Charlie Bartlett is a rich teen whose eccentricities have been nurtured by his mother and caused him to be expelled from every private school with a stamp until he is forced into public school. Charlie ends up at the public high school of Principal Gardner and though Charlie suffers his lumps and bruises at first he finally finds his place among the student population as amateur shrink, and all-around problem solver who deals behavioral meds on the side and helps the students through the issues they can’t take to their parents. Charlie’s popularity weighs on Principal Gardner because the superintendent beings to blame the student bodies behavior on Gardner being unable to control Charlie, and because Charlie is dating his daughter. In the end, Charlie and Gardner both have to figure out what they want and how they got to this point in their lives in order to truly accept who they are.
When the trailers first came out for Charlie Bartlett I really wanted to see it, but it was in limited release and it slipped past me. I was reminded of the film when I saw Star Trek and the phenomenal Anton Yelchin who just happens to be the lead character in Charlie Bartlett.
After seeing Yelchin in Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation I knew he had talent, but Charlie Bartlett sealed the deal. This kid is going to be huge and he is one of the most talented young actors I have seen in years. Yelchin has the ability to literally put on a character’s skin, get inside their emotional life and become another person; while every actor can do this on some level there is no denying that just like any talent some actors are much more capable than others – Yelchin may be young but he transforms on screen. It’s transfixing to watch and the presence of Robert Downey Jr. in this film made me feel like Downey was stamping his seal of approval on Yelchin, and though the film was decidedly more light-hearted I felt that the level of performance in this film was akin to Downey in Less Than Zero.
Charlie Bartlett is also a wonderfully rounded film. The film goes from comedy to drama with the ease that only great films can, one that seems natural and intrinsic to the film; a shift that makes sense for the characters, the story and the message of the film. Gardner and Charlie are very similar characters at very opposing points in their lives and when the characters finally bond at the end of the film each causes the other to wake up to the things they’d been ignoring about themselves and this is done without being trite, heavy-handed or blasé.
I cannot recommend Charlie Bartlett enough. This is an incredible movie with an incredible cast and if I had the money it would already be a part of my collection instead of just another notch off my Netflix queue.
Director: Jon Poll
Wrriter: Gustin Nash
Charlie Bartlett: Anton Yelchin
Principal Gardner: Robert Downey Jr.
Marilyn Bartlett: Hope Davis
Susan Gardner: Kat Dennings
Murphey: Tyler Hilton
Charlie Bartlett: Well duh dude, this place sucks. But I just worry that one day we're gonna look back at high school and wish we'd done something different.
Showing posts with label anton yelchin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anton yelchin. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Terminator Salvation
Yes, yes. I saw Terminator Salvation two times in a row. What was I supposed to do? A friend wanted to go and so I went. It was fun.
I actually enjoyed seeing the film more on the second viewing and I have to day that is probably because through my entire first viewing I was constantly tense…I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was on pins and needles most of the film the first time because I love the first two films so much that I didn’t see any way that another installment of Terminator could add to the franchise after the disaster that was T3. Thank goodness my faith in McG paid off. I’d heard him speak so passionately about Terminator at last years Comic-Con and begun to get a sense that he of all people could make a worthy follow-up to Cameron’s visionary story. McG exceeded.
One of my favorite things in Terminator Salvation is that though the film has switched entirely to John Connor and away from Sarah we still get Sarah Connor in the film. Those that have followed the Connor’s since Terminator know that she recorded a series of tapes for John to prepare him for the future to come, the war with the machines and how he came to be. Now a grown man without his mother by his side to fight with him, John uses those tapes constantly in an effort to stay on top of the machines and the war to come.
As much as I loved McG’s vision of the future I still miss James Cameron at the helm. However, I hope that since Cameron isn’t there McG can perhaps get Linda Hamilton to reprise her iconic role if the story dictates it…
Marcus Wright: What day is it? What year?
Kyle Reese: 2018.
Marcus Wright: What happened here?
Kyle Reese: Judgment Day happened.
I actually enjoyed seeing the film more on the second viewing and I have to day that is probably because through my entire first viewing I was constantly tense…I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was on pins and needles most of the film the first time because I love the first two films so much that I didn’t see any way that another installment of Terminator could add to the franchise after the disaster that was T3. Thank goodness my faith in McG paid off. I’d heard him speak so passionately about Terminator at last years Comic-Con and begun to get a sense that he of all people could make a worthy follow-up to Cameron’s visionary story. McG exceeded.
One of my favorite things in Terminator Salvation is that though the film has switched entirely to John Connor and away from Sarah we still get Sarah Connor in the film. Those that have followed the Connor’s since Terminator know that she recorded a series of tapes for John to prepare him for the future to come, the war with the machines and how he came to be. Now a grown man without his mother by his side to fight with him, John uses those tapes constantly in an effort to stay on top of the machines and the war to come.
As much as I loved McG’s vision of the future I still miss James Cameron at the helm. However, I hope that since Cameron isn’t there McG can perhaps get Linda Hamilton to reprise her iconic role if the story dictates it…
Marcus Wright: What day is it? What year?
Kyle Reese: 2018.
Marcus Wright: What happened here?
Kyle Reese: Judgment Day happened.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Terminator Salvation
In Terminator Salvation we are finally in the post-Judgment Day war, but we are early in it – the resistance is still learning to fight against the machines, and the machines are still fighting against John Connor. John Connor is finally dealing with the future his mother warned him about, the one he lived his life preparing for. He thought he was prepared for it until Marcus Wright arrives and shocks John completely – Marcus is a terminator but believes he is human. I have to say that no Terminator film will ever match Cameron’s original films, but this one is a good addition to the series.
What was so great to me about Terminator Salvation is how McG has explored the mythos of Judgment Day and John Connor. By placing the audience early in the war we get to see the continued journey of how John Connor becomes the leader of the resistance. You see when we come into the movie John is not the leader. John is high in the resistance but there is a central command that does not accept him as leader. The writers and McG have explored a very simple concept of John Connor as savior; because of Sarah, John has the knowledge of the machines and the war, and knows that he is who can end it all but while a great many people accept Johns story there is another group of people that think he is what amounts to a false prophet. John has to fight for his position as leader of the resistance.
This is the first Terminator movie that has not had a plot directly related to time travel. However, as the core of the films deal with time travel it does come up in this film. The primary thing that John Connor has to deal with is not only pushing forward to beat down Skynet, but finding his father Kyle Reese. At this point in time Kyle is actually younger than John, but John must find him, protect him and shepard him into the soldier that he will send back in time to protect his mother without Kyle ever knowing that this is what is happening. And after a lifetime of growing up never knowing his father, John Connor will finally meet him.
What I am still weighing in my mind is the character of Marcus Wright. I can’t say that I disliked the character, and I think that upon further viewing I will in fact like him more, but the character was a bit odd to me. I think my only reasoning is that never before has a main character entirely taken focus off one of the Connor’s. However, his character served a great purpose in the film and was pretty dang interesting so I can’t complain. I do however wish that Kate Connor was further explored as it felt like there should have been more to her in the movie.
Terminator Salvation has gotten a lot of crap, and I have to say that most of it is probably coming from people that still won’t accept McG as a credible director. However, he seems to be on a string of well done movies, it began with We Are Marshall and if it continues past Terminator Salvation I’d say I can safely call McG a dang good director. I’d take him over Michael Bay any day.
Director: McG
Writers: John D. Brancato & Michael Ferris
John Connor: Christian Bale
Marcus Wright: Sam Worthington
Blair Williams: Moon Bloodgood
Dr. Serena Kogan: Helena Bonham Carter
Kyle Reese: Anton Yelchin
Kate Connor: Bryce Dallas Howard
General Ashdown: Michael Ironside
John Connor: We've been fighting a long time. We are out numbered by machines. Working around the clock,without quit. Humans have a strength that cannot be measured. This is John Connor. If you are listening to this,you are the resistance.
What was so great to me about Terminator Salvation is how McG has explored the mythos of Judgment Day and John Connor. By placing the audience early in the war we get to see the continued journey of how John Connor becomes the leader of the resistance. You see when we come into the movie John is not the leader. John is high in the resistance but there is a central command that does not accept him as leader. The writers and McG have explored a very simple concept of John Connor as savior; because of Sarah, John has the knowledge of the machines and the war, and knows that he is who can end it all but while a great many people accept Johns story there is another group of people that think he is what amounts to a false prophet. John has to fight for his position as leader of the resistance.
This is the first Terminator movie that has not had a plot directly related to time travel. However, as the core of the films deal with time travel it does come up in this film. The primary thing that John Connor has to deal with is not only pushing forward to beat down Skynet, but finding his father Kyle Reese. At this point in time Kyle is actually younger than John, but John must find him, protect him and shepard him into the soldier that he will send back in time to protect his mother without Kyle ever knowing that this is what is happening. And after a lifetime of growing up never knowing his father, John Connor will finally meet him.
What I am still weighing in my mind is the character of Marcus Wright. I can’t say that I disliked the character, and I think that upon further viewing I will in fact like him more, but the character was a bit odd to me. I think my only reasoning is that never before has a main character entirely taken focus off one of the Connor’s. However, his character served a great purpose in the film and was pretty dang interesting so I can’t complain. I do however wish that Kate Connor was further explored as it felt like there should have been more to her in the movie.
Terminator Salvation has gotten a lot of crap, and I have to say that most of it is probably coming from people that still won’t accept McG as a credible director. However, he seems to be on a string of well done movies, it began with We Are Marshall and if it continues past Terminator Salvation I’d say I can safely call McG a dang good director. I’d take him over Michael Bay any day.
Director: McG
Writers: John D. Brancato & Michael Ferris
John Connor: Christian Bale
Marcus Wright: Sam Worthington
Blair Williams: Moon Bloodgood
Dr. Serena Kogan: Helena Bonham Carter
Kyle Reese: Anton Yelchin
Kate Connor: Bryce Dallas Howard
General Ashdown: Michael Ironside
John Connor: We've been fighting a long time. We are out numbered by machines. Working around the clock,without quit. Humans have a strength that cannot be measured. This is John Connor. If you are listening to this,you are the resistance.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Star Trek
Honestly, the true test of how much I genuinely love a movie is how often I watch it or talk about it. Last year I genuinely fell in love with Iron Man and I am relatively sure it’s landing on the list of my all-time favorite films. This year I am falling head over heels for Star Trek and if the love affair continues it could also end up on my favorite films list.
What was so great about this viewing was that I got to watch Star Trek with an original Trekkie – my grandmother. My grandmother has followed the Trek universe since the first episode of the original series premiered and has been a faithful fan ever since. I considered this a true test of how the film would hold up against a real fan, someone who fell in love with the series because of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and Gene Roddenberry. She filled my childhood head with the world of the Federation, always had the coolest collectibles and would call foul when she saw the shows do something stupid; if there was anyone that I would genuinely listen to if they cried foul over Abrams updated Trek it would be her.
My grandmother loved Star Trek. A original Trekkie to the core, she told me that she thought Abrams understood the series perfectly and it was a great movie, her favorite Star Trek movie in years.
I challenge anyone out there that thinks Abrams defiled Star Trek to take on my grandmother. She knows her stuff better than most of the haters out there, and above all else since she’s been around the series since its inception she remembers that the series is supposed to be about the characters, the explorations and most of all the adventures – science always took a back seat when Rodenberry was at the wheel.
McCoy: Permission to speak freely, sir?
Spock: I welcome it.
McCoy: Do you? OK, then. Are you out of your Vulcan mind? Are you making a logical choice, sending Kirk away? Probably. But, the right one? You know, back home we have a saying: "If you wanna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don't leave your prized stallion in the stable."
What was so great about this viewing was that I got to watch Star Trek with an original Trekkie – my grandmother. My grandmother has followed the Trek universe since the first episode of the original series premiered and has been a faithful fan ever since. I considered this a true test of how the film would hold up against a real fan, someone who fell in love with the series because of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and Gene Roddenberry. She filled my childhood head with the world of the Federation, always had the coolest collectibles and would call foul when she saw the shows do something stupid; if there was anyone that I would genuinely listen to if they cried foul over Abrams updated Trek it would be her.
My grandmother loved Star Trek. A original Trekkie to the core, she told me that she thought Abrams understood the series perfectly and it was a great movie, her favorite Star Trek movie in years.
I challenge anyone out there that thinks Abrams defiled Star Trek to take on my grandmother. She knows her stuff better than most of the haters out there, and above all else since she’s been around the series since its inception she remembers that the series is supposed to be about the characters, the explorations and most of all the adventures – science always took a back seat when Rodenberry was at the wheel.
McCoy: Permission to speak freely, sir?
Spock: I welcome it.
McCoy: Do you? OK, then. Are you out of your Vulcan mind? Are you making a logical choice, sending Kirk away? Probably. But, the right one? You know, back home we have a saying: "If you wanna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don't leave your prized stallion in the stable."
Friday, May 8, 2009
Star Trek
In this Trek universe James Kirk has grown up rebellious and fatherless because the day he was born his father died saving the lives of the U.S.S. Kelvin crew as it was being attacked by a futuristic Romulan ship captained by Nero. Meanwhile, Spock grows up on Vulcan experiencing a different kind of emotional rift as he is half-Vulcan/half-human and must decide which lifestyle he should choose. Spock enters Star Fleet and rises through the ranks, but Kirk shuns Star Fleet until he is shamed and challenged by Capt. Pike. Three years into the academy Vulcan sends a distress call and Star Fleet sends all of the cadets into active duty allowing Kirk, Bones, & Uhura to join the rest of the Enterprise crew. Once nearing Vulcan Kirk realizes that the disaster Vulcan is experiencing isn’t natural, but the same thing that attacked the Kelvin 25 years before.
Star Trek is unlike any Trek movie I have ever seen and it is all the better for it. JJ Abrams and his writers truly dug into the roots of Star Trek and decided to bring the series back to its core with the original characters, and they returned the original adventurous attitude as well. This is Star Fleet without rules, the impulsive space adventure we all truly want and we get the added bonus of having a Federation universe that is not at peace, it is still at war with the Klingons, Romulans and doesn’t have all the answers.
What is so remarkable about this film is the characters are perfectly acted and written so that they are instantly identified with the originals we know and love without being charicatures or far too predictable. Zoe Saldana is sultry and attitude driven as Uhura; Simon Pegg is hysterical & lovable as Scotty; Anton Yelchin is young, excitable & overzealous as Chekov; John Cho is the perfect blend of cocky & naive as Sulu. On top of that Zarchary Quinto & Chris Pine are beyond perfect representations of Spock & Kirk for a new generation. Not only do they really understand the core of these characters but they understand their relationship and how each man begins to inform the other.
That being said, the single show stealing actor is Karl Urban. Urban was born to play McCoy. From the moment you first hear him, before he ever walks on screen you know that Bones is coming and he captures your attention. He is filled with attitude, heart and that biting wit that always made McCoy a crowd favorite. This may be a bit of Trek heresy but I think that Urban is a better McCoy than Deforest Kelly. Urban is so good that you forget that the other actors are doing phenomenally as well.
What was so great about the writing for these characters is that the writers thought about how to get what the fans would expect in there without making it seem out of place or smack of cliché. Each character has their signature line thrown into the movie, but it happens so naturally that you wouldn’t realize those lines are important unless you are a fan, and eve in you are a Trekkie you might miss them on first viewing.
This movie did the impossible. Abrams has managed to reinvent the Star Trek wheel without throwing the car out of alignment. He pays enough homage to the original films that hard core Trekkies can appreciate it (if they get over their grudges and get to the theatre) but change the timeline so the original films can still be valid. Trek now exists in an alternate timeline. As if that weren’t enough, Abrams has opened Trek up, and people that are completely unfamiliar with the world of the Federation can discover it in an incredibly approachable way.
Go see this movie.
Director: JJ Abrams
Writers: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman
James T. Kirk: Chris Pine
Spock: Zachary Quinto
Old Spock: Leonard Nimoy
Nero: Eric Bana
Capt. Pike: Bruce Greenwood
Leonard McCoy: Karl Urban
Uhura: Zoe Saldana
Scotty: Simon Pegg
Sulu: John Cho
Chekov: Anton Yelchin
Sarek: Ben Cross
Amanda Grayson: Winona Ryder
Nero: James T. Kirk was a great man... but that was another life.
Star Trek is unlike any Trek movie I have ever seen and it is all the better for it. JJ Abrams and his writers truly dug into the roots of Star Trek and decided to bring the series back to its core with the original characters, and they returned the original adventurous attitude as well. This is Star Fleet without rules, the impulsive space adventure we all truly want and we get the added bonus of having a Federation universe that is not at peace, it is still at war with the Klingons, Romulans and doesn’t have all the answers.
What is so remarkable about this film is the characters are perfectly acted and written so that they are instantly identified with the originals we know and love without being charicatures or far too predictable. Zoe Saldana is sultry and attitude driven as Uhura; Simon Pegg is hysterical & lovable as Scotty; Anton Yelchin is young, excitable & overzealous as Chekov; John Cho is the perfect blend of cocky & naive as Sulu. On top of that Zarchary Quinto & Chris Pine are beyond perfect representations of Spock & Kirk for a new generation. Not only do they really understand the core of these characters but they understand their relationship and how each man begins to inform the other.
That being said, the single show stealing actor is Karl Urban. Urban was born to play McCoy. From the moment you first hear him, before he ever walks on screen you know that Bones is coming and he captures your attention. He is filled with attitude, heart and that biting wit that always made McCoy a crowd favorite. This may be a bit of Trek heresy but I think that Urban is a better McCoy than Deforest Kelly. Urban is so good that you forget that the other actors are doing phenomenally as well.
What was so great about the writing for these characters is that the writers thought about how to get what the fans would expect in there without making it seem out of place or smack of cliché. Each character has their signature line thrown into the movie, but it happens so naturally that you wouldn’t realize those lines are important unless you are a fan, and eve in you are a Trekkie you might miss them on first viewing.
This movie did the impossible. Abrams has managed to reinvent the Star Trek wheel without throwing the car out of alignment. He pays enough homage to the original films that hard core Trekkies can appreciate it (if they get over their grudges and get to the theatre) but change the timeline so the original films can still be valid. Trek now exists in an alternate timeline. As if that weren’t enough, Abrams has opened Trek up, and people that are completely unfamiliar with the world of the Federation can discover it in an incredibly approachable way.
Go see this movie.
Director: JJ Abrams
Writers: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman
James T. Kirk: Chris Pine
Spock: Zachary Quinto
Old Spock: Leonard Nimoy
Nero: Eric Bana
Capt. Pike: Bruce Greenwood
Leonard McCoy: Karl Urban
Uhura: Zoe Saldana
Scotty: Simon Pegg
Sulu: John Cho
Chekov: Anton Yelchin
Sarek: Ben Cross
Amanda Grayson: Winona Ryder
Nero: James T. Kirk was a great man... but that was another life.
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