Engaging Culture

With my new supervisor position at work, I’ve been struggling to get enough sleep. I hardly have enough time to spend with my family much less writing movie reviews and rehashing news that you can get a thousand other places. I hope that I will be able to pick up my writing again now that my training is complete, but I won’t promise anything. It’s not like I’ve missed anything these past few weeks though, almost everything that has been released is drivel and not worth anyone’s time.

Get Him To The Greek – This movie could be confused for “Forgetting Sarah Marshall 2″, but it’s not. That’s because it exists in some alternate universe where Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) is a Rock-and-Roll icon. I didn’t find him funny or entertaining in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and, from the looks of the Red Band Trailer, I won’t find this outing funny either. I actually enjoyed Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Despite the raunch that I’ve come to expect from comedies these days, at its heart it had a sweet romance that I fell for. Plus Jason Segel puts himself so far out there (metaphorically and quite literally) that you are forced to go on this emotional roller-coaster with him. And it’s a fun ride. But Get Him to the Greek looks like it has all the raunch with none of the heart that makes me love some of Judd Apatow‘s movies. I think it will do fairly well with the college aged and teens whose parents don’t know better than to let their kids go see this movie. But it looks far too juvenile and lacks the substance that I want from a movie. Predicted score: 45

Killers – I’m torn by this movie. The trailer makes it look like a fun date movie that both sexes might even enjoy. Let’s face it, we’ve seen good Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up) and we’ve seen bad Katherine Heigl (The Ugly Truth), which one this incarnation is will soon be seen. And Ashton Kutcher is… And now the producers have come out saying that the film won’t be screened for critics. This is usually a company’s way of shielding themselves from getting bad press before the movie even comes out. That way, with no one to warn them, the unsuspecting public will be lured in by tricky marketing schemes and give the movie a good opening. But soon enough word-of-mouth will bring the film crashing down. A very similar movie will be coming out in just a few more weeks starring Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise called Knight and Day. I think that Killers will end up being killed by Knight and Day. Predicted score: 63

Ondine – Colin Farrell scoops up the title character (Alicja Bachleda) in his fishing net and thinks she is a mermaid. According to legend, this Ondine is unable to gain a soul unless she marries a man and bears his child. So there’s your plot, a watery tart looking for a soul vs. a skeptical Irish fisherman. Sounds laughable, but the trailer feels dirty because it shows the gritty reality of this kind of life. I think director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Michael Collins) will be able to join the stark reality with the fantastical, to make this a great film. Check out the trailer and see what you think. But I’m giving it a Predicted score of 82.

What movie do you think will be better? Which do you think will make more? Are you excited about any of these upcoming movies?

Dennis Hopper, the screen legend, lost his battle with prostate cancer this morning. I’ve always loved Hopper’s way of taking even the smallest of roles and making them his own. The good folks over at Cinematical have given him a very nice tribute.

Rolling Stone’s latest issue coming out on Friday features their list of their top 500 songs of all-time. I saw their top 5 on The Early Show this morning. 1. Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan 2. Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones 3. Imagine by John Lennon 4. What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye 5. Respect by Aretha Franklin What’s your top song of all time? Mine is Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.

Here’s another movie trivia quiz for your monotonous Monday morning. And don’t be bashful, post your score in the comments below. Share your movie knowledge (or lack of it) with the world.

Too easy? Too many obscure movies? Should I bring it on or put on the brakes? Let me know by leaving me a comment. And if you missed the first quiz, you can always find it by clicking the Quiz tab at the top of the page.

Nicholas Carr has written a new book called The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, and he shared some of his findings in an article for the June edition of WIRED Magazine. I would tell you more about it, but my brain is so fried from the internet that I didn’t retain a word of it.

I love wasting numerous hours diving into the movie stats heaven that is Box Office Mojo. I get lost as I look for patterns and make predictions. One of the only things I like about sequels is doing this kind of prediction, and for new movies, I can make comparisons to other movies in the same genre. If you are a movie geek like me, check it out and look at the fun things I found out about this weekend’s openings and one from next week.

Shrek Forever After – The saga of that lovable green ogre adds what is its final chapter, and not a moment too soon. Each Shrek film has increased its opening weekend revenues: Shrek (42.3 million), Shrek 2 (108 million), Shrek 3 (121.6 million). I find it hard to believe that Shrek 4 can keep this upward trend in motion. Statistically, Shrek 2 was the peak of the series. It grossed over 120 million more than Shrek 3 despite lower opening weekend numbers. I think most fans of the series were disappointed with the third film and aren’t expecting much from this final installment. Therefore, I predict that it will barely pass the $100 million mark in its opening weekend.

MacGruber – Saturday Night Live is a great TV show. It is filled with current cultural happenings and has endured for 35 seasons and nearly 700 episodes. It has spawned several feature films, but none of them has met with particular success, The Blues Brothers and Wayne’s World are the only ones that have cracked the 50 million mark. Critics have given MacGruber mixed reviews, saying that the film is very crude and feels a bit like it was thrown together with duct tape and paper clips but many conclude that despite it’s shortcomings it is very funny. I think that MacGruber will be the best SNL adaptation of the past decade… Oh, wait, it’s the only one of the past decade besides The Ladies Man.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time – I’m not sure what to think about this movie. I’ve never played the game, and 16th century Persian history doesn’t exactly get my engine revving. However, I want to like this movie. I want it to be the next in a line of successful adventure movies from Disney like National Treasure and Pirates of the Caribbean, but video game adaptations have never fared well at the box office. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is currently the only one to ever gross more than $100 million. I think that statistic stands to be broken, but I’m afraid it still won’t be as successful as Disney hopes.

Another fun little factoid. Both of the films opening to wide release next week were shot in Morocco. One is supposed to be 16th century Persia and the other is modern day Abu Dhabi, but I guess to our undiscerning Western eyes, all deserts look the same. I had no idea that Morocco was wild about movies but it’s good to know.

I added my predictions for this week’s new releases. “Shrek: The Final Frontier”, “McGoober”, and next week’s Estrogen fueled, “Whiny White Women 2.”

I’m adding a movie trivia section to the site. I’ll post new 10-question quizzes as posts then will link to them on the “Quiz” page. Try your hand at the questions below, then leave a comment telling me (and everybody else) how well you did.
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I should warn you that this review contains “spoilers.” That is, I have reviewed the film as one might review classic literature, with freedom to describe the plot and ending and relate them to the overall interpretation. If you cannot bear to know the ending and details in advance, I urge you to see the film before reading the review.

Iron Man 2

A few weeks ago, I gave Iron Man 2 a predicted score of 92. After seeing it, I must say that I think I was a bit generous. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the film. I really enjoyed it. The action sequences looked great, the snarky fast-paced dialogue that made the first one great was back, and I loved seeing the integration and development of the Avengers story line. Even the development of the characters old and new that I was worried about was not an issue, they were given plenty of time to build up their histories and motives. My problem was with what they were built up to, in the end it felt a bit too simple. It felt like the whole movie was rotating around Tony’s attitude change. He’s the only character that grows or changes. I expected Tony to sit down at his computer and type out the little moral lesson that he learned like he was Doogie Howser M.D. or something.

The film picks up about 6 months after Tony proclaimed to the world that he was Iron Man. In this time, Stark Industries has ceased providing the government with weapons, opening up to door for Stark’s biggest competitor, Justin Hammer to pick up the profits. I really like Sam Rockwell as an actor, he’s quirky and funny, and I hoped that he would really turn on the charm and go toe to toe with Robert Downey Jr. but he always seemed like a bumbling copycat who was relegated to always be two or three steps behind. I guess I really wanted to see another Obadiah Stane.

Tony is being pressured by a smarmy and highly irritating Senator (Gary Shandling) to turn over the Iron Man suit to the government. But as he says, “I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself.” Tony claims that no one currently has technology to rival his suit. But there is a new villain named Ivan Vanko. He is seeking revenge for his father, Anton, who was betrayed by Tony’s father, Howard. He builds a miniature arc reactor (just like the one that keeps Tony alive) to power the plasma whips that he wields when he ambushes Tony as he drives in the Grand Prix of Monaco. When he is bested by Iron Man (with the help of Happy and Pepper) he is imprisoned, but feels that he accomplished his goal of showing the world that behind that suit is still just a man that bleeds. Hammer gets the message and breaks Vanko out of prison staging his death, and puts him to work making upgrades on a line of military grade mechanized suits that he plans to unveil as a rival to Iron Man. The arrival of “Whiplash” and the revelation that someone is already abusing this Stark technology really puts the pressure on Tony to turn over the suit.

However, as the movie goes on, we realize that these two characters are not the real enemy of the film. They are simply the catalyst for a story arc and a reason for some expensive fight scenes. Unbeknownst to the world and even his close friends, being Iron Man is killing Tony, literally. The paladium core in the arc reactor is poisoning him. Confronted with his mortality and his daddy issues, Tony reverts back to the self-destructive narcissism that we saw at the beginning of the first film. The movie really begins at Tony’s birthday party, where he is wearing the Iron Man suit while getting sloshed and entertaining his many fans by doing a little stand-up comedy and fireworks display. In walks Lt. Col. James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Tony’s long time friend. He can’t bear to watch Tony make a fool of himself anymore, especially since he used his government connections to stick up for him. He goes downstairs and dons another suit, this one a sleek silver model, reminiscent of the Mark II suit of which his character memorably said in the first film, “Next time, baby.” They proceed to battle, and for a moment we see all the gawkers from the party who have hung around to watch him fight his best friend. Tony unleashes a primal roar at them and we finally see the wheels coming off the tracks, he’s not just an eccentric billionaire, he’s in trouble and he’s battling more than sickness, more than super villains, he’s battling himself.

After summarily trouncing Tony, Rhodey flies off with his suit and brings it to his bosses in the military. His goal is not profit or notariety, but protection, he wants to see the weapon in the most capable hands, and being the patriot that he is, he assumes that to be the United States government. The emotionally and psychologically bruised Tony is in need of someone to coddle him and nurse him back to health. In walks Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury who tells him exactly what the audience has been thinking for the last hour, that Tony is acting like a selfish child and he needs to get his head on straight and stop passively preparing to die and get active about finding a cure. It’s during this chapter that we find out that Scarlett Johannson’s mysterious character is indeed an ally. She has been implanted by S.H.I.E.L.D. in his organization to shadow him. With the help of his father, Tony discovers a way to reverse the poisoning and become stronger than ever. Some people thought that the Avengers story-line was too pronounced in the film, but I think that it is necessary if the Avengers film is going to make any sense. Plus, all of these movies, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Captain America, and Thor, will help tell the back story of the Avengers so it can roar at full force when it releases on May 4, 2012.

With his new lease on life, Tony discovers a plot to use his technology against him. Hammer has pimped out the War Machine suit with all sorts of weapons and is presenting them at the Stark Expo when Vanko takes over and launches a full assault on Iron Man. The last 15 minutes of the movie are a frenetic action-packed barrage of explosions and CGI machines. The action comes in bursts so as not to overload you. You can fully appreciate every battle individually whether it is Iron Man and War Machine fighting side by side against dozens of Hammer-drones or Agent Romanoff’s Black Widow taking all comers in the hunt to stop Ivan Vanko before it’s too late. I had a great time. I’m ready and eagerly anticipating Marvel’s next offering. This one was about an inch deep, but it was truckloads of fun both in the script and in the visuals. I believe that comic books provide a treasury of source material for films, years from now I think film scholars will see superhero movies the same way we see westerns today. They are the films that form those simple impressions in the minds of our people about right and wrong. And even in a relativistic day like ours, in the end we all want the good guy to win and the bad guy to get his comeuppance. Iron Man 2 doesn’t disappoint on that front and I, for one, hope it never does. I give it a score of 89.

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