Movie Update 31

Crank: High Voltage


Remember when I said that the original Crank was actually less over the top and insane than it advertised itself as? This sequel, which brings back most of the significant characters in some way and attempts to escalate on everything the first movie did, corrects that issue. Instead of having to keep his heart rate up by doing things like getting into fights and having sex with Amy Smart, Jason Statham's heart has been replaced with an artificial one and he must keep its battery charged by doing things like electrocuting himself and having sex with Amy Smart (because it generates static electricity through friction, obviously). There's a lot more violence and nudity and general zaniness in this movie, so it succeeds at surpassing the first movie in that way. It does have a different problem though, which again prevented me from really liking the movie - it just seemed too mean-spirited. People don't just get hit in the nuts, their genitals get destroyed. A man is forced to punish himself for messing up by graphically cutting off his own nipples. Just lots of messed up stuff like that, and I thought it was usually more gross than entertaining. Otherwise, it's as kinetic and crazy as advertised, with a few moments of inspired originality.

Hoosiers


Hoosiers is as predictable an underdog sports story as you're ever likely to encounter. Gene Hackman comes to a small Indiana town to become the high school basketball coach, and he struggles to gain the acceptance of the locals before molding the team into an unlikely winner, more successful than they've ever been before. Dennis Hopper plays the father of one of the players, a drunk and embarrassment to the town who actually knows a lot about the sport. Barbara Hershey is a teacher at the school who questions Hackman's methods but eventually warms up to him. There's a kid who's supremely talented but unwilling to play, and a bunch of ignoramuses who have it out for the interloper. Though it's nothing you haven't seen a bunch of times, Hoosiers is still a charming and well-executed version of that formula. The acting is solid, and the basketball scenes are authentic and exciting. It was a bit weird for the only black people in the movie to appear at the end as players for the big bad final opponent (the movie takes place in the 50s), but otherwise there's not much to really hold against the movie. Pretty likable stuff.

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming


A weird mix of comedy and politics, The Russians Are Coming tells the story of a Soviet submarine crew that accidentally runs aground on an American island and attempts to get back in the water without causing an international incident. Unfortunately, they run into difficulties, and things are exacerbated by the locals who are alarmist about the threat and quick to gossip. Things almost totally boil over in a remarkably tension-filled stand-off before the film remembers it's a comedy and deflates it in a pretty cheesy, feel-good way. It's a likable movie, with some frustrating side characters and maybe too long a running time but not much else to complain about. The best part is probably Alan Arkin's lead performance as one of the Russian crew members, who doesn't actually get a ton of dialogue but when he does always manages to make a lot out of very little. I'm honestly not totally sure what it was trying to accomplish, but it's a pretty good movie.

Tom Jones


There's something about 18th century England that is just inherently interesting to me. The British accents, the horrible class inequality, the technology still stuck in the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, it's just... I don't know. Interesting. Tom Jones is based on a serialized novel published during that period, and features Albert Finney playing a bastard who's been raised in kind society and grown up to be a womanizer, well-liked by many but hated by some. The movie actually won Best Picture, which seems kind of strange, but I guess movies could do that back then without being dramas about serious issues or mediocre. Wow that was pretty harsh, I've actually really liked most of the recent winners of that award. Oh well, whatever. Tom Jones is funny, has an intriguing little plot about the secrets people sometimes keep, and has some nice performances. It also frequently features characters talking to or just looking at the camera, which somehow never gets old. And now that the movie has expired from Netflix streaming, the site doesn't have it at all. What's up with that, Netflix?

Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands is Tim Burton at his most Tim Burtoniest, creating an unusual setting that combines quaint suburbia and the horrific creation of a mad scientist into something of a dark fairy tale that isn't really that dark. Despite Edward's appearance, the movie makes even less of an attempt to really be scary than Beetlejuice, preferring to tell a nice, traditional story using some unusual pieces. Although the Tim Burton look seems to be getting old to a lot of people at this point, I thought it really worked great in this movie. The art direction is outstanding, from the pastel colored identical houses in the neighborhood to the creepy surreal architecture of Edward's mansion to the artistry of his gardening and hairstyling. No other movie looks like it, and that helps a lot to sell the idea.

The movie has a great cast, too. Johnny Depp is great as Edward, pensive and innocent but not without something unusual behind it. I think his biggest skill is how he can take any character and just become them. The family he stays with is filled with recognizable faces, Winona Ryder does her part of being pretty and having a believable arc to her friendship with Edward. Diane Wiest and Alan Arkin are her parents, and the way they take Edward in without question is one of my favorite elements of the story. Vincent Price is only seen in flashback as Edward's creator, but he's Vincent Price, and it's pretty amusing to see how in five years Anthony Michael Hall went from playing the geek in The Breakfast Club to playing the jock here.

Although the story is a bit frustrating in how it relies on idiotic townspeople to create conflict, it's still an interesting look at how acceptance can turn into fear without much provocation. Like a lot of fairy tales it's pretty bittersweet, and the look and score both do a lot sell it. Some of the best work by Burton and a lot of his collaborators here. I've seen most of the feature films he's directed and as of yet he's never blown me away, but I have to appreciate any film maker who is more concerned with exploring his own ideas than changing them to fit the institution, even if he's an institution himself now.

Get Smart

Get Smart wasn't great, but it was enjoyable enough that I don't feel my New Years Eve was completely wasted. I like Steve Carell a lot, and he stars among a great cast of all kinds of people, from recognizable comedic faces to great classical actors. Unfortunately, most of them aren't used to their full potential. There are just too many jokes that fall flat for it to be a good comedy. At times, it really seems more like a spy movie with some goofy jokes than a comedy movie about spies, which I feel is more how it was advertised. I've never seen Mel Brooks' original series, so I have no idea how well it compares or how true it is to the show's spirit, so I'm not sure what exactly it was supposed to be, but judging by the reactions of others it's not really waht it should have been.

I actually sort of feel like it does the spy thing better than the humor thing, maybe understandable considering Peter Segal's record of directing mediocre comedies. But there are some fairly interesting missions and the climax is genuinely pretty exciting. Anne Hathaway is hot enough to be a real Bond girl, and matches up against Carell pretty well, although the romance seemed forced to me. Alan Arkin reunites with Carell after his questionable Oscar-winning performance in Little Miss Sunshine and plays an interesting take on the veteran chief character, and Dwayne Johnson should really be in more movies. There's really not much more to say about the movie - it was mostly okay with a few moments that were pretty great. Definitely less than I hoped for after the teaser trailer.

Best Movies of 2006

I saw several decent movies in 2006, such as The Good Shepherd (Well acted, interesting subject matter, way too slow), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Pretty much the right amount of stupid), Superman Returns (Admirably crafted but wallows in the superhero movie pit of too many special effects and not enough real action) and X-Men: The Last Stand (Entertaining but unfocused and far from the greatness of the second). I consider the five below to be the best of the year.

Best of 2006

5. A Scanner Darkly

They've made a bunch of movies based on Phillip K. Dick's writings, and they usually seem to turn out pretty good. Paycheck didn't turn out so hot, but I loved Total Recall and Minority Report, and I still haven't seen Blade Runner but from what I heard that was good too. A Scanner Darkly is a little different though, instead of just being a normal science fiction movie, it's a much more personal story, as it's based on Dick's own experience dealing with drug addiction. It has some cool futuristic ideas like the suits that distort the wearer's appearance to be unidentifiable, but instead of having big action scenes, it focuses on Keanu Reeves' character and his internal struggle.

Near the end the plot gets a little tighter and actually has a twist or two, but most of the movie is the discussion between him and his boss and doctors, and humorous interactions with his drug buddies Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey Jr., who both excellently portray uniquely hilarious and disturbed characters. They're more outwardly crazy than Reeves, but his character's addiction to the drug that's filled the streets is deeper, and he handles his role well for someone whose acting is so universally derided. You can't mention the movie without pointing out the animation that's applied over the entire picture, and I think it doesn't only look cool but also serves to illustrate the strangeness of Reeves' world. It was mostly overlooked, and I think that's a shame.


4. Little Miss Sunshine


What's interesting about this movie is how, despite the somewhat depressing state of dysfunction this family is in, it still manages to come out in the end with a good feeling. I love well-executed dark humor, and this movie is filled with sometimes painfully hilarious jabs at how crappy normal life can sometimes be. You can feel this family's frustration with each other, but they are all able to stick it out in order to bring some happiness to their youngest member. I really liked the acting, everybody seemed perfectly cast in their roles and did them well. I'm not sure Alan Arkin's work was really Oscar worthy, but he was the source of a lot of the best laughs.

3. Casino Royale


This is, in my opinion, the best James Bond movie. In my opinion, that's also not saying a lot, but it's still a good film. The James Bond series has always been about stupid fun, big action scenes, some good-looking women, cool gadgets and a few laughs. This tries to be a little more of a real movie, and it's still got a lot of the James Bond silliness, but I still think its style fits in more with the current era. I was a bit skeptical of Daniel Craig as Bond, as he didn't look the part to me, but that's kind of the point. The new Bond has a rougher edge and maybe's a little more brutal than he used to be, and is very well handled by Craig's skills. The plot is differently paced than usual as well, there are some solid action scenes, but a lot of it is focused on the characters, and the entire last act is a little unusual. Some of the characters' actions don't make much sense in retrospect, but I'd say overall the writing is pretty solid, and it's nice to look at too. Secret lairs in exotic locations will always have their place, but this is what today's James Bond should be.

2. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan


Question: How does a movie that's based on improvisation and real people who haven't even seen a script get an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay?

Answer: By being insanely hilarious and popular to the point that they probably felt they should recognize it somehow. I never really saw Sacha Baron Cohen's Da Ali G Show on HBO, but I feel like I probably should, since it's where the Borat character started. Cohen's a comedic genius, his ability to riff on people and get the perfect reactions out of them is amazing, in addition to just being great at creating a hilarious character. The movie has decent amounts of both planned out jokes and goofs on normal Americans that are played by ear, and it adds up to comedic gold. The theater was full and laughing its ass off the entire time. It's not the kind of movie that you talk about for its direction and contributions years later, but that's not what it wants to be.


1. The Departed

It's not the kind of movie I'd hang my hat on as a true, amazing, undisputed best picture of the year type thing, but it's still very good and deserving of this year's honor (Noting that I don't see a ton of movies every year). I'd like to see Infernal Affairs, the Hong Kong movie it's based on, and see how much of The Departed really came from that directly. The plot is a rock solid crime movie filled with double-crosses and whackings, and it's set in the gorgeously filmed city of Boston. Everyone pulls of their accents well, and manage to create one of the strongest ensemble casts I've ever seen. DiCaprio, Damon, Nicholson, Sheen, Wahlberg, Baldwin, and a good group of smaller names all bring their A game, and it's really just an exceedingly fun to watch affair. The world needs more movies featuring likable, good actors betraying and beating the crap out of each other.

Delayed Entries

Again, these are movies worth mentioning that were released before 2006 but I didn't see until then.

Citizen Kane

I wouldn't go so far as others as to call this the greatest movie ever made, although I can see where that distinction would come from. The directing and cinematography are amazing, every shot is beautifully planned and rendered. It really is a how-to video of interesting and meaningful filmwork. It's also brilliantly acted, all of the main players are good, and Orson Welles is great as both a young entrepreneur and an old curmudgeon. I think it definitely drags in the latter half, and I can't bring myself to honestly say I like it more than some less stately, but more enjoyable other movies.

Annie Hall

I've never been a huge Woody Allen fan, but this is definitely a terrific movie. The dialogue is very funny, and it creates a whole lot of things that will become staples of off-beat comedies in the future, like subtitled translations of what people are really saying, and breaking the fourth wall as the star directly confers with the audience. It's not just a comedy though, it's a well-filmed and acted story of love and how it can go wrong. It's not your typical story where everything turns out right in the end, it's a realistic examination of human relationships, and really admirable in its execution.

My guess is there's other movies that belong here that just haven't come to mind.