Piece of Cake

Forget Paris (1995)

Ask anyone in a long-term romantic relationship if their life is similar to a relationship in a movie, and they will laugh at you. They’ll tell you that long-term romantic relationships are complicated and full of details that no filmmaker could possibly get right. But the skills Billy Crystal put to the test in When Harry Met Sallyhave made a full court press in an attempt to sink a three point shot of comedy. Debra Winger helps him keep the pressure on and delivers better on screen chemistry then Meg Ryan was able to.

Over the past three decades Crystal has shown a masterful skill at one-liners, and eventually he put his emphasis towards his pen and not a microphone. He wrote, directed and produced this comedy and filled it with a cast of character actors bringing an air of realism to the story. Crystal’s script focuses on the absurdity of relationship in the world around us. The movie is filled with complements and verbal barbs that can only have been born from the familiarity of romantic intimacy.

A relationship is not born from one romantic cinematic moment a relationship is an ongoing thing. Ever growing, changing, and both parties must be aware of the part that they play. Crystal paints a picture of a couple who met under circumstances that can only be found in a comedy, and then tells the story of that couple over the years through the eyes of their close friends. Each friend who adds to the story has their own agenda, and their own slant to the tale.

The audience is heavily reminded not to dwell on one aspect of your past. That ones life is about growth, changes, discussion, and compromise. There are no easy answers to life, and sometimes life is filled with pain. In the end, anything worth doing is worth working for. Hopefully the soundtrackto your life is filled with Billie Holiday music as this film was, if not discusses this with your DJ and gets your play list shuffled.

Hairy on the Inside

The Company of Wolves (1985)

1985 was a tough year for horror movies that did not rely on blood and gore to draw an audience. George Romero’s Day of the Deadwas devouring soldiers in an underground bunker. Freddy Krueger returned to seek his revenge in the second installment of Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Streetfranchise. And the repressed memories of Santa Claus,The Moviestill make me quiver in fear at the sight of fur-trimmed boots.

In the Company of Wolves is a horror movie based on the Grimm’s Fairy Tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Little Red Riding Hood is growing up, and her puberty inspired fever dreams lead the audience to a fantasy world where wolves disguised as men prey upon young impressionable girls. Red’s dolls, teddy bears, and other childhood icons come to life and chase her older sister through a fantasy forest where we see her sister torn to pieces by wolves with an over dramatic flare that only an overly dramatic teenaged British actress could portray without looking silly.

Little Red Riding Hood is not a long or complex story, and to compensate for this the movie incorporates several other legends of wolves. Red’s Grandmother, played masterfully by Angela Lansbury, introduces these stories, and we are swept along into the storytelling. The Grandmother takes it upon herself to teach Red the dangers of men, and the dangers of wolves. To her, the two are one and the same, and she does not wish for Red to grow up and become a young woman. Red of course is growing up, despite her Grandmother’s wishes, and has begun to attract the attention of a local boy. Red also stumbles across an amorous and less then savory lone wanderer in the woods.

The movie is visually rich, and uses symbolism as a blunt instrument. Every sequence designed to elicit an emotional response is applied with force sufficient to flatten a 1985 Buick. Grandmother’s tales are caricatures of adult behavior designed to scare Red into staying a sweet virginal girl, and come across as more laughable then horrific. The ending is predictable, as this is a coming of age, loss of innocence story. Grandmother tells stories to frighten and warn Red of the dangers of the adult world. We all know that the final decision on whether or not to go off into the unknown with a dark furry stranger rests on the shoulders of Red.

Where this movie excelled, was in its animatronics special affects. When men transform into wolves, the audience is shown the transformation in real time. Skin tears as new bones grow, fangs protrude painfully from jaws, and in 1985 there was no CGI technology to create these affects.

I walked away from this movie with a bad taste in my mouth. This movie portrayed men in two lights, useless but well-intentioned buffoons, who cannot see beyond the end of their nose. Or as sexual predators lurking around the corner waiting to deflower young girls the first chance that they have. Conversely, I do not believe that this movie portrayed women in a compelling light. Grandmother and Red’s stepmother believe that women should be sweet and innocent. The women featured in Grandmothers stories who have matured, are portrayed as whores and evil witches who torment men for their own amusement. This movie is not a bedtime story it’s a manifesto for sexual repression.

Fear Itself

Justice League - The New Frontier (2008)

Fear comes in many shapes and forms. There is fear of the dark, fear of change, fear of an enemy, and fear of the unknown. After World War 2 America became a nation of fear, and it was led there by a Senator named Joseph McCarthy. Senator McCarthy came forward and claimed he could protect Americans from what they feared, and Americans gladly handed the reigns of power over to him. Americans trusted McCarthy to protect them, and to ferret out the enemies from within their midst.

Fear is a powerful weapon, and everyone faces it differently. When the man of steel was faced with fear, he succumbed to it and pledged his blind loyalty to the Government in order to better protect its citizens. When the amazing Amazon was confronted with fear, she taught victims to over come their fears, and made others fear her when she refused to bow to the government’s desires. When an Air Force pilot felt the engine of his plane sputter and die under enemy gunfire, he pulled his ejection seat and leapt blindly into enemy territory unafraid of what would happen to him.

Justice League, The New Frontieris an animated adaptation of the DC Comics graphic novel The New Frontierby artist and writer Darwin Cooke. The story is set in the DC Comics universe during the Cold War, when America was at a turning point in its cultural identity. The House Un-American Activities Commission sought out communists, Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, Super Heroes went into hiding, and Ferris Aircraft led the charge into space.

Unbeknownst to the world, not only America is at a turning point; it is humanity that is at a turning point. An unimaginable evil known only as The Center has awakened from centuries long slumber in the aftermath of the atomic bomb. The Center is a beast that predates the dinosaurs, a beast with a life span so long, that it has only just now noticed the apes crawling on the surface of the planet. And The Center has declared that the human race is too dangerous to be allowed to continue as a species.

Blind to the threat it faces the American government covers up any occurrence that they cannot explain or control. Costumed super heroes are hunted down and captured in an effort to use their abilities to further the cause of America. Ferris Aircraft pushes it’s test pilot to the edge to land on Mars, and if necessary combat any hostile life forms found there. All the while The Center grows in power and slowly plots the destruction of humanity.

This is the second direct to DVD cartoon released by Warner Brothers with a PG-13 rating. Heroes die, monsters are blown into bloody pieces, and the story contains adult themes such as rape, death, and lynch mobs. Producers are now aware that adults enjoy super hero stories without them being sanitized for children, fast food collaborations and t-shirt sales. Perhaps this movie represents the dawn of a new age of super hero cartoons; an age where stories of power rings and shape shifting aliens can be of quality.

Fear is a powerful weapon, but its hold over a populous is tenuous at best. When one person stands before others and declares their willingness to fight an enemy, others will follow. When that one person is struck down, they become a rallying point, and even more flock to their cause. When that fear is overcome, enemies realize that they were fighting for the same cause all along put aside their differences and fight their mutual enemy. Sometimes, all it takes is one person of integrity to put aside fear and lead the charge into a bright new world of tomorrow.

Double Down on 11

Made (2001)


Have you ever watched The Sopranos and thought to yourself “I could make it in organized crime”, well the main characters of Made certainly thought just that they could do just that. Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughan bring us the tale of a pair of old friends who want to be “Made Men”. One of them thinks that they’ve got what it takes, and the other just wants to take a job so he can pay the bills and to provide a better life for his stripper girlfriend and her daughter.

I love a good buddy picture and the duo of Favreau and Vaughan do not fail to deliver a good buddy picture. Vaughn plays the loud, over bearing low class buddy who has seen one to many mobster movies, and Favreau plays the nice guy who worries about his responsibilities. It’s a tried and over used comedy pairing, but it’s worked for years why change it up now? We haven’t seen this pair use this formula since their 1996 film Swingers,and we loved it then why wouldn’t we love it now? Throw in Peter Falk of Columbofame as the biggest mob boss in Los Angeles, Famke Jensen as the stripper girl friend, and Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs as the modern day New York mobster who’s close to the street and you’ve got a recipe for a mob comedy.

Favreau and Vaughn seemed to be at odds with each other during their screen time together. Vaughn strives hard to bring us a Rat Pack Era comedy, while Favreau’s portrayal of a down on his luck boxer attempts to rekindle the gritty crime dramas of the 1970’s. Vaughn’s on screen presence is an irritating party animal, who almost comes across as a loveable yet brain damaged buddy, while Favreau’s sobering presence reminds you that the mob is not to be trifled with, and that sometimes your best buddy is going to put your life in danger because you vouched for him.

The thing this movie has going for it, is its ability to immerse the audience in a realistically portrayed world of underworld business. The dialogue has an authentic feeling flow to it, and the story pacing leads the audience to a very believable world where the characters go about their lives trying to earn a living. None of the characters we’re presented with come across as unneeded or extemporaneous, and all of them add flavor and spirit to the production. Famke Jensen barely has screen time, but her character is vibrant memorable, and leaves an indelible mark upon the story. Peter Falk is the unsung gem of this movie, and you can’t help but give your attention to his character when he speaks.

If Vaughn and Favreau have taught us anything in their previous films together, it’s that you should always double down on 11, and you should have an ace in the hole. These are two phrases to live by that will make sure you end up eating pizza at a birthday party instead of swimming with the fishes.

A History of Family

A History of Violence (2005)

I’ve been a fan of the work of David Cronenberg for many years now. I’ve watched his work mature from bloody b movies to obscure story and now to modern drama. A History of Violenceis a dark family drama based on the comic book of the same name, and Cronenberg surprised me with his work this time around.

The premise of the movie is a basic one, one mans past catches up with him, upsets his happy family small town life, and the family is forced to deal with the lies he has told over the years. Movies with basic stories are some of my favorite films, and this movie continues to add to that concept. If the story is basic, it is up to the director and the cast to draw your attention to the screen. Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, David Cronenberg, William Hurt, and Ed Harris are each enough to earn my interest mixing them together in a movie about what a family does to remain a family is a recipe for quality.

To call History of Violencea comic book movie, would be to confuse the movie with spandex and super powers. If this movie were made in the 1940’s it would have starred Paul Henreid, Humphrey Bogart, and Ingrid Bergman. Raymond Chandler could have written the script and he would have stood in line for days to experience the home spun look of the Indiana town upset by the gruesome killing of two strangers committed by one of it’s leading citizens. Cronenberg managed to work in a few shots throughout the movie where walls, doorways, and roads caused straight lines to appear and give the audience the illusion of the frames of a comic book panel.

Mortensen has been the heroic leading man many times, and he still leads this production but without the shine of heroism. His pickup truck needs work, his flannel shirts are faded, and his son needs guidance about growing up. He portrays a man who was once highly skilled and highly sought after in a very specialized industry. Who now seeks a life where serving a good cup of coffee, a nice slice of key lime pie, and a happy family are his only goals. And he will do what he has to continue with this life.

If there were something about this movie that stuck out in my mind as not belonging in the film, it would be Maria Bello. Her performance is as powerful as any other in this film, but her look struck me as overly polished. How many small town Indiana mothers of two with a successful law practice manage to maintain a full all over body tan of the perfect shade of California? Her acting skills give her the screen presence to stand alongside any leading man in film today, but she appears to be over produced and almost painted.

History of Violence is a film about family, and what a family has to go through to remain a family. In this household, the family is concerned with a troubled teenager, a pick up truck with an engine that won’t turn over, a little girl who needs new shoes, and mobsters trying to whack daddy. It may not be what your family goes through on a day-to-day basis, but it is a family drama with an air of believability.