Smooth Flight! Minimal Turbulence!

Well, color me dumbfounded, because I am a douche! When the trailers for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole came out, I scoffed. Why the hell should I care about some kiddy movie about birds. Even when I heard that Zack Snyder was directing it, I still scoffed. I viewed it as Snyder selling out, doing something lame and not worth his time to rake in a few extra dollars in between making his next exploration of awesome!!! And then I saw the thing. Wow! I certainly didn't expect that. Guardians is not the kiddy, overly dramatic film that was advertised. What it is is a surprisingly mature, dark and violent tale told with a truly marvelous aesthetic touch. Though the story and script leaves something to be desired, and some of the character interactions and motivations are hopelessly contrived, Guardians is a film that should not be overlooked. It's not as kiddy as was advertised. It's a technical marvel. It's just good, plain and simple!

Aesthetic Pleasures

Incestuous Pugilism

Day 10 of my justification of what is, quite possibly, the most intense man-crush in the history of man-crushes gets really absurd.

This may sound weird, but hitmen fascinate me. Well, hitmen as characters fascinate me; I don't know about the real people; I don't know any... I don't think. Anyway, contract killers as characters in film have always been interesting, and usually provide some seriously meaty substance. Pulp Fiction anyone? How bout' In Bruges? Ok, the point has been made. They usually make conflicted and complicated characters that we are continually invested in. Well, it would seem that these traits, or any traits that make up a good film, were deemed not necessary to add to the pot when creating Shadowboxer. This is a pretty terrible movie, and yet, I find myself, strangely, not hating it. This is a classic example of a film, so wonderfully over the top, so friggin' absurd, so unapologetically demented and insane, that a full lambasting would just seem like cruelty.

Creepiest! Affair! Ever!

Journalism. It's What I Do.

My lord!! It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. So... umm... right, State of Play.

Politicly charged movies are getting a good rap lately. From the Oscar nominated Frost/Nixon, to the Oscar winning Milk... yeah, they've been doing pretty well for themselves lately. So, now we have State of Play, a sharp as nails thriller that leaves me thinking two things. 1.) That, if this movie is anything to go on, journalists keep ridiculous hours. 2.) I'm really impressed with State of Play.

State of Play begins with a double homicide at the hands of a shady fellow in black. The next day, another person has been killed, this one being an aide to prominent congressman Stephen Collins. An old friend of Collins', Cal McAffrey, an investigative reporter at The Washington Globe quickly pounces on the story, and, with the help of an ambitious new member to the staff, starts to dig up some juicy dirt. As he digs deeper however, he realizes that the actual truth is far more disturbing then he had originally thought. 

The cast, which boasts a slew of top tier names, is mighty impressive. Russell Crowe plays Cal. Picture this. If Crowe's Ritchie Roberts from American Gangster were an investigative reporter, he would be Cal. Crowe plays him as the most honest journalist in the world, but who is not beyond actual human emotion. Throughout the movie, he is forced to keep his friendship with Collins in check so as not to jeopardize the story. It's really good work from Crowe. Ben Affleck plays Collins. Let's be honest, Affleck is one of the most suspect actors working today. I mean, come on, he's about as consistent in his work as I am with these reviews. He can do great work in movies like Good Will Hunting, Dogma, and Hollywoodland, and follow it up with God awful performances in Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, Gigli, and Daredevil. But, he turns in one of his better performances here. He is actually quite good as this conflicted, confused congressman who gets caught in the middle of conspiracy after conspiracy. Don't expect a decent performance from him in the future. Like I said, inconsistent. Rachel McAdams plays Cal's fiery new partner. It's nice to see McAdams back in the mainstream after what seems like a five year hiatus. Don't worry, she's just as good as we remember. Helen Mirren does her usual excellent work as Cal's hotheaded editor who is more motivated by paper sales then actual facts. To cap it off, we have Jason Bateman in an Oscar worthy performance as a sketchy PR man with a taste for clubs, fancy Cadillacs, and a shit ton of hair gel. He steals every scene he's in and nails every line he has. If there was an award for Outstanding Casting in a movie, this one would be a shoe in. 

Director Kevin Macdonald knows how to handle politics. He showed us that with the brilliant The Last King of Scotland, and impresses us again. Everything in State of Play has been done before, and done better. But, it's tried and true formula, and Macdonald does a great job of utilizing it. The movie moves at a breakneck pace, never stopping to take a breather. Macdonald is careful in his storytelling in that he crams the scene with enough to make the viewers have to think to figure out what's going on, but he doesn't make them feel like complete idiots either. That was one of the big problems in Duplicity. It was smart; too smart. No one knew what the hell was going on in that movie. State of Play has no such problem. It can be confusing if you're not paying attention, but, if you do, you'll have no problem following along. Macdonald is just giving us a little taste of what he is capable of. Expect wonderful things from him in the future. 

So, it may be obvious, but I really like State of Play. Sure, pretty much everything in it has been done before, but it does it so well, I can't complain. I'm just ashamed, because I'm betting that it's not going to get the audience it deserves. The general public of this fine country seems to hate a movie that makes you think. Maybe that's why Watchmen essentially flopped. Don't be like them! B