Spinning a web of cinematic magic, Spider-Man leaps off the pages of Marvel's comic books and comes to life on the big screen in a highly entertaining romp. The movie tells the story of a high school dork named Peter Parker. The love of his life is the girl next door, Mary Jane, but he might as well be the Invisible Man for all the attention she pays him. During a field trip to a high-tech lab, Peter is bitten by a new breed of spider – a red and blue radioactive one, no less. After going home feeling a little faint, he wakes up the next morning as a new man.
This incarnation of Spider-Man offers the best that this type of material has to offer. There's the far-fetched storyline, sure, but there's also the sweetly romantic side, the gee-whiz fun element, and the patriotic "good guys will win" theme. It's all wrapped up in the messages, "Don't be ashamed of who you are" and "With great power comes great responsibility." Part of the fun is in seeing the familiar origins of Spider-Man played out with a great cast and incredible special effects that (almost) seamlessly blend live action with computer-generated imagery.
While Cold Mountain fell short of the grandeur and sweep of director Anthony Minghella’s adaptations of The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley on the big screen, the Civil War epic makes for an excellent DVD experience.
Disc One includes an excellent running commentary with director Minghella and Walter Murch, the film’s editor. Minghella defends the film’s romance, which some reviews (including this one) have dismissed as being less engaging than the rest of the movie. It’s enough of an argument to make the film deserve a second chance.
The second disc holds six supplemental features. The most curious of the bunch is the 90-minute The Words and Music of Cold Mountain - Royce Hall Special. It’s a live concert, but not just any concert. Among the performers are no less than Jack White, Alison Krauss, Sting, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Anthony Minghella, T-Bone Burnett, and the Sacred Harp singers. The evening was orchestrated by Miramax head honcho Harvey Weinstein, no doubt in a bid for more Oscars.
Everything you have heard about Godzilla is true. Yes, it's a cheezy monster movie with a guy in a rubber suit. Yes the special effects are laughable. And yes, it's also a surprisingly mature cultural response to the nuclear nightmare of its time.
If you have seen Godzilla and it starred Raymond Burr, then what you actually saw was an Americanized version called Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, which was cut by 20 minutes, rearranged into flashbacks, and edited -- badly -- to look like Burr was there in Japan.
The original 1954 version -- a 35mm print has been restored and will show for one week only at Starz Filmcenter -- is told chronologically. Fishing boats disappear. Giant radioactive footprints are spotted. Finally, Godzilla makes his appearance, frightening a small fishing village before making his way to Tokyo.
The humans, meanwhile, are trying to figure out why this is happening and what they can do about it. The why, they surmise, is that recent H-bomb tests in the waters near Godzilla's lair, disturbed his habitat and woke this sleeping giant. There are many theories about what might stop Godzilla: electricity, military might, even virgin sacrifices. But one scientist has developed something even more horrific than an H-bomb, called an oxygen destroyer.
The weapon's creator wrestles with his conscience about using this new superweapon. He knows it could defeat Godzilla, but if the world learned of its terrible power, all of humanity could be destroyed. One can clearly see the cultural neurosis of having lived through two nuclear attacks.
There is actually quite a bit of character development, and the wonderful actor Takashi Shimura (Ikiru, Rashomon) lends the film a touch of class. But at its heart, Godzilla is all about the monster and, beneath the surface, Japan's post-nuclear stress disorder.
Story, style, and substance combine in a powerful, unforgettable film.
City of God is told in the hip style of Trainspotting. Our narrator uses the tricks of Pulp Fiction to tell his story in flashback, in flash-forward, and from many different angles. But as in the better works of Martin Scorsese, any stylistic trick first and foremost serves the story, which, like the better works of Scorsese, is about gangsters.
City of God is based on a true story. It's told from the point of view of Rocket (Alexandre Rodriguez), who narrates from the present. He grew up around hoods. His brother was part of "The Tender Trio," a gang that robbed the occasional gas truck or motel. The Tender Trio look like choirboys compared to Li'l Dice, a sociopathic seven-year-old who enjoys murder and desires power and respect. Li'l Dice grows up to become Li'l Zé (Leandro Firmino da Hora), the most ruthless, most powerful drug dealer in The City of God, the poorest slum in Rio de Janeiro.
The style and the story both make City of God far above average. What makes it great is that it treats its subject seriously and honestly. It looks closely at the details of crime and poverty without turning away in revulsion or dismissing the hoods as evil non-human beings. Because the film keeps its eyes open, you can bring anything you like to the film and get something in return.
Horror film director Wes Craven tries on a new genre in this uplifting story of a determined music teacher. Meryl Streep plays a musician, mother, and teacher who needs to carve out a new life after a divorce. Through sheer willpower, she gets a job teaching the violin to poor, inner-city schoolkids. Over the years, she watches her program grow from scorned to prestigious. The plot is formulaic and the sentiment is schmaltzy, but the film is a nice, lightweight feel-good film. Knowing the director is Craven makes the experience just a bit more fun.
Another Sky is a nearly perfect little gem of a film. The most amazing thing about it is how low-budget it is and how long ago it was made. And it was the only film that director Gavin Lambert ever made. And I'll bet that you, like I, never heard of it.
Lambert was an Oxford-educated film enthusiast who edited the British Film Institute film magazine Sight & Sound in the late 1940s and early 1950s. I would guess that this experience left Gavin well versed in film technique because Another Sky is one well-crafted film.
Another Sky is the story of the somewhat prissy English nanny Rose Graham (Victoria Grayson) who takes a job being the companion to an older English ex-pat Selena Prouse (Catherine Lacey) who now lives in Marrakech, Morocco.
Best of all, this DVD has been digitally repaired to a flawless perfection. What a treat this film is to watch, and what a pity that it is not part of the general catalog of film classics. Perhaps with its reissue in this beautifully restored DVD, it will gain the recognition that it deserves.
A Knight's Tale follows three squires whose master has died in the middle of a jousting contest. Rather than face unemployment, one of the squires (Heath Ledger) dons his master's armor and goes on to win the tournament. The story is built on the same skeleton (including a loud rock soundtrack) as every other sports movie. The only difference is that this one is set in the twelfth century. By all rights, A Knight's Tale should be a bland, brainless summer action film, but it is a notch better. The joust scenes are well staged and well edited, the setting is novel, the characters are affable and charismatic.
Anthony Minghella is a master at texture and depth. Witness The English Patient, which married landscape, flesh, and memory. He does almost the same thing in Breaking & Entering, but with an urban landscape instead of a desert.
King's Cross is a blighted area of London, and Will (Jude Law) is an architect who has won a contract to redevelop it. For all the right reasons, Will and his partner (Martin Freeman) decide to move their office into King's Cross, against the advice of well-meaning friends. Sure enough, burglars break into their office twice within the first few minutes of screen time.
Superficially, the story is about Will playing cat-and-mouse with a young thief (Rafi Gavron) who participated in the break-ins. Emotionally, the story is about overcoming temptation. Will is tempted by many things, and he usually gives in. Thematically, the film is a tapestry of ideas about architecture, class, crime, poverty, prejudice, and responsibility, to name a half dozen.
By far, the best extra feature on this DVD is Anthony Minghella's audio commentary. He comes across as very smart, and not just because he has a British accent. All the complexity that makes Breaking & Entering so good was carefully planned. Minghella explains it without sounding too pedantic. He also throws in some interesting tidbits, such as the meaning of the fox, or his contest with Martin Scorsese over the casting of Vera Farmiga. Toward the end of the movie, the commentary starts to sound a little more like a drone, but Minghella is still better than many when it comes to talking about his own movie.
Featuring eye-popping visuals, a raucous score, and a story that puts most live-action romantic comedies to shame, Corpse Bride offers far too much to take in during one viewing.
Poor Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp). He's the groom-to-be in an arranged marriage to Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson). Victor's such a nervous Nelly, he can't remember his wedding vows. Frantic, Victor goes for a walk, desperately repeating his vows all the while. When Victor pretends to ask for his dear Victoria's hand, the Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter) leaps at the offer.
Loaded with wit and sight gags, the humor is abundant in a very Tim Burton vein. Corpse Bride is a musical-comedy that takes on some genuinely operatic airs. Danny Elfman's score and songs zip along, accompanying dazzling, painstakingly created visuals.
The best part of this tale of death-defying love is just how complicated the situation gets for poor Victor, both in situation and emotion. Three cheers, then, to Burton for showing that emotional heft is not limited to high-priced actors or computer-animated cartoons.
A.I. benefits from having two directors, one behind the camera (Steven Spielberg) and one in spirit (Stanley Kubrick). A pet project of Kubrick’s, the legendary director wanted Spielberg to make the film and they swapped notes, visited, and pounded out details. Spielberg felt Kubrick would be better suited to direct, but after Kubrick’s death in 1999, Spielberg returned to the film and made A.I. as a tribute.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence is a re-telling of Pinocchio, this time with a robot boy looking for real, unconditional love. Along the way, he enlists the assistance of Gigolo Joe, a “pleasure mecha” that satisfies women’s fondest desires, and David’s amazing walking, talking teddy bear. They embark to find the Blue Fairy and in the process take the audience on a long day’s journey into night.
In The Ladykillers, criminal-minded hip-hoppers (Marlon Wayans) coexist with euphonious mint-julep-sipping charlatans (Tom Hanks). In this cartoon world, they not only coexist but collaborate on a Wile E. Coyote scheme to steal money from a gambling boat on the Mississippi.
Hidden amid the wacky plot and goofy character traits is a funny, warm, human sensibility. The filmmakers love these characters. Although they are all caricatured, none of them are simply mocked. And when they have something to say, the Coens listen raptly, like they would for a beloved but crazy uncle.
Most of the DVD features feel like they were included because they didn't require any extra work.
The Indian Runner and The Crossing Guard, the first two films Sean Penn directed, received mixed-to-favorable reviews. More importantly, they showed the promise of artistry. In The Pledge, a blue-collar murder mystery, Penn's talent as a director comes into full bloom.
Jack Nicholson stars as a retiring police detective who, on his last day on the job, makes a pledge to personally find the killer of a little girl. Nicholson works hard to keep his promise, following up on every lead, questioning every too-tidy conclusion. The pace of the film follows a conventional mystery, unraveling clues at a slow and steady pace. But the film is also about Nicholson and his obsession, not just with solving a single crime, but with staying useful and relevant after retirement.
Nicholson brings a depth and pathos to the screen that he never has before. Penn brings a sensitive eye and a willingness to try some visually risky photography. On one level, The Pledge is a conventional mystery. But it also transcends convention in every scene. It's unfortunate that critical acclaim didn't translate into ticket sales, but if there is any justice The Pledge will become a favorite on home video.
Trekkies is one of the funniest movies of the year, but it's not a comedy. It's a documentary about the fans of Star Trek who are fanatical, loyal, optimistic, and just a little crazy.
No matter how much you like Star Trek, there's always someone who carries that admiration even further. These people are the Trekkies. (Even Trekkies try to separate themselves from the hard-core geeks by splitting themselves into two camps -- Trekkies and Trekkers -- although the distinction is purely semantic.)
Trekkies gives these rabid fans a forum to strut their stuff. The only thing missing from documentary is the Saturday Night Live sketch of William Shatner at a Trek convention. After a few ridiculous questions from hard-core fans, he breaks down, shouting "you people need to get a life!"
Get Shorty, Jackie Brown, Out of Sight. We've seen three movies from Elmore Leonard novels in just a couple of years. But before people were adapting his crime novels, they were adapting his westerns. A farmer desperate for money (Van Heflin) agrees to guard an outlaw (Glenn Ford) until he can be sent to authorities on the 3:10 train to Yuma. As the hours tick by in a hotel room, the outlaw begins to gain the upper hand psychologically with offers of money and threats of retaliation from his gang. While this movie is a western, what stands out are the well-crafted dialogue, well-rounded characters, and the performances of the two principals. 3:10 to Yuma is tense and engrossing.
Saving Grace has all the ingredients for a good British comedy: quirky, silly characters and a good dose of scenery. Grace (Brenda Blethyn) has just lost her husband and inherited his debt. Desperate and lonely, she befriends her gardener, who needs help nursing his, ahem, hemp plants back to life. The jokes are predictable, featuring the prim British lady playing off the hip young drug culture, but the laughs are there and more importantly, the comedy is sympathetic.
This latest Jackie Chan vehicle teams him up with comic Chris Tucker to solve the kidnaping of a Chinese diplomat's daughter. Tucker's shtick can be annoying but his sense of self deprecation makes him palatable and quite funny. Chan, with his daring stunts and physical grace is entertaining as usual. The two make this formula movie work well. Don't rent Rush Hour for the plot or the suspense. Rent it because Chan kicks ass and because Tucker is hilarious, and because the combination is sure to be fun.
Spartan is the first outstanding movie of 2004, although Spartan may disappoint the unprepared. It is an emotionally distant movie that aims to engage your brain, but not your heart. The entire plot is never spelled out for you, and the characters often behave coldly.
Mamet shows but doesn't tell. None of the characters is an audience surrogate; nobody gets briefed on events, thus filling us in on the plot. The movie starts in media res, and even the sharpest audience won't know what's going on until several minutes into the film. People talk in code and in shorthand (this is the Secret Service after all), and until we are immersed in their world, we are a little lost. Mamet shows his characters going about their business, but they don't stop to explain anything to us. It's our job to keep up with them.
Spartan is a brilliantly structured movie that doesn't get boring after the first 40 minutes, assuming you appreciate Mamet's approach. If you're looking for an easy bit of entertainment, try something else. Spartan demands you participate.
By the time the very baroque golden-winged, three-headed, King Ghidora arrived on the scene of the monster-ravaged Toho home islands, Japanese audiences were accustomed to seeing comic action from the Big Guy himself and a conga line of gigantic opponents.
Indeed, two previous rivals of Godzilla, Rohdan and Mothra, team up with him to battle King Ghidora in Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster and again it's Godzilla and Rohdan (Mothra takes a break) taking on King Ghidora in Invasion of Astro Monster. The ensuing mayhem on intricate model cities is all to the rigidly proscribed dance of a smash and crash tango. The only surprise is the turning of the silliness knob up another notch.
These two films are part of a larger package of DVDs put out by Classic Media for Toho Co., Ltd. and aimed at the hard-core Gojira fan but are quite accessible to the gajin Godzilla novice as well. The real selling point to both of these DVDs is that they include full versions of both the original Japanese release and it's later Americanized version. The differences are entertainment in and of themselves and to this American, raised on the TV versions, the original Japanese editions are a real treat. That alone made them worth watching. Additionally, there are first rate commentaries accompanying both American versions that will make you a powerhouse of Gojira knowledge.
By the time the very baroque golden-winged, three-headed, King Ghidora arrived on the scene of the monster-ravaged Toho home islands, Japanese audiences were accustomed to seeing comic action from the Big Guy himself and a conga line of gigantic opponents.
Indeed, two previous rivals of Godzilla, Rohdan and Mothra, team up with him to battle King Ghidora in Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster and again it's Godzilla and Rohdan (Mothra takes a break) taking on King Ghidora in Invasion of Astro Monster. The ensuing mayhem on intricate model cities is all to the rigidly proscribed dance of a smash and crash tango. The only surprise is the turning of the silliness knob up another notch.
These two films are part of a larger package of DVDs put out by Classic Media for Toho Co., Ltd. and aimed at the hard-core Gojira fan but are quite accessible to the gajin Godzilla novice as well. The real selling point to both of these DVDs is that they include full versions of both the original Japanese release and it's later Americanized version. The differences are entertainment in and of themselves and to this American, raised on the TV versions, the original Japanese editions are a real treat. That alone made them worth watching. Additionally, there are first rate commentaries accompanying both American versions that will make you a powerhouse of Gojira knowledge.
The Saddest Music in the World is a grainy, black-and-white movie that wishes it were a 1940's melodrama in some surreal alternate universe. The plot involves a Canadian beer baroness, Lady Port-Huntley (Isabella Rossellini), whose latest marketing scheme is a contest to find the saddest music in the world. Through her radio broadcasts across the border, she hopes to create a huge demand among prohibition-weary Americans. Three Canadian men from the same family vie for the title. Father is a proud nationalist who hopes to represent Canada by playing a Maple Leaf ballad at the piano, on his knees. The eldest son moved to Serbia and became a cellist. The youngest son is now a sleazy producer living in New York.
But there's more to the movie than the plot. There's also director Guy Maddin's style to contend with. For those looking for a point of reference, some of the more notable Maddinisms are a silent-era style of filmmaking, including iris shots, blurry corners, star filters, black-and-white film stock, and a grainy, dirty look; an appreciation of the art of melodrama; a claustrophobic screen; and in the case of The Saddest Music in the World, an absurdist sense of humor. The contest itself has some of the funniest surreal moments on film since Being John Malkovich.
