Preparing for Prometheus pt. III – Alien 3 (1992)
My contention with the Alien franchise has been that each installment has been about a different sort of fear. The first was the fear of the unknown. That fear of something coming out of the shadows and devouring you. The second was the fear of being overwhelmed. The idea of being swarmed. The third film in the franchise focuses on the fear of desperation and the idea that death is not something that can be overcome.
Alien 3 has a very long and storied history with regards to its production. At one time it was supposed to take place on a desolate wooded planet involving a monastery filled with folks who believed they were living in a post-apocalyptic dark age where technology is shunned and Ripley and the alien’s arrival would trigger internal tensions that would grow alongside the sci-fi horror. That idea was eventually retrofitted into the final product where we got a prison planet filled with religious convicts. The film had multiple directors before the studio brought in first time director David Fincher, who turned in a cut that the brass didn’t quite care for. Reshoots and creative editing ensued. The theatrical cut is pretty well maligned although I always thought it was a pretty damn good film. The main beef fans seem to have is that the death of fan favorites Newt and Hicks before the end of the opening titles. They contend that such a bold move renders the previous movie worthless. I would argue that it really isn’t a break from what the series is about at all. I read an analysis of the series that the trilogy reads like a treatise on terminal illness. Alien is diagnosis, Aliens is about remission against all odds, and Alien 3 is about accepting the inevitability of death. Some complain that Alien 3 is far too nihilistic when compared to the previous installments, but it is a logical conclusion.
Alien 3 has more in common with Alien than it does Aliens, that much is certain. It is only the overwhelming love of Aliens that sinks Alien 3. The concept is sound, the acting is pretty great all around. Charles Dance is amazing as always and by this point in the series Sigourney Weaver has Ripley’s character down to a science. Fincher’s direction works well with the material and he creates a true sense of dread. The only real downside to the film is the creature FX done with CGI. Anytime the Alien is done practically, it looks menacing and macabre. The CGI creature however is laughable and kills the tension when it appears.
Honestly I would recommend giving the “Assembly Cut” of the film a look. It’s got far more character work than the theatrical print and the finale has far more weight because Ripley’s sacrifice plays better without the addition of the chest burster. That is just my honest opinion.
Preparing for Prometheus pt. II – Aliens (1986)
I mentioned when I reviewed Alien that my first exposure to the franchise was with its sequel. I didn’t get to experience all of it. My vhs copy that I recorded off of a late night showing on Fox got cut off around the time the marines started getting wasted at about an hour into the movie. I was hooked from what I had seen and wanted more but I didn’t have access to the films other than going to a video store (if you’re younger than twenty you might need to google that concept) and renting them and my parents were hesitant to let me watch stuff like that alone and I wasn’t comfortable watching stuff like that with them. Enter my friend from down the street who had all three Alien films on VHS. We watched the first one together and he left the other two with me to enjoy at my leisure. The very next night I watched Aliens all the way through for the first time.
I’m going to say that Aliens is probably my favorite entry in the series. The fact that it is so unlike its predecessor and yet somehow a logical evolution hooks me in and keeps me onboard. Now, I had seen Predator before I saw this one. My dad had that Arnold Schwarzenegger classic taped off of HBO and I’d watched it more than once. I knew how good the idea of tough guys with big guns being hopelessly outclassed by a foreign being could be. But the difference between that film and Aliens is that in this particular go around the sheer overwhelming number of the Aliens and the chaos they bring creates a completely different sort of terror. The idea of being swarmed is a very primal fear. Sharks in a freeding frenzy or a haze of angry wasps are some examples of naturally occurring means in which a person can be swarmed and scared out of his gourd. It’s a common recurring theme in many nightmares.
But it is through this change in the manner of horror that the film shifts from being a horror film into something more akin to a survival thriller. It’s a man against nature film except in this case it is man versus the supernatural and that same fear of the unknown from the first film carries over. The fact that the marines go into the fight knowing that they are dealing with something lethal and yet being blissfully ignorant of the danger and overconfident of their own bravado makes for an interesting contrast to the cornered and frightened crew of the original film. It also contrasts with other films of the genre, like Predator, where they don’t have any clue what they are dealing with and therefore have no idea how to combat it. It is almost more frightening to know what you are dealing with and still feel hopeless than to wonder what it is that is circling you waiting to pounce.
I don’t feel as if I can say as much about this film as I can its predecessor because while it is well constructed and smartly made, it doesn’t give you enough time to take in the craft of the film itself. It is kinetic and frenzied. Alien is slow and deliberate while Aliens is frantic. That is a very deliberate choice and it fits in with what I was speaking to earlier about the different sort of fear each film is attempting to instill in the audience. Neither is superior to the other but I will definitely say that Aliens is far better in the repeat viewing category because you don’t have to be in nearly as patient a mindset to enjoy its charms. It starts off fast and ramps up speed to the climax and then the valve bursts and it leaves you feeling pretty well drained.
Seriously, it’s a high point for multiple genres and should be shown to film students on a repeated loop until they get the point.
Preparing for Prometheus pt. I – Alien (1979)
Let me tell you a little bit about my experience with the “Alien” franchise before we really delve into the meat and bones of this entry. I was maybe ten years old when I first got to experience one of the films. I caught a showing of Aliens on the local Fox affiliate when they were showing it late one night based off the recommendation of one of my friends who had a far greater knowledge of R-rated cinema than myself. I was something of a sheltered child and though I had seen plenty of violent movies the idea of the Alien monster scared the shit out of me. The nature of a creature that violates you so totally as a part of its own life cycle was enough to give me nightmares based off of hearing about the concept second hand. A monster that implants its embryo inside of you and tears itself out of you violently is a frightening idea to a young boy. The lore and legend of the Alien franchise had been related to me in a manner that had me believe it was the scariest goddamn sci-fi monster series ever put on film. I recorded the late-night showing on a VHS tape and later found that it cut off just around the part where the marines are getting their asses handed to them for the first time. I was hooked. This was the greatest movie ever. I begged my friend to let me borrow his copies of the movies, which he did. We watched the first film later that night at my house and I could not believe how amazing it was. The tension was enough to make me aware of my own breathing. I can honestly attribute the original Alien with giving me an appreciation for well-crafted, tension based horror and sci-fi. It was that film that drove me to seek out John Carpenter’s The Thing as well as Halloween and other truly amazing horror.
Why did that movie have such an effect on me? What made it so damn special? This movie has been written about so many times that singing its praises is hideously worthless. Everybody knows that it is a singular classic. Everybody knows that it was a game changer. The reasons why are so well documented and dissected that my input is mostly worthless. I’m still going to point out my little observations anyway because with Prometheus about to descend into theaters I’m sure many people will be asking why we would need a prequel (and let’s not pretend that’s not what it is). The film is perfect as it is. I’m not even going to try to say the film is anything other than perfect. The pacing, the design, the acting. All of it is so top notch that you wonder why so many films that have come afterward can’t manage to pull it off half as well. The film works with well established tropes and yet broke a lot of new ground. Things that came after wouldn’t be breaking that same new ground but Ridley Scott showed how to build tension effectively and utilize the talents of an amazing cast in a way that should be studied over and over again. There was a realism to the interactions of the crew and the manner that they reacted to their situation that isn’t present in most of the films that were spawned because of Alien’s success. While Ripley embodied the idea of the “Final victim” that has always been a staple of the horror genre, the fact that she was utilized as a personification as well as a deconstruction of that idea gave the film a distinct sort of tone.
And let’s just talk about the design of the creature for a minute. How iconic is it, really? It sticks in the public consciousness in the way so few monsters can. It is the very definition of inhuman nightmare. Gothic and dark and totally foreign. It has the sort of instant fear factor of a snake or a scorpion. There is something truly iconic about it and it sticks in the brain. I’m sure much has been made of the overly sexualized nature of the creature that is also disturbing. I mentioned how the life cycle of the creature is inherently a violation on every level. There is not a single element of the creature that is not time tested to scare the shit out of a person on every level.
In short, the film still holds up. For all the reasons I have just mentioned. It doesn’t lose any of its spark over time and you can watch it now and understand exactly why it burrowed so deep into pop culture and now all these years later Ridley Scott is still wanting to revisit the world he created back in 1979. I’m personally excited as all hell.
Revisiting The Avengers pt. III
I’ve been reading The Avengers on a monthly basis since a little before Bendis pulled the whole Disassembled thing. Looking back on it, that’s a lot of time to invest into a title. Couple that with the fact that I stuck with Bendis’ handling of the team through both the New and Mighty Avengers titles and then the “Heroic Age” relaunch and that’s a lot of time spent reading his take on the franchise. I’ll admit that for me, Bendis is the name I will probably always associate with Avengers. I’ve gone back and read most of the pivotal runs and I think only Kurt Busiek’s run matches it in density and enjoyability. Though there are some classic Silver Age moments that I quite enjoy.
I had to drop both of the Avengers titles shortly after the relaunch because of monetary issues. A lot of really good books got chopped, actually. But with the movie recently in theaters I thought it would be a good idea to re-examine some prominent Avengers stories once again and so here we are.
AVENGERS v. III
I officially dropped this book at the end of volume two. I just needed to trim the fat and what followed the end of the last volume was a smattering of crossover issues with Marvel’s Fear Itself event. I still have yet to read those issues, as both the Avengers and New Avengers storylines were condensed into a single hardcover and it didn’t look interesting enough at a glance to pick up for the purpose of this retrospective. Instead I moved on to the recently released third hardcover collecting the storyline immediately afterFear Itself and would attempt to go from there.
The story picks up with Thor and Bucky dead and Steve Rogers once again in the uniform of Captain America. In the aftermath of what has been dubbed “Blitzkrieg USA,” Steve had decided to restructure the Avengers and the age-old trope of the team selection and press conference gets trotted out. I have to admit that I have nothing against the team selection and presentation idea. It works remarkably well when done right. See Busiek’s run for a good example. Here however I have to say that it feels like nothing at all has truly happened since the team formed. I know that technically a major crossover event happened, but its times like these that the complaints of decompression really come back to bite Bendis on the butt. Having read the series from the start, it feels as if there is no real weight or passage of time to necessitate this restructuring. The weight of losing Bucky and Thor isn’t properly conveyed on page in a way that makes the severity of the situation apparent.
As soon as the team is cemented, we get the return of Norman Osborn and what amounts to the spiritual sequel to Siege, which launched this title in the first place. Perhaps that is why the restructuring bothered me so much. This arc seems like events have come full circle and yet in between there has been only what seems like two days worth of adventure. It doesn’t help that after the quest for the Infinity Gems, this story seems somewhat small and misguided by comparison. Osborn’s plan is well developed, but it seems hard to swallow that the Avengers would have such trouble dealing with him following their bouts with gems that can alter the face of reality and an invasion by literal Gods of fear.
Had this story taken place two arcs later, it may not have felt so misplaced but that’s not how Bendis wanted to play it and that is my issue with this particular title. Unlike something like the first volume of New Avengers or his work on Powers, Bendis seems unwilling to play the long game here. He’s rushing from place to place trying to do everything that he feels he needs to do when writing an Avengers title and as a result it feels hollow. Compared to his original New Avengers run or something like Busiek and Perez’ years on Avengers, it just doesn’t have much in the way of true substance and that’s disheartening to say the least.
Trailer for new Green Arrow TV show arrives
We’re getting “Arrow” on the CW network whether we want it or not. I’ll be honest, this looks pretty damn good. At least it looks a lot better than Smallville and while I wish they would have just called it “Green Arrow” and gone from there, I’ll definitely give it a watch when it hits the airwaves.
Revisiting The Avengers pt. II
I’ve been reading The Avengers on a monthly basis since a little before Bendis pulled the whole Disassembled thing. Looking back on it, that’s a lot of time to invest into a title. Couple that with the fact that I stuck with Bendis’ handling of the team through both the New and Mighty Avengers titles and then the “Heroic Age” relaunch and that’s a lot of time spent reading his take on the franchise. I’ll admit that for me, Bendis is the name I will probably always associate with Avengers. I’ve gone back and read most of the pivotal runs and I think only Kurt Busiek’s run matches it in density and enjoyability. Though there are some classic Silver Age moments that I quite enjoy.
I had to drop both of the Avengers titles shortly after the relaunch because of monetary issues. A lot of really good books got chopped, actually. But with the movie recently in theaters I thought it would be a good idea to re-examine some prominent Avengers stories once again and so here we are.
AVENGERS v. II
Written by Brian Michael Bendis with artwork by John Romita Jr.
This volume collects issues 6-12 of Brian Bendis’ 2010 Avengers relaunch. This time around the team is already assembled and they get thrust headfirst into the adventure. This arc, like the first six issues, has a lot of what some people would call “classic” Avengers fare. The crux of the story revolves around a villain attempting to collect all of the Infinity Gems. This time around however, the story contains a lot of the hallmarks of Bendis’ favorite tropes and schemes. For example, the villain of this piece isn’t an old schooler like Kang but a more recent invention in Parker Robbins, aka the Hood.
While our antagonist is most definitely from the new blood of Marvel, the threat of the Infinity Gems recall Avengers tales of the past. Bendis does revert to his usual shenanigans of playing around with Marvel history, drawing heavily from his Illuminati storyline. This reads almost as a mini-sequel to that event and as a result it doesn’t feel quite as new-reader friendly as the first volume. That’s not to say that the things this arc references aren’t adequately explained because they are and readers willing to go with the flow will be able to easily keep up.
The big shakeup this time around is the addition of the Red Hulk to the team. Parts of the arc seem to work as a redemption of the character who in the early days of his own title was written as so omnipowerful that he became unimaginably boring. With this story, Bendis manages to use the fact that Rulk was written as unimaginably powerful to elevate the threat level of the Hood and his quest for the Infinity Gems. It’s quite effective.
Honestly, I enjoyed this arc much more than the first. Even the artwork seemed better developed this time around. It may be a bit of personal preference, but the title seems to have found its balance with this story and the addition of the Red Hulk to the team. I can’t say everyone will have the same reaction, but this volume seems to have the right mix of the classic style with the fresh perspective of Bendis’ writing.
Film Review – Dark Shadows (2012)
I have never watched a single episode of the original series on which Dark Shadows was based. That’s not to say I have no familiarity with the franchise, as I own a dvd copy of the 1990′s revival series that came packaged with a DVD set of another television show that I bought at a discount at Wal-Mart some time ago. That particular series did not seem horrible, but nor was it in any way good enough to make any sort of impression. I am informed by my sources on the internets that the original series is far more beloved, because of its groundbreaking introduction of genre elements into the mainstream soap opera trappings of television as well as the spectacularly bad effects that made early Doctor Who episodes look like Michael Bay set pieces.
Why then did I bother to see this film adaptation when Burton’s last outing, Alice in Wonderland was so generic and blah that I felt the director had lost all of his creative spark? Because I sure as hell did not want to sit through Battleship. This film was at its very core the lesser of two evils. Tim Burton should thank his lucky stars for that. Because while the trailer for this was abysmal, it still looked like it would drain less of my soul than Peter Berg’s overly bloated and poorly conceived board game movie. That may set the bar incredibly low, but I’m not looking to be overly compassionate here. This is as middle of the road a movie as you can get.
The first ten minutes of the film, where we are introduced to a young Barnabas Collins transplanted from England to the Atlantic northeast of America, works well as a gothic tragedy that feels well within classic Burton’s wheelhouse. It is overblown and melodramatic in a way that seems consistent with everything I’ve come to associate with Dark Shadows in its previous incarnations. In fact, this tone is somewhat well maintained until the instant that Barnabas is unearthed in 1972, where the tone shifts and the film goes off the rails. The shift from tragic melodrama to quirky comedy is so abrupt that it is almost physically shaking. I can say with absolute certainty that this film would have been far more effective if it had played the bombast straight faced and not tried so hard to constantly be winking at the audience and demanding that they acknowledge how clever the writing is. If Seth Grahame-Smith’s screenplay were anywhere near as witty as the film thinks it is it would be one amazing ride. As it stands, it’s the very definition of a shiny well-produced mess. The costume work, the visual direction and the cinematography are all top notch. I will give it that much credit, as I seem to do with everything Burton does. But there is no cohesion to the story and it seems to bounce everywhere with regard to what it wants to be. Once it goes all gonzo-quirky, the moments where we are expected to accept moments of horror with a straight face fall flat and the film goes down with them.
Johnny Depp never fully melds into the role and its hard not to see him as we’ve come to know him. He overshadows the character almost entirely. On the other hand, newcomer Bella Heathcote does well as the doe-eyed love interest and Eva Green masterfully chews the scenery, as she seems to get what sort of movie she is in. Helena Bonham-Carter is just as distracting as Depp and the rest of the cast seems to simply exist. Johnny Lee Miller is especially passive and exits the film in a manner that seems like he suddenly remembered he had something more important to do elsewhere and considering that he’s starring in that ill-advised American take on Sherlock with Lucy Liu, that should give you some perspective on how badly he must have wanted the hell out of this picture.
So it’s a mess. It has some moments that work, but more of them don’t and the final product is just sort of a waste of time. I think the script needed to be more consistent in every department and I think the film could have worked better had the cast been people who Burton hasn’t essentially claimed as his own little puppets. I want the Burton who made Ed Wood and Beetlejuice back. I want something impressive. I know he can do it and that’s why films like these are so damn depressing.
Anyhow, here’s some hot pictures of Eva Green to cheer you up.
Revisiting The Avengers pt. I
I’ve been reading The Avengers on a monthly basis since a little before Bendis pulled the whole Disassembled thing. Looking back on it, that’s a lot of time to invest into a title. Couple that with the fact that I stuck with Bendis’ handling of the team through both the New and Mighty Avengers titles and then the “Heroic Age” relaunch and that’s a lot of time spent reading his take on the franchise. I’ll admit that for me, Bendis is the name I will probably always associate with Avengers. I’ve gone back and read most of the pivotal runs and I think only Kurt Busiek’s run matches it in density and enjoyability. Though there are some classic Silver Age moments that I quite enjoy.
I had to drop both of the Avengers titles shortly after the relaunch because of monetary issues. A lot of really good books got chopped, actually. But with the movie recently in theaters I thought it would be a good idea to re-examine some prominent Avengers stories once again and so here we are.
AVENGERS v. I
Written by Brian Michael Bendis with artwork by John Romita Jr.
The 2010 volume of Avengers begins in the wake of Marvel’s “Siege” storyline where Norman Osborn’s reign as the leader of SHIELD/HAMMER comes to a close and the status quo reverts to something more akin to what longtime readers were familiar with, this time with Steve Rogers in the role previously filled by Nick Fury and assembling two separate Avengers teams. This volume deals with the more “traditional” Avengers featuring Iron Man, Hawkeye, Thor, etc. with holdovers from the previous volume of New Avengers in Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Wolverine.
The book still maintains much of what made Bendis’ run on the first volume of New Avenger such a success, ie. his dialog. He’s especially gifted at writing witty banter and makes good use of characters like Hawkeye, Spider-man, and the more garrulous members of the team. This time around however, there is less focus on grounded street level action and the plot is driven by BIG ideas that the Avengers series seem to thrive on. In this particular volume, we get a broken timestream and alternate realities. We get classic Avengers villains like Ultron and Kang. It’s everything longtime fans of the book should love.
The principle complaint against the book is that Bendis cannot write with his trademark style and manage that sort of plotting. I would argue that this isn’t true. Working with John Romita Jr, the layouts and flow seem to work as well as they ever have with a story of this type. While the artwork does seem more sketchy and rough around the edges than I would really like out of Romita, he does a serviceable job making sure that Bendis’ story comes to life on the page.
My major issue with these six issues is that the book does seem to have too much going on for its own good. The chaos in one timestream seems to suck the energy from the parallel plot and as such the story reads somewhat uneven. It’s not a bad story, it just isn’t very even. In regards to assembling a new team, the book sets up the new status quo quite well. We get a very good idea of what the book is going to do very quickly. You just have to decide for yourself whether it is up your alley.
Review – The Art of Amanda Conner
I ordered this hardcover collection of Amanda Conner’s work around this time last year and I will be honest, until Jimmy Palmiotti tweeted about it a couple weeks ago I had forgotten about it. It was well worth the wait though, as the oversized hardcover is a beautiful compendium of Amanda’s work peppered with notes from some of her high profile colleagues and peers. The presentation is wonderful and there is a great amount of insight into the progression of Amanda’s career and the perception of her artwork from the point of view of her fans, editors, peers, and herself. It’s not just a collection of pretty images.
I will be the first to admit that if you are not already a fan of Amanda Conner, this book may not be for you. It won’t change your mind if you don’t already see what makes her an amazing artist. Art is subjective and everyone has different tastes. There are folks who think Rob Liefeld is the pinnacle of comic book art. That’s fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and to critique art on their own individual criteria. That having been said, this is a fine collection of amazing artwork and if you are a comic book fan it is something that you should proudly display on your shelf.
I am a huge fan of Amanda’s work and I love this collection. It’s occupying a place of honor next to the cover art collection of Adam Hughes’ work and I like to think that as an artbook is is definitely one of the better examples of the format because of the insight that those who have worked with Amanda can offer into what makes her such a powerhouse of creative energy. Seriously, it is a gorgeous book and I was so happy to see it arrive in the mail.
Amanda Conner : Flawless Talent
Film Review – The Avengers
I know I probably should have gotten this out there on, oh, Friday before everybody went and saw it. I know that. But at the same time, I think this is a film I needed to digest a little bit before I put my thoughts down on it. And by “digest” I mean, see it again. As of this writing I’ve experienced the film in both standard format and 3D. Each of these showings was packed to the brim. The first was on Friday at the first showing of the day at 10 in the morning. The next was a Saturday show at 1 PM. I need to point this out because the biggest surprise about The Avengers is that it even exists in the first place. The amount of planning and preparation that went into developing a crossover of this magnitude is mind boggling. There have been crossover films before this. Godzilla and King Kong fought it out, Freddy and Jason slashed at each other, the list goes on. It’s not that big a deal for cinematic properties to come together. What is unique is the idea of using individual characters and their films as a roadmap to an eventual crossover. In the world of cinema, it’s a miracle that it ever got made. Even more impressive is that Marvel was able to bring the viewing audience around as well. They sold the idea of this being on of the biggest movies ever and the audiences turned up. They invested their time in it. This is a movie that has been on everyone’s minds for close to five years. Ever since the end of Iron Man when Samuel L. Jackson walked in the room and told the world that the Marvel universe was going to be a shared experiment. This film is important.
That having been said, is it any good? I’m happy to say that everything you want out of this movie you will receive. Joss Whedon handles it as well as you would expect and we may finally have the shining definition of what it means to bring a comic book to life on screen. The final act is like watching a collection of “hell yeah” splash pages from a Marvel crossover brought to life. The film does not skirt the fact that comic books are writ large and with joyous bombast. The action sequences are everything that Michael Bay wishes he could accomplish. They are loud, they are big and at the same time they have a sense of direction that is managed and easy to follow. You never get confused watching the carnage and for that we should be thankful.
But what I really want to talk about is the character moments. The time between Norse gods fighting men in iron suits. Joss Whedon gives us a movie where the time spent with these character simply talking to each other are as gripping as the action sequences and set pieces. The interplay between these actors is something that holds the film together in a way that without it, the whole experiment would fail. Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo’s respectful banter is a highlight. Hell, anything Mark Ruffalo does is a highlight. I know folks liked Edward Norton but Ruffalo brings something that has always been missing from the big screen portrayal of Banner in the previous incarnations. He manages to portray Banner as a person who is angry at his own anger and yet somehow accepting of it all at the same time and he may very well be the MVP of the film. Downey does his usual great work with Stark, but here he really sells the trans-formative arcs that propel his character forward, and seeing him bounce of Chris Evans’ Captain America is a joy to watch. I will admit that I feel as if Evans didn’t get much to do until the final act when he really gets to shine as a team leader, but in a movie with this many characters to juggle it is a small conceit. Also, Tom Hiddleston needs some awards. All of them, really. Loki was a great villain in Thor, mainly because of Hiddleston’s ability to play the wounded creature. He was a tormented soul and that made him fun to watch. Here we get to see what happens when the soul is tormented for so long that it snaps. He plays the broken soul just as well and he sells it like nobody’s business.
The film is everything it needs to be and then some. There will be those who complain about the run-time or the way characters are handled but in the end this is a big win for Marvel and a bigger win for people who still enjoy the spectacle of seeing a true summer blockbuster on the big screen. I do not doubt that I’ll see it at least one more time in the theater because this is definitely a film that benefits from a big screen. I might even shell out the cash to see it in IMAX. It’s that good.
Film Review – The Five Year Engagement
I am not a huge fan of romantic comedies. Mainly because they are so trite and unrealistic that I get angry while viewing them. This is why Shaun of the Dead is my favorite romantic comedy. Because it’s more realistic than anything that has ever been released starring Kate Hudson and it has zombies in it. Zombies people. The ability to capture real human emotion and the complexities of being in a relationship while at the same time making the audience laugh is a skill beyond the means of most writers. You usually get it one way or the other. You want to capture that sense of deep emotion, you had better be writing a drama. You want to make the audience laugh, don’t skew to close to reality. This is the way things are and very rarely can you do both and not come off as a tone-deaf misfire. The Five Year Engagementis able to tread that line quite well. I won’t say it’s perfect, because it does hit notes that push it closer into dramatic territory than your typical romantic comedy should endeavor to go but at the same time this isn’t a typical rom-com.
The story deals with Ted, a master chef played by lovable human teddy bear Jason Segal and his relationship with Violet, played by British actress and John Krasinski penis recipient Emily Blunt. Violet is accepted in a graduate program at a university halfway across the country and the two postpone their impending nuptials while she explores her new found opportunities. In order to do this, Ted sacrifices his chance to be the lead chef at a high-profile restaurant and is reduced to working in a sandwich shop with Brian Posehn. While the plot summary would seem to indicate that the audience is pushed into believing that this is a “girl makes man give up his dreams” sort of situation, the film is far more complex than that. Ted is a likable character, and you do feel bad that things don’t go his way in some regards, but at the same time you realize that the movie is trying to say that you can make your own happiness. I don’t want to give away any major plot points but this is a very even-handed take on a situation that could have been played favorable to either side and the characters here feel very human and vulnerable. It’s what makes the film so strong.
The writing is excellent, on par with Segel and Stoller’s other work in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which I thought was a pretty great movie in and of itself. As in that film, The Five Year Engagement soars because of the dedication put into the characters by the cast. Jason Segal plays within his comfort zone yet again, and while some people may be turned off by that, given the material it works. He doesn’t go so far into the middle-aged man-child shtick that he tends to sometimes, and he comes off as entirely genuine as a result. Emily Blunt is wonderful and is quite funny in her own right. She plays the role straight and wins major points because of it. Let’s not forget she is quite an amazing dramatic actress and so her line readings here are so spot on that she absolutely kills. Chris Pratt, possibly the best thing about Parks and Recreation every week, proves that he can be funny no matter what you ask him to do and the adorable Alison Brie absolutely kills with her fake British accent. The scene where Brie and Blunt argue about the importance of making romantic decisions while impersonating Elmo and the Cookie Monster respectively (Trust me, it makes sense in context) is a highlight of the film.
I will say that like most Apatow produced comedy films it does run a little on the lengthy side, but the film is so well made that you almost don’t notice it. They don’t try to rush things and the pace is comfortable. In the end the payoff works because you’ve spent more time with these characters than you would in a traditional romantic comedy and for that reason I think the film stands a cut above other films that have tried and attempted the same thing. All in all, I suggest checking it out. It’s funny and genuine and you could do a whole lot worse.
*Crossposted from The J. Goodson Blog
New Dark Knight Rises Trailer…Rises
This trailer is expected to hit in front ofThe Avengers on Friday but it hit the net unexpectedly this morning. I will say that it gives us some more snippets of what to expect but all in all I’m still pretty blind as to what sort of turn this film is going to take when it finally hits theaters. It hints that Bane really does break the Bat the way he did in Knightfall and that we may be getting a sort of absolute finale for the Batman character when the credits roll. I know Christopher Nolan is an unconventional filmmaker to say the least so I don’t expect a simple resolution. Not by a long shot.
Addendum:
Christian Bale’s creepy beard thing here is destroying my psyche.
