Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For - Dirs. Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller (2014)

"Sin City is where you go in with your eyes open or you don't come out at all."

You have to hand it to Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller for their dogged determination in sequelizing Sin City. Nine years later, the much-anticipated Sin City: A Dame to Kill For finally arrived in theaters to a tepid response. The movie came just shy of pulling in $40 million worldwide, a fraction of the $158 million earned by its predecessor. Perhaps, too much time has passed.

The original Sin City stood head and shoulders above other Hollywood releases with its hyper-stylized representation of film noir, stark black and white accentuated by splashes of color. Rodriguez also changed the way we thought of adapting comic books by slavishly remaining faithful to Miller's artwork. Pages from the comics were kept on set to utilize as storyboards. Now the look of Sin City isn't as fresh with perfume commercials appropriating the visuals. Miller certainly didn't help matters with his abysmal attempt at a feature film version of Will Eisner's Spirit. As for Rodriguez, Grindhouse was a fun experiment that deserved a larger audience, but Shorts, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, and Machete Kills didn't set the world on fire.

A Dame to Kill For begins with "Just Another Saturday Night," in which the nigh-invulnerable bruiser Marv (Mickey Rourke) tries to piece together a hazy evening that involved frat boys lighting hobos on fire.

The best and most substantial story is "A Dame to Kill For" starring Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin), a man trying to put his violent past behind him. Everything falls apart when he is reunited with former lover Ava Lord (Eva Green). Against his better judgment, Dwight agrees to save Ava from an abusive marriage with the wealthy Damian Lord (Marton Csokas). Of course, Dwight should have known better than to believe anything coming from those luscious lips.

The second Sin City also features two original stories. In "The Long Bad Night," a cocky gambler named Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) enters into a high stakes poker game against the powerful Senator Roark (Powers Boothe) and might lose more than just his money. Finally, there's "Nancy's Last Dance," which continues the story from "The Yellow Bastard." Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) is still haunted by the death of her protector John Hartigan (Bruce Willis), who sacrificed his life to protect her from the grasp of Sen. Roark. Now, Nancy is a little unhinged and prepares nearly every waking moment to seek revenge against the untouchable politico.

If you enjoyed the style over substance approach of the first movie, then you'll probably dig A Dame to Kill For since you get more of the same. Rodriguez and Miller seamlessly blend live-action with computer animation in a dynamic fashion to craft the world of Sin City. There's some great imagery here, such as deadly little Miho firing a bow & arrow against a full moon or Roark surrounded by stacks of poker chips that resemble skyscrapers. After a while, it gets tiring, especially when the stories are so repetitive. We get decapitations galore and an endless stream of hard boiled narration. And the women of Sin City wind up being strippers, prostitutes or chopped into pieces by sadistic killers.

The filmmakers try harder this time around to integrate the various stories in the sequel and use the strip club, Kadie's Saloon, as a hub. It doesn't really work nor does it enhance the experience. It can be confusing as well since time means nothing. "Long Bad Night" and "Nancy's Last Dance" take place after the events of the previous picture, but "Dame to Kill For" is a prequel. Keep in mind; these new stories aren't by the Frank Miller who gave us acclaimed runs on Batman and Daredevil. This is the new Frank Miller behind the laughable All-Star Batman & Robin and the atrocious Holy Terror. This is a Frank Miller who thought it would be a fantastic idea for Nancy to disfigure her own face for the sole purpose of getting Marv to help her on a mission of vengeance. Heaven forbid a female character do something on her own.

Marv is a constant in each segment and the big bruiser brought a lot of dark humor in "The Hard Goodbye." However, he's now become a glorified attack dog that they sic on any henchmen in sight. So it makes absolutely no sense why Nancy doesn't just ask him to kill a bunch of dudes for her.

Rosario Dawson as the machine gun toting dominatrix Gail is back along with Jaime King as twin sexpots Goldie and Wendy, and Bruce Willis as the world's most laconic ghost. Dennis Haysbert takes over the role of Manute from the late-Michael Clarke Duncan while Jamie Chung replaces Devon Aoki as the silent assassin Miho. Among the newcomers are Juno Temple, Christopher Lloyd, Ray Liotta, Lady Gaga, Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, and Stacy Keach underneath grotesque make-up that makes him look like a rejected Dick Tracy villain.

None of them hold a candle to Eva Green, who relishes in the role of the femme fatale to end all femme fatales. This is the very definition of sultry and seductive. Green deserves a special award for Best Performances in Unnecessary Frank Miller sequels. She was also the highlight of 300: Rise of an Empire as warrior woman Artemisia. Josh Brolin equates himself well with the gruff and lurid prose as Dwight when he had his old face. It does hurt the tale that Clive Owen was unable to return as Dwight after the reconstructive surgery.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For feels like a quick cash grab that was slapped together, except it came nine years later when the irons have long been cold. It's gratuitously crude and violent without any creative spark.

Rating: ** (*****)

Lincoln

Lincoln - Dir. Steven Spielberg (2012)

Lincoln opens with a Saving Private Ryan-esque scene of battlefield brutality. Men are impaled by bayonets and strangled in the muck and rainwater. From there, we cut to Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln seated as if he were the D.C. monument come to life. He’s addressed by two black soldiers, one of whom (Colman Domingo) looks up at him with awe. The other (David Oyelowo) is bluntly asking the President about equal pay for black and white troops. Two white soldiers (Lukas Haas and Dane DeHaan) arrive and, with great reverence, begin to recite the Gettysburg Address.  The scene feels lifted right out of a Frank Capra movie and it’s wise of Spielberg to get the mythologizing out of the way first.

President Lincoln is pressured to end the Civil War rather than focusing on the Emancipation Proclamation. Even his closest aides feel the issue will be dead upon arrival at the House of Representatives. Not everyone will be swayed by a heartfelt speech so a great deal of wrangling and backdoor deals is necessary. A trio of lobbyists (James Spader, John Hawkes, and Tim Blake Nelson) is dispatched to curry favor with opposition in the Democratic Party. This includes promises of jobs in the new administration or outright bribery. The House itself is a hotbed for filibustering and childish insults. Have politics really changed that much in the last two centuries? Kushner brings these sequences to life with a steady stream of Sorkin-like dialogue and a surprising amount of humor. Irony isn’t lost in the portrayal of Republicans as the more progressive and compassionate party. The vote for the Proclamation is the centerpiece of Lincoln and a textbook example of classic filmmaking. The outcome is already known, yet there is still palpable tension as each Representative is called upon to vote “Yay” or “Nay.” It’s also interesting to see everyday citizens traveling from far and wide to the White House to seek audience with the President.

Less effective is the delving into Lincoln’s personal life, particularly his rocky marriage to Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field). She has been left in a shaky mental state following the death of her son, Willie, at age 12. The scenes shared by Day-Lewis and Field are strong, but showy which means they’ll play well for the Academy voters. There’s also their eldest son, Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who feels a burning obligation to serve in the Union army, despite his father’s best attempts to keep him out of the war. While the presence of Gordon-Levitt is always appreciated, his part could have easily been cut from the film with little impact.

It speaks volumes for the A-list ensemble cast that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of its lesser components. The most noteworthy are Jared Harris as Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Jackie Earle Haley as Confederate Vice-President Alexander Stephens, David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Seward, Gulliver McGrath from Dark Shadows as Tad Lincoln, and Lee Pace as Fernando Wood, the leader of the Democratic opposition. There’s also Hal Holbrook, Michael Stuhlbarg, Walt Goggins, Gloria Reuben, Bruce McGill, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Gregory Itzin. In this sea of talented performers, Tommy Lee Jones has gained the most notice for his performance as the fervent abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens. His views on racial and gender equality brought him no shortage of enemies in the Democratic Party. A Best Supporting Actor nomination is almost a lock for Jones though James Spader shouldn’t be forgotten as the oiliest of the lobbyists.

Lincoln hinges entirely on the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis who has effortlessly transformed himself yet again. You wonder if his method acting required him to actually travel back in time to shadow the real Lincoln. Physically, he is everything we imagine Abraham Lincoln to be: tall and lanky with the weathered face of a president hard at work. His soft-spoken manner belies the booming voice that many have portrayed him to possess.  His folksy sense of humor leads him to tell several homespun stories to amuse his staff during dire times.

Each shot is beautifully realized by Spielberg’s superb direction and the gorgeous cinematography of Janusz Kaminski whose work includes night scenes illuminated only by candle and the congressional floor backlit by hazy sunlight. The film is set to a score by John Williams that never drowns out the drama.

Lincoln is the film that Amistad should have been. It is Spielberg's best work since Munich and lacks the saccharine sentimentality that plagued War Horse.

Rating: *** ½ (*****)

Premium Rush

Premium Rush - Dir. David Koepp (2012)

You can't refer to Joseph Gordon-Levitt as simply the kid from 3^rd Rock from the Sun. JGL has grown into one of the finest young actors working in Hollywood today. While he's displayed strong dramatic chops, he's recently become an unlikely action hero thanks to roles in Inception and The Dark Knight Rises. Gordon-Levitt doesn't have the imposing stature or the impressive physique of an Expendable, but his youthful looks and wiry frame serve him well in Premium Rush.

JGL is Wilee, like the coyote, as one character notes. However, he has more in common with the roadrunner as he zips around New York City on a fixed frame bicycle with no gears or brakes. His mottos in life are: "Brakes are death" and "Can't stop. Don’t want to…" Wilee is a former law school student who traded in his suit and tie to work as a bike messenger. He didn't do it for the money because he only makes eighty dollars on a good day. He's an adrenaline junkie and he loves the thrill of dodging the ever-perilous streets of NYC. Wilee's recklessness is part of the reason he was dumped by his beautiful co-worker Vanessa (Dania Ramirez).

Premium Rush opens in media res with Wilee flying through the air in slow motion before painfully crashing onto the asphalt. The narrative jumps back and forth chronologically as quickly as the bicyclists bob and weave through traffic. Wilee is hired by Vanessa's roommate, Nima (Jamie Chung), to deliver an envelope to Chinatown. That seems simple enough, except the envelope contains a marker worth $50,000. The money is supposed to buy safe passage for Nima's son and elderly mother from China to America. Instead, a crooked NYPD detective, Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon), wants the cash to pay off his sizable gambling debts. He has a weakness for Pai Gow, of all things. To gum up the works further, Wilee has to contend with a cocky rival named Manny (Wolé Parks) and a determined bike cop (Christopher Place), who resembles the cartoon coyote in terms of misfortune and haplessness.

Premium Rush comes to us from writer/director David Koepp, who co-wrote the screenplay with John Kamps (Zathura). Koepp is a veteran of summer blockbusters and had a hand in everything from Jurassic Park to Spider-Man. His directorial efforts have been less ambitious with his last movie being the rom-com Ghost Town. Premium Rush is a relatively low-budget action pic with a silly concept ripped right out of the 80's. Indeed, the film is a throwback to Quicksilver and BMX Bandits. The camaraderie shared by bike messengers is emphasized and builds to a climax where everyone rallies to Wilee's aid. The screenplay is light on substance and heavy on style. Koepp utilizes GPS maps to detail the route. He also uses something nicknamed, "Bike-O-Vision," which is Wilee's version of Spider-Sense. Time freezes at an intersection as Wilee lays out each possible scenario. Koepp shoots on location with CGI used only to enhance practical effects. JGL didn't emerge unscathed as evidenced by an outtake in which the actor required 30 stitches in his arm after crashing into the rear windshield of a cab.

The chase sequences themselves are exciting. There's a race through Central Park and a reference to The French Connection. Wilee also performs some wicked stunts during a daring escape from a police impound lot.

Gordon-Levitt anchors the movie and Dania Ramirez exudes a sweaty sexiness as she pumps her pedals across town. However, the best performance belongs to Michael Shannon in all his wide-eyed, menacing glory. It's the type of villainous turn you'd expect from Christopher Walken or Willem Dafoe. Film geeks will hear Shannon name drop Forrest J. Ackerman as an alias.

Premium Rush moves at a breakneck speed and doesn't aspire to be anything more than 90 minutes of pure fun.

Rating: *** (*****)

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises - Dir. Christopher Nolan (2012)

"You don't owe these people anymore, you've given them everything."

"Not everything…not yet."

Warning: This is a spoiler heavy review. If you have not seen The Dark Knight Rises, read the relatively spoiler light reviews by Ranjan Pruthee and I at Movie Metropolis.

Christopher Nolan revolutionized the way we think of superhero movies. Just as Richard Donner's Superman made you believe a man could fly, Nolan's Batman films made you believe a man fighting crime dressed as a giant bat could exist in the real world. Nolan's Batman was to the Tim Burton version what Burton's version was to the campy Adam West TV series. Nolan stripped the Bat of his most outlandish elements and grounded it in a gritty, realistic setting. Batman Begins detailed the origin of the Caped Crusader in a manner never seen before on the big screen. Nolan traced every step of Bruce Wayne's arduous journey to becoming the Batman. Its sequel, The Dark Knight, became a massive pop culture event and one of the highest grossing movies of all time. You can thank an unforgettable performance by the late-Heath Ledger as the Joker, Batman's greatest arch-enemy. Dark Knight also succeeded because it didn't look or feel like a typical comic book movie. It was Shakespearean tragedy done in the vein of a neo-noir crime film ala Michael Mann. The bar was set incredibly high for The Dark Knight Rises, the epic conclusion to Nolan's Bat-trilogy.

Eight years after the events of Dark Knight, Gotham City has eradicated the plague of organized crime. A thousand criminals have been locked away without parole thanks to the Harvey Dent Act. The victory has come at a high cost as the Batman accepted the blame for the murderous acts of Gotham's fallen district attorney. The cover-up has eaten away at Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), who is left alone. His wife and children have left him and his staunchest ally has disappeared. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has hung up the cape and cowl and retreated back to Wayne Manor amidst rumors of becoming a Howard Hughes-esque shut-in. His time as Batman has taken its toll on his spirit and his body, walking with aid of a cane and mourning the loss of Rachel Dawes.

Before the Batman can fade into the mists of myth and legend, a new evil arrives in Gotham, a masked mercenary known as Bane (Tom Hardy), born and raised in a hellish Middle Eastern prison. Fashioning himself a latter day revolutionary, Bane is the rare foe who is both physically and mentally a match for Batman. Bane isn't cut from the same cloth as the cowardly and superstitious lot our hero generally faces. He draws first blood after hitting the Gotham stock exchange and ruining Bruce Wayne's finances. Bruce is forced to wrest control of Wayne Enterprises with the help of Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), a new board member who provides him with much needed comfort. As Batman, he must combat Bane's loyal army with the assistance of an earnest beat cop named Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a slinky thief working her own agenda.

The screenplay by Christopher & Jonathan Nolan (with story credit to David S. Goyer), borrows from several comic book sources such as Knightfall (in which Bane and Batman first do battle), No Man's Land (where Gotham is cut off from the rest of the nation by government order), and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (where an aged Batman is forced out of retirement). The latter is fitting since Nolan utilized many elements from Miller's Batman:Year One in his own re-telling of the Caped Crusader's origin. Indeed, Dark Knight Rises brings the series full circle by drawing many parallels to Batman Begins. Much like Bruce Wayne, Bane was trained by Ra's al Ghul (w/ Liam Neeson returning in a brief dream sequence) forcing Batman to battle an old and familiar threat in the League of Shadows. Those familiar with Knightfall will know Bane breaks the Batman's back and then tosses him into the prison, which resembles the family well he fell down as a child. Once again, Bruce must re-train his mind and body for the inevitable rematch.

"And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

I've always considered Christopher Nolan to be the cerebral Michael Bay. Nolan is a master at visual spectacle. We've seen what the director is capable of in Inception with massive cityscapes folding in on themselves and a jaw-dropping scene from Dark Knight involving a somersaulting 18-wheeler. Dark Knight Rises is no different as Nolan uses the IMAX format to its fullest. The film opens with a stunning prologue, done mostly with practical effects, where Bane hijacks a plane in mid-air. There's also a thrilling chase sequence as Gotham Police pursue Batman through the streets and the much ballyhooed implosion of a football field. In addition to the Tumbler and the Bat-Pod, Batman's latest weapon is the Bat, an aerial assault vehicle that glides through the labyrinthine urban landscape.

Nolan's skills as an action director have improved since Batman Begins and the set pieces in Rises are less choppy and more coherent. Nolan imbues his sense of style with a substance ripped out of the headlines. The Dark Knight was all about the Joker shattering the illusion of post-9/11 unity with Batman enacting totalitarian measures by tapping into the city's cell phone signals. In Rises, Bane presents himself as a champion for the oppressed and an enemy of economic inequality. The Nolans draw inspiration from A Tale of Two Cities with Gotham descending into a Dickensian winter under the occupation of Bane's forces. His followers toss the wealthy out of their homes and drag them in front of a kangaroo court headed by Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) aka The Scarecrow.

These ideas are hammered in by the evolution of Gotham City from the stylized Chicago of the previous picture to an analogue of New York City. Wall Street and the Queensboro Bridge have been transplanted to Gotham with Trump Tower standing in for the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises. Yet, Nolan merely dresses the film up with these heady themes without fully drawing upon them. Sometimes they feel like parlor tricks meant to distract the viewer from obvious plot holes and inconsistencies that creep up once you have allowed the film time to absorb. The Dark Knight ended with the intriguing promise of a Batman shunned by the public he protected, hunted by the police, and once again feared by the criminal underworld as a wanted murderer. Instead, the threequel leaps forward where Bruce Wayne has improbably put Batman out to pasture. Yet, this plot element has its upside. Comic book movies depict the hero at the beginning or the prime of his career and never when his body has broken down. Bruce is forced to wear a high-tech leg brace to compensate for his knee injuries. However, his injuries are quickly forgotten after a clichéd training montage. Also, it doesn't make a lot of sense to transfer Dr. Pavel's blood to the anonymous corpse since the CIA would still be able to check DNA or dental records.

Some might be disappointed that Dark Knight Rises is the closest of the trilogy to a traditional superhero film with a city held hostage and a madman with an Armageddon device. But, is there really anything wrong with that? And when Batman is flying away with the nuke, did anyone else hope he'd say, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."

Christian Bale gives his best performance of the series in Dark Knight Rises, even if he does overdo the growly Bat-voice. Bale has a rich supporting cast to draw from though many of them are criminally underutilized. Michael Caine returns as the steadfast Alfred, who serves as the heart of the film as well as an instrument of clunky exposition. Nolan still has a rough time dealing with exposition without having characters simply standing around and talking at convenient times. To me, it's just as hard to believe Alfred would abandon Bruce as it was when Michael Gough's Alfred let Vicki Vale into the Bat-Cave.

Joseph-Gordon Levitt instills more to the character of Blake than what was written on the page. As we learn in the end, his first name is Robin, Nolan's unique take on the Boy Wonder. Blake is an amalgam of the first three Robins. He's an orphan like Dick Grayson, a hothead like Jason Todd, and possesses a deductive mind like Tim Drake. Blake ultimately feels shoehorned in and his arc would have had more emotional resonance had he been introduced in the preceding installments. Although, these quibbles are remedied by JGL's performance and the money shot of Robin in Bat-Cave as the platform rises before the end credits roll.

Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn gets to chew scenery as the unscrupulous John Daggett, an executive trying to take control of Wayne Enterprises. The brimming ensemble also includes Brett Cullen as a congressman, Game of Thrones' Aiden Gillen as a CIA Agent, Matthew Modine as one of Gordon's lieutenants, Juno Temple as Selina Kyle's sidekick Holly Robinson, and Thomas Lennon in a funny uncredited cameo as Bruce Wayne's doctor.

The Batman has often been overshadowed by his rogues gallery. Without a doubt, The Dark Knight was anchored by Heath Ledger, who won a posthumous Oscar for his turn as the Joker. Rather than go with a more renowned foe such as the Riddler or the Penguin, Nolan chose Bane, who was once portrayed as a monosyllabic henchman in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin. Here, Nolan's interpretation of Bane is akin to a horror movie monster like Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees. He is brought to life in chilling fashion by Tom Hardy, who has played volatile and physically imposing before in Bronson and Warrior. No easy feat as the British thespian's face is hidden throughout the movie by a cumbersome gas mask. Hardy relies entirely on his eyes, body language, and a posh accent that belies his hulking frame. Think Hardy's Patrick Stewart impression from Star Trek: Nemesis meets Darth Vader. He is Bane, the gentleman's terrorist.

"If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart."

The Clown Prince of Crime has stood has as Batman's most infamous archenemy because he is the yin to his yang. Where Batman represents order, Joker represents pure anarchy. He is a self-professed "agent of chaos." Bane is Batman taken to the extreme. Both come from tragic backgrounds. Both have the discipline (and myopic obsession) to train their bodies to peak physical condition. Bane's moral compass, however, points in the opposite direction of the Caped Crusader. He also lacks the support group that Bruce had in his trio of father figures: Alfred, Gordon, and Lucius. Bane is sold as a zealot believing in his own twisted brand of social justice and that's undercut by a third act twist. In the worst kept secret ever, Miranda Tate is revealed to be Talia, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, with her own obsession to complete her father's work and cleanse Gotham City. Again, we have a child of pain driven by a mission that they are deluded to be in the right. All of Bane's talk of liberation is for naught as he becomes a mooning lapdog to Talia. Talia, a fascinating character from the comics, is played wonderfully by Marion Cotillard. She is alternately a love interest and a formidable antagonist, but her story unfolds in a rushed manner, as if they decided to compress decades of books into a matter of minutes before killing her off.

The most surprising highlight of Dark Knight Rises is Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, never once referred to as Catwoman. Many fanboys bemoaned the casting of Hathaway and the look of her costume. Most of them were the same who criticized the casting of Heath Ledger and re-design of the Joker. Naysayers be damned, Hathaway gives this cat some serious claws. She is a strong and sultry femme fatale and brings a necessary injection of fun and wit to Nolan's usually grim and ponderous tone. If I have to make another Star Wars reference, her Catwoman is the Han Solo of Rises, a scoundrel with an ambiguous code of ethics. As for the costume, it works within context of the world Nolan has created. The goggles serve as a high-tech burglary tool while doubling as cat ears. Even her stiletto heels serve as functional offensive weapons. Hathaway is so good that I want to see her in a spin-off. Perhaps, a prequel, Catwoman Begins?

No review of Dark Knight Rises would be complete without mention of the score by Hans Zimmer. If the soundtrack comes off as bombastic and overbearing it is more the fault of Nolan than Zimmer. Nolan does drown out some scenes with the music cranked all the way to eleven. One of the film's best sequences is the initial fight between Bane and Batman with bone breaking body blows serving as the only score. Yet, Zimmer does some of his best work on Rises. He kicks off the prologue on a pitch perfect note with the spooky introductory notes to "Gotham's Reckoning." The composition builds to a crescendo with thunderous drum beats and the ominous chanting of "basara basara deshi deshi."

Yes, you can scrutinize The Dark Knight Rises to death. Or you can sit back and enjoy the visual spectacle that Christopher Nolan has crafted. Epic in scope and grandeur, Dark Knight Rises is a film meant to be seen in theaters on the largest screens possible. This is the grand finale befitting of Nolan's Bat-franchise.

Rating: **** (*****)

Hesher

Hesher - Dir. Spencer Susser (2011)

Hesher is a movie I really wanted to like. The film stars the lovely Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Rainn Wilson. It garnered a healthy amount of buzz on the festival circuit thanks to screenings at Sundance, SXSW, and even Comic-Con. This should have been a cool, little indie flick instead of a Frankenstein-esque cinematic creature stitched together from disparate clichés.

Young TJ (Devin Brochu) has suffered a tragic loss due to the death of his mother in an auto accident. His father, Paul (Wilson), suffers from a crippling depression. Paul does nothing aside from popping pills and sleeping on the couch, unshaven and unkempt. Grandma (Piper Laurie) shuffles around the house in her nightgown and slippers mindlessly going about her daily business. Both are oblivious of the deep pain TJ is in, which is made all the more worse by a ruthless bully. Then, along comes Hesher…

TJ unfortunately crosses paths with the titular Hesher (Gordon-Levitt) while he was squatting in a half-constructed house. Hesher is the prototypical heavy metal burnout with tattered clothes and long black hair. He has a tattoo of an extended middle finger across his back and a stick figure man blowing his own brains out on his chest. He cranks Motorhead from his black van, the kind usually driven by serial killers and 1980's garage bands. At first you think Hesher might be some ethereal character existing solely in the imagination of TJ. He seems to be the boy's raw id unchained by a fragile psyche. Hesher even appears mysteriously into a scene to the blaring, opening guitar riffs of "The Shortest Straw" by Metallica.

Alas, Hesher is not the Kerrang! version of Harvey. He is all too real and he isn't the most genial person around. Hesher decides to crash at TJ's house. He strips down to his tightie whities, smokes like a chimney, and rigs the cable so he can get all the porn channels for free. When TJ protests, Hesher grabs him by the throat and threatens to do unspeakable things to the kid's genitals. He doesn't bother to help TJ when the bully shoves his face into a urinal. Nope, Hesher's response is to drag TJ along while he torches the tormentor's car, then ditches him to face the wrath of the authorities.

Portman (who also served as a producer) dons a pair of vintage nerd glasses to play Nicole, a supermarket clerk who saves TJ from a beating. TJ develops a crush on her (who wouldn’t?) so Hesher naturally shows up to sabotage their budding friendship.

Hesher somehow manages to put this broken family back together as they struggle through the various stages of grief. He is by no means a saintly big brother figure. He is violent and crude, but is infused with a semblance of humanity thanks to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance. The highlight of the film is easily a final act monologue delivered by Hesher that is darkly humorous and oddly affecting. Gordon-Levitt displays a lot of manic energy that director Spencer Susser (who also co-wrote the script with Animal Kingdom’s David Michod) is unable to properly tap.

Hesher is tonally inconsistent as it bounces around from black comedy to cornball drama. It feels like a metal song that whips back and forth between devil-horn headbanging chords to lighter waving ballad notes without a moment's notice.

Rating: ** (*****)

(500) Days of Summer

(500) Days of Summer - Dir. Marc Webb (2009)


(500) Days of Summer is the breath of fresh air sorely needed in the stagnant world of the romantic comedy. The booming voice of an omniscient narrator states, ”This is not a love story,” before we are taken on a fractured journey through the highs and lows of a whirlwind relationship.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Tom, a button-downed hipster who aspired to be an architect, but now writes sappy greeting cards to pay the bills. He falls for Zooey Deschanel’s Summer Finn, the office’s new assistant. She’s infuriatingly free-spirited and does not believe in love or soul mates, much to the dismay of Tom, the old-fashioned romantic. As the prototypical “manic pixie dream girl,” Deschanel’s character isn’t far removed from her previous roles in Yes Man or Gigantic.

The film unfolds in non-chronological fashion as the 500 day courtship of Tom and Summer is revealed. The narrative jumps from the budding moments of the relationship to its slow disintegration. We watch the young lovers bonding over karaoke where JGL croons “Here Comes Your Man” by The Pixies and Deschanel covers Nancy Sinatra’s “Sugar Town.” Tom lists all the tiny features he loves about Summer, then lists those very same features as what he hates about her the most. Director Marc Webb, working off a script by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, juxtaposes the couple’s happier moments with a sullen post-breakup Tom. From time to time, Tom seeks advice from his nerdy roommates (Matthew Gray Gubler and Geoffrey Arend) or his exceedingly wise younger sister (Hit-Girl herself Chloe Moretz).

Throughout the film, they utilize inventive ways to play out the highs and lows of their love affair. After consummating their relationship, Tom engages in an elaborate dance number to Hall & Oates. Staring at his reflection, he only sees a dashing Han Solo wink back at him. A split-screen sequence shows us the heartbreaking gap between Tom’s hopeful expectations to the crashing reality. A gag involving a tired spoof of Godard and Bergman falls flat.

(500) Days of Summer breathes new life into a familiar story through visually inventing means.

Rating: ***

Inception

Inception - Dir. Christopher Nolan (2010)


”You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.”

Christopher Nolan certainly wasn’t afraid to dream big. Originally pitched to Warner Brothers back in 2002, Nolan spent almost eight years developing the intricate $200 million action-thriller, Inception. Nolan applies the blockbuster approach of The Dark Knight with the mindfuck methodology of earlier films like Memento to this high concept take on the heist movie.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, a world-class thief who has taken corporate espionage to a new plane of existence. He doesn’t break into bank vaults, he breaks into dreams. Known as “Extraction,” Cobb hooks his slumbering victims to a Matrix in a suitcase in order to steal their deepest secrets or sacred ideas. Cobb and his right-hand man, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), have failed their latest extraction on wealthy businessman Saito (Ken Watanabe). However, Saito is impressed enough that he hires them for the impossible task of “Inception,” where an idea is planted into someone else’s mind.

The mark is Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), who will inherit an energy conglomerate from his dying father (Pete Postlewaite). Saito wants the son to break up his company thereby preventing a near-monopoly that would squeeze out Saito’s own corporation.

So Cobb assembles his team consisting of Arthur; Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist who is an expert at sedatives; Eames (Tom Hardy), a forger who impersonates others inside the dream; and newcomer Ariadne (Ellen Page), an architect charged with crafting the world of the dream. Nolan gets a little playful in naming her after the character from Greek mythology who led Theseus out of the labyrinth of the Minotaur.

Sharing dreams with Cobb, Ariadne discovers the dangers that have leaked out of his subconscious. Cobb is a wanted fugitive who has left behind his children by fleeing the States. His troubles stem from the death of his wife Mal (Marion Cotillard). She lives on in his mind, but twisted by his own guilt, she attempts to kill Cobb and his team at every turn.

The second act of Inception follows the formula of other con game movies like The Sting or Ocean’s Eleven. The team plan and practice their scheme. The third act involves creating a multi-layered dream world to ensnare their target. These dream worlds aren’t as surreal as the ones seen in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s less Charlie Kaufman and more Michael Mann with a dash of M.C. Escher. The movie isn’t nearly as confusing as one would expect. Nolan helpfully provides more than enough exposition to keep everything clear. Therein lays the film’s biggest weakness.

The majority of the dialogue is entirely functional in that characters are simply explaining things to each other. As the eager newcomer, Ariadne serves as a stand-in for the audience. She’s there to be introduced into Cobb’s world so that we are as well. It feels a bit insulting for Nolan to hold everyone’s hand at each step. We don’t really get to know any of the characters beyond the genre archetypes of fresh-faced rookie or nerdy tech guy. One of the film’s best scenes is a quickie involving Arthur stealing a kiss from Ariadne. It’s a rare moment in which the characters are allowed to simply be themselves.

The strengths of Inception lie in its original concept and spectacular visuals. Nolan is like the cerebral Michael Bay. He’s a master at creating widescreen spectacle, yet there is substance to the style. There are some amazing images to be found here, from a crumbling cityscape to a Parisian boulevard that is literally folded in half. Nolan still struggles with crafting coherent action sequences. A car chase through the rainy streets of downtown L.A. isn’t nearly as thrilling as the chase from The Dark Knight and a James Bond-esque battle at a snowy fortress is disorienting. On the other hand, a gravity defying fist fight in a hotel hallway is well done. Nolan and long-time editor, Lee Smith, deftly intercut the various dream layers during the climax. Neither are Nicholas Roeg, but they get the job done.

The ensemble cast is excellent all around with Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt providing a pair of great supporting performances. Ignoring G.I. Joe, Gordon-Levitt is easily at the top of the heap when it comes to young actors working today. Watch him in this along with Brick and The Lookout, if you don’t believe me. For the second time in a row, DiCaprio plays a tortured widower. He’s the glue that holds the film together, playing well with the other actors. The exceedingly gorgeous Marion Cotillard is pitch perfect as the film’s femme fatale. If DiCaprio is the Batman of Inception, then Cotillard is his Catwoman. You know, I wouldn’t mind seeing Cotillard in black leather leotards and cracking a bullwhip. Either by coincidence or design, Nolan throws in a nod to her Oscar-winning turn in La Vie en Rose by utilizing Edith Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” at a key moment.

After suffering through the inane schlock of last year (Transformers: ROTF), it’s refreshing to see that 2010 has brought us films like Green Zone and Inception, action dramas with a brain. Inception does get bogged down with exposition, but it’s saved by a great cast and stunning visuals. Even with a runtime of 148 minutes, it moves at a brisk pace. It is definitely the shortest 2 and a half hour movie I’ve ever seen.

Rating: *** ½

Brick

Brick - Dir. Rian Johnson (2005)


Writer/director Rian Johnson had a crazy idea for his first feature. He loved the film noir genre and wanted to do one of his own. But, the elements of the genre are easily recognizable thanks to the stark lighting, dark subject matter, trenchcoats, and sultry women. Just about everything has been done with the noir, so Johnson decides to place his film in a high school setting with teenagers as the characters. It sounds like a silly premise for a parody (Bugsy Malone, anyone?), except Johnson plays it straight and manages to dust off an old staple of cinema and give it a fresh coat of paint.

Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is the classic loner. He keeps everyone at a distance and eats his lunch behind the Port-A-Johns so that no one will bother him. Brendan's aloof manner belies the love he still carries for his ex-girlfriend, Emily (Emilie de Ravin of Lost fame), who has since fallen in with the wrong crowd. Out of the blue, Brendan gets a call from a distraught and frightened Emily asking for help and babbling about a "brick." They meet, but Emily just tells Brendan to stay away. Two days later, he finds her dead, face down in front of a sewer tunnel.

Brendan takes it upon himself to navigate the various cliques at his school with help from his right-hand man, The Brain (Matt O'Leary), who provides him with info and whatever else might be needed. Brendan's journey brings him on a collision course with an assortment of colorful characters. There's the popular power couple of Brad Bramish (Brian J. White), the football jock, and Laura (Nora Zehetner), the femme fatale. Brad is a total lunkhead, but Laura has her fingers on everyone's pulse and she's anxious to help Brendan. Not so eager to help are Dode (Noah Segen), a stoner who hangs out by the dumpsters near a coffee shop, and Kara (Meagan Good), a snobbish member of the Drama Club.

Digging deeper, Brendan uncovers the identity of The Pin (Lukas Haas), short for "kingpin", a young man responsible for the city's drug trade. Brendan has to step gingerly in his dealings with the crime boss, thanks to The Pin's main muscle, the brutish Tug (Noah Fleiss). If that wasn't bad enough, Brendan has Trueman (Richard Roundtree), the school's assistant vice-principal, breathing down his neck.

Fans of 3rd Rock From the Sun will be surprised at how different Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks and acts in this film. He's a much darker character and brings a lot of strength and maturity to the role. Watching Brendan in action makes you wonder if Sam Spade or Mike Hammer were ever in this thick during their school days. Gordon-Levitt definitely continues to pave the road originally started by actors like Robert Mitchum and Humphrey Bogart. He'll take a few shots to get a good one in and he's got the hard-boiled dialogue down to a tee. Brendan backs off a gang of potheads by warning them, "Throw one at me if you want, hash head. I've got all five senses and I slept last night that puts me six up on the lot of you."

And I hope I don't spoil too much when I say that Zehetner reminds me a lot of Mary Astor in The Maltese Falcon. She gives off the same vibe as the seemingly trustworthy woman latching onto the hero. Both Astor and Zehetner brought serious sexiness to their roles, done in a restrained manner, unlike the more overtly revved-up femme fatales like Rita Hayworth or Lana Turner.

Long-time followers of film noir will get all the influences and references being dropped during Brick. Johnson was a huge fan of the Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing, which introduced him to the works of Dashiell Hammett since it was based on Hammett's novels, The Glass Key and Red Harvest. You can easily see touches of both of those quintessential detective yarns when Brendan attempts to play the opposing sides against one another.

The high school setting also gives us two surreal moments that would probably never come out of the pens of Hammett, Mickey Spillane, or James M. Cain. A blindfolded Brendan is taken to The Pin's home where he's beaten by Tug and locked in the basement. In the next scene, he's brought up to the kitchen where The Pin's mom fixes him juice and cereal. Later, Brendan comes to at Tug's place where he meets the tough guy's mob, a gaggle of white-trash goons in white t-shirts and blue jeans. It adds a bizarre sensibility to the film, along with a pinch of humor.

Brick isn't billed as "A Film by Rian Johnson", but as "A Detective Movie by Rian Johnson", which it most definitely is. Certainly, you might have to take a leap of faith in order to digest parts of the film. We never see the inside of a classroom once throughout the film. Not to mention, I doubt any high school student would ever in a million years say the word, "yegg." Yet, the story is incredibly rich and just so much fun that I was more than willing to put myself in their hands and just let them take me along for the ride.

Rating: *** 1/2

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) - Dir. Stephen Sommers

Paramount has had Hasbro’s two main toy properties in their development slate for years. Strangely enough, Transformers beat the Joes to the multiplexes. You’d think a movie about an elite team of soldiers would make a better live-action film than one about giant robots from outer space. In any event, Transformers, infused by an injection of Michael Bay powered explosions and visual effects, did gangbusters at the box office, fast tracking G.I. Joe. The Joe screenplay went through several hands including the first draft by David Elliot and Paul Lovett (Four Brothers), a draft from Skip Woods (Swordfish) which completely omitted Cobra, and a version by Stuart Beattie which combined both scripts. Fans of the franchise were obviously skeptical especially when producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (concerned with overseas box office) announced that he would change G.I. Joe from an American military unit to an international task force based in Belgium. Also, for some reason, he had a massive hard-on for Action Man, a British knock-off of the original 12inch G.I. Joe dolls. He once envisioned the Joe film as a buddy picture between Duke and Action Man.

But, Paramount won some over with the casting of fan-favorite Ray Park as the silent ninja commando, Snake-Eyes, and bringing on Larry Hama as a creative consultant. Hama, a former Vietnam Vet and Marvel Comics writer, came up with the Joes vs. Cobra concept, wrote the entire run of Marvel’s G.I. Joe comic as well as all the file cards on the back of the toy packages. Joe devotees owe Hama a debt of gratitude as he convinced the filmmakers to cut a scene where Snake-Eyes would actually speak. Alas, that’s about the only good thing I can say about Rise of Cobra.

The film manages to cull material from the vast mythology of G.I. Joe while inventing their own plot points to flesh out their big budget production. It is essentially an origin story, not for the Joes (who are already in operation), but of Cobra, the ruthless terrorist organization bent on world domination.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead.

Rise of Cobra begins well enough in the 17th Century with Scottish Lord James McCullen punished by the French for selling weapons to both sides of combatants. Flash forward to "the not so distant future," where his descendent also named James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) is now head of MARS Industries, a weapons manufacturer. Unlike Tony Stark, McCullen has no qualms about building devices of destruction. By the way, did we really need the "not so distant future" title? Because this movie would have been so hard to believe if we were told it took place today. But, I digress…

McCullen’s latest inventions are microscopic robots called Nano-Mites, which can devour anything made of metal. A team of American soldiers led by Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are tasked with transporting the Nano-Mites until they are ambushed by the Baroness (Sienna Miller). Duke and Ripcord are rescued by a G.I. Joe team consisting of Scarlett (Rachel Nichols), Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje from Oz and Lost), and Breaker (Said Taghmaoui). The Joes no longer wear their own individualistic uniforms from the cartoon. Instead, they are clad in the same generic black body armor that everybody has worn since X-Men. Our heroes tag along with the Joes to their secret headquarters under the Sahara desert to meet their commanding officer, General Hawk (Dennis Quaid). Duke and Ripcord go through the usual cheesy training montage to become members of the Joe team. The bad guys attack Joe HQ and steal the nanotechnology, leading to a series of nonsensical action sequences through the streets of Paris to the Arctic Circle.

Little references are spread throughout as Easter eggs for long-time fans such as lines like "life-like hair and kung-fu grip" and "knowing is half the battle." Watch for some cameos too including Brendan Fraser as Sgt. Stone (don’t know why they didn’t just go with Flint). And was that Jinx I saw?

I will say this about Rise of Cobra, the B-story involving Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow is one of the few shining lights in an otherwise idiotic production. Their rivalry, which began with the murder of their teacher the Hard Master, is captured rather accurately from the comics. Korean actor Lee Byung-hun is really cool as Storm Shadow and he and Ray Park put on some great fight scenes. At first glance, Snake-Eyes’ costume looks dead-on from the cartoon, but seeing it on the big screen and in action, it just looks off. Slacks and a molded bodysuit don’t quite work and neither does the mouth on his mask. I also didn’t like how they revamped Snake-Eyes from a wounded soldier to an abandoned orphan who took a vow of silence.

Of all the characters they managed to butcher, the one who took the brunt of the punishment is the Baroness. Cobra’s resident bespectacled femme fatale retains her skin-tight leather outfit, but ditches the ‘Moose and squirrel’ accent along with everything else that was even remotely interesting about her. Sienna Miller may look hot in the costume, but she’s completely vanilla in the role. This is, in no small way, due to the fact that they turned her from bad girl to good girl under mind control. She’s also given a clunky backstory as Duke’s jilted fiancée. Flashbacks revealing her history as well as that of Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow are clumsily dropped into the middle of the action throughout the film. And don’t get me started on the abomination known as Rex/The Doctor/Cobra Commander. Once a megalomaniacal terrorist leader, he is transformed into a disfigured mad scientist who eventually hides his scarred visage with a mask made out of clear plastic. Rounding out the Cobra roster is Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) whose master of disguise skills consists entirely of putting on somebody else’s clothes.

On the Joes side, only Snake-Eyes manages to crawl out of the epic levels of sucktitude that drags down his comrades. Channing Tatum may be a good-looking, All-American man, but he’s a complete vacuum of charisma. His Duke isn’t the confident field leader of the Joes, but a rookie who leaps into action with a Mark Wahlberg-like blank expression on his face. Marlon Wayans fills the ubiquitous role of wacky black guy/comic relief sidekick and annoys everyone with his lame attempts at humor. He fell down…haha…how original. As Scarlett, Rachel Nichols is there for pure cheesecake. Her combat gear features molded boobies and she later changes into camouflage that is inexplicably zipped down to show off a generous amount of cleavage. Dennis Quaid’s attempt at the square-jawed alpha male is laughable and the other two guys (Breaker and Heavy Duty aka Not-Roadblock) are the token minorities.

Any attempts at emotional turmoil or character development are downright embarrassing. However, the main attraction is the action which is taken to ridiculous levels. These are the type of "toy-etic" levels not seen since Batman & Robin. The Paris sequence is like something about of Team America. I almost thought the film had veered into brilliant self-parody at this point until I realized Stephen Sommers isn’t that talented. Duke and Ripcord are strapped into Accelerator Suits that look like knock-offs from Halo and run rough shot through the Parisian streets. The Joes show no sign of concern for collateral damage or for the safety of any innocent civilians, dealing out just as much destruction as their adversaries. They rip right through a tram full of commuters, sending shards of glass flying in every direction. A pair of missiles is shot right at them. Do they try to stop them? Nope, they keep on running and the missiles continue on and probably killed a hundred people. The film’s climax features an underwater battle inspired by Thunderball, but owes more to The Phantom Menace in the sense that it’s nothing more than a series of random events and visual noise.

The special effects are absolutely horrendous and appear to be done by the same, inept artists who worked on Wolverine. The CGI is obvious to even the blind and don’t even look finished. Surprising, considering the film cost nearly $200 million.

I’m being awfully generous in my rating for this awful movie. It’s a loud, dumb action movie set to a shitty hip-hop soundtrack, but it’s not nearly as obnoxiously overblown or bloated as Revenge of the Fallen. At least, Rise of Cobra knows when to get in and get out. However, films like Iron Man have proven that big-budget blockbusters and intelligent storytelling don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Rise of Cobra chooses to appeal to the lowest common denominator in its efforts to be crowd pleasing to every demographic. The results embody the absolute worst elements of the summer blockbuster.

Rating: **