Wyatt Earp

When it comes to iconic, famous names in American history, specifically the wild west of the 1860's and on to the turn of the century, rise above all others. Names like Billy the Kid, Buffalo Bill, Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok are all synonymous with the wild west, but maybe none more known and recognizable than lawman Wyatt Earp. He led a remarkably busy (and unscathed) life, and has been immortalized in both films and television shows alike. Here's 1994's Wyatt Earp, a bio-pic I'd never seen before a recent viewing.

Growing up on the family farm with his parents and brothers and sisters, young Wyatt Earp grows up learning to trust in himself and his family, and to always be there should that family need help. But as he puts his teenage years behind him, Wyatt (Kevin Costner) marries a beautiful young woman (Annabeth Gish) and looks to settle down and start a life. When his wife dies from typhoid, Wyatt is distraught, turning to alcohol and going into an epic depression. That's not the end that's meant for this enterprising young man though. Wyatt heads west, attracted by the possibility of riches in the untamed regions of the young country. Freight driver, bounty hunter, buffalo hunter, he tries it all, but his ultimate calling? That may be as a lawman, and the west is in great need of those. From boomtown to boomtown like Dodge City and Abilene, Wyatt's reputation grows and grows. That name begins to mean something -- fear, respect, intimidation -- as the far-more experienced, cynical Wyatt heads west once again with his brothers. This stop? Tombstone, Arizona.

I ain't real good at writing the words to describe an epic biography that covers multiple decades, introduces countless characters and in general, ain't easy to succinctly describe. And that's what this movie is. From director Lawrence Kasdan (also directed Silverado), 'Earp' is a three-hour biography of one of the west's most recognizable names, a bio-pic that was originally intended as a miniseries. Big impression? It probably would have been better that way. Even at three hours, this western feels like it tackled too much, taking on too much and not enough depending on the scene. Second big impression? It came out a year after one of the best westerns ever that dealt with the same topic, 1993's Tombstone. That's two strikes. What's gonna be the third one? Pick and choose because there's plenty.

History has a fun way of remembering folks. Case in point...Wyatt Earp. He was not a pleasant fella to say the least. The thing he is remembered most for -- the gunfight at the OK Corral -- led some to consider him and his brothers outright murderers. Wisely, 'Earp' does not try to gloss over the foibles and flaws in its titular character. Costner does a fine job showing Wyatt Earp's dark, cold, brutal side...but that's it. At a certain point, it gets repetitive. It becomes a performance without emotion because Wyatt becomes this one-note person. He wants to make a fortune for himself and his brothers. Anything else is just getting in the way. I found myself actively disliking the character and maybe that's the point. This is a bio-pic that probably shows Earp as he really was, not as we'd like to think of him. Accuracy is always a bonus in biographies, but that doesn't make it entertaining.

Almost from the beginning, 'Earp' felt like it handles everything in matter-of-fact fashion. Again...realistic but not necessarily entertaining (or even enjoyable). In its execution, this is a western epic that's trying to be EPIC and never quite gets there. Just not enough energy to bring it up to an epic level, much less a classic level. Gene Hackman gets to speechify in a small part as Wyatt's father, instilling (you could say drilling) the values that will impact his son for the rest of his life. One bbbbbbig moment after another comes along -- always with composer James Newton Howard's scoring swelling at the right moment -- and I kept waiting for these countless scenes to have some sort of impact on me...but they never did. When you know there's a three-hour running time still ahead of you, that's never a good feeling when you're not..well, feeling much at all about the movie.

One of the best things about Tombstone is the casting and characters. Here, dealing with the same people and the same basic story, only one performance really stands out. That's Dennis Quaid as Doc Holliday, a dentist, southern gentleman and gambler who's dying of tuberculosis. He has the unenviable task of following Val Kilmer's scene-stealing part as Doc, but creates his own character and performance. Quaid lost 30 pounds for the part of the dying gambler, giving him a distinctly sickly look. He's quick with a putdown and insult, just as quick as he is with a gun or knife in a scene-stealing performance. The only problem is that he's not around enough. There's too many speaking parts in general and most of them aren't developed nearly enough. Like so much else here, it felt like a wasted opportunity.

That said, 'Earp' does featuring some cool casting choices, even if they're misused. Michael Madsen, David Andrews, Linden Ashby and Jim Caviezel all play Earp brothers with Madsen and Ashby standing out for the positive. The Earp women, wives and sorta wives, played by Catherine O'Hara, JoBeth Williams and Mare Winningham, are given nothing to do other than complain Wyatt is mean in one-note performances (no fault of their own). In cool parts, Tom Sizemore and Bill Pullman play Bat and Ed Masterson, friends of the Earps and fellow lawmen, but they too are underused. Also look for Mark Harmon, Jeff Fahey, Joanna Going, Isabella Rossellini, and James Gammon in other supporting parts. Too many excellent historical figures are glossed over somewhat or entirely to the point it was unnecessary to even mention them.

I've always felt saying a movie is 'boring' is a cop-out, but man, this movie was boring. The last two hours are far better than the first, but I still kept waiting for the story and characters to pull me in. An epic disappointment unfortunately on basically on all levels.

Wyatt Earp (1994): **/****

What to Expect When You're Expecting

Brace yourself, it's not just a change of pace review. It's a BIG change of pace review. No, not just a romantic comedy....a romantic comedy about pregnancy. Oh, the horrors!!! Enter stage right 2012's What to Expect When You're Expecting.

From different backgrounds, jobs, marital/relationship statuses, five different women are all about to find out they're pregnant. How will they and their significant other handle the pregnancy and all its fun? Jules (Cameron Diaz) is a host and trainer on a weight loss reality show when she finds out that her boyfriend of three months are pregnant. Holly (Jennifer Lopez) is a freelance photographer who can't have a child, but with her husband is looking into overseas adoption. Wendy (Elizabeth Banks) owns a store aimed at young moms and after years of trying with her husband has finally gotten pregnant. Rosie (Anna Kendrick) owns a food truck and is stunned to find out she's pregnant after a one-night stand with someone from her past. Let the pregnancy hijinks begin.

Yes, this was a movie pick of the girlfriend, not one I picked on my own. Go figure, I didn't love it, but I liked it considerably more than I thought I would. From director Kirk Jones and based on a series of pregnancy help books, 'Expect' earned a decent $26 million in the U.S. and $83 million worldwide. The reviews are almost uniformly negative -- 5.5 at IMDB at time of review, 23% at Rotten Tomatoes -- and maybe it's easy to see why. It covers a whole lot of ground in 110 minutes with ideas of what characters are more than actually delving into said characters. I don't know, maybe I'm catching myself on a frustrated, negative swing as I read reviews, but what do you expect from a flick like this? It clearly wasn't made to rewrite FILM itself. It's supposed to be fun, emotional and dramatic, all rolled up into one. I liked it so deal with it, Internet.

The recent trend in comedies is seemingly to get every single actor/actress currently working in Hollywood who's available at the time of filming and make a movie. We're talking He's Just Not That Into You, any Tyler Perry movie, Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve and probably many more I haven't seen and am forgiving. There's a lot of talent assembled here so regardless of the thin characters, it's cool to see. Let's get going because I'm wasting my nonexistent word count. Diaz's Jules is dating Matthew Morrison's Evan, a dancer on a Dancing With the Stars knockoff, the duo having met while dancing together on the show. Lopez's Holly is married to Rodrigo Santoro's Alex who's understandably a little freaked out about adopting an African baby. Ben Falcone is a scene-stealer as Gary, Banks' Wendy's husband, supportive as he can be while dealing with his own struggles. As Rosie's baby daddy, Chace Crawford plays Marco, a rival food truck owner.

There's plenty going on at basically all times but two key additions (in terms of subplots at least) end up bringing the entire movie up a notch. Dennis Quaid plays Gary's Dad, a former race car driver who's remarried a much younger woman, Skyler (Brooklyn Decker), and is similarly pregnant. The dual pregnancies becomes a bit of a rivalry between father and son, Wendy's proving rather difficult, Skyler's the definition of ease. The other has Santoro's Alex introduced to a Dad walking club in hopes of getting him used to the thought of being a father, the group including Chris Rock, Thomas Lennon, Rob Huebel, and Amir Talai with Joe Manganiello as their single friend they all envy. Rebel Wilson is funny as Wendy's assistant and co-worker without a filter, Wendi McLendon-Covey as Lennon's husband and Holly's boss.    

With an almost schizophrenic, episodic story, things never slow down. The story bounces pretty seamlessly from woman to woman, ranging from montages at ultrasounds to all of them going into labor the same exact night and going to the same exact hotel. Crazy, huh?!? What are the chances?!? Maybe it is because the story is so quick, but there's no time to look for plot holes or analyze too much as to any faults or issues. There are some really dark moments -- one pregnancy ends in miscarriage -- and the finale has a twist or two (sort of, not really ;)). Harmless, entertaining story that I enjoyed more than I thought I would. Besides, even if it was really bad, you could just sit back and watch all the talent. Either way, it's a win.

What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012): ***/****

The Rookie (2002)

It is a dream of countless kids growing up across the world, to make it in the big leagues whether it's football or soccer, basketball or hockey. While the numbers may be changing in the U.S. suggesting that football is the most popular sport, there's still something romantic about baseball, making it to the bigs. How about a true story then turned schmaltzy but entertaining sports movie, 2002's The Rookie?

Having grown up in Big Lake, Texas, Jimmy Morris (Dennis Quaid) has carved out a nice, little life for him, with his wife, Lorri (Rachel Griffiths), three kids and solid job at the area high school as a chemistry teacher and head coach of the baseball team. Growing up, Jimmy showed a lot of potential for baseball, even getting drafted in 1983 only to blow his shoulder out. With his family and job, Jimmy has given up any hope of really truly playing baseball again, especially now that he's in his late 30s. Coaching his team though, he tries to motivate the group, but they end up doing just the same. Jimmy has been absolutely bringing it in batting practice so his team challenges him; if they win district and make the state playoffs, he has to attend a tryout for an MLB team. It's been a long, tough road to this point, but it's only just started for Jimmy, Lorri, his family, his team and the town of Big Lake.

From director John Lee Hancock, a native Texan himself, comes the story of one of the most unlikeliest of professional baseball players ever, Jim Morris. Over the 1999 and 2000 season, Morris pitched out of the bullpen for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, starting his major league career at the age of 35. Pretty crazy, huh? It's just the type of story you wouldn't believe unless you saw it happen. It's also the type of story that was tailor-made for a movie, especially one from Disney which can settle back and tell a good, old-fashioned, entertaining story focused on family, dreams and a community sticking together. Is it at different points cheesy, schmaltzy, obvious, and intentionally trying to tug at the old heart strings? Oh, yes, you bet, and it's the better for it. The underdog story in sports movies are a gimme -- a fastball down the middle if you will -- but this one is handled perfectly.

While this may not seem like a compliment, I do intend it that way. I think Dennis Quaid is one of the most likable, personable actors around these days. Then 45 years old -- playing a 35-year old -- Quaid is the heart of the movie and he succeeds on all levels. As a father, husband, teacher and coach, he's believable and sympathetic, a sort of everyman that most sports fans can get behind. Then, just as important, as a baseball player, he's just as believable. His throwing motion is a more than natural throw, giving some credence to Morris' status as a surprise fireballing lefty. Quaid nails the part, making the role very human as opposed to just a name and a dream. I especially loved the relationship Quaid's Jimmy has with his 8-year old son, Hunter (Angus T. Jones), his Dad's biggest supporter as he takes one last shot at achieving his dream.

Quaid is surrounded by a very capable cast, not a lot of A-list names but solid performances up and down the cast. Griffiths is very good as Lorri, Jimmy's wife who worries about her husband's health and well-being while also supporting him in chasing his dream. A part that would have been easy to make a dull stereotype is anything but, Griffiths giving it some depth. Brian Cox makes the most of a smallish part as Jim Sr., Jimmy's Dad who has a less than pleasant relationship with his son, Beth Grant playing Jimmy's far more sympathetic mother. Look for Jay Hernandez, Rick Gonzalez, Chad Lindberg and Angelo Spizzirri as some of the high school players on the baseball team. Also look for Royce D. Applegate as Henry, one of the town leaders in Big Lake who's always supported Jimmy and Russell Richardson as Brooks, another minor leaguer -- albeit a younger one -- working at getting to the majors with Jimmy.

Clocking in at 127 minutes, 'Rookie' does cover a lot of ground with a lot of characters drifting in and out of the story. It's not quite episodic in its storytelling technique, but it's getting there. Whether it's Jimmy growing up (played by Trevor Morgan) or his efforts as a high school teacher, the story flows well. It builds to the inevitable conclusion, Jimmy working his way up through the minors and then making his MLB debut as a reliever for the Devil Rays. Just a good story, one that kept me interested throughout.

There's some really great, really emotional moments throughout. I loved Jimmy telling Hunter from a phone booth that he made the Majors, his son beaming with pride as he asks questions. Then there's Jimmy's arrival at the big league club, walking around the clubhouse and seeing his name printed on a jersey hanging in his own locker. It's the little moments like that which help bring the movie together with Quaid its subtle, underplayed part. You can't go wrong with a good underdog story, especially when it's handled this well.

The Rookie (2002): *** 1/2 /****

Jaws 3-D

How do you make an unnecessary sequel even more unbearable? Add a gimmick! Here go we with one of the all-time worst sequels ever, 1983's Jaws 3-D. The original Jaws is a classic, Jaws 2 is pretty dumb but still entertaining, but this second sequel and third flick in the series is....Just....Plain....Awful.

Working at SeaWorld in Florida, Mike Brody (Dennis Quaid) is one of many employees readying for the opening of a new exhibit. It features underwater tunnels and a restaurant that allow park visitors to see what the ocean is like from an underwater perspective. The opening though has a minor hitch....a great white shark has been trapped in the enclosed water park, and it has already claimed a few victims. What to do? Working with his girlfriend and animal trainer Dr. Kay Morgan (Bess Armstrong), Mike and several other park workers manage to capture the shark, the first captured great white shark ever. Problem solved, right? Not so fast. The captured shark is the baby.....and it's mom is angry and also trapped in the park. Where exactly is this immense 35-foot shark hiding? Can they find it and kill it before it claims any more victims?

Oh, good Lord, this movie was awful. My viewing recently was the first time I'd ever really watched this sequel, and it will most definitely be the last. This dreck doesn't even have that quality of 'It's so truly bad that it's good and entertaining.' What's unfortunate is that the basic premise -- a killer shark trapped in a highly populated area -- has the potential to be at least mildly entertaining. That's all it is though, just potential. There are any number of deal-breakers here from the lousy acting to the poorly written script to the horrifically bad special effects, and I use that term ever so lightly. All instances that in itself would be bad, but wouldn't you know it? '3-D' offers all of the above for our viewing pleasure!

I'll kick things off with the 3-D element here. By 1983, studios had at least some semblance of technology available, but apparently director Joe Alves pissed someone off and didn't get any of that technology. The actual use of 3-D technology is laughable here. We get countless shots of dolphins, fish and assorted sea life swimming right at the camera. Watch out! They're going to swim right at us out of the television! That's just one thing though. At one point, the 35-foot shark swims directly at the camera, but it is so ridiculously fake-looking that I ended up laughing. The shark doesn't move, doesn't swim. It just appears to be floating at us menacingly. Then, when the shark -- SPOILERS STOP READING SPOILERS -- meets his maker, its blood and jaw come spiraling at us. I'm not a fan of 3-D anything (even when some money is spent on it), but when it's this bad.....wow, just wow.

Okay, moving on. Let's tackle the script here. Yes, you guessed it. It is awful. The shark is almost secondary to the story and takes a backseat to basically everything. The first 30 minutes are spent with Mike (son of Roy Scheider's Chief Brody) and Kay as they meet up with Mike's younger brother, Sean (John Putch), and try to get him to have some sex with slutty water skier Kelly Ann (Lea Thompson). There's never any rhythm to any of the story, just random attacks that we never really see clearly and then a bunch of explaining. The reveal that the shark they've caught is hysterical. Apparently the 35-foot shark is hiding in a ventilation pipe. Yep, it's just sitting there waiting to strike. Also look for Louis Gossett Jr. as the park manager, Simon MacCorkindale as hunter FitzRoyce with P.H. Moriarty as Tate, his hunting assistant.

There was an art to how the original Jaws presented the lurking shark and its impending attacks. John Williams' score here is thrown by the wayside, just the main 'Shark theme' making the transition here. It's stupid. We never really see any of the shark attacks, and all the tension goes out the window. What we see of the attacks are quick and hard to follow. It also ends on a highly inappropriate freeze frame. People have just died tragically and horrifically via shark attack, but Quaid's Mike jumps out of the water with a pump of his fist. A super-imposed dolphin jumps out of the water and twirls in the air. Yeah for survival! It goes beyond dumb and entertaining here. It's just dumb to the point I felt stupider having watched it.

Jaws 3-D (1983): */****

The Words

It's September, and for a moviegoing audience, you know what that means. It's that time of the year in between the summer blockbuster and the award season. Translated? Time to dump the crappy movies in theaters that don't fit anywhere else. Thin pickings in other words, but if you're looking for a worthwhile venture, try 2012's The Words.

With several years of struggles and rejection letters to show for his work, Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper) is at a career crossroads of sorts as an aspiring writer. He lives in NYC with his wife, Dora (Zoe Saldana), hoping to write the novel that will put his name on the literary map. Finally, Rory gets his chance. In a hidden panel of a briefcase he carries, Rory finds an unpublished story that is profound and perfect in its message. Wanting nothing more than to become a respected writer, Rory turns in the transcript as his own and fame and accolades follow. "His" novel opens all sorts of doors until one day, an old man (Jeremy Irons) confronts him, claiming the story is his own. What should, or can Rory do?

That's the most streamlined plot description I can come up with because for lack of a better description....this is a gimmick movie. It is actually a story within a story within a story. Confused much? Don't be, I'm making it more complicated than necessary. Rory's story though is actually that of a novel written by acclaimed novelist Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid), doing a reading of the story for a captive audience. As Clay reads the story, we see the story of Rory, Dora and the plagiarized novel. On top of that, we also get the Old Man's background, Irons explaining to Rory how his story came to be. Maybe gimmick isn't an appropriate description, but it's not enough you see a story like this. Confusing? No, not once you get in rhythm. A little odd? Yes, but acceptable as long as I kept reminding myself what was going on.

So with that gimmick, your enjoyment will come from how much you're willing to go along with that twisting story. The Quaid portion was the least interesting for me. His Hammond must deal with an adoring fan (Olivia Wilde) who knows everything about him, bordering on stalker territory. A minor issue here; Hammond's novel he reads from has the simplicity of a Dick and Jane story. 'Rory likes Dora...Rory and Dora move in together...Rory and Dora get married.' The Rory and Dora relationship is some familiar territory if predictable, but it's interesting to watch the moral dilemma develop in Rory's eyes. The highlight though in a too short late 1940s post WWII Paris is Irons' story of how he originally wrote his novel that Rory claims as his own.

Across the three stories though, the casting is solid to above average. Cooper is showing he can do a wide variety of roles -- drama, action, comedy -- and doesn't disappoint as the aspiring writer. What he does through his actions are despicable, but his head and heart start tearing away at him almost immediately. Saldana as the loving wife who wants what's best for her husband is well-cast as well. Quaid is acceptable in a workmanlike role that doesn't give him much to do while Wilde is subtle but more than a little creepy. Jeremy Irons as the unnamed Old Man is the highlight though, his deep, scratchy voice bringing the movie up a notch. Also look for J.K. Simmons as Rory's dad, Zeljko Ivanek as Rory's publisher/editor, Ben Barnes as Irons as a young man, and Nora Arnezeder as his wife, Celia.

Where 'Words' struggles some is the end. In a story about personal integrity, morals and ethics, how one bad decision can derail the lives of so many, of paying for that mistake or skating by, 'Words' doesn't how to end. It doesn't always know how to get there either. At just 96 minutes, the last 30 minutes drags as Rory decides what to do about his dilemma. There's also some twists and turns in the Quaid storyline, but it's an open-ended finale. Now all that said I enjoyed this movie, the story and the performances. It's refreshing to see a story-driven movie without a ton of sex, violence, drugs and explosions. Gotta take your chances when you can get them.

The Words <---trailer (2012): ***/****

The Alamo (2004)

Right from the get-go, it seemed 2004's The Alamo was doomed. Casting problems with casting and directing and especially the rating -- make it a hard R or a more family friendly PG-13 -- hung over the production.  Then once director John Lee Hancock finished the movie, an hour of his finished product was hacked away and the release date pushed back three months.  Finally released in theaters Easter weekend against Passion of the Christ, Hancock's movie bombed, barely making $20 million. Failure in theaters, yes, but that doesn't take away from one of my favorite movies on one of my favorite subjects.

It's February 1836 and less than 200 Texans and Mexicans have holed up in the Alamo, a crumbling adobe mission outside San Antonio.  Mexican dictator Santa Anna (Emilio Echevarria) leads an army numbering almost 5,000 men and means to squash this rebellion no matter the cost.  Inside the Alamo, three men lead the tiny garrison; Jim Bowie (Jason Patric), the infamous knife fighter, David Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), a famed frontiersman and ex-Congressman, and William Travis (Patrick Wilson), a young unproven officer in the regular army.  As the siege wears on day after day, General Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid) tries to assemble an army to come to the aid of the besieged Alamo.  But inside the doomed mission, the defenders see more Mexican troops arriving daily and know what awaits them if they don't surrender.

Before I dive in, I'll say that ever since I was a kid, the story of the Alamo has appealed to me. I'll read and watch anything I can find on the subject. John Wayne's The Alamo is one of my two favorite movies, and even with extremely high expectations going into this one upon its initial release, I loved this movie. It feels crazy that it's almost 10 years since it was released in theaters. It is a shame also that Hancock's believed 3-hour version will never see the light of day. As is right now at 137 minutes, it has its fair share of flaws. At times, it's far too rushed. It has Pearl Harbor Syndrome as well, insisting on a happy ending as opposed to a more appropriate ending. But when it does get right? It hits a home run.

The shame of it is, Hancock has finished the most accurate re-telling of the Alamo battle, including the build-up and actual battle. An immense set in Dripping Springs, Texas was built including the actual Alamo mission and the nearby town of San Antonio. Like Wayne's version, having a full-scale set adds to the realism of the story and battle. The characters are not the legends we remember them as, but the people they actually were. People with personalities, hopes and dreams, fears and desires. The Alamo defenders weren't frontiersman, but townspeople like bankers, lawyers, farmers, and store owners. Without making them into the mythological characters they've become, Hancock has made a very human, personal movie. It's easy to see and feel what the defenders went through; an impossible situation with no easy resolution.

The Alamo story typically presents three main characters, the Alamo trinity of Crockett, Bowie and Travis. I'll get to all three, but the best performance hands down belongs to Billy Bob Thornton as Crockett. This is not the Fess Parker Crockett, but instead a regular guy who's tied down by his own legend he had little to do with creating. Of all the Crockett performances, this is the best, one I thought Thornton deserved an Oscar nomination for. The defenders look to him for support, for answers, for a way out. A monologue mid-siege is transfixing to watch, subtle and quiet but nonetheless highly effective. Another scene has Crockett playing his fiddle atop the Alamo walls, harmonizing with the Mexican army's band playing the Deguello (a high point of Carter Burwell's unassuming but still moving score). Watch the scene HERE. Somewhat controversially, the 2004 Alamo handled Crockett's death in a way no other Alamo movie even dared touch, Thornton rising to the occasion.

The diary of a Mexican soldier -- Enrique de la Pena -- who served at the Alamo claims that Crockett was captured in the closing moments of the battle and brought before a gloating Santa Anna. He was executed with a handful of other prisoners who survived the battle. This is the way the 2004 version chooses to go with, a scene that ends up being the most memorable one in the whole movie. This is Thornton bringing this man to life. Under his breath, Crockett mumbles 'Davy Crockett' as he faces death, his legend hanging over him as the Mexican army awaits what he will do. You can watch the scene HERE. Crockett's death -- whether by surrender/execution or going down fighting -- is maybe the most controversial aspect of the battle for Alamo buffs, but as presented here I can't understand anyone objecting to it.

Onto the other 2/3 of the Alamo trinity. About as far removed from a Hollywood star as possible, Patric is ideally suited to play Jim Bowie, a man who's earned his reputation where Crockett has had his thrust upon him. He's a hard-drinking, stubborn fighter, willing to fight it out if he believes he's right. Playing Colonel Travis, Wilson too shines, showing the transformation the young Alamo commander makes in such a short time as he attempts to rally the mission. All three men make these historical figures people and not just a name. Echevarria doesn't fare so well as Santa Anna, making the Mexican dictator a villain in the vein of a James Bond movie. Quaid too struggles to bring Houston to life, but much of his part was cut when the movie was hacked at to the tune of an hour of lost footage. Jordi Molla as Juan Seguin, a Mexican messenger from the Alamo, especially represents himself well as does Leon Rippy, Marc Blucas (as messenger James Bonham) and Kevin Page as Micajah Autry, Crockett's friend.

What The Alamo does well is especially evident in the choice to stay accurate to the final assault the morning of March 6 when the defenders were overwhelmed and killed to a man. It shows the attack in the morning darkness in an extended sequence that runs almost 15 minutes. Watch most of the sequence HERE. The scale is impressive, giving a real sense of what the battle must have been like. Actually imagine the setting; an enemy closing in on four sides and you've got nowhere to run. It isn't presented as a noble, heroic fight but a gruesome hand-to-hand conflict as sheer numbers overwhelm the Alamo defenders. It starts off in a great sequence as Crockett plucks the string on his fiddle, the shot changing with each pluck as the Mexican army silently approaches the Alamo walls. The most effective moment is a quiet one. Delirious with sickness, Bowie lies in bed barely able to move. He buttons up his vest, ready to face whatever comes through the door. As Rippy's Ward says "We know what awaits us and are prepared to meet it."

Wrapping up the movie is a rushed 20-minute follow-up, Houston's victory at San Jacinto. Like the Doolittle Raid being tacked onto Pearl Harbor, it feels unnecessary. It doesn't take away from a moving story though. The cast is nearly perfect, the music fitting and not your typical historical epic score, the actual Alamo set is a sight to behold, the camerawork and the visual are stunning, and like other successful Alamo movies, it gets the message across. Facing impossible odds, these defenders stood their ground, ready to give their lives because they believed they were right.

The Alamo <---trailer (2004): ****/****

The Express

Ask most sports fans if they know who Jim Brown is, and you'll get a 'yes' most of the time.  He is known for any number of sports feats, starting at Syracuse University where he was a football and lacrosse star before heading to the NFL.  For nine seasons, Brown starred for the Cleveland Browns before retiring at the peak of his career to become a movie star.  He is one of the greatest personalities to ever come out of sports, but it was another Syracuse star who did something no other black athlete had ever done.

His name was Ernie Davis, and in 1961 he won the Heisman Trophy during his senior year at Syracuse.  He was a dynamic talent at running back who was also drafted by the Browns and with fellow alum Brown was projected to be part of a backfield tandem like the NFL had ever seen.  But tragically before he could ever play a down for the Browns, Davis was diagnosed with leukemia.  He died in 1963 at the young age of 23.  Two years ago, a Davis biography, The Express, was released in theaters, and for me I'd never even heard of Davis.  It took awhile but I caught up with this sports bio.

Sports movies set before the 1980s have become more and more prevalent in the last 10 years or so, probably because a majority of the audience is being introduced to the story for the first time.  Think of Remember the Titans, Glory Road, Invincible, and now The Express.  It's always tricky making a true sports story because the moviemaker has to tread that fine line between telling a truthful story and whitewashing it at the same time so it doesn't insult anyone.  Director Gary Fleder does a pretty good job handling those duties of a young black athlete on the rise in the late 1950s and early 1960s as the civil right movement was erupting all over the country. 

Growing up in Pennsylvania and New York, a young Ernie Davis faces many of the same challenges a young black kid would have faced anywhere in the country, prejudice and racism for no other reason than his skin color.  Ernie (Rob Brown) starts playing football and late in his high school career he has gained the attention of college coaches across the country, but thanks to some recruiting from Jim Brown (Darrin Dewitt Henson) he decides on playing for coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid) at Syracuse University.  But even playing at a college in upstate New York, Davis faces the same challenges he's always faced; people who judge him not by his talent or skill, but by his skin color.

This biography focuses heavily on his sophomore year when Davis led Syracuse to the national title with bookends on either end showing how he grew up and then his brief post-college career.  Director Fleder filmed much of his story in and around Chicago -- including Blue Island, Evanston, Berwyn, and Aurora -- to give the proceedings an authentic feel of being dropped into 1950s Americana.  The look of the movie is key, and here Fleder succeeds in a big way.  The football scenes especially work well, edited so the action is always easy to follow while still knowing the game situation.

Since I saw his film debut in 2000's Finding Forrester, I was sold on Rob Brown as an actor.  He hasn't been in that many movies since, but he hasn't disappointed yet.  Playing Ernie Davis is another strong part for him although at times I thought he came across as a little wooden.  He handled almost all of the football scenes, showing off an impressive athletic ability.  Brown delivers one great monologue late in the movie and for the most part delivers a solid performance.  In Davis' corner for support is Omar Benson Miller as Jack Buckley, another black player on Syracuse's team and a close friend of Ernie's, Charles S. Dutton as Pops, Ernie's grandfather, Nelsan Ellis as Will, Ernie's cousin, and Nicole Beharie as Sarah, his girlfriend.  Miller and Dutton especially shine with their parts.

Of the two key roles though, Dennis Quaid I think was handled the more difficult one.  As Hall of Fame coach Ben Schwartzwalder, he has to keep us guessing to a certain point.  Are some of the decisions he makes for his benefit, for Ernie, or because he's looking out for his team?  The movie makes it clear the pressures that were on him -- from the inside and outside -- while also bringing up the idea about his motivations.  Miller's Buckley says at one point "Coach likes black athletes more than he hates losing...by a little."  But motivations or prejudices aside, this is a coach who wants to get the best out of his athletes, color be damned.

The difficulties Ernie Davis faced as a black football player in front of a nation should have been interesting enough where the story did not need to be altered to make it more interesting, or should I say more controversial?  Watching through the end credits, I read that a whole scene -- the West Virginia game -- was fabricated.  It felt unnecessary to create a game that never happened just to show what Davis faced from opposing players and fans.  The national championship game against Texas in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas does a fine job of that.

Focusing so much on Davis' sophomore year comes at an expense though for the rest of the story.  By the time the year is over, the movie's already at 90+ minutes.  The last 30-40 minutes feels rushed as Fleder packs 3-4 years into less than a half hour.  We've spent all this time learning more about Ernie, his family, his friends, and when we're supposed to feel for him and this horrific disease sapping away his life, the scenes go by in the blink of an eye instead of letting them develop.  These scenes are still effective in their simplicity, but it would have been nice for some more background, a little more development.  Still, it's a well-acted, beautifully shot sports biography, and I am a sucker for those.

The Express <----trailer (2008): ** 1/2 /****

Flight of the Phoenix (2004)

Certain movies just don't need to remade, plain and simple. Of course, that doesn't mean they aren't remade like the original The Flight of the Phoenix from 1965 starring James Stewart, Richard Attenborough and a really solid supporting cast. It's a minor classic in it's own right and a memorable story of survival in awful conditions. So fast forward almost 40 years, and what do you know, remake!

When it hit theaters in 2004, I was one of the few -- very few, the movie made just over $20 million and was out of theaters in two or three weeks -- who went and saw it. The trailer sucked me in, and it looked like a good old-fashioned adventure movie. Decent cast? Check. Desperate survivor story in exotic location? Double check. Gun-wielding desert nomads? Oh, yes, very much so. Maybe it made a difference, but I hadn't seen the 1965 original when I saw the remake, who knows, but the remake, 2004's Flight of the Phoenix, is definitely worth a watch.

Flying to a desolate oil drilling location in Mongolia, pilot Frank 'Shut it down' Towns (Dennis Quaid) and his co-pilot AJ (Tyrese Gibson) are supposed to pick up all crew and equipment with the well not producing enough results. On-site company rep Ian (Hugh Laurie) never told team leader Kelly (Miranda Otto) the news so the well being shut down is news to her and her crew. Towns takes off heading for home, but the cargo plane runs into a horrific sandstorm that causes him to crash-land hundreds of miles off course in the Gobi desert.

So with enough food and water to last a month if rationed correctly, Towns and the survivors decide to wait for rescue. But after days of no sign of help, one of the survivors, a mysterious man named Elliott (Giovanni Ribisi) who was an airplane designer back home, says they can build a new plane out of the wreckage and fly home, most importantly before their supplies run out. Unwilling at first, Frank decides to go along with the seemingly impossible plan. Can the survivors accomplish the impossible as supplies dwindle?

Where the original went more for the drama in this life-or-death situation, the remake went more for entertainment value. One example? While rebuilding the plane, the survivors dance to Outkast's 'Hey, Ya!' Water be damned! There is the obvious conflict as the group decides what to do, but one thing they can all agree on is that if Elliott wasn't so important, they'd string him up as quick as they could. Credit goes to Ribisi who steals the movie as the arrogant, egomaniacal Elliott as he goes toe-to-toe with Quaid's Towns in a power-struggle. If there was a villain in a story where everyone is supposedly working together, it would be Ribisi.

The biggest differences between the two movies are two additions, Miranda Otto's character (can't have an all-male cast) who is a good add to the cast, and the arrival halfway through the movie of a roving band of gun-wielding smugglers. The smugglers/nomads drop in and out of the story as necessary -- making a key appearance late in the movie -- and do provide the movie's coolest scene, a tension-filled confrontation as Ian, AJ and Rodney (Tony Curran, the tough Scottish roughneck, the coolest survivor) see if they can trade for supplies without knowing if the smugglers intend to you know, kill them. With Massive Attack's Angel providing the sountrack in the scene, it's a shadowy, eerie, beautifully shot scene.

With the script placing certain limitations on characters, the cast does the best they can with what's given. The original, based on a novel by Elleston Trevor, spent a lot of time developing Towns, his co-pilot and the crew. Quaid is as reliable as ever as Joe Everyman, the unwilling leader trying to keep everyone alive, as is Tyrese as his sidekick/co-pilot. Joining Otto and Laurie is Curran, rapper Kirk 'Sticky Fingaz' Jones, Jacob Vargas as the Mexican cook Sammi, Scott Michael Campbell as Liddle, the fella who just wants to see his family, and Kevork Malikyan as Rady, the wise Middle Easterner.

Comparing original to remake is tricky because it's the same basic premise, a pretty ingenious one if you ask me, that goes down a different road in the execution. The original keyed in on story, characters and conflict, and doing it all believably. The remake went more for some action, a few laughs here and there, and some cool if not well-developed characters. The surprising thing is, the original is a better movie, but the remake is more fun to watch.

Flight of the Phoenix <----trailer (2004): ***/****

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Now if you're judging my feelings of summer blockbusters by my review of Transformers 2, you might think I hate all those big action movies, but it's really just the opposite. I love movies like that, the review just shows how bad I thought T2 was in comparison to most similar movies. A good example of what an enjoyable summer action blockbuster is G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra which surprised me. I thought it looked good but wasn't dying to see it, but a day later I'm still glad I did.

Plots can be secondary and often third or fourth in the list of important elements to a blockbuster, but G.I. Joe takes a familiar formula, villain threatening to destroy the world city by city, and adds an interesting wrinkle with some new technology. They're called the nanomites, microscopic robots originally intended to fight cancer cells but transformed into weapons that take apart and completely dismantle whatever they're shot at, like tanks, cars, buildings, you name it. So here's the plot going from the nanomites.

With some funding from NATO, MARS Industry CEO James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) has perfected turning the nanomites into an offensive weapon and has spent billions of dollars on manufacturing 4 warheads with his new weapon. But while being shipped, the column guarding the warheads is attacked, with Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) as part of the force. Whoever is attacking them, led by the mysterious Baroness (Sienna Miller), has advanced technology that the army is defenseless against. The column is saved by a group of fighters who rescue the warheads and Duke and Ripcord as well.

The group is transported to 'the Pit' a top secret base deep below the Egyptian desert where they're introduced to General Hawk (Dennis Quaid) who explains the layout to their organization. They are G.I. Joe, the best soldiers from all around the world working together to keep Earth safe from whoever would do it harm. Duke and Ripcord blackmail their way into Team Alpha and get to work finding out who wants the technology. Everything points to McCullen who with the Baroness, and henchmen Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee), Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) and one mysterious villian (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) look to make another grab for the nanomite warheads and it doesn't look like anything can stop them.

What I like about big movies like this is that it allows huge casts to work together and let them clearly have fun making a highly entertaining movie. Come on, Dennis Quaid is in the movie for about 15 minutes, delivers some appropriately cheesy/inspirational lines, and looks tough. He's gotta be loving that. The G.I. Joe team is an interesting list of unique actors and characters like Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), the tough sergeant of the group, Snake Eyes (Ray Park) the resident badass and expert in martial arts and by far the coolest Joe, Breaker (Said Taghmaoui), the communication expert, and Scarlett (Rachel Nichols), the team's weapons expert. So as anyone who read some past reviews of mine knows, this is basically the Magnificent 7, a men-on-a-mission movie with Duke and Ripcord joining the team.

With some ridiculously cool technology available, the beneficiary is the action scenes. The coolest gadget was the accerlation suits which help you react quicker and faster, jump higher, so basically PF Flyers on steroids. The chase through Paris as Storm Shadow and the Baroness try to take out the Eiffel Tower is an exciting, well-put together sequence as the Joes frantically try to catch up with Duke and Ripcord in the suits, Scarlet on a motorcycle, and Heavy Duty and Breaker just trying to keep up. On the whole, the action is the reason to see this movie. It's cut so you can actually see what's going on and the CGI is apparent but done well.

On to the casting which ranges from very good to very wooden. I don't know Channing Tatum's appeal, check that, I do but don't get it. The guy's got the personality and delivery of a cardboard box and his so-called dramatic lines come across as comical, hopefully unintentionally so. The rest of the cast makes up for, including surprisingly enough Marlon Wayans who revels in the smartass sidekick role along with Sienna Miller who has finally made a mainstream blockbuster. For one, with dark hair and low-cut leather outfits, she looks amazing, and two, her character is a badass. Hopefully, she sticks with the more mainstream movies, or at least not completely sticking with the indies. It's a fun cast and it looks like they enjoyed themselves making GI Joe.

So is G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra a stupid summer blockbuster full of action and somewhat short on story? You bet, but it does what it's supposed to. It doesn't overdo the action sequences and CGI and keeps it exciting without trying to melt your face with its 'Michael Bay coolness.' Good cast top to bottom with one cameo I won't spoil here, and an ending that leaves the door open for a sequel which hopefully they do make in the next couple of years. Surprised by how much I enjoyed this so don't listen to the negative reviews, G.I. Joe is a lot of fun.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra <-----trailer (2009): ***/****

Breaking Away

Going to Indiana University as an undergrad, one running joke was that to get into IU you had to love basketball and watched both Hoosiers and Breaking Away, two movies that are often associated with the college. Of course, it's not a requirement, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean they're not classics.

Breaking Away is one of the best coming of age movies ever made. Too often movies like this go down one road, either really serious trying to get a message across or the completely comical look at growing up like any number of high school sex comedies. Breaking Away settles in that middle ground between the two, treading that fine line where both drama and comedy are used and effectively. Parts are genuinely funny and others can be heartbreaking, but it never feels fake and that's why the movie is so good.

A year removed from high school graduation, Dave Stohler (Dennis Christopher) has one goal in life; to be an Italian. He loves everything about the Italian culture, idolizing the Cinzano bicycle racing team, one of the top teams in the world. Of course, in the process he drives his parents, Evelyn (Barbara Barrie) and Ray (Paul Dooley), absolutely nuts including one encounter where Ray walks in on his son shaving his legs. His parents want Dave to either enroll in college at Indiana University or get a job and start to grow up. But it's all put on hold when he finds out the Cinzano team is holding a race in Indianapolis. What happens during the race has a sobering effect on Dave, forcing him to reconsider what he's devoted his life too.

Something comes up though, something new Dave can channel his efforts into, the Little 500 bike race in Bloomington. Dave, along with three friends and fellow townies called 'Cutters' (because locals cut the limestone used to build much of the IU campus), enter the race and go up against IU's fraternities. Of his friends, there's Mike (Dennis Quaid), the jock in high school now struggling to see that maybe his best days as an athlete are behind him, Cyril (Daniel Stern), the tall, lanky jokester, and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley), the designated 'little guy' in the group who's always ready to stick up for himself or his friends.

Why this movie works so well is the dynamic among the four friends. They're all different people, but they are going through the same things. Each of them is trying to grow up, to find their way in life, but where do you even start? Dave wants to be a cyclist, Mike is pissed that as a local he's looked down upon, Cyril has always been put down by his dad, and Mooch is working on his relationship with girlfriend Nancy. All their scenes ring true, I believe each time I watch Breaking Away that these four are truly friends.

Another obvious high point is Dave and his ongoing conflict with his folks, Ray and Evelyn. Ray is convinced his son has lost his mind and lets him hear about it any chance he can. He goes about telling his son what he wants for him in odd ways, often yelling at the sometimes oblivious Dave, but all other things aside he wants what's best for his son and his happiness. Evelyn similarly wants her son to be happy and quietly supports everything he does. The only thing that doesn't ring true in 'Breaking Away' is Dave's relationship with an IU student, Katherine (Robyn Douglass) with Dave pretending to be an Italian student to woo her. Those are the only scenes that come across as forced and unrealistic.

Having attended IU for four years, part of the fun of the movie is that director Peter Yates wisely chose to film the entire movie in Bloomington. The IU campus and the surrounding areas in southern Indiana film beautifully, especially a swimming hole at an abandoned rock quarry. Yates takes full advantage of the campus, filming at any number of recognizable locations like Memorial Stadium, Assembly Hall and all over the streets that wind around the academic buildings as well as downtown Bloomington. It might not have the same affect for someone who doesn't know the campus, but the on-location filming gives an authentic feel to the story.

With a movie focusing on a character who wants to be a cyclist, the racing scenes don't disappoint. The Cinzano race is a great sequence with an Italian opera playing as the soundtrack as Dave meets and eveven keeps up with the Cinzano racers. The Little 500 segment is the high point though as 34 teams race around a quarter-mile long track for 200 laps. Christopher, Quaid, Stern and Haley did their own riding so the viewer sees the Cutters team riding along with the field. It's a great race sequence, and the two-lap finale filmed in a long shot is the perfect ending to the race.

Definitely one of my favorites, a movie that hits all the right notes. Few movies have dealt with growing up as pitch perfect as Breaking Away does. Great cast, great story, love the locations (Go Hoosiers!), and exciting race sequences.

Breaking Away<---- trailer (1979): ****/****