End of Innocence

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Bobby
  • IMDb: link

In the style of Grand Hotel, Emilio Estevez (who wrote and directed) brings us a look at the Ambassador Hotel and the people who work and stay there.  It’s not just any day however, it’s June 6, 1968 and Bobby Kennedy is coming to give his last speech before tragedy would strike, and one of the last remaining beacons of hope in his time was extinguished by hatred and violence.

The film follows the guests and staff of the Ambassador Hotel over the period of a day as they work, play, and ready for an appearance, by who many believe will become the next President of the United States.

The characters include the manager of the hotel (William H. Macy), his wife (Sharon Stone) who works as the beauty parlor, and his mistress (Heather Graham) who works the phone bank with her friend (Joy Bryant)  There’s also a Mexican kitchen worker (Freddy Rodriguez) dealing with a racist boss (Christian Slater), and a bride (Lindsay Lohan) who is marrying a friend from high school (Elijah Wood) to stop him being sent to Vietnam.

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Obsession

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Prestige
  • IMDb: link

“Every great magic trick consists of three acts.  The first act is called ‘The Pledge.’  The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course it probably isn’t.  The second act is called ‘The Turn.’  The magician makes his ordinary something do something extraordinary.  Now, if you’re looking for the secret you won’t find it, that’s why there’s a third act called ‘The Prestige.’  This is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you’ve never seen before.”
 

The PrestigeThe film opens with Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) on trial for the murder of Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), who was killed during his final performance.  The magician who gave both men their start (Michael Caine) is present, as witness, to tell the tale.

The film goes back in time, to tell the story of how the two got their start, their tragic marriages (with Piper Perabo, and Rebecca Hall), their competing affection for a magician’s assistant (Scarlett Johansson), and the event which caused the hatred and rivalry between them.

Director Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins) weaves a marvelous tale of illusion, half-truths, buried secrets, murder, and most of all obsession.  Like this year’s earlier entry The Illusionist the film involves the secrets of an illusion, and plot twists.  The Prestige succeeds where the other failed in that it doesn’t make the twists and secrets the whole story, instead it’s the obsession between the two men, not their secrets, which takes center stage.

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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Flags of Our Fathers
  • IMDB: link

flags-of-our-fathers-posterOne picture can define everything.  Flags of Our Fathers, the latest from director Clint Eastwood and writer Paul Haggis, looks at how a single photograph changed the war in the Pacific during WWII.  Though it does include some huge battle scenes, it’s more focused on the later years, how the photograph, and the U.S. Government’s use of it, changed the lives of three soldiers forever.

Clint Eastwood is the man, and he has earned the right to make whatever film he wants.  Here the director takes a look at the flag raising at Iwo Jima, and how that one photograph changed the lives of three men and the course of the war in the Pacific.

The film follows the heroes of the Battle of Iwo Gima, John “Doc” Bradley (Ryan Phillippe), Rene Gagon (Jesse Bradford), and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) from their landing on Iwo Jima to the years after their heroic tour.

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Comic Book Shelf

/ / Comics

Hey there true believers!  Today the sixteenth 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, Crossing Midnight, Deathblow, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Ghost in the Shell 1.5, Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage, Immortal Iron Fist, Stan Lee Meets Dr. Doom, Trials of Shazam!, and more!

If you’re looking for graphic novels you don’t want to miss Avengers: Galactic Storm Vol.2, Batman: The Dark Knight Archives Vol. 5, Essential Man-Thing Vol.1, Green Lantern: Revenge of the Green Lanterns, Gungrave Archives, and more.

For the full list check inside…

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Superman Returns to DVD

/ / Uncategorized

Superman Returns was a big hit at the theaters this summer, though not as big as the studio had hoped (despite making just over $200 million it came up short of making back its $270 million price tag).  Still Superman proved he could be a powerful force at the box office.  The film comes out on DVD today and we’ve got a quick look.

Superman Returns
Custom Rating

I enjoyed Superman Returns in the theater, but had some problems with the script, continuity errors, and the lack of originality (all of which you can read more about in my original review).  December liked the film a little more than me (as you can read here).  So it’s been a couple months, and now it’s out on DVD, so let’s get to it.

After a five-year absence Kal-El (Brandon Routh) returns from the wreckage of Krypton to his adopted home of Earth.  On arriving he discovers life has moved on without him.  Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) is engaged and has a young son, and Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) has been busy making some withdrawals from the Fortress of Solitude.

The film works as well, if not slightly better on DVD than in the theater, given it’s length and breadth, though you also have more opportunity to wonder at the lunacy of Lex Luthor’s plan.  The effects work just as well on DVD and with a proper stereo system you can sit back and crank John Williams score.

I stick by my qualms with the film.  However, I will say that with each viewing I like Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth more and more in their respected roles.  Though Routh is no Christopher Reeve, he does have a little of his openness and charm that grows on you.  And Bosworth shines in what is one of the oddest casting decisions of the year.

But I still hate that new suit!

Is it a must have for your collection?  Probably not.  But the DVD does give you the remastered John Williams score and some nice performances and fun moments.  Aside from the look at the Marlon Brando scenes, I’m not sure the Special Edition warrants the added cost, except for huge fans of the film, and I think the single disc will serve most viewers just fine.

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