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Reviews
Shutter Island (2010)
Come for the twist... Stay for the resolution
Marty's had quite a roller-coaster career (periods of good films, periods of bad films), and right now, this follow-up to "The Departed" shows he's at the top again, and in my opinion, seals Leo's spot as Marty's new DeNiro. Top-notch performances (Kingsley never disappoints), engaging pacing, and Marty actually makes many a "mistake" as clues to the end. While I wouldn't call the "twist" predictable, I was guessing it early in the film, but there were elements of it that I didn't guess. But where this story's real strength lies is in its resolution and conclusion, which really rang true for both the character and the story. All and all, a good addition to Marty's gallery, and the strongest major release psychological thriller in years.
I, Robot (2004)
A very engaging, rather intelligent film that simply has too much sugar with its medicine for most critics
In a cinematic world of greedy, uncaring Hollywood execs cranking out mindless blockbusters (and their unwavering entertainment-hungry disciples) VS. dour, thought and feeling-provoking small filmmakers (and their unwavering critic disciples), one film tries to bridge the gap
and succeeds. The story and script are a solid detective piece, providing plenty of clues, but not obvious enough to reveal too much. It's cleverly-written, with some very bright quips
maybe too much humor for those who think a film's drama and importance can be instantly ruined by humor's mere hint. I say to them go check out a Michael Bay picture and remind yourself what it REALLY means for humor to steal a story's weight, rather than support its realism and characterization. It's theme-work is thought-provoking, the allegories are well-interwoven, and though the story may be somewhat simple and straight-forward, its anything but predictable. The film itself adds another check to Proyas's list of strong sci-fi, creating a well-paced and engaging 115 minutes, with strong action sequences that are never pointless, and a physical prowess to the robots that paved the way for films like "I Am Legend" and "Avatar." Every performance in this film is solid to great. Smith and Moynahan have great chemistry, Chi McBride always delivers, and though Shia LaBeouf is a waste, he's only in about 3 scenes. But who really steals the show is Alan Tudyk as Sonny the robot. And not just his voice-work. His facial performance, his body-language, all of it truly brought this pixel display of an android to life, and really opened the door for the humanizing of the rest of the less humanoid-appearing robots, which was the theme that really rang true and makes this movie a stand-out.
To conclude, I Robot is a well-crafted, well-paced film that isn't just a cut above the average sci-fi blockbuster, but a piece of film-making that proves a studio can still make such a film worth watching and remembering. Are there clichés? Yes, but they never truly detract from the film. Can it be classified as a lesser incarnation of some earlier, similar works? Maybe, but if I may cite a recent example of an epic sci-fi film that though it's twice as recycled, it's not catching half as much flack. And Alan Tudyk's Sonny reminds me that all the revolutionary mo-cap in the world means nothing without the performance to back it up.
Dan in Real Life (2007)
Dan and the Family Stone
When I first saw the spots for this picture, I was intrigued to see this hilarious-looking heart-warming comedy about a single father advice columnist trying to raise his 3 daughters. Awkward parenting situations leading to professional conflicts were well on their way.
Then I saw this picture, and it started off fine... Until Dan left his REAL LIFE and went to his parents' home where an exchange of significant-sibling-others takes place (sound familiar?). It's The Family Stone all over again, plain and simple. And anyone who thinks this film has anything to do with Dan's real life clearly either doesn't have a family or lives with their family (or most importantly, doesn't celebrate holidays with family they love but still rarely see).
More examples of a lack of real life? Dan's profession has practically nothing to do with the film. We see him typing up a column in the beginning, he mentions it a couple of times, there's the meeting, he talks about how he doesn't follow a column that I was not led to believe he could write, and that's about it. We never really hear any of the column, or him give any advice really. I really don't believe his column could even be that good from what this film gave me.
Then there's Dane Cook. I like Dane Cook, I think he's hilarious. But he appears once in the spots, so I figure it's like "Waiting..." where his plays a minor character in Dan's Real Life. But it turns out he plays a MAJOR roll in Dan's vacation, ensuing the Family Stone dynamic.
More false advertising continues when a scene in which his daughter his behind the wheel and a fun, hilarious driver's ed scene appears. This scene is a part of Dan's real life, and is therefor nowhere to be found in the final cut.
In short, there are many funny and heart-warmingly awkward moments, but if you enter expecting a struggling man dealing with the trials and tribulations of his real life and being a single father, you will be sorely disappointed. If you enter expecting a family-based romantic comedy that mirrors The Family Stone in more ways than one, you will enjoy this film very much.
Firefly (2002)
A bunch of cowboys on a pirate ship...
Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, doesn't it. Well, it's not. It's the world of "Firefly" in one sentence. I've never seen a cowboy on a pirate ship, so I found it a bit odd to find a gun-slinging bounty-hunting posse together on a spaceship. Let's face it, this is the first time in the history of the western genre that the title "Captain" has been used to address someone other than a cavalry officer.
Don't get me wrong, I love sci-fi and I love westerns, but this just didn't combine them effectively, most notably in the oil-and-water production design. A good example is one episode where a posse was riding down the road. A posse of horses surrounding a hover craft. Think about it, that sounds like an aircraft carrier supported by wooden naval vessels. It's just too extreme. Half the world can't be 1875 while the other half is 2875. This isn't Futurama. At least this was remedied in "Serenty" where at lest the other half looked more like a burnt-out offshoot of the quality world it bordered.
But regardless, forced comedy and obnoxious western talk (they represent how people talked in the 1800s about as much as Steve the Pirate talks like people from the 1600s) present a poor attempt as a mixing of the genres. But for coming a decent concept with some decent characters (but jeez Kaylee's annoying!), I'll give Whedon a C for effort.
Strange World (1999)
A better X-Files
Yeah, that's right, I said it. Big deal, vanna fight about it? As one of the few hardcore sci-fi geeks who DIDN'T like the X-Files, Strange World really filled in that gap. Gordon took what he learned at X-Files and made it better. No more far-fetched stories that were here today, gone tomorrow. No more ridiculously-formulaic story structure (FBI agents investigate phenomena, stop threat, then go back to bureau and wait to investigate again).
In Strange World, we got a man constantly haunted by his disease and his dependencies, as well as the group who's after him. He's a more down-to-earth character, dealing with more down-to-earth sci-fi mysteries that are more interesting because they feel more real, not some ridiculous story about vampires or computer vixens or people who can control the weather. Hopefully, it will be on DVD soon, and you can all see for yourself that talk about Strange World.