Friday, June 14, 2013

'Man of Steel' is More Serious than it Needs to Be



"Like Jesus, the "man of steel" surrenders himself to authorities at age 33. Photo: Warner Bros.
“It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Superman!” is never uttered in the new Superman reboot called “Man of Steel.” And that’s not all that different this time around.  Zack Snyder took great pains to create a different movie than what we have been to used to seeing after the 2006 “Superman Returns” snooze-fest. Taking a cue from the Dark Knight series and getting a little help from Christopher Nolan himself, Snyder created not necessarily a darker story, but a much more serious one.

Many changes abound as well. Lois Lane is redhead, Perry White is black and Jimmy Olsen is a girl. In fact, the Daily Planet and the city of Metropolis take a back seat in the storyline. Lois Lane figures out who Clark Kent really is right off the bat. There is no Lex Luther. The man of steel is only referred to as Superman once, he no longer wears red shorts and there is not a single phone booth.  But the biggest change of all is that this piece is just so serious. Somewhere down the line, someone forgot to tell Snyder that comic book movies are supposed to be fun. Gone are the simpler storylines of catching a bank robber. Superman is such a Debbie Downer, that there is no way that the Avengers are ever going to invite him over for poker any time soon. At one point, Lois points to Clark’s chest and asks,

“What’s the S stand for?”

“It’s not an S. On my world it means hope.”

“Well, here, it’s an S.”

That pretty much sums up the humor. “Man of Steel” is more like eating vegetables. It’s good, but you’d rather be eating something a little sweeter.

“Man of Steel” is also full of lots and lots of exposition. The first half hour of the film takes place before Clark Kent, then known as Kal-El, is even born. We learn more than we’d ever want to know about the former Krypton narrated by Kal-El’s father, Jor-El (Russell Crowe). Jor-El  has words with General Zod (Michael Shannon) about the state of the planet and banishes him into space. It’s too late though. The planet blows up anyway and Ironically, Zod and his pals survive.

Later, Jor-El appears to Clark (in a hologram or something) to explain his son’s destiny with another long story and a new wardrobe. Then later when Zod finds Clark, he too has a long story to tell. Enough already. For an action flick, it takes a long time to get to the action and when we do, it’s mostly of blurs and explosions.

Fortunately, themovie does get Superman right. Henry Cavill does a fine job of portraying the world’s new savior. Like Jesus, he surrenders himself to the authorities at age 33 destined to live out the life his father has planned for him. Raised as a human, Clark learns how to control his anger and becomes a beacon for goodness often sacrificing himself for the better of others. His earthly parents, Martha and Jonathan Kent (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner) hide the superbaby’s spaceship from Clark and raise him as their own. As he ages, he struggles with super hearing and x-ray vision. Unlike many young boys fantasy of being able to see through women’s clothing, Clark can see through people’s bones, which is a lot more frightening.

It can be debated if Amy Adams was miscast in the role of Lois Lane or if the writing is to blame. Adams can usually do anything. In the past, she has been seen as a princess, a cook, a boxer’s wife and a nun. She has co-starred with Muppets for crying out loud, but she is no Lois Lane. There are virtually no spark between her and the superbeing, and yet, we’re supposed to believe that there is.

Overall, “Man of Steel” is overly long presenting a story that looks good, but no one asked for. There is a glimmer of hope though as the ending shows promise of what a sequel could be and what this film should have been. (Originally posted on Examiner.com)


           

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

A Hollywood Tribute to Dads


With Father's Day just around the corner, I thought it would be good to repost...

Hollywood dads are just like real dads. They are imperfect and impractical. Over-protective and always loving. Here are five of the top dads. Which dad do you think should have made the list?

Photo: MGM
Jack Butler - Mr. Mom
In this 1983 comedy, Michael Keaton plays the breadwinning husband while his wife Caroline (played by Teri Garr) is the stay-at-home wife until one day he loses his job. While the pair both try to find new jobs, Caroline finds one first leaving Jack to become “Mr. Mom.” Jack realizes that he doesn’t have a clue what his wife does all day and learns to reconnect with this children. Below is a clip with Jack trying to convince his young son to give up his blanket which he calls his woobie.


Photo: Disney/Pixar
Marlin the Clownfish - Finding Nemo
In Disney’s “Finding Nemo,” Albert Brooks plays Marlin, a panic-stricken father of a clown fish to little Nemo. He plays the over-protective father role to the hilt. Below is a clip where Nemo is ready to go on his first day of school, but Marlin isn't.



Photo: 20th Century Fox
Benjamin Mee - We Bought a Zoo
Matt Damon stars as Benjamin Mee in the 2011 comedy/drama, “We bought a Zoo.” Benjamin is a grieving widower trying to do the right things for his children and winds up unexpectly buying a zoo. He has a hard time relating to his teenage son who is non too thrilled to be one of the owners of a zoo. However, the two have a moment of connecting in this clip where his son Dylan tells him about this girl he has a crush on.
               



Photo: Sony Pictures
Tom Hamilton - Soul Surfer
“Soul Surfer,” is based on the true story of a young Bethany Hamilton, who is an inspiring surfer girl when she is attacked by a shark and loses one of her arms. The road to recovery is difficult. Fortunately, she had Tom for a dad (played by Dennis Quaid). Here is just one of the "pep talks" he gives here while she is recovering in the hospital.



Photo: Touchstone Pictures
George Banks - Father of the Bride
In this 1991 reamake of the Spencer Tracy classic, Steve Martin plays George Banks, the soon to be “father of the bride.” The  bride is of course is Annie Banks, played by Kimberly Williams. Here is a clip where Kimberly tells her family that she is engaged.




          

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Don’t Give Up Your Day Job for ‘The Internship’

(Left to Right)  Tobit Raphael, Dylan O'Brien, Josh Brener, Tiya Sircar
Vince Vaugn and Own Wislon. Photo: Regency Films
(L-R)Shawn Levy’s latest film, “The Internship” looks and feels like a project that was rushed in order for him to get to his next project. Perhaps if he slowed down a bit, he could have made this movie work. But he didn’t and it doesn’t.

The Internship” is a story about two older watch salesmen, Billy and Nick (Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson), who suddenly find themselves out of work. After some magical thinking, Billy was able to audition himself and his friend for the Google internship program. As luck would have it, the two are accepted (surprise) and find themselves in a different world of smart and arrogant twenty-somethings. All are divided into teams to complete in a number of challenges. The winning team, about 5% of all the interns, will receive new jobs at the big G, while everyone else sulks and walks away. Guess how it ends.

Despite a nice cast, “The Internship” is a mess. The pairing of Vaughn and Wilson is a winning combo and their younger sidekicks are fun to watch, but not much else. Billy and Nick are out of touch with today’s technology. They refer to “online” programs as “on the line,” which is funny the first time. After the tenth…not so much.

The paint by numbers story plays like a high school movie but with a lot more swearing. There’s Mr. Chetty (Aasif Mandvi) the uptight supervisor, Dana (Rose Byrne) the stuck up popular girl, Neha (Tiya Sircar) the fashionable comic nerd, Yo Yo (Tobit Raphael) the stressed out kid who pulls out his eyebrow hairs as punishment when he has been bad, Graham (Max Mingella), the British yuppie, Stuart (Dylan O’Brien) the emo, and Lyle (Josh Brener) the nerd who talks in the third person.

Throughout the movie, this band of misfits must somehow come together to win victory. After some shoddy attempts, Billy and Nick take the crew out for a night on the town where they all lose their inibitions, virginity, and even their lunch at a raunchy nightclub. The next morning, they are new team. Amazing what a little alcohol can do. This new-found friendship feels empty.
The movie’s other main character, Google itself, is also a problem at times. If the company really runs it’s internship like it is portrayed in the movie, than I think a lot of potential candidates may be turned off to apply. All of the interns are snotty and arrogant and many of the employees are overworked. The Google campus is fun to look at though.

However, the biggest problem with this comedy is that isn’t funny. The whole time you’re watching, you’re waiting for a great punch line that never comes. “Ready to hear something funny? Okay, here it comes. I’m going to tell you a funny story. You’ll love it. It’s really funny. It really is. Ready? Ready?...” Even with the un-credited extended cameo of Will Farrell is more cringe-worthy than laugher inducing.

The main theme of this film is to fight for your dreams and conqueor your fears, admirable qualities told in other much-better movies. (Originally posted on Examiner.com)