Instead of putting off and putting off and putting off my vow to somehow market my first book I am letting people download my first book for free. Give it a preview or read the whole thing for free. Download and read my “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE.
One of the utterly delightful things about this column (going on five years and still flying deep under the radar…An omen, to be sure) is that I always wanted to use it for the greater good. I just don’t have an encyclopedic sense of cinema like some geeks do; I simply enjoy lots of movies but don’t purport to possess any academic knowledge or deep understanding what made Fellini so remarkable or why THE LAST WALTZ is anything more than the film of some jug band which I have no interest in ever seeing.
Hence, I always like to throw lots against the wall to see what sticks with regard to new talent, any talent, which wanders into my INBOX. A long time ago one such filmmaker wanted to get my Average Joe opinion about a film he had done. That person was Alex Ferrari and his movie was called BROKEN. I was stunned by the level of sophistication that short film possessed and I was eager to see what else this guy could churn out with his next entry. It scares me, sometimes, to see that people really are capable of only good idea in their lifetime and that everything that comes after sometimes pales to that one good effort. Alex, though, has something far more compelling to give the world than his breakthrough short which, in and of itself was the true definition of independence with regard to making an action movie on a budget, and that is RED PRINCESS BLUES.
This animated short pushes the boundaries of what traditional animation is capable of when you don’t have a budget like Pixar and when you don’t want your film to look like it came out of a Disney back alley. Alex not only employs a different medium, his last being live action, but he incorporates what he’s learned from his first film as it relates to pacing, direction and ambiance. The latter can make or break a film like this, the entire production is less than ten minutes long but it never feels like a short, and Alex masterfully orchestrates a voice-over by Paula Garces (HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE) whose voice drips delicately, and deceptively, with animation that looks like it was tightly polished with a shoe boy’s rag.
It’s visually arresting and engaging in a post-modern homage to reflecting the kind of animated, hard boiled crime tales that have been employed in films like KILL BILL. It’s no longer acceptable to only have animation sing and dance to music set by Broadway, it’s now the domain for gritty fiction and stories that don’t use chatty crabs or talking toys.
What makes RED PRINCESS BLUES a delight is the use of Paula’s natural voice talent as it pertains, and as it’s juxtaposed against, to our young hero’s predilection for violence. It’s not that we’re already talking about a girl younger than most middle schoolers, but it’s her story and the obfuscation of what’s really going on that keeps the viewer wondering what is really happening. Good, don’t tell me everything; I think it’s the one thing that mires so many lesser talented filmmakers who think that everything needs to be set up and explained within the first five minutes of a film. It’s OK to slowly set things up and Alex gets that and it’s damn near painful to have to sit through as he builds up to what is a climax of Prelude proportions.
The director, Dan Cregan, deserves a lot of credit for developing the manner in which the animation doesn’t depend on mumbling mouths but on dramatic movements that speak louder than anything that could be measured on a script. The weight that the overall piece has as a result of this style of animation can’t be understated when compared to other shorts of its kind. Where some lean too heavily on set pieces that are bathed in wanton violence this short excels by being understated, calm, about its execution.
This is the definition of what a good tease should be: a little exposition, a little mystery and a whole lot of heart. This little movie that could, has, and it shows in every frame.
Director: Fred Wolf
Cast: Steve Zahn, Allen Covert, Jonah Hill, Justin Long, Jeff Garlin, Kevin Heffernan
Release: February 1, 2008
Synopsis: The story follows the hosts (Zahn and Covert) of fictional wildlife TV show “Strange Wilderness,” which is headed toward extinction because of bad ratings; they hatch a scheme to find the one animal that can save the show — Bigfoot.
View Trailer:
* Large (QuickTime)
Prognosis: Negative. What a miserable looking movie.
I don’t to be too hard on a film that has Justin Long, Steve Zahn, Jonah Hill, that fat guy from the SUPER TROOPERS flick, and those two other perfunctory additions to every Adam Sandler movie, but this looks painfully miserable. The trailer itself isn’t even slightly provocative in a way that would tempt me to see one of the guys who made SUPERBAD so damn good and the other guy who has a nice way about slamming Microsoft.
One of the problems, I think, is that the trailer lingers too long, way too long, on the opening sequence where we’re supposed to find funny that there’s this nature show which is narrated with a lot of bad information. I mean, that’s funny, right? Bears are named after a football team in Chicago? I mean, who wouldn’t find that screechingly hilarious? Salmon attacks on bears are rare. We’re not talking comedy gold, we’re hip deep in platinum folks!
Seriously, this is excruciatingly painful to see play out even if there’s Ernest Borgnine, ½ of the greatest television show ever created, Airwolf, playing a silent second fiddle. There’s an amazing cast of potential funny people, even those who graduated with a degree in physics can attest to the law of potential energy, but instead of dropping that ball off a roof to have its power unleashed we’ve got Jeff Garlin for a split second telling Zahn and Co. that their show sucks the big balloon knot and that they’re cancelled. No shit, Sherlock?
The one shining moment in this trailer comes through a passive visual gag, literally, with Justin Long’s tattoo on his eyelids. If PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN hadn’t already employed the trick in a dramatic moment of its trailer last year this would’ve been even funnier but this is a bright spot in an otherwise crap preview. Justin plays it well and he seems like the best suited for a role where he has to play the requisite stoner everyone will find amusing.
What’s even more odd is that the trailer makers employ the tactic of shoving a bunch of cut scenes together for one long giggle reel but without knowing what they’re all laughing at for any given moment it has the effect of looking rather pathetic and feeling like it’s pandering for smiles. Jonah’s visual gag (what the fuck is with all the physical humor in this thing?) of wearing women’s underwear, again, has been used elsewhere and it just doesn’t seem like something that’s a worthy explanation of why I would want to burn a ten spot to see this tripe.
And, for a hundred dollars, can anyone give me a logical explanation why we’re subjected to a good percentage of running time just to hear someone goofing on a shark’s set of teeth? I mean, literally, we get the reel running again and again with the same goofy ass audio, I guess it’s an effort to show how fucking funny this movie is going to be, with absolutely no payoff whatsoever. If this movie didn’t look so shitty I would say it’s a pretty ballsy move.
Instead, I hope this movie catches the plague at the box office.
HANCOCK (2008)
Director: Peter Berg
Cast: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman
Release: July 2, 2008
Synopsis: There are heroes… there are superheroes… and then there’s Hancock (Will Smith). With great power comes great responsibility – everyone knows that – everyone, that is, but Hancock. Edgy, conflicted, sarcastic, and misunderstood, Hancock’s well-intentioned heroics might get the job done and save countless lives, but always seem to leave jaw-dropping damage in their wake. The public has finally had enough – as grateful as they are to have their local hero, the good citizens of Los Angeles are wondering what they ever did to deserve this guy. Hancock isn’t the kind of man who cares what other people think – until the day that he saves the life of PR executive Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), and the sardonic superhero begins to realize that he may have a vulnerable side after all. Facing that will be Hancock’s greatest challenge yet – and a task that may prove impossible as Ray’s wife, Mary (Charlize Theron), insists that he’s a lost cause.
View Trailer:
* Large (QuickTime)
Prognosis: Positive. Damn you, Will Smith, for your magnetic charisma and debonair good looks!
I really tried not to like this trailer after seeing the theater standee for this movie at my local Cineplex; I mean the thing was 15 fucking feet tall of just his face, all puckered up and bristly, with his pores exposed to the world. I really didn’t know what this was all about but I was determined not to like it for the visual assault on my senses.
Then I saw the trailer and thought better of it.
The movie really does look like something new and different in the superhero genre. I realize some are talking about it as the next logical step in exploring what it is to be a superhero in the movies but with films that already stepped gently into the post-modern superhero genre, MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND being a miserable example, I think a movie like this is different. We’re not going to be seeing the superhero story being told differently from the sheer standpoint that the scale this movie seems to be on, the massively popular summer movie, is ill-equipped to deal with a real examination of what it means to be a superhero in the 21st century. You could certainly see how a comic book like Powers could be a smashing independent feature by dealing with some of the peculiarities of the modern hero mythos but this just looks like it’s going to do it in broad strokes.
And that’s fine! Will is a box office juggernaut whenever he flashes those white pearlies on the screen in his Will Smithian way and his appearance here is perfectly suited to his personality.
When we’re introduced to him and what he’s all about, the obligatory cards prepping us with the idea of there being heroes, superheroes and, you guessed it, Hancock, you have to be impressed with the thought of there being this guy who is homeless yet is able to fly off the cement bench he slept on the night before is intriguing.
Cue hip-hop soundtrack.
I like the visuals, of him whizzing by a passing airliner, him crashing into a road sign, him taking out a cop car of two in the process (reminds me of a great comic book series in 1989, Damage Control, which dealt with the physical aftermath of what heroes did to a city after they were done battling in it) and it establishes quite effectively the character’s persona. Why should I care about this guy? Because he seems infinitely flawed yet troubled in ways I haven’t seen before. Like I said before, this movie is going to paint things with a rather wide, mainstream brush but seeing Smith stop a train only to react to the damage he creates because of what he did and to see him toss a beached whale off a beach only for it to careen into someone’s sailboat makes me smile.
Cue more hip-hop as we dissolve to black.
Consider me intrigued.
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January 23rd, 2008 at 2:09 am
[…] my brother has finally taken upon himself to review trailers. Now that he has, I now have a chance to give my […]