evan unmighty

After much prodding, I finally caved and picked up a copy of Evan Almighty from the local library. My mother was recently at our house for a visit and insisted that we simply must see it. In the movie, God asks Steve Carel (Evan) to build an ark, and starts to assemble animals from around the globe in Evan's suburban mcmansion neighborhood. When I heard the movie name, and that it starred Steve Carel, I told her that it must be a spin-off of the movie Bruce Almighty. She argued that it certainly wasn't. She was adamant - almost defensive. I don't know what the big deal was, but after seeing it, I don't understand how she could think that it wasn't a spin-off. We have the same character playing God (Morgan Freeman), and the main character Evan has just left his job as a news anchor (the same job he had in Bruce Almighty) to be a congressman. Even his co-anchor is the same actress. Geez.

Regardless, the movie stunk. Sure, it is "okay" for a family flick, but I found the humor to be trite, the plot too predictable, and overall Steve Carel wasn't that funny. It's also worth mentioning that the movie is over-the-top in its flagrant use of digital imaging and computer animation. I understand that a movie production crew isn't going to build a massive ark and fill it with a pair of each species of animal on earth, but certain scenes (like when the dam breaks) looked ridiculously contrived. I can understand why they're starting to make pseudo-realistic movies that are fully computer animated (think Beowulf). After all, real movies are filled with this stuff. But why stop there? Why not get rid of the real actors altogether and just use their voices? Oh, wait...that's already been done, too. Ever see The Mummy Returns with its CG-rendered Rock? Wasn't that Angelina Jolie in Beowulf?

depp and burton are at it again

Who wouldn't enjoy a Tim Burton movie about a cryptic barber with a lust for blood and revenge? Throw Johnny Depp into the mix, and you're almost guaranteed a success. I have to admit that I have always been a big fan of the Burton/Depp combination, particularly when complimented with a soundtrack by Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo fame. It's like an award-winning recipe with all the right ingredients.

From early films like Edward Scissorhands and his non-Burton appearances in the Nightmare on Elm Street horror flicks, Depp's been around for quite some time now, and amazingly he never seems to age. Sure, he had more of a baby face when he was playing the bad boy on 21 Jump Street but you'd never guess that almost thirty years has passed. Must have been that Hollywood lifestyle, or maybe the fact that he now lives in France.

One of my favorite Depp scenes has to be his role in Freddy's Dead where he returns as a cameo in one of those "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?" public service skits that we used to see on TV so often, where someone cracks a couple of eggs open onto a hot frying pan. But in this scene, Freddy pops in, smacks him in the face with the frying pan, and says, "What are you on? Looks like a frying pan and some eggs to me." At least that's how I remember it - it has been a long time. But it was so uncharacteristic to see Depp allow himself to be the butt of a joke that it was hilarious.

Another favorite Depp moment was from Once Upon a Time in Mexico, (a Robert Rodriguez film - another *great* director) where he plays special agent Sands of the FBI, although he's about as crooked as they come when it comes to government agents. His interactions with the "chicklet boy" are just hilarious. I also loved the scene where he's actually wearing a shirt that has "FBI" in really big letters on the front. Those FBI shirts have become popular over the least few years, but the idea of an actual FBI agent wearing one in public, while working undercover, was ingenious. It also featured the only blind shooting standoff I've ever seen in a movie. Classic.

And Depp has been extremely flexible since that time, unlike so many Hollywood actors who seem to be only be able to play the same role across different movies. There have only been a few movies starring Depp that I didn't appreciate. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was one of them. Although it developed something of a cult following, I just couldn't get into his character or the plot. The other film that I didn't enjoy was the Secret Window. I don't like movies that spend so much time developing the plot, and then just cop-out at the end with the old insanity excuse. It was like that movie Falling Down. It had such great momentum going and was making such a bold statement, and then they had to go an ruin it by making him crazy and suicidal at the end.

At first, I was skeptical about Depp's role as Willy Wonka, too. The original was one of those classic films that we cringe at the idea of it being remade in any way. But Burton managed to put his own spin on it, and managed to allow it to stand on its own two feet, quite separate from the original. We went to see Sleepy Hollow (another Depp/Burton/Elfman combo) with my parents, and they didn't enjoy it, but we loved it. We're into darker films, though, and I find that I dig just about anything with Christoper Walken in it. Depp did an awesome job as Ichabod Crane, even if he didn't match the stereotypical tall and lanky schoolmaster that had been burned into my mind as a child watching Disney's cartoon version of the famous story.

And of course, what discussion of Depp's career would be complete without mention of the Pirates of the Carribbean trilogy, perhaps Depp's best performances to date?

It's hard to pick a favorite Depp role, as he's been very good at most of what he has done over the years. Sweeney Todd should be fun, and it will be interesting to see Burton's quirky approach at such a dark and sinister film. Burton has a strength for taking evil subject matter and making it more comical and acceptable. You can visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site or visit Sweeney Todd on MySpace for more info.

It will also be interesting to hear Johnny Depp attempt to sing, as I have heard that it is something of a musical!

spider-man 3

Well, as usual I am behind the curve, but I just saw Spider-Man 3 and I was impressed. I can't believe that they have managed to keep this series going with as much momentum as the first one. Part three featured three villains and yet still managed to tie up other loose ends left over from parts one and two. I'm also ecstatic that they've managed to retain all of the same actors throughout the sequels. Even the small parts have the same actors. This works so much better than movies like the Harry Potter series that changed Dumbledore and the Matrix series when they changed the Oracle. I know that in some cases, the actor died and they had no choice, but in the case of the Matrix they could have worked the doppelganger into the script a little better.

One of the things that cracks me up with the Spider-Man movies are the cameo appearances. I believe that Stan Lee even had a cameo in this one - 'nuff said. In addition, we got another appearance from Bruce Campbell, the cult star from Army of Darkness. If you didn't catch him in each Spider-Man flick, he was the wrestling ring announcer in part one, the theater bouncer who wouldn't let Peter into Mary Jane's performance because he was late in part two, and of course he was the racy French restaurant host in part three. He's hilarious. Maybe in the fourth one they'll go even further and let him don a chainsaw.

While the left the sandman's existence up in the air at the end of part three, and I thought that the death of Venom was a bit weak, m definitely give Spider-Man 3 two thumbs up. I hope they can keep it coming...

movie review - shaun of the dead

I know that it has been a few years since this movie Shaun of the Dead came out, but we just picked it up at the local library, and I felt compelled to share my thoughts. Ever since I had seen the previews for it, I was curious to see it. I don't think it lasted very long in the theaters, but don't trust that as an indicator of its quality.

I'm a BIG horror movie fan, particularly zombie movies. The "night/dawn/day of the dead" trilogy by George Romero are some of the favorite films, which this movie plays off of a bit. Based on the previews and the name, I originally assumed that Shaun of the Dead would primarily be a spoof of Dawn of the Dead. Fortunately, it isn't. This is no ridiculous horror spoof like Scary Movie. Instead, we're treated to a very funny British comedy that combines walking dead ala Dawn of the Dead with the dry wit of the comedy series The Office.

There's no Ricky Gervais on this one, but a couple of his costars appear in the film. Shaun, in fact, has a few Gervais moments here and there. The film takes a very matter of fact approach to the zombie concept, reminding me a bit of Fright Night's approach to vampirism. The makeup and special gore effects are top notch, the acting is decent, and the plot is sensible. The movie has a good flow from beginning to near the end. I was a bit disappointed in the ending, as it seemed to lose momentum, but it wasn't bad.

I don't want to give much of it away, but I seriously recommend that you see it if you are a horror fan, especially if you are a George Romero fan. There are scenes that are obviously dedicated to George Romero ("We're coming to get you, Barbara"), and it even uses some of the same music. Shaun's tubby flatmate is a hilarious slob with some obscenely comedic one liners. It had us rolling out of our seats in laughter. Check out the special features for some great outtakes, too.