MOVIELOVING

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Daredevil-Unfairly Labeled

With the recent success of Marvel’s Daredevil tv show on Netflix this seems like the right time to look back at the movie version. The movie has been labeled a failure and its not. However Ben Affleck’s performance was. Even he acknowledged this by saying one of the reasons he accepted the role of Batman was to make up for “screwing up Daredevil.” Despite this the movie is quite good and should have led to more Daredevil films if someone else had been chosen for the lead.

In 2003, as it is now movies based on Marvel Comic Books are doing great at the box office. Blade had come out and had been unexpected hit which had generated a sequel. An X-Men movie had come out and it was a big hit which lead to the current series of films. Best of all the flag ship Marvel super hero-Spider-Man-finally had been mad into movie which was a massive hit. There's a catch to this success that these movies based on Marvel Comics and it's that Marvel Studios isn't enjoying the full success of them.This is because even through there is a Marvel Studios at this time it isn't the entity that it is now (which is a studio that selects which of its properties that it owns and then makes the movie) but rather its a production company that teams up with whatever studio buys one of their properties and together they make a movie. 20th Century-Fox (which was the studio behind X-Men) decided to try to start another franchise with another Marvel Comic Book Character-Daredevil.

Daredevil is an unlikely superhero for two reasons-he's blind and he doesn't have what one would consider normal superpowers. He wasn't born blind but got this way as result of some nuclear waste being spilled on his eyes. This caused his remaining senses to be heightened. These heightened senses serve as a kind of radar like a bat’s. From there he builds his body up to that of a great athlete. Daredevil like most Marvel Comic Book successful characters was co-created by the legendary Stan Lee. Daredevil had its debut in Daredevil #1 (April 1964). Through most its early run Daredevil could be described as Spider-Man light as both characters would swing through the air (Spider-Man with his web, Daredevil with a wire from his billy club), both are acrobatic, both have a wide array of colorful villains (through Spider-Man's are better), and both have a radar sense.Than Daredevil got a big break when another legendary comic book writer/artist (Frank Miller) took over the book and turned it into Marvel's answer to Batman. This would be the run that the movie would be based on.

Ben Affleck then as he is now was respected for his behind the scenes work (he had co-written "Good Will Hunting" which he won an Oscar for) and through he had some success as an actor he wasn't held in high regard as an actor. He was respected by the geek community because of friendship with writer/director/comic book fan Kevin Smith. It was Smith who gave Affleck his big break when he cast him in main role in "Chasing Amy". Keeping with what was standard at the time (and is standard now) the film's director (as well as it writer) was Mark Steven Johnson who had only directed 1 movie (Simon Birch). That film was drama which made his selection a but of surprise. He does a really good job.

The movie features great cinematography (outstanding work by cinematographer Ericson Core) and cgi (what is really excellent is what was dubbed shadow world which how Daredevil “sees”). The best example of this is when it starts to rain in a scene. Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck) tells the woman he’s falling in love with Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner) that when that happens he can “see” her. The revel is stunning.

The acting (with the exception of Affleck) is pretty stellar across the board. This starts with Scott Terra as young Matt Murdock and David Keith as his father Jack Murdock. They are able to establish a convincing relationship as father and son. It’s a tribute to their talent that despite their brief amount of time they leave an impact on the viewer. When Terra goes blind but discovers his heightened remaining senses allows him to do more, his joy at this discovery is palpable. As for Keith he works ing
Her meet cute scene with Matt Murdock which starts in a coffee shop and ends at school playground and involves see-saws is charming and romantic. Her athleticism serves her well in her fight scenes. Colin Farrell manages to bring menace, "fun", and "magic" (his words) to the role of the villain Bullseye. Plus any villain whose main motivation for hating the hero is "because he made me miss and I never miss" is refreshing.

Then there's the late Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin (aka Wilson Fisk). He could be menacing; just look at the size of him. He had pretty good acting range (as demonstrated by his Oscar nomination for the "Green Mile" and his comedic turn in the "Whole Nine Yards"). One could wonder if he could pull off the necessary sophistication to be believable as the Kingpin of crime for New York City. This trait he wears like one of the custom made suits his character wears. Joe Pantoliano gives another of his stellar performances as investigative reporter Ben Urich. Btw if you look real closely you will see Ellen Pompeo (Grey's Anatomy) in a cameo. Through her character’s name is never mentioned if you look it up on IMDB or Wikipedia, its revealed to be Karen Page. This is significant because in the comic book she’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil’s girlfriend. (If there had been a sequel this would have happened).

This leads to the major problem with the movie-Ben Affleck. He’s adept in the action sequences and anything involving comedy (aided in this capacity considerably by Jon Favreau making his first appearance in a Marvel big screen property playing Matt Murdock's law partner Franklin "Foggy" Nelson. Farvreau is an absolute delight in the role.) He has very good chemistry with Garner; No his problem stems from the fact he doesn't possess the necessary acting chops for the role. This is a man who has lost both his parents, his sight, and eventually will lose the woman he loves (or so we'll lead to believe). Yet you would never know it. He never shows it on his face or in his body language. Terra as young Matt Murdock does show it. However this deficiency is almost paper-over by the fact that in practically every scene Affleck's in so is one or more of the other characters.

The film did not do well with the critics. According to Rotten Tomatoes, only 44% of film critics gave it a favorable review. It did well at the box office with a gross $102,543,518. There was talk of a sequel but instead there was a spin off for Elektra, which didn't do anything at the box office ($24,407,944 on a budget of $43 million) or with the critics (according to Rotten Tomatoes only 10% of critics gave it a favorable review). Daredevil is a good movie that could have been great with another lead actor that deserves a better reputation

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Blade

Blade (1998) is a movie that no one knew at that time would go onto have a big impact on films. The impact was it was the first hit film based on Marvel Comic Book. In 1998 there was no Marvel Entertainment & through DC Comics was having hit films those films were limited to Superman & Batman. By 1998 there hadn’t been a Superman film since 1987 when Superman IV: The Quest for Peace had crashed & burned at the box office ($15,681,020) as well as with the critics (12% per Rotten Tomatoes). The Batman film franchise was also in bad shape due to poor performance of Batman & Robin (1997) both at the box office ($107.3 million the lowest grossest film in franchise history) & with the critics (11% per Rotten Tomatoes). This caused a void in terms of Superhero films which Blade filled. Let’s take a closer look at both Blade the comic book character & Blade the movie. Blade is a rarity among Marvel Comic Books that have been turned into movies in that Stan Lee didn’t co-create him. That honor belongs to Marv Wolfman & Gene Colan. He started off as supporting character in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula (#10 July 1973). As time went on he went on to be in a series of comic books where he was both the star and co-star. He also enjoyed a boost in popularity due to his being in episodes of Spider-Man The Animated Series (1994). From there a perfect storm occurred which led to Blade being turned into a movie & spawning (pardon the pun) a trilogy. The first event in this storm was the perfect studio acquiring the film rights (New Line Cinema). This was New Line Cinema pre Lord of the Rings so it was kind of fringe studio that mainly released horror films. (New Line Cinema would not be allowed to acquire a Marvel Comic Book property today even if Marvel Entrainment didn’t exist. The reason is its a sister company of DC Comics. ) This leads to the second event in the storm which was the perfect subject matter for New Line Cinema which is Blade is a Vampire Hunter. Is there anything more horror than vampires (at least before vampires were turned into romantic misunderstood sensitive souls a la the Twilight series). And this leads to the final event in the storm (and probably the most important) the perfect star to play the title character- Wesley Snipes. At the time Wesley Snipes was a movie star and if the film he was in was an action, comedy, or a combination of the two than it was pretty much a guarantee that film would have a strong opening weekend and turn a profit. The main reason Snipes agreed to do Blade is because he couldn’t get made the Marvel Comic Book property he wanted-The Black Panther. The film as I have stated was hit at the box office ($70 million at the U.S. box office, and $131.2 million worldwide) and did ok critically (55% per Rotten Tomatoes). Is the film good? No, but its not bad. Its ok and this was an instance where ok was good enough. The reason for the film success was star power. Snipes is very good in the role, that can’t be said for the majority of the cast. Stephen Dorff as Deacon Frost the film’s main villain doesn’t cut it. He’s zero threat either physically or intellectually. The person who probably should have gotten the role Donal Logue but he was cast as Quinn, Frost main enforcer. This role was memorable because this character kept getting maimed & disfigured by Blade before he was finally killed by Blade. Because Quinn was a vampire he kept regenerating. The reason the Stephen Dorff got the role of Deacon Frost over Donal Logue is because Doriff was seen as a serious actor due to some indie films he had made & Logue was seen as a comedic actor. A big reason for this was Logue had made some a series of memorable humorous promos for MTV as Jimmy The Cab Driver. It wasn’t until a few years later Logue got to show that he had the chops to be a serious actor. What a missed opportunity by the filmmakers. Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler Blade mentor and weapon smith doesn’t have the gravitas the role requires. N'Bushe Wright as Dr. Karen Jenson a hematologist that Blade finds after he goes to her hospital to finish off Quinn & who winds up becoming a vampire because she is bitten by Quinn before Blade saves her. Her character spends a lot of her on screen time looking for a cure. She tries really hard but isn’t quite up to the role. Plus she’s unintentionally annoying. The only cast member who as good as Snipes & Logue is Sanaa Lathan as Vanessa Brooks Blade's mother, believed dead, who has became a vampire and lover to Frost. She manages to across as sensual, sympathetic, & dangerous all in the span of few minutes. You feel bad for both her and Blade when he kills her because as he puts it he has to “release her.” Due to the success of the film there were some beneficiaries. The first one was Wesley Snipes who was able to get a film franchise. The sequel Blade II (2002) did better at the box office ($80 million in the United States and $150 million worldwide) & slightly better with the critics (59% per Rotten Tomatoes). This also provided director Guillermo del Toro with his first hit at the box office. This led to another sequel Blade: Trinity which for the time being is the last film in the series. Unfortunately this film wasn’t a hit at the box office ($52 million in the United States on a budget of $65 million) or with the critics (26% per Rotten Tomatoes). The next was writer David S. Goyer who also wrote the next two films & directed the last one. He then went onto to help write all 3 of the Dark Knight films with Christopher Nolan, Man of Steel (2013) and is currently the architect of the DC movie universe. The final was Marvel Comics because in short order the X-Men film series came out & so did the Spider-Man. These successes helped lead Marvel Comics to form Marvel Entertainment which currently has the film rights to Blade. And there have been reports of a plan for a 4^th Blade film. All of this happened because of Blade.

Better Off Dead

If you are of a certain age/generation (mostly likely Generation X-which I am a member of) than you’re probably a John Cusack fan. This fandom is mostly due to 3 films- The Sure Thing (1985), Better Off Dead (1985), & Say Anything...(1989). I would like to take a closer look at each film. Up next is Better Off Dead (1985). I like this film. Its just a lot of fun. The story is a variation of the standard love story. Boy has girlfriend, they break up, he’s depressed until he meets a new girl who likes him & eventually they get together. What makes this film so much fun is the film’s skewed logic which is supplied by the film’s writer/director Savage Steve Holland. He got his start in animation & that’s the kind of logic this film has. Here are a few examples of that logic- a few guys ask the guy (Lane Myer) if its ok to go out with his ex-girlfriend, there’s a paper boy who is terrorizing Lane because he wants his monthly fee of $2, Lane’s dad sets him up on date with his Law Partners daughter Joanne Greenwald. Lane doesn’t want to go out with her because she wears head gear because she wears braces. She comes over to his house & informs Lane that she doesn’t want to go with him either. She then pulls out a calculator and figures out how much he would have spent on their date. She prints a receipt & says if he pays the total they don’t have to go out. He writes her check (if only you could do this in real life!) And two Japanese brothers who are always challenging Lane to drag races, one doesn’t speak English & the other speaks English as Howard Cosell. What makes this gag really fun is the car the brothers drive has a loud speaker attached to the roof so everyone can hear the brother talking like Howard Cosell. As I mentioned Lane is depressed so attempts to kill himself but is never successful. He attempts to hang himself but he uses the door that leads to the kitchen from garage and doesn’t use a particular strong item to hang himself. He tries to throw himself off a bridge that has a road underneath it but he falls into a garbage truck. He then he wants to light himself on fire with a jar of gasoline. He is interrupted before he can do so because he is called to diner. So he takes this jar to the dinner table where a neighbor (Mrs. Smith) sees it & mistakes it for homemade liquor. She drinks it, then lights a cigarette & which results in her face being burned. The neighbor unintentionally supplies Lane with his next love interest. She has son named Ricky & they are housing a female French exchange student named Monique (Diane Franklin) which is how Lane meets her. Monique is the ideal girlfriend-pretty, smart (she does speak two languages), handy (she helps Lane fix up his 1967 Camaro), & she loves sports (particular the Dodgers). She doesn’t like the Smiths so she pretends that she can’t speak English. This is the leading lady Cusack has had the most chemistry with. I wish they had made more films together. The rest of the cast is also strong. The two who particularly stand out are Curtis Armstrong as Lane’s best friend Charles De Mar who wants to get drunk or high, & David Ogden Stiers as Lane’s dad Al Myer who can’t figure out Lane & tries to talk to him in the lingo of the 80’s but gets it wrong. Further proof of the film 80’s setting is the reason Lane’s girlfriend breaks up with him is to go out with an athlete-the captain of the school’s ski team- Roy Stalin. Roy has a huge claim to fame in their town (the fictional Greendale in "the state of Northern California”) he’s the only person to have skied the most dangerous ski course in the town the K-12. If you’re thinking that going to be play an important part of the film’s plot you would be correct. Before the film’s climax at the K-12 Lane gets back at the Japanese brothers by beating them at drag racing with his Camaro. As for the climax at the K-12 Lane has to take on Stalin by sking the K-12. You should know the outcome. What makes the outcome more remarkable is Lane does it one ski! This is where the film’s skewed logic makes some more welcomed appearances. After the outcome the Japanese brother who sounds like Howard Cosell interviews Lane. Lane has to rush off because Monique is being carried away by Ricky. Lane stops him &they commence to dual with ski poles! Lane wins & he carries her off. They end up at Dodger stadium where they are last seen making out. However the films skewed logic makes one last appearance because the paperboy is seen riding up on them on his bike. A fitting end to a film that is able to balance an 80 cliché (the ski challenge), a love story, & skewed logic. Truly enjoyable!

The Sure Thing

Gib: Consider outer space. You know, from the time of the first NASA mission, it was clear that outer space has a clear effect on the human psyche. Why, during the first Gemini mission, thought was actually given to sending up a man and a woman... together.

Julie: [interested] Really?

Gib: A cosmic 'Adam and Eve,' if you will. Bound together by fate, situated on the most powerful rocket yet known to man. It's giant thrusters blasting them into the dark void, as they hurtle towards their final destination: the gushing wellspring of life itself. How would you like to have a sexual encounter so intense it could conceivably change your political views?

After that failed attempt we meet another important character in the film Gib’s best friend & as it is shown in the plot description the character who sets the plot into motion-Lance (played by Anthony Edwards with hair & no glasses!) You can totally (how 80’s is that!) understand why these two are friends. They complement each other beautifully. Gib as you can tell from the pick-up attempt is of intellectual bent, Lance isn’t, he puts more valve on having fun, is confident, likeable, & a very good friend because he gets Gib, doesn’t try to change him & wants to help him. Its a shame these two have never worked together again they have wonderful chemistry. But just because Gib is an intellectual doesn’t mean he is up for some fun, far from it. He drinks (this movie is where I learned about shot-gunning a beer), loves his junk food, really wants to be with the ladies, & helps his roommate pen a letter to the editor of Penthouse magazine. The letter is featured in one of the funniest scenes in the movie. The scene is Gib is woken up by his roommate-Jimbo (played by Joshua Cadman in a fun performance) in just enough time to get to his 9 o’clock English class. Gib has been working on essay. In his haste to get to class he grabs his roommate’s letter instead. This is reveled when the Professor reads the letter aloud to the class! Ah Professor Taub, as played Viveca Lindfors (in a beautiful performance) is everything you would want in a college professor. Full of life, immensely likable, really desirous to help her students, every scene she’s in is a joy to watch. This is a character that exists. Never does it seem like she’s acting. Screen acting at its finest. Which brings us to Daphne Zuniga as Allison Bradbury, pretty but so button up I don’t see why anyone would like her. She’s someone you put up & you’d feel bad for not liking because she’s not trying to be unlikeable its just her demeanor make her so. Everything she does is planned out & noted in her day planner which she always carries with her. The day planner is source a humor & key plot device. After Gib has convinced her to help tutor him in English (a great scene that features a great comic monologue by Cusack & sees him jump into a pool fully clothed to sell the point) she looks in her day planner to find the time. After reading out the day’s activities she tells Gib 8 o’clock. Because she has such things as the time she’s gonna take her shower & the time she’s gonna call her boyfriend written in her day planner, Gib replies “Sorry that’s the time I re-arrange my sock drawer.” Allison takes offense to this, but Gib agrees to the time. They meet at the library on a Friday night but Gib is wound up & using an access panel climbs up to the roof. Allison follows & they have a really bad encounter. It starts off well, they gaze at the stars & Gib demonstrates his knowledge of astronomy. Allison is impressed & lets her guard down. But because Gib is so lonely, they’re in a romantic setting, Gib misinterprets this & attempts to pick up Allison by using some lines his roommate gave him. Gib then really compounds this mistake & tries to kiss Allison. She understandable believes that this was Gib’s intent all along, so she pushes him down. Thinking that she has hurt him, Allison than ask Gibb if he is hurt, he replies-“No.” She then kicks him before leaving. They then find themselves find themselves on the road trip to California (Gib to meet his sure thing & Allison to see her boyfriend) where they are forced to hitch-hike (obviously nothing that would be in a movie nowadays) as result of another vehicle they encounter. One of the guys in a truck moons them. Gib thinks its hysterical & starts laughing. Allison thinks its stupid. Gib gets onto her about being repressed so she responds by flashing the guys her boobs. The couple that is driving them is ticketed by a cop & in his anger the boyfriend kicks them. They get to California but because they have gotten to know each other during the course of their travels they like each other. Gib meets his sure thing & the last we see of them they are kissing. Gib’s encounter with his sure thing is reveled in an essay in their English class. The essay revels they didn’t sleep together. The whole class is surprised & Allison then revels she broke up with her boyfriend. Gib & Allison then have a proper kiss under the stars which is the film’s last scene. I hope my love for this film inspires whoever read this to see this film. I’m pretty confident if they do they will like it.