THE PRESTIGE

 

 

The Prestige stars Hugh Jackman (of Wolverine fame) and Christian Bale (of Batman fame) as two rival magicians in Victorian-era London who spend much of the film trying to one-up each other and even regularly sabotage each other's acts, which causes Bale's character to lose a couple of his fingers when Jackman's character deliberately sabotages his "bullet catch" act. I must admit, I wasn't really expecting much from this film and, for the first half of the film at least, I didn't get much. In fact, I was actually so bored with this film during its first-half I was about to turn it off. However, things started picking up, at least for me, during the second half of the flick when the two magician's rivalries become obsessive and rather sadistic. In the end, Hugh's character finds a rather unique way to set up Christian's character for his own murder and winds up taking his daughter as his ward. When Bale's character vows revenge on him, he just scoffs and walks off with his daughter in tow. Then Bale's character is hanged for his "murder" and Hugh's character believes that's the end of it. That's when the "twist" of the movie is revealed of which I won't spoil here, though I will say--again, at least for me--said "twist" was intriguing and unexpected, although to the late Roger Ebert--who is, of course, this blog's namesake--said "twist" ending was, as he described it, a "cheat" and a "fundamental flaw" of the film. I guess we can agree to disagree (sort of like with Ebert's former partner the late Gene Siskel)! One "fundamental flaw" I did find with this film is that Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale's characters are arguably two of the least likable characters in cinematic history as it's actually kind of hard--at least it was for me--to root for either of them they both act so despicably in the film. But the acting caliber of this film, aided by Michael Caine who plays a sort of mentor to both characters (and even Scarlett Johansson who adds the obligatory sex appeal/eye candy to the film), makes it easier to accept that they act so horrendously towards not only each other but to those around them; like, for instance, Bale's character actually helps drive his wife to suicide. I think this film would especially appeal to those interested in magic (which, to be honest, was one of the reasons why I initially wasn't expecting much from this film).



THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE PART 2

 

 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 is, of course, the sequel to the first flick, which has since gone to become a cult classic. The sequel takes place over a dozen years after the first one which was released during the mid-seventies. A former Texas Ranger named Lefty--played by the late Dennis Hopper (of Easy Rider and Apocalypse Now fame)--is on a quest to find the cannibalistic family whom he believes killed his niece and nephew from the first film. He enlists the help of a local DJ named Stretch--played by horror actress Caroline Williams--who inadvertently records the killing of a couple of foul-mouthed teens driving down the freeway who call in the station one night and start harassing Stretch. However, during the course of their call, the teens have the misfortune of coming across Leatherface and his companion who are driving alongside them in a truck and Leatherface proceeds to slice off the head of the driver and causes the car to run off the road. Lefty persuades Stretch to play the tape on the air so people will start believing of the existence of the cannibalistic family who have been killing people for years, including his beloved niece and nephew. After the tape is played, Stretch receives a visit at the station from Leatherface and his "brother" Chop Top who has a metal plate in his head. Stretch is able to charm Leatherface to keep him from killing her and he and Chop Top wind up beating and abducting Stretch's boss who happens on the scene and they take him back to their lair while Stretch and Lefty follow suit. Stretch, after witnessing the brutal murder of her boss, gets captured and tortured by Leatherface and his cannibalistic clan until Lefty shows up with a couple of chainsaws of his own and has a chainsaw duel with the notorious Leatherface (of course, you'll have to watch the flick to find out if Lefty "wins" said chainsaw duel, all right?). I must say, the violence in this flick tends to be more comical than horrific, at least by today's seemingly more gorier standards, although this flick does manage at least a couple of truly creepy moments; like, for instance, when Leatherface thrusts the tip of his chainsaw against Stretch's crotch and thrusts it back and forth like a penis and when Leatherface puts Stretch's boss's face that he'd just sliced off onto her face and makes her wear it while he dances with her. Yuck! In any case, TTCM2 is pretty typical of the so-called slasher flicks released during the eighties, although this one was actually better than some of the other "slasher" flicks released during that period thanks primarily to Dennis Hopper's performance (although he probably took this role mostly for the paycheck!). Oh yeah, this flick was also directed by noted horror flick director Tobe Hooper who also directed the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Also, the theatrical poster of this film, as seen above, was reportedly suppose to resemble the movie poster from the classic film The Breakfast Club. Just thought you'd like to know! A sidenote: To this day, this flick is banned in Germany. Yes, Germany, the very country that brought the world gas chambers and shit vids. Go figure!



TROPIC THUNDER

 

Tropic Thunder is a comedy/action flick starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr. along with a whole slew of celebrity cameos. In the flick, Ben, Jack and Robert play a group of rather pretentious actors who are filming a big-budgeted action blockbuster called--you guessed it!--Tropic Thunder. During filming in what's supposed to be the jungles of Vietnam (since the faux Tropic Thunder is supposed to be based on a book written about the Vietnam War where the book's author--played in typical gruff-esque fashion by Nick Nolte--is supposed to have served), the actors run afoul of a heroin-producing drug cartel of sorts called Flaming Dragon which is led by a wisecracking kid and they have to actually fight their way out of the jungle and from the clutches of Flaming Dragon. Like I said, this film has a slew of cameos, including Matthew McConaughey as Stiller's character's agent in what is actually one of his better performances (and he actually wears--surprise of surprises!--a shirt in this picture!) and Tom Cruise who plays a rather sleazy bald-headed studio executive and offers up one of the most hilarious performances in the flick (and makes you almost--ALMOST--forget all of his batcrap crazy stuff with Scientology and his, uh-hum, marriage to Katie Holmes and jumping up & down on Oprah's couch declaring his, uh-hum, love for Katie and all that and actually reminds film-watchers that he's actually a pretty decent actor). Oh yeah, I think I should note for those who haven't seen the film yet that Robert Downey, Jr. plays a rather pretentious Australian actor who wears--and, no, I'm NOT making this up!--BLACKFACE for his character in the film. (Make of THAT what you will!) As you've probably already guessed by now, Tropic Thunder is NOT for the easily-offended types. For everyone else, it's actually not only a fairly funny flick--the "trailers" at the beginning of the film are, in my opinion, the funniest parts of the film--but it's actually not a bad action flick. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that, if it was just a straight-up action flick, it would be on par with, say, The Expendables (and I'm sure there would be at least SOME action flick fans who would dispute me on THAT!). Best line in the film: "What do you mean you people?" "What do you mean you people?"

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK

 

 

Good Night & Good Luck is a biopic about the legendary newsman the late Edward R. Murrow. The film focuses in on Murrow's by-now-infamous public battle with former senator the late Joseph McCarthy back during the time when McCarthy was going on his by-now-infamous "communist" witchhunts during the fifties, which, for those of you needing a history lesson, is where the phrase McCarthyism comes from. Anyway, as the film shows, Murrow helped take the dangerous and out-of-control senator down (and, as the film also shows, his battles with McCarthy also hurt Murrow's own career as he stepped on a few toes to take the senator down). Murrow was one of the few public figures--newsman or otherwise--who was brave enough to take on the dangerous senator who was literally destroying lives by forcefully targeting people whom he claimed were communists (sort of like how Fox News and right-wing talk radio "targets" people nowadays for being "radical" Muslims and liberals and whatnot). Anyway, the film was written & directed by George Clooney (yes, the former Batman himself!) who also stars in the film but not in the Edward R. Murrow role which is played by David Strathairn. Clooney instead plays Murrow's producer and collaborator the late Fred Friendly (yes, that was his actual name). The film, as you probably already figured out by now, is not your typical Hollywood CGI-laden superhero-esque blockbuster. In fact, it's safe to say the film is anything BUT. To top it all off, the movie is actually filmed in black & white. This was done by Clooney to match the actual televised footage of Joseph McCarthy featured in the film. Again, it's probably safe to assume that fans of your typical Hollywood CGI-laden superhero-esque blockbuster would probably find this particular film, well, boring. (Incidentally, this film also co-stars none other than Robert Downey, Jr. who, of course, has made his fame & fortune playing comic book superhero Iron Man in not only the Iron Man flicks but the mega-box office hit The Avengers.) However, if you're a fan of excellent acting--this movie was nominated for a slew of awards--and of how films used to be made and especially if you're interested in this era of our history and how it mirrors what occurs in this country today (as I am), then Good Night & Good Luck ought to be the right flick for you. A sidenote: This film was apparently a labor of love for Clooney whose father was himself a newsman for many years and who even ran for congress back in 2004, a year before this film came out. George even mortgaged his own home to finance the film after he was unable to get insured after suffering an injury on a previous film. Another thing I found rather interesting about this film is how test audiences reportedly complained about the over-the-top acting of the "actor" playing Joseph McCarthy apparently NOT realizing that they were watching the REAL Joseph McCarthy. Sort of tells you something, doesn't it? (For those of you who do in fact need and/or want a history lesson on McCarthyism, along with the flick I've also included a few books on the subject from Amazon in the links below, for those of you who are interested. You're welcome!)

FANBOYS

 

Fanboys tells the tale of a group of Star Wars-obsessed, er, fanboys who decide to take a road trip to fulfill a lifelong dream of breaking into George Lucas's Skywalker ranch so they can steal a copy of the first Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace before it's released in theaters so they can be the very first ones to see it. The movie itself pretty much follows the standard formula as other raunchy road trip flicks such as, um, Road Trip (with MTV's supposed funnyman Tom Green) and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back (starring film director Kevin Smith who also has a cameo in the flick along with the guy who played Jay what's-his-face). What sets this "road trip" flick apart from those flick is, of course, the Star Wars angle. Of course, there's the obligatory scenes where the Star Wars guys fights Trekkies/Trekkers--that's Star Trek fans, for those of you who don't speak geek--and there's the obligatory cameos from Star Wars, uh, stars Billy Dee Williams (who, of course, played Lando Calrissian) and Carrie Fisher (who, of course, played Princess Leia). (What, no Mark Hamill?) However, the most interesting--and the most unexpected--cameo comes from none other than William Shatner (who--of course!--played Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek) who hands the blueprints of the Skywalker Ranch over to a couple of the guys at a Star Trek convention. When one of the guys says to him, "Where did you get these?", he responds, "I'm William Shatner. I can get anything." When the other guy asks him, "What about Jeri Ryan's panties?', he again responds, "Anything." Overall, Fanboys is a fairly entertaining--although fairly raunchy!--"road trip" flick and will especially appeal to the geeky-at-heart. An added bonus is seeing actress Kristen Bell--who sports black hair instead of her usual blond--dressed in Princess Leia's by-now-infamous gold metal bikini from that by-now-infamous scene in Jabba The Hutt's lair from Return Of The Jedi (although you only get to see her for less than a minute, damn it!). May The Force be with you, indeed! (And, no, there's NOT a cameo from George Lucas in this film, although he reportedly gave it his blessing unlike--of course!--a number of film critics just like they did with The Phantom Menace itself. Oh well!) Best line in the movie: "How do you say 'I'll never get laid' in Klingon?" Second best line in the film: "Han Solo is a bitch!" A sidenote: William Shatner got into a little hot water with Trekkies/Trekkers some years back when he did his by-now-infamous skit on Saturday Night Live when he told a group of Trekkies/Trekkers--or, rather, SNL actors playing Trekkies/Trekkers--at a pseudo-Star Trek convention, "Get a life! It's just a TV show!" Actually, I found it pretty damn funny myself (but then, that's just me!)! As for what I personally think about the "debate" between Star Wars vs. Star Trek, which can sometimes get pretty heated, I am a fan of BOTH films and/or TV shows, though I will admit I slightly "favor" Star Wars over Star Trek since that's what I grew up with and didn't really get into Star Trek until later. I mean, at the end of the day, aren't both films and/or TV shows really about a bunch of guys--and gals--flying around in spaceships blowing stuff up? (And, like William Shatner, I know I'm going to catch some heat on THAT one!)