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

Made

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Originally uploaded by sean's jawns

Now the entire world is aware of Jon Favreau, he is the director that brought Iron Man to life, but in 2001 he made his directorial debut with Made a story about Bobby (whom he also played), a down on his luck wannabe boxer who struggles day to day with trying to provide for his girlfriend Jessica & her daughter, and helping his best friend Ricky. Bobby turns from his stripper-girlfriends body guard to her boss Max’s tough guy & he heads with Ricky to New York to start his career as a mob henchman.

This shows the mark of a directorial debut; while Made is an good movie it doesn’t quite feel like Favreau’s subsequent films. The biggest difference would probably be the tone of his later films. Beginning with Swingers (Favreau’s debut as writer) all of Favreau’s films have been upbeat, if not lighter in tone than Made.

What made Made the most memorable to me is the end of the film. I spent most of the film wondering what the point of the story was and I was not disappointed; Bobby spends his journey through the film trying to provide for his family unit – Jessica & Chloe – only to finally find out that he’s providing for a woman that doesn’t want to be provided for. However, that’s when Made becomes the film that makes it original. Made is about fatherhood; while Jessica fails at being the “wife” she recognizes that Bobby is a better parent to Chloe than she is and allows Bobby to take her daughter as his own. It was a unexpected poignant moment added into the story, that shows Favreau’s true talent as a filmmaker.

What was strange to me in Made is that I spent most of the movie wanting to slap Vince Vaughn. He spends most of the movie seemingly doing everything possible to grate on your nerves, and to do it at top volume. I can’t decide if his performance was meant that way (because he does serve a point) or if it is one of the marks of Favreau’s first try at directing.

I adore Favreau. As a director myself I cannot figure out how he manages to act and direct in his own films, especially a film like Made where he plays the title character. I am excited to be a Jon Favreau fan because I feel like I can watch every film he makes as he makes it and watch his career as it happens. I am truly excited to see where Favreau’s career goes.

Director & Writer: Jon Favreau
Bobby: Jon Favreau
Ricky: Vince Vaughn
Jessica: Famke Janssen
Chloe: Makenzie Vega
Horace: Faizon Love
Max: Peter Falk
Ruiz: Sean Combs

Ricky Slade: You got an ash tray? How about an ash tray? Can I color me that?

Taken

I adore Luc Besson and the fact that he no longer directs does make me a bit sad; luckily he still chooses to write and because of that I have movies like Taken. Taken really is Luc Besson without Besson at the helm.

What is nice about Taken is that it is an amazing action movie, but before the action sets in it manages to set up our characters and our plot so that we actually manage to connect with the main characters before the bone crushing sets in. Taken is everything it promises in its trailer to be.

Bryan is a recently retired government operative who is now living in LA so that he can make up for lost time with his teenage daughter Kim. She is invited to spend time in Paris with a friend; as she is a minor she needs the permission of mother and father to leave the country, reluctantly, pinned into a corner by his ex-wife Lenore, Bryan signs the papers to let Kim go to Paris. He gets Kim on the phone once she arrives to her apartment in Paris and men promptly break in and take Kim and her friend captive. Bryan records the call and has it analyzed by his friends still in the government quickly learning that Kim has been taken by a group that deals in human trading and he has 96 hours before Kim will disappear so far in the inner workings of the sex trade that she can never be found. Like any vengeful father with a set of amazing skills Bryan sets out to Paris to find his daughter and hurt the men responsible.

I feel like Taken is a movie I shouldn’t have enjoyed, but I really did love it. This is a vigilante movie ala Death Wish and Liam Neeson and Pierre Morel create a fantastic action film that really is one of the most enjoyable action films that I’ve seen in recent years.

Director: Pierre Morel
Writers: Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen
Amanda: Katie Cassidy
Kim: Maggie Grace
Lenore: Famke Janssen
Bryan: Liam Neeson
Sam: Leland Orser

Bryan: I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.
Marko: Good luck.