Eye Candy #541 - "Green Lantern" (2011)

Green Lantern:  The 3rd of the summer superhero movies of 2011, “Green Lantern” isn‘t all it‘s cracked up to be.  Just like “Thor”, this film, as the beginning of an expected franchise, has to spend a chunk of time dealing out exposition so that you understand the heroes, villains, pertinent players, everything you need to know to keep the franchise rolling along.  Some movies are great at this.  Some movies are crippled by it, because it‘s a balance between what you do and do not include.  This is more the latter than the former.  Ryan Reynolds is Hal Jordan, ace test pilot and womanizer.  After a disastrous demonstration exercise, he is summoned to a crashed alien ship where he receives a green ring, making him part of the Green Lantern Corps, a force of galactic peacekeepers from around the universe, wielding rings powered by willpower.  Those familiar with the comic book will see many familiar faces like Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard), Kilowog, Tomar-Re, and Sinestro.  Jordan has to come to terms with his new role as a Green Lantern, saving the universe and his planet in the process.  Director Martin Campbell gives us a film full of pretty things to look at, but as we all know, that doesn’t automatically mean the story is up to snuff.  The film does have some problems:  1.) it fails to engage the audience.  At the end of the picture, you care just as little as you did at the beginning, as Hal Jordan isn’t made relatable at all.  He‘s a bit of a glib, selfish brat living a charmed life, ignorant of what he has.  Not a sympathetic character; 2.) superhero movies should only have one villain.  GL has two (Hammond, Parallax) and in these situations, one or the other suffers from a lack of development.  In this case, it’s Parallax (whereas the development of Hammond is great; if this film doesn’t win an oscar for Sarsgaard’s make-up, it will be a crime). 3.) a disconnect with its shared universe.  GL exists in a world with Batman, Superman, etc., all of which are owned by Warner Bros.  Would it kill them to mention other properties?  Why include the character of Amanda Waller (played by Angela Bassett), who has no connection whatsoever to GL, if you’re not?  It’s not all doom and gloom.  There are some bright notes - Sarsgaard’s Hector Hammond is easily the most interesting character in the picture.  Lively is not nearly as bad as other reviews would have you believe (she is, however, not given much of anything to do onscreen).  And some of the visuals sure are pretty to look at.  However, it is overall a lackluster, boring film.  Woodchuck sez, “Should have been better."

Eye Candy #540 - "Super 8"

Super 8:  Only the 3rd directorial effort from J.J. Abrams (following his successful "Star Trek" revamp), this film hearkens back to old tropes as well, specifically many of Steven Spielberg's - an adventure movie that positively reeks of "ET" and "Goonies" and "Stand by Me", where children understand more than adults, where there is good and evil, and that there are things in life worth the risk.  These are people, like the character Cary from the film who loves to set things on fire and makes his own m-80s, that we grew up with. It's ridiculous to think of this sort of film type as refreshing, but as you watch it, you realize we haven't had a good, much less great film like this in 20 plus years - a film that flies in the face of cynicism.  Newcomer Joel Courtney is Joe Lamb, who lives in a small steel town in Ohio with his sheriff deputy father (Kyle Chandler), both of whom don't know how to handle the grief of their mother/wife's recent death in an industrial accident.  Joe finds solace and purpose helping his friend Charles (another newcomer, Riley Griffiths, who steals about every scene he's in) finish his homemade Super 8 zombie film with their oddball friends, while his father throws himself into drink, bitterness, and his work.  During the course of the children's filming, they witness a train crash (and a magnificent film train crash it is, seriously) and...something...escapes from the train into their town.   Almost immediately Air Force personnel swarm the town for damage control, led by the quietly menacing Col. Nelec (Noah Emmerich).  Mix into this Joe's burgeoning crush for Alice (Elle Fanning), daughter of the man who may be responsible for the death of his mother (played by Ron Eldard).  So you have 2/3rds of a coming-of-age movie about true love and friendship, all while people, pets, and appliances disappear in town, and then 1/3rd of a giant monster movie as the beastie is finally revealed and it's up to the children to save themselves and everyone else.  Well-paced, good action set pieces, with heart and humor, rounded out by superb acting from a cast of unknowns and b/c-list actors.   The kids are great together in the film.  Woodchuck sez, "Check it out."

Eye Candy #539 - "Battle: Los Angeles"

Battle: Los Angeles:  Coming across as a mixture of “Blackhawk Down” and “Independence Day”, the plot of this film is nothing new - aliens travel all the way across the galaxy to invade southern California.  Through American ingenuity and derring-do, America manages to save the whole world.  Jingoistic and manipulative?  Just a touch.  Staff Sgt. Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) is preparing to retire from the military after 20 years and a disastrous tour in Iraq.  But before he can muster out, objects resembling meteors crash into the ocean and shortly thereafter, alien baddies emerge from the sea to conquer Los Angeles and several other large global metro areas of no consequence.  So Nantz is pressed back into service with a platoon of Marines to rescue civilians stuck in a police station behind alien enemy lines.  The marines find themselves outgunned, outmanned, and cut off, so through the miraculous power of firepower, high explosives, and personal sacrifice, they manage to turn the tide.  Michelle Rodriguez, Ne-Yo, and Michael Pena co-star.  This movie feels like so many other movies (“Starship Troopers”.  “Saving Private Ryan” to name a few more), and brings nothing new to the table.  It‘s hardly the first time LA has been destroyed in violent fashion.  There‘s almost a sub-genre for that.  But that being said, the action set pieces for the most part are well done, as the marines move from neighborhood to neighborhood, dodging ETs.  And I appreciate that they took the time to at least attempt a cursory explanation of why the aliens showed up and how they can be brought.  Is every member of the platoon imbued with personality and a compelling back story?  Nope, but I wasn‘t expecting that.  So mindless, yes, but a fine time-waster.  Check your brain at the door and you’ll probably enjoy it.  Woodchuck sez, “Worth a look.”

Eye Candy #538 - "The New Daughter"

The New Daughter:  A horror movie based upon a John Connolly short story of the same name, Kevin Costner plays John James, a writer and divorced father of two, who moves into a new house in South Carolina with his two children, teenage daughter Louisa and younger son Sam.    Shortly after moving in, John and his family discover what they think is a large burial mound on the property, as well as learn of the house’s former owners, not all of whom are still extant.  Soon Louisa starts behaving strangely, people start to die, and vaguely humanoid creatures start coming out of the woods to claim Louisa as one of their own, as the mound isn’t for burials at all but is instead a hive.   Not a great horror movie, more suspenseful than anything, with the obligatory run-from-the-monsters climax.  Costner is good as Jones, but the actress playing Louisa, Spaniard Ivana Baquero who played the lead in “Pan’s Labyrinth”, seems to have the needle buried on “BRAT” and gives a fairly one-dimensional performance.  Samatha Mathis, Noah Taylor, and James Gammon (in his final film role) are in support.  A fine time-waster and good effort from first time director Luis Bernando (I’ve certainly seen worse films from more established directors). Woodchuck sez, “Might be worth your while.”

Eye Candy #537 - "Bridesmaids"

Bridesmaids:  Huge fan of Kristin Wiig here, so I’m glad to see that she’s moving into more marquee parts (in a script she helped write).  Wiig is Annie who, at a low point in her life (lost dream job, can’t find good relationship, is broke), is asked by her childhood friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) to be the maid of honor at her wedding.  However, one of Lillian’s newer friends, Helen (Rose Byrne), a wealthy socialite, raises the bar on Annie’s jealousy.  Soon Annie finds herself out of her depth trying to keep up with the free- and lavish-spending Helen, as her life falls into little pieces around her.  Chris O’Dowd (from "The IT Crowd") and Jon Hamm (from "Mad Men") play Annie’s love interests, and Ellie Kemper and Wendi Mclendon-Covey are 2 of the other bridesmaids.  Melissa McCarthy almost steals the picture as the loud, brash Megan, another bridesmaid and sister of the groom.  Matt Lucas of "Little Britain" has a very small role as Annie's very weird housemate.  Funny and more than a little bit raunchy (I’m going to go ahead and say there is probably more raunchiness and toilet humor here then there was in “The Hangover”, easily).  Of course, this was produced by Judd Apatow of “40 Year Old Virgin” fame, so that’s not completely unexpected.   Only complaints I have are it’s a little on the long side (over 2 hours) and feels like it has 2-3 different climaxes before it finally wraps things up (that and the preachiness of the “message“ gets hammered home with repetition that is unnecessary).  I hope this movie doesn’t start a trend in people giving away puppies as gifts at bridal showers.  Woodchuck sez, “Check it out.”