I love movie trailers, so I arrive far too early to every film. Lately, I am reduced to a teenage fangirl with wide eyes and goosebumps when I see the trailer for the new and revamped Star Trek. Bring on the summer blockbusters; I can’t wait to see this movie.
STAR TREK
The film comes out on May 8. The season finale of Lost is on May 13. Thanks to J.J. Abrams, I will be consumed and overwhelmed for one week in May.
After seeing Watchmen one weekend and The Reader the next, we were ready for some laughs. And we found them in I Love You, Man.
I’m ready and willing to jump on the major media love fest bandwagon for Paul Rudd. What’s not to like about this guy? He has co-starred (and almost stolen every scene) in a handful of cult and comedy classics through the years, including Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Note: I have not seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall and did not enjoy Walk Hard.
What I enjoyed about I Love You, Man was that there were laugh-out-loud moments that resulted from awkward, realistic interactions between male friends and couples in various stages of their relationships.
While I don’t mind occasional potty humor, I haven’t found many of the recent bromance movies to be very entertaining. This film only has one relatively disgusting scene, but it’s actually…appropriate and tastefully done (if that’s possible) compared to most. The script and performances are just a step above in quality to most of Judd Apatow’s films, in my opinion. I was not surprised at all to learn that I Love You, Man director/screenwriter John Hamburg previously wrote both Meet the Parents movies and Zoolander.
In addition to the very affable Rudd, the dream cast of I Love You, Man is a huge plus: Jane Curtin (SNL), Jon Favreau (Iron Man), Rashida Jones (The Office), Thomas Lennon (Reno 911), Jaime Pressly (My Name is Earl), Andy Samberg (SNL), Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) and JK Simmons (Juno).
It is nice to see an intelligent, relatable comedy succeed at the box office…even if it was inexplicably defeated by yet another Nic Cage movie. [No, I haven't seen Knowing; it looked like an intriguing conspiracy thriller and I had plans to - until the two scenes they unveiled recently at Wonder-Con featured incredibly horrific airplane and subway accidents that changed my mind].
Everyone could use a laugh these days, and I Love You, Man is worth the price of admission for almost two hours of entertaining escape. If you don’t get out to see it in the theater, it would make an excellent rental.
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Compelling. Engrossing. Mesmerizing.
Those are three of my favorite qualities in a film. The Reader achieves all three and then some; it is an intense, character driven film which more than deserved the Oscar nods for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay & Cinematography.
And then there is The Winslet. That is what I like to call my favorite actress of all time. Phenomenal in The Reader. I can’t think of another actress who would have been able to play this role with any degree of success. In most of The Winslet’s prior films, we may have disagreed with some of her characters’ choices, but had sympathy and rooted for most of them in the end. In The Reader, however, her character is a morally reprehensible human being. And yet, The Winslet manages to infuse her with just a touch of humanity; not enough to stimulate sympathy, but enough to let you in so that you don’t outright hate the woman she is portraying.
I am not one to recap a film or give any key plot points away, so I will simply recommend The Reader for anyone who appreciates a thought-provoking drama with an excellent script that is enhanced by stellar direction and performances from the entire cast (The Winslet, Bruno Ganz, David Kross, Ralph Fiennes & Lena Olin). For the prude at heart, fair warning that there is quite a bit of nudity.
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My good friend, fellow blogger and logo designer Brian went to see Watchmen on Friday night. He was kind enough to provide a review as a guest blogger below. I saw the film today, and will be posting my thoughts and a response to his review in another post later this week.
Watchmen was often considered
a movie that could never be made. But after Zack Snyder (300) took the
helm and his Watchmen trailers caused fanboys, fangirls and the general
population to unite with shared excitement…there was reason to believe it had
been done.
When
turning (arguably) the greatest graphic novel into a movie, it raises the bar
to almost unattainable heights and results in an all-too common problem: stay
true to the book, or use it as a platform for inspiration? Snyder is able to
walk a very fine line doing both, and deliver a movie that true fans and newcomers
can appreciate. But here is the twist: it’s Watchmen, a twelve-issue
comic that first appeared for DC Comics in 1986-87, has since been released in
its complete form and placed on TIME’s list of 100 Best Novels. If it were
translated word-for-word from the book to the screen, it would be unwatchable
(pun totally intended). If it strayed too much from the book, it would be
criticized on every blog and article until nothing remained.
In
almost 3 hours (yes, it’s that long, and sadly feels so), the film is able to
translate the visual style, excitement and pulse of the graphic novel. Although
it may be critiqued for jumping back and forth too much, it is important to
acknowledge that the ground-breaking graphic novel had the same feel. The film
does have peaks and valleys, which may be due to the original platform being
told over twelve issues, but the astonishing imagery makes up for it. With the
close-up shots panning back to show the full frame, it is as if the actual
panels in the comic are coming to life. The film makers are also able to
include several nods throughout the film that the true fans will notice: from
Nostalgia Perfume to the Gunga Diner, from the snow globe atop the TV to Hooded
Justice’s German accent — those that read the book should feel pleased
that the film remembers its roots and fans (hopefully enough to forgive them
for certain exclusions, which I am intentionally leaving out to avoid potential
spoilers).
Overall,
Watchmen is done well. It may fail to meet the hype we all placed on it,
but it shouldn’t leave you feeling disappointed. It stays true to the novel
(with a few exceptions) and brings to life a great book we all loved. The
characters are well cast (notably Jackie Earl Haley’s Rorschach) and it
contains possibly one of the best opening sequences and opening credits to
date. There may be scenes that come across as unintentionally humorous, but
those are the scenes that are the most similar to the novel. I guess some
things just translate better on the page. Although it may not be a film that
holds up 10 years from now, after 22 years of thinking it could never be made…
I’m happy it was.
thought of the film (good or bad) in the comments below. For those true fans up
for a challenge, there will be a give-away for the best review left in the
style of Rorschach’s journal. If there are several impressive entries, multiple
prizes will be sent out, with a single grand prize. So leave your entry as a comment, and stay tuned for further details!
On Saturday we spent the day in San Francisco at WonderCon with our good friend Brian, who shares my sci-fi and pop culture enthusiasm and then some. He is a great graphic artist (who created the logos for both of my blogs), and he took the excellent photos and video below. If you are an athlete, you must check out his blog, Pavement Runner.
We attended the Watchmen and Star Trek panels together, but Brian braved the entire weekend to also enjoy the Chuck, Pixar, Sarah Connor Chronicles and Terminator Salvation panels as well! He was kind enough to share pictures from all of them, and I will post those photos later this week.
WATCHMEN
Guests: Director Zack Snyder, graphic novel illustrator Dave Gibbons, actors Malin Akerman (Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II), Billy Crudup (Dr. Manhattan/Jon Osterman), Jackie Earle Hailey (Walter Kovacs/Rorschach), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Edward Blake/The Comedian) and Patrick Wilson (Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl II).
They showed us just over 15 minutes from the film, which opens this Friday. Without giving much away, I will say that the opening title sequence is one of the most phenomenal and creative that I’ve ever seen. This is going to be an outstanding visual ride, and one that will successfully mirror the brilliance of the original graphic novel.
STAR TREK
Guests: Director J.J. Abrams, executive producer Bryan Burk, screenwriter Roberto Orci, stars Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock) & Zoe Saldana (Uhura)
Video of J.J. Abrams at Star Trek panel [note to Lost fans, it is 1:08 long]
I am not a Trekkie by any means, and The Wrath of Khan is my favorite among the many previous Star Trek films. Abrams treated us to a longer, unreleased trailer…and I watched it with wide eyes and goosebumps. He has more than reinvigorated the franchise. I look forward to this film more than just about any other this year.
I have a few small but very cool collectible items from both Watchmen and Star Trek that I’d love to give away to my readers. Interested? Simply leave a comment below, telling me why you’re a huge fan of either and what your expectations are for the films. I will put all of your names in a hat and pull random winners by March 15. Make sure to fill in your name and email so that I can contact you.
Thanks for reading, and have a great week!