Too Good To Be True

Whedonesque.com is reporting that the Australian Sun-Herald Times (an obvious international authority in all things cinema) is making the unfounded and emotionally manipulative claim that Joss Whedon not only has a script for a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" film adaptation ready and waiting but that 20th Century Fox, in the wake of teen girl's gushing about vamp-fest Twilight, is eager to unearth the indubitable Ms. Summers for another go round on the big screen. It has probably been long enough that the cast (read: Sarah Michelle Gellar) would be willing to put aside their egos and return to Sunnydale but the chances of the stars aligning (literally and figuratively) still seem slim. Buffy and her cohorts have been living on in comic book form with a Whedon sanctioned "Season Eight" series. Spin-off focus Angel has also been resurrected in the comic series "After the Fall." Following, the conclusion of the original "Buffy" series, Whedon had pitched another spin-off to then UPN (now CW) that would focus on fan favorites Spike and Faith. When that failed to pan out, he proposed a series of TV films that would focus on supporting characters such as Willow. No filmed follow-up ever emerged. The consensus regarding this emerging news about a film is skeptical to say the least. The hand-drawn Whedon-verse will have to do for the moment.

Trailers: Duplicity

Julia Roberts and Clive Owen rekindle their Closer chemistry at the forefront of a star-studded cast (also including Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti) in this cool as hell looking thriller with an added romantic twist (a 21st Century Charade maybe?). The film is from writer/director Tony Gilroy whose Michael Clayton was one of the most lauded directorial debuts in recent history, so the creative pedigree is certainly in tact. Look for it in theaters March 20th, 2009.

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Image Credit: lapastelera @ Live Journal

DVD of the Week: Wall-E

The crown jewel of the Pixar crown (thus far) has go to be this post-apocalyptic bittersweet comedy about a little flibbertigibbet robot named Wall-E. The droid, one of the last remaining vestiges of Earth, has been left behind to compile and compact trash. So devastating is the future world's clutter that the entire population must flee the planet and head into space. Still plucky, greasy, and sweetly silly Wall-E must navigate the gross terrain. He collects trinkets and things along his way and stores them in his lonely little living space. His favorite thing, it seems, is the movie musical. He waits patiently to experience the phenomenon of "hand holding" as demonstrated to him by none other than Barbra Streisand in his beloved copy of Hello, Dolly.

For those that still consider animation to be a dirty word, there is no doubt this transcends the kiddie demo in scope, scale, and visual grandeur. It is a stunning, sweeping epic that exceeds all expectations and resurrects animation from the tiny tykes graveyard as a viable, alternative style of storytelling. Children are, in fact, not especially courted here. The film is certainly a warm, family-minded adventure, but certain narrative elements, including a sadly forgotten Wall-E scraping and scrounging around a desolate planet in relative silence, make this film feel more like the animated equivalent of Cast Away than any sort of successor to the typical fast-paced Mouse House fun of yesteryear. It is admirably subtle and quiet, the benefit of which is the inevitable welcoming of an expansive outer space lift off that offers the viewer a world greater than Wall-E's little nook. As his journey takes him into the reaches of outer space the film achieves a fresh magic with just the faintest, uncheesy hint of authentic hope for a better humanity.

Let The Right One In

Though it is already primed for an American remake in 2010, this Swedish coming-of-age horror tale from director Tomas Alfredson needs no revision. Låt den rätte komma in (Let The Right One In) tells the story of 12-year-old outcast Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) who lives alone with his mother, suffers from the constant harassment of bullies, and collects clippings from the local papers about mysterious murders and other grim deaths. His life becomes suddenly and irreversibly altered when he befriends Eli (Lina Leandersson) one day on the playground. She appears to be a 12-year-old, but in actuality she has been 12-years-old for a very long time. Her nature is perpetually ambiguous (and perhaps androgynous), but her blood lust suggests she shares a commonality with the mythic creatures described colloquially as "vampires."

The odd pair's bond is a delicately depicted comradery between two very broken souls. It begins first as a simple friendship between people with no friends, and no alternatives. But by film's end, it has blossomed into a dangerous prepubescent romance littered with logical complications yet oddly stirring underpinnings. The film is primarily a genre masterpiece that dazzles with its haunting visuals and eerie narrative advances. Beneath the surface, though, it screams out with anguish to be read more deeply as a text on the frailty of human connection and the unusualness of its occurence. Convention is tested to the max as we ponder whether we can really root for a shy 12-year-old to elope with a vampiric creature of unknown age. It's May-December with a gothic twist.

And again, it's still more. Goodness and loyalty are in question and "To whom should one we be loyal?" is a question proposed. Eli is by natural a murderous creature, but she tends to Oskar with a sincerity none of his peers or adult guardians do. Should he then kill for her? Or should he simply kill her? Can she really experience the dark love for him that she suggests through her surface actions? The one thing certain is that this is a film of questions and not of answers. It opens the room to inquisition and then boards a train and heads off to the next station, as does Eli, taking with it all the danger and tummult it first offered to the quaint burg it entered previously, and equally our own minds as audience.

Grade: A

Quantum of Solace

James Bond's latest adventure, Quantum of Solace, is not a film to enter into groggily. It barrels along at such a routinely breakneck pace that somewhere after the first 30 minutes, which include a car chase of anonymous peril, a rooftop pursuit, a gun fight suspended from a series of pulleys and levers, and a motorcycle hunt turned boat race after said motorcycle is driven off a pier and onto a motorboat, you'll wonder what exactly is going on and consider whether this is not as much a film as a conglomerate of chase scenes. Neat action-oriented exploits have always been a primary function of the 007 franchise, which had its second inaugural installment recently with the reboot Casino Royale, but this new offering ups the action ante to extreme new levels of blankly executed murder and destruction. Quite oppositely, it also tries more than others to offer continuity and emotional causality between installments. Here Bond is still mourning the betrayal and death of Casino Royale flame Vesper Lynd (Eva Green, in pictures only) and chasing after the evil organization that used her against him. The emotional arc for Bond (yes, he has one) is sometimes stirring and decently handled though all his gruelling misadventures on land and at sea offset the braininess of the script with unfettered brutality.

Craig continues to do great work as the stoic central figure of the films. Due to his efforts, Bond has been effectively and convincingly remolded as a handsome brute rather than a smooth talking sexaholic whose debauchery most often bordered on (and sometimes bled into) the category of masculinized camp. Still plucky as ever after all these years is Judi Dench whose matronly rabble rouser, M, makes for one of the most fun and easy to love authority figures around. Credit in this film also goes to Olga Kurylenko for her feisty performance as the atypical and surprisingly asexual Bond beauty, Camille, who despite expectations is actually a female character of some substance and independent motivation (i.e. she wants more than to sleep with James Bond). Mathieu Almaric, who caused a stir in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, also rises to the task of the token French-ish villain with plans for dastardly world domination (by odd Chinatown-esque means).

Though the ratio of action sequences to plot and drama is most assuredly unbalanced, Quantum of Solace still offers fun and easy entertainment with the faintest, much appreciated spark of authentic characterization. Its cryptic plot can be baffling at times, but what's present works well enough and what's absent can be mostly overlooked for those who simply want to enjoy the wild ride. Solace continues admirably in the style adapted by Casino Royale to help turn this once crap-tacular franchise into something more edgy, modern, and commercially viable.

Grade: B

DVD of the Week: Hellboy II - The Golden Army

Visionary director Guillermo del Toro, who previously helmed the rightfully fawned over Pan's Labyrinth, returns with another stab at making a viable Hollywood franchise out of his beloved Hellboy, an unconventional superhero not of the same culturally iconic stock as more recently successful film crossovers such as Batman. Hellboy (Ron Perlman), a demon from another dimension that has been taken in by the American military, is a gruff, awkward, and insecure protagonist (he even files off his devil horns to blend in better). His crack team of paranormal investigators is really just a team of misfits, which includes his fiery (literally) fiancé, Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), and aquatic confidant Abe Sapien (Doug Jones). The team, always a government secret, is facing the threat of exposure as the war between the humans and the mystical creatures of older times ignites for the first time in centuries. The misplaced Hellboy must decide if he should defend the humans or join his supernatural brethren in their fight to regain dominance.

The central story, which involves the diabolical efforts of a pale-faced ancient prince (Luke Goss) and his willowy sister (Anna Walton) is an engagingly weird effort to be sure, but narrative is only half the fun of this film (or maybe less than half) as del Toro and his team of visual masterminds (many reunited from their Oscar winning work on Pan's) piece together what has got to be the most stunningly weird and imaginative film to come out of commercial Hollywood in years. Del Toro is a gem of an innovator with the comic sensibilities of a toddler and the visual lyricism of a poet. He blends broad comedy and cheap sight gags with oddly affecting stunts and action sequences that can be as beautiful to behold as they are drenched in kooky excitement. Among his team's most unforgettable creations: a vividly costumed "angel of death" (also Doug Jones) and a plant monster 30 stories tall whose gooey death covers the city in a lovely coat of pollen that falls with the gentle beauty of snowflakes. This is a popcorn spectacle like no other that should be savored for its rare gifts.