Review: "Men in Black 3"

A dangerous criminal named Boris "The Animal" (Jermaine Clement) escapes a top-secret lunar prison forty years after Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) put him there. He's come back to Earth to seek vengeance on K for shooting his arm off, putting him in prison, and causing the extinction of his race. His intention is not just to kill K, but to travel back in time to 1969, the year K put him behind bars, in order to reverse those events completely. 

Boris' plan is successful, and Agent J (Will Smith) wakes up one morning to a world where K has been dead for forty years. Just as soon as J can piece things together, an invasion by Boris' now non-extinct race threatens to destroy Earth. In order to save his partner and stop the invasion, Agent J must also travel back to 1969 to help the younger Agent K (Josh Brolin) defeat Boris and restore the timeline.

There's a lot that works in the film. The whole sixties setting is rich with period detail; from the props, cars, and costumes to the sweet retro designs used for alien visitors at MIB headquarters; and the film's finale takes place at Cape Kennedy for the launch of Apollo 11, which is a nice touch. Boris is easily the best villain in the series, and Brolin is having a lot of fun being less of a stick-in-the-mud than Tommy Lee. His younger K is able to retain the curtness of Jones' manner without the stuffiness.

What doesn't work as well is the dumb movie-logic that the filmmakers employ to keep this train on the rails. There are at least two major (MAJOR) plot points that stick out like a sore thumb with a few little leaps of faith thrown in for good measure. Not to mention an ending that slathers on an emotional payoff that isn't fully earned, using one minor throwaway character to give deeper understanding to another main character, that provides emotional closure for a different character. Are you following? No? Well, now you know how I felt watching the film. 

Ultimately, MIB3 doesn't make the case for a MIB4, but it is better than MIB2, although not as good as the original MIB. If you're a Men in Black fan, go see it. If you're a die-hard Will Smith fan, go see it. If you are debating between this film and Battleship, see MIB3. If you're just looking for the best two hours at your local cineplex this summer . . . go see The Avengers.

"Setting the Frame" Film Grade = C

35 years of "Star Wars"

Star Wars was the first movie I ever saw at a theater. The second half of a drive-in double bill, my parents piled the family into a rusty old baby blue station wagon and set off, not knowing that it would change me forever. There are flashes – images from that night – that are so clear to me even now. I was bopping up and down with excitement in the back seat as the film played. The laser bolts, spaceships, robots, and aliens captured my imagination like nothing else before or since.

After that night, I spent most of my time with Star Wars. I had the toys. I had the lightsaber. I had the posters, tee shirts, bed sheets, curtains, lunchbox, notebooks, pencils, comic books and records. You name it, I probably convinced my parents somehow to get it for me. It was easy because it was so popular that the merchandise was everywhere, but I wouldn’t have cared if everyone else hated it. I lived it . . . breathed it . . . LOVED it!!!

Although there is photographic evidence of me dressing as a cowboy or Superman or Spiderman for Halloween, it seemed like I was Darth Vader about ten years in a row. In fact, sometimes I’d just dress up like Vader for the heck of it. I just liked being in the costume.

Before you could reasonably buy a VHS copy of Star Wars, we taped it off television, with the commercials, and I ruined that video by playing it so often. Daily, I think. For a while, I kept track of how many times I had watched it, but stopped . . . somewhere around four hundred. Needless to say, I was obsessed.

As I grew older, and the years passed after the release of Return of the Jedi, other interests popped up, of course. The toys went into boxes and were placed in the attic or basement, but the love for Star Wars was always there. Occasionally, I would meet someone and discover that they also had a passion for “a galaxy far, far away,” and talking about it with them or just quoting it with friends was a great joy.

Although there were times when it seemed that Star Wars would never return to mainstream popularity, of course, it did. The novels and comic books picked back up around 1992, and their success showed that we were waiting and hungry for more; the fans had never let go.

I dug out all my old toys and displayed them on a bookcase in my bedroom. I started collecting the few new items around, but that wasn’t enough, so I began going around to antique dealers, comic shops, and flea markets looking for more Star Wars. I amassed quite a collection of vintage products still in their original packages. Around 1995, a new series of Kenner action figures came out, the original films were re-released on VHS “one last time,” and George Lucas announced that he would once again be returning to the director’s chair to continue the series.

It was at that point that everything was kicked into hyper-drive. The Special Edition Trilogy was released in 1997 with new scenes and improved special effects, and the prequels went into production with the first new film to debut in 1999. Once again, Star Wars was everywhere . . . and I couldn’t have been happier. I chose to stop collecting in 1999 after seeing the sheer volume of products that were going to come out for Episode I, but once in a while, when the situation presented itself to get something really cool, I may have picked up an item or two since then. Peter Pan’s not the only one who never wants to grow up.

From that point on, it’s kind of a blur. Adulthood does that to you, I suppose. I have some terrific memories from the prequel era and wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. “Haters” be damned! I love the prequels, even if it’s for what they gave me more than for what they are. And that’s really how I feel about Star Wars in general; I cherish the shared experiences that I’ve had with some pretty awesome people (you all know who you are) and for that, as much as for the movies themselves, I think I owe George Lucas a big hug if I ever meet him.


Thirty-five years really crept up on us, didn't it? Well, it did for me, at least. I used to think that I'd write a book one day about memories growing up in the Star Wars generation. Maybe I'll still get around to that, but for now, sharing these few thoughts today seemed appropriate. 

"The force is strong with this one."

Review: Tim Burton's "Dark Shadows"

The very idea of Tim Burton tackling a movie based on Dark Shadows -- the trailblazing soap opera that included vampires, witches, and ghosts -- with Johnny Depp starring as the main vampire character, seems like a perfect match of filmmaker, star, and material.

After all, Depp and Burton had made seven previous films together that all seem to run to the slightly twisted, darker side; movies that are filled with demon barbers, headless horsemen, and the like. While I have mixed feelings about their body of work together, there is no denying that Depp has been the peanut butter to Burton's jelly over the years. They obviously share a passion for this type of material and their output has yielded some of Burton's most successful films and some of Depp's most memorable creations.

In this newest collaboration, Depp plays Barnabas Collins, a man of wealth and privilege who is brought to America when his family expands their fishing business. After he spurns the advances of a young servant named Angelique (Eva Green,) his family is cursed, his fiance commits suicide, and he is transformed into a vampire. Convinced that Angelique is a witch and responsible for this recent turn of events, he confronts her, only to be locked away and buried alive for nearly 200 years. When he is accidentally unearthed in the 1970's, Barnabas returns to the Collins estate, only to discover that his family has fallen on hard times, and that Angelique has built a rival company that has essentially put them out of business.

What follows is a series of underdeveloped plots and subplots, including Angelique's advances towards Barnabas and her attempts to crush the Collins family business; the arrival of Victoria Winters (Bella Heathcote) who may or may not be a reincarnation of Barnabas' lost love; the attempts by Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter) to cure Barnabas of his vampirism; and Barnabas' attempts to adapt to 1970's American culture. The list goes on and on. It's simply more than any two-hour movie could satisfactorily juggle, and some characters and plotlines are anemic or lost altogether.

Depp's over-the-top characters can often leave other performers behind, but Green is up to the challenge, and she has no difficulty holding her own as Barnabas and Angelique go toe-to-toe. They work well together, and seem to be having a lot of fun in the process. Green is tuned in to the right frequency -- her grinchy smile eerily resembles something akin to the characters in Burton's animated works -- and the movie benefits from having a strong adversary for Depp, who is at his quirky best. That scene from the trailer, where the two destroy a room during a supernatural love-making session, is one of the film's highlights.

I also enjoyed Michele Pfeiffer's work as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. She's cunning and gutsy, a willing partner to Barnabas, but strong enough not to blindly give up her role as head of the family after he returns. (Attention Hollywood: Pfeiffer should be working more often.) The rest of the cast -- including Chloe Grace Moretz as Carolyn Stoddard, the angst-y teenage daughter of Elizabeth; Johnny Lee Miller and Gulliver McGrath as Roger Collins and his son, David, who are both trying to get over the recent death of David's mother in their own ways; and Jackie Earl Haley as the family caretaker, Willie Loomis -- are good, but underused.

The film builds to a wild finale that is just plain ridiculous. It discards characters left and right -- missing one important character almost entirely and making a key revelation about another seem like a punchline -- as it attempts to tie up all the loose ends in the story. I can't imagine being a fan of the original series would've made it play any better. It didn't ruin the film for me, but it didn't end on a high note either. Ultimately, fans of Burton and Depp will find enough to enjoy in spite of the film's shortcomings; Dark Shadows is flawed, but executed with flair. There are some great visuals, and Burton keeps the tone playfully between Sleepy Hollow and Beetlejuice, which kept me entertained even as I scratched my head over the narrative choices and storytelling blunders along the way.

"Setting the Frame" Film Grade = C

Review: "Lovely Molly"

I'm not a huge horror fan and don't devour everything in the genre. I usually wait until I hear great buzz on a horror film before seeing something because there's so much out there (especially in this genre) that's just poorly made and exploitative. This film was recommended by a friend who was close to the production and saw an early cut. When the Maryland Film Festival included it as part of their late night programming, I couldn't resist checking it out. Did it live up to my friend's hype? Absolutely. I'm glad he's beating the drum for this little film because it's smart, stylish, and scary.

Lovely Molly was directed by Eduardo Sanchez, one half of the creative team that began the found footage horror craze with The Blair Witch Project back in 1999. While this film isn't bound by the same stylistic conventions, it does playfully acknowledge them by beginning the film the same way "Blair Witch" did - with the videotaped confession of a terrified young girl - in this case, Molly.

Molly (Gretchen Lodge) and her husband, Tim (Johnny Lewis,) are newlyweds who have just moved into her family's old country home after years of vacancy. What would normally be a place of comfort and fond memories for most people begins to stir something darker within Molly and unusual things start to occur immediately after they've settled in. Once it begins to go beyond the typical strange noises and open doors, Molly is convinced that the house is haunted. Since she has had mental health issues and problems with drug abuse in the past, neither Tim nor her sister, Hannah (Alexandra Holden,) believe that she is being tormented by a malicious spirit; they think she's either using again or ready for the looney bin.

Gretchen Lodge as Molly

The filmmakers are careful not to let the film be dragged down by over-explaining things. They allow Molly's backstory to come into focus gradually by doling out the exposition sparingly, and using plenty of visual cues in place of it where they can. It's an effective, intelligent approach that works by giving characters and the audience time to react to what's happening with each new revelation.

The film has drawn comparisons to last year's creepy hit Insidious, but while both films strive to make you squirm rather than squeal, Lovely Molly has a grittier, more independent feel. It also recalls the supernatural horror of the seventies - films like Rosemary's Baby and The Entity - where the female victims were usually dismissed as being crazy.

Like those films, the success of Lovely Molly hinges on the performance of a young female lead and Gretchen Lodge delivers a strong performance. The story begins with Molly as the picturesque young bride; a woman with a wonderful new life ahead of her. As the evil asserts itself, however, she slowly transforms into a deeply disturbed, possibly possessed, degenerate - capable of unspeakable deeds - and Lodge is game for everything the film requires of her.

The lighting, camerawork, sound, and pacing are solid. It's pretty lean filmmaking, actually. What the film lacks is that striking imagery that really sticks with you. Ultimately, that's a minor complaint though; I felt it was hitting the right notes and pushing the right buttons. The film is a slow burn, more focused on creating uneasiness and keeping you off-balance than making you jump out of your seat. It's confident, moody, and features a fearless performance by its young lead. Fans who prefer tons of gore and loads of laughter in their horror may find that Lovely Molly isn't their thing, but for those who enjoy a nice, tense, supernatural yarn with a little heft . . . it may be just the ticket.


"Setting the Frame" Film Grade = B