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Needs More G.I. Joementum

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by George Wolf

 

At the risk of sounding too much like Grandpa Simpson…In my day G.I. Joe had Kung Fu grip and that was all and we liked it!

Before G.I. Joe:  Retaliation started to roll, Hope asked me if I knew any of the characters besides good old Joe. Since the long ago days when I played with the action figures, it seems there was a cartoon and one previous movie. Though I was vaguely  aware of 2009’s The Rise of Cobra, I have to admit I didn’t know Cobra Commander from Cobra Kai. Sweep the leg!

The point is, this G.I. Joe sequel is ridiculously bad, only redeemed by one sweet mountainside action sequence and the curious moments where it seems to know how bad it is and lets some self-aware humor sneak in.

If lines such as “Soon the world will bow down to Zues,” and “Storm Shadow, tell us Zartan’s plans or die!” sound more suited for Saturday-morning fare, A) you’re correct and B) you’ll be disappointed to learn this dreck was written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. These guys wrote the sublime Zombieland, and knowing that hurts my heart.

Director Jon M. Chu brings a resume loaded with the Step Up movies and a Justin Beiber concert film, which makes perfect sense. Retaliation sports the volume, pace, and emotional depth of a frenetic music video.

Oh, there’s Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis, finally deciding to team up since they’re in every other movie anyway. Johnson flexes well and makes sure the Under Armour logo gets screentime, while Willis lands some good one liners, especially when he insists on calling the female Joe “Brenda” even though her name is Jaye. And ladies, you get Channing Tatum (with a fake facial scar – rugged!) for a full 9 or 10 minutes!

Most of Retaliation truly seems aimed at kids, with just enough silly narrative and sophomoric exposition to keep things moving from one scene of extreme bloodless violence to the next. Then, just to throw the adults a funny bone, a joke about taxes or North Korea comes flying in from left field.

The biggest joke, though, was on me, as I actually stayed through the credits thinking there might be an extra scene.

2 stars (out of 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSX2oxLdcWA

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So, So Wrong

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By Hope Madden

Quentin Dupieux’s feature film debut Rubber offered a character study, of sorts. The film took the point of view of a discarded car tire on a murderous rampage.

Huh.

Wrong, his follow up effort, seems more straightforward: Dolph Springer (Columbus native Jack Plotnick, wonderful) has lost his dog, Paul. He wants to find him.

How might he find him? Perhaps with the help of a machine that reads the memories of dog shit.

The important thing to understand is that you’re not likely to understand what’s going on, and that’s OK. Dupieux does. Everything in every shot has been expertly placed to heighten both the sense of suburban familiarity as well as the feeling that all things here are askew.

It’s this level of utterly nonsensical lived-in logic that elevates Wrong far above spoof or satire, to a true place of artful absurdism.

Plotnick, as the audience’s vehicle through this madness, strikes the perfect balance between the regular Joe baffled by the insanity around him, and a willing participant. His understated, tender performance allows the weirdness to blossom around him without overtaking the character. He just wants to find his dog, dammit, and therefore, we do, too. Oh, Paul!

Not every piece of lunacy works. A love interest side story begins brilliantly, but as the tale spins onward, it creates an separate, less interesting but equally nonsensical narrative. One of these wildly spinning yarns is enough to keep track of, and Dolph and his dog are far more intriguing than not-Dolph and his girlfriend and that guy that keeps half painting cars.

I’m sorry, what?

Misfires aside, some elements (the opening sequence, in particular) are genius. Most of the characters – especially one cop character, played with fantastic zeal by Mark Burnham – are endlessly fascinating and could conceivably carry a film all their own. (Indeed, the spinoff Wrong Cops, starring Burnham, is Dupieux’s next film to be released.)

But there is no denying the enigmatic pull of this film. It’s as beautiful as it is odd, and Plotnick’s carries the lunacy so beautifully that you can’t look away.

The film may not suit everybody’s taste. It’s a comedy, and a funny one, but it casts a spell more than it tells a tale.  Still, there are absolutely no other films out there like those being made by Quentin Dupieux, which is reason enough to give Wrong a try.

3 1/2 stars (out of 5)

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Don’t Expect a Happy Ending

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By George Wolf

 

The Gatekeepers, a 2012 Oscar nominee for Best Documentary, finally debuts in Columbus this weekend, and it proves to be a fascinating, informative, and often frustrating take on the complex state of world affairs.

Israeli director Dror Moreh presents the first ever interviews with the six surviving former heads of Shin Bet, Israel’s intelligence agency. Through their frank recollections and candid revelations, we not only get valuable history lessons, but sobering reminders of how these lessons apply to today’s headlines.

As you might guess, at the heart of the film is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Moreh traces it as far back as the Six Day War of 1967, when Israeli forces conquered Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Though tensions go back much further, the case is made that it is around this time that Shin Bet began to focus on what were, in their view, terrorist attacks against Israel.

The smart bomb strikes depicted in Syriana and the intense manhunts of Zero Dark Thirty come to life through stunning archival footage and the occasional reenactment. This blood is real, and the rationale for spilling it becomes clouded as the former Shin Bet leaders open up about what they’ve learned.

Moreh doesn’t pass any judgements on why the men finally agreed to talk, but it isn’t hard to draw your own conclusions.

Telling phrases such as “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” give you a glimpse into the souls of men who have come to doubt the very philosophies they once risked their lives for.

Though it does get a bit dry toward the end, much of the film is nothing short of riveting. The men, after all they’ve seen, do seem to favor the “separate state” solution, but there are no easy answers provided and no happy endings expected.

Instead, we are left with an air of tragic futility as The Gatekeepers, even coming as it does from a distinctly one-sided perspective, courageously questions allegiances, motives, and history itself.

 

Verdict-4-0-Stars

 

 

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For Your Queue: Mumblecore Madness

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If you’re a fan of the “mumblecore” then A) we’ll just call you “Mumble Cory” and B) a film you might have missed in its limited run is now on DVD, and we’ll pair it with one of the best of the mumblecore genre.

The Comedy is a character study about a character you will instantly hate. Swanson (terrifically played by Tim & Eric’s Tim Heidecker) is a trust-fund brat who spends his days drinking, boating, and embracing every chance to be offensive. Make it past the halfway point, and the ironically-titled film becomes strangely hypnotic.

Director/co-writer Rick Alverson is after a sort of subversive honesty, perhaps even grasping for answers to the types of questions raised whenever another white male goes on a shooting spree.

Hanging out with a guy like Swanson for 90 minutes isn’t easy, but you might be glad you made the effort.

If you’re looking for something slightly more accessible, Cyrus (2010) might the film for you. Still clearly a mumblecore flick (written and directed by the auteurs of the style, Mark and Jay Duplass), the film still follows a relatively well-established story arc and stars actors who actually act. John C. Reilly wants to date Marisa Tomei (who doesn’t?), but her relationship with her adult son (Jonah Hill, in a triumphant performance) is beyond complicated. One profoundly uncomfortable comedy follows.

 

Outtakes

Outtakes: Field & Screen

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February brings the Wexner Center’s Field & Screen series, returning for its fourth year to explore the issues and pleasures to be found in food and the environment. From wild mushrooms to sushi, the farmer/farm animal bond to the zookeeper/baby wolf bond, the history of environmentalism to the tall and not-so-tall tales of wilderness exploration, the series brings wildly varying views of the fruits of the earth and the way we relate to them.

According to Wex’s Director of Video/Film Dave Filipi, the center’s goal with the series is, “To show great films and to get people thinking about how we interact with our environment, as well as what goes into our mouths and where it came from.”

He says the series came about in 2010 on the heels of the film Food, Inc. and the success of books like Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

“All of the sudden, it seemed like people were talking about ‘free range’ and ‘local foods’ and ‘grass-fed beef’ and things like that. Across the center, we’re always looking for ways in which the arts might intersect with pressing issues of the day, and it seemed like an ideal time to do a series,” Filipi recalls.

“We didn’t plan on doing the series again,” he says. “But it struck a chord with our audience, and we’ve done it every February since.”

Filipi expects Wexner moviegoers to continue to be pleased with the lineup.

“As people become more and more aware and concerned about these issues, it seems interest grows accordingly. Also, Columbus has exploded as a food city, and interest in that regard also continues to grow,” he says.

Filipi has some recommendations for those as interested in what’s on the plate as the environment that generates it. “Foodies should love Now, Forager, Sushi: The Global Catch, and Step Up to the Plate.”

According to Filipi, it’s important to balance issue-oriented features with films of a more artistic nature.

He says, “One danger of showing only straight-forward, information-based documentaries is that one finds themselves preaching to the converted. These films certainly have their place, but I think other approaches can be even more engaging.”

Informational pieces have their place as well, often sparking movement in the community.

“The series has served as a nice mechanism for groups and organizations to come together to share a film and discuss issues relevant to their group,” says Filipi. “We’re always looking for that nexus between the arts and pressing issues, and we hope this series addresses that goal in a creative and engaging way.”

Field & Screen kicks off Friday, 2/1 at 7pm. Local filmmaker Matt Meindl will introduce his short Don’t Break Down, a Super-8 with stop-motion product that imagines the afterlife of garbage. Meindl’s film, which will go on to reside at The Box video space for the balance of the month, is being paired Friday night with Denis Cote’s documentary, Bestiare.
The series extends for the rest of the month, promising documentaries, shorts, tall tales and tasty treats.

The complete Field & Screen schedule:

  • Bestiaire, Friday, February 1, 7 pm
    Preceded by Don’t Break Down, introduced by Matt Meindl
  • Now, Forager, Saturday, February 2, 4:30 pm & 8:30 pm
  • Sushi: The Global Catch, Saturday, February 2, 7 pm & Sunday, February 3, 2 pm
  • Nuclear Nation, Tuesday, February 5, 7 pm
  • Covenant with Panel Discussion, Thursday, February 7, 7 pm
  • Step Up to the Plate, Thursday, February 14, 7:30 pm & Saturday, February 16, 4:30 pm
  • A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet, Saturday, February 16, 7 pm & Sunday, February 17, 2 pm
  • It’s the Earth Not the Moon, Thursday, February 21, 7 pm
  • True Wolf, Saturday, February 23, 4 pm
  • Wild Bill’s Run, (Introduced by director Mike Scholtz) Thursday, February 28, 7 pm
    Preceded by short Inside the Whale

Tickets for all screenings are $8 for the general public and $6 for members, senior citizens, students, and children under 12, unless otherwise indicated. The films will be screened in the Wexner Center’s Film/Video Theater, 1871 N. High St. Tickets are available at the door or in advance at tickets.wexarts.org.

Originally published on Columbus Underground

Outtakes

Outtakes: What’s up, Docs? Yes, and Plenty of Them

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Doc Week returns to the Gateway Film Center, with fascinating, often harrowing true life tales to tell. It’s like Shark Week, with less midair seal chomping.

According to Gateway president Chris Hamel, Columbus Documentary Week allows him to pursue a personal goal.

“Documentary films are my favorite kind of films,” he says. “For years, with the exception of the great work of the Wexner Center, most of the documentaries I wanted to see never played on a big screen in Columbus. I really wanted to make an effort to bring more of these films to Columbus, and with reoccurring series like this, I think we are accomplishing that goal.”

 

The program kicks off Thursday, March 14 and runs through the 21st with a rotating set of 19 films. Among them are Oscar nominees, buzzed-about award winners, big budget docs and small, intimate films. From the surreal, challenging beauty of Samsara – a vision meant to be screened in a big room – to personal tales like Don’t Stop Believin’, the festival’s programming touches on all types of documentary. Given that variety, Hamel feels certain that every moviegoer will be able to find something to appreciate.

Still, a few films really stand out.

“Certainly two of the ‘can’t miss’ high profile documentaries in the series are A Place at the Table and West of Memphis,” he says.

The Sundance darling Table dives into the issue of American poverty in a way that animates facts and statistics with intimate portraits of several struggling families. Questioning US government compliance in the national hunger epidemic, the film draw attention to industrial farm subsidies, food stamp restrictions, and policies that limit school nutrition funding in favor of multi-billion dollar corporations.

“West of Memphis,” says Hamel, “appeared in many of the ten best films of 2012 lists. It is an astoundingly researched look at social injustice, and is the essence of powerful, inspiring documentary filmmaking.”

The film details the case of the famous “West Memphis Three” – teens Damian Echols (who co-produces), Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. – who were wrongly convicted of brutal child murders.

“Director Amy Berg and producer Peter Jackson’s soaring film details every aspect of the killings, the sloppy investigation, the subsequent trials, and the eventual evidence of wrongful imprisonments,” says Hamel. “West of Memphis is shocking, maddening, and revelatory.”

Aside from the program’s big ticket events, Hamel hopes some smaller films make an impression. He says, “Trying to choose a favorite is very difficult. However, two films I am rooting for are Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey, and My Amityville Horror.”

Believin’ tells the incredible story of rock band Journey’s replacement singer Arnel Pineda, while Amityville brings Daniel Lutz back to his infamous childhood home.

Says Hamel, “The two films couldn’t be more different, but both are great films based on subject matter people are very familiar with.”

Hamel hopes the familiarity and enjoyment encourage those who normally avoid documentaries to give the series a chance.

“Also, Daniel Lutz is crazy and Arnel Pineda can really sing his ass off.”

Reason enough!

More information can be found online at www.gatewayfilmcenter.com.

To help you pick and choose, here’s Columbus Documentary Week’s schedule:

Thursday, March 14
• How To Survive A Plague 7:00 PM
• Citizen Hearst 9:30 PM

Friday, March 15
• Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder 12:00 PM
• West of Memphis 1:00 PM
• Uprising 1:00 PM
• Oma and Bella 2:00 PM
• Trashed 3:00 PM
• Nicky’s Family 4:00 PM
• West of Memphis 4:10 PM
• 5 Broken Cameras 5:00 PM
• Happy People: A Year in the Taiga 6:00 PM
• A Place At The Table 7:00 PM
• West of Memphis 7:20 PM
• Orchestra of Exiles 8:00 PM
• Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey 9:00 PM
• My Amityville Horror 10:00 PM
• West of Memphis 10:30 PM

Saturday, March 16
• Trashed 12:00 PM
• West of Memphis 1:00 PM
• Let Fury Have The Hour 1:00 PM
• High Tech, Low Life 2:00 PM
• Orchestra of Exiles 3:00 PM
• Happy People: A Year in the Taiga 4:00 PM
• West of Memphis 4:10 PM
• Oma and Bella 5:00 PM
• A Place At The Table 6:00 PM
• Samsara 7:00 PM
• West of Memphis 7:20 PM
• Nicky’s Family 8:00 PM
• The Bitter Buddha 9:30 PM
• Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey 10:30PM
• West of Memphis 10:30 PM
• My Amityville Horror 11:30 PM

Sunday, March 17
• Happy People: A Year in the Taiga 12:00 PM
• West of Memphis 1:00 PM
• A Place At The Table 1:00 PM
• How To Survive A Plague 2:00 PM
• Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder 3:00 PM
• West of Memphis 4:10 PM
• Citizen Hearst 4:30 PM
• Let Fury Have The Hour 5:00 PM
• Indie Game: The Movie 6:30 PM
• My Amityville Horror 7:00 PM
• West of Memphis 7:20 PM
• Uprising 8:30 PM
• High Tech, Low Life 9:00 PM
• Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey 10:30 PM
• West of Memphis 10:30 PM

Monday, March 18
• The Bitter Buddha 12:00 PM
• West of Memphis 1:00 PM
• Nicky’s Family 1:00 PM
• Oma and Bella 2:00 PM
• 5 Broken Cameras 3:00 PM
• Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder 4:00 PM
• West of Memphis 4:10 PM
• Orchestra of Exiles 5:00 PM
• Trashed 6:00 PM
• A Place At The Table 7:00 PM
• West of Memphis 7:20 PM
• Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey 8:00 PM
• My Amityville Horror 9:30 PM
• Let Fury Have The Hour 10:00 PM
• West of Memphis 10:30 PM

Tuesday, March 19
• Orchestra of Exiles 12:00 PM
• West of Memphis 1:00 PM
• Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey 1:00 PM
• High Tech, Low Life 2:00 PM
• Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder 3:15 PM
• Trashed 4:00 PM
• West of Memphis 4:10 PM
• Oma and Bella 5:00 PM
• A Place At The Table 6:00 PM
• Reveal the Path 7:00 PM
• West of Memphis 7:20 PM
• 5 Broken Cameras 8:00 PM
• Happy People: A Year in the Taiga 9:30 PM
• Uprising 10:00 PM
• West of Memphis 10:30 PM

Wednesday, March 20
• Oma and Bella 12:00 PM
• A Place At The Table 1:00 PM
• West of Memphis 1:00 PM
• The Bitter Buddha 2:00 PM
• 5 Broken Cameras 3:00 PM
• Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder 4:00 PM
• West of Memphis 4:10 PM
• Trashed 5:00 PM
• Let Fury Have The Hour 6:00 PM
• Orchestra of Exiles 7:00 PM
• West of Memphis 7:20 PM
• Happy People: A Year in the Taiga 8:00 PM
• A Place At The Table 9:30 PM
• Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey 10:00 PM
• West of Memphis 10:30 PM

Thursday, March 21
• Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder 12:00 PM
• West of Memphis 1:00 PM
• Trashed 1:00 PM
• Let Fury Have The Hour 2:00 PM
• Reveal the Path 3:00 PM
• Happy People: A Year in the Taiga 4:00 PM
• West of Memphis 4:10 PM
• 5 Broken Cameras 5:00 PM
• Orchestra of Exiles 6:00 PM
• A Place At The Table 7:00 PM
• West of Memphis 7:20 PM
• Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey 8:00 PM
• The Bitter Buddha 9:45 PM
• My Amityville Horror 10:30 PM
• West of Memphis 10:30 PM

 

originally published on Columbus Underground

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Not So Sure the Kids are All Right

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by Hope Madden

If you haven’t seen Chan-wook Park’s twisted revenge fantasy Oldboy, do so immediately. I’ll wait.

Amazing, isn’t it? Hell, his whole Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) inspires awe. Wildly inventive, punishing and entertaining, the films mark a director with a talent for subversive action.

For the Korean filmmaker’s English language debut, he turns his attention to a dysfunctional family drama/mystery. But even a softer Park offers surprising punch.

Mia Wasikowska (The Kids are All Right) plays India Stoker, an odd girl, pensive, in a Wednesday Addams kind of way. A car accident kills her father on her 18th birthday, leaving her to contend with her chilly mother (Nicole Kidman, wonderful) and the surprise, lengthy visit from an Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) she never knew she had.

Wasikowska treads the uneven ground of this character quite well. Never entirely sympathetic, her India strikes the necessary chords to keep Park’s twists believable.

Goode’s an underrated performer. His dreamy good looks and big-eyed eagerness belie a particular kind of weirdness perfect for the role.

The film, quite intentionally, plays like a fractured take on Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, Uncle Charlie and all. There’s something weirdly amiss – sinister, even – in this house, and the handsome, attentive uncle is clearly not what he pretends to be.

But Park and screenwriter Wentworth Miller have a different tale to tell, one whose lurid details are suggested from the onset with saturated colors, evocative sounds, and the peering camera of Chung-hoon Chung (Park’s regular collaborator). As he slides around corners and crawls along pathways, his camera forever heightens tensions as well as a sense of puzzlement.

Solid performances across the board anchor a story that missteps once in a while. This is the first screenwriting credit for actor Miller (Prison Break), whose efforts were aided by contributions from Erin Cressida Wilson, the pen behind the dark indie flicks Secretary, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, and Chloe.

But it’s Park who makes the film, an effort that could easily have faltered under the weight of style over substance. In his hands, each scene is meticulously crafted – every color, every sound, every glance – to lift the already capable performances and solid script to something better than it should be.

Provocative, slyly funny and a bit twisted (you can expect nothing less from Park), Stoker represents a quietly fascinating image of a twisted family dynamic.

3 1/5 stars (out of 5)

So that happened...

So that happened…MaddWolf meets HorrorHound

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It’s HorrorHound Weekend, a convention celebrating terror cinema … in Cincinnati. Dude! With too many local commitments this year, we had to skip what would have been our second annual trek. One year ago, a different kind of March Madness gripped the MaddWolf household, as the convention landed in Columbus for the first time. And while OSU gear was in short supply, I counted three different Motel Hell tee shirts. Nice!

It was Saturday afternoon. In a short few hours, Ohio State would take on Syracuse in the East Regional Finals, yet my husband George was sporting the only OSU T-shirt in the sea of humans at the Crown Plaza North hotel.

I don’t think I’ve ever ventured outside my home without seeing at least several OSU tees. What gives?  As I pondered, I turned the corner and blurted, “Oh my God, it’s Pinhead!”

It was Doug Bradley, the actor who’d brought life to the iconic villain from Clive Barker’s 1987 film Hellraiser. He was sitting nonchalantly, wearing a Mansfield Correctional Facility tee shirt and signing autographs for $20 a pop.

Many of those attendees not bedecked in their Evil Dead/Halloween/Friday the 13th finest showed off an even deeper commitment to their fandom, coming costumed as their favorite characters. The Bride of Chucky milled around alongside the Bride of Frankenstein. Jigsaw squeezed past the Wolfman on his way to the bar. I saw many Elviras – some of them women, even. The zombies were countless.

There were also an awful lot of Ghostbusters in attendance, which seemed weird. Maybe they’d been called in case things got out of hand.

Left your Army of Darkness tee at home? No worries!  Vendors shucked tee shirts, jewelry, face painting, and costumes. Booths offered gear from Blacula, The Shining, Shivers – nearly every film you might think of – as well as obscure DVDs, posters, and wildly tacky paintings.

You could even go home stained with a brand new, horror-inspired tattoo, courtesy of on-sight tattoo artists Screaming Ink.

Many such customers, freshly inked with Elvira’s likeness, shuffled directly into line to meet the actual Mistress of the Dark (Cassandra Peterson). For just $20 you could get your photo, Elvira hanging off one arm, her face forever etched on the other.

Twenty was the going rate for most photo ops.

I paid it. I’m not made of stone.

Stuart Gordon, director of many genre classics including Re-Animator, pocketed a bill of mine, as did Tippi Hedren from  Hitchcock’s ornithophobic classic The Birds. But she kicked in a prop raven for free. Now that’s the kind of theatrical panache that lures in suckers like me.

I dropped a lot of cash, I’m not going to lie to you. But how else was I going to get a picture of me standing between Gunnar Hansen and Marilyn Burns, killer and survivor from the 1974 original Texas Chainsaw Massacre? How?!

Across from Bradley’s table was a booth crowned with a banner reading: Are you a horror film freak?

Um, yes. And I was in my element.

In the ballrooms, lobbies and corridors of the Crown Plaza gathered thousands of the most ardent consumers and prolific purveyors of all things gore. Along with Pinhead, you might run into Jason Voorhees (Steve Dash), Michael Myers (Tyler Mane), or Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen).

If you just read that paragraph and objected that Dash, Mane and Hansen are not the only actors to don a hockey/Shatner/human flesh mask onscreen, you, too, may be a horror film freak.

This is not exactly George’s element. He enjoys a good horror film, but only a good one. Still, he embraced the opportunity to let me absorb all the horror-nerdery I could handle. He took note of the many and varied costumes bedecking the convention attendees and suggested we return in our Halloween get-ups from last year – blood soaked prom-goer Carrie and her date Tommy. God bless George, he does participate in life.

In a few short hours, the Buckeyes would earn their place in the Final Four, but here there was a different kind of madness afoot. Such is HorrorHound weekend, the convention where the man who changed the face – whole head, even – of horror might be right next to you, and the only scarlet you’re likely to see on a tee shirt is the blood dripping from the words “I like boobs and murder.”

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“Get Out of My House!”

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By George Wolf

 

Borrowing the original Die Hard formula is not a heinous crime. Films have been doing it for years, with varying degrees of success.

Olympus Has Fallen takes that formula, as well as..ahem.. a scene or two, wraps it in pathos and patriotism and delivers an action flick that really has no business working as well as it does.

The “Nakatomi Plaza” this time round is none other than the White House, which is overtaken by a gang of North Korean terrorists who were apparently unmoved by the all-American charm of Dennis Rodman.

The fly in their ointment is ex special forces/ex secret service/general badass Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), who slipped inside during the takeover and is determined to deliver a few good wisecracks while rescuing the hostages, which include the President (Aaron Eckhart),  VP and Secretary of Defense.

Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) has a clear vision of the movie he’s making and sticks to it, with no apologies. That vision is basically 90 minutes of the “get off my plane!” crowd-pleasing from Air Force One. The action,  well paced as it is, is interspersed with dramatic shots of bullet-ridden flags falling in slow motion and a heavy-hearted Speaker of the House/acting President (Morgan Freeman of course) debating his next move.  The film offers up a couple shots at American foreign policy, but those are quickly drowned out by the swelling music and nationalistic bombast.

The ensemble cast (including Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott and Angela Bassett) does come through for Fuqua, helping him deliver a few tense-if-ridiculous moments.

Olympus Has Fallen aims no higher than keeping an audience engaged throughout a large drink and popcorn. Though that target is squarely acquired, it’s a rather empty victory that is easily forgotten once the lights come up.

2 1/2 stars

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Bullets and Bikinis..What Could Go Wrong?

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By George Wolf

 

Spring Break! Whoo-hooo!

Actually, from here on out you may pronounce it spraaannggg braaayyyk, thanks to James Franco’s unforgettable performance in the surprisingly good Spring Breakers.

The biggest surprise is that, coming as it does from gonzo writer/director Harmony Korine, the film adopts a fairly normal narrative structure in delivering a rumination on the nihilistic nature of popular culture. If you’ve seen Korine’s what-the-fuck?- classics such as Gummo or Trash Humpers, you know “fairly normal” is not his usual neighborhood.

The film follows four college girls (Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and the filmmaker’s wife Rachel Korine) desperate to break out of their “seeing the same things every day” routine. They gleefully rob a restaurant for some fast cash, and then hop a bus to Florida for the annual spring bacchanalia.

Their exploits don’t get much more law-abiding, and after landing in the the county jail, they’re bailed out by the mysterious “Alien” (Franco), a self-described rapper/gangsta/hustler with a “ballr” license plate and a mansion full of of guns, drugs, and the requisite nunchucks.

Much like Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike, Franco is an unhinged force of nature, commanding the screen and owning the film. While much as been made of former Disney princesses Gomez and Hudgens playing down and dirty bad girl roles, both are practically invisible whenever Franco is around.

While Franco is the main reason to see Spring Breakers, he’s not, as McConaughey was  in Magic Mike,  the only reason.

Korine has something to say here, and, though he skirts with casting too many judgements on his characters, he says it pretty well. Outrageous, courageous, and often very funny, Spring Breakers is worth your time.

Plus, you’ll never think of Britney Spears music the same way again. Trust me.

3 1/2 stars (out of 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVvn9T6bqls

 

 

Hope Madden and George Wolf … get it?