SUNDANCE January 17th-27th 2008!!

January is such a lovely month. It begins with the Movie Marathon and ends with 10 days of independent films and fun, otherwise known as the Sundance Film Festival. This year brought an eclectic group of flicks, some good, some bad and some ugly.

I started the dance up in Park City at the SHORTS PROGRAM IV--aka the comedy shorts. Yeah they were somewhat misstated as only one was a comedy. The rest of them, for the most part, were overly dramatic and vulgar.

Next I saw THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD, it is a slow movie about a young law school drop out that begins working as the personal assistant to the Great Buck Howard, a has been magician. The movie stars Colin Hanks, Tom Hanks, Jon Malkovich and Emily Blunt. Despite the stellar cast the movie was slow and didn't really touch a chord with me or the rest of the audience for that matter.

On to THE LINGUISTS a documentary that follows two Linguists around in Siberia, India, and Bolivia as they try to save dying languages. Surprisingly enough this film was delightfully entertaining. Very funny and really interesting. This has been picked up by PBS so look for it soon.

LOVE COMES LATELY, a movie about an aging writer that gets lost in his stories, was painful to sit through. It was long and boring and the movie itself had no idea where it was going. Someone sitting in front of me in the theatre fell asleep and apparently their dream was much more exciting than the movie as it woke them up with great gusto--I am sure they were quite disappointed to realize that their reality was the nightmare of a movie we were all stuck in.

BLIND DATE, Stanley Tucci's second directing venture was very interesting. It is about a couple that pretends to go on a series of blind dates in order to rekindle their romance. The entire movie is shot in a single location, as we just see them meet time after time in the same bar. It was a little slow, but you get into it and with every date, more and more of their story is revealed.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED was interesting. It was one of those movies that had tons of hype and then didn't quite live up to it. This movie was about the daily life of a producer, Robert DeNiro, and what kind of horrific acts he has to do and put up with just to get a movie made. Kind of funny...but eh.

PHEOBE IN WONDERLAND, this was a complete surprise. A darling movie about a little girl that desperately wants to be in the Alice in Wonderland production that her school is putting on, but has difficulty separating the story itself from her reality. Elle Fanning (Dakota's little sister) is so good in this. It has a stellar supporting cast as well. I believe it was picked up by Fox Searchlight.

THE MERRY GENTLEMAN, Michael Keaton's directorial debut was charmingly funny despite its dark topic. A suicidal hitman and a woman on the run from her abusive police man husband find an unlikely friendship. It is a little slow to start, but has a great sense of humor about it as well as timing. Not sure it will be released but definitely rentable.

SUGAR is a sports drama about the baseball hopefuls in the Dominican Republic that get recruited to the minors in small town USA. This is a really fun, interesting twist on a sports movie. Totally full of no-names, which makes it so much better; this is one of the best movies I saw at Sundance. Picked up by HBO so be on the look out.

SMART PEOPLE, an interesting movie about, what else, smart people and their inability to socialize with the rest of the world. Ellen Page (Juno) is the highlight, along with her uncle Thomas Hayden Church (Sideways) they totally make the movie work and worth seeing. Not the best of the best, but sure to be picked up due to its cast which also included Sarah Jessica Parker and Dennis Quaid.

HENRY POOL IS HERE stars Luke Wilson in an uncharacteristic role of the straight man. He is actually really good, playing a man that is dying and just wants to be left alone, but a water stain on the side of his house has captured the interest of all of his neighbors who just won't let him be. Perhaps a little heavy handed on the hope and faith side, it is still kind of fun.

THE KING OF PING PONG, which actually won best foreign film at the festival, is a comedy of sorts. It is about a chubbed boy that is socially awkward, nevertheless, extremely good at Ping Pong. This has somehow earned him the respect of all, as long as they are inside the community center. Outside however is a totally different story where he is bullied by his peers and younger brother. It is funny I guess, but I was a tad surprised it won.

THE LAST WORD was by far my favorite film of the festival. This is a dark comedy about a writer in LA. His job? He writes suicide notes for those that have decided to kill themselves and want to leave a great letter behind. Absolutely hilarious. Wynona Rider co-stars as the sister of one the dead clients and Ray Romano is amazing as one of the new clients. Must see! Cross your fingers that it gets picked up!

THE YEAR OF GETTING TO KNOW US-was horrid. Fact is Jimmy Fallon is only cute and fun to watch when he is funny, not when he is a depressed writer blaming all of his problems on his screwed up parents. He looked dirty and wet the whole movie...Take a shower! Someone growled in the movie too.

STRANDED. Wow! An amazing documentary about the Uruguay rugby team that crashed their plane at the top of the Andes Mountains in the 70's... 45 people were on the plane, 32 survived the crash, 17 got off the mountain alive. It is such an amazing story; PBS picked it up so you have to watch it.

BE KIND REWIND, starring Jack Black and Mos Def. This is about a pair of idiots that accidentally erase all of the videos at the video store they work at. So they decide to recreate the movies themselves hoping no one will notice. What starts out as a fluke turns into a cult appeal and they start doing more and more. The concept here is actually more funny than the movie itself, it has been picked up, but I wouldn't rush out to see it, rentable. But still funny.

So there you have it-my Sundance Film reviews pathetically shortened down to a few sentences. Can't wait for next year!!!

Cloverfield

Okay, so basically this movie is "Godzilla" mixed with "The Blair Witch Project" and it is a very fun, scary, funny, sad and exciting. The lead character, Josh I think his name is, has received a lucrative job in Japan and his friends are throwing him a farewell party at his apartment. One of his friends is filming people's good luck wishes and the party, the entire movie is from this cameras point of view. During the party a giant monster attacks the city, sending the Big Apple into chaos. Josh and a few others try to get out of the city and the friend decides to put the camera to use and document everything they run in to.

This is the most original and realistic monster movie to date. This is what would really happen if a giant monster attacked New York City. Some of the scenes of New York getting trashed will definitely remind you of 9/11, with clouds of smoke and rubble from a collapsed building chasing people down the street, people covered in white and gray dust. So keep that in mind if you don't want to be reminded of that. The camera work didn't bug me at all but I can see how it might make some people a little woozy. But the action and suspense are very well crafted, they must have spent a lot of time deciding what the camera would and wouldn't see. There's a great balance of seeing things and not seeing things, so sound fx and you're imagination create a lot of the suspense, which is very effective. You only get a good look at the big monster once or twice, and those are very breif. You'd think that would be annoying, but it actually works out great. You definitely get attached to the characters which makes the action, suspense and certain ones demises all the more exciting and sad. The movie is only about an hour and 40 minutes which also works to it's advantage. The ending might be disappointing to some, others will like it. Very well done, it's a new and refreshing spin on the monster movie genre.

***1/2
MUST SEE

Juno

A very funny and heart felt film. The title character, Juno, at times is a little too witty and dry-humored for a 16 year old. But who knows, I guess 16 year olds can be pretty intelligent and yet dumb at the same time. The cast does a great job. There is a creepy part with the adoptive father that I thought should've been left out. There wasn't a need for it. But it's a very funny movie with some great one-liners as well. It raises interesting questions and shows a comedic way of dealing with a very serious situation, sometimes maybe a little too comedic, but hey laughter makes everything easier, so why not.

***1/2

P.S. I love you

P.S. I Love You is about a young widow (Swank) that receives a series of letters from her dead husband (Butler) in his efforts to help her get over him. Each letter ends the same way; P.S. I love you.

Although I didn’t think that this was the greatest movie, the set up is a tad long and my interest was waning at times, it was still kind of fun. Lisa Kudrow steels the show. She is funny and warm and for the most part makes Swank more likable. Harry Connick Jr. also great on screen, plays a bar tender that has no social filter and just says what he thinks. Totally forgettable but fun fluff.

** ½ Rentable

Rated PG-13 (for sexual references)

Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Final movie of the day, 11:00 PM, Theatre 12, Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. So I go into this movie knowing that it is a musical and fully expecting the blood and gore that comes along with the story. Sweeny Todd (Depp) is a barber with a chip on his shoulder to say the least. Years ago a Judge (Rickman) who fancied Todd’s wife had him arrested and wrongfully imprisoned so that he might marry the girl himself. Todd comes back with a vengeance, killing many, and getting away with it by turning the dead bodies into meat pies.

What I didn't expect was that as a musical this kind of missed the boat. The music is neither memorable nor catchy and does nothing to propel the story forward. If anything I found myself totally removed from the film when the singing started as it seemed to slow the story down. If you like horror flicks, I suppose you will enjoy it for its thematic elements.

** Rentable

Rated R (for blood and violence)

The Great Debaters

Basically I could have watched paint dry after Atonement and given it a good review, but fortunately I found myself in Theatre 17 about to watch The Great Debaters, 7:45 PM. This historical drama is about the struggles of a young debate team in segregated Texas.

Denzel Washington stars in and directs this predictable yet highly entertaining movie. All of the characters are so well acted and despite knowing the outcome you are completely drawn into the film and believe it or not through out the movie there were “cheerers” in our audience. Very well done.

*** ½ Must See

Rated PG-13 (for violence, language, and disturbing images)

Atonement

Halfway through, off to Theatre 8 for Atonement. Ok deep breath…this movie is about an upper crust British family and their stupid miscommunications. Cecil (Knightly) is in love with the housekeepers’ son, Robbie. He like Cecil has been educated at Cambridge, but the two are not exactly running around in the same circle of friends. Briony, Cecil’s younger sister also has a crush on Robbie and when hurt that her feelings are not reciprocated accuses Robbie of molesting her young cousin landing him in jail.

Yeah that’s it. That is the premise. This movie was so slow and boring that I was more entertained by counting the number of people that got up and walked out of the theatre…never to return. Why this movie is getting so much notoriety is beyond me. It is neither entertaining nor romantic. It is annoying in its series of miscommunication and aside from one continuous shot on a beach doesn’t deserve all the accolades that it has been given.

* Not-A-Chance

Rated R (for war violence, sexual content, brief bummage)

Charlie Wilson's War

Two movies down, four to go…I head over to Theatre 19 for Charlie Wilson’s War. 2:10 PM. This is about the real life Texas Congressman, Charlie Wilson (Hanks) a renegade CIA operative (Hoffman), and a zealous religious socialite (Roberts) and their involvement in the Soviet Afghanistan conflict towards the end of the cold war.

Totally laced with Aaron Sorkins’ political commentary, not only on the fall of the Soviet Union, but the current war in Iraq. I don’t know that I agree with all of his views. Nevertheless, extremely interesting and surprisingly entertaining, Charlie Wilson’s War offers a bizarre look at just who has the ability to run a war.

***

Rated R (Language, Sexual Content, Nudity, and Drug use)

Juno

With the first movie done, I headed off to Theatre 11 to see Juno. 11:45 AM. I was met by 8 other marathoners there. We settled in for the show. This movie is about-Juno-a teenage girl that gets pregnant and decides to give her baby up for adoption. She finds a couple in the “Penny Saver” ads and after meeting with them agrees to the adoption.

This movie has a relatively simple plot. What makes it so much fun however is the brilliant if not surprising character development that we as the audience are able to take part of. The dialogue is hilarious and though at times maybe considered a tad crude, it is so endearing because of the fact that it is coming from clueless teenagers.

**** Oscar Worthy

Rated PG-13 (Language and Sexual Content)

I Am Legend...and awesome.

Awesome movie. Going in I knew little about the movie, besides Will Smith being the last man on Earth and creepy human-like vampire/monsters trying to kill him. This movie will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. As Mandy said in her review, some scenes in abandoned New York City will make you think, "How did they do that?". Are they CG sets or did they barricade off sections of the city? Like I said, it will keep you on edge. I can honestly say, I jumped the biggest I have jumped in a movie theater for a long time, probably since I saw "Signs". I can't remember the exact scene, but it got me pretty bad for some reason. Will Smith does a great job, and the film has a lot of heart. Most of the movie is just Will Smith and his dog Sam and you never lose interest. You really start to care for Smith and Sam, and a particular scene with the two of them is quite emotional. The ending is a little unexpected and refreshing, especially concidering recent blockbuster movie endings (War of the Worlds comes to mind). I did want a little more explination on exactly how the vampire/monsters came to be but a small complaint. Go see it.

Must See ***1/2

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

Early Tuesday morning I jumped out of bed ran into the shower and off I went to the theatre to begin the 2008 Movie Marathon. I got to the theatre only to find I had my choice of parking spots as NO ONE was there. I walked to the box office and presented the cashier with my list. His eyes bugged out and he told me he had seen three movies in one day, but never six. (Funny enough, he randomly was the cashier for everyone else with a schedule and eventually asked, “how may of you are there?”) So with my bundle of tickets in hand I head to the concessions counter, where it was made apparent that I was the only person in the theatre that didn’t work there. I bought a diet coke and headed off to Theatre 16-The Water Horse. 9:00 AM.

Most people have figured out from the previews that this movie is about the Loch Ness Monster. What they may have not expected was the story about the little boy Angus, who discovers the monster. Angus is about 8 years old and growing up in World War II Scotland. He has become somewhat reclusive, waiting daily for his father to return home from the War. Angus accidentally discovers the mystical creature as an egg, but it is the Loch Ness monster that helps Angus come out of his shell.

Although the movie itself is about a mystical or magical creature, the movie is not fanciful or full of hocus pocus. Totally unexpected, it was sweet without being trite or campy. It is fun, has a cute plot that involves more than just the little boys world, but the whole War.

*** Must See

Rated PG (mild violence)

MOVIE MARATHON 2008!

Well another year has come and gone and with that brought the traditional New Years celebratory events; staying up way too late, playing games, eating way too much, new years resolutions and of course the annual Movie Marathon. Many of you may be aware of the Annual Movie Marathon, if not, you may now consider yourself informed. Several people braved the event. Be mindful this is in fact a marathon and not for the weak, so don't feel bad if you couldn't make it through the whole day...it takes some people years of training. Anyway I will be adding on reviews to the blog in due time, but just wanted to give a quick overview of the event. All in all, not a bad year, I would say 4/6 is not too shabby.

The Water Horse: ***
Juno: ****
Charlie Wilson's War: ***
Atonement: * (if even that)
The Great Debaters: ***1/2
Sweeney Todd: **

The Return of Goofy! Oh, and National Treasure 2.

National Treasure 2 was the selection for the annual Dibb family Christmas Eve movie, poor selection. I didn't like the first one and the second was worse. Both National Treasures and the Da Vinci Code movie just don't do it for me. The characters figure out puzzles and mysteries way too easily and it becomes annoying. It's like "Oh! A pine tree sketched into a rock.....Oh yes, that means Queen Elizabeth had a Christmas tree in her 3rd year of rule in her winter cabin, which was taken from a forrest in the Swiss Alps! Quick! To the Alps we go!" And Nicholas Cage isn't at his best and his sidekick tries to be a little too funny and becomes just as annoying as he was in the first one. I know a lot of people who really liked the first one so maybe they'll like this one, but I don't like either of them.

*1/2

Definitely the highlight of this movie experience was the return of Disney 2D animated shorts. Before the movie there was a new Goofy animated short called "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater". It's about Goofy buying a new home theater and all the troubles that entails. It was hilarious and very well done, totally on par with the Disney shorts of old, and apparentely Disney is going to continue doing this. Great news. This is all because the head of Pixar Animation, John Lasseter, took over all Disney animation as well. Great move.

****