Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Jungles, Weed, and Love...ah, the joys of Summer.
"Tropic Thunder" will be funny. "The Pineapple Express" will be downright hilarious. And if the rest of the "Love Guru" is as funny as the "So girls will like me...and I will like myself!" line, then the "Love Guru" will be a even funnier. But I doubt that.
Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk
For as much as comic boy geeks hated Ang Lee's 2003 "Hulk", Lee actually got more right with his big green giant than Louis Leterrier does with his in 2008's not-so-great "The Incredible Hulk".
From the start, "The Incredible Hulk" becomes very formulaic, the same superhero formula that we see in so many other superhero movies. For one, there is a lack of emotion and depth in Bruce Banner and the Hulk, played by Ed Norton. One thing many critics and myself enjoyed about Ang Lee's 2003 version was the well done character, depth, emotion, and story of Bruce Banner. For some reason, Leterrier decided to skip all that "boring stuff" and jump straight to mindless big-screen action. Ultimately, that hurts the film.
Banner, in Ang Lee's "Hulk", played by Eric Bana, is actually believable as a human with a monster counter-part. The one memorable line from Lee's 2003 movie was Bana's confession to Betty Ross; "When it happens, when it comes over me, when I totally lose control ... I like it." That line illustrates emotion and character depth and makes us believe he has two personas. In Leterrier's 2008 version, Ed Norton delivers no such meditation. The only reflections he gives on being the Hulk are scientific. Blase blase.
To sum it up, if you want action every other scene, Letterier's "The Incredible Hulk" is for you, that is, if you also enjoy one dimensional characters and the run-of-the-mill superhero formula. Is it fun? Yes, it is a fun movie. Interesting? No.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
What is the Film Fanatic
Well...? What makes a film fanatic a fanatic? Is it the three hundred plus movie collection shrine in the living room? Or is it the three screenplays in the "My Documents" folder, under Final Draft 7 that makes us a film fanatic. Is it our dream of becoming an indie filmmaker, holding our Holy Grail that is a DVX-100, with a Letus attached that we bought with the money we got from selling our vinyl collection and baseball memorabilia?
Or is it something deeper. Is it the emotion that is stirred up in us when we see Lamotta dancing in the ring in the opening cinematic of "Raging Bull", the awe that takes us over when we watch the Trevi Fountain scene from "La Dolce Vita".
It can be any of these factors and more that characterize us as film gurus, junkies, buffs, and aficionados. Cinephiles and cinemaphiles. Film Fanatics. There comes a time however, when we finally understand ourselves as film fanatics. And it's those moments, when we realize our calling, that define us as being fanatics. It's the moments when even the most miniscule notions, objects, and images in film can spark that special catalyst in us from whence we realize we are film fanatics, and thus the birth of the future Scorseses and Anthony Lanes.
I remember, a long time ago, when I first stumbled across Frank Capra's famous "Film is a disease..." quote. It wasn't until my 100th time reading the 30 odd-word quote that I was gushing with happiness, knowing a giant and genius like Frank Capra felt the same way about film as I did.. Knowing that amongst the dozens of quotes sports fanatics can relate to that sums up their love for their game so eloquently, was a quote for film fanatics, which we could all relate to. I felt a part of a group of auteurs, intellects, and gurus. I knew Wilder, Ford, Kubrick, Lean, and Kazan had read the same quote. And for that moment in thought, I was with them. Sometimes it's the moments when we realize what we are, that defines us as who we are.
After that realization, everything under the same sun flows naturally. The sleepless nights spent wrapping up your second act; the time spent perusing enthusiastically at the Criterion Collection online; watching your favorite Kurosawa and Fellini films you have just to reassure their positions on your 100 Greatest Directors list. The numerous things we do to feed our hunger.
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream, it takes over as the number one hormone; it bosses the enzymes; directs the pineal gland; plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to film is more film."
-Frank Capra
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