The Lovely Bones DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Peter Jackson Snuff Flick Released on DVD

Peter Jackson is veery fond of making long movies, to wit, each of his previous four films has been at least three hours in length. This latest one, The Lovely Bones, clocks in at a mere two and a quarter, but unfortunately feels a lot longer than that. The movie is based on Alice Sebold’s surrealistic best seller of the same name, posthumously narrated from Limbo by a 14 year-old rape and dismemberment victim as she observes the toll her death takes on her family as her killer remains free and continues to stalk other young victims.
Now an ethereal, disembodied spirit, she finds herself torn between a desire for vengeance and a hope to have her grief-stricken relatives heal. Although the sanitized screen version spares us the gory details of her slaying, it’s otherwise a faithful enough adaptation which falls short in its endeavor to distill the source material’s sentimental, fantasy and suspense elements in an appealing and readily-digestible fashion.
The movie opens with Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) relating what her life was like up until that fateful day in December of 1973 on which she was savagely murdered by a neighbor, George Harvey (Stanley Tucci). She goes on to describe how despite Mr. Harvey’s leaving no tracks, her sister (Rose McIver) and father (Mark Wahlberg) eventually develop their suspicions about the eccentric loner. And after the detective (LeMichael Imperioli) assigned the case appears to lose interest, Mr. Salmon becomes very tempted to take the law into his own hands.
Meanwhile, we see how Susie’s passing has affected her mother (Rachel Weisz), grandmother (Susan Sarandon), little brother (Christian Thomas Ashdale) and friends. I’m not sure how the audience is supposed to experience all this, except with frustration, given that we were informed the identity of the real culprit at the outset but then have to watch helplessly as the police focus on innocent suspects such as Susie’s first boyfriend (Reece Ritchie).
More an overly-romanticized post mortem of a terrible tragedy than an edge of your seat crime thriller. As such, The Lovely Bones is likely to resonate more with female teens than with any adult demographic. An epic snuff flick which fails to engage the viewer on an emotional level.

Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, mature themes, violence and disturbing images.
Running time: 136 Minutes
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: None

Kick-Ass

 

 

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Pint-Sized Vigilantes Fight Crime in Superhero Adventure

 

                A big brouhaha has been brewing about this Marvel Comics superhero adventure because it revolves around a foul-mouthed, 11 year-old heroine who takes delight in spilling the blood of every last one of her evil adversaries. Furthermore, other underage characters are depicted engaging in a variety of morally-objectionable activities ranging from premarital sex to smoking Marijuana to sadistic slaughter.

In this critic’s opinion, Kick-Ass’ detractors have unfairly been questioning the wisdom of a female empowerment flick’s featuring such a flawed figure as a role model. After all, they’re conveniently forgetting the fact that the movie is rated R, a clear signal that the subject-matter might not exactly be appropriate for impressionable young minds. So, although most of the picture’s protagonists are minors, this is very much adult entertainment. And that controversy notwithstanding, Kick Ass just happens to be the best comic book-to-screen adaptation since The Dark Knight.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn, the film is remarkably faithful to its relentlessly-graphic source material as co-created by writer Mark Millar and illustrator John Romita, Jr. Set in New York City, it stars Aaron Jonson as unassuming Dave Lizewski, a nerdy teenager whose only special power at the point of departure is being invisible to girls, especially Katie Deauxma (Lyndsy Fonseca), the cute classmate he has a secret crush on.

 This low social standing explains why Dave starts fantasizing about morphing into a crime-fighting alter-ego like the superheroes in his comic book collection. Then, after being mugged for his lunch money by some bullies in front of bystanders who did nothing, he decides it’s time for somebody to stand up for the neighborhood. Next, fashioning a crude costume out of a scuba diving outfit he buys on eBay, he starts roaming the streets as Kick-Ass.

Although he almost dies during his first confrontation with bad guys, the masked vigilante eventually develops some decent fighting skills, and becomes an internet sensation when his subsequent successful exploits are posted on Youtube. That popularity, in turn, inspires a number of others to follow suit, including Damon and Mindy MacReady, a father-daughter team who don masks and costumes as Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) and Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage).

Hit-Girl is only 11, yet remains perfectly poised disemboweling bandits, having been weaned on an array of deadly weapons by her gun-collecting dad, a disgraced ex-cop with a score to settle with drug kingpin Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong). D’Amico has no idea that his 17 year-old son, Chris, aka Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Passe), has joined forces with the cadre of Kick-Ass imitators he and his army of goons are headed to a big showdown with.

                Fair warning: Between the wanton bloodletting and the incessantly-salty dialogue Kick-Ass is admittedly jaw-dropping, especially since kids are responsible for most of the splatterfest’s chatter and mayhem. That being said, this alternately shocking and comical cross of Death Wish and The Little Rascals is a bona fide blockbuster not to be missed by mature audiences.

 

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated R for pervasive profanity and graphic violence, nudity, sexuality and drug use by children.

Running time: 118 Minutes

Studio: Lionsgate Films

 

 

Professor Advocates Christian Social Activism in Keynote Speech Delivered at Medieval Studies Conference

by Kam Williams
What ordinarily comes to mind when one thinks of a lecture about medieval Europe is a talk a lot less relevant to present-day worldly concerns than the keynote speech recently delivered by Professor Celia Chazelle at a conference held at University College Cork entitled “Envisioning Christ on the Cross.” Chazelle, who chairs the Department of History at The College of New Jersey, had been invited
to Ireland to speak about “The Mass and the Eucharist, ‘Image’ of the Crucified Christ, in the Christianization of Early Medieval Europe.”
While the bulk of her otherwise academic address certainly explored that topic at considerable depth, she prefaced her remarks by reading a poem by her Irish-born pastor, Father Michael Doyle, about the seeming futility of the never-ending fight to eradicate the suffering evident in his midst. For 35 years now, Doyle has presided over Sacred Heart Church in Camden, the poorest city in the US, where
over 90% of the population is black and Hispanic.
With the assistance of volunteers like his dedicated parishioner Celia Chazelle, Doyle’s been directly ministering to the needs of the poor via a number of Sacred Heart-based organizations, among them the church’s St. Vincent de Paul Society and affiliated Heart of Camden. These sponsor a weekly dinner, a thrift store, building and home renovations, and a variety of other social programs. Another
affiliated organization, the Center for Transformation, oversees a greenhouse, community gardens, and neighborhood cleanups, engages in environmental education and activism in the area, and is in the final stages of establishing a retreat center. All this is located right within Camden’s deteriorating exoskelton.
Professor Chazelle made a smooth segue from a discussion of Camden to the Christianization of Europe during the early Middle Ages by pointing out the parallels between the frustrations of Father Doyle as expressed in the poem and the path of Jesus, a path marked by failure yet leading to resurrection, symbol of faith in the promise of a better tomorrow. The thrust of her ensuing thesis explored the rise of Christianity as a grassroots movement emanating from the bottom up. This incendiary idea cuts a sharp contrast with the conventional thinking of many historians who tend to focus on the conversion of kings and the rest of the aristocratic class as the seminal force.
Nonetheless, in deliberate fashion, Chazelle proceeded to mount a most persuasive case, convincingly threading the fruits of her painstakingly- researched, scholarly efforts with additional anecdotal asides about Father Doyle. Furthermore, the lecture was augmented with photographs effectively juxtaposing contemporary Camden with historical artifacts illustrating the religious rite of the Eucharist, the reenactment of the Last Supper, as routinely practiced by the salt of the Earth a millennium ago. Ultimately, Chazelle came full circle, returning to share some final insights about her beloved Sacred Heart parish before closing with a rhetorical flourish suggesting that one might partake in the holy tradition of sharing Christ’s body and blood beyond the sacrosanct confines of church in such unlikely environs as a soup kitchen ministering to the homeless or even at the dinner table while simply breaking bread with family and friends.
The earnest, inspirational sentiments of a foot soldier in the struggle for social justice.

Death at a Funeral

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: A-List Cast Squandered in Blackface Remake of Brit Farce

Death at a Funeral sounds like a classic case of a production that probably sounded like a “can’t miss” when its assorted elements were being pitched to studio execs. First of all, it’s a remake of a recent British hit which quintupled its $9 million budget at the box office.

The fact that the original was just released in 2007 wouldn’t be a problem, theoretically, because they’d be going after a different demographic, as this version would feature a predominantly African-American cast. Furthermore, not just any black actors would be asked to execute this dark comedy, but a trio of A-list comedians in Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan and Martin Lawrence, plus a bevy of accomplished thespians like Keith David, Zoe Saldana, Danny Glover and Loretta Devine.

And the icing on the cake that got it greenlighted involved attaching art house crowd darling Neil LaBute to the project, the director of such critically-acclaimed indies as In the Company of Men and Your Friends & Neighbors. Unfortunately, while all of the above must’ve looked great on the drawing board, this blackface variation on the theme adds up to far less than the sum of its parts.

Here’s why. Rather than overhaul the screenplay to appeal to an African-American sense of humor, LaBute opted to recycle one designed to tickle British fancies. Consequently, Messrs. Rock, Morgan and Lawrence seem almost shackled sticking to a script which allowed them little room to improvise or to horse around in their trademark styles.

Instead, what’s served up here is a farce reminiscent of an extended episode of Benny Hill, Mr. Bean, Fawlty Towers or one of those other slapstick BBC-TV sitcoms. I know what you’re thinking: that’s pretty good company. Yeah, until you get a load of a bunch of black folks attempting to behave in identical fashion.

Anyhow, Death at a Funeral revolves around a very eventful day in the lives of an extended family gathering to mourn the passing of a beloved patriarch. Edward (Frank Minor) is survived by his wife, Cynthia (Devine), siblings, Russell (Danny Glover) and Duncan (Ron Glass), and their assorted offspring.

The picture’s everything but the kitchen sink plotline wastes little time to thicken, beginning with the arrival of a gay dwarf (Peter Dinklage) who demands a share of the inheritance as the deceased’s ex-lover. Since the grieving widow had no idea her hubby was on the down-low, her protective sons (Rock and Martin) agree to try to hide the evidence from their mom. This, of course, proves easier said than done.

Then there’s niece Elaine’s (Saldana) jittery boyfriend Oscar (James Marsden) who’s accidentally slipped several tabs of LSD from a vial marked “Valium,” a running joke which is repeated with a couple of other guests. Eventually, Oscar pulls a Full Monty on the roof in front of all the open-mouthed mourners. Later, Uncle Russell pulls the same prank on the same roof under the influence of the same hallucinogen. A scene so hilarious you just had to shoot it twice, I guess. Everything comes to a head when you’ll never guess who (actually, yes you will) dies unexpectedly and is hidden in the coffin in the 69 position with his late lover’s corpse.

For me, the basic test of a comedy is how often it made me laugh out loud. This one? Not at all, not even the sight of Tracy Morgan with feces smeared all over his face. I suppose the best that can be said about this movie is that none of these terribly foulmouthed characters ever resorts to the N-word, although that’s ostensibly only because they had to recite their lines verbatim.

What will creatively-bankrupt Hollywood think of next? How about a remake of Slumdog Millionaire, only set in an L.A. barrio with an all-Chicano cast? I shouldn’t give them any ideas.

Fair (1 star)
Rated R for pervasive profanity, graphic nudity and drug use.
Running time: 92 Minutes
Studio: Screen Gems

Avatar DVD

 

 

DVD Review by Kam Williams

 

Headline: James Cameron’s Box Office Bonanza Arrives on DVD and Blu-Ray

 

                James Cameron wrote the script for Avatar back in 1994, but was unable to turn his vision into a movie until now because, as he explains it, he had to wait for technological innovations to catch up to his expectations of the 3-D spectacular. The eagerly-anticipated adventure revolves around a socially-relevant story so thoroughly compelling that its nearly 3-hour running time flies by in a flash. Furthermore, this cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked military might and corporate greed also features a tenderhearted cross-species romance.

The action unfolds in the year 2154 on the distant planet Pandora which is in the process of being invaded by SecFor (as in Security Force, get it?), a U.S. military-industrial complex/corporate conglomerate with designs on a rare mineral called unobtainium (as in not obtainable, get it?). The precious substance, worth $20 million a kilo, is the only reason for the expedition, as it apparently is the critical element involved in bringing presently-polluted Earth back from the brink of ecological extinction.

The picture’s unlikely protagonist is paraplegic Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), an ex-Marine who has greatness thrust upon him when he volunteers to serve as a last-light year replacement for his recently-deceased twin brother in the Avatar program. Upon his arrival on Pandora, he is instructed by botanist Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) how to mind-meld with his genetically-matched avatar and thereby control its every move. The human-like hybrid physically resembles a member of the Na’vi (as in naïve, get it?), the 9’ tall, blue-skinned tribe of aborigines inhabiting the planet.

Jake is given just 3 months by his superiors to manipulate the indigenous people into vacating their sacred lands voluntarily, since it sits atop untapped reserves of the coveted unobtainium. However, much to the chagrin of an avaricious, SecFor bureaucrat (Giovanni Ribisi) and an itchy, trigger-fingered Colonel (Stephen Lang), he goes renegade after falling in love with a young native beauty (Zoe Saldana).

 Jake switches sides because he recognizes that the much-maligned Na’vi aren’t bloodthirsty savages as billed, but noble, spiritually-superior beings living in harmony with nature. So, like a latter-day Tarzan who can talk to the animals, the sensitive alien-whisperer must rally all the creatures of Pandora to come to the defense of their peaceable kingdom in an eye-popping battle royal.

Along the way Cameron pays homage to (although cynics might say shamelessly recycles) memorable motifs from some of his own films and from Star Wars, The Fugitive, King Kong, Superman, Pocahontas, Predator, Apocalypto and Transformers, as well. Forget dancing with wolves. Howzabout doing the Funky Chicken with aliens?

 

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated PG-13 for sensuality, profanity, smoking and intense epic battle sequences.

In English and Na’vian with subtitles.

Running time: 162 minutes

Studio: Fox Home Entertainment

2-Disc DVD/Blu-ray Combo Extras: None

 

 

The Blue Tooth Virgin DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Competition Tests Writers’ Bonds of Friendship

Sam (Austin Peck) and David (Bryce Johnson) are best friends who have been pursuing the same profession since college. But while the former is a struggling screenwriter, the latter has hit it big as the editor of a trendy magazine.
Since Sam only briefly met with success with a short-lived TV series back in the beginning of his career, he has to deal not only with self-doubt but with increasingly caustic comments from his wife, Rebecca (Lauren Stamile), who resents having to be the breadwinner. She hints that now that he’s in his thirties, maybe it’s time to grow up and get a real job. Plus, she suspects that her husband is writing more for the validation than for the potential remuneration.
So, Sam continues to churn out script after script, never letting the last rejection discourage him. He asks David to critique his latest offering, “The Blue Tooth Virgin,” a character-driven thriller. But he wasn’t really prepared for the brutally-honest feedback he gets from his pal, who really doesn’t care for the screenplay at all. This reaction throws Sam for a loop, between his problems at home and the fact that Hollywood studios generally consider guys his age too old to have their finger on the pulse anymore.
Needless to say, David’s scathing review leads to a clash of egos, and the buddies’ relationship is subsequently tested whenever they get together, whether on the golf course or elsewhere. Crushed, Sam ends up crying on the couch of his less than sympathetic shrink, Dr. Christopher (Roma Maffia), and even enlisting the dubious assistance of Zena (Karen Black), a zany script consultant (Karen Black), to the tune of $1,500.
The Blue Tooth Virgin, the movie, is ostensibly far more delightful than the fictional script penned by Sam and denounced by David as a horrible nightmare. As hilarious as it is insightful, this contemplative comedy is likely to resonate most with anyone who has ever been an aspiring artist torn between conformity and chasing his or her dreams.
A primer on keeping the pedal to the proverbial medal when your whole world seems to have lost faith in you.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for profanity and brief drug use.
Running time: 80 minutes
Studio: E1 Entertainment

Crazy Heart DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Jeff Bridges Shines in Oscar-Winning Character Study

Mickey Rourke became the toast of Tinseltown after the release of The Wrestler, the 2008 overcoming the odds drama in which he delivered a memorable performance as a down on his luck loser making the most of his last shot at redemption. Rourke, whose own life’s trajectory resembled the arc of the character he was portraying, collected a Golden Globe and numerous other accolades over the course of the 2009 awards season.
This year, Jeff Bridges outdid Mickey’s feat by even winning an Academy Award for Crazy Heart, a similarly-themed character study revolving around a washed-up country singer attempt to revive his flagging career. Hollywood has a habit of rushing to imitate successful films, which helps explain why the equally-gritty flicks seem so similar in tone.
Let’s compare. Rourke’s “Ram “ was a depressed, homeless, sickly, self-abusing ex-wrestler who reconciles with his long-estranged daughter before returning to the ring with the help of his girlfriend, a stripper with a heart of gold and mammaries of silicon. Now, Bridges, as “Bad,” is a chain-smoking, once-famous crooner with a host of woes ranging from alcoholism to emphysema. He also leans on the shoulder, so to speak, of a considerably-younger lover (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and needs to track down the son (Brian Gleason) he hasn’t seen in 25 years.
At the point of departure, we find Bad crisscrossing the country in his car, doing one-night stands in dives and honky-tonk saloons. A shot at salvation plus some steamy rolls in the hay finally arrive the day he meets Jean, the jiggly journalist who decides to dedicate herself to getting his life back on track.
Provided you haven’t seen The Wrestler, or at least aren’t put off by the pervasive sense of déjà vu this derivative drama tends to generate, you are apt to appreciate Crazy Heart, especially if you are found of Country Western music. A bonus is Bridges (as well as supporting cast members Robert Duvall and Dubliner Colin Farrell) doing his own singing, which just might have been the icing on the cake which put the four-time Academy Award also-ran over the top in his quest for that elusive Oscar.
Who needs The Wrestler when you have The Crooner?

Very Good (2.5 stars)
Rated R for profanity and brief sexuality.
Running time: 112 Minutes
Distributor: Fox Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes and alternate music cuts.