Martin's Musings

On the way home after seeing The Pursuit of Happyness, I was trying to come up with a better, more appropriate title for the movie.

You see, not only does the title — with that too-obvious misspelling — not really fit, but it’s also kind of a misnomer because the movie isn’t really all that happy.

In fact, it’s kind of a drag.

Happyness tells the true-life story of Chris Gardner, who, determined to raise his five-year-old son on his own, struggles to make ends meet by selling an overpriced piece of medical equipment while taking part in an upaid internship at Dean Witter.

At one point, Gardner has no money to his name and is forced to stay with his son overnight in the men’s room of a subway station. But this is an inspirational story, so it’s not giving anything away to say things work out in the end. It’s just that that part of the story is at the very end, and it takes a long time to get there. Continue reading →

While I can’t say Blood Diamond rocked my world, I was impressed once again by Leonardo DiCaprio. Man, between this film and The Departed, it’s like the guy has grown up and found a really cool on-screen persona. It’s mostly all in the facial hair, but his face now just shows more age and edge. (And I still think he looks like he could be Eric Dane‘s younger brother.) Here he plays a diamond smuggler, and while he’s really not a very good guy, or even the film’s hero, you have to root for him. Sure, that’s because he’s Leonardo DiCaprio, but still, you want him to succeed. I guess therein lies one of the film’s problems, that you are rooting for the wrong guy, but it’s more than that. Jennifer Connelly’s character — the reporter with a heart of gold who gives DiCaprio’s character a conscience — is a too-convenient love interest. And it’s too long (nearly 2.5 hours). All told, the parts don’t add up to a compelling whole. But Leo’s pretty good. Not run-out-and-see-this-movie good, but good in that he makes the film worthwhile if you do see it. I give Blood Diamond a B-.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
— Albert Einstein

On the surface, The History Boys is about a group of British high school students trying to get into Cambridge and Oxford universities (aka: Oxbridge). But it’s also about the value of book smarts vs creative/free thought, and about an inspiring teacher with unconventional methods (including a penchant for quoting random film/music/poetry), and a teacher with a habit of fondling his students while giving them rides home aboard his motorbike, the value of education in the real world, and much more. Think Dead Poets Society with British accents and a gay subtext. The theatrical version of The History Boys won a record six Tony Awards in May (including Best Play), and it’s no wonder — this is a really interesting and enjoyable story, with great performances across the board, plenty of quotable lines, and a great message. (If you don’t know, the film’s cast and director are the exact same ones as the Broadway play.) No doubt you may overlook this movie when so many more-hyped films are at the multiplex these days, but if you’re looking for something less-than-mainstream, give The History Boys a try. I give it a strong B+. (And yes, I realize this review doesn’t even come close to justifying why I liked the movie so much, but I suppose I’m just at a loss for words — ironically enough.)

I’ve always thought that if we took a holiday … just some time to celebrate … just one day out of life, that it would be so nice. Apparently, that’s what Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet thought, and so we have the movie The Holiday. Simply, this is a Chick Flick, with a capital C and F, and aside from the attractive leading ladies, there’s really not much redeeming about it for those with a bit more testosterone. You get all the holiday movie/chick flick cliches, including the scene where Cameron Diaz slips on the ice while wearing high heels, and the scene where she sings along (badly) to rock music. Hell, even Jack Black seems to have been neutered. Sure, Jude Law is as charming as ever, and it’s nice to see Kate Winslet lighten up for a change, and the movie isn’t sooo bad per se, but I probably could have skipped it. (And for the record, the “chick” I saw this with wasn’t exactly raving about it either.) The Holiday gets a B- from me.

First, the good news: This review will not be as long as the movie I’m reviewing.

Now, the bad news: I’m reviewing The Good Shepherd. And it’s not the great Oscar-contender I was hoping for. Instead, it’s a Very Serious Movie that is very long (i.e.: more than two-and-a-half hours long) and not really all that entertaining.

Matt Damon plays Edward Wilson, who is recruited to join the OSS (the precursor to the CIA) while still at Yale and a member of the secret society Skull and Bones. The film jumps back and forth in time to show how Edward’s committment to but uneasy feelings about the organization affect him and his family. No one can be trusted, loyalties aren’t what they seem, and paranoia is a must.

Sounds like a hell of a story. If only Damon’s performance wasn’t so wooden, and everything and everyone around him wasn’t so stiff. At one point someone describes Edward as “a serious S.O.B. without a sense of humor,” and that just about sums it up. Further, Damon doesn’t ever look a day over 28, despite aging 22 years over the course of the movie. And Angelina Jolie is not just miscast, but she’s underused. The whole thing is just a bit dry, and I actually thought about walking out a couple times because I just wasn’t involved and I knew I could be enjoying myself doing something else. (Not that it’s all bad; I quite enjoyed seeing Joe Pesci on screen again.) So in summary, The Good Shepherd gets a not-so-good C from me.

When I went to see Happy Feet the other day, it reminded me of my idea that movie theaters should reserve one screening each day of new animated movies for adults only.

I’m not saying kids can’t see the movie. I’m just saying, let there be one screening every day where kids — admittedly, the movies’ target audience — aren’t getting up at inopportune times, aren’t laughing at the “wrong” places, aren’t being restless and aren’t talking, and where the parents don’t show up with their brood right as the movie starts (after the trailers) and aren’t rushing out as soon as the movie is over (before the credits have even started). Continue reading →

Cross March of the Penguins with Moulin Rouge and you get Happy Feet, a movie that’s not as good as either one, but still has its pleasures. The story of Mumbles, a penguin who doesn’t fit in with the other penguins because he can’t sing, and instead of waddling he tap dances. Like in Moulin Rouge, the characters burst out in song anachronistically — they sing everything from Queen’s “Somebody to Love” to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” with a Beach Boys tune, a Prince song, and others thrown in for good measure — and for a while, this is kinda fun to watch. Eventually, though, Happy Feet turns from a cute little penguin movie to an environmental call for action and the last 10 minutes or so don’t make much sense (all things considered). Still, even though the movie doesn’t reach the zany heights that the trailer promised, it’s hard to deny that Happy Feet isn’t one of the coolest looking movies of the year. The snowy landscapes, the penguins dancing — it’s all rendered in very life-like fashion, in bright colors and with plenty of sweeping wide shots so you can take it all in. I’ve been looking forward to this movie for quite some time, and while the movie didn’t quite live up to my expectations, it was an enjoyable 90 minutes. So for that, I’ll give Happy Feet a B.

Robert Kennedy was a great man, and likely would have been a great president. Alas, when he was shot on June 5, 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, shortly after winning the California primary, the world lost one of its great hopes for leadership. This is the message Bobby is trying to put across (not that I disagree with it), in a film meant to pay tribute to all that was lost on that tragic June day.

I think.

You see, Bobby is instead a rather pointless film about what was happening at the hotel the day Kennedy was shot. And in dramatizing that story, and showing the various people milling around, the film loses sight of its apparent purpose and instead becomes an ensemble piece about all these random, unrelated people, and not the man itself. In fact, perhaps writer/director Emilio Estevez should have called his movie Ambassador because it’s more a tribute to the hotel than the man. But even that’s not very good. Really, he’s made a bit of a mess with so many actors doing ther best to deliver Very Important Speeches and give Very Important Performances. And it’s just too cluttered to have much impact (one need look no further than Ashton Kutcher’s distracting, ill-fitting performance for proof).

Not that some in the ensemble don’t acquit themselves well. Sharon Stone, for one, gives a nice, understated performance. Freddy Rodriguez and Martin Sheen also do good work. And Anthony Hopkins and Laurence Fishburne imbue the film with gravitas, even if their roles are complete cliches. But Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan, Demi Moore, and others make Bobby feel like a very special, very serious, political episode of The Love Boat, or something silly like that.

I wish Bobby was actually about Bobby, and about how much he meant to people and how much we lost when we lost him. There’s evidence in a few scenes that Estevez might have done a nice job on that film if that was the direction he took. But things don’t always go as planned, and that’s why I have to give Bobby a C.

What a let-down.

For Your Consideration had all the makings of a great Hollywood self-parody, but it falls a bit short of that. In fact, it’s safe to say that many of the film’s best laughs can be seen in the trailer.

Granted, the scenes from Home for Purim, the film these characters are working on, are pretty funny. And Fred Willard, Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Parker Posey, and Catherine O’Hara are all really good. But the trademark Christopher Guest, et al hilarity is replaced by sadness and disappointment here (and there’s an actual plot, miniscule though it may be), and that prevents the film from reaching the comic heights of A Mighty Wind and other films they’ve done. Continue reading →

When Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks told the crowd at a 2003 concert in London that she was ashamed President Bush was from Texas, little did she know the firestorm she would create and the effect that off-hand remark would have on the group’s career. The consequences are documented in Shut Up and Sing, a film that allows viewers to see how the Chicks didn’t whither under the criticism, and how instead, all the negativity directed toward them made the group stronger.

Shut Up & Sing doesn’t appear to have any purpose or agenda other than to show how the Chicks’ concerts, radio play, and next album were affected by Maines’ joke. Sure, that in itself gives the film a point-of-view, and Maines’ unapologetic nature is refreshing to see, given that most of what is fed to the public by actors, singers, etc. is usually meant to be politically correct and audience-pleasing. When country radio turns its back on the Chicks, Maines basically says, “screw ’em.” And when George Bush mocks the Chicks in an interview by saying they shouldn’t have their feelings hurt, she calls him a “dumb fuck.” But without the hindsight commentary present in many other documentaries, which would provide insight into what was happening, this allows the viewer to just go along for the ride and be a fly on the wall during the fallout.

It’s clear that the Chicks didn’t buckle under the pressure, and with songs on their latest CD including “Not Ready to Make Nice,” we know they’re not backing down from what Maines said. And the film makes clear that while she is the vocal center of the trio, garnering most of the attention, the group’s other two members (Martie Maguire and Emily Robison) stand by her 100 percent. The Dixie Chicks are a partnership, a sisterhood, and a group to be respected for the way they handled themselves under the circumstances.

It’s safe to say Shut Up & Sing won’t be liked by those who don’t already like the group, or by those who support George Bush, but it’s an enjoyable look behind-the-scenes at just one group that was caught in the crosshairs of the political cultural wars of the last four years. I give it a B+.