Review: Stardust

First, I apologize for the lateness of this post, we've had some technical difficulties that have been killing me. about halfway down the page you'll see where the paragraph breaks stop working. I am sorry if it makes the post hard to read. I'm continuing to try to fix but thought you should have the review in any case. For your reading enjoyment, here it is:

I mentioned this in a previous post a few weeks ago: advertising. Where was the marketing push for this movie? I wrote before seeing Stardust, that this seemed like the perfect movie to get huge momentum out of ComicCon in San Diego. That comic convention (turned Hollywood hot spot) could have held a preview screening, gotten some major press and word of mouth buzz. If they actually did preview it there, then the marketing firm in charge of this movie should be blackballed from the industry. Because I've now seen this movie and let me tell you, this movie is one of the ones that your children would really enjoy.

Here's the quick, dirty, spoiler free plot synopsis on Stardust as provided by IMDB.com: A young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) tries to win the heart of Victoria (Sienna Miller), the beautiful but cold object of his desire, by going on a quest to retrieve a fallen star.

The potential spoiler if you haven't seen any trailers for this movie is this: the fallen star is, in fact, a person. Played by Claire Danes.

If you loved The Princess Bride, then you will most likely enjoy this movie. It takes you on the same sort of fantasy ride and more than once during the showing I found myself comparing the two. Of course, there was no Andre the Giant for comic relief, but who needs it when you have Robert De Niro pushing his reputation aside to fill a corny, but hilarious role. If the two Ben Stiller comedies were the testing of the water with his toe, then this role was a full cannonball into absurdity. At first I was put off by his character. The first few minutes he's on screen I was confused...why was his acting so horrible? Then I realized...his character is acting! Once you get his character, he becomes one of the highlights of laughs in this film.

This was British actor Charlie Cox's first big Hollywood role and frankly I think he did a fine job. Which is a good thing considering he's in 80% of the scenes shot for the film. His character's growth from a funny, naive and simplistic boy to a confident man happens in an unbelievably short time span, but the flow of the movie distracts from the fact that the entire plot is supposed to fit in a one week time span.

Claire Danes is a take it or leave it actress for me. The people who loved her in her breakout t.v. role in My So Called Life in the mid 1990's continue to follow and love everything she does. I discovered that she really could act in 1996's Romeo and Juliet. Since then she's really turned in scattered performances and a myriad of supporting characters. Just two years ago she was praised in the Steve Martin film Shopgirl. Since then she's acted in three movies, two of which where released this year. Point being, how does this woman pop on and off the radar so quickly and easily? Well, her performance here is solid to my mind. Not fantastic, just solid, I don't find myself wanting for anything, and in fact by the end I found myself sympathetic to her character's emotions. That probably has to do with a certain special effect that is best left for viewers to discover than for me to spoil here.

The other main lead is played by Michelle Pfeiffer, who is coming off of another (debatable) teen targeted movie, Hairspray. Her biggest role before that was in 2001 with I Am Sam, followed by a couple of quiet roles between. She plays the villain here and thankfully her scenes are sprinkled with laughter, because if she played the role straight, it would have fallen flat and pulled the movie straight down with it. The CGI effects on her characters aging were as much a factor as her performance in this roll and she played it well and provided the spur to the plot.

Some of the smaller moments were made better with cameos by some of Britain's comedic actors. Ricky Gervais, of the British version of The Office, has a great 5 minutes on screen. Or David Kelly, who played Grandpa Joe in the recent Willy Wonka redux and lept to America's attention earlier in the hilarious Waking Ned Devine. Sienna Miller's role as Victoria sparks the whole movie, but I really don't have anything to say about her part. Honestly, I haven't seen too much of her stuff previously and I don't know her personality from any interviews or media, but I almost believe that she wasn't acting in this role. I hope that's not true; for her sake.

Overall, this was a perfect summer family flick and I enjoyed the movie. It was light fare and I think that families with kids aged 8-14 will really get their money's worth on a lazy Sunday afternoon. As I stated before, you can draw a lot of comparisons to The Princess Bride, just without all the catchphrases that have been ingrained in your head over the last 20 years. Yes, 20 years.

Watching: The Thomas Crown Affair on my iPhone.

On deck: The September Movie blaaaghs. I do have Buffy season 6 around here somewhere. Still not judging.

Reading: just finished The Book of Fate, still reading His Dark Materials trilogy.

SuperBad: SuperGood

It's been tough to decide where to start on this article. As you can tell from the title, I did like the movie. In fact, I laughed my ass off. If I were to offer a recommendation on if you should see it or not, the recommendation would come with qualifiers. If you are in your mid-to-late thirties, I would say catch a matinee if you are bored or wait for dvd. If you are in your late 20's or early 30's I would say to catch a matinee with your friends, reminisce, and laugh your butt off. Now, if you are in your early-to-mid 20's, see this on Friday night and pay full price. If you are in college right now, you probably know these characters or may in fact be one of them. If you are a senior female in high school, I'm undecided as to whether you should see this in order to understand the thought process of every teenage male, or if you should be locked in your bedroom until you start college.

This movie is American Pie and Fast Times at Ridgemont High mashed together and taken another step or two in the dirty direction. It's rated R for a reason kids. Every other word uttered in this movie is on the list at the Motion Picture Association of America. While I laughed the whole movie at the things that came out of these guys mouths, I was incredulous at the subjects and phrases that emerged. I thought that Knocked Up really pushed the envelope with the dialogue and birthing scene, but I was proved wrong within 10 minutes from the start of this movie.

The person I looked forward to seeing in this movie is Jonah Hill. In every movie he appears in, he plays a small or supporting role that you always remember. In Knocked Up, he's the foul-mouthed roommate. The stalker staffer in Evan Almighty. The video game programmer who finally attains his first female in Grandma's Boy. Much like Seth Rogen in Knocked Up, Jonah Hill was someone who you really couldn't see as a leading character, until it happened. And he was great. He was in your face, shouting, freaking out, having fun, being funny. Kudos to Mr. Hill.

This was my first exposure to Michael Cera. regrettably, I never fully watched an episode of Arrested Development, or his well reviewed Clark and Michael. I loved his battered Evan in this movie. These two leads played very well off of each other and his understated character shines every time he's on the screen. I would say that his subtle moments, opposite his blustery best friend are the best laughs. As these two go through the movie you can see that they truly make this movie work. I have a hard time seeing anyone else in these roles.

Let me say this about Christopher Mintz-Plasse: you will forever be known as McLovin. Be proud of it though. His roll in the movie provided the catalyst for the whole plot, but his story was almost a whole separate movie, that cleverly sailed along and only intertwined for the proper dues ex machina, which only provided more hilarity. For his first roll ever on screen or television, he was great! More McLovin, please!

Judd Apatow is being credited for this movie in the press, and I'm sure he deserves it as Executive Producer of the film. The truth is Seth Rogen started writing this movie 8 years ago and the two of them have been shopping it since then. Thankfully, Judd's recent success as director/writer/producer has allowed a lot of his projects to take shape and a lot of his choice actors to find work. Seth does play a big role in this movie and I'm sure he always saw himself in the Jonah Hill role, but thankfully he turns in a hilarious performance in his Officer Michaels character.

As a final comment on the movie, in general, if you have followed Apatow's projects from the beginning then you know that his stuff is chock full of cameo's from actors and actresses from previous stuff. I absolutely love watching to see who will turn up in what roles. For fans of The State, how about Joe Lo Truglio in a truly creepy role. How about Carla Gallo in a disgustingly pivotal role, for those fans who are still lamenting the cancellation of Undeclared 5 years ago. Look for others, they are all in there!

The death of summer movies has me longing for late October and the return of the Oscar movie season. Some of the movies I'm looking forward to, months from now are starting to release trailers and stirring interest. Period piece sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Dan in Real Life, which returns Steve Carrell to that slightly depressed type of character in Little Miss Sunshine that everybody loved. American Gangster starring Russell Crowe and threatening to bring Denzel Washington's career back to the forefront. Plus, some of those Fantasy or Science-Fiction films that pop their heads up around the holidays. Big interest in seeing The Golden Compass from the book of the same name and Will Smith's entry for the fall, I Am Legend. A last man on earth scenario.

This weekend has only one movie opening that I am interested in, and it's not Mr. Bean's Holiday. Though, I know that some of you out there would like to see that review. If I can't make it to see Resurrecting the Champ starring Samuel L. Jackson, then I'll try to finally catch Stardust. Until next week, see ya!

Watching: still Undeclared the series.

On deck: Serenity collectors edition dvd. get yours on Amazon!

Reading: still the His Dark Materials Trilogy.

Comments on the Weekend Box Office

Family and other commitments kept me from the theater this weekend, but after checking in on the weekend estimates, I had to throw my meager two cents at the wall to see if any of it would stick. Obviously, what follows is only one man's opinion and your comments are welcome to spur conversation.


Here you see estimated ticket sales for Aug. 10-12 as published by MSNBC.com:

1. Rush Hour 3, $50.3 million
2. The Bourne Ultimatum, $33.7 million
3. The Simpsons Movie, $11.1 million
4. Stardust, $9 million
5. Underdog, $6.5 million
6. Hairspray, $6.4 million
7. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, $5.9 million
8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, $5.4 million
9. No Reservations, $3.9 million
10. Daddy Day Camp, which opened on Wednesday, $3.3 million

I use a couple of sites to help me decide what I'm going to see at the theater that week. Truth be told, I did not have any desire to Rush Hour 3, and after I checked the overall thoughts on the movie, I did not change my desire one bit. That said, I'm not entirely surprised this movie is #1, but I am surprised it didn't receive more of a threat from the other big release, Stardust or The Bourne Ultimatum (which I reviewed last week).

When Rush Hour came out in 1998 it was welcomed with open arms. Jackie Chan was just a martial arts actor from Hong Kong who a select few truly knew. That all changed as MTV and the Gen X population started to pick his name up in the mid 1990's and this movie really burst him onto the American stage. The movie was fun and Chris Tucker was coming off a string of movies all propagated by the under the radar hit Friday. People welcomed the team up and showed it in the numbers. As a side note, this movie helped bring about the entertaining team-up of Chan and Owen Wilson in the Shanghai movies (which was more tuned to this writer's humor).

In 2001 Rush Hour 2 hit the screens and the numbers for the opening weekend were up as Chan had been successful with Shanghai Noon and Tucker hadn't been seen in two years. Subsequently, Tucker disappeared from the world and after the equally funny, but belief suspending Shanghai Knights, Chan went on to do a couple of Disney roles (Around the World in 80 Days, ow) and more movies in China. Now, 6 years later we have Rush Hour 3. It was pointed out to me by my friend, Let's call him Radar, that in the last 9 years Chris Tucker has only done these 3 Rush Hour movies! I've moved on. I'm older, not really into the cop buddy comedies any more. And the target audience for these actors, I kind of figured they'd moved on too. Once again I find myself humbled by my self-involvement. People still want to see these movies, obviously, and perhaps these two actors are, HOPEFULLY, finding a new slightly younger target audience as well. These guys were funny and fun to watch once upon a time. If the numbers stay up next weekend, it may convince me to get back in the theater to see this horribly reviewed movie. There is some big competition coming next weekend for the younger males to consider, that may take Rush Hour 3 out of the equation: Superbad. The Hollywood man of the hour, Seth Rogen co-wrote and is acting in this high school comedy that may push the American Pie movies to the back of your shelf and Rush Hour 3 to the back of the theater.

On other subjects, I was very happy to see Bourne get to $100M in it's second week. Disappointed to see Stardust come in a distant fourth in it's debut. Behind The Simpsons. The Simpsons wasn't a bad movie; I actually laughed out loud at a few scenes. It really just felt to me as a longer episode, not an epic movie. How did the well reviewed, star-studded Stardust not make money? Who doesn't want to see the always good Michelle Pfeiffer, Peter O'Toole, Claire Danes, and a kilt wearing Robert De Niro? Perhaps it was the last bit about the kilt that kept people away. Perhaps most of those actors mentioned played supporting roles? My guess? The studio didn't market it well enough, and frankly didn't know how or who to market it to. I wasn't at Comic-Con this year to see if there was a big marketing push for this movie, but that would have been the place. The writer, Neil Gaiman, a hero to that world, could have pushed it big time. The studio could have pushed it by using his name, and perhaps they did, but it didn't work. I for one didn't hear anything from Comic-Con on the movie.

In closing, what the hell happened to Cuba Gooding Jr.? Daddy Day Camp? I hope we are just seeing a repeat of the Eddie Murphy phenomenon, werein you go off to do some movies for your kids and the world won't let you do anything else until you score some insanely one-off role that people go, "Who was that"? For God's sake, the world does not need Norbit 2.

E

Watching: Undeclared the Series...a woefully canceled Judd Apato t.v. series.

On-deck: Superbad! In the theater. Loving me some Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen.

Reading: His Dark Materials trilogy.

Welcome + The Bourne Ultimatum

After the 126th person asked, "Why don't you keep a blog on the movies you see?", I've decided to jump in and give it a go. Obviously you can go to a number of sites and get the information you seek, a number of which I base a lot of my weekend choices on in the first place, but in this case you know me. Chances are that if I give you an opinion on the way a film is shot, or how a story line goes, or if it's really a family flick, then you'll have a pretty good idea of where I'm coming from or where I'm going to with that statement. If you don't, well then, I'm not doing my job and you should let me know. Whether it's a comment here, hitting me on email, or actually calling me, let me know what you think, what you like, even what you don't like. Finally, if there is a request you have, i.e. something you haven't seen here or an older movie, please leave a comment or email. You'll be seeing some older movies coming out for a while until Hollywood picks up the intensity, but here is your first taste:

The Bourne Ultimatum

Expect a positive bias going in. First, huge fan of the first two in the series. Second, Matt Damon really is a great actor. Say what you will about past movies he's been involved in, Mr Damon always shines in a role. His almost unrecognizable turn in Courage Under Fire, or how about the fact that his 10 minute screen time in teen comedy Eurotrip is the most talked about scene in the movie (the song featured is a favorite on my iPhone).
My first recommendation is that you should throw a copy of the Bourne Supremacy in your dvd player before you venture to the theater as a refresher, because this movie picks up right on the heels of that one. It wouldn't hurt to watch the Bourne Identity as well, but certainly not required. If you haven't seen either, then you should run to your video store immediately.
I can count on one hand how many times I've sat in a theater in the past five years and felt either the adrenaline or my heart pumping for the majority of the film, and director Paul Greengrass has been involved in two of those films. This film had my attention at the first moment and the threat of a coronary didn't stop until the credits where halfway done and I was in the parking lot. Mr. Greengrass has a certain way of filming a movie with handheld cameras that is, I assume, intended to put you in the action. This has a way of being a little off-putting to some viewers. I certainly had issues with the hand-to-hand fight scene in the Bourne Supremacy; too quick, hard to tell the movements, but after watching his excellent United 93 and following with Ultimatum, I've grown to love this story-telling. It may not work for most pictures, but it does here. So you are duly warned: the picture is shaky and it will flip from angle to angle and back again before you get your bearings. Just relax and go with it, the more you let it flow, the better you'll be able to pay attention to the story, because these films' stories need your attention. That's because this story also moves fast, zipping from city to city, exotic locale to exotic locale. So pay attention. The action is nonstop the whole way through, and so is the plot intrigue. You'll find yourself asking how this situation is going to resolve, only to be thrust into the next sticky corner. I have to give writers Tony Gilroy, Scott Burns, and George Nolfi all the credit in the world for constructing such a intricate screenplay; weaving flashbacks and special scenes so remarkably. Kudos for finding a way to spin my favorite Bourne moment a new way into this movie.
The element that holds this movie and it's story together is the supporting cast. I can't say enough about the performances of Joan Allen, who is one of those actresses that you don't realize you know until you google her resume and nod your head in approval of the movies she's done, or the scene stealing David Straithairn who creates a fantastic antagonist for Bourne. If you haven't seen his Good Night, and Good Luck, then you haven't seen him at his best.
The biggest surprise for me was Julia Stiles. Here is an actress who has done good work. 10 Things I Hate About You is one of those movies you watch on cable but would never admit to, and that was my first exposure to her. She's had accolades from L.A. to N.Y. and I generally love her movies, but her performance in the first Bourne was absolutely the most wooden, phoned in job I've ever seen...I'm happy to report that Julia Stiles is back in this movie and I'm glad. The key to her performance here isn't what she says, but rather what she doesn't say and how she communicates. You may walk away saying that Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass made a good/bad movie, but in the back of your mind, you should remember that Julia Stiles and Joan Allen gave it the personal grounding.
In summation, if you can't tell, I loved this movie. See it in the theater and pay full price, I doubt you'll be disappointed. The movie is rated PG-13 for violence, and there is a ton of it. You know your kids better than I do, so use your own best judgement if you are taking the little ones, but I would be cautious around the recommended age if it were my kids.

E

Currently watching on dvd: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5 - don't judge me, I don't judge you.

On deck: Undeclared the Series.

Reading: His Dark Materials trilogy - coming to the big screen this December....The Book of Fate.....rereading Harry Pottter and the Deathly Hallows