Film Review: FUNNY GAMES (2007)

Stephen King labeled it one of his favorite films of the year in his Entertainment Weekly column but I don’t see the appeal of writer/director Michael Haneke’s U.S. remake of his own film FUNNY GAMES (2007). Having never seen the original and going only by rumors that the remake is an exact copy of the original with some small differences (ala THE OMEN remake) I was expecting something in line with the French film ILS (aka THEM), which has a similar story line. What I got was something far inferior.

FUNNY GAMES is the story of Ann and George (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth, respectively) who are on their way to their vacation home with their son Georgia (Devon Gearhart). No long after they arrive they are greeted by two strangers (played by Michael Pitt & Brady Corbet) claiming to be friends of their neighbors. When Ann has a slight altercation with one of the two strangers she soon come to the realization that this is all a game the strangers are playing on them to determine if they will survive the night or not. If you’ve seen the previously mentions ILS or the more recent THE STRANGERS then you generally know the whole story of what will happen next, but unlike those two films this film is neither a horror film nor a suspense-thriller; it is more a comedy of errors if nothing else.

The film has an impressive cast in Watts and Roth and Pitt I’ll admit but with the exception of Pitt the entire cast is underused. With an unknown cast this might have faired well but with such accomplished actors as Roth and Watts, who both do almost nothing of interest in the entire film, it just comes off as bland and uninteresting. Another fault with the film is to diffuse all the violence in the film with comedic moments (SPOILER ALERT – Do not read anymore if you don’t want to know more details of the film’s plot, but if you don’t really care then read on.), such as when Georgia is killed. When little Georgia is killed you’re watching Paul (Pitt) making a sandwich in the kitchen. It should be a tense moment, especially when it’s a child being killed, but instead the scene comes off as being comedic. Both George and Ann’s death’s are unaffecting as by the end of the end you want them to die since they keep making stupid mistakes while crying every moment they get. I was happy to see them die when they did because I was at my whit’s end. Let’s not even get into the whole killer talking back to the audience thing or the fact that the killers can rewind back time when ever things don’t go their way.

The most violent scene in the film is when Ann gets the upper hand and kills Peter (Corbet), but then Paul rewinds the film in order to prevent his accomplice from dying. An interesting plot device which is sort of set up when the killers are the only ones that can talk back to the audience but this comes off as a “cheat” that as soon as it happens you realize that you should just through in the towel because all logic in the film has just been thrown out the window (ala the twist ending to HIGH TENSION).

The film had the potential to be an art house classic (as I’m sure the original comes closer to being) but this big budget remake that’s too clean for its own good just comes off as Hollywood trash with a great looking cast. Nothing in the film is striking or even original and was better done in both ILS and THE STRANGERS.

Film Review: Four Christmases

Very few Christmas themed movies ever cross pass my radar and if it hadn’t have been for the amazing cast of this film FOUR CHRISTMASES I wouldn’t have taken another look. It’s hard for a holiday film to outshine the classics such as IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, and A CHRISTMAS STORY and A CHRISTMAS CAROLE or even the darker NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION and SCROOGED, so why bother. I’ve seen all THE SANTA CLAUSES and JINGLE ALL THE WAY and HOME ALONE films that I can stomach and therefore I’ve skipped just about every holiday film to come out within the pass decade (with the exception of A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS). So what made me go see FOUR CHRISTMASES you might ask? How about Robert Duvall. Sissy Spacek. Mary Steenburgen. Carol Cane. And I could include in that list Jon Voight, Dwight Yoakam, Tim McGraw, and let’s not forget the stars of the film Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon. Now that’s an impressive cast.

FOUR CHRISTMASES is the story of unmarried couple Brad and Kate (Vaughn and Witherspoon, respectively) who don’t believe in the union of marriage due to their fractured family life. In fact, instead of spending the holidays with their families they’d rather go to the islands and spend their holidays in the sun scuba diving, but when their flight is cancelled due to weather they are forced to visit each of their estranged parents and siblings in the course of one day. As they come to terms with their families they must also decide whether or not to take the next step in their own relationship or watch it whither and die away.

Like most holiday films the theme of family is very present (is there any other theme for a holiday movie I ask you). The gimmick of having the couple go to four different Christmases over one day is hectic yet works for the film and gives the tired-old-Christmas story a kick in the ass. There are many funny moments in the film as both Brad and Kate are forced to learn things about each other that they never knew simply because they’ve never really taken their relationship serious enough. Vaughn and Witherspoon have great on-screen chemistry with one another which is good considering that they are on screen every second of the movie and with all the cameos in the film no one over stays their welcome too long. Director Seth Gordon does a great job balancing out all the different elements and stories within the film creating a film that I can honestly say I enjoyed.

Christmas-holiday films may not be my thing but FOUR CHRISTMASES is a film I don’t mind adding to my list of classics.

Jim Carrey's Back in YES MAN!

I’m a big Jim Carrey fan and there are very few films on his resume that I don’t like. Although his new film YES MAN is not one of his best, it is a lamentable effort from the man from LIAR, LIAR and ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE. YES MAN is the story of Carl Allen (Carrey), a bank loan officer, who after being dumped by his former girlfriend has denied himself the pleasures of life simply by saying “No” to every opportunity that has come his way. As luck would have it, Carl encounters an old friend Nick (John Michael Higgins) who forever changes his life when he invites Carl to a seminar that will help him change his self image by saying “Yes” to any and all opportunities that come his way.

When Carl begins to say “Yes” to everything that comes his way his life changes in a way that he could have never predicted as he soon believes that chance is dictated by the choices that he does or does not make. He meets a singer Allison (Zooey Deschanel) who allows him to open up and become the man which he’s kept hidden for far too long and he learns that saying “Yes” is not always bad, but when it becomes too much of a burden to bare Carl must find a way to sometimes say “No” before his life begins to crumble around him.

YES MAN works because it plays on Carrey’s strengths as a physical actor. There are many shades of LIAR, LIAR and BRUCE ALMIGHTY contained within but where the film ultimately falls short on is the basic concept itself which is of a man who is forced t always say “Yes.” This comes off a tad bit tame for a Carrey movie especially after his previous efforts and even though the film has many funny moments it feels as if we’ve seen Carrey do it all in previous films. Not a film to rush out and see but still a Carrey-light film nevertheless.

Paul Rudd & Sean William Scott are ROLE MODELS

ROLE MODELS is the story of Wheeler & Danny (Sean William Scott & Paul Rudd, respectively), two spokesmen for the energy drink Minotaur. While Wheeler is content with his seemingly dead-end job, Danny feels like he’s at the end of his life with nothing to show for it and he can’t do anything about it until he discovers that his girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks) says that she’s leaving him, which drives his over the edge. Unable to contain the anger within he gets Wheeler in enough trouble that the law decides the best way to punish the two is to force them into community service.

Their penance is to become role models for two young troubled kids. This wouldn’t be so bad if the two kids Augie and Ronnie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Bobb’e J. Thompson, respectively) hated role models as much as they hated everything else. The two kids have as many problems as Wheeler & Danny but hopefully together they will learn to know what it truly means to have friendship.

Hollywood is not known for its original comedies and there is nothing new here that audiences have seen before. That being said the film as written by Paul Rudd, David Wain, Ken Marino, and Timothy Dowling still has a few Aces up the leave mainly with Rudd in an unconventional role as far removed as his characters in previous films and Thompson as Ronnie, whom Wheeler role models, whose trash talking African American kid is a natural and steals every scene he’s in. Other then that this is yet another easily forgotten Sean William Scott film that will have its admirers yet still remain nothing you haven’t already seen done better before.

BRUTAL MASSACRE: A COMEDY - The Comedy-Horror of the Year!

There are horror films and then there are horror films, but if that’s what you’re looking for then you won’t find it here. What you will find in BRUTAL MASSACRE: A COMEDY is one of the best self-referential horror-comedies to ever come around in quite a long time. You wouldn’t think so at first look from its story about an over the hill horror film director Harry Penderecki (David Naughton) who has one last chance to turn his luck around with his “can’t miss” screenplay BRUTAL MASSACRE, but you see, no matter what Pendereck does his productions are always plagued by misfortune and bad luck.

Along for the ride in Penderecki’s last chance is his assistant director Jay (Brian O’Halloran), his producer Natalie (Ellen Sandweiss), his cinematographer Hanu (Gerry Bednob), and his best boy electrician Carl (Ken Foree). Writter & director Stevan Mena unveils the truth about indie filmmaking, maybe even a little too much, and the the film is all the better for it. Naughton creates a tragic yet very likable Penderecki whom you just can’t help but to emphasize with.

Another great asset is the amazing supporting cast whom any classic & cult horror fan will recognize from FROM BEYOND and DAWN OF THE DEAD’s (both versions) Foree to TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE’s Gunnar Hansen, who is hands down the best character in the film and will keep you laughing from being to end (why he never did comedy before this film is anyone’s guess since its obvious that it comes naturally to him).

Naughton is in top form as the luckless Penderecki and it’s a shame that up until now his career has been over shadowed by his turn in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. Director Mena has done an excellent job at balancing the comedy and “horror” elements of the film while also maintaining the film’s integrity of presenting an “honest” look into indie filmmaking. Definitely one of the films to look out for.

Indie Film with Kick - BAGHEAD (2008)

There are indie films and then there are “indie” films…and then there is BAGHEAD, the new indie film from writer/director partners Jay & Mark Duplass. This film tells the story of Matt, Chad, Michelle, and Catherine (Ross Partidge, Steve Zissis, Greta Gerwig, and Elise Muller, respectfully) who are all aspiring actors who just can’t seem to get a big break into the industry. While at the premiere of a local filmmaker’s “art film” the four are inspired into their own adventure.

When they learn that the director of the said “art film” had almost no budget and that he filmed his actors sometimes without them even knowing it, the four decide to finally take their own destinies into their hands and craft a screenplay in which they will all star. This is easier said then done as the four go out to Chad’s family cabin to be isolated in order to come up with a screenplay. Finding very little inspiration the four go to bed that first night with no ideas on what direction their story will take.

That night Michelle inadvertently thinks she sees someone in the woods wearing a bag over his head and thus the inspiration for their film is born. Matt has decided that their film will be a horror film about four people who are terrorized by a man with a paper bag of his head. As Matt’s inspiration gets the better of him emotions and the isolation in the middle of nowhere starts to get to everyone and several of them start to think that they really do see a man with a bag over his head in the woods. As there situation that’s an ever more serious turn the four must learn to work with one another in order to live through the night in order to escape the person after them.
If I reveal any more I will be giving away half the fun that is the movie. The film is a very clever twist on not only horror films but comedy as well since there is a lot of revealing comedy in the film. There are many twists and turns and the film cleverly goes from one genre to the next effortlessly. It is a true testament to the “indie” spirit from which it is trying to evoke. The Duplass brothers have banded together a great cast that work well together and deliver a great film in the tradition of low budget indie filmmaking.

TROPIC THUNDER - Funniest Film of the Year!

The “have funny laugh-a-thon” film of the summer has to be Ben Stiller’s TROPIC THUNDER. This mile-a-minute comedy-a-thon is some of the actor/writer/director’s best work (which is a lot coming from me since I generally dislike many of his films). There is no denying that Stiller hit upon a great comedy troop of actors when he joined forces with Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black for this movie-imitates-life-imitates –movie movie.

TROPIC THUNDER is the story of a director (played by Steve Coogen) whose career and film is falling apart because of the three big Hollywood actor-Divas he’s forced to work with. With a film rumored to be in trouble and never get finished the director decides to do something drastic which is put his actors out into the real jungle and shoot the film gorilla style. Everything goes as planned until the three actors Kirk Lazarus (Downey JR.), the Oscar winner who becomes “black” to get deeper into his role, Jeff Portnoy (Black), the comedienne who has a drug problem, and Tugg Speedman (Stiller), the former action hero whose career is fast becoming a thing of the past, all get stranded in the middle of the jungle after their director is killed. Now they must fend for themselves as a group of ruthless drug dealers will stop at nothing to stop them from accomplishing their mission to finish the film.

The great thing about this film is that not once did I ever feel like all the great jokes were given away in the previews for the film; in fact, the previews never came close to showing all the great moments in the film. I’m not a Stiller fan but this film felt fresh and new and kept the momentum from beginning to end. In addition to Coogan’s small role the film also boasts a list of great actors from Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey, and a stand-out performance from Tom Cruise, to name a few. If anyone steals this film it would be Cruise with his from left field performance as the Executive Producer of the film being made.

TROPIC THUNDER is just one great film from beginning to end that should not be missed.