When You Stare at Goats On Acid...

When I first heard the title to this movie I said, "WTH"! And this was my reaction upon seeing the movie. This movie has a phenomenal cast that includes George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges. Each of them shine at different times in the movie. I have to say though, that Jeff was a perfectly cast for the hippie nonviolent commander of the New Earth Army, a Jedi monk warrior. With so many great actors, it's a shame that they could not all shine at the same time. The movie takes on the journey of self-discovery, showing that life could be strange, funny, and adventurous; if you choose to take that route. The movie is great at times, and disappointing at other times. This movie would have been better if had just been about the creation of the New Earth Army. It's still a good movie to see, but using LSD to see it will improve it. It gets 2 and 1/2 out of 5 garlics.

Provoking Opportunity

I saw Michael Moore's new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story," and it got me thinking. This movie, like all of his movies, is one that definitely has a perspective, and some may not agree with it, but I like when a movie gets me to think, whether I agree with the movie's perspective or not.

The issues in the movie were those of the economic system in the USA, the disparity between the wealthy and the poor, and the escalation of political unrest. All big issues, and they're issues that impact us daily. When I think about them, I feel a sense of urgency coupled with frustration. It's difficult know what to do about them, that's where the frustration comes in, and so I usually leave those issues in the "thought for later" drawer of my mind. Until talking with the few friends who actually think about these things, or reading a book on the subject, or when I notice that it's getting tougher every day to make a living in this land of opportunity.
These thoughts were brought to my mind again watching Moore's movie. In some form or other, he questions the big issues of our economic system. Perhaps not fully, and perhaps in an exaggerated fashion at times, (it is after all a movie), but Moore puts forth a strong argument against capitalism in a thought provoking work. He says that what we need, what was the original intention of this country, is democracy. I vote for that.
I give it four out of five garlics.

Trek It Out

I'm not a trekkie. I remember watching the original "Star Trek" series (in reruns), and enjoying the show, but at that age I liked to watch almost anything on television. Yet "Star Trek" remained in my memory as a unique show of television. I did not like the slew of spin-off series that followed the original in later years. No Captain Kirk? No Spock? No point. And here we are with a movie that has a whole new gang, same as the old gang. But guess what? They pulled it off.

Chris Pine plays William Shatner's Captain Kirk, and he achieves the near impossible by channeling Shatner's pitched braggadocio without going over the top. Zachary Quinto's Spock was perfect. Various actors portraying Spock's Vulcan race, have been boring examples of what is presented as an almost emotionless race. Quinto is brilliant in that he hints at the highly controlled emotion just underneath the surface, especially in that his is a young Spock, having all the more difficulty in dealing with his half human self. Hats off to the director J.J. Abrams also, for keying in on that aspect of Spock. Abrams directing is superb, dynamic, but very little of the "shaky cam" effect that directors have taken to recently to try and impart the feeling of intense action. Instead he moves the storyline along quickly capturing action, but letting the details of both character and spectacular cinematography have their moments.

Directing aside, as good as it was, it was the characters that made the movie work. The casting director not only did an amazing job filling the iconic roles with young actors who could pull them off, but somehow found actors that could generate a similar chemistry to that of which I believed was impossible to recreate. That is the chemistry between the characters Kirk, Spock, and Bones (played brilliantly by Karl Urban). The core three, as I call them, are what made the old Star Trek special, and now the new one. Probably not quite the same, but eerily similar. Plot wise, there were some holes, but nothing that took away from a great movie experience. I'm looking forward to the next trek. Four out of five garlics.

The Not So Incredible Bruce Banner

To quote Kermit the frog, “It’s not easy being green”. Especially if your supposed to be incredible. Marvel comics and Hollywood tried to improve on their disappointing 2003 flick, with "The Incredible Hulk." They made the Hulk greener, meaner, and stronger. The special effects of the movie are really something to marvel at. Edward Norton, better know as Worm from the movie "Rounders", was cast as Bruce Banner. And Betty Ross is played by Liv Tyler,who has all the right looks but lacks screen presence. Maybe next time they can pay one of the CGI guy to digitally create chemistry between Betty and Bruce, since they become so good at doing everything else. Meanwhile the Military hires a Russian assassin, who turns out to have a Napoleon complex and ends up taking a serum that gives him the strength of the Hulk. Although I have to admit that the fight scene is pretty cool but it’s not worth the time that movie spends on trying to make Bruce interesting. You keep waiting for Bruce to say, “You wont like me when I’m angry!” Well Hulk you won’t like it when I’m bored. Chuy smash movie! 2 crushed garlic’s, to the jolly green giant on roids.

Wondering About The 24 Hours Before

25th hour is a curious movie. Spike Lee directed this visually beautiful but puzzling movie, and I was left to wonder, What are you saying Spike? That is not a question I would have thought to ask of a "Spike Lee joint." Usually, he is almost overly earnest in his message, and though I have questioned this over the years, I have respected his unique, direct style. "He Got Game," is one of my favorite films, and I thought "Clockers" has been underrated in filmology.

The subtitle of the film is "Can You Change Your Life In One Day?" and if that is the concept, then the answer is no. Though the dog is a symbol of the main character's goodness, he never seems to be in a crises of moral values, just a crises of how to survive prison. A morally ambiguous character of a not entirely underprivileged background, who doesn't seem to care that he chose to deal drugs in the first place, "What are you saying Spike?" The beautiful cinematography and good acting all around pull this one through, though it is not Spike's best work. It still has it's moments and it's (maybe) concern with out-of-proportion sentencing of drug related crime (maybe). What am I saying about the film? I'll leave you as Spike left me...to wonder. I give the film three out of five garlics.

Skating On Thin Ice

What do you get when you combine a ridiculous story about competing ice skaters who join to form the first male pair skating team, with two great comedic actors? Great ridiculous comedy of course. In "Blades of Glory," Will Ferrell and Jon Heder play off each other as if they've been doing it for years, and save a film which would otherwise be a lesson in stupidity. But we all know stupidity has its place in comedy, as long as it makes us laugh. And I couldn't help laughing as these two actors brought the stupid. Yes, the line between stupid and funny can be as thin as a blade, but Ferrell and Heder skate along that line expertly (all puns intended). I give the film three and a half out of five garlics.
(and a half)

Iron Man

When other superheros are defined by the humanity of their secret identity, Iron Man the superhero is the one who gives humanity to his secret identity. Without Iron Man, Tony Stark would be just another spoiled, uncaring rich prick. Iron Man is Starks way to redeem himself. Robert Downey Jr. does a remarkable job in giving Tony Starks a likable personality. Without question, Robert Downey is the superhero of this movie because he saves it from becoming super dull. This movie is filled with fantastic graphics and good thrills, but is made fun by the unique and eccentric performance of Robert Downey Jr. This movie reeks of garlic flavor and it gets 4 out 5 garlics.