The Dark Knight Rises

It's been a long time since this series started, and so long since Heath Ledger's death.  Is this the ending I wanted?  Is it what I needed?

Mercenary Bane has taken Gotham City hostage, striking directly at the police and the resources of Batman.  Even with the enlisted help of Catwoman, Batman will need to give everything he has to succeed in this final chapter of the Dark Knight trilogy.

Batman's righteous anonymity leaves me hanging.  Maybe that's a lesson on humility I need to hear.

The Dark Knight Rises
2012, 165 minutes, directed by Christopher Nolan

The Amazing Spider Man

As I recently said, I really liked the casting of the 2002-2007 Spider Man trilogy.  They weren't the best films, no, but the actors fit their roles so very well.  That already puts me off such a sudden reboot into new players in an alternate storyline.

Then there's the new Peter Parker himself.  I dunno about this kid who likes to shake his head side-to-side with his mouth partially open.  Did he do that once in high school drama class and his teacher said it "carried his emotion well", so he just keeps doing it as his only acting skill?  I swear he strikes that same pose a half dozen times in this movie.

I guess they're trying to write a better story, but they've mucked it up with the casting.  Sorry.  Reboot it again.

The Amazing Spider Man
 2012, 136 minutes, directed by Marc Webb

District B13

Leïto, a product of Paris bario B13, wants to clean up his home and rescue his sister Lola.  Damien, a go-it-alone cop, needs to defuse a bomb captured by the B13 thugs.  Together they need to bring down the crime boss Taha, save the girl, and save the city.

I liked the idea of putting two very physical actors together on screen, though I have to admit their respective solo work at the start of the film exceeds their group scenes.  Still the story is solid enough and the action sequences are good.  I'd watch it again.

District B13
2004, 84 minutes, directed by Pierre Morel

Exit Through the Gift Shop

That was totally not what I expected to see.  I had understood that this was a documentary about Banksy, where perhaps he turned the tables on the filmmaker with his own brand of humour.  That didn't happen.

This was about Thierry Guetta, French camera man and pseudo filmmaker, artist, sudden millionaire.  How can someone survive on a decade-long manic high?  How can he be such a large part of the street art scene while making no effort to hide the meaningless commercialism of his work?

And yet, it's all just a little bit too fanciful.  Could he really take a simple request to go away and turn it into the biggest art show of the year?  Would his colleagues really say those things?  And when Banksy would never help with a documentary about street art again, why did he direct this one?

I think there's more scripting than appears on screen.  And yet I just can't be sure.  It's that mystery, that sense of marginal disbelief, that makes the film so appealing.

Exit Through the Gift Shop
2010, 87 minutes, directed by Banksy

The Adjustment Bureau

Despite the big-name stars and high advertising budget, this film doesn't have the feel of a blockbuster.  It was released too early in the Spring, and for me it's right before SXSW and its non-stop parade of world premieres.

This isn't necessarily bad, though.  It didn't feel like they were pressured to get the exposition out of the way and get busy with special effects.  I liked how they eased into the weird.  Instead of turning it into some sort of long adventure to find the Chairman, they let most of the movie build momentum for one final chase.

Do note that there are some not-so-subtle religious undertones to the story.  If this bothers you stay away.  But otherwise I think it qualifies as decent Spring filler.

The Adjustment Bureau
2011,  directed by George Nolfi

Live Free or Die Hard

This week's Netflix special is 2007's Live Free or Die Hard.  I liked the first movie quite a bit, and I remember being somewhat let down by the second and distinctly disappointed in the third.  I didn't think the fourth film, set and released some 12 years after the third, was worth a trip to the theater.  Honestly, I was right.

I can watch a shoot 'em up, if the shooting is good.  I can watch a big explosion film, if the explosions are good.  I can watch an action comedy, if the action's good or the comedy makes sense.  Big story arcs don't have to be perfect, but basic plot points just need to make sense.  Where did the cars come from that filled the side of the tunnel with the helicopter hovering just overhead?  Why does BMW vehicle assist work when the cell phone network is down?  Why is Bruce Willis' dialog just so plain awful, and his joy at each kill somewhat creepy?  And when did we get to the point that they have to dub in the curse words?

Let this series return fallow.  It's done.

Live Free or Die Hard
2007, 129 minutes (unrated version), directed by Len Wiseman

The Dark Knight

Finally, I had a chance to see this. The hype has been tremendous, and, while the movie was good, I don't think it lived up to my unreasonably high expectations. Christopher Nolan wanted to produce a very dark film, and I think the plot went the correct way to achieve that. The problem was that they limited the on-screen violence too much. Dark films need to be dark, not PG-13.

Still, I like the tight feel of the story. They integrated several plot elements of the first film into the second, and the switch of lead actress wasn't a problem, even having seen the other film a week ago. I look forward to the next installment.

The Dark Knight2008, 152 minutes, directed by Christopher Nolan

Batman Begins

The usual superhero line adds a villain per movie, and a sidekick every other. As with the last Batman series, eventually they decay to inane. When they retooled one that I still remembered I chose to pass. Now, with the buzz of the second in the new line, of course I had to grab this first.

I think the film starts weakly. Who is this mythical group of fighters, already set up and skilled, who solely want to help him? Machine of the gods is how Batman begins? Anyway, it mostly gets better. If only he could fix that cheesy growl. I'm expecting the improvements to continue into the next film.

Batman Begins
2005, 140 minutes, directed by Christopher Nolan

Cloverfield

I didn't take notes during the film; I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. It's survival horror meets sci fi at its best, with a particular story and feel and I've never seen before. The handi-cam work might bother some, but to me it just helped maintain a constant sense of unease. I especially liked the brief clips of old tape to keep a grounded base in Normal, just to show how insane and surreal things had become.

Cloverfield
2008, 84 minutes, directed by Matt Reeves

P.S. No more apocalypse films for a while, ok? At least not set in New York.

I Am Legend

This was my first experience at the new Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz. I attended the Last Night at the Alamo in my pre-blog days (and have three original Alamo seats - fourth row, just left of center - to prove it). But I was a bit miffed by how the Heroes of the Alamo Foundation was handled during the transition, and the tickets for the opening night gala at the Ritz went on sale while I was in Japan.

Buttnumbathon submissions were also while I was in Japan, and the weekend before last I was unsuccessful in winning a standby seat. (The number after mine was called, grr.) So here I am, finally, to see a first-run film that sounded right up my genre.

Overall, this was a good film, I guess. I think the director wanted to say something epic, but the script he had to work with was the zombified corpse of the 28 Days Later script. Years ago, Independence Day was new, exciting, epic. I felt this could have been the same thing, but the script just didn't support it.

And don't let me start on the on-again off-again pseudo intelligence in the antagonist.

I Am Legend
2007, 101 minutes, directed by Francis Lawrence

Southland Tales

This was the first of the Ain't It Cool News "special screenings" at Fantastic Fest. Us unwashed masses have no idea what the film will be until moments before the projector starts. This time, what we got was Southland Tales, a sprawling film of untold proportions. Seriously - I've seen the film and large portions remain untold.

It's weird - no question - far weirder than Weirdsville could ever be. But it's not weird because they hired the first family of weird actors to play stereotypical roles. No, it's weird because you can sit there, watch it, and shake your head in wonder at the notion that someone paid good money to film this and put it on the screen.

In the Q&A after the film, the director said that he wanted to draw the cast entirely from those with a comedic background or from the pop culture. For the most part he did so, with all of the comedic roles portrayed by comedians, and the pop culture roles played by pop culture icons. Some of the people barely have speaking roles, but at least they show up on camera. He also wanted to try role reversals, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson playing a schizophrenic and Sarah Michelle Gellar as a porn star. Maybe it would have been fresh in 2005, but by now I've seen the Rock in nonstandard roles, and I haven't seen enough SMG in the past few years to be shocked by this "break from tradition".

The film just didn't work for me. I picked up a copy of the three backstory graphic novels, which they were giving away after the film. If I ever get around to reading them, I'll edit this post to explain if they help the film make sense.

Southland Tales
2007, about 120 minutes unless they chop more out before release, directed by Richard Kelly