“Poseidon” (or “Is it Really Different Upside Down?”)

I love the original “Poseidon Adventure.” I love Gene Hackman as the priest who leads the survivors to safety, I love the girl and her brother who are accidentally swept to salvation, I love the Shelley Winters valiantly doing her part to aid their little group. It’s a loaded cast… and a fun disaster movie.

The other thing I love about the original is the attention to detail of the filmmakers. They made a film about a boat that was upside down. Being upside down is an important part of the story. It’s hard to walk up the ceiling of a staircase. Its’ hard to figure out where you are when everything is upside down. The world is different and that, itself, is part of the adventure.

I realized what I loved about the original when I saw the new one!

“Poseidon” tries to load the cast with Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas (who is my new superstar crush next to Johnny), and Richard Dreyfuss. When you get a cast that can act, you have to give them good stuff to work with. Josh Lucas is a gambler who wants to get out… he doesn’t care about anyone else. He’s a pitiful replacement for Gene, and you wonder why he doesn’t just run away from his rag tag group.

Kurt Russell is an overprotective father who does have to find his daughter… his motivation for leaving the ball room. The others? NO good reason to hang out with Josh. And Josh doesn’t want them. Dreyfuss has the hardest role. He plays a older, gay man (is that a stretch for him?) whose lover has left him. He’s on deck, climbing over the railing to jump overboard when he sees the wall of water coming toward the ship. Evidently dying in a big wave is scarier than throwing yourself overboard, so he runs into the ballroom to tell people, and then spends the rest of the movie struggling to stay alive. Is he suicidal or not? Dunno.

And, there’s the whole upside-down and boat-on-fire thing. In the original, you see the characters struggling with the stairwells, and the upside down issues. I was always scared when they had to walk through the engine room and everything was so hot that one little stumble would result in life-threatening burns. Excellent.

The new one doesn’t make the obstacles as interesting. I kept forgetting that they were upside down because they move so easily through the ship. Of course Josh “knows ships” and that explains it. The explosions and fires don't make it too hot to do what they need to do. Kurt is a retired fireman (Josh is ex-Navy), so they've equipped characters with all the skills to make it “easy.”I liked the priest, the geek, the old people, and the girl and her brother all without skills and still trying. It’s dramatic.

So… not my favorite movie.

Having said all that, I watched the “Making of…” on HBO last night and realized a few things:

1. I would have liked this movie more if I hadn’t compared it to the old one. And, while some of that is my fault, I’m also blaming the screen writer who made the plot close enough that comparisons are inevitable. If he’d copied a bit less, I would have let go of my old notions.

2. The actors in the movie did almost all of their own stunts, and there isn’t a lot of CGI stuff. And THAT is cool. When I saw some of the scenes, I was pretty impressed with the enormity of the physical set and the way they actually flooded the ballroom with 100,000 gallons of water and stuff like that. So, it would be wrong to review it and not mention that it gets an A for technical merit and stunt stuff.

3. The director was conscious of the upside down stuff and actually talks about it. So, it wasn’t something they missed. Now, I think they wanted so many obstacles (and always bigger and better ones) around each corner that they overdid it. The characters should have struggled a bit more with each one. But there would have been less time for more obstacles. They move so fast that you don’t worry about the water behind them…

Francine's Review - Mission Impossible: 3

I miss the days when I loved Tom Cruise. I really loved how cute and buff he was in MI2. Now, he’s just a bobble-headed caricature of himself. And, he’s really wound up… both on Oprah and in this film.

MI:3 has all the good stuff that you love about the IMF (Impossible Mission Force). They break into the Vatican, rescue the girl, speak any language they need to, have all the right costumes and gadgets (oh the gadgets!!). It’s everything you love when the music comes on “Dum, dum, dum-dum…Dum dum dummmdum.” The special effects are really good and they fit the movie perfectly. And there’s Phillip... and Kerri... and Ving.

Unfortunately, they all get a little bit of screen time and the rest is all Tom. It is, after all a “Cruise/somebody” production. It’s Tom looking tired, Tom all stressed out, Tom looking too short… Tom running gimpily, then running fast, then running REALLY fast and looking stressed out at the same time.

As a little aside, why do you think they cast Ving Rhames to work with Tom Cruise? They can never actually stand in the same scene together or Tom looks like one of the munchkins from OZ. I looked it up and, if IMDB is right, Ving is 6 feet (and not a little boy). Cruise is 5’7”. 5 inches on camera means that Tom looks at Ving’s clavicle, right??

That wasn’t as much of an aside as I thought, because Tom just seems smaller in this film. There are no fabulous buff shots. In one scene I actually thought “Tom runs like he’s getting old” and he’s too busy being frenetic to be charming. He doesn’t smile much. And when he does, you remember why you ever liked him. But, he smiles only a couple of times in the entire film and it made me stop and think, “He should smile more often.”

But, it is a movie, right? And not just a Tom fest (go with me on this one). So.. let's talk about the movie. The plot is a bit weak, you don’t really know why Ethan is getting all involved in the mess until they threaten his lady love, and then he’s (yup, you got it) all stressed out and running REALLY fast.

The twist is completely predictable. You know, where they point you to the double-crossing bad guy but it ends up being the guy next to him? Yup, Laurence Fishburne is our decoy (I forgot to mention him earlier) and he’s totally flat and unbelievable in his little bit of screen time. When the real bad guy pops up… I’m not the least bit surprised.

They were trying to add some relationship drama into the plot and I applaud that. Ethan is driven by his need to protect the woman he loves from the bad guys and from the loss of innocence that “knowing” about IMF will bring her. He’s trying to keep a bit of his world safe from IMF. He’s trying to have a life. It’s all in there. It's all really slow and boring. And at the end, the bad guys do get the girl for a while, she ends up shooting people to save herself, and Ethan has to tell her all about IMF. It’s a happy ending. Oh wait… he’s failed at ALL his goals. Hmmm… well, just believe me that it’s a happy ending. And when they do the relationship thing, remember Fred Savage and say, “skip the kissing.”

The Elemental List Friday

Here's a little game I used to play with my friends in college. You list the top three elements that a perfect (in your mind) movie needs.

For example, if your perfect movie includes Morgan Freeman, Zombies and a soundtrack written by Yanni, well, then you list, Freeman, Zombies, Yanni. It's that easy! Or you could say: Jane Austen novel, Steven Seagal and Cameron Diaz. And, boy, what a perfect movie that would be.

So, to reiterate, today's Friday slacktastic task is:

List three elements that would make up a perfect movie. It can be anything, a landscape, a soundtrack, a director, actor, novel, cartoon character, plot mechanism, anything.

It's fun!

List Friday!!! Countdown to Summer Movie Season

Today marks the early start to the 2006 summer movie season, with the release of MI3. I thought it would be fun if we all counted down to the #1 most personally anticipated movie coming this summer. I'll post mine here - as an example ... (I've only used a countdown from 6, but if you have more ... use a higher starting number!)

#6) Click
This one looks promising. Adam Sandler as a guy who discovers a universal remote that will actually fast forward life's boring (or preferably avoidable) tedium, turn down the volume on his wife's ranting, etc. I can't wait to see if Sandler has matured ... I've heard he has, but I hope not too much!

# 5) The DaVinci Code
As someone who never saw Far and Away, I can honestly say that I've never been disappointed by a Ron Howard movie. I'm really looking forward to this adaptation.

#4) The Break-Up
I know I am not the only person in the world who really wants Jennifer Aniston to have a successful film career. I am looking forward to seeing this movie because of the Vaughniston aspect, but also because I love Rachel ... err, Jennifer, and Vince, and well, I just really want to see a GOOD romantic comedy.

#3) Poseidon!
I'm really psyched for this one ... probably because I missed seeing Titanic in the theaters. Every time I see the movie trailer with the giant wave approaching the still-right-side-up ship, I get a tiny dose of adrenaline!

#2) Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest
Oh, please, please, PLEASE deliver one heck of an awesome sequel! Johnny, please don't phone it in! I'm so in love with the first one that I am nervous about this one living up to my expectations. Can't believe I have to wait until JULY to see it. *hmmph!*

and, my number one personally anticipated movie of the summer ....!!!!!

Nachooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Libre!
Molly, hope I didn't steal your thunder for this one, but the more I think about it, the more excited I am to see this movie!

Ok other posters and lurkers ... Which movies are you counting down the minutes to see this summer? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? heh heh heh.

List Friday: Movie Music

In celebration of my conversion to Idol-dom (that’s American Idol, and I’m now caught in the same frenzy as everyone else), this List Friday is dedicated to songs that completely stole a scene or movie!

I got this idea when I found myself completely enchanted by scenes in “The Wedding Date.”
“Enchanted?” you gasp??
Yes… enchanted.

There two or three scenes that are wonderful, and I realized that I loved them because the music in the scene is fabulous. I probably stopped watching the movie and just focused on the music. And I’d watch them again. Peggy did point out that Dermot Mulroney is in all the good scenes, but I contend that the value is based in the music!!

Create your lists!!

Films that Spoof Other Films

I just found a great little article about spoofs... Gianna and I watched Shrek 2 this morning and the "Mongo" giant gingerbread man just cracked me up. Hours later I find an article that not only mentions "Blazing Saddles," but mentions a bunch of other spoof movies...

So, though only the "Scary Movie" mention is about anything remotely new, I thought it was a totally fun list!

http://movies.msn.com/movies/springmovieguide/parodies

List Friday: Bad Movie Season

April is a time in the year where there is a definite decrease in the quality of films in theatres. I think I read somewhere of the last two or three weeks of major studio releases, the majority didn't even have advance screenings for critics, because the movies are so bad.

So, while Hollywood shells out crappy movies in advance of marketing campaigns for the big summer popcorn flicks, most of us wile away our moving image time in the spring in front of the small screen. I'd venture to say that 90% of what's on TV right now is better than 99% of the movies in theatres right now. For instance, given the choice between a marathon of America's Next Top Model (chosen because in the television firmament, it's not good) is innumerably better than spending $10 to see Phat Girls.

This week's List Friday?

Name the television shows you are watching right now, and that you think are generally better than the average movie. Please tell us why you think this....

I could be off base. You might be at the park and not in front of the tube. But I know I've got a few tele-addictions going right now...

Sorry for the absence

We're not gone. Peggy has had computer troubles. I've been fretting about my son.

But I've been watching movies. I never stop.

Recently, I watched Pride and Prejudice, which is not the BBC one, I guess, but is fantastic and must be watched.

And I also saw North Country, which was a very gritty human drama which turns into a very bad episode of Perry Mason within about 3 minutes. But it's still worth watching.

So, don't fear movie lurvers. We're still here.

List Friday! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

No, we aren't completely giving up on Molly's theme from last week --- so bloggers, if you have birthday-themed movies to list, please list in the post below.

But since it's St. Patrick's Day, we should list Irish movies today!

So, this week's theme is:

List movies that are about Ireland in some way!

One caveat - let's not list movies that just have Irish actors in them. That's kinda ridiculous. But if the Irish actor is in a movie that has something about Ireland ... then LIST IT! So, I guess what I'm saying is that your list should contain movies whose plotlines have an Irish theme (ok, ok - it can be an Irish-American theme, as well). But it's about the plot ... not the actors. Cool? Cool.

Ready? Set? POST (comment)!

List, um, Saturday?

The Cinema Firmament bloggers have officially finished Oscar season and have quickly moved on to birthday season. Between the bloggers and our collective progeny (and spouses), we will celebrate four birthdays between yesterday and next Friday. Two of those four are birthdays that are divisible by 10, and are thus somehow more "important" (please note bitterness as the writer is one of these, and will be entering her "thirties" on Thursday, as if its a big deal or something, oosh). Personally, I'm most freaked out by Peggy's son C, who launched headfirst into teenagerhood yesterday by turning 13. Whoa. So, in the spirit of the many birthdays, the list of the week is as follows:

What are your top 5 films wherein a birthday is featured?

The birthday thing need not be a central plot point, a la Sixteen Candles, but just a featured thing, such as Ray, in which Ray Charles realizes he's a junkie and will go into detox as a child's birthday party rages on in the back yard. Got it?

Happy Birthday, E, C, Boc, and um, Me.

Ready? Set! Go!

I Still Love the Movies But I Think I Can Quit Oscar!!

I'm completely disappointed that Crash won for best picture. I'm sad and droopy because Heath, Jake, and Joaquin got nothing. I'm thrilled that Brokeback got the adapted screenplay cuz it so deserved it.

But I leave the Oscars disappointed in the entire event...

And now I remember that this happens to me a lot. I don't like it when a movie sweeps all the accolades because I feel sad for the other guys. But I hate it when everything is all spread around so everyone gets a bit of credit and goes home feeling the pat on the back. It's pitiful. It's like making sure that every country in the Olympics gets a medal for something... "Uh.. okay ... you can have the medal for ... ummm... bob-skiing!! Yeah... that's it!"
(See all the categories for sound mixing and sound editing...)
Francine's Grammy aside: I'm STILL confused, and though Peggy tried to explain it, I never did get the difference between "Best Album" and "Best Record").

When it seems like they are trying to make sure no one gets left out... I think it devalues the entire honor. And I felt like the whole thing was devalued this year. Of course, when a movie I LIKE wins, say "Chicago," I seem to let the whole moralistic argument go. So maybe I'm just mad that they didn't pick my movie and award my favorites.

But, I did drive home Sunday night thinking about the year of "The Crying Game" where it got only the screenplay accolades... and the year that "Ghost" made the nominee list (yeah... it's a peeve with me). Or the year that "Chicago" didn't really seem to be THAT good and yet, they picked it. Or the year "Driving Miss Daisy" took the honor over "Born on the Fourth of July" and "My Left Foot."

Maybe I've got a point or... Sigh... maybe they'll vote with me next year.

And now I'm so looking forward to the Sopranos

So, I hate that Crash won for best picture. I needn't waste any more time hating on that movie, but I do have to reply to the crap that has been spewing from stupid TV news people. No, Crash didn't win because Hollywood is not ready to award gay themes (um, did Phillip Seymore Hoffman NOT just win best actor? Did Brokeback not win writing and directing?). It is because the Academy loves itself, and Crash is about ugly petty bullshit that happens in LA.

A few other things I'd like to say about Oscar night:

1. Naomi Watt's dress. I can't cut into her as well as the Go Fug Yourself girls, so read this.

2. George Clooney, if you weren't the Rock Hudson of the 21st century, you'd so totally be my secret celebrity boyfriend.

3. Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep's introduction of Altman was pure genius.

4. Also genius? The "Cowboys are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other" montage.

5. I'd like to personally invite Jon Stewart to host the Oscars indefinitely. He was brilliant.

I'm so tired, so I'm done. It was a good season, even though my favorite movie (brokeback) didn't win the big one, my second favorite movie (constant gardener) only got supporting actress, but deserved it, and my third favorite movie (munich) got a big batch o' nothing. Ah well.

Molly's Oscar Rundown (filled with opinion)

I had a little movie marathon today. I took myself to the movies today and watched Munich immediately followed by Good Night, and Good Luck. I have now managed to see the 5 nominated films, and for the first time ever I think, the 5 actor performances, and if I get around to watching Cinderella Man tonight (I don't know if I can do three movies in a single day, without being home sick from work or something), all of the nominees for editing and make up as well. Netflix has been very very helpful in acheiving this whole see-them-all thing.

So, what follows is my quick rundown of the 5 films, plus a few others, read on...

Brokeback Mountain: Hands down the best film of this year's crop. This movie had me thinking and more importantly, emoting, long after I'd seen it. This movie has much of what I look for in a movie: a connection between characters and between the screen to the audience, wonderfully and sumptuously shot, and an economic, smart screenplay.

Capote: This wasn't a bad movie. Phillip Seymore Hoffman is one of my very favorite actors ever and he carries the movie in his fey performance, completely. His acting nomination, and probable win is well deserved. However, I didn't love this movie, as a whole film. I don't think it was one of the top 5 movies of last year. I thought the pacing dragged, and dragged to the point that I wasn't engaged and wanted the film to end already. I didn't connect with it. After I saw a few other passed-over movies, I quickly began to believe that it didn't belong in this category.

Crash: I hated this movie. It was very well executed, however, and as a whole film, has its place in the world, I suppose. I can't exactly fault the acting. It's the screenplay, and ultimately the entire conceit of the film. So, it was the film equivalent of Christina Aguilera for me: technically fine, but just not something I care to invest in, listen to, or pay attention to in general.

Good Night, and Good Luck: I'm so totally conflicted about my response to this one. I'm very interested in the subject matter, I enjoyed the no-nonsense tone of the film. But there's something missing, or too much of one thing, or something. It's still a little too new to me to put my finger on it. I read a review that called it hermetic, and I think that is part of it: it's claustrophobic. It's also very sterile, in an acting/cinematographic sense. I also think that there was too much reliance in the film on actual footage of Joe McCarthy. Like enough screen-time that Joe McCarthy could have been nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar. What continues to haunt me is that he wasn't acting, that he was real. And hence, conflicted.

Munich: WOW! This movie was fantastic. It was thrilling, scary, empathetic, cruel, sad. The movie dug deep into emotional territory, which is something most suspense dramas cannot succeed with and few actually even try to acheive. What is it to be an assassin? What is a society that employs the methods of assassins? What does revenge do to the legitimacy of moral high ground? Who, then, is the terrorist? Spielberg just rocks, and always puts such rich humanity into his work. This movie is trying really hard to make me root for it over Brokeback. REALLY hard, because Eric Bana is also S-E-X-EE in his 70's coif and bellbottom pants. I think he might need to become my new secret celebrity boyfriend.

The Constant Gardener: This movie blew my mind. Like Munich, it crossed genre stereotypes, being a love story, mystery and suspense-thriller successfully and concurrently. The acting was clean, but it's the story here that got me. I think it should have gotten a best picture nod, certainly over Capote, and possibly over Good Night, and Good Luck. It gets 4 stars from me, go rent it NOW!!!

Walk the Line: It is unfortunate that Walk the Line came out the year after Ray. I think Oscar doesn't like to do too much of one thing (except bad re-imagining of old TV shows), and the biopic of the tortured, drug using musician got all the attention last year. I think the performances were good, the film engaging, and the connection viable. I really think that in a year not following Ray, this would have been nominated more. Oh, and Reese Witherspoon has the most beautiful hair. Evah.

I can't wait for tomorrow! With all of my venom above, I sure hope Crash doesn't win best picture. But I guess if you can't fix it, you've got to stand it, right?

List Friday!

List your favorite Academy Award moments!

You don't have to list 10, and you don't have to know what year (afterall, this isn't the buttkicking msn.com quiz that Francine posted below). This is just a place to note moments in the Oscar telecasts throughout the years that have proven themselves memorable to you.

Ready? Set? LIST!!!

Oscar Quiz

MSN posted this quiz today... I was pitiful "Not even nominated!!"

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/adultlearning/?page=Quiz106&Quizid=106&GT1=7850

Thank you, Mr. Hanks!

Mr. Tom Hanks, experienced and decorated academy award nominee and winner, is doing the viewing public a great favor related to the Academy Awards telecast this year. Read more about it here, and join me in thanking him! I'm looking forward to interesting and memorable ceremony without any of the boring speeches. It's about time they thought of something like this!

Set your TiVo, DVR, VCR or Watch This!!!

Do you want to get a leg up on your fellow Oscar-pool competitors? Do you want to watch a movie that can effectively use the words "sexy" and "quadriplegic" in the same sentence? I know you do.

Tonight on A&E, Murderball will be aired at 8pm and again and midnight (at least here in Denver). I was really lucky to have been able to attend a special screening of the film last spring. It is about the quadriplegic rugby team that represented the US (plus a little about those pesky Canadians) in the Paralympics. The movie follows principally about 4 players of the team, plus one megolomaniac coach, the basics of the sport, and about the challenges that being disabled brings to a man. It also shows the positives of being disabled as well, which is perhaps the most shining and mindblowing message the movie brings. It's fascinating, and the sport is really exciting. The doc also succeeds in widening its scope, showing the beginning of one man's journey after an accident causing a four-limb disability, as well as visiting the Walter Reid hospital in Bethesda, MD to remind us how many among us, with the war brewing on and on, are battling, surviving and living with disabilities.

Murderball gets my vote for best doc on Sunday night, but the only other doc I saw this year was March of the Penguins. That said, I have a feeling that my 2 for 5 is far better than most of the academy voters, and we'll see one of those adorable little penguins accepting an oscar before the film makers who introduced us to the champions in this film...

(Fake) Trailer Park

I've been wasting my Saturday morning watching a few fun re-mixed trailers. It's amazing what a little background music and Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill can do...

Shining, the next family comedy

Sleepless in Seattle, a thriller

West Side Story, a zombie flick.

What do you think?

List Friday!

This week's listing exercise ....

Which movie quotes do you find yourself using in actual conversation most often?

For example, when telling a new friend your life story, do you begin with "I was born a poor black child," from The Jerk? When you win a board game with your family, do you raise your arms and yell "I'm the king of the WORLD!" like Jack Dawson in Titanic?

List the quotes to the best of your ability ... and have fun! If you need help, you might want to check out IMDB.com (here). Most movies include a quote section and might get your brain tickin'!

Have Fun, Get Set ... POST!

Short Story to Film

Well, I decided to read "Brokeback Mountain." It's in a collection of short stories called "Close Range (Wyoming Stories). Evidently Annie lives in Wyoming (who knew?). It's a 30-page story.

It's really nicely done. But the most amazing part for me is that all the key scenes in the film are in the story. The first intimacy, Ennis' fight with his ex in the kitchen, the shirt on the peg at the end... and I've missed more than I've listed. The other amazing thing is that there is quite a bit of dialog, and the movie used it verbatim. I do not think there is a bit of dialog in the story that you wouldn't recognize from the film.

There are two paragraphs that I think give the story a bit more heart than the movie. The first paragraph describes my favorite scene where Jack is remembering Ennis hugging him and it describes the tenderness and sexless love in that embrace, and then follows the tenderness with the awareness that Ennis would never hug Jack face-to-face and "face" the relationship and what they are.

The second one describes the shirts Ennis finds in the closet and has some nice imagery about them being one inside the other, together as one skin (or something like that).

Both are perfect examples of how prose can tug you in a completely different way than a film. And I love them both. But I think the film is actually more poignant all around.

(I thought about typing these bits up and then got lazy, but I'll get Peggy the book this week, so if you're interested, you can check it out!)