busting the blockbuster

It took a few days, but I got around to seeing two of this summer's big movies.



First, Incredible Hulk. Some of you may have heard that star Edward Norton had a deal with the studio that he would be involved in the development of the character,etc. He did an uncredited vamp up of the script, which is not an uncommon practice. Script doctors have been around for years. I'm not super familiar with the story line running through the comic, but I did watch the tv show so I had some idea of the basics. This knowledge was probably a good thing seeing as how the "origin" story gets told through a dialogue free montage during the opening credits. ??? Okay. It's a bit confusing even if you know what's going on.



Overall I'd say Hulk was an okay movie. I enjoyed Edward Norton and you get the sense that he was trying to bring depth to the character. I think this idea would have been better served to tell a true origin story rather than jump from the montage straight into the gist of things. It's hard to bond with Norton because we haven't been given much emotional ground to work with. Liv Tyler is her usual just sort of hanging out school of acting. I don't dislike her so much as I find her acting rather dull. She did have decent chemistry with Norton and their scenes together usually pulled out some sort of personality. The most interesting and lively actor on board was Tim Roth who pretty much knocks out everything tossed at him.



The effects all look really good. Using face capture technology to give us Norton's and Roth's faces on their appropriate big guys works well and helps keep some of the "reality" in the fight moments. Having said that, the big battle at the end was boring for me. It's dull after awhile to watch to CGI creations fight...or at least that's the case when it isn't an entirely CGI movie. I'm sure much of my disappointment comes from not being a big Hulk fan. If you're looking for a decent flick to pass a summer afternoon, I think you are pretty safe checking out this one.



Next up, The Happening. If you want to be "surprised," don't read the review, although there isn't much to give away.

I think M. Night needs to start directing someone else's material for a change. His last few movies have been disappointing, not for lack of visual flair, etc., but because the stories have fallen short. I was really excited by the trailer for The Happening. When I found out it was going to be an R rated flick, it made me even more curious.

Too bad it's a really boring movie.

The film starts out with a lot of promise. The opening is really creepy, but then we go to Marky Mark's science class. Like Liv Tyler, I don't hate Mark; I just don't think he's that great an actor. Sometimes good performances get pulled out of him, but mostly I think he's just sort of bland. In The Happening, his performance is not helped by some schlocky dialogue.

Zooey Deschenel (sp?), who I've enjoyed in the past, is out of place here. She usually does the quirky sort of girl thing, and not saying she can't or shouldn't branch out, she's not given much to do here so she's just sort of stiff through out. Most of the attempts at humor via Mark's character fall short, although there is a funny scene involving him and two teen age boys.

Much of what happens is predictable. Once you get past the initial moments of watching people die, the rest of the deaths don't seem to creep you out. Mostly, I think, because they are telegraphed to the audience. Some of the problem comes from showing many of them in the trailer, meaning that as soon as you recognized the scenery, you knew what was going to happen. That's the marketing department's fault I think. Still, sneaking up on the deaths in the rest of the film would have given them more impact. There were a couple that still jolted me thanks to the surprise element.

There isn't really the usual twist in this movie that there have been in others. Primarily because the rest of the country goes about trying to explain what is happening in the North East. The explainations are a bit lame and the twist I suppose is that it's The Earth itself knocking humanity on its ass. The idea almost seems trite in this age of heightened awareness about the effect we are having on the planet. Or maybe it's the execution of the idea that is lacking. I'm not sure. All I know is I was disappointed.

On other topics, I'm still recovering. One week from today is my big appointment to see how I'm doing. I swear it feels like it's going to be months before I'm 100%. It's difficult to explain to people, especially my friend's children, that I'm still not completely well, even though I'm joking around like normal and I don't have a visible injury. It's not like I'm going to flash this scar around. On the up side I suppose is the fact that I have been doing pretty well and haven't had any complications...knock on wood. Also, this recovery time has allowed me to kick ass on Lego Indiana Jones!

Here's a little something I found on-line that's Hulk related.

Things I've Learned

1) Edith Piaf spent some of her childhood in a brothel. (Rent La Vie En Rose...great movie!)

2) Q magazine's online radio station is my new favorite thing to listen to. Plenty of Brit accents and things I won't hear in this part of the world, ie. the new Sigur Ros!

3) Swelling more on one side of my incision than the other is most likely the result of that being the side where all my bits were tied off and shoved. Thanks Hystersisters.com.

4) The Venture Brothers are back. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now there are two...

I don't really like Gwyneth Paltrow. She's never done anything to me personally, but something about her just irritates me. Until yesterday, I could only name one movie I could bear her in (that would be Emma). Now that I've seen Iron Man I have a second film I like her in.

I've been behind going to see films in theaters, but I'm not suffering the repercussions of driving much anymore so I hauled butt out to go see this movie.

Iron Man works much the same way as the first Spiderman movie did. It is a good, solid, enjoyable film that shows us the origin story for this superhero. It is not quite as dramatic or emotionally rich film as Spiderman, but that may have something to do with where Tony Stark is as a person when the film begins and where he is as it ends.

Overall, it is a pretty sweet ride. I have always been a fan of Robert Downey, Jr's and he doesn't let you down in any way. His Tony is full of charm, wit and bearable cockiness through out. He's not completely cold, he's just too self involved at the outset. Gwyneth is solid as his personal assistant, even though I hate her character's name. It's a comic book thing I know, but I have yet to understand the appeal of having some one's name be Pepper. At any rate, she has the right sort of temperament to handle her boss. Gwyneth and Robert handle their scenes with just the right amount of tension keeping their relationship from sliding into cliche-ville. Every character has some great lines and moments, though I thought Terrance Howard was underused. But, if everyone had a major story, the movie would be four hours long. Maybe next time.

The effects look great. The technology available is mostly believable. Some of that comes from having seen the effects before (Minority Report) or running with the storyline that Stark is a genius and has been creating technology ahead of its time. The product placement doesn't really jar, unlike some movies (hey, let's focus in on that can of Coke...think anyone will think that's weird? Heck no!). The story aims for a more realistic approach as opposed to having a bad guy that's an alien mutant or has been dropped in a vat of nuclear waste.

On a side note, Robert looks extremely de-lish in this I gotta say.

I'm looking forward to seeing where the next movie takes us.

Rented Southland Tales, the second movie from the director/writer of Donnie Darko. It looked really good and the music was great, but I'm not sure I actually understood it. I think I may need to watch it again.

Bored.

I've finished three books, all of which I enjoyed. Then We Came To The End by Jonathan Ferris is something everyone who has worked in an office or for any sort of large corporation should read. You instantly recognize all the characters and their circumstances. The story has many funny moments, but is well balanced with some really sad and touching story lines.

Carol Shields wrote a short biography on Jane Austen for the Penguin Lives series that I liked. It was a good sort of right before nodding off sort of read. Also, I really liked Charles Burns' graphic novel, Black Hole. The illustrations are freakin' amazing and the story is surreal and moving.

As far as flicks go, I can't say enough about the documentary The King Of Kong. It tells the story of two men and their attempts to set the World Record in Donkey Kong scoring. The score leader for the last couple of decades seems normal enough at the start, but when his record is challenged, he turns into a bit of a dick. The challenger is just the sort of guy you want to root for and you end up liking him more and more through out the movie. Billy, the main dude, has a sort of sidekick that ends up being more like a rent boy. It may seem hard to imagine, but there is plenty of drama in this story and the documentary really moves.

The new Duke Spirit cd, Neptune, current favorite. The songwriting is tighter and more in focus on this release. Right now I think the tracks I love most are Into The Fold, This Ship Was Built To Last, My Sunken Treasure, Lassoo, and You Really Wake Up The Love In Me (this one makes me think of something off of Sonic Youth's Goo, with less experimental guitar).

As far as healing goes, I'm feeling okay. Still haven't got tons of energy, but I did walk a bit further this morning. I'm up to 11 blocks round trip and my thighs weren't killing me when I was done which was nice. I hung out with Mom for around 3 hours on Sat. and had to take a nap when I got home. I feel like I'm 4 or something. Speaking of needing to relax, it's about time to get out of this chair. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up Lego Indiana Jones! Something new to do, yeah!!!