Miami Vice

Let's start off by saying what Miami Vice is not. It's not another Heat, or even another Collateral. But it's also not Bad Boys 3. It's well made and beautifully shot, and while the action scenes don't match Mann's previous work, they're still more exciting than the rote overkill by the Michael Bays of the world. And while the plot does stretch credibility, the film never feels stupid and never insults the viewer.

The biggest problem is that, well, there doesn't seem to be much of a point. It lacks the urgency and depth of previous Mann films. Heat was a masterpiece of mood and character, but there's little effort at a consistent mood or character development here. Crockett and Tubbs are complete blank slates; no background or motivation is ever given, and besides a couple of by-the-numbers sex scenes, they have no personal moments at all. There's an interesting movie to be made about the psychological tolls of undercover work, but Mann surprisingly doesn't pay much mind to this angle at all except for a couple of tossed-off lines of dialogue. Despite the inviting warmth of the wonderful digital cinematography (better here than in Collateral), this is a cold, cold movie.

This would be OK if the plot wasn't so perfunctory, but as labyrinthine as it is, it's not particularly interesting. Mann might have taken the opportunity to delve a bit deeper into the drug trade, but we don't see much except for some crates being loaded onto boats. The film doesn't really drag, exactly, but afterwards I was wondering just how the 146 minutes or so were filled. Scene after scene comes and goes without making much of an impact.

As for my long-running crusade against Colin Farrell, this is the first movie I've seen him in since Minority Report that I didn't find him actively annoying. On the other hand, that's probably because Mann gives him absolutely nothing to do. He walks through the movie without bothering to so much as react to the things going on around him - even faced with a third-act twist he just seems to shrug it off and keep shooting. Since Foxx, an unquestionably talented actor, does the same thing, I have to assume this to be a directorial choice. So, all things considered, in the Mann v. Farrell life-force contest, I'll call it a draw.

Everyone's a Critic

There is a lot of Internet chatter about the replacements for Roger Ebert while he is ailing. So far Jay Leno and Kevin Smith have been announced, which lets us know that the producers of this show don't see it as being anything remotely near serious film criticism, but simply a sideshow. But this all got me to thinking--is there any film critic I take seriously any more? Ebert and Roeper are not even carried in the New York area anymore--or if they are, I don't know when. I read Ebert pretty consistently, but found he has softened in his old age. I still love to listen to the man talk about issues film-wise or not, but I wonder if he still has the edge that made him much more interesting twenty years ago.




I don't read too many other critics. I subscribe to Entertainment Weekly, but just look at the final grades that Glieberman and Schwartzbaum assign the films. Sometimes I read Manohla Dargis, and think she's a good writer, but she's too steeped in avant-garde film for me to value her opinions on summer cheese. Anthony Lane of The New Yorker is the most fun to read, particularly when he is eviscerating a film, but I'm not sure I trust his judgement. Mostly what I do is take a look at the summaries on Metracritic.com.

Does criticism still matter? Are there any critics you guys and gals read that will put your ass in a theater you might not have gone to? What's more important--agreeing with a critic, or just enjoying the writing, even if you don't agree?

Opening in Dallas, 07/28

Miami Vice (trailer): Even if this wasn’t a Michael Mann movie, it would probably be at the top of this list, because it’s really a crap week. That said, it is a Mann picture, so high expectations naturally follow. On the other hand, it’s also a Colin Farrell movie, so low expectations naturally follow. I’m looking to this movie to see who has the greater life force; Farrell’s already defeated Oliver Stone and Terrence Malick, so the stakes are high.

Once in a Lifetime (trailer): Documentary about the New York Cosmos soccer team with a super-annoying trailer. I’ve read good things but I’m skeptical; rise-and-fall stories are rarely very interesting when you think about it. And stories about pop-culture fads are even more rarely interesting.

Scoop (trailer): …and just like that, after Match Point, Woody Allen is back to doing the broadly farcical stuff that I almost never like, even when it’s made by somebody else.

The Ant Bully (trailer): I saw Monster House last weekend, and it was really good. It was funny and intense, but what really set it apart is that it didn’t look down on its audience like so many kids movies do. Judging by the trailer and the pointlessly star-driven cast, I doubt The Ant Bully sets itself apart in such a manner.

John Tucker Must Die (trailer): I expect this to open relatively big this weekend, because Fox has really put on the hard sell to the teenage demographic. And I’m sure all those teens will have a proper good time.

The Celestine Prophecy (trailer): As far as I can tell, this movie’s being targeted at only a very narrow group of people: those who have read and enjoyed the book, of which I’ve never heard.

I Don't Heart Huckabees

I Netflixed I Heart Huckabees the other night, and it's been a long time since I had such a negative response to a movie. I mean, I've seen worse films, but this one got under my skin and festered. The reason I rented it is that I've been watching a lot of Naomi Watts films lately. A while back Brian mentioned that he was working on a theory that Emily Watson was the best actress in film today--I don't disagree, but I think she has competition from Watts, and I wanted to back myself up by seeing some films of hers I've missed.

Anyway, I got to this film, and I'm left wondering--how did it get made? Does David O. Russell have that much clout that he could have pitched this to Focus and they nod their heads like Bobblehead dolls, and say, "Let's do it!" For the uninitiated, the film is about "existential detectives," who solve people's existential crises. It's full of blather about reality and connection and the universe. I wouldn't be surprised if Russell wrote the script when he was in college while on an all-nighter, full of benzadrine and cocaine.

I would have read this script and thrown it in the garbage, but someone ponied up dough for it. And got a great cast--Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Isabelle Huppert, and, of course Watts. (It also stars Jason Schwartzman and Mark Wahlberg, but they are not draws, in my book). There are several moments when I wanted to just give up on the whole thing, perhaps the nadir was when Schwartzman and Huppert wallow in a puddle, smearing mud on each other before rutting.

Of Russell's other films, I have seen Three Kings, Flirting With Disaster, and Spanking the Monkey, which I all liked but did not love. I'll be very careful about seeing his next film.

Opening in Dallas, 07/21

Monster House (trailer): Honestly, I wasn’t really looking forward to this all that much, but Ebert and Roeper flipped out about how great it was a couple weeks back. They can thumbs-up some strange stuff (more Ebert than Roeper on that score), but they sounded … convincing. So I’ll take a look.

Favela Rising (trailer at official site): It’s not a very good week, and the trailer for this is pretty good, so it gets second billing.

Lady in the Water (trailer): Remember a couple of years ago, when Signs came out, and so many people liked it? For a while, it was hard to find someone who didn’t. Where did all those people go? It’s not just the media that’s turned against Night - it seems like almost everyone has. Hell, these days it’s moderately difficult to find someone who admits to liking The Sixth Sense (I do).

My Super Ex-Girlfriend (trailer): I’m not quite as down on this as Professor Wagstaff, but I’m hardly stoked. I do think there are three good moments in the trailer: 1) after the just-broken-up-with Uma flies through the roof, and Luke Wilson looks up, and says “Oh, no”, 2) when Uma tells him, “I always knew you’d come back … that’s why I didn’t kill you”, and 3) when she throws that damn shark at him. Unfortunately, I have a hunch that that’s the best the movie has to offer.

Clerks II (trailer): As an occasional Kevin Smith fan (meaning that I liked Chasing Amy, thought that Dogma, Mallrats, and Clerks had their moments, hated Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and didn’t even bother with Jersey Girl), I’ve slowly come to a strange realization as the Clerks II release date drew near: I don’t care. I just can’t imagine it being any better than a few good moments, of which I’ve probably seen identical moments in his other movies anyway. So maybe I’ll end up seeing this some night when I’m bored and have nothing better to do. Or not, I don’t know. And I don’t care.

Did someone say high concept?

Not since these two delights were due to be released have I ever been so as exicted about an upcoming film.

The sad thing is that I've seen the preview of it and it actually comes across worse then the poster and central 'concept' does.

Ivan Reitman has really fallen away in recent years... or at least it would've been if he was any good in the first place.

South Park's "Trapped in the Closet" is back

Comedy Central will finally be re-airing that controversial Scientology-themed South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet" on Wednesday, July 19th. You may recall its previous repeat getting yanked from the schedule back in March, allegedly at the behest of Tom Cruise in the run-up of M:I 3 publicity. I thought I recalled Chris mentioning his consternation over this and Isaac Hayes's departure from the show, but I can't find that in a search (and my apologies if I'm misremembering).

Speaking of M:I 3, I saw it a week ago and posted a comment to Nick's old review that didn't make it to the main page:

I finally saw this. Happened to be near our local second-run cinema grill when I was hungry and close to showtime, so I decided to check it out. I thought it was better than the second, but still not as good as the first.

The concept was the best yet, but the execution was poor, I thought. I thought the action scenes were some of the most poorly directed/edited I've seen in a while, besides making little sense at times, though they did have their moments. At times I didn't care what they were trying to do, and the details of the capers were often glossed over as if unimportant--but in a film like this, what is important? The beaded sweat on Cruise's nose?

What bothered me was that the filmmakers tried to be so smart at times and show us yet more cool stuff that let our heroes do their thing, but at other times they seemed to ignore all that while bordering on ridiculousness. For me the recent Bourne films have set the bar for this kind of thing, and this M:I film just doesn't rank in today's world of action/caper/spy films, IMHO.

Cruise didn't seem much different to me in this one, as I recalled Nick's comments about halfway through the movie. Maybe it was all the media hype surrounding its release that made things seem different.

I don't know if it's Cruise or the movie or the Bush administration, but I ended up feeling disappointed that our hero and his cohorts weren't wiped out leaving Hoffman's character the victor--PSH was very good in this. He seemed to take on playing a supervillain the same way he might play Kenneth Lay of Enron.

And I liked the display of actual teamwork and frequent use of the old Lalo Schifrin music.

In Which I Suddenly Become a Hugh Jackman Fan

Everything about this poster is just great. I especially love the date spectrum on the bottom:



Also, check out the trailer for Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. That's one hell of a one-two punch, there.

Opening in Dallas, 07/14

Early this week!

Army of Shadows (trailer): Another Rialto reissue, although this one looks particularly special. Jean-Pierre Melville’s film about the French Resistance during World War II was never released in the US until this year, and the trailer is pretty awesome.

A Scanner Darkly (trailer): Yet another Keanu Reeves casting decision that has pissed off fans of the source material. Poor guy can’t catch a break. I’m interested in this but I have reservations, mostly that Richard Linklater’s reputation generally seems to exceed what his actual work would justify.

Strangers with Candy (trailer): I originally missed the TV show that this is based on, but caught a couple episodes on re-runs not long ago. It was amusing enough, but what really struck me is how committed Amy Sedaris is to this character. She gave it enough depth that it managed to avoid feeling overly like an SNL sketch, as it otherwise may have. If the same is true for the movie, it’ll probably not be half bad.

Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (trailer): I’ve been listening to some Leonard Cohen lately; like most people my age, I really only knew him from his songs in Natural Born Killers. After listening a bit more, I think his songs are generally very impressive, while the arrangements are generally less so. It’s seems somewhat surprising to me that he hasn’t suffered the same fate as, say, Kris Kristofferson, being known much more for other people’s versions of his songs than his own. Given that, I wonder if the controversial decision to feature a lot of other acts performing his songs in the movie isn’t the way to go.

Who Killed the Electric Car?: (trailer): I have little to add to Alex’s review.

You, Me and Dupree (trailer): Contra Wells, I am kinda tired of Owen Wilson. In his defense, though, this movie looks plenty bad anyway. I wonder if Kate Hudson will ever get serious about doing another good movie?

Little Man (trailer): I’ve already said all that I need to say about this one.

Opening in Dallas, 07/07

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (trailer): Yeah, OK, I’ll list it first, but my heart’s not really into it. I was OK with the first one, and I expect I’ll be OK with this one too, but it’s hard to be enthusiastic with “OK”.

The Heart of the Game (trailer): Documentary about a high school girls’ basketball team that’s gotten rave reviews so far. I guess the question is, is this a generic sports doc that would play out the same way no matter who it was about, or something that looks a little deeper than that?

Cavite (trailer): Small movie from Cuban/Wagner’s Truly Indie distribution line. Stephen Holden calls it a “gripping no-budget political thriller”. Looks interesting. I should check it out.

The Blood of My Brother: A Story of Death in Iraq (trailer at official site): Documentary about the Iraq War, but from a vengeful Iraqi’s point of view. While I don’t doubt that there are millions of stories to be told from all sides about the war, I wonder if we’re not long past the point where any doc about Iraq wouldn’t be preaching to the choir. We’re three and a half years into it; people see what they want to see. Or maybe I’ve just soured on political docs in general.

Wassup Rockers (trailer at official site): I’ve seen this trailer approximately 744 times and I’m tired of it. At this point, I doubt there’s much Larry Clark would conceivably do that would be interesting to me.

La Dolce Vita

I have not seen as many of Federico Fellini's films as I would like. I have yet to see I Vitelloni, La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, Fellini's Roma, Satyricon, or Amarcord. I did see, in college, probably his two most well-known works, 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita. 8 1/2 is one of my favorite films of all time, but La Dolce Vita remained more elusive. Just a few days I rented the DVD and found a new appreciation for it.

The film follows the activities of a gossip writer, Marcello (played by Marcello Mastroianni) in the swinging jet-set of Rome in 1959. The film is episodic, covering roughly eight segments, each of which begins during the night, with the promise of romance and adventure, and ends in the gray light of dawn, either in despair, disappointment or tragedy. Marcello would like to be more than just a scribbler, he has hopes of being a real writer, and idolizes an intellectual friend, Steiner. He has a girlfriend who is devoted to him, but he can not love with equal intensity. He lacks the personal courage and strength to better himself, and even when he is offered redemption he shrugs it away.

The film has offered a couple of iconic images and phrases: Anita Ekberg, as an American actress (perhaps modeled on Jayne Mansfield?) cavorting in Trevi Fountain, and the word paparazzo comes directly from this film, as it is the name of Marcello's colleague, who is a celebrity photographer (I believe the word means "buzzing insect" in Italian).

At times La Dolce Vita is not easy to watch, as it is a film about indolence and self-loathing, but it is frequently breath-taking, particularly the black and white photography.

W.C. Fields

To someone of my generation, if W.C. Fields is mentioned, one thinks of an advertising gimmick for corn chips. To someone younger, the response may be a blank stare. Unlike other comedy film giants of the early sound era, Fields is somewhat forgotten. At least his films are, perhaps his persona still looms large.

Unlike the Marx Brothers or Laurel and Hardy or certainly the Three Stooges, Fields movies didn't play much on television. I Netflixed the features that are available on DVD: It's a Gift, International House, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, My Little Chickadee and The Bank Dick. They are a mixed bag, quality-wise, but Fields strength as a performer shines through. But his image, unlike the other comedians of the period, was not warm and cuddly. The characters he played were inevitably irascible drunkards. Unlike, say, Laurel and Hardy, he did not play people you wanted to cozy up to.

In International House, a curious concoction that comes across like a Vaudeville version of Grand Hotel, complete with performances by Burns and Allen and Cab Calloway, Fields plays a force of nature, an aviator who crash lands into a Chinese hotel. He's all id, lusting for either booze or broads, and whenever he's on screen (he doesn't appear until half-way through) he's magnetic. In You Can't Cheat an Honest Man he is a crooked circus operator, but really functions as comic relief behind the romantic story involving Edgar Bergen (!?)

My Little Chickadee is a clunker. In one of those casting hook-ups that sounds good on paper but don't pan out, Fields is teamed with Mae West. Reports were that they did not get along (West wrote most of the script, and hated the way Fields improvised. She also deplored his drinking). The result is a soggy, unfunny dud.

His best films are probably It's a Gift and The Bank Dick. In both of these films Fields is a hen-pecked husband who wants nothing more than a drink and to sit in the sun. It's a Gift has more laughs, with great set-pieces involving a blind man near a table full of light bulbs and Fields trying to get some sleep on his porch. It is in this film that he comes closest to being lovable, but it does have his signature bit: When challenged by one of his children that he doesn't love them, he cocks his fist and says, "Of course I love you!"

In the documentary as part of the Fields collection, a family friend says that he was funnier off screen than on, and that's easy to believe, as his films, at least his features (he made several shorts) are shambling and have stretches where not much happens. Compared to the diagrammed lunacy of the Marx Brothers, Fields comes up short. However, he certainly deserves to be remembered more than just a pitchman for Fritos.

The Graduate: Part Two

What happens when a highly-respected writer/director runs completely out of ideas?



Oh yeah, that.

And here I was thinking that Tolkin was a sleeping giant...

Over the past 7-8 years, he's been toiling away (albeit making millions) as a script doctor on every Hollywood blockbuster to come down the pike. Sure, he hasn't had an original screenplay produced in nearly a decade - but I was convinced that the man who brought us early 90's triumphs like The Player, The New Age, Deep Cover and The Rapture was just laying low...biding his time. Sooner or later, he'd be back on the scene and slicing the jugular of the West Coast's elite with another razor-sharp satire.

Instead, we get a goddamned Player sequel. The man has come full circle, becoming exactly what he used to mock.