Quick Review: American Sniper

This is long-overdue, delayed due to my usual procrastination and recent return to work. But for the last two days our computer and phone systems have been out of service and I'm running out of ways to amuse myself, soooo...

I can't wrap my head around the chatter over American Sniper, the Clint Eastwood-directed tale based on the autobiography of Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL who was the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history (because of 160 confirmed kills during four tours of duty in Iraq). There's a lot of controversy over (and this is my general impression because I haven't really kept up with it all) whether it has a biased point of view because of its depiction of Iraqis and/or whether it's a pro-war film. This strikes me as misguided.

The film is so focused on Kyle (Bradley Cooper, who dioes well) specifically -- how his father taught him to hunt, how terrorist attacks inspired him to join the military, the cumulative effect of his time in Iraq and all those he killed -- that even his wife (Sienna Miller, wasted) is a minor character. There's no room in this tale for the bigger issues -- whether the war was just, our treatment of Muslims, how we do or don't take care of returning vets. And Eastwood clearly wasn't trying to delve into these issues. He wasn't trying to do what he did with his Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima films.

And because of this, for me the film itself is a bit lacking, six Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) notwithstanding. There are tense moments but overall I wasn't very moved. It came off as a little too matter-of-fact. My grade: B.

Quick Reviews: Silver Twilight Pi

Now that I've returned from DC and joined the 21st century of cell phones (with a new Samsung Galaxy SIII), I suppose I should get back to blogging. So here are two movies I saw before I left for DC and one that I saw while I was down there.

I mainly saw "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" because I saw the previous films and I felt it important enough to see how the whole thing ends. (If they announced that "Paranormal Activity 4" was the last movie of that franchise I might have bothered to see it as well.) It kind of went off the rails in the last film, plot-wise, and the first two-thirds of this one was basically filler while waiting for the final showdown between the Volturi and the Cullens and their supporters (over Edward and Bella's daughter) to play out, including introducing a bunch of other vampire clans. When that final conflict occurs it's somewhat interesting, until one of the worst plot twists ever is revealed. It's a twist that probably works for the Twihards, but not for anyone else. My grade: D-plus.

"Silver Linings Playbook" is being hyped as Oscar-worthy. I didn't find it quite that great. In fact, after seeing the trailers play up the humor and romance angles a little more than the mental health issues of Bradley Cooper's character, the first portion of the film is rather jarring in its intensity. Then it settles into a nice groove, and then finally turns into a more predictable film thanks to a large wager on the final Eagles game of the 2008 season and the results of the dance contest in which our hero and Jennifer Lawrence's character are participating. Lawrence is terrific and Cooper is fine (although never shirtless). And it was rather cool to have the Eagles figure so much in the story, despite their current travails. By the way, I'm very proud to have spotted a blooper in the film: at one point we see fans arriving at the Linc for a game, and one of them is wearing a Nnamdi Asomugha jersey. The film is set in 2008, but Asomugha didn't join the Eagles until 2011. D'oh! My grade: B.

While in DC I took advantage of proximity to a multiplex to see "Life of Pi." There's been a lot of talk that it's the best-looking 3D movie since "Avatar," but I only saw it in 2D. Looked fine just the same. It spends a surprising amount of time setting up the story, that of a teenage boy somehow surviving being lost at sea for 227 days (after a storm sinks the freighter he and his family are traveling on) and sharing a lifeboat with a tiger. Then, after we see his rescue, we're given an alternate version of events and are asked to choose which one we believe. So the whole thing is something of a metaphor about the existence of God. Not really my cup of tea, but not bad. My grade: B.

Quick Reviews: Sparkle, Hit and Run

So it appears I'm not being called back to my job in September, or any time soon, as the state is cutting back on the number of temporary employees for the heating assistance program. With things being less busy on weekday afternoons at the movie theaters as kids go back to school, I could make an effort to see more movies than I have been this year and not have to worry about crowds. Of course, Hollywood will have to make more movies that interest me enough to go more often.

"Sparkle" primarily interested me because it's a remake of a movie from 1976 that was said to have been inspired by the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes. So I expected its plot to have a lot of similarity to "Dreamgirls," but was surprised by how much it was not like the saga of the Supremes (other than there being a singing group comprised of three young women). There was a lot more melodrama (although, based on the Wikipedia entry for the original, not quite as much as there used to be) in the story of Sparkle (Jordin Sparks), who is a songwriter but doesn't have the confidence to be a solo act. She and her sisters (Carmen Ejogo and Tika Sumpter) form a group that looks to be on the way to stardom despite the disapproval of their mother (Whitney Houston) until an abusive husband and an addiction to drugs get in the way. Despite the plot machinations, this was almost a very good film. But Sparks just isn't commanding enough to be the superstar that Sparkle is supposed to become. Ejogo is the real star of the three sisters in the group. And seeing Whitney Houston perform the gospel hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" made me sad, because we can only imagine how it would have sounded had she been in her prime, before her own addictions and bad marriage set her on a path to her untimely death. My grade: C-plus.

I was surprised at how much I liked "Hit and Run." It's the story of a former bank robbery getaway driver (Dax Shepard) who leaves Witness Protection to drive his girlfriend (Kristen Bell) to Los Angeles for an important job interview, which puts them both in jeopardy of being killed by his old bank-robbing pals (including Bradley Cooper) thanks to her ex-boyfriend's jealousy. At first I cringed at the arrival of the most inept U.S. Marshal in history (Tom Arnold), but even his character became tolerable after a while. And there's quite a bit of pro-gay stuff, despite the jokes about prison rape (which you see, in a censored version, in the movie's trailer). There's a gay cop who uses an app called Pouncer -- not Grindr, Pouncer (or maybe it's spelled Pouncr?) -- and learns of the homosexuality of another character, and a discussion about the use of the word "fag" for someone who's "lame." Kristin Chenoweth has a fun supporting role, and Bell and Shepard, a real-life couple who, according to Wikipedia, refuse to get married until same-sex marriage is again legal in California, have a sweet chemistry. This movie didn't drum up much box office but deserves a better fate. My grade: B-plus.

Meh

My mental state right now is a little...how to describe it...lazy? Hazy? Uninspired? Meh? Meh is as good a word as any. Here's the first time I ever recall hearing it, and I've loved it ever since...



Anyway, the last couple of days when I've sat down at the computer I haven't been able to discipline myself to write something here. I look at websites, run through my Twitter and Facebook stuff, play a chess game that came with my computer, and so on. I'm in a bit of a rut. I feel like, as I tweeted last night, I need a new life, or at least some lucky breaks in this one. I'm not confident of any of this happening, though.

So, meh. But here are a few brief comments on things that, if I break out of this malaise, I might write about in more detail: I'm happy with the Phillies so far (I'm going to the game later tonight against the Mets), not so happy about the Flyers, and made the correct guess about which previously-eliminated queen was returning to "RuPaul's Drag Race."

And hey, since Bradley Cooper did such a good job in "Limitless," and pretty pictures are always nice...

If you have comments or questions or ideas or anything that might inspire me, feel free.

Quick Review: Limitless

Bradley Cooper was definitely the right second choice for "Limitless," much of which was filmed right here (although it takes place in New York). I read the Wikipedia entry for the movie (as I usually do, to refresh my memory about names and places and such when I write these things), and it says that Shia LaBeouf was originally going to star. I don't think that would have worked at all. Cooper plays Eddie Morra, something of a loser. His apartment's a mess, he's barely started on the book that's overdue to be turned into his publisher, and his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) has just dumped him. Then he runs into the brother of his ex-wife, a drug dealer who offers Eddie a sample of a new drug that's supposed to increase your brain's efficiency to the extreme. Eddie tries it, and it works! He cleans his place and writes a bunch of pages of his book. Problem one: it doesn't last too long, and when Eddie visits his ex-brother-in-law he finds the guy murdered. He finds a stash of the drug and some cash, and remakes his life completely, getting his girl back and making stock transactions that draw the attention of a shady tycoon (Robert DeNiro). Problem two: the drug has side effects, one of which is a lapse in memory, and he may have killed a woman during one such blackout. Problem three: Russian mobsters are after him, as is another mysterious man. It's a little preposterous, and the tacked-on additional ending (the one where Cooper, DeNiro, etc. were reportedly brought back here to film) is even more so. Cooper really shows some range, though, going from down-and-out, confused mess to sharp-witted, borderline arrogant success. The movie's worth it just for that (and one shirtless scene) -- Shia LaBeouf couldn't have pulled this off. My grade: B-minus.

Quick Review: Valentine's Day

A movie about a holiday. I can't wait for everyone to get to see the movies "Presidents Day," "Flag Day," "Arbor Day," "National Masturbation Day," and...oh, wait, that last one may have to be rated NC-17...

Anyhoo, "Valentine's Day" didn't annoy me like so many of these romantic comedies do. However, with such a large cast of big-name actors (Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, Shirley MacLaine, Hector Elizondo, Jennifer Garner, Patrick Dempsey, Eric Dane, Emma Roberts, Taylor Swift, Taylor Lautner, Queen Latifah, Topher Grace, George Lopez, Kathy Bates) dividing up the screen time with so many storylines and romantic couplings, none of them had a chance to become especially interesting. And it's extremely predictable -- just about every plot twist and relationship change can be figured out immediately. At least they had the good sense to have Eric Dane go shirtless for a bit. (This photo isn't from this movie but you get the general idea.) Without spoiling his storyline, let's just say it depicts something that is often a topic for discussion at Outsports.com. Still, "Valentine's Day" had a few charming moments. Or maybe I'm just going soft...hmmm...that sounds like a plotline for "National Masturbation Day: The Movie." My grade: B-minus

Quick Review: All About Steve

The good news: Bradley Cooper loses his shirt fairly early. The bad news: it doesn't stay off long enough to distract us from the rest of this movie. Cooper plays Steve, a network TV cameraman (although why a news network would be based in Sacramento is beyond me). He's set up on a blind date with Mary (Sandra Bullock), a creator of crossword puzzles and, well, more than just a non-conformist -- she's an all-around nutcase. The date doesn't go well and Steve ends it quickly, but due to a poor choice of words Mary thinks he's into her. Plot contrivances lead to Mary chasing Steve cross-country as he and his TV crew, in their news van, chase breaking news. Mary takes a bus, then hitches a ride from a trucker, then gets a ride from a fellow oddball she meets along the way. Yet Mary keeps managing to catch up to Steve at all the stops where they're covering breaking news. Incomprehensible. There's a message about being yourself but it's buried by the stupidity. Bradley, if you're going to do crap like this, at least show some more skin. My grade: D-plus.