Three Short Reviews of Films That Are At Least Somewhat Worth Seeing

March 7, 2009

Three Short Reviews of Films That Are At Least Somewhat Worth Seeing

Up the Yangtze (2008) ****
Directed by Yung Chang

Up the Yangtze could have been a masterpiece if writer/director Yung Chang didn't adhere so rigidly to a story structure which ultimately disappoints. It’s interesting to compare this to another very different documentary—American Teen. That film’s “reality” is clearly manufactured and manipulated to fit into a comfortable organizational structure with clear introductions and conclusions. Chang’s Yangtze lets reality play out, even though one of the two supposed main characters ends up fairly unlikeable by the end. Granted, unlikeable can be dramatically interesting, except the wealthy boy who works on the tour boat that goes up and down the Yangtze River in mainland China isn’t remarkable at all. Sure, we come to dislike him—but not really with much passion. The other main character is a young girl who works on that same tour boat. Instead of coming from money, her family lives in abject poverty on the bank of the Yangtze, having to relocate whenever the river begins to significantly rise. It’s fascinating to watch her try and cope with so many things—being away from her family, getting along with the wealthier employees, learning proper hygiene, struggling with the ins and outs of her job washing dishes, etc. Not once does the film exploit this young girl, and because of this, I really came to admire her and her family as real people representing too many that are forgotten about by so many who can afford to experience the mighty Yangtze as a tourist instead of as its victim.

Labels: 2008, Documentary, Four Stars, Foreign Film, Mandarin

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (2008) ***
Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Hearing so much praise and admiring Del Toro’s visual skill from Pan’s Labyrinth, I thought I was going to like Hellboy 2 much more than I actually did. Granted, it’s funny, exciting and colorful, but it’s certainly flawed, and contains boring villains and whole sequences that really don’t work at all. Having never seen the first Hellboy, I am judging the character’s appeal only on The Golden Army. I’ll take Batman, Iron Man and Harry Potter any day over Hellboy. This is a marginally satisfying escapist popcorn flick at best.

Labels: 2008, Action, Three Stars

Shotgun Stories (2008) ****
Directed by Jeff Nichols

I applied for a job in Alabama a couple of years ago, and at the time, more than one person kept telling me about how quiet life would be if I decided to take the job and relocate to the Deep South. At the time, I didn’t quite get what they meant. Shotgun Stories, as an exploration in mood, is really quite impressive. When I witnessed its haunting opening shot of a man whose exposed back is filled with scars, I immediately felt as if I finally understood what everyone was talking about when they said that life down there is very serene. Yet, underneath the outer layer of peacefulness lie unhealthy expectations regarding familial loyalty and masculinity. This Gothic Southern drama tells the story of a slow paced battle between the young men of two families with two different matriarchs connected by opposite judgments regarding their shared recently deceased father. Though I believe Nichols’ debut film as a writer/director has been overpraised by many critics, most notably by Roger Ebert, it’s certainly powerfully disturbing, yet ironically tranquil.

Labels: 2008, Drama, Four Stars

Three Short Reviews of Films That Aren't Very Good

March 6, 2009

Three Short Reviews of Films That Aren’t Very Good

Redbelt (2008) *1/2
Directed by David Mamet

Mamet should have passed this one by in order to concentrate on his television show The Unit. Words can’t begin to describe the silliness that is Redbelt’s plot. A jujitsu teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor) encounters a troubled woman (Emily Mortimer) who first crashes into his car and then accidentally shoots a bullet through the front window of his studio. Needing money for reasons beyond his car and his window, the teacher ends up fighting in the ring only to learn that there exists a strong stench of corruption. Mamet’s dialogue never once feels genuine, and similarly, the talented actors on screen do not come close to realizing their shallow characters within the ridiculous situations that come one after another from beginning to end. Redbelt is a bloated, talky, self-important ripoff of Rocky. I feel a little ashamed now because Redbelt doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned in the same universe as Rocky.

Labels: 2008, Action, Drama, One and a Half Stars

Mongol (2008) **
Directed by Sergei Bodrov

I didn’t like Braveheart at all, but movies like Mongol make me appreciate it that much more in comparison. Mongol shamelessly copies verbatim the tone, scope and violence of that Oscar Best Picture winner. Blood gushes everywhere in this glorification of the early life of one of the true monsters of all time, Genghas Kahn. I suppose there’s a level of intended irony in the fact that Kahn is portrayed so sympathetically. Personally, turning one of the worst mass murderers in history into a hero makes me a little bit uncomfortable—perhaps I can take solace in the fact that as a film, Mongol comes pretty close to sucking! Though set in the 1200’s, there’s a 21st century vibe throughout that can’t be denied one bit. The look of Mongol is much crisper than Braveheart, and the contrast of the warriors to the snow covered fields does make the gory battle scenes more striking. Still, whenever a character would open his or her mouth to speak, I would cringe knowing that whatever was about to be said was going to be profoundly stupid.

Labels: 2008, Action, Two Stars, Foreign Film, Mongolian, Mandarin

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) **1/2
Directed by Kevin Smith

Judd Apatow and friends owe quite a bit to Smith—he was making profane, biting comedies that attempt to capture the zeitgeist long before Knocked Up and Superbad. Yet, with Zack and Miri, Smith comes across like someone standing at the front of a line who decides to move to the back of the line in order to let others go ahead of him. Despite a handful of interesting performances by Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks and company, the structure of the movie comes off sophomoric. Everything seems at the mercy of the spattering of raunch within. Sure, I laughed, and yes, there were times I was not proud of that fact considering what was going on in the film itself; sadly, though, too much within Zack and Miri seems manufactured, especially its predictable syrupy conclusion. Though I didn’t appreciate Smith’s Dogma at all, at least it ends with the same high spirited irreverence as everything that precedes it. Zack and Miri’s saccharine finale makes me think that Smith simply hoisted himself up onto the Apatow bandwagon. My advice to Kevin Smith—Let Kevin Smith be Kevin Smith! Get to the front of that line once again… lead in this genre…do not follow!

Labels: 2008, Comedy, Two and a Half Stars