I know It’s a little late to be reviewing (and possibly gushing over) the latest WWII film staring Tom Cruise in a super-cool eye patch.But let’s face it I’ve been really behind on my holiday releases.  So please bare with me while I play a bit of catch-up in the next week or two.  But moving on…

I went into this film experiance expecting a way too over the top performance by everyone’s favorite psychopath scientologist and nuttball.  But what I got was a very well casted and well crafted action film.

In a weird way, I am a little disappointed that I didn’t hate this film.  I’m just way too used to not liking Tm Cruise.  Even When He’s in movies that I absolutely love (e.g. magnolia) I find myself saying things like “Oh Tom Cruise was just way too over the top in X scene,” etc.  But there was really nothing about his performance I didn’t like this time around.

I think the one thing that I was really setting myself up to hate was the sort of minagerie of accents throughout the film.  Usually when there is a specific period piece with languages and accents that arent properly represented, It makes it hard to concentrate and throws the whole feel of the film out of balance ( e.g. Richard Loncraine’s ‘Richard III’).

But they write their way around it very nicely.  They have a soliloquy in the very beginning of Cruise speaking german and slowly fading into American English.  This is a wonderful transition and a great way of saying, “Well we know it’s all supposed to be in german… but just, please pretend because it was pulling teeth to get Tom Cruise to speak german for one minute let alone 90 minutes.”

‘Valkyrie’ had everything that a WWII action film needs.  It had a great suspenseful plot, explosions, really grainy handheld shots, an awesome use of Wagner, and even Eddie Izard as a minor role. The only thing missing was George C. Scott.

I also love the fact that this was a WWII film that doesn’t end with the American forces storming in to save the day.  It wasn’t an American vs nazi film.  It was very much a Germany vs. Nazi film.  And that was the most intriguing part of the whole story.   Too often, we get the “Just following orders” story about Nazi Germany, and it was Very refreshing to see the story of those who refused to follow.

‘Valkyrie” was a fresh take on the WWII genre and a suspenseful thrill ride that earns a place on my “best holiday films of 2008″ list.  And I am proud to say that Tom Cruise has boosted himself up a few notches in the past year and I would love to see him inmore redeeming roles and cameos in the future.

  And the nominees are: Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Well, It’s new years day and just like everybody else, I have the Twilight Zone marathon playing behind me and I’m not even paying attention to it.  Instead, I’m taking a look back in the past year of cinema.  

We’ve seen a lot of both fantastic films this year.  We’ve seen some great documentaries like the Alex Gibney film, “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.”  We’ve seen some big blockbuster action films like, “Iron Man” and “Dark Knight.”  And we’ve even seen some fun, goofball comedies such as “Pineapple Express,” and “Tropic Thunder.”       

However, we’ve also seen some pretty terrible crap roll into theatres the past year;  Stuff like the Paris Hilton film “The Hottie and the Nottie.  ”We’ve also seen crappy remakes like “Death Race” and “The Day The Earth Stood Still.”

And so on and so fourth…

Now, I was going to just pick what I thought was the best and the worst films of the year, but that just didn’t seem fair.  I don’t think I can make a decision like that on my own.  It’s too much responsibility for me to handle. 

That’s why I want to know what you think, Geekshow reader.  Feel free to use the comments section below to nominate your own Best/Worst of 2008. 

I will look over everyone’s nominations and construct a poll to see what you guys feel is the absolute best and worst films of 2008.  Then I will sit down and review the winner/loser.   

About the fourth one in I noticed something weird. Just about every one of them was directed by the same two guys. Naturally I immediately went to IMDB.com (the film student’s cliff notes.) Apparently, Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. are responsible for about 99 percent of the world’s taped-off-of-TV VHS tapes full of cartoons.

Between them they have either directed or produced countless films such as: Rudolf the red nosed reindeer, Frosty the snow man, Santa clause is coming to town, just to name a few.

The only animated Christmas film I can think that they haven’t done is “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.” (Which is my second favorite Chuck Jones film… second to “what’s opera doc.”) Also, all of the stuff that Disney has made over the years (but that’s another post).

Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. are also responsible for a number of fantasy cartoon films. The either produced or directed each one of the animated “lord of the rings” films.

I feel like everyone in the world has seen “Rudolf” or “Frosty” at lest a dozen times over, but no one ever talks about Jules Bass or Arthur Rankin Jr. I think it’s time to give them the recognition they deserve. Their works are timeless, and will be part of holiday public access programming forever. This is why I’m giving Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. the first ever, Angry Projectionist, Underrated Filmmaker Award. Merry Christmas and happy Boxing Day, everyone!

I really had myself set up for disappointment when i got set up to screen a print of the new Frank Miller take on the Will Eisner classic, “The Spirit.”  But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised in that i was only somewhat disappointed.  While I didn’t absolutely hate the film, I didn’t exactly love it to death.

Now, I am a big fan of Frank miller’s style as a director.  It’s dark, It’s gritty, it’s violent, it’s everything the Spirit isn’t.  While The Spirit is a noir detective comic, it isn’t particularly dark.  It is a bit on the lighter side of the genre.  When I hear Miller was doing it I was immediately disappointed.  Because while i really like his style, I just don’t think it’s right for this project.

I felt that at times, Miller didn’t quite have a grasp on what kind of movie he was making.  There were times when it was lighter and joke driven, but there were also times where it was very dark and grizzly.  There were some over the top, ultra-violent fight scenes that Miller is known for, but at times, I really felt like i was just watching a live action cartoon.

This makes me a bit worried about the “Buck Rogers” film that Miller is rumored to be working on.  I really can’t picture a dark, Noir Buck Rogers.  Hopefully Miller has something new planned for such a project.

There were some points in the film where the acting made me want to throw vegetables at the screen.  The flashback scene with The Spirit and Sand Saref as children was especially hard to watch.  The girl they got to play young Sand was really hamming it up.  It was like a ninth grade play performance.  There were also some scenes with Samuel L jackson that made me a little upset (i.e. the octopus in a nazi colonel uniform…wft?)  Scarlet Johanson’s character also really bugged me at times.

As far as the plot and story go, I feel like it was missing an awful lot.  They seem to rush through a lot of the story and fail to fully explain some of the weirder elements of the story.  For example, how exactly does The Octopus have an endless stream of the same henchman.  While I’m always down with an endless supply of badguys, it was a little weird.  Also, the Octopus is supposed to be a master of disguise, and i really didn’t see that much at all.  In fact he was kind of hard to miss.

As much as it pains me to say this ‘The Spirit’ is a comic book film that is worth skipping.  It’s a shame.  I was really hoping they could do a good movie version of THE comic from the guy they name the award after that they give people for making great comics.  I guess we’ll have to wait a few years for the remake to surface.

The Angry Projectionist

The Day The Earth Stood Still - Invasion of the bad sci-fi horror remake

I went to see this film bright and early with my dad, who remembers seeing the original as a child. I thought to myself, one of two things can happen: either he gets that warm fuzzy feeling from the re-imagining of a childhood favorite, or he gets to see Hollywood spit on the grave of a classic. I think we got a little bit of both.

Up until about the end of the second act, I was actually impressed. They managed to take the idea of the original story and see how today’s society would react to such a scenario. The whole idea behind the 1951 classic is that a group of interstellar police-types come along and threaten our way of life. They explain that we are killing our planet and unless we stop the human race will be erased, and that not until we change our ways will we be left alone. And this, for the most part is the plot of the first two thirds of the film. Then something weird happens: the writers seem to loose the point somewhere.

The 1951 version was a metaphor that we as a race need to stop and think about what we are doing to this planet and ourselves. It was a story of the human race literally stopping their course of action. This is the case with the newest version, however, I feel like we didn’t learn anything in the end. Instead of us changing to stop our destruction, we convinced our destructors that there is “still good in us.” That while we will continue destroying our planet, we are still “nice” and that “love will conquer all.” HUMBUG!

There is also a strange and unnecessary plot twist in the beginning of the third act that made me really lose hope for this film completely. I was just so upset that they managed to hang on to the real point of the story for so long only to just carelessly drop it and cop out in the end.

There were also a few things that I just wanted to see from this film. For instance: FLYING FREAKING SAUCERS! Not one. Instead we get these big orbs of light. LAME. I want spaceships and I want them NOW. I feel that, in trying to modernize the story, they lost it. But hey, they almost had it.

I’ve also heard a lot of complaints about Keanu Reeves being in this picture.  I had no problem with him at all.  In fact I think he was perfect for the role.  While I can’t take him seriously in a role where he doesn’t say “woah,” or “strange things are afoot at the circle K,” I do in fact buy him as an emotionless alien life-form.  I think he should do it more often.  I am however, afraid that Jennifer Connelly is starting to type cast herself as the sciencey love interest type.  I miss her “Labyrinth” days.

Overall I was able to enjoy this film for what it is at least a little bit. The special effects were pretty cool and I like what they did with the giant robot in the beginning (but not in the end… lame plot twist and all.) But in the long run, if you want to see a good version of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” it already exists and it has for over 50 years. I’m officially done with these bad remakes. It isn’t like the original is gone. I think Big Hollywood needs to put its money and resources into something fresh and new, and leave the classics to the classics

The Angry Projectionist

Punisher: War Zone – Best Punisher Movie EVER (but what does this really say?)

I’d like to start this off by saying that my expectations weren’t exactly high for this, the third Punisher film adaptation attempt.  There was way too much negative buzz about this film to get me too excited.  But I have to say; I was pleasantly surprised at how well good ol’ Frank Castle was portrayed this time around

First off, Marvel never disappoints when it comes to an exciting and creatively driven opening credits sequence.  Marvel Studios always knock themselves out on the first thirty seconds or so of a film (see also Spider-Man 1.)  They manage to really pull The Punisher from the pages of Marvel and fling him up onto the big screen in style.  By the time the first scene opened I was already fully immersed in the film, all out of “buncha’ crunch,” and ready to go.

This was easily one of the most violent films I have ever seen (it rivals the most recent Rambo film just to give you a reference as to what I mean.)  Castle manages to brutally execute about 50 people before even saying his first line of dialogue.  They did the right thing with not wasting their time on a back-story and an origin. Get right to the killing.  Shoot first… ask questions later.

This brings me to my next point:  There was a bit of buzz during marketing about possibly cutting it down to a pg-13 rating after the success of “Dark Knight.” First of all this is terrible logic.  The Dark Knight did well because it pushed the envelope.  It went from a cheeky kids film to a semi-brutal slugfest.  So to try and tone down The Punisher would be a real shot in the foot.

Now, if they had cut it down for a pg-13 rating, they would be left with maybe 10 minutes worth of a few touching scenes with Castle confronting a young girl, and some beautiful helicopter shots of New York City.   This film was brutal, merciless, and at times down right disturbing … I loved it.

The production design of this film was nothing less than beautiful.  The color scheme and color saturation looked like it was torn right out of a Steve Dillon comic and thrown up on the screen.  However, where the design excelled, the content quality suffered.  The action sequences and photography were beautiful, and the violence was… well…artistic, but it just wasn’t all it COULD have been.

The acting at times was rather exhausting.  Dominic West’s character reminded me of a cheesy Dick Tracy villain.  And there was some accent butchery that made a lot of the dialogue unnecessarily cheesy.   Too often, a very dramatic scene was cut up by a very cheeky and lame delivery. .  This once again makes me worried about the upcoming “Watchmen” film.  While it looks fantastic, how are they going to cram all that story and character development into it and not make it cheesy and lame?

There is also some good news to come out of this film as far as comics go.  Usually a film will make the print version of a story suffer due to pandering to new readers.  This is very much the opposite.  Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon are picking up the War Zone story starting this month.  I can’t tell you how excited I am about this.  The best writer/artist team is back in the saddle and they are bringing back some exciting characters from the “Welcome Back Frank” storyline.  Keep your eyeballs peeled.

Overall this film was a real step forward for The Punisher film franchise.  I loved the violence (somewhere Stephen Segal is blushing) and I really liked the style of the film.  And I didn’t want to, but I really rather liked Wayne Knight as Microchip.   With all it’s shortcomings, it still managed to be the best so far.  I hope in the long run The Punisher will continue to see screen time and continue to get better. I give Punisher War Zone two bloody, dislocated thumbs up.

Punisher: War Zone in theaters NOW!

The Angry Projectionist

News and Reviews from Behind the Port Glass

I am a film projectionist for a major theatre company (I’m not going to say which one.  Don’t worry, Big Hollywood.)  This means that I handle giant blockbuster films all day and never get to see anything good or independent.  Occasionally something really good manages to make it’s way up on our screens, but it’s mostly big budget stuff that idiots love wasting money on.  But I figured, since I get to see pretty much any major Hollywood picture I want for free, I may as well write about it.

I also get asked a lot of really stupid questions on a daily basis.  So let’s get all of that out of the way right off the bat.  First of all: Yes.  We do still use film.  35mm polyester film to be exact.  We have one digital projector, but I tend to hate it and resent it because it is a chilling reminder of how I will be replaced with a robot in the next two years.  Also: No.  I don’t have to watch the same movie all day long.  I have 22 machines to keep track of and I could get fired if all I did was sit around and watch the same film all day (not to mention I’d probably want to blow my brains out. )  And last but not least: No.  I don’t splice porn into the films (although if you can find porn on 35mm film, then I would be more than happy to add some leader to “Kung Fu Panda”.)  There.  It feels good to get that all out of the way.

Now, don’t get the idea that I’m just some jerk who hates my job and doesn’t know what he’s talking about.  I actually like my job a lot.  I get to keep my hand on the pulse about what people like to watch.  I get to see box office numbers first hand.  And since I’ve started this job, every box office prediction I’ve made has come true.  I may have “the gift.”  I also have a bachelor’s degree in “film theory and production.”  So I have a formal education in the matter (that I often ignore, but whatever… it’s on paper.) So, needless to say I’ve had an overwhelming feeling that I’ve been wasting my life and that my education was in vain for some time now.  Writing reviews is more or less a way for me to vent my frustrations of the horrible industry I work for, while at the same time putting  some validation and purpose to my life.

I feel like Geekshow is the perfect place for a film “critic” such as myself.  I come from a rare line of film geeks.  I am classically trained in that I’ve studied Bergman and Fellini, but I also have a strong opinion that “Mighty Ducks 2” is one of the greatest sequels ever made.  I’m the kind of person that, if they made director trading cards, I’d have Kubrick’s rookie card.

So next time you go to the movies, look behind you when the movie starts and give your projectionist a little salute; because there is a good chance he hates the film you are about to watch, and he resents you for wanting to watch it.