Movie Review: 50/50 (2011)

50/50 is a story about a man is his mid-twenties who contracts cancer and learns from WebMD that the survival rate for this particular type of cancer is 50%. It is believable in how it presents his struggle in response to being faced with his own mortality and how this affected his relationships with his friends, girlfriend, parents, and chemo-buddies. As a witness, I surely felt the emotional trauma, or at least a small portion of it. However, as I reflect on it, I consider the question of what exactly makes life meaningful. In our daily lives and with how busy they are, it is easy to just slide over such questions. But I can't help doing so. In the film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character laments that he has never told a girl that he loves her, nor has he been to Canada. Even if one has done both, would one consider his life complete or yet fully serving a purpose? I'm not saying his life wasn't meaningful, but it led me to question if I was living an ego-centric life. Also important about this movie is how it shows how every individual's life is important [many films can somewhat trivialize this; I watched Contagion directly before watching this]. And for that, as well as encouraging us to think about how we treat others, I think this movie has some good things going for it. Regrettably, Seth Rogan's disgusting character did almost nothing for me (though his revealed dedication to his friend was laudable), and I find the movie did not have much the way for entertainment value. Without the philosophical reflection that it can induce, I can't say that I would recommend it.



P. S. [SPOILERS]

I would like to see how the the protagonist would live his life differently, if at all. Interestingly, I can't think of many stories that have a near-fatal experience in the beginning with how the survivor lived his life differently thereafter.

Driving Back to the Future

Driver for the PS1 has always been one of my favorites, so much so that I made sure it was nominated for the Code Redd Net Award for Best PS1 Game. Despite the ups and downs in subsequent entries in the series (including the endearingly broken Driv3r), I've always enjoyed its particularly cinematic take on racing. While playing through the latest offering, Driver: San Francisco, I discovered a neat little Easter egg that payed tribute to the original (and Back to the Future):



And just for comparison's sake, let's see that first level from the first game:


That level used to drive me nuts when I first bought the game, but I could probably do it with my eyes closed now.

Movie Review: The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

First off, no one can deny how beautifully animated The Adventures of Tintin is. That is quite a feat in itself. Was it a good movie? Forgive me for saying so, but I feel that Steven Spielberg's style has become overly predictable and played out (he also cannot do comedy; the WWII spoof 1941 is a cliche-filled demonstration of that). It is not a bad movie; it is actually pretty entertaining with a myriad of impressive action scenes (the amount of time it must have taken to make them is mind-boggling). It does, however, get a bit long and makes me wonder to whom exactly it is marketed. Those familiar with the original inception of the character (the comics ran from 1929-1976) or perhaps a younger audience? I think that the length may push the limits of attention spans, especially for these demographics, and may be difficult for the latter group to follow (or maybe it was just me). It is not that it is particularly long at 107 minutes, but one learns from commentaries to Jackie Chan movies that the average American audience member only has the patience for about 3 minutes of constant action before he or she starts to lose full attention. The fact is that Tintin has so much action it becomes a bit exhausting. For some, absolutely, this is a good thing. However, there seems to be something about the movie that doesn't sit well with me. Perhaps it is that the narrative doesn't seem to be on par with the visuals, which appears to be the trend with many high budget movies. It keeps me from giving it a full recommendation, though I do endorse it for any who enjoy computer animation, or hearing the voice of Daniel Craig talk from a non-Daniel Craig body as well as the impressive range of voices that Andy Serkis is able to create.

Jason Statham is... Safe (2012)

When 12-year-old girls go missing, you know who to call. Matter of fact, Stath could probably open a youth center for all the little kids he's saved from gangsters and corrupt gum shoes. Check out the trailer for the new Stath joint, Safe, below. It's out on April 27.

DVD Review: Best of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest (2012)

The NBA Slam Dunk Contest is an annual anomaly. It's outdated, and every year the league manages to handicap its participants with obtuse rules and regulations. Nobody has any reason to take it seriously. Still, I'm always surprised by just how exciting this piece of fluff can be. It has a tendency to reinvigorate and reinvent itself whenever it seems to grow stale. This breezy 45-minute highlight reel skims the hype and gets to the real, theatrical appeal of the contest. Strangely enough, Best of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest is not a chronological account, but a thematic one recapping the best slams in history. This works quite well, actually, because uneventful contests can be skipped over entirely. Obviously we can all quibble about certain exclusions, but I think this DVD does a good job balancing old clips and new. As you might expect (and respect), considerable time is devoted to legendary high-flyers like Michael Jordan, Dominque Wilkens, and Vince Carter, and even more recent champions like Dwight Howard, Nate Robinson, and Blake Griffin. Thankfully, though, unsung heroes like Dee Brown and perennial underachievers like Shawn Kemp get plenty of time to shine. Plus, it's always nice to hear Ahmad Rashad narrate things. Unfortunately, the scant few bonus features tend to get repetitive as several dunks are featured more than once. Nevertheless, this is a competent little highlight show for one of the most enjoyable, and admittedly overrated, pieces of sports-theatre out there.

DVD Review: Man vs. Wild Season 4 (2010)

Man vs. Wild presents something of a problem, it seems, for many viewers. While the series clearly wants to be taken seriously as a survival guide for beginners, at the same time it wants to be more simple, visceral entertainment. That means the show alternates, almost at random, between "showing the device" and hiding it in favor of narrative immersion. What you get isn't quite "reality," even though it has all kinds of "authenticity" going for it. Many say the show is "fake," and I don't blame them for coming to this conclusion, even though that conclusion is built upon faulty groundwork. At the start of the show, for instance, a block of text explains that certain safety regulations have been followed and that, indeed, some of the situations host Bear Grylls finds himself in have been set up. Even in the introduction to an episode, Bear explains that he must undergo an entire week of challenges. This becomes problematic because the episodes are invariably structured into the narrative of a single day. Bear's day (or sometimes two) goes like this: he drops in to the hostile and photogenic environs (usually in spectacular fashion), gets his bearings (pun certainly intended), treks through the dangerous terrain, finds and eats (generally disgusting) food, builds a shelter, builds a fire, sleeps, wakes up and finds breakfast, and finally, finds extraction (again, usually in spectacular fashion). Yes, Man vs. Wild is contrived, but finding fault with its "fakeness" is akin to hating on The Blair Witch Project simply because it's not a real documentary. Besides, Man vs. Wild makes greater strides than most "reality" shows to reveal its conceit. And if you put aside reservations about its supposed veracity, Season 4 of Man vs. Wild is quite engaging. Bear is physically gifted, and though not terribly witty, humorous enough situationally, especially in his obscure references and veddy British slang (he often talks of his "John Thomas") and his penchant for pronouncing words in unique ways (my personal favorite is "glacier," a version which eludes even phonetic spelling). Highlights of this particular season include an fetid water enema at sea and a whole episode dedicated to "urban survival." For my money, this is the most interesting and varied season of Man vs. Wild. If you can go beyond the trap of "realism" in entertainment, this might be a good place to start with Bear.

Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

I imagine that most people have heard the following refrain: it's not as good as the original. It is true that the previous movie was stupendous. Consequently, any comparison with it that places the object being compared as inferior reveals very little, indeed. But I'm not so quick to say that this film is, in fact, not as good. For some reason it seems longer (which it is, by 1 minute), but is highly entertaining throughout. Many features from the first are present: the mental image forecast of fighting tactics by Sherlock (which might have been overdone this time, and something I find to not be realistic), the slow-motion scene of destruction (which was done incredibly well), and obviously the deductions of super-human intellect and attention. It is very similar to the first movie (though not as similar as Crank 2 is to Crank). But I believe that the stakes are higher this time around. Whereas in the first [POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT!] Holmes was trying to prevent the offing of most of the British Parliament (big deal!) in this he takes the ulra-heroic task of taking on the military-industrial complex. I actually found this movie to be even more satisfying than the first as it presents a fitting nemesis (who is his arch from the books) in Professor Moriarti, who is a match in terms of intellectual prowess. However, I was disappointed that it did not demonstrate the same for Sherlock's brother, who, in terms of Doyle's novels, was superior to him in terms of his deductive capacity in solving crimes, but was too fat and lazy to see if his suspicions were true. But nonetheless, I think that Sir Arthur would be pleased with these particular film adaptions of his characters (he was quite an eccentric character himself, leaving his wife a technique to communicate with him after he passed from this world). A Game of Shadows seems worthy of knighthood, at least in my book.

PS1 Review: Jackie Chan: Stuntmaster (2000)

Really, Rise to Honor is the end-all be-all for cinematic martial arts video games. It's a niche market, surely, and the only truly comparable game, Jackie Chan: Stuntmaster, is more Super Mario World than anything else. Much like their onscreen exploits, Jackie's game is far more cartoonish and over-the-top than Jet's. Rise to Honor, though, has a much more integrated story to go along with all the fights and gun battles; Stuntmaster only has a few short cinematics that set up a rather simple narrative thread involving the kidnapping of Jackie's grandfather. As a result, Jackie must meander through different areas of New York City in order to rescue him. The levels themselves are well-designed and surprisingly interactive. When you encounter an adversary, you can put down with the square and x buttons to fire off a few punches or kicks, or you can pick up a nearby table or mop to add a little variety to your combos, or you can roll across tables to escape, or you can spring off the wall and stun your opponents with a backflip kick. These fights are quite entertaining, even though the boss battles are way too easy for my taste. When you're not fighting anyone, most of the time you'll be running and jumping through progressively more dangerous obstacle courses. Much like the old school Mario games, the camera here stays stationary most of the time, except to zoom in occasionally when you move into the background. Sometimes depth can be hard to judge in these platforming portions, so that a ledge you think is directly in front of you is actually jutting out a bit into the foreground. This becomes increasingly problematic later on as the obstacles become quite complicated and require so much dexterity and timing. Stuntmaster is a very difficult game, one of the hardest I've played in a while, and it ramps up suddenly and frustratingly. Thankfully, though, there's just so much charm and personality to recommend in Stuntmaster. Jackie's mo-capped moves and voice-overs are wonderful, and there's something suspiciously delightful in tossing bad guys off of roofs, all while Jackie's asks after them, "Why don't we talk about this, like gentlemen?" Chan connoisseurs will certainly like this one, provided they can get all the way through. It's not perfect, and it's definitely not in the same league as Rise to Honor, but if you're looking for more martial arts action on your PS1 or 2, then this is the only other game in town.

Movie Review: Twin Dragons (1992)

I normally trust websites like Rotten Tomatoes, but in this case my confidence has been shaken. Right now Twin Dragons has a paltry 45% "rotten" rating, while another film in the Jackie Chan oeuvre, Rumble in the Bronx, has a very respectable 79% "fresh" score. Both are fun action films, so what might account for this disparity? In the grand generic tradition of all Chan action films, Twin Dragons is built upon a combination of both action and comedy, but this one certainly has more of the latter than the former. In fact, this film is quite unique in that its narrative compares favorably to classic screwball comedies such as Bringing Up Baby (1938), the kind of film that demands supreme physical talents from its actors and clear staging by its director. Like most screwball comedies, Twin Dragons has an unbelievable story that gets progressively more unbelievable as it goes on, and it all starts with the usual case of mistaken identity between two brothers seperated at both and raised in different social strata. It's in this way that, like most screwball comedies, Twin Dragons supports a modicum of safe, sanitized social critique. Boomer, played by Chan, is a hood who inadvertently crosses paths with John Ma, a famous classical musician. You can about imagine all the hijinks that ensue, and though they're typical, they're tried and true. Of course, the whole thing's fairly banal, but that's the point, and that's the charm of a Jackie Chan movie. As hackneyed as the premise may sound, it's used rather cleverly to draw out the differences in attitude and ability between Jackie's two roles. Simplistic, straight-forward, time-tested techniques such as intercutting bring together, for instance, a shootout and a classical concert, one of the many highlights of the film. Still, though, Jackie's stunt work is tops. His fight inside a car manufacturing plant is almost as virtuosic as his award-winning rooftop symphony in Who Am I?. Like many of Chan's films, this one was picked up and dubbed to English after he got his first real mainstream exposure in the original Rush Hour, so the dialogue can often be, I imagine unintentionally, funny. No outtakes in this one, I'm afraid, and that's probably the only Jackie Chan trademark missing here. Otherwise this is probably one of the leanest, most perfect and quintessentially "Jackie" martial arts movies ever made.