Monday, June 04, 2007 Rant Archive
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As the final season of THE SOPRANOS unfolds, the sense that the whole thing will come crashing down has been inevitable. Well, consider things pretty much crashed.
Phil Leotardo gave the word, and it’s do or die for the entire Soprano family. Bobby: Shot dead by Phil’s boys. Silvio: In critical condition after getting shot outside the strip club. And the word on the street is Tony’s next on the list.
It didn’t have to be like this. As word spread of Phil’s plans to take out much of the Soprano crew, Tony tried to get him offed. But, a mistaken identity (condolences to the poor Ukrainian guy who happened to look just like Phil) has upped the stakes even more. As the second-to-last episode comes to a close, Tony is holed up -- away from his family, fearing for his life -- clutching a shotgun and waiting for the inevitable attempt on his life.
And, it’s too bad, because things were just starting to look up for the family.
Killing people is not much of a hobby if you’re into part-time pursuits. According to most of the serial killer media of the last 20 years, if you’re into shuffling people off this mortal coil, you better be rich, off society’s grid, or have a whole lot of time on your hands, because repeatedly killing people takes some planning and a whole lot of attention to detail. How Dr. Lecter managed to see patients, keep up on current literature and still find time to prepare gourmet meals is a logistical question "Hannibal" creator Thomas Harris never considered.
Earl Brooks (Kevin Costner) may have the answer. Sure, he’s a successful businessman in Portland, Ore., but he’s also the notorious Thumbprint Killer, a serial murderer who has managed to keep his hand out of the homicide jar for two years. But, his alter ego Marshall (William Hurt) doesn’t like being kept in too long, and soon enough, the two go for a spin. Unfortunately, an intensely annoying Peeping Tom with a camera (Dane Cook) gets photographic evidence of Mr. Brooks’ activities, and soon he’s blackmailing our man Brooks for a piece of the action, while a determined cop (Demi Moore) circles ever closer.
This description may sound routine, but it’s just the setup for MR. BROOKS, one of the more involving -- and oddball -- serial killer flicks of the last few years.
I’ve been waiting on KNOCKED UP for a while.
The “aughts” started off by continuing the trend towards safer comedies and horror flicks. Even the sequels to AMERICAN PIE were gut-wrenchingly tepid. Luckily, the recent backlash against films like THE GRUDGE and CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN has been quick and definitive. A couple years ago, THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN arrived as a testament to everything an R-rated comedy could be. It had a plot and real characters and wasn’t afraid of sincerity, plus it was one of the funniest movies of the year. As you know, VIRGIN was very well received and catapulted Steve Carell into full-fledged stardom. Writer/Director Judd Apatow’s follow-up, which opened June 1st, will do the same for Seth Rogen. KNOCKED UP is this summer’s comedy, and I’m betting it’ll have better legs than all the blockbuster sequels we’ve seen so far this season.
Watching THE TUDORS is like watching a chess game where the play moves very swiftly at some points then very slowly at others. As a spectator, you can never completely get in sync with the players' rhythms. Characters are just as hard to read -- with hidden motives and murky alliances, which are only kind of explained, and never clearly revealed. Some of the fun of the show is keeping up with it; trying to figure out why the pieces are moving the way in which they are. And, at least it doesn’t insult the viewers’ intelligence.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ Henry VIII is not just the king every other player is reaching for, but also the chess master of this game. He has the gimlet eyes of a particularly venomous snake, and is just as slippery. Henry, portrayed in painting and literature as more of a lusty, ruddy big fellow than Meyers’ slithery skinny figure, holds his court hostage to his whims. He is the grand manipulator, and it is the guessing of his every unexpressed wish that keeps the players moving on the board. The vague Duke of Norfolk (Henry Czerny), puppyish Duke of Suffolk (Henry Cavill) and scheming Sir Thomas Boleyn (Nick Dunning), having finally engineered the downfall of the impenetrable Cardinal Wolsey (a great Sam Neill), seemed to have the edge by the end of tonight’s episode. But the rules of Henry’s game are very changeable, and since only he knows them, it is likely those on top will not hold their spots -- or their heads -- for long.
PAPRIKA, like most anime films, is visually stunning. But the vibrant colors and amazing graphics aren’t the only thing this movie has going for it. It is engaging, fun and even a little bit creepy. In other words -- a great movie.
The film opens at a circus. A high-wire act holds the audience’s attention. A sturdy man with a chiseled jaw and an out-of-place suit speaks to a clown selling balloons. All of a sudden, the man is trapped in a cage on stage. Then, he’s in the middle of a suspense movie. No wait, now it’s a romantic summer night on a boardwalk. No wait … And the credits haven’t even rolled yet!
We are plunged headfirst into the dream of Det. Kogawa (Akio Otsuka), and that’s how the rest of the film goes. There are no light steps from reality into the dream world. The audience isn’t given the chance to breathe and figure things out. We are all along for the ride, not knowing what’s waking dream and what’s reality.