The Island (2005)

                I had 2 objectives when I decided to watch this movie. 1.) To watch something that I would not have to think about afterwards, and 2.) To watch something that would allow me to test the capabilities of my new stereo system from G-Will.  Needless to say this Michael Bay film met all of my requirements.
              Set in the startlingly near future it left me worried about the fate of mankind, especially our clothing choices.  In a mix of cold gray concrete and sterile white laboratory adorned with LEDs the future us sit at mindless assembly line jobs like the current us.  If there is one thing they didn't learn form us it is how to get robots to do all the busy work.  The rest of the plot is too tedious to explain.
             The film is kind of a Truman Show meets Surrogates meets Michael Bay meets Every Other Crappy Sci-Fi-Dystopian-Neon-Future movie.  A society where everyone is the same, love is forbidden, heaven is just a lottery away, dudes in black are bad, etc.  Luckily the film cuts so fast you don't have to worry about your eyes getting bored.
             Yes this is the movie that Michael Bay would borrow shots from in his later Transformers blockbusters.  This movie cost $126 million and grossed $162.  Think how many smaller movies could have been made for that amount.
              It should go without saying that the vigor and enthusiasm with which I currently write is matches my enthusiasm of the film itself.

In much scarier news, Michael Bay is attached as producer of the upcoming Ninja Turtles reboot...uh oh.

War of the Worlds (2005)

            This movie screams Hollywood.  It makes no mistake in addressing itself as American in everyway.  From the patriotic defeat of an alien race by the greatest country on the earth to the numerous 9/11 references, it should come as no surprise that the film also screams Steven Spielberg.  I am surprised Dakota Fanning didn't scream his name, it seems like the laws of probability would dictate that sooner or later she would.  Now five years old, the film far from stands of one of the director’s best or one of the most important of…ever.

            Initial reviews for Spielberg’s retelling of the Well’s classic were mixed.  Numerous critics saw through the hyperbolic amalgamation of alien technology, special effects, roaming cameras, explosions, flying cars, and general panic.  The film is pure Spielberg, perhaps a collection of may things he has already succeeded at.  In that manner, it doesn't really offer anything new.  Other critics placed the film upon a pedestal as the director’s crowning achievement.  These people must have missed Jaws and Jurassic Park.

            What this film does offer is almost two hours of non-stop alien apocalypse action rendered a complete failure through the eyes of what we must conclude to be a not untypical American family.  It is certainly not an ideal family, but the extra terrestrial invasion sure helps mend it a little.  Tom Cruise is right at home in the big action blockbuster, running from things that are about to blow up and managing to find his way front and center in the frame.  From what little development there was in this not-quite-character-study, Cruise portrays the failing father turned heroic dad well enough.  We can only assume that Spielberg is pleased in mending the estranged American family.

Upcoming Feature: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Werner Herzog, the German director who has taken on such feats as Fitzcarraldo (1982), and Grizzly Man (2005), has a new release on the way. If it comes as any surprise, as it shouldn’t, it is a remake of the 1992 Abel Ferrara film Bad Lieutenant. The original is a risqué film of drugs, sex, and violence contrasted sharply with the main character’s struggle with Christ and grace. It is a controversial film about a cop who is, as the title explains, bad.

In the middle of a mid-life crisis, the Lieutenant finds himself caught in a Gambling trap, trying to find money for drugs, while the biggest case he’s had comes at him with the power of God. A Nun is raped, and comes to the Lieutenant for help, throwing him into a head spin, second-guessing his poor life decisions, and literally seeing Christ before him.
Herzog's Film, set for release on December 4th, stars Nicolas Cage, and changes the circumstances. Instead of a nun's rape being the main case, the Lieutenant has an immigrant murder case to solve. The plot is a bit more up to date, immigration being a rather large issue these days, but it seems that the main point of the original is lost.
Not knowing enough about the actual plot, this movie will most likely come up in later blogs, or simply as an update. Keep checking back for more details.
Don't forget to check out the trailer at Apple!