Month: September 2010

As we start, it’s 2001 and one Gordon Gekko is being released from prison. All he has are the possessions he came in with and a large amount of paper and notes, with no one to meet him as he’s released.

We move up in time to 2008 and we’re introduced to Jacob Moore and his fiance Winnie, who’s last name just happens to be Gekko (and yes, she is Gordon Gekko’s daughter). Both are getting up for the day, he’s a rising investment banker with the firm of Keller Zabel Investments and she runs a web site devoted to the environment. Jake is very much concerned about the environment as well with one of his pet projects being the financing of a company devoted to fusion energy as a future clean energy source. As they’re getting up, Jake flips on the TV and we see Gordon Gekko being interviewed about a new book that he’s written call “is Greed Good?” Winnie wants him to turn off the TV and have nothing to do with the man.

From there, we go to watch Jake at work at KZI, and learn of his close connection with the head of the firm, Louis Zabel. Zabel gives Jake a check to the tune of $1,300,000+ for his star performance and gives his young protege some sage advice about his future. And then the bubble bursts with the first huge financial crash of 2008 leading to a series of events that finds the young Jake seeking out Gordon Gekko in what is first a revenge scheme.

There’s quite a bit more to say about Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps but I’d just as soon you discover more of that if you should choose to see the movie yourself. Of course this is a much anticipated sequel to Oliver Stone’s original Wall Street which first told us the story of Gordon Gekko and the seduction of a young Bud Fox into Gekko’s way of doing business. The original got Michael Douglas an Oscar for his performance of Gekko, and Stone was going to be back at the helm for this sequel. There was a lot to look forward to here, especially if you’re a fan of the original and of Stone I’m both, though Stone has fallen a bit for me over his last couple of films.

He’s back in form here though and I have to say, I had a great time with this movie.

Now Stone is obviously known for putting his political and social messages to the forefront of his movies. He certainly did it with the first movie and he’s doing it again here. One thing, even though the first movie does have it’s message, at it’s core it’s heavy melodrama, and he hasn’t lost sight of that. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is heavy melodrama as well with somewhat simply drawn characters (on paper) in complex situations. Stone relies on his cast to get more weight with his characters and he gets it. He’s also wise enough to resort to some of the same tactics that he used in the first movie (split screening during a trading process as a for instance), which keeps this one right in line.

As I said, the characters are somewhat simply drawn, though that’s not across the board. There’s been a lot involved behind what Gordon Gekko would be like over 20 years later. His perspective has changed though his charm has not. This isn’t just Michael Douglas doing a re-hash of what he did in the 80s and I certainly appreciate that.

This is really well paced, though don’t go in expecting the same sort of pace that you would with something much more action oriented. It is a drama and so it moves a little more relaxed, but sets things up in the right way. It gets a little more self-reflective than what the original did, but I was sort’ve hoping for that considering that it’s been 20+ years since he made the first film.

Douglas certainly stands out, and I certainly looked forward to every scene he was in, but the rest of the cast does quite a good job as well. Shia LeBeouf plays Jake Moore and as far as Im concerned this is the best I’ve seen from him yet. He’s not as naive as Bud Fox was in the original and where Bud had much to still learn from his father, Jake is in the opposite direction and has much to give to his mother (played by Susan Surandon) who herself is a definite product of the real estate boom. There’s a real earnestness to what LeBeouf does here and it was great to see.

Carey Mulligan plays Winnie Gekko and though she is more simplistic in her motivations, but it’s not annoying and at times it’s even touching. Josh Brolin plays Bretton James,the head of a rival bank called Churchill Schwartz and hugely responsible for the fall of Keller Zabel. Brolin’s the villain of the piece, though unlike Gordon Gekko, he’s there to be a definite villain. Brolin excels at this sort of thing and he doesn’t disappoint here. The last cast member that I want to call out is Frank Langella who plays Louis Zabel. This is terrific work from Langella, who’s in this briefly in comparison to everyone else, but it’s pivotal. He’s weathered but also fiery when he needs to be and what happens to him is key to putting everything else in place.

I think Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a terrific film and the best thing I’ve seen from Oliver Stone in quite awhile now. Will it carry the same impact that the original did? Well, I doubt that. I watched the original about an hour before I saw the new movie. The original to me has a lot in common with Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas with a powerful seduction with a particular lifestyle that carried quite a bit of weight with it’s audience (hell, I knew guys who changed their wardrobe styles thanks to Wall Street) Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps doesn’t quite have the same impact, but then it’s subject isn’t as new as what it was in the first film. It’s also something that’s much more adversely affecting the public today and so I don’t think this will get quite the same embracement that the first film did. I do think it’s a definite advancement from the original and for that, I think it’s well worth seeing for those that do want to see it despite the times.

As The Town starts, we’re told through an opening card that the Charlestown area of Boston is responsible for a large number of criminals, in particular, bank robbers. We then get to see one group of bank robbers go into action and execute their crime. It’s brutal but very precise and planned to the extreme. The leader of this crew chooses a female bank manager to open the safe and they then abduct her as a potential hostage just in case a violent showdown with the police erupts. They escape and drop their hostage off on the shore.

The leader of this gang is one Doug MacRay, a very smart guy who’s been bred into this life. His crew, including one of his best friends, a very hardened criminal by the name of Jim Coughlin, learn that their hostage has since been contacted by the FBI. Coughlin wants to take care of this potential witness permanently, but MacRay’s cooler mind prevails and he starts to shadow her (her name is Claire Keesey). There’s only one small thing, he starts to really become attracted to her, as she represents a kind of life that he wants to have but can’t quite get to.

All the while, MacRay is being pressured into a couple more jobs while the FBI, led by one agent Adam Frawley, is breathing down their necks.

This is the premise to The Town, starring Ben Affleck and his second outing as a director. I’ve not seen his first movie, Gone, Baby, Gone, but if The Town is any indication, I should rectify that as soon as possible. The Town is truly some exceptional work.

Affleck has really matured as an overall talent, and it’s entirely evident throughout this movie. His performance is seasoned and lived in. His character just feels right and doesn’t fall into anything that’s emotionally forced. He’s a definite “bad guy” but he wants to find something more, though he’s also saddled with that sense of reality about his life that it might always be denied to him.

That’s just his acting skills, he’s really adept at telling this overall story (which he also co-wrote). The Town features three key action/heist sequences that are as thrilling and gripping as they come. There’s certainly echoes of Michael Mann’s excellent Heat through these sequences and one car chase that’s very much in the line of something that the late, great John Frankenheimer would do. As powerful as these sequences are, they wouldn’t mean a thing if the quieter in-between moments didn’t have the proper weight to them, and they certainly do. Though Affleck is the star of this film, he’s more than comfortable with giving his very good ensemble cast their moments to shine. These moments are all paced exactingly and naturally.

One of the better moments of the film finds Doug and Claire having a quiet moment at an outside cafe, when Doug’s friend Jim comes upon them. Claire had just revealed to Doug about remembering seeing a particular tattoo on the neck of one of the crew, one that just happens to be on Jim’s neck. This scene, which is very amiable and friendly has it’s own tension to it as Jim isn’t exactly hiding the tattoo, but it’s always out of Claire’s sight. Yet, it’s filmed in such a way that there’s always the chance that it will be seen and everything that Doug’s trying to do could fall apart in a single moment.

As I said, he’s got a great ensemble cast. Rebecca Hall plays Claire, and she really does represent a peace that MacRay desperately wants to find. Her performance is sweet and engaging and it’s easy to see why Doug would start to lose his way. Jeremy Renner plays Jim Coughlin, and while he seems a little slighter in stature here than what he seemed to me in The Hurt Locker, he’s a lot more vicious and ready to unleash that at a moment’s notice.

My favorite member of the cast though (other than Affleck) is Jon Hamm as FBI Agent Adam Frawley. Hamm has certainly earned his reputation through his television work on Mad Men, but if this movie is any indication, he’s got a huge career ahead on the big screen. He’s got the right heroic look and his mind is constantly at work, even though Doug MacRay’s mind is working just a touch faster.

Things are filled out with other good performances. Blake Lively plays Krista Coughlin, Jim’s sister who’s always had a connection with Doug. She’s here for only a few scenes, but they’re some great scenes and once Doug finds out more about his mother’s past, she further represents a life that Doug no longer wants to have. Chris Cooper plays Stephen MacRay, Doug’s imprisoned father. Cooper is here for only one scene, but it’s a powerful one and very telling to Doug what his life holds for him. Pete Postelthwaite plays Fergus Colm, the man behind many of the robberies that Doug and his crew pull off. Postelthwaite’s here for just a couple of scenes, but again, they’re good ones with a nice venality to them.

If I have any one complaint, and it really is a moot one, it’s just that there might be a few too many instances of “pahking the cah” in the Boston accent. This actually does get balanced out though thanks to Hall’s and Hamm’s characters, and further Hamm has a great bit of dialogue that actually does mock the whole thing. Like I said, it’s very moot and it really didn’t deter my appreciation for the film, and it shouldn’t yours as well.

This is masterful work from Ben Affleck, not just in front of the camera but behind it too. His supporting cast is absolutely top shelf and all have their moments to shine. His story is absorbing, the pacing exacting, and the action is riveting. The Town is very much worth taking a trip to. Highly, highly recommended.

When last we saw Alice at the end of Resident Evil: Extinction, she had discovered all of the clones that had been made of her and was planning to assault the Japan headquarters of the Umbrella Corporation. The people she had helped were making their way to what they believed was salvation to Arcadia.

After a brief introduction to the whole Resident Evil experience, Resident Evil: Afterlife picks up right where Extinction had left off, with Alice’s assault on the Umbrella Corporation and looking to find the secret of Arcadia. Along the way, she meets up with an old ally and picks up some new ones. And it’s all presented in some pretty slick 3D.

So goes Resident Evil: Afterlife, the fourth in the series of theatrical releases of the Resident Evil series (and technically the fifth in the series on the whole if you include the animated Resident Evil: Degenration) based off of the popular video game series. I’ve only ever played the first game in the series, so I’m not too sure how closely this follows the games, though I do know that they’ve been adding characters from the games along the way.

Paul W.S. Anderson returns to direct this fourth installment and boy, he’s sure having a lot of fun playing with 3D. I know there’s a lot of hate out there around his work, but I’ve always tended to enjoy his films my own self, and I can certainly say the same for Resident Evil: Afterlife.

Now there are a couple of downsides. First, like the Saw series, you really have to be a fan from the start and have seen the previous films. You can’t just go into this one cold and expect to pick everything up. There’s a brief introduction to what has led to this, but I still don’t think it’s enough for a fresh viewer. Second, there’s nothing really original here going on and if you’re looking to see something you haven’t seen before, then you won’t find it here. This doesn’t really bother me a whole lot as long as it’s well put together and I think this is. Third, our main villain of the piece, the character named Albert Wesker is little more than a clone of Agent Smith from the Matrix series. Actor Shawn Roberts looks and plays him like what you’d get if you mixed Hugo Weaving with Val Kilmer. I don’t blame him for his portrayal of the character though, this was no doubt what was asked from him and he certainly does bring that.

But on the plus side, the film really has a great look to it. Anderson looks like he’s been looking at a lot of anime and it shows here. The action sequences are all very exciting and fun to watch. The 3D is exceptional and Anderson is just basking in it with lots of scene immersion and in-your-face effects. This features a very nice techno score from the duo know as tomandandy (though I could see that being a turn-off for some as well, but not me). And it adds a couple of new characters to the mix, Boris Kodjoe playing Luthor West and more importantly Wentworth Miller playing Chris Redfield. As a big Prison Break fan, I was really happy to see Miller come on board here, and he brings a similar intensity to the part.

Of course, Milla Jovovich is back as Alice and Ali Larter returns as Claire Redfield. Jovovich has been money in the bank for this series. She has a committed performance, she embraces the heavy duty action and boy, she looks terrific. Larter’s fine as well, though she doesn’t quite strike me the same way that Jovovich does. Rounding things out, we have Kim Coates (from Sons of Anarchy) playing a sleaze-bag character who’s looking out for himself. It’s certainly nothing new for Coates, though it’s cool to see him here. And stay through the end credits, you’ll get a peak at another returning character.

If you’re a fan of the series (and I am) you should probably have a lot of fun with this. It’s not without it’s faults, but it’s still a fun ride and as I said, the 3D is terrific. I very much look forward to the next movie in the series.

A former Mexican Federale gets caught up in a plot to assassinate a United States Senatorial candidate and now he’s out for revenge.

That’s all that I’m going to say about the story to the newest film from co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Manaquis, the long-awaited Machete.

Well, it’s not really been that long a wait. The character Machete first made his appearance as the first of the four “fake” trailers in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse back in 2007. For me, Grindhouse was the best movie of the year in 2007, it’s just a shame that it failed miserably at the box office. Grindhouse celebrated the exploitation film genre through both it’s content and it’s presentation. It promised a different experience to a whole new generation of moviegoers that just didn’t embrace it theatrically, and it was a shame, I really wanted to see that continue as it’s own series of films. But y’know, I get it’s failure, it didn’t do anything wrong (in fact it did everything right) it was just something that people did not want to see (sort of like the Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World of 2007, a movie that I myself just didn’t care to see).

But fortunately, that hasn’t stopped some creative minds from returning back to the exploitation genre, and while they don’t carry the bells and whistles of Grindhouse recent films like Piranha 3D and The Last Exorcism carry a similar sensibility, so it gives me hope.

Now on to Machete itself. After a nice opening sequence that sets up Machete’s origin (and is a nice salute to Grindhouse – set in 2007 and using similar techniques with film scratches) we move to today and the start of the plot that I described in the first paragraph. Once we’re in the present day, the film dispenses with Grindhouse scratchiness and remains clean throughout. That’s of course just with the quality of the presentation, the sensibility is still there. The rest of the movie is pure exploitation goodness, complete with massive amounts of violence, over-the-top characters and just a wee bit of gratuitous nudity. And it is a lot of fun, though I do have a couple of criticisms, both pretty minor.

This even takes the time to offer it’s own commentary surrounding illegal immigration today. Now this isn’t new in the exploitation genre, a lot of the films made back in the day had their little social message as well, they just didn’t get overly caught up in it, and they were wise to do so. If you’re going to see this and know what you’re getting into, then what you want to see is a very cool title character doing the things that he does best, which is doling out his own special brand of justice. Machete delivers that in spades and it has a great time doing it. This isn’t a blatant comedy, but it’s certainly not meant to be taken seriously either.

What is serious though is the level of talent this film has going for it, and most of it comes from Machette’s creator and co-director, Robert Rodriguez who has his hand in everything including the movie’s excellent score and it’s suitably appropriate visual effects. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t cook for the crew at some point either. To me, he’s one of the most talented creative forces in movies today- he knows what he wants and he always gets it and he’s willing to put himself into it fully to get it.

Veteran character actor Danny Trejo gets a big moment to shine as the title character. Now Trejo is the real deal and if you want proof of that, then you should check out the excellent documentary about him and his past life Champion (and if you have Netflix Instant Play, that film is available to watch right now). He’s a definite tough guy and this film just amplifies that. He’s there to be super-cool and that’s it. And he is, his look is terrific and whenever he gets ready to do his thing, it’s right on the money.

That same image though presents some limitations and that’s mostly with driving things forward. That comes through with the other characters. Jessica Alba plays an immigration officer who not only represents the legal side of the immigration argument, but she looks damn good doing it. Robert DeNiro and Don Johnson play two of our villains of the piece. DeNiro plays the Senator who’s been the victim of the assassination attempt due to his views on illegal immigration. He’s a pure cartoon here (as are all of the villains) and one of the funnier bits showed just how quick he was to change his point of view when his back was up against the wall (well, maybe he’s not such a cartoon after all). Johnson is much more single-minded, and while I don’t think he necessarily did anything to stand out, he didn’t do anything wrong either and it was still fun to see him here.

My favorite members of the cast though (aside from Danny Trejo) are Jeff Fahey, Steven Seagal and Michelle Rodriguez. Fahey plays the Senator’s aide and he’s just having a ball here. Even more than the other villains, Fahey brings just a little more of a sleaze factor to the whole thing, and I tend to eat that stuff up. Steven Seagal gets his first villain role with this movie playing the crime lord Torrez who’s at the root of Machete’s origin. Again, like Fahey, he’s really chewing the scenery and looks like he’s having a grand time doing it, and that does translate. He also faces Machete in a final fight and this is where one of my minor criticisms lie. While the fight is good, I wish it had been just a little more over-the-top than what it is. Ten years ago, it would’ve been. It’s well-played considering the actors’ ages, but I would’ve liked a little more. Michelle Rodiguez plays Luz, the leader of the illegal immigration circuit. She looks terrific, better than I’ve ever seen her look on-screen before and she just has real presence in the movie. To me, one of the film’s signature images belongs to her, when she exits from an ambulance clad in skimpy black leather ready to kick ass and take names.

My other criticism also comes form another member of the cast, and that’s with Lindsay Lohan being cast as Fahey’s daughter. When we’re first introduced to her, she’s being “rescued” from her father from a night of debauchery and it’s basically hard to take that scene seriously in light of her recent problems. Now sure, you could say it’s authentic, but unlike Trejo’s authenticity, this works against things. It’s not unbearable by any means and really, the problem’s not necessarily entirely hers or the crews. It’s more a matter of unfortunate timing.

Machete is a lot of fun but, like the other recent exploitation styled films, it won’t be for everybody. Some will get caught up in the film’s social message, and I can understand how that might hurt everything for them. I had a great time with it and certainly wouldn’t mind at all to see sequels. It’s great to see the Grindhouse still going with something like this and again, I can just hope that it will continue and I’ll leave with my plea to Rob Zombie to please, please, please make a full-length feature of Werewolf Women of the S.S.