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By Eric Robinette
| Tuesday, May 13, 2008, 01:03 PM
Some comments I got on my Speed Racer review, and some I heard elsewhere recently, got me to thinking about the whole “I’ll wait for DVD” mentality.
Regular readers of this blog know that I strongly advocate the theatrical experience. At the same time, I know a lot of people don’t have the money/time/patience to venture out to the megaplex. And whether they like it or not, filmmakers know that most people will first see their movies on DVD.
That said, the way people categorize “wait for DVD” bothers me. It seems that when people hear that a movie isn’t so great, they say “Well, I’ll wait for the DVD” -as if somehow the movie won’t be so bad on DVD as it would be in the theater.
Excuse me?
I suppose the reasoning here is largely economic. People reason that if they just rent a DVD and the movie turns out to be mediocre (or worse), then at least they won’t have blown a big chunk of dough on it. All well and good, but does that mean that if you wait to see, say, Jumper at home, that passage of time and the lowering of the price suddenly makes the film better? I doubt it. A bad movie is a bad movie no matter where you watch it.
Continue reading "Waiting for DVD - not always a good idea"...
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Sir Critic muses
By Eric Robinette
| Tuesday, May 13, 2008, 08:44 AM
Today’s new DVD releases are a bit of a mixed bag, but there is one new release that is very much worth seeing, and a new release of an older set of movies that might be useful if you’re looking to play catch-up:
The Great Debaters: Yes, a movie about a lot of students talking can be thrilling in the hands of a perfect cast and a confident director like Denzel Washington, who builds his second film, about a 1930s debate team, to a deeply affecting finale. It might sound like movie “medicine,” but it doesn’t feel like it. GRADE: A
Untraceable: Clever story idea of a killer who makes his Internet audience culpable in his murders goes badly awry when smart characters become really, really stupid. Not even Diane Lane escapes the IQ drain. Full review: GRADE: C
Also out today
Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection: Here comes the inevitable double-dip just before the new movie comes out, to be followed by the inevitable triple-dip when the new movie joins the collection. If for some reason you didn’t pick these up on DVD already, now’s your chance - and this time the movies are available separately. There are some new bonus features, but if you have the box set that came out a few years ago, then, from everything I’ve heard, this new set is pretty superfluous. Purchase accordingly.
Mad Money: Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes and Queen Latifah play Federal Reserve employees who plan to steal money that’s about to be destroyed. I didn’t see this one, and a tagline like “They’re having the crime of their lives” doesn’t make me want to.
Youth Without Youth: Francis Ford Coppola’s first movie in 10 years made nary a ripple after critics collectively said “He waited 10 years to make THIS?” Still, I might check it out because Coppola does a commentary, and even his commentary on his bad movies (e.g. Finian’s Rainbow) is fascinating.
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On Video/DVD
By Eric Robinette
| Friday, May 9, 2008, 08:07 AM
Speed Racer is a great, big beautiful contraption of a movie - that has a maddening habit of breaking down repeatedly. It has the body of a Ferrari, but the engine of a Pinto.
Some people will love this movie; others will hate it. I loved it and hated it. I loved it for its dazzling design and effects, and I hated it for wasting all that innovation on a threadbare story.
I knew Speed Racer would be a movie of extremes, but the extremes cut both ways. What works in the movie is very good, but what fails in the movie is often very bad. The Wachowski brothers, the creators of the Matrix trilogy, have written and directed a Frankenstein monster of a film that’s only half alive.
Unsurprisingly, the Wachowskis have made a technical marvel. The art direction looks like a Roman candle factory gone haywire, but in a good way. If nothing else, this just might be the most colorful movie ever made. Rather than being blinding, the movie is eye-filling. There’s something wild to see on almost every inch of the screen.
Even more impressive is the editing style, which seamlessly segues from shot to shot, creating brilliant collages of imagery. This is as much a revolution for digital editing as JFK was for cutting on film. Early on, when young Speed imagines himself in a race, and every object in the scene except him is a pencil drawing, I smiled and said “wow” out loud. I thought I was in for a great ride.
Then the story had to intrude, and the caution flags went flying.
Continue reading "No, Speed Racer, no!"...
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Reviews
By Eric Robinette
| Thursday, May 8, 2008, 10:19 AM
I just got my ticket to see the midnight screening of Speed Racer, and to be honest, I don’t know whether to be excited or not.
Obviously, I’m getting a high-octane thrill ride that skews young, to a family audience, and yet the reviews I’ve read are sending out very mixed signals.
Quite a few critics hate it. A key quote comes from Anthony Lane of the New Yorker, who writes, “I reckon the M.P.A.A. should use the advent of Speed Racer to revive an old ratings symbol: a big Roman X, meaning “of no conceivable interest to anyone over the age of ten.”
Christy Lemire of the Associated Press smacks it with a one-star rating, saying: “At two hours and 15 minutes, it’s way too long for little kids, the only ones for whom this explosion at a crayon factory would seem even vaguely entertaining. Adults seeking the nostalgia of their own childhood will just be disappointed, because Speed Racer the movie bears little resemblance to Speed Racer the TV cartoon.”
On the other hand …
Continue reading "Speed Racer: Red, yellow or green light?"...
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Coming Attractions
By Eric Robinette
| Wednesday, May 7, 2008, 08:45 AM
I’m helping out a colleague of mine today with their own summer movie story.
Breaking up is never easy, especially when someone ends it with a Post-It
note.
That’s exactly what happened to the leading lady of Sex and the City,
Carrie Bradshaw, when she woke one morning to find a little Post-It note
with a big message: “I’m sorry. I can’t. Don’t hate me.”
In celebration of the release of the Sex and the City - The Movie, which hits the silver screen May 30, we are looking for your bad break-up stories. If you’ve had a sticky end
like Carrie’s, let us know.
Tell us how you got dumped by contacting reporter Meagan Engle at mengle@coxohio.com or (513) 705-2551. Names will be changed to protect the innocent — and the guilty.
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Coming Attractions
By Eric Robinette
| Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 12:02 PM
If you can block out the din of daily life around here, that wailing you can hear in the distance is the sci-fi geek crowd crying foul over the new Terminator movie.
Specifically, they’re upset that Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins (kind of a mouthful, innit it?) due out May of next year, will be rated PG-13.
This is similar to the hue and cry that was raised when Live Free or Die Hard came out with a PG-13 last year, but I thought that “controversy” was overblown. I liked the movie, but I didn’t sit there thinking, “Man, this would be SO much better if there were more blood and McClane said “f—-” a lot.” Instead, I was thinking, “Man, this would be SO much better if the villain were stronger and if the action weren’t so derivative.”
With the Terminator franchise, I think the complaints are more valid because the new movie is set during the big future war between man and machine, and rating a war movie PG-13 seems, well - stupid.
UPDATE: Commenter “Ronster” made an excellent point when he said: “To me, the diff on R and PG13 is whether the filmmaker intends the movie for an adult or non-adult audience, primarily, and in marketing, surprise/shock value, themes and approach. Ratings are about age-appropriateness, not about filmic quality… or at least, that’s what they USED to be about… “
One of the ratings boards’ failings, in my view, is that they tend to be lax on violence. If last year’s Beowulf had been a live action movie it would have been rated R without a doubt, and yet, because the violence was “digitized,” that makes it less impactful. Um … sure.
When it comes to Terminator that makes me wonder. The first Terminator would still clearly be an R now. But I have to wonder whether Terminator 2 would be rated R by today’s board since it doesn’t have a lot of graphic violence and there’s no sex. Yesterday’s R may be today’s PG-13.
Continue reading "Are you interested in a PG-13 Terminator movie?"...
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Coming Attractions
By Eric Robinette
| Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 08:45 AM
(Walks in DVD store)
OK, let’s see what we’ve got today on the new release wall. Hmmm.
First Sunday: January release with Ice Cube. Says “Comedy.” Kinda doubt it. Next.
I’m Not There: Well, this one I can kinda sorta recommend. It’s certainly bold and unique in its execution, by telling the story of Bob Dylan using actors of different ages, races and even genders. Unlike some critics, I don’t believe an innovative idea equals a great movie all by itself. There’s this little thing called execution that matters too, and that’s pretty uneven. Cinephiles should check it out just for Cate Blanchett’s amazing work, and Bob Dylan aficionados will get into it, but Scorsese’s No Direction Home was good enough for me. I’d give it a B-.
Over Her Dead Body: And her dead movie. Proof positive that Eva Longoria may be a babe, but she ain’t a movie star. What the heck is Paul Rudd doing in this? Did he smoke too many joints doing research for Forgetting Sarah Marshall?
Geez, this selection really stinks. You’d think this were the summer movie season or something.
PS I Love You: I never know what to make of movies that have Beatles songs in their titles but they aren’t Beatle movies. Do I give the movies credit for having good taste or do I sneer at them for associating Beatle tunes with mediocrity? I’d like to think this Hilary Swank vehicle is worthwhile, because it’s written and directed by Richard LaGravanese, who I really like. He made Freedom Writers with Swank, which was a solid little gem, but everything I’ve read about this movie screams “drippy melodrama.” Nah.
Oh, wait, I overlooked this one back here in the H’s …
The Hottie and the Nottie. Paris Hilton.
You know what folks? I’m sorry to have bothered you. Just go back and comment on one of my Iron Man posts or something. I really gotta go.
(Runs out the door searching frantically for the nearest bottle filled with a certain pink liquid)
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I agree with you. Although the rental slate (new release wise) is so bad that redbox is sending me