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1941 - DVD

AndyO review: * 1/2

"1941" is probably Spielberg's worst movie. After incredible success with "Jaws" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," one can imagine that he probably thought whatever he touched would become gold. The studio probably thought the same thing, so they left him alone.

"1941" is a sprawling, manic mess of a movie, filled with brief moments of absolute hilarity. John Belushi's performance mirrors the movie's performance as well. Why would an insane P-40 pilot be trolling the skies for Japanese Zeros? Sure it's funny for a few minutes, but it never goes anywhere.

There's probably a great story in here about the paranoia after the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack on the West Coast. But it's probably closer to a drama with some comic moments--and Spielberg doesn't have the maturity as a director to recognize this. 

Children of Men - DVD

AndyO review: * * * *

Metacritic score: 84/100 (Universal Acclaim)

The best Science Fiction holds up a mirror to the present -- and also allows us to look through the mirror into one possible future. This future tends to be either hopeful (Star Trek, ET: The Extraterrestrial), dystopian (1984, Minority Report, Brazil), or somewhere in between (Blade Runner, Star Wars). "Children of Men" also falls somewhere in between.

In "Children of Men," the human race has become sterile--and as a result the world has gone mad. The movie begins with the death of the world's youngest person Baby Diego, who is a celebrity on the order of Britney Spears. We see that his death affects the world the way that Princess Di's death did. 

Theo Faron (Clive Owen), who lives in London, watches the news of his death a TV in a restaurant. He leaves, and then a bomb goes off (a regular occurrence we learn). He still goes to work, but then tells his boss he's too depressed to be there.

Then Owen gets pulled into a plot much bigger than him--bigger than anyone, really--when his activist ex-wife Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore) has people kidnap him. She asks him to help transport a woman to safety. She doesn't tell him why--only than they need his government connections to get the papers. Owen does it--for the money they offer him. From there, the story goes in directions that are truly surprising--and I won't spoil any more.

The director of this movie Alfonso Cuaron, shows once again that he is one of the best directors today (he directed the best Harry Potter movie to date, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"). He uses film technique to drive the story, raise tension, and underscore thematic points--not just for effect. For example, his use of long takes without cuts builds tension subconsciously. His hand-held camera becomes a character, getting dirty and splattered with blood. While I've seen both of these techniques used before--the former in "Saving Private Ryan" and the latter in "The Untouchables," it's that Cuaron knows when to use them.

Cuaron also gets great performances from all his actors, including Owen, Moore, and Michael Caine. Another reviewer pointed out that Caine's character was perhaps what John Lennon would have been like if he'd survived to his sixties or later. (Caine is one of my favorite actors, and I can honestly say I've never seen him play a part like this.)

I was surprised at the feelings that "Children of Men" brought up. I realized that a world without children would be a world not worth living in. I could see how people without hope would go mad--how some would want to commit suicide (the government offers a suicide pill). Children give us hope that the future will be a better place.  

Rocky Balboa - * * *

AndyO review: * * *

Metacritic score: 63 out of 100 (Generally favorable reviews)

When I first heard about "Rocky Balboa," the sixth and final installment of the Rocky movies, it seemed like a joke. How could Sylvester Stallone make another Rocky movie after "Rocky V" was so bad? Was there anything left to tell?

I'm not sure the answer to that last question is an unqualified yes, but somehow Stallone wrote a script that brings back the Rocky that we saw in 1976 -- the same Rocky that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.  

In this film, Rocky is struggling with the loss of Adrian. He spends his evenings working at his restaurant appropriately named "Adrian's," telling his customers all the old boxing stories and posing for photos. He tries to connect with his son, who is trying to stand as far away from his father's shadow as possible. He wants to help out a woman and her son who are struggling in the neighborhood.

When an ESPN computer program predicts that Rocky would beat the current champ Mason Dixon, a champ who is loathed by the public for fighting easy competitors, the stage is set for an exhibition bout between Dixon and Rocky in Vegas. The entire event is treated like an HBO pay-per-view event, complete with the annoying boxing analyzers Larry Merchant and Jim Lampley. But, somehow, it all works.   

In "Rocky Balboa," you can feel that Stallone wants to give Rocky a proper ending -- he wants to make up for Rocky V and all the other false moments in the other Rocky films.The rhythm of the film is slow (almost too slow at times). Character and good acting are more important than the slick filmmaking that peaked in "Rocky IV," with Rocky's battle with the Russian Ivan Drago.

This is a nice surprise.

Eragon - * * 1/2

 AndyO Review: * * 1/2

Metcritic Review: 38 (Generally negative reviews)

Like a lot of movies about dragons, when "Eragon" begins it seems to have a lot of potential. In the world of "Eragon," dragon riders were once the keepers of the peace. But now they're all gone, thanks to a rider who betrayed his colleagues. An evil King Galbatorix (John Malkovich) now rules over Alagaësia.

When we catch up with the hero of the story, who is conveniently named Eragon (Ed Speleers), he's a simple farmboy, who finds a dragon egg on his morning hunt. Of course he doesn't know it's a dragon egg until it hatches. In no time, the dragon Saphira (voice by Rachel Weisz) bonds with Eragon who becomes her rider, and it's up to both of them to fight the evil King.

There are some remarkable sequences in Eragon, although I was never blown out of my seat -- most of them involving the dragon Saphira. But for me, the derivative nature of the plot kept me from falling into the story. By derivative, I'm talking about "Star Wars: A New Hope." Here are just a few similarities:

• Eragon doesn't know his parents. Luke Skywalker doesn't know his parents.
• Eragon lives with his uncle and cousin. Luke Skywalker lives with his aunt and uncle.
• Eragon's cousin and best friend Roran leaves the village so he doesn't get drafted by Galbatorix's army. Luke's best friend Biggs leaves Tatooine so he doesn't get drafted by the Empire. (Note that this scene was cut from the final Star Wars cut, but George Lucas did film the scenes with Luke and Biggs.)
• Eragon meets Brom who was once a dragon rider, who becomes Eragon's mentor. Luke meets Obi-wan Kenobi, who trains him in to become a Jedi.
• At one point, Eragon goes off to save the princess who was responsible for giving him the dragon. Luke and Obi-wan go off to save Princess Leia, who gave Luke the droids.
• Eragon's uncle dies because of him. Luke's aunt and uncle die because of the droids. The dialogue in both movies is almost exactly the same.
• In Eragon, the dragon riders are all dead except for the Jeremy Irons character who mentors Eragon. In Star Wars, the Jedi Knights have been wiped out except Kenobi, who mentors Luke.

So, I think you can see the similarities. And don't get me wrong: Star Wars isn't 100% original either. It borrows heavily from Kurosowa's "The Hidden Fortress" and 50 other movies; the difference is in the way Star Wars combines all of these influences to make something new.    

Note: That a 15-year-old boy named Christopher Paolini wrote Eragon is impressive. He obviously has a lot of talent to be writing a novel like this at such a young age. I'm reviewing Eragon the way I'd review any movie, regardless of how old or young the author was of the screenplay or the source material. In some ways it's too bad he published this story before he matured as a writer.

Cars - * * * *

Mini review: Pixar does it again. They've taken the "fish out of water" story and turned it on its head. The craftsmanship behind this (and all Pixar) films shows in every frame.

The Weather Man - * * *

Seen on DVD.

Mini-review: Nicholas Cage can bring quiet darkness sadness to his roles that bring out the big questions in life. We've seen him play similar characters in "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Adaptation." In "The Weather Man," Michael Caine (one of my favorite actors) is Cage's dying father -- a father who has never given his son love and approval.

It's interesting to see how different this film is from the marketing campaign, which made it look like the comedy of the year.

The Da Vinci Code - * * * 1/2

Viewed at the theater.

Mini review:

The Da Vinci code's greatest strength is also its greatest flaw: the Dan Brown novel from which it came. You get the feeling that Ron Howard, Tom Hanks, and everyone else wanted to bring the novel to life so faithfully, that they forgot they're making a movie. It's also why it runs too long.

But my lasting impression of this film is that it's a great story -- one of those stories that transcends time and space and opens up the universe for a short time.

Grizzly Man - * * * *

Viewed on DVD.

Mini-review:

Grizzly man is one of those movies that haunts you. I found myself thinking about it all the time, discussing it with people, and reading about it. It reminded me of Jon Krakauer's non-fiction book, "Into the Wild," in both subject and location.

It's about a self-proclaimed Grizzly Bear conservationist Timothy Treadwell -- a man who lives among Grizzly bears in Alaska for years until one of them decides to kill him.

What's haunting is Werner Herzog's narration and choice of images in this documentary. Somehow, Werner is able to get inside Timothy's head to try to help us understand why he's living life so dangerously.

This is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.

RV - * * *

I was actually surprised that this movie stayed with me for so long. Days after seeing the film, I kept thinking about Williams, a father who has lost touch with his children, trying not to let on that he is actually disguising a work trip as a family vacation.

RV's plot reminded me of the now classic "National Lamoon's Summer Vacation." But where Chevy Chase never gets beyond the physical humor and ironic dialogue, Robin Williams seems to be able to be funny and create genuine pathos. I really cared about him. With Chevy Chase, you never really feel much for his character; you're just glad it's him and not you going through all those problems.

This is also a good one to bring your kids to, although there is a fair amount of gross-out humor.

Mission Impossible III - * * *

"Mission Impossible III" is an intense action/thriller that is probably the best of the three movies. The opening alone will make you wonder if you're in the right theater. It seems much more intense and violent than any "Mission" movie you've seen before.

The story this time centers around an arms-dealer, played brilliantly by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who is trying to get his hands on a weapon that could end the world as we know it. Of course, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is there to stop him. The twist this time is that Hunt is trying to leave all that spy stuff behind and live a normal life. We all know that people like Ethan Hunt, James Bond, and Jack Bauer don't live normal lives--even if they want to.

So there is a deeper theme in this movie about identities. Nothing in the "Mission" universe is quite what it seems. Hunt's wife doesn't know about his real job. Hunt doesn't know who is double-crossing him. And right when we think we've figured things out, the plot goes in a different direction.

One device that makes for great visual sequences, chase scenes, and special effects is also one of the movie's greatest flaws. I'd like to call it the "just-in-time plot device." Others would call it "contrived." This device makes it easy for characters to get things when they need them without any real foreshadowing (essential for supsending disbelief). For example:

• Hunt is looking out the window in Shanghai and he needs to do some quick measurements of the buildings. It just so happens there's a grease pencil there that he can use to trace the buildings on the window.
• When the bad guy is being transported to some other location, it just so happens it's on one of those highways that traverses the ocean. What a perfect place for an attack by air! And it looks great, too. This same location was used in "True Lies," but I don't remember thinking, "why are they driving over that long bridge?"

There are many, many other examples that smack of lazy screenwriting--but if you can suspend that part of your brain and just go with the flow, this is actually a fun summer action movie.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - * * * 1/2

Harry Potter and his friends are back once again in the fourth movie of the popular series. Unlike most franchise movies, the Harry Potter films get better and better. I can safely say this is the best of all of them.

In "Goblet of Fire," the wizard Olympics (of sorts) come to Hogwarts, where only the best can compete. In this case, it's the best from each of the three wizard schools. And even though Harry is too young, he is mysteriously drawn into the competition.

The competition places these young wizards in dangerous situations that are twice as hard for young Harry. In one of these tests, he faces a fierce dragon that is hellbent on killing him. For once, I can say I was genuinely worried for Harry. And the tests become more and more difficult. In some ways, it's not much different than a Bruce Lee movie, where the hero faces greater and greater challenges.

There's a ballroom dance in "Goblet of Fire" that captures both the magic and misery of being a teenager. Hermione Granger learns that boys aren't as easy to understand as when they were younger. Harry and his friend Ron discover that girls are equally difficult to understand.

In the world of Harry Potter, nothing is quite what it seems. Good is bad. Bad is good. And the shadow of the evil Lord Voldermort hangs over everything.