Man on Wire - DVD

"Man on Wire" is how they described Philippe Petit in a New York City Police report following his walk across a wire connecting between the Twin Towers in NYC. Why did they simply describe him as this?? Because after what they had seen that day, that magical, special day....those were the only words to describe it, as everyone who saw it was completely wooed.

Philippe Petit ran away from home at the age of 15. In Paris he became a street performer, juggler, mime, unicyclist, and soon tied a rope between two trees in the park to learn how to walk across it. From then on he became obsessed with it and after many great wire walks, an amazing one in Australia which is portrayed in the film, his dream became to wire walk across the Twin Towers of New York City in The United States America.

What was so fascinating to me about the film is the way they described how they actually got into the building, up onto the roof, and set everything up. Philippe and a very small handful of men disguised themselves as construction workers with fake badges and accents. They snuck their equipment up to the very top floor to prepare not just once, but many times while the towers were in their final stages of construction. In one scene Philippe and his friend are on the top floor literally sitting straight up underneath a tarp hiding from a security guard for hours until he leaves.

The entire film is building up the that final moment that we all want to see, but trust me, there isn't a hint of boredom along the way. The film does such a great job of showing us previous footage of Philippe's wire walking, interviews with his friends and girlfriend, and of course the suspenseful mission and planning of getting up into the towers. Throughout the entire film I kept saying to myself "WOW", and by the time the last sequence came....I was speechless. It's beauty and joy is purely overwhelming. The site of Philippe fulfilling his dream and acting it out right in front of you after everything he went through was a site on film that I'll NEVER forget. Philippe Petit is one of the most amazing, enthusiastic, loving, and interesting human beings in the world. DO NOT MISS THIS FILM. 5 out of 5.

Collateral - DVD

"I just shot him. The bullets and the fall killed him". This is a quote that hitman Vincent truly believes in the masterfully shot and acted film by Michael Mann, Collateral.

Vincent, played by Tom Cruise, is a hitman who's in town for just one night with five stops to make. Max played by Jamie Foxx is a man who's stuck in the gig as a cab driver never the wiser picks up Vincent thinking he's just another fare. Vincent needs a driver for the night and when he offers him five hundred plus another hundred if he gets him to the airport on time, it's an offer that Max can't refuse.

To me there are three essential characters in this film. There's Vincent, Max, and the city of Los Angeles. The entire film is shot in digital, at night, in LA, and as we all know, Michael Mann is the king of digital night shots. He uses some of the most gritty downtown alleyways I've ever seen in a film like this. On the dvd special features "behind the scenes" there's a part where Cruise is actually talking about how they were all a little scared to be filming in these areas, but Mann knew he needed them to make the film believable. He really gives the viewer the feel of a new type of LA. We're so used to seeing the Beverly Hills glamour shots or the Santa Monica Pier, but here we're blessed with the opportunity to see the real downtown LA on a night that Vincent, Max, nor the viewer will ever forget.

"Max! I do this for a living!" Tom Cruise went through months of physical hand to hand combat training as well as hands on gun training to prepare for the role of the villainous Vincent. There's another great "behind the scenes" section on the dvd that shows all the training that he went through. It shows Cruise at the gun range doing somersaults through the grass and popping up firing at targets looking like an absolute pro. He learned how to unload and reload as quickly as possible to be able to kill four guys at the same time if duty ever called....and it does. To me this kind of dedication to a role really pays off in the end as it turned out to be one of Cruises best roles in his career.

Collateral is the story of a killer. A killer who believes it's his job, because THAT'S what he was hired to do. Is he wrong to assume this?? Is he wrong to want to be the best at what he does and make no mistakes?? Is there some understanding to this man, to this killer?? Is there ANY good in him?? These are just some of the questions that are asked and answered in Collateral. This is a dvd that will never get old in my collection. I give it 4 outa 5.

The Wrestler - Blu-Ray

There are certain movie going experiences that I will never forget. Seeing The Wrestler at a pre-screening in Los Angeles with Mickey Rourke giving a Q & A afterwards was one of those experiences.

Mickey Rourke gives the performance of a lifetime as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a has been wrestler trying to battle his way through life inside and outside the ring. Between his part time wrestling gigs and his deli counter job, the Ram's barely able to make ends meat. Cassidy, played by the courageous Marisa Tomei, is a stripper at the local club who's befriended by Ram. Their relationship serves as a mentoring devise for the both of them. They're both on stage trying their best to entertain people and make a living. The difference is that Ram love's wrestling. It's the only thing he's ever known, the only thing that he's ever been good at, he IS a wrestler. He's so dedicated to the profession that it let his relationship with his daughter Stephanie, played by Evan Rachel Wood, completely dissolve into almost nothing as he was never around to be her father. When the Ram finds her and tries to make amends it makes for one of the most heartfelt scenes of the year as Mickey delivers a teary eyed monologue to her on the pier.

The entire film is filmed handheld which gives it a raw authentic documentary feel. The opening 6 minutes of the film really shows us who the Ram is as a person and Mickey gives us such a convincing performance that the audience is convinced by it without even seeing Rams face in it's entirety. The camera first shows him sitting in a classroom with his back to us just after a match. He's hunched over and tired. Next we follow him as he makes his way through the lobby, signs a couple of autographs, drives home blasting 80's rock, and ends up home locked out of his trailer and sleeping in his van for the night. We know right away that this guy is not doing well physically or financially. He's a mess, but he's still got a heart of gold and a kind attitude outside of the ring. There's a really great scene where Ram is walking through the halls at work making his way to the deli counter. As he's walking, crowd cheers and chanting is inserted into the scene as if he's walking out to the ring. This shows us again how wrestling is such a big part of his life as this is probably what's going on in his head every time he walks out to the deli counter. If he does this, it keeps him sane. It gets him through the crappy work day.

Mickey was nominated for an Academy award and a winner of the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Independent Spirit awards for best actor. This was considered his comeback film after fucking up his career in Hollywood and it boosted him back to much deserved stardom and to being a respected actor once again. Mickey Rourke BECAME Randy "The Ram" Robinson and he left a permanent mark in Hollywood with The Wrestler. The Wrestler gets 5 outa 5.

The Foot Fist Way - DVD

After reviewing the sub-par Observe and Report last night I just had to watch and review the much much better Jody Hill film today, The Foot Fist Way. I just had to get my mind right. The film was made in 2006 and took a while to get a release into limited theaters, but thanks to Will Ferrell's funding that was all able to happen, and it put Jody Hill and Danny McBride on the map.

The film stars the comedic genius Danny McBride as Tae Kwon Do instructor Fred Simmons. Simmons teaches a motley crew of students ranging from 9 year old black belt and assistant teacher Julio, to a 70 year old woman who almost dies while sparring on the mat. Fred's got a serious attitude problem and takes no crap from anybody. Making it well known to everyone that he's the best fighter that lives on the planet, he also takes his job as an instructor very seriously. After going to a Karate demo with a few of his students to see his number one hero Chuck "The Truck" Wallace played by Ben Best, he gets Chuck to agree to come and perform at his small town demo that's happening in the coming days. Fred soon finds out that Chuck "The Truck" Wallace is more into partying and sleeping with Freds wife than the actual spirit of Karate, and Fred has something to say about that.

The foul mouthed Fred Simmons is somewhat similar to Seth Rogans character in Observe and Report except in the long run he actually does have a heart and he does care about his students and their well being. Well, those who deserve it anyways. Freds wife Suzie is basically cheating on him throughout the entire film and it makes for some great comedic moments. Like when she comes home from her new job and he sees that her "work papers" are actually pictures of her naked breasts on the copy machine. Fred is constantly letting his wife, friends over for dinner, and students know who the man is, and Fred's the man. The film opens up to a great scene with Fred and his class giving a small karate demo in a parking lot. This scene is so funny and lets the crowd know right off the bat that even though Fred can't break all the boards and has no style whatsoever while doing it, that he is....still the man and this is....HIS karate class to run.

The script is very well written and it's low budget filmmaking at it's best. Pretty much all of Freds dialogue is laugh out loud funny and the story is very real to the core and shows us what could actually be going on in these small town karate studios. Fred Simmons thinks he's a real life Tae Kwon Do hero and sometimes that makes him a complete a-hole to the general public. But in the end he's a hero to his students who seemed to believe in him the entire way, and that's what counts. Foot Fist Way gets 5 outa 5.

Observe and Report - Blu-Ray

Director Jody Hill is relatively new to the world of comedy. In 2006 he came out with a small independent film called The Foot Fist Way starring Danny McBride. The Foot Fist Way was hilarious and apparently Will Ferrell thought the same thing because he got the picture into main stream cinemas and put Jody Hill and McBride on the map. Well deserved if I may say so. Hills second feature Observe and Report was a good effort, but just didn't stick with me as much as Foot Fist Way did.

Observe is a very dark and strange film, not what I was expecting. The film stars Seth Rogen as Ronnie, a mall security guard who takes his job way to seriously. He resorts to smashing young kids in the heads knocking them off their skateboards, hanging out at the shooting range buckin off shots, taking out 20 cops with a mag-light, and making out with Anna Faris while puke is drooling out of her mouth. Now DON'T get me wrong, this all sounds really great and funny right?? I thought the same thing, but it's not. It's got a really weird feel to it and it makes it hard to laugh. Once Ronnie is faced with the mission of taking down the flasher that's been causing chaos in the parking lot, he gets "paired" up with Detective Harrison. I laughed really hard a few times (a part where his partner Dennis, played by Michael Pena, is doing heroin in the bathroom had me dying) but not for the most part. I understand Hill's going for the dark comedy, and trying something new with the action and realism, but I just couldn't get into it. I saw it in theaters and thought it was better, but this second viewing I was thanking myself I only netflixed it.

I will say this. Anna Faris was brilliant. Even though she's totally type casted as "the ditzy blonde" all the time, she always brings it in my eye's, and she's flat out funny as hell in this. Ray Liotta is always great and he brings his best Liotta yells and "take no shit" attitude to his role as Detective Harrison. Even at only an hour and twenty minutes running time the film still felt a bit slow at times. Especially the scenes with his drunk mom played by Celia Weston. She's great for the part but it really slowed the film down after a while.

Now don't get me wrong. The film did have it's moments, the overall idea is great, and if Ronnie wasn't so very unlikable in every way this may have worked. If this was done as a balls out funny action comedy this could have and probably would have been the funniest film of the Summer. I mean, I want to watch it again right now, it looks great on blu-ray, and I like the idea of the film, but I put it in and just can't do it. I hope that makes sense in a way. It kinda pisses me off. Observe and Report gets 2 1/2 outa 5

Public Enemies

Michael Mann is one of my favorite directors out there. He's got an incredible knack for character study as well as a really unique way of shooting his films. He's the master of digital night shots, and he's adapted the use of digital into his own style of filmmaking. I love it. It gives the film so much more of a raw, realistic feel, almost documentary style. When Mann writes or directs, he feels for the bad guy- he lets you see inside the bad guys mind, lets you feel what he's feeling, gives you a glimpse into their heart, and makes you root for him. Very few filmmakers do this, and nobody does it better than Mann. He did this with Vincent (Tom Cruise) in Collateral, with Neil McCauley (Robert Deniro) and Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) in Heat, and he does it again with John Dillinger in Public Enemies.

John Dillinger, portrayed by one of the best most versatile actors of our time, Johnny Depp, robbed banks, shot whomever got in his way, and was the king of the crime wave in the 1930's, and he did it in style. He was a well dressed ladies man with a baby face and a finger with an itch for the trigger. Dillinger only robbed big businesses and banks. He lived among the people in no fear and never harmed them. The opening scene shows Dillinger escaping from jail and from there on out he's pursued by Melvin Purvis played by Christian Bale by the orders of J. Edgar Hoover head of the FBI played by the always great, always underrated Billy Crudup. The 1930's was a time when the FBI was on the rise and really made a stand against crime. As said by Hoover in the film during a speech made to the public it was "Americas first war on crime". It was on every news channel in the country, and so was Dillinger's face, making it for the first time in his life, very difficult to be on the run.

Depp plays Dillinger very stone faced and emotionless. I think this works since this film is really about the fall of Dillinger and the fact that he's finally facing the realities of what he's done. But that doesn't mean Dillinger has lost his "no fear" status, not in the least. There is a great scene towards the end of the film where Dillinger walks into the police station and right into the "John Dillinger investigation headquarters," right past his own mug shot and actually talks to one of the officers without being noticed. We're so used to seeing Depp play the roles of dirty pirates and killer barbers that we forget that he can be a very clean cut handsome man with the ability to still convince the audience of his character. Marion Cotillard did an amazing job as Billie Frechetta, Dillinger's lover, a woman who stood by him, understood him, and trusted him, even though it gets her nabbed. Bale always does a good job with whatever project he's involved with, but here he was just okay. Not bad, just not that impressive. Crudup on the other hand was amazing. He must have gone through some real voice training because he certainly nailed his speech and dialogue to perfection.

There's lots of hand held shots that really give it that documentary feel and seeing a period piece shot in digital was new for everyone I think. I've heard some people say they were annoyed with the way it was shot and that the digital made it look unrealistic, but it certainly worked for me. There is an absolutely extraordinary sequence in the film where Dillinger and his men get ambushed at the house they're staying at in the middle of the woods during the night. This is the biggest most intense sequence in the film as a massive gunfight and chaotic chase ensues. If this wasn't shot in digital we wouldn't be able to see anything, but because it was, Mann is able to deliver the gun battle in epic detail. This scene reminded me of the big gun fight in the streets of L.A. in Heat. Mann knows how to deliver a perfect gun shot sound too. No fake, electric, zipping sounds, these are hardcore real shots we hear. This is by far my favorite part of the film and one of the best sequences I've seen all year. This is another film to watch out for come awards season. I give Public Enemies 4 1/2 outa 5.

Up

I've really been meaning to see Up for a while now and I was finally able to see it last night at a free screening in town. Free screenings are great, however they don't show trailers and in this case they didn't show the usual Pixar short that shows before all their films either. A bit of a loss. I love the Pixar shorts.

Up is the story of a young man Carl Fredricksen voiced by Ed Asner who's obsessed with traveling to South America and searching for the great adventure. He meets a young girl Ellie who shares that same dream. They fall in love and get married, never able to fulfill their dream. After growing old together, a montage that's scored by a beautiful piano piece, Ellie passes away. Carl is then eventually forced out of his home due to town construction and into a retirement home. Carl refuses to leave his house because this is the house where he and his wife met while kids when it was once abandoned. When the retirement home officials come to get him out he decides to rig hundreds of balloons to his home and float away to South America. Shortly after takeoff Carl finds that Russell, a little boy scout trying to get his final badge for helping the elderly, has found his way on board.

The film has some incredible animation and cinematography. The balloons alone and what they go through throughout the film is amazing. Just their colorful look and the sounds of them popping and rubbing against the cliffs are great. Russell has some really hilarious lines in the film and some really really funny stuff happens to him like getting dragged along the outside window of a blimp which was my favorite scene in the film. The film is a little slow moving at times and it's got a much more "sad" tone to it than previous Pixar films. I would have also liked to have seen more shots of the jungle, waterfalls, and wildlife in South America. The idea of the dogs being able to talk with their special collars was great but a tad over used at times. There is a really great fight scene with Carl and the antagonist Charles Muntz voiced by Christopher Plummer that was really well done. It's an epic senior citizen vs senior citizen battle.

To me Up is a film about never letting age get in the way of our dreams, and sometimes we have to let go of things that make us happy in order to do what's right. Up is another amazing picture under the Pixar name and will probably get a best picture nom at the end of the year. Personally my favorite Pixar as well as any animated film is still and probably always will be Finding Nemo. That film is just so amazing in so many ways. Up gets 4 outa 5.