Okay, all of us are driven insane by the amount of cellular phones that are in our society today. From that guy who is constantly on the phone while driving to the mother who is screaming into her phone as she walks down the grocery store aisle, people just don’t realize how much they use their phones and how much they disturb people around them.
Well what if contacting one of these crazies was your only hope at living? Well, I guess then you would be screwed.
That particular circumstance is the only hope for suburban housewife and kidnap victim Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger) who has been able to use the remnants of a shattered telephone to reach out and touch someone. That someone is twentysomething Ryan (Chris Evans), who by a freak of nature actually listens to the woman’s cry for help. What would you do? Hang up? Think it’s a joke? Or become an instant “superhero” and save the damsel in distress?
“Cellular” is being marketed as a “nail-biter” thriller which is sure to thrill, captivate and excite audiences. The only problem is that the marketing people and the filmmakers each made two totally different films. There is nothing scary, thrilling or “nail-biting” about this movie. Instead what you have is a comedy-action film with a young kid who all of a sudden has to become a “superhero” and save the girl.
I was literally baffled to see how many different ways that stuntman-turned-director David R. Ellis was able to screw up the intense thriller based scenes. Everywhere the audience turns there is another thing to disrupt the tension.
The cellphone battery running out, going into a tunnel will lose the signal, crossing connections to another cellphone user are all plot elements that if executed well could have been hair-raising but instead come off as more “obstacle-course” comedy/action sequences than tense moments.
Ellis was able to use his style of action and humor in his previous film, “Final Destination 2” which worked some what but here it just seems in bad taste. Do we really want to laugh as a guy tries to save a woman from an insane kidnapper?
The film is based on a story by Larry Cohen (“Phone Booth”) and that story was adapted by first time screenwriter Chris Morgan. Somewhere between these two guys we lost a good movie. What happened?
As the film struggled for its identity, I found myself some what impressed with Chris Evans in the lead. Evans is able to hold his own in scenes and has great on-screen charisma.
I also liked poor Kim Basinger who seemed to be the only character scared in this film. Jason Statham as the kidnapper is a throwaway role for the actor. But if you have to feel sorry for anyone in this film it is poor William H Macy, who plays the cop trying to find Basinger.
Macy is a brilliant actor and a wonderful talent but seeing him with green mud on his face and him uttering cliché-like lines like “I am too old for this, crap” is just awful. If this would have been a thriller and more like “Hitchcock-in-style” than Macy probably would have been perfect.
So don’t believe the ad campaigns, “Cellular” is just as much of a throwaway film as one of those $40 disposable cellphones.
(2 out of 5)
So Says the Soothsayer.
Director Wayne Kramer, who also directed the overly brilliant “The Cooler”, returns to the grit of the underworld with his latest film “Running Scared”.
There was series of extremely well made “direct to video” movies called The Prophecy where Christopher Walken plays the arch-angel Gabriel who comes to Earth to collect a certain soul that is key to a war in heaven.
I think I may one of the few who actually likes Lucas Black as a leading man. I know he has no range of emotion in his acting and no matter how hard he tries can never hide his thick Southern accent. But the guy is vulnerable and screams everyman so there is something to cheer about when it comes to him.
Reindeer Games is a excellent opportunity for Ben Affleck to certify himself as a bankable star. So I guess the nagging question is he just that?
The walls are closing in. I can’t breathe. Please get me out of here! These phrases are probably very familiar to people who are claustrophobic. The thoughts and associations with this fear are very difficult to bring forth to the silver screen. Well unless you are in a submarine movie like “Das Boot”.
Meg and Sarah move in and on their first night their safety will be put to the test as their home is invaded by three burglars in search of a hidden fortune. The burglars are headed by Burnham (Forest Whitaker), who seems to have connections to the house, next is the very slimy punk Junior (Jared Leto), and last is Raoul (a ski-masked Dwight Yoakum) who could be the scariest of them all and hired by Junior.
Some of those shots reminded me of how Fincher photographed “Alien 3″. The camera dashing down tunnels from the viewpoint of the alien in that sequel really came to mind. But in those shots you really do feel like a “fly-on-the-wall”.
The film’s screenwriter David Koepp is usually a really good script-whiz but in Panic he doesn’t really dig deep into the psychosis of these characters. In a thriller, we really need to know how these people think. I also was baffled to see literally no plot-twists throughout the whole film. Koepp’s script needed some help in maintaining the intensity but when you put 3-inch steel between predator and prey it gets very tough.
Dreamworks Animation has always played the simpler hand. Go for the laughs and never wow with the animation. Sure their films were in CGI animation but they never had a wow factor.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON is a magical ride. It has great humor, a great story and gorgeous animation. The scenes between the dragon and Hiccup are priceless. I like the fact that the filmmakers decided not to make the dragons talks so that the story was more a boy and his dog. For once in an animated movie not every animal has to talk. I like that they also didn’t give Hiccup some annoying chattering sidekick.
This animated adventure relies on the story and focuses on man’s fascination with animals. This is treasure of a little movie and my hat is off to Dreamworks I didn’t know you had it in you. Look out Pixar, a couple more like this and your monopoly on great animated films might just evaporate. This film is way better than at least four Pixar films. Guess which ones?
In 2006 we saw exactly one CGI-animated feature film being released every month.
My favorite character in the film is probably Steve Carell as the hyper-active Hammy the squirrel. He is utterly hilarious and such a scene-stealing little character.
In the mid 1970s, a cult film called “Rollerball” burst onto the scene and the film was the first real film to tackle the concept of nihilistic sports entertainment and sports corruption.
The brilliant concept in the original cult film is utterly lost in the remake. The film’s edgy editing and camera angles try to embrace the “Fast & Furious” take of the story. The flash and pathetic story translates into a gouging “cheeseball” of a film. This could be the cheesiest film of the last ten years. Cheesiest is when a film at no point ever apologizes or tries to climb over how bad it is. Most bad films know they are but do have more than one blemish of brilliance.
The acting in this film is so cardboard and woody that you could probably watch the grass on your front lawn grow and be more entertained. Klein has always been the naïve, clueless pretty-boy and he doesn’t stray from that here. Cool J is a decent rapper turned actor but he should really shoot his agent for putting him in these stinkers.
There is a great boxing story about a miracle heavy-weight champion who brought hope to a nation filled with hopelessness. His passion and will to win allowed for many people to find the will to survive the darkest hours of the Great Depression. His name was James Braddock and this is his story.
What probably makes the film engaging is the strong performance from both Zellweger and Giamatti. I liked that the film showed the impact of boxing on Braddock’s wife as well as on Braddock himself. There was some of support angle in the Rocky series but Zellweger is just so good here. Giamatti is always an amazing talent to watch and his role as the manager and agent allows him to dance circles around Crowe’s slobbering, daunting and shallow hero.
The fate of the world rests in the hands of a television journalist? Perish the thought.
Freeman’s performance of God is very subtle and reminded me some of the way George Burns played his “almighty” in the classic “Oh! God” series. Which brings me to another question, why is there so much religious protest for this film when there have been other films with actors playing holy figures. Come on, Warren Beatty played an angel or even Willem Dafoe as Jesus.
