The X-Files: I Want to Believe

I enjoyed the X-Files television series. Not fanatically, like some, but I did enjoy it - especially the relationship between Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson). Throw in a little paranormal phenomena, conspiracies, and aliens and what's not to like? The show ran from September 1993 to May 2002 with a full-featured film produced in 1998. That was a good film. Just saying.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe takes place six years after the season finale. Scully is working as a doctor in a Catholic hospital (subtle) and Mulder is a hermit, entertaining himself by throwing pencils into the ceiling. The FBI promises Scully they will stop searching for Mulder if he helps with this one final case. She draws him in and soon they are in their familiar roles: he the believer, she the skeptic. I could go on in more detail but it really isn't necessary.

The director, Chris Carter, has stated he wanted this film to be stand-alone. No previous knowledge of the characters or their relationship or the premise of the TV series would be necessary to enjoy the movie. That is just plain silly. Who is going to see this film unless they were already fans? And if they are already fans, they will be sorely disappointed. The chemistry is still there but that is the actors doing, not the scriptwriters. Their child, William, gets one post-coital reference - not enough for fans and completely confusing for those not familiar with the series. Where are the aliens? MIA. Things that go bump in the night? Nada. The connection between the pedophile priest and one of his victims could be labeled paranormal, I suppose, but I want more in an X-File movie. This was just a creepy slasher film.

I won't give it a zero because I do like the franchise and the characters and the actors who portray them. And maybe they will redeem themselves with a third movie, kind of like Ocean's Thirteen. I have that kind of faith. I'm sure, if I give the movie a zero, that won't happen. So Mr. Carter...I give you a 5/10 just so you will work harder next time. Don't let it go to your head.

Mamma Mia

So, do you ever read those smarmy romance novels or "beach" books and when someone asks you what you've read lately, you say something like "War and Peace" or The Bible rather than admit what you are spending your time on? Same thing with Mamma Mia! Proof is in the scores on RottenTomatoes.com where it gets a rating of 41% by critics but 74% from the RottenTomatoes community (no doubt anonymously). Few critics would actually recommend this film, but I'll bet far more of them actually enjoyed it!

Donna Sheridan (Meryl Streep) has a rustic, in-need-of-a-few-repairs inn on one of the Greek islands. Her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is getting married, and having snooped through her mother's old diaries, comes across three potential fathers for that walk down the aisle. She invites all three gentlemen from her mother's hippie past (Stellan Skarsgard as Bill, Pierce Brosnan as Sam, and Colin Firth as Harry) to her wedding, without telling her mother, and assumes she will know which one is her father by some magical look in his eyes or stars circling his head at the appropriate time. Throw in the wacky friends of Donna's (Christine Baranski as Tanya and Julie Walters as Rosie), boring friends of Sophie's and non-descript friends of the hottie groom (Dominic Cooper as Sky), and stir with liberal doses of ABBA music and out comes a delish tropical drink.

ABBA music is the sing-along kind, toe-tapping stuff. Most of it makes you smile but some of it can be pretty heavy stuff - The Winner Takes It All - is particularly haunting in context. I have heard this song many times but never really listened to it. Now I can't get it out of my head. Other familiar tunes include: Honey, Honey; Money, Money, Money; Dancing Queen; Take A Chance On Me; and of course, Mamma Mia. I'm just humming up a storm as I type this....

Meryl has a decent singing voice and can shake a leg without looking like a complete fool. As for all the negative press on Pierce Brosnan's singing abilities, just don't look at him while he's singing - he doesn't sound that bad but his face makes such contortions while he's warbling - like he thinks it is much worse than it is and he would much rather be anywhere else doing anything else.

The casting was interesting - the faces were unusual, not just a bunch of pretty smiles, especially with the supporting actors. They were all very good, particularly Amanda Seyfried. She was very believable as Meryl Streep's daughter. I think Colin Firth was the weakest of the three potential fathers. Not that he did a bad job, but that his character was rather poorly drawn. The plot is simplistic - you sure won't be getting a headache figuring out the plot. But basically, this is a musical - not up the caliber of Chicago, but people break out in song at the most unexpected places - just like they are supposed to in musicals!

Corny? Yup. Schmaltzy? Of course. Believeable? Not a chance. Worthwhile? Indeedy. Singalongable? Most definitely. And certainly very picturesque. I hear those islands calling my name.... 7.5/10

The Dark Knight

In the extremely heated Superman vs Batman debate of my youth, I was always on the side of Superman. After all, he could see through things and fly and had that baby face. Whereas Batman was darker, lived closer to the edge, and had all that help (would Superman have an Albert - no, he was much too "everyman"). Superman was my innocent youth. But now I am firmly in the Batman camp. Maturity I guess. Now I look at Superman as kind of a wimp. But I digress.

A little history: Batman went from comic book icon to a mid-sixties camp tv series and movie. The series ran for two seasons with the movie released between the seasons. Adam West starred as Batman and this whole package was known by the Bam! Kapow! graphics and the trademark “Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na Batman” theme song. Corny but popular. Thinking big, Tim Burton directed two much more adult versions in 1989 (Batman) and 1992 (Batman Returns), both starring Michael Keaton. It was this first version that had Jack Nickolson playing the Joker. Both of these movies were hugely popular and box-office successes. Joel Schumacher took over directorial duties in 1995 (Batman Forever) with Val Kilmer and repeated in 1997 (Batman & Robin) with George Clooney. A couple of flops despite stellar casts! Enter Christopher Nolan in 2005 to direct Batman Begins with Christopher Bale as Batman. The darkest and most adult production, this release more than made up for the two previous stinkers. Whew…all up to date.

This film opens with a bank robbery…just the thing to get ones juices flowing. The robbers are all wearing clown masks and as the robbery progresses and each particular task is completed, that clown gets blown away by the clown responsible for the next task. One would think the clowns would figure that out, and they finally do, but it is too late. By then, there is only one clown left – the Joker (Heath Ledger)! But the Joker isn’t robbing the bank for the money, he’s just messing with people! Specifically, the mob, who owns the bank. That’s it – no more plot spoilers from me – maybe just a little more background. I mean, it’s Batman. He goes against the Joker. Good versus evil. That’s all you need to know.

With so much press surrounding the performance of Ledger, it was a treat to see him so early in the movie. He commands the screen in every scene he is in. The violence is fast – sometimes I caught myself thinking ‘Hey wait – did that just happen? Where’s that pencil?” No doubt for the PG-13 rating, but it worked. It kept those in the audience on their toes! Batman (Christian Bale) is no slouch in the charisma department. He is my favorite Batman and goes toe-to-toe with Ledger’s interpretation of the Joker. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is Gotham City’s new district attorney and does an outstanding job. Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, replacing Katie Holmes, thank you thank you thank you), one of the few who know of Batman’s real identity, is now dating Harvey. Also returning from Batman Begins are Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman), valet Alfred (Michael Caine), and gadget guru Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman).

With so much territory to cover in this film, it plays out at 2 hours and 35 minutes. It is an intense ride. There was one slow stretch in the middle but maybe that’s just so the audience can catch it’s breath. The action scenes are terrific as is the cinematography. Batman has plenty of new gadgets, although I did miss the bat cave. The fancy new batmobile makes up for that! People die – don’t take the young’uns. The movie is dark and brooding, scary and threatening, and the sight of the Joker in his cute nurses outfit is reminiscent of Norman Bates in his little wig – initially funny but then incredibly disturbing. See it, you won’t be sorry! 9.5/10

Ps….ignore everything you’ve read about the Batman=Bush, “even us good guys have to do evil to fight evil” kind of propaganda. Especially how it relates to Fox and his spying “just this once”. It’s a Batman movie. Relax.

Wall-E

I want to shout WALL-E the same way one shouts STELL-A (whew, showing my age), but Wall-E is much too humble for that kind of allocade.

Wall-E is Pixar's latest entry (after Toy Story/Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, and Ratatouille) in the adult/kiddie animation crossover flicks. Fun enough for the kiddies but clever enough for the adults who do the driving, Wall-E is even more adult-oriented than their previous endeavors. It is about robots, after all...they don't talk much! Younger kids might have a bit of trouble keeping engrossed - but maybe I underestimate the little goobers.

In the future, a host of robots are assigned the task of cleaning up and storing all of Earth's trash. The earthlings have been temporarily relocated to spaceships in orbit awaiting notification that it is safe to return. As our story opens, Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) is the last robot left and is seen toodling around Earth compacting the garbage into tidy little cubes which he then stacks to skyscraper-like proportions. But he has been doing it for so long (700 years), that he is now discriminating. Not everything gets bundled up - some "treasures" he takes back to his liar to enjoy later, ie a Rubik's cube, some Zippo lighters, a few rubber duckies, and a Hello Dolly VCR tape. Wall-E is clutzy, rusty, and just putters around with his only companion, a Jiminy Cricket-like cockroach. He has seen better days...when one of his parts breaks, he has a whole inventory of salvaged parts and simply self-repairs. While compacting his trash, he finds a plant. This goes into his "treasure" stash and the takes it back to his lair.

Breaking the monotony, one day a spaceship lands and drops off Eve (Extraterrestial Vegetation Evaluator) - she is sleek and high-tech and dangerous, everything that Wall-E is not. On his part, it is love at first sight. She, however, is only focused on her directive, which is to find life. Eve finds Wall-E's plant, tucks it into her sleek belly, and is ready to be picked up by the rocket ship. But Wall-E can't let her go! He attaches himself to the rocket and follows her into her world.

Once Wall-E and Eve reach the orbiting spacecraft, the movie opens up. We see what happens when human beings float around with nothing to do for 700 years and a whole new set of robot characters is introduced. My favorite, MO (Microbe Obliterator), follows Wall-E around like a mini-vacuum cleaner, sucking up all the dirt and debris he leaves in his wake. The story now switches to more action. The plight of the plant, the dilemmas these human beings find themselves in, and the tribulations of the star-crossed lovers.

This is a very sweet movie. Wall-E is a borderline piece of junk but obviously more emotionally evolved than slick, sleek Eve and has a few lessons to teach her. And the lessons for the audience? Don't litter! Don't guzzle too much, either internally (eating and drinking too much) or externally (over-consumption of material things). Don't sit around on you keester all day or sometime you might not be able to walk. Protect the Earth. Think green. Love each other. Have faith. Anti-fat? I don't think so. More anti-technology. Too much for the little ones? Once the action picks up, they will be fine. If your tot is advanced for his/her years (ask any parent, their child is in this category), he/she will be fine. Technically, this movie is marvelous. Some scenes, such as the outer space dance, are a visual feast. Since the first half is noticeably short on dialogue, the sound track has to take up the slack and it is more than up to the task. The whole thing is just beautifully done. I really really enjoyed this movie!! 9/10

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

1981, 1984, 1989, 2008...what do these dates have in common? INDY!!! Why the lag between #3 and #4? Supposedly "to make sure the script is terrific". If that was the reason, they didn't wait long enough. Ok ok...maybe 19 years means my expectations were too high or my memories of the first three classics grew over that same period of time. But still. And if they think they can pass the franchise over to that young whippersnapper (get it, get it...if you are an Indy fan, you will), they have another think coming.

Back to basics. It is the late 1950’s and the Nazis are no longer our enemy. It’s those pesky Russians. We are first introduced to Professor Henry "Indiana" Jones (duh, Harrison Ford) by the shadow of his hat and his trademark theme song - nice touch. He is in trouble. Russian Colonel Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) and her goons need Indy to identify a crate in Hanger 51 in the Nevada desert. He leads them to the crate & rides a rocket contraption into a nuclear test zone simulated town. Stretching the imagination, he manages to escape the bomb blast without being completely fried, and goes about his business. Unfortunately, his escapade in the desert with a spy flip-flopper has caused the FBI to take interest in his activities. He resigns his position at the local college while under investigation and in a snitty fit, goes to the local coffee house where he meets Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). This young Fonzie-wannabe has information from an old associate of Indy’s and wants help interpreting the message. And off we go – searching for the crystal skull in the jungles of Peru.

Without giving away any more of the plot, I will say they meet up with Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) of the original Indy movie fame and it was fun seeing her again. There are plenty of things going for this latest sequel: they don’t avoid the fact that Indy is aging, rather they play it up. Cate Blanchett approaches, but never crosses the line into being cartoonish. There were a few groaner scenes, such as one where Indy goes eyeball to eyeball with the crystal skull. But the sizzle was gone. I never felt that anyone was in any real peril and none of the antagonists seemed that threatening or innately evil. That's what I want in an Indy movie! And non-stop thrills! Overall, I kept thinking of the video game which will undoubtedly be coming to stores near you soon. The rocket-riding, bomb-avoiding, vine-swinging, raft-riding, ant-stomping, and puzzle-solving skills necessary to get you to the treasure have WII/Playstation written all over them. I’m sorry, I wanted more. Both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk gave me more. 5/10

Iron Man

Tis the summer for the comic book movies! I have to admit, I had never heard of Iron Man but in doing my extensive research for this review, I discovered he first appeared in a Marvel Comic in March 1963. So that explains it...between my own personal comic book days and the buy-the-comics-for-my-sweet-little-boy days.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a gadgetry and weapons genius. He inherited his father's munitions company when his father mysteriously died and is now a kajillionaire. The movie opens with Tony bouncing around in a jeep in some Mideastern war zone. KABOOM!!! He wakes up to find himself hooked up to some mysterious device which includes a magnet to prevent the shrapnel from moving into Tony's heart. The terrorists want Tony to build them a new weapon...instead he builds himself a gigantic iron suit with a built-in reactor which will keep his heart protected and provide enough power to do all kinds of superpowered things. And so goes the story..the bad guys want the suit. Tony has been redeemed and wants to use his powers for good! The evilness is personified in the character of Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) who was Tony's fathers' business partner...and Tony's business partner as well. The eye candy is Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) who is surprisingly good as the efficient secretary/personal assistant/jeeves.

Lots of action even before the credits! I don't know how much of a stretch this was for Robert Downey, Jr. - it reminded me of the Jack Nickolson movies which seem to play him to type so much. I think Tony Stark and Robert Downey, Jr. have the same kind of personality but nonetheless, it was a perfect match. Developing his Iron Man suit and testing it out were humorous counterbalances to all the action. His joy at his first flight was hard to contain. The supporting actors were all terrific and the special effects were wonderful. The script was witty and moved along. The banter between Tony and Pepper was especially engaging. It was unusual to see someone become a superhero by his own curiosity and cunning rather than by an accident of birth or a spider bite and emphasized the fact that his most super power is his brain. Awesome summer fun! 9/10

The Incredible Hulk

I confess...I was a BIG fan of the 1970's TV series with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. So when they showed the clip of Bill Bixby in his other TV series, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, and later security guard Lou appeared, I did giggle. And I wasn't much of a fan of the 2003 Hulk movie...so I went in with rather low expectations.

This movie picks up where the 2003 movie ends. Scientist Dr. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is living in obscurity, trying to find an antidote for his "condition", while also becoming an anger management devotee. Evil General Ross (William Hurt) has his goons scouring the planet for any information on where Bruce might be. Aha....a clue! While in Brazil, Banner is working in a bottling plant and accidentally his blood contaminates one of the bottles causing a little old man (Stan Lee, in another giggle) in Midwestern USofA to act Hulklike - a stretch of the imagination that this would lead General Ross right to his doorstep but hey, it's based on a comic book. Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), one of General Ross' soldiers, catches a glimpse of the Hulk while in pursuit in Brazil and wants him some of that magic juice. General Ross obliges. Not being safe in Brazil any longer, Banner returns to the states and reconnects with his long-lost love, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), son of the evil General. So it the Hulk vs the Abomination (aka Blonsky) for the rest of the movie.

Exciting stuff!! Norton is a good Banner - cerebral like Bixby was. And Tim Roth was great as the over-the-hill soldier, looking for any kind of pick-me-up to extend his career. Liv Tyler was weak but that was the fault of the screenplay - there really wasn't anything there for her. There was a bit too much Beauty and the Beast with her character as well, although the sex scene was funny. There, that alone will cause you to rent it! William Hurt's portrayal of General Ross was also one-dimensional. He acted as though he was aware this was a comic book movie...big mistake! A bit over the top and corny. But Norton more than made up for the shortcomings of the others. There was a lot of terrific action interspersed with the introspection of poor Dr. Banner. I hope Norton does another one! 7/10