jamesfergusonjr

The Western has become a genre that?s sort of touched on by an ambitious director every so often. It?s no longer the ?go-to? type of film that it used to be. That rarity makes each western that does come out somehow much better. Just look at films like The Missing, The Proposition, or less recently, The Quick and the Dead. Next in line is 3:10 To Yuma.

I was amazed at the simplicity of the film. It hits on such basic themes like pride, family, and good vs. evil but it takes these simple ideas and works magic with them. The general idea is that Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) is an outlaw that?s been caught by a ragtag posse including Dan Evans (Christian Bale). They?ve got to get Wade to the town of Contention and on the 3:10 train to Yuma prison before his gang comes to take him back. The group sets out on this journey and problems arise along the way.

The real treat for this film comes in the form of Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. The two interact like they?re two sides of the same coin. They seem to have so much in common, but at the same time they?re so entirely different. Ben Wade is the ruthless outlaw that?s robbed 22 stagecoachs and his gun (aptly named ?The Hand of God?) is something to be feared across the country. Meanwhile, Bale?s Evans is a down-on-his-luck rancher with a family struggling to survive on nothing while he?s up to his neck in debt. Evans sees an opportunity when he encounters Wade and he exploits it while taking this moment to prove to his family and any others that he?s got some backbone.

If I had to pick between the two, I?d say that Crowe has a slight edge in this film. His character just oozes this kind of confident evil at first. You know not to trust him and if you were in the same room as him, you?d be sure to keep an eye on him no matter what. I loved how he was able to just sort of slide his way into conversations and people?s minds, manipulating them like puppets on strings.

3:10 To Yuma is a testament to a great Western. It pulls in all aspects of the genre from stagecoach robbery and steam engines to cowboys and Indians. The only thing I can add is that after watching this I?ve got to check out the original 1957 film that this one is based on. I can?t imagine it being much better than this one though.

When I first heard of this film, I thought it would be right up my alley. Something about the sun dying and a group of people heading out to restart it, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Cillian Murphy? Sold. I thought I?d love it, but I only ended up liking it.

The film started out well enough, setting up the story and where things stand. As usual, Boyle is on his game displaying some of the best visuals in cinema today. He always finds an interesting way to show you things and this movie is no different. The massive ship traveling towards the sun is both beautiful and awe-inspiring. It?s mentioned in the film that the remaining members of humankind pulled together the last of Earth?s resources to build and fuel this giant and it shows. It?s basically the culmination of human achievement. The characters are introduced and we?ve already got tension as things progress.

Then somewhere towards the 3/4 mark it sort of lost me a little. The introduction of a saboteur whom the camera couldn?t focus on was a little interesting, but mostly irritating. I felt the effects on this guy were totally unnecessary. The film takes an abrupt turn from sci-fi / drama to horror / thriller and it?s not an easy change. The entire ending wasn?t horrible, but I wasn?t too thrilled about this change. The very end was good though and worth the trip. The last scene is just one of those inspirational type closings. It was a perfect way to wrap things up.

Sunshine is definitely worth checking out. While I had some issues with certain parts of it, it?s really a movie that any sci-fi fan would enjoy and I?m definitely included in that group.

Based on the fantastic book by Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo?s Nest takes us inside the loony bin. While I didn?t think that the movie was nearly as good as the book, I still enjoyed it. A lot of the book?s themes are shown really well including the dry, emotionless ward and the ball of fire that is R. P. McMurphy (played brilliantly by Jack Nicholson). Ultimately it just doesn?t have the time or space to get to all the interesting details in the novel even with a runtime of over 2 hours.

It?s not a bad movie though. Far from it. All of the actors deliver fantastic performances including a very young and tiny Danny DeVito. Louise Fletcher was just perfect as the porcelain faced manipulator of patients, Nurse Ratched. You could feel the room get colder whenever she spoke. The group of patients were just plain interesting and you wanted to help them. You wanted to see them get better. They?re not all that crazy.

My one major qualm with the movie was the under-used Chief. He narrates the book, but it takes quite awhile for him to shine in the film. I felt like there was a lot more potential for the character that was just wasted.

I?m still trying to formulate some more thoughts on this film, but what it ultimately comes down to is that the book is better. Yes, the film is good and it?s won all kinds of awards, but do yourself a favor and pick up the book.

I first heard of this film from Ed Brubaker in the comic Criminal. He recommended the film and it sounded like a great piece of film noir. Unfortunately, it?s a Criterion Collection DVD, so it means I?d have to shell out a bunch of cash if I?d ever want to see it. Then a sale came by and I was able to pick it up recently.

Blast of Silence is an inspiration. It was made with next to no money and filmed on location on the streets of New York City. This caused a few run-ins with the police. At it?s heart, the film is a typical film noir story. You?ve got the loner gunman, Frank Bono who rolls into town for a job. Things don?t go according to plan, regardless of how professional Frank acts and things end in tragedy. But I felt like this film was just more than that.

What I found unique about Blast of Silence was mostly how it was told. Lionel Stander narrated the film in this hard man?s voice. His narration made up at least 70% of the film?s dialogue. At first I was a little skeptical because it felt like a book with moving pictures, but the voice grew on me. It became a sort of conscience for our protagonist. Granted, he was no Jiminy Cricket, but he became this little voice, almost like another personality that spoke to Franky and in turn, us. I feel like if any other movie tried to do this, it just wouldn?t work. On the surface it sounds like a horrible way to direct a movie, but it just worked in this one.

The characters are perfect and for a low-budget film, surprising well played. Frank is this lonely professional hitman who always does things by the book. Somehow returning to New York City is the equivalent to throwing a monkey wrench into his world of rules. Throughout his entire journey he?s thinking of things that he could have done or could have been. Is this all that he?s amounted to in life? A well-payed, lonely hitman? Joining Frank is the skeevy and oddly disturbing Big Ralph whom Frank hits up for a much needed gun. Larry Tucker is just so?odd in this role. I sort of like Ralph, but at the same time, I despise him. I love that effect.

Included on this hoity-toity Criterion release is a cool booklet with some more info about the movie. There?s also an hour long documentary where director/writer/actor Allen Baron returns to the streets where he made the film 30 years later. It?s interesting and a little heartfelt as he literally takes a stroll down memory lane.

Blast of Silence is an achievement in low-budget film-making. It?s far from the greatest movie ever made, but it?s just good, gritty film noir that I can get behind. Sure, the effects are far from spectacular and the gunfights can be a little silly, but that doesn?t matter. This is a good movie that gets under your skin. Frank is nothing but professional, but things get quickly out of hand with this job when he?s shown glimpses of what he could have had if his life was just a little different. I can easily recommend this film to any fan of film noir.

After being impressed by Ong-Bak - The Thai Warrior, I was eager to check out The Protector starring Tony Jaa. Ong-Bak featured some of the most incredible martial arts I?ve ever seen and The Protector was no different. Tony Jaa pushed himself with some breathtaking moves in this film. I feel like I could have watched it for the fight scenes alone and still enjoyed it immensely.

Similar in theme to Ong-Bak, The Protector shows Jaa as Cam, a young man raised in a small village in Thailand. He?s part of a tribe that raises elephants to one day be presented to the king. When his elephant and it?s father are taken by poachers, Cam sets out to get them back and deal some punishment to the poachers. Cam?s travels bring him to Syndey, Australia where the elephants are being held by a large corporation. Some asses are kicked and things are set (mostly) right by the end. The story is somewhat simple, but very heartfelt. Cam?s people see the elephants as relatives, not pets or animals. They are part of their family and are viewed as such so you can imagine the sadness when they are taken from the tribe.

As I?ve mentioned, Tony Jaa is just amazing. I wish I could do a fraction of the things he does in this film. He runs up walls. He flips over motorcycles. He jumps onto helicopters. He hits people in the chest with his knees. Amazing work. He co-choreographed the fight scenes in the film with such precision that you can?t help but be impressed. There were many times where I felt my jaw drop or I just exclaimed ?Wow!? after a stunt was performed.

The direction really works well with the fight scenes. There are no shaky cams here and there aren?t a ton of takes so you?re not confused as to what?s going on or who?s fighting who. There?s actually one scene where Jaa enters a club and ascends to the top of a long spiral staircase 4 flights up taking out tons of henchmen on the way up. The entire scene which lasts a good 5 minutes at least is filmed all in ONE take. Let me say that again. An entire fight scene with tons of stunts and people being tossed left and right is filmed in only one take with a steady cam. No shakes with a clear following of Jaa as he opens up a gigantic can of whupass. As the scene progressed, I couldn?t believe that they didn?t cut. Jaa must have been exhausted by the time he got to the top, but it must have been worth it for such an incredible scene.

The Protector wasn?t without it?s faults though. The sound effects get more and more excessive as the movie goes on. The final fight scene features some of the most ridiculous and just plain loud sound effects that it almost took me out of the movie altogether. It?s tough to concentrate on the film when every other move seems to break someone?s limb so loudly that it?s heard in the next room.

While most of the dialogue was spoken in the native Thai, there is a chunk of it spoken in English. Unfortunately, it?s spoken by people for whom English is obviously not a first language. As a result, I highly recommend watching this film with subtitles on for everything, not just the Thai dialogue as it can be very hard to understand what the characters are saying when they?re speaking English.

OK. Interesting premise? Check. Noteworthy director? Check. Decent Actors? Check. Story? ? Story? Aww to Hell with it. It?s close enough. That?s the thought process that I felt went into Mamoru Oshii?s Avalon. The whole idea and visuals of the film were great. I was just bored watching it.

Set in a not-too-distant future, the world is seemingly overrun by a virtual reality game called Avalon. There?s a risk to it though because some users are coming out of the game braindead. That?s OK though because it?s fun! The film follows Ash, a pro player searching for?something. She lives a very lonely life, but is feared and respected in the halls of Avalon. Someone from her past shows up and she sets out on some sort of adventure or something. To be honest, I lost interest by the time this happened, so I can?t really tell you what was going on by the end. On the surface it looks like the film is trying to discern what is more real; the game or reality?

Visually, the film is fantastic. It was made with this sort of hazy light surrounding the characters which gives many scenes a sort of dream-like quality, especially those seen in the game. In the outside world, things seem rather dry and boring showing that these players who can take out helicopters and tanks like it?s an every day thing can barely live a normal day-to-day life. The in-game scenes also feature some interesting effects such as the ?deaths? of characters as they suddenly become two dimensional and then disappear in a cloud of pixels. The game system itself, a horrible second cousin of a dentist?s chair looks rather impressive from a prop standpoint as well.

That?s about all I got out of the film though. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, but it didn?t. Things picked up a little bit towards the end of the film where Ash reaches a whole new level of gameplay that looks remarkably like the real world. I was faced with the question of whether or not she was really in a game. Unfortunately by that point I couldn?t care less. I wouldn?t recommend this film. If you like the premise and want to see something at least moderately interesting, check out the Anime series .hack//sign.