Film Review -- Battleship

This new big-budgeted sci-fi film stars Liam Neeson, Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna, and Brooklyn Decker. In 2005, NASA discovers a distant planet that possesses similar living conditions as Earth. Aware of the possibility of life on the planet, it sends a signal via satellite to the planet, from a communications array in Oahu. Meanwhile, Commander Stone Hopper (Skarsgard) forces his under-achieving brother, Alex (Kitsch) to join him in the Navy, where the latter becomes a lieutenant and falls in love with Samantha Shane (Decker) -- who happens to be the daughter of the Pacific Fleet's commander, Admiral Shane (Neeson). When the most powerful world navies come together for the annual RIMPAC naval exercises, five objects from outer space crash in the Pacific Ocean. NASA soon finds out that their communication efforts with the planet succeeded, but these alien ships aren't as friendly as the humans hoped they'd be. The aliens subsequently trap five American and Japanese vessels in a seemingly impervious force field, including the USS John Paul Jones (where Alex is a lieutenant) and the USS Samson (where Stone is commander). The invaders blow up the Samson, killing everyone on board, including Stone, a Japanese vessel whose commander Captain Nagata (Tadanobu Asano), Alex's rival, is rescued by the JPJ, and eventually only the JPJ remains to battle the aliens and save the earth. Alex Hopper must discover the strength and courage he didn't know he had, as well as cooperate with Captain Nagata, to prevent the human race's extinction at the hands of the invaders. Costars include Rihanna as a weapons specialist on the JPJ, Hamish Linklater as one of the mastermind scientists behind the communications experiment, and Gregory D. Gadson as a bitter veteran and amputee (Gadson is a veteran and amputee in real life). I expected very little of the film going in, knowing that an adaptation having little to do with the classic board game from which it was based was probably going to receive mostly negative reviews. However, I must admit that I was mildly entertained. Sure, the dialogue is choppy and wooden at times, but the special effects are incredible, and the story itself is fascinating. The idea that intelligent life exists somewhere in the universe, the possibility of communicating with it, and the consequences, good or bad, of such communication aren't done justice in this loud and shallow action film. Though definitely not a great film by any means, it is a solid summer blockbuster, much better than any Transformers film I've seen. 


Should you see it: Sure -- just don't set your expectations too high.
Grade: C+

Film Review -- Once

This 2007 indie stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. A man (Hansard), who is never named, is a struggling street musician in Dublin with dreams of making it big. One night, he meets a young immigrant woman (Irglova), also unnamed, from the Czech Republic. They grow closer over their mutual love of music, as she is a pianist. The man and woman discover that they have chemistry, so he invites her to play with him when he records a few of his songs in a studio. They also become good friends, as they help each other reunite with lost loves. A modern musical, all of the amazing songs played in the film were written by Hansard and Irglova, including the Oscar-winning "Falling Slowly." I was a fan of the song, one of the most beautiful I've ever heard, for years, and finally got around to watching the film. It is a very charming, unconventional "love story." But its also about following your dreams, which eventually happened to the artists in real life when they won their Oscars. Other standout songs are "If You Want Me" and "When Your Mind's Made Up." Once is an underrated gem.


Should you see it: Yes
Grade: A-

Film Review -- Dark Shadows

The new Tim Burton film stars Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, and Eva Green. Barnabas Collins (Depp) was the son of the wealthy owner of a fishing business, who came as a young boy to America in the 18th century when his dad decided to expand his empire to the New World. He and servant Angelique (Green) have a love affair, but her love for him is not reciprocated. Angelique, secretly a witch, curses Barnabas to become a vampire, and kills his new girlfriend, Josette. Anguished because of his new appearance, the treatment he has gotten because of it, and a broken heart, Barnabas is tricked by Angelique into a coffin, and she buries him six feet under, where he remains for nearly two centuries. When he is finally liberated, it is 1972, and what is left of the once illustrious Collins family are four dysfunctional members: Elizabeth (Pfeiffer), her daughter Carolyn (Chloe Grace Moretz), Elizabeth's brother Roger (Jonny Lee Miller) and his son David (Gulliver McGrath), who is considered of unsound mind because he sees his mother's ghost. Rounding up the inhabitants of the household are the wild live-in doctor, Julia (Bonham Carter), servant Willie (Jackie Earle Haley), and governess Victoria (Bella Heathcote, a Tim Burton doll incarnate), who shares David's gift of seeing ghosts and becomes Barnabas's object of affection. When his ancestors secretly take him in, Barnabas must adapt to everything new from the unfamiliar age, as well as seek revenge against Angelique, who still lives and is destroying what is left of the Collins business with her growing fishing empire. The film definitely has high points and low points -- wildly funny at times, incredibly boring at times. There is a lot of talent in the cast, including a cameo by Christopher Lee, and Johnny Depp is his quirky, awesome self as always, and Eva Green is especially outstanding. However, the story never reaches its true comedic potential. What could have easily been one of Burton's best films falls short. 


Should you see this film: Yes
Grade: B

Film Review -- The Avengers

Quickly smashing pretty much every box-office record, this highly-anticipated round-up of superheroes stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye. It also stars Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgard, and Gwyneth Paltrow. When Thor's evil brother Loki (Tom Hiddleton) invades Earth and threatens to take it over with his extraterrestrial army, it is up to Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Samuel L.Jackson) to assemble a team of superheroes, known as the Avengers, to prevent world takeover. The film did an exceptional job of delivering on the hype -- it was a very good superhero film/comic book adaptation; in fact, it is probably one of the best I've seen. It is well-paced (it manages very well its 2+ hours of running time) and a superb technical film -- the special and sound effects are excellent. What kept me from enjoying the film even more than I did, though, was the inevitable plot holes that not even an above-average superhero film can avoid. Though these discrepancies left me a little irritated, the film overall is an outstanding summer blockbuster.


Should you see it: Yes
Grade: B+ 

Film Review -- Cinema Verite

This HBO made-for-TV film stars Diane Lane, Tim Robbins, and James Gandolfini. It is about the making of An American Family, the first reality TV show to be broadcast on a major American TV network. The Loud family become the subjects of this groundbreaking experiment when visionary producer Craig Gilbert (Gandolfini) asks Patricia 'Pat' Loud (Lane) to allow a camera crew to film her family's daily routine for several months. The show and the film largely concentrated on the breakup of Pat and her husband Bill's (Robbins) marriage. They also focused in on the eldest of the five Loud children, Lance, considered to be the first openly gay man on television (sadly, he died in 2001 at the age of fifty of complications from HIV). The film is a very interesting look inside the first example of what now has become a pop culture phenomenon, which back then was unprecedented and scandalous. The acting performances are terrific as well. It isn't particularly striking or memorable, but it was a very enjoyable film. 
In 2010, I went to the International Documentary Awards, which were honoring Bill and Pat Loud. They gave a very interesting speech and it was nice to learn more about their revolutionary experience.

Should you see it: Sure
Grade: B

Film Review -- Match Point

This 2005 Woody Allen film stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, and Emily Mortimer. Chris Wilton (Rhys Meyers) is a former touring tennis pro who takes a temporary job as a tennis instructor at an upscale London country club. There he meets Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), one of his pupils, who introduces him to his wealthy and powerful family. Many doors are opened for and opportunities are presented to Chris, including a possible new career and a love interest in Chloe (Mortimer), Tom's sister. When they all retreat to the Hewett country estate, Chris falls for Nola Rice (Johansson), Tom's fiance. Although he and Chloe eventually get married and Nola and Tom break up, Chris's feelings for Nola linger, and when they meet again by chance, they begin a torrid love affair that, as time goes on, becomes increasingly more complicated and threatening to the comfortable life that Chris had gotten used to. He begins to wonder if murder is the only way out. While I like the premise of the film (it is, as always, a very well-written script from Allen), it leaves out a vital plot point (which I won't reveal) that knocks the story incredibly. I don't see how such an important twist could have been neglected from the resolution of the film, and the fact that it wasn''t discovered, or even mentioned, by the detectives in the film left me very confused and annoyed. What could have otherwise been a terrific, suspensful thriller wasn't so because of a disappointing, careless finish. 


Should you see it: Yes, because everything up until the ending is great.
Grade: B-