O Masterpiece
O Excellent
O Good
O OK
X Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / August 18, 2008
This movie is called “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” but it should be called “I Want to Believe This Is the X-Files,” or better yet: “I Don’t Want to Believe This Is the X-Files.”
Rating the new “X-Files” sequel as mere mediocrity may seem harsh, but this movie utterly betrays the beloved television series that supposedly inspired it. Chris Carter should be a little ashamed of himself. The last time I heard of such an atrocity is when I learned that some animals eat their own babies. When I get this disappointed in a movie, sometimes I wish my mom had eaten me.
OK. Here’s the primary problem: Remember how the TV show was about the FBI’s “X-Files” (aka cases that were weird, unusual, paranormal, inexplicable, mysterious, seemingly supernatural, etc.)? Well, the only X-Files-ish element to this movie is that one guy is kind of psychic. Maybe. That’s it!
Otherwise, “I Want to Believe” is nothing more than a second-rate, police procedural, criminal investigation, murder-mystery thriller. This could have been a made-for-television Saturday afternoon TBS movie.
We pick up with our favorite FBI agents, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). But obviously time has passed because they’ve gone their separate ways; I’m being general intentionally: Readers have varying spoiler sensitivity when it comes to plot summaries. But I can say this much, the point A that we left off from when we last saw these two characters is definitely not a straight line to the point B that we pick up at again in this movie. Much has happened, but Carter never bothers to fill us in on it.
In short, in Somerset, W.Va., people start going missing and an occasional severed body part turns up here and there, thanks to a psychic-priest-pedophile (Billy Connolly), who assists the authorities in finding said body parts. Scully and Mulder investigate. We get a needless subplot about a sick kid. The main plot creeps along slowly but not creepily enough. It almost starts getting interesting — but no. The end. Thanks for everything, Chris.
The first feature-length motion picture called “The X-Files” was released in 1998. It wasn’t too bad, but it was also a kind of a let-down. It went downhill quickly after the initial bomb-in-the-vending-machine scene. That film was directed by Rob Bowman. “X-Files” fans everywhere awaited the series’ feature-length redemption. With this new movie, we got Chris Carter as the director, which was a hopeful sign considering he was the mastermind behind the successful series. Nope. Not this time, either.
Supposedly, this new one, it seemed, was very hush-hush. Remember? You hardly heard anything about it until a week before its release. … Now we know why. I can’t believe we waited 10 years for this.
Directed by Chris Carter
David Duchovny / Gillian Anderson / Billy Connolly
Mystery / Thriller 104 min.
MPAA: PG-13 (for violent and disturbing content and thematic material)
U.S. Release Date: July 25, 2008
Copyright 2008: 306
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Tropic Thunder (2008)
O Masterpiece
X Excellent
O Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / August 17, 2008
Truly funny comedies seem to be an endangered species, which makes “Tropic Thunder” a rare animal. Much of this movie is hilarious — and vulgar — and hilarious. And I highly recommend it to any non-conservative movie buff.
The cat, no doubt, is out of the bag that “Tropic Thunder” is a fierce satire which mercilessly ridicules big-budget Hollywood and its bottom-line titans.
Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey, and Nick Nolte star in this movie about the making of a high-dollar, Vietnam War movie called “Tropic Thunder.”
Now, it’s interesting that the movie these characters are making is called “Tropic Thunder,” while the actual movie we’re watching also has the same title but is in fact a different movie. This would be similar to “Burden of Dreams” (1982) being named “Fitzcarraldo” (1982).
The fictitious studio has spared no expense in special effects, location shooting and big-name actors. Action movie star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) is cast as Foley, the platoon leader. Rick Peck (Matthew McConaughey) is Speedman’s agent, and the most dedicated agent since Jerry Maguire.
And award-winning method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) is an Aussie who has undergone a controversial pigmentation surgery to play an African-American soldier.
Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) is a heroin addict who’s typically a comedic actor but trying to expand his résumé. Four Leaf (Nick Nolte) is the Vietnam vet who wrote “Tropic Thunder,” the book that the fictitious movie is adapted from. And last but not least, Tom Cruise plays the aptly named Les Grossman, the ruthless, despicable movie mogul whose production company is financing “Tropic Thunder.”
Right away the filming of the movie within the movie is problematic. It is costing far more than the studio execs planned, and the prima donna actors’ egos keep bumping heads. Following the advice of the war-vet-gone-author, first-time director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) deploys his actors deep into the jungle, where they unwittingly encounter real hostiles that they suppose are also actors, much like we saw in “Three Amigos!” (1986).
“Tropic Thunder” gets so many things right: It begins with spoof trailers from the actors’ previous movies, all of which are fictitious, of course. These are great parodies, and are somehow reminiscent of the trailers that played between the “Grindhouse” (2007) double feature. One of these trailers takes aim at Eddie Murphy, and it’s a well-deserved attack.
This could almost be an action movie, too, which is another thing “Tropic Thunder” does right. Unlike Adam Sandler’s “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” from earlier this year, “Tropic Thunder” is a comedy that also has some fairly entertaining action scenes. Once and a while they go over the top, particularly in the violence department, but it works for the intended comedic effect. “Zohan’s” attempts fail.
As noted above, “Tropic Thunder” is quite vulgar and will surely be offensive to many people: I winced while thinking how war veterans might react to this movie’s parody of “Platoon” (1986), and war in general. And I’ve already read scathing reactions to this movie’s ongoing jokes about mental retardation. Both communities probably should be offended.
Tom Cruise’s brave, surprise performance is a delight. And though Jack Black is usually quite humorous, he is mostly useless in this movie. But it is Robert Downey Jr. who truly steals the show. I suspect that his method-actor character pokes fun at Daniel Day-Lewis and those like him.
I know it’s extremely rare — and nearly unheard of — for comedic actors to be nominated for Academy Awards, but Downey Jr. should receive such a nod. He doesn’t have to win, but he should be nominated. I’m not holding my breath, and neither is Downey Jr.
His character dominates the screen with lines like, “I don’t read the script; the script reads me.” His makeup is exceptional, too. He truly looks like a black man. You know, in the pioneering days of motion pictures, white actors played African-Americans with black face makeup, a practice that has since stirred frequent resentment. So, Downey Jr.’s character shockingly returns to that distasteful yesteryear, incorporating many stereotypes. Whether it’s offensive or not, the role is well done.
At one point Downey Jr. alternates between the African-American soldier and the Australian-born actor. The concentration it must have taken to pull that off — and still be funny — is remarkable.
Remember his line from the trailer: “I’m the dude that’s playin’ the dude disguised as another dude”? That scene is brilliant because it has a double meaning. Watch for it.
All in all, “Tropic Thunder” is an excellent, laugh-out-loud comedy. It’s the kind of movie that’s best to watch by yourself, so you won’t feel ashamed of your reaction.
Directed by Ben Stiller
Robert Downey Jr. / Ben Stiller / Jack Black
Comedy / Action 107 min.
MPAA: R (for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material)
U.S. Release Date: August 13, 2008
Copyright 2008: 310
X Excellent
O Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid
Review by Jason Pyles / August 17, 2008
Truly funny comedies seem to be an endangered species, which makes “Tropic Thunder” a rare animal. Much of this movie is hilarious — and vulgar — and hilarious. And I highly recommend it to any non-conservative movie buff.
The cat, no doubt, is out of the bag that “Tropic Thunder” is a fierce satire which mercilessly ridicules big-budget Hollywood and its bottom-line titans.
Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey, and Nick Nolte star in this movie about the making of a high-dollar, Vietnam War movie called “Tropic Thunder.”
Now, it’s interesting that the movie these characters are making is called “Tropic Thunder,” while the actual movie we’re watching also has the same title but is in fact a different movie. This would be similar to “Burden of Dreams” (1982) being named “Fitzcarraldo” (1982).
The fictitious studio has spared no expense in special effects, location shooting and big-name actors. Action movie star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) is cast as Foley, the platoon leader. Rick Peck (Matthew McConaughey) is Speedman’s agent, and the most dedicated agent since Jerry Maguire.
And award-winning method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) is an Aussie who has undergone a controversial pigmentation surgery to play an African-American soldier.
Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) is a heroin addict who’s typically a comedic actor but trying to expand his résumé. Four Leaf (Nick Nolte) is the Vietnam vet who wrote “Tropic Thunder,” the book that the fictitious movie is adapted from. And last but not least, Tom Cruise plays the aptly named Les Grossman, the ruthless, despicable movie mogul whose production company is financing “Tropic Thunder.”
Right away the filming of the movie within the movie is problematic. It is costing far more than the studio execs planned, and the prima donna actors’ egos keep bumping heads. Following the advice of the war-vet-gone-author, first-time director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) deploys his actors deep into the jungle, where they unwittingly encounter real hostiles that they suppose are also actors, much like we saw in “Three Amigos!” (1986).
“Tropic Thunder” gets so many things right: It begins with spoof trailers from the actors’ previous movies, all of which are fictitious, of course. These are great parodies, and are somehow reminiscent of the trailers that played between the “Grindhouse” (2007) double feature. One of these trailers takes aim at Eddie Murphy, and it’s a well-deserved attack.
This could almost be an action movie, too, which is another thing “Tropic Thunder” does right. Unlike Adam Sandler’s “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” from earlier this year, “Tropic Thunder” is a comedy that also has some fairly entertaining action scenes. Once and a while they go over the top, particularly in the violence department, but it works for the intended comedic effect. “Zohan’s” attempts fail.
As noted above, “Tropic Thunder” is quite vulgar and will surely be offensive to many people: I winced while thinking how war veterans might react to this movie’s parody of “Platoon” (1986), and war in general. And I’ve already read scathing reactions to this movie’s ongoing jokes about mental retardation. Both communities probably should be offended.
Tom Cruise’s brave, surprise performance is a delight. And though Jack Black is usually quite humorous, he is mostly useless in this movie. But it is Robert Downey Jr. who truly steals the show. I suspect that his method-actor character pokes fun at Daniel Day-Lewis and those like him.
I know it’s extremely rare — and nearly unheard of — for comedic actors to be nominated for Academy Awards, but Downey Jr. should receive such a nod. He doesn’t have to win, but he should be nominated. I’m not holding my breath, and neither is Downey Jr.
His character dominates the screen with lines like, “I don’t read the script; the script reads me.” His makeup is exceptional, too. He truly looks like a black man. You know, in the pioneering days of motion pictures, white actors played African-Americans with black face makeup, a practice that has since stirred frequent resentment. So, Downey Jr.’s character shockingly returns to that distasteful yesteryear, incorporating many stereotypes. Whether it’s offensive or not, the role is well done.
At one point Downey Jr. alternates between the African-American soldier and the Australian-born actor. The concentration it must have taken to pull that off — and still be funny — is remarkable.
Remember his line from the trailer: “I’m the dude that’s playin’ the dude disguised as another dude”? That scene is brilliant because it has a double meaning. Watch for it.
All in all, “Tropic Thunder” is an excellent, laugh-out-loud comedy. It’s the kind of movie that’s best to watch by yourself, so you won’t feel ashamed of your reaction.
Directed by Ben Stiller
Robert Downey Jr. / Ben Stiller / Jack Black
Comedy / Action 107 min.
MPAA: R (for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material)
U.S. Release Date: August 13, 2008
Copyright 2008: 310
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