13th
September
2006
This one’s not as bad as most people are making it out to be. It’s not all too good, either. I’ve never seen the original film, so I can’t make any judgments or comparisons based on the remake nature of this version. The nature-based approach to the story is certainly an interesting idea (I don’t wanna give away what’s really behind the mystery of the film), and much of that does in fact work. However, it gets caught up among a bunch of characters and situations that are just a bit too hard to swallow out of context (and perhaps even in context), just for the sake of the story and idea. Nic Cage does a pretty good job, though his character is a bit too muddy in terms of motivation. Other supporting performances are good, with no real complaints to be made. The one standout bit of casting is for getting Ellen Burstyn for the role she plays - as she’s a perfect fit. One thing’s for sure - I wish Leelee Sobieski would get more roles. Was nice to see her pop up into a smaller but still rather cool role in this one.
posted in Movie Reviews |
13th
September
2006
Here’s an example of one of those indy/character films masquerading as a main stream movie. It’s not a particularly great movie, either. The main problem with the film is that I’ve seen most of it before. There’s very little original material to be found here. The highlight of the film is the top notch cast. Duchovny is a wonderfully talented comedic actor, no matter what people may or may not give him credit for. This movie, while giving him plenty of dramatic material to work with, plays very well against his charm and easy sense of comedic timing. It does it to such a degree as to feature Garry Shandling in a tiny role - adding yet another notch to the bizarro ongoing cameo thing Duchovny and Shandling have in each others shows/films. Julianne Moore plays well against Duchovny, too. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Billy Crudup are also excellent in their lead roles. But like I said, aside from the cast and their chemistry, this is a film I’ve seen in bits and pieces in other independent character films.
posted in Movie Reviews |
13th
September
2006
Just finished watching the second episode of Fox’s new show, Standoff. It was one of the shows I was anxious to check out that I hadn’t managed to scrounge up an early copy of during the summer. I knew little about it, beyond the basic context of the show (hostage negotiators) and that it starred Ron Livingston and Gina Torres. Given those two cast members, I was pretty much guaranteed to check it out. As expected, the two of them are excellent on the show. Rosemarie DeWitt plays the other lead, alongside Livingston. She’s a nice discovery, as her direct and dry wit is a nice mach for Livinston. Unfortunately, I don’t think the show will last. I quite like it, too, which figures. For one thing, variety is going to be a bit of a tough thing for the series. It’s not quite a procedural, not quite a character drama, and it doesn’t fit a specific genre too well. When shows don’t fit neatly into a predefined space, they usually fail (with exceptions, of course), typically because they can’t easily target and lock onto an audience. So, if you like good dramatic writing, fun witty banter and character chemistry, not to mention an excellent cast, I recommend checking out Standoff while you can.
posted in TV Reviews |
13th
September
2006
A fun movie with a great cast that isn’t quite as good as it should have been. Legendary director Ivan Reitman makes a valiant attempt at a fun idea, but it doesn’t completely work. Or, at the very least, it falls a little bit flat. It’s one of those movies that doesn’t really contain anything in particular that I hated. It’s just one that keeps a mild smile on your face. One that you sum up to friends as “not great, but amusing enough.” Now, I’m a huge fan of Luke Wilson, and the rest of the cast is excellent as well. Uma Thurman is a pretty good choice as the psycho ex, though she plays it a little bit too broad - which is perhaps the fault of Reitman’s directing, which is also a bit broad. This is a movie that needed to fill out the details, not just paint characters that fit together like puzzle pieces somehow. And, while the movie figures out how to mine many superhero stereotypes for some fun ideas, it doesn’t do nearly as good a job exploiting the material as, say, Sky High. Don’t believe all the review that paint it to be a completely awful film. If you like the cast, the genre, or just want to be amused, you could do far worse than this.
posted in Movie Reviews |
