage - building 7 had just collapsed, fires were starting up everywhere, and they didn't want to risk other rescue workers. My opinion, this is an unfortunate (and possibly wrong) decision. Given that 20 survived and were rescued, it would seem that maybe there were many more who could've been found had rescue attempts continued. But I guess many more would've been lost, also. Karnes broke the rules and became a hero. Good for him, I think.

Stone spent tons of time showing the rescue workers trying to get Cage and Pena untrapped - all the tools, the conversations between Pena and the workers, and it was quite monotonous and pedantic; then, they just show Pena free - he skipped the actual rescuing moment. What?? Do you not know the basics of storytelling, Mr. Stone? And then the Jesus dream sequence? Is this a B-movie?? Such a wasted opportunity.

MOVIE REVIEW - Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Nice weird road trip movie with one heckuva dysfunctional family. The parents have no skills to help their kids. They allow the wildly profane heroine-addict granddad (Alan Arkin in a role that deservedly earned him an Oscar nod) to instill his whacked values in the kids. Early on, the amusing dinner conversation draws the battle lines for the viewer and lays out the absurd but pleasing family dynamic. Greg Kinnear is hanging on by a thread to his job, his family, his finances, and his belief in useless self-help statements ("Sarcasm is the refuge of losers" - "Losers eat ice cream"). But during the road trip that surely can't go well, things go so badly the family is forced to start choosing each other. What a sweet moment between brother and sister, right after the son almost loses it. What riotous fun when the family supports Olive by dancing on stage with her. What a hysterical scene when they're stopped by the cop:

Toni Collette: What happened?
Greg Kinnear: I'll tell you when I regain consciousness.
Their future doesn't look bright, but at least they have each other.

On side notes, it was a little jarring seeing Chloe from 24 and a guy on CSI (Wallace Langham) in small supporting roles. The nasty pageant official played the homeless lady Lizzy on Friends that gave Phoebe the soda in which she found a thumb.

MOVIE REVIEW - Snakes On A Plane (2006)

Watching a movie called Snakes On A Plane is difficult. Reviewing said movie is quite easy. Guess what this was about?? Yep, snakes on a plane. Tons of them. Deadly ones. Colorful ones. All sizes. Variety of body parts attacked. Variety of mammals attacked (the non-human one, and the subsequent human one was my favorite scene). From the moment the snakes were first released in the cargo bin, I said to myself, "Oh God, why am I here??!!" but it was certainly worth the ride. The producers smartly pared down any semblance of subplot to "Young guy being transported by FBI agent to testify against mob boss." Lame lines galore (e.g., "This plane is going down faster than a Thai hooker", and "Sporks") only make the movie more campy and fun. Nothing here for the Oscar watcher, but you definitely get what you hope for. If you hope for Snakes, that is. On a plane.

MOVIE REVIEW - Lady In The Water, The (2006)

Is this a comedy? I laughed, but it was a fine line between laughing with and at the lame humor. It almost has a B-movie feel. I like it when movies and TV acknowledge that they are a fictional medium; and when Bob Balaban was telling the monster of the upcoming plot, I laughed, but it also felt too obvious. The intentionally goofball characters were nicely quirky, but the misfits-as-heroes (especially random, accidental heroes) didn't really work for me. The method of finding themselves was too haphazard. And the mythology was rather illogical and contrived. I wanted to like the movie, and I mostly did; but it seemed to be fumbling and stumbling to enliven an unknown fairytale. Several Dylan songs fit nicely - especially the bizarre closing arrangement of The Times Are A-Changing. How did they make Freddy's body so weirdly asymmetrical? In general, the movie was a bit predictable - I knew who the writer was going to be, who the guardian was going to be, who the healer was going to be - the typical shamalingading mystery was not nearly as suspenseful as usual.

MOVIE REVIEW - My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)

This movie was clearly written by a guy - one with a keen and accurate understanding of the insanity of women :) . The goofy campiness hit just the right tone. Uma's neurosis was extremely funny. Luke's nervous looks were perfect. Even the supporting cast (especially the girl who played the mom of Monica and Chandler's adopted baby) was just right (with the exception of Wanda Sykes, who seemed out of place in an out of place storyline). After the breakup, I was busting a gut when Uma boiled the aquarium tank and threw a shark at Luke - riotously funny (though I was the only one in the theatre laughing). The chainsaw dream sequence - wow, so funny. Even the twist near the end was unexpected and cool. When I wasn't laughing, I was smiling. Very nice comedy, especially if you want some validation that women are nuts.

MOVIE REVIEW - Miami Vice (2006)

Nothing amazing, but a nice, dark, mostly intense action flick. The beginning was jarring - no opening credits, no introduction of the characters - I had to go ask the movie workers if they had really started it at the beginning (they had). But it was a pretty good ride with a decent story, decent acting, decent love stories.

MOVIE REVIEW - Close My Eyes (1991)

I don't want to give this rough, decadent incest movie a thumbs up, but this early Clive Owen film was better than I expected. It gave a realistic portrayal of reckless passion and taboo love. It was pretty much ick, but sadly, I enjoyed it.