Just three short years ago Frank Oz (the capable director of such recent classics as The Muppets Take Manhattan, Little Shop of Horrors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob? and Bowfinger) released Death at a Funeral a British dark comedy starring some recognizable names- Peter Dinklage and Alan Tudyk alongside a mostly British cast. Death turned out to be a hit, well maybe not a hit but they made money on what was a small indie film in limited release. I suspect that most of the film’s success came from the fact that for the price of admission you got to enjoy a pitch perfect British dark comedy directed by a Hollywood veteran that introduced you to a few new faces on the screen.

Now three years later Hollywood has Easy-Baked you a remake starring a Who’s Who cast including Chris Rock, Danny Glover, Tracy Morgan, Martin Lawrence, Luke Wilson and Peter Dinklage. Yes the same Peter Dinklage in the same role he played three years ago. Directing this time around you’ve got Neil LaBute, who? You know he directed Lakeview Terrace starring Samuel L. Jackson and The Wicker Man (2006 remake) starring Nicolas Cage that Neil LaBute. Honestly I’m not sure who should be more offended, the cast of the original Death or Tyler Perry, one look at the trailer of the new Death at a Funeral and you’ll be left asking where Madea is (I think she’s still in jail). Hollywood is trying to squeeze every dollar it can out of your movie going pockets- don’t let them!

The second remake I’d like to question is that of the 2008’s Swedish vampire suspense thriller Let The Right One In with the Hollywood remake titled Let Me In. Easily the best vampire movie of the decade Let The Right One In needs no remake, sure it was subtitled in English but who’s complaining? In fact I think the lack of spoken English and the success of the film are evidence of just how well made the movie really was. The images told the whole story, isn’t that what all movie makers should strive for? I think so.

Whatever you do, whether you see the remakes or not, watch these two wonderful original foreign films and share your experience, hopefully your appreciation for them with us!

Boston Legal Giveaway: Send an email to contests@atomicpopcorn.net with the subject of:"Boston Legal" and tell me what you would spend your 50 dollars on.

Related posts:

1. This Week In Reboots: Police Academy
2. New trailer for ‘The Karate Kid’ remake crane-kicks its way online
3. Is A Heavy Rain Movie In The Works?

Director and Screenwriter (gotta give credit where credit is due) Roland Emmerich managed to create what will be this season’s greatest comedy. I don’t think that is what he set out to do upon drafting, filming, and editing 2012 but that is the end result. This two-and-a-half hour comedy will have you rolling in your seat as you watch Cusack and the gang outrace disaster after disaster after disaster. The over-the-top elements and wacky situations in which Cuscak and the gang find themselves is downright hysterical. You’ll laugh as the Cusack Gang (short name from now on) out drive an earthquake that is ripping California apart. You won’t be able to resist the temptation to crack a smile when the Cusack Gang manage to hit the perfectly placed upturned pavement, use it as a ramp to jump a very large hole caused by the massive earthquake they were outrunning, and drive through a glass building that was toppling in front of them. It’s the Dukes of Hazzard meets Lethal Weapon 4!

The plot is straight out of an NBC Movie of the week that should be shown as a two-parter during February sweeps. In 2009 Doctor Adrian Helmsley, played by Chiwetel Ejofor, discovers that the Earth’s core is getting hotter. He takes the facts and presents them to Carl Anheuser, played by Oliver Platt, who is the President’s top scientist. They determine that with the help of the world’s government, ships can be built to house all of the world’s culture as well as those select individuals that helped fund the project and all government parties throughout the world. The plans are put into motion and in 2010 the governments unite. Over the next two years the Chinese build six very large metal ships that will be used to transport countless live animals and people to safety for months if not years, and house state-of-the-art electronics that will guide their way. These Arks will be used for the months or years it takes to restart civilization after the great floods.

There is even a Who’s Who of characters that gave 2012 that NBC Movie of the Week feel. Danny Glover is the President of the United States. Woody Harrelson is Charlie, the one “crazy person” who knows the Government’s plans but isn’t taken seriously. Blu Mankuma plays Harry Helmsley the father of Ejofor’s character, and George Segal plays Tony Delgato who hasn’t spoken or seen his son in years and is also Harry’s musical partner. This short list of actors helped to make 2012 feel like a Movie of the Week. Where are Hasselhoff and Shatner when you need them?

I won’t even get into the wooden performance Glover gives as the POTUS. His delivery and demeanor seemed to indicate that this was a paycheck and not really a wise career move. Cusack did a good job at not taking the story too seriously. I mean, how can you when you’re constantly avoiding disaster with seconds to spare. Peet was the only actor who delivered a believable portrayal of a character. As I’ve been told, it only takes one rotten apple to ruin the bunch – thanks to Amanda Peet for being that apple. I kid, I kid… you were the bright spot to this comedy and you were the only person that made me believe that your character was in danger.

I’m sure some will think this was an amazing movie based on the great effects. YES, the effects were incredible. The way Emmerich choreographed the destruction of the Earth was, to say the least, beautiful. His use of real-world physics helped to portray the massive destruction that was happening before our eyes. His sinking of California was an awesome effect and the way the land mass sank while buildings kept toppling over was darn cool to watch. His use of dust and debris from downed buildings converging down the roads and toward the populace was too reminiscent of images captured on 9/11/01 in New York city.  I found myself picking up small sound effects that added to some of the massive events unfolding on the screen. There is a scene where the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy is being lifted by a massive tsunami and the scraping noise of the jets sliding off the bow of the ship was a nice touch of realism. But, as we all know, effects do not make a movie great. Story and acting are also needed to help sell the Hollywood magic and are just what was missing from 2012. I find it hard to take a movie seriously when the entire audience is laughing at EVERYTHING that is happening in front of them. If Emmerich is smart he’ll have Columbia put this under the Comedy section come Oscar time.

Columbia Pictures manages to deliver a PG-13 movie with intense disaster sequences, a 2.5 hour run time, little story,  lots of special effects, and laughs-a-plenty (which I’m sure was unintentional and just the by-product of a bad movie).

 ★☆☆☆☆ 

Boston Legal Giveaway: Send an email to contests@atomicpopcorn.net with the subject of:"Boston Legal" and tell me what you would spend your 50 dollars on.

No related posts.

Ronald Emmerichs’ 2012 Movie Trailer

Wonderful enough for you? Think it should cave into the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean? Let us know what you think! With the help of the people of Sony Pictures Entertainment, 2012 will come out on November 13th.

Boston Legal Giveaway: Send an email to contests@atomicpopcorn.net with the subject of:"Boston Legal" and tell me what you would spend your 50 dollars on.

No related posts.

The story starts off bringing us into an unnamed city during rush hour. People hustling and bustling everywhere, cars beeping their horns and then we zoom in on an unsuspecting man. He is not moving his car and people are rightly pissed off. While the camera takes on a long ride to get to him, you can make out that he is rubbing his eyes. He is shouting that he can’t see. He is blind.

We follow the strand of this sickness from this man onto everyone that he comes in contact with, his wife, the doctor who he visits (Ruffalo) and eventually to everyone they come in contact with. Its a large domino effect, a very large one.

Ruffalo gets home that night to what seems to be a marriage that is on the brinks. Moore plays a wife that seems to need a drink to get through the evenings at home. Going to bed early, leaving the doctor to his studies to this amazing sickness he encounters, she retires for the night.

Waking up the next morning proves to be an bad day for the doc. He cannot see either, at all! He is afraid to let his wife know or get to close due to it having an effect on everyone you come in contact with. This is where the true story begins. The doctor’s wife doesn’t go blind…at all! She is the only one that can see.

I won’t go into any more of the story as you can see this yourself if you so choose. But please be warned, while this movie is a struggle for humanity, pride and justice, it is one of very naked realism (no pun intended). Folks run around naked, there is rape involved, pillaging, basically anarchy to an extent in this film. Relationships are torn apart and made anew. The struggle that goes on in each person we meet in this film is strong, it definitely has an impact on the viewing audience.

While I would like to say I enjoyed this film, I did not. It’s not at all the film itself, its more the concept. Its depressing to think of things such as this happening to anyone you may love or come in contact with. The brutal honesty within the film kind of struck a chord with my senses along with others in the theater. I counted 7 people who left the film early.

The film can drag in places and then pick up just when you thought maybe it would end.

Overall I would probably not recommend this to anyone to see in the theater. No children at all should see this as its something that may leave a small imprint in my mind for a while. The movie itself was directed wonderfully. he scenes themselves were done well and thought out in a great way. Just the content matter itself is what I disliked. The bleakness, the white, the drab, the death…not something I look forward to spending two hours of my life contemplating.

 ☆☆☆☆☆ 

Boston Legal Giveaway: Send an email to contests@atomicpopcorn.net with the subject of:"Boston Legal" and tell me what you would spend your 50 dollars on.

No related posts.

My first question going into this film was; Does anyone rent videotapes anymore? Do kids these days even know what they are? Alright, that was two questions. And for the movie to work you really have to suspend that disbelief. Let me back up, there is some more disbelief you will need to be suspending, but I need to tell you the plot first. Mike and Jerry (Mos Def and Jack Black respectively) are taking care of a run down old video store/thrift shop for elderly old Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) while he’s away. Somehow along the way Jerry gets magnetized. Yeah, you read that right, he becomes magnetic. Granted, it’s not as much as a logic leap as a store still renting video tapes, but it’s still a pretty huge hurdle if you’re looking for realism. Aaaaaanyway, Jerry erases all of the tapes in the store by his mere presence. *HEY! That’s why they made them rent video tapes! The plot line wouldn’t have worked if they had DVDs/it this took place this century. * Now, people are coming in to rent movies and these guys don’t want to see the old man’s store go our of business, so they decide to grab a video camera and make their own versions of famous films (Ghostbusters, Rush Hour 2, Robocop and plenty of others). Throw in some evil corporate developers trying to have the store demolished and some evil corporate show biz lawyers trying to shut down our boys and you’ve got yourself a movie.

So what did I think? Michael Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) does a sometimes masterful job directing here. The montage scene in particular is incredibly well-done. There is a whimsical and almost fantastic feel to nearly everything about the film, which somehow works to help you get around the absurd storyline. Even though the movie takes place in a horrible neighborhood that is barely one step up from the projects (maybe just a step over). This is a neighborhood where the thugs merely glare at you rather than beat you into a puddle of your own blood and piss. This is a neighborhood where people still seem to know each other. Alright, that too may be harder to believe than Jack Black becoming magnetized. However, even though I “bought it” I still felt like it was lacking something. It felt like it could have been funnier. Many of the funniest parts have been seen on the trailers, and once you’ve seen a couple of movies get “Sweded” (what they call their movies) the joke has kind of played out. I didn’t get bored, but I wasn’t really busting a gut laughing either. Gondry did do a good job of taking this goofy idea and giving it some soul and meaning, but more on that later.

Mos Def keeps working his way up my “Actors I Really Enjoy, But Don’t Go Out Of My Way To See” list. He’s almost on my “Actors That I Will Be More Inclined To Watch A Movie Because They Are In It” list. I really hope that his real voice isn’t that borderline retarded voice that he used in 16 Blocks (and slipped into a few times in this) though. He brought a simple-minded sincerity to the film without making it too sappy. His initial refusal to do, and later outrage at being part of, the Driving Miss Daisy remake is one of the few (and nicely underplayed) darker moments of the film. Damn, I really wish I had thought of a better way to put that. Jack Black is in good form here. He is a much better sidekick than lead, and in this he gets to slip into that more comfortable skin. Don’t believe me? Watch School of Rock, then watch High Fidelity. See what I mean? In Be Kind, Rewind Black gets to act like his usual goofy self, but he pulls it back a few notches from his more recent performances, and that is a good thing. He and Mos Def have a decent chemistry and his spastic insanity was a nice foil to Def. Danny Glover was alright I guess. It’s hard not to like an actor playing the lovable old man about to get tossed out on his ass by the corporate developers. Mia Farrow is actually still cute. It’s in a crazy old lady kind of way, but anyone that publicly speaks out against Woody Allen is aces in my book. Hell, for that I’ll say she still looks gorgeous. I should mention that Melonie Diaz was great as the woman in their lives. She was realistically pretty, and about as intelligent and savvy as you could expect for anyone from this world.

WONDER TWIN POWERS ACTIVATE

For probably the most commercial movie of Michael Gondry’s career he managed to work some covert anti-commercial messages into it. He is clearly opposed to the gentrification of the movie/video business, or what he sees as his art. The statements run rampant through the film, that what these guys are creating is just as valid, if not more (to their community) as anything Hollywood produces. Our heroes suffer the futility of fighting the system (corporations, lawyers, Hollywood) to be find the triumph of art over adversity (that soul and meaning I mentioned earlier). This was a good movie, but not a great one. I don’t think it really hit on all cylinders, but when it did it nailed it. It could have/should have been funnier, but at least the drama wasn’t over played or out of place. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon all in all.

RATING: 7/10

I swear, you best be knocking that shit off or I will knock dem teeths right down your throats.

Boston Legal Giveaway: Send an email to contests@atomicpopcorn.net with the subject of:"Boston Legal" and tell me what you would spend your 50 dollars on.

No related posts.