Review: "Shoot 'Em Up" is Empty Calories (Happy B'day, Clive Owen)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 5 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

Shoot ‘Em Up (2007)
Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive strong bloody violence, sexuality, and some language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Michael Davis
PRODUCERS: Rick Benattar, Susan Montford, and Don Murphy
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Pau
EDITOR: Peter Amundson

ACTION

Starring: Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, Monica Bellucci, Stephen McHattie, Julian Richings, Tony Munch, and Lucas and Sidney Mende-Gibson

Writer/director Michael Davis’ film, Shoot ‘Em Up, may not be the last word in action movies, but dressed in a hail of bullets, Davis’ film certainly seems familiar with the best gunfights from the last three decades worth of American and Hong Kong action movies.

Mr. Smith (Clive Owen) is a mysterious man, but the one thing obvious about him is that he seems to be the angriest, most hardboiled man in the world. Now, this mysterious loner gets to play Mr. Hero when he delivers a woman’s baby during an intense shoot-out. Mr. Smith discovers that the infant boy, whom he dubs, “Oliver” (Lucas and Sidney Mende-Gibson), is the target of a ruthless killer named Hertz (Paul Giamatti) and his seemingly endless supply of gun-toting henchmen.

Smith teams up with an old acquaintance, a prostitute named Donna Quintano or “DQ” (Monica Bellucci), and the duo try to protect Oliver until Smith can discover why the baby is a target. Running through a storm of bullets and facing every conceivable (and some inconceivable) permutation of a gunfight, Smith takes the battle to Hertz in order to see who will be the last man standing.

Shoot ‘Em Up is gleefully sleazy and cheerfully offensive, and the cast knows it. Because the leads Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti play it strait with nary a wink or a nudge at the audience, we buy into this implausible, but highly entertaining nonsense. We’re all having fun, and this hyperactive bash isn’t witless, nor does it shoot itself in the foot. Owen and Giamatti are both fine actors and true movie stars; they simply know just how much to give and how to give it.

Davis has conceived a feast of gunfights that are both breathtaking and imaginative. Owen and Giamatti pull them off. Owen’s gun battle in the sky late in the film is so good that it lifts Shoot ‘Em Up’s pedigree. The final duel between Hertz and Smith is a showdown that is as much classic Western as it is Coen Bros. or Sam Raimi.

A movie that is largely just one extended, elaborate shoot out seems like, at best, a bad idea, and, at worse, a giant stink bomb. Shoot ‘Em Up, however, is a high concept built around something movies do well – create superb visual imagery and captivating visual moments and sequences. It may be low brow, but Shoot ‘Em Up is full of artful fun, cinematic thrills, and even a laugh or two (or three) at the expense of the gun lobby.

6 of 10
B

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

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"The Lives of Others" is the Best Film of 2006

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 123 (of 2007) by Leroy Douressaux


The Lives of Others (2006)
Das Leben der Andersen – original title
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany
Running time: 137 minutes (2 hours, 17 minutes)
MPAA – R for some sexuality/nudity
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
PRODUCERS: Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hagen Bogdanski
EDITOR: Patricia Rommel
2007 Academy Award winner

DRAMA/HISTORICAL/THRILLER

Starring: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, Thomas Thieme, Hans-uwe Bauer, Volkmar Kleinert, Ulrich Tukur, and Matthias Brenner

Das Leben der Andersen or The Lives of Others is a nuanced human drama that portrays life in the GDR – the German Democratic Republic – or as it was better known, East Germany, during the mid-1980’s. The film won the 2007 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year (as a representative of Germany), and this riveting indictment of life under state-sponsored altruism ultimately shows that humans have the ability to do the right thing even after doing the wrong thing so long.

The film opens five years before Glasnost and the ultimate fall of the Berlin Wall. East Germans live under the watchful eye of the Stasi, the state police (security). Two Stasi officers, Captain Gerd Weisler (Ulrich Mühe) and his superior and longtime friend, Lt. Col. Anton Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur) attend the premiere of the new stage play from the famous playwright, Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch). There, the two men meet the head of the Ministry for State Security, Minister Bruno Hempf (Thomas Thieme), who promptly informs Weisler and Grubitz that he does not trust Dreyman to be loyal to the SED – East Germany’s ruling Socialist Union Party – and suggests putting Dreyman under surveillance.

Eager to boost his own political career, Grubitz entrusts the surveillance to Weisler, who promises to personally oversee the operation. While Dreyman and his live-in girlfriend, actress Christa-Marie Sieland (Martina Gedeck), are away from their apartment, Weisler has the apartment systematically bugged. After a friend kills himself, Dreyman begins to secretly research and write about the GDR’s high suicide rates, which the government wishes to keep secret. This piques Weisler’s interest as something to watch. However, when he discovers the real reason for Hempf’s interest in Dreyman, Weisler becomes disillusioned with the Stasi’s goal to know everything about “the lives of others,” but what can one man do about it?

That this is Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s first feature-length film is difficult to believe. He makes it look easy to recreate a frightening time and place that rings with so much truth and authenticity. With such grace and subtlety, he indicts a system that uses the fear of imprisonment or death at every turn to keep the populace in line. Almost as bad as imprisonment is to have the government deny an individual the ability to practice his profession, as is tragically depicted in the matter of one of Georg Dreyman’s friends. The viewer can feel the soul-draining and spirit-killing oppression, or even worse, feel the desperation with which some are willing to sacrifice what little freedom and choice they have to serve the state. Donnersmarck rightly exposes how “for the good of state” and “for the security, safety, and well-being of everyone” not only robs the individual of his individuality, but also steals the right of all people of their right to freedom of expression. Ultimately, it leads to a spiritual death and perhaps, also a physical death.

The performances are great, in particularly Ulrich Mühe, whose Capt. Weisler is the center point of this narrative. Mühe skillfully sells Weisler’s jealous and blind zeal, and then takes us on Weisler’s journey of redemption in a manner that seems authentic. Martina Gedeck and Sebastian Koch as the high profile couple are fantastic in creating a full-fleshed out, three-dimensional and believable couple that loves and fights and then, makes up and expresses a deep love that goes beyond the physical into the spiritual.

For its triumphant portrayal of life and survival under monstrous oppression and state control, The Lives of Others is one of the five best films of 2007.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 1 win for “Best Foreign Language Film of the Year (Germany)

2007 Golden Globes: 1 nomination for “Best Foreign Language Film”

"Naruto Shippuden: Bonds" on Blu-ray October 25th

VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF THE HIGH FLYING NINJA ACTION OF NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE: BONDS ON DVD AND BLU-RAY

The World’s Most Popular Ninja Returns In A Brand New Anime Feature Film And Faces Down A Dangerous Airborne Menace!

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, is proud to announce the DVD and Blu-ray release of the latest NARUTO feature film on October 25th. NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE: BONDS will be the first Blu-ray release from the international anime franchise to hit North American shores, and is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens and priced at $24.98 (Blu-ray) and $19.98 (DVD) in both the U.S. and Canada.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE: BONDS is packed with dynamic action and visually stunning fight scenes, giving devoted fans and newcomers alike a chance to experience NARUTO SHIPPUDEN like never before! In the movie, a group of mysterious flying ninja have arrived from overseas to launch a sudden attack against the Hidden Leaf Village, leaving behind a wake of destruction. The group is revealed to be the “Sky Ninja” from the Land of Sky, a nation thought to have been destroyed by the Hidden Leaf Village long ago. To save their village, Naruto and his friends set out to stop this new threat. During the course of the mission, Naruto crosses paths with Sasuke, his friend who has parted ways from the Leaf Village.

“This is the second feature film in the NARUTO SHIPPUDEN story arc and fans won’t want to miss even a second of the high flying ninja action in this latest anime adventure!” says Brian Ige, Vice President, Animation. “October will be a month full of NARUTO fun as VIZ Media plans a special U.S. theatrical premiere of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE: BONDS during New York Comic Con and also celebrates the birthday of the world’s most popular ninja the same month. Look for this latest release coming soon to retailers nationwide!”

In the NARUTO manga and animated series, Naruto Uzumaki wants to be the best ninja in the land. He's done well so far, but Naruto knows he must train harder than ever and leaves his village for intense exercises that will push him to his limits. NARUTO SHIPPUDEN begins two and a half years later, when Naruto returns to find that everyone has been promoted up the ninja ranks – except him. Sakura’s a medic ninja, Gaara’s advanced to Kazekage, and Kakashi…well he remains the same. But pride isn’t necessarily becoming of a ninja, especially when Naruto realizes that Sasuke never returned from his search for Orochimaru. Plus, the mysterious Akatsuki organization is still an ever-present danger. As Naruto finds out more about the Akatsuki’s goals, he realizes that nothing in his universe is as it seems. Naruto is finding that he’s older, but will he also prove wiser and stronger?

More information on NARUTO is available at http://www.naruto.com/.

Negrotober

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 smart phones apps).

Computer problems have kept me from updating for a few days.  Thank you for your continued patronage.

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

Review: "Lianna" is a Great and Groundbreaking Film That Should Not Be Lost (Happy B'day, John Sayles)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 44 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Lianna (1983)
Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – R
EDITOR/WRITER/DIRECTOR: John Sayles
PRODUCERS: Jeffrey Nelson and Maggie Renzi
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Austin De Besche
COMPOSER: Mason Daring

DRAMA

Starring: Linda Griffiths, Jane Hallaren, Jon DeVries, Jo Henderson, Jessica Wight MacDonald, Jesse Solomon, John Sayles, Stephen Mendillo, Betsy Julia Robinson, Nancy Mette, and Maggie Renzi

Lianna was acclaimed independent filmmaker John Sayles second feature directorial effort. It’s the story of Lianna (Linda Griffiths), a wife and mother of two children who falls in love with another woman. Her marriage to Dick (Jon DeVries), an English professor, isn’t a happy one since Dick is mostly arrogant towards her and cheats on Lianna with his female students. Lianna eventually falls in love with her professor Ruth (Jane Hallaren). The relationship is not only a revelation for Lianna, but it’s also an awakening of long dormant feelings she’s had since she was in her early teens.

Lianna leaves her marriage for Ruth, and that throws her life into a kind of tailspin. The philandering Dick feels sexually betrayed, while Lianna’s children, Spencer (Jesse Solomon) and Theda (Jessica Wight MacDonald), are curious, hurt, and confused. Lianna’s friends and associates are not hostile to her because of the change, but they’re either distant or ambivalent. Things get a little hairy when Ruth starts to take up a prior lesbian relationship that still has life in it. That drives a wedge between her and Lianna, who often succumbs to bouts of loneliness.

The performances are wonderful and rich, though they seem a bit stiff early in the film. I give most of the credit to Sayles, who has a knack for getting us in close to the characters, giving us an intimate view of their lives. His method, although unobtrusive, is actually kind of controlling. He has an intense focus on being true to the writing and letting the actors play out what they pick up from the written page. This is his way of making us focus on the drama. His filmmaking is free of eye candy and pyrotechnics, so he leaves the audience only the bare bones of drama, which is quite a meal in itself.

Another great thing about his films is that they seem so real. It’s as if a John Sayles picture is actually a peak into the lives of real characters. There is no phoniness in his films, and the questions raised by each film have no easy or obvious answers. Still, Sayles has way of making us glue ourselves to the picture, and Liana is one of his best efforts. It’s also a non-sensational and rather matter-of-fact look at a straight married woman in the throes of a burgeoning attraction to the same sex.

Lianna is scandalous without the noise, and it’s passionate without being tawdry. Most of all, it is human and real while still being drama. I wish that Sayles would have given us a deeper look at the impact of Lianna’s affair with another woman on her children, but what Sayles does give us is quality work.

9 of 10

A+

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Review: "Shakespeare in Love" is Always a Delight (Happy B'day, Gwyneth Paltrow)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 215 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Running time: 122 minutes (2 hours, 2 minutes)
MPAA – R for sexuality
DIRECTOR: John Madden
WRITERS: Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard
PRODUCERS: Donna Gigliotti, Marc Norman, David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, and Edward Zwick
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Richard Greatrex
EDITOR: David Gamble
Academy Award winner

ROMANCE/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, Ben Affleck, Judi Dench, Martin Clunes, Simon Callow, Imelda Staunton, Nicholas Le Prevost, and Joe Roberts with Rupert Everett

When Gwyneth Paltrow won the Oscar for “Best Actress in a Leading role” at the 1999 Oscar ceremonies, few were surprised. When the picture in which she starred, Shakespeare in Love, won the “Best Picture” Oscar, jaws around the world dropped; after all, the film to beat was Steven Spielberg’s oh-so-important, Saving Private Ryan. Well, Shakespeare in Love did beat it. Years later, I still would pick Ryan over Shakespeare, but Shakespeare in Love is a much better movie going experience. The film also won Oscars for “Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Judi Dench), “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration,” “Best Costume Design,” “Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score,” and “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.”

What’s the story that captured the hearts and imaginations of moviegoers, film critics, and award givers? It’s 1593, and young playwright William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is a mess. He’s out of ideas, suffering writer’s block, entangled in too many romantic or lustful intrigues, living far way from his wife and children, and he’s out of money. As he struggles to finish his new play, a comedy with the awkward title, Romeo and Ethel the Sea Pirate’s Daughter, he accidentally discovers his muse in a new actor, Thomas Kent (Gwyneth Paltrow). When Kent runs away from his admiring stare, Will Shakespeare chases after him and discovers that Kent is a she, Viola de Lesseps (Ms. Paltrow), the daughter of a wealthy commoner. It’s love at first sight for the both of them, but Viola’s father (Nicholas Le Prevost) has promised his daughter’s hand in marriage to a penniless nobleman, Lord Wessex (Colin Firth).

However, the engagement doesn’t temper their love and they carry on a clandestine affair that leads to the stage. Will gives the part of Romeo to Viola, but her gender remains a secret to him, while the other actors and the backers of the newly renamed Romeo and Juliet believe their Romeo is played by Thomas Kent. (In Elizabethan England, women are not allowed on stage, boys and young men with high voices play the parts of women.) Soon Will and Viola’s affair and secret will be painfully revealed to the world and to her angry husband-to-be.

Shakespeare in Love is light and frothy, but quite entertaining; it is very likely a delight to those familiar with William Shakespeare and his plays. However, the film gives Will such a contemporary spin that even the least informed about Shakespeare may very well like this. Now, for those without a clue, they will have to rely on the filmmaking and storytelling. As a romance, the film often works like a romance novel, or at best, historical fiction: lots of heat, lots of hot lovemaking, and a bit too much overwrought dialogue that too many times comes close to being pure purple prose.

The acting by the leads Ms. Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes is good, but not great. Fiennes’s performance ranges from overdone and pretentious to flamboyant and yearning. Seriously, Ms. Paltrow’s performance is hardly award-winning material, but that’s never stopped Oscar. Still, there’s something about the two of them that makes this work. It’s that intangible element or chemistry that takes everything shoddy or overdone about this film and makes it such a tasty confection, that you’ll come back again and again, even if you keep thinking that there seems to be an awful lot of air packed into this movie ice cream.

There are some very good performances: Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Geoffrey Rush, and Simon Firth. The music is quite good, sweet and pleasant to the ear. The production values give the viewer the sense that they have been transported to somewhere else, another world if not another time. Then again, that intangible something may be director John Madden who brought the ingredients together and made a dessert that deserves encore performances.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
1999 Academy Awards: 7 wins: “Best Picture” (David Parfitt, Donna Gigliotti, Harvey Weinstein, Edward Zwick, and Marc Norman), “Best Actress in a Leading Role” (Gwyneth Paltrow), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Judi Dench), “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Martin Childs and Jill Quertier), “Best Costume Design” (Sandy Powell), “Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score” (Stephen Warbeck) and “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard); 6 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Geoffrey Rush), “Best Cinematography” (Richard Greatrex), “Best Director” (John Madden), “Best Film Editing” (David Gamble), “Best Makeup” (Lisa Westcott and Veronica McAleer), and “Best Sound” (Robin O'Donoghue, Dominic Lester, and Peter Glossop)

1999 BAFTA Awards: 3 wins: “Best Film” (David Parfitt, Donna Gigliotti, Harvey Weinstein, Edward Zwick, and Marc Norman), “Best Editing” (David Gamble), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Judi Dench); 12 nominations: “Asquith Award for Film Music” (Stephen Warbeck), “Best Cinematography” (Richard Greatrex), “Best Costume Design” (Sandy Powell), “Best Make Up/Hair” (Lisa Westcott), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Joseph Fiennes), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Geoffrey Rush), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Tom Wilkinson), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Gwyneth Paltrow), “Best Production Design” (Martin Childs), “Best Screenplay – Original” (Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard), “Best Sound” (Peter Glossop, John Downer, Robin O'Donoghue, and Dominic Lester), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (John Madden)

1999 Golden Globes: 3 wins: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical,” “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” (Gwyneth Paltrow), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard); 3 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (John Madden), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Geoffrey Rush), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Judi Dench)

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Happy Birthday, Jay

Yes, I know "Jay" is not for "Junior."  Happy 26th!