September 2006

Looking for Kitty

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Looking for Kitty
  • IMDb: link

After his wife leaves him without explanation, a high school baseball coach from upstate New York makes his way into the city.

Looking for KittyUnable to find her on his own Abe Fiannico (David Krumhotlz) hires private detective Jack Stanton (Edward Burns).  Together the two comb the city for Abe’s wife Kitty (Avi Meyers).  The only clue the pair have is a newspaper photograph of Kitty with rock star Ron Stewart (Max Baker).

As the two search we learn Jack is also suffering from the loss of his own wife; unable to do anything about his own situation, and despite his gruff stand-offish nature, Jack begins to think of Abe as a friend and becomes emotionally involved with the case.

Looking For Kitty is what you want a small independent film to be.  It’s well written with a small but effective cast.  Krumholtz and Burns carry 85% of the film, but there are a couple of nice supporting performances to mention.

Connie Britton works well in the small role as Jack’s new mysterious neighbor.  The awkwardness of the two around each other comes off as so realistic you almost forget you are watching a film.

And let us not forget the two comedic flashes of the film.  Kevin Kash finds just the right balance of neediness and humor in the role of Jack’s super, and Chris Parnell as the greasy, self-important, rock manager who insists everyone call him “Cougar,” despite the fact he is as un-cat-like as any man ever born.

There are some flaws here.  The two stories never completely merge and the epilogue of the film seems a little redundant.  There also Rachel Dratch as a obnoxious boozehound, who seems very close to a crazy drunk person you would meet in a real hotel bar, but her recurring role in the film never amounts to much and started to grate on my nerves.

For fans of Burns, the director or actor, I think you will enjoy yourselves.  It’s not a great film, but it is a very good one.  It won’t wow you, but if you sit back and relax you’ll find quite an enjoyable little film.  Even with the problems I have with the film it’s an easy one to recommend.  Looking for Kitty is currently showing in select cities; check you local listings to see if it’s playing near you.

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Wilting Flower

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Black Dahlia
  • IMDb: link

black-dahlia-posterTwo cops, Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart), both former boxers, find themselves thrown together, first in the ring, and later on the street trying to solve the mysterious death of a young women who wanted nothing more than to be a Hollywood star.  The film centers around the relationship of the two cops and Lee’s girl, Kay (Scarlett Johansson).

One of the films plot threads involves the death of Elizabeth Short (Mira Kirshner) who the papers tab “The Black Dahlia.”  But that’s only one of several mysteries.  There’s the spoiled rich girl with secrets (Hilary Swank) and her dysfunctional family, the hidden reason behind Lee’s obsession with the case, a recent parolee (Richard Brake) who has it in for Lee and frightens Kay to death, the case of a child rapist and killer, and a dirty movie staring young Miss Short and another woman (Jemima Rooper).

There are also subplots including Bleichert’s throwing a boxing match for his adle-minded father (James Otis), office politics in the police station, and the love triangle between the three leads.

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No Sparks

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Last Kiss
  • IMDb: link

the-last-kiss-posterWe get the likable Zach Braff in an unlikable role.  We get the writer of Crash and Million Dollar Baby doing a by-the-numbers romantic dramedy.  And we get the director of The Last Samurai to put it all together?  These are all talented people, but I just have to wonder how they all got involved in such an unlikely run-of-the-mill Hollywood project.

Michael (Zach Braff) is about to turn 30.  He is in love with his fiance Jenna (Jacinda Barrett), who is carrying his child, but he just isn’t happy.  Call it cold feet or doubts, but Michael sees his life mapped out, and has he says “there’s no more surprises.”

At a friend’s wedding, Michael meets Kim (Rachel Bilson) who, for reasons that are never explained or explored, is immediately taken with Michael and starts to come on to him, in the way that beautiful women do to average guys only in films, despite the fact he explains he is involved with another woman.  This new temptation for Michael may be his last surprise, or his last chance to break-out and seize passion.  Will he be tempted, and if so what consequences will befall such a choice?

I don’t need to tell you how the film ends, or which woman Michael chooses.  Unless you’ve never seen a by-the-book Hollywood romantic comedy you already know.

One of the problems however is when we are introduced to Michael and Jenna we see love, but no passion, no spark.  They could be best friends perhaps, or even brother and sister, by why are they getting married?  Whether it’s just on-screen chemistry or poor writing, Braff and Bilson work much better than Braff does with the woman his character supposedly loves.

There are other subplots involving Michael’s friends, and Jenna’s parents (Blythe Danner, Tom Wilkinson), who all have their own emotional problems.  There’s Chris (Casey Affleck) who is involved in a loveless destructive marriage only for the sake of his small son.  There’s Kenny (Eric Christian Olsen) who loves women but not relationships, and finally a poor friend (Micahel Weston) who’s so obsessed with a woman that no longer wants him he spends the entire film moping.

None of these stories are very interesting, by themselves or together.  Braff’s first big role since Garden State would inevitably get comparisions, and this one just doesn’t measure up.  Where Braff’s film had a unique voice and style and a very delicate relationship, this just seems to be regurgitated Hollywood romantic slop.

From my comments so far you may think I hated the film.  Not true.  Despite the fact that the film never comes together there are several small pieces and performances that work well, just not quite enough to carry the film.  Braff knows just the right notes to hit with this character and Danner and Wilkinson each give a nice nod in small but important supporting performances.  The real thrill of the movie is Rachel Bilson who steals every moment of the film in which she appears; too bad her part wasn’t larger.

Despite some nice performances and some enjoyable moments, The Last Kiss is a trainwreck.  I can’t quite bring myself to recommend it but if you’re gotten nothing else to do on a lazy weekend then I guess you could spend your time in worse pursuits.  But if you want to see a much better love story with some of the same actors I’d suggest picking up Garden State on DVD (read that review here).

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Comic Book Shelf

/ / Comics

Hey there true believers!  Today the fifth issue of our Comic Book Shelf edition hits our newsstand.  Want to know what’s getting released today at the old comic shop but too busy, or lazy (not that there’s anything wrong with that), to bother?  Well no sweat Bat-fans as we’ve got the scoop of what comics and graphic novels are hitting the shelves today.

This week’s releases include Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Captain America, The Escapist, Green Arrow, New Excalibur, Rokkin, Firestorm, Ultimate X-Men, Martian Manhunter, and more!

If you’re looking for graphic novels you don’t want to miss Prince of Baghdad, Superman: Infinite City, Wildcats: Nemesis, The Gremlins, and new collected editions of Shazam! Family Archives, Rex Mundi, Wolverine Classics, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and Doom Patrol.

For the full list check inside…

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New on DVD

/ / Home Video News 

Today we get a Tarantino-inspired mystery, a Paris Hilton movie (insert sex tape joke here,) and last but not least, yet another opportunity for us to fatten George Lucas’ pocket book.

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What’s that?  There are DVDs available at my convinient Wal-Mart or even my nearest Wal-Mart Supercenter for the first time today?  Oh my!


Film:

Lucky Number Slevin – The only mystery more difficult to solve than the twist-a-minute plot of Slevin is the one of the film’s lack-luster popularity.  Given only a 50% approvel from the guys at Rotten Tomatoes, and making a paltry $22 million in theatres, the Tarantino-inspired hitman mystery never got the chance it deserves so very much.  Boasting a cast any summer tent-pole would kill for (with Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu, along with multiple other A-Listers,) Slevin weaves its way in and out of complicated but easily-enough understood story with commanding visuals and dialogue so deliciously wound in circles that almost sounds like Dr. Suess wrote it.  It already passed you by in theatres, so be sure to catch Slevin on DVD as soon as you can.  Of course, not all of us agreed on the film, which you can discover in Alan’s review of the film.

Bottom’s Up – As any pursuist of fine film could tell you, it has been far too long since Paris Hilton has graced a film with her presence.  Well, wait no longer!  This direct-to-video release stars Jason Mewes in what appears to be his most significant, non-Askewniverse role yet.  In the film Mewes, a good ol’ boy from the middle of the country, moves into Hollywood, somehow becomes a part of the system and of course, falls in love along the way.

Goal! – The first of a planned trilogy, it would be wrong to say that Goal!, another athelete-overcomes-the-odds soccer drama, is that great.  But at the same time, it’d be wrong to say that the feel-good won’t grab the sucker in all of us and captivate us for a couple of hours.  Goal! is about a Mexican-American who never quite got the chance to let his supreme soccer abilities shine in the spot-light, only to find a second chance after he moves to the U.K. chasing the dream he’s carried.  The plot, characters, conflicts can all be predicted within the first five minutes; but nevertheless, Goal! is a satisfying peice of film perfect for family viewing.

The Wild – Oh wait, I already own Madagascar.  Never mind.  But if you want to, you can read Alan’s review by kindly clicking on the link.

Special Edition:

The original editions of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi – Less than two years after George Lucas swore that the original cuts of his Star Wars films, the ones that showed up on screens in the 70s and 80s, would never make it to home video again, comes the original cuts of his Star Wars films.  Whether or not it’s just a ploy for the Beard to buy another home away from Skywalker Ranch, fans should have at least a little cause for celebration.  Although the audio and video quality of the film are rumored to be sub-par (read a review from our friends at DVD Active here,) the hoarde of bloggers who have been dying to see Greedo get his too-slow gun-drawing ass shot the way it was 29 years ago will get their due.  It may be worth mentioning that these discs are essentially individual releases of the films as they were seen in the 2004 release of the trilogy, with the original cuts relegated to a second disc under the title of “Supplimental Material,” but the die-hards out there won’t care as long as they get to see a sans-Hayden Christensen finish to the trilogy to rule them all.

Television:

Grey’s Anatomy: The Complete Second Season -Members of age bracket 18 – 34 rejoice!  After four long months without having anything to watch, you can finally own the second installment of ABC’s wildly popular Hospital-based soap, Grey’s Anatomy!  And on top of that, you get to see it all uncut!  That’s right, Hundreds upon Hundreds of seconds more of your favorite hotties as they operate on patients and work on their love-life!

The Office – Season Two – Who would have thought that an Americanized, dumbed down version of the brilliant BBC comedy The Office would have worked so well?  Steve Carell is no replacement for Ricky Gervais, but the U.S. version of The Office successfully sits on the edge between a traditional Sitcom and an innovative one, making it funnier than just about any other network television show, while keeping it universally appealing.

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