Sweeney Todd, National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter


I'm not really a big musical guy, so I wasn't all "Lance Hunter Burbank" about this movie heading into it, but Becky (the sister) was fReAkInG oUt about it, so we went to the first midnight showing. I'm sure it's passable as a musical (I obviously haven't seen it in any other incarnation but the film), but I honestly didn't think it needed to be made into a movie. There wasn't any sort of message involved - it was your standard revenge story: The Count of Monte Cristo, emo-style. The trailer was incredibly deceptive in its portrayal of how much singing would truly occur, and I'm sure that's not going to sit well with people "tricked" into seeing this in theaters.

Once you get past the fact that there's TONS of singing, that makes things a little easier. Johnny Depp's voice is not half bad, and even the extremely British Helena Bonham Carter isn't awful because her character isn't supposed to have a beautiful voice. I'm fairly certain that all of the singing is overdubbed (I know for a fact that some of it is; I can only assume the whole thing was filmed this way), and sometimes it's pretty obvious that the leads are lip-synching, as well as they try to hide it from us. There were some good songs in it. My favorite was the one that Mrs. Lovett and Todd sang together; he was singing about seeing his old friends (his barber blades) again, and she was singing about how they could be friends, or something like that. But there were also some really bad ones, like the Mrs. Lovett tangent about the beach and what they would do if they lived together. (Forehead slap). And the supporting characters were kind of cool in a weird way. Alan Rickman was good as the evil judge, and perpetual-minion Timothy Spall played his disgusting character perfectly. Even Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Borat) wasn't as twitch-inducing as I thought he'd be; in fact, he provided some good comic relief.

Plot-wise, there there were some fairly questionable occurances, but they weren't glaring enough to make a big deal about. I don't want to ruin the experience for the people who actually like(d) the movie. The one thing that really bothered me about the whole production is that there was this huge outcry before the movie began filming about how it was fighting hard to get this "R" rating and it shouldn't be cut down to a PG-13, because there's so much violence and the violence really needs to be there, blah blah blah. So they finally scored the "R" rating, and people (myself included) were kind of excited about that because we thought maybe that would be the ray of light in an otherwise questionable film. We were wrong. The violence, albeit plentiful, was probably the most fake I've seen in a movie that wasn't made specifically for the Sci-Fi Channel. There were throat-slittings galore (the story does follow a barber bent on revenge, after all), but the blood was so fake it became more distracting and comedic than shocking and effective to me.

In my opinion, the only people this movie is for are die-hard Depp fans, Burton fans, or musical fans. If you are one of those people, then you've probably seen the movie by now. If you haven't seen Sweeney Todd yet, I'd personally suggest you keep it that way. You're not missing much.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Director: Jon Turtletaub
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Diane Kruger


If you're a fan of the first movie, then (for the love of all that is good) don't see this one. It's nowhere NEAR as good. I loved the first film - partly because of my love for treasure hunting movies, and partly because of Nic Cage, but Book of Secrets took everything that I liked about the first movie and took the fun out of it.

(Spoilers ahead. Not that the movie isn't so predictable you couldn't figure them out anyway, but still, I'll give the warning.)

THE TREASURE - Some sort of City of Gold, but it's not El Dorado. It's Native American in origin, supposedly discovered in Florida. But (as my Dad pointed out to me afterwards) the city was eventually found in South Dakota! No mention of how the massive city of gold was picked up and moved across the entire country. Not even an attempt at an explanation. It was like they suddenly needed the treasure to be closer to a major national landmark and since they couldn't think of one in Florida (or didn't want to use Kennedy Space Center or Disney World), they moved it and hoped we wouldn't notice. Nice try, filmmakers.

THE STYLE - One of the reasons I loved the first movie so much was because it was a treasure hunting movie, but presented in a cool way. The history of each clue and how it got there was a great way to keep the audience guessing as we followed our heroes across the country in a search for the Templar Treasure. In Book of Secrets, however, the writers didn't try to make the style fresh and new again, but pretty much kept the exact same thing they used in the first one. There were definitely problems with the first movie (how the heck did Nicholas Cage make all of those connections in such a short time?), but because of the style we accepted them and were distracted by the overall cool-factor of what we were watching. This time around, there is none of that to distract us from the glaring logic problems presented to us in the film. The clues are stupid and there isn't really any cool history behind them. And once they find the treasure, it looks almost identical to the one they found at the end of the first one. Whatever.

THE VILLAIN - Sean Bean gets replaced by Ed Harris? Are you serious? Ed Harris should have just keeled over and died at the very beginning, because there is no way that there could be a cooler villain in a movie than one played by Sean Bean (with one exception - Neville Sinclair in The Rocketeer). Ed Harris was a really questionable villain. Supposedly he had ties to the black market and selling of illegal artifacts, and he held Cage and Co. at gunpoint, but saves them in the end because he wants his family name to be a part of something good. What a pansy. I've eaten Chipotle burritos that were better villains than that.

THE FAMILY DYNAMIC - Diane Kruger reprises her role as Abigail Chase, but she has left Ben Gates because he's too good at what he does. So they don't get together until the very end of the movie. An unnecessary plot device, says I. And they committed the cardinal sin of bringing the whole family along for the ride. Whenever this happens in sequels, it's hardly ever a good sign: this is no exception. Helen Mirren (didn't she just win an Oscar? Then why is she in THIS movie?) plays Cage's mom, next to Jon Voight as the father who returns from the first movie. They get entangled in the search because his mom HAPPENS to be a world-renowned cryptologist and somehow Ed Harris and his baddies make a clone of the dad's phone. I don't know if this is possible, but they did it somehow. Don't ask me how. Anyway, the mom is not needed and definitely doesn't warrant the talents of an Oscar winner in the role.

If you couldn't tell, I'm a more than a little disappointed with this movie. The good parts (basically the parts involving the President) were few and far between, with stuff like bad comic relief from the sidekick (Riley, again played by Justin Bartha) and totally irrelevant phone calls to Harvey Keitel's character (why is he back??) stuffed in the middle. Go out and buy the first one, watch it multiple times, and forget this sequel ever came out. Good call, Mikey. Until next time...

Call To Action

I posted "The Aristotle Factor" on this page a while back, and since it is technically a "movie blog," I feel justified in posting my own movie on this page for those of you who haven't seen it yet. I had to make a movie last semester for a production class I was taking, so here's the finished product. Until next time...

I Am Legend

I Am Legend
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Will Smith


I liked it. That's what some of you are wanting to know, in short, so I'll just tell you right at the beginning. That's not to say that I thought it was the perfect film, because it definitely was not without its problems. But overall, I appreciated it a great deal.

The history of this movie could qualify as legendary, with Warner Brothers attempting to get it into production since 1994. With talks of directors as diverse as Ridley Scott, Michael Bay, and Guillermo Del Toro attached to the project, and actors like Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas, and Arnold Schwarzenegger in negotiations to play the role of Robert Neville, the possibility was certainly present that the whole thing could have been canceled altogether. Budgetary concerns for the studios nearly did just that, with rewrites continuing all the way through filming to get the budget down enough to make the project a reality. Most of the problems came with the logistics of shutting down sections of New York in order to give that eerily empty feel to the city that has supposedly been ravaged by disease. Turns out it was worth it, because I thought that was one of the coolest parts about the movie.

Eventually, Francis Lawrence was signed to direct, a surprising choice as a director since most of his work has been on music videos. He's directed videos for Color Me Badd, Third Eye Blind, Aerosmith, Nelly Furtado, P.O.D, and way more. I never saw Constantine, his only other real movie, but I thought he proved him abilities with I Am Legend. For a huge blockbuster-type movie, there was a real intimacy about this film that came as a result of a few factors. One was Lawrence's direction - his shot selection was spot on and there wasn't ever a time where I thought the movie was hindered by unnecessary scenes. Another was the editing, which was fantastic - the suspense in this film was intense as anything I've seen in recent memory (1408 being a good comparison), and the film wasn't overly long. An hour and forty minutes was a very respectable run time that could have easily been stretched into a two and a half hour epic by other directors. The final thing that really held this movie together was (not surprisingly) Will Smith.

In his first Castaway-type role (he actually cited Tom Hanks' performance as inspiration for the movie), Will Smith proves again that he is one of the most solid actors working right now. For someone who had the normally-inauspicious start of converting from rap to acting, the Fresh Prince has truly come a long way. The story follows Robert Neville, the military virologist who is immune to a worldwide disease, as he borders on insane after being alone for over 1,000 days searching for a cure for the rest of the remaining population, who have turned into flesh-eating "dark seekers" that are really glorified vampires. Whether you're a fan of the zombie/vampire genres or not, you can't deny (well, I guess you can if you want) that Will Smith was excellent in this movie.

(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)

Sam the dog was another reason why such a big movie like this had such an intimate feel. I'm not even a dog person, but that thing was awesome. Watching the relationship between Neville and his daughter's dog through the first half of the movie, we realize that Sam is one of the few things that keeps Neville from killing himself. The intensity level skyrockets when Sam chases an animal into the darkness, and the first real danger of the movie is presented as Neville goes in after her. This part of the movie was my favorite. They hadn't shown us the "vampires" yet, and everyone knows that the suspense of not knowing what something looks like is a lot scarier than having already seen it. But getting back to what I was saying, the dog (and her eventual death) was a key factor in making the movie so personal because she was Neville's lone companion; everyone relates to the feeling of loneliness and that translates to the audience not wanting Neville to be alone, so to kill off the dog was a huge emotional hit for both Neville's character and the audience.

So now on to my problems with the movie. I Am Legend fell into the same category as countless other films because the monsters weren't nearly as scary after you've seen them for the first time. They were too reminiscent of The Mummy for my tastes (with the extending jaws and the constant growling). There was one part in particular that I remember being really tense: I jumped when a creature came out of nowhere and sideswiped Neville, but then it got right on top of him and started gnashing its teeth, and I was immediately bored with it because it wasn't scary. Neville didn't seem to be in any real danger since he couldn't be infected. Granted, they could have eaten him or something, but we all knew that wasn't going to happen, so it took away from the urgency. Another major problem I had was first pointed out by either Jeremy, Josh, or Zach, I can't recall which: where was the radio broadcast of the Vermont survivor colony? Was Neville the only one with the technology it takes to transmit a signal? I find that kind of hard to believe. The appearance of Anna and Ethan toward the end was kind of a strange jump in the storyline, too. How did Anna fight off the infected when she rescued Neville from his suicide attempt? I thought Neville's reaction to them was relatively calm for someone who hasn't seen another uninfected human for three years. Also, it wasn't abundantly clear whether he knew about the Vermont colony or not. Either way, he obviously refused to leave his "ground zero," but when he tried to convince Anna that everyone was dead, I still didn't know if he knew they were there and was trying to convince himself that he should stay or if he truly thought everyone else was dead and gone. Finally, the colony in Vermont had a huge wall (some might even call it a "Great Wall") that sequestered the survivors inside their habitat. I don't know about you, but I saw the Infected jump and climb like nobody's business when they were trying to get into Neville's house, so I don't think that wall was doing anyone any good. If they could travel by night until they reached that wall, there is no way they wouldn't ravage that entire compound until there was nothing left. These are little problems, I know, but they still kind of bugged me.

With all that said, I liked the religious questions posed toward the end, when Neville has his awakening and sacrifices himself for Anna and Ethan to escape. While pretty formulaic, this still gives Neville an excuse for a purposeful death, which he lacked before his visitors arrived. This also ties in with other main questions the film presents: the more palpable "what would I do in that situation?" and "how do you survive like that?" questions, along with the more philosophical and social "what does this say about our society?" and "are we capable of unwittingly doing something like this?" The only other huge problem I have with the logistics of the storyline comes right after Neville's sacrifice: he tells Anna and Ethan to wait until dawn to come out of hiding in his basement laboratory, but he neglects to take into account the fact that there is no light that comes into that area. The Infected clearly saw the pair go into hiding (they were watching through a glass plate) and could have easily waited until they opened the door (or even forced themselves in) to kill them in the morning. If we are to believe that the Infected are smart enough to mimic the traps set by Neville, which are pretty elaborate I might add, are we really supposed to believe that they'll just magically forget that there is a supply of food (aka. Anna and Ethan) hidden behind a wooden door five feet away from them? Hmm...

I Am Legend was exactly what I thought it'd be - good. It would have been right at home with a July 4th release, bringing back the "Big Willie Weekend" with style. In a summer that broke ticket sale records with three-quels galore, it would have been a fresh take (albeit another remake) on some subject matter that actually poses a few valid questions to the moviegoing audience instead of simply entertaining them. Until next time...


Trivia: The bridge scene that serves as a flashback in the movie was the most expensive New York City shoot to date. It involved a crew of 250 people, a cast of 1,000 extras (including National Guard members in full combat gear), required the permission of 14 government agencies, took six days to shoot, and ended up costing $5 million.

Awake; Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

Awake
Writer/Director: Joby Harold
Starring: Jessica Alba, Hayden Christensen, Terrence Howard


Go into this movie with no expectations at all. I almost guarantee you'll be pleasantly surprised. This is a hell of a debut for writer/director Joby Harold, who puts together this film with the feeling that he's directed many times before. Man, I really respect people who write and direct their own stuff. Anyway, in case you don't know, the movie is about Hayden Christensen's character who is supposed to be asleep during an operation he's having - but the anesthetic doesn't work. He's temporarily paralyzed, but can feel and think as if everything was completely normal. That's the basic premise. This is not for the faint of heart, but if you can stand a few hours of those surgical shows on TLC then you'll be fine. I liked this film a lot; it was intense when it should have been and the character development was great. In those aspects alone it reminded me of 1408 (which not everyone liked, but Awake isn't getting particularly good reviews either. Once again - go in with no expectations). I appreciated the fact that the filmmakers didn't try to throw us any supernatural curveballs or add anything mystical or maniacal in order to explain plot points or character's motivations for their actions. It was very logical, and that was a breath of fresh air in a genre filled with cliches and over-the-top cheap thrills and scare tactics. The movie was also unusually short - only an hour and eighteen minutes. That alone would be the only reason I'd maybe recommend this for home viewing. A lot of films are almost not worth seeing in the theater these days unless A) it's a movie that NEEDS to be seen on a big screen (ala Transformers) or B) you're one of those people that loves to watch movies regardless. I happen to fall into that latter category (and I'm sure a lot of you do as well), so as always I'll leave it to your discretion whether you should check it out now or wait a couple of months until the DVD drops. A small side note - I really like the poster for this movie. It reminds me a lot of the poster for The Prestige.

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney


This one surprised me, too. I figured an 83-year-old director might not be exactly on top of his game, but I have to give Lumet some credit: he knows what he's doing. The guy has directed some classic movies in his time, including 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, and The Verdict. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead definitely has that "independent" feel to it, eliciting fantastically intimate performances from every cast member. The leads in the movie were phenomenal; Hoffman and Hawke (sounds like a sweet law firm) should team up more often in these types of situations. They play brothers who are in some serious debt and decide to rob their own parent's "mom and pop" jewelry store. Naturally, they know the place inside and out since they've been around it all their lives, so they figure it's a win-win and nothing bad could happen. It'd be an incredibly boring movie if it was that easy, so after the robbery goes awry we realize that Marisa Tomei's character (naked for a good portion of the movie), who is married to P.S.H., is having an affair with the other brother, Ethan Hawke. Oh, how the plot thickens. From there it turns into a well crafted modern noir with a seventies flair, if that makes any sense to you. There's no smoky back alleys or black and white silhouettes, but a lot of the conventions of noir (desperation, recklessness, getting in deeper than you anticipated, etc.) come into play and make this really exciting to watch. As an audience, we also get the vibe that Lumet shot this movie the same way he would have shot it (stylistically) if he were shooting one of his famous masterpieces of the 60's or 70's. Everything technical about the movie was solid, but it was the acting that took this thing to that proverbial "next level." Interesting bit of trivia, though - while it may have the feel of a movie made thirty years ago, Lumet actually shot the whole thing on high definition video and thinks that celluloid (aka film) will be dead in five years, calling the process a "pain in the ass" when working with film over digital.

Albert Finney (the dad in Big Fish) was riveting as the broken father of the two brothers, and Rosemary Harris (Aunt May from the Spider-Man series) stepped in to play the mother. Even Marisa Tomei, who won a controversial Oscar for her performance in My Cousin Vinny, was great as the wife caught in the middle of the family. And as Joe so eloquently stated, she "sure has aged well." Well said, sir - I couldn't agree more. I haven't seen such intense performances since The Departed. Good luck trying to find this movie if you're interested in seeing it - we had to resort to a local independent theater in Gainesville to check it out. And aside from the opening sex scene, excessive language, cold blooded murder, and rampant drinking, this is the perfect movie for the kids as the holiday season approaches. Until next time...