UP on Pixar

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Pixar has released 10 movies in it's existence. They are, TOY STORY 1/2, CARS, RATAOUILLE, WALL-E, THE INCREDIBLES, FINDING NEMO, MONSTERS INC, A BUG'S LIFE, AND UP. And they are all amazing. The only one I haven't seen was Monsters Inc, and the only one I didn't enjoy was Cars. That level of success in business, and with the viewers is absolutely unmatched. They may be the best collection of talent out there. Whatever they are doing, I hope they keep doing it.

So that tidbit of info was brought up by me just seeing the moving, funny, and visually fantastic UP. Starting from the top they had a montage with no words that is the best I have seen in a long time. It was sweet, wonderfully set to music, and from the get go had everyone accepting of the main character no matter how crabby he was about to become. The great story of the man and the scout was balanced with great humor from 'Dug' the dog, and the great adventure that they undertook. The voice casting was also superb, and may have been helped that avoided getting 'names' that often distract from these movies. None of UP was particularily meant for kids, nor were any of the jokes something that only adults would 'get.' Rather they just made a great movie that was computer animated. 

I'm sure you have heard the reviews. I'm sure you've seen how good the trailers, and ads look. And I'm telling you it's a must see. Tops the list of the summer so far, with Star Trek being the second of the two must sees so far.

Paging Woody Allen, and German Accents...

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Why do aging artists who consistently come out with more and more material each get credited with coming out with their latest masterpiece. Bob Dylan comes to mind, so does Bruce Springsteen recently, and don't get me wrong that both had fine work that has come out. But nothing compared to some of the masterworks they had in the past. Another artist like this is Woody Allen. His last few films have all shared this publicized hype when they came out, and all of them I didn't care for. Sure they may be well made films, that may not be denied, but they are just not very good. Not very interesting, not entertaining enough. 

The latest would be VICKY CRISTINIA BARCELONA, filled with hype of return to form, one for his cannon, and great performances. And viewed by me as rather boring. I don't know what else to say, the story was a bit understated, the performances were acceptable, the scenery was great, but it was just boring. The one thing I must say is that I don't see how Penelope Cruz got a Oscar for this movie. If anything her performance in Elegy should have gotten more attention. 

I guess for the time being we should just all go watch ANNIE HALL, or MAHNHATTAN again.

I also just today watched VALKYRIE. Why no German accents? I would really be interested in that choice. It didn't lose me, but I think having the accents would have made it more real for some reason. This is a amazing true story, and a rather large one to tell. The movie did not totally succeed in telling the story of the Germans during Hitler's reign who wanted him out. It was more a story about the action and happenings of one particular instance, of 15, that they tried to assasinate Hiter. They went into the life of Cruise's character a bit, but seemed to only go half way. I'm not sure why they only chose his character to do this with. It may have been more effective to see this insurgence from the German people all the way up to the high ranking officials.

The cinemaphotography in this was amazing. But overall the grand scope of the history was a bit lost. This is another movie where I think everyone knows how it ends, and in movies like that it's essential that the journey is captivating and brings you right to the ending with understanding what it took to get there. Valkyrie didn't quite do that. German accents probably wouldn't have helped, and neither would casting another lead actor. Both of which would have been welcomed by me however.

Put it on the bottom of your rental list.

Marley and Me.

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I grew up with two golden retrievers named Odie, and Bart. And when I say 'grew up', I mean grew up. We got Odie when I was about 7, and Bart was his son who was with us until I was 26. They were my brothers. So with that close personal history I knew I wouldn't be able to see this movie at the theatres without coming out of it looking like I was attacked by a bushel of onions. I think we all knew before seeing the movie how it ends.

All that being said I just watched MARLEY and ME on dvd. I had a gist of the story, but did not read the book. Amazingly this movie had little to do with Marley, and mostly the Me, until the later third of the movie. And obviously that part being the most effective. And really the only way this movie is effective, which is emotional placing yourself there. Easiest if you are a dog lover.  Most of the movie is the couple having bland, normal couple experiences of jobs, bosses, and moves. After a while the cuteness of the dog getting in trouble was just shame in how awful the owners are at training this dog in any matter what so ever. The first real thing that happened was the post doctors visit to the baby doctor. It goes on and on with Anniston's and Wilson's limited chemistry, and I really don't know why they went with Wilson on this. Has he ever owned a dog, can he deliver different emotions as an actor if he's reading the phonebook, burning in a fire, or putting his dog down? The aging of the dog was the hardest part, because I saw that with my dogs. I was there with the movie, I was thinking of being there when we put our dog Odie down and how a rush of feelings, emotions, and memories that was. I was almost insulted at the acting Owen Wilson emoted in that scene where he speaks to his 'brother' and 'companion.' I guess it's not his fault. I guess he should stick to comedy. I guess it's up to someone else to write a movie about what's it like to share parts of your life with a dog.

If you like the typical Hollywood mainstream movies check it out on dvd, otherwise skip it.

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JULY 23rd 

Chicago Pilot Competition

Come see RUBYS' RULES and the other nominees!

Terminator Salvation

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First I was gung ho to see this, then the reviews got me down, and finally going to see it I was nuetrally interested. If that is possible. Here it is, I'm not a Terminator uber fan. I've seen them all, but don't own any of the films and not seen them more than once all the way through.

Let me start out by saying some of the things I didn't like. I thought the Arnold 'cameo' was very uneeded and probabaly the one time I was taken out of the movie. Second thing was the woman who was rescued by Marcus Wright and then all of a sudden in love with him. She cried when he died and only knew him for about 15 minutes. No one else was crying still knowing what he was doing, so she was overdoing a bit and it made me laugh a little bit. Both of those are very minor and so is the minor story and theme things they could have had done more with. I'm guessing this easily could have been 2hr and 30 mins movie if they had more of backstory in it. They certainly could have had a bit more with Marcus Wright in the beginning, but still what they had worked fine. So no real complaints there.

All and all I really enjoyed this movie, it had a great look, idea that draws you in, and fantastic summer action. I'm guessing this is why Rotten Tomatoes currently has it's rating of 37%, the summer action movie haters. I can see where they are coming from, but what baffles me is that Wolverine is hovering at about the same rating. I would enjoy watching Terminator again, but I have zero desire to have my eyes focused on Wolverine again. The intensity of this movieswas almost hyper tensive, the pace kept moving, and you were constantly aware of what was at stake for everybody involved. This is also the first thing I've seen with Sam Worthington in it, and he was great considering really this movie is about him. They very much have a trilogy focus for this and I think the war with SkyNet is a fantastic way to frame the movies around. Also Christian Bale is im pretty sure signed for three pics, and Connors lady (Bryce Dallas Howard) is pregnant in the movie. I want to fight the machines.

This ranks in behind Star Treak. In terms of action I think it's close, but Star Trek is a better film. As the word of the movie being shaky spread so did the hatred of the director McG. McG perhaps has won himself a second chance, funny it being what the movie itself was about. In my opinion you should go see this. With next weeks slim openings it's a perfect time to catch up on this summers so far worthy movies, Star Trek and Terminator Salvation. No need to see Wolverine at all, and wait for Angels and Demons on dvd.

I will be going to see UP this weekend though since I'm caught up on my summer homework.

Party Down with Angels and Demons

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Watched the Starz networks first sitcom called PARTY DOWN. Chances are you don't have the network, neither do I, but I was able to check it out on Netflix view now. And a giant thank you to Netflix for finally having mac support on the view now function. Another one camera show w/o a laugh track and in this case involves a catering crew. Stars include  Ken Marino, Adam Scott, and Jane Lynch among others. Really good pilot actually and was co-written by Paul Rudd, just really gives you enough of each of the really great cast of characters. They also used the ability to have some pay cable content. Check it out if you have Netflix or may also be available on demand. I enjoyed the first so much I'm going to go back and check out the second ep in a bit.

I read The Da Vinci Code. It was entertaining. It's not a great book. I enjoy conspiracy theories, and the page turning book allowed me to try and put it all together while seeing what Professor Langdon was up to. The movie was a turd. Talk,talk,talk, slow,slow,slow and really didn't bring much to the big screen. For the Record I didn't really care Tom Hanks had a mullet. 

Going to see ANGELS AND DEMONS I knew little about the book besides it dealt with the Catholic church. I can dig that, a conspiracy theory about one of the biggest,oldest,and dirtiest corporations ever. Oh, wait now they did have some controversy about with the Church about Da Vinci. Will that effect this movie and how heavily it deals with the church? Answer is yes, i think, like i said I didn't read the book. The movies pace was a bit faster, it still had quite a bit of talking exposition mumbo jumbo and really didnt involve the audience with the clues. The Da Vinci code did this, they showed you the pieces that Langdon put together and allowed you to play along. I think everyone looked up the Last Supper painting online after reading the chapter in The Da Vinci code. The subject matter of science v church is barely touched upon, except for the purpose of the confusing anti-matter story. I'm guessing the book had something to do with technology subject mixed in there somewhere. Also going against this book was the lack of Illuminati. How facinating is that underground group? Besides name dropping it's not in this too much. It's dropped so much that the bad guy in this or bad guys are not effecting in this story. Motivation is not driven as much and not as good even as the albino from the other over pubbed movie. It think ANGELS AND DEMONS is also supposed to be a thriller, but it's not very thriller. I'm not saying this movie is worse than the Da Vinci Code, but it's not much better. Dan Brown the author of these books is writing another Langdon book and heres to the hopes that he works more with the underground societies and if he goes after the institutions to not hold back or just take it in another direction. To be honest I wouldn't mind Langdon working on something at home here in the states. We could all pretend that National Treasure hasn't done that, and it would be easy to forget if someone were to do a good job. Heck even Indiana Jones failed the last time. Also notice Chicago's Dave Pasquesi  in the movie as one of the main Vatican police.

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HOWIE!  Reunion Show MEMORIAL DAY MAY 25

@PLAYGROUND THEATER BELMONT/HALSTED

$5

Tom Hanks Fav 5

With the release of this weeks ANGELS AND DEMONS I take a moment to try and narrow down my favorite Tom Hanks movies. This is not a list of purely his best movies or performances, but a conglomorate of a bunch of criteria just makes these my favs...

5.SAVING PRIVATE RYAN-difficult to put this one at five.may be the greatest wwII movie ever,and hits in at 5 because it's very much an ensemble led by Hanks.

4.FORREST GUMP-I don't love love this movie,but it's impossible to deny how brilliant Hanks was in this long somewhat overly sugary movie.

3.ROAD TO PERDITION-A different role for Hanks in a great movie which also features Paul Newman. Good example of this just being one of my favs.

2.CAST AWAY-describe this movie to anyone before it came out and it sounds like a bore. a near three hour movie, and most of which is a guy alone on a island. but every time this movie is on tv i watch it. fascinating to watch Hanks transform himself, and see him alone on the island. How many actors could perform by themselves, ending up with Wilson as their best friend and make it sad, funny, and amazingly acted.

1.BIG-his big big break. hilarious and showed he could do comedy with a bit of drama intertwined, and now has brought on many imitators (13 going on 30,17 again)

So that's the 5, and I'm leaving out movies such as A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, PHILADELPHIA, APOLLO 13, GREEN MILE, and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Also don't forget the movies that when they are on cable you watch them for at least a half hour no matter how many times you've seen them, TURNER AND HOOCH, the BURBS, MONEY PIT, and SPLASH.

Wait I just change mind! Big is #2 and Cast Away is #1!

Wendy and Lucy, Kirk and Spock.

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I watched WENDY AND LUCY which is independent movie staring Michelle Williams as a young woman who along with her dog live from her car on their way to a better life in Alaska. I also could say I watched nothing at all. This is some sort of glorified student film. One hour twenty minutes dragged from about 20 minutes of content. I understand the slow draw of a small town and the grinding struggle of this woman, but absolutely nothing happened with the story, character, or whatever idea it may have been trying to have. All it needed to have was the set up of the situation and then the final scene with the dog which was about the only time any emotion was translated. Don't bother with this movie. Unless you want to be frustrated.

Just checked out STAR TREK this afternoon and let me say that I have never gone to the cinema to see a Star Trek movie. I'm sure I am not the only one as the plan was to get the Trekkers and more importantly younger crowd along with woman who were never fans before to see this movie. Packed with action, and a great tone along with a great pitch perfect cast. And for fans who have a inkling to be peeved by this revamp, I say you should really be thankfull because in reality it has pumped life into what was basically a dead franchise.

The movie was able to be serious, funny, and a bit moody all in one. There was not one moment or aspect of this movie that took you away from it. The only thing I really didn't find all that satisfying was the villian. He was just there, but I'm guessing the focus was with the fleet of the new starship Enterprise. I look forward to more of a Khan like baddie in the next chapter. Defo worth checking out for a fun summer ride, but for the record I'll take Star Wars over Trek any day.

Top 5 Most Historic and Influential Sitcoms

Sitcoms on the brain, trying to figure out my favorites, the best,etc, etc. Had to break them down into divisions. This is the first.

SEINFELD-This show brought a new genre,style, and generation of comedy.

ROSEANNE-real people after the 80's sitcom of perfect familys. Controversial and also hilarious. Did fall off majorly in last season or so.

COSBY SHOW-I don't find this show hilarious, but the best sitcom for the whole family, and the first about a african american family.

MASH-A sitcom about war. Dark humor that I'm not sure would work on todays tv, and the finale is still the highest rated program in history.

ALL IN THE FAMILY-Archie Bunker would not be on television today. There is no way he would say the things he said. By far the most sociological sitcom, and also hilarious.

My Admiration

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I watched the series finale (?) of SCRUBS last night and it made me feel good. Yes the highly descriptive word of 'good'. It filled me with goodness, and made me want to disperse this kind of good into the world. Scrubs started 8 years ago as one of the first one camera shows with no laugh track (trend has become now fixture with Earl,30 Rock,Office,etc), fantasy sequences, and often physical humor. 8 years for any show is an amazing run, and more amazing for Scrubs because it never got huge ratings,and has been continuously moved around in the schedule and even network.

Much of the credit should go to creator Bill Lawrence for coming up with all the pieces and then finding those pieces from the cast, writers, and even directors who must have the ability to work with the style. This show was Zach Braff's breakout, it gave us John C. McGinely in a new light, and Neil Flynn a pitch perfect janitor who is allowed to improvise on set. And many writers who help make the show what it is, and gave them the ability to create and write many of their own shows.

Like any show that runs this long there is a year or so where 'it's not the same', and Scrubs had that it's weird period, but the devoted fans still always found what night its on, downloaded it on itunes,or just bought all the dvds. I guess what it did was what every show tries to do. Made us expierience and relate to someones journey, laugh, and in a way Scrubs did so greatly; learn. Seinfeld proclaimed no hugging, no learning, and many jokes are made about sitcoms lessons learned/problems solved in 22 mins. Scrubs did a great thing and explored themes, they did it in a light manner and with a perfect backdrop of life working in a hospital. Idon't think any show has gone from fantasy sequence to the dramatic moments Scrubs brought. It was never preachy and many times making you reflect while bringing you to boughts of laughter. It was the same with the finale of change and saying goodbye and it all was brought to a fitting end of JD leaving Sacred Heart saying goodbye to a janitor who brought him there. That janitor being played by Bill Lawrence.

Some word now floats around that Scrubs may be coming back for another year, but not with the original cast. Sarah Chalke is used heavily in HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, John C, and Neil Flynn have pilots coming out this fall, and Zach Braff is just ready to move on. When Bill Lawrence created the show he wanted it to be like ER in the aspect that characters could come in and out and the show could run seemlessly still focusing on a couple of characters. The thought that pops into many fans mind is that it will tarnish what Scrubs was and the great finale won't be a finale. True I guess, but Bill Lawrence remarked about the ability to still tell more stories, and most importantly give over a hundred people jobs in this economy and in this lack of sitcom world. Why not? The new interns, Kelso is back, why not? The potential of more Scrubs comedy, and the reasoning for it just makes me feel, well, good I guess.

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This Friday 5/8 PH's Phrenzy @Stage Left Theatre

1230am $10

Summer Movie Anticipation.

The summer movie season has officially opened, and it's gotten me a little worried. I can look past Wolverine easily and realize that there is over 3 months of summer movies to come. But when I think of it I can say with certainty it will not be like last summer of DARK KNIGHT and IRON MAN. Sure they was a lot of stinkers last summer, but these two movies were instantly great movies. Will we have even two comparable movies this year?

SECTION 1:IT'S NOT YOU IT'S ME.

This summer there seems to be a lot of movies (sequels/remakes) to which I have no ties to with the past. STAR TREK (maybe have seen 2 of the others), ANGELS AND DEMONS (will we get burned again like with the Da Vinci turd), TERMINATOR SALVATION (ive seen them all,but they dont give me a movie boner), LAND OF THE LOST (i like me some ferrell,but an old 70's tv show?), TRANSFORMERS (didnt have many or any of these as a kid and thought the first movie was dumb action fun), and GI JOE (i loved gi joe as a kid,but im fairly certain director  Stephen Sommers of Mummy 2 and Van Helsing will screw this up)

All that being said about all of these movies, I'm still going to see them all in the theatres.

SECTION 2: THE OTHERS.

This stuff I'm excited for because it's a bit more up my alley and may be some really good stuff. Still nothing that I'll be counting down for like I did for Iron and Bat man.

THE HANGOVER (trailer looks great, by Todd Phillps who gave us OLD SCHOOL), YEAR ONE (great pedigree and Harold Ramis directing and story by), THE HURT LOCKER (limited release summer movie with great buzz,and tops trailer.stars Jeremy Renner), PUBLIC ENEMIES (may look forward to this the most,dynamite actors,story,and time period), FUNNY PEOPLE (im guessing there is something else besides the twist they give away in trailer,Judd Apatow is good, but may be running out of getting away with these movies. comedy winds are shifting) and INGLORIOUS BASTERDS (not a big tarintino fan but this movie seems to find the violence and revenge excusable.)

So there it is. I'm still not that excited.

I Watched a Movie Co-Written by Donnie Wahlberg.

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Yes it's true. I watched a movie by Donnie Wahlberg, it's base off one of the NKOTB songs called Hangin' Tough. And trust me when I say those kids are rough! Well I did watch a movie written by NKOTB's former bad boy and it's called WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU. It's a story of two brothers who do the dirty work and collecting in a tough Boston neighborhood. The movie never got much of a theatrical release even with the cast of Ethan Hawke, Mark Ruffalo, and Amanda Peet. It's a small time crooks, gritty Boston scene based on what they say is a true story. Except unlike other movies that try to move you with the 'true story' aspect this doesn't. It doesn't lend to the movie at all. They end where the title comes up with the updates of the characters almost take away from what you would project happened to these people. And honestly at that point I had forgotten it was a true story. Regardless of this it's still a decent watch especially Mark Ruffalo whom I'm a fan of. Amanda Peet is the only character with a Boston accent (southie i believe) and its turned to 11. ( i think pop culture has ruined that phrase officially) Ethan Hawke is Ethan Hawke, over doing it at some points and really has no arc or point besides to point/counterpoint his brother Ruffalo. It's also a bit odd that Hawke does a small time crook movie after just doing a far superior one called BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOUR DEAD. That movie shook up the narrative, injected the story with tense drama and conflict which was presented by a masterful Sidney Lumet. So no rush to rent this movie, but if you do enjoy Mark Ruffalo or the small time crook/mob flics give it a try. Just make sure you watch Before The Devil Knows Your Dead as well.

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Wednesday Night @ Gift Theatre 8PM

NATURAL GAS

50 minutes of improv for 5.

BREAKING NEWS:

Ruby's Rules the pilot I co-wrote and acted in has been accepted into the Chicago Pilot Festival. The screening for it will be in late July and is being judged by people in Hollywood. I'm sure you know how tan and cool they are. I might get to meet one.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

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Going in I was expecting a fun,entertaining start to the summer movie season. I figured this would fit in somewhere around the INCREDIBLE HULK type of comic book movie success. (spectrum would be DARK KNIGHT,IRON MAN,X2,SPIDEY 2, then Hulk) Which is in the higher percentile than the dozens of comic movies I'm not mentioning. My biggest concern was the movie packing a bunch of other characters rather messily making a muddled movie of the X-Men's best character.

Good news is they did well just shuffling around the cameos and not making them a total distraction. Yet they still were a bit of a distraction. What is Will.I.Am doing in this I have no idea, and the slightly mixed up use and mythology of Deadpool. They may have had more success just concentrating on Logan and just touching on the rest like Iron Man did with the Avengers inclusion which came in the credits. It's Logan inner struggle and decsions that make him complex and interesting and how he deals with them outwardly much like the Dark Knight had. Instead this seems to veer directions a bit holding on really close to the fighting brothers that only repeats itself in the high action conclusion not making it really interesting. Neither does a bunch of characters that your not sure of their weaknesses. It's not really fun watching a bunch of what seems like invincible people fight.

Rather than really give Wolverine the movie he deserves they seemed to hurt themselves by setting up all these other movies and stories they want to pursue. Styker was great, but still did we get to know enough about him? It was the manipulation by him that was key and his motivation and backstory that made it clear. They bluring of what makes someone good and evil is something that should have been utilized more. Overall this was a good start to the summer blockbuster season. I would really say catch this on dvd, but since its the opener of the season the excitement may lead you to the theatre. It's about twice as good as THE FANTASTIC FOUR, so it's got that going for it.

Finding Interest in Lost, Southland going south, JCVD Redeemed.

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Another year nearly ending with LOST and of course the action ramps up, they don't dilly dally with the stories and it gets super interesting. Interest is at high peak with this last episode. Answers are given and the stakes are raises. Count me all in.

SOUTHLAND is dipping on my dvr list. This last episode left four characters totally out of the three story lines they had going. The realism they are going for seems to lose a bit of the pace of these storys. Yes they swear, yes they take out their weapons, yes they struggle with the politics, and yes they show them ordering food and other banal things. It was a compelling story with the detective and his 'relationship' issue with his sister, but I was finding the rook and vet cop dynamic the most interesting, and they were no wear to be seen. And so far they seems to be no plan for the season. No thru line for all the episodes, just learning about the characters. Which give you a chance to see a large ensemble but also leaves you a bit out in the cold when yours are not in a episode at all. Question is, does this show know what it's trying to be, or who it's trying to be about?

JCVD. Wow. I heard goods things about this movie from it's theatrical run, and so had decent expectations for it. I'm not a Jean Claudde fan per se, i haven't seen a new movie of his since im sure sometime in the mid 90's. Sure I enjoy the cable broadcast treats of LIONHEART, HARD TARGET, or BLOODSPORT, but they are pure on the whim treats and campy fun. Much has been said and reported of Jean Claudde in the last ten years from failed marriages to bad straight to dvd movies. He lets them all hang out here in JCVD as he plays himself as he gets mixed up in a robbery. It strips him of the 'character' he has been playing and exposes many real emotions that are highly relatable and effecting. Specifically his monolouge where he speaks to the camera contextually okayed as thoughts in his head. I was overly impressed by this movie. By its originality, look, and performances especially JCVD's. Check out this dvd now. It's far beyond a  Jean Claude stereotypical movie and stands as a purely solid movie.

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WEDNESDAY MAY 6TH

THE GIFT THEATRE

MILWAUKEE AND LAWRENCE IN JEFFERSON PARK

8PM

$5

EASY TO FIND PARKING

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALSO NEW SASQUATCH SHORT

'BABY MIRACLE'

ON THE WAY IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS!