All posts by Beau

Movies

Christopher Nolan

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I’ve seen all but one of Nolan’s movies, and he impresses the hell out of me with his ability to both write and direct competently without any gross missteps. He casts well, he gets good performances out of his actors, and his scripts often have refreshingly original ideas. He hasn’t yet made the movie that has left me in complete awe, but I won’t be surprised if he eventually does. Sometimes his scripts are too ambitious. I would love to see him direct a television show where he gets five seasons to tell something epic.

The Dark Knight Rises: Bane is a decent foe for Batman as is Marion Cotillard’s character. But I didn’t feel much awe while watching this, which is kind of necessary for a superhero movie. Cillian Murphy makes a fun reappearance as the Scarecrow.

Grade: B-

Inception: Nolan does an exceptional job of taking this mind-boggling concept and teaching it to the viewer without too much exposition. Slick camerawork and good performances as well by DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Ellen Page. But despite how epic the movie remains, there are so many glaring plot holes in the last half hour that it’s hard for me to overlook them. The ending is also manipulative and obvious and created some silly debates among viewers. On the other hand, it was also the first movie I saw with my wife, so bonus points there.

Grade: B

The Dark Knight: The second of the Batman movies is famous for being Heath Ledger’s final movie and also his best, as he deservedly won an Oscar for his portrayal of The Joker. He’s pure delight every second he’s on the screen. But there are probably even more plot issues here than in Inception (mostly the good guys making things way too hard) making for some really contrived climactic scenes.

Grade: B

Memento: Famous for the entire movie being told backwards. Each scene is about two to six minutes, then we jump back in time to the one before it. Guy Pearce plays a guy with amnesia who forgets everything he’s learned after a few minutes and therefore obsessively writes things down on paper and on his body. It’s dizzying at first, but Nolan does a good job of making everything fall into place at just the right time. Gimmicky for sure, but the story is good regardless. And the acting is excellent. The Matrix stars Carrie Ann Moss and Joe Pantoliano give chilling performances, and Pearce is believable as well. Haven’t watched this a second time, though there is an option on the DVD to watch it forwards rather than backwards.

Grade: B+

Following: Nolan’s first full-length movie, in black and white, we meet a writer who (benignly) stalks people for his stories, until a thief notices him and takes him under his wing as a co-thief. One of the best stories I’ve seen that relies on plot twists and misdirection, I never felt manipulated or taken by the storytelling. The acting isn’t the greatest and the budget is obviously low, but you can definitely see some Nolan trademarks and it’s beautifully paced.

Grade: A-

Insomnia: Two L.A. detectives are sent to an Alaskan town where the sun literally doesn’t set for months at a time to solve the systematic murders of the local police force. Based on a Norwegian film made a few years earlier. The only movie Nolan doesn’t have a writing credit for, though he did have a hand in some of it. Al Pacino is good, and Robin Williams puts in one of the best performances of his career, probably because Nolan doesn’t allow him to mug for the camera.

Grade: A-

Batman Begins: I never had a desire to see a superhero movie but I was blown away by this. Beautifully shot and an imaginative, compelling back story for how Batman became to be. Perhaps I love it because I pretty much hate comic books and this movie never feels like one. I was engaged all the way until the end. Cillian Murphy is awesome as the Scarecrow, but Michael Caine and Gary Oldman are inspired choices as well. Katie Holmes was a misstep as Rachel Dawes (corrected with Maggie Gyllenhaal in the sequel) but she doesn’t ruin anything.

Grade: A-

Other Christopher Nolan Movie You May Have Seen

The Prestige

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Jim Abrahams

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Apparently, the one way to tell if a movie is slapstick is if the title ends in an exclamation point. Abrahams was the third of the trio who directed Airplane!, Top Secret!, and Ruthless People. Abrahams went on to write David Zucker’s successful Naked Gun movies and then wrote and directed some more slapstick on his own. It’s really hard to tell if he or Zucker is more responsible for the good slapstick.

Hot Shots!: Top Gun parody is okay. Charlie Sheen is decent but not great at slapstick. Lloyd Bridges and Cary Elwes are a bit better at it. I didn’t remember Ryan Stiles being in these movies. This movie came out in 1991, around the time he started working on the British version of Whose Line. I also didn’t realize Jon Cryer was here as well.

Hot Shots! Part Deux: Rambo parody is a little funnier than the first movie, but still pretty uneven. A lot of the same cast from the first movie, plus Rowan Atkinson.

Airplane!: See David Zucker

Other Jim Abrahams Movies You May Have Seen

Top Secret!
Ruthless People
Big Business
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael
First Do No Harm
Mafia!

Movies

Jerry Zucker

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Jerry has not been as active as his brother, directing only three movies without him, none of them slapstick. He doesn’t have much of a career to judge.

First Knight: A King Arthur tale with Sean Connery, Richard Gere, and Julia Armond. Pretty straightforward and pretty dull.

Grade: D

Ghost: When I was younger I was crazy about this movie. I cried every time I saw it despite its over sentimentality. But now it’s pretty much sunk into average movie territory for me. The acting is okay at best and I don’t find Tony Goldwyn’s portrayal of the bad guy to be terribly convincing, especially since he seems obviously scummy from the get go and Demi Moore doesn’t notice. Whoopi Goldberg is funny at times, but the shtick gets a bit old by the end. And it frustrates me to no end that Demi Moore is willing to kiss Whoopi Goldberg because she believes Patrick Swayze’s ghost is now inside of her, but when the moment happens, Goldberg magically turns into Swayze. They had a chance in 1990 to do something special but they chickened out. Bleck. The biggest highlight for me is Vincent Schiavelli freaking me the hell out down on the subway platform.

Grade: C+

Airplane! See David Zucker

Grade: A-

Other Jerry Zucker Movies You May Have Seen

Top Secret!
Ruthless People
Rat Race

Movies

David Zucker

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Baseketball: The creators of South Park star in this movie (not written by them) that has them pioneering a professional league based on a driveway game that combines baseball and basketball and trying to psych out your opponent by hurling insults at them. I shouldn’t like it as much as I do because there’s a lot of flat and offensive jokes (David Zucker really likes torturing hospital patients). But there’s enough that had me rolling that I enjoyed myself. Easily my favorite cameo by Bob Costas.

Grade: C

The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear: Not nearly as sharp or as memorable as the first movie in the series, but still with a bunch of laughs. Slapstick at its perfectly mediocre.

Grade: C+

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!: Brilliant slapstick starring Leslie Nielsen, playing the same obtuse character he did in the television show. Not too many wasted jokes here and a lot of memorable visuals as well. The Angels game where Nielsen manages to go undercover as the home plate umpire is classic. O.J. Simpson is pretty good in a supporting role.

Grade: B+

Airplane!: My favorite slapstick movie, I can pretty much watch this any time. Lampooning airplane disaster movies, but also with a solid stand-alone jokes that kill me. The funniest bits come from the supporting characters such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Florence Henderson, and Leslie Nielsen. Slapstick only works if each character seems to speaking every line in earnest, and the main characters (Peter Graves, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges) all do their jobs perfectly.

Grade: A-

Other David Zucker Films You May Have Seen

Top Secret!
Ruthless People
Scary Movie 3
Scary Movie 4
My Boss’s Daughter
An American Carol

Movies

Francis Ford Coppolla

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Jack: Robin Williams plays an overgrown child. It’s like the role was made for him!  Fran Drescher doesn’t help things either. When you hate a Robin Williams movie as a kid, you know it’s bad. Ugh.

Grade: F

Tucker: The Man and His Dream: Once upon a time a guy (Jeff Bridges) tried to compete with The Big Three and create his own line of cars with innovations like a rotating headlight that follows your steering wheel. That man was squashed by The Big Three, though admittedly his car did have some issues which hurt things. Based on a true story; it’s easy to root for Tucker even though you know what’s going to happen in the end.

Grade: B-

The Rainmaker: Matt Damon plays one of John Grisham’s idealist young attorneys who takes on a corrupt insurance company with the help of Danny DeVito. Solid cast and a solid plot, but nothing all that memorable either.

Grade: B

The Godfather: Part II: Camps are about equally divided on which of the two movies is better. I prefer the first one as I felt it was faster paced with more tension. Still, the character development of Michael Corleone is powerful and depressing. Diane Keaton puts in a strong performance as well as she watches Michael’s ascension to power. Robert DeNiro is also quite good, introduced here in the second film.

Grade: B

The Godfather: It took me until I was 24 to watch this and I expected to be disappointed by all the hype. I was not. I watched it with a friend and we were white-knuckling our chairs multiple times. Marlon Brando is fun as the Don, but it’s a young Al Pacino who really shines. It’s easy to follow him through and understand the choices he makes and Coppolla has us simultaneously rooting for and being scared by him at the same time. I also love James Caan’s performance. In fact, the entire cast is pretty much brilliant. This movie not only defined an entire genre of movies, it also redefined real mobsters, who were never this slick in real life but aspired to be so after watching this. Oh, and it also helped Mario Puzo; from what I’ve heard, his books are not that great.

Grade: A

Other Francis Ford Coppola Movies You May Have Seen

The Godfather: Part III
Apocalypse Now
Dracula
The Conversation
The Outsiders
Peggy Sue Got Married
Rumble Fish
Supernova
New York Stories
The Cotton Club

Movies

Sam Raimi

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Somehow I’ve managed to see over half of Sam Raimi’s movies.  He’s good at camp, not so great at anything else. Even his movies that I enjoy watching aren’t terribly good, and are more likely to have great scenes dropped in to an otherwise snoozer.  I have yet to see a movie of his that was solid from beginning to end. At least the movies are never manipulative, so I have no ill-will towards the guy.  Just wish he had more skill, as he’s got the occasional brilliant spark.

Spider-Man 2: I know this is considered by most to the best of the Spider-Man series. I think the plot is decent and Alfred Molina is pretty good as the bad guy, but something really rubbed me the wrong way. Spider-Man’s effects seem cheesy and over CGI’d, and I think I was beginning to loathe Peter Parker.

Grade: F

The Evil Dead: Raimi’s first full-length movie, it has a cult following but is really got nothing to make it stand out from every other gore-fest from the 70’s and 80’s, complete with gratuitous female nudity, gratuitous blood, and of course bad lighting, bad acting, and a recycled plot. Bruce Campbell’s character hasn’t evolved yet, and he’s just another actor here.

Grade: D

Spider-Man: I like the beginning of this movie, as we get the back story to Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man and I thought some of the special effects were done pretty well. But then the last-half is a CGI fest and I just really, really don’t care about any interaction between MaGuire and Dunst.

Grade: D

Oz the Great and Powerful: Even more of a disappointment than I was expecting. The story itself of how the wizard came to be is kind of interesting, and there’s a few shining moments. I think Rachel Weisz is pretty good, Mila Kunis is capable, and Bruce Campbell is fine. But there are too many uninspired performances. James Franco is never convincing as the wizard, Zach Braff plays a talking monkey, and all I could see the entire time was J.D.  Finally, Michelle Williams is really flat as Glenda, and it made me long for the smirky charm of Billie Burke. The highlight of the movie is the China Girl, a tiny little doll played endearingly by Joey King (and by the animators).  Not a big enough highlight to recommend anyone waste their time, though.

Grade: D+

The Quick and the Dead: Cheesy western that isn’t western enough or cheesy enough. Sharon Stone is laughable as the lady avenger. But there’s a charm to this movie that makes it watchable. Gene Hackman and Leonardo DiCaprio (two competing gunslingers) help that quite a bit. The premise of the movie is that this town decides it has too many live people and holds a gunslinging tournament.  I think this could have been better if written more like the Evil Dead movies; as it stands it tries to take itself seriously a few times and falls flat when it does.

Grade: C+

Evil Dead II: The scene where Bruce Campbell gets his arm cut off might be the best of Raimi’s career, and possibly the best of Bruce Campbell’s career as well. Essentially a remake of the first movie, but instead of horror, it’s now a comedy, somewhat in the vein of The Cabin in the Woods, only not quite that polished or plotted out. It’s still cheaply made, but it has several hilarious moments, and it helped Campbell find what’s he’s really good at.

Grade: C+

Army of Darkness: This…is my boomstick! The third movie in the Evil Dead series, it is now firmly placed in the comedy genre, as Campbell is set up for one quotable one-liner after another as he tries to blow up medieval zombies back to hell. The movie isn’t paced all that well, and it’s not as hilarious as the previous movie, but it’s an enormous guilty pleasure for me. Pure camp, through and through.

Grade: B

Other Sam Raimi Movies You May Have Seen

Drag Me To Hell
Spider-Man 3
The Gift
For Love of the Game
A Simple Plan
Darkman
Crimewave

Movies

Ivan Reitman

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It looks like Ivan Reitman does mostly light throwaway comedies. Casting Schwarzenegger in the lead role three times makes it obvious he doesn’t take his movies too seriously. Looking at the list of movies I haven’t seen yet, I really have zero desire to see any of them.

Kindergarten Cop: Schwarzenegger is a cop who has to pretend to be a kindergarten teacher to find a drug dealer. The lame premise mostly leads to a lot of unintentional comedy as Arnold tries to be funny. A few laughs, and it’s eminently watchable, but far from good.

Grade: D+

Twins: There’s surprising chemistry between Schwarzenegger and Devito beyond the lame premise that these two are fraternal twins. Like the previous movie, some laughs, but nothing all that memorable.

Grade: C-

Ghostbusters: I can’t say I like this as much as most people, but it definitely has cultural significance and great nostalgia in addition to great acting. The scenes themselves are as inconsistent as any other Reitman movie, but the casting was perfect and these guys play off each other so well. But there’s only a few laughs in there for me.

Grade: C+

Dave: If you care at all about political accuracy this movie could easily annoy you as the satire that’s attempted is childish. However, Kevin Kline is great as a fish-out-of-water who must pretend to be the President while the real chief is in a coma. He’s a dead ringer for the real guy, but lo and behold he’s a lot more friendly and goofy than the guy he replaced. Perhaps the best part is that the first lady (Sigourney Weaver) is also not let it on that her husband has been replaced. Very likable cast.

Grade: B

Other Ivan Reitman Films You May Have Seen

No Strings Attached
My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Evolution
Six Days Seven Nights
Father’s Day
Junior
Ghostbusters II
Legal Eagles
Stripes
Meatballs

Movies

Ron Howard

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The Music Man, Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days star has been a very ambitious director and has had no problem getting the chance to direct big actors and big movies. However the movies I’ve seen have not lived up to those expectations. Like Chris Columbus, he seems very capable but not groundbreaking. And every movie I’ve seen has dramatic moments that just don’t ring true to me. I wonder if being famous his whole life has given Howard a different lens on how people really act with each other, or if he just believes that’s what it takes to be successful in Hollywood.

Far and Away:You plunge and then you scrub is the lesson I learned from this movie about an Irish lad (Tom Cruise) who escapes property persecution in his homeland and comes to America and tries to settle down there. I like Nicole Kidman (a daughter of one of the bastards who wants him dead), but Tom Cruise is absolutely hilarious as an Irishman. Colm Meaney has a memorable but albeit short role as a runner of a bare-knuckle boxing club in Boston. Other than that, the story about these two lovebirds from different social classes figuring things out in America is uninspiring and seemingly pointless. For a married couple, Cruise and Kidman don’t have a lot of chemistry on-screen.

Grade: D

The Da Vinci Code: By the numbers recreation of Dan Brown’s novel, it does a pretty good job with following the story but emotionally it’s pretty cold. There’s a couple of tense scenes, but the pacing never matches that of the book. Ian McKellen is the best part.

Grade: C

Willow: A dwarf must protect a special baby from an evil queen in this story by George Lucas (don’t worry, he didn’t write the script). I’m not much into fantasy stuff, but this is fairly entertaining for how over-the-top silly it is. Warwick Davis gives it his all, but Val Kilmer is mostly a pretty face. I saw this when I was eight years old and Joanne Whalley became my first celebrity crush. The game for the Nintendo is much better than the movie.

Grade: C+

Apollo 13: Mostly true to fact recreation of the Apollo 13 disaster and all the close shaves that occurred before they miraculously got back home. Shot well, and Howard does a pretty good job extracting suspense from naturally slow-moving spaceship problems that we ultimately know will be solved. However, he adds a bunch of faux-drama between the shipmates that never existed in reality to create more conflict, and that really gnaws at me. I’m not sure if I’m more upset at Howard than I am at the reality that the public may need fake conflict to enjoy a story about one of the most amazing scientific events in the world’s history. Solid acting all around by the star-studded cast of Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harirs and Kevin Bacon.

Grade: B-

Backdraft: A family drama set into the world of the Chicago Fire Department. From what I’ve heard, not completely unrealistic representation of firefighters and actual firefighting, but some liberties are taken as well for drama. Very-well paced and some good special effects make this very watchable. Kurt Russell is entertaining as he often is in this kind of thing.

Grade: B+

Other Ron Howard Movies You May Have Seen

Rush
A Beautiful Mind
Cinderella Man
Frost/Nixon
Parenthood
Cocoon
Ransom
Angels & Demons
The Paper
The Missing
Splash
EdTV
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
The Dilemma

Movies

Kevin Smith

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Kevin Smith’s voice spoke to a lot of teenagers back in the 1990s. A lot of those teenagers have grown up and developed a keener sense of humor and a stronger desire for quality film-making. The guy can set-up some pretty good jokes, but he also doesn’t know when to quit, and even he admits a lot of his jokes are too easy. His film-making skills are amateurish for the most part. He has historically cast his friends in significant roles regardless of their acting ability. He has no appreciable skill in evoking good acting. And the pacing in his films is generally irritating, as he’ll throw in jokes for their own sake, regardless of whether or not it makes sense given the plot. I wonder if he had given his scripts to a good director who could edit and cast well, if we’d be talking about the good writer and not the embarrassing director.  All that said, I still like some of his movies despite myself.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: I remember laughing a lot when I saw this twelve years ago, but I honestly don’t remember 98% of the movie, and I was at a party at the time. I do remember most of the jokes wouldn’t make any sense unless you had already watched every Kevin Smith movie to that point, which seems like a lot of money to spend to cater to a really specific audience. That hyper amount of referential humor also usually isn’t as funny upon repeated viewings.

Grade: N/A

Clerks II: Funny story, I was going to see this in the theater with friends, but their car broke down on the way (a few days before they moved out of state) and we didn’t wind up seeing it for another year. My friends car was quite the appropriate analogy for this wreck of a film. The authenticity of the first movie was stripped away for a silly plot, the dick jokes are even more obvious, and the original actors haven’t improved their limited skills. What saves this movie from being a complete disaster are an earnest performance by Rosario Dawson and a funny cameo by Jason Lee. Completely pointless.

Grade: D

Mallrats: After the success of Clerks, Smith got a Hollywood budget and some Hollywood actors. And he used it for ninety minutes of dick jokes. Once again, Jason Lee saves this movie; he’s good for a few genuine laughs. But there’s too much in the way of unimaginative gross-out humor. The acting is subpar, highlighted by wooden performances by Claire Forlani, Shannon Doherty, and Ben Affleck. Jay & Silent Bob’s appearance is very forced.

Grade: C-

Chasing Amy: A promising step in the right direction for Smith, his first real attempt at a genuine story. And he hits some good notes here. Jason Lee is again hilarious, as is Dwight Ewell. There’s some good honest discussions about sexuality and jealousy. And I thought the movie’s climax was brutal and hilarious with a non-contrived ending. But Ben Affleck nearly ruins everything with his lead performance. His big speech spoke to the teenager me, but is laughable now, especially because of his delivery. And Joey Lauren Adams, while giving a good effort, has a voice so shrill it’s hard to listen to her for long.

Grade: B

Dogma: Easily Smith’s best directed movie, with a silly plot that isn’t dumbed down by a hundred dick jokes. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon play two fallen angels who try to exploit a loophole and get back into Heaven. If they do, humanity’s existence will be negated. An abortion worker (Linda Fiorentino) tries to stop them. There are some inspired choices here by Smith. Chris Rock plays the 13th apostle. Alanis Morissette plays God. Alan Rickman plays the voice of God. George Carlin plays a Cardinal. Unfortunately, he couldn’t help himself and had an extended scene with a Shit Demon, which was gross and not funny. And Jay & Silent Bob are once again contrived and pointless. It’s hilarious that this movie caused controversy and boycotts. Believing Kevin Smith’s opinion of religion would influence the masses is laughable in the first place, but moreover the movie doesn’t take itself all that seriously.

Grade: B+

Clerks: Smith begged, borrowed, and stole to create this movie on a shoestring budget inside the same convenience store in which he was working at the time. The movie takes place over the course of about 18 hours, detailing the conversations and hijinks of two disgruntled workers. It received significant critical acclaim, which is curious considering the direction is not good and the acting is beyond horrendous. Or perhaps it’s because the critics found themselves laughing despite those things. There are a few inspired jokes, a few funny dick jokes, a few not-funny dick jokes, and some armchair philosophy that runs the gamut from amusing to banal. I think why I still love it is the good chemistry between Dante and Randal, and the amusing goings-on of drug-dealers Jay & Silent Bob, whose presence actually makes sense. I also, as Randal put, used to “work in a shitty video store,” and can empathize with every aspect of his work day. When I would close the store at midnight, sometimes my best friend would help before we’d head out to Perkins. And because we’re dorks, I’d ask him to wrangle out the door for me.

Grade: A-

Other Kevin Smith Movies You May Have Seen

Jersey Girl
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Cop Out
Red State