The Source Moon...I mean Code

I saw The Source Code today, in an empty theatre… for $4. It’s weird, if there were a $4 theatre showing current movies in LA, you couldn’t get a ticket. In Cleveland, well, the theatre may start sending a car to my door.

I was chatting with my sister at home after the film describing it for her and I said something to the affect of, “Well, did you see Moon with Sam Rockwell? It was kinda like Moon, but on a train”. She quickly responded, “Didn’t the guy who directed Moon make The Source Code?

(I guess I’m not much of a film buff).

She was indeed correct…but so was I. Duncan Jones (who also happens to be David Bowies son) directed both The Source Code (2011) and Moon (2009). To say that The Source Code is “Moon on a train” is in no way a detriment to either film. While its unfortunate that Moon fell under the radar it doesn’t seem The Source Code has had the same fate, and for good reason. Where Moon may have lacked in appeal to a wide audience, not because it wasn’t an excellent film, but because it was small, ($5 million) it was British, it was a first time director, and it was a film that was meant to be watched as opposed to experienced, The Source Code makes up for it in tenacity, relevance, and, dare I say, sexiness?

The plot puts Jake Gyllenhaal on the Chicago Commuter Rail on an early spring morning. The train explodes, thanks to a terrorists bomb, but instead of being thrust into the afterlife, Sean, as he’s known on the train, and Captain Colter Stevens as he’s know elsewhere, is thrust back into a spaceship? A helicopter? Another dimension?  One thing is clear, his mission: find the bomber and prevent the next terrorist attack. The catch, he only has 8 minute periods of time, to go back into time, before the backlogged time catches up with real time, cause well, you know, that’s how the source code works.

Some of the logic behind The Source Code is a little tricky, but what movie doesn’t have tricky logic? Hindsight is 20/20 as they say, but you shouldn’t let that bother you too much here. The Source Code was enjoyable, moved along at a swift pace, possesses an undeniable likeability between the two stars, and as any good film will do, leaves you wondering…”what if”?

And you should rent "Moon".

Enjoy the Skidmarks

The 35th Annual Cleveland International Film Festival Presents:

“In California, an audience watches a tire through binoculars. The tire is named Robert and has come to life. The tire eventually starts going on a killing spree”.

This simple plot synopsis given to the “French” film titled Rubber, sums it all up. (I put French in quotations cause I’m really not sure why the fact that this film is French needed to be mentioned, considering Rubber was set and filmed in California and contains no French speaking characters, although the leading lady seemed to be French so that must be it. But that really doesn’t make any sense either...)

I’ll be the first to say that Rubber ran out of tread quickly resulting in a nap and a drool at about the 45 minute mark. 

To be fair I was pretty tired. 

Despite my timeout, or maybe because of it, I quite enjoyed this work of art. While 85 minutes is a stretch for any movie where the trailer is just about as satisfying as the film itself, I’m sure that Quentin Dupieux was only leaving room for the crowd to simmer down between witty retorts and the possible hurling of old rubber tire treads at the screen. I’d have to bet that actually viewing the movie through binoculars would be hard on the eyes for the entire show, so he wanted to break it up.

When you set out to make a "cult film", and I’m not saying those were his intentions, although it’s a hard point to argue against, you run the risk of being utterly boring and alienating your audience, which he indeed succeeded at gracefully. Rubber, however boring I found it for 5-10 minutes was actually very fun, clever, and dare I say, refreshing. I had to smile, however slightly, at the way it thumbed its nose at Hollywood and fanboys/critics alike. 

This movie isn’t for everyone. In fact, it’s not for most. But if you get a kick out of the thought of a pitch meeting starting “ It’s about a tire who uses his telekinetic powers to explode things, like human heads”... well, now I’m just preaching to the choir.  

*Any movie can really be a "Cult Film" but 7 times out of 10 they are pretty bad movies that have a very specific audience base for one reason or another. Usually, the films depicts some kind of sub-culture or contain some kind of seemingly taboo element. It also needs to have some pretty memorable lines or characters and needs to fall under the radar of mainstream movies...although several big name/budget directors could be looked at as having a cult following, like The Coen Brothers.
Cult Film Examples.
Troll 2
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Reefer Madness
This is Spinal Tap
Re-Animator
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
The Toxic Avenger (My favorite)
UHF
Donnie Darko
Kung Fu movies
Any horror movie
Anything Directed by: David Lynch, John Waters, or Ed Wood

Kick-Ass isn't just a clever title...

After the trailer for Kick-Ass repeatedly made it look like a “Spy Kids” take on comic books I was ready to pass over the cheesy dialog, the warm fuzzy messages about being yourself, and all the truth and justice bullshit for a chance at some comedy down the hall at Death at a Funeral. 

For the most part, I don’t like comic book movies. I’ve never read a comic book cover to cover in my life. The Dark Knight got boring. Watchman was over-rated. 

But something deep within my soul was pulling me towards Kick-Ass. I mean, think of all the jokes I could make about this movie and all the cheese-dicks in the audience. 

I realized quickly that Kick-Ass wasn’t here to mess around. Have you ever heard an 11-year old girl call someone a “cunt”? How bout seen a man cooked in a microwave? And they say Tarantino brings too much violence to the table. Kick-Ass was like Kill Bill for comic book kids… but this movie ain’t for no little kiddies. 

Balls to the wall, campy, ridiculous, unbelievable at times….but so much fun. Violent, obscene, make your mother wonder what kind of kid she raised-fun.

Kick-Ass is adapted from the comic book of the same name created by Mark Millar (even I know that name). It’s about an ordinary kid who decides to become a super hero. No special powers, no million-dollar gadgets. He gets himself a wet suit, practices some lines in the mirror, and POW!-BAM!-ZOOM!, he’s “Kick-Ass”. Nicholas Cage plays “Big Daddy”, a Batman type vigilante with his daughter, “Hit Girl”, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, following closely behind in daddy’s footsteps. Of course there’s a ruthless drug dealing bad guy standing in everybody’s way with absolutely no problem punching a little girl in the mouth... repeatedly. 

I’m not going to get into any of the plot points, it’s too much fun for you to discover on your own. Literally, at times, Kick-Ass had me at the edge of my seat, having no idea what was going to happen next. In a movie like this, I can ask for nothing more.

Kick-Ass is a well-directed movie with action scenes that flow, music that will make your palms sweaty, and it’s funny. Maybe not laugh out loud, quote for weeks funny, but I had a smile on my face more than I didn’t. If you let this movie take you for a ride you’ll be ready to get off by the end, but you’ll be happy you got on board.

My Vote: Surprisingly smart and refreshing. A must see movie for sure.

Getting whacked off on Date Night is never a good thing... or is it?

Phil and Claire Foster, played by Steve Carell and Tina Fey, might be having a good time as they make fun of other people, but they are going through the motions of date night, going through the motions of their marriage. Watching other couples split apart is putting the pressure on the both of them to spice things up before they end up like everyone else.

In a desperate move to liven up their normal Friday night activities, the Foster’s pose as another couple, the Tripplehorn’s, to nab a reservation at the hottest seafood restaurant in town bestowing a Hitchcockian case of the wrong man upon the Foster’s and turning them into the most wanted couple in the Big Apple. The Police, the Mob, and Politicians all need something from them, but the Foster’s are having a hard time figuring out exactly what it is.

Date Night is not a good movie, per se, but it sure is a funny one. Carell and Fey team up and turn a story, one that’s about as original as taking your girl out for dinner and a movie on date night, into something people will be talking about. The twist and turns of the plot are a little tired and in the beginning I became worried that the movies minor pitfalls would become major issues and leave me restless. Thankfully Carell and Fey are masters at their craft and saved the over produced, clichéd story from its self.

James Franco and Mila Kunis are hilarious as the real Tripplehorn's. Mark Wahlberg shows off his Marky Mark muscles while Ray Liotta takes a chance at playing a gangster. Common and Jimmi Simpson play the crooked cops after the Tripplehorn’s and Kristen Wigg and Mark Ruffalo show their faces and help set the story in motion as the perfect couple gone bad. Even Bobby Bottle Service shows up to round out one of the most recognizable casts outside of Valentine's Day.

My Vote: You’ll have a good time at this movie, laughing and forgetting about all the things that go on in your routine day-to-day life. Isn't that what "Date Night" is all about?

Clash of the Titans

Sam Worthington is having a pretty great year as far as actors go.

He came out of nowhere last June when we were introduced to him in the sub-par Terminator Salvation as a half-man half-machine saving the world from Skynet alongside of Christian Bale.

Then the entire world saw him as Jake Sully in the groundbreaking Avatar, a half-man half Na’vi, who tames the beast and saves Pandora.

To round out the trifecta Mr. Worthington stretches his acting capabilities to the limit, playing Perseus in Clash of the Titans, a half mortal, half God, who tames Pegasus and is destined to save Argon.

Apparently casting agents see something in him.

So how does Worthington fair in his third attempt to save the world?

Well, let’s not put this all on him.

I wanted to like this movie, I truly did.  However, I did go into the theatre with lowered expectations; I was not confident that it would hold my attention and keep me entertained. It truly didn’t…even with a head start.

The epic journey of Perseus’ quest to save the Princess and exact his revenge on the Gods who so carelessly took his family from him should jump off the page when read and should be a compelling story to watch on the big screen. While the screenplay may have garnered some smiles from studio execs who recalled growing up with the original, the final product had to leave them feeling betrayed.

There were moments during Clash of the Titans were the CGI looked comparable to the stop-motion of the 1981 original (the scorpions in the desert). Liam Neeson as Zeus looked equally tacky, the light shown off his armor in a way that seemed…out of focus. Maybe in theory that was the thing to do, but I just found it…annoying.

Now lets get real, a $70 million budget wasn’t enough to realize this movie as we can realize it with our imaginations. They should have knocked it down to $30 million, used stop-motion animation, and thrown in some more blood or sex among the Gods, at least then it would have had character, it may have been interesting or even risqué.

The set-up of the 2 hour film is trite, followed by cluttered action scenes, expository dialog, more hard to follow action, blah-blah-blah, a lot of walking/riding and a rather lack-luster climax. The whole film builds up to the release of the Kraken but it was no more a spectacle than what I had seen in the trailer.

Aren’t action adventure stories supposed to be fun and suspenseful? I never once thought to myself; “how the hell are they going to get outta this one”? Clash of the Titans was like a really short, bland, Hobbit-less Lord of the Rings trilogy.

At the 15minute mark of the movie the sound cut out for about two seconds. For two seconds I imagined a world were the God’s had had enough with the mortals portraying them with unimaginative CGI tricks and emotionless dialog and abolished all theatergoers to the lobby… for a refund and a voucher for a free popcorn. Then the sound came back on and Sam Worthington said something cliché.

For two seconds, it was like heaven.

My Vote: This could become an 8-year old boys favorite movie…unless he has seen any other action/adventure movie ever made.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Sometimes you gotta eat the cheese….

I don’t remember too much of my middle school days besides the fact I was small, wimpy, didn’t play sports, tried to be cool, and my best friend broke my arm…and then laughed about it. Diary of a Wimpy Kid could have been my autobiography….

Greg Heffley has just entered middle school and his mother forces him to create a “journal” to log his trials and tribulations…for when he gets rich and famous and doesn’t have time to answer silly questions. My, oh my how I wish I had one of these now. Not because of all the questions I get asked about my childhood, but so I could laugh at how important middle school was to us at 12 or 13 years old. Never the less, Greg Heffley kept a journal, and it will have to suffice.

I realized, walking out of Wimpy Kid, that the past two movies I’ve seen and reviewed had something very important missing, a central character I could care about. It was refreshing to feel something during a movie besides excited or enchanted (Alice in Wonderland) and bored out of my mind (She’s Out of My League).

I’ll admit, at times I found Greg to be a little bit of a jerk. He throws his best friend under the bus over and over only to seem shocked when the friendship ends. However, his brother is an even bigger jerk, so I sympathized with Greg nonetheless.

For a PG movie I laughed out loud a lot more than I would have predicted. I was proud of Greg and felt bad for him all the while his best friend Rowley kept me in stitches. The series of events are rather exaggerated, but I’m sure that my 7^th grade journal would seem a little exaggerated as well.

Lessons are learned and friendships are made stronger by the end. Most films try to accomplish this very simple task but fail to contain any reason for us to care. Kids are amazing. Sometimes I think they are here more for adults benefit than the other way around. Sweet, funny, and to the point, I wish I saw more movies like this on a regular basis.

My Vote: Superbad for a 10 year old.

Kyle Retter

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