Michael Prescott's Blog

Movie madness

Speaking of movies, as I was in the last post, here's a very funny and all-too-true assessment of contemporary Hollywood from Mark Harris of GQ.  

An excerpt:

We can all acknowledge that the world of American movies is an infinitely richer place because of Pixar and that the very best comic-book movies, from Iron Man to The Dark Knight, are pretty terrific, but the degree to which children's genres have colonized the entire movie industry goes beyond overkill. More often than not, these collectively infantilizing movies are breeding an audience—not to mention a generation of future filmmakers and studio executives—who will grow up believing that movies aimed at adults should be considered a peculiar and antique art. Like books. Or plays.

It's good stuff. 

 

Atlas Shrugged: the movie

Regular readers know that although I was a big fan of Ayn Rand when I was younger, my philosophy of life has gone off on quite a dramatic tangent since then. (Click on the "Ayn Rand" category link at the bottom of this post if you want to read my critiques of her ideas and the movement they spawned, Objectivism.) Even so, I still have a certain sentimental or nostalgic affection for Rand's novels, and I think her message of individualism and self-reliance, though overstated, does provide a useful counterpoint to the ever-encroaching nanny state.

That's why, when I heard that her magnum opus Atlas Shrugged was being made into a relatively low-budget ($5 million) movie on a rushed production schedule, I was disappointed. It seemed to me that such a big book, which still matters a great deal to so many people, deserved better treatment.

Admittedly, the movie in production is Part One of a planned trilogy, so it covers only the first part of the book. Still, with a no-name cast, a TV director, limited production values, an untested screenwriter, and a neophyte producer, the film sounded like a long shot at best.

Well, now there's a trailer on YouTube, and I have to say ... it looks pretty darn good! Much better than I expected, certainly. 

Of course, you can't tell too much about the finished product from a brief advertisement, but it's just possible that the filmmakers have found a way to convert Rand's somewhat dated and heavy-handed story into a slick, contemporary drama with thriller overtones. They may even have found a way to make the railroad industry seem dynamic and relevant to today's audience. 

Will the finished film be any good? It's too soon to tell, but I'm suddenly a lot more interested in this ambitious and interesting project. 

Incidentally, the movie is scheduled for theatrical release on April 15. Hmm, I wonder how they came up with that date ...

The official movie website is here. 

Movie review: Salt

I picked up the Angelina Jolie spy thriller Salt at a Redbox machine this evening, not expecting much. But it turned out to be a lot of fun - a smart, fast-paced, action-packed movie loaded with amazing stunts, most of which seem to have been performed for real, not generated in the hard drive of a computer. 

People sometimes underestimate how hard it is to turn out a product like this. No, it's not Shakespeare and doesn't try to be, but a lot of skill goes into bringing the over-the-top story to life in a more-or-less believable way. (Emphasis on "more-or-less," since suspension of disbelief is definitely required.) The filmmakers show considerable ingenuity in advancing the plot mainly through action, and in providing essential exposition as briskly and painlessly as possible.

The movie underperformed at the box office, perhaps hurt by an uninspired title and the inherent difficulty of selling a female action hero. But if you're in the mood for a swift ninety minutes of chases, explosions, and plot twists, Salt is worth a rental. It captures much of the fun of the Die Hard series, doesn't talk down to the audience, and, thankfully, is not freighted with any social, political, or moral message.  

My only caveat is that Jolie herself, while excellent in the part, looks alarmingly thin. Angie, for God's sake, eat a cheeseburger or something. 

Ten underrated movies

Here's a list of 10 movies that, in my opinion, have been insufficiently appreciated. I'm not saying they're masterpieces -- well, one or two of them may be -- but they're all well above average for films of their type, even if they don't get enough love.

Of course, opinions about movies are very subjective, so your mileage may vary considerably.

In chronological order:

1. Things to Come. (1936) This highly stylized dramatization of HG Wells' novel is certainly not for all tastes. The acting is stagy, the dialogue portentous. But the film is consistently entertaining and thought-provoking, not to mention extraordinarily ambitious -- it spans 100 years of "future history," as imagined in 1936, beginning with a prophetic depiction of London air raids, advancing to a bombed out Dark Ages (the film's most compelling segment), and concluding with a technologically sophisticated underground city erected beneath the ruins of the old order. As a humanist manifesto, Things to Come is unmatched in its vigor and scope. A recently released computer colorized version actually enhances the film.

2. The Thing from Another World. (1951) When most people mention a movie version of John W. Campbell's novella Who Goes There?, they're thinking of John Carpenter's 1982 gory special-effects extravaganza. But for my money, the first cinematic incarnation of this story is by far the best. Directed by Howard Hawks (though credited to his film editor Christian Nyby), The Thing is a fast-paced, no-nonsense sci-fi classic, peopled by believable characters spouting intelligent dialogue in Hawks' trademark rapidfire, overlapping style. Kenneth Tobey, who surely belongs on any list of the 10 Most Underrated Movie Actors, shines as a likable, competent everyman facing a threat no human being has ever seen before. Remember, "keep watching the skies!"

3. Murphy's Romance. (1985) A charming vignette of late-blooming love in a small desert town. James Garner gives probably his most winning performance as the local eccentric who finds himself falling for Sally Field. Rural life is depicted with humor and sympathy, but without excessive sentimentality. A funny, sweet, sometimes bittersweet concoction.

4. Near Dark. (1987) Decades before she won the Oscar for The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow directed this low-budget independent horror film about a teenage boy inducted into a gang of vampires. The film isn't perfect; it's a bit slow to get started, and a couple of plot developments toward the end strain credibility. But there's a lot of good stuff in here, especially an unforgettable extended scene of relentless violence in a diner. The movie combines elements of horror, action, crime drama, and even Westerns in almost seamless and highly original fashion.

5. What About Bob? (1991) Bill Murray is a hopeless neurotic; Richard Dreyfuss is a pompous psychologist; but in the course of this film, it's Murray who drives Dreyfuss crazy. The slow build of Dreyfuss's frustration and rage is just terrific, and Murray's cheerful cluelessness provides the perfect counterpoint. The ending is a little over-the-top, otherwise, it all works. And it's always good to see Julie Hagerty in anything. (Speaking of which, 1985's Lost in America is another underrated comedy.)

6. Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. (1995) Yes, I know it's a Steven Seagal movie. I know Steven Seagal can't act. I know most of his movies stink, and even the first Under Siege was only so-so at best. Nevertheless, Under Siege 2 is a very enjoyable, slick, well-crafted thriller featuring two great villains (Eric Bogosian and Everett McGill), a clever plot, exciting action, and a teenage Katherine Heigl as Seagal's niece. It's one of the few Die Hard knockoffs that actually work.

7. Rob Roy. (1995) Overshadowed by Braveheart, which came out the same year, Rob Roy is, I think, the better film. Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange are immensely appealing, the script is smart and fresh, and the climactic sword fight is the most realistic duel ever put on film. Did I mention the haunting musical score?

8. Streets of Laredo. (1995) Another James Garner effort, Streets of Laredo is the sequel to the acclaimed miniseries Lonesome Dove. I'm in the small minority who found the sequel even better than the original. True, it lacks the presence of Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall, but it has a stellar cast of its own - Garner, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard, Ned Beatty, Wes Studi, Sonia Braga, and, in two unusual but very successful casting choices, Randy Quaid as a psychotic killer and George Carlin as an aging cowpoke. Expertly directed by Joseph Sargent, who helmed the original Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, this four-hour series captures Larry McMurtry's book in all its violence, humor, and pathos.

9. Antz. (1998) By today's standards, the computer animation in this early DreamWorks entry is fairly primitive. Still, Antz is a heck of a lot of fun, an animated comedy for grown-ups enlivened by one of the best ensembles of vocal talent ever assembled: Gene Hackman, Jennifer Lopez, Danny Glover, John Mahoney, Dan Akyroyd, Jane Curtin, Anne Bancroft, Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, Christopher Walken, and above all, Woody Allen as the misfit ant Z, who is basically an insect version of every nebbish Allen ever played. Z: "I don't know, Doc. Sometimes I just feel so insignificant." Psychiatrist: "You are insignificant. You're an ant!"

10. Over the Hedge. (2006) This animated comedy, based on the popular syndicated comic strip, came and went with little fanfare. I think it's hilarious. Bruce Willis and Larry Shandling are ideally matched as the voices of rascally raccoon RJ and phlegmatic tortoise Verne. Lots of great sight gags, slapstick, and comic repartée. And you get to hear William Shatner (playing a highly dramatic possum) give his impression of a near-death experience! What more could you want?

Anybody want to chime in with underrated favorites of their own?

Sunday morning bird attack

You've probably already seen the trailer for Birdemic: Shock and Terror, an ultra low-budget movie that generated a lot of buzz on the Web when it came out earlier this year. But if you haven't, you really must.

And if you have seen it, you'll surely want to watch it again. And again and again.

Remember, it's from "visionary writer/director James Nguyen,  the Master of the Romantic Thriller ™."

Fascinating background on this unheralded masterpiece can be found at Wikipedia.

Here and Hereafter

Clint Eastwood has a new movie coming out called Hereafter, which deals with the topic of life after death. Michael Tymn, blogger and author of The Articulate Dead, pointed me to an interesting review of the film by John H. Foote, who has a more personal perspective on this subject than most.

Foote writes:

Two hours later [i.e., after the film had been screened], it was an audience divided. While some, like myself, liked the film and applauded Eastwood’s daring for once again stepping outside his comfort zone, many wondered: Just what was Eastwood thinking in making a metaphysical study that feels so much like a European film?

“Hereafter” is a handsomely [made] film about the question of an afterlife. It has a deeper meaning for me perhaps as nine years ago I was in a near fatal car accident, and spent three weeks in a coma in the intensive care unit of Toronto's famous Sunnybrook Hospital. While unconcious for that time I saw things as real to me as the people on the street I see every day, as true to me as my wife and kids, and I cannot to this day discuss the matter without weeping, or explain entirely what happened to me.

The doctors told me it was a combination of the intense pain and the morphine. Maybe, but how did these, visions I suppose attach themselves so powerfully to my soul, to my mind? To this day the memory of the visions haunts me, and thus I believe we go somewhere after this life, though I don’t know where.

Eastwood's daring, meditative film explores that, yes, perhaps there is something that comes after, and there are people who have been given connections to the dead.

Additional palate cleanser

Special effects legend Ray Harryhausen celebrated his 90th birthday on June 29. Many animated short films were made to commemorate the occasion. All the ones I've seen have been of high quality, but this tribute produced by a class of animation students in Barcelona somehow struck me as the best of all.

Singin' those Avatar blues

Boy, was I wrong about Avatar's box office performance. I never thought a CG epic about big blue aliens would garner such huge grosses. The film is now on track to be at least the #2 commercial hit of all time (although if the numbers were adjusted for inflation, it would rank much lower).

I still haven't seen it, and really don't care much about it, but today I came across an interesting news story with a possible NDE connection. It seems that some fans of the film become deeply depressed after seeing it, because they long to return to the immersive, beauteous world of Pandora.

From the article:

"I wasn't depressed myself. In fact the movie made me happy ," [a Web site administrator] said. "But I can understand why it made people depressed. The movie was so beautiful and it showed something we don't have here on Earth. I think people saw we could be living in a completely different world and that caused them to be depressed."

A post by a user called Elequin expresses an almost obsessive relationship with the film.

"That's all I have been doing as of late, searching the Internet for more info about 'Avatar.' I guess that helps. It's so hard I can't force myself to think that it's just a movie, and to get over it, that living like the Na'vi will never happen. I think I need a rebound movie," Elequin posted.

A user named Mike wrote on the fan Web site "Naviblue" that he contemplated suicide after seeing the movie.

"Ever since I went to see 'Avatar' I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na'vi made me want to be one of them. I can't stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it," Mike posted. "I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and that everything is the same as in 'Avatar.' "

Other fans have expressed feelings of disgust with the human race and disengagement with reality.

Sound familiar? It reminds me of the emotions often reported by near-death experiencers, who find themselves longing for a beautiful, ethereal world that puts Earth to shame, while feeling disconnected from their everyday lives.

Of course, all this says nothing about the veridicality of such experiences. Avatar is a fantasy, after all. One might argue that its powerful emotional impact on viewers shows that the NDE, for all its emotional effect, is only a fantasy, as well.

Alternatively, one might argue that the film deeply touches some people precisely because it reminds them of "the other side," recalling memories of a blissful, ecstatic experience that had previously been suppressed.

The article includes more quotes about the intense effect the movie has on some people. Check it out.

It's an interesting phenomenon, even for those of us who wouldn't know a Na'vi from a Wookie.

Movie review: Drag Me To Hell

This movie sucked.

Travesty! Heresy! Blasphemy!

I don't want to get too carried away, but this just may be the greatest outrage in the history of the universe.

This excellent article explains why it will fail. Why it should fail. Why it must fail.