Rome is a city of stories, we’re told early on in Woody Allen’s new movie To Rome with Love.
Sure enough, from Gladiator to Roman Holiday and beyond, Rome has been the setting for some pretty memorable tales.
Unfortunately, while I generally love Woody Allen’s work, the stories he’s telling in this film aren’t going to be remembered for very long.
The film seems confused, it’s oddly cast, it’s too long, and basically, it’s just not one of Woody’s best. Continue reading
At the start of Oliver Stone’s latest film, Savages, O, the character played by the lovely Blake Lively, informs the audience, “Just because I’m telling you this story, that doesn’t mean I’m alive at the end of it.”
And it was right around then that I decided the next time I see a movie or watch a TV show that Lively’s in, I’m going to watch it on mute.
In Savages, Lively’s O — short for Ophelia — is a free spirited California girl in love with two Laguna Beach marijuana dealers and best friends, Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch). This is no love triangle. Rather, the two men live together with and share O: They all go out together, and they both sleep with her (separately).
Ben and Chon are different types of guys: Ben is a peace-loving hippie businessman. Chon is an Afghanistan war vet (he enlisted to get closer to some primo marijuana) who … well, let’s just say he doesn’t follow the ways of the Buddha or Dalai Lama like Ben does. It’s O that is their common ground. Likewise, they fulfill different needs for her.
When O is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel (headed up by a character named Elena, played by Salma Hayek) that feels Ben and Chon are threatening the cartel’s business, the guys are forced to go above and beyond to get her back.
Damn. The sex must be really good (even better than it looks). Because while O is undeniably hot, the film doesn’t effectively demonstrate what these two guys see in her beyond that, if anything. Continue reading
It’s been said that superhero stories reflect the times in which they’re written.
In 2002, for example, Sam Raimi’s first Tobey Maguire–starring Spider-Man film clearly took place in the post-9/11 world, with lots of patriotism and New York rah-rah sentiment.
2008’s The Dark Knight undeniably made statements about the political climate and actions taken by George W. Bush’s Homeland Security team.
Now we have a reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, and it, too, feels timely.
The Amazing Spider-Man recasts Peter Parker as less of a nerd who gets strong and can defend his city, and more of a bullied loner who gets the chance to get even and show up those who have made him seem weak.
Instead of “With great power comes great responsibility,” now we get Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) telling his nephew, “If you have the ability to do good things for others, you have a moral responsibility to do those things. Not a choice; an obligation.”
So yes, this Spider-Man is about taking the (more heroic, sometimes lonelier) high road and standing up for the little guy who can’t help himself. It’s an anti-bullying message that feels appropriate for these times, and it’s a much more positive message than the Raimi series left us with in 2007, when Spider-Man 3 took a very dark (and not terribly satisfying) turn.
In fact, it’s not just the thematic nature of The Amazing Spider-Man that takes the high road. It’s the whole movie. Which makes it a welcome and pleasant surprise. Continue reading
If you haven’t heard or seen, Magic Mike hits theaters today.
Yes, that’s the Channing Tatum stripper movie.
I’ve seen it, and as expected, the movie features lots of voyeuristic pleasure for anyone who likes seeing shirtless, often pantless, men. (The things I’ll do for my blog readers.)
If you’re like me, and that’s not something you typically enjoy, then you might think you should stay far away from Magic Mike. But surprisingly, there is good reason to pay up and check out this flick.
Actually, here are five of them:
When it comes to Ted, Seth MacFarlane’s talking teddy bear movie, there’s only one question that matters: Is it funny?
Yes it is.
Holy crap, is it ever.
If you know nothing about this movie, then let me fill you in: It all opens in a Boston suburb in 1985, at Christmas — “that special time when Boston children gather together and beat up the Jewish kids.”
John Bennett, an 8-year-old boy who has no friends, receives a teddy bear and makes a wish that the stuffed animal was real. Lo and behold, the next morning, Ted is a walking, talking, live teddy bear. (“Look what Jesus did!” a TV newscaster exclaims.)
Fast-forward a few years, and John is now 35 years old, played by Mark Wahlberg, living in Boston, dating a hottie named Lori (Mila Kunis), and still best friends with Ted (who now has the voice of MacFarlane — clearly, even teddy bears go through puberty).
Over the years, the bear became a minor celebrity, appearing on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and multiple magazine covers, but as the narrator explains, no matter how famous you get, “eventually, nobody gives a shit.”
Perhaps that’s why these days, Ted has a bit of an attitude.
He speaks with a heavy South Boston accent. He drinks beer. He smokes pot. He makes 9/11 jokes. And somehow, he has sex with prostitutes and other attractive ladies.
Ted is no Chucky. But he’s no Teddy Ruxpin, either.
If you’re thinking Ted isn’t exactly a family film, then you’re damned right. And that’s a good thing. Continue reading
There are two nice things about being an amateur film critic.
One is that I don’t have to see every movie that comes out. Only the ones I want to see.
The other is that when I see a movie that leaves little to no impression on me, I’m under no obligation to fake it through a thorough and intelligently written review.
That second thing is why this review of People Like Us won’t be my longest, best, or most thorough one.
In the film, Chris Pine (Star Trek, Just My Luck) plays Sam, a guy whose estranged father has passed, and who learns he has a sister, Frankie (Elizabeth Banks). Sam is short on cash, when his father leaves Frankie a bunch of it, Sam befriends her and her son, hoping he’ll be able to score at least some of it.
Also in the cast are Michelle Pfeiffer as Sam’s mother, who may or may not have known about Frankie, and the lovely Olivia Wilde, as Sam’s long-suffering law-student girlfriend. Continue reading
What would you do if the end of the world was three weeks away?
We’re not talking some crazy Harold Camping theory that won’t come true.
We’re talking a 70-mile-long asteroid that’s three weeks away from hitting the earth, and not even Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck can save us.
This time, it’s really gonna happen.
That’s the scenario facing the characters in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.
When the movie starts, Dodge (Steve Carrell) and his wife are hearing the news that the end is near — but don’t worry, there are still plenty of classic rock tunes left to play! (That’s the first of a few good laughs.) She promptly opens the door and leaves him.
Lost and distraught, Dodge keeps on keeping on. He continues to go to work selling insurance (apocalypse package not included), continues to work out, and just keeps operating like nothing’s wrong. After all, what else is he gonna do? Continue reading
True story: In 1997, the editors of Backwoods Home Magazine were struggling to fill space in their classifieds section.
One of them came up with the idea to write a mock ad that began “WANTED: Someone to go back in time with me,” and it was printed in the magazine. (Intentionally, for all you quality- and/or process-minded folks out there.)
Years later, the ad gained attention thanks to internet pranksters, who spread it around, adding their own photos, videos, and interpretations.
And now, five years later, there’s a movie, Safety Not Guaranteed, that takes the premise of the ad and dramatizes it. Continue reading
Ladies and gentlemen, this is how you do it.
So much more than simply Glee for Grownups, the big-screen version of Rock of Ages features a cast of big-name stars (mostly) letting out their inner rock gods and giving audiences what may be the most fun movie of the summer.
I mean, what else do you expect from a movie that’s set in 1987 on the seedy side of the Sunset Strip, and features actors like Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alec Baldwin, Tom Cruise, Paul Giamatti, and Russell Brand singing classic cheesy hair-metal songs by Whitesnake, Poison, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, and others?
I’m not sure I’d say “it don’t get better than this,” but if you’re looking for “nothin’ but a good time,” then Rock of Ages is damn near close to, yes, Paradise City. Continue reading
In space, no one can hear you scream.
But in a crowded movie theater, they can hear you say, “Wow.”
And if you go to see Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s unofficial prequel to his Alien series, you will no doubt say that quite a few times.
It’ll start with the gorgeous opening credits sequence, shot in Iceland, which is just amazing. See this film in 3D and you’ll instantly know you’re in the hands of a master filmmaker, one who not only understands the value of another dimension, but who knows how to use the technology effectively. (In that respect, it’s reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo.)
We’re plopped down pretty quickly in Scotland, in the year 2089, where two archeologists, Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway (played by the Swedish Lisbeth Salander, Noomi Rapace, and Logan Marshall-Grant, previously best known for playing Trey Atwood on The O.C.), have stumbled upon a star map that they think will lead them to the secret of life. They interpret this as an invitation to go find the so-called Engineers, who “created” the human race.
And so, we’re whisked up, four years later, onto the scientific space vessel Prometheus, where Shaw and Holloway have joined with mission director Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) and her crew to travel to a distant moon to find the Engineers. “It’s a scientific mission,” they say. “No weapons necessary.”
Suffice it to say, things go wrong.
Horribly, horribly wrong. Continue reading
Martin's Musings 