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By shimes, November 30, 2010 2:48 pm

Franco Meeting with Fans of General Hospital

Reviewed by James Owen

Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” is fast becoming known as “the movie where the guy cuts his arm off,” suggesting the only reason to see the film is to watch a guy cut his arm off. While this inevitability lurks in the audience’s mind, it certainly should not turn anyone off from this kinetically engrossing and oddly inspirational film. Boyle has taken a traditional man-vs-nature flick and made it into something more: an examination of the “latch-key” generation keen on its selfishness as well as its resourcefulness.

Aron Ralston (James Franco) goes off for a bike ride near Moab, Utah. As usual, he tells no one where he’s heading or when he will be back. As he embarks, Boyle foreshadows some small yet telling moments: he fills up the water bottle as far as possible but does not spend too much time looking for that Swiss Army knife. Boyle inter-cuts Ralston’s prep with images of a speeding freeway and a dripping sink, cyclical patterns that keep repeating themselves over and over again with no obvious patterns. Just like Ralston’s life, we assume. 

We land in the desert, replete with a popping soundtrack and Boyle’s signature quick editing and multi-layered cinematography. If I were not used to it from his other work, I might suspect Boyle were mocking the “extreme” outdoor sports movement. Rather, Boyle tries to convey Ralston’s irrationality (which does overlap with Mountain Dew mockery).  Despite meeting cute fellow hikers Kristi and Megan (Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn), Ralston keeps moving until he inevitably gets to the crevasse and the bolder that seals his fate.

He slips. The rock slips. They both merge at the bottom with the boulder catching Ralston’s lower arm against the wall. What happens for the next five days (or so) is documented by Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy down to the most minute details. Everything a person (specifically a male) would need to do in such a situation is captured. Everything one might think about during an ordeal like this (the taste of a cold beverage, lost moments from childhood, that party with the two girls he never got to attend) are visualized. Whatever mode of escape you could hypothesize, he tries.

This, of course, includes the final and successful mode of escape that has already made “127 Hours” infamous. No doubt a brutal climax, punctuated by Boyle’s lingering camera. Will you faint, as reported? I don’t know; I have a pretty strong stomach and found myself turning away. More compelling is what transpires in reaching this point. Ralston has a camera he uses to document what he thinks will be his last moments. While he spends a lot of time describing what is happening to him and describing how he’s trying to get out, he also spends time reflecting on what has brought him to this moment.

He reflects on a life where he’s insulated himself from others to  be “independent,” couching his current situation as an inevitability. He’s literally at this place because he’s always moving away from relationships, becoming so isolated he does not even tell anyone where he’s going. In a moment that will surely put Franco in the pole position for Best Actor, he describes the formation of this boulder and how “it’s been waiting here for me and waiting to take me out.”

For as inspiring as Ralston’s story can be, he is at his core a very selfish and emotional insecure twenty-something. I mean, think about that self-centered sentiment in thinking about his fate: This is the moment that captures the emotionally stunted yet independent children of Generation Y.  Self- sufficiency is not simply what saves you, but what kills you as well.  In this way, Boyle’s own “Trainspotting” is the whacked-out cousin to “127 Hours.”  Instead of heroin, the rush is outdoor enthusiasm. But the point is the same: Caring about yourself too much is a path to certain destruction.

Boyle’s work sometimes feels disconnected, but this could be the overall theme to his work.  “127 Hours” is a movie that will move you in ways beyond repulsion. Somehow, Boyle has made this story inspiring.  It’s great film-making with a great performance at its center. A lot of director’s overshoot with ambition after winning an Oscar; Boyle might find himself back on the short list. Just don’t sit him next to Shia LaBeouf. Or perhaps I should just avoid disfigured hand jokes.

The Pitch:

2 Lords of Dogtown

2 Lords of Dogtown

Plus

2 Jack London

2 Jack London

Equals

4 127 Hours

4 127 Hours

4 127 Hours

4 127 Hours

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By shimes, November 27, 2010 7:47 pm

The ONLY Way to Dress for a TSA Screener

Reviewed by James Owen

I think Todd Phillip’s “Due Date” lost me when Robert Downey, Jr. punches out a ten-year-old. Yes, you heard me. This happens rather early in what’s been billed a road trip comedy, but the scene sets the tone for a film that is surprisingly unpleasant.  Then again, Phillips makes a real effort to make the situation comedy into cringe-inducing goodness.  This type of humor is not alien to Phillips; in an era of the polite, teen-friendly PG-13 comedy, films like “Old School” and “The Hangover” push the envelope. (Then again, what do you expect from a director who started his career with a documentary about Murder Junkies’ lead singer G. G. Allin?).  Beyond raunch, these films have thoughtful  characters. Most reasonable moviegoers will sit through any foul scenario if there’s a likable, if not compelling, character in the middle of it.

That’s not the case here. Downey, Jr’s Peter Highman lives up to his name. Worse than the typical emotionally-detached yuppie in this type of comedy, Peter runs an impressive gauntlet of self-superiority. We meet him as he leaves long, obsessive voicemails on his pregnant wife Sarah’s (Michelle Monaghan) phone, where he comes off as doting but suffocating. At other points, he becomes angry and bitter, or he’s just nasty to everyone around him.

Before we get to that, Peter is in Atlanta and Sarah’s in Los Angeles, due any minute. All modern road trip movies require contrivance to keep people off of an airplane, so I will skip why Peter ends up with no money and at the mercy of actor-wannabe Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) who drives him out west. The contrivances are not important; what is important is what happens once the contrivances work.

As suddenly as we are thrust onto this road trip, we get the kiddie violence. Did I also mention it’s at a pot dealer’s house, where Ethan spends almost all of the money for the trip? I know this movie gets quite a bit of comparison to John Hughes’ “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” (which seems inexplicable since there have been dozens of movies like this since then and plenty more before that), but could you imagine John Candy’s character doing that to Steve Martin? I think not, and if he did, I would he would deserve his miserable fate.

It’s telling that even something this awful still doesn’t make Ethan the more unlikable character of the two. If anything, Ethan is annoying oblivious of the havoc he creates.  On the other hand, Peter is just plain irritating.  We can’t pinpoint his motivation. Out of nowhere, he becomes obsessed with whether his wife has cheated on him. This might not be so awkward if Phillips (or his screenwriters Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, and Adam Sztykiel) hadn’t just dropped this in the middle of the film.  There’s precious little context to develop some dramatic arc. It’s just there to create some sort of odd, faux tension. Then, Peter also does some fairly awful things to his traveling companion. I cannot reveal them, but suffice to say that he doesn’t engender himself to the audience. Even an actor as good as Downey can’t overcome it.

Having said all that, “Due Date” is a funny movie. I laughed because the film appeals to my dark sense of humor. If you buy a ticket to “Due Date,” you’ll find funny material here as well. It does no one a service for me to describe the jokes, but Todd Phillips has created an expectation with his previous work. He can be MORE than funny; he can create character and story. His efforts to create emotion here fall flat, but shows that at least he had ambition. After ignoring it for six years,  I found myself re-examining his “Starsky and Hutch” re-imagining on cable and liked more than I recalled.  Maybe, in a few years, I will feel differently about “Due Date”. Whether I feel differently about beating up on children, I am not entirely for sure.

The Pitch:

1 1/2 Hope and Crosby

1 1/2 Hope and Crosby

Plus

1 Road Trip

Equals

2 1/2 Due Date

2 1/2 Due Date

2 1/2 Due Date

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By shimes, November 25, 2010 11:46 pm

Come see me and other KCFCC critics discuss the awards season movies at the Screenland Crown Center on Thursday, December 2nd!  They’ve got a bar!  I’ll be fruitlessly hawking Winter’s Bone for Best Picture.  Here’s the official press release:

CinemaKC Showcases Kansas City Film Critics Circle

December 2 at Screenland Crown CenterKANSAS CITY, MO – CinemaKC, a not-for-profit organization connecting film related groups in Kansas and Missouri, will host the Kansas City Film Critics Circle on Thursday, December 2 at the Screenland Crown Center beginning at 7:30 p.m. and will be preceded by an informal mixer at 6:30 p.m. Kansas City Film Critics Circle members will be on hand to meet the public before and after the screening. The evening will include the screening of at least 17 film trailers for upcoming theatrical releases and Oscar predictions.

The Kansas City Film Critics Circle was founded in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser, and is the second oldest critics’ organization in the country, after the New York Film Critics Circle.  The KCFCC currently has 28 members, representing print, broadcast and online media. Learn more about this organization by visiting www.kcfcc.org.

John Shipp, founder of CinemaKC commented, “Our area is extremely fortunate to have such a strong base of nationally known and respected film critics, and this will be a great opportunity to meet many of them.” Loey Lockerby, president of Kansas City Film Critics Circle, and known from her reviews in The Kansas City Star and appearances on the Walt Bodine Show, will welcome the audience and introduce the evening’s entertainment. The critics will discuss the trailers throughout the screening period and have a Question and Answer session at the end.

Tickets for the event are $10, and are available at www.screenland.com or at the door.  Student tickets with ID are $5. CinemaKC is an initiative of the Film Society of Greater Kansas City, connecting with movie lovers since 1991. For more information contact John Shipp at 816-718-4337 or john@filmrow.com.

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By shimes,

These Pennsyl-bamans Realize There's More to Life Outside of Happy Valley

Reviewed by James Owen

I understand why Tony Scott’s “Unstoppable” should not be any good. At its heart, the film is about an out of control train with no one behind the switch.  For starters, where can this thing go?  There can be no real tension until the very end: Either the train runs off the rails or it does not. Granted, seeing that this is a Tony Scott film, this train will surely wipe out whatever small town is at the bend when it can’t…quite…make…that…turn. Where the usual action fare gives you bursts of excitement at even intervals, the speeding train film bets everything on its final action sequence.

Second, there’s a matter of speed. The human eye discerns speed, even through the prism of a camera, by contrast. Here, we are assured through expositional dialogue that the train is moving very fast. But as this train careens along the countryside, there’s nothing other than the bare skies in the background. Sure, we’re told this train is dangerous, but we can’t make that out for ourselves.  Contrast “Unstoppable” to “Speed”, where Jan de Bont shows Keanu’s bus zipping by other cars and buildings to show us just how fast this crazy thing is going.

Third, there’s the problem of focusing a film on an inanimate object. Speaking of “Speed”, the bus wasn’t the bad guy; Dennis Hopper was the bad guy. Even in a movie like “Twister”, there’s stupid Cary Elwes in his black van and his polo for Bill Paxton to worry about (I’ve tried to think of non-Jan de Bont films, but movies based on “things” seems to be his thing). The train in “Unstoppable” is the obvious bad guy—but without the token crazy weirdo with a sneer brimming underneath a Euro-trash goatee, it’s really hard for me to hate that train.

Despite all that, I really dug “Unstoppable”—and not for any reason a real person would enjoy the film. I look at the setting in poverty-stricken rural Pennsylvania. The gray sky and the rusty industrial landscape is rare in a mainstream film like this, let alone action film. Yet Scott films it with his usual kinetic style. In the wake of the 2010 elections, there has to be a political subtext to this out-of-control train barreling through Pennsyl-bama. Here are all these depressed, rain-soaked Pennsylvanians standing along the side of the road watching their potential doom blare past them. The train is without emotion or empathy; all they know is that they should be scared of this giant black train careening uncontrollably across the landscape. Call me crazy, but I couldn’t help but think about Tea Party hero Pat Toomey.

Of course, there are the guys trying to stop the train. We have old retiring Frank (Denzel Washington) giving young turk Will (Chris Pine) his “training day,” which seem to always land on really bad days like this. These two could be the standard wise-cracking odd couple who learn much about themselves by the end. But there’s an interesting dynamic going on here. The relationship is fraught with all sorts of inside-the-union-hall politics.  Lots of acronyms are thrown around, which lends an air of genuine union-guy authority.  Someone knows the shop steward, and that’s how Chris Pine irritates Denzel. Corporate is forcing Frank to take early retirement with half the benefits he expected; the scene where he gets his full retirement reinstated is pretty intense (Perhaps corporate shill Kevin Dunn is the real bad guy?). Will is in the middle of a marital dispute that involves ex parte orders and meddling relatives. All the dude needs is a Yuengling beer and a WIC voucher to make me think I was watching a re-tooling of “Winter’s Bone.” In between whacking cars parked too close to the track and seeing its chemical tanks weave back and forth, “Unstoppable” gives the audience some worthwhile heroes to hang with.  Plus, the way Scott spools out the impending disaster is really unsettling and upsetting, no matter how dorky I tried to make it sound.

The Pitch:

2 Training Day

2 Training Day

Plus

1 Blue Collar

Equals

3 Unstoppable

3 Unstoppable

3 Unstoppable