Month: November 2011

THE THREE MUSKETEERS (2011) movie review

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A new Three Musketeer movie? It must have a new plot!

It doesn’t. The exact story arises in fairer face.

It must be full of adventure and excellent special effects? Oh it is. It’s better than most movies on the Scifi channel.

It must have a stellar cast? It does at that. Orlando plays an unbelievable bad guy. Really. I don’t believe him as the bad guy. The boy brings a bit of redemption. But just when your hope grows, it also deflates.  Suspense builds, but to what end? For me, the end came about thirty minutes in when I’d had enough of Milla Jovovich’s expressionless American accent in France and the pointless musketeer dialogue. Not even the promise of another sword fight could keep me in my seat.

Have you seen the 1987 Rob Reiner comedic masterpiece Princess Bride? Then you’ve heard much of this script. Stolen. Line for line. “Oh, this gate key.”  “…anyone else is trying to sell you something.” “Take Buttercup.” Sure, in this one Buttercup is a horse…

THE BIG YEAR (2011) movie review

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The Big Year for the “birder” is the Olympics for the athlete and the Oscar for the actor.  Highly observant, trail mix toting, feather-frenzied fanatics fight for first. How’s that for alliteration? I know a few closet birders who seize the snapshot whenever possible. Sadly, despite funding the extensive cast list: a zesty Jack black, a punchy Owen Wilson, and a seasoned Steve Martin, not to mention every “funny” person who has walked on and off the set of the Office, bird watching just doesn’t make for an exciting movie.

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (2007) movie review

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Don’t be shocked. Lars is a comfort film.

Cradled in pink hues in a plaid flannel town. Blue collars breathe cold air in a tight-knit community. Society decreased to three spaces in which you shop, work, and worship. Lars is the boy, the brother, the friend. He’s quiet. Comely. He is Ryan Gosling, pre-6-pack. Shock-value lifts and lowers in waves as the “real girl” surfaces. But, it’s not what you think.

Some of my favorite people are in this film: Patricia Clarkson, Paul Schneider, Emily Mortimer.

The script and score lock-step. Comedy reigns. But beyond the realm of filmology, it’s the felt that makes this film – the true and basic element of love from an entire community, love for a boy who grieves and lives a quiet life. They sit, they sing, they pray, they accept, they hope, they grieve, they love. Perhaps all it takes is a casserole to heal a heart. Perhaps that’s real love.

TOWER HEIST (2011) movie review

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It’s funny when all of the characters and scenes in a movie remind you of the funny parts of other movies. In Tower Heist (2011), I kept expecting Ben Stiller to crawl out onto a roof just in time to see a hoopa explode. And, I kept hearing those classic Eddie Murphy SNL moments like “Mr. Robinson’s neighborhood.” And you’ll almost have that Oceans 11 feeling toward the end there, but the visual ka-thunk doesn’t drop with the same sassy beat. Alan Alda‘s character is more reminiscent of the last season of Mash rather than the happy Pierce & Hawkeye first seasons. Casey Affleck whines like Jesse James just got shot, Gabourey Sidibe is not so precious in this one, and Matthew Broderick mopes like a lost Despereaux. I love Tea Leoni. There. I said it. It’s not her fault that her role as shoddy, knowitall, FBI mentor lacked, well, character. I blame Brett Ratner. Does it shock you at all that the same man who made this film also killed off Professor X in XMen3 (2006) and produced Horrible Bosses (2010).

DAN IN REAL LIFE (2007) movie review

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On the subject of music in film, I tend to trust the voice of Jack Black‘s character from The Holiday (2006)

Steve Carell remains the “it” man to cast these days. Despite his beloved go-to Michael Scott character role in The Office,

somehow his peculiar, unpretentious likability as DAN in his “Real” Life supersedes Carell’s usual funny man.

Dan is flawed but funny, jealous but loyal, a dad to three daughters. From the first frame, we’re drawn to him. We empathize with his loss before we know the details. We hear bits and pieces throughout, but we don’t need more. The story is rarely told from the father’s perspective. We hear the daddy issues in every story, but this real life tale shows a lovable Dad’s journey from loss to life. This film is perfectly cast, and the family interactions are priceless and quotable: “This corn is like an angel.” “Why do we keep lighthouses? …Cause they’re neat?” “Put it on my tab.” 
Dan’s story is memorable – the stuff comfort films are made of. I give much of the credit for this to the phenomenal Sondre Lerche, who scored this film.

His songs are ingeniously inlaid throughout, singing what Dan’s character cannot speak, revealing his insecurities, his heart’s palpitations, worries, and fears. This was filmmaker Peter Hedges’ brilliant plan: to make his movie with a built-in soundtrack by one artist, like Simon & Garfunkel did for The Graduate. Sondre gathered ideas from the screenplay, wrote and played music while on set with the actors, developed and pitched tunes and lyrics throughout the project, and recorded continually as the film was being made. Check out the “Handmade Music” featurette to watch him in action behind the scenes.

I met Sondre Lerche at Bumbershoot in Seattle a few years ago and asked him about making the film. He said it was both the hardest and most rewarding thing he’d ever done. He said it was fast-paced and high pressure, but that the outcome was a project that he was truly proud of.  He was able to make his on-screen debut as the hired band in the final scene. Even if you’ve seen it before, watch again with Sondre’s music in mind, and “be prepared to be surprised…”