This film breathes life (of sorts) into the post-apocalyptic-road-warrior genre. Denzel Washington is one seriously cool dude as he slashes his way West on foot through a blasted landscape with his secret personal cargo. 

The religious elements didn’t bother me. What the heck, I thought, that’s as good a theme as you can find: the preservation of the printed Word in a Godless world.

In this case, preservation occurs at the hand of samurai whose skills at lopping off heads when the going gets tough is the stuff of legend. Plus, it’s a beautiful film to look at. I didn’t think I’d ever say that about a film that adopts the washed-out gray-and-umber-tones of so many other contemporary films, but in the hands of cinematographer Don Burgess and what must have been an exhausting post-production digital color correction process, the world that emerges is one of stark beauty. (I say that just having seen Walkabout which generates a similar visceral visual impression but in a completely different full-color way.)

It’s a great cast all around. I even enjoyed watching Mila Kunis fade into the sunset at the end as she goes forth channeling Denzel Washington’s peculiar balletic high-center-of-gravity walk. Plus, the reference to Johnny Cash is really funny. All around, this is a fun film.

Review copyright (c) 2010 by Dennis D. McDonald

I like movies that start out with a fake documentary describing the imaginary culture underlying the film — two good examples are Monsters Inc. and Starship Troopers.

Add Moon to the list. Early on we’re introduced quite economically to how the earth’s economy has been transformed by cheap energy. The only catch: the raw materials have to be mined on the far side of the Moon then fired back to earth in small canisters.

That’s where Our Hero comes in. He’s nearing the end of a three year stint managing the robotic energy harvesting equipment and is eager to get back home. One day he’s in an accident, wakes up in the robot-managed infirmary, then he’s joined by another worker who looks exactly like him but without the physical damage.

What happens then is intriguing and engrossing. I highly recommend this film as appealing to a wide audience that enjoys drama and character more that explosions and gunfire. The quality of acting, sets, special effects, and pacing is excellent. My only quibble: a major plot point hinges on a certain two way radio conversation between the Moon and Earth and, darn it, there’s no delay between the outgoing and incoming parts of the conversation. Given the effort put into making the film as a realistic as possible on a meager budget, that comes as a surprise. But I’m happy to overlook it; this one’s a keeper.

Review copyright (c) 2010 by Dennis D. McDonald

Next time someone says, “Yeah, Avatar was great, but the story sucked,” suggest this film instead. The story doesn’t suck.

Actually, the story is probably going to be incomprehensible to someone not familiar with the various sci-fi genres represented here, but that’s OK. There’s enough going on visually and concept-wise to keep anyone plenty busy.

It’s a future New York. Aliens live among us. Humans as a matter of course get all kinds of organ transplants to keep them going. Hanging over the city is a giant levitating pyramid occupied by the Monopoly-playing ancient gods of Egypt, one of whom decides to take flight and Walk/Fly Among Us. Meanwhile, a freshly grown human with white skin and blue features emerges to the consternation of medical authorities — she has no memories and her internal organs are all in the wrong place. She has a deep emotional relationship with a Mysterious Man In Black. Into all this falls (literally) a cryogenically preserved man who, upon awakening, has his body occupied by one of the aforementioned Egyptian gods.

That’s for starters. How it all plays out is an entertaining mix that constantly amazes with its mix of graphic comic elements and references that reminded me of sources as varied as Dark City, Sin City, Fifth Element, and AI: Artificial Intelligence — but with great originality and occasional flashes of humor.

The world represented here is a bit like the world I imagined while reading Richard Morgan’s science fiction novel Altered Carbon. Not a nice place to be, but well-imagined and, despite its fantasy, realistic enough to engage. Not bad for a film released in 2004!

Review copyright (c) 2010 by Dennis D. McDonald

This 1971 movie is stunning. More words come to mind but that one is the most apt. Despite some dated photographic techniques, the views of Australia are extraordinary. The confrontation between “civilization” and “nature” exhibited through contrasts between the lost white children and their Aborigine rescuer/companion is still thought-provoking and troubling, despite the film’s age.

It’s not a simple film. There are no warm and fuzzy attempts to distract from the real differences being shown between Civilization and Nature. What might have been displayed as a “Garden of Eden,” for example, is also shown to be harsh and unforgiving. Getting lost in the Outback with little more than the clothes on your back is shown to be a real challenge. Also, the nudity that was cut from the film when initially released in the U.S. is no longer controversial; instead, it’s merely distracting.

Review copyright (c) 2010 by Dennis D. McDonald

A fun movie. The elements are familiar: Han Solo-style wisecracking captain-with-a-heart-of-gold, rag-tag crew, gorgeous babe good at swordplay and kick-boxing, evil empire, space armadas battling at close quarters, and — I kid you not — flesh-eating outer space zombies. These are all assembled in a competent and imaginatively visualized package that, even when it strains credulity, entertains.

My only complaint: there’s no sense of wonder here. The story line appears to be a well crafted assemblage of ideas and themes pulled together from movie and TV science fiction. There’s no real attempt at a deeper reality that good written science fiction can accomplish. What we have is a competent product that adheres to the Star Trek/Battlestar Galactica formula of chases, romantic sub-plots, soap opera, and political intrigue.

But it’s fun and well produced with great visual and sound effects. I just hope that folks introduced to science fiction via products such as Serenity realize there’s a lot more to the genre and that they follow up with some reading of authors like Vinge, Stephenson, and Clarke.

Movie review copyright (c) 2010 by Dennis D. McDonald

Japanese school girl goes on rampage to wreak revenge on the murderers of her little brother, gets fitted with prosthetic arm/machine gun, ensuing action consumes more artificial blood and gore than any film in recent memory.

Still, THE MACHINE GIRL does have its moments of charm despite the overall goofiness. The photography and production values are quite unique when viewed from the perspective of more traditional Japanese films, that’s for sure. The suburban and country scenery are photographed in a spare, pallid fashion that isolates the characters and action as far removed from the hustle and bustle of so many crowded Japanese urban settings.

I was reminded of the rural village setting of Higuchinsky’s UZUMAKI and its weird portrayal of almost-normalcy. But THE MACHINE GIRL takes the cake for over the top histrionics, splatter, and tongue-in-cheek humor. Be warned, though, this film, while entertaining, is not for the faint of heart.

Review copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis D. McDonald

My original 2001 review:

This 1964 European-produced, English-dubbed movie was cutting edge when released and even now contains elements that entertain.

The story is interesting. In the year 1985 an object is found in the Gobi desert that is determined to be a data storage device left over from an explosion early in the 20th century. What is more interesting, the source of the object is determined (how? that’s never explained) to be an interplanetary spaceship from Venus.

A multinational team to decrypt the message stored in the object is assembled, and a team departs the Earth for Venus to follow the message. Along the way, the astronauts make a final translation of the message —- and the message describes a plan by Venus to irradiate the earth, wiping out all life. Still, the team proceeds, lands on Venus, and the bulk of the story describes their adventures on the surface.

The set design, special effects, art direction, and cinematography are all fascinating. The sleek, silver, multi-legged space ship is beautiful. Ground vehicles for exploring Venus are appropriately futuristic. There is even a caterpillar-tracked miniature robot equipped with artificial intelligence that predates R2D2, plays chess, and is employed by the explorers to lead the way in dangerous situations. Its return from a dangerous mission is even preceded by swelling, triumphant music that expresses relief at its survival.

Unfortunately, the acting and dubbing are stilted. This must be the director’s fault, who appears, along with the editor, to have no clue concerning how to stage even a general conversation. We constantly see set pieces where the actors make speeches to each other. Was this due to the multilingual nature of the ensemble cast? Can’t tell, but it wears on the viewer and drags down the overall effect of the film.

Still, the star of the movie is Venus itself. I’d class the surface (and atmosphere) of Venus in this movie right up there with PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES and ALIENS as creating a really weird environment. Miniatures and full size sets are well integrated (given the date of the film) and you can’t help but respect whoever storyboarded complex sequences mixing live action, miniatures, and overlayed swirling atmospheric effects.

Granted, today’s fan might be bored by the dramatic lethargy here, but color and image wise, it’s a fun film.

Review copyright 2001 by Dennis D. McDonald

This is a very funny and beautifully produced piece of whimsy. The characters are interesting, the story is clever, the dialog is witty, and the voice performances are superb.

There is no pandering, no “cute,” no crudeness, and no fart jokes. It’s as if Wes Anderson is channelling the best of author Roald Dahl, Edward Gorey, Wind in the Willows, Edwin O’Connor’s Benjy, and Chicken Run. But Anderson’s sensibility is at work here as well, as is plain to see when comparing this with the director’s previous films.

This is a remarkably accessible film as well. It should appeal to viewers of all ages. I’m impressed as well as entertained.

Copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis D. McDonald

Here are my favorites among all the films I saw in 2009 (not all of these were released in 2009); my top 5 are tagged with an asterisk (*):

Funniest (tie):

• Peter Docter’s UP *
• Ruben Fleischer’s ZOMBIELAND

Most Disturbing:

• Alex Proyas’ KNOWING *

Best Ride for the Money:

• Neill Blomkamp’s DISTRICT 9 *

Best Music:

• Farah Khan’s OM SHANTI OM *

Best Special Effects (tie):

• David Fincher’s THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
• Alex Proyas’ KNOWING *

Best Animation:

• Henry Selick’s CORALINE

Most Drop-Dead Gorgeous Female Lead:

• Farah Khan’s OM SHANTI OM * (Padukone)

Best Use of Fiction to Illustrate Truth:

• Quentin Tarentino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS * (first 20 minutes)

Best Off The Wall Perfomance (tie):

• Quentin Tarentino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS *(Pitt)
  
• Ruben Fleischer’s ZOMBIELAND (Harrelson)

Most Movie Movie:

• Quentin Tarentino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS *

Most Epic:

• Walter Salles’ THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

Most Emotionally Engaging:

• Peter Docter’s UP *

Looniest:

• Timur Bekmambetov’s DAY WATCH

 Most Dramatic:

• Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud’s PERSEPOLIS

 Most Gorgeous Images (tie):

• The Polish Brothers’ NORTHFORK
• Tarsem’s THE FALL

 Best I-Would-Have-Loved-Reading-This-As-A-Novel-When-I-Was-A-Kid Movie:

• Gil Kenan’s CITY OF EMBER

 Best “Not With My Daughter You Don’t” Film:

• Pierre Morel’s TAKEN

Copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis D. McDonald

This 1929 silent film by Metropolis director Fitz Lang is quite amazing. Technical detail (provided by technical expert Hermann Oberth) are surprisingly accurate regarding the actual trip, even though the existence of oxygen on the moon is portrayed.

Especially intriguing is the similarity of both story and physical production details to George Pal’s Destination Moon, a movie released in 1950. In both films industry groups fund the Lunar trip. In Lang’s film, however, we have a woman on board and a woman as part of the funding group; such details were absent from Destination Moon. (I attribute this detail to story-writer Thea von Harbou’s influence who was, I believe, married to Lang at the time).

Another interesting point of comparability between the two films is the use of animated sequences to explain space travel basics. Animation appears several times during Woman; in Destination Moon we have the famous Woody Woodpecker sequence explaining space travel basics.

Keep in mind this is a silent film. In the version I saw, streamed from Netflix through an X-Box Live connection, subtitles were sparse. Still, for historic reasons, I believe that anyone interested in science fiction and space travel should be familiar with this film.

Review copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis D. McDonald

How to begin to describe this amazing and entertaining film? I see elements from The Matrix, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Resident Evil. And vampires, of course. Throw in tons of unintelligible (for me) Russian cultural references and some of the weirdest (but fun) subtitling ever created and you have a very fun and action-packed  ride.

I had no idea what I was getting into. I was checking through the “instant view” selections on Netflix available via X-Box Live and settled on this. Wow! You think Trinity and the office lobby scene was awesome in the first Matrix film? Wait till you see a major auto demolition courtesy of power cables treated like whips in the middle of a raging Moscow snowstorm. Or a vivid red sports car running sideways on the outside of an office building. Or the trio of amazing (!) female lead characters.

I know, that all doesn’t make much sense. No matter. Put your brain on hold and enjoy the ride. Day Watch is funny, weird, exciting and definitely NOT a typical “Hollywood” film.

Review copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis D. McDonald

Sam Raimi’s DRAG ME TO HELL is fitfully entertaining. There are a few laughs as it wanders down well-worn horror movie paths. But it commits what I consider the unpardonable sin for a horror movie: it’s boring. Its characters are dull and uninteresting, the action sequences are run of the mill, and — this is a big one — the DVD extras are actually more interesting than the film itself. Rent something else.

Review copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis D. McDonald

At first I thought, “Uh-oh, this is another one of those interminable animes about Japanese high school kids dealing with adolescent angst.”

Boy, was I wrong. Instead, what we have here is an artful and beautifully crafted tale about friendship and the small and large dilemmas brought about by the ability to travel through time. At first our 17 year old heroine uses her new-found gift to perform silly pranks. Later she discovers more serious entanglements that can generate real emotional and physical trauma.

It’s a beautifully produced and well acted story. Voice talent is excellent and mouth movement is, unlike many other anime I’ve seen, well synchronized with the spoken Japanese. Dubbing is adequate and reflects subtlety when necessary. Street scenes of everyday Japan are very authentic looking with striking details providing a realistic backdrop for very natural character movement.

Most appreciated is the natural looking and sounding friendship among the three main characters. The director treats them with respect. As a result, a very real sense of camaraderie is portrayed without overt sentimentality or sexuality.

This reminded me  a bit of the great Japanese TV series Lain but without the fantastic sci-fi and Internet concepts. Both have high artistic content, mature themes, and intelligence. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time adds sensitivity and emotional impact.

Review copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis D. McDonald

Need to laugh? See this movie. The story: following a zombie plague that has destroyed civilization, two mismatched zombie killers drive cross-country to converge on a mythical zombie-free amusement park. Along the way they team up with a pair of young female scammers and search for The Last Twinkie.

There’s lots of blood and guts and zombie-splattering. It’s all good fun. There are plot twists, ironies, sight gags, first loves, big-time cameo star appearances, and great music. Woody Harrelson is perfect; this may be the best thing he’s ever done.

Review text copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis D. McDonald

Here are the movie reviews I’ve added since January 1, 2009, starting with the most recent. Not all are new films and some reviews I’ve copied over from my old “No Frills Reviews” web site. I’ve marked with an asterisk (*) those I’ve seen in a movie theater. Of the movies I saw for the first time in 2009, I’ve marked my “top 5” with a plus (+) sign.

• Henry Selick’s CORALINE
• Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud’s PERSEPOLIS
• Robert Baca & Josh Rizzo’s WELCOME TO MACINTOSH
• Chuck Patton’s DEAD SPACE: DOWNFALL
• Brian DePalma’s MISSION TO MARS *
• Pierre Morel’s TAKEN
• The Polish Brothers’ NORTHFORK
• Quentin Tarentino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS * +
• Neill Blomkamp’s DISTRICT 9 * +
• Peter Docter’s UP*+
• Saul Dibb’s THE DUCHESS
• Alex Proyas’ KNOWING*
• Rod Lurie’s NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
• Keiichi Sugiyama’s ORIGIN: SPIRITS OF THE PAST
• Tony Scott’s THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 *
• McG’s TERMINATOR SALVATION *
• Tarsem’s THE FALL
• Mamoru Oshii’s THE SKY CRAWLERS
• Oliver Hirschbiegel’s THE INVASION
• Yoji Yamada’s LOVE AND HONOR
• J.J. Abrams’ STAR TREK*
• Gavin Hood’s X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE *
• David Fincher’s THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
• Timur Bekmambetov’s WANTED
• Lilo & Stitch
• Spike Lee’s MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA
• Takeshi Yamakazi’s RETURNER
• Kronos
• Farah Khan’s OM SHANTI OM +
• Movies I Don’t Get Tired of Watching
• Peter Jackson’s LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING *
• George Lucas’ THE PHANTOM MENACE *
• Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within *
• Peter Jackson’s LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS *
• Gil Kenan’s CITY OF EMBER
• Walter Salles’ THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES +
• Danny Boyle’s SUNSHINE