No Country For Old Men

by RSJ


Stars:
Josh Brolin
Tommy Lee Jones
Javier Bardem

I believe that no film can be executed with absolute perfection nor should any director attempt to even try to achieve this. Some do, but more often than not, lose sight of the larger picture. But if there ever was a recent example of any film that comes close enough, then the Coen Brothers ‘No Country for Old Man’ would be it.

A down on his luck Vietnam veteran, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles upon a cross border drug deal gone bad. With members of both parties strewn with bullets, only a lone survivor remains. He leaves the dying Mexican and discovers nearby a 2 million dollar cache of money. He does what any ‘down on his luck Vietnam veteran’ would do; he takes the drug money and runs.

But the real owners of the cash are obviously not happy, and engage the services of a cold and calculated psychotic killer, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who just happens to be lurking around killing innocent people. The killer’s strange tool of choice is a gas tank that shoots and sucks back in a projectile which leaves his victims with a fatal but mysterious blow.

Finally, enter Tommy Lee Jones, who portrays the stone-faced small town sheriff, Ed Bell who believes he has seen it all but as the violence begins to slowly explode around him, he is often left baffled merely able to only pick up the leftover pieces.

The storyline of ‘No Country for Old Men’ seems almost too simple and straight forward. You get nothing explaining any past events only a generous chunk of the present where everything takes place.

What it does provide though is ample room to amplify the interaction between the distinct main characters all of whom are equally showcased on screen. It is three detail stories slowly being pulled fatefully together.

The dialogue that results is rich although there is actually very little exchange between the main characters. In fact, the philosophical Sheriff Bell is very much a third-person never actually meeting Moss or the killer in the face.

Brolin, Jones and Bardem all give impeccable performances. But it is Bardem’s merciless and twisted killer, although not quite as complicated as Mr. Hannibal Lector, but eerily cold, which gets top marks.

All of this is then set in a visual feast of perfectly articulated shots, often slowing down to almost a standstill before breaking loose into full-blown violence and destruction. Somehow, the Coen brothers leave nothing to chance nurturing each scene like an individual masterpiece. They do this so well that you may fail to realise that the whole movie actually lacks a music soundtrack. The silence must be deafening!

What results is a tightly knit, thoroughly entertaining fare, excelling in every aspect. Deliciously good!

Get Smart

Stars:
Steve Carell
Anne Hathaway
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Get Smart is the movie version of the 60's hit TV comedy series, many of us may not have been born at the time, but I believe at least some of us got to see the re-runs of this popular series on TV. The TV series was a spoof of spy flicks and starred Don Adams as the bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart serving CONTROL, the clandestine US agency that locked horns with their Russian counterpart KAOS.

The CONTROL - KAOS face-off is resumed in the movie version, with KAOS demanding payment from the US Government in return for them not distributing nuclear weapons to "unstable dictators". Enter Maxwell Smart, who desperately wants to elevate himself to a field agent from his present status of analyst. He gets his chance when most of CONTROL's agents are either killed or exposed by KAOS agents whereupon he teams up with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) to thwart KAOS' evil plot.

Those who enjoyed the TV series would frown at the lack of comical dumbness that they have come to expect from Maxwell Smart and the plot in general. If anyone expecting to see a Johnny English type of bumbling spy spoof, then they will be disappointed. I, for one found it refreshing to see an actually competent Maxwell Smart, where it was the rest CONTROL that turned out to be the bumbling characters. There were some minimal attempts to reconnect the past with the use of the shoe phone and the red convertible, but by and large CONTROL has moved on to better and badder toys for their agents.

The sky diving, car chasing and factory action sequences are worthy of a serious action movie, the laughs are all there; both the slapstick variety as well as the witty one liners. Carell is likable as Maxwell Smart, and elegant Anne Hathaway is delightful as Agent 99. Dwayne Johnson provided the tough guy role as super Agent 23. The rest of the leading cast, Terrance Stamp, James Caan and Alan Arkin who are normally associated with more serious roles served out their comedy with great gusto.

Get Smart is an uncomplicated comedy action that dishes out a lot fun, an array of spy gadgets, a fair bit of action and a hint of romantic connection. What more can you ask from a spoof?

Wanted

Stars:
James McAvoy
Angelina Jolie
Morgan Freeman

Every now and then, comes a movie which defies logic. Wanted is such a movie. To be fair, the movie is based on a comic book mini series, which I've neither read nor heard off before. So most of the stuff that baffled me could have well been explained in the comic.

Wesley (James McAvoy) is a guy leading a less than stellar life, with a dead end job, repeatedly put down at work by his boss, ignoring the fact that his girlfriend is cheating on him with his "best friend" and always popping pills to calm down his anxiety attacks. He gets entwined with a secret 1000-year old group of assassins known unimaginatively as The Fraternity when one of its members, Fox (Angelina Jolie) plucks him out of a gunfight at a convenience store. From there on, Wesley's life changes forever as he is told about how his father was killed by a rogue member of the Frat and that only he can avenge him.

The Frat carries out assassinations on targets selected by a "higher power" who transmits the coded information via a loom or weaving machine. The code is in the weaving itself, where each thread that is out of place represents a binary digit that eventually spells out the name of the doomed person. Morgan Freeman takes up the role of Sloan, the guy running the Frat, and the intrepreter of the codes from the loom. Yet, as the story progressed, the Frat appears to be more focused on killing each other off, rather than carry out assassinations.

The Fraternity boasts of skills that would make Rambo drool; the ability to bend bullets, slice and dice with a knife, leap across buildings with a single bound, take repeated beatings, performing the limbo rock on the roof of moving trains, blocking bullets with knives and able to heal themselves quickly with a mere milk bath. The Frat would have the ability to survive and thrive in the Matrix universe; indeed, with Fox's amazing talents, Neo would not hesitate to trade his bitch, Trinity for her.

One would expect some defiance of logic in such movies, but in Wanted, questions kept popping up one after another. Who is the "higher power"? Who finances the Frat? Is it possible for these "talents" to be hereditary? Does it take a mere 6 weeks to transform a wimpy accountant to a highly skilled assassin (with bullet bending talents, I might add)? Why shoot a guy from the roof of a moving train, when it's probably easier to do so from a stationary platform, like a rooftop? *Spoiler alert* Can the Frat members take Sloan's word that all their names actually came out of the loom and not conjoured by Sloan in a bid to save his own bacon?*End spoiler*

The absurdities kept cropping up in abundance, so it's simply better just to switch off and enjoy an outrageous and action-packed movie.

Kung Fu Panda

Voices of:
Jack Black
Dustin Hoffman
Angelina Jolie
Jacky Chan
Lucy Liu

It's been a while since my last animation feature, good entertainment they may be, but I can't seem to bring myself to watch any of them of late. So it surprised even me when I decided make the effort for Kung Fu Panda.

The story of a mild-mannered Panda mastering Kung Fu against all odds follows a similar formula for Hong Kong Kung Fu flicks, well substitute the Panda for a village weakling. Student learns from master, then faces the baddie who was a former student of the master turned rogue. So it was kinda like watching the run of the mill Kung Fu movie with animals as the starring role.

I enjoyed the story, simple as it may have been. Po (Jack Black) was likeable as the fuzzy Panda, and I liked teamwork and camaraderie shown by the Furious Five, and the friendship extended by most members of the five to Po, even if they disapproved of him. It was amusing to see that no one saw anything amiss about Po's father being a bird rather than a panda. In fact, when Po's father wanted to reveal a secret to Po, I thought it would have been that he was adopted. Instead, he revealed to Po the secret ingredient of noodle soup. The action scenes were also well-choreographed. These were the extent of the positives.

While the animation was elegant, I found the movie to be underwhelming and the plot insufficient to arouse the interest of a more matured audience. I did expect a lot of laughs, but the movie was a little bit short of it, if only just. With the exception of Jack Black, the rest of the star-studded voice cast were unable to lift the show, and merely served to lend their names to promote the show.

In creating animated block busters, Dreamworks simply do not measure up to the Disney-Pixar tag team, as the team's latest fare, Wall-E will ultimately showcase.

Into The Wild

by: RSJ


Stars:
Emile Hirsch
William Hurt Marcia
Gay Harden
Vince Vaughn

Hollywood may produce tons of movies every year but sadly what actually makes it to our local screens are limited to just a handful of the highly commercial ones. But business is business; the bigger the movie (and hype), the bigger the crowd. But if you crave for more than the usual ‘fast and flashy’ 109-minute fare, then you are left wanting. I got lucky stumbling upon ‘Into the Wild’, and although not knowing much at the time, soon discovered a little gem.

This movie is based on the life of Chris McCandless. Chris is a bright young man just out of college with the world at his feet. But he soon becomes disillusioned as the realities of his upbringing slowly creep in. He finally decides to discard everything and seek out the road on a passage of self-discovery.

‘Into The Wild’ documents Chris’ wonderful journey across the American landscape and its people. Chris ultimately sets his sights on the Alaskan wilderness, a place where he soon will face his greatest challenge. This real-life story is compelling insight into one person’s yearning for true freedom. But I don’t intend to give away any more of the storyline to spoil this experience.

Sean Penn directs well! I think he did remarkably, slowing the pace to provide depth, but with just enough momentum to keep a patient audience captivated with this beautiful story. I believe that Penn would have been tempted to showcase even more breathtaking shots of the American countryside and Alaskan wilderness, but he was mindful not to distract the viewer away from the main story.

I have no idea who Emile Hirsch is! But his intense portrayal of Chris McCandless was inspiring. I cannot imagine any other actor doing a better job, and maybe, some justice was done to the real Chris McCandless. And Hirsch’s performance is equally matched by Penn’s well cast supporting roles.

William Hurt (Chris’s father) and Vince Vaughn (farmer/racketeer who gives Chris a job) are the better known faces. But a number of other supporting actor/actresses were simply outstanding each carefully developed and balanced, something sorely lacking in many big productions today (e.g. wallflower Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man?).

In short, ‘Into the Wild’ is unassuming and intimate; it was not hard to find myself slowly drawn deep into Chris McCandless’ adventure. This is a Hollywood movie, but it is always nice to be pleasantly surprised. And exhibiting much maturity, director Sean Penn is definitely someone to watch for in the future.

Finally, a little bit on the movie soundtrack... Pearl Jam lead vocalist Eddie Vedder goes solo, and contributes a number of original songs. Although I consider myself a rock fan, I never did get Pearl Jam or Vedder. But set against a backdrop of folk and country tinged acoustic tones; Vedder’s characteristic deep growl is hauntingly beautiful. His heartfelt compositions raise the intensity of this already emotional story. It simply blew me away and I believe this is Vedder at his best.

The Incredible Hulk

Stars:
Edward Norton
Liv Tyler
Tim Roth
William Hurt

I must confess that I am neither a fan of the Hulk or Edward Norton for that matter, but decided nevertheless to catch this movie after being away from the cinemas for a full month. I did not watch Ang Lee's version of this green monster despite the fair reviews so there won't be any comparisons between the two movies. Going for a movie without any expectations whatsoever can be advantageous as I was rewarded with a pretty decent fare.

For starters, I really like it that the origin of the Hulk was cleverly revealed together with the opening credits, saving time and allowing the rest of the movie to move along with the story. Edward Norton assumed the role of the disturbed and brooding Dr. Bruce Banner, who was on the run right from the start pursued by General Ross (William Hurt) of the US Army who wants to create an army of hulks as super soldiers. So he hides in Rio, until he was discovered and the might of the US Army descends upon the slums of Rio to search him out. Banner escapes and returns to America to seek a cure from his greenness and reunites with Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), his love interest.

Enter Tim Roth as Blonski, a Royal Marine serving the General (he needs British help?) who seem to take a sadistic pleasure in being repeatedly pummeled by the Hulk, and later gets the opportunity to wield the similar awesome power of the Hulk courtesy of some rather souped up steroids. The result was a battle finale slug fest between the two monsters (Blonski ends up looking like some creature emerging from a toxic cesspool) in the rooftops of New York City.

The story moves along at a nice pace, alternating between action and drama which I found engaging throughout, although the ending was a little washy. Like Iron Man, the Hulk gets a good beating before dishing out some of his own stuff to punch the lights out of Blonski. The CGI gave the Hulk a badass but not hideous look, perhaps so that Betty Ross could share intimate moments with him without having to look away.

The Incredible Hulk is by no means an incredible movie, and won't be the best superhero movie this year. Iron Man is better, and there is a high expectation on Bats to deliver later this month. Yet, it still merits a viewing. Edward Norton, decent CGI action sequences, an astonishing panorama of a Rio neighbourhood and an engaging plot makes it a worthwhile fare for comic book fans and non-fans alike.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Stars:
Harrison Ford
Cate Blanchette
Karen Allen
John Hurt
Shia LaBeouf

Can we handle another Indiana Jones sequel? The answer is a resounding yes. 19 years on, we are treated to the fourth sequel of this successful franchise. The year is 1957, and this time round a scruffy-looking Indy takes on the Commies after having outwitted the Nazis in two previous installments. Like the Nazis, the Russians (or more correctly, Soviets) are after certain archeological artifacts that will lead the path to world domination. Like the Nazis, they also take the short-cut way by getting Indy to lead them straight to their objects of desire.

The movie starts off with the Russians easily breaking into the famed Area 51, with Indy on a leash to sniff out this thing that is kept together with other items of secret. You might have guessed that the warehouse was also the storage for the Ark of the Covenant, and indeed in the ensuing mayhem, the crate keeping the fabled Ark crashes down and splits open partially to reveal its contents but catches no one's attention. The Russians were more consumed by an alien carcass (it is Area 51, after all) and gunning down Indy, in which the shoot-em-up and chase ended up with the detonation of an atomic bomb. How good was that as the opening gambit?

In this epic, Indy gets involved in a quest for a crystal skull that is linked to the fabled golden city of El Dorado. He goes in search of a friend Oxley (John Hurt) who is missing in Peru looking for the skull. With the Russians hot on his heels, he is joined by his sidekick (Shia LeBeouf) and later his ex-girlfriend (Karen Allen) in an adventure through the jungles of South America, complete with pulsating action involving car chases in the Amazon jungle, swordfights, flesh-devouring ants, Tarzan manoeuvres with the accompaniment of the familiar theme song.

At 65, Harrison Ford does not look much more wrinkled than he did in the previous installment, The Last Crusade, and the story does bring the timeline forward to 1957 to account for his advancing years. Donning the trademark fedora, he still manages to dodge bullets with youthful agility, crack his whip masterfully and catapult from one moving vehicle to another with amazing ease.

The rest of the cast ably supports the movie, with Karen Allen reprising her role from Raiders as the feisty Marion Ravenwood. I normally find sidekicks annoying but Shia LaBeouf played out his role well as "Mutt" Williams, even likeable as a wannabe hero who contributes to some of the action as well comic relief. I wonder if naming him "Mutt" has any parallels with Indy adopting his own nickname name from a dog ("Indiana is our family dog", Henry Jones Sr famously said in the Last Crusade). The villainous Russian, Irina Spalko, was well assumed by the talented Cate Blanchette, who must have had so much fun with the dominatrix makeover. Real Russians were casts as baddies, for the authentic accent perhaps, although their main duties were mostly to train their guns at Indy or to shoot at him.

So, how good is this movie? It's not Raiders Of The Lost Ark for sure, I doubt if any sequels will ever reach such impossible heights. It compares favourably with the other three, with more team effort here compared to before, although no one steals the show from Indy. While the pulsating action was served up in sufficient quantities, this mythological plot is perhaps less riveting compared to the others before and the ending is weak; it also would have been more satisfying if the story kept in tune with mysticism rather than lean towards sci-fi at the finale.

If this sequel was done a few years after the third, it may have been slightly disappointing, but after 19 years, it was refreshing to see a new Indy adventure that rolls back the years, kinda like watching a movie in the 80's and 90's without the elaborate CGI (save the hogs). I for one was happy that Lucas and Spielberg stuck to the old formula and Lucas reaffirming himself a master storyteller. This sequel did not carry the expectations laboured on the Star Wars prequels, and delivered just about everything; the action, humour, story and most of all, a Harrison Ford that remained a solid Indiana Jones.

Iron Man

Stars:
Robert Downey Jr.
Jeff Bridges
Gwyneth Paltrow
Terrence Hill

There are people out there that would say that if they didn't watch another movie about comic superheroes in their lifetime, then it's still too soon. Well, movies about comic superheroes are big money spinners and there will be more coming to the cinemas near you before you can say "Obadiah Stane".

Iron Man is the first of the four superhero movies slated for 2008 (the others being The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy 2 and The Dark Knight) and it does not disappoint. I've always been a big fan of Iron Man comics, so when I first heard about Iron Man being featured in the big screen, I was rather thrilled. I was also interested in who's going to play Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr., it turns out got the role and while he was not quite what I had imagined Tony Stark would be, he nevertheless turned on a brilliant display as expected, totally dominating the proceedings and provided an added dimension to the movie.

The other characters were well cast, Jeff Bridges with a shaved head and a bushy beard plays Obadiah Stane who appears like a conniving entity from the start although without the usual boundless energy that he normally radiates. Tony Stark's Girl Friday, Pepper Potts, was elegantly played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Gwyneth as usual, delivered her lines with such immaculate poise that has long been her charm and trademark. She does however, appear to be even more anorexic than before and a few extra pounds would do her no harm. The role of Jim Rhodes went to Terence Howard, whose role was minimal here at best, but would be certainly be featured more prominently in Iron Man sequels (oh yes, there will be a sequel alright).

In typical Hollywood trend there were the expected deviations from the actual comic premise and characters. James Rhodes, Tony's pilot and best friend is a Colonel in the US Air Force here, Obadiah Stane is the CEO of Stane International but portrayed as the Number Two in Stark Industries, Jarvis is Tony's butler in the comics and appears here as a robot-assistant to Tony. Finally, the scenario of the origin of the armour changed from Vietnam to the Afghan conflict to better reflect the present-day political landscape. Following this, the character of Yinsen was understandably changed from Chinese to that of Afghan origins.

The story goes that Stark is captured by militants while on a trip to Afghanistan, and while being forced to manufacture a missile for the militants, he instead conjures up a crude piece of armour complete with jet boots and weapons to facilitate his escape. He returns home to discover a link between his arms manufacturing company and the militants, and proceeds to reinvent a better armoured suit, dons it and sets out to put things right.

What I had hoped for? A bit more of the action (it is after all a superhero story) and the better final battle. It may more satisfying to see the Iron Monger dispatched with a flurry of repulsor rays from a fully armoured Iron Man, rather than a battle-scarred superhero that's missing a glove and helmet. Gwyneth Paltrow was perhaps wasted in a role was underused and will be looking to see more of her in the sequel.

What's good about the movie? It's fun, it's energetic....real comicbook stuff, Robert Downey's Tony Stark, the fabulous special effects and the humour; comical scenes and witty exchanges. Now that we are done with origins of Iron Man, I very much look forward a complete adventure in the upcoming sequel.

Street Kings

Stars:

Keanu Reeves

Forest Whitaker

Hugh Laurie

Ok, this one caught my attention because it starred Keanu Reeves. Street Kings refers to the band of LAPD officers who rule the streets of LA much like the law enforcers in The Shield, only this is on a far bigger scale. At first, it appears that this is the run of the mill cops and robbers shoot-em-up, but as the story unfolds, it slowly develops into web of crooked cops and cover-ups.

Keanu Reeves reprises his usual role as a tough and perpetually brooding reluctant hero. The show starts with him waking up and immediately draws his gun (why I don't know), then proceeds to throw up in the can after going through the bathroom routine. We know it is not morning sickness as it was sunset then instead of sunrise. He then kick starts the body count by mercilessly gunning down some Korean baddies, including a guy that was taking a crap at the time. A fellow cop remarks," How can you shoot a guy taking a dump? I mean, seriously, that's sacred. That's like shooting a man in church". As the plot progresses, we get the picture that these cops don't play by the rules, inviting Internal Affairs to sniff about, having cops snitching on other cops and the top cop covering up for those under him.

The cover ups are aplenty and amazingly simple to execute, where hardly anyone gets suspicious, and Internal Affairs can only fish around for leads. Perhaps it is that simple with the right assistance, as acquittals of cops in Rodney King beating and the recent Sean Bell shooting may suggest.

The show becomes more appealing once it demonstrates that the main focus is not the body count and there is actually much more to that, with some intrigue thrown in when you wonder which of the cops are actually crooked. For movies to work for me, I need to feel an attraction for the cast. The acting accolades go to Forest Whitaker who plays the top cop, and Hugh Laurie as the Internal Affairs captain. Oscar recipient Forest Whitaker was energetic and animated and with Hugh Laurie, it's pretty much like watching Dr. Gregory House in action. There are a few recognizable faces in the supporting cast, notably John Corbett from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Chris Evans aka The Human Torch from the Fantastic Four and Cedric The Entertainer from, well, small roles in a whole bucketload of movies.

The story digresses in the addition of the tale of the death of Reeves' adulterous wife, which adds nothing to the story, or to the morality to Reeves' character. Her death was used in a pathetic attempt by Reeves at empathizing with a dead cop’s wife, which was a cheap shot that probably did not work anyway.

In a nutshell, there is sufficient action (gunfights and fistfights), intrigue, credible storyline and acting to make watching the movie worthwhile. Surprisingly, it only created a ripple in the box office, with the run in most local cinemas coming to an end after only 3 weeks. Perhaps, many thought that it was going to be a no brainer shooting flick due to the lack of advertorial promotion. For me, a no brainer shooting flick with Keanu Reeves is still watchable. The more than decent supporting cast and the depth of the story turned out to be an added bonus.

Awake

Stars:

Hayden Christensen

Jessica Alba

Lena Olin
Terrence Hill

I went to the cinema for the first time in 4 weeks, partly persuaded by a 2 for 1 free ticket deal. The movie on offer was AWAKE, advertised as a psychological thriller; the kind that I do occasionally profess an appetite for. With Jessica Alba on the menu, I was all set for a tasty afternoon.

“Every year 21 million people go under anesthesia…30,000 people remain awake” with that, a plot is created around this fact. We have one good looking and rich young man (Hayden Christensen) who is madly in love with his gorgeous bit of skirt (Jessica Alba). There is also his mummy (Lena Olin) to complicate the relationship a wee bit. Plus, this young man has a bummer of a bad heart and is in need of a transplant, which will eventually leads you to the gist of the plot.

If you are planning to watch this movie, that’s as far as you should go. Any attempt to read reviews or talk to people who seen it, you run the risk of getting a whiff of the twist in the plot. Even the trailer criminally hints away at the plot twists. If the plot is blown, you can pretty much save your cash for your next movie.

Hayden Christensen really does know how to smile in a movie, although we can be forgiven in thinking otherwise after seeing him brood through the entire 5 hours of Star Wars Parts II and III in the form of Anakin Skywalker. So he has sufficient presence and does well enough to carry the show along with the always lovely Jessica Alba and Lena Olin.

Sure, there were some inaccuracies in the movie, but then if we can watch Rambo come unscathed after being targeted by a hundred guns, we can surely let this one slide a bit. After all, we are in it for the suspense, which is the main course. The servings of suspense when it finally arrived is not ungenerous, and topped up with some portions of gory bits too (well, the movie has to do with surgery).

In all, I thought the movie was just about worth its admission price, and left the cinema feeling sufficiently entertained.