Now Playing: October 16, 2009
This blog has been contributed by Film & TV Channel assistant Kristen Berke.
It's Friday again and that means there's a whole new crop of movies on which you can dump your money. You've no doubt worked hard this week tilling the fields and weaning your young and you wish to take in a film that won't leave you mourning the loss of funds you could've spent on booze. Choosing what film to see without any information is a bit like a round of "Press Your Luck," except landing on a Whammy won't leave you feeling insulted, robbed of your dignity, or wishing for physical harm to come about on another human being. Bad movies can do that to you. Here at Zoom In Online, we're your friends and we want to prove it by providing you with as much information as we can before you attempt to wade through a potential cinematic mine field. Consider us your cinematic D.A.R.E., except funnier and without all the poor results.
Director: Spike Jonze
Writers: Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers
Synopsis: Max, played by the precocious Max Records, disobeys his mom and gets sent to his room. Normal enough so far. However, what follows is an ethereal escape to a land full of thrilling adventures and surprises as we travel alongside Max into the depths of his wild imagination. Max encounters a community of mischievious creatures who, in desperate need of a ruler, crown Max the king of the land. And Max is all-too-happy to oblige, thrilled with the opportunity to finally live outside the boundaries of authority. But soon, he realizes ruling a kingdom of rambunctious wild things may prove to be more complicated than he thought.
On paper, Jonze and Eggers can do no wrong. Hopes have been extremely high since news of the production first graced the tabloids, and movie buffs, fans of the book and hipsters have been eagerly awaiting ever since. With Jonze's offbeat perspective and Egger's whimsical writing, it's no wonder we all went bonkers. However, what is uncertain, and perhaps the most important question of all, is how well the collaborators fill in the missing pieces. Let's face it, they didn't exactly have a whole lot to work with outside of a captivating idea and a 10-sentence, 37-page piece of predominantly picture material (the $80-$100 million budget aside). Also in question is how Jonze handles humanizing the beasts after working with both computers and costumes, depending on the scene. And for that matter, just how human are they? Apparently, it's uncanny just how human they act, which could potentially lead to some obvious problems (is this a magical world? or just another group of dysfunctional degenerates)? Well, just the fact that there's so many questions arguably makes the movie intriguing enough to check out. Go fill in the blanks for yourself.
Director: F. Gary Gray
Writer: Kurt Wimmer
Synopsis: Gerald Butler plays Clyde Shelton, a family man who loses everything (especially his mind) after two buglers break into his home and murder his wife and daughter. The buglers are caught and prosecuted, but before the sentence can be carried out, district attorney, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), asks one of the men to testify against the other in exchange for a 10 year plea bargain. Naturally, the bugler agrees but Mr. Butler certainly does not. As a matter of fact, he's so enraged by the DA's deal that he takes it upon himself to murder the second killer and is thrown in jail as a result. However, even behind bars he continues to cause trouble, threatening Rice, his family and everyone else he has personally decided has ever exploited "justice."
It's not the plot that makes the movie risky business. Personal vengeance has been done a million times before, and quite successfully. But the way in which it's executed here may be cause for some concern. With a psychological thriller like this one, characters must not only be fully capable of blowing up a building, but also multi-demensional and at least somewhat sympathetic. It's understood that Clyde never fully recovers from the death of his family, and some might not expect him to. But would he really turn into a revengeful, bordering on rabid sociopath as a result? Do we even care what happens when it gets to a point where we lose all of our sympathy? Well one thing for sure is this movie certainly delivers the action—lasers, explosions, expensive-looking guns etc., etc. Plus, you'll get in your A-list actor fix for the night as Butler and Foxx go head-to-head in a 'who's breaking the rules now' battle that can only end one way, as far as Clyde's concerned.
Directors: Fatih Akin, Yvan Attal and more
Writers: Emmanuel Benbihy, Tristan Carne and more
Synopsis: New York, I Love You is a series of vignettes that make love seem a little bit like navigating your way across a mine field, but all the more worth it when you finally reach the end. There's awkward moments that will make you cringe, happy moments that will make you cry and surprising moments that will make you happy you're not sitting through just another 'love prevails all' flick. The cast is huge and sprinkled with big stars both old and new, such as Bradley Cooper, Ethan Hawke, Robin Wright Penn, Shia LaBeouf and Natalie Portman all gracing the big screen and The Big Apple for the film. Perhaps even more enticing is the amount of talented writers and directors attached, each one in charge of creating their stylized portion of the project. Natalie Portman tries her hand at directing along with Brett Ratner, Allen Hughes, Shunji Iwai, Mira Nair and many others.
Sure they also invited tween-favorites such as the amateur Hayden Christensen, bland Rachel Bilson and barely watchable Blake Lively to partake, most likely the film's most apparent weak spots. But for the most part the chemistry between everyone else appears genuine, and anyone who's a fan of the city will most definitely enjoy simultaneously reliving their own memorable encounters in some instantly recognizable New York City spots.
Verdict: Where the Wild Things Are and New York, I Love You both deserve a chance. Law Abiding Citizen on the other hand just broke too many movie rules and now, it must be punished. Box office style.
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