Avatar

With Kellianne and I having an 8 month old, it has made it a lot harder to go see movies in the theaters. Unfortunately for us we never made it to seeing Avatar on the big screen. This film simply blew me away with the stunning visuals and the amazing cinematography of this world known as Pandora. I can only imagine what the visuals were like if you viewed this movie on an IMAX screen. Everything detail in this movie seemed to be flawlessly looked over in a way that you forget that most of the visuals are completely computer generated.

For me there were only a few parts of the movie that I disliked or had a hard time with.First off was that of the unobtainium. I mean really, Cameron is creative in creating Pandora and the Na'vi yet is so uncreative with the name of unobtainium. Not to mention the film never fully explains why unobtainium is so valuable to the corporation that is there on Pandora and what is the benefit. Second. the ecological agenda that is thinly veiled throughout the movie. The thoughts that corporations are only in things for money and does not care about what there exploits will do to the land.

Other than the visuals, the film delivers with all the other technical aspects. The Film Editing is the crowning achievement of the film as it offers the perfect blend of the two worlds, enticing the viewer and shifting us around. Mauro Fiore's cinematography is masterful. I felt like I sat down in a chair and was literally placed on Pandora, spaceships and mountains. The viewer is completely engulfed by the imagery that it gives you a feeling that you could actually smell the leaves on the trees. James Horner delivers an amazing score that helps to life the material immensely.

Relative newcomer, Aussie Sam Worthington provides a solid human heart amongst all the science-fiction/fantasy beauty but there are moments where he struggles with his Aussie accent and Zoe Saldana gives an impressive performance as the 8 foot tall Na'vi, Neytiri. Even though the characters they both play are blue, giant, catlike aliens, they managed to evoke a chemistry and likability that pierces through the special effects.

Stephen Lang, as the rock hard Colonel Miles, takes being a villain to a whole new level for science fiction. He offers such emotion and shows that all he cares about is getting the Na'vi out of the way as quick as possible gains the audiences hatred rather quickly. Sigourney Weaver lives inside her role with effortless ease, but she falls victim to Cameron's curse of cheesy lines a couple of times. Even with these strong performances the character development is shallow and left me wanting to know more about what shaped the characters feelings and also especially with the Na'vi why they were not getting along with the humans (Sky People).

Avatar is a beautiful piece of film and a true event. It does exactly what cinema was always intended to - it takes us away from our problems and worries for a few hours and gives us memorable images. This is one of the best films I have ever seen because the visuals are unmatched in any film I have ever seen. Cameron has set the bar and it is up to other visionary directors to step up to the new bar that has been set.

Cameron though in trying to invoke emotion to us has a flaw. To me it was interesting to notice that in trying to show the desperation of the people of Na'vi the ships windshields were inpenetrable to the arrows but then moments later in the final battle the arrows go right through the windshields as they show us the courageous nature of the Na'vi. Yet he successfully allowed me to over look this flaw with the final machine vs. avatar fight. The greatest part of this fight was that Cameron actually allowed us to SEE the fight. By moving the cameras out a little we could see what was actually happening unlike the current trend for fight sequences that nearly gives you a headache.

I am giving Avatar four and a half buckets of popcorn out of five. I am hoping that we will see a special edition re-released into the theaters sometime so I can go and experience Pandora with a full IMAX experience. Cameron definitely has shown that he is back and is a visionary director that will hopefully continue to push imagery in films for audience experiences.

-The Movie Man-

Balls of Fury

This week I saw another awesomely bad movie and that movie was Balls of Fury. After seeing this movie I would say it had to possibly be one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen. Now that though is not necessarily a bad thing. I do not think that a single scene or moment of this movie was desiring a smidgen of intelligence. The premise of this movie stars around a washed up ping pong phenom named Randy Daytona, played by Dan Fogler, who is brought back into the world of ping pong to help take down the man who killed his father.

I went in to watching this movie with thate though that I wanted to laugh. Of course, this movie did just that it made me laugh and laugh and some very stupid things throughout the movie. While it will not go into the vault of some of the best awesomely bad movies, it did leave me with a great smile on my face and being happy. For me it did this because of the simple fact this movie was a serious movie about ping pong. And just the simple fact that there are actually people out there that take such a slight game as serious, in the way that the characters portray their love for the sport. It's pointless, silly, and down-right brain cell killing. But I found myself forgiving everyone because they were so good-hearted in waltzing around with their idiotic humor. 

Balls of Fury is written by Thomas Lennon who also plays the funny german ping pong player in the movie. His style is to be a little abstract, and uses pacing to help with the humor and does a great job keeping the humor in the same vein of Reno 911. It is important to know that a lot of the humor is based on uncomfortable moments. Yet while many may view this to be a spoof of the feel good sports movies, it really fovuses on farcing the martial arts movie "Enter the Dragon" while taking shots at every martial arts cliche out there.

All I can say about the acting is the performances are just alright and no one really shines. But I think a big part of this is the simple fact that the cast realized an amazing performance would not be useful in a comedy. It is also nice to see Christopher Walken on screen. Of course his roles always seem to be very unique and also he gives them a feeling that they were written just for him and no one else.

While this movie never won any awards. It is nothing more then a pointless, silly and brain cell killing film. You do not have to think and can just sit back with some popcorn and block out the troubles of the world for an hour and a half. I am giving this awesomely bad movie three buckets of popcorn out of five. It is well worth the price of renting.

-The Movie Man-

The Young Victoria

Well part of the territory of being a movie buff is that it is important to not just see "guy movies" but to have an eclectic viewing of movies. Going into watching The Young Victoria I was not expecting much and figured it would be a movie that was not up my alley but also would bore me to the point that I would want to stand up and cheer just because the torture would finally be over. Once again Hollywood has been able to make me realize that I can't always judge a movie by its movie case, but that it is important to not allow preconceived notions about a movie to influence what I thought about the movie.

Young Victoria tells the story of the early years of Britain's longest reigning sovereign and the different challenges she faced. The plot of the story follows basically three main strands. The first storyline considers the hit and miss relationship between Victoria and her mother the Duchess of Kent, who is an unpopular figure due to the influence of her advisor Sir John Conroy. Conroy was rumored to be thelover of the duchess. The second strand consisted of the enduring romance between Victoria and her German cousin Prince Albert, and the attempts of King Leopold of Belgium, who was an uncle to both of them, to influence the romance. The third dealt with the politics of Britain that happened early on in Victoria's reign. The main influence of the politics dealt with The tory party of the time feeling that the Young Queen leaned too far to the Whig party of the time.

With a period piece it is always tough to know how to do the set and the costuming in such a way that it is not too far over the top. The costume designer is able to make the sets and costumes very lavish and elegant without being gaudy.

The movie though is carried with the brilliant performances of Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend. While I am going to go out on a limb and say that Blunt is more attractive than the real Victoria was, but she gives great elegance and poise that is required of a queen. The chemistry between the two can be felt even through the letters that they send each other. Blunt and Friend make this movie a touching romance and a gripping human drama.

I am giving this movie three buckets of popcorn out of five. Strong acting throughout the cast really showed through. It always seems fairly typical of the British period pieces to have such a great cast that provide strong performances. I can see now why this movie wwas nominated for so many awards.

-The Movie Man-

Armored

"Armored" is so a guy movie. Dueling armored trucks? Bloody gunshot wounds? Exploding money? If that doesn't get the lizard part of your brain excited, then stay away. Armored is a fast paced action thriller that gives you a lot of action and even provides a few surprising twists. It is a story of a group of armored truck guards that have concocted a plan to steal 42 million dollars that they were supposed to transport by simply stashing the money somewhere and then state they were robbed.  There plan though hinges on the sixth member of the crew Ty, an Iraqi war veteran that just joined the crew. After being promised that no one would be hurt he reluctantly agrees to take part. Obviously, from the moment that Ty is promised that no one will be hurt everyone knows that the plan will not go as planned. Although it is able to throw in a few surprises that make the movie not predictable at any point.

By simply looking at the great cast, I expected some stellar performances, unfortunately it did not live up to that expectation. While this movie has its typical action explosions it does not have the action expected in an action movie, but has tense thrilling action. Unfortunately, the writing suffered and did not take advantage of the strong cast as the movie lacked any real depth.

The two great roles that really stood out was that of newcomer Columbus Short playing Ty/hero of the story who ends up having the moral and ethical compass society should have. He is countered with the antagonist Mike, played by Matt Dillon, who orchestrated the whole plan. Sharing so many scenes with such a well seasoned actor like  Dillon many could expect Short to be overshadowed, yet he holds his own and created a definite rooting for him to outsmart the "bad guys." While Dillon is able to take his character from charming to disappointed, onward to frustrated and finallyh to completely insane through the course of the movie due to his greed for a big payday.

Unfortunately, the movie did such a great job of building throughout the entire movie only to leave me a little disappointed with the ending that was rushed. While this is the first movie I have seen by director Nimrod Antal he brings a great passion to the action movie in such a old school pulled back way, that does not pull in CGI like most action flicks do, and goes simple with just great sharp cinematography.

While this movie did not have much depth, it was very important to remember that this is a guy movie! It is important to remember that these lack of depth movies are simply for enjoyment. Because of the enjoyment it gave me I am giving it two and a half buckets of popcorn out of five. Remember this is a movie that you need to not worry about thinking and you can just turn off that brain relax and enjoy!

-The Movie Man-

Did You Heat About The Morgans?

It is important to remember that when you see this movie that it uses a very typical romantic comedy formula. This movie plays on the usual stereotypes between cityfolk and countryfolk, but tends to become a little unfunny especially with the snob outlook of Sarah Jessica Parker as the lifelong New Yorker. While the movie to me had its moments, it did not take full advantage of some of the smaller roles and the stories that they started but never fully developed. Unfortunately, the chemistry between Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker was completely void of any emotion or connection.

While I have always been a fan of Hugh Grant and his dry British wit, he always manages to bring to his roles, this time it was definitely missing something. Grants portrayal is so hollow that it is almost like he is playing a parody of himself.  While his delivery and timing were spot on, it came across as if he were delivering these lines with no one else in the room. This lack of connection to Sarah Jessica Parker makes it so that it is even harder for anyone else to believe that they were ever romantically involved or were ever married. Although he receives his laughs at times it is a definite disappointment that these two veterans of the romantic comedies could not get this movie off the ground. I think this is a clear indicator for us to see that the success of a romantic comedy comes down to the two lead characters and their ability to have chemistry onscreen.

A huge missed opportunity throughout this movie was that of the roles of not only the two assistants to the leads but also the marshal and his wife Emma who look after the Morgans in Wyoming. It is a large shame and may have helped improve the overall chemistry, but instead they keep these two relationships and such a distant that it only helps the chemistry between Parker and Grant to be more hollow and lacking.

Unfortunately, this movie ends up being so formulaic that it left me bored. The worst part of it all is that when the love lost moves back to love found, it happens at the point of almost a snapping of the fingers. And unfortunately Parker being in this movie almost did not serve a purpose to do well in this movie but to get herself back in the public eye to help her gain momentum for the upcoming release of Sex and the City 2.

For me Hugh Grant ended up being the only saving grace in this movie, although part of that might be the fact that I enjoy his british dry wit. I am giving this movie one and a half buckets of popcorn out of five. Hopefully, going forward someone from Hollywood will realize how formulaic the romantic comedy has become and that they will try to actually do romantic comedies that are not so predictable to boredom.

-The Movie Man-

The Spirit

I really wanted to enjoy this movie the way I did with 300 and Sin City, but for some reason Frank Miller fell completely flat in this telling of the graphic novel. With such a strong cast of actors I expected great things. This movie ended up being completely one of style over substance, but even the style fell short of the directing style that Miller provided in 300 and Sin City. I guess every great director are entitled to have bad movies.

I do not know if it was the intention of the writing but the over acting was very laughable. Samuel L. Jackson is the most blatant violator of the over acting bug. I was laughing during most of the scenes he was in not because of a funny line, but was just embarassing. Is it just me or has Samuel L. Jackson become an actor that is hard to take serious? The over acting of the actors was almost cartoonish and with a graphic novel that may be in part the feel Miller was shooting for, it went past the line he developed in Sin City with his characters and made me wonder when an anvil would drop on the head of a character. Eva Mendes, did not serve much of a purpose other then being eye candy.

Unfortunately, part of the issue with the lacking performances by the cast can not be entirely be placed on the cast but the writing was just very lackluster. In Sin City Miller not only gave great style but the substance was there as well. In The Spirit there was absolutely no character development as they skated through the movie from scene to scene without anything else.

I definitely expected more and because of this I am glad that I bought this DVD from Hollywood Video at a price of only $0.99. Because of the lackluster performances and the lack of a new look with the style of Frank Miller I am only giving this movie one bucket of popcorn out of five.

-The Movie Man-

Hot Fuzz

When you see a preview that starts out by saying from the guys who have watched every action movie ever made I was unsure what the movie would be like. However Hot fuzz is a great, funny comedy that pokes fun at action genre movies. The story of Hot Fuzz centers around Nicholas Angel. In a definite contradiction Angel is actually too good at being a cop there in London. As a result his superiors send him somewhere where his 400% higher arrest record than any other office on the force will not be so embarassing. So he is reassigned to the quaint and seemingly crime free village of Sandford.

Over the past few years I have become quite the fan of the British Comedy, and Hot Fuzz does not disappoint with its witty, intelligent dialogue that gives you non stop laughs. Nick Frost plays his part of the overeager new partnerof Danny to Simon Pegg's Officer Angel. With Hot Fuzz they take the American action movie and not only create a parody but they also take the small details of the action movie that the average moviegoer may not pick up on. The biggest point of driving this home is Danny's obsession with Keanu Reeve's scene in Point Break of firing his gun in the air in anger and believing that is the way that a cop in a big city may truly act. And the truth is how many of us know someone that talks about action movies the same way as Danny does throughout the movie, Frost hilariously plays this up to a "T" for all of us.

Pegg's performance is one of pure comedic genius. His character is so well developed as a man of invincible and strong confidence. Along with being a man with incredible drive, workaholic yet he still has the action hero stereotype. Frost plays the buddy role so well and the chemistry between the two is amazing. Frost ends up being the punchline to Pegg's straight line, but at the same time he is so funny in such a direct way that he has an adolescent aspect about him.

The film making comes directly from the school of Guy Ritchie. It is filled with jump cuts accompanied by loud and constant changing sound effects, and montages of grainy, bleached out, extravagantly lit shots that are edited together at lightning speed. The soundtrack is spot on with any other action film out there. This all works so well together as not only a dead on impression of the great action movies over the last twenty years but is also a hilarious opposition to the English countryside.

A word of caution I would give everyone about this movie is that it is violent. I think it can be said best when Reverend Shooter says will anyone stop this mindless violence (only to pull out two guns himself a couple moments later). This movie always seems to help me get through tough days because it makes me laugh. I am giving this movie three and a half buckets of popcorn out of five.

-The Movie Man-