Based on Upton Sinclair's 1926 novel titled Oil!, There Will be Blood is a very good movie. The movie is elevated from being simply good to near great, by the performance of Daniel Day Lewis. It's no wonder DDL comes out of "retirement" for every role. The energy and work he puts into every performance, must put him right on the edge of losing himself to the character.
I have not read the book, so I'm not certain how closely the movie follows it. The story begins in the late 1800's and we find Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) working in solitude, mining for silver with little success. This is how we find him at the end of the movie, a solitary man.
Along the way, Plainview adopts an orphan child, and uses him, the cute young child that he is, as a prop in his sales pitch to swindle poor people out of the drilling rights to their land. I guess I'll never understand the need to swindle...is there not enough to go around?
Plainview finds himself competing for the affections of the town folk with Eli Sunday, played with great passion by Paul Dano. Eli is the local pastor and his motivation is to squeeze every dollar that he can out of his neighbors and Plainview....actions that he would end up regretting by the end of the movie.
Along the way, he meets the half brother he never knew he had, has a falling out with his son after a tragic accident, threatens to kill his competition, has a near comical epiphany as he is forced to come to terms that he abandoned his son. There was actually some laughter from the audience while this scene was playing out (I felt uneasy, because I'm certain the director was not playing that scene for laughs).
All as he descends deeper into madness.
Anchored by Lewis' performance the film is chock full of noteworthy performances. Beautifully filmed, mostly in Texas, it reminds us of simpler times while it also reminds us of the brutality of those times.
You should make an effort to see this film.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
The Eye - 2 stars (out of five)
Why not call it The Eyes? After all, Jessica Alba's character did have BOTH corneas replaced. I guess if they can't get this right, there is little hope for the rest of the movie. And so it goes with The Eye.
Jessica plays Sydney Wells a concert violinist, who was blinded while playing with firecrackers at the age of 5, under the supervision of her 12 year old sister Helen, played by Parker Posey.
Jessica seems to have a good life and she seems happy in it. She lives on her own, and makes a good living making music. Her sister, still feeling guilty about the accident that took Sydney's sight 15 years ago, researches cornea transplants and gets her on the list.
The operation is a success..and then the bad stuff starts to happen. She starts to see and hear bizarre things...dead things, I'm surprised that she did not see Haley Joel Osment's career flash before her eye(s).
She goes to see a specialist Dr. Paul Faulkner played by Alessandro Nivola. He tries to convince her that it is "all in her head". By the third act, he comes around and he is with Sydney at the conclusion.
The Eye starts slowly and has a few creepy moments and the usual "jumping cats" to make the audience think that they have been scared. It all builds up to the last 15 minutes. While some movies run out of gas by the end of the third act, The Eye hits its stride.
While the ending does not explain everything that came before it, it is a very good ending.
Always good to see Rachel Ticotin, who has a small part in the third act. Has it really been 18 years since Total Recall?? Wow, time flies.
I can't recommend going to the theater to see this film. While not horrible, it is just not strong enough to spend $10 on. Catch it when it comes to cable and you'll be glad that you did.
This is the second recent film that Ms. Alba has been asked to shoulder (Awake, being the other). Seems that she is making bad choices when it come to choosing scripts, and I'm really not sure she is up to carrying a movie yet. She is fine when working within a group (Fantastic Four) and she was fine in Into The Blue, but Paul Walker and her bikini carried that movie.
I hope her career moves along and she finds real success and respect. But at this moment, I think I'll crank up the DVD player with season one of Dark Angel:-)
Jessica plays Sydney Wells a concert violinist, who was blinded while playing with firecrackers at the age of 5, under the supervision of her 12 year old sister Helen, played by Parker Posey.
Jessica seems to have a good life and she seems happy in it. She lives on her own, and makes a good living making music. Her sister, still feeling guilty about the accident that took Sydney's sight 15 years ago, researches cornea transplants and gets her on the list.
The operation is a success..and then the bad stuff starts to happen. She starts to see and hear bizarre things...dead things, I'm surprised that she did not see Haley Joel Osment's career flash before her eye(s).
She goes to see a specialist Dr. Paul Faulkner played by Alessandro Nivola. He tries to convince her that it is "all in her head". By the third act, he comes around and he is with Sydney at the conclusion.
The Eye starts slowly and has a few creepy moments and the usual "jumping cats" to make the audience think that they have been scared. It all builds up to the last 15 minutes. While some movies run out of gas by the end of the third act, The Eye hits its stride.
While the ending does not explain everything that came before it, it is a very good ending.
Always good to see Rachel Ticotin, who has a small part in the third act. Has it really been 18 years since Total Recall?? Wow, time flies.
I can't recommend going to the theater to see this film. While not horrible, it is just not strong enough to spend $10 on. Catch it when it comes to cable and you'll be glad that you did.
This is the second recent film that Ms. Alba has been asked to shoulder (Awake, being the other). Seems that she is making bad choices when it come to choosing scripts, and I'm really not sure she is up to carrying a movie yet. She is fine when working within a group (Fantastic Four) and she was fine in Into The Blue, but Paul Walker and her bikini carried that movie.
I hope her career moves along and she finds real success and respect. But at this moment, I think I'll crank up the DVD player with season one of Dark Angel:-)
Saturday, January 26, 2008
One Missed Call - 1 star out of 5
Save the $10. Catch "Final Destination" on cable.
I watched the original Japanese version on cable and yet I still allowed myself to be dragged to this crap. That's 3+ hours of my life I'll never get back.
I watched the original Japanese version on cable and yet I still allowed myself to be dragged to this crap. That's 3+ hours of my life I'll never get back.
Rambo 4 stars out of 5
My oh my....just when I thought Starship Troopers was the most violent picture I would ever see. The 4th Rambo installment is about as violent as a movie can get. Written, directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone, Rambo recycles the plot from Rambo:First Blood Part II. Substitute Missionary's for POW's and you have the same movie, only this one is on HGH.
Using the 60 year long and counting civil war in Burma/Myanmar as a backdrop, the Government troops commit such atrocities, you just can't wait to see them get their due. Rambo does not disappoint. By the time John Rambo settles in behind the 50 caliper machine gun with almost unlimited ammo, you WANT him to kill everything that moves.
Stallone plays Rambo as a man of even fewer words than in the past films. He uses his "thousand mile stare" effectively. His interaction with hired mercenaries is entertaining, because we know who he is, and the mercenaries have not a clue.
From what you've read so far, you might get the feeling that I did not like this film.....and you'd be wrong. The movie has its problems, but it delivers exactly what you expect going in. The action is intense and you're rooting for the good guys through out. By the time the carnage ended, there was applause from the audience (I'm not sure what drives that, I have never felt the need to clap at the end of a movie, no matter how good it was or how happy I was that it was finally over).
If you liked Rambo: First Blood Part II and extreme violence does not bother you, then you will have a good time watching Rambo.
One last thought..let's give Stallone some credit. He moves really well for a 60 year old guy, and everyone who laughed when he announced he was reviving both Rocky and Rambo, should reconsider..because he pulled them both off. As long as there is no sequel to Rhinestone in the works, I say "good job".
Using the 60 year long and counting civil war in Burma/Myanmar as a backdrop, the Government troops commit such atrocities, you just can't wait to see them get their due. Rambo does not disappoint. By the time John Rambo settles in behind the 50 caliper machine gun with almost unlimited ammo, you WANT him to kill everything that moves.
Stallone plays Rambo as a man of even fewer words than in the past films. He uses his "thousand mile stare" effectively. His interaction with hired mercenaries is entertaining, because we know who he is, and the mercenaries have not a clue.
From what you've read so far, you might get the feeling that I did not like this film.....and you'd be wrong. The movie has its problems, but it delivers exactly what you expect going in. The action is intense and you're rooting for the good guys through out. By the time the carnage ended, there was applause from the audience (I'm not sure what drives that, I have never felt the need to clap at the end of a movie, no matter how good it was or how happy I was that it was finally over).
If you liked Rambo: First Blood Part II and extreme violence does not bother you, then you will have a good time watching Rambo.
One last thought..let's give Stallone some credit. He moves really well for a 60 year old guy, and everyone who laughed when he announced he was reviving both Rocky and Rambo, should reconsider..because he pulled them both off. As long as there is no sequel to Rhinestone in the works, I say "good job".
Saturday, January 5, 2008
The Golden Compass - 3 out of 5 stars
At a cost of over 300 million (budget, prints and advertising), The Golden Compass has only grossed 65M in the U.S.. If not for the 200M it has grossed internationally, it would be a colossal flop. The total gross is still 40M short of the break even point. With DVD revenue, cable and network TV sales, this film will still lose money. Im thinking that pressure from religious groups kept groves of customers away. The feeling being that The Magisterium in the film represents the church and religion vs free will. It's all just posturing by people who have too much time on their hands. Even if that is the author's intention, no youngster is going to put that slant on the movie. With all that is going on visually in the film, you don't need to stop and think.
I start with these facts because the end of The Golden Compass leaves it open to a sequel....a sequel that may never come, unless they can find a way to make a second movie for half the money.
When the most interesting characters in a movie featuring human actors are the CGI characters, the film is in trouble. Nicole Kidman as usual, looks like a porcelain goddess, but her performance is boring. Daniel Craig is on screen for a very short period, I'm thinking he would be featured in the next film. Sam Elliott pops up as a cowboy, proving once again that he was born 40 years too late. If he was in his prime when two out of every three movies was a western, there is no telling how much bigger his career would have been.
All of the CGI characters are top notch at least you can see where most of the money went. The voice over work from Ian McKellen, Ian McShane and others not named Ian, is excellent. In fact, the character I cared about the most was Iorek Byrnison the CGI generated polar bear voiced by Ian McKellen.
To sum this all up, I liked the movie enough to give it 3 out of 5 stars. It held my interest throughout. I did leave the theater less than satisfied by the open ended ending. I really don't like being left on the hook. I don't remember feeling that way at the end of The Chronicles of Narnia (which had religious groups up in arms for just the opposite reasons, there is just no pleasing some folks)
I start with these facts because the end of The Golden Compass leaves it open to a sequel....a sequel that may never come, unless they can find a way to make a second movie for half the money.
When the most interesting characters in a movie featuring human actors are the CGI characters, the film is in trouble. Nicole Kidman as usual, looks like a porcelain goddess, but her performance is boring. Daniel Craig is on screen for a very short period, I'm thinking he would be featured in the next film. Sam Elliott pops up as a cowboy, proving once again that he was born 40 years too late. If he was in his prime when two out of every three movies was a western, there is no telling how much bigger his career would have been.
All of the CGI characters are top notch at least you can see where most of the money went. The voice over work from Ian McKellen, Ian McShane and others not named Ian, is excellent. In fact, the character I cared about the most was Iorek Byrnison the CGI generated polar bear voiced by Ian McKellen.
To sum this all up, I liked the movie enough to give it 3 out of 5 stars. It held my interest throughout. I did leave the theater less than satisfied by the open ended ending. I really don't like being left on the hook. I don't remember feeling that way at the end of The Chronicles of Narnia (which had religious groups up in arms for just the opposite reasons, there is just no pleasing some folks)
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