Superhero - With great parody comes great responsibility,

Superhero Movie (2008)

If "Superhero Movie" gives you the same giddy, guilty-pleasure feeling as "Airplane!" and the "Naked Gun" movies, it's no accident. Some of those movies' personnel – who were also involved in two lesser "Scary Movie" sequels – show up here. (Those include writer-director Craig Mazin, who happily has come a long way from 1997's abysmal "Rocketman.")

The movie's title says it all. It's a comedy that takes a well-known hit (in this case, "Spider-Man"), turns it inside out, and uses it as a clothesline for gags. In this parody version, nerdy Rick Riker (amiable Drake Bell of cable-TV's "Drake and Josh") gets bitten by a mutant dragonfly, turning him into...well, take a guess. Meanwhile, a well-meaning scientist (Chris McDonald) turns nasty when his experiment backfires and he finds he must sap others' life-blood in order to keep himself alive.

As is typical of such parodies, the movie's approach is as subtle as a spitball gun. Some of the gags are terrific, and some are groaners. But they're all fired at such a rapid pace that after a while, you have no choice but to give in to the silliness. The characters are like shooting-gallery ducks waiting to have parody lobbied at them. Best of the bunch are Rick's well-meaning but dotty uncle and aunt (delightfully played by Leslie Nielsen and "Happy Days'" Marion Ross). The most pitiable is a take-off on disabled genius Stephen Hawking, who seems to push Mazin's bad-taste button over and over ad nauseum.

This leads me to the movie's most required caveat. While the flick is mostly silly fun, it pushes its "PG-13" rating right up to the edge of the "R" cliff. The movie is larded with sexual gags and profanity abound, and what might possibly be cinema's longest-ever flatulence gag.

But if you can bear up under the cringe factor, "Superhero Movie" is mostly high-powered fun. Nifty comedy here runs neck-and-neck with bad taste. It's a close race, but the comedy wins.

"Superhero Movie" is rated PG-13 for countless sex and drug references, crude humor, and adult language.

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"Hard Candy" is a powerful and disturbing look at people we meet on the Internet.,

Hard Candy (2005)

"Hard Candy" is about a teenage girl named Hayley (Ellen Page) who likes to surf the web and explore internet dating like most normal teenagers. The film opens up with an instant message chat between Hayley and a much older guy named Jeff (Patrick Wilson). Jeff and Hayley plan to meet up later that day, where their meeting turns into an unexpected series of events. A very intense psychological drama ensues…

I just got back from an advanced screening of "Hard Candy" at the Philadelphia Film Festival. And let me be the first to say, this movie was remarkable. The idea behind this film is so powerful and disturbing at the same time. This movie focuses on two people, Hayley who is a 14 year old girl and a 30 something pedophile named Jeff. A movie's subject matter is something that is a serious issue in the world and I think this movie takes the idea of it to a new and unique level.

During this film, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. You watch with amazement as this little teenage girl who seems so innocent really controls the entire situation. She is smart and has planned everything and anything and the film flows together so nicely. Even though Hayley isn't an overly likable character, I was cheering her on throughout the whole film. She was such an intelligent and wicked character who seemed to be just sickened by pedophiles.

Another thing which was very interesting about this film was that it actually relied more on the facial expressions and dialog then on actual images. There is one part in the film which is extremely disturbing and is something I never seen in a film before. The scene involves Hayley doing an operation to say it in an inexplicit way. During that scene, we never see what's happening but it was spine tingling just seeing the emotions and listening to the dialog of the characters. A powerful scene which was so intense and disturbing I may never forget it.

Lastly, I liked how even though the film was a very powerful drama, the script had some light humor in it as well. The line about Roman Polanski was a classic as well as the whole "I'm an honor roll student" line. The film is so serious at times, it was nice to get a chuckle here and there to allow audiences to take a breather from being pinned to their seats with suspense.

Like I previously stated there are only two real characters in this movie those being Hayley and Jeff. Ellen Page does an incredible job and delivers a mind-blowing performance. Her character is both demented and likable. Patrick Wilson was great as well. He gave a very interesting and powerful performance as a pedophile who didn't want to admit he had a problem. His emotions during this film were incredible and extremely realistic.

"Hard Candy" was directed by first time filmmaker David Slade. I feel this is a breathtaking and powerful first film about an uneasy subject matter that so few talk about. His unique craft of capturing not only the characters emotions and anger but also the unique camera angles is remarkable. Also the unique scenes of darkness and colors were brilliant. I like the fact that the director didn't make the characters out to be fictional characters but someone who we can meet on a daily basis.

The screenplay was written by Brian Nelson who is also a first time screenwriter for a feature film. I normally don't review how I feel about the screenplay but this one was so unique and daring that I feel I have to. The way the script develops the characters is amazing and how the film actually has a real ending instead of one of those cop-out choose your own ending films that so many people are using nowadays. What the film does is leaves everything at the end open to discussion. Why did Hayley do what she did? Who is Hayley really and so forth. It's an incredible screenplay that Mr. Nelson should be extremely proud of.


Bottom Line: "Hard Candy" was such an amazing film with powerful, intense scenes and great acting. The script is extremely fresh and takes the idea of a pedophile film to a new level. This film allows its audience to think and also be shocked by what's going on during the film. It's not a movie for those who like light-hearted films or films that are completely resolved in the end. Hard Candy is really one of those mind f*ck films that when you leave the theater you just want to talk about what just happened. It's a remarkable film that will stay with me for many weeks to come.

MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Hard Candy" is a 9/10. A powerful yet disturbing film that touches on a subject matter that is constantly being ignored in our world but be warned this film is definitely not for the weak hearted crowd.

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A great improvement over the first. Fantastic fun again.

4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

Tim Story stays true to the roots of the 2005 film, keeping this sequel fun and clean, while developing a new story with a couple new characters and making our favorite 4 heroes grow even more. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is better than its predecessor, and one of the better sequels of recent memory.

Things appear to be going great for the Fantastic Four. Reed (Ioan Gruffudd) and Susan (Jessica Alba) are in love and ready to be married, Johnny (Chris Evans) is still on fire with the ladies, and Ben (Michael Chiklis) has finally found happiness with Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington). However, their happiness will be tested when strange occurrences around the globe point to one culprit: a mysterious being known only as The Silver Surfer (Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne).

One of the biggest improvements 'Rise' has over the first film is the fact that the Fantastic work more as a team in this film. Yes, in the first movie they fought together, but it seemed as if they each were fighting different battles within one big one. Here, they take a different route and take on even the smaller events together. Also, the writing is much better, making Reed aka Mr. Fantastic out to be the leader of the Four, much unlike the first movie, which bothered me. Ioan Gruffudd really seems like a leader in this movie, which was a definite strength. Chris Evans also flexes some acting muscle, as The Human Torch is also well written this time around, giving him a wake up call and turning him into a more believable human character this time around. Alba and Chiklis are both good as The Invisible Woman and The Thing respectively. Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne portray the Surfer brilliantly as body and voice respectively. Fishburne has this incredible ability to say the deadliest of lines (All that you know is at an end) with unbelievable ease and charismatic calm. He is the perfect choice as the voice of one of the most powerful comic book characters. I liked how they wrote the Surfer as well. He does become vulnerable in the film, but at the same time, you'll have no doubt that he is the most powerful character by the time the ending rolls around. Doug Jones always impresses me with how he captures and creates a character while doing so little, and after successful turns in Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, Jones gives the Surfer life just as he did Abe Sapien in Hellboy. Kerry Washington and Julian McMahon are also good reprising their roles as Alicia Masters and Dr. Doom, McMahon especially. He's even better as the evil and manipulative Dr. Doom this time around.

Tim Story really did a good job with the atmosphere of 'Rise'. He really explores every corner of the planet, with action scenes in Germany, New York, China, outer space, and the heroes' kitchen. All the action scenes are well done and the special effects are used smoothly and effectively, even though it looks as though most of the increased budget was spent on The Silver Surfer and Galactus, who look amazing. They forgot to make Mr. Fantastic look as realistic as possible, because most of the time you can see the visual effects. All in all, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (PG) is a fun movie experience that anyone over age 11 or 12 should enjoy. There is some mild sexual innuendo, but it's not too bad.

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Uma Thurman will....Kill Bill,

Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003)

This movie is a visual experience of different styles, all combined with also some trademark Tarantino elements.

The movie is obviously a case of style over substance. In essence the movie is just a basic revenge flick without too much depth or meaning. This however is exactly like how Tarantino intended it to be. "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" is simple, straightforward, completely over-the-top but above all beautifully shot and superbly directed. The movie its story comes totally secondary, as Tarantino used this movie as an experimental tool to mix several, mostly Asian cinema, styles together and blend it into one big visual experience of violence and unusual over-the-top looking sequences. His aim was style and with that this movie most certainly does not disappoint.

Always when looking at a Tarantino movie, it becomes obviously that he's a big movie buff and movie lover. Tarantino really shows his love for- and pays homage to Asian cinema and especially anime. Most notably of course in the animated segment (that is great by the way) but also in almost every action/fight sequence in the movie and its violence. It gives the movie its own unique style and an overall atmosphere of 'coolness'.

The violence is definitely brutal and straightforward, as gallons of blood are spilled in this movie. But all of the violence is done in such a, deliberately, over-the-top and fake looking way, that it becomes entertaining, rather than shocking or stomach turning. It even becomes poetically beautiful to watch at times. The action sequences are definitely the best parts of the movie and they are well choreographed and shot. When things get too graphic the movie simple conveniently switches to black & white or turns to other creative cinematic solutions.

The power of this movie is definitely in its visual style and overall style of directing. The movie uses different themes throughout the movie but yet the movie manages to create one big unique identity. The movie never feels incoherent or disjointed in its style or storytelling, though it all widely differs from each other at times. I think that this is mainly thanks to Tarantino's directing, who keeps the movie and different styles all on one and the same line. Visually the movie is also definitely helped by Robert Richardson fantastic cinematography, who should at least had been rewarded with an Oscar nomination for it.

The movie is filled with some big name actors, though not all play a significant part in the movie yet (see "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" for that). Uma Thurman is truly superb as the Bride and I can honestly say that this is her best role out of her career. She also was rewarded with a Golden Globe nomination for it. Also really superb in her role was Lucy Liu. Again, also her best role yet.

Not of all the trademark Tarantino elements work out well in the movie I definitely missed the typical trademark Tarantino dialog in this movie and for also for most part the trademark non-linear storytelling felled pointless and didn't really served a purpose for the story. It therefor really isn't Tarantino's best but it's definitely his most experimental and most visually orientated, style-full, splendid movie.

Unusual, over-the-top but strangely intriguing, entertaining and overall brilliant. Yet another Tarantino must-see!

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Atonement and Existentialism In Bruges

In Bruges (2008)

A European film through and through, showing its deep theatrical roots, "In Bruges" works on may levels, and is a fine night at the cinema.

The film follows the denouement of a "job" gone bad for two Irish hit men, who are forced to hole up in Bruges, Belgium, and really can't stand the inactivity. The forced waiting, a symbolic purgatory in both assassins' struggle for absolution, gives Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell a chance to act through some marvelous comic dialogue.

The film itself looks like it was filmed in an area of the old city of Bruges that is no more than a 500 square metre radius. It doesn't matter, because the film is a character study more than anything, and like all good theatre, the character interplay allows the audience to forget the confined spaces.

Ralph Fiennes comes into the film late basically stealing Ben Kingsley's character from "Sexy Beast". This has to be an absolutely deliberate choice, so can't really be criticized. The writing is so good that Fiennes can have real fun with it. All the actors do, as a matter of fact.

I have been deeply suspicious of Colin Farrell's ability to read a script in the past. His choices of projects in the past has been spotty. Not this time: his acting ability is brought to the fore by director and screenwriter Martin McDonagh. Farrell gives a very strong performance as a morally challenged hit-man.

Brendan Gleeson has been around forever, and is a renowned character actor. You may remember him from "Braveheart" as Hamish Campbell, Mel Gibson's loyal adjutant. He is able to completely bury himself in this part. Colin Farrell has the capacity to reach these heights as well, and in fact, in this film, shows many of the mannerisms and intensity of Russell Crowe (whom I consider to be the best actor on the planet).

I appreciated the comedy and satire working hand in hand with the moral complexity of the characters' inner struggles. It makes for a very satisfying film, one that is much more than entertainment. When you consider what the budget was in comparison to many Hollywood films, "In Bruges" serves as a reminder that it is the script and the quality of the direction that makes a film. Why Hollywood thinks they can just throw money into a project and expect people to come to the cinema is beyond me.

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Extremely fun and entertaining!

Flawless (2008)

as recommendation this would pertain to elderly and middle aged groups viewers of both sexes.also to progressive jazz lovers and a especially, a MUST SEE incentive, towards anyone involved in feminist studies. onto the last taught i am quiet disappointed with the feminists issues depicted in movies as of late where "blame the man" approach is taken, very convenient yet simplistic without addressing the roots of the issues as they are, and have been, on the historical platform. not to be ignored but to be understood in order to find solutions. also this would be very much appreciated for a superb Flawless artistic execution with a well defined mood setting(s).to me the soundtrack is perfectly chosen and contributing immensely as well to overall rating here. visuals and sonic elements are perfectly combined. nevertheless this will be appreciated by people familiar with "blood diamonds" , people in search for that realistic European vibe of the 60's and also those involved or with jobs within financial institutions.this will touch you at same level guaranteed providing that you not looking for an "action" flick or "thirller" as advertised on its genre.

i must include here the performance of Demi Moore. i was pleasantly surprised with her in "mr brooks"( where she reminded us she is still a very live and "kicking" actress). but here she really shines. why? well many, very likely, will remember her from "ghost". the pretty, good looking sensible woman has been evolved into a very "flawed" one ( i can not believe she is only 45 years old, or maybe i thought of her as "forever young"?). BUT i appreciate her a lot here for portraying a real woman without much beauty(if any) left on the surface,all of it seemingly gone within; and expressed well by body language, facial expressions and mimics. this is a picture of a woman that has grown old elegantly and know how to deal with her shortcomings when the "pretty" is just NOT THERE anymore.she expresses a sense of subtle desperation , well controlled , but somehow tragic, in need of a new life experience that she has never seemed to have had it in her youth(as a character, maybe because the work she has put in to get where she is and no further?).the director could not have found anyone better for this role, keeping account of the OLD Demi on the sliver screen...this choice in itself will move you enough to create a realistic state of mind where you can be more practical in your thoughts and assessments of overall issues. the end of the movie fits like a glove for this actress; makes you wonder if the whole feature was made by her or FOR her.

this is a heist movie indeed, but to it seems only a facade to have a better story hidden within. Michael Caine plays great,some nice dialogs, but i just find him to "typical", somehow of a general character that always must be present in such features as this one, . you will not be disappointed with him or the main plot but it seems well to simplistic to me(also he never seems to grow too old enough to retire, no complaints). yet IT IS very engaging as much as "the bank job" but with different takes you may or may not agree with. also Demi pretty much caries the movie by herself alone, and there is not much of any secondary character development. but the cinematography, soundtrack and this elegant actress are giving more then enough to even notice shortcomings(such as a slowed down pace at times and some implausible possibilities facts regarding old cameras).Lambert Wilson is great as well,but would have liked to see more of him in this one as well. i am a fan of his ever since his best performance in "the matrix" series. however the MOTIVES behind the heist are well defined across the board.

and not to forget to give AGAIN credits to British cinema as of late. when i started watching this feature i was sure is an American production( because Demi of course), but withing 15 minutes i HAD to check the production and when i saw who made it i had to give an out loud "i knew it!"

those being said i have to get the soundtrack!...but then again probably will not go as good as "having it" without the movie.

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Mildly Entertaining,

Fool's Gold (2008)

I enjoy Matthew McConaughey on screen. He takes the most ludicrous scenes and slows them down to his pace until they almost feel natural. Sadly he loses the beat in the madcap Fool's Gold, even with his rock Kate Hudson to play against. Perhaps its the endless parade of cartoonish goon fodder, or perhaps its the overstuffed, over cooked cast of clowns, but they all go down with this ship of fools.

I like Hudson's acting here. It's physical. I like the way she responds to seeing Ben on deck dining with the Honeycuts. I like how she kicks her legs and pouts after tripping over a gravestone. The movie gets their chemistry right, and it doesn't play the will they won't they game the way you might expect it to be played. It's almost a foregone conclusion that they will, and the movie builds to that obvious moment by uniting the characters mostly by their love of treasure.

I also thought Donald Sutherland gave a decent showing here, and there was some unexpected heart in the scenes between him and his estranged tabloid exposed daughter.

As usual, its tempting to take this as one great chunk to digest, but between all the pretty people, and all the vomit-inducing accents, it's sort of a moment-by-moment film.

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