prabin

Film Review: Swing Vote

The film features not only stellar actors such as Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, Stanley Tucci and Nathan Lane but starry political commentators such as James Carville, Arianna Huffington, Bill Maher and Chris Matthews. None of which will save "Swing Vote" from a low turnout at the boxoffice.




As political comedies go, "Swing Vote" doesn't dig very deep into the American political scene, and it certainly mines few laughs along the way. Cast more as a middle-aged redemption tale about a loser dad, this dramatic comedy starring Kevin Costner paints a surprisingly sour portrait of nearly all its characters, so much so that even the final-reel redemption rings hollow and forced.

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The film features not only such stellar actors as Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, Stanley Tucci and Nathan Lane but such starry political commentators as James Carville, Arianna Huffington, Bill Maher and Chris Matthews. None of which will save "Swing Vote" from a low turnout at the boxoffice.


Taking its cue from the 2000 presidential election, where the presidency came down to a few precincts in Florida, "Swing Vote" imagines a close presidential contest narrowing down to a miscast ballot by one man in a tiny New Mexico town. That man is Costner's Bud Johnson -- named apparently after his favorite beverage. Election laws allow him to recast his ballot in 10 days, thus giving both presidential candidates and the U.S. media a chance to fly into town for the sorry spectacle of the two politicos pitching an entirely new campaign to one man. Only his judgmental 12-year-old daughter, Molly (Madeline Carroll), knows the truth: Bud got drunk and never showed up at the polling station, causing Molly herself to try but fail to cast her dad's ballot.
(The film fails to acknowledge an assist to Jason Richman and director Joshua Michael Stern's screenplay from the 1939 film "The Great Man Votes," in which John Barrymore plays an alcoholic widower with two small children who finds himself courted by mayoral candidates when it is learned he is the only registered voter in a key precinct.)

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Naturally, the Republican president (Grammer) and his Democratic challenger (Hopper) and their respective and very cynical aides (Tucci and Lane, respectively) -- each feeling superior to their bewildered bosses -- trip over one another to court this single voter. Suddenly, a right-winger is embracing the environment and gay marriage while the left-winger switches to an anti-immigration, anti-abortion platform. Only one vote counts, after all.

None of this is as hilarious as the filmmakers seem to think, but more disturbing than failed satire is the sheer nastiness that pervades the forlorn tale: The politicians are all sellouts; the father is a drunk; all journalists are carnivores save for a local news hen (Paula Patton) who undergoes a third-act epiphany; and all parents are derelicts in more ways than one. In the latter case, Mare Winningham's single scene as Molly's drug-addled, apathetic, unloving mom is profoundly disturbing without having any dramatic point within the context of this story.

Director Stern lets the film slip into both dramatic and visual monotony. More scenes begin with the bitter kid-parent rousing the buffoonish parent-kid from his inebriated slumber in their home -- a double-wide trailer -- than you would think possible. Characters continue to hit the same notes over and over without any further understanding of their psyches. A mob of journalists surrounds the double-wide for days on end. (Yet on one occasion, Costner is seen walking around town and into his favorite bar without a newsperson in sight.) Scenes between Voter No. 1 and the candidates are virtually all the same.

Perhaps unwittingly, "Swing Vote" makes a great case for an oligarchy.

Touchstone Pictures in association with Radar Pictures and 1821 Pictures presents a Treehouse Films production

Cast: Kevin Costner, Madeline Carroll, Paula Patton, Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, Nathan Lane, Stanley Tucci, George Lopez, Judge Reinhold; Director: Joshua Michael Stern; Screenwriters: Jason Richman, Joshua Michael Stern; Producer: Jim Wilson, Kevin Costner; Executive producers: Robin Jonas, Ted Field, Paris Kasidokostas Latsis; Director of photography: Shane Hurlbut; Production designer: Steve Saklad; Music: John Debney; Costume designer: Lisa Jensen; Editor: Jeff McEvoy.

posted by bollywood review @ 10:41 AM 0 Comments

The Happening(2008)

The Happening Genre: Drama/Sci-Fi Released: 2008





M. Night Shymalan really knows how to stir up your emotions but the The Happening leaves you feeling bi-polar, much like this quote. The movie contained some of the worst overacting I have ever seen, yet my stomach was in knots the entire film. Overall though, I was disappointed in the film because they ruined everything in the trailers. I will be the first to admit that I am a huge M. Night Shymalan fan. The dude, at least to me, is a modern day Alfred Hitchcock. HE IS NOWHERE NEAR as good as Hitchcock, so don't get me wrong there. I am just saying that he reminds me a lot of him. I will never forget the first time I saw The Sixth Sense. YOU ARE LYING if you said you saw that twist coming. There is no possible way you saw that ending coming unless you were told there was a twist so that you could look for cues. Shymalan has pretty much dug his own grave now because he is just known as the guy who does all the twists. There was a twist in Unbreakable, Signs and The Village. Then, he went on to do Lady in the Water where he pretty much mocked the audience and didn't give you a big giant twist. I thought that was genius. I know the movie was panned by everyone, but I enjoyed it, so deal with it. The Happening stars Mark Whalberg (The Departed, The Big Hit), John Leguizamo (The Pest, Empire), Zoey Deschanel (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Elf) and Ashlyn Sanchez (young television star).

This paragraph is usually reserved for the films plotline. While I will give you a VERY brief outline of the plot, I am going to keep this as short as possible. The biggest deal about Shymalan's films is that people want to know if he will have a twist at the end and what the heck is going on. The trailers for this film leave you asking, "What is happening to cause what we are seeing?" Based on the trailers, we all know that people are starting to kill themselves for a very mysterious reason. They explain that something is "happening" and it causes your body to go into stages where you can't speak right and you start feeling physical disorientation. The last stage is fatal, making you kill yourself. This is only happening in the North East region of the United States and no one knows why. Whalberg plays Elliot Moore, a high school science teacher in Philadelphia who wants to get out of the city and head to a different part of the country. He rounds up his wife (Deschanel), a fellow teacher named Julian (Leguizamo) and Julian's daughter, Jess. They all hop on a train to head out of the state. Let's just say that they can't get away from it! That's all I will say.
Overall, this movie really made me angry but the more I think about it the more feel disappointed in what I saw. I still kind of ODDLY liked it but not enough to say you need to go see it. I walked out NOT knowing to think. I literally text messaged my friends and said, "I have no idea what to think about what I just saw." It really made me feel bi-polar the entire film. The acting in this movie really bothered me. I couldn't tell if Shymalan was trying to get his actors to OVERACT on purpose. I honestly felt like the actors were reading the scripts for the first time that they were on screen. You should have seen my face when some of these characters were spouting off their lines. Even Whalberg had some really awkward dialogue. There was one particular character, a private in the military, who was overacting beyond belief. I just couldn't believe it. The question is; did Shymalan want that? If so, he is giving you a goofy movie that will terrify you. Is that genius or just dumb? I honestly don't the answer. The movie just leaves you really feeling like blah, but for some reason, its message will stick with you. He is obviously trying to make a point about something and I think it is a very valid point. Let's just say that you could compare Shymalan to a very powerful and famous person. I will not say who because that will give it away. You can email me at online.prabin@gmail.com to ask who I am talking about it, but make sure you see the movie first. I am giving the film a 2.5 BDK rating out of 5 because I do feel a little let down. I think the biggest reason this movie was hyped for me was the fact that it was R-rated and I was hoping he would pull off another good film. While the movie is interesting, I wouldn't waste your money in theatres to see it. All of the violent scenes you want to see have already been shown to you in the trailers. Wait for the rental/cable viewing on this one.

posted by bollywood review @ 6:29 AM 0 Comments

The Incredible Hulk(2008)

The Incredible Hulk Genre: Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi Released: 2008




If you are expecting this movie to be Iron Man, you will be disappointed, but it is 1000 times better than the abomination that Ang Lee created back in 2004. No pun intended. Ang Lee's version of the Hulk, which starred Eric Bana and Jennifer Connelly, was one of the biggest pieces of crap comic book movies I have ever seen. I couldn't believe that Ang Lee, being the director that he is, would let something like that out of his hands. I for one am one of the biggest Edward Norton and Tim Roth fans out there. Trust me, I was hoping this movie would be fantastic, while it is really good, the movie does contain a bunch of flaws which should have been ironed out a little better. Norton really struck me as an actor for the first time when I saw his sick performance in Primal Fear. The end of that film just blew me and everyone else out of the water. Obviously, he went on to do the classic films; Fight Club and American History X. Now, I want to know where the heck Tim Roth has been all of these years. The guy was so amazing in Four Rooms and as Mr. Orange in Reservoir Dogs, but where has he been hiding? It was almost like if Tarantino wasn't involved, he didn't want to touch any other film. The Incredible Hulk also stars Liv Tyler (The Strangers, Inventing the Abbotts) and William Hurt (A History of Violence, Mr. Brooks—very underrated film if you have not seen it).

One of my biggest issues with the film is that they really brushed over the back story on this. I think the directors assumed that the audience knew too much about the film already. Essentially though, the military came to a group of scientists at Culver University to help them create a gamma reduction serum that could help cure diseases, etc. What they really wanted to do though, was create a serum that could create a super soldier. The problem comes in when Bruce Banner (Norton) tries it on himself and he is forever changed. Anytime he becomes angry, he turns into the Hulk, which is just a huge green muscular monster that kicks everyone's butt. Since he is stuck with this "curse", he has to evacuate the country and hide the rest of his life. The film picks up with him in Brazil, working in a soda bottling factory and just living a very private life. He has a heart rate clock on his wrist, so he knows when his heart rate is reaching over 200, which is when he changes into the Hulk. William Hurt plays a corrupt General in the film who came to Banner and his group of scientists, one of which is Betty Ross (Liv Tyler); his daughter. When Banner was injected with serum, he went insane, killing a bunch of the scientists and severely injuring Betty. From this point on, the General is just out to get him. Years go by and now the General knows where Banner is hiding out and sends a huge team into Brazil to capture him. Things go wrong and Banner comes back to the US. The only problem is that one of the soldiers, played by Tim Roth, is power hungry and wants these same powers that Banner has. You can see where this is going.

posted by bollywood review @ 6:24 AM 0 Comments

The Love Guru(2008)

The Love Guru
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2008


Though I might have lost my entire college education watching this film and it might be the dumbest movie I have ever seen, I can't hide the fact that I was laughing hysterically the entire time. I thought this movie was going to big steaming pile and I think that everyone can agree that The Love Guru looked like AUSTIN POWERS 4!!!! It was Mike Myers in a very similar role and they even put MINI-ME back in the film!! The marketing for this film was just done ALL WRONG. Everyone that I know, including myself, had no desire to watch this movie at all and wished bad box office numbers upon the film. Well, as sad I am to admit this, this movie was just downright, mindless entertaining fun. I was talking to a group of listeners after the movie and we were talking about movies like this compared to the Oscar-type films like There Will Be Blood. The Love Guru's purpose is too make you laugh; not try to achieve in the acting, cinematography or directing category of the Oscars. If you can go into a movie like this with that mentality, then you are bound to have a good time. Sure, the movie is a big steaming pile, but it was fun as hell and that is what people should expect. The Love Guru stars Mike Myers, Justin Timberlake, Romany Malco (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Baby Mama), Jessica Alba, Verne Troyer (Mini-Me) and an awkward, yet, hilarious performance from Ben Kingsley.

The movie opens up with a hilarious voiceover by Morgan Freeman. We meet Guru Pitka (Myers) who tells us his story from India. They do not waste anytime and they jump right into the plotline. The Toronto Maple Leafs (hockey team) are in severe trouble and have not won the Stanley Cup Finals in many years. Their owner, Jane Bullard (Alba) was given the team when her father passed away, but he left the team with a curse and they haven't been able to win since. Now that they finally have a chance at winning but their star player Darren Roanoke (Malco) starts having terrible games because his ex-wife is now seeing the goalie (Timberlake) of the L.A. Kings, which is the team they are playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This goalie goes by the name of "Le Coq" and he is known for having an extremely oversized package. Roanoke wants his wife back and is having trouble playing the game knowing that the opposing team's goalie is having relations with his ex-wife. Alba has the genius idea to bring in a LOVE GURU to help get Roanoke and his wife back together. Guru Pitka thinks this will be his big break (helping out a star player who is all over the news) because his dream is to be on Oprah and become the number one love guru in the world. Now listen, I know the plot sounds ridiculous. That is not even what matters. It is honestly just all of the great jokes and just ridiculously stupid things that Myers pulls off in this film. One critic mentioned that all of the jokes are like 3rd grader jokes. YES!!!!!!! There is nothing wrong with that. I have always said this, but no matter how old I get, I will always find bathroom humor to be funny. I also love the little stupid one-liner jokes. What do you call a cow with no legs? GROUND BEEF!!!! There are a bunch of gems in this movie.
Overall, I was honestly scared to like this movie. In fact, when I walked out of the theatre to talk to the publicists, I was whispering my review to them because I thought everyone would think I am an idiot for liking it. It turned out that a lot of other people really enjoyed it as well. So my secret is out. I thought the movie was hilarious.

Myers might be one of the most talented comedians I have ever seen. The guy is a freaking genius and pulls off a hilarious role here. You don't even really think its Myers for the majority of the time. He helped write the script, so obviously he knew exactly how the part should have been played. Wait till you see his MUSICAL NUMBERS!!!

I really enjoyed all of the cameos in the film but the real person that shines is obviously Myers. Everyone else just seemed to be background noise except for Timberlake. His part was very funny. I really do think the kid is a good actor. He has pulled off some very impressive roles recently (Alpha Dog, Black Snake Moan, Southland Tales). The guy is so talented it makes me sick. I really thought Alba was just there for looks. Her character didn't do much for me at all.

I am going to give the film a 3.5 BDK rating because it will be fun to watch with a big audience. If you are in for a stupid comedy and can appreciate it for what it is, you will love it!!! I would recommend the matinee viewing if you are into a big audience laughing with you. If not, you can catch it on a rental. Either way, I would recommend seeing the film at some point. You will get some great laughs from it. "Get her some alligator soup and make it snappy!!"

posted by bollywood review @ 6:12 AM 0 Comments

Get Smart(2008)

Get Smart
Genre: Action/Comedy/Crime
Released: 2008

If you can look past the formulaic plot, predictable jokes and sometimes awkward chemistry, you will find yourself slapping your knee a couple of times during the film. Now, is that a positive review? I will let you decide that for yourself. I am just going to be brutally honest and tell you that I have never seen the T.V. show this film is based on. It came out back in the 60's and I am only 24-years old. Is that an excuse? Not really! I have gone back and watched most of the necessary classic films. The T.V. show starred Don Adams and was apparently very popular and very funny back when it came out. Now, if you have seen the show and you want to know how it compares to the movie, I can't really help you in that department. I can only tell you what I thought about the movie itself, which is how I think movies should be judged anyways. It is ok to compare movies sometimes though. For example, when comparing Ang Lee's abomination The Hulk to the new Edward Norton's action-packed The Incredible Hulk; that is ok to do. Get Smart stars Steve Carrell (The 40-Year Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine), Anne Hathaway (Brokeback Mountain, Havoc), Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine), Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (The Rundown, Gridiron Gang) and James Caan (The Way of the Gun, The Godfather). There is also a pretty funny performance from the Masi Oka (“Hereos”) and Nate Torrence (who plays Lloyd in the film and looks just like Jonah Hill).

The movie revolves around the typical serious/slapstick style of comedy where they are dealing with a serious subject but the jokes are made constantly throughout. The plot picks up with "Maxipad" (Carrell) and he is the main analyst for a government spy group called CONTROL. He is obviously in his late 30's/early 40's and is tired of doing the DESK work. He wants to get out in the field and become an agent. The star of the agency is AGENT 23 (The Rock). Max wants to do all of the action and assassination jobs like him. One day, CONTROL gets broken into and all the agents' information, along with information on nuclear weapons is stolen by a terrorist group called KAOS. This leaves the Chief of Control (Arkin) no choice but to promote Max to agent and send him out with special Agent 99 (Hathaway). Agent 86 (Carrell) and Agent 99 make their way to Russia to find out who was behind the break in and stop a terrorist attack lead by a guy named Siegfried (Terrence Stamp). That is the most simple and basic plotline that I can give you without giving any of the surprises away.

Overall, though I realized the movie had a ton of terrible jokes and was completely PREDICTABLE, I just found myself oddly liking the flick and enjoying the time I sat in the theatre. There were a lot of jokes that fell flat and could have been tweaked and there were a ton of moments where I could predict exactly what was coming just based on all the movies I have already seen. That's fine. I will admit that the movie is a mess but it's a fun mess.

I thought Carrell did a fine job but he played pretty much the same role he always plays; the dumbfounded guy who seems to do everything right eventually, i.e. The 40-Year Old Virgin, Evan Almightly. See, to me, his best roles ever were when he played Brick in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and then Evan Baxter in Bruce Almighty when he was slurring his speech on T.V. That was a classic moment.

Some issues I had with the film were all the political jokes. The stabs at the President just seemed old and overdone. You have heard all of those jokes before and it just seemed like they were going for easy laughs. There were two critics sitting next to me who kept wondering why the crowd kept laughing at certain scenes. While they were right for half of the jokes, I thought the other half were pretty funny. The jokes they were referring to were the cheap shot laughs where people get injured, etc.

Is it me or does Anne Hathaway have some of the most amazing legs ever. She was showing them off in this little skirt she was wearing during part of the film and I just couldn't close my mouth. She is definitely a hottie. Yes, I am aware that has nothing to do with a professional review of a film, but I felt like putting that in there, so deal with it.

If you are in the mood for a good laugh, I would recommend the movie but just wait for the rental, hence the 3 BDK rating. I would say only about 50% of the jokes work, but when they work, they will have you laughing hysterically. I know it was a dumb joke but I loved the Chuck Norris reference.

posted by bollywood review @ 6:08 AM 0 Comments

Sex and Death 101 (2007)

The screenwriter Daniel Waters has some funny films to his name, notably the influential 1989 “Heathers” — Diablo Cody, who wrote “Juno,” should send him royalty checks — but “Sex and Death 101” is not one of them. His second venture doing double duty as writer and director (“Happy Campers,” 2001, was the first), “Sex and Death” is an unfortunate comedy about sex and love and all those things that can prevent a man from getting from one to the other, including (ostensibly) hot lesbian sex, (notionally) hot nonlesbian sex, (generically) hot girls licking spoons and hot (teenage) girls in school uniforms. And so it goes until this prince uncharming realizes he wants something, you know, more meaningful.

In other words, “Sex and Death” is a hard-boiled fantasy with a squishy center. The man in question is a single guy with the kind of name usually found next to a couple of X’s, Roderick Blank (Simon Baker), a looker whose bland existence derails when he receives a list naming all 101 women he will bed before he dies. The list puzzles him, as does the revelation of three guys in gray suits, Alpha (Robert Wisdom), Beta (Tanc Sade) and Fred (Patton Oswalt), who hang out in a white room weighing the fate of mortals and have some connection with the roll call. As these three rehearse the all-seeing, all-knowing routine, Roderick takes the opportunity to dump his castrating fiancée and liberate his inner player.

The appealing Mr. Baker never manages to find the right tone for the material, partly because he’s been seriously miscast (he radiates too much decency and intelligence for the role), though more because Mr. Waters never establishes a coherent tone for either the character or his situation. As Roderick makes his way down his list, he veers unpersuasively from glib to crude, mawkish and desperate, with a little limp screwball and frantic mugging tossed in. The film generally remains unfunny, but in different registers. What Mr. Waters appears to have been after is the kind of crude romp that brings to mind the hustling likes of Dudley Moore, whose moves could have been synched to “The Benny Hill Show” and probably were.

Oh, yes, Winona Ryder, who memorably starred in “Heathers,” shows up periodically as Death Nell, a mysterious vamp with a Black Widow complex and some nasty black heels. I’m not exactly sure what she’s doing in this film, and I don’t believe that Mr. Waters or Ms. Ryder know either.

“Sex and Death 101” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). The many naked breasts may disturb certain men and hungry babies.

posted by bollywood review @ 5:26 AM 0 Comments