Chris’s Summer Catchup 2008 Part 2: The Revenge

by Chris   ⋅   July 20, 2008   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

While most people look toward Summer as a period of relaxation, my Summer has been anything but. So, in another effort towards cleaning house, I bring you Summer Catchup 2008 Part 2: The Revenge. What follows is the briefest of brief looks at numerous films, books, and shows I’ve tackled over the Summer, but haven’t had the time to write up. I also have the usual stash of films waiting in the wings. Since the stack has grown so high, expect to see a few more capsule batches while I attempt to catch up.

MOVIES

The Dark Night
One of the perks of working roughly a block away from a movie theater is that the office sometimes opts for a cinematic lunch. Not being a fan of Batman Begins, I was pretty indifferent toward The Dark Knight, but the prospect of a working matinee won me over. And, once the movie started, I was pretty much floored. From start to finish, The Dark Knight was nothing short of captivating, featuring awesome performances from all involved (well, save Maggie Gyllenhaal. Even Eric Roberts was better than her), amazing action sequences, an uber-creepy cipher of a Joker (mad, mad props to Heath Ledger), and a tone evocative of the best crime dramas and anti-hero action (think Heat meets Dirty Harry). But once I got out of the theater, as with Batman Begins, I started to ponder what exactly I liked about the story. And here’s the problem…The Dark Knight’s story isn’t all that great. If you really stop and analyze what you’ve seen, you’ll find numerous inconsistencies, lapses in logic, and just plain inexplicable strangeness. And, for all the talk about the “dark” and “adult” nature of the film, The Dark Knight’s ethical philosophizing never quite reaches highschool grade. Still, it’s a welcome change from Comic Book Film’s tendency toward soapbox preaching. So, my final opinion? The Dark Knight is an astoundingly well-made piece of cinematic slight-of-hand, finely tuned to whisk you along from start to finish without asking too many questions, and leaving you dazed, awed, and sufficiently satiated upon its completion. Mabe this is Christopher Nolan’s “prestige”, perhaps? Definitely check out the film, but just don’t think too hard about it afterward. Added bonus: Keep an eye out for cameos by 80’s geek icon, Anthony Michael Hall, and sex tape virtuoso, Edison Chen.

Get Smart
Soul sucking trash. I hated this film.

Wall-E
As good as people say, but what was up with the future only having fat white people? The Pixar Crew is right there in Emeryville, adjacent to Oakland and right next to NorCal’s cosmopolitan center, San Francisco, and still the animators never thought about including some African, Asian, or other races into the mix? Wtf? That aside, this film was a blast from start to finish. And for those who are afraid the lack of dialog will be offputting to kids, I point to a long tradition of old silent Disney cartoons, and the firsthand testimony of a little girl in our screening audience. In the middle of the film, after close to an hour of “silence”, she exclaimed quite loudly, “Mommy, I like this movie!” I’m guessing you will too.

Wanted
Here’s a film that I didn’t have any interest in seeing, but turned out to be a whole lot of fun. Don’t get me wrong, Wanted is as stupid as it looks. But the thing is, the film knows it’s stupid, and chooses to revel in it rather than present itself as anything other. A co-worker of mine described it as “The Matrix meets Fight Club,” and though at the time I thought that a strange mashup (I imagined a mashup of the philosophies — “I’m the one.” “No you’re not. You’re nothing more than a piece of useless human trash”), the description proved apt. This action is even more ludicrous than The Matrix (Director Timur Bekmambetov is as over the top stylish as usual), while the sentiment is pure Palahniuk nihilism. A word of warning, however. For those of you looking to watch a whole lot of Angelina, her actual screen-time clocks in at a half hour at most. McAvoy is not as bad as you would think, and Morgan Freeman might actually have a better role here than in The Dark Knight. It’s big, it’s loud, it’s entertaining. Go see it.

DVD
Hot Rod
I didn’t expect anything from Hot Rod, but for my sister and my four hour layover in the Houston Airport, it proved the perfect medicine. The humor relies mostly on slapstick and odd edits/sayings/etc., but it made me laugh, and made quite a few people look at me funny. Cool Beans.

Rambo
I hadn’t seen a Rambo film before this, but I was pretty entertained. It’s not a film I would watch again, and Rambo doesn’t do too much aside from driving the boat (he’s pretty much only in two action sequences) but I dug it. A big, loud, brash 80 minutes of macho stupidity. Rent this for a decent Saturday night.

The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang
Another tale of comedic outcasts, this little flick makes fun of WoW nerds, fantasy buffs, conspiracy theorists, and other “dorks”. Tim Skousen tries to play up his Assistant Director turn on Napoleon Dynamite, but unlike that film, The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang ultimately proves mean spirited and hollow. I walked away after a bit, but poor Kris stayed around for the finish. Terrible terrible stuff.

Highlander: Director’s Cut
I watched this back in highschool, and was really quite surprised it holds up so well. It may not be as good as Ricky Bobby claims, but it’s a pretty darn good fantasy/sci-fi/actioner for adults. I’ve not bothered with the sequels, but I’m considering suffering through the new version of Highlander 2: Renegade Edition…we’ll see. Anyways, if you’ve never checked out the first Highlander, you just might want to do something about it.

In Bruges
See review for Get Smart, above.

Day Watch
So, after Wanted we decived to check out Timur Bekmambetov’s previous film. Now, I was confused with Night Watch, I was left completely behind by Day Watch. What happened in this picture? I couldn’t rightly tell you. But it was nice to look at.

Pathfinder
Marcus Nispel has made the ultimate Gwar Music video. As a film, however, it’s not that good. Clumsily edited, featuring strange anamorphic oddities, and a story that is barely there, Pathfinder couldn’t find its way out of a broom-closet. I like Nispel’s style, but the poorly put together action sequences had me yawning even more than the tepid romance between Karl Urban and Moon Bloodgood. Though I picked this up in a bargain bin sale, I think I paid too much. Skip it.

TV

Mad Men – Pretty good, though I can’t quite put my finger on why I like it.
Tin Man – Pretty terrible. I know exactly why I don’t like it.
Battlestar Galactica – Surprising. I’d held off for a long time, but I’m digging the first season.

BOOKS

Shards of a Broken Crown, by Raymond E. Feist – Far better than Rage of a Demon King. I’ve got a long way to go before I catch up with Feist’s latest, but I might just try to do that now.

The Whiskey Rebellion, by Thomas P Slaughter – Covers the frontiersmen’s post-Revolutionary War fight against taxation without representation, and their immediate suppression by the new American Government. An insightful look at an oft-overlooked period in American History.

The Colfax Massacre, by LeeAnna Keith – A thoughtful and authoritative exploration of one of Louisiana’s most heinous incidents of racial violence. If you’re into history, check it out.

Money Shot, by Christina Faust – A recommended title at Austin’s Book People, this Hard Case crime book is immensely entertaining. A former porn star takes on the Mobsters who tried to have her killed. What more could you want in a pulp novel? Check it out.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been a film fanatic for as long as he can remember. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.

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