Kick-Ass - Review

Before heading to the theaters for the first time this year, I shopped around at Best Buy. A woman came up to me and asked for my opinion of movies, something I wished happened more often. She said she was a fan of romantic comedies but wanted to change her status quo by getting some action films. Other than recommending and getting her to buy THE HURT LOCKER, she singled out two other films. She expressed interest in WATCHMEN, which I quickly shot down since its faithful recreation of the comic was more for the fans of the book than the average viewer. I recommended WANTED instead, since its loose adaptation of the source material and heightened action sequences would be better.

KICK-ASS, based on the series by Mark Millar who also wrote WANTED, is pretty much a faithful adaptation yet made some well-made decisions to excise the more darker cynical story elements in the original material. This made it more easy to fool the average viewer especially with its "comic books are fun" advertising campaign. However, there is a lot of cynicism left to make an entertaining black comedy/satire of why superheroes can't exist.

The film is about how one scrawny teenager decides to stop reading graphic novels and starts his own career in the non-existent superhero business. The only things he have is a green scuba suit and two short staffs. That is it. Sure, the point of his story is that he has the desire and the heart of a hero, but as the film continues you'll notice that powerful weapons, fighting skills, and a good dose of reality is what's needed to be a vigilante against crime and the mafia.

Enter Hit-Girl and Big Daddy, the genuine stars of the film and the real "super heroes". This father-daughter pair, played well by Nicholas Cage and Chloe Grace Moretz (age 11), are to leave your mouth wide open, both to be constantly laughing and cheering and to be shocked at their actions and beliefs. I included Moretz's age both as an lame in-joke to an infamous comic book and also since it's some type of requirement for the review of the film. I liked Moretz and her performance as the murdering moppet, but I wasn't Waltz-ed away like every praising and condemning critic of this film.

Matthew Vaughn does a good job with the film by trying to balance out the bright colored theatrics and the harsh social reality, but it could been done a little better. I thought that the violence wasn't violent enough to create a bigger sting, as there were more gallons of blood then gore. Though, that's somewhat an understatement considering heads, legs, and mouths blow up or are severed. Vaughn could have made a Verhoeven, but the all-out action finale, while thrilling, lost some hold on myself. Also, that extensive shootout with constant strobe effects and flashing was very annoying and should have been handled with better care. I feel so bad for the cinematographer when they shot that.

KICK-ASS is a fun and interesting comic book film and will probably get a good future cult following. It is refreshing to see a statement that largely denounces the Spiderman myth and say that the Punishers and the Cassandra Cains are our only hope. In a way, this film really shows the history of American comic books; as the generally happy heroes with a social conscious were left to the side for the gun-wielding, pouch-heavy assassins during the 80s and 90s. I could go on but this review would just be myself geeking out on comic books. Still, this was more on target discussing the film than Roger Ebert's.

FINAL REVIEW: 4 / 5

Thoughts on the Blackest Night Event

With the release of the last issue on March 31, DC's Blackest Night has finally ended. The event that sucked me back into the comic book world. (Though to be more precise it was the corresponding Green Lantern DTV release)

Now that the war has ended and the results have been displayed in panels, my overall reaction to it has been more positive than good. What could have an all-out awesome fest simply ended up being enjoyable for the most part.

Some grips and thoughts on the entire event:

• With Green Lantern #43 and the first issue of event series, I was anticipating a more harsh and darker event. Instead, it became a giant Lantern war. There is nothing absolutely wrong with this change, but it is somewhat of a bait-and-switch.
• Thank god I didn't buy all of the tie-ins. Except for the Suicide Squad story, they either weren't all that great/important or useless.
• Unlike some cynical critics, I enjoyed Mera getting a big push.
• Green Lantern Corps was my see-saw series. I would be annoyed with the direction, say I'm going to quit next issue, and that very next one would hook me back in again. Now that it's over, I might finally give it a rest.
• I'm still unhappy about the outcome of Owen Mercer.
• How come certain Black Lanterns (Superman, Ice, Animal Man, etc.) that were around near Hal Jordan when he became a White Lantern were given life again but nobody else except for the selected few at the end? Practically everyone was right there. Shouldn't there have been a bigger resurrection?
• And now, for the "Event 12". The "Event 12" are the characters granted life again as picked by Geoff Johns at the end of issue #8. I dubbed them Event since the majority of them were killed during or in relation to previous events in DC. Some were expected (The Hawks and Aquaman), some interested me (Jade, Osiris), and some were odd (Max Lord ? Deadman ?? Capt. Boomerang I ???) At the very least, Johns picked a diverse bunch than just play the popular game.
• "I think DEAD is DEAD from here on out..." Thank you Johns, for possibly enacting a new rule in comic books I have waited for....
• But then, the final cliffhanger might reverse it. Though, I do like to see who becomes the one who is stable enough to be the White Lantern.

So, on to Brightest Day?

I don't know. Maybe a couple of issues and then play it safe with the trades.

Reaction to the Oscars

• Dear Lord, Baldwin and Martin were dreadful. Their pot-shots were so banal and easy to joke. Did they practice in the Catskills or something? Even their absurdism didn't work for me; seriously, how is a Hitler memorabilia joke funny outside of MST3K?
• Doing the Robot to Up's score. No sense.
• Note to self: Don't make a quality short documentary. Your attention-grasping producer will take away all your dignity.
• Edward Scissorhands and Marathon Man are horror films. Now I know.
• The Actor and Actress special intros are an interesting experiment, but the slow pace of this ceremony make them annoying.
• Tom Hanks really hates build-up.
• Neil Patrick Harris would have been the best example of a bait-and-switch and a better host.
• I only wanted one person to win an award. And it was given out. Congrads, Bigelow.

Roger Ebert: The Essential Man

Roger Ebert has been a favorite film critic of mine since I first saw At the Movies with him and the late Gene Siskel. I may not have agreed with him on some movies, but you could tell he truly loved the filmmaking process.

This article written by Chris Jones of Esquire has been floating throughout the net right now and is a great read on his recent life:

http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310

Comments on the Oscar Nominations

http://www.imdb.com/features/rto/2010/oscars

• I'm glad DISTRICT 9 got a Best Picture nomination. One of the good points of switching to ten nominations.
• Jeremy Renner gets his just reward. Take that you stupid Golden Globes!
• Really hoping Bigelow wins it this time.
• A lot of pissed off people at the snub of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Still haven't seen it yet nor do I have a great urge to despite liking the book. A.O. Scott is crying some where in New York.
• Apparently, the really dark and hard to see shots in the Harry Potter film deserved getting a nom in Cinematography.
• I do kinda wish Zoe Saldana would have gotten some respect instead of some art film no one saw with Helen Mirren.
• Suck on it TRANSFORMERS! Your visual effects of robot scrotums deserve nothing.
• The exclusion of PONYO was odd. The Academy likes Miyazaki and his work. I do now want to see this THE SECRET OF KELLS and I'm glad it took away a spot from any of the mediocre animated films released in America.

Overall, I expected the selection and okay with it for the large part. And now, let the battle of the ex-spouses continue.

Worst Films of 2009

And now, for the worst of last year.

As I stated, 2009 was a pretty awful year in film. With so many high-profiled fiascos and flops along with the pretentious and the trash, the selection of 10 terrible movies was way too plentiful. I may not have seen all of them or had an urge to, but these selected few really ruined my viewing experiences and/or made me truly angry at the art of filmmaking.


10. THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE

Steven Soderbergh seems to want to be Godard. The guy may have created a lot of great films, his ever-expanding selfish attitude of filmmaking is causing both Hollywood and myself to lose patience. Case in point, this film released months before his more celebrated THE INFORMANT!. This may have a short running time, but the sheer pretentiousness in every frame overwhelms the viewer. Sure, real-life porn actress Sasha Grey does fit in with the main character and there are some really effective scenes, but the unlikability of all the characters and the constant whining of the now-current economic woes take away all hope. But the direction and cinematography truly are the main culprits. Get ready to view a scene where the foreground characters are out of focus and f-stopped out so we can look at a hanging chandelier. Or, the climax where Sasha argues with her boyfriend but hidden from frame behind a giant couch. Soderbergh, please stop making these stupid pet projects.

9. 12 ROUNDS

The perfect example of bad schlock. This convoulted combined mess of SPEED and DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE has no suspense since it literally follows the same beats as those films. The main villain is absolute stupid as he takes vengeance on a cop for the death of his girlfriend despite the fact that he is more at fault for it. Oh, and his "12 rounds" plan, which results in the massive destruction of New Orleans, is just so he can steal money with a firetruck hose. It gets more stupid if I explain more of it.

8. MY LIFE IN RUINS

Nia Vardalos's career, ladies and gentlemen. One of two projects produced last year, Vardalos desperately tries to recreate success for herself with the abysmal romantic comedy set in Italy. Thrill at the sights of terrible stereotypes and bad characterization. Laugh at a character with the name of "Poopie Cacas." Marvel at how stiff as a board Vardalos is. Instead of the more joyful and bountiful exuberance from her past films, Vardalos commands this feature with everything being forced and no chance for honest laughs.

7. THE INFORMERS

6. GIGANTIC

I'm a big fan of absurdism but this travesty shouldn't be labeled as an example. It is just a very banal and stupid independent film with a plot that is an explosion of annoyingly quirkness. It is a bad Mad Libs creation, as a bed-salesman waits to achieve his dream of getting a Chinese baby while getting attacked by a violent hobo and courting the Maniac Pixie herself Zooey Deschanel. Why are characters randomly in and out of the story? Why is there a scene where men are getting a "happy ending"? Why did I need to see Zooey throwing up? Is it supposed to be hilarious, Mark Aselton? Well, it isn't and you have no sense of making a nonsense film.

5. STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI

4. THE BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINT'S DAY

3. LAND OF THE LOST

2. THE UGLY TRUTH

1. TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN

The absolute prime example of the shear stupidity of the Hollywood machine. This wasn't the bigger and better sequel to the very mediocre first TRANSFORMERS. It was an endless abyss of bad comedy, offensive stereotypes, and badly constructed action and storytelling. Nothing worked.

Best Films of 2009

Ah, 2009. What a great year in film. It had....



Oh, wait. 2009 was a terrible year in film. Sundance was a joke, Cannes was either pretentious or "look at me" controversial, and the Summer lineup and Oscar month were both mishandled and suffered from a lot of duds. From the piles of disposable celluloid, there rose a select few films that made for great entertainment, interesting artistic direction, and/or brought up issues surrounding the human condition.



I wanted to do a Top 15 list, since I don't like the strict construct of a Top 10 and the expected reactions/opinions of viewers. However, since I couldn't find or didn't see five other worthwhile films for myself, this countdown will just follow the status quo.



First, some Honorable Mentions or films that made me indifferent to include:



INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS had some great scenes and the fine performance of Christoph Waltz, but the possible re-doing of Black Book, the dumb characterization and directional problems ruined my expectations. WATCHMEN suffered heavily from two truly awful lead performances and a perplexing changed ending but the art direction and the acting of Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley made it a treat for this fan of the comic book. GOMORRAH had a very good cinema verite and some fascinating storylines but the pace was sometimes too slow and two of the plot lines hardly had any reason to be told.





10. AVATAR

9. MOON

When I first saw this in theaters, I was a little conflicted about it. Maybe it was the obvious comparisons to 2001. However, time has helped pave over the problems and it has become one of the best sci-fi films of the year where the science is more important than action. Duncan Jones, who somehow can't be described without including that he is David Bowie's son, created a great debut film for himself thanks to a tight script and good mise en scene. Sam Rockwell pulled off a great performance, making you feel truly care for his character as he faces certain death and a crisis in his personal identity. A special mention also must go out to GERTY, the helper robot voiced by Kevin Spacey who is well constructed and lovable thanks to a smiley interface.

8. NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD

It might not be for everyone, but this documentary on the history of exploitation film in Australia is highly entertaining and enlightening. Rather than just be an extensive showcase of film clips, the film brings up many issues surrounding the Australian film industry including nationalism, art vs. entertainment, and the casting of Hollywood actors. It's edited very well, except for the constant Flash animation, and has an unbiased attitude towards its interviewees. The Ozploitation may still be hidden from the rest of the world, but this documentary is a giant thank you to the genre filmmakers of Australia.

7. ZOMBIELAND

6. PONYO

5. STAR TREK

4. AWAY WE GO

Many film critics were very harsh against the film upon its release and in the year roundups, declaring it as utter "smug." I do see what might have caused this outlook, but Sam Mendes' latest film was one of my few real treats in theaters this year. It has a very hilarious and bittersweet script from Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida and a great cast.

3. DISTRICT 9

2. THE HURT LOCKER

1. UP