Pete Austin’s Blog

Once again life has gotten the better of my schedule and it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. Believe me when I say though that it’s not for a lack of things happening in my life. I’ve got a ton of commentaries lined up regarding the auto-bailout, the larger floundering economy, CES, and other things that have really captured my interest of late. But first, I want to get some movie reviews posted. Given how long it’s been since I’ve posted I’ve seen a few movies (still not as many as I would like) so in the interest of time I’m going to give some really quick reviews in one post. I know that a few of these movies have been nominated for awards. Honestly, I don’t really need an award of any kind to validate whether I like a movie or not so I won’t go into the debate of whether or not any part of these movies warrant award.

Slumdog Millionaire

Danny Boyle is one of my favorite directors and has been for a long time. The man is a master of the intangibles that separate the good movies from the great ones. Most people know his hit movies like Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, but he keeps a pretty low profile and there are some real gems in his filmography that many people have never heard of. Millions and Sunshine are two fantastic movies that got almost no press. Both are highly recommended and especially Sunshine which ranks in the top 5 science fiction movies I’ve ever seen. In Slumdog Millionaire Boyle makes and incredibly bold move and creates a film based entirely in the dizzying world and culture of India. The basic premise of the story is about a young man from the slums of Mumbai who finds himself on (and about to win) the Indian version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. Sounds kind of lame right? The film was marketed domestically based on this premise, so it’s no surprise that it failed as a mainstream success. What the story really is, is an amazing tale of a boy’s survival in a chaotic world. You’ve likely never imaged what it would be like to grow up in the slums of a third-world environment, in Slumdog Millionaire you get to see one very moving version of it.  It’s definitely one of the best of the year and yet another triumph of storytelling by Boyle. It’s not exactly the feel-good movie of the year but it’s still damn good. BTW, if you’re familiar with India’s Bollywood films stick around for the end credits for the cast’s fun Bollywood tribute.

4.5 out of 5
See it in the theaters
Buy it on DVD (if you’re a movie-lover)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I absolutely love David Fincher’s movies. More than other people, I enjoy the artistic aspect of filmaking as much as the storytelling and special F/X. Fincher’s films aren’t always blockbusters but he knows how to create a tight film. Benjamin Button is an epic movie about a man who ages in reverse. If that makes your mind do a double-take, that’s a good thing because the movie is probably best enjoyed if you know nothing about the story. Some of my favorite movies are ones that cover a litanny of themes and not just the one that the plot is about. Pleasantville is a perfect example of this. Benjamin Button casts a fascinating light on our own aging process and mortality. You might be tempted to wow over Brad Pitt’s performance given his character’s journey, but trust me it’s Fincher’s filmaking process that makes this film what it is. I could go on forever about the intricacies of what makes this movie so great but there just isn’t time. All you need to know is this one actually gets my vote for “the” movie of the year and is a must-see.

5 out of 5
See it in theaters
Buy it on DVD

Yes Man

Generally speaking I’ve grown less found of Jim Carrey’s movies over the years. Ace Ventura came out when I was in middle school as was a perfect fit for my juvinile sense of humor at the time. Now that I’m a little older I just don’t find Carrey’s brand of humor that funny any more – and yes, it is still the same kind of humor no matter how it’s packaged. Yes Man is an ever-so-slightly more mature turn for Carrey where a lot of the comedy is in the world around him rather than his character himself. It’s still good wholesome fun and at least the premise doesn’t feel recylced like so many Hollywood comedies. If you like Jim Carrey comedies, this is a pitch right down the middle. Mainstream comedy for the mainsteam masses.

3 out of 5
Worth a rental
Not worth buying on DVD

Revolutionary Road

If you can’t tell, I’m a fan of certain directors. This is because there’s a huge difference in talent between film’s top directors and all the rest. Sam Mendes is a director with amazing vision. His movies (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead) are impeccably filmed but rarely aimed at mainstream audiences. His latest is based on the best-selling novel of the same name and once again allows Mendes to focus on the suburban American family experience. This time however, the story takes place in the mid-1950′s. My wife and I spent the first half of the movie nodding along to much of what the young couple is going through but in the second half things start to turn toward less relatable themes but the story remains absolutely gripping. DiCaprio and Winslet give unbelievable performances and while the story is good, it’s their portrayals of these two flawed people that makes this movie great. What this movie shows painfully clearly is that the “American Dream” is not always what it seems. I get the feeling that had I seen this film with my parents or grandparents it may have been very awkward. I’m sure that the premise of Revolutionary Road is more common than most adults of the past two generations would like to admit. It’s an amazingly powerful movie and one that I highly recommended seeing. That said it’s lacks the dark and overt humor of American Beauty and as such is not a movie you’re likely to watch repeatedly.

4.5 out of 5
See it in theaters
Good enough to purchase but I doubt you’ll want to

Summer blockbusters are the quintessential grab-bag of movies. They’re usually more style than substance, but since the American public and its collective two-second attention span can’t seem to deal with deeper fare year-round it’s become somewhat of an expectation to have an entire season full  of fun put-your-brain-on-cruise-control eye candy. So enter Wanted. Yet another comic book adaptation, about an apathetic guy struggling to discover who he is amidst “panic attack” episodes that keep him cowering from the world around him. When it’s revealed to him just what these episodes really are he suddenly realizes that the world is not the fear factory he once thought but rather a playground for him and others like him. I can usually smell a stupid juvenile shoot-‘em-up movie from a mile away but Wanted seemed to be getting enough good reviews to keep me interested. It took me forever to convince my wife to go see it (and she like Angelina Jolie) but I finally got her to go and figured that at least it would be summer popcorn fun. How wrong I was.

The movie started strong with a crazy opening scene and sharp humor, but everything started to run out of steam about 30 minutes in. And sure there’s the premise of curving, colliding bullets, which could have been really interesting if it weren’t used as a crutch for such a shitty script. I’m not going to get into the storyline but suffice to say that it dumbs down really fast. By the time the climax limps around I found myself watching a movie where the hero takes out the villain’s base with exploding rats – yeeaaah. Even the last line in the film, where the hero challenges the audience with, “What the fuck have you done lately?” got a theater-wide groan and roll of the eyes. Well, let’s see, I wasted the last two hours watching you stumble around like a retarded choirboy trying (hard) to look cool holding a gun. But hey, congrats on becoming the next cliché’ of American stupidity. Did I mention that Angelina Jolie stars in this movie? You get to watch her kick ass and see her bare ass – and I still want my money back. Enough said.

1 out of 5

Not worth renting

Not worth buying

I remember as a kid watching re-runs of the original Get Smart TV show on Nic at Night. I was pretty young and I didn’t really grasp what the show was about or what made it particularly funny. So when this year’s remake staring Steve Carell as Max came out I guess I was in a weird middle-ground of knowing just enough about the show to recognize the nostalgia, yet little enough that some of the humor was bound to be lost in translation.

Let me start out by saying that I’m not really a big fan of Steve Carell’s humor. Yes, 40-Year Old Virgin was hilarious and probably but I really think its success had more to do with Judd Apatow’s filmmaking abilities than Carell’s comedy. I hate The Office (mostly because of Carell’s character) and he’s yet to make a follow-up film that proves that 40-Year Old Virgin wasn’t a fluke. So, sadly most of the blame for why I didn’t enjoy Get Smart more was because of Carell’s character. Carell makes a great Max but the problem is that he’s not even trying. He’s playing exactly the same character he’s played in every other movie he’s starred in and he brings absolutely nothing new to the role here.

The movie itself is predictable summer popcorn comedy. In fact, you could pretty much summarize the entire movie with the word – predictable. It’s your standard Hollywood comedy in a shiny nostalgic wrapper. And yes, Anne Hathaway is in it too but honestly, who cares. She exudes as much sexuality as cactus and the love-story between Carell and her is so forced that they actually go out of their way to explain that she’s actually older than she looks. Why? Because when they share a kiss as the credits roll I’m pretty sure I heard the entire theater cringe. She could easily be his daughter – who’s married – and has a kid.

If there’s one highlight of the film, it’s The Rock’s performance as fellow Control Agent 23. He absolutely steals the movie and owns every scene he’s in. Also stealing the show are Control analysts Bruce and Lloyd. Their turns as a duo of geeky spy gadget engineers is hilarious and apparently so good that a direct to DVD movie starring them was spun off. When a former wrestler and a couple computer nerds in supporting roles steal the movie from a super-popular comedian and his scantily clad co-star, there’s a problem with your movie.

2.5 out of 5

Worth a rental

Not worth buying

I would challenge you to find anyone who describes themselves as a fan of movies who doesn’t look forward to every Pixar release. While they are certainly not the only powerhouse digital animation studio in Hollywood, they are the only one who consistently produces films with a level of artistic quality that rises above that of your average children’s entertainment. Whether by intention or accident they’ve discovered the perfect balance of all-ages entertainment, digital art, and message without subjecting the viewer to awkward moments of supposed moral clarity. My biggest complaint of American animation studios is that they are so consumed with fitting some kind of moral message into every production that it consumes the creative process until it spewed back at you the viewer in an assaulting fashion with no tact or thoughtful delivery. Pixar has always and continues to produce films that incorporate said mandatory message by keeping it subtle and giving the benefit of the doubt to the viewer to catch it. In general, this is sorely missed in America nowadays – but I’m drifting off-topic.

In many artists’ lives and bodies of works a “breakthrough” work occurs that cements that focuses the art world’s attention on their talent. I truly believe that WALL-E is Pixar’s breakthrough work. It’s not that their previous films were poor. In fact every Pixar release has been a raging success. It’s just that by comparison every other Pixar film was the work of a studio with a unique view of the mainstream. WALL-E is the work of a studio with an epiphany of where the world of digital animation can go. As most movie-goers know Pixar always inserts a cute short film (the medium they first gained attention from) before each movie. They are always fun and a perfect compliment to the film. But the short that preceded WALL-E was not just another one of these. It was brilliant. The entire theater was in hysterics. Most “comedy” films cannot even generate the kind of humor and entertainment that Pixar latest short did. If you thought every Pixar short was sort of the same – this one is not.

I know I said that I’d be keeping my movie reviews short but WALL-E was just that good. The film itself is mostly silent – yes silent. Do you know how rare that is in our 60-second, ADD, ultra connected society to find entertainment in silence? The film just oozes futuristic vistas, digital soundscapes, and robotic personalities to the point that words could only ruin it. Eventually humans are brought into the mix, but they are merely there in a supporting role – and the experience is better for it.

I know a lot of people have sworn off the experience of going to the local theater due to the fact that they seem to overrun by pre-pubescent teens who can’t shut off their mouths or cellphones for 10 seconds. Trust me, you want to see WALL-E in the theater while it’s out. Pixar always has upped the digital ante with each subsequent release and to be honest it was their last film, Ratatouille, that I noticed something different happening with their animation techniques. I now see that Ratatouille was the dry run of the animation that has reached a true art form in WALL-E. The image quality, level of detail, and camera work (yes, there is camera work in Pixar animations) is beyond compare of any current animation studio. In the years ahead I expect that WALL-E to be one of the most evaluated and discussed animated films of all time.

For all the reasons above, it is entirely possible that WALL-E might acutally be one of Pixar’s least commercially successful films. And you now what, I’m OK with that. Kids will surely enjoy it, but they’re not going to loop it endlessly en masse like say Finding Nemo or Monsters Inc. In fact, after reflecting on WALL-E I think it may have more to offer to adults than kids. My wife and I are 27 and I can garauntee you that we picked up on more humor than any of the younder kids in the theater did. WALL-E also marks the first time in as long as I can remember that both my wife and I have walked out of the theater, looked at one another, and said “We have to see that again!”.

(5 stars of 5)
See it in the theater!
But it on DVD!

Let me start by saying I love movies. I love raving about the standouts, ranting about the bombs, and debating the in-between. That said, anyone interested in movies also reads movie reviews. They’re the easiest way for us consumers to avoid spending $9 for the garbage that Hollywood likes to pawn off on us as entertainment. But of course, movies are very subjective. Even if you and another person like the same movie, chances are, you like it for different reasons. Movie reviewers are the same way. Sadly most movie reviewers mistake their job title for movie “critic” and do everything in their power to poke holes and generally complain about every movie they see. When I started college, the internet was just starting to boom and one of the sites that I discovered was movie-list.com (which is still around). On the site they featured the reviews of Canadian amatuer movie reviewer named Dean Kish (pen name: The Soothsayer). To this day I know almost nothing about Mr. Kish and it’s never been clear about how exactly someone in Canada got access to so many Hollywood screenings (most of them advance screenings). Nevertheless, Mr. Kish’s movie reviews were exceptional in that they were almost exactly in line with my own thoughts on the film. In fact I can say that in any given year’s worth of movie reviews I may have disagreed with 3-4. I can’t even recall how much money he saved me in potential movie tickets to movies that got a lot of hype but were actually horrible. His reviews were so dead-on that I just stopped reading any other movie reviewer’s commentary and relied solely on his.

Sadly, in early 2007 Mr. Kish reluctantly withdrew from his movie reviewing as a change in jobs prevented him from attending screenings. Later Mr. Kish changed jobs again into a role that involved him writing scripts for television and his contract further prohibited him from publishing movie reviews. So, in honor of Mr. Kish’s departure from movie reviewing I’ve decided to post reviews of the movies that I’m seeing using his four-star + comments system. These will not be extensive reviews or critiques in which I compare and contrast the stylist exposition of the director’s lighting or any other tedious bullshit. Just a simple star rating, summarizing comments, and whether the movie is worth buying, renting, or ignoring. I also will not be retroactively reviewing movies. I’m starting with what I see as of today.