June Movies

Sherlock Holmes: (blu-ray)

I didn't have high expectations for this film.  It's not my typical fare, but I like Robert Downey Jr's acting, so I wanted to see how he handled this role.  Unfortunately, even the low bar I had set for this film was way too high.  When I think of Sherlock Holmes, I think of a good mystery that if you pay close enough attention, you might and I stress might be able to work out who dunnit.  But in this case, it's so far our there, they have to spend the last 10 minutes explaining exactly what the last 2 hours was about, with incredibly obscure clues and a confluence of circumstances that goes light-years beyond the plausible.  To top it off, they portray Holmes as a buff fighter who just happens to be drunk most of the time.  I guess the old cocaine habit wasn't gonna get them the PG-13 rating they wanted.

The action sequences were just plain boring.  I found myself waiting for them to end, with the final fight on the under construction London bridge the worst.  Then there was the less than subtle set up for the next film in the series leaving you thinking I just spent two hours watching an elaborate setup for a sequel...how shitty.

I've liked some Guy Ritchie movies in the past...Snatch and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels...but this one just sucked.  The only reason it gets 2 stars is for the sound, the DTS-HD Master Audio was amazing, and for the backdrops and cinematography.  Beyond that, it's worthless.

Best Line:  "Never theorize before you have data.  Invariably, you end up twisting facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts."

Runner-up:  "We don't expect you to share our faith...only our fears.  Fear is the more infectious condition."

Liberty! - The American Revolution

We all learn parts of this story in school, but I wanted to see this 6 part documentary to give myself a refresher on the events leading up to and about the founding of this country.  The episodes cover the time period from roughly 1763 through 1789, a 26 year span that would bring tremendous change to the American colonies.

The documentary starts many years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, walking the viewer through the events that lead a once proud British colony to desire its independence.  As the show moved through the events of the revolutionary war, I realized I had forgotten (or was never taught) the important role the French played in helping America defeat the British.  With the colonies supply of goods shut down from Britain, they had to find another source for weapons, money and forces and that partner was France.

As one would expect, Washington is one of the main characters of the war.  We think of him as a brilliant general, but we have to keep in mind, he only fought 9 battles during the 8 year war and won only 3 of those engagements.  Not a stellar record.  But what he did have was an ability to rouse his troops and keep the idea of liberty alive in their minds.  For that he certainly deserves our praise.

This great series concludes with a wonderful show about the creation and ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by the states, making them the United States of America.  This documentary is definitely worth watching to remind one how this nation began and its founding principles.

As a bonus, Philip Seymour Hoffman makes multiple appearances portraying Joseph Plumb Martin, a soldier under Washington and of course, does a very respectable job.

My choice for best line reflects something I think we've begun to forget about this country.  The Constitution was created to protect the minority from the majority.  Not to solidify a majority view or to provide the majority with implied rights.

Best Line:  "The biggest danger to our rights today is not from governments acting against the will of the majority, but from government which has become the mere instrument of this majority.  Think about it, that's where the abuse of power comes from.  Not the tyranny of the king, but the tyranny of the majority.  Wrong will be done as much by an all powerful people as by an all powerful prince." - James Madison.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus: (blu-ray)

Terry Gilliam never makes a normal movie, maybe that's why I continue to watch them even though I don't always like what he does (see my review of Tideland).  But I do know I will always see something unique and this one is no different.  It tells the story of a father, Dr. Parnassus (played by Christopher Plummer), who made a deal with the devil (played by Tom Waits) that allowed him to have a daughter.  The catch, the daughter becomes the property of the devil when she turns 16 and that time is quickly approaching.

Dr. Parnassus makes another wager with the devil to try to save his daughter.  This time he is helped by a stranger found beneath a bridge dangling from a rope tied round his neck.  Who he is and how he got there is a mystery.  The stranger is played by Heath Ledger in what would become his last role.  Tragically, he died in the middle of making this film.  Ledger's role was completed by three other actors; Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell.  Gilliam weaves these actors into the story in a way that makes complete sense.

It took me a while to get my footing on this story, but once there it began to become enjoyable.  The acting is good and Tom Waits is the personification of the devil, he just so looks the part.  The loss of Heath Ledger is tragic.  You can see that he had incredible talent and could have had a long and illustrious career.  We'll never know what memorable characters he could have brought to life.

I'm not sure I would recommend this film, but for those looking for a completely off-beat story that seems like it would make more sense after dropping some acid, this one is for you.

Best Line:  "If he's hanging by his neck he's already got a rope."

Brothers:  (blu-ray)

Great acting can't always save a mediocre story, but in this case, the acting is so superb from the three leads, it makes it worth seeing this film.  It's basically a story of a dysfunctional family and the interplay between them with the circumstance of the war in Afghanistan there to create another issue for them to deal with.

Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal play two brothers, Sam and Tommy.  Sam is a marine captain following in his father's footsteps.  Tommy is a recently released petty criminal.  It's obvious whom their father likes best and he makes sure they both know.  When Sam is deployed to Afghanistan and his helicopter is shot down, word of his death reaches his wife, played by Natalie Portman.  But Sam isn't dead, instead he is taken prisoner along with one of his men by the Taliban.  What Sam is forced to do before being rescued changes him in profound ways.

Sam returns to find his brother has become a surrogate father to his two small children and in the process has been working to turn his life around.  Sam continues to be tortured by the events of his captivity.  The reaction of Sam to his home life and to what he sees as the intrusion of his brother into it is the focus of the remainder of the film.

As I said, I found the story itself to be mediocre at best, I couldn't see the motivation for what Sam did while in captivity, it was so outside of his nature and training.  But then again, maybe that's the point.  What would someone do when placed in that situation.

Best Line:  "Every family's got it's problems."

Avatar:  (blu-ray)

I finally got around to seeing this mega-movie.  I had heard so many things, mostly about how the visuals were amazing, but the story is shallow and predictable, so I had fairly low expectations going in.  I must say, it was better than I expected, but I agree with the assessments I'd heard.  The characters are either black or white; there is no gray.  The story is very predictable, but has some comic relief that helps.  There were some cool things, like the mind meld with the creatures and trees and such.  But one thing kept bugging me.  It was the year 2154 and the army hasn't advanced technologically from bullets and missiles.  Not only that, there were no remote controlled anything...they all had live pilots.  Come on, even today we have drones that are piloted by people half a world away.  You would think in nearly 150 years the army technology would advance to at least lasers or something.  And to end it with a knife fight was just laughable.

I would recommend seeing the film, if you're one of the 5 people on the planet that hasn't already, but it's not one for repeat viewing.  And I don't think it was deserving of an Oscar nomination for best picture.  Thanks god ( and in this case I mean the Academy voters, hence the little g ) it didn't win.

Best Line:  "She said all energy is only borrowed, and one day you have to give it back."

Daybreakers:  (blu-ray)

With the recent release of the latest Twilight film, making vampires into thoughtful, feeling, sparkly beings, I decided I needed to see a more traditional vampire flick and Daybreakers fit the bill.  It has a great premise...it's the year 2019 and the majority of the world's population has been turned into vampires.  The remaining human population is dwindling so the availability of blood to feed everyone is becoming scarce.  If a vampire goes without blood long enough they turn into crazed winged creatures that then cause mayhem.  Ethan Hawke plays a vampire who is also a hematologist (how convenient) working to create a blood substitute, but his efforts fail...with a bang.

But as luck would have it, he finds another way to save the world only to have to battle his old corporate boss who has no desire to fix things.  Instead he wants to become the Gillette of blood...recurring revenue is the goal.  At this point the story kind of falls apart and degenerates into an exploding bloodbath.  Not a bad flick, mildly entertaining but ultimately vapid.

This isn't a movie with great dialogue, so not much choice for best line, but here goes.

Best Line:  "Well, life's a bitch and then you don't die."