Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus 042710

In the back streets of London, Dr Parnassus (a very very old man), his daughter, a young man, and a midget drive around with their traveling show. On the surface, it appears that Dr. Parnassus is merely a crazy old man but by participating in his show, you gain access to a magical world that will change your life(white chocolate mocha). The problem is two-fold. One, no one is this modern age will participate. Two, Parnassus made a deal with the devil several years ago and on her sixteenth birthday, he loses his daughter. But, a mysterious stranger (Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell all playing the same person) shows up and turns things around.

This movie has a great behind the scenes story. When Ledger died, he had not updated his will in several years, meaning that his three year old daughter received none of his money. At the time of his death he was in the middle of filming this movie. Director Terry Gilliam still wanted to finish the film. Depp, Farrell, and Law all not only agreed to help finish with the film but also wanted everything that they would be paid to be given to Ledger’s daughter. And surprisingly, three actors playing the same character works. Anyway, this movie is trippy. In a good way. It’s a modern day fantasy without trying to rewrite old fairy tales, which we’ve seen far too much of these days. Instead, the story is very original, unless it’s based on a book I don’t know about, and isn’t totally full of itself. The performances are all very strong, particularly newcomer Lily Cole as the daughter but my opinion might be tainted because she’s beautiful. The other actors are great too though. A big highlight though is the magical world of the imaginarium. It looks like a world based on Gilliam’s drawings back when he was still with Monty Python. It sounds too weird, but it’s actually quite lovely. And whimsical at the same time.

The movie is definitely not for everyone. It’s really trippy and the ending is a little disjointed, abrupt, and too open ended. At times the fantasy world gets to strange, leaving you to think, “hold on, what just happened?” One scene does leave you feeling a little disturbed but it was Colin Farrell so it’s okay. There’s also a couple of questions about the Ledger/Depp/Law/Farrell character that are never answered. Such as why doesn’t his imagination affect the Imaginarium? You’ll understand that if you see it.

This is a great late night movie but as trippy as it is, I don’t see it becoming a stoner movie. I do think it has the potential to develop a small cult following. B.

Avatar 042210

A group of English settlers land in Virginia, some to make a new home, others to look for gold. The most adventurous of them, John Smith goes exploring one day and is captured by Indians. He’s sentenced to be killed for being a white demon. But just before the execution the princess asks that he be spared and made her servant because, she has a crush on him. She keeps him for a month before returning him to the settlement. That winter because so many spent all of their time searching for gold the settlement has no food and out of kindness, the natives bring them food.

That was the story of Pocahontas and to all of those that claim this is the same story I ask, “Which story did you learn?” The main reason is the obvious Indian parallel in this movie and people think “Indian love story... yeah Pocahontas.” The real similar story in this instance is Last Samurai, which you should see. Heck, Romeo and Juliet is way closer than Pocahontas.

Now that that’s off my chest, here’s Avatar’s plot. If you’ve seen Last Samurai, you can skip this part. A future earth company has set up a mining colony on a newly discovered planet, Pandora, searching for a mineral that’s very rare on earth but in abundance there. The biggest problem is that there’s a group of humanoids, the Na’Vi, living there. Not only that, but their village is sitting on the largest mineral deposit on the planet and they don’t want to leave. To this end the company has developed a method of growing avatars that resemble the natives, that they can control by mixing in human dna when constructing it. One of their avatar drivers dies in an accident and in an attempt to not waste the incredible amount of money spent on the avatar they hire his marine twin brother to take his place because they share the same dna. He’s sent on a diplomatic mission to gain the native’s trust and after getting to know them and their ways, begins to think he may be on the wrong side.

I was excited about this movie for three years. I love James Cameron. I’ve seen all but two of his movies, Titanic and Piranha 2. Titanic for a lame, personal reason and Piranha 2 because it’s considered one of the worst movies ever made. But he has a standard of excellence in all of his movies except Piranha 2 and it’s his first one in twelve years. One thing that’s fun about this movie is that it makes earthlings the invaders on an alien planet. We’re used to it being the other way around and I’m not saying it’s refreshing, it’s just worth noting. The plot is simple, the dialogue frequently uninteresting but the acting is up to the usual standard expected from a James Cameron movie. Now let’s get to the real reason that people are flocking to this movie: the visual effects are amazing. Absolutely amazing. Were it not for the fact that so much is outside the realm of physical possibility, you would not be able to tell what’s real and what isn’t. The visuals are absolutely breathtaking.

The negative. Apart from the amazing visuals this movie really has nothing strongly going for it. It’s a movie based solely on spectacle. It’s trying to make a statement that’s so blunt that you can feel it smacking you upside the head. The story is too well known. We’ve seen it a so many times and this brings nothing new other than large blue people.

This movie is a joy to watch and if you can find it in a dollar theater or something, go see it because it can only be truly appreciated on a large screen. I’m sure it’ll be fun on the smaller screen but not as much. If you get a new blu ray player and a huge TV and you want to test it, get this movie. B+ for quality but I don’t plan to buy it.

The Lovely Bones 042010

A young girl in the 70’s is murdered by her pedophilic serial killer neighbor. The movie follows as she is stuck in limbo and attempts to move on to the other side and her family attempts to move on from her death.

This is Peter Jackson’s first movie since King Kong (which I will admit was too long and could’ve done without the ice skating scene but I did like it) and it’s not what you’d expect. It’s more like his pre Lord of the Rings movies which were standarder dramas with some very clever visuals. The movie is a very taught story and keeps you on the edge of your seat for pretty much the whole movie. The afterlife scenes are amazing and while secular in worldview it actually makes heaven look really fun with just enough strange thrown in. Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg give their usual excellent performances (except for Wahlberg’s dual strike-out with The Happening and Max Payne but we’ll forget about that) as the parents but the real stars in this one though are Stanley Tucci as the psychopath and Saoirse (pronounced sur-shuh but it’s Gaelic) Ronan as the lead girl. Tucci is one of those that everyone’s seen in something but no one knows who he is. Look him up if you doubt me. He’s just a little bit pitiable, a lot mousy, and all kinds of creepy in a subtle way that makes it extra freaky. Imagine Alan Rickman crossed with Rick Moranis. Sounds strange but it’s close to the right image. Ronan is another on my list of young actors to keep an eye on. If you don’t believe me watch Death Defying Acts. It has Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta Jones and she stole the movie. She is a brilliant actress and only fifteen. She’s also going to be really attractive. I can’t comment on her current attractive level because she’s a minor.

The negative. Two words: the ending. It’s totally strange. You like it but it’s totally not satisfying. At all. And with all the amazing visuals at the very end there’s one that’s so fake looking it reminds you of the 80’s.

A-. It’s a great movie that strangely enough for a drama is a joy to look at it and unlike Avatar, it’s got depth behind the spectacle.

The Young Victoria 042010

Before Queen Victoria became one of the, if not the, most beloved monarchs in Britain’s history (her biggest competitor being Queen Elizabeth) she was a young woman. Her father was the brother of the king of England and the king of Belgium. Neither of them had a child so she was the next in line for the throne. Because of this, her mother’s advisor is constantly trying to gain control over her, and her Belgian uncle is trying to arrange her marriage with Albert, a young man that he’s been training since he was a boy to marry Victoria and twist her will toward Belgium’s interests. When he meets her though, he immediately falls head over heels for her and rebels against the King’s intentions.

This is a love story, but I’ll admit I liked it. Emily Blunt does an excellent job of playing Victoria as simultaneously regal and unsure of herself. This is also a frequently untold portion of Victoria’s life. History class doesn’t touch on the failures of her early years and instead just goes straight to why she’s remembered, which is the point of history class but it makes it seem less real. And less interesting. The real star of this movie though is the guy who played Prince Albert. I’ve been told he was in Pride and Prejudice but I didn’t know that. I don’t know how accurate the story about Albert and Victoria is but the things that Albert put up with and did for Victoria because he loved her is incredibly admirable. Guys who watch this will respect him and most girls will fall in love with him. Really great guy.

The negative. It moves really, slow. This is expected; historical drama and a romance not a whole lot of time for pacing. There’s some disjointed aspects of the plot but again, expected; real story.

I really don’t have a whole lot to say for the bad it’s few and far between. The negative is really just the simple fact that it’s not for everyone. Some will think it’s boring others will find it dumb, and others won’t be able to admit that they liked it. I did. For a date movie, this is a good choice, girls will really like it and guys won’t mind it too much or maybe even like it. B.

Defendor 041310

Woody Harrelson is a masked vigilante who calls himself Defendor, yes it is misspelled but he’s insistent about the pronunciation. He’s a little slow but he’s determined to bring the city’s crime lord, Captain Industry, to justice.

The movie is a great concept that to my knowledge has not been before. I’m not aware of another incident where there’s been an almost retarded “super-hero”. If you don’t count the Hulk. What you have is man with no powers but has a true sense of right and wrong and he’s determined to do what’s right. He ends up stumbling across a deeply rooted conspiracy but he doesn’t quite understand what it is that he’s found. Woody Harrelson does a great job of playing Arthur/Defendor. He’s lovable and doesn’t make fun of the slow population a la Adam Sandler. Instead you admire him. And it makes the point of justice sharper by saying if this man can do this why can’t we?

This is another comedy that left me thinking, “why?” (again, do nooooooot see Taking Woodstock). I chuckled once. And it’s not that the jokes weren’t funny or I didn’t get them, it’s that they weren’t there. It was just not funny with the exception of Woody saying you shouldn’t do drugs. Another negative was Kat Dennings. I don’t like her and I can’t figure out why. But she played her character, one that should have been sympathetic and likeable in a way that made you really dislike her.

This movie is actually very good. It’s not a comedy but if you go in expecting a drama, you’ll really like it but it’s not a multiple viewing movie. B-/C+.

Pirate Radio 041310

In the mid-60’s it was illegal for radio stations in Britain to play rock and roll. In an act of civil disobedience, several DJ’s put radio transmission equipment on tanker ships and broadcast from off the coast. Pirate Radio follows the daily life of the most popular ship after a new boy, Carl, arrives on the ship as well as the government’s attempts to shut them down.

I liked this movie, if for no other reason than the soundtrack is amazing. The cast is also a Brit-com dream: Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords), Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead), Chris O’Dowd (IT Crowd), and Katherine Parkinson (IT Crowd). Beyond that it also has Emma Thompson (a lot of stuff), Kenneth Branaugh (a lot of stuff), Bill Nighy (Underworld, Pirates of the Caribbean 2&3), Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean), and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (a lot of stuff). The scenes in the ship are random but they’re a lot of fun to watch. This little known part of rock history is also just fascinating to learn about, however inaccurate the film may be. It’s also really funny.

The biggest complaints that I have with this movie are three-fold. First, you had the government working hard to come up with ways to shut down the stations but back on the ship, nothing ever comes of it. There is the whole based on a true story thing but they could’ve played it up a little bit. The second, this is an unnecessarily R rated movie. The drugs are never shown but implied. The sex is never shown but implied and the one scene of nudity, completely unnecessary. So the language is not needed. This could’ve easily been a PG-13 movie but they went for the R. This doesn’t bother me too much but from a marketing perspective... yeah. There was one scene that without the language would not have been nearly as funny. Third, how in the world did Jack Black not get on board this movie?

Great characters, fun cast, good script and fun setting. If you like Rock, watch this movie. B+. You’ll want to see it at least twice.