The Departed
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
4 GOOMBAS
"Not psychologically graphic enough," says Scorsese, "Martin Sheen needs to fall off the building with UMPH!"
"But Mr. Scorsese, that blood and guts splatter was perfectly propelled onto Leonardo's shirt!"
"THAT'S IT! WE NEED MORE GUTS!!!"
Martin Scorsese's portrayal of the Irish mob in present day Massachusetts is so violent, yet so well choreographed. Only Scorsese can turn realistic, everyday murder into art.
***SPOILER WARNING***
This cast included some of Hollywood's finest. This complicated good cop-bad cop story stars Leonardo DeCaprio and Matt Damon. Jack Nicholson is the big Bad and Martin Sheen is the big Good. Mark Walberg is a cop who's character adds vigilante color. These are the main players, but what makes this film so interesting is that you don't know who's on who's side until the end... or maybe you know in the beginning?
Classic is the scene where Sullivan calls Costigan on the good-cop police phone, but both don't even dare say hello. The bearer of the good-cop phone just died, so Costigan knows something is fishy. He doesn't want to blow his cover. Sullivan doesn't say anything because he could give up the fact that hes the PD's leak. Meanwhile, I'm screaming "OH MY GOD!" because I can't take the oh-so-perfect suspense; silence hanging in the air.
Its stuff like this that makes the film, and the ending is mind-blowing...literally, and a HUGE commentary on where justice resides. I don't think that is deserved the Oscar for Best Picture, but it is definitely worth watching when you're looking for a pee-in-your pants antsy kind of movie.
Half Nelson
Thursday, February 15, 2007
4 GOOMBAS
Ever felt like there was a gigantic wrestler who had you pinned to the ground so all you could do was flail one of your arms uselessly in the air? Meet Dan Dunne(even his name sounds like a dud). This was his life.
Half Nelson stars Ryan Gosling as Mr. Dunne, a junior high school History teacher who strives to inspire his students to create for themselves a better life, but at the same time, maintains a healthy drug addiction. It's when Dunne is caught in the act that Drey, one of Dunne's students, sees her teacher's humanity and befriends this wreck of a man. Its no matter. She sees the man that he wants to be.
Ryan Gosling's performance in this film is superb. I'm not much of a Gosling fan (I can't get the young Hercules image out of my head), but he was able to bring such tragedy to this character. He evokes such sympathy from the audience, and regardless of his self deprecating behavior and despite the uncomfortable idea that a drug addict is teaching America's impressionable minds, we want him to succeed.
Dunne is a man down on his luck. Like some unfortunates, he uses drugs to escape from loneliness. But what makes this film special is the notion that anyone can be hopeless, and the most inexperienced of persons can the best people to lean on. Without judgement both Drey and Dunne share a mutual respect for one another, though both see each other's faults, and in a "Second chances are rare, Man. You ought to take better advantage of them," kind of world they find comfort in each other. They are friends.
Scoop
Monday, February 05, 2007
4 GOOMBAS
When I first heard about Scoop, I immediately thought "ice cream." Scoop is actually about an amateur journalist who happens upon the scoop of the century. Staring Scarlett Johansson, Hugh Jackman, and Woody Allen, this comedy with dark undertones captures the audience's belief in the far-fetched.
The movie begins with a scene of a famous reporter on a boat/raft on the way to Hades with the Grim Reaper leading the tow. This famous reporter then begins a conversation with a woman who was the secretary of a famous British aristocrat, Peter Lyman. She believed that Lyman was the Tarot Card Serial Killer, and the reporter, being the man that he was, decides that he needs to try an escape that boat, get back to Earth, and tell someone.He appears to Sondra Pransky, played by Johansson (who is an absolute dork in this movie; so great), and this magician, played by Woddy Allen. They then go about investigating Lyman, and in the process, Lyman and Pransky fall in love.
Obviously this plot sounds pretty kooky, and it is, but the tone of this film really facilitated the idea that this movie was a story, not a film meant to portray reality. So you kind of go with the flow.
Woody Allen and Scarlett Johansson are a fantastic pair. I was very impressed with Johansson's capability to play a part where she isn't just the pretty face the movie needs, not to mention her ability to keep up with fast-talking Allen during his rambling rants and raves. Dialogue really makes this film, and combining this with an investigative, darkly comedic murder mystery, you've got yourself Great Woody Allen fun.
Catch And Release
Thursday, February 01, 2007
1.5 GOOMBAS
The people who made the trailer for this movie really needed to do a better job. I saw the trailer and I already knew the ENTIRE plot, with details, of the movie. However, I saw it anyway, and please don't waste your $8.00.
It was my mistake to listen to Roper and his guest critic who both gave it a thumbs up. I just checked the tomato meter, and it's pretty rotten. What were those 19% thinking?! There were so many things wrong with this romantic comedy.
#1: A woman whose fiancé just died would not fall in love with her fiancé’s best friend, a friend who she HATED 3 days following his death. Hello!? You were just sleeping with you fiancé 3 days earlier!!!
#2: A woman whose fiancé just died would not move into her fiancé’s room with his roommates following his death, nor would she sleep with her fiancé’s best friend in her dead fiancé’s bed. That's pretty sick.
#3: Why, oh why, would you decide to become friends with the woman who your fiancé was cheating with?! Maybe a couple of months later . . . not 4 days!!!!
Other than problems with the plot, there was no development of the love between Gray and Fritz. They looked like they just needed someone to sleep with. 0.5 Goombas goes to the cute friend who is secretly in love with Gray, but of course does not win the girl.
Catch and Release . . . I'm defiantly throwing this one back.
Children of Men
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
4 GOOMBAS
Children of Men is a SciFi thriller set in a realistic 2027, a world where there are no children. For eighteen years all women have become infertile, and as a result, civil society is non-existent. The only country with some resemblance of control over their nation is England, and even there, it is ruled under martial law. Refugees are illegal and treated much like I'd imagine Jewish people were treated during the Holocaust; thrown into inhumane refugee camps and killed for no reason. And then there was Kee, a Fiji refugee who has to run for her life, and for humanity, because she is pregnant and everyone wants to use her and her baby.
This film is a huge commentary on the importance of children and future posterity on our society. Without children, there literally is no reason for the quality of life, no reason for art, no reason to go on living for that matter. Children of Men provides a different way of understanding the Apocalypse. There's no need for a better life. You can't have a family. No need to take care of yourself. You'll die anyway. But what's interesting is that we will all die anyway, but this time, with overwhelming loneliness, knowing that their generation will be the last to walk on earth.
*****SPOILER WARNING*****
The director's use of a handheld camera adds to the realistic qualities that this film bears. I felt like I was in the car when they were being attracted by "terrorists." I was following Theo through the battle grounds(<--a superbly choreographed 15 min uncut scene; you might not even notice that there were no cuts. Ridiculously extreme). The tinge of gray that all scenes seemed to have made despair very visual. A glimmering juxtaposition between despair and hope, I think hope wins out as the words "Children of Men" fade out to the laughter of children. Children of Men is an intense film that needs a lot of mental exercises prior to viewing. You may not want to see it today, but Tomorrow is another chance.
Dandelion
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
4 GOOMBAS
As a kid, I thought dandelions were the coolest things. They grew all over my yard and when they were moved, the little seed umbrellas let go and danced in the wind. But in reality dandelions are weeds, and the kind of dandelions that are white and have seed umbrellas . . . those dandelions are dead.
A perfect title for this film, Dandelion evokes those same conflicted feelings of innocense and the realities of life. Mason Mullich is a teen whose personality is indifference, and he often daydreams about committing suicide. He is later blamed for manslaughter, a crime he did not commit, but instead of turning in the real culprit, he remains silent. For two years he remains in a juvenile delinquent center, and once he is free, he is a different person.
So subtle was this change that you forget that he wasn't like this when he left. It starts with warm comments that he says to his alcoholic mother; a fishing trip with his dad. And of course, he falls in love. This innocent love makes him realize that there is love in his dysfunctional family. There is love in his non-existent town and his drug addict friends. But of course, this innocent love is taken away. Yet despite a tragedy, he manages to see that love for what it was, just love. Not tragedy.
Although the tone of this film was slow at times, it added to the movie's character. You can't have a normal paced movie set in a place that was all river, rolling hills, tall grass, and absolutely nothing to do but park your truck out in a field and drink beer. The setting was beautiful and poignant, and the slow pace enhanced the simplicity of this place and this story. Poetic realism in its finest.
Just like dandelions were in childhood innocence, death does not have to be the end; just a beginning somewhere else.
Snakes On A Plane
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
1 GOOMBA
Comical satire or thriller? Either way, this movie fails in both genres. I can't even decide what the intentions of the writer and director were. To be camp or not to be camp, that is the question. Multiple times through the movie, I said to my poor friends who had to endure Snakes On A Plane with me, "Am I suppose to laugh?"
However, after a few days of SOAP's poison seeping into me, in retrospect, you can laugh at how bad the movie was. You may not laugh during the movie, but remembering Samuel L. Jackson pop a cap on the airplane's window to suck out all the snakes has to make you crack at the very least a smirk for the shear absurdity. My favorite part was when the token Asian guy, who just happened to know kung fu performs the heroic feat of carrying Blond Woman on his back while he walked on snakes. For that, it gets at least 1 goomba.
But watching Snakes On A Plane is like some psycho form of initiation. You do it for bragging rights. You do it so that you're "in the know." So go ahead, watch it, but please remember that a tag line for this film meant in all seriousness is, "Airline food ain't what you gotta worry about," (<---no, it really isn't what we have to worry about) and then reference my rating system for 1 Goomba films.
