Archive for September, 2003

Under The Tuscan Sun

  • Written by Box Office Boredom
  • Posted September 26, 2003 at 5:06 pm

A Film Review By Jason L. King

Rating: Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language
Starring:Diane Lane
Directed By:Audrey Wells

Final Grade:

Life deals out things in the strangest ways. Just when you think everything is going how you want it to go, something goes wrong. A bad choice is made, a good choice is made, and then the result can be the exact opposite from what you expected it to be. Many people say that love is this kind of a happening. Many people fall in love, get married and then see them divorced in no time at all. In fact, most people in the world now days are getting divorces. Isn’t this topsy- world fun?

Under the Tuscan Sun is also a story of Coping with Divorce. Middle aged Novelist Frances Mayes thinks everything in her life is going well. She is about to start her newest book; she has a loving family and is a respected book reviewer. But then a bombshell drops on her. Her husband divorces her for a much younger college student. Heartbroken and depressed, Frances goes on a trip to Tuscany that was suggested by her friends as a way to escape the pain of divorce. But on an impulse, Frances suddenly finds herself buying a rundown house in Tuscany and trying to rebuild her life in a new land.

I know I wasn’t the target audience for this film, and that’s ok. I still never the less found some enjoyment in it. The plot was easygoing and fun to watch unfold, even though it did take forever to unfold. The biggest problem with the story is that it was so super saturated with details and sub plot stories that never fully got examined that it quickly just strayed in too many directions. But none the less, it did manage to nicely pull together all the stories into one happy ending that only a Disney film could provide with such grace.

I think the best thing about the movie was the beautiful landscape. Everything about Tuscany is filled full of beautiful rolling hills, green trees and grasses beautiful architecture. They did a nice job of showcasing the scenery and not making it just looks like an Italian black forest instead. The colors were vibrant and many times you found yourself just wanting to watch a scene just for the scenery instead of the acting.

But that doesn’t mean our acting was a downer. The lovely Diane Lane does a very nice job conveying the emotion that her character was supposed to display. The Oscar Nominated actress deserves more credit than she sometimes gets; she does a wonderful job on the big screen. But in all honesty, this flick just doesn’t pack a full punch, just doesn’t have quite enough there to make her give the greatest performance of her career.

So what is wrong with the film? I think unfortunately it suffers from lack of interesting plot, too much subplot and just not quick enough movement to keep the audience going. Also toss into the mix a lack of character development other than Diane Lanes character, and you have a cast of characters we are supposed to feel for but know next to nothing about any of them. I would be curious to see how much of the character development ended up on the cutting room floor, since it seems to be cut out of the film all together. In fact, I’m still not even sure how Frances met one of the characters. There is a good chance I may have just missed it, but it was because the introduction of characters was so subtle they were quickly forgotten about.

In the end, the real star of Under the Tuscan Sun was the beautiful scenery of Tuscany. Sadly enough though, that’s about the extent of the films real beauty. The rest of it just reeks of mediocrity and will be quickly be tossed aside and then almost out of most people’s memories completely.

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Filed under: Drama, Movies

The Rundown

  • Written by Box Office Boredom
  • Posted at 2:19 am

A Film Review The Mike

Rating:RATED PG-13 for Violence, Language and Mild Sexual Humor
Starring: The Rock, Seann William Scott, Christopher Walken, Rosario Dawson
Directed By: Peter Berg

Final Grade:

Do you smell what The Rock is cookin’?

I admit, I used to. Not-so-many years ago I was definitely one of The Rock’s millions (and millions) of fans, and would easily laud him as a star in any vein of entertainment he entered. But then I grew older, and then The Scorpion King showed up, and that luster disappeared. I didn’t think The Rundown, which looked average in every non-Walken aspect of its trailer, would change that opinion. I was wrong.

The Rundown opens by introducing us to Beck (The Rock), a “retrieval expert” by trade, while he is trying to collect a debt from an NFL star who’s teammates are very protective of. After receiving Ah-nold’s endorsement via cameo, The Rock proceeds to kick some butt in a extremely well done scene (with bonus props to the NFL style player cards, a wonderful idea by Director Berg).

The job goes wrong, and he now owes his boss a favor. That favor happens to be traveling to South America and returning home with his boss’s son (Scott), a treasure hunter who’s stumbled onto an artifact that both the local bartender (Dawson) and the local godfather (Walken) would like to possess. This makes Beck’s job much more difficult than he expected it to be.

It’s a simple premise, the type that’s worked in buddy action films for decades. The only thing that can make it work is the actors and the chemistry between them. And that just happens to be one of The Rundown’s strongest points. Seann William Scott is his usual self, perfect with a pun and quick to joke. Christopher Walken is almost too cool for the villain role (we are never really made to hate him, one of the film’s weaknesses), but he does manage it well enough. Rosario Dawson is good enough to look at as the token female of the film as well.

But the key to the film is its star, The Rock. I never thought I’d say it, but he carries the film with ease, creating an onscreen presence that’s staggeringly cool. When properly mixed with the healthy doses of Scott’s humor or Walken’s charming wackiness, it creates an extremely fun time.

The thing that action/comedies like this make me worry most about is how they make the two elements fit together. There are many comic scenes that will live in my memory for a while, most notably Walken’s speech about the Tooth Fairy and the final minute of the film. But there are also numerous action scenes that succeed as well. That said, the best thing about this film is the story, which mixes these great elements perfectly. The story never strays from its path, building up perfectly to a great final battle involving cattle, explosions and guns, despite Beck’s proclamation that – “He doesn’t like guns”.

That too is refreshing about The Rundown – there are no guns used by the hero until the final battle, when he goes all-out Ah-nold style. It’s a great development, and despite our expecting it all film it looks too good in the context of the battle to complain about.

The Rundown turns out to be nothing more than a fun buddy-action film that is packed full of elements from films like Midnight Run and Romancing the Stone. That’s not a bad thing. If nothing else, it proves that The Rock can be a star in Hollywood, and that soon we might all smell what he’s cookin’.

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Filed under: Action, Movies

Warriors of Heaven and Earth

  • Written by Box Office Boredom
  • Posted September 23, 2003 at 5:19 pm

A Film Review By Jason L. King

Rating:Rated for violent sequences
Starring:Kîchi Nakai, Xueqi Wang, Yun Zhou
Directed By:Ping He

Final Grade:

I’m no expert on Asian Cinema. I’m going to flat out tell you this, before I am criticized for making comments that will upset some of the die-hard Asian Cinema fans. If you are one of those people, kindly disregard my review. You are going to chalk this one up to I don’t know it’s context or it’s point anyway.

Those of you who did decide to keep reading, Welcome to my short and sweet review of Warriors of Heaven and Earth. The flick tells the story of an Imperial Guard who hunts down a criminal in the desert. The Guard finds the criminal and his friends escorting a caravan across the desert. But when a band of thieves try to attack the caravan the guard and the criminal must work together to get the caravan to it’s destination.

Warriors of Heaven and Earth was nicely shot, and cinematically it looked great. The director did a nice job with sets and drawing out the natural beauty of the desert land he was filming in. The story was decent, and flowed well from start to finish with two very solid characters. Acting was great by both of our lead characters as well.

What I did find annoying about the film was the Subtitling. Whoever was in charge of subbing the flick decided to use white subtitles. The film was Very light and many scenes were very bright making the white subtitles on a near white background distracting and hard to read. Shame on them for doing that! I also felt the story starts to unravel in the second half and becomes ridden with tiny little flaws and nit picky annoyances that I won’t really get into. Most of these things can be over looked though. What does stand out to me is the CGI- Buddhist relic scenes that felt out of place and kind of silly. Had the film played up that part of the story line a little more, that part may have felt a little more meaningful to me. I do admit though, perhaps being an American I did not understand some of culture and since I had trouble reading the subtitles at times maybe I missed something that explained it all.
In the end, I enjoyed Warriors of Heaven and Earth, but not enough to strongly recommend. Asian cinema is gaining a lot more success in America year after year, proof of this lies in the Successes of Hero. And while this film is good, it’s nothing I think the average moviegoer is going to really enjoy. If you are a fan of Asian cinema, go check out Warriors of Heaven and Earth, but if you are relatively new to the genre or just claim ignorance and know nothing, save your money and pick it up on video some time.

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Filed under: Drama, Movies

The Fighting Temptations

  • Written by Box Office Boredom
  • Posted at 2:51 am

A Film Review By Jason L. King

Rating: Rated PG-13 for some sexual references
Starring:Cuba Gooding Jr., Beyonce Knowles
Directed By:Jonathan Lynn

Final Grade:

Some films can reek of mediocrity and still make you want to watch it. There are few flicks though that can successfully pull this off. These films are what many critics such as the Mike and myself call guilty pleasures. The Mike will hail Captain Ron and Clownhouse as wonderful films until the day he dies, just as I will tell you that Dirty Work with Norm McDonald is the work of a modern day comic genius. No one will ever believe me when I say that but I know deep down inside I might be right. I also know that even fewer people will believe me when I say the newest Cuba Gooding Jr. Flick isn’t half bad either, but trust me kids when I say that it was a shocker for me as well.

Cuba is back on the screen playing Darrin a New York City Advertising executive who has made his way through life bashing on the little guy and lying cheating and stealing his way through life. His finances are on the rocks, and he just can’t seem to find a credit card company that will pick up his debt. And to make matters worse he quickly ends up jobless only days after expecting a promotion. So when the unexpected news of his Aunt Sally dying comes his way, Darrin has plenty of time to head back to his southern small town home for the funeral and the family will reading. When the Will is read, we find out that Darrin’s Aunt Sally is leaving him $15,000 if he can get her local church gospel choir to win the Gospel Extravaganza contest, which is less than 6 weeks away. Desperate for cash Darrin decides to stop at nothing to get the money since the money is just what he needs to save himself from financial trouble. But getting an award winning gospel choir put together is not easy, and Darrin resorts to a town filled full of misfits to create a team of winners.

I never in a million years thought I would find enjoyment in this film. There was nothing that made me think to myself, This looks like a positive step for Cuba. Since his Oscar winning performance, we have seen next to nothing from Cuba that has proved to have worth, and most recently have found him making films such as Snow Dogs and Boat Trip. His comedic career has landed him flat on his face, but he may have actually found a flick that is somewhat redeeming. Although there is nothing in this flick that makes it great to watch, it still is mildly entertaining enough to hold the audience’s attention for a few hours. Cuba does a nice job in the role, and for once almost fits the part perfectly, and his cast of misfit townspeople is almost fun to watch. The acting is far from perfection, but it’s also far from bad as well. One might say it is mediocrity at it’s best.

We all know the happy ending to the plot, we all know the story and we all can guess the chain of events before they happen, but that doesn’t mean a film can’t be entertaining. It’s how the story chooses to lead up to this chain of events that counts. In this case, they showcase the diversity of the townspeople and their different musical tastes and how they all come together in the end. Believe it or not it’s fun to watch Prison Inmates in a gospel choir with a 14-year-old boy, an alcoholic redneck and a bunch of old ladies. It’s just plain fun.

But in reality, like I stated above, it’s just mediocre. There is nothing that pushes the envelope; there is nothing that makes it something you want to watch over and over again. It’s just average. In all honesty, I can’t say it is worth your admission price, but it is easily an ok rental flick if you have some spare change lying around and want to disengage your brain for a few hours. Although no one will call this Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Comeback role, it’s a step in the right direction for him, and although it will quickly disappear from the box office charts, this overall average film isn’t half as bad as one might think from the previews.

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Filed under: Comedy, Movies, Musical

Cold Creek Manor

  • Written by Box Office Boredom
  • Posted at 12:16 am

A Film Review By The Mike

Rating: Rated R for Violence, Language and Nudity
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Stephen Dorff
Directed By: Mike Figgis

Final Grade:

It’s become very easy for Hollywood to churn out mediocre films, as evidenced by the last few years of cinema. All it takes is a simple unoriginal plot, a cast of decent actors, and a director that once was highly regarded in the field. This formula has churned out enough films over the last decade to make our heads spin. This makes it very unsettling when a film like Cold Creek Manor shows up and manages to never approach even mediocrity. I’m not saying that mediocrity is a good thing (Although most that know me believe that I think so), but I begged for any semblance of it for two hours tonight while watching Cold Creek Manor.

There are so many things wrong with Cold Creek Manor that I’m betting it will be very hard for me to fit them all into this review. For starters, the plot is so unoriginal and uninspired that it inspires snores. A family moves into a house and is terrorized by a former owner. I know I’ve seen at least one film that has the exact same plot, and I can name dozens with premises that are close enough for me to call this a rip-off of them. Not only is it unoriginal, but it’s so lazily executed that it hurts.

The most telling scene in the film comes about 40 minutes into the carnage, where the main characters’ children are playing hide and seek. The young boy starts counting down from 100, but soon starts skipping numbers. At first he skips one number at a time, then two, then five and so on. Ironically, the film is edited in the same manner. I got a strange feeling in several occasions that either A) the director’s first cut was so long that he cut the beginning out of most of his scenes, hoping that we would understand what happened in the time that was not covered on screen; or B) the director had just purchased a “Jump-to-Conclusions” Mat and wanted to test it out while putting his film together.

If you’re going to have a weak story, you should at least take the time to tell it. Instead, Director Mike Figgis’ film jumps abruptly from plot point to plot point, hoping that we will understand the disjointedness. There’s only one scene that he sticks with for more than three minutes, a horrible mid-film bar scene that had me praying for the abruptness of the rest of the film. Unfortunately, this excruciating scene went on for at least 10 minutes, probably in an attempt to make up for the choppiness of every other scene preceding it. As if this wasn’t enough, the plot and direction jumps into autopilot down the film’s final stretch, stringing together underdone scenes that we’ve seen many times before hoping that it will form a climax.

The script is also poor, making a decent cast useless. Dennis Quaid appears beaten as our hero, while Sharon Stone goes through the painful motions as his wife. Stephen Dorff attempts to ham it up as the former owner/creep, but it’s such a cliché role that we don’t care. The same can be said for Juliette Lewis, who pulls off her white-trash role with unsurprising ease. We also get a couple of scenes from the wonderful Christopher Plummer in an almost unrecognizable state (If I were in this movie I wouldn’t want anyone to recognize me either!), but he’s relegated to shouting and looking senile.

The closest I came to finding something enjoyable in the film was when the family first looked at the titular property. At first I thought it illogical that the family would fall head over heels for a beaten up house that would require months of hard labor to restore and constant lawn care. But then I remembered that this exact same thing happened to my own family within the last decade. I quickly realized that this confirmed it as illogical.

When all is said and done, there are too many holes in the story and too little effort put into the filmmaking process to even consider Cold Creek Manor as a worthwhile film. Take care to avoid this mess of pitiful cinema, as it could inspire nightmares for weeks. It’s scary. It’s not scary in plot or execution. It’s scary in the fact that people might pay money to see it when there are scarier and more riveting thrillers showing on the Disney Channel.

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Filed under: Movies, Suspense
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