O Masterpiece
O Excellent
O Good
X OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / May 17, 2008
In 1952, a western called “High Noon” starring Gary Cooper made excellent use of real time to fuel the suspense and intrigue of its narrative. “88 Minutes” is much less effective at employing real time, to the point that it’s almost unnoticeable. And in 1997, Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt starred in “The Devil’s Own,” a poor film that is barely carried by its stars. “88 Minutes” is the same: It is barely carried by Al Pacino.
The film opens in Seattle in 1997 when a serial murderer and rapist dubbed “The Seattle Slayer” is on the loose. Like all movie serial killers, this one does a strange thing to his victims. The film jumps to nine years later, when the man convicted as The Seattle Slayer, Jon Forster (Neal McDonough), is waiting till his midnight execution, after years on Death Row.
The man who is primarily responsible for Forster’s conviction is Dr. Jack Gramm (Al Pacino), a forensic psychiatrist and highly esteemed professor at the University of Northwest Washington. Naturally, the two arch nemeses have a burning hatred for each other.
All of this is setup for the rest of the movie, most of which is supposed to be in real time. On the same day that Forster is to be executed, another Seattle Slayer murder scene surfaces and Dr. Gramm’s credibility is not only put into question, he’s also implicated. What worse, Gramm gets a mysterious phone call that informs him that he only has 88 minutes to live. Several more phone calls follow, reminding Gramm (and us) of his “dead”line. I couldn’t help myself.
The biggest problem with “88 Minutes” is that Gramm spends most of his time making and answering phone calls, which quickly becomes tiresome: It’s like spending an hour and a half with a busy secretary. All this “reaching out and touching someone” occurs while Gramm dodges various dangerous situations and the pervading suspicion of his students.
The movie isn’t bad; it just isn’t good. And above all, “88 Minutes” isn’t worth the 108 minutes that it takes to watch it.
Directed by Jon Avnet
Al Pacino / Neal McDonough / Alicia Witt
Crime / Mystery 108 min.
MPAA: R (for disturbing violent content, brief nudity and language)
U.S. Release Date: April 18, 2008
Copyright 2008: 280
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Under the Same Moon (2008)
O Masterpiece
O Excellent
X Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / May 17, 2008
“Under the Same Moon” is a Mexican film about the urgent love between a son and his mother. Though the film is good, there are times it wanders into melodrama. We don’t mind too much, however, because we’re so fond of its characters.
Four years ago Rosario Reyes (Kate del Castillo) left Mexico, illegally crossed the border into the United States, and has been working multiple jobs ever since to provide “a better life” for her son, “Carlitos” (Adrian Alonso). The now nine-year-old boy remains in Mexico with his ailing grandmother, his sole guardian. The father abandoned the little family years ago.
Carlitos (or little Carlos) longs for his mother. Their Sunday phone calls are tearful. When Carlitos’ grandmother dies, he sets off for the United States, attempting the perilous journey that includes a border crossing near El Paso and making his way to Los Angeles to somehow find his mother.
“Under the Same Moon,” which is primarily in Spanish and subtitled in English, tells the other side of the story. The film gives us a sympathetic look at the plight of illegal immigrants. Perspective varies with anybody’s eyes. Lou Dobbs would no doubt consider illegal immigrants like Rosario and Carlitos problematic. But “Under the Same Moon” has different villains, namely cops, border patrol guards, and rich, white people.
The film has two huge oversights that cannot be overlooked. Though we’re given a story meant to evoke our empathy for the mother and son, the surrounding collateral damage of all the people their illegal immigration effects is too significant. The movie points out that being an illegal immigrant isn’t easy for those who cross over, but it also unintentionally shows us the strain it puts on others. In short, if “Under the Same Moon” means to be pro-illegal immigration (and I’m not sure it does), that backfires.
The other oversight is an unforgivable filmmaker’s blunder. It is obvious what will eventually happen in the end. It is not a spoiler to discuss that the mother and son are reunited. But their embrace, which is the pay-off we long to see, is shown to us halfway through the movie in a dreamlike fantasy. Then, when the two finally get within each other’s sight, the film never shows us their actual embrace. Instead, the final shot is a nice echo back to a road sign shown earlier in the movie, that warns drivers of illegal immigrants crossing the road. While symbolism is nice, closure is better.
Directed by Patricia Riggen
Adrian Alonso / Kate del Castillo / Eugenio Derbez
Drama 106 min.
MPAA: PG-13 (for some mature thematic elements)
U.S. Release Date: March 19, 2008
Copyright 2008: 281
O Excellent
X Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / May 17, 2008
“Under the Same Moon” is a Mexican film about the urgent love between a son and his mother. Though the film is good, there are times it wanders into melodrama. We don’t mind too much, however, because we’re so fond of its characters.
Four years ago Rosario Reyes (Kate del Castillo) left Mexico, illegally crossed the border into the United States, and has been working multiple jobs ever since to provide “a better life” for her son, “Carlitos” (Adrian Alonso). The now nine-year-old boy remains in Mexico with his ailing grandmother, his sole guardian. The father abandoned the little family years ago.
Carlitos (or little Carlos) longs for his mother. Their Sunday phone calls are tearful. When Carlitos’ grandmother dies, he sets off for the United States, attempting the perilous journey that includes a border crossing near El Paso and making his way to Los Angeles to somehow find his mother.
“Under the Same Moon,” which is primarily in Spanish and subtitled in English, tells the other side of the story. The film gives us a sympathetic look at the plight of illegal immigrants. Perspective varies with anybody’s eyes. Lou Dobbs would no doubt consider illegal immigrants like Rosario and Carlitos problematic. But “Under the Same Moon” has different villains, namely cops, border patrol guards, and rich, white people.
The film has two huge oversights that cannot be overlooked. Though we’re given a story meant to evoke our empathy for the mother and son, the surrounding collateral damage of all the people their illegal immigration effects is too significant. The movie points out that being an illegal immigrant isn’t easy for those who cross over, but it also unintentionally shows us the strain it puts on others. In short, if “Under the Same Moon” means to be pro-illegal immigration (and I’m not sure it does), that backfires.
The other oversight is an unforgivable filmmaker’s blunder. It is obvious what will eventually happen in the end. It is not a spoiler to discuss that the mother and son are reunited. But their embrace, which is the pay-off we long to see, is shown to us halfway through the movie in a dreamlike fantasy. Then, when the two finally get within each other’s sight, the film never shows us their actual embrace. Instead, the final shot is a nice echo back to a road sign shown earlier in the movie, that warns drivers of illegal immigrants crossing the road. While symbolism is nice, closure is better.
Directed by Patricia Riggen
Adrian Alonso / Kate del Castillo / Eugenio Derbez
Drama 106 min.
MPAA: PG-13 (for some mature thematic elements)
U.S. Release Date: March 19, 2008
Copyright 2008: 281
Prom Night (2008)
O Masterpiece
O Excellent
O Good
X OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / May 17, 2008
“Prom Night” is mildly entertaining because it lets us, the audience, know things the characters don’t, namely that the killer is lurking in the hotel where the Bridgeport High School prom is being hosted. Unfortunately, this relatively commonplace convention is the only thing the movie has going for it.
Otherwise, “Prom Night” follows the same old “dead teenager movie” clichés: Members of a group of friends wander off alone and are picked off by the killer, one by one. Yep, we’ve seen this movie before — lots.
Three years ago, Donna (Brittany Snow) was stalked by a psycho teacher (Johnathon Schaech) who became scarily obsessed with her. After inflicting atrocities upon Donna’s family, the nutcase was locked away in prison. Somehow, he escapes, just in time for Donna’s senior prom.
The stealthy lunatic sneaks into the hotel where the prom is being held, and he haunts the room Donna’s group of friends rented for the night. But Donna has an advocate in Detective Winn (Idris Elba), the cop who helped lock up the killer three years ago. When Winn learns of the teacher’s escape from prison, he tries to oversee the safety of the prom and its attendees.
That’s the premise. Much of the movie is ridiculous, such as the grand finale. Much more of it is predictable. “Prom Night” is not, by any means, necessary viewing.
Last year, a movie called “Look” gave us an opposite, much scarier scenario where a female student became obsessed with her teacher and stalked him. Variations on worn-out themes can be quite refreshing. Instead of remaking “Prom Night,” director Nelson McCormick and writer J.S. Cardone should have rethought it.
Directed by Nelson McCormick
Brittany Snow / Johnathon Schaech / Idris Elba
Thriller 88 min.
MPAA: PG-13 (for violence and terror, some sexual material, underage drinking, and language)
U.S. Release Date: April 11, 2008
Copyright 2008: 277
O Excellent
O Good
X OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / May 17, 2008
“Prom Night” is mildly entertaining because it lets us, the audience, know things the characters don’t, namely that the killer is lurking in the hotel where the Bridgeport High School prom is being hosted. Unfortunately, this relatively commonplace convention is the only thing the movie has going for it.
Otherwise, “Prom Night” follows the same old “dead teenager movie” clichés: Members of a group of friends wander off alone and are picked off by the killer, one by one. Yep, we’ve seen this movie before — lots.
Three years ago, Donna (Brittany Snow) was stalked by a psycho teacher (Johnathon Schaech) who became scarily obsessed with her. After inflicting atrocities upon Donna’s family, the nutcase was locked away in prison. Somehow, he escapes, just in time for Donna’s senior prom.
The stealthy lunatic sneaks into the hotel where the prom is being held, and he haunts the room Donna’s group of friends rented for the night. But Donna has an advocate in Detective Winn (Idris Elba), the cop who helped lock up the killer three years ago. When Winn learns of the teacher’s escape from prison, he tries to oversee the safety of the prom and its attendees.
That’s the premise. Much of the movie is ridiculous, such as the grand finale. Much more of it is predictable. “Prom Night” is not, by any means, necessary viewing.
Last year, a movie called “Look” gave us an opposite, much scarier scenario where a female student became obsessed with her teacher and stalked him. Variations on worn-out themes can be quite refreshing. Instead of remaking “Prom Night,” director Nelson McCormick and writer J.S. Cardone should have rethought it.
Directed by Nelson McCormick
Brittany Snow / Johnathon Schaech / Idris Elba
Thriller 88 min.
MPAA: PG-13 (for violence and terror, some sexual material, underage drinking, and language)
U.S. Release Date: April 11, 2008
Copyright 2008: 277
Smart People (2008)
O Masterpiece
X Excellent
O Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / May 17, 2008
Much like Ashley Judd’s “Come Early Morning” (2006), “Smart People” is excellent for its ability to present a slice of life with interesting but credible characters. We might not love all the smart people in this film, but we believe they could exist, and more importantly, we see where they’re coming from.
Dennis Quaid plays Lawrence Wetherhold, a pompous literature professor at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh who’s trying to publish a book and climb to the head of his department. Moreover, Lawrence is a widower with an equally bright daughter, Vanessa (Ellen Page of “Juno” fame), and a son, James (Ashton Holmes).
Through an ignominious accident, Lawrence finds himself in the hospital, where his doctor and inevitable love interest is played by one Sarah Jessica Parker. They have history together, but the professor doesn’t remember it.
Also, Lawrence’s adopted, black-sheep brother and the best character in the film, Chuck (Thomas Haden Church), moves in with the family for symbiotic reasons, much to Lawrence’s chagrin. Church plays the tension-breaker amidst the dramatic strain.
“Smart People” is one of those films where very little happens in the way of plot developments, and that’s just fine. The entertaining element of the film is its characters and their clashing, intermingled, bumper-car relationships. The value of a film like “Smart People” is to simply escape one’s own family to watch the conflicts of another, equally dysfunctional group of people who love one another, despite themselves.
Directed by Noam Murro
Dennis Quaid / Thomas Haden Church / Sarah Jessica Parker
Drama / Comedy 95 min.
MPAA: R (for language, brief teen drug and alcohol use, and for some sexuality)
U.S. Release Date: April 11, 2008
Copyright 2008: 276
X Excellent
O Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / May 17, 2008
Much like Ashley Judd’s “Come Early Morning” (2006), “Smart People” is excellent for its ability to present a slice of life with interesting but credible characters. We might not love all the smart people in this film, but we believe they could exist, and more importantly, we see where they’re coming from.
Dennis Quaid plays Lawrence Wetherhold, a pompous literature professor at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh who’s trying to publish a book and climb to the head of his department. Moreover, Lawrence is a widower with an equally bright daughter, Vanessa (Ellen Page of “Juno” fame), and a son, James (Ashton Holmes).
Through an ignominious accident, Lawrence finds himself in the hospital, where his doctor and inevitable love interest is played by one Sarah Jessica Parker. They have history together, but the professor doesn’t remember it.
Also, Lawrence’s adopted, black-sheep brother and the best character in the film, Chuck (Thomas Haden Church), moves in with the family for symbiotic reasons, much to Lawrence’s chagrin. Church plays the tension-breaker amidst the dramatic strain.
“Smart People” is one of those films where very little happens in the way of plot developments, and that’s just fine. The entertaining element of the film is its characters and their clashing, intermingled, bumper-car relationships. The value of a film like “Smart People” is to simply escape one’s own family to watch the conflicts of another, equally dysfunctional group of people who love one another, despite themselves.
Directed by Noam Murro
Dennis Quaid / Thomas Haden Church / Sarah Jessica Parker
Drama / Comedy 95 min.
MPAA: R (for language, brief teen drug and alcohol use, and for some sexuality)
U.S. Release Date: April 11, 2008
Copyright 2008: 276
Street Kings (2008)
O Masterpiece
O Excellent
X Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / May 17, 2008
Somewhat reminiscent of “Serpico” (1973), “Street Kings” implicitly deals with corruption within a police department that is rationalized to be justifiable, albeit immoral. But explicitly, “Street Kings” provides a gritty, violent, action flick whose rationale is vigilantism a la “Dirty Harry” (1971) or “Death Wish” (1974).
And let’s face it, we enjoy watching the heavy boom of personal, vengeful justice fall upon deserving scumbags. To this end, “Street Kings” is entertaining, especially if watching Keanu Reeves implement “Matrix”-like ferocity is your thing. But for those who also seek a well-built narrative to accompany the high body count, “Street Kings” doesn’t hold water.
Detective Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) is “the tip of the spear” in Captain Jack Wander’s (Forest Whitaker) team of hard-core, Los Angeles cops. They hunt their criminals and execute justice in a very literal sense. These cops’ perpetrators get no trial, nor are they innocent until proven guilty; they are simply killed.
And for quite a while, Wander’s crew maintains its “it doesn’t matter how it happens; it matters how we write it up” mentality, garnering glowingly heroic headlines, that is, until Internal Affairs gets uncomfortably curious.
That’s all I will reveal about the plot of “Street Kings.” Overall, the movie celebrates surges of testosterone and even mindlessness. And at times, an adjectival phrase like “over-the-top” doesn’t quite describe it well enough. Yes, might makes right in “Street Kings.” And the movie’s conveniently tidy ending pulls a slick trick by somehow substituting happiness for what is, in fact, hopelessness.
Directed by David Ayer
Keanu Reeves / Forest Whitaker / Chris Evans
Action / Crime 109 min.
MPAA: R (for strong violence and pervasive language)
U.S. Release Date: April 11, 2008
Copyright 2008: 275
O Excellent
X Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / May 17, 2008
Somewhat reminiscent of “Serpico” (1973), “Street Kings” implicitly deals with corruption within a police department that is rationalized to be justifiable, albeit immoral. But explicitly, “Street Kings” provides a gritty, violent, action flick whose rationale is vigilantism a la “Dirty Harry” (1971) or “Death Wish” (1974).
And let’s face it, we enjoy watching the heavy boom of personal, vengeful justice fall upon deserving scumbags. To this end, “Street Kings” is entertaining, especially if watching Keanu Reeves implement “Matrix”-like ferocity is your thing. But for those who also seek a well-built narrative to accompany the high body count, “Street Kings” doesn’t hold water.
Detective Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) is “the tip of the spear” in Captain Jack Wander’s (Forest Whitaker) team of hard-core, Los Angeles cops. They hunt their criminals and execute justice in a very literal sense. These cops’ perpetrators get no trial, nor are they innocent until proven guilty; they are simply killed.
And for quite a while, Wander’s crew maintains its “it doesn’t matter how it happens; it matters how we write it up” mentality, garnering glowingly heroic headlines, that is, until Internal Affairs gets uncomfortably curious.
That’s all I will reveal about the plot of “Street Kings.” Overall, the movie celebrates surges of testosterone and even mindlessness. And at times, an adjectival phrase like “over-the-top” doesn’t quite describe it well enough. Yes, might makes right in “Street Kings.” And the movie’s conveniently tidy ending pulls a slick trick by somehow substituting happiness for what is, in fact, hopelessness.
Directed by David Ayer
Keanu Reeves / Forest Whitaker / Chris Evans
Action / Crime 109 min.
MPAA: R (for strong violence and pervasive language)
U.S. Release Date: April 11, 2008
Copyright 2008: 275
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