Hey guys. Welcome to the newest addition of this damned blog. It's a Spielberg heavy week. This is gonna be a quick one, just because the Oscars has taken up alot of time of my writing. So sit back and enjoy.
Hook (February 15th, 2015)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Bob Hoskins, and Julia Roberts
It's very weird to see a Spielberg movie where he completely whiffs. Just takes a swing for the fences and just goes down swinging. It's even weirder to see him make a movie that feels like it has no heart to it, as if he's just going through the motions. Even Indy 4 had some moments of life to it. But this is just a heartless, entertainment free slog of a movie. A story about what happens when Peter Pan leaves Neverland and grows up, its not interesting. He essentially turns into a Spielberg Dad, a jerkoff of a man who doesn't have time for his children and then learns how to be a great dad. It's all very half assed. But even so, it doesn't even come out in a visually good way. This is the only movie he's done that isn't even good to look at. The visuals are dank and murky, trying in a half assed way to look like Gilliam or Burton. The cast is not good, completely miscast. Williams doesn't do a good job as the asshole version of Pan, and just goes into typical Williams schtick when he goes back to his old self. Hoffman is just an embarrassment as Hook, a real poofty dandy with no real sense of villainy or danger. The only one who does any sort of decent work is Roberts, playing Tinkerbell just right. It's a damn shame he whiffed on this one, but it seems like he was focused on doing Schindler's List and Jurassic Park to really do this well at all. Skip this crap and be glad you did.
Rating: 4/10
The Interview (February 16th, 2015)
Directors: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Randall Park, and Lizzy Caplan
With all the hoopla surrounding this movie, you'd think it would have to be a genius piece of satire that really cuts into North Korea. But really, all it is is a solid little comedy that makes Kim Jong Un look like a little baby. That's about it. The movie really is a simple story. Rogen and Franco go to North Korea to interview Un, and are tasked with his murder by the CIA. Hijinks ensure. It starts off a little slow, but has some moments in it. It's when they get to North Korea and Un shows up, the movie picks up steam. And by the time the end rolls around and the interview is under way, the movie hits the highs it should have been at the whole time. That may be because Rogen and Goldberg didn't actually write it that it isn't as good and hilarious as it should have been, but they focused on directing and it pays off. While one wouldn't say this is Awards worthy directing wise, but it's a nice step up. Visually good looking with some nice little flourishes, they also shoot violence really well. And the violence here is just nasty and surprisingly brutal. The MVP of the cast is Park, just totally going for it as the big blustering baby that is Un. The weak link if Franco, just showing how completely useless he is when it comes to comedy for the most part. He goes big and it's too big, so big it loses any sense of a real human being in the character. Basically, it's a moderate comedy. It's not the worst comedy of the year (hello A Million Ways To Die In The West) or the best (Inherent Vice). It's better than Neighbors, so Rogen stepped it up a bit. Give it a go and enjoy hopefully.
Rating: 8/10
E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (February 17th, 2015)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Michael MacNaughton, and Drew Barrymore
I was never the biggest fan of this movie growing up. It never connected and always grated to me. But I'll be the first to admit that I had a weird childhood with cinema. I didn't watch many of the typical kids movies, so this may just have not worked for me no matter what. But now being a little older and appreciating the craft of Spielberg, I can appreciate it alot more. It also might just be that having seen Hook so recently gives his movies a curve. But there is some genuine worthiness in this movie. Spielberg knows how to craft a damn movie, good looking films with just an absolute ease for crafting scene. He gets some good performances out of the kids, a difficult task for anyone. And the dynamics at play with the family is nice and not driven into our faces so much, with the dead beat father aspect there to color things. But mainly, the relationship between the boy and ET is good. It's not overly sappy and too melodramatic. Done with a deft touch, it works. That and it has a scene where ET gets drunk, so I was sold. Is it perfect? No. Like many 80s kids movies, it is a little formless and just shambles about till the ending when a plot kicks in. But it's charming and has it's moments. So I'm glad to have rewatched it, giving it a second chance to grow on me.
Rating: 8/10
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (February 21st, 2015)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, John Hurt, and Frances O'Connor
Well, here seem to be the first movie in Spielbergs career that just didn't need aliens to show up at the end. Like, I get why it had to happen to make it's point. But it is just so jarring, especially in a movie that had it's ending point that was so much more poignant and fitting. Yeah, it was a bleaker ending, but the movie ends in a bleak spot anyway. So go bleaker with it, and let it hit. And that's not Spielbergs fault at all, like the naysayers of his that proclaim he's too sentimental compared to Kubrick (this was supposed to be a Kubrick joint, but Kubrick passed it off to Spielberg). This is the script Kubrick wanted. And Spielberg cna go cold and brutal, like in Schindler's List or Munich. So it seems he wanted a bittersweet ending for their Sci Fi Pinocchio. It also just makes the middle part of the movie almost worthless, a middle that was already a bit weak and prolonged. But the beginning is really strong. Watching this little robot boy try to be human and deal with love, love that was forced on him and can't change. Trying to get a soul and get his mommy back. Visually, this is better than Hook overall, but has some not great looking moments in the neon futuristic city scapes. The CGI is fantastic though, not usually a problem with Spielberg. Mainly, this is a movie that is too long and loses steam along the way. But it has some great ideas in it, some really heady stuff and it's ambitious. But the script gets a bit in the way. Its worth seeing just to see another Spielberg joint, doing something different. But it falls in the back end of his filmography.
Rating: 8/10
The Interview (February 16th, 2015)
Directors: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Randall Park, and Lizzy Caplan
With all the hoopla surrounding this movie, you'd think it would have to be a genius piece of satire that really cuts into North Korea. But really, all it is is a solid little comedy that makes Kim Jong Un look like a little baby. That's about it. The movie really is a simple story. Rogen and Franco go to North Korea to interview Un, and are tasked with his murder by the CIA. Hijinks ensure. It starts off a little slow, but has some moments in it. It's when they get to North Korea and Un shows up, the movie picks up steam. And by the time the end rolls around and the interview is under way, the movie hits the highs it should have been at the whole time. That may be because Rogen and Goldberg didn't actually write it that it isn't as good and hilarious as it should have been, but they focused on directing and it pays off. While one wouldn't say this is Awards worthy directing wise, but it's a nice step up. Visually good looking with some nice little flourishes, they also shoot violence really well. And the violence here is just nasty and surprisingly brutal. The MVP of the cast is Park, just totally going for it as the big blustering baby that is Un. The weak link if Franco, just showing how completely useless he is when it comes to comedy for the most part. He goes big and it's too big, so big it loses any sense of a real human being in the character. Basically, it's a moderate comedy. It's not the worst comedy of the year (hello A Million Ways To Die In The West) or the best (Inherent Vice). It's better than Neighbors, so Rogen stepped it up a bit. Give it a go and enjoy hopefully.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Michael MacNaughton, and Drew Barrymore
I was never the biggest fan of this movie growing up. It never connected and always grated to me. But I'll be the first to admit that I had a weird childhood with cinema. I didn't watch many of the typical kids movies, so this may just have not worked for me no matter what. But now being a little older and appreciating the craft of Spielberg, I can appreciate it alot more. It also might just be that having seen Hook so recently gives his movies a curve. But there is some genuine worthiness in this movie. Spielberg knows how to craft a damn movie, good looking films with just an absolute ease for crafting scene. He gets some good performances out of the kids, a difficult task for anyone. And the dynamics at play with the family is nice and not driven into our faces so much, with the dead beat father aspect there to color things. But mainly, the relationship between the boy and ET is good. It's not overly sappy and too melodramatic. Done with a deft touch, it works. That and it has a scene where ET gets drunk, so I was sold. Is it perfect? No. Like many 80s kids movies, it is a little formless and just shambles about till the ending when a plot kicks in. But it's charming and has it's moments. So I'm glad to have rewatched it, giving it a second chance to grow on me.
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (February 21st, 2015)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, John Hurt, and Frances O'Connor
Well, here seem to be the first movie in Spielbergs career that just didn't need aliens to show up at the end. Like, I get why it had to happen to make it's point. But it is just so jarring, especially in a movie that had it's ending point that was so much more poignant and fitting. Yeah, it was a bleaker ending, but the movie ends in a bleak spot anyway. So go bleaker with it, and let it hit. And that's not Spielbergs fault at all, like the naysayers of his that proclaim he's too sentimental compared to Kubrick (this was supposed to be a Kubrick joint, but Kubrick passed it off to Spielberg). This is the script Kubrick wanted. And Spielberg cna go cold and brutal, like in Schindler's List or Munich. So it seems he wanted a bittersweet ending for their Sci Fi Pinocchio. It also just makes the middle part of the movie almost worthless, a middle that was already a bit weak and prolonged. But the beginning is really strong. Watching this little robot boy try to be human and deal with love, love that was forced on him and can't change. Trying to get a soul and get his mommy back. Visually, this is better than Hook overall, but has some not great looking moments in the neon futuristic city scapes. The CGI is fantastic though, not usually a problem with Spielberg. Mainly, this is a movie that is too long and loses steam along the way. But it has some great ideas in it, some really heady stuff and it's ambitious. But the script gets a bit in the way. Its worth seeing just to see another Spielberg joint, doing something different. But it falls in the back end of his filmography.
- Tom Lorenzo
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