Words as Weapons: The Great Debaters

An amazing piece of filmmaking that plays the predictable line well and overcomes stereotypical pitfalls of similar movies. Denzel Washington's previous big racial feature that he was in, Remember the Titans (by director Boaz Yakin), is considered a great sports movie. But the truth: it is only great in the way that it helps other filmmakers to avoid its mistakes. It is too sentimental and too Disneyfied. This movie can be the former sometimes, but it really not just a stand up and cheer movie. It is actually a real, serious take on racism and actually features a brief but disturbing lynching that shakes things up. Anyways, Denzel Washington is at the helm of this picture and plays debate coach Melvin B. Tolson well, as a ballbusting leader who will not take crap. Forest Whitaker is the second-biggest name, as James Famer, Sr., a big cheese at Wiley College, the school that this is all taking place at. John Heard co-stars briefly as the racist sheriff, who is seemingly laid back for such a man, but when you see what he does, you can erase that from your mind. All three of these men turn in good performances, but the movie belongs to the young actors led by Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, and the amazing Denzel Whitaker (who was named after Denzel but has no relation to Forrest). Parker and Smollett are extremely good, but it is Whitaker's charm and poise during his final monologue that is enough to seal the deal on this movie. These actors are real finds, and they really carry the movie. The thing is, Denzel is the supporting character, but these guys (and gal) are up to the task of leading. And their performances are polished like the floor of Harvard, the school in which they debate. But this movie isn't perfect. The racism isn't dealt with extremely perfectly (especially Heard's character), and some of the subplots could have been better. But this movie doesn't need to be perfect to get its message across. It's good enough the way it is. Bottom line: when I picked this movie up at the video store, I wasn't expecting much more than an average tearjerker movie. But this movie, laced with humor and extreme thoughtfulness, blew me totally out of the water. It isn't worth a debate: this movie is outstanding. A

Tone Deaf: Music Within

I know now that Steven Sawalich has created a movie so flawed, that no movie this year has compared to it's badness. Sure, it's not the worst movie I've seen, but in a year of moviemaking brilliance, this piece of trailer-trash looks and feels like an unedited mess. I should have known that a blurb by Larry King was the kiss of death. Of the two movies I had seen before, 1 was great and 1 sucked. Those two movies were Friday Night Lights and Ladder 49. I must say that this one belongs with the latter in the category of dumb, horrendous movies. The first twenty minutes are some of the most cruel I've ever heard. Ron Livingston, the actor who plays the main character Richard Pimentel, is reading off the occurrences of terrible events with a very disturbing tongue-in-cheek voice, such as that of his father's death. He's saying what everybody's Kryptonite is, and he reads for his dad "Soy sauce" in that very manner. It's extremely depressing, and it sets a tone that the movie doesn't want to set. Also, the titles are uncoordinated, but that's the least of this movie's problems. The next problem: the Vietnam sequence. Every Vietnam sequence made by an inexperienced director includes the following cliches: the helicopter panning shot, the tall grass shot, and the 60's music playing in the background. This movie uses those cliches and has nothing to offer. Anyways, a bomb blast deafens the lead character and sets off a chain of extremely stupid sequences known as the second act. The movie repeatedly disregards the fact that the lead character is deaf, as in certain bits Pimentel can "hear" people without even looking at them. It's as if you are making a movie about someone with one leg, and the person is suddenly walking with two legs. It's that dumb. I know that this movie is based on a true story, but if the movie keeps straying from the facts, it might as well be a fictional film. Another problem: the movie seems like one huge montage, and it feels as if you could sum the movie into 5 minutes. The narration impairs this movie because it keeps it like an overview and therefore a montage. It's just that you could watch the trailer and get more satisfaction then watching the whole 94 minutes of the movie. Another pitfall: the acting sucks. Ron Livingston, known for his comedic genius in Office Space, plays Pimentel like a robot, spewing lines woodenly and sleepwalking through his role. The problem is he trips and falls down the stairs. Melissa George gives bad girlfriend, as she is a predictable presence. Michael Sheen is the only person that gives the movie watchability, as the cerebral-palsy-suffering friend Art, who gives a performance that would make Daniel Day-Lewis clap. It would have been a wise decision to make him the lead character and Pimentel the supporting character, but judging on the terrible quality and lack of scope this movie possesses, I doubt the filmmakers even thought of that. Another thing: the movie said the mom had died towards the beginning, but apparently not, because she makes an appearance later. I guess the words "she left us" now mean she went to a nursing home. Another thing: for a movie called Music Within, the music choices in this are only 70's hits, really uninspired choices for such a movie. At a certain point, you wish the music was only within and you were deaf to it. One last problem: the stupid writing. Any movie that uses the phrase "testicle tag team" is extremely uninspired. In fact, that phrase should go down in history as a landmark pinnacle of stupidity. Actually, write this movie down for that spot instead. D+

Man in the Machine: Iron Man

Here is a movie that Transformers doesn't hold a candle to. In fact, it doesn't even hold anything to it. An exhilarating blast from not only the past but the future as this great summer movie employs techniques used before and mixes them with extreme landscapes, architecture, and action. Robert Downey, Jr. is at his absolute best as Tony Stark, a billionaire weapons dealer whose father apparently built the atomic bomb. The son isn't doing to badly either, rolling in big bucks, with a huge, gorgeous house in Malibu and some great cars. Then, during one of his trips to Afghanistan to demonstrate his new missile creation, the "Jericho", the tank he is traveling in explodes, and he is almost killed, and is also kidnapped by a terrorist group (The Ten Rings). He is forced to build another Jericho but instead, with the help of the guy who saved his life by keeping the shrapnel out of his heart (Shaun Toub), he builds a supersuit which he uses to escape. He makes it back to America with a whole new mindset about weapons and their dangers, and decides to build a bigger, better suit to destroy his weapons. But, of course, there has to be a villain, and that villain comes in the form of Obadiah Stone (Jeff Bridges), Stark's longtime partner who gets angered when Stark makes a speech that makes the stock drop 56 points. He decides to go to Afghanistan and resurrect the suit to fight off Stark. This proves to be an on target plot to add up to greatness. Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars as Pepper Potts, Stark's associate. She has some great scenes, and hits her spots very well. A great thing about this movie is the stylization. "Back in Black" at the very beginning when the tanks are coming forward fits the movie perfectly and sets the whole adrenaline rush in motion. Although Tony Stark's amount of "toys" is a bit on the exaggerated side, it still fits well with the movie. The only scene that I was impartial to was when Potts is performing a sort of surgery on Stark's body. It is the worst written scene in the movie, and it is the stupidest. You only hear the sounds of Potts' hand sloshing through the hole in Stark's body, plus it is dumb that Potts doesn't know what Operation is. The jokes, especially about Stark going into cardiac arrest briefly, are off target. This scene is the only scene that does not flow. Bottom line: this is an extremely humane and personal summer movie that is about a picked destiny instead of some sort of inflicted powers. Downey, Jr., as said before, turns in a wonderful performance, and Jon Favreau has a great vision of FX that few directors have achieved before. A-

Iron Man has violence, and a brief scene of sensuality.

Whip It: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

An essential summer blockbuster that is wittier, more realistic, and better made than even Star Wars. Harrison Ford is amazing in the title role as the whip-carrying, gunslinging tough cookie who is actually quite vulnerable at times, showing up James Bond even, and creating one of America's most beloved action heroes. Karen Allen plays good heroine, as Marion Ravenwood, apparently Jones' ex-girlfriend, who joins him again on his quest. There is such an obvious difference between Allen and Kate Capshaw, the leading lady in the Temple of Doom, it is unbelievable. She is the lead actress in a summer movie possibly ever. She shows up such actresses as Megan Fox (of the abysmal Transformers) or Katie Holmes (of the freakish Batman Begins), or even the second-best of her kind Kirsten Dunst (of the Spider-Man movies). Anyways, the plot is great: there is a covenant agreement platform that was made during the Ten Commandment/Moses age, and all sides want to get it. Even the ruthless Nazis (this movie does take place in 1936) are after it like sharks on blood. The way to get it: simple. Find the medallion and the staff of Ra, and bring them both to an underground bunker, and let the sun shine through the medallion at a precise time and date, and it will show you the place of the covenant platform. Hard part: pulling it off. And Indiana Jones is the only one who can. I won't spoil the great climax or ending, but I will tell you that this is a great film and one of Spielberg's best. This movie solidifies that Spielberg is the master of the summer movie blockbuster (he created the genre with Jaws, a masterpiece). But it also solidifies a change in moviemaking. Before, the FX industry was ruled by the James Bond and Star Wars films. But now, after this particularly great blend of FX, writing, and acting, Indiana rules the ways with his whip and his gun. This movie was not afraid to take risks and it paid off in cold, hard cash at the box office. Thanks to an immensely gratifying opening sequence and many chase sequences, plus a humorous encounter (gun vs. sword), this movie takes its place among the homaged movies, showing that it takes more than a couple of explosions to rule. This is the way that summer movies should be. A

How the Cookie Crumbles: The Fortune Cookie

Billy Wilder is one of the best directors of all time, and his films like The Lost Weekend, Some Like it Hot, and The Apartment were a joy to watch. The writing was crisp and witty, the acting was tremendous. And for one thing, Wilder knew his playing field. The Fortune Cookie is a somewhat composed jumble of elements that make a good Wilder film and junk that is totally unnecessary. This movie is basic: Jack Lemon plays Harry Hinkle, a Cleveland Browns cameraman who is injured by a collision with Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson (Ron Rich), a punt returner. The collision is about as low-quality as collisions get: you can just see the choreography when Lemmon throws the camera, runs backwards, falls over a tarp, and collapses, then stands up again, then collapses again. It is extremely clunky, and is done by someone who has obviously a rough time with broad slapstick. Anyways, he gets hospitalized (he only has a mild concussion). Enter Walter Matthau as Hinkle's brother-in-law "Whiplash" Willie, who wants to make some money off of Hinkle's injury. So he proposes that Hinkle, having only a mild concussion, fake that he is paralyzed, so Willie can sue the Browns for $1,000,000. This lawsuit becomes plausible after Harry (on sedatives) takes a test inspection from the Browns' doctors. But the Browns don't want to be sued, and they send in surveillance to try to find evidence that this is a scheme. These surveillance guys, played by Cliff Osmond and Noam Pitlik, are the best part of the movie. Now to the backstory: Boom Boom feels bad about "injuring" Hinkle, so he takes care of him. This is utterly depressing, because Boom Boom is such a nice guy, and you wish Hinkle would just tell him. It's so utterly depressing, it ruins the movie-watching experience, as it sometimes falls into the deep end of emotional schmaltz and dark comedy. Now, the acting: Lemmon is okay, trying to stay afloat, Matthau won an undeserved Oscar for his perfomance, Judi West as Hinkle's wife Sandy is okay, and Rich as Boom Boom is pretty good. A negative: there are overly used tones of sexism and racism that are possibly offensive. Plus, the scheme is highly implausible, and it has a terribly unrealistic scene where Matthau somehow gets the Browns to keep settling for higher and higher amounts of money. Bottom line: this movie which sparked The Odd Couple doesn't have the charisma to be a great Wilder film, it doesn't have the quirkiness to be a Lemmon cult classic, and it has too much sloppy piecing to be even a very good film. B

Downpour of Genius: Singin' in the Rain

Part amazing dancing and singing, part insanely accurate and ahead-of-its-time Hollywood satire and critique, and part masterful performances from Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds, this astonishing musical is the flat out best musical of all time. This movie owns the genre, creating hilarious laughs while setting up spectacular dance sequences. Kelly is Don Lockwood, a silent film big cheese and star, who is caught between the drift between silents and talkies, as Hollywood is "learning to talk" and it's the next big thing (The Jazz Singer is a huge hit). Jean Hagen is the egotistical Lina Lamont, who is Lockwood's screen partner who is having a terrible time transitioning (described hilariously in a microphone catastrophe scene). When the film they made "The Dueling Cavalier" bombs, Lockwood, his friend and piano player Cosmo (O'Connor), and his lover Kathy (Reynolds) decide to convert it into a musical with Kathy dubbing for Lamont. This proves for some major laughs also. But the amazing thing about this movie is how smart it is compared to how dumb it could be. It lampoons the whole idea of gossiping and being an adoring fan very well, and very smoothly. The singing and dancing are amazing, too, as O'Connor and Kelly are dancing machines on tons of numbers that are a joy to listen to, especially Kelly's signature "Singin' in the Rain," and O'Connor's almost breakdancing "Make 'Em Laugh". This movie is so all-encompassing, it even has a Fellini-style Broadway sequence that is extremely freaky and outlandish, while still applying many innovative techniques. I was expecting a lesser brilliant, more laid back, more Hairspray-ish musical, but I found a masterpiece, a gem that shines brightly, a movie that deserves the No. 5 spot on the AFI Top 100 list hands down. This movie gleams like the many sequins that the dancers wear and it is a great film, that stands right up to the all-time greats. In fact, it is one. A

A Shot in the Dark: In the Heat of the Night

The first real "buddy cop" movie shows The French Connection up in the category of personal drama. Rod Steiger stars brilliantly in an Oscar-winning role as Bill Gillespie, the police chief in the extremely racist town of Sparta, Mississippi (follows in the footsteps of the other Greek-named Southern city, Athens, Georgia). When a murder is committed, he first suspects Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier, in one of his best performances), a black homicide detective from Philadelphia that happened to pass through and be leaving at the train station near the time of the murder. After he realizes Tibbs is a cop (and Poitier delievers the famous "They call me..." line), he sets him on the case, as he is an expert with bodies and stuff. What develops is a close-but-still-so-far-away friendship that is one of cinema's best pairings ever. The best part is that they don't get too close (the closest they get is the subject of old flames or lack of them) and Steiger helps keep their distance marginal and have it be strictly business. The biggest mistake this movie made was making everyone else besides Steiger and Poitier one-dimensional, so it's basically a review of old racist movies that this film should not be lumped with, because it is more personal. The movie, though, falls into crap when some good ol' boys chase Poitier around town and try to beat him up but don't succeed because Steiger intervenes. And, although, the suspense is tight and fun, I figured out who murdered the victim moderately before the film wanted me to. Those are the two major flaws the movie had. But this movie is better than The French Connection, even though The French Connection is more unique. Why? Because you can't relate a lot with Hackman's gritty Popeye Doyle or anyone else, because it has the same one-dimensional type problem against it too. Even though Connection may have the chases and wit and French actors, I think that Night is better, because it is less about just the police and more about humanity, which it knows very well. A-

Courtroom Drama: The Verdict

A seriously bleak, but ultimately inspirational lawyer pic with an outstanding performance from it's lead actor. Paul Newman has played many roles, and of those many roles, he played lower class men, such as in Cool Hand Luke, but never has he played a role with so much deepness and conviction. He plays the ambulance-chasing, alcoholic pinball wizard lawyer Frank Galvin, who is getting more and more pathetic as he loses more and more confidence in himself. He has gone on a streak of losses, and he has never recovered. When he gets a malpractice case involving a misuse of anesthesia, he decides to take it to court instead of taking the $210,000 that the hospital is willing to settle for. This goes awry at the beginning, as his trial plan he had fell to pieces after his main witness was paid off by the opposing side. But after some tactical thinking, he becomes the lawyer he once was. This character is so incredibly deep that I could say he is one of the best lawyer characters in cinema. You feel more engaged with him than you do with even ol' Atticus Finch, from the critically acclaimed and overrated To Kill a Mockingbird. To talk about the the movie, I wouldn't say it is the strongest law flick I've seen (Twelve Angry Men is the best), but it is in the Top 5, maybe in the Top 3. The movie's strong point is the acting, starting with Newman's masterpiece performance, and with Charlotte Rampling's performance of the film's Judas in the form of the driving Laura, and what I would call a solid performance from James Mason as the opposing lawyer. The directing, by now-83-year-old genius Sidney Lumet, is great. This movie is a great piece of filmmaking and deserves a spot on the AFI 100 in place of such mediocre pics as Toy Story because it knows depth well and uses it easily to its advantage. The verdict: guilty of greatness. A

Free Bird: The Maltese Falcon

A good film noir is absolutely ruined by a dragging 25 minute climax. Humphrey Bogart manages to elicit a few grins as Sam Spade, a private eye working in San Francisco (all of this city is wasted in a few stereotypical shots). At the beginning, Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) brings to Sam a case that has to do with shadowing a man. After Sam's partner is killed by the man he's following, things start to go strangely. To top that off, a man named Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre) asks him to find the title bird. Co-starring are Sydney Greenstreet as a crooked guy going after the falcon, and Ward Bond, as a detective. The problems with this movie start with the comparisons. Humphrey Bogart as the leading man is about even with Jack Nicholson or Fred MacMurray in Chinatown or Double Indemnity, respectably, but Mary Astor is definitely not as good as the powerhouse actresses Faye Dunaway and Barbara Stanwyck. To sum it all up, Chinatown and Double Indemnity are much better pictures. Another problem with this movie, and possibly the biggest: the terrible climax. At approximately 75 minutes into the movie, Spade is trapped in his own apartment by Astor, Cairo, and Greenstreet. This scene is full of no action, no fireworks. As a matter of fact, it had nothing the scene needed. This might even be the reason that Bogart wasn't nominated for an Academy Award: no great final scene that sets the movie in your mind. Maybe if there had been, and this movie had been more legendary, then maybe Bogart might have even taken Best Actor. Why Greenstreet got nominated is beyond me: a lackluster performance. Anyways, the climax of the climax is that the bird that Bogart has is a fake, and no one knows where the real one is. Actually, to tell you the truth, the whole thing is a hoax. This makes the whole movie seem pointless. The ending: Bogart turns Astor in, and the last conversation between the two is pretty mediocre. To summarize the scene: terrible way to end a classic. Bottom line on the whole movie: decent acting, good suspense, no huge frills, and no memorable scene. B+

Male Fraud: Tootsie

In the tradition of such amazing movies like Some Like It Hot, this is a classic, very funny cross-dressing comedy about acting and how much someone would go to pursue it. Dustin Hoffman is Michael Dorsey, a down-and-out actor living in New York City. His big break comes when he decides to audition for a soap opera as a woman. This proves for some huge laughs, but the humor grows tiresome after awhile as Hoffman's lady portrayal is great, but loses it's sauce. Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, and Dabney Coleman provide good support, but it is the director Sydney Pollack that pushes this movie over the hilarity barrier, with his historic scene-stealing role as Michaels' agent, with a great final scene that makes the movie come full circle. Witty screenwriting, Hoffman's good touch, Pollack's great touch in front and behind the camera, and the perfect amount of irony and comparison make this movie a film to remember. A