Undefeated

Okay, so I have my pick for best Actor (even though he wasn't nominated), best Actress (who I am sure will win), and now I have my pick for Best Documentary. Undefeated is a beautiful film from beginning to end dealing with kids who are going through unimaginable circumstances, dealing with soul crushing poverty while playing the bone crunching (and ligament tearing) game of High School football. The movie is about the 2010 season of the Memphis Manassas Tigers and it has everything you can think of. The school's football program has never won a playoff game in it's one hundred and ten year history, it's star defensive player spent time in a penitentiary for youths, it's smartest player grapples with self doubt, and the teams star player has his very own Blindside like life to help get his grades up.

Then there's the coach. Bill Courtney is without question, a driven man. He's driven to be a successful businessman, husband, father, and winning coach. More than that though, Bill Courtney is driven to help the young men on his team to become better men. He sacrifices so much (as does his family) to make sure the young men don't fall through the cracks or by the wayside. While watching this film I both envied and felt sorry for Coach Bill. I envied him for being in those indelible moments that shape young men, moments they will never forget. For being instrumental in their lives and for being there when the light goes on and those young men finally get it. I felt sorry for him when he's had to break up the fights, deal with the seeming ungratefulness, and expending the amount of energy it took to get his team up to and across the finish line. I'm sure if you asked Coach Bill Courtney who HIS hero is he would say his wife, with NO hesitation.

The film follows him, the mercurial Chavis Daniels, the charming Montrail "Money" Brown, and the preternaturally gifted O.C. Brown as they ride the highs and lows of their season. If you have ever seen the Peter Berg directed movie Friday Night Lights (which I highly recommend), this film will seem very familiar to you. The only difference being Undefeated was happening in real time. These were real experiences. The doctors were real, the injuries were real, the anguish was real, as were the triumphs. The movie had it's hilarious moments along with many heartfelt ones as well. Like when O.C. puts cologne on for the first time for his girlfriend. It's such a sweet moment you can't help pull for these kids.

I heard nothing but great things about this film so I had to see it for myself and I am truly glad I did. I don't usually recommend documentaries to people because we all have different tastes, and those tastes may not run in the same direction but SEE THIS FILM!!! You will not be sorry and you may find yourself pulling for it on Oscar night just like me.

Red Tails

Let me just state here and now, for the record that I REALLY wanted to like this movie. I went in with amazing high hopes because I thought here was finally going to be a beautiful, wonderful, and epic portrayal of those heroic and brave trailblazers, The Tuskegee Airmen. It was directed by a Black man and produced by the man behind the amazing Star Wars movies, George Lucas. It was written by the very talented John Ridley, scored by the jazz great Terence Blanchard, starring some of today's best Black acting talent walking on the crust of the planet, as well as having the surviving airmen on the set during the filming. I had been looking forward to this movie ever since I heard that Black men flew fighter planes against Hitler's feared Luftwaffe back in World War II. That was a long time ago, I know so to say I was looking forward to this movie was putting incredibly mildly.

In a world where there are less and less Black faces on network television (unless you count those silly judge shows and insipid reality TV shows). Scripted network work seems to continue to elude today's young Black talent so I can just imagine what the casting job was like for this film. As the casting director I'm sure they had their pick of the youngest, brightest, and the best. Actors like Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds from "The Wire", David Oyelowo, and the great Andre Royo. Not to mention the incredibly multi talented Terence Howard along with Oscar award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. Let me not fail to mention Ne-Yo, Bryan Cranston, Method Man, the beautiful Daniela Ruah. This film had everything going for it is what I'm saying and sadly, very, very sadly it was ultimately disappointing.

Maybe it was my fault I initially thought. Maybe I went in with expectations way to high and no film, no matter how good it was, was going to live up to them. Maybe I thought, this movie wasn't really that disappointing. The action sequences in the sky were digitally amazing, some of Industrial Light and Magic's best work. It was dizzying and it had those moments when you felt like you were part of the action. Guns blazing, planes breaking apart and crashing to the earth, Flying Fortresses under attack and putting up a valiant fight until they succumbed to the relentless attack of the mighty Luftwaffe, some truly gripping sequences. The problems arose however, when the planes came back to earth.

Here was my initial dilemma. Was the acting bad because of the directing? Could Spike Lee have done a better job behind the camera? Granted, I give a lot of credit to Anthony Hemingway for helming the project and having to answer to George Lucas. I would imagine the only harder job on the planet would be President of this country. Would Spike have been able to work with George or vice versa? Anthony Hemingway is an accomplished director, of TV and that's when it hit me. His scope wasn't epic enough. This movie looked like a made for TV movie instead of the seminal piece it should have and could have been. We never really get to know the men themselves outside of their flaws and great flying abilities. We never find out what pushed them to become airmen and why they so badly wanted to fight for a country that hated them. We're left with nothing significant, nothing we could sink our teeth into.

The score by Terence Blanchard was equally disappointing. I am a HUGE fan of Blanchard's and I bought both his Malcolm X and Miracle at St. Anna scores because those were absolutely moving, powerful, and poignant. Red Tails in contrast seemed directionless and uninspired. There didn't seem to be the heroic theme this story deserved. This score told no story and like I wondered if Spike could have done a better job directing, I wondered what this score would have been like had John Williams had a crack at it.

I really wanted this movie to make me walk out of the theater the way I did after seeing Platoon, worn out and exhausted. Instead I walked out scratching my head and wondering if what I had just seen was any good, and that's never good. I won't say don't see it but I will say don't rush out to see it either. Me personally, I'm still holding out hope that one day there will be a movie worthy of those brave and valiant Tuskegee Airmen.

War Horse

When I saw the trailer for this movie, admittedly I got excited. One of my all time favorite directors has a new movie out with the score done by none other than the maestro himself, John Williams. The movie, the cinematic retelling of the smash Broadway hit of the same name which was adapted by the novel by Michael Morpurgo of the same name, War Horse looked like it was going to be thrilling. The trailer had all the elements of what looked to be an exciting movie. I mean really, who doesn't love a good horse story and by that same vein who doesn't love a good war movie? And if you've seen Saving Private Ryan you know Steven Spielberg is a master of the war movie genre. The trailer was stirring, horse racing past barbed wire while explosions lit up the night, the soaring score, the aerial shots of the lush countryside, the trailer had me hooked. Sadly though upon seeing Spielberg's latest offering I have come to the conclusion that the trailer was leaps and bounds better than the actual movie in my opinion.

War Horse had a cast of so many faces that I didn't recognize and a lot that I did thanks to Harry Potter. Cast members like David Thewlis and Peter Mullan hail from the Potter canon while Eddie Marsan is in two winter movies this year. He is in this film as well as being in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The rest of the key members of the cast includes the immensely talented Emily Watson and Jeremy Irvine in his first film as Albert Narracott, the boy that loves his horse. The rest of the cast comes and goes in the movie as they come into contact with the horse. It's more an ensemble piece which I think takes away from the movie. There are so many people that come into contact with this horse that's been taken from Albert once England goes to war with Germany that there aren't any real emotional ties to any of the characters. Do you care about the little French girl who's sick or her grandpapa doing his best to keep her alive? Not really? Do you care about the two young deserters from the German army who only want to get home back to their mother? Nope, not really.

Don't get me wrong, this movie WILL tug at your heart strings unless you're a cynic like me. In that case you'll wonder why everyone around you is crying their eyes out and you're not. You may wonder what is wrong with you. I am here to assure you that there's nothing wrong with you or those crying and blowing their nose into tissues and handkerchiefs. Spielberg, the master manipulator he is pulled out all the tricks for this movie. The blazing sunsets, the closeups, the music, the war torn country sides, the evil Germans, the heroic Brits it's all here in here. Wrapped up for you in a nice bow and in two hours and twenty six minutes. There were good scenes, really good scenes, gripping even but there weren't enough of them to make a good movie. If Spielberg focused on Albert doing his part in the war and on the horse doing his part then maybe this movie would have hit the bulls eye but as it is, it's not even a flesh wound. The only significant emotional storyline is between Albert and his drunkard of a father Ted played by Peter Mullan. Ted has been through war and according to Albert's mother Rose his father drinks to forget all the killing and dying he's seen. Albert doesn't believe it but he soon finds out what war is like and how it can break a man. He comes to see his father in a completely different light towards the end and that's touching.

Cinematically the movies is beautiful to look at. Like I mentioned, the aerial shots, the sunsets, and scenes of war are impressive but nothing was better than the horse himself. I don't know how many horses were used in the making of this film but if it was just one, he was magnificent to look at. He's a pretty good actor as well. Spielberg has Janusz Kiminski as usual doing the cinematography and it appears Janusz has lightened up a bit. His look is usually very bleak bordering on black and white images but this movie is full of color which seems like a departure for Kaminski. The score is, well do I even need to mention the score? It IS John Williams after all.

If you're a sentimentalist then bring tissues and if you're not, don't bother. For that matter only see this film if you're a Spielberg fan, if you're not then skip it and wait for the DVD and I'll see you at the theater.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

If you liked anything about the first Guy Ritchie directed Sherlock Holmes movie then catch the first steaming thing you can find and see the sequel. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is by far a better movie in every way. Where the first Holmes movie was the set up pitch, the appetizer, the second is without a doubt the main course. The chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law where in the first Holmes movie was cute, here it flows on a far deeper level. These guys should do more movies together and hopefully there will be a third Holmes film.

Now Robert and Jude had some great company in this movie much like the first one. The usual cast of characters are back like Rachel McAdams playing Irene Adler, Kelly Reilly who finally becomes the wife of Watson, Eddie Marsan as Inspector Lestrade, and Geraldine James who plays the befuddled maid of Holmes. The new additions to the cast this time around raise the bar. Noomi Rapace fresh off her turn as Lisbeth Salander stars as Madam Simza Heron, Stephen Fry as Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother, Paul Anderson as the lethal Colonel Sebastian Moran, and Jared Harris who plays the diabolical Professor James Moriarty.

Now I liked Mark Strong's Lord Blackwell in the first film but he has NOTHING on Jared Harris' Moriarty. Both men were hell bent on world domination but where Blackwell wanted to trick his way into that with Black magic, Moriarty takes a more head on approach by trying to start the first world war. And where Blackwell was no real match for Holmes, Moriarty is more of a worthy opponent. If you've seen the first movie you know how skilled Holmes is as a fighter, Moriarty is equally as skilled in the art of pugilism and gives Holmes a serious run for his money here. Moriarty has France and Germany on the brink of war and only Holmes and Watson can foil his plan for it takes someone as crazy as Holmes to defeat someone as crazy as Moriarty.

Visually the movie is stunning and I am sure there will be some awards handed out, especially for the chase through the woods segment. That was not only fun to watch, it was intense as well. There are the usual Guy Ritchie flourishes here and there if you know his movies. Every director has their trademarks and Ritchie is no different though he refrains from over doing it. I must also mention that there is a hilarious donkey ride that set to the music from the Clint Eastwood western classic Two Mules for Sister Sara. Guy said regarding the first Sherlock Holmes movie that it was his most accessible movie to date, well this then is his second and also his best.

Armed with a great story to work with, a great cast to direct, a budget that I am sure far exceeded the first one, and Hans Zimmer outdoing his old score by leaps and bounds Guy delivers a movie, a sequel that far outshines it's predecessor. One I would see it again in a heartbeat. Maybe I'll see you online and if not, I'm sure I'll see you at the theater.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

"To say I was looking forward to seeing this movie is an understatement". That's the line I started the blog entry for David Fincher's last film the social network and I was right for using it then as I am right for using it now. David Fincher has directed yet another masterpiece and he has, in my humble opinion moved himself into the same rarefied aid of Spielberg, Scott, Scorsese, Jackson, and Nolan. His latest offering, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo far surpasses the original Swedish film adaptation of the book by the same title. The book, originally entitled Men Who Hate Women is clearly shown in many aspects of both films but Fincher pulls no punches in his rendition and Rooney Mara falls so deeply into Lisbeth Salander that you'd think she had been waiting to play this role all her life.

Noomi Rapace played Lisbeth in the Swedish versions and she has since become a star thanks to that role. She is currently in the latest Sherlock Holmes film and is also in the eagerly anticipated upcoming movie Prometheus directed by Ridley Scott. She chose not to reprise her role for Fincher's version which was smart on her part. I personally don't see how anyone could have played Lisbeth twice, the demands are so great. That opened the door for Rooney Mara who was also in Fincher's the social network. She was the young lady at the table in the beginning of the movie with Mark Zuckerberg played brilliantly by Jessie Eisenberg where she dumps him. Hard to believe that's the same young actress when you see her in Tattoo.

She is surrounded by an exceptional cast in this movie starting with Daniel Craig who actually shows his acting skills. Playing James Bond I guess doesn't allow for such nonsense as say acting. Rounding out the cast is the exceptional Christopher Plummer playing the patriarch Henrik Vanger, Steven Berkoff who I have always been a fan of since first seeing him in Beverly Hills Cop, Stellan Skarsgard, Joely Richardson, Robin Wright, and a Goran Visnjic sighting. For those that loved the show ER in it's AC days (After Clooney) know who he is. Throw that talented lot into a pot along with a screenplay written by the Oscar award winning screenwriter Steve Zaillian, Oscar nominated cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, and Fincher and you are bound to have a superior movie.

Since Stieg Larsson's books have been out for years now I won't get into plot detail but I will say that what makes Fincher's Tattoo better than Niels Arden Oplev's version is that in Fincher's film Lisbeth seems more fleshed out. Granted there are times when she's robotic in her actions and seems almost Vulcan in her showing emotion but Fincher not only makes that work, he plays upon it. Where Oplev's version ends with the death of the bad man, Fincher shows the complicated yet blossiming friendship between Lisbeth and Blomkvist. He also shows how wily and talented a hacker Lisbeth is by illegally accruing a fortune. I am really hoping Fincher will do The Girl who played with Fire which is the second book in the trilogy and my favorite of the three.

The score, put together by the Oscar award winning duo that won for the social network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are back at it again and while this score isn't as dynamic as network, it is far moodier and darker than their last one which fits this film perfectly. I think they will be working with Fincher for as long as he is making films because they seem to be on his wavelength. It'll be like the pairings of Speilberg/Williams and Nolan/Zimmer. When you see it's a Fincher film you will instantly know Reznor and Ross will be doing the score.

Go see this movie, you won't be sorry you did and I'll see you at the theater

The Descendants

I had originally thought the absolute worse film of this year (2011) was Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Like I stated, that film lacked every ingredient a film would need to be even halfway decent. Well after what I was just subjected to, Pirates has some serious competition. The movie is called The Descendants and it stars George Clooney who plays Matt King. Matt is your average, middle aged, run of the mill lawyer living on one of the islands off of Hawaii. He's the father of two incredibly disrespectful daughters and the husband to a wife who is currently in a coma. This god awful film will take away at least an hour and a half out of your life that you will regret giving up, I assure you.

Now George has had some vanity projects before (see Solaris) but this one takes the cake. He is virtually almost every shot in this film. If you like George and you think he's hot then you should definitely see this movie. Not only is he in damn near every shot but his close-ups are SO close at times that you can see his pores. Directed by Alexander Payne, the man behind the camera of such disturbing yet likable fares like Sideways and About Schmidt, The Descendants doesn't seem to know what story it wants to tell so it falls completely flat.

It doesn't know if it wants to tell the story of how an absentee father now tasked with the job of raising two daughters alone copes with that responsibility. It doesn't know if it wants to tell the story of how the descendants of King Kamehameha are in line to sell a huge chunk of land on one of the islands to some developers and how Matt has the final say over who they sell too. It doesn't know if it wants to tell the story of a grieving husband who finds out from his oldest daughter that his wife was cheating on him and was about to ask him for a divorce before some tragic boating accident put her in a coma. This movies doesn't know if it wants to be a comedy or a drama and because of it's lack of direction this movie has some severe lack of impact on you the viewer.

Also starring in Clooney's vanity project are Shailene Woodley who plays his oldest daughter Alexander King, Amara Miller who plays the younger daughter Scottie King, Patricia Hastie who does no acting at all. She just layed around on set playing the comatose wife and mother. You see her only once doing something in this movie and that was in the absolute beginning of the movie, even before Clooney's voice over begins. Oh you thought I was joking when I called this one of Clooney's biggest vanity projects. Not only is he in every shot but he speaks throughout the film as well. The rest of the cast in this complete waste of time isn't really important.

The movie opens up with the cheating wife in a boat and that fades out and then you hear George before seeing him. He talks about how people who don't know any better think that living in Hawaii is paradise and how living there must be great. As if the cancer on Hawaii and the surrounding islands isn't as fatal and the heartbreak isn't as painful. He goes on to say "fuck paradise" and YET paradise is pretty much all you see for the rest of the movie. I don't know how hard it is to make Hawaii and it's neighboring islands look less like paradise but if you open up with "fuck paradise" and then that's all you show, how is anyone going to take you seriously?

The music is annoying at times unless you like Hawaiian music and can understand the language. It's way too much ukulele and moaning if you ask me which detracts from the drama and doesn't add to the comedy or something like that. This movie was touted as an Oscar contender and was believed to bring Clooney his second Oscar but this film is garbage and if he even gets nominated, let alone beat out Leonardo Dicaprio then there is something seriously rotten in Denmark. I wish I knew what movie those people went to see because it sounds like a good one. They certainly didn't see THIS one.

Do yourselves a favor and act like this movie doesn't even exist, you'll be doing yourself a favor and saving an hour and a half of your life.

J. Edgar

Okay, a few blog entrees ago I mentioned that a certain actress should win the Oscar for best female performance in a major motion picture. I am here to tell you that while I really didn't like J. Edgar, if DiCaprio doesn't win best male performance then someone was paid off. Seriously, you don't realize how freakishly talented Leo is as an actor until you've seen him portray the maniacal, paranoid, egotistical, closeted gay, coward that was J. Edgar Hoover. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the ONLY reason to see this film is for Leo and if I had a vote in who walks away with the golden statue, it would be him. He carried this disjointed excuse of a movie from beginning to end and does an outstanding job.

Starring alongside Leo is Naomi Watts who plays Helen Gandy, Hoover's extremely loyal right hand and personal secretary. Dame Judi Dench plays Anna Marie Hoover, the overbearing and over nurturing mother of J. Edgar. Geoff Pierson stars as Mitchell Palmer, the man who gave Hoover his start, and Armie Hammer as Clyde Tolson, the one true love of Hoover's life. It is truly an impressive cast but they were all undone by the way this movie jumps all over the place. One moment Hoover is a young and eager patriot hunting down the Bolshevik threat to America and the next he's an old germaphobic man with liver spots. There is very little in the way of character development for anyone in this film and that includes Hoover himself. Written by the Oscar award winning writer Dustin Lance Black who won for Milk, I'll just say J. Edgar wasn't his best work.

But wait, maybe it wasn't Dustin's fault. Maybe the fault lies squarely with the director. I have never really been a fan of Eastwood's movie making even though I did enjoy his Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Unforgiven, and Million Dollar Baby films. The issue though has always been his penchant for a sever lack of color which makes his films look almost black and white and the pacing. His films at times can put an insomniac to sleep. So maybe Dustin wrote a phenomenal linear screenplay, rife with provocative word play and serious character development and Clint decided to cut it all out. Maybe Clint chose to forgo Dustin's straight ahead story telling and decided to take us the viewer on a trip through time, zig zagging back and forth through eras because he thought that showed just what an artist he was. Or was he hiding Dustin's shortcomings? Who's to say? All I know is that the incessant back and forth through time disappointed rather than impressed.

What did impress me though, other than Leo were the suits. The clothes were sharp and worn extremely well. Everything from the hats to the shoes, this was a handsome film and Emmy award winning costume designer Deborah Hopper should be in the conversation for Oscar consideration, in my humble opinion of course. Scored by Eastwood, the music was sparse yet intense which is rare for him. The movies he's scored in the past have all had sweet melodic themes but lacked any vigor or intensity until now. Not worthy of going out and buying the score but it was a job well done.

I just wish I could say that about the film itself. I would pass on J. Edgar and see something else unless you are a fan of history. Even then though I dare say you would walk out disappointed as the credits rolled. The only saving grace is Leo so on that note, on a scale if one to four I give J. Edgar one and a half junior G-Men badges. I'll see you at the theater.