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OCTOBER...
Underworld 10.09.03 At the Movies October 2003
Underworld. The Coronet. $7.00. Matinee. 1pm. Thursday, 10/09/03. Ticket bought at 12:57pm.
My brother liked this movie a lot. His criteria for judging a film is very strange however. Like, if at the moment he's really into Pirates he'll love all pirate movies. Then that'll fade and he'll be really into heavy metal and Heavy
Metal will be his favorite film. My friend PC said this movie was bad, which is what I was thinking.
One day, I was bored and so walked the few blocks to the Coronet where it
was playing. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad, and it was better than I expected.
Kate Beckinsale and "Felicity"'s Ben -- Scott Speedman -- star in this tale
of the centuries old war between vampires and werewolves. The look of the film
was lifted from The Matrix films (but it was well done), and I was
thinking this movie could have been sexier if there were a whole bunch of extended,
graphic sex scenes, but what are you gonna do?
An immortal battle for supremacy, or I wish I'd put more salt on my popcorn? Selene (Beckinsale), a beautiful vampire warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael (Speedman), a werewolf who longs for the war to end. Beckinsale looked good in her black leather and/or rubber and/or vinyl and/or whatever outfits. Speedman's appealing, although I'm not sure why, he never seems to do much.
Also in the cast: Bill Nighy, Michael Sheen, Shane Brolly, Erwin Leder, Sophia Myles, Robbie Gee, Wentworth Miller, Kevin Grevioux, and Danny McBride. Directed by Len Wiseman. Story by Len Wiseman and Kevin Grevioux and Danny McBride. Screenplay by Danny McBride. Associate producers Kevin Grevioux and Danny McBride. The look of the film could probably largely be due to the work of cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts, production designer Bruton Jones, and art directors Kevin Phipps and Csaba Stork. This is Wiseman's first film as director and/or writer; previously he had been a property assistant on Stargate (1994) and Independence
Day (1996). And that seems to be it.
School of Rock. PG13. Student price of $7.50. I use my old St. Mary's ID for this (there's no date on it), although I am technically a student at SFSU's MSP program and I have an ID card, but it's just a piece of paper, not all laminated like my St. Mary's ID. Those Catholic Priests go all out, baby. AMC Van Ness. Ticket bought at 7:21pm. Showing at 7:40pm. Thursday 10/09/03. Auditorium 11. With Jane.
I love Jack Black. And I was a big fan before he became a star -- he was one of the first Persons of the Week here at tedstrong.com once. Before anyone knew who he was, really, I noticed him and thought he was particularly brilliant in The
Cable Guy (1996), The Jackal (1997), Enemy of the State (1998), I
Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), and Jesus' Son (1999). Then he was hilarious and perfect in High
Fidelity (2000), which kind of made a star of him. Then he was funny as J.D. McNugent (great name, ranking with Fields' Otis Criblecoblis or Mahatma Kane Jeeves) in the hit-and-miss Saving
Silverman (2001). And there was the routine Orange County (2002), where Black was the sloppy brother to dull straight man, Colin Hanks.
But, Shallow Hal (2001) was awful -- awkward, pedantic, contrived, phony, precious, pretentious, self-conscious, didactic, moralizing -- in effect, shallow. And School
of Rock is much better. But I kept hearing how great it was, and it's not great. It's very light, pseudo-touching, pseudo-feel good, but there are funny parts and Black is good. The story and screenplay are slapdash and immature. The characters, the kids, the parents, are cliches. But Black's electricity and comedy work well enough for a mild recommendation... A wannabe rock star in need of cash poses as a substitute teacher at a prep school, and tries to turn his class into a rock band. Jack Black is Dewey Finn. With Mike White, Joan Cusack, Sarah Silverman (so good in The
Way of the Gun [2000] as "Raving Bitch," but totally wasted here), Nicky Katt, Timothy 'Speed' Levitch, Amy Sedaris. Directed by Richard Linklater. Written by Mike White. Produced by Scott Rudin.
Director Richard Linklater is hard to pin down. The first film of his that I saw was his second film, Dazed
and Confused (1993) -- which, at the time, I loved. I've seen it too many times. Before
Sunrise (1995) could have been a lot cheesier and sappier than it is; and than some people think it is. It's good; quiet and true. Not like, "I'm the best" or anything, but then I saw, Slacker (1991), which was an idea I had had many years before for a film. You know, the camera follows some people for a little while, then they run into some people and the camera goes off with them, etc. I rented this movie one night with my friend Pete. I was hammered. So drunk, I don't remember much about it. SubUrbia (1996) was way too downbeat with no point to it; dismal a big letdown.
Despite the presence of the underused Anne Stedman, The Newton Boys (1998)
was worse. SubUrbia was indie blah and Newton
Boys was studio blah, and even blahier. It felt like I was watching
as Linklater's ennui settled into his body and took over.
And then Waking
Life (2001) was kind of like a cartoon version of Slacker. It was
kind of interesting and the animation was great, but this should have been
a short
a film. I was antsy to get out of the theatre. But the three-character
drama Tape (2001) was a pleasant surprise: three old high school friends
(?)
pass
the time
in
a
Michigan
motel room
dissecting the painful memories of their high school years, and their injuries
to each other. The at-other-times-over-emoting cast is even fine here:
Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Robert Sean Leonard.
Intolerable Cruelty. $6.25. 1:50pm. Sat 10/11/03. Empire Cinema. Ticket sold by Raechelle. Ticket bought at 1:57pm.
This movie had some funny parts, great costumes, make-up, great performances by a great cast, but when it was all over, it wasn't all that funny, and it felt kind of hollow. A consistent problem with the Coen Brothers (except for Miller's
Crossing, and to an extent Fargo).
Cast: George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer, Edward Herrmann, Paul Adelstein, Richard Jenkins, Billy Bob Thornton, Julia Duffy, Royce D. Applegate. Directed by Joel Coen. Screenplay by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, Robert Ramsey & Matthew Stone. Produced by Ethan Coen and Brian Grazer. Original Music by Carter Burwell. Cinematography by Roger Deakins.
Bubba Ho-Tep. The Castro. $8 or $8.50. 10/15/03. With Jane.
Surprisingly funny, outrageous, silly horror film. Bruce Campbell is Elvis,
and Ossie Davis is JFK. Straight up.
From the blurb at the Castro website: "Elvis Lives! If you can call being stuck in the Shady Rest Convalescence Home in Mud Creek, Texas living. Bubba
Ho-Tep is a devilishly smart and fiendishly inventive monster/thriller/horror/comedy movie from director Don Coscarelli (Phantasm). B-Movie legend Bruce Campbell (Army
of Darkness, Evil Dead) doesn't so much play Elvis, as embody his very
essence. He's old, sick and regretful about leaving his wife and kid. He
also regrets trading identities with an impersonator, especially when the
contract
is lost in a trailer park explosion and he takes a tumble off the stage,
breaks a hip, falls into a coma and ends up in the rest home. Ossie Davis
is Elvis's housemate Jack (as in Jack Kennedy) who believes he survived the
assassination attempt and was dyed black for his own protection. There's
a whole lotta shakin' going on in the rest home! Elvis and JFK rise to the
occasion when a cursed Egyptian mummy and some nasty flying scarabs show
up to do a little soul sucking. Scripted by Coscarelli from an award-winning
short story by cult fave Joe R. Lansdale, Bubba Ho-Tep is a fantastic story
(believe it or not!) of redemption, courage and friendship. With Bob Ivy,
Ella Joyce, and Larry Pennell as Kemosabe. Music by Brian Tyler (Six-String
Samurai) Directed by Don Coscarelli. (2002) 92m. Hail to the Kings, Baby!
http://www.bubbahotep.com/"
Runaway Jury. PG-13. Wednesday, 10/22/03. Blackhawk 7. $4.00 matinee. 1:50pm.
Went to see Kill Bill, but the projector was broken, so had to see Runaway
Jury. Not good, certainly cheese-filled, but somewhat entertaining in a silly way.
Hackman is a guy who researches juries and then tries to manipulate them to decide a certain way. Hoffman is a New Orleans DA or ADA who's trying to do the right thing -- and what's righter than suing gun makers, and holding them responsible for shootings. Rachel Weisz and John Cusack are lovers who hijack Hackman's jury and offer to sell it to both Hoffman and Hackman for a price -- or do they? Silly, slight, relatively entertaining, trite Grisham ending.
Cast: John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, Bruce Davison, Bruce McGill, Jeremy Piven, Nick Searcy, Cliff Curtis, Nestor Serrano, Jennifer Beals, Joanna Going, Bill Nunn, Marguerite Moreau, Nora Dunn, Orlando Jones, Celia Weston, Luis Guzman, Dylan McDermott. Directed by Gary Fleder, from John Grisham's novel.
The Station Agent. The Bridge. $9.50. Friday, 10/24/03. 2:40pm. Ticket sold by John.
Saw The Station Agent. It was at the Bridge. The time was right. Good reviews. I like Patricia Clarkson. It's a about a dwarf. I liked it a lot and more than I expected. Please see more on the great Patricia Clarkson.
Peter Dinklage is Fin, a dwarf in Tom McCarthy's The Station Agent. First we see through various scenes and moments how he is treated. Often badly. Often made fun of, but many times just gawked at by people who don't realize how hurtful they may be being.
Fin is cold. He doesn't talk much and has one friend, who's also his elderly
boss (Paul Benjamin) at a model train store. The boss drops dead, and leaves
Fin an abandoned train station in New Jersey, which he had bought years ago.
Fin moves there to live. He tries to have as little contact with people as possible. But others try to make friends, finally Fin concedes a little. Then later when Fin is friendlier to his new found friends, their own issues cause them to pull back and Fin gets angry and depressed that he ever opened up in the first place.
Bobby Cannavale is Joe, a friendly, outgoing, but somewhat lonely guy who runs a roadside coffee wagon. Joe is very intrigued by Fin and his situation. He parks his coffee wagon about 20 yards from Fin's new residence and forces himself into Finbar's life with relentless cheerfulness. Cannavale also tries to get Fin on friendly terms with another lonely and sad character, Olivia (Patricia Clarkson). She's separated from her husband, their young son recently died.
Raven Goodwin (Lovely and Amazing) is an inquisitive young girl named
Cleo, Michelle Williams ("Dawson's Creek") is a local librarian, Josh Pais
(Scream 3, "Law and Order") is another train fanatic, Richard
Kind ("Spin City") is a
lawyer,
John Slattery (Traffic and onstage with Juliette Binoche in Betrayal)
is Olivia's estranged husband. This is one of the best films of the year. It's just about people and their relationships with each other and how hard and awkward they can be. If you can't get past thinking that dwarfs or midgets are creepy, you need to see this movie.
Mystic River is at the Empire 3 Cine Arts now, will likely see it there this week. Still haven't seen Kill
Bill. Maybe I'll see it in the new Walnut Creek plex this week.
I don't know when I wrote the above sentence, but I saw Mystic River. It was good, but not great. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins both do that thing where they act a lot. And that was fine. Kevin Bacon is better than usual though. The three of them were childhood friends. Penn and Bacon stood watching as a cop and priest took Robbins away for vandalism. Only thing, they weren't who they said they were, they were child molesters. After a few days of being held captive and abused Robbins escaped with his life, but not his sanity.
The boys grew apart. Now Penn is an ex-con who owns a liquor store; Bacon is a cop and Robbins is a wreck with a nervous wife and a son.
Penn's teenage daughter is brutally murdered. We don't know who did it. Robbins is an obvious suspect. He comes home covered in blood, so his wife, Marcia Gay Harden, is concerned. Duh. Bacon is on the case with his partner Laurence Fishburne. Penn emotes and wants revenge, but will he take his revenge on the wrong person.
This movie is good, it's well made, Boston is well used, the cast is solid, if a little much, but this film is no masterpiece. The truth of the murder mystery part is rather obvious from early on.
Laura Linney is briefly wonderful as Sean Penn's second wife. Director Eastwood also manages to work in a beautiful cameo by his one-time co-star Eli Wallach, in a great scene, where Bacon and Fishburne investigate an old, possibly related, robbery. Wallach played opposite Eastwood 37 years ago in The
Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). They both reunited recently to voice over some lost footage from that film.
Directed by Clint Eastwood. Original Music by Clint Eastwood. Cinematography
by Tom Stern. Screenplay by Brian Helgeland, based on Dennis Lehane's novel.
Helgeland directed Payback (1999), A
Knight's Tale (2001), and The Order (2003); and wrote Eastwood's Blood
Work (2002), A Knight's Tale (2001), Payback (1999), The
Postman (1997), Conspiracy Theory (1997), L.A. Confidential (1997).
Hit and miss to say the least.
Pieces of April. 10.30.03 Landmark's
Embarcadero. With Jane. 4:50pm. $9.75. Ticket bought at 4:51pm. PG13. Please
see more on the great Patricia Clarkson.
Pieces of April is one of the best films of the year so far. It's the kind of movie where you cry at the end, but you don't feel dirty or manipulated or used when you do. The characters and the family and their relationships were all true. This movie is funny and touching -- in a good way.
April Burns (Katie Holmes) invites her family to Thanksgiving dinner at her ratty apartment on New York's Lower East Side. The film cuts back and forth between April and her family. April interacts with her boyfriend and her neighbors; her oven isn't working and she's trying to find somewhere to cook the turkey. Meanwhile, April's younger teenage brother and sister, her grandmother and her parents are driving to April's. As they do this there is a lot of talk about April always letting them down and what will happen. Also it will likely be April's mother, Joy's (Patricia Clarkson) last Thanksgiving, as she's dying of cancer. And the grandmother isn't all there. There's a lot of sharp dialogue, true characters, relationships. You must see this movie.
Cast: Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Oliver Platt, Derek Luke, Sean Hayes, Alison Pill, John Gallagher Jr., Alice Drummond, Lillias White, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Sisqo. Written and directed by Peter Hedges. Runtime: 81 min.
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