Some movie updates

It's been a while, and thus there are a few movies to report on, but I won't be too long winded. I'll focus mainly on my most recent viewing: Blood Diamond.

Blood Diamond was on my list of end of the year movies that I had been looking forward to, and while not a waste of time it certainly had the fingerprints of Hollywood smudging the camera lens. The movie is about the diamond industry in Africa, more specifically the black market diamond industry that's run by warlords to finance their operations, and the way all of this had been exploited for a time by big time jewelers. These are the very same types of warlords who kidnap children and force them to become child soldiers, something that could be a very strong moral subject to base a movie around, but was somewhat put to waste here.

The squandered potential of this film is just that, a great moral message dealing with a topic that's not often brought to the forefront which is used as a backdrop for this story rather than being a focal point. Hotel Rwanda, or even Catch a Fire this is not. One of the film's three main characters, Solomon (Djimon Hounsou) is the one who finds the so called blood diamond and also has a son who is abducted and turned into one of the "freedom fighters." This was the chance to really be an eye opening film, but instead wound up being a C storyline behind A)This is an action movie and B)Look! Leo and Jennifer are gonna fall in love! Solomon also becomes less and less interesting throughout the film as it seems his character loses all rational thought and assumes the best way to get to his son is a straight line.

That covers the bad. Despite the criticism, it wasn't all bollocks. DiCaprio and Hounsou both turned in fine performances; DiCaprio with a good handle on an accent I thought he'd flub, and Hounsou despite what I consider to be weak writing for his character. And even though they didn't fully capitalize on the issue which I think could have made this an important film, it was still present, and anytime something is put into a feature film in the US it certainly helps to raise awareness among a generally sheltered audience.

Four buried diamonds out of seven.
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Quick bits:

-Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny Playful, fun, and with good music. I had been afraid it would rehash old Tenacious D material, but it was fresh and with just enough mention of old things to give the *nudge nudge wink wink* to longtime fans.

-THX 1138 One of those movies that I always felt I was supposed to have seen. Interesting story, but done at a pace that diminishes interest. I think this shows George Lucas' ability to come up with good story and his inability to fully realize the potential of his own ideas when it comes time to write the script.

Bobby

I caught an early matinee of Bobby. I would probably have been surprised if someone told me in the past that Emilio Estevez would be a good directory, but guess what?

Sure you could say "But Cubby, Emilio directed Men at Work."

To which I would say: "Thanks for proving my point, dummy."

Now I won't go on and praise Emilio as the next great director, but I think he did show great promise in this case. I hadn't done any research about this movie before watching it, so I was surprised (pleasantly) by the plot. Instead of a film singly praising Bobby Kennedy it was a very entertaining look at the lives of various Americans who surrounded the event of his assasination.

Also of note is somehow everyone's favorite brother of Charlie Sheen managed to get EVERYBODY in this movie. Check out this cast:
Demi Moore
Harry Belefonte
Anthony Hopkins
Laurence Fishburne
Heather Graham
Helen Hunt
Joshua Jackson
Shia LaBeouf
William H Macy
Ashton Kutcher
Lindsey Lohan
Martin Sheen(how'd he get Martin Sheen? hehe)
Freddy Rodriguez
Christian Slater
Sharon Stone
Elijah Wood
Nick Cannon

This in addition to many other faces I was familiar with. Everyone was solid, but I have to say I was particularly impressed with Demi Moore, not someone I've been particularly fond of in the past.
---Four and a half Shutout Games out of Seven.

I'd like to go more in depth and discuss the film but I've got Scoop right here and I'm going to watch it!

Space Opera

Late last week, just before I created this blog I watched Logan's Run for the first time. Ever since it's had my mind running and thirsting for similar sci-fi. Sure there's tons of great special effect laden pictures being released all the time...but most of them fall short of the spirit and just plain FUN of older sci-fi. Logan's Run was obviously dated and looked as if it was made exactly when it was: the mid 1970s. (Released in 76 for those who are curious.)

The less than amazing special effects are there, sure. But anytime I watch a movie like this or Flash Gordon or A Clockwork Orange I get the feeling that much more spirit is put into the films because they realized the restrictions they had effect wise when it came to painting these futuristic landscapes.

That brought up the great example: Star Wars. All of the elements that I love in these movies can be found in the original Star Wars trilogy, and they are the mainstream example of the greatness the genre can acheive. Why is it that the Star Trek films never quite reached Star Wars level? They're too cold. By the time the first Star Trek film had been made it was too far removed from the spirit of the television show and was merely trying to cash in on the Star Wars boom. Obviously this isn't a planned out post...as I just realized I let it degenerate into Star Trek bashing...oh well, not my fault Star Trek sucks.

All the memories of these movies that I watched and loved in my youth brought back in full force an idea my friend Paperbag Face and myself had been throwing around about writing a space opera. My mind is currently stewing with ideas in regards to that. Anyway, here are some other great sci-fi films of the past in my eyes:

---The Last Starfighter
---Death Race 2000
---Rollerball
---Escape from New York
---The Road Warrior(Or any of this series.)

Actually, I CAN think of one recent sci-fi film which has that "fun" spirit about it: The Fifth Element. That's all for now.

It's Thanksgiving.

It IS Thanksgiving so I'm going to be brief(and too lazy to link things.) Just happens I saw a couple things yesterday and wanted to give some thoughts.

---Sophie Scholl: The Last Days-This is a film about the White Rose, an organization of college students in World War II Germany who released literature against the government. More specifically it is about when two of the members were caught whilst distributing pamphlets on campus. The performances handed in during the interrogations were very strong, and the strength of the main character was very inspiring. WWII is always a nice backdrop (Just ask video game designers who seem to have more of a hard on for WWII than the history channel.) The only downside I felt was they didn't go in depth to the White Rose or how it came about, so I would recommend a quick wiki-read up before watchings the movie. It'd be enjoyable either way, but I can't help but think my knowledge on the subject helped to enhance my enjoyment.
Four and a half National Socialists out of Seven.

---Deja Vu-Denzel can typically be relied on for a solid perfromance as...well, Denzel. I never found him to be versatile but he is likeable. With this film, the teaser trailer made me groan...the actual trailer made me change my mind and gain interest...and the actual film fell somewhere in between. The usual Tony Scott flavor is here, although much more subtle than in Man on Fire or Domino. (Heck, more subtle than in the Domino poster even.) When I think about it, the storyline seems like it should be a lot more entertaining than it was. That's not to say that it's a bad film by any means, it just didn't hit one out of the park. If you like Denzel...check it out.
Four Jesus Terrorists out of Seven.

Now it's getting close to Turkey Time. Auf Wiedersehen.

Bits

I have yet to get around to watching Sophie Scholl, so for today I'll just throw a few bits out there.

--In regards to my list of 25 films from 2006 that I want to see, no I wasn't trying to appeal to an artsy film girl crowd that I so wish would grace my page. I've got plenty of interest in budgeted and non foreign films as well, it just tends that a studio movie has better distribution. Thus, most of the more mainstream films I want to see I have. The limited release of most of the films on my list, and the fact that I don't reside in either LA or NYC make most of them tough to see before DVD. That being said, I would very happily cater to artsy film girls if they began to peruse this page.

--Famed film director Robert Altman passed away. I'd say people most know him for MASH, but I best know him thanks to my old film professor having a big old man crush on him.

--I had read an article a few days back about Quentin Tarantino being selected to act in a Takashi Miike (The director of Audition) film. It was just today though that I wondered if projects like this, and his previous side ventures such as directing an episode of CSI and guest starring on Alias were distractions that spread out his movie projects. Five films (if you count Grindhouse which is due early next year) in fifteen years is hardly prolific. Then I realized: If I had such clout I would do the exact same thing. Sure making movies is great, but as a film fan if I had the opportunity to make an occassional movie, guest star in this and that, guest direct in this and that....that would be great. Just having fun and being involved as you please. I can't say I blame him.

--For those of you who haven't seen this awesomeness...check out the trailer to 300.

--A couple of DVD bits:

20th Anniversary Edition of Transformers the Movie. Just in time to watch before we get a crappy live action version. Joy!

Deluxe Extended Edition of King Kong. WHAT? WHAT? I liked King Kong. I had no problem with it, I was entertained. But...EXTENDED edition? How much more movie could there be? I'd review this DVD for you, but I'm not sure I could get the week off of work it would take to watch it in one sitting.

News Bits

---Peter Jackson is NOT doing The Hobbit. He was all but assumed as the director who would be behind the camera for the film, but apparently a pending lawsuit has had him bumped. I think that's bad news for the box office and credibility of the film. Another director could very well make a good film of it, but it will no doubt be a different style than the LOTR trilogy, and thus alienate many fans.

---If anyone is unaware, there is a sequel to The Fantastic Four coming out. What a bad idea. The original (Meaning current original, not the early 90s copyright saver that never saw the light of day. Human Torch) was so weak it came with fries and a drink. If I ever doubted bad acting could induce vomiting Jessica Alba tried her hardest to prove me wrong. For any comic geeks reading, the title is "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer." Is the Silver Surfer cool? Heck yea! Is the Silver Surfer likely to look like crap on film? Heck yea!

---Anybody else sick of remakes? Especially remakes of movies that were already good like The Thing?

Jim: "Hey dude, that movie was awesome!"
James: "Yea! Let's make a sequel"
Jim: "Sequel? Dude sequels are so 1985. Let's just make it again!"

---Apparently the Wachowski Brothers are making a Speed Racer movie. That excites me. Racer X is the balls.

---Continuing with geeky news, apparently Josh Holloway(Sawyer from Lost) is again being pursued to play Gambit in the next X-Men. Awesome. Forget Wolverine.

How could I forget?

I also want to see the amazing Tony Jaa in The Protector.