The Box

The Box
Originally uploaded by wbmoviesgirl

Norma, Arthur and their son Walter are a happy family but like most people are strapped for cash and having trouble making ends meet. Just when Arthur discovers NASA has rejected him from the astronaut program Arlington Steward shows up on their doorstep with a box and a proposition. The box contains a button, and if Norma and Arthur push the button they will get one million dollars, but somewhere in the world, someone they don’t know will die. Desprate and unbelieving, Norma presses the button and she and Arthur are sucked into a mystery that neither one of them can understand or find their way out of.

Not surprisingly, The Box is a movie that most people won’t like. This is a morality tale and if anyone wants to be honest that means it’s a movie that can’t have the easily accomplished, cop-out ending. As a true morality tale The Box makes sure it has a lesson to impart and does so in the best way it can: just like Icarus got caught up in the moment and plummeting into tragedy, Arthur & Norma help cause the tragedy that unfolds around them and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Part of what I loved about The Box is that it’s a true Richard Kelly film – it’s a morality tale with a B-movie, science fiction slant. By setting the film around NASA in the seventies Kelly is allowed the room to play with a world that is still wary of technology, space and the mysterious “other”. Arlington Steward is a mystery instead of a search on the internet – genuine gumshoe work is required. This lends an aura of mystery to the film that is hard to accomplish in a film set in a contemporary period. Even though this mystery involves the supernatural it is one that could be easily resolved now adays as it revolves around one central figure, one who could be easily tracked on the internet or in any computerized database. I assume Kelley added this element to the short story himself as he said the concept for Norma & Arthur in the film were based around his parents.

Richard Kelly films thrill me in a way that I have talked too much about to those that know me. He makes movies that can still surprise me, movies that have visuals I want to emulate, and stories that astound me. I am sad that the mass audiences no longer have the film vocabulary to view and enjoy as Richard Kelly film, but I have to hope that the more movies he makes and the longer they pick up followings on DVD that the easier it will be for a mass audience to see and enjoy his films in the theatre.

Director & Writer: Richard Kelly
Norma: Cameron Diaz
Arthur: James Marsden
Arlington Steward: Frank Langella
Dana: Gillian Jacobs
Walter: Sam Oz Stone

X-Men

X-Men is a tale everyone is pretty familiar with now. In a near future mutants have started to become a part of society and like any deviation from the standard this has begun to make the public uncomfortable; the mutants are viewed as “others” that cannot be controlled and are probably dangerous. The government is working to pass legislation that will force mutants to register, and this makes mutant leader Magneto and his minions take action against the public. The only ones who can stop them are the X-men, the students of another mutant Professor Charles Xavier.

When X-Men was released it was truly the beginning of the contemporary comic book film. We would not have The Dark Knight, Spider Man, or Iron Man the way we have them now if it wasn’t for this film and the film is an excellent movie. That being said, X-Men is nowhere near the level of comic book movie that the fans expect nowadays it is not nearly faithful enough to the source material. I won’t bore you all with the details but the major issues are Rouge being a teen and the absence of mutants like Gambit & most importantly Beast.

What is great about this movie is Bryan Singer. Singer gets X-Men on top of being a fantastic director; many people have speculated that because Singer is an “other” himself he could identify with these characters. Singer himself has admitted that he doesn’t know or read comic books; this didn’t seem to be a problem when he directed his X-Men movies, but it did become a problem when he made Superman Returns.

Director: Bryan Singer
Writer: Tom DeSanto
Wolderine: Hugh Jackman
Professor X: Patrick Stewart
Magneto: Ian McKellen
Jean Grey: Famke Janssen
Cyclops: James marsden
Storm: Halle Berry
Rogue: Anna Paquin

Dr. Jean Grey: Ladies and gentlemen, we are now seeing the beginnings of another stage of human evolution. These mutations manifest at puberty, and are often triggered by periods of heightened emotional stress.
Senator Kelly: Thank you, Miss Grey! That was-quite educational. However it fails to address the issue which is the focus of this hearing. Three words: are mutants dangerous

Superman Returns

Lane & Kent
Originally uploaded by Lane & Kent

Superman is now and has always been my favorite super hero, he’s probably my favorite fictional character. Superman represents American ideals, the American dream, and everything that should be pure and good about humanity. He is the one pure and good super hero, he desperately wants to fit in but the more he tries the more he knows that the only way he can help the people that he loves is by separating himself from them. Superman is the selfless super hero who will never be shaken, and who can never really be who he wants to be – Clark Kent.

I lay out the above so that you will know where I come from when I critique a Superman movie. Since they begin committing Superman to film there have been good films about Superman, but no film has ever truly grasped the idealism, and pureness of the character. Superman the Movie and Superman II were pretty darn good, but not really the Superman from the comic books, and don’t even get me started on Lois Lane. However, compared to the way that Superman Returns bastardizes the man of steel the previous films are shining examples of Superman lore.

When I first heard that Bryan Singer was talking the helm of the Superman franchise I was excited. Singer is one of my favorite directors and made my favorite film of all time - The Usual Suspects. His visual style is phenomenal, he seems to be an actor’s director and he completely invented the visual style of the X-Men films so I thought he’d do no wrong…I’d do better, but he couldn’t do wrong. I was mistaken.

What I can say is that there are some things that Singer gets very, very right. There are visuals in the film that are perfect Superman visuals. When Superman rescues the plane at the beginning of the film and the entire stadium applauds him – perfect. When he flies over the streets and everyone stops and stares – perfect. When we flashback to Clark Kent as a kid playing with his powers – perfect. But the list ends about there. A few perfect visuals does not make up for the things that went wrong with the film.

What is most notable bothersome about Superman Returns is the casting. What Singer got so right in X-Men he got so wrong in this film; Brandon Routh is perfect as Supes, there is no denying that. However, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane is not so perfect, she is fragile, annoying, and looks like she could snap in two under the slightest pressure. Where Margo Kidder was overbearing and slightly grating, Bosworth is too transparent and frail to be the stubborn, tough as nails reporter that doesn’t listen to anyone and makes her own rules. Let’s also note that in this film we assume the characters should be in their mid-thirties, and yet Bosworth and Routh don’t look a day over 24.

We then move on to James Marsden who plays Lois Lane’s fiancée Richard; I have no problems with Marsden, I adore him in every part and that is the problem. Marsden is far too likable for the character he was cast to paly. As an audience member we should want Lois to dump Richard and gun it for Supes/Clark. Instead, we want Richard to dump Lois because he is wonderful and she is horrible to him. Not exactly the kind of reaction you want to the character that should be the third wheel in the scenario.

Now we can discuss Lex Luthor, played by Kevin Spacey. I actually have no problems with this casting. I genuinely think it could have been perfect – if Singer had actually made him the Luthor from the comic books and not the Luthor from the first two Superman films. Instead of being the menacing villain the two time Oscar winner is capable of playing, we have a cheesy, poorly written performance of a villain who smacks of clichés.

Normally I try not to post too big of spoiler in my reviews, but I will break that rule here. Superman Returns does the one heinous thing that it cannot recover from, ever. They give Superman and Lois Lane a love child.

There is no way in Superman lore that he would EVER have an illegitimate child. EVER. I understand that children are the byproduct of sex, but this is still fiction and there is no way that with the pureness that Superman represents that he would ever have an illegitimate child. I’m sorry; it took about 40 years for Clark Kent and Lois Lane to tie the knot in the comic book, you cannot make the decision to give him a six year old son in the course of a two hour movie.

I still adore Bryan Singer. However, I remember him saying once that he doesn’t read comic books or know much about them. With X-Men that didn’t seem to make a difference, he understood what the characters where about and how to make them work in that world. He shared no such empathy for the man of steel; and I don’t know if Superman can recover.

Here and now is the first time that I say this publically for all to see. Warner Brothers, DC – someday if you give me the reins to the Superman franchise I can do to it what Christopher Nolan did to Batman. I can make the movie that satisfies the geeks because it is the Superman, Clark Kent and Lois Lane they know and love; I can make the movie that satisfies the audiences worldwide because it is a damn good story; I can make the Superman movie that makes Superman relevant again; I can make the Superman movie that breaks box office records.

All you have to do is give it to me in a few years.

Director: Bryan Singer
Writers: Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris
Clark Kent/Superman: Brandon Routh
Lois Lane: Kate Bosworth
Lex Luthor: Kevin Spacey
Richard White: James Marsden
Kitty: Parker Posey
Perry White: Frank Langella
Martha Kent: Eva Marie Saint
Jor-El: Marlin Brando
Jason: Tristan Lake Leabu

Superman: You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one.

Enchanted

2007_enchanted_008
Originally uploaded by frekemmit89

Enchanted is one in the long line of Disney family films about princesses, their quest for prince charming, and the villainous oppressor that seeks to keep them apart. What makes Enchanted a modern Disney masterpiece worthy of Walt himself is not the tale it tells but how it chooses to tell it; rather than ignore the formula and predecessors of the Disney cannon Enchanted uses the classic Disney formula to its advantage and creates a original and loving homage to the stories that have shaped every generation of children since Snow White.

Bill Kelly and Kevin Lima directly lift from numerous Disney films, the most frequent and obvious being The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Bambi, Snow White, Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp and Beauty and the Beast. Most of these references are idle and don’t impact the plot of the story but are hidden in the body of the film as extra gems for the avid Disney viewer to find.

Less subtle but perhaps even more for the adept Disney film viewer is the fact that several shots in the film are shot-for-shot reproductions of shots in other Disney films only this time created in the live action realm instead of the two dimensional animated films that they are lifted from. First and beautifully reproduced is when Giselle is scrubbing the bathroom floor and bubbles begin to raise each containing Giselle’s reflection as in Cinderella.

The next and most obvious shots are listed from two of the most influential films in the Disney cannon: Beauty and the Beast and Snow White. Both of these shots take place in the King’s & Queen’s Ball at the end of the film.

Perhaps the most famous shot in Beauty in the Beast is when Belle and the Beast are dancing in the grand ballroom and the shot begins eye level with the chandelier at the top of the ballroom and sweeps down to the Beast and Belle dancing; this is magnificently recreated as Giselle and Robert dance together at the ball. The next is one of the most iconic shots from Snow White; Giselle takes a bite from the poison apple offered to her by the Queen and the next shot after she has fallen to the ground we see her limp arm hit the floor and the apple roll away from her, just like Snow White as she falls to the ground and loses her grip on the apple.

Enchanted is heralded as one of the new gems in the Disney crown; however, this film would not be the critical achievement that it is if it were not for the actors involved. The ability of this story to shift from cheesy and overdone tale of Disney fluff to heartfelt, and iconic Disney tale rests not only on the talent of the writer and director but on the ability of the talented cast to turn the eccentric world in which they exist into reality instead of pretending it’s all camp and no substance.

Amy Adams has been lauded with two Oscar nominations. The first for indy flick Junebug, and the second for her role as Giselle. This nomination for Enchanted is no laughing matter; Adams brings an intense naivety and vulnerability to the character that you can’t help but love her and want her to turn New York into the fanciful place she believes the world should be. A prefect example is the first scene Adams is onscreen after her character shifts from being animated to a three dimensional human. As she sits in her shock, agony and desperation she discovers her new body and slowly the overwhelming new world around her; when Adams embodies the character we uncover the true meaning of Enchanted – Giselle becomes three dimensional and spends the rest of the story discovering that her body is not just three dimensional but she is as well as she takes control over her destiny and her life.

The next character who should be lauded for every film he appeared in this year is the masterful James Marsden. His character Prince Edward is obviously two dimensional, but preformed and written with such skill as his simple mindedness becomes his most endearing quality. Prince Edward is self-involved, vane and single-minded but the performance is played with just enough exuberance that Marsden makes Edward completely believable as a fairy tale prince without turning the character into one that grates on the audience as he delivers every exuberant line.

The final leading character is played more subtly than Adams and Marsden and from the opposite end the of characters spectrum, this character would be Robert played by adorable Patrick Dempsey. Unlike Giselle and Edward Robert comes from a world where love ends, people abandon and his little girl faces life without her mother. He is the biggest skeptic of Giselle’s way of thinking and when played off Adams through the course of the film Dempsey makes his character’s gradual transition from skeptic to romantic flawless, understated and believable. Too often subtle acting is overlooked and Dempsey deserves his due for the ease in which Robert and Giselle slowly begin to realize that their two lives can create one magnificent new reality.

Enchanted creates a fantasy world that perfectly blends fantasy with reality and promises fresh, new potential for the princess films that follow it.

Director: Kevin Lima
Writer: Bill Kelly
Giselle: Amy Adams
Robert Phillip: Patrick Dempsey
Prince Edward: James Marsden
Morgan Phillip: Rachel Covey
Nathaniel: Timothy Spall
Nancy Tremaine: Idina Menzel
Queen Narissa: Susan Sarandon

Morgan Philip: Remember not to put too much makeup or the boys may get the wrong idea. They are only after one thing.
Giselle: What's that?
Morgan Philip: I don't know. They won't tell me.