Team Delpy

I still have the hots for Ms. Julie Delpy. At 44, she is as beautiful as ever.

Forgive me. I suppose some context is definitely in order here.

I decided that this year, since we are now in the Oscar playoffs, I would actually make a concerted effort to watch the major contenders so I would have a team to root for come the Oscar Bowl…I mean the Academy Awards. I always talk a big game about being a movie buff, but last year…and the year before…I entered the playoffs (nominations) with no stakes in the game. This year, I plan to be part of the loyal fan base.

It isn’t easy. I missed many of the nominated pictures during their first run, partly because my wife and I save the expense of seeing movies in the theater for the big blockbusters, those movies that truly require Surround Sound for the full artistic effect. I also missed a lot of these movies because my wife tends to favor “things go boom” movies over character-driven dramas. Although I did persuade her to see “American Hustle” with me, she only acquiesced because it starred Jeremy Renner and Bradley Cooper, and I can only play the eye candy card so many times. Whereas, I personally loved the film (and not just for Amy Adams eye-popping dresses), my wife informed me that she was picking our next date night movie.

So, now I’m on my own to plan out my viewing strategy for the playoffs. Some I will see with my oldest son (e.g., “Gravity” and “Captain Phillips”), some I will see on my own (e.g., “The Wolf of Wall Street”), and some I will see late at night on DVD after everyone else has gone to bed (e.g., “Before Midnight”)

Tonight I finished “Before Midnight” which has been nominated for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay. I truly hope it wins.

To be fair, I was already a fan of Richard Linklater’s previous films in the trilogy, “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset”. All the films are basically an extended conversation between an American man (Ethan Hawke) and a French woman (Julie Delpy) who meet on a train in the first movie, find each other nine years later in the second movie, and face the trials and tribulations of real live parenting, cross-continent custody battles, and mid-life romance nine years later in the third. All three movies are fascinating, endearing, and way more engrossing than you would expect from movies about people talking. But the writing is so fantastic, the timing is so flawless, the chemistry between the characters so natural, that you are immediately pulled into their stories.

And, of course, the movies star the luminous Julie Delpy, with whom I have a slight infatuation.

I am continuing my way down the list of Academy Award contenders. Sure, I won’t have seen all of the Best Picture nominees by March 2, but my goal is to have seen enough of them to talk turkey at the water cooler the week before. “Sure, Captain Phillips, has Hanks, who has had a pretty good season, but it’s no match for Gravity’s long pass. Or is this the year that American Hustle throws the Hail Mary in hopes that the Academy goes for a comic drama?”

Oh yeah. I positively ooze street cred.

The Lucas Mistake

I have come up with a new catchphrase for the entertainment media, and I want to see if it will gain traction. I call it "The Lucas Mistake." Boiled down to its essence, the Lucas Mistake is, "waiting too long to answer unnecessary questions and doing it badly." George Lucas was not the first person to do this with Episodes I, II, and III (a.k.a. "Aaaaaahhh...what the !$!@# did you do??!!"), but The JarJar Menace was such a spectacular failure to those of us who grew up with the original, that I believe George should forever have his name associated with this phenomenon.
Others have made the Lucas Mistake. Spielberg made the Lucas Mistake with "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" when he asked the unnecessary questions, "Whatever happened to Marian?" and "What would Indy be like as a grandpa?" and "What if Indiana Jones met...aliens."

The most recent perpetrator of the Lucas Mistake was Ridley Scott with "Prometheus." Roger Ebert gave it four stars. Roger Ebert is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT

The biggest problem to me was that the entire movie felt cobbled together from sci fi movies and themes that have already been explored ad nauseum. Human evolution being guided by an alien intelligent species? It's been done. A lot. An android forcing his makers to evaluate their own humanity? Also done. A lot. Strange genetic material that accelerates cellular development and tissue growth to the level of the ridiculuous? Um...can anyone say "Species" (1995) or "Evolution" (2001).
Even worse, the film violated the rule of Chekov's gun, "One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it." Why would you put Guy Pearce in mediocre age make-up if you don't plan to remove the make-up later? Why would you create a hackneyed theory of human existence only to leave unanswered all the questions that you posed to the audience?

I'm always eager to give a director the benefit of the doubt for a movie that pushes the limits of storyline, special effects, and general creativity. "Avatar", for example, was a great success story, even though I'm sure the producer went to the studio and said, "Picture 'Dances With Wolves' only with big blue aliens!"

"Prometheus," unfortunately, is not a success story. Although I enjoyed the special effects on the big screen, they didn't have the colorful flair of "Avatar", nor did the movie elicit the effective claustrophobia of the first "Alien" movie.  The story didn't hold together, the motivation of the characters was poorly explored, and the plot elements were jumbled. More importantly, the movie suffered from the Lucas Mistake by asking the question, "Where did the Ridley Scott aliens first come from?"
I don't care. It doesn't matter. They're "aliens". That's all you need to know. Just leave it alone and move on.

With Great Power...

After much anticipation and fanfare, I took my family to see The Avengers on opening weekend. All I can say is “Whoa!” 

It is important to understand the basis of this “whoa.” I am not basing my “whoa” on the special effects which were certainly good but not cutting edge. I am not basing my “whoa” on the acting, which was certainly effective, but not worthy of any academy awards. I base my “whoa” on the fact that the movie worked…plain and simple. The movie was exciting, engaging, entertaining, interesting, funny, and…most of all…against all odds, competent. Yes, competent. By all rights, this movie should have failed, and under the direction of anyone other than creative demigod Joss Whedon, it certainly would have. 

“How could it have failed?” you ask. Easily. Think of everything the movie had to do. It had to live up to the writing, directing, acting, storyline, and special effects of the precursor movies (Ironman, Ironman 2, Thor, Captain America, and the various takes on the Hulk). It had to mesh the different worlds of each superhero, each of whom lives in distinct realities within the Marvel universe. Ironman lives in a world of technology and wisecracking quips, Thor lives in a world of Wagnerian costumes and Shakespearian dialog, Captain America lives in a world of 1940’s patriotic war movies and patriotic rhetoric, and the Hulk lives in a world of mediocre CGI. All of these back stories, all of their dialogs, and all of their visual styles had to be pulled together into a seamless tapestry that should mimic more a fine Persian rug and less a first grade 4H quilting project. In addition, the director had to work with the A-list actors from all of these movies, give them equal screen time, and manage their sizeable egos.

Joss was just the fanboy to pull it off. On top of everything, he created a summer blockbuster that worked for many audiences. It was an exciting diversion for the casual moviegoer (whom I tend to refer to as “the common folk”). It was a faithful adaptation for the comic book faithful. And it was a cleverly written Joss Whedon oeuvre for film geeks like myself who wait patiently for Stan Lee to make his cameo appearance, watch for bit part actors who are now stars in Joss’s personal black book (eg, Enver Gjokaj and Alexis Denisof), and analyze the screenplay for Joss’s wordplay, stylistic elements, and careful balance of tension and release.  

 Joss shared screenwriting credit with Zak Penn, whose superhero screenplay resume includes “The Incredible Hulk,” “X-Men: The Last Stand,” “Fantastic Four,” “Elektra,” “X2,” “Last Action Hero,” and the TV show, “Alphas.” Joss no doubt had the executive producers looking over his shoulder every step of the way, including Marvel Comics CEO Avi Arad and Marvel All-Father Stan Lee. And, he had a variety of other heavy hitters on the payroll, including Alan Silvestri writing the original score.

So, yeah. Whoa.

If you haven’t seen the movie yet, make sure you stay through the credits. Partway into the credits, you will get a teaser about the next Marvel movie, although to fully understand the reference, it helps to have a comic book maven like my wife sitting next to you (who spent two years archiving comic books for the Indianapolis Children’s Museum.) At the very end of the movie, there is a very funny tag that will make you glad you waited to find out who was the second second assistant director (who by the way is Julian Brain). And, if you already saw the movie and ran out as soon as the credits started rolling, fine. That’s your prerogative. But I ain’t gonna tell you what happens at the end. That’s what you get for being common folk.

Speaking of Mr. Whedon, according to IMDB, his next big project, now in post-production, is a movie adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. This ought to be interesting because the cast list is completely filled with actors from Joss’s  black book; actors and actresses from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” “Firefly,” “Dollhouse,” and now “The Avengers.” Hey, why not? He’s Joss “The Boss” Whedon, and he can pretty much do what he wants at this point. I just hope he remembers the mantra from the Marvel universe, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Literature Thief

I finally saw the movie Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief this afternoon. I must say that I found the movie fun, entertaining, exciting, amusing, and, unfortunately, entirely forgettable. Shame about that, especially since I have become a big fan of the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan.

My oldest son (who, like Percy in the first book, is 12) is also a big fan, and he complained bitterly that the filmmakers ruined the movie. Well, I'm not sure I'd go that far. However, I will say that if you have seen the movie and you have not read the books, go read the books. They are COMPLETELY separate entities.

The books feel like an American response to the Harry Potter series (full disclosure: I'm also a big fan of that as well). To fully appreciate the books, it helps to have an understanding of U.S. culture, similar to how having a knowledge of the British school system creates a certain background understanding of Hogwarts. For example, if you have never been to a U.S. summer camp, you won't fully appreciate demigods playing capture the flag with real swords and shields. If you haven't lived through the all the news stories, pharmacological treatments, champions, and skeptics of ADHD, you won't full appreciate the idea that ADHD is an unfortunate side effect of a demigod's battle-ready senses. And if you haven't read The Catcher in the Rye or seen the movie Rebel Without a Cause, you might not appreciate the culture of teen angst that, although integral to ALL teen literature, has its own particular personality and flavor in the U.S.

But I digress. My son thinks they ruined the movie by completely diverging from the book. I have to admit that it's difficult for me, a jaded 41-year old who has seen his favorite literature mangled and twisted in the movie theatre over and over and over again, to disagree with him. Obviously, Rick Riordan did not have the creative control over this movie that J.K. Rowling maintained over hers. Much of what pushed the books beyond remaining forgettable page-turner literature was lost in the movie. The movie lacks the books ironic twists. I was mildly amused to find out that Mount Olympus is in the top of the Empire State Building, but I laughed out loud to find out (in the book) that the door to Hades was a recording studio in L.A. And the scene with Charon in the book was much, much, much funnier than the scene in the movie.

Not only that, but Riordan's understanding of adolescent awkwardness is pretty much spot on. Somethings never change from generation to generation.

So, sure. Go see the movie as a matinee. The special effects are decent, albeit not exemplary. The banter between Percy, Annabeth, and Grover is moderately clever (although I felt the movie spent too much time recreating Grover as the movie-standard "black" best friend side-kick instead of the "satyr" best friend side-kick). The romantic chemistry between Logan Lerman and Alexandra Daddario is reasonably satisfying. And I'll watch Catherine Keener in pretty much ANYTHING.

But then go back and read the book. And then read the next one. And then the next. What? Like you have anything really important going on at work this week?

Repo! The Genetic Opera - WTF?

Yes, kids...WTF means "What the fooey?" Just ask your parents.

My wife and I found the perfect Halloween movie...one that left us scratching our heads and asking each other, "Did we just share the same hallucination?" The movie is called "Repo! The Genetic Opera". It is a goth sci-fi horror rock opera. And you know that you just don't run into many of those at the family theatre these days

The movie has an impressive cast: Alexa Vega (definitely moving past her Spy Kids years), Anthony Stewart Head (very reminiscent of his Buffy the Vampire Slayer work), Paul Sorvino, Sarah Brightman, and a cast of others I had never heard of before. It also stars Paris Hilton perfectly cast as a character who needs to look alternately trampy and vapid. Not so much "vampy" as "trampid."

The backdrop of the movie, a goth sci-fi horror rock opera, is definitely original. In the future, an epidemic of organ failures devasted the planet and GeneCo, a multi-billion dollar biotech company, emerged. GeneCo supplies organ transplantation for a profit, and the company offers financing for those who can not afford new organs. Of course, if you can not make your payments, an organ repo man comes to collect your organs. Due to a bill passed by Congress, organ repossesion (carried out by skilled assassin surgeons) is now legal.

Onto this rather gruesome cinematic canvas comes a bizarre story of Nathan Wallace, an organ repo man (Anthony Stewart Head) who's daughter (Alexa Vega) has a rare blood disease that she's been told she inherited from her mother. She doesn't know that her dad is a legal assassin and not a doctor as he claims, but as she escapes from her room, which has become her prison both methaphorically and practically, she starts to discover just how dangerous the world is around her.

The president of GeneCo, Rotti Largo, is dying and must find an heir. Too bad his children are all murderous, psychotic nincompoops (this is my description, not his...you can't use "nincompoop" in a goth sci-fi horror rock opera). And, as you will find out, Rotti is not only Nathan's boss but responsible for the death of his wife 17 years ago...even though Nathan blames himself for her death.

Oh, and there's a graverobber who steals dead bodies to steal their fluids to make Zydrate, a cheap, highly addictive pain killer used by people who are addicted to multiple surgeries.

At this point, you are either a) curious about the idea, b) totally sold on the concept, or c) already losing your lunch in the toilet just at my description. If you are c), you should probably skip this one, particularly since it was made by the producers of the "Saw" movies. It is definitely not a movie that I could in good conscious call "good" or even "above average," but it is definitely engaging, enthralling, and very, very different.

It has Anthony Stewart Head who is a fine actor who can alternately do bookish everyman, hardened psychotic killer, and rock singer...and have you believe all three. It has Sarah Brightman, who lends some gravitas to the opera part of the rock opera. It has Alexa Vega, who is a rising pop star and effective actress in her own right. It has Paul Sorvino playing the bad guy and singing (who knew?). And it has Paris Hilton. But frankly she doesn't get in the way of the experience as much as you would think.

It is an experience. Whether you find it a good experience, bad experience, or overly medicated experience depends a lot on you. But no matter who you are, you will definitely come out of the movie asking, "What the fooey?"