dwboyd | movies & entertainment

Alice in Wonderland

2010-06-05T14:23:00.001-07:00

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

I had ambition to write an entertaining review of the film, which I very much enjoyed, despite the dire disappointment and disapproval of many critics, but an entertaining review has already been written. I will consider my review complete simply by linking you to a writer worth reading; I disagree with nearly all of his points of contention, but they are written with such style and passion that I can't not enjoy reading them. I hope the same for you. In fact, I liked his words so much, I'm going to underline the ones that particularly piqued my mind.

"Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland; Not nearly curiouser and curiouser enough." By J. Hoberman Tuesday, Mar 2 2010

Walt Disney mulled an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland for decades before producing an animated feature in 1951, although by all accounts, he didn't much care for the prim little protagonist, let alone her supporting cast of "weird characters." One wonders what Uncle Walt would have made of his studio's 21st-century, 19-year-old Alice—a tousle-haired 3-D action figure, who not only consorts with weirdos but decapitates a dragon and drinks a vial of the creature's glowing puce blood.
...
The brain child of renegade Disney disciple Tim Burton; the new Alice is casually absurd, off-handed in its violence, and doggedly on message; Alice is a straightforward allegory of female actualization; Alice returns to Wonderland to escape her womanly fate—namely, an engagement to a particularly bilious aristocratic twit; She's a runaway bride and much of what transpires in that moist, warm realm down there demands to be read in specifically feminine terms; Alice may be the healthiest protagonist of Burton's career; the nubile girl is often in an unself-conscious but unmistakable state of dishabille.
...
Alice may be a babe, but Eros is largely sublimated; Mad Hatter, his golden eyes matched by an orange fright wig, is scarcely more eligible than Crispin Glover's thoroughly creepy Knave of Hearts; In any case, Wonderland is a gynocracy and rivalry; Carter's irascible Red Queen (her CGI-created bulbous head accentuated by pursed, bee-stung lips) contends for power in Wonderland with the languid, girly White Queen (Anne Hathaway, who needs little more than death-pallor pancake and near-black lipstick to seem equally freakish).
...
Presiding over a theme park of total design; terrorizing her deformed, prosthetic-enhanced courtiers; This castrating mega-[w]itch not only unleashes the monstrous Jabberwock on Alice but her own competitive jealousy ("Arrest that girl for unlawful seduction," she screams).
...
Lewis Carroll's literal-minded little Alice was something of a logician; Burton's is comfortable with adult irrationality; neither is his Alice the least bit lysergic. On the contrary, the movie is positively sober in its positive image projection and concern with itself; the character of actualized as well as action Alice. Alice even has a plan that involves expanding her jilted father-in-law's enterprise to China. Walt's corporate heirs must be proud.
...
Mouse Factory imagineers; Robert Zemeckis's punishing Christmas Carol. The resulting 3-D is shallow and largely superfluous; giving Alice's engagement party the quality of a paper-doll pop-up book. The ferociously popular Burton show; less a retrospective than a cabinet of curiosities; when it was populated by a dazed crowd of dour dweebs, serious goth girls, stroller babies, and Japanese tour groups. The sound of Danny Elfman's sepulchral hurdy-gurdy emanates from a darkened gallery; "Tragic Toys for Girls and Boys."

What else needs to be said?

I have a few descriptors of my own; Fantastic. Inspiring. Crazy. Scary. Delightful. All that a movie should be. All that life should be. Fantastic writing, fantastic movie, fantastic.

Hope all your fantasies come true.

: : Alice in Wonderland: Ebert's Review
: : Alice in Wonderland: J.Hoberman's Review
: : Alice in Wonderland: Wikipaedia page
: : Alice in Wonderland: Amazon page for DVD
: : Alice in Wonderland: Official site

Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

2010-05-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

One of the best fantasy movies I've seen since the Wizard of Oz. Very entertaining, and very interesting. As has been my preference lately, it's a story with a moral dilema.

: : Wikipeadia | Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

: : Ebert Review | Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

: : Offical Site | Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Woman of the Year

2010-04-26T23:25:00.000-07:00

Woman of the Year

At a hotel for work, I was channel surfing on the television and watched an old black and white filmed in 1948 on Turner Classic Movies called Woman of the Year. It made me feel good, took me back to my childhood when we would watch all the movies on TCM and AMC, and have to turn it up real loud to hear over my mom's sewing machine. Good stories come in color and black and white, you have to search for the good stories though.

Crazy Heart

2010-04-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

Crazy Heart

Great movie. How do we deal with our mistakes? This is a study in life; success, failure, recovery, success. In the end, it's all failure, but can you deal with failure in such a way that it's still success? That's the challenge.

: : Ebert | Crazy Heart

: : Wikipedia | Crazy Heart

Avatar

2010-04-15T16:02:00.001-07:00

Avatar

I'm not sure what to say. I feel the way I knew I would feel about this movie; Loved the movie, Hated the story. The story is against everything I believe in, its a praise of not just "multi-culturalism" but of "other-culturalism" to the detrimate of technologically and economically advanced cultures. This is a story that I would expect to come out of Hollywood; the "evil" corporations bent on destroying the "aborigines" because they are squatting on a literal gold-mine of unimaginable profit are defeated by the ultimate underdogs, the "good", thoughtful, complete, complex, well-meaning tribes of the fantastic world of Pandora.

Besides my reservations concerning the storyline of this naive morality play, I loved the movie.

Sigourney Weaver steals the show despite her minor role. She is a power-house presence in any movie, and just her character in a science-fiction movie brings immediate plausability to the film's alternate reality.

Sam Worthington is very good, and is equal to Sigourney Weaver's presence.

Stephen Lang is another standout as the post Colonel, and is a great face for the "evil" the corporation represents. Giovanni Ribisi is great as the weasly side of the corporation, and reminded me of Paul Reiser's role in "Aliens"; a corp creep.

Anyway, great movie, horrible story. James Cameron produced a world that we can believe, and the mix between the world of humanity and the world of cgi pandora is very nicely done. It's almost seemless.

I hope you hate/love it as much as I did! ;)

: : Wikipedia | Avatar

: : Ebert Review | Avatar

I Love You, Man

2010-04-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

I Love You, Man

A feel good movie. I felt good after watching it, anyway. Touches on the question, "what is a friend?" Felt good for renting it from Redbox(...a full movie price would have left me feeling a little less good).

Ebert had a good review that worth reading if you're interested.

Moon

2010-03-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

Moon

What can I say but "wow"! I was blown away. I rented this one on a whim from redbox, as nothing else caught my eye, and I am very glad I did. Is a new wave of thoughtful scifi movies upon us? I hope so. The emotional charge of the film is amazing considering it involves only one man playing himself as three seperate clones. The movie delves into loneliness, life, hopes and dreams, etc., etc. Very well done.

A must see movie for the scifi fan.

The Edge of Darkness

2010-03-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

The Edge of Darkness

Didn't realize this was a remake of a serial show in the UK, circa 1985. I enjoyed the movie. Glad I saw it. Won't see it again. Glad I saw it at the dollar theater. I jumped a few times; especially when the weepy girl stepped out of the car and got nailed. My adrenaline was pumping after that.

Official Movie Site

Sherlock Holmes

2010-03-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

Sherlock Holmes

I had read the negative reviews prior to seeing the movie, and expectations were low, but I was impressed. I have read all of Arthur Conan Doyles Holmes stories at least twice, and have watched many of the tv shows and movies. This, however, was something else altogether, and I thought it brought Doyles Sherlock to life perfectly. Some reviewers complained about the choppy fight scenes. I had the opposite reaction; what better way to highlight the first master detectives logical mind and deductive reasoning than with C.S.I. like segmenting of action sequences? I thought it was a great way to illustrate Holmes thinking while still keeping the action moving quickly.

Very well done. Looking forward to the sequels!

: : Official movie site

: : Ebert's review

James Cameron: Before Avatar ... a curious boy | Video on TED.com

2010-03-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

Avatar

James Cameron: Before Avatar ... a curious boy | Video on TED.com

I haven't seen Avatar yet, but now I need to after watching this James Cameron talk on TED. He discusses leadership, a subject I have been very interested in studying after my experiences as an underground miner and a deployed Soldier. What is leadership? What is success? What makes life worthwhile? These are questions that most human beings wrestle with, but few answer in any meaningful, life-altering way. James Cameron explains how his curiosity as a child has led him to newer, riskier, and more meaninful things on each project. He has been striving to "close the loop" on the imagination and creativity of science fiction with the majesty and awe-inspiring reality of nature and the technology and scientific leaps in human space exploration. In short (as Pirsig was trying to do in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) he is narrowing in on truth, in all its forms; science, art, spirit.

Cameron then diverts into a discussion of leadership. "I didn't learn leadership from making movies, I learned leadership by leading these expeditions. Leadership is developed in doing a difficult, dangerous job well; in doing a job that cannot be explained in mere words, but must be experienced; and in doing a job that unites a team into a family forged from shared risks, and shared reward." (Summarized by me.) He is exactly right. Manager's are not necessarily leaders. Leaders make things happen by their very presence, and their experience, their expectations, their force of will, and most importantly (and Cameron mentions this) on their respect and admiration for the members of their team. In short, character matters. It can't be faked, and it can't be developed overnight. It is developed over a life-time of choices and decisions. Its a rare man who develops himself into a real leader, and the organization that has a true leader is blessed. It sounds like James Cameron has been developing himself into that kind of leader. Success isn't guarranteed, and it is also not an accident. Any successful person, business, or organization had good leaders that make things happen. When they leave, or lose heart, those organizations die.

He ends with advice for young filmakers; don't put limits on yourself, the world does to you plenty. Don't be afraid of failure, because any great achievment will have risk, and requires a leap of faith. Failure is an option, but fear of failure is not. That's exactly right. Its ironic that a Hollywood film maker realizes those truths at the exact time that the government is trying to remove all risk from our lives. Success and risk are co-dependent. Take away risk, and success is not possible. Try to make life safe, and exceptional lives will never be lived. Tragedy may be avoided in terms of bodily injury, early death, or bruised ego's and damaged reputations...but that in itself is a travesty, a life that is lived in safety is not lived to its full potential. On a purely political note, those running the government of the US are making war on the people of this great nation. They are putting limits on the ability to fail and to succeed. They are taking the wind out of the sails that has propelled this nation from beggar colonies into a sole world super-power. Its the ability to fail and succeed, the ability to gain and keep the material rewards of success, and the ability to choose one's own destiny that is being attacked, and that is a tragedy.

Great talk, great lessons learned, good leader, good example. Thanks Mr. Cameron!

(p.s. His ex-wife did a fantastic job with The Hurt Locker, which was a great movie as well. I think he deserves a little credit for that, since he was an influence in her life, at least for a few years. /dwb.)

Watchmen

2010-03-22T11:44:00.001-07:00

Watchmen

(Great trailer on the amazon page, check it out!)

A friend at work gave me the Watchmen original soundtrack, which is fantastic. The songs are moving, unique, and well ordered. Its an emotional experience. What I didn't appreciate was how well they enhanced the film. I finally redboxed the movie last night, and was blown away.

I was expecting a cheesy super hero action flick; what I got was a study in the deeper questions of life. The characters struggled with their purpose. They are super-heroes, but their enhanced skills in life accentuate their understanding of their weaknesses. No matter how many bad guys they crush or kill, there is still another snake crawling out of the woodwork. No matter how much good they do, there is much more evil that counteracts the good. No matter how all-knowing, or smart, or realistic, there is always someone who more knowledgeable, or smarter, or more practical. In short, the super-heroes are still limited by their humanity; both the good and the evil.

There are fantacstic action scenes, but the biggest battles are not physical, but mental and spiritual. Who are they going to be? What are they willing to do? What is their purpose and meaning in life? What will make them happy? Who is right, and who is wrong? These are the questions that they battle and wrestle with, these are the ideas that they kill each other over. Those ideas, and the characters difficulty in answering them, is the real essense of the movie. The great actors, the costumes, the action scenes, the music, and the overall feel and texture of the film are just accents that enhance the very human battle that these super-heroes find themselves engaged in.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

(Note: Be advised, there is violence, nudity, and sexual content not suitable for children or the sensitive.)

The Book of Eli

2010-03-05T12:41:00.001-08:00

The Book of Eli

I really enjoyed this movie. It has a dynamite ending, too. Great movie. As Ebert said in his review, Its a common story done uncommonly well. Nothing new as far as stories go, but its very nicely done.

Discussing movies at work...

2010-03-04T10:16:00.000-08:00

...and we started naming off some old sci-fi favorites. Some I'd even forgotten about. Here are a few to get your mind thinking about back in the day. By chance, all these movies seem to be from 1985, or there abouts. The only reason I did not add 2001: A Space Odessey and Dr. Strangelove were because they happened to be from the 1960's; obviously way before their time, those two movies are simply genius. Reminisce with me, dear friends, and enjoy.

(After looking over these titles, and the vast amount of others I did not put, it strikes me that I have spent countless hours watching movies. Thats a lot of time. Thankfully my mom is a big fan of the American Movie Classics (AMC) channel, so I learned to appreciate the old classics, and also a few of these 'modern' movies listed below. A good story just takes you to another place, and you come back feeling like a changed person.)

I know I missed some great ones, but these make me want to head to the movies right now! ;)

______________________________________

The Last Starfighter

Westworld

(thanks for introducing me to this one, mom.)

Red Dawn

Soylent Green

Logan's Run

(thanks again, mom.)

The Andromeda Strain

Dune

(good pick, dad. book was better, though.)

Blade Runner

Night of the Comet

(dad, thanks for the high recommendation on this one.)

Van Helsing

2010-03-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

Van Helsing is ... over the top.

Although visually stunning, and theoretically interesting, the action of the characters was just too unbelievable for me to really enjoy the story. Although I did enjoy how the movie made the creature of Dr. Frankenstien a "goodie" (and almost too cuddly), both Van Helsing and Dracula seemed to lack, I don't know, the killer instinct, for lack of an enriched vocabulary. It just seemed that the creators of the movie played too many video games growing up, and thus expected their characters to survive the impossible.

The House of Sand and Fog

2010-03-04T09:15:00.000-08:00

The House of Sand and Fog

Contrary to my view on Van Helsing, this movie portrayed the contradictions of human nature perfectly. The characters past lives influenced the action and the audience without detracting from the story or adding weary minutes to the length. In fact, the past so influences the present that its shadowy outlines are both the beginning and the end of the sad tale. (And as Ebert pointed out, this movie is a story, as opposed to a plot, because it just shows what happens to the characters instead of directing the action.)

Be warned, though, the ending is not a happy one.

The house in question, owned and lost by first a young woman and then an elderly colonel who share the sad situation of "keeping up appearances", isn't really a great house, but what it stands for is important. They both need the house in order to remember the past, and hopefully build a better future. Unfortunately, any house built on sand is sure to fall, and any house built in the fog is sure to hide the faltering foundation.

The funny thing about this movie is that the characters are so well portrayed with both strengths and weaknesses that there is no feeling of hate or contempt. All have sad stories to tell, all have equal right to fight for the house, all have lives that are sinking and need desperately to be raised by hope of a better tomorrow. The best scene, to my ignorant eye, was when the poor girl, desperate to get her house back, goes to see the colonel's wife. The wife is very motherly, and understands the girl's desperation, yet bursts into tears and sobs, "but we will be deported, and then my masoud will be killed!" The young woman begins to see that she is not the only one in tough circumstances.

I often wonder, "how can they afford that truck?", or "where do they get the money for that?", or more depressingly, "what if I lose my job?" Watching these two people struggle to reshape their lives shed some light on those questions for me. Mr. Brahimi worked two jobs (days on a highway gang, nights at a convenience store) yet insisted on driving his Mercedes and wearing his nice suit. He kept careful track of his finances, and bought a good house on the cheap from the county auction, and he gave his family hope for the future. His wife insisted on living above their means to "keep up appearances", but when forced to move down to the house, she made the best of it, and in fact made it more of a home than the young woman had known. "They've only moved in, and they are more comfortable in it than I ever was." The moral from Mr. Brahimi is, you can survive hard times, and get back to good times, by working hard, and keeping before you a vision of what you want.

Of course, in the end, his vision of the future was shot down by the vascillations of an unstable man, selfish in all his actions.

From the young woman I learned that if you don't stop the depression that often attends unfortunate circumanstances, it only breeds further unfortunate circumanstances until you just want it all to end so that "things will change". That is a horrible state of mind to reach, and no wonder she tries to hard to end her life of misery. And perhaps that too is why Mr. Brahimi does what he does, because his vision of hope has been irreversibly shattered, and he "just wanted things to change". Well, thats enough rambling about lessons from movies. Hopefully I'll be able to watch something a little more upbeat to get me out of this "mental funk" I'm in from watching such a depressing story. (And hopefully I'll be motivated to live life without "keeping up appearances", but living out my vision of hope for the future, and all that attends.)

Napoleon Dynamite

2010-03-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

Napoleon Dynamite

I was just sitting here thinking, "what a waste of time that was!"

And then I thought, "If that was so, why did I sit through the whole movie?"

So, I went on over to the official site and found some reason's why; number 17 and number 4 pretty much sum up my personal reason's.

Number 1 and number 41, too.

And number 20.

Well, you get the point.

Its still sad that less than twenty minutes after watching a movie you have to go to the official website to be told, or at least reminded, why you patiently endured watching a movie without any obvious plot, storyline, or action (except for grandma trying to kill herself jumping off a sand dune, and Napoleon's miracle of coordination, dazzling the dense crowd with disco).

Was it worth the $3.50 rental fee? Only time will tell.

The Royal Tenembaums

2010-03-03T16:08:00.000-08:00

A sad, sick, subtly enticing song: Honey Broad Ripple is Burning by Margot and the Nuclear So and So's. Be aware that the song contains some foul content and course language...

For some reason, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's bitter-sweet melancholy song reminds me of my favorite alternate reality movie The Royal Tenenbaums.

The Royal Tenenbaums

If you haven't seen this movie yet, please do yourself a favor and watch it. Be realistic about what you will see, you must have patience and a sense of humor, and it may not be the best movie you have ever seen. (But you will thank me afterwords for introducing you to your favorite alternate reality movie...)

: : Ebert's review.