Thursday, July 1, 2010

Movie Review: "Unbreakable" Has Broken Ending

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 17 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Unbreakable (2000)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic elements including some disturbing violent content, and for a crude sexual reference
WRITER/DIRECTOR: M. Night Shyamalan
PRODUCERS: Barry Mendel, Sam Mercer, and M. Night Shyamalan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Eduardo Serra (director of photography)
EDITOR: Dylan Tichenor
COMPOSER: James Newton Howard

DRAMA/FANTASY/THRILLER

Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright Penn, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard, and Johnny Hiram Jamison

Sometimes an awkward or inappropriate ending can ruin a very good or even a great movie. For the follow up to his enormously popular worldwide smash, The Sixth Sense, director M. Night Shyamalan decided to smash his fine film Unbreakable over its figurative head with a dud of an ending. Still, the film is worth seeing, if for no other reason than to watch an emerging master filmmaker whose style is somewhat similar to Steven Spielberg, the man to whom Shyamalan is favorably compared.

David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is the father of a lonely boy (Spencer Treat Clark), the owner of a serious midlife crisis, and a somewhat estranged husband to his wife (Robin Wright Penn). He is a security guard returning by train from a job interview when the train suddenly derails. Dunn is the sole surviving passenger, and he escapes the tragedy without so much as a scratch or a broken bone. He meets Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), a strange fellow who believes David is the special man with an extraordinary gift for whom Elijah has searched most of his adult life.

Shyamalan is without a doubt a major directorial talent. He understands how to use his fellow filmmakers to maximum effect: using lighting, music, film editing, photography, and actors like toys he can move around to tell delicious, engaging, and fantastic supernatural thrillers. Like Spielberg, Shymalan’s technique is more manipulative than obvious, but what he does works. One scene after another reveals how carefully he weaves his film, as he slowly unwraps whatever surprise lies around the corner of each story twist.

His weakness is in his writing because he has a propensity to cheat and to hide things in order to confuse his audience, or he’s just inconsistent with the rules he establishes to make the world of his film work (The Sixth Sense has many). He doesn’t seem to really want us to solve the mysteries of his film, so much as he wants us to be surprised by his shocking twists, especially if that surprise comes as a slap in the face.

As effective and enthralling as Unbreakable is, the resolution is simply something Shyamalan drops like a bomb. There is no doubt that it is a shocker, but what it does is turn Unbreakable into the back story of Dunn’s life, not the story of his life. This is what happens after Dunn discovers and accepts what he is and what Elijah had to do to make David accept his destiny (or Elijah’s destiny for him). In fact, the resolution simply sours something that was turning out to be really beautiful, admittedly somber, but beautiful nonetheless.

The performances are all pretty good, if a bit too moody. It’s understandable to have the cast in a blue mood to heighten the sense of the otherness or the supernatural, but the actors’ dower expressions make even the light moments too bittersweet. Or maybe the whole thing is supposed to be a downer. It’s really sad that what looked like a great film was ruined by a gimmick – Shyamalan’s one trick; still, I’d recommend you see this thriller at least once.

6 of 10
B

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VIZ Cinema Has That Fighting Spirit in July



VIZ CINEMA CELEBRATES BATTLES OF ALL KINDS IN MORE THAN 20 NEW FILMS TO SCREEN IN JULY

Catch Swift And Deadly Samurai Action And Genre-Defining Anime Classics As Well As SF IndieFest’s 2010 Hole In The Head Film Festival

VIZ Cinema, the nation’s only movie theatre dedicated to Japanese film, offers a July theme of Beyond The Battles and offers a wide array of action and samurai films as well a series of screenings to celebrate the Ghost In The Shell anime saga. This month, the cinema welcomes San Francisco IndieFest’s Another Hole In the Head film festival for a week-long run of science fiction, fantasy and horror films at the end of the month. Tickets, screening times and complete details for each film are available at: www.vizcinema.com

Battle League Horumo, July 2nd FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY!
(Directed by Katsuhide Motoki, 2009, 113min, With English Subtitles)
Celebrate the DVD release of this new action film by VIZ Pictures with a special screening. This combat action comedy is based on the best-selling fantasy novel by Manabu Makime. As a college freshman, Akira Abe joins the club “Azure Dragon” to get closer to his dream girl. At first, the club appears to be an ordinary social club but the new members soon find out about the 1000 year-old tradition upheld by the four universities of Kyoto and the “Horumo” battle. Members must go through rigorous training and learn to manipulate an army of Oni spirits. Starring Takayuki Yamada (Train Man) and Chiaki Kuriyama (Kill Bill Vol. 1). Special $25.00 ticket package includes the DVD, a movie poster and a pass to the screening. General admission (movie only, no DVD) tickets are $10.00.


Sci-fi Anime Madness, Volume 2: Ghost In The Shell Marathon, July 3rd – 8th. Sci-fi Anime Madness returns with an epic Ghost In The Shell film marathon!

Ghost In The Shell (Original Version), July 3rd and also July 5th
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 1995, 85min, Digital, English Subtitles)
This is the acclaimed sci-fi action masterpiece that proclaimed a new era of anime and helped to define the cyber-punk genre.

Ghost In The Shell 2.0 (CGI version), July 3rd and also July 5th
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 2008, 85min, Digital, English Subtitles)
This is a new, visually enhanced version of the classic original movie.

Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence, July 3rd
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 2004, 100min, Digital, English Subtitles)
This is the gripping sequel to the original classic Ghost in the Shell film.

Ghost In The Shell Stand Along Complex: The Laughing Man, July 4th and also July 6th
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2005, 106min, Digital, English Subtitles)
The feature film adaptation of the Stand Alone Complex series, re-cut to tell the story of a police battle with an evil computer hacker.

Ghost In The Shell: Individual Eleven 161, July 4th and also July 7th
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2006, 161min, Digital, English Subtitles)
A feature-length OAV feature, adapted from Stand Alone Complex: Second Gig, the second season of the Ghost in the Shell broadcast series.

Ghost In The Shell: Solid State Society 108, July 4th and also July 8th
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2006, 108min, Digital, English Subtitles)
A film adaptation of the popular Solid State Society animated TV series.


TOKYOSCOPE TALK, Volume 5: Japanese Superheroes!, July 9th
Join hosts Patrick Macias (Editor, Otaku USA), August Ragone (author, Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters), and Tomohiro Machiyama (founding editor, Movie Treasures magazine) as they explore the fascinating history and origins of Japanese superheroes featuring tokusatsu, sentai, and henshin hero productions including Ultra Seven, Kikaida, Space Sheriff Gavan, and many others! General admission tickets are $10.00.

SAMURAI SAGA, Volume 1: From Classic Noir to New Colors
Celebrate nearly 50 years of samurai action and drama in a series of new and classic films.

Kill!, July 10th – 11th
(Directed by Kihachi Okamoto, 1968, 114min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
In this pitch-black action comedy by Kihachi Okamoto, a pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin. Kill! playfully tweaks samurai film convention, borrowing elements from established classics and seasoning them with hints of Italian westerns.

Sword of Doom, July 10th and also July 12th – 13th
(Directed by Kihachi Okamoto, 1968, 114min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune star in the story of a wandering samurai who exists in a maelstrom of violence. A gifted swordsman who plys his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, Ryunosuke (played by Nakadai) kills without remorse, without merc, and becomes a way of life that ultimately leads to madness.

Harakiri, July 11th – 13th
(Directed by Masaki Kobayashi, 1962, 133Mmin, 35mm, English Subtitles)
Following the collapse of his clan, unemployed samurai Hanshiro Tsugumo arrives at the manor of Lord Iyi, begging to commit ritual suicide on his property. Iyi’s clansmen, believing the desperate ronin is merely angling for charity, try to force him to eviscerate himself – but they have underestimated his honor and his past. Winner of the 1963 Cannes Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize, Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri is a scathing denouncement of feudal authority and hypocrisy.

Samurai Rebellion, July 14th and also July 16th – 17th
(Directed by Masaki Kobayashi,1967, 121min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
Toshiro Mifune stars as Isaburo Sasahara, an aging swordsman living a quiet life until his clan lord orders that his son marry the lord’s mistress, who has recently displeased the ruler. Reluctantly, father and son take in the woman, and, to the family’s surprise, the young couple fall in love. But the lord soon reverses his decision and demands the mistress’s return. Against all expectations, Isaburo and his son refuse, risking the destruction of their entire family. Director Masaki Kobayashi’s Samurai Rebellion is the gripping story of a peaceful man who finally decides to take a stand against injustice.

Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron, July 14th – 15th and also July 17th
(Directed by Hideo Gosha, 1976, 163min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
Based on the bestselling novel by Shotaro Ikenami, this story involves a former samurai who abandons his class to become the leader of a gang of bandits. He leads his outlaws in an attempt to rob the castle of his former clan to avenge the destruction of his own family by the official he once served.

Three Outlaw Samurai, July 15th – 17th
(Directed by Hideo Gosha, 1964, 95min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard. The three outlaws soon find themselves in a battle to the death.

SHUHEI FUJISAWA FILM SPECIAL, July 18th – July 22nd
Enjoy four award winning Samurai films from recent times, all based on the historical novels by the bestselling author Shuhei Fujisawa, including the Samurai Trilogy by by Academy Award® nominated director Yoji Yamada.

Twilight Samurai, July 18th and also July 22nd
(Directed by Yoji Yamada, 2002, 129min, Digital, English Subtitles)
This is the first film of the Shuhei Fujisawa trilogy, directed by Yoji Yamada. Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, it follows the life of Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai employed as a bureaucrat. The Twilight Samurai was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards, and also won an unprecedented 12 Japanese Academy Awards.

The Hidden Blade, July 18th and also July 20th – 21st
(Directed by Yoji Yamada, 2004, 132min, Digital, English Subtitles)
The second of the Shuhei Fujisawa film trilogy directed by Yoji Yamada. Set in the 1860s, this is an epic tale of Munezo, a samurai being displaced in a rapidly changing Japan. After a failed political coup he is ordered to prove his innocence by finding and killing Yaichiro, a former samurai friend and brilliant swordsman. Munezo enlists the help of their old teacher, who entrusts him with a secret technique. Directed by Academy Award® nominee Yoji Yamada and starring Masatoshi Nagase (Mystery Train).

Love and Honor, July 18th – July 20th
(Directed by Yoji Yamada, 2006, 121min, 35mm, English Subtitles)
This is the final film of the Shuhei Fujisawa trilogy, directed by Yoji Yamada. An award winning masterpiece of sacrifice and devotion, Love and Honor weaves a timeless tale set in the waning days of feudal Japan. Love and Honor depicts the emotional intensity of an age when respect was more valuable than riches and love cut more truly than any sword.

Yamazakura - The Cherry Tree in the Hills (U.S. Premiere), July 18th – 19th and July 21st
(Directed by Tetsuo Shinohara, 2008, 100min, Digital, English Subtitles)
A poetic love story about a samurai and a young widow in the late Edo period. Noe, the eldest daughter of the samurai family with class, had lost her first husband and was forced to marry her late husband's brother, whom Noe was never able to admire as a samurai. On the way home from visiting her aunt’s grave, Noe encounters a samurai, Tezuka Yaichiro, who aspired to marry Noe in the past but was never able to because of family matters.

SFindie Fest Presents: Another Hole In the Head, July 23rd – July 29th
VIZ Cinema is thrilled to be one of the main venues for SF IndieFest's 2010 Another Hole In the Head film festival! Witness the most dangerous line-ups of sci-fi, horror and fantasy films!

Advance Tickets available for only $10.00 online at www.sfindie.com. Rush tickets will be available for $11.00 only on the day of the screenings at the VIZ Cinema box office.Get more details about the films and a complete schedule at www.sfindie.com and www.vizcinema.com

Symbol, July 24th at 5:00pm
(Directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto, 2009, 93min, Digital, English Subtitles)
Hitoshi Matsumoto, who brought the world the bizarre and madly comic romp of Big Man Japan, takes his visual perspective to the highest extremes of surrealism. A man wakes up and finds himself trapped in an empty white rectangular room, wearing clownish bright yellow polka dot pajamas. Where is he? Who did this to him? How did he end up here? Will he manage to make him escape to safety? Symbol is an incredibly strange and visually striking film that goes past the confines of the mind and out into the abyss.

Alien vs. Ninja, July 25th at 7:00pm
(Directed by Seiji Chiba, 2010, 82min, Digital, English Subtitles)
**Plays with film short, Escape From Death Planet, directed by James Cadden.
Alien vs Ninja is a visual orgy of action, blood, limbs, internal organs, more action, some chat, more blood, stamped heads, explosions, more limbs, more action and really, really scary looking aliens. Alien vs Ninja is funny and there are action scenes that will put a smile on your face but of course there's also sensational gore and minced body parts alongside buckets of entrails flying in the sky. Film contains explicit content, adults only.

Death Kappa , July 29th at 5:00pm
(Directed by Tomo'o Haraguchi, 2010, 90min, Digital, English Subtitles)
Death Kappa takes a modern look at one of the more infamous Japanese Yokai creatures, the Kappa, and elevates it to Godzilla-like proportions and city stomping shenanigans. Death Kappa is an extraordinary film and audiences won’t be surprised to learn that some of the talent behind the recent Godzilla films worked on Death Kappa as well. A nod of the hat to the monster lizard and a beautifully crafted effort that puts the rampage of the Death Kappa firmly on the map!

Mutant Girls Squad, July 29th at 7:00pm
(Directed by Noboru Iguchi, Yoshinori Chiba and Yoshihiro Nishimura, 2010, 90min, Digital, English Subtitles)
The Mutant Girls Squad does ongoing battle with the sinister Ministry of Defense. These black clad evildoers wear black 'tengu' devil masks that have long protruding noses which aren't just for show. They are actually machine gun noses and a deliver a ballet of bullets for each scene they enter. This film delivers all the bizarre effects and humor and blood-spurting goodness viewers can handle and possibly a bit more. Film contains explicit content, adults only.

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system.


About NEW PEOPLE
NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.


It's the First of the Month... at Negromancer

Welcome to Negromancer, the rebirth of my former movie review website as a movie review and movie news blog. I’m Leroy Douresseaux, and I also blog at http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/ and write for the Comic Book Bin, which has its own iPhone app.

All images appearing on this blog are © copyright and/or trademark their respective owners.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Japanese Action Comedy "Battle League Horumo" on DVD in July



VIZ PICTURES RELEASES THE COMBAT ACTION COMEDY BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO ON DVD

Zany Action Film Based On Best-Selling Fantasy Novel Features Special Effects By Renowned Animation Studio GONZO

VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, will debut the live-action combat comedy film BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO on DVD on July 6th. The release, which will be distributed by VIZ Media in North America, will carry an MSRP of $24.92 U.S. / $35.99 CAN.

VIZ Pictures also celebrates the release with a special theatrical screening of BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO – for one night only – on Friday, July 2nd at 7:00pm at VIZ Cinema in San Francisco. VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted to Japanese film and animation, located at 1746 Post St., in the heart of the city’s Japantown. $25 ticket includes a movie ticket, the brand new DVD and a poster! $10 regular admission is also available. Advance tickets, trailers and more details are available at: www.viz-pictures.com or www.vizcinema.com.

BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO is also set to be screened at the 2010 Anime Expo, taking place July 1-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA. Find details for the convention at www.anime-expo.org.

Based on the best-selling fantasy novel Kamogawa HORUMO written by Manabu Makime, the live-action BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO takes audiences on a wild adventure that blends the breathtaking backdrop of Kyoto with the bizarre legend of “Horumo.” After failing the entrance exam and enduring two years of cram school, Akira Abe (Takayuki Yamada) finally gets accepted to the prestigious Kyoto University. One day while on his way home with a friend, Akira meets a senior who invites them to a welcome party hosted by his club called the Azure Dragon. With nothing to lose, they decide to go for the free food, but while there Akira meets Kyoko Sawara, a beautiful girl with a perfect nose, and he falls head over heels for her. Now smitten, Akira goes in to persuade his friend to join the club with him in the hope that he can get closer to the girl of his dreams.

At first, the club appears to be an ordinary social group, but the new members soon discover the mysterious 1000 year-old tradition of the “Horumo” battle upheld by the four universities of Kyoto. The battle is fought between 10 players from each team who each manipulate an army of 100 spirits (referred to as Oni) to fight their opponents. The members each go through rigorous training to achieve fluency in the Oni language as well as learn the indefinable gestures that are required to complement it. Let the battles begin!

BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO features stunning visual effects that vividly bring the Oni spirits to life and were created by the renowned GONZO animation studio, which also produced animated features like Afro Samurai, Brave Story, and Basilisk.

BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO was directed by Katsuhide Motoki (Kitaro And The Millennium Curse, 10 Promises To My Dog). The film stars Takayuki Yamada, who is well-known for his role as the awkward and bumbling young man in Train Man: Densha Otoko (also available from VIZ Pictures), along with actress Chiaki Kuriyama, who appeared in the Japanese horror film Ju-on and made her Hollywood debut in director Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Volume 1.

For more information on BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO or other VIZ Pictures titles, please visit www.viz-pictures.com.


About VIZ Pictures, Inc.:
Based in San Francisco, California, VIZ Pictures, Inc. licenses and distributes selective Japanese live-action films and DVDs, with focus on Japanese "kawaii (cute) and cool" pop culture. VIZ Pictures strives to offer the most entertaining motion pictures straight from the "Kingdom of Pop" for audiences of all ages, especially the manga and anime generation, in North America. Some titles include DEATH NOTE, 20TH CENTURY BOYS, and TRAIN MAN: DENSHA OTOKO. VIZ Pictures is also the producer of NEW PEOPLE, a part of the J-Pop Center Project, a unique entertainment destination bringing Japanese pop culture through film, art, fashion, and retail products. For more information please visit www.viz-pictures.com or www.newpeopleworld.com.


Review: "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is Down with Love

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 (of 2009) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
Running time: 130 minutes (2 hours, 10 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some violence and action
DIRECTOR: Chris Weitz
WRITER: Melissa Rosenberg (based upon Stephenie Meyer)
PRODUCERS: Wyck Godfrey and Mark Morgan
CINEMATOGRAHER: Javier Aquirrearobe
EDITOR: Peter Lambert

DRAMA/FANTASY/ROMANCE with elements of action and horror

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Sam Uley, Michael Sheen, Dakota Fanning, Anna Kendrick, Michael Welch, Rachelle Lefevre, Justin Chon, Christian Serratos, and Edi Gathegi

In the 2008 smash hit film, Twilight, movie audiences saw romance bloom between high school student Bella Swan and her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen. Now, in the follow-up, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Bella and Edward’s star-crossed romance crashes to earth.

New Moon opens on Bella’s (Kristen Stewart) 18th birthday, a day about which she is not particularly crazy. That evening, Edward’s (Robert Pattinson) family, also vampires, throws a birthday party for Bella, which starts nicely, but takes a shocking turn. Following Bella’s ill-fated birthday party, the Cullens abandon the town of Forks, Washington, in an effort to protect Bella from the dangers inherent in their world. The most shocking blow: Edward breaks up with Bella.

Heartbroken and depressed, Bella sleepwalks through the first half of her senior year of high school, totally shutting out her other friends. When her father, Forks Police Chief Charlie Swan (Billy Burke) demands that his daughter make a change, Bella goes on a date night with a girlfriend. It is on that night that Bella discovers that Edward’s image comes to her whenever she puts herself in jeopardy. Determined to see this vision more often, Bella begins to concoct ways that will put her life at greater and greater risk.

Bella seeks out childhood friend, Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), a member of the local Quileute Native American Indian tribe. A gifted mechanic, Jacob refurbishes an old motorbike that Bella will secretly use to put herself in danger. Something else surprising happens when Bella finds herself drawn to Jacob, a formerly scrawny boy. He is literally growing taller and more muscular (with killer washboard abs) every day and right before Bella’s very eyes. Jacob, however, also has a shocking supernatural secret of his own, which causes a rift to grow between him and Bella. Then, Edward’s sister, Alice (Ashley Greene), returns, seeking Bella’s help in saving Edward’s life, and the rift grows wider.

Like Twilight, New Moon is based upon a novel by Stephenie Meyer (The Host). Obviously, in the translation from novel to film, plot elements and scenes from the book are left out or changed in the film. However, screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg (who also adapted Twilight) retains the central themes, as well as the spirit, of the source material. The novel asks probing questions, such as: after the euphoria of new love, what is real about this relationship? What do Bella and Edward want of each other? What are their motivations, and how much are they willing to fight for their relationship? Just how deep and strong are Bella’s feelings for Jacob? The screenplay keeps those questions at the forefront of the narrative.

And speaking of fight, director Chris Weitz, an established Hollywood filmmaker (About a Boy, The Golden Compass), doesn’t fight the love story at the core of this franchise. New Moon may be filled with thrilling chases and riveting hunts in the forests around Forks. It may carry viewers breathlessly across the world, only to drop them in the mysterious world beneath a rustic Italian town. Weitz still manages to emphasize the ache and yearning of a young love blazing so brightly that it threatens to burn itself out.

The reported increase in the production budget for New Moon (as compared to Twilight), is evident in the flashy visual special effects. The werewolves are in a word – awesome. The spectacular cinematography is pitch-perfect in capturing the right mood and look for every setting in the film: from the forests surround Forks to the murky nights of Port Angeles. An improvement in the art direction also makes even the Swans’ humble home seem cosmopolitan.

New Moon is not perfect. Under Weitz’s direction and Peter Lambert’s editing, the film often moves too fast, sometimes hopping around like someone high on stimulants. Still, this film works. In the intimate moments when the actors, especially Stewart, Pattinson, and Lautner, convince us that they know these characters and that they are going to make the story real for us, New Moon seems less like a fantasy and more like a real love story.

7 of 10
B+

Monday, November 30, 2009

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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

AMPAS Invites New Members; Mo'Nique, Lee Daniels, Bono Among Invitees

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - the organization that hands out the Oscars, has announced its annual list of actors and filmmakers who have been invited to join its ranks.  Previously, the list was not released to the public, but apparently has been since 2007.  The membership of the Academy, which reportedly hovers just under 6000 members, is still not made public.

There are some surprises - Bono and the Edge of U2 and actor Tobin Bell of the Saw franchise.  Jon Landau, producer of the Oscar-winning Titanic, is just now being invited?  Here's the list of the 135 invitees:

Actors

Tobin Bell – “Saw,” “The Firm”
Vera Farmiga – “Up in the Air,” “The Departed”
Miguel Ferrer – “Traffic,” “RoboCop”
James Gandolfini – “In the Loop,” “Get Shorty”
Anna Kendrick – “Up in the Air,” “Twilight”
Mo’Nique – “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “Phat Girlz”
Carey Mulligan – “An Education,” “Public Enemies”
Jeremy Renner – “The Hurt Locker,” “28 Weeks Later”
Ryan Reynolds – “The Proposal,” “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”
LaTanya Richardson Jackson – “Mother and Child,” “Losing Isaiah”
Peter Riegert – “Traffic,” “Crossing Delancey”
Sam Robards – “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” “American Beauty”
Saoirse Ronan – “The Lovely Bones,” “Atonement”
Zoe Saldana – “Avatar,” “Star Trek”
Adam Sandler – “Funny People,” “Punch-Drunk Love”
Peter Sarsgaard – “An Education,” “Boys Don’t Cry”
Gabourey Sidibe – “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Shaun Toub – “Iron Man,” “The Kite Runner”
Christoph Waltz – “Inglourious Basterds”
George Wyner – “A Serious Man,” “American Pie 2”

Animators
Ken Bielenberg – “Monsters vs Aliens,” “Shrek”
Peter de Seve – “Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” “Ratatouille”
Steve Hickner – “Bee Movie,” “The Prince of Egypt”
Angus MacLane – “Toy Story 3,” “WALL-E”
Darragh O’Connell – “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty,” “Give Up Yer Aul Sins”
Simon Otto – “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Kung Fu Panda”
Bob Pauley – “Toy Story 3,” “Monsters, Inc.”
Willem Thijssen – “The Aroma of Tea,” “A Greek Tragedy”

Art Directors
Kim Sinclair – “Avatar,” “Cast Away”
Dave Warren – “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary”

At-Large
Darcy Antonellis
John Lowry

Casting Directors
Laura Rosenthal – “The Messenger,” “I’m Not There”

Cinematographers
Barry Ackroyd – “The Hurt Locker,” “United 93”
Christian Berger – “The White Ribbon,” “Cache”
Hagen Bogdanski – “The Young Victoria,” “The Lives of Others”
Shane Hurlbut – “Terminator Salvation,” “We Are Marshall”
Tom Hurwitz – “Valentino The Last Emperor,” “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib”
Dan Mindel – “Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible III”
Tobias Schliessler – “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” “Hancock”
Stephen Windon – “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” “House of Wax”
Robert Yeoman – “Get Him to the Greek,” “The Squid and the Whale”

Costume Designers
Catherine Leterrier – “Coco before Chanel,” “Avenue Montaigne”
Janet Patterson – “Bright Star,” “The Piano”

Directors
Jacques Audiard – “A Prophet,” “The Beat That My Heart Skipped”
Juan Jose Campanella – “The Secret in Their Eyes,” “Son of the Bride”
Lee Daniels – “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “Shadowboxer”
Claudia Llosa – “The Milk of Sorrow,” “Madeinusa”
Lone Scherfig – “An Education,” “Italian for Beginners”
Adam Shankman – “Bedtime Stories,” “Hairspray”

Documentary
Nancy Baker – “Rehearsing a Dream,” “Born into Brothels”
Rick Goldsmith – “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” “Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press”
Davis Guggenheim – “It Might Get Loud,” “An Inconvenient Truth”
Tia Lessin – “Capitalism: A Love Story,” “Trouble the Water”
Cara Mertes – “The Betrayal,” “My Country, My Country”
Frazer Pennebaker – “Al Franken: God Spoke,” “The War Room”
Julia Reichert – “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant,” “Seeing Red”
Morgan Spurlock – “Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?,” “Super Size Me”

Executives
Christopher W. Aronson
Jim Berk
Philippe Dauman
Sheila DeLoach
Donald Peter Granger
Nathan Kahane
Andrew Karpen
Ryan Kavanaugh
David Kosse
David Andrew Spitz
Emma Watts

Film Editors
Robert Frazen – “Synecdoche, New York,” “Smart People”
Dana E. Glauberman – “Up in the Air,” “Thank You for Smoking”
Joe Klotz – “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “Grace Is Gone”
Bob Murawski – “The Hurt Locker,” “Spider-Man”
John Refoua – “Avatar,” “Reno 911!: Miami”

Live Action Short Films
Joachim Back – “The New Tenants”
Gregg Helvey – “Kavi,” “The Knife Grinder’s Tale”

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Kris Evans – “X-Men The Last Stand,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”
Jane Galli – “Knight and Day,” “3:10 to Yuma”
Mindy Hall – “Star Trek,” “World Trade Center”
Joel Harlow – “Star Trek,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”
Jenny Shircore – “The Young Victoria,” “Elizabeth”

Music
Christophe Beck – “The Hangover,” “Bring It On”
Bono – “Gangs of New York,” “In the Name of the Father”
T Bone Burnett – “Crazy Heart,” “Cold Mountain”
The Edge – “Gangs of New York,” “GoldenEye”
Brian Tyler – “Fast & Furious,” “Aliens vs. Predator Requiem”

Producers
Stephanie Allain – “Black Snake Moan,” “Hustle & Flow”
Gregory Jacobs – “The Informant!,” “The Good German”
Jon Landau – “Avatar,” “Titanic”
Marc Turtletaub – “Away We Go,” “Little Miss Sunshine”
Glenn Williamson – “Sunshine Cleaning,” “Hollywoodland”

Production Designers
Kirk M. Pertruccelli – “The Incredible Hulk,” “The Patriot”
Edward S. Verreaux – “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” “Jurassic Park III”

Public Relations
Dwight Caines
Suzanne M. Cole
Tommy Gargotta
Sophie Gluck
Josh Greenstein
Pamela Levine
Wendy Lightbourn
Michele Robertson
Tony Sella

Set Decorators
Maggie Gray – “The Young Victoria,” “Ella Enchanted”
Douglas A. Mowat – “Role Models,” “The Sixth Sense”
Caroline Smith – “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” “Match Point”

Sound
Frank Eulner – “Iron Man 2,” “Hellboy”
Adam Jenkins – “I Love You, Man,” “Crash”
Tony Lamberti – “Inglourious Basterds,” “Sideways”
Dennis Leonard – “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” “The Polar Express”
Tom Myers – “Up,” “WALL-E”
Paul N.J. Ottosson – “The Hurt Locker,” “Spider-Man 3”
Resul Pookutty – “Ghajini,” “Slumdog Millionaire”
Gary A. Rizzo – “How to Train Your Dragon,” “The Dark Knight”
Michael Silvers – “Up,” “Ratatouille”
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle – “Avatar,” “The Simpsons Movie”

Visual Effects
Matt Aitken – “District 9,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”
Karen Ansel – “Angels & Demons,” “Men in Black II”
Richard Baneham – “Avatar,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”
Eric Barba – “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Zodiac”
Paul Debevec – “Avatar,” “King Kong”
Russell Earl – “Star Trek,” “Transformers”
Steve Galich – “Date Night,” “Transformers”
Andrew R. Jones – “Avatar,” “I, Robot”
Dan Kaufman – “District 9,” “Ocean’s Thirteen”
Derek Spears – “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” “Superman Returns”
Steve Sullivan – “Avatar,” “Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith”
Michael J. Wassel – “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” “The Bourne Identity”

Writers
Neill Blomkamp – “District 9”
Mark Boal – “The Hurt Locker,” “In the Valley of Elah”
Geoffrey Fletcher – “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Nick Hornby – “An Education,” “Fever Pitch”
Alex Kurtzman – “Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible III”
Tom McCarthy – “Up,” “The Visitor”
Roberto Orci – “Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible III”
Terri Tatchell – “District 9”

Review: "WALL-E" Was and Still is the Best Film of 2008

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 48 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

WALL-E (2008)
Running time: 98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
MPAA – G
DIRECTOR: Andrew Stanton
WRITER: Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon; from a story by Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter
PRODUCER: Jim Morris
EDITOR: Stephen Schaffer
COMPOSER: Thomas Newman
Academy Award winner

ANIMATION/SCI-FI/DRAMA with elements of action and comedy

Starring: (voices) Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, and Sigourney Weaver

In terms of American animated films, WALL-E, a film from Pixar Animation Studios, is a visionary work, and even considering the few exceptional films released in 2008 (like The Dark Knight), WALL-E was the best film of that year. It is the extraordinary story of a lonely little robot that has been doing what he was built for until he accidentally discovers a new purpose in life when he falls in love.

WALL-E is set centuries in the future on a ravaged Earth, devoid of vegetation and with its cities now largely empty ruins. Mountains of garbage, waste, junk, etc. cover the planet, and humans long ago fled the planet in spaceships that resemble cruise-line ships. Left behind to clean up the mess are small robots with melancholy binocular eyes called Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class or WALL-Es, for short.

For hundreds of lonely years, one WALL-E (Ben Burtt) has been compacting garbage into small cubes and piling them up until they form skyscraper-like heaps. WALL-E also collects knick-knacks, keeps a plucky cockroach as a pet, and obsesses over the 1969 film, Hello, Dolly. WALL-E’s life changes when he meets a strange new visitor to the planet, an advanced probe robot called Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator or EVE (Elissa Knight), and falls in love with the sleek female robot at first sight. After EVE comes to realize that WALL-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the Earth’s future, she races into space to return to the human flagship, the Axiom, where she will report her findings. Meanwhile, the smitten WALL-E has followed her.

WALL-E has the usual ingredients of that help make Pixar movies such huge hits, like exotic settings, splendid storytelling, winning characters and quirky but charming concepts. What makes WALL-E even more special is that it is the first Pixar film that is also a cautionary tale. The film assaults so many things that we hold dear: our materialism (as exemplified by the world-controlling mega-corporation, BnL or “Buy n Large”), gluttony (which results in obesity), our throwaway lifestyle (thus, the piles of garbage), and the instant gratification that high-tech gadgets offer.

This is the kind of thoughtful science fiction that American audiences rarely get. Director Andrew Stanton and his co-writers, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, tackle our modern malaise and short-sightedness, the grasping corporation with their voracious appetites for wealth in almost any form, and our insipid and incompetent politicians.

Yet WALL-E, like other Pixar flicks is inimitably entertaining. All the robots, not just WALL-E and EVE, have such sparkling characters. Perhaps, that is the true magic of Pixar, the ability to fabricate humanity in any fictional characters – from a pack rat robot that picks up garbage and collects odds and ends to a busy-body sanitation robot neurotically cleaning contaminants. The voice performances (especially Ben Burtt’s) make all the characters, even the robots, seem uncannily human. The eventual robot mini-rebellion, which is a much smarter spin on man vs. machine than even The Terminator or The Matrix, provides the frenetic action-comedy that Pixar films always offer.

Thomas Newman’s exuberant score is consistently pitch perfect. It gives color to the film’s silent movie-like first act and helps brings the budding romance of WALL-E and EVE to life. Newman’s compositions turn the drama, conflict, and tension of the last half-hour into a whirlwind of action that just might take your breath away.

What else can I say? As usual, Pixar delivers, but this time WALL-E is especially special. It tells a wonderful love story, and asks us to love our world and to take care of ourselves. This is a visionary work.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2009 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (Andrew Stanton); 5 nominations: “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Thomas Newman); “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” (Peter Gabriel-music/lyrics and Thomas Newman- music for the song "Down to Earth"), “Best Achievement in Sound” (Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, and Ben Burtt), “Best Achievement in Sound Editing” (Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood), “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Andrew Stanton-screenplay/story, Jim Reardon-screenplay, and Pete Docter-story)

2009 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Animated Film” (Andrew Stanton); 2 nominations: “Best Music” (Thomas Newman) and “Best Sound” (Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, and Matthew Wood); 2008 BAFTA Children's Award Best Feature Film (Jim Morris and Andrew Stanton)

2009 Golden Globes: 1 win: Best Animated Feature Film; 1 nomination: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Peter Gabriel-music/lyrics and Thomas Newman-music for the song "Down to Earth")

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

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