Brian Tallerico

Melodrama, Weak Performances Hold Back ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’

BrianTT — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:51:51 -0700

Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The amazing adoration for “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” is based on one of two things: a crush on one of the cast members or goodwill spawned by a love of Stephenie Meyer’s books. Without people’s passion for Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, or the source material, the “Twilight” films have little merit on their own. “New Moon” is a slight improvement on the last entry, but fans still deserve better.

If you have a poster of Robert Pattinson on your wall and have followed every casting announcement for “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” like Chicago Cubs fans follow their favorite team, then there’s little point in trying to dissuade you from your affection for the franchise. I understand the desire to desperately want to love on the big screen what meant so much to you on the page. It’s much the same motivation that allows people to look past the flaws of those they love. But the flaws are there and director Chris Weitz, most of the cast, writer Melissa Rosenberg, and the producers of “New Moon” could have done significantly more to hide them.

(Left to right) Robert Pattinson stars as Edward Cullen, Kristen Stewart stars as Bella Swan, and Taylor Lautner stars as Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
Photo credit: Kimberley French and Summit

The film opens on the 18th birthday of our mopey heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). Bella’s increasing age has led her to concern about the fact that her bloodsucking boyfriend Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) happens to be nearly a century older than her. How will his immortality impact their relationship?

The issue becomes more prominent when the Cullens decide to move out of town before too many locals realize that the patriarch of the clan hasn’t aged in the ten years since they’ve been in town. Using the classic technique of trying to break a girl’s heart so she won’t miss you as much when you’re gone, Edward pushes Bella away, sending her into possibly the most melodramatic depression ever seen on film. You’d think the poor girl was trying to kick heroin.

After she gets over the loss of Edward and comes out of her house again, Bella finds herself drawn to the newly-chiseled Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Of course, Bella can’t meet a nice, normal young man and seems destined to only draw the attention of supernatural creatures, as evidenced by the discovery that Jake is a werewolf. The wolves signed a treaty with the vampire years ago, keeping the peace in this quiet town and that pact is threatened by the new love triangle.

The love story in “New Moon” never really gains traction as the three characters aren’t on-screen together until the final act, which switches focus overseas and turns into something more in common with B-movies in the genre with vampire leaders and fantastic cameos from Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning. Sadly, the inclusion of Sheen and Fanning late in the piece only shines a spotlight on how little character, depth, or acting there has been in the film until that point.

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson star in The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
Photo credit: Kimberley French and Summit

I’ve liked Stewart before, especially in the highly underrated “Adventureland” from earlier this year, but she’s simply bad here. Awful dialogue by Melissa Rosenberg doesn’t help but I’m confused as to why Stewart puts so little energy, passion, or relatable humanity into her performance. You can’t tell the difference between her line readings of “I am sad” or “I am happy”. When she breaks out of her Cullen-less depression, her demeanor barely changes. She’s just dull.

And Pattinson is even worse. He mumbles incoherently and mistakes being hard to understand with being mysterious. Lautner does good work in the early “courting Bella” scenes but can’t handle the drama of the final act.

Even with all of the acting problems, most of the blame for what sinks “New Moon” has to be placed at the feet of screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg. She has taken a pulpy, timeless plot (the film references “Romeo & Juliet”) and played it deadly seriously and melodramatically without finding the true emotion of the piece. The 130-minute running time could have been trimmed by at least a half-hour if every line…wasn’t…delivered…with such…false gravity.

The action sequences - including a few werewolf on vampire fights and a great sequence with Sheen and Fanning near the end - are significantly better than the first film and a few of the supporting performances have improved, allowing for a slight upgrade, but there was hope that “New Moon” could really deliver where “Twilight” fell short. I guess we’ll have to wait for “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” to turn this franchise around.

‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Anna Kendrick, Michael Sheen, and Dakota Fanning. It was written by Melissa Rosenberg and directed by Chris Weitz. It opens on November 20th, 2009. It is rated PG-13.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Gabourey Sidibe Shines in Inspirational True Story of ‘Precious’

BrianTT — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:16:43 -0700

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The final scene of Lee Daniels’ “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” ends with a dedication that the film is for “precious girls everywhere”. The words seem likely to resonate with the legions of fans of this tragic semi-true story (based on the girls that the author met while teaching in NYC) - women and men who can identify with rising above abuse, poverty, addiction, or whatever seemingly insurmountable odds speak most personally to them.

Daniels has made a bleak, brutal, depressing urban drama that will surely be the “feel-bad, feel-good” movie of the year, a well-made film that is so dark that it can be hard to watch but that is designed to illustrate the fact that the human power to overcome adversity is stronger than the instinct to shrivel and die.

Precious (Gabourey Sidibe, left) and Ms. Rain (Paula Patton, right) in Precious: Based On The Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire.
Photo credit: Anne Marie Fox/Lionsgate

Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a stolid, overweight, somber, friendless teenager who has lived through an absolute nightmare since the day she was born. She is regularly abused by her mother (Mo’Nique) and is recently pregnant with her second child, both offspring the product of continuous rape by her own father since she was only an infant.

Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Photo credit: Lionsgate

After her second pregnancy is discovered, Precious is shuttled off to an alternate education program for young women who have shown academic potential and she starts to discover that there are people in the world willing to help her. The most important are a teacher named Ms. Rain (Paula Patton) and a welfare worker played by Mariah Carey, but she also makes friends in her class and even opens up to a cute nurse played by Lenny Kravitz. The walls between the fantasy world that Precious has constructed to escape the pain of her everyday life start to come down as she is lifted by others towards a chance at a normal life.

A lot of “Precious” plays like an urban horror movie. Mo’Nique’s unbearably evil mother could give any villain from an actual genre film of the last few years a run for their money, but the story of Precious is true and it’s the handling of the stark realism of the piece that works best. Where other filmmakers would have sugar-coated the darker elements of this semi-true story, Daniels arguably pushes the horror of the life of Claireece Jones too far in the other direction. It feels like he gives Mo’Nique one “evil mother speech” too many, pushing her character into more of a “Mommie Dearest” vein than she should be and the film plays about 15 minutes longer than it needs to. Repetition has a way of draining a story of its power, even an inspirational one like “Precious”.

But most of the power remains due to a stellar ensemble. At the forefront, Sidibe is strikingly good, a sure lock for an Oscar nomination. She understands that the power of this character is not in the melodramatic speeches of the final act but the quiet, confused moments that lead to them. The viewer literally watches Precious come out of her shell with each positive encounter and it’s a completely genuine performance that helps off-set the more flashy elements of the film like the musical fantasy numbers and the unusual, eye-catching supporting cast.

As for the alternate casting of the ensemble, not only are they all effective in their roles, particularly Mo’Nique and Carey, but one could argue that choosing unusual actors and actresses for the smaller parts is thematically relevant to a story about not judging a book by its cover. There is a girl like Precious on every block in every city, a woman who may be seen by classmates or peers as stupid or confused but hides a back story that you can’t even imagine.

The story of Precious is far-too-common. Physical and sexual abuse takes a devastating toll on the youth of the world on a daily basis. The inherent dramatic power of the story of a survivor is resonant enough to speak to precious girls everywhere but it’s how well-told that story is in Lee Daniels’ film that allows it to speak to all viewers, precious girls or not.

‘Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire’ stars Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton, and Lenny Kravitz. It was written by Damien Paul and directed by Lee Daniels. It opens in Chicago on November 6th, 2009. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant’ With John C. Reilly Not Freaky Enough

BrianTT — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:51:49 -0600

Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – For everything that Paul Weitz’s “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” does right, there’s something about the film that just doesn’t work. More manic than quirky and more cluttered than consistent, “Cirque” features a few great performances and interesting characters but they’re sabotaged by the other members of this cinematic freak show.

With a plot that plays like what “Beetlejuice”-era Tim Burton might have done with the current vampire craze (“True Blood,” “The Twilight Saga’s New Moon”), “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” is an adaptation of the books by Darren Shan that is constantly shooting itself in the foot through bad editing, a distracting supporting cast, a super-dull lead, and far too much expository dialogue. A non-ending that tries to set up the franchise a la “The Golden Compass” doesn’t help the feeling that you’ve just watched a tragically incomplete film.

(L to R) Crepsley (John C. Reilly) makes a curious proposal to Darren (Chris Massoglia) in Cirque Du Freak: The Vampires Assistant.
Photo credit: David Lee

Darren (newcomer Chris Massoglia) is a high-school kid with an obsession with spiders. His best friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson) is the more mischievous of the two and his goth obsession happens to be with vampires. The two are thrilled when a mysterious limo with plates that read “DES-TINY” toss them a flyer for the ‘Cirque du Freak,” a traveling show stopping in their town that night.

(L to R) Darren (Chris Massoglia) is introduced by Crepsley (John C. Reilly) to the freak show in Cirque Du Freak: The Vampires Assistant.
Photo credit: David Lee

Darren and Steve head to the show and the audience is introduced to the massive supporting cast including the Wolfman (Tom Woodruff Jr.), Gertha Teeth (Kristen Schaal), Rhamus Twobellies (Frankie Faison), Alexander Ribs (Orlando Jones), Madame Truska (Salma Hayek), Corma Limbs (Jane Krakowski), Evra the Snake Boy (Patrick Fugit), and the MC of the show, Mr. Tall (Ken Watanabe). Of course, the star of the evening is a vampire named Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) and his magic spider named Octa.

After the show, Darren sneaks back stage to catch another glimpse of Octa and ends up stealing the creature. Meanwhile, Steve straight-up asks Crepsley to turn him into a creature of the night but is denied access into this immortal club. After Octa bites Steve, the two former friends are thrust into another ancient war between the peaceful vampires led by Crepsley (and a cameo from Willem Dafoe) and the violent ones known as the vampinese. Manipulating both sides is the twisted Mr. Tiny (Michael Cerveris) and his gross lackey Murlaugh (Ray Stevenson). Darren becomes Crepsley’s assistant and a half-vampire and Steve becomes a ward of the dark side. Darren gets a monkey girl love interest (Jessica Carlson) and the film officially pushes the “cluttered with characters” threshold to the limit.

Most of the supporting characters in “Cirque du Freak” fail to register at all with recognizable faces like Jones, Hayek, and Krakowski ending up more forgettable than anything else. Only Fugit steals every scene he’s in as a snake boy who really just wants to be an Emo band.

All that saves “Cirque” from total disaster and what makes a potential sequel something not worth totally dreading is the typically strong work by John C. Reilly. Recalling Michael Keaton’s work in “Beetlejuice” or Jack Nicholson’s in “The Witches of Eastwick,” Reilly beautifully blends creepy and charismatic. He nearly saves “Cirque” from itself.

Ultimately, “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” feels like it was mangled at some point in production. Either the screenplay was re-written too many times or things got really freaky in the editing room but there are too many awkward tone transitions and scenes that fall flat. It is a rare film that can be both cluttered with small characters and subplots and this boring at the same time.

Finally, filmmakers really need to make sure their film stands on its own and not just as a lead-in to a potential franchise. If a screenplay features characters talking about “prophecy” and what will happen at nightfall in the final minutes, send it back for a rewrite. The great franchise openers like “Fellowship of the Ring” actually have climaxes and endings that stand on their own. “Cirque” clearly wants to be the opening act for a film franchise. With this lackluster opening act, it would be truly freaky if a sequel actually happens.

‘Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant’ stars John C. Reilly, Chris Massoglia, Josh Hutcherson, Jessica Carlson, Michael Cerveris, Ray Stevenson, Patrick Fugit, Ken Watanabe, Salma Hayek, Orlando Jones, Frankie Faison, Willem Dafoe, and Jane Krakowski. It was written by Paul Weitz & Brian Helgeland and directed by Helgeland. It opens on October 23rd, 2009. It is rated PG-13.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Easily Scared Viewers Should Stay Away From Buzzed ‘Paranormal Activity’

BrianTT — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:07:07 -0600

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Over the weekend, a little movie that cost reportedly $11,000 to make and was shot on one set made over $7 million at the box office. If you haven’t heard about the phenomenon that is “Paranormal Activity,” you’re simply not paying attention. The good news? Unlike a lot of highly buzzed films, this one lives up to the hype.

Reminding viewers of the ten-year-old “The Blair Witch Project,” “Paranormal Activity” is another independently made, ultra-low-budget, shot on handheld camera horror film that is going to spark more than a few nightmares as millions of viewers are drawn to it over the next few weeks. I know we haven’t seen “Saw VI” or “The Stepfather” yet (although it is notable that neither will screen for critics), but it’s hard to believe that this won’t be the hottest and most effective horror ticket this Halloween.

Even writer/director Oren Peli would admit that most of the work of “Paranormal Activity” was done in pre-production. It’s the hook of the concept that grabs you and doesn’t let go. There’s so much horror potential right in the construct of “Paranormal Activity” that it almost would have been difficult to screw it up. A young couple - Micah (Micah Sloat) and Katie (Katie Featherston) - are going to document their haunting and we’re going to watch it all go down.

Katie has actually been haunted most of her life. Micah, the man who has been dating her for a few years and only recently moved in with her, thinks the demon that Katie has carried around is interesting. Katie knows it’s terrifying and potentially deadly. From the beginning, Peli solves a major problem with most haunted house movies by answering the timeless question “Why don’t they just leave the house?” In this case, leaving would do no good. It’s Katie that’s haunted.

But that doesn’t mean they can’t document it. To get to the bottom of what Katie’s invisible friend wants, Micah has set up a camera in their bedroom. The entire film is seen from the perspective of this camera, creating the sensation that you’re watching some horrible piece of evidence, a piece of surveillance video from an experiment gone horribly wrong. The opening frames, cleverly thanking the San Diego Police Department, add to the sensation that this is not going to end well for this cute, young couple.

Paranormal Activity
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

The days are relatively incident-free (although that won’t last), but when the camera is put in its stationery position in the bedroom and the time code begins to tick down in the corner, the audience is automatically drawn to the edge of their seats. The time zips by, as if a police officer is fast forwarding it, and then stops back to real time and the hair on the back of your neck stands up and chills shoot up your spine. Why is it stopping? What now? We wouldn’t be watching Micah and Katie sleeping if something wasn’t about to happen, right? Right?!?!

It’s an amazingly effective construct that only grows in intensity as the film progresses and the nights get longer for Micah and Katie. We know what happened on “Night #19”. So when a title card comes up that reads “Night #20” and the time code stops forwarding, the viewer’s mind reels. How could they possibly top last night? What could possibly be scarier than the night before?

Remarkably, “Paranormal Activity” actually does get scarier as it goes along. So many modern horror films, especially ghost stories, work against themselves, getting less effective as more questions are answered. The unknown - a light that goes on and off or a slamming door - is always scarier than the known. Peli wisely doesn’t feel the need to wrap everything up neatly, although fans turned off by the lack of an ending to “Blair Witch” should know that this one is a lot more concrete. It’s effective up until the final chilling shot.

The nighttime scenes work but the daytime ones could have been a bit more interesting and believable. I never fully believed Micah and Katie. They’re not bad actors, but they haven’t been given fully-rounded characters. They feel like devices in the haunted movie machine more than real people. And the film suffers from the suspension of disbelief necessary for a movie where a character carries a camera everywhere when he would probably just be crying in a corner or loading a shotgun.

The overall plot, dialogue, and characters could have been stronger, but the hook and the actual horror are as notable as anything the genre has produced this year. “Paranormal Activity” is something that so few entries in its genre have actually been in the last few years - honestly terrifying. That’s all that really matters. You’ve been warned.

‘Paranormal Activity’ stars Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston. It was written and directed by Oren Peli. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg Deliver Action, Laughs With Great ‘Zombieland’

BrianTT — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:08:42 -0600

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The horror/comedy “Zombieland” is one of the few 2009 films to honestly deserve the overused phrase “thrill ride.” From the opening shots to the best post-credits tag in years, “Zombieland” attempts nothing but pure fun and completely delivers.

The most flat-out enjoyable horror/comedy since “Shaun of the Dead,” and a film that deserves to stand just under if not next to that sub-genre masterpiece, “Zombieland” is destined to have a loyal cult following for years to come. But this is not just the product of midnight movie madness planners. “Zombieland” is the kind of film that could easily move beyond its genre fans and become a true crossover hit. You can keep your vampires, “Twilight” fans. At least until “New Moon” comes out, the zombies rule.

Woody Harrelson stars in Columbia Pictures comedy ZOMBIELAND.
Photo credit: Glen Wilson/Sony

With refreshingly little explanation as to why the world turned into something out of a George A. Romero movie, “Zombieland” stars Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus, so named because all major characters are simply referred to by their hometown, as if they are the only surviving member left from that city. Columbus is a neurotic, OCD-riddled, socially awkward young man who only gets the hot girl across the hall over on the night she happens to turn into a zombie.

Columbus has a series of rules, presented in narration and with spectacularly rendered title cards, for staying alive in a world over-run by brain-eaters. Most are variations on his OCD personality, something that it turns out can be very helpful after the zombies take over.

Columbus comes across the much-more-alpha male Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and the two form a perfect buddy comedy combo, arguably the most enjoyable oil-and-water duo of the year without overemphasizing their differences. Where Columbus keeps it all in, Tallahassee needs to let off steam every once in awhile, including bashing in car windows and devising new-and-inventive ways to splatter zombie brains. Where Columbus is scared, Tallahasse is more bored.

Jesse Eisenberg stars in Columbia Pictures comedy ZOMBIELAND.
Photo credit: Glen Wilson/Sony

Harrelson’s physical presence is a perfect counter to Eisenberg’s intellectual persona. The “Zombie Kill of the Day” scenes may get the fans jumping and clapping but it’s what the duo at the film’s core bring to the film that really makes it work.

Tallahassee and Columbus come across Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), a pair of sisters heading west to a supposedly zombie-free amusement park. Like a twisted family off to visit Wally World, our four heroes speed off and “Zombieland” basically becomes a very unusual road movie.

The previews might make “Zombieland” look like a one-trick pony - a video-game level of zombie mayhem and destruction. There’s certainly an element of that and gorehounds won’t be disappointed by the increasingly clever action sequences, but it’s the characters that drive the piece. The quartet of great actors make these brilliantly drawn and balanced characters feel genuine and it becomes enjoyable just being in the car on this twisted road trip from Hell. By the time they get to the best cameo of the year (one that some have spoiled and now all feel is free to ruin but we’ll stay above that), we already like spending time with these people. Liking the heroes instead of just rooting on the villains is something that has been lost in an era of personality-less horror films like “Saw” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”.

Woody Harrelson stars in Columbia Pictures comedy ZOMBIELAND.
Photo credit: Glen Wilson/Sony

“Shaun of the Dead” made the brilliant third-act switch to actually turning into an effective horror film in the final act and I wish “Zombieland” had attempted to do a bit of that. There’s never any actual fear that our heroes might die, just that the next zombie death won’t be as interesting as the last. Consequently, the final act loses a bit of steam as it doesn’t really build as much as provide “more of the same” from the first two.

Perhaps more than any film this year, a sequel not only seems likely but necessary. This can’t be the end of the road for these fantastic characters and this just-being-developed world. It’s one of the biggest surprises of the year that a film called “Zombieland” ends up being one of the most truly alive movies of 2009.

‘Zombieland’ stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin. It was written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and directed by Ruben Fleischer. It opens on October 2nd, 2009. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs’ Tastes Right For All Generations

BrianTT — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:30:57 -0600

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Proving that you should never judge an animated film by its cover or its typically predictable brethren, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is a very funny comedy with one of the best voice casts in years, an enjoyable visual aesthetic, and even a heartwarming message that doesn’t come off over-cooked.

As someone who sees nearly every animated film released in the ’00s, I can tell you that most of them are disposable, interchangeable, and predictable. For every “Up” or “Coraline,” there are a half-dozen “Barnyard” or “Open Season”s. So, it brings me great, surprising pleasure to say that “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” defies all expectations and I doubt any animated film will be as purely entertaining this season. Young kids, older brothers, babysitters, parents, and even grandparents will find something to like here.

Sam Sparks voiced by Anna Faris and Flint Lockwood voiced by Bill Hader in Columbia Pictures’ animated film Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Song Pictures

Only based on the set-up for Judi & Ron Barret’s beloved children’s book (but fully capturing the spirit of a book designed around food weather), the story opens on the island of Swallow Falls, a dull, gloomy setting known mostly for being hidden under the ‘A’ in Atlantic Ocean on most maps and for its killer sardine industry.

Sam Sparks voiced by Anna Faris with Flint Lockwood voiced by Bill Hader in Columbia Pictures’ animated film Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Sony Pictures

Inventor Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) refuses to give in to his depressing surroundings and works to come up with one great, world-changing invention. Previous attempts include the ill-conceived rat-bird hybrid and a device that translates monkey’s thoughts. It turns out that most monkeys think of only their name and what they want to eat. (In a typically surreal move, the end credits reveal that Neil Patrick Harris voices the monkey Steve even though he has nearly no dialogue.)

Flint’s latest device is one that turns water into food. All he wants is a cheeseburger but an incident with power lines, sends his machine into the stratosphere, where there’s more than enough moisture for Big Macs, spaghetti, giant pancakes, and much more. It turns out that Flint still has access to the great computer in the sky. Want steak tomorrow? Talk to Flint and it will fall from the sky.

Of course, with great power comes great responsibility and Flint pushes his world-changing invention too much, resulting in some truly twisted weather fronts. The story of Flint and his magical machine thrusts young weathergirl Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) into the spotlight and shakes the life of all the island residents including the weight-gaining mayor (Bruce Campbell), tough cop (Mr. T.), former sardine ad star (Andy Samberg), and even Flint’s tough father (James Caan).

Sam Sparks voiced by Anna Faris with Flint Lockwood voiced by Bill Hader in Columbia Pictures’ animated film Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Sony Pictures

Clearly, the voice cast of “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is made up of talented, clever choices. Hader & Faris are fantastic, making their characters easy to root for and the rest of the ensemble, especially Caan, are pitch-perfect.

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is continuously clever both visually and with some razor-sharp dialogue. Courtesy of writer/directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, “Cloudy” accomplishes the feat of giving children something to care about and visuals to ooh and aah at and giving adults laughs that will certainly go over the heads of the little ones sometimes in the same moment (for example, a video of a kitten singing “Fight the Power” had me laughing as hard as anything in a long time for a different reason than the toddler in the row behind me).

Even the messages of the film - stay true to yourself and your dreams and sometimes it’s okay to be the smartest person in town - aren’t over-played like they are in so many family films. The film feels a bit longer than its 90 minutes and the 3D is borderline unnecessary, feeling more like an afterthought and washing out the vibrant colors of the second half of the film, but those are the only minor flaws of one of the most surprisingly tasty treats that the animation genre has produced so far this year.

‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs’ features voice work by Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Mr. T, Bruce Campbell, Andy Samberg, and Neil Patrick Harris. It was written and directed by Phil Lord & Chris Miller. It opened on September 18th, 2009. It is rated PG.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Kate Beckinsale’s ‘Whiteout’ About as Thrilling as a Blank Screen

BrianTT — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:22:30 -0600

Rating: 1.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Producing more derisive snickers than gasps and more snores than thrills, Dominic Sena’s “Whiteout” is a massive waste of time, a predictable, dull, and hysterically cliched slice of junk that should be run out of theaters before month’s end.

Based on a graphic novel, “Whiteout” has been sitting on the shelf for long enough that the most confounding thing about this mystery is why anyone at Warner Brothers decided to waste their time with a theatrical run instead of just shuffling this mess off to DVD. Only a relatively interesting performance by Kate Beckinsale saves “Whiteout” from being an unmitigated disaster. And just barely.

The film opens in 1957 with a shoot-out on a Russian cargo plane over Antarctica. Whatever the Russians were carrying, it goes down into the frozen tundra at the edge of the world.

Whiteout
Photo credit: Warner Brothers Pictures

Flash forward to the same area of the planet five decades later as a nearby scientific research station is about to shut down for the season of darkness. Of course, a blinding storm is on its way as well. It’s a bad time for a murder mystery to pop up for U.S. Marshall Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale). Stetko is a melting pot of cliches, coming off a case-gone-bad and self-punishing herself by taking the beat that no one else would volunteer to take.

The mystery of “Whiteout” starts with the discovery of a body of a geologist on the ice. Who killed him and how did he end up there? Before Stetko can even come up with a theory, she’s being chased by a masked man with an ice pick. Can she survive, solve the mystery, and escape before the storm of the century?

Of course, every character with a line of dialogue on “Whiteout” is either a hero, villain, or victim, including a dull U.N. investigator (Gabriel Macht), wise-cracking doctor (Tom Skerritt), and rebellious pilot (Columbus Short). Before you know it, Carrie has literally fallen on to the key to the mystery, one that nearly every person in the audience will have figured out before poor Ms. Stetko, assuming they haven’t fallen asleep.

Whiteout
Photo credit: Warner Brothers Pictures

Bafflingly written by four people, “Whiteout” is one of those films where every single line of dialogue and every single bit of character information is merely part of the overall mystery. Does every line have to push the predictable plot forward? The script for “Whiteout” is stunningly boring, resulting in one of the most predictable and uninteresting mysteries the cinema has seen in a very long time.

The awful direction by Dominic Sena certainly doesn’t help. The chase scenes are shot in such a spastic style that it’s impossible to tell what the hell is going on and when the climax of the film features characters stuck in a situation where they aren’t even supposed to be able to see a few inches in front of their faces, Sena makes the fatal mistake of using audience confusion to try and produce adrenalin. All it produces is watch-checking and daydreaming.

All that saves “Whiteout” from “worst of the year” lists is the decent performance of the continuously improving Beckinsale. After giving the best performances of her career in “Snow Angels” and “Nothing But the Truth,” it’s disappointing to see Kate slide back with “Whiteout” but she probably thought it was never going to come out anyway. She’s probably already erased it from her resume. If not, I’ll send her the whiteout.

‘Whiteout’ stars Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt, Alex O’Loughlin, and Columbus Short. It was written by Jon & Erich Hoeber and Chad & Carey Hayes and directed by Dominic Sena. It opened on September 11th, 2009. It is rated R.

Ang Lee’s ‘Taking Woodstock’ Lays Down Too Mellow a Vibe to Be Memorable

BrianTT — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:23:28 -0600

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – More about the vibe surrounding the three days of peace and love that would become the most influential festival in history than the actual music itself, Ang Lee’s “Taking Woodstock” is a frustrating drama with individual elements that work but a cinematic set list that is ultimately disjointed and unsatisfying.

Late in “Taking Woodstock,” Elliot Teichberg’s (Demetri Martin) father (Henry Goodman) asks his son if he enjoyed the concert. Elliot says he made a few friends and that “It was great.” That’s the essential dialogue exchange in “Taking Woodstock,” a film about finding community, acceptance, and friendship more than one about bands, singers, or actual creativity.

Taking Woodstock.
Photo credit: Focus Features

It’s a unique and interesting way to approach the legend of Woodstock but also one that feels like too much to try and capture in a two-hour drama/comedy with only one real central character. “Taking Woodstock” might have worked as a “Nashville”-esque ensemble piece but writer James Schamus and director Ang Lee focus all their energy on a lead who is, to be frank, not that interesting, and turn the rest of their characters into two-dimensional cliches for him to bounce off on his way out of town.

Martin stars as Teichberg, a New Yorker forced to return to the Catskills and take care of his parents (Goodman & Imelda Staunton) run down motel. Every summer, Elliot plans an arts and music festival, and this year there just happens to be a few musicians without a home after a nearby town runs out what would become the Woodstock festival.

Taking Woodstock.
Photo credit: Focus Features

Teichberg contacts the legendary Michael Lang (Jonathan Groff) and convinces him that his small town would make a perfect fit for their big festival. Eugene Levy plays the famous Max Yasgur, the farmer who had enough land for the show, Emile Hirsch plays an old friend returned from Vietnam, Liev Schreiber plays a cross-dressing Marine who volunteers to be security, Dan Fogler leads a theatre troupe that lives in the Teichberg’s barn, and Paul Dano & Kelli Garner appear as a pair of acid-loving hippies who guide Elliot on an influential trip.

The problem is that none of these characters register. They all feel like a cliche that was necessary for the plot, as if Schamus knew he needed a battle-scarred vet, a few hippies, a penny-pinching mother, a cross-dresser, a crush for Elliot, a few more hippies, some mobsters to stop by, etc. Every supporting player that pops up feels like a two-dimensional obligation to the period recreation more than character worthy of genuine interest.

So much effort is spent developing Elliot, who is in nearly every scene, that everything else falls away. It’s an odd decision to tell the story of a developing community through the arc of one character, and it’s ultimately a damaging one because that one character simply isn’t dramatic enough to warrant the cinematic energy. Elliot Teichberg was a nice guy who helped out his parents, played a major role in history, and moved on. I wanted to know more about everyone that was around him and never felt like I did.

Ultimately, the technical team, the ensemble, and even the sometimes-clever dialogue keep the proceedings brisk and usually entertaining. It’s an expertly made film by talented people. It’s more that “Taking Woodstock” couldn’t have worked as conceived more than any failings of the actual production. It’s further proof that even the best of intentions and the most talented people in the world won’t make an effective film if the foundation doesn’t work.

‘Taking Woodstock’ stars Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Emile Hirsch, Paul Dano, Kelli Garner, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Eugene Levy, Dan Fogler, Jonathan Groff, Richard Thomas, and Liev Schreiber. It was written by James Schamus and directed by Ang Lee. It opens on August 28th, 2009. It is rated R.

Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’ With Brad Pitt Lives Up to Expectations

BrianTT — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:02:24 -0600

Rating: 4.5/5.0

CHICAGO – What truly distinguishes Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” from the cookie-cutter marketplace also makes its impact incredibly difficult to put into words. It’s a film that’s impossible to pin down - a thriller, drama, comedy, action film, and a slice of revisionist history played as modern revenge fantasy. And it’s a total blast.

The man who directed “Pulp Fiction,” “Reservoir Dogs,” and “Kill Bill,” has made another near-masterpiece that will likely be his most divisive and controversial film, one of the few from this season that you can expect to hear arguments about in coffee houses and bars. Some will find QT’s latest way-too-talky, about an hour too long, and even offensive in its subject matter. Others will embrace a few of the most remarkable performances of the year, a masterful technical accomplishment, and a film that could have only come from the unique mind of one of the best directors of the last twenty years. Tarantino has done it again.

Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and Sgt. Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth) in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.
Photo credit: Francois Duhamel/TWC

The ads may (incorrectly) make “Basterds” look like a big summer action movie, but it’s much more of a dialogue-driven film about the power of reputation and propaganda. The film, told in chapters, opens with the two characters who will provide the true through-line for the story - Shosanna Dreyfus (played later by Melanie Laurent) and Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) - in arguably the best scene of the year in any film.

Inglourious Basterds
Photo credit: TWC

The rest of “Basterds” is about how the life of Shosanna, now the manager of a movie theater scheduled to show Nazi propaganda, and that of Landa will intersect again by way of a few crazy Americans (including Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, and BJ Novak), a British double agent (Michael Fassbender), a German actress (Diane Kruger), and an audience filled with the leadership of the Third Reich.

“Inglourious Basterds” is filled with characters with reputations that precede them (most of them even have nicknames like ‘Aldo the Apache,’ ‘The Jew Bear,’ and more). Of course, no one’s reputation precedes them more than the film’s writer/director, Quentin Tarantino, one of the few filmmakers who makes films that inspire passionate discussion.

The fact is that “Inglourious Basterds” is not for everyone. The lengthy passages of dialogue (akin to the pacing of “Death Proof) go on ten times longer than most directors would pace them before exploding in moments of extreme violence than last mere seconds. The awkward pacing and brutal violence will turn some people off and the previews selling the film as an action-packed Brad Pitt movie are false advertising.

At the same time, “Inglourious Basterds” is incredibly thrilling, beautifully shot, and features two of the best performances of the year from Laurent and Waltz. Laurent beautifully sells the emotional arc of the film, refusing to turn her character into a standard hero as she goes from victim to planning her own deadly mayhem. And Waltz gives the best performance of the year, playing a character akin to Hannibal Lecter in the way he’s both despicable and riveting.

As for the rest of the cast, Kruger does a lot with just a few scenes and Schweiger is a lot of fun in a small role. Pitt is certainly not bad, but his is not the face I think of when I think of “Basterds” - it’s Waltz and Laurent. It’s certainly not Mike Myers, who can now lay claim to the worst scene in Tarantino’s history, a talky scene that explains the involvement of a British agent in a crucial scene but falls completely flat on its own and is the film’s biggest blemish.

As he has done for his entire career, Tarantino has delivered something that’s not easily dissected, discussed, or dismissed. Even if you hate the pacing and the violence of “Basterds,” it’s that rare film worth talking about with friends. Tarantino continues to be one of the true rebels of cinema, one who won’t be easily pinned down other than to say he will deliver something uniquely his own every single time. If only there were more filmmakers like him.

‘Inglourious Basterds’ stars Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, Daniel Bruhl, and Til Schweiger. It was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It opens on August 21st, 2009. It is rated R.

‘Julie & Julia’ Misses Some Ingredients But Still Goes Down Smoothly

BrianTT — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:04:51 -0600

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Like a long meal at a good restaurant where no one can agree on the best course of the evening, Nora Ephron’s “Julie & Julia” with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep will have different highlights for different viewers.

For some, it will be Streep’s pitch-perfect performance, while others find Adams lovable. Thematically, some will latch on to the “do what you dream” message of the film. For this viewer, “Julie & Julia” works best when it focuses not on how we make something of ourselves but the fact that no one does so alone. There is no “Julie” without “Julia” and even the women at the core of the film succeed mostly through the support of the men in their lives.

Amy Adams as Julie Powell.
Photo credit: Jonathan Wenk and Columbia Pictures

Julia Child found her passion through cooking. Julie Powell found it through writing. The fact that one passed along her drive to break out of her dull lot in life through the decades and allowed the other to escape her cubicle drudgery makes for a cinematic and arguably inspirational story. Ephron doesn’t do much more with the material (and two great actresses) than push it along like a TV movie director and there’s a ridiculously unecessary conflict added to the final act, holding “Julie & Julia” back from potential greatness, but there’s still more than enough to take a bite of this cinematic meal about two women with similar names.

Julie Powell (Amy Adams) tried to break free from her boring life and rekindle her passion for writing with “The Julie/Julia Project” in 2002. The goal was to cook all of the 500+ recipes in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in one year in her tiny Queens apartment and blog about it without losing her job or her husband (Chris Messina).

Ephron intercuts Powell’s story with a mini-biopic of Child (Meryl Streep), drawing loose parallels between the two. Both had supportive spouses (Child’s is played by Stanley Tucci). Both set about trying something unique and refused to give up in the face of adversity or even just the interference of real life.

One of the flaws of “Julie & Julia” is that there’s more than enough dramatic material in the life of Child, especially when played by the best actress of all time, to warrant its own film. Child challenged preconceptions in the male-centric world of French cuisine and inspired countless people to follow their similar dreams. It’s not Adams’ fault to say that every time that “Julie & Julia” switches from “Julia” to “Julie,” it loses a little steam.

Meryl Streep as Julia Child.
Photo credit: Jonathan Wenk and Columbia Pictures

The screenwriting decision to flash between the two comes not because Child didn’t have enough dramatic material to justify her own film but because Powell did not. As is always the case, watching someone cook and write doesn’t have the tension-building drama necessary for film. And even the cooking is more underwhelming than it should be. The recipes are used as a device, a plot point, instead of passionately, lovingly recreated like great foodie films “Big Night” or “Babbette’s Feast”.

Despite the directorial flaws of “Julie & Julia” and the relative weakness of the storytelling, there’s enough to admire in “Julie & Julia” to warrant a look. I can’t help but get behind the film thematically given my own awareness that inspiration and the support of a loved one are major ingredients in the recipe of my own life.

On a performance level, Streep is great and everyone else is good (although Messina falls victim to an underwritten character that adds conflict to a climax that doesn’t really have one).

“Julie & Julia” may not be the perfectly-cooked cinema confection that it could have been with some more passionate, inspired direction, but it delivers something tasty enough that you won’t send it back.

‘Julie & Julia’ stars Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and Jane Lynch. It was written and directed by Nora Ephron. It opens on August 7th, 2009. It is rated PG-13.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com