Review: "The Smurfs" Movie is Smurfy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 51 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Smurfs (2011)
Running time:  103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some mild rude humor and action
DIRECTOR:  Raja Gosnell
WRITERS:  J. David Stem, David N. Weiss, Jay Scherick, and David Ronn; from a story by J. David Stem and David N. Weiss (based on the characters created by and works of Peyo)
PRODUCER:  Jordan Kerner
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Phil Meheux (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Sabrina Plisco
COMPOSER:  Heitor Pereira

FANTASY/ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara, Tim Gunn; voices: Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, Katy Perry, Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin, Kenan Thompson, John Oliver, Paul Reubens, and Frank Welker

The Smurfs is a 2011 fantasy movie and family comedy film from director Raja Gosnell.  Presented in 3D, The Smurfs is a hybrid live-action and computer-animated movie, because many of the characters and scenes are created using computer-animation (also known as CG animation).  The Smurfs movie finds the tiny blue Smurfs chased by the evil wizard Gargamel from their magical world into the real world.

The Smurfs, originally known in French as “Les Schtroumpfs,” began as a Belgian comic created by Belgian comics artist Peyo (the pen name of Pierre Culliford).  Over time, The Smurfs became a media franchise that included animated televisions series and movies, dolls and toys, and theme parks, among many things.  The huge popularity of the Smurfs in the United States is due in large part to the long-running Saturday morning animated series, “Smurfs,” (produced by Hanna-Barbera) that originally aired from September 1981 to December 1989.

I initially did not expect much from it, but I found The Smurfs movie to be a surprisingly well-made and entertaining family film.

The film opens as the Smurfs are busy preparing for their Festival of the Blue Moon.  While his Smurfs are engaged with their work, Papa Smurf (Jonathan Winters) is concerned by a troubling vision he has that involves Clumsy Smurf (Anton Yelchin).  Meanwhile, the evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria) is determined to find the Smurfs’ village, so that he can capture them.  Gargamel wants to extract “Smurf essence” from each Smurf’s body that will in turn give him great magical power.

One of the Smurfs inadvertently leads Gargamel and his cat, Azrael (Frank Welker), to the village.  The Smurfs escape, but Papa Smurf, Smurfette (Katy Perry), Grouchy (George Lopez), Clumsy, Brainy (Fred Armisen), and Gutsy (Alan Cumming) end up in Forbidden Falls, where they are transported to present-day New York City.  Gargamel and Azrael are close behind, so the Smurfs find refuge with a young couple, Patrick Winslow (Neil Patrick Harris) and pregnant wife, Grace (Jayma Mays).  Can Smurfs and humans find common ground before Gargamel manages to kidnap the Smurfs and extract some Smurf essence?

The Smurfs movie can be overly sentimental, even sappy, and its gauzy version of middle class values may be a bit too flimsy for adults.  One cannot deny, however, that The Smurfs movie is sweet like your grandmother.  That sweetness is personified by two endearing characters, Grace Winslow and Clumsy Smurf; they’re like kettle chips – you can’t get enough of them.

For most of their existence in comics, film, and television, the Smurfs have been drawn, so I did not think I would like computer-generated Smurfs.  The 3D aspect of computer-animation, however, turns the Smurfs into something tangible; they’re like lovable, huggable, little plush figures.  CGI does indeed bring them to life, and the voice performances put the finishing touches that make the Smurfs seem real.

I cannot forget to give Hank Azaria credit for a fantastic performance as Gargamel.  Although known for his voice work on the long-running series, The Simpsons,” Azaria is a superb character actor, and his Gargamel easily surpasses the 1980s cartoon version.  Azaria’s Gargamel is also one of the best villains ever to appear in a live-action children’s film.  Azrael, a combination of real cats and CGI, is also a winning character, in large part because of the “voice” work of the great Frank Welker.  Welker and Jonathan Winters, who voices Papa Smurf, are the only returning voice actors from the 1980s Smurfs animated series.

So, The Smurfs 2011 is sugary and satisfying.  Simply put, if you ever loved the Smurfs, then, you owe it to yourself to see this movie.

6 of 10
B

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Review: "Blade: Trinity" is An Average End to a Special Franchise (Happy B'day, Wesley Snipes)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 240 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blade: Trinity (2004)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong pervasive violence and language, and some sexual content
DIRECTOR:  David S. Goyer
WRITER:  David S. Goyer (based upon characters by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan)
PRODUCERS:  Wesley Snipes, Peter Frankfurt, Lynn Harris, and David S. Goyer
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Gabriel Beristain
EDITORS:  Conrad Smart and Howard E. Smith
COMPOSERS:  Ramin Djawadi and The RZA

ACTION/HORROR/FANTASY

Starring:  Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Biel, Parker Posey, Cascy Beddow, Dominic Purcell, Triple H (Paul Michael Levesque), Natasha Lyonne, Eric Bogosian, Vitaly Kravchenko, James Remar, and Patton Oswalt

The subject of this movie review is Blade: Trinity, a 2004 vampire horror and superhero action movie from writer-director David S. Goyer.  It is the third and final movie in the Blade film series produced by New Line Cinema.  Blade: Trinity finds Blade a wanted man by the FBI and forced to unite with a band of vampire hunters called the Nightstalkers in order to battle his most challenging opponent ever, Dracula.

Early in Blade: Trinity, a group of vampires by led nasty girl vamp princess, Danica Talos (Parker Posey), awakens the original vampire, Dracula (Dominic Purcell), who is buried deep within a pyramid in Iraq.  Apparently, the vampires are desperate to rid themselves of their mortal enemy, the vampire hunter, Blade (Wesley Snipes), aka the Daywalker, and hope Dracula, who goes by the name Drake, will defeat Blade.  Meanwhile, Danica and her crew have also set Blade up so that he mistakenly kills a human he thinks is a vampire.  The murder sets the corrupt police and media against him.  The FBI track Blade to his new lair and launch an attack.  During the strike, Blade’s mentor, father figure, and weapons creator, Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), is killed, and the FBI captures Blade.

Enter The Nightstalkers, a group of human vampire hunters, Blade never knew existed.  One of them is Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel), Abraham Whistler’s out-of-wedlock daughter, and she is an ass-kicking, bow-hunting babe who doesn’t flinch from going toe to toe with bloodsuckers.  Add a third partner to Blade and Abigail, and you have a trinity.  The third player is the buff, wise-cracking Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds), who was once turned into a vampire, and later cured by Abigail.  Together, the trio must hunt down Drake and his vampire cabal and stop them from implementing the vampire final solution against humanity.

Blade: Trinity is the least in terms of quality of the three Blade films, but it still manages to be a thrill (sometimes).  Writer/director David S. Goyer (who also wrote the screenplays for the previous Blade films) and cinematographer Gabriel Beristain (who also shot Blade II) were also determined to make this film look different from the previous two.  Blade: Trinity looks like an extended music video, but the photography has the crystal clear quality of digital video, so much so that the film looks like a television program shot in high definition.  Goyer also dropped a lot of the muddy and murky CGI that didn’t always work in Blade II.

It’s the performances that really hamper Blade: Trinity; in fact, it wouldn’t be too mean to say that the acting is atrocious.  Wesley Snipes always played Blade as stoic, with little to say except for a few lines delivered in a thuggish monotone.  However, Snipes is often too stiff, here.  He’s is too “in character,” and that keeps Blade from interacting with the other characters.  Granted Blade is a loner, but he goes overboard this time.  There are huge segments in this film in which he hardly utters more than a few grumbles.  Thankfully, towards the end of the film, he does come to life as a badass delivering the kind of lines that would fit right into a blaxtiploitation or Quentin Tarantino movie.

Ryan Reynolds really tries to liven up this film as Hannibal King, but rarely is anybody up to his challenge.  His lines are always funny, but often fall flat or are lost in the moroseness of the rest of the cast.  Jessica Biel is almost undead herself in this film, but she’s fine and pretty and moves well; that saves her performance (a little).  Parker Posey is miscast and is made up to look like an ugly, pasty-white trash, hag vampire.  Though she has a (very) few moments, she’s simply annoying.  If Dominic Purcell gets anything out of this film, it’s that he’s one of the worst and least intriguing Dracula’s in cinema history; that would include Dracula’s that have appeared in Scooby-Doo cartoons and other Hanna-Barbera animated programs.

The stiff (non) acting is what makes Blade: Trinity seem so listless and clunky for about half the film’s running time – that and the fact that the vampires spend most of the time brooding and hiding in their tacky skyscraper/palace.  Blade: Trinity is as much a hunt as it is a waiting game, but the waiting is the hardest part.  The film is pretty to look at, and the film score (co-written by The RZA of The Wu-Tang Clan who also co-wrote music for Tarantino’s Kill Bill films) and soundtrack are killer.  But for all the credit I give Goyer, the film’s plot is… dumb and stretched thin, and falls apart to almost nonexistence.  At times, the film is lethargic and meanders, playing a waiting game until the final act.  Though I love Blade, even I have to admit that unless you’re a fan of the series, you can catch this one when it’s on home video.

5 of 10
B-

Update:  Wednesday, July 31, 2013

----------------------------------

-----------------------------------

Disney's D23 Expo 2013 Takes Fans Behind the Scenes

The Walt Disney Studios Takes Fans behind the Scenes at Disney’s D23 Expo, August 9–11

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Exclusively at Disney’s D23 Expo August 9–11 at the Anaheim Convention Center, Disney fans are invited to explore the incredible roster of film, stage, and music projects on the horizon at The Walt Disney Studios, with a variety of panel discussions, sneak peeks, and exhibits.

This year the Studio will present two arena shows, kicking off the Expo at 10 a.m. Friday, August 9, with “Art and Imagination: Animation at The Walt Disney Studios,” a showcase of upcoming animated films from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, and DisneyToon Studios. John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Disney’s Animation Studios, will host a lively exhibition chock-full of never-before-seen footage, celebrity and filmmaker appearances, and live performances from films like Disney’s Frozen, Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur and the Mickey Mouse short Get a Horse!. Then at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, August 10, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, Disney Live Action Production President Sean Bailey, and Marvel Studios President and Producer Kevin Feige will host “Let the Adventures Begin: Live Action at The Walt Disney Studios,” an expedition through the Studio’s exciting live-action offerings from Disney as well as several powerhouse pictures on tap from Marvel Studios, with exclusive clips and surprise guests from a range of films including Saving Mr. Banks, Tomorrowland, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and much more.

Fans can expect appearances from Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel (Frozen), Dane Cook (Disney’s Planes), Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak (Saving Mr. Banks), Ty Burrell (Muppets Most Wanted) and top Marvel and Disney•Pixar talent. And in typical D23 Expo fashion, fans can also anticipate surprise appearances from more of their favorite stars.

In “Broadway & Beyond…Celebrating the Stars of Disney on Broadway,” Friday, August 9 at 6:30 p.m., audiences will take a musical journey with Disney Theatrical Productions President Thomas Schumacher and a bevy of stage stars, including Heidi Blickenstaff (The Little Mermaid), Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast), Merle Dandridge (Tarzan® and AIDA), Josh Strickland (Tarzan) and Alton Fitzgerald White (The Lion King), who sing beloved songs from the award-winning musicals they starred in as well as classic tunes from the Disney on Broadway catalog.

Throughout the weekend, fans will have the opportunity to go behind the scenes with the animation artists at Disney and Pixar with several featured panels, including:

* Inside the Ice: The Art of Disney’s Frozen – Walt Disney Animation Studios’ big-screen comedy adventure Frozen, with its icy setting and colorful cast of characters, presented breathtaking opportunities, plus a few challenges for filmmakers. Join the team behind the movie for an exclusive look at the art and animation of Frozen. (Saturday, August 10, 10:30 a.m.)

* The Art of The Good Dinosaur – Pixar Animation Studios’ latest feature explores what might have happened if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct. Take a closer look at this imaginative world of possibility and the artistry and production design behind it. (Saturday, August 10, 3 p.m.)

* Toy Story OF TERROR! and the Motivation Behind Pixar’s Short Form Content – From toys on vacation to tow-riffic four wheelers, Pixar keeps some of their most beloved characters alive and well through short-form content. Angus MacLane, director of Toy Story OF TERROR!, a new adventure featuring Woody, Buzz and the Toy Story gang set for release on TV this fall; producer Galyn Susman; and other Pixar short-form filmmakers share their experiences and discuss the exciting challenges of expanding the worlds of these characters loved by audiences across the globe. (Saturday, August 10, 5 p.m.)

* Pixar: Doing Our Homework – Research is an integral part of the filmmaking process, and with a story in hand, Pixar artists set out to become experts, immersing themselves in places, people and experiences that inspire and inform their filmmaking, whether it be spirited Scots, delectable French cuisine, or deep sea adventures. (Friday, August 9, 6 p.m.)

* Women of Pixar – Jessie. Dory. Sally. Merida. Although they never cross paths and exist in different worlds, these iconic Pixar females have one thing in common: girl power. Meet a dynamic group of women from Pixar, whose experience and success at the studio have helped craft some of the most memorable animated films in recent history. They will share stories from their journeys and the lessons they have learned along the way. (Sunday, August 11, 1 p.m.)

Expo attendees will also have access to an Exclusive Screening of Disney’s Planes in 3D, featuring an introduction by some very special guests. (Friday, August 9, 3 p.m.)

As Disney welcomes Lucasfilm into the family, fans will have a chance to delve deep in the Star Wars universe with “Crash Course in the Force: Star Wars Saga 101,” an immersive journey into the rich history of the worldwide phenomenon, led by Lucasfilm’s resident authority Pablo Hidalgo. (Saturday, August 10, 5 p.m.)

Music fans will be treated to performances by Good Luck Charlie star and platinum-selling Hollywood Records artist Bridgit Mendler, and Hollywood Records artists R5, fronted by Teen Beach Movie and Austin & Ally star Ross Lynch. D23 will also present Richard Sherman and Alan Menken, two of the world’s most celebrated songwriters and composers who have won a combined 10 Academy Awards for their work with Disney. In addition, Grammy® Award-winning producer and resident Disney Music Historian, Randy Thornton, will take fans on a musical journey with inside stories of songs written for classic Disney films.

Out on the Expo floor, fans can explore the world of The Walt Disney Studios at their leisure with comprehensive exhibits, including:

* Walt Disney Animation Studios Pavilion – Attendees can summon their inner artist and escape into diverse worlds of where there’s much to explore, from the stunning snow-covered setting of Frozen to the high-tech, action-packed world of Big Hero 6, featuring the latest animation technology, sneak peeks, and giveaways.

* Disneytoon Studios Pavilion – Aviation aficionados and fairy fans will be on cloud nine as they explore projects including Disney’s Planes and immerse themselves in the world of Pixie Hollow and the magical heroines from Disney’s Fairies with exciting demonstrations and presentations.

* Walt Disney Studios In-Home Entertainment Zones – Dive into cutting-edge home entertainment technology and learn what the future holds for Disney movie fans, with sneak peeks of upcoming films in breathtaking high-definition Blu-ray 3D™, including new hit films and new-to-Blu classics, the latest on Disney Second Screen and more. Also, the adorable Disney "Buddies" are back with an all-new movie—Super Buddies—coming August 27! Fans can get a picture with one of the real puppy super heroes. They are appearing live at D23 Expo for the first time—Saturday and Sunday!

Tickets for the D23 Expo are $57 for a one-day adult admission and $47 for children 3–12. Tickets for members of D23: The Official Disney Fan Club are $50 for a one-day adult admission and $42 for children. Multi-day money-saving tickets are also available for both D23 Members and the general public, and D23 Members can save as much as $84 off the price of admission, based on the purchase of four three-day tickets at the D23 Member rate. For more information on tickets and the ticket pricing structure for members and general admission, visit D23Expo.com.

About D23 Expo 2013
The D23 Expo—The Ultimate Disney Fan Event—brings the entire world of Disney under one roof, providing attendees with unprecedented access to Disney films, television, and theme parks. For the latest D23 Expo 2013 news, visit D23Expo.com. To be part of the D23 Expo conversation, make sure to follow @DisneyD23 and tag your tweets with #D23Expo.

About D23
The name “D23” pays homage to the exciting journey that began in 1923 when Walt Disney opened his fledgling studio in Hollywood. D23 is the first official club for fans in Disney’s nearly 90-year history. D23 gives its members a greater connection to the entire world of Disney by placing them in the middle of the magic through its quarterly publication Disney twenty-three; a rich website at D23.com with members-only content; and member-exclusive discounts and special events for D23 Members throughout the year, highlighted by the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, August 9–11, 2013.

Fans can join D23 at Gold, Silver, and Free Membership levels at D23.com and at www.DisneyStore.com/D23. To keep up with all the latest D23 news and events, follow us @DisneyD23 on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Review: "Mystic River" is Really Good, But is Too Damn Bleak (Happy B'day, Laurence Fishburne)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 92 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mystic River (2003)
Running time:  138 minutes (2 hours, 18 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and violence
DIRECTOR:  Clint Eastwood
WRITER:  Brian Helgeland (from the novel by Dennis Lehane)
PRODUCERS:  Clint Eastwood, Judie G. Hoyt, and Robert Lorenz
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Tom Stern (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Joel Cox
COMPOSER:  Clint Eastwood
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/CRIME

Starring:  Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, Kevin Chapman, Thomas Guiry, Emmy Rossum, Spencer Treat Clark, Andrew Mackin, Adam Nelson, and Robert Wahlberg

The subject of this movie review is Mystic River, a 2003 crime drama from director Clint Eastwood.  The film is based on Mystic River, the 2001 novel from author Dennis Lehane.  Mystic River focuses on three men who are reunited by circumstance after the daughter of one of the men is murdered.

Clint Eastwood’s film Mystic River was one of the most acclaimed films of 2003, and it earned several Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director.  However, thanks to the onslaught that was The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at the 2004 Academy Awards, Mystic River only picked up the two “Best Actor” awards:  Leading Role (Sean Penn) and Supporting Role (Tim Robbins).

Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn), Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins), and Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon) are three childhood friends reunited after Markum’s daughter, Katie (Emmy Rossum), is found brutally murdered.  Their reunion is at cross-purposes, however.  Markum is small time hood, Devine is the investigator with the State Police investigating Katie’s murder, and Boyle survived being kidnapped and sexually assaulted when the three men were boys.  When Boyle becomes the lead suspect, the reunion spirals towards tragedy.

Mystic River is a very good film, but ultimately it’s a bit too cold for too long.  At times, I could have sworn that I was watching Clint Eastwood directing a drama as a formal dinner party.  Mystic River is professional and slick, as well as being raw and gritty.  The film has weight and gravity, but it all seems so laid back and cool.  Not until the last 20 minutes does the film really begin to unleash a tour de force of film drama, but those closing scenes are alien to the rest of the film.

Mystic River really plays with the idea that people are interconnected; the action or inaction of one has inevitable, although unseen, consequences upon another – neat but pat.  Besides, the award winning performances of Penn and Robbins, Kevin Bacon and especially Laurence Fishburne have the roles that anchor the film and they almost steal the show.  In the end Mystic River is all good, but waits for the closing act to show how really good it can be.  If you like dour dramas with good acting, this one is for you, but it’s not an exceptional work of movie art.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards, USA:  2 wins: “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Sean Penn) and “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Tim Robbins); 4 nominations: “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Marcia Gay Harden), “Best Director” (Clint Eastwood), “Best Picture” (Robert Lorenz, Judie Hoyt, and Clint Eastwood), and “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Brian Helgeland)

2004 BAFTA Awards:  4 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Sean Penn), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Tim Robbins), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Laura Linney), and “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (Brian Helgeland)

2004 Golden Globes, USA:  2 wins: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Sean Penn) and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Tim Robbins); 3 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Clint Eastwood), “Best Motion Picture – Drama” (Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Brian Helgeland)

Updated: Monday, July 08, 2013

----------------------------------

Review: "Belle de jour" is Trippy and Dream-Like (Remembering Luis Buñuel)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 29 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Belle de Jour (1967)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  France/Italy; Language:  French
Running time:  101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
DIRECTOR:  Luis Bunuel
WRITERS:  Jean-Claude Carriere and Luis Bunuel (from the novel by Joseph Kessel)
PRODUCERS:  Henri Baum, Raymond Hakim, and Robert Hakim
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Sacha Vierny
EDITOR:  Louisette Hautecoeur
BAFTA Awards nominee

DRAMA

Starring:  Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Geneviève Page, Pierre Clémenti, and Francoise Fabian

The subject of this movie review is Belle de jour, a 1967 film from director Luis Buñuel.  A co-production of France and Italy, this film is based on the 1928 novel, Belle de jour, written by French journalist and novelist, Joseph Kessel.  The film focuses on a sexually frigid young housewife who decides (or is compelled) to spend her midweek afternoons working as a prostitute.

Severine Serizy (Catherine Deneuve) really loves her husband Pierre (Jean Sorel).  However, he doesn’t arouse her, so she can’t be intimate with him.  She entertains numerous, vivid erotic fantasies to satisfy herself.  One day she happens upon the intriguing notion of prostitution.  Before long, she is working as prostitute, named “Belle de Jour,” at a brothel in the afternoons entertaining all manner of weird and unusual clientele.  She remains chaste in her marriage, but one of her clients, who falls madly in lust with her, becomes a danger to her tranquil domesticity.

Some may find Belle de jour’s eroticism dry.  Director Luis Bunuel (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie) shows Severine’s fantasies to us as surrealistic plays, and Bunuel is considered the father of cinematic surrealism.  It’s an interesting method in that it forces us to pay close attention to the film, mostly in the hopes that we might catch a flashing image of Ms. Deneuve’s beautiful flesh, anything to satisfy our desires to possess Severine.  Certainly, Belle de jour doesn’t blind us with the blunt images of raw sexuality early 21st audiences have not only come to expect in their movies, but often demand.  Bunuel and his screenwriting partner Jean-Claude Carriere fashioned the story so that we can truly understand Severine’s sexual frustrations.  She’s obsessed with being satisfied, and she driven to find ways to satisfy herself, and in a cathartic fashion we become anxious that she find satisfaction.

In the hands of a lesser talent, this movie would bore us to tears, but Ms. Deneuve encompasses her character’s unrequited lusts.  While her character can’t be physically intimate with her husband, Ms. Deneuve’s performance is spiritually intimate with her audience.  She takes us in and makes us part of her; we feel everything she feels, desires what she seeks, and feel all the danger, confusion, and strangeness her job as a prostitute create in her.  Ms. Deneuve makes Severine more than just a character; Severine is our adventure into the border world between real, physical sex and surrealistic and fantastic longing.

Bunuel creates a film that has a rich and vivid dream world, one that is both undeniably real and suddenly ethereal.  He makes Severine’s escapades through the myriad worlds of lust and longing an adventure as interesting as Alice’s through Wonderland.  It’s a strange film; sometimes, I couldn’t help but wonder what was happening.  I was confused when some of Severine’s fantasies went from episodes of titillation to scenes of harsh punishment.  Belle de jour both frustrated and intrigued me.  I won’t call the film perfect, but it’s certainly an enjoyable example of how powerful and confusing film images can be.  Like a dream, a movie sometimes has a way of not giving you what you saw and thought you were getting.  Both a movie and a dream can stay with you even when you’re unsatisfied them.  You wonder about them and dry to decipher them.  Any movie that can be so like a dream deserves to be seen.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1969 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Actress” (Catherine Deneuve)

Updated:  Monday, July 29, 2013

"X-Men: Days of Future Past" Teaser #2 - The Magnetos

Here's Magneto, both as a young mutant rebel and as a stately mutant terrorist. Thanks to Box Office Mojo for both X-Men teaser posters.

Review: Fight Scenes Cut Nicely in "The Wolverine"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 50 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Wolverine (2013)
Running time:  126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some sexuality and language
DIRECTOR:  James Mangold
WRITERS:  Mark Bomback and Scott Frank (based on the characters and stories appearing in Marvel Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Hugh Jackman, Hutch Parker, and Lauren Shuler Donner
CINEMATOGRAHER: Ross Emery (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Michael McCusker
COMPOSER:  Marco Beltrami

SUPERHERO/ACTION/MARTIAL ARTS

Starring:  Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Brian Tee, Haruhiko Yamanouchi, Will Yun Lee, Ken Yamamura, and Famke Janssen

The Wolverine is a 2013 superhero movie from director James Mangold.  Starring Hugh Jackman in the title role, it is also the sixth film in the X-Men franchise.  This film is not a sequel to the previous Wolverine solo movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).  In the new movie, an old acquaintance summons Wolverine to Japan, where the hero becomes embroiled in a conflict involving family, gangsters, and ninja.

Following the events depicted in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) lives as recluse in an isolated forest outside a small town in the Yukon.  He is haunted by the death of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), whom he was forced to kill (in X-Men: The Last Stand).

A young Japanese woman named Yukio (Rila Fukushima) has been tracking Logan.  She tells him that an old friend who was once the young soldier he saved decades earlier during World War II wants to see Logan before he dies.  Once in Japan, Logan meets Ichiro Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), now a dying old man who is the head of a Japanese technology empire.  He makes Logan a shocking offer, one that forces Logan to confront his demons.  Logan considers himself through with being a soldier and a hero, until he is forced to protect Yashida’s granddaughter, Mariko (Tao Okamoto), from several kidnapping conspiracies.  Although weakened and ailing, Logan is determined to show his adversaries that he is still the animal known as The Wolverine.

Hugh Jackman has come to embody Logan/Wolverine the way Christopher Reeve embodied Clark Kent/Superman, beginning over 30 years ago in Superman: The Movie (1978).  Jackman carries The Wolverine on his broad, muscular shoulders, but given the hoopla leading up to The Wolverine’s release, one would think the film would be an all-time great superhero movie, but it is not.

Don’t get me wrong.  The Wolverine has some superb and exhilarating action sequences and fight scenes – the kind for which fans of Wolverine in comic books have been waiting.  The fight on top of a moving bullet train recalls the great battle at the end of the first Mission: Impossible movie in 1996.  This is solid entertainment, but much of the character drama seems contrived.  The screenplay by Mark Bomback and Scott Frank, who rewrote the original version written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie (who does not receive a screen credit), turns the good female supporting characters into mere accessories to Wolverine.  The mutant known as Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) is under-utilized, so she is ultimately wasted.  Many of the male supporting characters are just caricatures of Japanese men or stock bad guys.

But Jackman saves the day.  With the help of the action stuff, Jackman makes The Wolverine the best superhero movie of Summer 2013.  Just getting a chance to see him in action makes me forget about the things in this movie that bother me.  Jackman takes what could have been merely entertaining and gives it that extra-something that only true movie stars can give.

7 of 10
B+

Saturday, July 27, 2013