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Reviews

The Tale of Despereaux (2008)

#140RVW

Very good-looking animated film. Somewhat overstocked in the celebrity voice department, but not to ruin. Good if not overly original story.

The Tale of Desperaux

What’s more:

There’s a sort of embarrassment of riches in the animated movie world, and that makes it hard to stand out. Even when the movies are well-made, even if they’re based on great source material, there tends to be a remarkable sameness to many of them.

Take Desperaux; comes with a built-in audience of readers of author Kate DiCamillo’s Newbery Medal winning book, not to mention people who like cute mice.  Toss in a dozen or more celebrity voices and what do you get? Sorta the same movie you’ve seen a few times by now.

The Tale of Desperaux

Is this a bad thing? Maybe not. There will always be more children so there should always be more children’s movies. They can’t all be groundbreaking.

The worst thing is that I enjoyed watching this. I felt good after watching it. But the more I reflected on it, the less that stayed with me. Even while watching it the feelings of familiarity were creeping in, but the movie is well-made and I let it pass.

The Tale of Desperaux

Maybe I’m being harder on it in the light of day than I was immediately after watching it. I’ve just sort of had it with the same old animation and the same celebrity voice-overs. Even as this film shows some unique and lovely design features, they manage to make the characters look like those in virtually every other film. Look at the cook; he could have walked out of 10 other movies this year.

You have a great story – try a little harder.

The Tale of Desperaux
Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass, barely.

Main Cast Matthew Broderick Despereaux (voice), Emma Watson Princess Pea (voice), Dustin Hoffman Roscuro (voice), Tracey Ullman Miggery Sow (voice)
Rating G
Release Date Fri 19 Dec 2008 UTC
Director Sam Fell, Robert Stevenhagen
Genres Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Plot The tale of three unlikely heroes – a misfit mouse who prefers reading books to eating them, an unhappy rat who schemes to leave the darkness of the dungeon, and a bumbling servant girl with cauliflower ears – whose fates are intertwined with that of the castle’s princess.
Poster The Tale of Despereaux
Runtime 93
Tagline Small Hero. Big Heart.
Writers Gary Ross (writer), Will McRobb (screen story)
Year 2008

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

#140RVW

No so much bad as completely unnecessary. What more did we need to know about this character after he was featured prominently in 3 movies?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

What’s more:

This movie fills in the gaps that were left after 3 X-Men movies that focused nearly exclusively on Wolverine. Wait, what gaps? It’s like when artists like Tom Petty & Bruce Springsteen feel compelled to record “solo” albums; guys, it’s your band, with your name – what, are you being held back?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

So why was this movie necessary? Good question. Let me know if you figure it out; I never did. And that’s really the problem with the movie – it just isn’t really needed. We knew enough about this character; possibly too much. Filling in every gap doesn’t accomplish anything. It may seem to satisfy our need to know everything, but once we do know everything we realize we were probably better off with a little mystery.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Quick thoughts:

  • Liev Schreiber is quite a good villain.
  • Script does the nearly impossible feat of making Sabretooth an interesting character.
  • First sign of trouble: casting a rapper as an actor. Nearly always the wrong choice.
  • The blades have never looked less convincing; stick with practical effects, guys.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

  • Boxing with Blob? Why? Easily the most wasteful five minutes in any Marvel film, ever.
  • Didn’t expect Cyclops to show up. Thought this was just going to be the B team mutants.
  • Sigh, wire work. Always so much wire work.
  • How many times in this movie do Wolverine & Sabretooth have essentially the same fight? Stand twenty feet apart, hold arms out to side and flex, Sabretooth grins, Wolverine yells, and they charge.
  • Some of these effects are really unacceptable for 2009.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Mutant rundown (SPOILERS):
  • Gambit – fights with playing cards and pool cues. Please…This character must have been created during Happy Hour…
  • Someone named Agent Zero. I still can’t figure out if this was supposed to be a mutant, and I’m tired of looking up things that should have been made obvious by the filmmakers.
  • There are mutants named Bolt, well played by the always entertaining Dominic Monaghan, and Kestral, played by the never entertaining will.i.am.
  • His love interest in the movie is a mutant? I admit I started to get bored around this point in the movie. I’m guessing her ability is to advance the plot.
  • Emma Frost looks really cool.
  • Deadpool – I gather that this character has a Boba Fett-type following, though I don’t see it based on the film, although they changed the character’s arc massively. They’re making a movie just for him. Sadly it will also star Ryan Reynolds.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Fail

Main Cast Hugh Jackman Logan/Wolverine, Liev Schreiber Victor Creed, Ryan Reynolds Wade Wilson, Danny Huston Stryker
Rating PG-13
Release Date Fri 01 May 2009 UTC
Director Gavin Hood
Genres Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Plot A look at Wolverine’s early life, in particular his time with the government squad Weapon and the impact it will have on his later years.
Poster X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Runtime 107
Tagline
Writers David Benioff (screenplay) and, Skip Woods (screenplay)
Year 2009

Much Ado About Nothing (2012)

#140RVW

The Joss Whedon players invade his house for a few days and come away with a wonderful, funny, beautifully acted & executed masterpiece…

Much Ado About Nothing

What’s more:

Whedon makes it look so easy. Follows up blockbuster Avengers with a black & white modern adaptation of Shakespeare comedy. And comedy it is; this movie is a riot.

Much Ado About Nothing

Helps to have such an amazing cast, but then that has always been his MO. He’s cultivated this amazing team of alumni, plus some notable Whedon newbies like Clark Gregg. It’s always such a blast in any of his movies looking to see who he’s brought along this time.

Much Ado About Nothing

Too many great performances to single out, but can we all agree that Amy Acker is overdue for superstardom? She is so amazingly expressive, capable of drama, brainy comedy, physical comedy and anything else needed. Let’s get her some more work, huh? Her leading man, Alexis Denisof is also criminally underused in Hollywood…

Much Ado About Nothing

With such great performances, it’s easy to overlook just how well the movie is constructed, but it’s important to note. The arrangement of scenes, the pacing, and the tone all combine to make for a highly enjoyable film, one that could have easily been dragged down by the challenging text. And it looks excellent, thanks to DP Jay Hunter.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Tough, I’m going to say it fails, but I could see it both ways. There are conversations that are not specifically about a man, but every conversation between women is about love; frankly every conversation in the movie is about love.

Main Cast Alexis Denisof Benedick, Amy Acker Beatrice, Fran Kranz Claudio, Jillian Morgese Hero
Rating PG-13
Release Date Fri 14 Jun 2013 UTC
Director Joss Whedon
Genres Comedy, Drama, Romance
Plot A modern retelling of Shakespeare’s classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Poster Much Ado About Nothing
Runtime 109
Tagline Shakespeare knows how to throw a party.
Writers Joss Whedon (written for the screen by), William Shakespeare (play)
Year 2012

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Plot sounds stupid, but the novel is a favorite of mine; very true to spirit of Holmes. Makes for good little film. Duvall is ridiculous…

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution

Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution:

If I describe it to you, you’ll tune out: “Sherlock Holmes goes to Vienna to beat his cocaine addiction with the help of Sigmund Freud”. Preposterous. But in the execution of Nicholas Meyer’s novel, it turns out to be a charming little story, very in keeping with the style and spirit of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories.

Would have been interesting to see Meyer direct this, his screenplay based on his own novel, much as Michael Crichton did with The Great Train Robbery two years later. After all, Meyer would get the chance to direct several years later, with the similarly spirited Time After Time, before becoming the greatest director that the Star Trek series would ever see.

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution

But Herbert Ross is a much more accomplished director and does his usual great work here, even if the deliberately soft picture is more of a cute affectation than a welcome “dating” of the story.

In truth, after watching this for the first time in many years, there is a deep drop-off after the 1st hour. The fascinating part of the story is in the set-up; the mystery Holmes is tasked with later on is not as engaging.

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution

Interesting casting; Robert Duvall as Dr. Watson? He’s absurd. I have no objection to Americans playing Brits, but taking on a stiff-upper-lip Victorian is way out of his depth. Fantastic actor, but this one is just a poor fit – a total caricature. Alan Arkin, on the other hand, struggles and succeeds at keeping Freud from being a similar archetype. To some degree this is simply not possible, as the Viennese doctor is sort of hard to underplay, but he does give the character a vitality and edge that is unexpected and welcome. Williamson does a good job with the most thankless role of Sherlock. He plays the character exactly according to Hoyle (or Doyle, I suppose), taking no risks, but he does it well and handles the addiction storyline well.

Lastly, enjoy the Sondheim composition “I Never Do Anything Twice” from the brothel scene – good stuff!

[schema type=”movie” name=”The Seven-Per-Cent Solution” description=”To treat his friend’s cocaine induced delusions, Watson lures Sherlock Holmes to Sigmund Freud.” director=”Herbert Ross” actor_1=”Nicol Williamson” ]

Poster:

Trailer:

http://youtu.be/CxzoWxT2E2Y

Bechdel Test:

FAIL

Main Cast Alan Arkin Dr. Sigmund Freud, Vanessa Redgrave Lola Deveraux, Robert Duvall Dr. John H. Watson/Narrator, Nicol Williamson Sherlock Holmes
Rating PG
Release Date Thu 02 Jun 1977 UTC
Director Herbert Ross
Genres Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Plot To treat his friend’s cocaine induced delusions, Watson lures Sherlock Holmes to Sigmund Freud.
Poster The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
Runtime 113
Tagline
Writers Arthur Conan Doyle (characters), Nicholas Meyer (novel)
Year 1976

Blood Simple (1984)

#140RVW

This is where it all started. Coen brothers announce their arrival with a classic neo-noir thriller that’s a game-changer. Sonnenfeld’s 1st.

Blood Simple

What’s more:

Despite being a huge Coen brothers fan, I never quite got around to watching this, their first film. Not a lack of interest, it just never seemed to be on or crossing my path when I was looking for it. It was worth the wait.

It’s amazing how good they are right out of the gate. All of the classic Coen elements are already in place; gorgeous cinematography (by rookie Barry Sonnenfeld), atmospheric score (by Carter Burwell in his first Coen collaboration), complex characters, dark humor, dramatic pacing, plot twists and turns, sharp dialogue, all of it…

Blood Simple

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

FAIL