The Maltese Falcon (1941)

In case you're not familiar, The Maltese Falcon is the standard for all film noir as well as Humphrey Bogart's career even though its actually a remake of a film that came out only ten years earlier. Humphrey Bogart is the smooth yet cold detective Sam Spade. Mary Astor is Brigid O'Shaughnessy, the frightened dame looking for help finding her missing sister.

When Spade's partner is killed during the investigation, Spade reluctantly picks up the case because, as he puts it, "When a man's partner gets killed, he's supposed to do something about it." Brigid's case isn't what she originally made it out to be and soon enough Sam is involved in the hunt for a statue called The Maltese Falcon. He tangles with a few others looking for it too, including Sydney Greenstreet in his first film role as the gentlemanly yet commanding Kasper Gutman and his oftentimes screen partner, Peter Lorre as Gutman's dapper associate, Joel Cairo. Distinct, memorable performances come from both these men.

While Mary Astor was the female star of the film, Lee Patrick is the one who really stands toe to toe with Bogart as Spade's secretary Effie. She slides in and out of scenes with ease, showing her distaste in small ways without words or disrespect. Meanwhile Astor stands around looking like a worried flower about to wilt, making you wonder how the heck she got involved with any of these people in the first place. And then of course there's Bogart bringing depth to the tough Sam Spade with movements as small as a smile. It's clear he does everything he does with great thought behind it and even though Spade isn't necessarily a nice guy, it's easy to find yourself rooting for him.

The film itself has great flow with the exception of any time anyone disarms anyone else. It's amusing, coming across as a hiccup with moves you can see coming across the room, but that's a style of the time. Outside of that you just float right through.

The Maltese Falcon shines even more so through its fantastic cinematography. Pause it at nearly any moment and you have a beautifully-composed black and white photo. This was soon-to-be-well-known writer/director/actor John Huston's first time directing and he's comes pretty strongly out of the gate. He doesn't shove anything in your face. He just lets you discover the film naturally and that's more beautiful than any jewels the falcon may have encrusted in it.

Rating: 5/5
Recommended for: Photographers and people who like to see where things got their beginnings

Eagle vs Shark (2007)

Eagle vs Shark = Napoleon Dynamite + Flight of the Conchords - comedy.

Taika Cohen's 2007 New Zealand export features the same deadpan, down-on-their-luck type main characters as 2004's Napoleon Dynamite. The difference is you can only root for one of these characters... and only for a limited time.

Loren Horsley's Lily is unpopular even in her job at a fast food restaurant where on at least one occasion, she has given away food for free. After she gets let go from her job, she gains the courage to invite herself to a recent customer's party. This customer is the socially awkward Jarrod (Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement) who is only interested in Lily when she almost beats him at a video game. Moments later they're a couple and she's joining him on a trip back home where he plans on facing a bully from his youth. What follows is people being cold to each other and disappointment. Overall, it is just the aforementioned equation. The movie doesn't bring anything more to those concepts, plus it's uncomfortable to watch with no satisfying redemption.

If you want a socially awkward movie, stick with Napoleon Dynamite - it has a lot more charm and a greater chance of leaving a smile on your face.

Rating: 1/5
Recommended for: People who liked Napoleon Dynamite but found it to be much too uplifting.

Dial M for Murder (1954)

Dial M for Murder seems predictable enough but still holds a few surprises up its sleeve. This well-known 1954 Alfred Hitchcock-helmed howcatchem mystery stars Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings and John Williams. Based on the Fredrick Knott play, the film introduces us to Tony Wendice, a former pro tennis player who is plotting to have his rich wife, Margot, killed. While Tony was focusing on his game, Margot had an affair with the American mystery writer Mark Halliday. When Tony quit tennis and started paying attention to her, she broke things off with Mark - who has now stopped by for a visit. Tony's come up with a seemingly flawless plan, but as we all know things rarely go according to plan.

The movie easily holds the audience's interest as it strolls through it's 105 minutes. Usually it's for positive reasons, although two cinematographically ick moments come to mind. One is a short sequence filmed from overhead. While Hitchcock was going for a claustrophobic atmosphere, this shot hinders by being just out of the blue. There are no security cameras involved and it's not arty. Perhaps it looked cooler in 3D (in which the movie was actually filmed). If so, it's one step above throwing something at the camera. The other jarring visual is a court room scene. It consists of a person, a blank backdrop, different color flashing lights, anguish, and voice overs. It's so stylized it slaps you in the face. There are classier ways it could have been done without building an entire court room set or even having anyone extra on screen.

Luckily the rest of the film is well done and not so distracting from the captivating plot. It's usually a concern of mine with Hitchcock films that it'll be overly creepy or horrific (i.e. The Birds), but this one isn't. Instead it gives you a story that lets you in on the game but keeps you guessing as to how it'll end.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: People who read the last page of a book first

I Love You, Man (2009)

The appearance of Paul Rudd and Jason Segel on the poster should tell you that I Love You, Man is not your typical gross-out, buddy movie. It's so much better.

These men are the thinking person's comedians presenting us with the multi-dimensional characters of Peter Klaven (Rudd) and Sydney Fife (Segel). Peter's a real estate agent whose just proposed to his girlfriend (Rashida Jones). Her friends have noticed that Peter doesn't seem to have any guy friends of his own and everyone's wondering who his best man will be. He realizes he doesn't know how to go out and make guy friends. He doesn't play poker. He doesn't go out drinking. He doesn't do any of the typical things guys do with their buddies.

Luckily for him, he hosts an open house at Lou Ferrigno's house and Sydney is in attendance (to pick up women and score free food). It's here where they first begin to bond. Of course the two men are opposites in many ways. Sydney is a laid back, confident, philosopher-type while Peter is an uptight, timid, by-the-rules man.

Peter somehow gets the courage to call up Sydney to hang out and the friendship that grows out of that comes off as genuine while still being highly entertaining. The guys share a love of Rush and enjoy hanging out in Sydney's "Man Cave". Peter finally has someone he can talk to about anything and Sydney has someone to hang out with when all his other friends have to go home to their wives and kids.

Both Rudd and Segel play off each other with ease. It's nice to see two actors better known for their supporting roles (with the exception of Segel's recent Forgetting Sarah Marshall) shine as leads. Writer/Director John Hamburg has given them some fun material to work with, although there was definitely a fair share of improvisation as well.

Andy Samberg and J. K. Simmons in supporting roles as Peter's brother and father respectively steal the screen in their moments with their simple, seriousness. In fact there's a full cast of comedians doing a nice job of not stepping on each others' toes while taking their characters very seriously. This I Love You, Man team leaves us with something that is funny, yet relatable all the while feeling surprisingly fresh.

Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: Adults who want a feel-good movie that also makes you laugh. Also Rush fans.

Extended Review: After watching the metric ton worth of extras on the DVD, it's easy to see that a) these people had a blast making this movie and b) Hamburg and the editing team had a lot of decisions to make for the final cut of this film. Often when watching deleted or extended versions of scenes, the reasons they were cut are quite apparent. For I Love You, Man, the best reasons seem to be just that they went with an alternate version of the line or it'd make the film 4 hours long to keep it in there. So much of what didn't make it into the film was just as funny as some of the stuff that did make it. You don't see that very often.

Watchmen (2009)

This movie is an experience... a nearly three hour experience, but an experience none the less. Normally the time would be an issue, but this movie had so much to tell. I could only think of one scene I'd trim down and zero that I'd cut out.

Watchmen tells of an alternate 1980's United States where Nixon is still president and the Cold War is still looming. The US was once protected by the Minutemen, a group of masked vigilantes with no real super powers but a desire to fight bad guys. The problem was that the line between good and bad was very squiggly. As that group grew older, a new group called the Crimebusters formed and took up the fight. Eventually the public grew wary of these costumed not-so-super-heroes and Congress passed an act that forced them all into retirement. Now one of the former heroes has turned up dead and Rorschach - a vigilante who never really stopped vigilante-ing - is suspicious and calls on the rest of the Crimebusters/Watchmen to figure out what is happening.

Watchmen was passed around for several years. Many directors were once attached to the project with their many cast wish lists, but when it finally came to fruition, it paid off. The film is intense, the story is intriguing and the majority of cast is fantastic. Jackie Earle Haley and Patrick Wilson are the casting department's winning entries, giving fully-committed performances - not your standard super hero movie fare. Wilson even commented at a premiere that it's nice they didn't have to cut corners for the sake of the genre.

There's action. There's suspense (especially if you haven't read the graphic novel it's based on). But if you're looking for mindless entertainment, you'll be disappointed. Morality issues and gray areas abound. The characters are flawed and complex with differing approaches to their situation. And there's enough of them you'll be bound to find one you sympathize with more than the others. The major elements of the ending are different than the graphic novel, but they add to the complexity and are more believable. Overall, it's the intellectual's badass thrill ride.

Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: Adults who don't mind a little brain work with their action

Roman Holiday (1953)

Roman Holiday is AFI's #4 Romantic Comedy of all time. I must have seen a different movie than they did. Mainly, it's a moving love note to Rome. Other than that, it has a tiny bit of romance, the borderline unrequited kind, and its comedy is hard to find.

I guess I just don't see what's so comedic about a princess who is so sheltered, naive, and gullible she'll believe almost anything anyone tells her. Audrey Hepburn plays Princess Ann, who is on a goodwill tour of Europe. When her entourage stops in Rome, she decides she's had enough and sneaks away in the night.

Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck), an American reporter, finds her asleep on a bench and takes her back to his place because he can't get her to tell him how to get her back home. The next day while arguing with his editor he realizes the girl he found is the princess and bets his editor he can get an exclusive interview with her. He goes back to his apartment and eventually Ann agrees to tour Rome with him and his photographer friend.

The sites they see are of course beautiful. It was the first American film to be shot entirely in Italy. The romance comes from the idea of a reverse Cinderella, a princess looking for a common man to rescue her. And while it's believable that by the end of the day Ann has fallen for Joe, it seems more like he just feels sorry for her.

Hepburn won an Oscar for this role. And there was probably a fare share of self-insertion, as Hepburn herself was new to the American film industry and in at least one scene, the director went with the take where Hepburn didn't know what was going on. And in the important ending scene, Hepburn wasn't crying the required tears, so the director grumbled about how many takes she wasted which made her cry for real.

I guess most people enjoy a bit of escapist fluff from time to time.

Rating: 2/5
Recommended for: Audrey Hepburn fans and people who missed out on visiting Rome in the 1950s.

Burn After Reading (2008)

Burn After Reading has two things you'd expect from a Coen brothers movie: dark humor and Frances McDormand. The fault lies in the marketing as to how laugh out loud funny this movie is. The trailers, the commercials - both portray it as the most uproariously funny thing you'd see in 2008. It is not. What we're looking at is dark - very dark.

Two gym employees, Linda (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt), find the memoirs of a recently laid off fed agent (John Malkovich) on a cd in the locker room. They mistake this for top secret information and set to sell it back to its owner. The disc actually belonged to the agent's wife (Tilda Swinton), who was trying to find info about him for their upcoming divorce.

What follows is generally people acting horribly to each other and lots of patented Malkovich yelling. When physical violence erupts it is intense - also a Coen trademark. Richard Jenkins steals a bit of the limelight as Linda and Chad's powerless boss Ted while J. K. Simmons brings a little straight-laced humor in his brief scenes as an agency superior. And if anyone is actually goofy funny, it's Brad Pitt who brings a much needed lightness to the story. Still, overall not much of a comedy.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: Adults who'd watch anything that has the Coen brothers' name on it.

The Visitor (2007)

The first 15 minutes of The Visitor are agonizing boredom, but sit through it and you will be wonderfully rewarded. If it weren't for the drudgery of the opening where we meet the shut in, widowed, apathetic professor Walter Vale, you might not appreciate how far the film takes you (and Walter) by the end.

Walter is in New York City to present a paper at a conference. He opens the door to his often abandoned apartment to find Tarek, a Syrian drummer, and his girlfriend Zainab, a Senegalese jewelry maker, living there. They were conned about the apartment's vacancy and immediately pack up to leave. Walter lets them, but then follows them and tells them to stay.

What follows changes Walter's life and it's so emotionally beautiful that everything else fades away. The sets, the lighting, it's all barely noticeable (and that can be a good thing) because these characters are so captivating. The whole cast does a fantastic job. Haaz Sleiman as Tarek is charismatic and endearing. Danai Jekesai Gurira makes the melting of Zainab's frosty disposition reveal an even more interesting woman. Hiam Abbass as Tarek's mother Mouna is tough but an easy person with which to sympathize. And Richard Jenkins delivers a subtle, intimate performance as the aforementioned professor. His Oscar nomination was so very much deserved.

It's hard to say much more about it without giving too much away, so just hang tight through the very beginning and prepare to watch the walls come down around a man's heart.

Rating: 5/5
Recommended for: Anyone who can stand to watch a quiet movie with great characters

The Rocker (2008)

I really wanted to enjoy The Rocker. Its the first staring vehicle for Rainn Wilson, who does a fabulous job on tv as The Office's Dwight Schrute. But the film falls flat with few if any laugh out loud moments.

Apparently 5 years is not long enough between this movie and Jack Black's School of Rock because it strikingly seems like the same movie with a few substitutions. Swap out the down-on-his-luck guitarist with a drummer who just missed out on making it big. Instead of the character taking a job as a 4th grade music teacher, he'll be asked by his nephew to join said nephew's high school band. Oh, and instead of this character being named Dewey Finn, this lead will be named Robert "Fish" Fishman.

If you're going to redo a distinct plot, you've got to bring something to the table. The slapstick and guest stars as Fish's former bandmates just weren't enough. And with all that being said, it's all still mildly amusing. Kids will probably like it.

Rating: 2/5
Recommended for: People who miss School of Rock and Guitar Hero fanatics

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)

Nick and Norah seem like nice enough people. And it seems like they had a fun enough evening. It's just too bad it was so laid back it almost doesn't seem interesting enough to make a movie about.

Nick (Michael Cera) is a low-confidence high school senior recently dumped by his girlfriend. Norah (Kat Dennings) is a high school senior as well as the daughter of a recording industry executive. She seemingly spends all her time though being the caretaker of her irresponsible best friend, Caroline. Nick's band mates drag him out of the house to play a concert. Norah is there, walks up to Nick, and kisses him to prove to a school acquaintance she isn't alone. And the rest of the night stems from there with a missing drunken friend, a search for the mystery location of a favorite band's concert, and the looming ex-girlfriend and ex-boyfriend of the title characters.

Cera and Dennings bring charm and realism to their roles. They're likable and their relationship is believable. Ari Graynor as Norah's friend Caroline brings comic relief with her drunken escapades without becoming too annoying. Nick's band mates deliver some amusing one liners and a kind support system. The indie music provides a fun background. Now if only they could all have taken their trip in about a half hour less. What could be a madcap adventure crawls slowly through the evening. Everything that happens before the concert was filmed 6 months into post-production. Those scenes of course made the movie longer but it also gave some depth to the characters so adding that wasn't a bad choice. Either director Peter Sollett needed to move everyone along while filming or the editor Myron Kerstein needed to cut down a few scenes.

Overall it's a decent movie that teenagers and many adults can find enjoyable enough.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: those who miss George Michael from Arrested Development

Extended Review: Although the film starts out with steadicam shots that make the viewer feel like they're alternately swaying or just tilting his/her head side to side, luckily for our stomachs, the cinematography gets much better as the film goes on. Although since the beginning was filmed later, perhaps the cinematography was good and then the "hurry up, let's get this done so we can add it" was what suffered. Either way, the closing shot is what really deserves a mention. Michael Cera walking in place on the down escalator was amusing. They took that movement and went with it and Cera and Dennings' heads moving through the frame like a heart was a cute choice. (Not to mention so much more preferable than them dancing the night away at that rooftop concert or worse yet, a freeze frame at the end of dancing.)

Mermaids (1990)

You look at the poster for this movie and think... I hope this isn't a movie about a woman who thinks she's a mermaid and her children who have to deal with it. But luckily for all of us, it's just a costume she wears to a strange Christmasy/New Year's Eve/Costume party.

Mermaids is instead the story of Mrs. Flax (Cher) who basically does whatever she wants and when it backfires on her, she just picks up her family and moves somewhere else. She doesn't really seem to care how this affects her two children - teenaged Charlotte (Winona Ryder), who wants to become a nun despite being Jewish, and Kate (Christina Ricci in her first film role), a grade schooler who'd like to break the world record for not breathing underwater. At the beginning of the film, they're on their 18th move and Charlotte is having trouble coping.

If you've never seen Cher in film before you may be surprised to find out she's a decent actress. Christina Ricci isn't given any terribly difficult material but she does just fine with what she has - not distracting from any of the adults with the "acting" to which some child actors are prone. It's Winona Ryder who really makes this movie though. Her narration interspersed with in the moment internal monologuing helps you get attached to her quickly. Emotions she goes through in voiceover are also readily apparent in her expressions on the screen. Ryder's maturity makes her ideal for this role.

As for other aspects of the film... well, it takes place in the 1960s but looks more so like a fictional place. You almost expect a saloon to be next door to their friend Lou's shoe store. All the buildings are pale and seashore colored, except for the nunnery next door that looks like a dark and overly foreboding tower in the weeds. Just keep your eyes on the characters and you'll be in for an interesting ride.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: Winona Ryder fans.

Extended Review: There seems to be a case of "oh-shoot-we-have-to-end-this-movie" going on here. Mrs. Flax and Charlotte have said what they need to say. They've come to some sort of a deal that holds no promise of a long term solution. I know... let's dance! It looks like they're having fun even though it's logically way too soon for that if things are really going to change in that household. The only worse choice of an ending that could have been made is a freeze frame of the three girls in a group hug.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Slumdog Millionaire is a jarring story that rips between a young man doing very well on India's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and the life he's lived that taught him those answers.

The young man, Jamal Malik, is played by Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Tanay Chheda, and Dev Patel throughout his life. This was the first or second role ever for all of them but you wouldn't know it. They each bring a profound innocence to the character despite all the horrible things that have happened to him growing up.

Credit most likely goes to director Danny Boyle for that. Boyle's oftentimes jarring style give the movie, and the city of Mumbai, a frenetic feel. Part of this came from Boyle's decision to use handheld cameras for filming in the slums - that way he'd be less likely to disrupt people's daily lives. If you're worried it's going to make you sick, don't worry, as they work their way out of the slum, the camera's more steady. Luckily all this moving around doesn't make you miss out on all the wonderful colors and lights.

In addition to grimy beauty, this film also offers up a great soundtrack. A.R. Rahman is said to have composed everything for it in about twenty days, but the songs will stick with you far longer. So many scores recently have blended into the background, so this is refreshing.

Ultimately, this film excels at throwing the events in this one man's life into sharp contrast - dazzling and dirty, uplifting but heartbreaking. Just beware of the hype. Even though it's a deserved Oscar winner for Best Picture, hype always messes with expectations and can ruin a film-watching experience.

Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: People who don't mind seeing the worst of times as long as they get to see the best of times too