A Lot About Nothing

I just got back from watching the highly anticipated J.J. Abrams-produced film Cloverfield. If you’re wondering if it’s worth all the hype and your $11, I think you’ll get you money’s worth. You’ll be highly entertained for 90-minutes, which just happens to be a perfect length for this type of film… any longer and you probably would’ve gotten dizzy from all the hand-held camera action.

Directed by Matt Reeves, Cloverfield starts out almost like a low-budget episode of Friends, with likeable characters, some comedic moments and a touch of drama thrown in. That all changes pretty soon once a loud tremor shakes New York City. What at first seems to be an earthquake is followed by a large explosion and the city’s residents, including Rob (Michael Stahl-David) and his going-away-party-goers to run for their lives. Rob and his friends end up on a mission to save a trapped Beth (Odette Yustman) in her highrise miles away, at the same time trying to beat the clock and catch the last helicopter out of the destructing city.

As for the monster, you’ll be anticipating to see what it looks like after hearing all the roars and screaming. And through the eyes of the handheld video camera held by Rob’s best friend Hud (T.J. Miller), I must admit it looks pretty darn freaky (along with it’s little “friends”). Cloverfield was amazingly shot, taking into consideration it’s Blair Witch Project-esq filming. Makes you wonder just how much post-production work actually went into adding all those special FX into a film that looks like it’s shot on a home video camera… very realistic.

If you haven’t already visited the viral marketing site take a look. And here’s the link for the film’s official site. Note to any Trekkers out there, there’s a short but sweet trailer of the upcoming Star Trek film preceding this movie. Can’t wait!

P.S. Stick around until after the credits.

I managed to get tickets to the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness screening of Wilson Yip’s Flash Point Thursday night, and it was well-worth the $20. Especially because Yip was present at the screening and fans in the audience got a chance to ask him questions about the film, his work as a director and collaboration with the film’s action director and star Donnie Yen.

Here’s a short synopsis of the film: Honk Kong Police Inspector Jun Ma (Donnie Yen) is one of those cops which has a no-holds-barred sense of ethic when it comes to catching criminals and putting them to justice (while beating them to a pulp if needed). His partner Wilson (Louis Koo) is working undercover trying to go after a trio of blood-thirsty Vietnamese gangsters. When his cover is busted and Wilson turns into a target all hell starts to break loose. And when that happens you know hot-headed Jun Ma is gonna flip out and put a serious throw-down on the bad guys.

Flash Point has one of the most realistic fight choreography that I’ve ever seen in a film. This is mainly due to the action direction of the film’s star, Donnie Yen, who in an email expressing his regrets of not being able to make an appearance at the film’s Toronto International Film Festival debut, clarified his role in the film and his use of mixed martial arts (a fighting system that involves a wide array of martial arts techniques including Jujitsu, wrestling and Muay Thai).

In the first part of the film the plot mainly centers around Louis Koo’s character and his work getting the goods on the bad guys. This sort of narrative isn’t anything innovative: You have the vengeful cop (Donnie Yen), the witness that needs protection (Louis Koo), the girl (Fan Bing-Bing), and the bad guys who threaten the lives of the vengeful cop, the witness and the girl (Colin Chou, Ray Lui and Xing Yu). Flash Point may seem a little light on the action-side for the first two-thirds of the movie (only 87 minutes long), but when the real action starts to take place the wait will be worth it. Especially when Inspector Jun Ma battles the lead villain Tony (Collin Chou from The Matrix Reloaded) in an intense fight sequence. It makes you want to hope that the DVD comes with an extended version.

As a team, director Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen have a most intriguing style, as is evident in their previous work of Sha Po Lang aka Killzone (which I need to get a DVD copy of). Yip’s need to build character development and Yen’s desire for action was one of the most challenging aspects of filming Flash Point according to a Q&A after the film at Toronto’s Ryerson Theatre. But the final product was worthwhile.

If you didn’t get a chance to see Flash Point, or you’re a fan of Hong Kong Cinema and martial arts flicks, make sure your buy or rent a copy when it’s released on September 27th. You’ve probably never seen more realistic action sequences than this before. This film will put all those wire-dependant, stunt-double needed, and special-effects suppressed Hollywood action films to shame.

Superbad was supergood. The film follows a pair of not-so-popular best friends, foul-mouthed Seth and sweet-natured Evan, who goal is to de-virginize themselves before they graduate high school and go on their separate ways before college. The interaction between Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) is fun to watch as they tackle their way through the challenge of scoring alcohol for a graduation party that’s hosted by Seth’s dream girl.

Enter McLovin, aka geek icon Fogell (played by newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse). With his fake ID, McLovin is the third wheel to this enjoyable duo, and adds lots of laughs to the film. When two wacky cops (played by the Seth Rogen and Bill Hader) take McLovin under their wing a long, wild night ensues.

Real life friends Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg actually wrote the script when they were back in high school (hence the names of the title characters). Judd Apatow co-produces the film alongside Shauna Robertson (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) and the aforementioned duo. Greg Mottola directs.

A witty script, Superbad certainly has it share of R-rated dialogue (including a rather graphic recollection of one of the character’s former penis-drawing addiction). The jokes are constant and each member of the cast plays off each other well and with ease.  At the times in the film where it looks like the jokes have gone too far or have been overplayed, it’s made up by the heart of the story and the likable characters.  You’ll definitely have fun watching this movie.  I superdid.

It’s very rarely that I’ll watch a sequel and say, “Wow… now that was a great sequel”. Okay, I don’t actually say that, but The Bourne Ultimatum certainly lived up to, if not surpassed, the success of it’s predecessors.

The film follows amnesiac Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), who is struggling to fit together the pieces of his violent missing past, as well as stay one step ahead of the agency that wants him terminated. Now I never pegged Matt Damon as the action type, but after the Bourne Identity he’s proven to audiences that he’s a well rounded actor. The film is complemented with strong performances by David Strathairn, Joan Allen and even Julia Stiles.

Not only is the acting superb, but the cinematography is well-executed. The camera-work actually makes you feel like your there on the run with Bourne, and the scenes of the many international locals adds to the rush.

The action sequences will have you hooked with excitement. If you stick around for the end credits you’ll realize how much choreography and stunt-work actually went into making this film one filled with incredible chase sequences and fight scenes. The amount of international stunt people involved is probably 6x the amount of the actual cast.

If you enjoyed the first two Bourne flicks, you’ll definitely enjoy this one. It leaves the trilogy with a sense of closure, yet open-endedness that will leave the audience wondering if another successor will rise to the surface.

Ignoring the negative balance in my bank account, I decided to stop and browse through the shelves of Indigo today after work. I’m glad that I did because I picked up a nice bargain from the discount table: Richard Roeper’s 10 Sure Signs a Movie Character is Doomed & Other Surprising Movie Lists. The first thing that struck me was the giant $3.99 price sticker on and the word ‘movie’ in the title (I’m a pretty big movie-lover). Flipping through the pages, I was struck with lists like “7 Movies in Which Ben Affleck Cries Like a Big Fat Baby”, “Age Difference Between Michael Douglas and His Leading Ladies” and “Best Porn Titles Based on Legit Movies”. The latter will have you laughing at the creativity, or lack thereof… “Free My Willy” or “Jurassic Pork” anyone?

Here’s an excerpt from the title list of a sign that movie character is doomed:

The bad guy is locked in a life-and-death clinch with the good guy, when suddenly a gun goes off. We see the look of shock on the good guy’s face as he falls away–but of course it’s the bad guy who’s been shot in the gut.

And one list that I found particularly funny was “5 Things That Happen When a Wrongly Accused Fugitive Walks into a Bar, a Restaurant, or a Convenience Store”:

1. A television will be turned on, and the news will be playing.
2. The fugitive will glance nervously at the TV and then order a drink or a pack of smokes.
3. The newscaster will start reading a story about the fugitive, with a mug shot of the fugitive prominently displayed.
4. A customer will glance at the fugitive an then back at the TV.
5. Just as the customer realized the fugitive is RIGHT THERE, the turns–and the fugitive is gone, the door swinging in his wake.

As much as I disagree with Richard Roeper’s “critiques” on the Sunday night movie review show Ebert & Roeper, I must admit that this book is a fun read so far. I had no idea he could be so hilariously witty. And for $3.99 it’s well worth the price (the original price of $20 when it first came out 4 years ago was way too much). You’ll be laughing to yourself saying “That is sooooo true!” after some of these lists (well, maybe not his picks for bests and worst movies). The paperback would also make a nice, cost-efficient gift to a film buff you know.

So if you’re planning on passing through a Chapters or Indigo this week, take a look for this book. It’ll cost you less than a round trip fare on the TTC, and it’s make some nice light reading on public transit.