This could be one of those movies you go to and after about fifteen minutes you might be saying “what thuh?”. Or, you might not. My suggestion is to stick with this movie, it’s mighty cerebral, but worth the effort. I’m just trying to warn away those of you who like it simple.
George Clooney plays a psychologist who is asked to come to a space station orbiting the planet “Solaris”. It seems this planet is having quite an effect on the people on board the ship. Basically, you sleep, and when you wake up, you have a “visitor”. That visitor is someone you have strong emotional feelings about – for Clooney, that is his dead wife, played by Natascha McElhone.
This might sound like a case of “I see dead people”, but it is far from that. The wife is real all right, in fact everyone else on board can see her too. Not only that, but she is able to recall memories of her life with Clooney. Not all of them are pleasant. In fact, she is his “visitor” because he’d really like a second chance.
This movie is slow and quiet. At times, there is no dialogue and little action. The eerie soundtrack music plays on as we watch Clooney trying to figure out what’s going on. You might be trying to do the same thing. We flashback to Clooney and his wife’s time together on earth so often, you may be having trouble trying to separate the “here and now” from the “that was then”.
I eventually realized that I did like this change of pace movie. The only irritant was a character called Snow, played by Jeremy Davies. He’s another one on board the spacecraft and he twitches and mumbles and reels off non sequiters to the point of total annoyance. I guess he was supposed to be comic relief. I was just relieved when he was off screen.
The tough part here is figuring if this is a “guy movie” or a “chick flick”. It combines science fiction with romance fantasy, but I think the audience that will like it best are those who spend some time thinking about life and death and the time and space continuum. I actually don’t even know what that means, I just wanted to say “time and space continuum”. Anyway, I thought “Solaris” was unusual enough to recommend, just know that it really does not belong in a mainstream movie release category. It is an “art house” special. I give it a “7.0”.
Friday, November 22nd, 2002
Had enough Bond yet? I was thinking as I watched this latest installment that it’s a good thing they have Pierce Brosnan doing the Bond thing, because if anyone could keep this alive, he’s the guy.
Does it matter what the storyline is? Well, if it does to you, at least they got it right this time by making the North Koreans the enemy. President Bush did label them a part of the “axis of evil”, didn’t he? I seem to remember they were still dragging out Soviet guys in the last few movies and it’s about time they moved off of that dead horse. I suggest evil Iraqis for the next movie. Woops, that’s probably not politically correct.
The basic themes with Bond movies is that there is a villain, a girl, some sex and lots of double crossing. In “Die Another Day” there is all of those things, perhaps to the point of overload. Halle Berry plays Jinx, who seems to be after the same evil North Korean guy that Bond wants to get. But why? Can’t tell you that.
Rick Yune plays the evil guy. He’s called Zao and he’s the lead henchman of some rogue North Korean colonel, who is, of course, looking to get his hands on some super weapon in order to control and/or destroy the world. Hmmm, another basic Bond theme.
But none of that matters. What matters is whether or not you enjoy the special effects, the prolonged man to man fights that Bond gets himself into, and , yes, the cute wordplay and sexual innuendo that is a part of every Bond movie. For me, mixed results.
The special effects are great. Over the top, yes, but I can’t deny that I was mesmerized. At times, the computer imaging is too easy to pick out, but I’ll let that slide. As for the one on one action, check out Bond’s fencing duel at some uptight London club. That’s the humor in the past Bond movies I miss. Torn up artwork, tattered antique chairs and the horrified expressions of rich country club types. Good stuff. Compare this to what’s lacking and that I have to say is the sexual byplay. Hale Berry is miscast – yes, her body is certainly not out of place, but when she’s asked to deliver those double entendres, nah, I don’t think so. A lot of the puns fall flat – Pierce needs a better opponent and bedmate.
“Die Another Day” is easy fun, has good stunts and I just like Pierce Brosnan. That’s enough for me. I give it a “6.0”.
Friday, November 15th, 2002
It’s that time of year again – Harry Potter and “The Lord of The Rings” people return. The way these movies are raking in the bucks, there could be twenty more years of this.
I think I was a bit annoyed by all the hype last year as I found both the Potter and Rings movies okay, but not spectacular. This year, it’s a calmer atmosphere and that may have helped me appreciate this Potter thing.
This “sequel”, if you call it that , has one advantage right off the bat. We are spared all the introductions and get right to the story. And it’s a much deeper story with more compelling evil at work than in the first movie.
Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t rocket science, but Harry and his buddies Ron and Hermione are faced with the “Chamber of Secrets”, which is full of Hogwarts history and a bit of personal history for Harry Potter as well.
All the distinguished British actors are back as well – from Maggie Smith to Richard Harris to Alan Rickman to Robbie Coltrane. Of course, we won’t be seeing Harris in the next one. They are in usual fine form, and the new guy this time is Kenneth Branagh, who plays a conceited, totally self-absorbed professor. This is the comic touch as this phony’s true character is revealed to the kids as the movie goes on.
But make no mistake about it – this movie is about the three kids. You soon come to understand that Harry and his friends have to save Hogwarts and none of the adult wizards have the true power Harry has.
Mostly though, I liked this movie because it sails by with plenty of action. The special effects are first rate. From a flying car to a house elf to a cage full of blue pixies, you won’t be bored. And then of course there’s a giant snake and a big spider, but my favorite is the spell that has one of the kids barfing up slugs. I’m not sure this is a movie for three year olds, but eight year olds will love it.
I’m not a big fan of kid acting, but this bunch does okay. Just ignore the red haired kid (Ron) who grimaces way too much. And I’m grateful we heard very little this year from the crowd that was all upset over exposing children to “witchcraft”. Geez, it is just a movie. Kids like to imagine powers like the ones Harry has – let it go at that. “Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets’ does the rare thing and outdoes the first movie. I give it an “8.0”.
Friday, November 8th, 2002
I’m not really qualified to see this movie. Mostly because I understood only about fifty percent of the dialogue. In fact, I doubt too many of you have this on the top of your “to do” movie list.
It’s pretty much the true life story of Eminem, the white trash rapper boy from Detroit – his struggles up from trailer living, working in the local plant and practicing his rappin’ rants on the side.
The character’s name is Jimmy Smith, but his buddies just call him Rabbit. Mostly, though, everybody in this movie just calls each other “dog”, as in “what’s up doag”?
His Mom is played by Kim Basinger. She’s the trailer lady, living off of dreams that some local drunk with a little money will take care of her. In between she plays bingo looking for the big score. Bingo? Is this really tough city living? In fact you may be surprised at how tame it all is.
Rabbit hangs out with a group of local black guys and things basically revolve around a club where every weekend there’s a contest to see who can do the most insulting rap riff. Maybe Doctor Dandy is right. It’s a variation of “playing the dozens”, a verbal duel set to a beat in which the two guys stand there and tear down each other. Dr. Dandy says it replaces the actual need to physically fight. With this movie, that may have been the problem for me. I was largely bored.
The first problem is that I did only understand about half of the insults. I will admit that they were pretty funny and very creative in a contest where it seems you have to improvise your way a bit. Not to stereotype here, but I could have used a few more gunshots. I’m sure it’s a tough life, but if you’re quick enough to do these kind of insults on the fly, you ought to be quick enough to figure out not too many guys are going to end up being a “life success” by rapping insults around the room.
For his first acting job, Eminem is not bad, but he does very little talking. Lots of big eyed stares, what Dr. Dandy would call lots of woofin’. His entourage , which includes a pretty talented Mekhi Pheiffer as his best “dog”, does put on a pretty good show. Too bad there wasn’t much to work with. Wait a second – this is based “loosely” on Eminem’s life – could it really be that boring after all?
Give the movie credit for not giving us an overdose of inner city violence, but was it an attempt to be politically correct? It doesn’t matter much to me – I was either bored or confused and neither of those is a good way to feel about a movie. I give “8 Mile” a “4.0” on the scale.
Friday, November 1st, 2002
This is a movie “loosely” based on the 1960’s television show that starred Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. I got the word “loosely” from some promotional article I read – but it applies. This is one “loose” movie all right.
Owen Wilson plays a spy named Alex Scott. He’s teamed up with Eddie Murphy, who plays a guy named Kelly Robinson. Kelly is a boxing champ. One day President Bush calls him and asks him to help his country. Kelly says sure. That scene is actually one of the few good ones as Kelly and the Prez talk like two guys in the ‘hood. That is followed immediately by an unfunny scene. This is a very uneven movie, worn out by the over the top character played by Murphy.
Kelly Robinson is a fast talkin’, trash talkin’, loud guy. Picture Mike Tyson combined with Don King. It’s funny for one line, grating for something like the next twenty lines. This is one of those mismatched “buddy” movies as Kelly is paired up with Alex Scott, a spy with an inferiority complex. His rival at the spy agency gets all the best cars and equipment. That guy is Carlos, played by Gary Cole. The character is sort of an Antonio Banderas type and I guess, on its face, supposed to be funny. It’s not.
In fact the problem with the whole movie is that it is a farce – never taking itself too seriously. That would be fine if it were funnier. Ninety minutes is a lot of time to fill if you don’t have a story or at least an interesting villain to follow in between all the “fun”. They did cast Malcolm McDowell as the bad guy, but seldom have I seen as a fine an actor given so little to do. They also throw in a romantic character, another spy named Rachel, played by Famke Janssen.
Alex is in love with her, but can’t get the words out. Using a new piece of spy equipment, Kelly helps him out by supplying the words during a seduction scene. This is far and away the best part of the movie and it looked adlibbed. Alex woos Rachel with the words to the song “Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gaye and it’s one of the silly realities of music. If you actually used the words to a love song on somebody, it would be pretty embarrassing. I thought I was the only one who realized this, but the movie hits it right on the head.
Having said that, there isn’t much else to recommend about this movie. Maybe there are ten genuinely funny lines and two good scenes. There is a awful car chase sequence that goes on for what seems like forever and I guess that’s the first time our two guys bond with each other. It should have been cut in half. Most of the stunts are not that interesting and because this is a comedy you never get the sense anyone is in any danger. It’s bad, mostly bad. There’s a sort of funny sequence at the end which spoofs which agent is really the double agent, but it’s all too little, too late. Nice shots of Budapest though. I may visit. I give “I Spy” a “3.0” on the scale.
