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*SPECIAL EARLY REVIEW* 

When James Remar appeared onscreen during the black and white intro to the "Pineapple Express" I smiled.  There's something about Remar that evokes a particular coolness; a character actor so distinct-looking, with such an engrossing voice that you only wish a long-overdue titular vehicle built for him would come his way.  I also wished that this black and white intro would serve a primary function or contribution (minus its location) to the narrative behind "Pineapple"; all it does is inform the audience that weed makes you hungry and high.  Thanks Bill Hader.

And so begins this placid story, only interrupted by over the top action scenes and few memorable one-liners ("Let's get ready to suck today's dick!")--which is a significant surprise considering it being the screenwriting follow-up to "Superbad" for star Seth Rogen and co-writer Evan Goldberg.  On a footnote, it must be known that the catchy "Paper Planes" tune that immortalized the theatrical trailer isn't even used in the feature.

But the film has so much potential!  Even as I went home that day, I kept replaying the talent behind the film: Judd Apatow!  Gary Cole!  The return of Rosie Perez!  Hell, there's even a seductive idea behind having Rogen's Dale Denton character date a chick (Amber Heard) still in high school!

All down the drain! 

More disappointing for me is that this was acclaimed Director David Gordon Green's ("Snow Angels") first big Hollywood-sized vehicle.  Shit.

But let's talk about what's good.  James Franco plays down his red carpet good looks in order to give us the convincing pot dealer that is Saul Silver.  He runs around with greasy long hair and red flannel pajama pants with a look of consistent curiosity on his face; a suitable performance for someone who is stoned out of their brains for most of the running time.  But the big two saving graces for "Pineapple" aren't its marquee stars.

First off there's Craig Robinson.  You might remember him as the scene-stealing nightclub bouncer from "Knocked Up."  Here he plays Matheson, one of two hitmen chasing Rogen and Franco, who sort of looks like Mr. T's gay nepew, fully equipped with sleeveless shirts and a pair of British Knights shoes.  He knocks it out of the park; we need to see more of this guy.

Then there's Danny R. McBride, my unsung hero.  I saw him in "The Foot Fist Way" earlier this year and the more I think about that film, the more it grows on me.  Here he lends that same sort of wannabe teen bully trapped in a adult man's body syndrome to Red, a former pot supplier to Saul.  The running gag with Red in this film is that he never seems capable of dying--no matter how bad his bodily injuries are.  By the time the film winds down and Red mumbles, "I don't know if I'm seeing things because I'm so high or because I don't have anymore blood in my body..." the film earns its first truly deserving gut-busting laugh.  And when that memorable line is said over the morning after breakfast, it makes odd sense: Doesn't the morning after an adventure of being high always seem funnier because you finally realize just how dumb everything you did was?

Kind of like this movie. 

Posted by nelsoncarvajal at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The peak for Raimi's career as a Director came in this absolute stunner of a thriller back in '98.  It's been ten years now, and the film sticks pack a punch, resonating with every fear of failure that is in us as well as the prospect of problem-solving success/wealth that is consistently elusive to many of us.

"A Simple Plan" tells the story of two brothers, Hank and Jacob Mitchell (played with infinite grace by both Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton) who happen along a crashed private plane while walking through snowy woods.  The plane has a big bag of money.  And a dead pilot.

It would be a perfect getaway; the ultimate stroke of good luck.  The falling snow could always cover their foot tracks and the money is probably drug money.  No one else could lose or get hurt.  Right?

Well, that's where Raimi's superb direction leaves a ticking time bomb: At our wants and hopes for these characters.  There are hindering variables laced throughout the screenplay, like the third person (not the dead pilot) at the discovery of the plane--Lou Chambers, Jacob's close friend, played in a memorable performance by Brent Briscoe.

Each of these players want the same thing: happiness.  In a stroke of irony, it's their own unhappiness with each other (or prejudices you could say) that becomes their own unraveling.  Hank despises Lou; Lou hates Hank's straight and by the books lifestyle; Jacob doesn't agree with Hank's criticism over Lou--well, you get it.

But the wounds cut deeper.  Each individual unveils their true demons when the prospect of future wealth comes into the picture.  We see how Jacob really has been imploding with jealously and failure over the years.  Lou is always front and center with his brutenss, but we see the source of this in a late night scene involving his brash wife.  But Hank is at the epicenter of the film, and Paxton gives him that noble and reassuring aura.  Whenever events start unfurling unexpectedly, our eyes can rest on Hank; he'll get us out of it sooner or later.

But no one is safe in a world where happiness--in a bag full of money--has no official or implemented title or owner.  It's a sick game of hot potato where everyone wants to hold onto it longer than they should.

Bridget Fonda does some good work as Hank's wife, a late-blooming Lady Macbeth you could say.  By the time Gary Cole shows up in the third act and his character's real identity is revealed, it's not much of a twist but more of a scary reminder behind the serious carnage of the money's origin.

Raimi was at the top of his directorial form here.  Unfortunately, these days, his name rings out over the "Spider-Man" trilogy--a collection of films I must admit carry no stature or merit in this cinematic court.  No matter what you say, the "Spidey" films are atrocious--a stunning exercise in banality and wannabe epic moviemaking. Give me "Evil Dead" instead. 

But I haven't forgotten about the Raimi that soared to great heights ten years ago.  Even without spidey-senses.

Posted by nelsoncarvajal at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A new age is on us; the digital revolution is sweeping theatre exhibitors across the country.  There might soon be a time when such dreck as a possible "Soul Plane 2" could very well be in stunning 3-D.  Having recently seen Director Eric Brevig's "Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3D" and experiencing a sleeve-less Brendan Fraser, I was reminded at the cost a film can pay when it is rendered for 3D.  The cost is in the narrative, the plot--the actual merit of the work itself.

This has to be something that is decided early in preproduction.  Before a single frame is filmed.

There's something campy and Saturday morning-ish about movies in 3D.  "Journey" claims to be about the Jules Verne novel, but it uses the premise of the center of the Earth as an excuse to shoot crappy CGI over the audience's heads with some impressive 3D work.  The movie is all spectacle and I cannot imagine watching it without the advantage of 3D.  What a refund demand that must be at the Box Office afterward.

Ebert, however, shared his thoughts in his recent review: "Yes, the movie is available in 3-D in "selected theaters." Select those theaters to avoid. With a few exceptions (such as the authentic IMAX process), 3-D remains underwhelming to me -- a distraction, a disappointment and more often than not offering a dingy picture [...] ("Journey") is being shown in 2-D in most theaters, and that's how I wish I had seen it. Since there's that part of me with a certain weakness for movies like this, it's possible I would have liked it more. It would have looked brighter and clearer, and the photography wouldn't have been cluttered up with all the leaping and gnashing of teeth. Then I could have appreciated the work of the plucky actors, who do a lot of things right in this movie, of which the most heroic is keeping a straight face."

But the film would fail miserably in 2D.  "Journey" on 35mm would surely share a spot near "Zohan" and "Jumper" at the top of 2008's worst films list.

Was "Beowulf" better than "Journey" without 3D?  Yes.  But it was a mediocre achievement. 

But while watching "Journey" there were even coming trailers/attractions that were in 3D.  More and more theatre-chains are converting to digital presentations, which is great.  But the problem is that it gives studios more incentive to slap "3D" on scripts; thus dumbing down the film to only having eye-popping visuals an no other weight.

But that's 3D: A blessing and a curse. 

I wonder if that's why Zemeckis went with the subject matter he chose. 

Posted by nelsoncarvajal at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 
Tarsem has made an extraordinary film.  Miles away from "The Cell"--in both breakthrough visuals and sheer human drama--his newest film "The Fall" places Tarsem at the top of this year's list of Best Directors so far.

It's been about a month since I watched the film and I still can't shake off some of the iconic imagery set by it.  The story behind the making of the film is widely known by now; a long time project that was very close to never getting wide distribution.  Aside from some crew members walking off from the team after finding out that lead actor Lee Pace was in fact NOT paralyzed from the waist down (his character in the film is), Tarsem managed to pull off the impossible: shooting an epic film on various contents, with a lead child actor who has never spoken any English before, in a movie that no one wants to finance. 

Well, he did it.  And the result is the year's best so far, holding a top spot on my '08 list, right up there with the minimalist "Shotgun Stories" and grossly misunderstood "Funny Games." 

Pace stars as Roy Walker, a fallen stuntman who is now stuck in his rigid bed at a California hospital in 1920s Hollywood.  A curious young girl (wearing a cast around her arm) comes across Roy and is entranced by him, his condition and his knack for storytelling.  The girl is Alexandria, played wonderfully by newcomer Catinca Untaru, and when she's not throwing oranges at priests she can be found at the foot of Roy's bed, eagerly listening to his stories about the masked bandit.

What do I think about the story?  The masked bandit and his journeys are simply an excuse to setup a wild canvas of visuals.  A niche Tarsem fills brilliantly.  So what if swimming elephants or butterfly-catching monkeys or growling dark-masked villains aren't the most original items in the world?  It's their aesthetic execution, coupled with the rhythms of Krishna Levy's score and the blurry lines between reality and fiction, which the film brings up, that are the real finds.

There are sequences in this film, from the black and white opening title segment to the bravura slave-rescue amidst a vast desert that will stand the test of time.  This is a big movie.

Yes, this is a pretty vaguely-written blog, but I can't help it.  The second I start typing a sentence to discuss a visual sequence or style, I find myself getting angry at how trite and blah it sounds like.

Enough of my tell.  Time for more show. 

Posted by nelsoncarvajal at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)