If you set out to make a movie and know there is more, that's different. If you set out to make a movie knowing full-well that this one movie isn't the entire story, that there must be more to fully resolve; then that's great. When you develop a story, you usually know how long it needs to be to get the story told. Sometimes, a story just needs to be a short film. Sometimes a commercial. A full-length film. A trilogy, a movie with a sequel, a TV mini-series and even a TV series. But please, just know before you start writing if there is more to the story or if "this is it" and stick to it. Too many times we take it too far and then we tarnish the image of the original movie.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Remakes, Sequels and Sequels of Sequels
If you set out to make a movie and know there is more, that's different. If you set out to make a movie knowing full-well that this one movie isn't the entire story, that there must be more to fully resolve; then that's great. When you develop a story, you usually know how long it needs to be to get the story told. Sometimes, a story just needs to be a short film. Sometimes a commercial. A full-length film. A trilogy, a movie with a sequel, a TV mini-series and even a TV series. But please, just know before you start writing if there is more to the story or if "this is it" and stick to it. Too many times we take it too far and then we tarnish the image of the original movie.
Monday, February 4, 2008
"Yo, Adrian! I did it!"
The first film was fantastic and I obviously had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had my predisposed opinions about these movies and the first one changed that. The characters were very well devloped and the story was nicely put together. The writing in general was very top knotch. And since the first one came out in 1976, it instantly stands out for me. I'm a 70s fan, myself.
The second one is a little less than the first, but it is a worthy sequel. That's about all I'm gonna say on this one, I'm not gonna get too detailed, because I have a lot of ground to cover and in general I think if you are gonna watch one you have to watch them all anyway. Even if there are some that are a little worse for wear.
In the third film, Mr. T (a childhood icon for me) pops in to take some potshots at Rocky. This one may be my favorite, next to the first one. I hate to say it, but even if Mr. T does manage to "pity the fool", he really did an amazing job as the crazed fighter. This was a very exciting film, because of the energy of Mr. T and the energy between the two. I really enjoyed this one much, probably too much since my brothers and I loved Mr. T as kids.
In "Rocky IV" (that's "4" for all you non-Romans), tragedy strikes when figher Apollo Creed (a close friend of Rocky's) dies in a match against a Russian fighter. This one is pretty stinking cheesy, especially with its (what I'll call) "over the top" patriotism coupled with political "niceness." Still, though, it's an exciting movie and still worth the watch. All of these movies are worth the watch, by the way.
Well, but then there is the "first last one." "Rocky V" was pretty bad. It was pretty stinking cheesy and... well, not too great. Rocky ends up training in this a figher after his family is forced to move from the nice home and money back to the old neighborhood. It was a little shameful, but knowing there was a 6th one already, I wasn't too worried. I figured the 6th one was in existence to take care of that bad taste this one left.
"Rocky Balboa", which came out in 2006, does make up for the 1990 "Rocky V." Stallone did a wonderful job playing the now old and washed up, but still remembered fighter. There are many great moments in this film, but to be perfectly honest there was something I was hoping for that didn't happen. So, be forewarned, I'm going to insert a spoiler--
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
I warned you. You have no excuse.
In the film, there was a lot of concern that fighting again might result in death for the aged fighter. I had a feeling it would, that he would go out as his good friend, Apollo Creed, went out. I was hoping that he would, because it would have been a very formatible way for the character to go. And I'll confess, I might have cried. With the way they keep his story going, it ain't over until it's over. And since he didn't die, I feel as if it ain't over. I just really wished he would have died and we could have put Rocky to rest, it would have been very nice and beautiful. Instead, it was a happy ending with more life ahead. Which, is not what I think we needed. We needed an appropriate ending. Anyway, that's my opinion. It would have felt more resolved, for me, if we would have got to put him to rest alongside his wife, Adrian. And, if he would have gone out like Apollo Creed... in the ring and fighting when the towel should have been thrown. But, that's just my two cents. Other than that, the film was very admirable and enjoyable as was the entire series.
Well, I'm gonna fly now. LAME.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Did you hear they are remaking...why?
A perfect example of this is "The Pink Panther." The original of this movie was released in 1963. The original starred Peter Sellers who was an absolute comic genius, if you do not believe me check him out sometime, he was in a lot more than just "The Pink Panther." He was in fact a bumbling and clueless detective, however it was very funny and witty. When it was remade in 2006, Steve Martin replaced Sellers and the results were tragic. Instead of coming off funny and witty he came across as silly and annoying. Please do not get me wrong, I have nothing against Steve Martin and I do believe he is very talented, but this movie should have been left alone. It was perfect the first time around, the second time around you had the distinct impression that the studio was just trying to milk the movie for all it was worth. Lets all hope the remake of "Get Smart" is not as bad.
With the mention of "Get Smart" that brings me to the next topic of remakes. That is the TV show remakes. These can work two ways, one the TV show is such a hit they make a movie out of it. The second way is the movie worked so well they decide to make a TV show out of it. An example of the former is "The Dukes of Hazzard." An Example of the latter is "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" which was made into "My Big Fat Greek Life." On both of these examples the original far outshines the remake. Moving mediums like this does not usually work, in fact it usually fails miserably.
Another genre of remakes is foreign films. Take for example "The Departed," this was originally a Japanese movie "Mou Gaan Dou." This is one of the exceptions to the rule, this movie was great both in the US and in Japan. The major argument I have about these are; Why can't we leave well enough alone? The Japanese make wonderful movies, especially Horror movies. "The Grudge"(Ju-on), "The Ring"(Ringu), and "Pulse"(Kairo) are all remakes of Japanese Horror films. I have no idea what makes us think we should remake all of these great foreign movies. I fully believe we should show them here in the US the way they were meant to be seen. They have a much better effect that way.
The final remake I would like to discuss is the remake masquerading as an original. I was watching TV tonight and I saw a trailer for a movie called "Made of Honor." This movie is about a man that has lots of friends but only one best friend. No surprise this best friend is a girl and she tells him she is engaged and would like him to be her maid of honor. Soon he realizes he is in love with his best friend and accepts the offer to be able to break up the engagement and stop the wedding. Now I remember this movie from a few years ago, it was called "My Best Friend's Wedding." This is the type of remake I truly despise, the non-remake remake. Do they really think they can fool us by switching the genders of the main characters. The sad thing is and it sounds really mean but it must be said, Patrick Dempsey is the main character in this movie and thousands of McDreamy's fans will flock to see it. Could the movie studio not find him something rather original to be in.
Bottom line is, remakes are a bad bad bad bad idea. They exist though, I remember talking to a girl not too long ago that thought "Psycho" was made originally in 1998. She had no idea who Alfred Hitchcock was or that the original "Psycho" was one of the greatest movies ever made. This is the danger of remakes, there is a whole generation that needs to know the originals of these movies were great and we need to make them aware to keep the movies alive. So, please do your part, next time you go to the rental store or the movie theatre, remember the film that made the one your seeing what it is, there is almost always one of those.
One Lovely Christmas Holiday
I have mentioned more than once that I believe there is a formula to making a successful romantic comedy. There has to be conflict, a break of the relationship because of that conflict and finally a resolution and a happily ever after. There is one movie in recent years that achieves this supremely and it is "The Holiday." The script was written only after the four main stars agreed to do the movie. Nancy Meyers wrote this movie and the four main characters in it especially for Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Jack Black and it shows. Each of the characters fit their own actor perfectly. Also the score of the movie was written by Hans Zimmer, he writes a beautiful score that fits every moment so perfectly. Now I can't say that this movie is without flaws, there is no movie that is absolutely perfect. There are production flaws and a few continuity flaws but if you are not specifically looking for them you would never notice. The movie's story outweighs all these in the long run.
Amanda (Diaz) is a movie trailer maker living in L.A., when she breaks with her boyfriend she decides to go on a trip over the Christmas holiday. She logs on to a vacation website and soon finds Iris (Winslet), a newspaper writer that has been in a relationship for several years with a man that does not love her back. Both women switch houses and soon find they can find love even without looking for it. They also in the process find out more about themselves than they ever expected. Now with that out of the way I can get to the good stuff, what helps to make this movie so appealing. Amanda, being a successful movie trailer maker, sees the events unfolding in her life as a movie trailer. Iris meets the man that lives next to Amanda, who is a retired film writer. He convinces Iris that she is worth while and a leading lady by recommending several (a whole list) of movies with all of these powerhouse women in it. Jack Black also delivers a great performance in this movie as a movie score writer. He provides a light heart and sweet side to this movie, and relates all things in life to movie scores. I love all of these factors of this movie, because if you have worked in production at all you will find that your mind gets wrapped up in it. Every time you see a new house you think, this would be great on film. You here a story and you think what an awesome script idea. Or even music you think that would be perfect for this type of scene.
Enchant this!
All that said... boy, was I wrong. I was very much entertained. The opening sequence alone had me laughing pretty good, as it was an animated sequence that pretty much made fun of all things Disney. Were there cheesy moments? Yes. Did it have some cheesy elements? Yes. But with what little cheesy stuff it did, it was so much fun and genuinely funny. Dare I say, "Good, clean fun?" I dare.First things first, the animated parts were (in my opinion) a lot of fun, because they channeled the old school Disney animation. The film even started with the "opening of the book" and narration. Yes, in true classic Disney fashion. However, my personal favorite element was Amy Adams. Amy Adams plays the lead female, Giselle, who is about to marry her Prince Charming in the animated world, but the stepmother has other plans in mind and so sends her to a world where there are no happy endings or something... of course, this would be normal, non-animated world. You know, the one we live in. The one with accountability and consequence. I'm sure you've heard of it. Alas, I digress. Her portrayal of the "once animated", happy-go-lucky, naive girl and princess-to-be was priceless. There was even a touch of the Jane Fonda quality from the "Barefoot in the Park" days about her. Her ridiculous innocence contrasted with her new male counterpart (Patrick Dempsey) in the "real world" (no, not a VH1 show... or MTV or whatever), because he was dead stuck on the "reality of life." For example, like buying his young daughter a book of "the most important people in the world" or something instead of "that fantasy book" she wanted. And as it is when I find something extremely funny I go into cackling laugher (a genetic defect, I'm afraid), I often found myself cackling out loud in our not-so-crowded crowd. Truly, one of the prime examples of this hilarious contrast between the two characters was when Giselle starts to sing a song in Central Park while he tries desperately to get her to stop (because in "real world", it ain't no musical, Fool). Unfortunately, for him, but fortunately for us some other local park musicians join in with her and before you know it we have a full-blown musical production number in Central Park. The scene was nicely done and reminded me of Gene Kelly's adaptation of "Hello Dolly".
The short and skinny of this review, is that "Enchanted" is absolutely delightful and funny. And not too adult for the kids. And besides, what could be more entertaining than a very eccentric Susan Sarandon? So, I say: If you need a laugh and some delightful entertainment, go watch "Enchanted". After all, it may be one of the most original things Disney has done in the past 10 years or so. But, I make a prediction... since it seems to be a success, I'm sure Disney will try to cash in on it for as much as they can. I'm predicting right now that they will make an "Enchanted 2" that has the realistic male counterpart traveling into the animated world, for the opposite effect. If they do, you owe me. I truly do not understand why Disney can't just let a good thing be. Seriously, wouldn't we all had been appalled if Orson Welles tried to cash in by directing "Citizen Kane 2: Kane's Revenge"? If you make something good, leave it be. That's all I'm saying.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Die, Die My Darling... no, seriously, DIE!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Headed Home for the Holidays?
This movie somehow reminds me of my own life. Not that I am nearly as attractive as Holly Hunter, I don't live a plane ride away from my family, and certainly my family does not have all the same odd quirks as this one. However, we all have families with weird quirks, we all look forward to the family get together and we are all thankful when the big mess is over. Your family can drive you crazy like no one else can, but they are your family and you love every one of them even though sometime you are not so sure why. We all have that strange Aunt or Uncle, or the person in the family that thinks they are better than everyone else, or the family member that is living a life that not everyone approves of. This movie manages to portray all of this without going over the top. So many movies try and fail in an effort to show families for what they are, strange.
As I mentioned before there are many elements that make this movie just right, so I will not waste your time by mentioning them all, here are just a few. The cast - This movie has really strong performances by all involved but I did find that Cynthia Stevenson did a superb job with her role as the overbearing, perfect and controlling older sibling. Robert Downy Jr. also was great in this movie and I was really surprised to find out that during the shooting of this movie he was using drugs pretty heavily, he plays the part of the sibling that is living a life no one approves of. The script was written strongly and is very witty, there are some great lines in this movie that will stick with you, you can remember them when you are stuck at Thanksgiving Dinner this year.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Find your Path, Loser
Saturday, November 3, 2007
A Trilogy of Romance
Although Rock Hudson and Doris Day alike made many romantic movies in their career, I would argue that the best ones by far are the ones that they made together. The two had what a perfect on-screen chemistry and once you add Tony Randall to the mix you have a fabulous comedic team.
In "Send Me No Flowers," Rock Hudson plays Doris Day's husband and also happens to be a hypochondriac. In one of his many trips to the doctor's office he mistakenly thinks he only has two weeks to live. Loving his wife so, he decides to set out and find her a new husband, only for her to think he is having an affair. "Lover Come Back" features the couple playing competing advertising executives. Doris Day gets tired of Rock Hudson wining and dining his way to the top, and comedy and romance ensue over a manipulation on Rock Hudson's part that goes wrong. And last but not least, "Pillow Talk," which is my personal favorite of all three of these movies. Rock Hudson and Doris Day play two people that share a phone on a party line. They frequently annoy one another until one day when Rock sees Doris and becomes quite smitten. He invents a new character called Rex, a smooth talking southern gentleman that quickly romances Doris. All goes well of course until Doris finds out the scam. "Pillow Talk" was the first movie of this comedic trio and has set the bar for so many other romantic comedies to come. This movie uses split screen shots to tell a good deal of the story, which only adds to an already outstanding script. The scenes where Rex and Jan (Doris' character) are talking on the phone are really a remarkable sight. In one scene where they are talking on the phone, both characters are in a bath, through the use of the split screen they touch their feet together. Oh well I guess you should just check it out to see what I am talking about. If you need immediate visualisation this was done in "Down with Love," this movie was nothing more than a type and shadow of a Rock Hudson and Doris Day movie.
Almost all romantic comedies follow a certain formula, this is present in all three of these movies and so many movies have been styled after this method since their release. For example, there is always a conflict for the main characters, an explosion of the relationship resulting from the conflict and finally resolution and happily ever after. Now I know that not all romantic comedies follow this, but the vast majority of them do. Tony Randall creates the Best Friend aspect of these movie, this is always an important element to romantic comedies. The best friend is always an aide in resolving the conflict and brings much needed quick witted humor to the story. Yet I would have to say that the humor he brings to these movies is just an added bonus, because the banter that goes on between Rock Hudson and Doris Day is laugh out loud hilarious. Also, I have to point out that the style of this movie, wardrobe, set design and cinematography were to become mainstream as well.
I would highly recommend that you see these three movies. Maybe they will not appeal to all people, but if they do you will be adding three really good movies to your favorites lists. I will leave you with a particularly funny quote from "Pillow Talk," this quote came from http://www.imdb.com/ :
[Jan and Brad are on the phone discussing a phone schedule]
Jan: We're just going to have to live with each other...
[Jan pauses, waiting for a response]
Brad Allen: Well?
Jan: I was waiting for you to say some off-color remark.
Brad Allen: Is that all you have on your mind?
Jan: Never mind my mind! You just stick to your half hour and I'll stick to mine!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Vertigo
Here's the thing about "Vertigo":
- It's directed by Alfred Hitchcock
- It stars Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak
- It takes place in and around San Fransisco and other amazing sites and places
- The score is by Bernard Herrmann
- Um, it's amazing!
"Vertigo" is utterly mesmerizing for a million different reasons. I'll focus on a few I can't help but notice.
The visuals and score. Herrmann's score complements Hitchcock's vision so much, it boggles my mind. I don't know if visuals and music have ever been so chic together, but I think this fine couple can shack up any time. Okay, that was a bit creepy, but seriously... the cinematography is so beautiful, the locations are so memorable and elegantly brought to the screen and the 90s restored version of the movie really helps us enjoy this masterpiece by the master of suspense.
Stewart really out does himself in the role of Scottie. He really captures everything the music, the locations, and the cinematography were trying to convey. Especially since there is a considerable amount of time where he is on screen and there is no dialogue, just visuals and music. Novak also does her part in these moments. They really aid in creating an eerie and surreal mood that takes you on a wild journey that will have you wondering what in the world is going on. And I love it.
And it's not just the acting and it's not just the music and the cinematography... it's the story as well. It's very well crafted. If you do any little bit of dabbling around on the Internet, you'll find people studying all the different aspects of "Vertigo". I could never do justice to try and remember or conjure up all the connections in "Vertigo" to Greek mythology and all the other ancient works people often associate with "Vertigo". It's really very deep and emotional. The word I like using the most to describe this favorite of mine is intoxicating. That's how I always feel about it. It sucks you in like an addiction and won't let go. And don't worry, no hangovers. Oh, my... lame.
So, basically, I think everyone should watch this movie because I love it so. Although, it probably won't be everybody's cup of tea. I strongly recommend not watching with a group of friends, because you probably won't be able to get into it that way. Either cuddle up with a honey or watch on your own. And alas, I leave you with a quote from the film to tease you:
Do you believe that someone out of the past - someone dead - can enter and take possession of a living being?