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Movie Reviews |
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| Sparkly Speed Racer will blow your mind | |
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by Rajkhet Dirzhud-Rashid -
SGN A&E Writer Speed Racer Opening May 9 If I had a huge budget and was a Hollywood producer/director, and I wanted to make a film that was just pure fun - one that whole families could see - but that wouldn't be so goopy that even children would roll their eyes, what would I make? I'd make something like the new Speed Racer, which shows that, yes, films made from '60s television/cartoon series can be fun, and with some tweaking here and there, even an update can be true to the original. And having grown up watching Speed Racer and singing that infectious song, I know from whence I speak. Probably most folks' introduction to the manga genre before anyone knew anything about Japanimation in this country, Speed Racer brought together elements that have made manga a household word for many fans of the genre. Action, adventure and Asian characters who are both shady and noble, precursors to films like Akira and Ghost in the Shell, this series attracted a broad cross-section of fans, and if you ask anyone who grew up watching the show, they'll probably say this is what got them interested in other, later manga comics in the first place. For latecomers, the movie gives them a chance to get in on the joy we "oldsters" enjoyed back then. The movie, like the cartoon version, doesn't depend a lot on strong plotlines, though there is a storyline that parallels the cartoon. Speed Racer, who grows up being interested in fast cars and idolizing his racecar-driving brother (Scott Porter), lives in a technicolor world where his father (John Goodman), mom (Susan Sarandon in a whimsical departure from films like Dead Man Walking and others), little brother Spritle (Paulie Litt), and the family pet, a monkey named Chim Chim, love racing and fast cars, too. Dad's company builds racecars and mom and Spritle are the backup support to their sons' careers and cheering section when necessary. They also are each other's comfort after son Rex Racer (Porter) is believed killed in a racing accident on a treacherous course. Like the show, Speed longs to bring glory to the family and is pitted against a colorful group of villainous racers in various fantasy races, and is eventually recruited by Racer X (Matthew Fox) and Inspector Detector (Bruno Furr) to bring down some truly wicked criminals involved in fixing races. All of this against a backdrop so amazing and dazzling to the eyes that one wonders if people using "mood altering substances" should be warned ahead of time. Just imagine a video game on the big screen, one with sparkly, pretty visuals and graphics, and lots of action sequences, and you get the idea. Oh, and Christina Ricci as Speed's girl, Trixie, is a stroke of pure genius. I haven't liked her this much since her role in the updated Addams Family some years back. In short, this film is mouthwatering bag of tasty candy for the eyes and one you won't feel bad taking the kids to, or enjoying as a kid at heart yourself. |
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| Friendship is key ?in movingly hilarious Rambow | |
| by Sara Michelle Fetters -
SGN Contributing Writer Son of Rambow Opening May 9 Young Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) has never seen a movie. His family members belong to a puritanical religious sect called The Brethren, and watching any sort of filmed entertainment or listening to music simply isn't allowed. Shy, introspective and a bit of an outsider nonetheless, Will has a vivid imagination, drawing cartoon doodles inside his Bible and on toilet stall walls in his small community grammar school. Lee Carter (Will Poulter) is everything Will is not. A bit of a bully, he's routinely getting kicked out of class and sent to the principal's office for various minor offenses. With parents seemingly on continual holiday, and with only a narcissistic egotist of an older brother to look up to, Lee doesn't play by the rules or feel like he has to listen to those in authority, his friendless state an acceptable consequence of being such a rebel. After a chance meeting in the hallway, these two boys with nothing in common end up crafting an unusual and complicated friendship nobody at school quite comprehends. Things get even stranger after Lee shows Will a pirated copy of First Blood, the youngster's mind blown completely wide open by Sylvester Stallone's emotional and brutal action opus. Next thing you know, the two are making something of a homemade sequel entitled "Son of Rambow." But when other kids at the school get wind of what they're up to and want to be involved, the pair's newfound friendship slowly begins to unravel, especially after a French exchange student tries to take over the production. Yet with everything - family, religion, school, teachers, popularity - all working against them, somehow Will and Lee find a way to overcome these obstacles, finishing the film and showing it to the world being the one thing both can agree on, no matter how much hardship ends up coming between them. The only real problem I have with Garth Jennings' (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) latest effort Son of Rambow is just how long it has taken for this wonderfully imaginative and heartfelt wonder to reach theaters. I saw this little gem opening night at the 2007 Seattle International Film Festival, and figuring as I just went to the press launch for this year's event, the fact it is only opening now a year later is something of an annoying mystery. Why? Because this is a great movie. Funny, moving, emotionally charged and filled with winning character moments, Jennings has made a marvelous picture that intimately understands that complicated, wide-eyed stage of burgeoning adolescent friendship perfectly. It reminded me in a way of a strange, happily surreal and electrically alive hybrid of Lasse Hallström's My Life as a Dog and Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep, using facets of each but twisting and turning them in highly unusual ways in order to make this particular story a true original uniquely its own. Admittedly, I'm not completely head over heels. The subplot involving the Proudfoot family's extremist religion never comes off very well, and a late movie twist involving the mother doesn't feel remotely genuine. I also wasn't completely enamored with all the chaos surrounding one of the exchange students, and while a couple of jokes involving the character pay off in spades (including a final walk towards the back of a bus that's surprisingly heartbreaking) the majority of them fall unquestionably flat. And yet, by and large this is a movie I find myself grinning ear to ear thinking about. The central relationship between Will and Lee is so strong, so rapturously realized, I almost wish there was some way I could keep watching it grow and evolve as the two boys age into maturity. There is a simple honesty to their tale that's immediately intoxicating, and while the flights of fancy both of them seem to revel in are suitably silly and juvenile the bond they form is palpably authentic. After the screening, the friend I went with was thunderstruck by what he saw. The film got him thinking of his youthful days and of a particular friendship he thinks about even now a couple of decades removed. It reminded me of how the choices we make in our lives, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, can have lasting impact. Our lives as children, as adolescents and as young adults shape and mold us in ways we can't remotely comprehend or prepare for, only the maturity of age the telescope allowing us to view the full panoply of who we are and where we came from. Son of Rambo, for all its silliness and immature humor, understands this. It speaks on multiple levels, reveling in a person's past, present and in their limitless future. It knows the power residing inside of everyone to take control of their lives and become something better for doing so. Most of all, it grasps that the friendships we make as children are the key to unlocking who we will become in adulthood. For that alone, this isn't just a movie to enjoy, it's also one to take comfort and revel in. Courtesy of moviefreak.com |
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| SGN's 2008 summer movie extravaganza | |
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by Sara Michelle Fetters -
SGN Contributing Writer
It may have taken awhile, but summer looks like it has finally arrived in Seattle. I'm not talking about the weather - Double Dopplers and First Alerts Stations be damned - it's just as schizophrenic here in the Pacific Northwest as ever. No, I'm talking about at your local multiplex, and with the double-barrel release of the comic book kingdom's literal man of steel Iron Man and Patrick "Dr. McDreamy" Dempsey's attempt at romantic superstardom Made of Honor, all signs point to a sweltering cinematic heat wave. Goodness knows we're due for one. The first four months of 2008 have provided little in the way of decent entertainment, the fare offered up by the major studios especially lackluster. Seriously, what can you really say when the most interesting items of note so far this year have been the Blair Witch Project meets Godzilla creature feature Cloverfield, the coming home melodrama Stop-Loss, the retro heist melodrama The Bank Job and the kid-friendly ghouls and goblins adventure The Spiderwick Chronicles? Not much, really, and while a few of independent releases have thankfully picked up the slack (thank you very much, The Visitor and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day), up to now going to the movies this year has been nothing less than an unmitigated disaster. That all changes today. From this point on, the studios stop playing around and start delivering high-profile pictures hopefully worthy of a screening or two at the Cinerama. Even better, unlike summer 2007's slate of sequels and threequels (most of which proved to be perfectly dreadful), there is even a little bit of originality to be found if you're willing to look hard and long enough for it. Last year featured an astonishing 14 sequels, and of that number only three - Ocean's 13, Live Free or Die Hard and The Bourne Ultimatum - proved to be worthy of their respective predecessors. That doesn't mean the retreads aren't back. Heck, this summer's arguably most anticipated features, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Dark Knight, are sequels, and you can't tell me people aren't highly curious to see what Edward Norton's done with The Incredible Hulk or if master visionary director Guillermo del Toro can top himself with Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Other sequel news includes the return of television's favorite paranormal investigators Mulder and Scully in The X-Files: I Want to Believe, the duo returning six years after the show's cancellation and a decade after the first film's theatrical release. And while The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian isn't generating the same buzz as its forefather, rest assured Disney wouldn't be making two more features based on author C.S. Lewis' series of novels if people weren't foaming at the mouth with interest in seeing it. But the big news for summer 2008 is the sudden shift to comedy by the major studios. Multi-hyphenate producer-writer-director Judd Apatow has been all the rage ever since The 40-Year-Old Virgin took the country by storm, and with the double-whammy of Knocked Up and Superbad pleasing critics and audiences alike last year many in Hollywood have definitely taken note. There are 18 - count 'em - major comedy releases hitting theaters between now and the end of August, and if this summer has a trend then Hollywood's full-throttle attempt to tickle our collective funny bone is probably it. There is more to talk about, of course. Can Carrie Bradshaw and friends make the jump to the movie house and retain their biting acerbic wit and saucily sexy repartee intact (not to mention still steal our hearts with tons of fabulous footwear)? Will fright master M. Night Shyamalan regain his footing and offer up another delightfully shocking winner in the vein of The Sixth Sense or will he instead unleash another forgettable groaner like The Village? Is Mike Meyers past his prime? If he's not on The Office (or being directed by Apatow), is Steve Carell worth all the hoopla? Is Pixar the only guarantee left in Hollywood, or will their latest robotic effort be the first chink in the animated studio's once-impenetrable armor? The following is a list of notable releases and events happening in Seattle this summer. As always, everything here is highly tentative and definitely subject to change. May 2 Iron Man - Robert Downey, Jr. as wealthy alcoholic industrialist and inventor Tony Stark, a man whose crisis of conscience leads him to turn his body into a missile-launching high-flying metal-clad superhero? Sounds just about perfect, if you ask me. Made of Honor - Patrick Dempsey tries to prove to his best friend Michelle Monaghan he loves her by agreeing to be her maid of honor. In case you haven't guessed, it's a romantic comedy, just not a very good one. May 9 Redbelt - David Mamet (Heist, Wag the Dog) takes on the world of Ultimate Fighting, combining Rocky and his own House of Games for this unusual sports-themed melodrama staring the great Chiwetel Ejiofor (Kinky Boots, Serenity). Son of Rambow - Last year's winning opening night attraction at the 2007 Seattle International Film Festival finally sees a wide release. Sheltered British boy attempts a shot-for-shot remake of First Blood and the result is absolutely heartwarming and hysterical. Speed Racer - Those crazy brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski bring the cult classic cartoon series to life using so many eye-popping colors it is reported they had to invent 72 new shades of pink, green and red so they could bring their creation to life. What Happens in Vegas - Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz go to Vegas, get drunk, get married, win three million dollars, and then bicker about who gets to keep it. Is it just me, or wouldn't you just split the money in half and call it a day? May 16 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - The Pevensie children return to Narnia only to discover 1,300 years have passed and the country is in ruins. Religious allegories and lots and lots (and lots and lots and lots) of big, epic battles and bloody swordfights help them restore order so a giant lion can talk down to them like they're, well, little children. Standard Operating Procedure - Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris dives in the quagmire of Abu Ghraib prison and looks beyond the frame of all the horrific photographs. Stirring and unforgettable. May 22 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - The man in the hat returns almost two decades after his last adventure. Expect snakes. Lots and lots of snakes. May 22-June 15 The 34th Annual Seattle International Film Festival - The largest film festival in North America returns opening with the WTO-themed Battle in Seattle and closes 24 days later with a yet-unnamed motion picture. In between will be almost 400 examples of pure international movie-going bliss. Buy your tickets starting May 9. May 30 Sex and the City: The Movie - They're all back: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Chris Noth, Jason Lewis, Mario Cantone, Evan Handler and series writer/director/creator Michael Patrick King. Every Gay man in America will be there opening night, probably most of the straight women, too. The rest of us will continue to sit at home and wonder what all the fuss is about. The Strangers - Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman find themselves terrorized in their vacation home by three unknown assailants. Hopefully it turns out better for them then it did for Naomi Watts in Funny Games. June 6 Kung-fu Panda - Jack Black, Ian McShane, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie are just four of the names voicing characters in DreamWorks latest attempt at animation domination over Pixar and Disney. The thing is, if there isn't a big green ogre hovering around the proceedings most people just don't seem to care, and this story of a karate-chopping bear is probably not going to alter that particular trend. Mongol - The story of Genghis Khan from acclaimed Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountain), the film was nominated for Best Foreign Film at last year's Academy Awards. It didn't win, but still might be worth a look all the same. You Don't Mess with the Zohan - Adam Sandler in another lame-sounding comedy that will probably make a bazillion dollars even though it sucks. This time he's an Israeli counter-intelligence officer who just wants to make a living as a hairdresser. I can just feel the mediocrity slapping me in the forehead now. June 13 The Happening - Writer and director M. Night Shyamalan tries to get his mojo back with a new thriller where everyone people mysteriously start disappearing and Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel have to figure out why. My guess is that they walked into a screening of Lady in the Water. The Incredible Hulk - Or, "what if we just imagined a world where that other film made by Ang Lee never really happened?" Pity, really, because I liked that other film (even if it did fall apart at the end), and the thought of something more in the vein of the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferigno television series doesn't exactly make me smile. Sara smash. Sara smash bad sounding sequel ideas. Sara needs to get a new day job before people think she's a dork. June 20 The Children of Huang Shi - World War II melodrama based on the true story of George Hogg, a British journalist who saved hundred of children during Japan's occupation of China in 1937. Solid performances from Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh aside, this one is unfortunately pretty darn forgettable. Get Smart - Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway in a reinterpretation of the classic Mel Brooks/Buck Henry television spy spoof. The fact it's been written by the guys behind Failure to Launch and directed by the man who made 50 First Dates doesn't exactly give me a lot of hope. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl - Lesbian filmmaker Patricia Rozema (When Night is Falling) is the woman behind the scenes of this Depression-era drama based on a popular line of dolls starring Abigail Breslin, Stanley Tucci and Joan Cusack. Can you say, "Huh?" I knew you could. The Love Guru - Mike Meyers returns to comedy for the first time since Austin Powers in Goldmember, and he's brought Jessica Alba, Megan Goode and Ben Kingsley with him. June 27 WALL-E - Pixar's latest features a lonely robot, tons of sound effects and electronic voices provided by one of the audio pioneers who worked on the first Star Wars. It sounds odd, but then so did Ratatouille. At this point, considering the studio has never made a bad movie, I'm more than willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt. Wanted - Angelina Jolie and Atonement star James McAvoy team up for director Timur Bekmambetov (Day Watch) in one of the wildest looking action thrill rides of the year. If the film is half as good as the kick-ass trailers this one is going to be an action aficionado's (straight, Gay, in-between, whatever) wet dream. When Did You Last See Your Father? - Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent and Juliet Stevenson star in a drama about a son trying to reconcile the bizarre and sometimes hurtful actions of his well-regarded father. Based on the book by Blake Morrison. July 4 Brick Lane - A young Bangladeshi woman, Nazneem, arrives in 1980s London, leaving behind her beloved sister and home for an arranged marriage and a new life. Supposedly a fairly striking debut for filmmaker Sarah Gavron, the beautiful trailer for this one has my interest seriously piqued. Hancock - If it is the Fourth of July, than it must be time for Will Smith the break box office records. This time out, the Independence Day, Men in Black and I-Robot summer sensation stars as a homeless superhero whose crime-fighting antics put him at odds with his once-adoring public and it's up to public relations expert Jason Bateman to save the day. July 11 Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Different studio (Universal took on the project after Sony balked at the price tag), same gun-toting, demon-fighting, red-skinned monster from Hell. Guillermo del Toro takes another shot at making Mike Mignola's underground comic book sensation a popular hit, and while the first one was only so-so, I still can't mask my excitement as to finding out just what the Pan's Labyrinth director has up his sleeve this time around. Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D - The first of two lame looking adventures starring Brendan Fraser, and I can't help but wonder exactly when this once promising (and incredibly attractive) actor became a gigantic parody that absolutely no one cared about. Meet Dave - Eddie Murphy is a gigantic spaceship being run by a captain who looks just like & Eddie Murphy. The last time the actor made a sci-fi comedy, it was called The Adventures of Pluto Nash and it quickly became one of the biggest flops of all time. Something tells me history is about to repeat itself. July 18 The Dark Knight - Christopher Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins was highly anticipated even before Heath Ledger's tragic death. What it is now I can't even put into words. All I can say is that I can't wait for this one, and everyone I know - even if they don't like comic book movies - is feeling exactly the same. Mamma Mia! - I have not seen the Broadway show on which this ABBA-infused romantic comedy musical is based. I do not understand the fascination. But, much like Sex in the City, something tells me the majority of the people reading this newspaper are eagerly waiting on this one's arrival. You people make me very, very sad. Space Chimps - A trio of chimps is blasted into space in this CGI animated family romp. Hilarity supposedly ensues, but a part of me can't help but think this was probably a heck of a lot funnier when it was done with puppets, aired in small snippets on The Muppet Show and was called Pigs in Space. July 25 Henry Poole is Here - Director Mark Pellington, the man behind the highly underrated thriller Arlington Road, returns with a drama starring Luke Wilson as a man who abandons his fiancée and family to spend what he thinks are his remaining days alone. Didn't exactly blow people away at Sundance, but I'm still willing to give this comedy-drama hybrid the benefit of the doubt. The Longshots - Ice Cube staring in a family comedy about a little girl (charming Akeelah and the Bee star KeKe Palmer) wanting to play Pop Warner football directed by Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst? Is that some sort of typo? It must be, right? Step Brothers - Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly re-team after Talladega Nights as two bickering adult rivals having to deal with sibling rivalry after their respective parents get themselves hitched. Can't say I'm a Ferrell fan, but truth be told I'll watch the massively talented Reilly do just about anything. Guess that means I'll have to give this one a shot. The X-Files: I Want to Believe - For the first time since the internet started pooping out rumors like they were Cadbury Eggs, here is a movie no one knows anything about. All that is known is that: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson have returned, the film has a stand-alone plot not requiring knowledge of either the series or the first 1998 movie, and that they shot the film back in the series' original home of Vancouver, B.C. Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine and, personally, I can't wait to see for myself if the truth really is still out there. August 1 American Teen - A documentary about Indiana high school students. Think The Hills, only with basketball, farmers and corn. Anybody else but me just want to watch Hoosiers again and just call it a day? Choke - Chuck Palahniuk's controversial and acclaimed novel gets the feature treatment with actor-turned-director Clark Gregg pulling all of the behind-the-scenes strings. Never read the book, don't know what it is about, but the writer gave us Fight Club and that right there is more than enough to get me excited to see what this one's about. The fact it stars Sam Rockwell doesn't hurt, either. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - Fraser again, this time returning for another go-around as adventurer Rick O'Connell once again battling the undead in order to save the world. Jet Li is on hand as the decomposing bad guy, but with Maria Bello taking over for Rachel Weisz and Rob Cohen (Stealth) now handling the directing reigns, this one has "disaster" written all over it. Swing Vote - Kevin Costner must cast the deciding vote for President of the United States in this Disney comedy. In other news, Hell froze over, pigs are flying and I just bought the Ballard Bridge for a dollar. August 8 The Pineapple Express - David Gordon Green (Snow Angels) and Judd Apatow (Knocked Up) join forces on this marijuana buddy action comedy starring Seth Rogan and James Franco. The trailer is a riot, but a part of me can't help but be over all of this seemingly never-ending Apatow hysteria. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 - So, maybe I missed the memo, but didn't the 2005 original underperform at the box office that particular summer? Whatever the answer, all the girls (including Ugly Betty dynamo America Ferrera) are back, and they're still wearing the same pair of jeans while experiencing a series of wonderful and inspiring young adolescent adventures. August 15 The International - Clive Owen and Naomi Watts join forces with Run, Lola Run director Tom Tykwer in a film about an Interpol agent on the run for his life after trying to expose a high-profile bank's involvement with international gun running. Sounds familiar, but considering the level of talent involved this one could prove to be a late-summer sleeper. Tropic Thunder - Ben Stiller returns to the director's chair for the first time since Zoolander for this comedy about a group of actors hired to play a platoon of grunts in a Vietnam action film only to discover they're actually smack-dab in the middle of a real bona fide war zone. Robert Downey, Jr. portrays and Oscar-winning Australian method actor hired to play the tough-talking African-American platoon sergeant in the film within the film. If the trailer is any indication, he knocks this one so far out of the park it's currently somewhere out there orbiting the Earth. August 22 The Accidental Husband - A romantic comedy about a talk radio host (Uma Thurman) being stalked by the jilted ex (Justina Machado) of one of her callers, director Griffin Dunne tries to get back on track after his last effort, Fierce People, crashed and burned at the box office. Bangkok Dangerous - Nicholas Cage stars as a hitman sent to Bangkok to kill only to have a crisis of conscience and fall in love with a sexy local. Sounds derivative, but directors Oxide and Chun Danny Pang, best known for the original version of The Eye, probably have a couple of tricks up their sleeves which could make this one worthwhile. Hamlet 2 - No, Shakespeare did not write a sequel, but in this Sundance sensation English professor Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan) does, and apparently everyone can't stop laughing. Considering Catherine Keener, Elizabeth Shue and Amy Poehler are also in the cast, who am I to say they're wrong? The House Bunny - Anna Faris is a Playboy Bunny who finds herself suddenly homeless and Hef-less after she's thrown out of the mansion on her 28th birthday, only to find herself the house mother for a college sorority filled with misfits and wannabes. Considering this comes from the pens from a couple of the minds behind Legally Blonde, I'm pretty darn sure you can all figure out what happens next. Wild Child - Emma Roberts stars as a spoiled 16-year-old misfit sent to a British boarding school to grow up. I like Roberts, she's cute and charming and has real potential as an actress, but thinking about this one just makes me want to yawn. I am sure I am not alone in that assessment. August 29 Babylon A.D. - Rumors of fighting on the set between star Vin Diesel and director Mathieu Kassovitz (The Crimson Rivers) aside, this trouble-plagued futuristic epic about a mercenary escorting a woman out of a war-torn Russia looks like an incredible amount of fun filled with eye-popping fight scenes involving the star and kung-fu veteran Michelle Yeoh galore. I'm probably wrong, but if this gets that retro John Carpenter-meets-John Woo vibe right, this could be a B-movie underground cult sensation the likes of which we haven't seen in ages. |
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