Review: The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

It occurred to me after watching the film The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) that I have fallen in love with the George Clooney drama/comedy hybrid film which I would like to refer to as the Clooney Dramedy. He seems to blend the two styles together so well that it always catches me off guard every time that I see it. A good case in point in the style of comedy that he incorporates into his films would be the scene involving The Predator tool from the film The Men Who Stare At Goats. If you scroll down a couple of paragraphs you may view the video of the scene with the Predator.

There is a fine line that Clooney has perfected in which he can portray the character to believe to be taken seriously, but he is so outrageous and over the top that it is hard for anyone else to keep a straight face. Clooney is the perfect character actor who can be cleverly disguised as the straight man of a comedy duo. This particular style of acting may have been fine tuned during Clooney's working days that he had spent on the hit television show E.R. (1994-2009) when he pulled together the same combination of characteristics for the role of Dr. Doug Ross. If a person was to sit down for a double feature night at home with a couple of DVDs from the film library of Clooney's career I would suggest this film to be paired with any of the following titles if you are interested in a Clooney Dramedy evening. In no particular order the suggested titles would be: Burn After Reading (2008), Leatherheads (2008), and Intolerable Cruelty (2003). My own personal selection would be to combine The Men Who Stare at Goats with Burn After Reading, but I maybe swayed into another selection if the material is just right. Anyway, here is the video clip that I was describing earlier.

"The Predator" from The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

It is with an easy possibility that I am giving too much attention to George Clooney in this review, but I must also point out that he would not have been so good in this film if he did not have an amazing cast to work along side with for the film. Ewan McGregor offers a tremendous amount of skill to the film that works very well for all of the scenes between him and George Clooney. The two of them seem to have played off the other person's performance like a catcher and a pitcher would do in a baseball game. Ewan's character, Bob Wilton, serves as the narrator and translator for Clooney's character, Lyn Cassady.

The supporting characters are just as memorable of a performance as those done by the lead actors. The performance from Jeff Bridges as the hippie military man Bill Django shows a subtle hint of The Dude, but still he was very cool and sly with his passivised character. Kevin Spacey does his usual roundabout as the "chip on his shoulder" character Larry Hooper who is always seeking a way to be the king of the hill. Also, there is one of the most overlooked character actors that absolutely needs to be noticed. Stephen Lang appears as Brigadier General Dean Hopgood and he rounds out the cast of performers in this film with such a unique style that it completes the film very well.

Horrifically Happily Thanksgiving of 2009

I am wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving holiday with the hope that it does not turn out like this horrific tale...

Promotional Photos for Jonah Hex (2010)

I am definitely looking forward to the release of the new comic book adaptation film Jonah Hex (2010) which stars Josh Brolin as the anti-hero main character. He is joined by the current flavor-of-the-month hottie Megan Fox who is currently riding the coattails of Michael Bay to the top of her acting career. No offense to her as a person, but we need to see a bit more variety in the film roles that she is hired to portray before earning an official amount of street cred as a valid thespian. Showing up as the resident hottie in two (possibly three) of Michael Bay's Transformers action franchise films does not guarantee immediate credibility. Mr. Brolin, on the other hand, has proven himself capable of acting very well in heavy duty roles such as Chief Buchwald from In the Valley of Elah (2007), George W. Bush from W. (2008), Detective Trupo from American Gangster (2007), and Llewelyn Moss from No Country for Old Men (2007). He also received an Oscar nomination for his acting role in Milk (2008) which I have not yet seen (but I have seen the documentary that the film is based upon). It is amazing to see an actor who is credited with a feature film debut in The Goonies (1985) to be an Oscar nominated actor with a large lot of credible films under his belt. Megan Fox has been credited with an extremely minor role as the fifteen year old Cowgirl Dancer who shakes her groove thing under a waterfall at a fictitious nightclub in the action film Bad Boys II (2003) that was directed by -- you guessed it -- Michael Bay! If you do not believe me then I just dare you to watch this video clip of her "shining debut" or read this article that quotes her talking about the experience. Good times had by all! However, it was not until the comedy film Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004) did she really have a solid speaking role. Thank goodness for that film, because I am not sure how much longer I could go with watching a bunch of repeated performances with her wearing a stars and stripes bikini and dancing under a waterfall without speaking a single word to anyone. That's a tough stretch!

Okay, so other than the long winded lecture about the acting capabilities of two different actors I would like to return to the subject of what brings the two of them together. They are both appearing in the Jonah Hex film together. It is based upon the comic book character from the universe of DC Comics. The character's first appearance in a comic book was in issue number ten of All Star Western which was published and released in March of 1972. The character returned in an on going comic series in the late 1970s. Recently he has reappeared in a new series of comic books that began in 2006 and currently will be issuing a 49th issue in January of 2010. I have the first six issues of the new series at home in my room and I am hoping to continuing buying the remainder of the series as soon as I am able to pay for it.

So, back to the movie adaptation of the character. Recently there has been a newly published photograph that has been released on the internet for the world to see. It is the first photograph that I have embedded below. The rest of the photographs are a bunch of behind-the-scenes snapshots that were taken of both Josh Brolin and Megan Fox in full character so that you can visualize how the two characters will appear in their full glory. I am looking forward to seeing the movie when will be released in the early part of the summer season next year. Good times had by all!

Widescreen versus Pan & Scan playback

Are you a visual learner who cannot rely on textbook definitions to grasp concept, but must learn through hands on experiments or visual demonstrations? Here is an excellent video that visually demonstrates the difference between a widescreen film, a full screen film, or the tremendously annoying pan and scan film. However, for posterity sake I will include the textbook definitions for each of the three terms.

Widescreen is a "projection systems in which the aspect ratio is wider than the 1.33:1 ratio that dominated sound film before the 1950s; in the 1950s, many widescreen processes were introduced (to combat the growing popularity of television), such as CinemaScope (an anamorphic system), VistaVision (a non-anamorphic production technique in which the film is run horizontally through the camera instead of vertically), and Todd-AO and Super Panavision (that both used wider-gauge film); also known as letterboxing." (source)

Pan and Scan is "a technique that avoids the 'letterboxing' of a widescreen film for a full-framed 4x3 home video or TV picture, by focusing on the elements of the picture that are most important to the plot and by adjusting or cropping the image; when an important part of the image drops out of the visible screen, the picture is mechanically panned to the side (left or right in a ping-pong effect) to show the missing part - hence, the term pan-and-scan; approximately 43% of the visuals are sacrificed or cropped out in the pan-and-scan version, affecting the director's original intent and aesthetic sense." (source)

And now for the visual demonstration that would show the difference between the two styles. Enjoy!

Review: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)

Where should I begin to talk about a film that attempts to break into the current hype of vampire stories geared toward drawing in the teenage audience? The prominent vampire films of the season would be the Twilight films, but in between each release for the franchise there are other films such as Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (2009) that arrives in the theaters with a bit less of a sizzle and flair. It would be a viable piece of “blasphemy” for all the Twilight fans to read that I am too stubborn to even watch a single scene from any of the Twilight films or read a single page from any of the books. Shocking news, I know. In spite of the lack of enthusiasm for those films I must admit that I tremendously enjoyed the over the top fun and excitement of watching The Vampire’s Assistant. I do not fall within the target audience that the production company executives were hoping to reach, but they still have my admission ticket money so I doubt they would even care anymore. However, do you want to know the huge irony of the situation here? The directors for each of the two films are directed by a pair of brothers. Chris Weitz has directed The Twilight Saga: New Moon while his brother Paul Weitz directed Cirque du Freak. Does anyone see the possibility of sibling rivalry here? I sure do!

Anyway, pushing aside the miniature rant against the Twilight franchise I would like to point out that there is a microscopic bit of a personal connection that I have with the Cirque du Freak movie. At the time the film was in production, I was visiting Universal Studios in Los Angeles when one of the campground scenes was being filmed. I knew it was for this particular film, because near the main entrance to the park there is a chalkboard slate near the main entrance of the park that would list every film that is slated for a production shoot that day. Cirque du Freak was slated for filming in Studio 28, which is the building right next door to the Backdraft attraction. On a random side note for the visitors of Universal Studios, there is a rumor on the street that the attraction will soon be replaced by a Transformers themed attraction. Sigh.

Now for the meat and potatoes of my review of the film I will admit that I enjoyed watching Cirque despite the numerous bits of corny dialogue that has sprinkled throughout several scenes in the film. In addition, who could help but think of Willem Dafoe’s cameo appearance as anything other than a humorous ode to Vincent Price, which makes his appearance at the beginning and end of the film quite entertaining? The cameo appearance seems rather disjointed with the rest of the story, because I do not know the purpose or connection that the character serves in relation to the entire story or history of the Cirque du Freak series other than the brief moments that drops in to have a social chat with Larten Crepsley (played by John C. Reilly). Why a big name actor would be hired to play a bit part in a film could serve the purpose of two possible reasons. Either it was for a mere cameo appearance that would provoke a few laughs for the audience or for the possibility of securing him or her for the possibility of a bigger role in a sequel film. Since the movie is based upon a series of books, I would presume Willem Dafoe was brought in for the latter reason, hopefully. Regardless of the intended purpose for his contribution to the role of Gavner Purl there is still the curiosity of why the character even existed in the film. It seems Gavner serves nothing more than to exist as a device for Larten Crepsley to verbalize his thoughts and feelings.

In addition, I began to question why Larten appeared to have fallen to the wayside during the third quarter of the film when the main character, Darren, begins to inseminate into the new lifestyle as an assistant to a carnival player. It is interesting to consider for a moment that a carnival freak would need an assistant or the idea that the carnival freak would be a vampire who is dating the bearded woman. However, I would still wonder why the character would have a prominent role in the first half of the story and then magically fall into a supporting role for a bit before reappearing for the climactic ending. What was the purpose of this change in roles?

There is definitely an opportunity for a sequel for this film, because there was a large amount of background history that was hinted in this film that needs to be explained a bit more. I would love to see a better explanation and more involvement for the role of Gavner Purl. Moreover, there would be a bit of room to spare with the incorporation of the centuries old battle between the Vampanese and the Vampires. The opposing sects are separated as a minor difference between the good people and the bad people that are forever at war. The two main human characters, Darren and Steve, are pulled apart as friends to be transformed into battling foes who reside on the opposing sides. It is a rather old age plot device that has been used in stories for several centuries, but still a classic tale that is entertaining when it can be told with an intriguing voice.

Unhealthy movie popcorn? Stryker, no!

Don't say it is the truth? Okay, an independent health study says that movie theater popcorn is unhealthy for me. As summarized rather simplistically in a recent article published in the Los Angles Times...

"A medium-sized popcorn and medium soda at the nation's largest movie chain pack the nutritional equivalent of three Quarter Pounders topped with 12 pats of butter, according to a report released today by the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest."

Stryker, no! This cannot be true. Sadly, it must be true, because it does sound reasonably logical. However, I do not want to believe, because I want to enjoy my popcorn and soda. Mainly it would be the cooking oil, the excessive sugar, and the crap load of additives that are too be blamed for the unreasonably unhealthy selection of snack items to munch on during the course of watching a movie. I am sad to hear the news, but I will continue to enjoy my junk food none the less when watching a movie.

COTD: Penelope Cruz in Nine (2009)

Here is the COTD: Clip(s) of the Day for November 15, 2009. Penelope Cruz is current my favorite hottie from Spain. She is co-starring in Rob Marshall's new film adaptation of the Broadway musical Nine (2009). If you may remember he directed the Oscar award winning adaptation of Chicago (2002) which stars Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere. Here is the first video which offers a twenty-second snippet of Penelope performing a song from the upcoming musical film.

And here is an interview she did with David Poland of The Hot Button in which she talks about her nervous fear of singing and dancing in the movie.

And here is a direct link to the trailer for the film if you have not seen it yet.

Review: This Is It (2009)

My review for the Michael Jackson concert film will be a rather brief article. I must say that the documentary concert film This Is It (2009) might possibly contain a small amount of monetary motivation by Sony Pictures who might possibly be greedy enough to want to make a profit from his death. I am not saying that it is an actual fact, but a mere speculation. Also, I do not want to discount the idea that the film is an honorable tribute to an iconic figure in the modern era of contemporary American music. Michael Jackson is a talented musician who can sing and dance with no equal comparison. To watch the footage of him rehearsing for the final concert tour that he was planning to do is utterly amazing. I will gladly admit that I have garnered a new amount of respect for him, because I could not have imagined the amount of dedication he had to be the ultimate performer. Not only did he know how to produce a song that the world could really enjoy listening to every day, but he was able to perform the song live in front of an audience with such style and flair that would blow their socks right off. Even watching the rehearsal footage of a stripped down to the basics of a performance could give almost anyone the chills. When people have asked me for an opinion about the movie I usually describe it as watching a set of home movies with an amazing soundtrack. It may be an understatement to describe the film in such a way, because the response I have heard from other people who have already seen the film mention it to be an amazing documentary of his career. In addition to being surprised by how impressed I was of seeing Jackson’s valuable work ethics there was another unexpected gem seen in the documentary. His lead guitarist for the concert is 24-year-old Australian blonde by the name of Orianthi Panagaris who has the guitarist fingers of Carlos Santana and the looks of a young supermodel. With her sidekick performance in the film I have a gut feeling that her career is going to skyrocket overnight. As a little bonus feature to the review I have embedded a video reel of her previous performances.

Review: V for Vendetta (2005)

The Fifth of November
English folk verse circa 1870.

Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes and his companions
Did the scheme contrive,
To blow the King and Parliament
All up alive.
Threescore barrels, laid below,
To prove old England's overthrow.
But, by God's providence, him they catch,
With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
A stick and a stake
For King James's sake!
If you won't give me one,
I'll take two,
The better for me,
And the worse for you.
A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a jolly good fire to burn him.
Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

Once in awhile there is a story that has been produced for the cinematic screen that enraptures my entire attention until the very last moment. Sometimes the film is based upon previously created material that was encapsulated in another format such as the printed text (also known as a book or an article in a periodical). Maybe it is the way in which the story is portrayed; the way the actors have brought the characters to life in such a way that I have forgotten they are merely playing a part; possibly, it is the way in which the scene was beautifully photographed. Frankly, it may be a glorious culmination of all the right pieces of a puzzle that hits a personal soft spot for me. The action film V for Vendetta (2005) is one of those stories that hold a special place in my nostalgic memory of movie watching. I would have to indulge the assumption that I conjure up feelings of nostalgia because of what was going on in my life at the time that I had first watched the film, but setting aside that premise I would still like to say that the film is a very entertaining and emotional film.

The story is rather simplistic, of sorts, which we have all seen before, especially for anyone who has watched a film noir story from the 1940s. The main character is a hard working production assistant at a major television broadcast station. On a late night stroll to visit a prominent figure at her work she is attacked by a couple of wayward government employed cops who are hoping for a little bit of sexual deviancy only to find themselves bruised up rather harshly by the anti hero of the story. V is an underground terrorist who idolizes the courage of historical icon Guy Fawkes. Evey is the damsel in distress who is pulled under his wing as an apprentice. Over the course of the next year, she falls in love with him as he teaches her about courage, self-esteem, and the moral responsibility of holding the government accountable to their civic duty.

It is not to meager to say the story is too plain, the heroine is ideal figure who emerges from a cocoon to reveal a beautiful butterfly, or even the simplistic correlation the anti-hero maybe viewed to be a reincarnation of a worn out gangster from a James Cagney film. Despite the simplicity of the film, there is still a sense of sparkle and magic within it that woos my imagination to another dimension of fun and excitement. The production design of the film was created to absorb our contemporary lifestyle that we are well accustomed to living and transcend across several years into the future when the international affairs have crumbled into moral chaos and ludicrous control by the government. The citizens of England, which is the location of where the story takes place, have somewhat turned a blind eye toward the oppression that government has placed upon them. Several of the government officials are corrupt figures and the Supreme Chancellor of England is a fanatic with over-the-top behavior that is comparable to Adolf Hitler.

In culmination, the movie has the perfect amount of drama, conflict, very entertaining action sequences, strong characters, an amazing amount of creativity with the production design, and just the right amount of an emotional story to create the perfect recipe for an entertaining film. It is my own personal vendetta to watch this film at least once every year during the fall as a bit of an honor to remember the fifth of November.

On a completely random end note I must proclaim that a couple of weeks ago I had made an attempt at cooking up the idea of producing a "Guy Fawkes blogging event" with a group of my fellow LAMB Associates. I had asked several of them if they would care to join together on November 5, 2009 and publish a review or editorial article about the film V for Vendetta on each one of our own websites. I had asked them to send me a link to their published articles so that I may include them here. Overall, I must offer a huge amount of thanks to the one person who actually did send me a link to an article. For your enjoyment, I would like to suggest that you visit Insight into Entertainment to read this review of the film that was written by Jess.