Murder by Death

What's more fun than a murder mystery in film and on TV? The people who solve the murder mysteries!!! And no, I'm not talking about police procedurals where police officers follow the clues and catch the crooks. We're talking the out of this world observant and intelligent sleuths and detectives who follow all the minute, excruciating little details and pull theories out of thin air. They certainly get their due in a great spoof from 1976, Murder by Death.

Coming from all around the world, five world-class detectives have been brought together at an isolated country mansion by eccentric recluse Lionel Twain (writer Truman Capote). His goal? Present a murder with little evidence and let his five detectives piece things together. Whoever figures things out and fingers the murderer by dawn will receive a $1 million reward. Who are his contestants of sorts? They include Milo Perrier (James Coco), the whiny Belgian, Sam Diamond (Peter Falk), the tough guy detective, Jessica Marbles (Elsa Lanchester), the very English middle-aged woman, Dick Charleston (David Niven), the gentlemanly, smooth aging detective, and Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers), the pronunciation challenged Chinese detective. Each detective has brought a partner/sidekick/spouse but can any of the manage to solve a seemingly impossible murder mystery?

From director Robert Moore and screenwriter Neil Simon, 'Murder' is a gem in the Whodunnit genre. Throw a bunch of characters together, add in a mystery/murder or something that needs to be solved, and let the fun begin. This is a spoof of the Whodunnit genre, but it's not a stupid spoof, far from it. While the humor is far from high brow laughs, it's snappy, smart and quick. This is a very talented cast assembled here, the actors and actresses playing off each with remarkable ease. It's a quick movie at just 94 minutes, but there are laughs throughout. It was filmed on a mansion set in Burbank Studios, a closed-in, claustrophobic feel to the ever twisting and turning story. Self-contained and the better for it.

You really just can't go wrong with the sick amount of talent brought together here in the cast. Each detective is based off a classic literature character (Perrior = Hercules Poirot, Diamond = Sam Spade, Marbles = Miss Marple, Charleston = Nick Charles/The Thin Man, and Wang = Charlie Chan), each given their quirky personality traits that bring it all together nicely. Coco's Perrier is dying of starvation -- or so he believes -- as the mystery develops, Diamond does his best Humphrey Bogart impression throughout, Marbles quirky, mousy and excited, Charleston the upper class, smooth-talking Englishman, and Wang the master of logic and observation (with a touch of political incorrectness thrown in for good measure). It would be easy to see any/all of these characters getting their own movie, but when assembled together, we're talking impeccable chemistry with some sublimely perfect laughs.

Improving on the talent brought together is that each character is given a sidekick of some sort, a spouse, child, whatever. More cast listing!!! The recently departed Eileen Brennan plays Tess Skeffington, Sam's secretary and mistress, Maggie Smith plays Nora Charleston, Dick's longtime and loving wife, Estelle Windood as Miss Marple's wheelchair bound and ancient nurse, James Cromwell as Marcel, Perrier's very French chauffeur and Richard Narita as Willy, Wang's adopted Japanese son.

Oh, there's more. One of the movie's most perfectly executed running bits has Alec Guinness as Bensonmum, Twain's personal assistant and butler.....who's blind. It's almost inappropriate, a little politically incorrect when you hear about it, but like so much else going on in Simon's script, it just works. He answers the door, never realizing if anyone entered but speaking as if they're standing in front of him. He serves dinner with poor results, guides the guests to their rooms, and has a great running gag with the new cook, Yetta (Nancy Walker), a Hungarian woman who's deaf, can't talk and doesn't understand English in any way, but Guinness' Bensonmum can't see that she's holding up notes explaining herself. It's stupid almost as an idea, almost infantile in its humor, but oh goodness, it works so well. Here's a montage of so many of those great lines, watch it HERE.

Director Moore's film runs just 94 minutes, flying by at a breakneck speed. The first 60 minutes are about as perfect as a comedy can be, smart and stupid but balanced out between the two. It's beyond funny on all levels. The last 30 minutes or so come up a little short, the goofiness becoming a little too much. Capote -- an obvious scene-stealer -- delivers a great monologue ripping all these great detectives apart. He criticizes their storytelling techniques, their introduction of characters out of nowhere, ridiculous twists that come out of nowhere, and basically making it impossible to solve the mystery, whatever it should be. The ending is flat out stupid, but it's supposed to be. If you can decipher it in any way, you let me know. The struggles of the last 30 minutes prevent it from being an all-time great comedy, but flaws and all, it is still a gem.

Murder by Death (1976): *** 1/2 /****

Oz the Great and Powrful

A classic novel from author L. Frank Baum that was turned into a classic 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz is about as iconic as any film out there. No matter the age, it seems everyone's seen it at some point, and for a reason. It is iconic, classic, influential and most of all entertaining. Watching the story, it leaves a lot of ground for background information, how things came to be the way they are.....and you know what that means!!! Prequel!!! Away we go down the Yellow Brick Road with 2013's Oz the Great and Powerful.

It's 1905 Kansas and magician, con man and all around ladies man Oscar 'Oz' Diggs (James Franco) is working with a traveling carnival, typically staying one step ahead of his past troubles. His troubles have caught up to him this time, and he's forced to escape by the only means in front of him; a hot air balloon. Oz escapes, but he's swept up into a tornado and finds himself in a world unlike anything he's ever seen. Full of color, flowers and trees and creatures that just shouldn't be, Oz also meets Theodora (Mila Kunis), who reveals she's a witch along with her sister, Evanora (Rachel Weisz). He's informed that he's the answer to a longtime prophecy, the man who will save the Emerald City.....if he can kill Glinda (Michelle Williams), an evil witch. Seeing the treasure that awaits if he can do it, Oz agrees, setting off to kill the evil witch, but everything isn't quite as it seems in the wonderful land of Oz.

The little touches here linking the 2013 film to the classic 1939 film are evident. The appeal is obvious, and judging by the box office of almost $500 million worldwide, audiences ate up that appeal. Director Sam Raimi does a fine job bringing to life an incredibly stylish world, full of adventure and fantasy. The movie begins in black and white, the frame small and focused. When Oz arrives in this new world, the frame expands to widescreen, colors literally bursting off the screen. It's a nice nod to the 1939 classic without being too obvious about it. Beyond that, it's cool to see the flying monkeys, the Emerald City, the poppy fields, the Oh-We-Oh palace guards, the munchkins, they Yellow Brick Road and so much more. On top of that, we see how Oz becomes the Wizard, how the Wicked Witch of the West becomes the Wicked Witch. Just a lot of little things and forebearers that any fan of the 1939 film should appreciate.

Now I write this next criticism admitting I didn't see 'Oz' in 3-D, IMAX, or 3-D IMAX, just a regular old flat-screen at home. The visuals are insanely good-looking here....but it went a long way for me. At a certain point, it became overkill. We see Oz exploring this world full of flowers, plants, trees, beautiful hills and mountains, caves and forests. Eventually, it felt like the story gets left by the wayside to focus far more on the stylish aspects of the movie. So as good as the visuals are, they come at the expense of the story, and it's the rare occasion that is a positive for me. As Oz assembles a motley crew of helpers and assistants, the story lags while the focus remains on the background visuals. It's pretty flawless, Franco, Kunis and Co. blending seamlessly into the computer-generated images. I just wish there could have been more of a balance between the two, a happy middle ground.

Where I can't really find a weakness is in the casting. Fresh off a really odd Franco flick -- Spring Breakers -- comes this far better part, far more suited to his strengths. His Oz is a smooth-talker, a pretty decent magician, and generally a troublemaker who always manages to get out of said trouble. Franco gives him the right dosage of roguish charm mixed with a guy who wants to do the right thing. As for the witches, these are three very talented actresses working together (and they're easy on the eyes so that doesn't hurt). Williams does a fine job as the calm, almost angelic Glinda, Weisz similarly very good as the manipulative Evanora, and Kunis gets the biggest transformation from lovelorn Theodora to lovestruck and angry Wicked Witch. My only real complaint is that when Kunis transforms her voice talents remind me far too much of her voice work as Meg Griffin on Family Guy. Regardless, it's a very solid quartet working together.

The rest of the cast includes Zach Braff providing his voice talents as Finley, a small flying monkey (a good one, not a bad one) dressed like a doorman who pledges a life debt to Oz for saving him from certain death at the hands of a lion. He also plays Frank, Oz's loyal assistant in Kansas. Bill Cobbs plays the Master Tinker, a handyman of sorts who helps Oz to victory while Tony Cox is Knuck, the herald of the Emerald City, always ready to sound off a welcoming hurrah. Also solid is Joey King as China Doll, a broken doll Oz fixes who tags along on the adventures. Even look for Bruce Campbell as an Emerald City guard.

While I didn't love 'Oz,' I did like it a lot. The positives mostly outweigh the negatives in a movie that's a tad long at 130 minutes. My favorite moments were the funny ones -- surprisingly funny -- as Oz, Finley and China Doll navigate the twists and turns of the Yellow Brick Road. It's a visual treat with solid characters, surprising action and some good laughs. Not a bad combination at all.

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013): ***/****

Sabata

Mostly a supporting player in countless film and TV westerns, Lee Van Cleef had a solid if unspectacular career as an on-screen tough guy through the 1950s and early 1960s. He was given rebirth though with the ever-increasing popularity of the spaghetti western genre, especially working with Italian director Sergio Leone in For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It was a rejuvenation of sorts with a long line of some classic and near-classic spagettis to the point he was given his own genre iconic character, 1969's Sabata.

A $100,000 Army payroll has been robbed from the bank in Daugherty City, but in the getaway outside of town, a mysterious gunman, Sabata (Van Cleef), guns down seven of the bandits, returning the money to the town and earning himself a $5,000 reward. There's a problem though. Three of the town's most prominent citizens, including local ranch and land owner, Stengel (Franco Ressel), was behind the robbery and are now worried if they can be implicated for the job. Sabata is able to put the pieces together of how the robbery is pulled off and quickly figures out who was behind it, seeing a chance for a huge payday. Stengel and his cohorts are less than convinced paying him off will accomplish anything, sending a litany of hired guns and killers after Sabata. With an unlikely duo backing him, Sabata readies for each and every attack, worrying all the time about a similarly talented hired gun, Banjo (William Berger), who hasn't made his allegiance known just yet.  

This would be the first of three Sabata movies, followed by Adios, Sabata and The Return of Sabata and both released in 1971, all of them directed by Gianfranco Parolini. Where the Sergio Leone westerns are classics above the genre and others are message-oriented with an action shell, the Sabata movies are about as good as they get in terms of pure entertainment. They even border on campy at times. We've got great characters -- good and bad -- with a fun story, a non-stop line of quickly-paced and choreographed gunfights and enough cool guns, gadgets and contraptions to keep everyone interested. It's not so much a story as a series of showdowns and gunfights followed by some negotiations that never amount to much and another series of showdowns and gunfights. If it sounds simple, it is, and it's a lot of fun for all 111 minutes.

Right up there on par with Colonel Douglas Mortimer as his coolest character, Van Cleef nails the part as the mysterious gunman, Sabata. It starts with the style, the gunman in black, his flat-brimmed hat, the impeccable suit, the flowing coat. It continues with his weaponry, Sabata a deadshot with just about anything that shoots. He doesn't wear a gunbelt, favoring an odd four-barrelled derringer and a rifle with an extended barrel. He's ready for anything thrown at him, almost like an other-worldly specter hovering over the town. As far as cool factor goes, Van Cleef has it in spades. It's that ever-present smirk, that quick mocking laugh. He speaks almost solely in one-liners, but it works without being too goofy. Van Cleef found a home in the genre and by 1969 he was a star (the Leone flicks, Day of Anger, Death Rides a Horse, The Big Gundown), but this is one of my favorites for him, and he's cooler than ever.

That's part of the beauty of the weirdness and eccentricity of the spaghetti westerns. We get these bizarre quirky characters that are so goofy it works. Start with Berger's Banjo, a gunman who's seemingly worked with Sabata in the past (in some capacity) and always totes a banjo...with a surprise inside. His long red hair hangs to his shoulder, he wears bells on his pants and around his neck, and he's always ready with a one-liner of his own. His scenes with Van Cleef are pretty perfect, two badass gunfighters going toe to toe. Sabata's crew are gems themselves including Carrincha (Ignazio Spalla), a drunken, knife-throwing Mexican veteran of the Civil War and Alley Cat (Aldo Canti), an athletic, acrobatic Indian. It's the weirdest crew of western characters, but it just works.

Also look for Ressel as the manipulatively evil and combover wearing Stenger, wielding a knife-shooting cane, with Antonio Gradoli and Gianni Rizzo as Ferguson and Judge O'Hara, his two partners in crime. Spaghetti western babe Linda Veras plays Jane, Banjo's dancehall girl with familiar faces Spartaco Conversi, Marco Zuanelli and Claudio Undari as Oswald, a Stengel henchman, rounding out the cast.  

With a character that's seemingly indestructible at the forefront, you'd think it might not be that interesting a flick to watch. You'd be wrong. It becomes a test of how he'll defeat his enemies, not a test of if. As my buddy Steve said as we watched Sabata at the Music Box Theatre, Sabata becomes the MacGyver of westerns. He shoots with a variety of trick shots, well-placed shots, and gimmicks galore. The shootouts are fun throughout, with the finale including Sabata, Carrincha and Alley Cat attacking Stengel's heavily fortified ranch with gunfire, gatling guns, dynamite, acrobatics and explosions galore. I loved the ending too, holding back on the meanness or cynical qualities of the other darker westerns, but still has some great twists.

Also worth mentioning is the score from Marcello Giombini. The main theme especially is a gem -- listen HERE -- but it works well throughout. Listen to more of the score HERE with some clips in the video. It incorporates everything from Banjo playing his banjo to some lighter touches, like recurring sound effects leading up to gunfights and even some uses of church organ. It all combines to give the movie that lighter touch, that fun touch. That's the movie. It's got can't miss gunmen, a banjo-wielding gunman, an acrobatic Indian who bounces through the movie and never slows down. A real gem of the spaghetti western genre.

Sabata (1969): *** 1/2 /****
Rewrite of October 2009 review

Small Soldiers

With 1995's Toy Story, the idea of toys coming to life....well...came to life. While there was some really dark moments in that Pixar classic -- Sid comes to mind torturing his toys -- it was mostly a really sweet, really funny story about the lives of toys when their masters/kids aren't around. At its very basic, ground level, that's an incredibly unique idea, one all kids have thought of at some point. But what if Toy Story didn't tap the brakes? I think it would be a movie a little closer to 1998's Small Soldiers.

Helping his father run his struggling toy store, teenager Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith) accepts (read = bribes) a shipment of new action figures during the latest delivery. From GloboTech Industries comes the Commando Elite, a specialist group of commandos headed by Major Chip Hazard (voiced by Tommy Lee Jones), whose sole goal is to eliminate their enemies, creatures called the Gorgonites, headed by Archer (voiced by Frank Langella). The toys are a new design, able to speak and respond to voice commands. Alan is stunned though when Archer doesn't just talk to him, but respond with unique answers to questions he asks. These aren't just any action figures, but that's only the start. Alan takes Archer home with him overnight, but meanwhile at the store, the Commando Elite have come to life too. Their aim? Kill Archer and his fellow Gorgonites.

While I love Toy Story, I can also appreciate how cool the premise here sounds. I'd seen bits and pieces of this quasi-family oriented science fiction story from director Joe Dante, but I finally sat down and watched it straight through recently. I liked it but didn't love it. Complaints to come, but 'Soldiers' gets a lot of points for originality if nothing else. What if G.I. Joe and Cobra toys came to life? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. Shredder and the Foot Clan? Stands to reason they might try and kill each other, right? Yeah, as a kid who grew up with action figures, that's pretty cool. The graphics here are spot-on as the toys come to life. It's not CGI -- always a good thing -- and while it looks realistic, the toys are still toys. They can break (damn plastic!) and their movements are pretty stilted. It goes a long way in making it seem even remotely believable.

The focus is not exclusively on the toys. Our main character, Alan, has quite the checkered past and has been kicked out of two schools, forcing his family, including Dad (Kevin Dunn) and Mom (Ann Magnuson) to move. He meets Christy (Kirsten Dunst), his neighbor, and quickly hits it off with her...even though she only "dates" older guys. So, yes, at times the story focuses too much on that after school special drama, how tough it is to be a teenager and all that garbage. Come on, parents, trust me...even though I've given you no reason to trust me! This is the movie at its slowest and most dull, but thankfully, the story moves along too fast to stay in one place for too long. And back to the killer toys!

One of the coolest things about 'Soldiers' as a movie fan is its knowledge of past movies. Case in point? The Commando Elite are voiced by four members of the cast of 1967's The Dirty Dozen, and it would have been five, but Richard Jaeckel died before filming. The Gorgonites are voiced by the cast of This Is Spinal Tap. Getting in line behind the perfect voice casting of Tommy Lee Jones is Ernest Borgnine as Kip Kallagin, Jim Brown as Butch Meathook, George Kennedy as Brick Bazooka, Clint Walker as Nick Nitro, and replacing Jaeckel, Bruce Dern as Link Static. Along with the calmly voiced Langella as Archer, the Gorgonites include Christopher Guest as Slamfist and Scratch-It, Michael McKean as Insaniac and Freakenstein, and Harry Shearer as Punch-It. It's just fun to hear that many talented actors working together, even if it's only their voices. Also listen for Sarah Michelle Gellar and Christina Ricci as two Gwendy (knockoff Barbie) dolls.

The funnest and also darkest part of 'Soldiers' comes when the Commandos get loose and go gunning for the Gorgonites. It sounds goofy enough, even a little innocent in the fun department. How could toys kill toys? Well, it gets pretty extreme at times. The Commandos have been built with government chips in them -- thanks Department of Defense -- that turn seemingly innocent toys into brutal killing machines. Yeah, seriously, killing machines. They want to kill their rival Gorgonites, but also the people protecting them, like Alan, Christy and their families, including Christy's goofy Dad (the always fun Phil Hartman). They build assault vehicles out of bikes and skateboards, make weapons out of chainsaws and toasters. There's a cool factor involved in seeing these toys go on the offensive, but it gets pretty dark too, many moviegoers complaining the movie was mismarketed upon its initial release.

Also joining the cast are GloboTech's money-minded, condescending CEO (Denis Leary) and the developers of the Commandos and Gorgonites, Jay Mohr and David Cross. It's a fun movie with some pretty big flaws, but it is entertaining with some nice touches in the cast.

Small Soldiers (1998): ** 1/2 /****   

Triage

Actually seeing something in a film can be an emotional, moving, dramatic, heartbreaking thing. Heck, anything in terms of seeing something, real life or film. But what about pictures? In ways that moving images can't always express, sometimes a picture says it all. Photojournalists put themselves in harm's way over and over again covering and shooting some of the world's most dangerous places. How they do cope? That's 2009's Triage.

Having worked for 12-plus years in one hellish war zone after another, Mark Walsh (Colin Farrell) is a highly respected photojournalist who's willing to go anywhere for a picture. It's 1988 and Mark is heading to the Middle East to follow a group of Kurd rebels fighting Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi forces, his similarly experienced friend and fellow photojournalist, David (Jamie Sives), going with him. Following Kurd forces and spending a lot of time at a triage unit in the field, Mark and David are both pushed to their limits, David deciding he's seen enough and wanting to get back to his pregnant wife. Mark decides to stay is seriously hurt while shooting a Kurd attack on an Iraqi fort. He remembers nothing and heads home weeks later only to find that David never arrived. What happened exactly? Where is his friend and why can't he remember the details of how he got there?

A straight-to-DVD release here in the U.S., Triage never quite adds up. From director Danis Tanovic, it clocks in at 99 minutes and while it covers a lot of ground, it bounces around far too much. It knows the tone it's going for, but it drifts and meanders in getting there. It was filmed in Spain (standing in for a fictional territory with the Kurd/Iraqi fighting) and Ireland (after Mark returns) and for lack of a better description, feels like a straight-to-DVD flick. It doesn't need a huge scale with a cast of hundreds, instead focusing on a handful of characters, and it's a wise decision. On the other hand, at just over 90 minutes, the story never picked up any momentum, and I was less than intrigued as it developed. You stick with it to get an answer, to discover what happened, but getting there is far from fun to the point of being dull.

Sporting long hair and a variety of facial hair (my favorite was the quasi-Hitler mustache), Farrell is solid but maybe a little too underplayed here as Mark, the tortured photojournalist struggling to find the answers and cope with everything he's seen. It's a part without a whole lot of energy which reflects Mark's general state of mind, but a little energy, a little fire would have gone a long way. It isn't a bad performance, but Farrell has done better.Late in the flick as revelations come to light, Farrell is called on to emote some, but it feels funny, even forced.

The rest of the cast ranges from pretty good to pretty bad. Paz Vega is shrill as Elena, Mark's worrying girlfriend back in Ireland. Her part consists of her asking if he's all right, looking worried about his answer, and then ultimately finding a solution that in itself feels pretty odd. Sives as David is interesting but nothing comes of it. His whole purpose after introduction is to be homesick so pretty one-note, Kelly Reilly playing his very pregnant wife, Diane. Branko Djuric is the best thing going here by far as Dr. Talzani, a doctor working with the Kurds who is forced to make horrific decisions everyday about how to treat his patients. Through Mark and his pictures, we get to know Talzani better than any other character here. Rounding out the cast is Christopher Lee as Jose, Elena's grandfather, a doctor who has a history of working with former war criminals, getting them to admit to what they've done. It's a strategy he tries with Mark as well.

There are parts that work here. Following Mark embedded with the Kurd fighters, we get a real sense of what the fighting was like, the toll it would take on both the fighters and the photojournalists. You can only see so much before it completely rips away who you are. Seeing Dr. Talzani at work is unsettling and brutal, and his conversations with Mark provide some very good moments. The same for the later scenes with Mark and Jose, Mark finally realizing what happened to himself, David and what drove them there. The ending isn't nearly as shocking as it tries to be. Effective? Yes, but not an Earth-swelling finale, just a good one.

Triage (2009): **/****

As Good as It Gets

What do you think of when you hear the name James L. Brooks? I, for one, had to look the name up. I recognized it, but no one film instantly jumped out at me. Without the huge notoriety or name recognition, Brooks has a handful of classics and near-classics to his name whether it be directing or writing. How about one where he did both? That's 1997's As Good as It Gets. 

Living in a spacious NYC apartment, Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) is a famous author who churns out one classic love story and novel after another. His personality doesn't match the writing style though. Melvin is obsessive-compulsive, racist, a homophobe and basically hates everyone. He has no real friends, tolerating a semi-friendly waitress, Carol (Helen Hunt), at a restaurant he eats at everyday, and basically tries to avoid contact with everyone. His cozy little world riddled with OCD is thrown for a loop when his neighbor, Simon (Greg Kinnear), a gay artist, is horrifically beaten, and Melvin is forced to care for his tiny little dog, Verdell. Melvin has had quite the past with both Simon and Verdell but can't get out of the arrangement and agrees to watch the dog until Simon recovers. It's one little thing that changes Melvin's ways as an odd three-way friendship is forged among the author, the waitress and the gay artist. It's three very different people, but they seem to have found a unifying bond among them.

A favorite among critics and audiences in 1997, 'Good' earned over $140 million in theaters and was an even bigger success at the Oscars with Nicholson winning Best Actor and Hunt winning Best Actress. Oh, and there were five other nominations including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Kinnear. My recent viewing was my first for this film, and I enjoyed it a lot. How come? I can't really describe it. None of the characters are all that likable, and in a meandering sort of way, I never really knew where it was going or what it was trying to say. What then is the answer? I think it resonated with audiences because it is about people, their lives, their struggles inside themselves and interacting with others. Can't everybody see the appeal in that in some way? It feels real. No explosions or shootouts, just some solid dramatic moments, one on top of the other.

An acting legend, Nicholson has won three separate Oscars and earned 12 nominations overall. I'm partial to his performance in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as his best, but against a talented field in 1997 -- Matt Damon, Peter Fonda, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall -- Nicholson delivers a gem. The fact that we like this character even a smidge is a testament to Nicholson's ability. His Melvin Udall -- the perfect name for this character -- is a racist, prejudiced, obsessive-compulsive individual while also becoming a famous author. He has absolutely no filter in whatever he says and basically only thinks of himself at all times, how things affect him. Just about everyone who meets him is disgusted by him, and he welcomes it. That he finds some sort of odd companionship with a squirrelly little dog named Verdell is beyond perfect. I liked the movie throughout, but there's no doubt Nicholson is the best part of the movie.

While Nicholson's performance was the most noteworthy for me, all three lead performances are really worth mentioning. Mostly known from TV sitcom Mad About You and as the girl from Twister, Hunt shows what a talented actress she really is. A single mom with a son who has horrific asthma attacks almost at will, her Carol works as a waitress and has the unpleasant title of being Melvin's favorite waitress. She's trying to do what's best for her son and is put in an interesting predicament by Melvin even if his reasons for doing a very generous thing seem almost entirely intentional. In the smallest of the three parts, Kinnear is very good without being stereotypical as a struggling artist in NYC, a gay man who resents Melvin more and more for his brutally inappropriate comments about his sexuality.

Also look for Cuba Gooding Jr. in a solid part as Simon's agent who's trying to help him become a successful artist. Shirley Knight is very good as Beverly, Carol's very helpful mother and also watch for Yeardley Smith, Skeet Ulrich, Harold Ramis, and even future SNL star (and more) Maya Rudolph in supporting parts. Look quick for Rudolph or you'll miss her.

If I have one complaint with 'Good' it is that at 139 minutes it is a tad on the long side. There are some big, dramatic moments (but not overdone thankfully), but for the most part the story leans more toward the episodic. We meet the characters, see them interact in a variety of places and fashions. Late in the movie, Melvin, Carol and Simon go on a road trip with an odd purpose, an extended sequence that works well but I questioned where it was going. It does eventually get there, it just takes a little while with an effective ending. Funny, very dark, emotional, and based in some sort of personal reality, this is a good one.

As Good as It Gets (1997): ***/**** 

In the Valley of Elah

Maybe 15 or 20 years down the road, there will be a wave of movies in theaters about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, much the way movies about WWII and even Korea and Vietnam were released. I doubt it, but who knows. For now, the wounds may be too fresh so we get movies kinda about the war, related but not directly about the fighting, like 2007's In the Valley of Elah.

A former army veteran and military policeman, Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) lives in Tennessee with his wife, Joan (Susan Sarandon). He is more than surprised one day to get a call that his son, Mike, recently back from a tour in Iraq, has gone missing and is days away from being reported as going AWOL. Curious what's going on and sensing something suspicious, Hank drives to the army base in New Mexico to look into it himself, investigating what's happened to his son, if anything. He gets various responses, some more helpful than others. Hank is stonewalled by some, greeted by others, and gets some less than willing help from a local detective, Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron), who joins him in the investigation. It doesn't take long before clues mount up, but it might all be for naught. Mike's body has been found, dismembered and burned. What was Hank's son into?

Over the last ten-plus years, there hasn't been too many things more divisive than the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some support it wholeheartedly, others question why American forces are there at all. This film from director Paul Haggis goes down a different part -- mostly -- by having the fighting serve as a jumping off point for a police procedural. What happened in Iraq affects the police investigation. We follow Hank and Emily as they investigate Mike's disappearance, eventual murder and what led to it. The movie is at its strongest in those moments, a low-key but tense mystery that keeps us guessing. Hank, Emily, local police and army investigators all search and pursue each and every clue, anything that might lead to answers. Most lead to nothing, just dead ends, but all it takes is one clue to bring it all together.

What the movie is more focused on -- via the investigation -- is how the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has impacted the lives of the soldiers involved. A nasty little sub-genre of war movies dating back to The Best Years of Our Lives through Born on the Fourth of July and many more all deal with Post-traumatic stress disorder following their deployments. Through some videos and photos recovered from Mike's phone, Hank sees what his son and his fellow soldiers went through on a daily basis. Much like Vietnam was a new war, the Iraq war was unlike other conflicts. It becomes almost impossible to identify who your enemy is. Anyone and everyone could be trying to kill you. Thankfully the script and story from Haggis and Mark Boal doesn't hit us over the head with its message (for the most part). What the soldiers see, do and experience affects them in horrendous ways, ways that they can't just shake off because they're not overseas anymore.

Taking two familiar-ish characters and making them more than a cliched, cardboard cutout are Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron. Who better to play a world-weary, semi-retired MP and army vet than TLJ? He's quiet and understated, knowing the answers he's looking for will almost certainly bring nothing positive. Just the same, he goes about his investigation so he knows what really happened to his son, and maybe more importantly, what drove him down that path. Theron's part is more familiar, a female detective who gets no respect from her colleagues, also a single mother with a son at home. She takes on this case for a couple reasons, to show she can, a little out of spite, and sometimes even against her better judgement. It's two really good performances, both with chances to show off dramatically, but neither actor overdoes it. Like their characters, they just go about their business.

Supporting Jones and Theron is an equally impressive supporting cast. Sarandon nails a smallish part as Jones' wife, waiting at home for a phone call she doesn't want to hear. Jason Patric is a scene-stealer as Sgt. Kirklander, an officer with Army intelligence trying to do his job as best he can while also seemingly trying to cover the Army's butt just in case. James Franco plays an Army officer who meets Hank early on while Josh Brolin plays the Chief of police, two small parts that didn't seem to justify the star power associated with them. Cool to see, just odd. Barry Corbin and Frances Fisher have quick appearances as people Hank meets/contacts during his questioning. Playing some of Mike's buddies from his squad are Wes Chatham, Jake McLaughlin, Mehcad Brooks and Roman Arabia with Jonathan Tucker playing Mike via flashback. 

It's funny how one scene can change your feelings about a movie, and how quickly it can happen. Obviously, this is an anti-war movie, but I thought for the most part, Haggis did a good job getting his message across without screaming "THIS WAR IS BAD!" at us as viewers. Then there's the final shot of the movie which came across as heavy-handed and awkward. It's too bad because the build-up got that message across. The war is bad, and the effect it is having on our soldiers is horrific. I thought he got that message across building up to the finale. Too bad because the final reveal about Mike is a whopper, shocking and uncomfortable to hear. Still a really good film, but the ending left me with a sour taste because of one single shot. Go figure.

In the Valley of Elah (2007): ***/****

Spring Breakers

There are movies so bad that it is hard to describe. Released in 2012, Spring Breakers is at the top of that list. What's the appeal? Even the premise that four attractive young actresses would prance around in bikinis for 90 minutes didn't seem enough. But watching with a friend -- thank you Redbox credit! -- I gave it a shot. It's beyond a guilty pleasure, it's just an awful movie. And away we go!

A freshman in college, Faith (Selena Gomez) is struggling to find herself, going back and forth between the life she thinks she should lead and then more embracing the crazy college life with friends from grammar school, Candy (Vanessa Hudgens) and Brit (Ashley Benson). Faith has agreed to go along with her friends, including a fourth girl, Cotty (Rachel Korine), to spring break somewhere in Florida. Candy, Brit and Cotty get the money they need by some interesting means and head out with Faith, embracing the partying, drinking and drugs associated with all that is spring break. The quartet enjoys spring break a little too much though, getting arrested at a party riddled with cocaine. Wasting away in a holding cell, they're released, an underground rapper and self-proclaimed hustler named Alien (James Franco) paying their bail. How crazy was their trip before? It's about to get a whole lot weirder.

Words don't describe the badness on display here. From director/writer Harmony Korine, 'Breakers' is bizarre in nature. Is it supposed to be some sort of dream-like nightmare, a spring break vacation on steroids? Is it supposed to be a spoof, an intended guilty pleasure that embraces how awful it is? Or, maybe worst of all, is it supposed to have some sort of messed-up message, an arthouse film trying to be profound and unique? The sad thing is, it doesn't achieve any or all of those objectives. It's trying to be profound on so many levels and fails on every single one. Story, acting, cinematography, editing, soundtrack, they're all duds to the point it actually becomes painful to watch.

Let's start with the visuals. 'Breakers' appears to have been filmed in a colorful, filtered fog. The colors are oddly appealing, the colors of the girls' bikinis coming to life and standing out from the rest. Each scene is full of color -- pink, teal, orange, yellow -- that eventually overcomes the story, making things look like a comic book. More than that, a 93-minute movie is shot like one extended music video. A non-linear story is fine, but 'Breakers' plays like one long montage with pretentious voice-overs laid in over the visual. We see the quartet ride scooters about 183 times, we see them drinking and doing drugs, we see them partying, all on one slow-motion loop. I lost count of how many montages we see -- in more slow-motion of course -- of random partygoers on beaches and sleazy motels drinking, drugging, doing beer bongs, grinding on each other, making out. It's tedious by the fourth time (that's an estimate) we see it, and things never recover.

Now for the acting. Where to begin? Where to start? We've got four teeny bopper-esque actresses in Gomez, Hudgens, Benson and Korine, all of them shaking off their pristine, cooky cutter reputations (especially Gomez and Hudgens, trying for years courtesy of some "leaked" nude pictures). Gomez comes out relatively unscathed, Korine gets to slut it up as the sluttiest of the four, and then there's Hudgens and Benson. Those two are on a whole other level. Bored to tears with their college lives -- poor babies -- they decide to embrace everything they want via spring break. How do they pay for the trip? They rob a restaurant, later showing Gomez's Faith how they did so. They swear up a storm, posture like they're gangsters from South Central, and basically act through some of the most cringe-inducing scenes I've ever seen.

Then there's Franco as hustler, drug dealer, rapper and all-around criminal, Alien. Wearing dreadlocks, gold grillz/teeth, sporting patchy facial hair and looking like a two-bit gangster, Franco is unreal, hamming it up in ways I never though possible. He dances, he mugs, he speaks in an undecipherable "accent" that I struggle to actually describe it without sounding like an idiot. My favorite though is his scene where he recites all his possessions, "I've got shorts....in every color! I've got Calvin Klein Escape and Be...because I like to smell good! I've got dark tanning oil so I can tan with my dark tanning oil!" It goes on like that for far too long. Alien introduces the girls to the world they want -- or in some cases, thought they wanted -- of guns, violence, strip clubs, drugs and three-ways in pools. How can you lose?

Okay, moving on, lots to do (criticize) and so little time. How about the script? Was there one? In scenes where the characters aren't having sex, drinking, or brandishing heavy-duty guns, voice-overs pepper the 93-minute running time. It's like American Beauty meets The Thin Red Line but.....really not good. Gomez's Faith says countless times "People are so amazing. We have so many new friends. People are so nice." in her inane, painful monologues. Wow, that's profound! It doesn't get any better. It's one awkwardly delivered voice-over after another, all played with one obnoxious techno/dance song or psychedelic 1980s trance music ripped out of Risky Business. The script descends into some sort of drug-infused madness that gets worse and worse. Eventually, it has Alien and his Angels doing battle with a rival gangster, Big Archie (rapper Gucci Mane), an ending that defies logic and reality like everything else, but amplified.

This is a movie that derails quickly and never rights itself. I hated the characters, wanting them to meet some sort of horrific end, but even the ending is beyond idiotic. I can't even remotely recommend this one. As my friend said, "Maybe we should have done acid before we started." Would it have made it better, even slightly more tolerable? That's debatable. At one point, Alien actually serenades the girls (wearing pink stocking caps, black sweatpants and brandishing automatic rifles/pistols) with a Britney Spears song that he sings while playing piano on his ocean-front home. Awful, just awful. Give it a ridiculously wide berth.

Spring Breakers (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 /****