This past weeekend I took a trip up to New York to visit some NYC constituents and spread some pop culture love to those in the big city. While this may seem philanthropic of me (which it is), I also knew that the Big Apple would open its pop culture arms to me and offer up a wealth of interesting media options. Turns out the most prominent was a much-talked-about movie, with a wide-release, that I just hadn’t gotten around to checking out yet. Sometimes it takes a trip to NYC for a guy from C-town to check out Where The Wild Things Are. Whatever. Here’s what I think about it in one sentence: you should see this movie. You. Whomever you are. See it. You probably have friends that didn’t like it and warned you to save your money, and you probably also have friends that thought every scene was ground-breaking and rife with poignant symbolism that resonated with them like no other film has. Either way, see it. This film is so unique you have to decide for yourself. It’s the only way.

For me, the movie is a living, breathing, work of visual art. The cinematography is first-rate and expertly captures the stunning natural beauty of the Australian coast, while the set and art design have got to be the frontrunners for an Academy Award in each respective category. Whether or not he took a cue from the shortcomings of the “new” Star Wars prequels and chose huge puppets over CGI monsters, I don’t know, but Spike Jonze definitely made the right decision. (Sidenote: the #1 problem with the Star Wars prequels was CGI. Not weak acting, not flimsy storylines or trite dialogue - it was CGI. Fact.) Max Records was perfectly cast as, as luck would have it, our anti-hero Max. If ever a young man has been up to the task of carrying a movie on his narrow shoulders, it was Mr. Records. He was on point emotionally, physically and mentally, easily gliding through the wide range of emotions experienced by a character engulfed in sadness and isolation. He delivered at every turn no matter what was asked of him. The other star was James Gandolfini. That’s kind of odd to say since it’s only his voice that appears in the film and I had some reservations about him being able to deliver in this type of capacity, but his vocal talents shone through and gave bristling life and passion to Max’s most important (storywise) monster friend, Carol. The rest of the monster voices were rounded out by Chris Cooper, Amber Heard (who also exceeded expectations with tender and delicate voicework for KW), Forest Whitaker, Paul Dano and the always excellent Catherine O’Hara. The movie touches on loneliness, being misunderstood, sacrifice, compromise, friendship; all of the principles that are so tough to grasp and apply when one is going through adolescence. It reminds you how hard it can be growing up, especially when you don’t fit in the way people want you to. But it’s not all moments of depression or people hugging it out - there were also engaging “action” sequences and lots of genuine comedy. In fact, there were several laugh-out-loud moments that really took me by surprise. Some so absurdly random I won’t divulge any of the particulars to avoid ruining their comedic value. I liked this movie a lot and recommend it to anyone. I can’t guarantee you’ll like it too, but I can guarantee it will be unlike any other movie you see this year. That’s got to be worth something.

-John

I’m sure you’ve all been super anxious and unable to sleep trying to figure out my top five favorite movies from this past summer. What could they be? When will he tell us? I want to like all of the same things that he likes and I can’t effectively do that until I know what his favorite summer movies are. Wait no longer - top 5 in your face:

#5 - Star Trek

This was a tough one. I couldn’t decide if this should come in at number 4 or number 5. Really, it could go either way, but right this second, and for the purpose of completing this list, it was the fifth best movie I saw this summer. Fifth out of a very strong five mind you. Going in I had only seen the original two films and quite honestly didn’t like either one of them and do not consider myself a Star Trek fan at all. However, the greatest accomplishment this film achieved was appealing to people just like me while holding as true as possible to the original lore - or so I hear. Also, my boy J.J. Abrams was attached and I knew he would deliver the goods. And he did. The script was a polished balance of light-hearted humor and effective action-movie dialogue, with excellent delivery from the actors, who were perfectly cast. Sci-fi dialogue can be difficult to deliver sometimes, especially when talking about fictional creatures and the technical workings of intricate space technology that doesn’t exist, but there were no forced lines and the jokes were well-timed. We got a good look into the back story of Captain Kirk & Co. in a way that didn’t alienate people with no prior knowledge of the Star Trek mythology. The real showpieces of the film, of course, were the action sequences. The special effects were first-rate and didn’t have that “too computerized” look that plagues so many modern films, but they also didn’t dominate the scenes, allowing for the actors’ good-old-fashioned stuntwork to be prominently featured. The scene where an adolescent Kirk steals a car and the one where he runs from some kind of snow monster are particularly good examples of this. The movie hit on all cyliders and is arguably the best action film of the year (I think the only other movie in that discussion is Watchmen). Don’t let the 5th place fool you - it is well worth the rental money.

#4 - The Hurt Locker

Director Kathryn Bigelow continues to prove that a female director is more than capable of directing poignant action movies and war films entrenched in the mannerisms and camaraderie unique to all-male military outifts. A daunting proposition, to be sure, but Bigelow cut her teeth in the action genre years ago directing Point Break (Utah, make it two) and K-19: The Widowmaker. The Hurt Locker focuses on a bomb disposal unit in modern day Iraq and the nerve-racking peril they often encounter when disarming roadside bombs in the midst of hostile Iraqi neighborhoods. The tension is more than palpable in the bomb defusal scenes and it does a remarkable job of detailing all of the unknown variables that can go into disarming even the crudest of make-shift explosives. Those guys truly find themselves in some unbelievably dangerous situations where they have to force themselves to remain calm or risk detonating a bomb that could take out a city block. The main cast is a who’s who of “I totally recognize that guy, but can’t figure out from where”, with Jeremy Renner taking the lead and delivering an Oscar-worthy performance of a bomb defuser who is fearless on the job, but has lost the abililty to function in normal society. Also be on the lookout for some stellar cameos by Guy Pearce, David Morse, Ralph Fiennes and the stunningly attractive Evangeline Lilly. Not necessarily a feel good movie, but a movie of excellent quality nonetheless, and certainly a welcome variation to your standard summer blockbuster release.

#2a - The Hangover

And then there were three. These next three were absolutely my three favorites of the summer, but I really couldn’t decide between my number two and number three selection, so I was forced to make it a tie for second place. A fitting compromise for two excellent movies that were fantsatic for wildly different reasons. The Hangover is awesome, that’s no secret. Just about everyone loved it - not everyone, but just about - and it introduced a large part of the world to Zach Galifianakis and his comedic ability. Like anything great, it’s hard to put your finger on exactly why this movie was so well-received, but more than likely it’s the combination of several factors working together. Perfect marketing - it delivered exactly what it said it would based on the trailers. Perfect casting - no dominant actor needed, so Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis were each able to shine in bursts, and in very different ways (I thought Cooper was hilarious and loved seeing Helms in the “every guy” role). Perfect script - it gave you ridiculous scenarios that seemed mildly plausible, hilarious plot devices (tiger & baby), and quotable dialogue (wolfpack of one); everything you need in a summer comedy. There was also a steady balance of smarter humor and shock value comedy as evidenced when comparing the scenes where Cooper and Helms mock Galifianakis, to the closing credits. Stark contrast, yet both work for the film. It’s a top-notch comedy with a sequel already in the works (hopefully it won’t be called Hangover 2, because that wouldn’t make sense) and ties for second on my summer movie list. If Megan Fox were in it, it could have been 2nd by itself. Maybe. Probably.

#2b - Inglourious Basterds

So here’s the other half of my two-way tie for second - Tarantino’s saga devoted to the punishment of Nazis. Punishment in its most brutal and merciless form. So, going into the movie I had this thought: “Tarantino is directing a film starring Brad Pitt, where he leads a team into Germany with the sole mission of torturing and murdering Nazis? This could be the best movie ever made.” While it wasn’t able to live up to that lofty expectation, I was treated to a parade of everything great about Tarantino films, as well as a brilliant surprise performance from Christopher Waltz (who earned himself a villain role in Green Hornet after this). First of all, I love Tarantino. Because of that - I like all of the nuances of his style. I love his back and forth dialogue, his penchant for the bizarre and his ability to use realistic gore and violence in an unrealistic way. I say that to say that if you feel the opposite, this movie is not for you. It is much more dialogue heavy than expected and some scenes do move very slowly. In fact, I would say while I can appreciate the slow pacing in certain scenarios (David Lynch is a master of the snail-like pace during scenes of tension and urgency) the one down side to the movie was that we didn’t get enough footage of the Basterds doing their thing and wreaking havoc throughout the French countryside. Brad Pitt was great, and his southern flair and backwoods charm came shining through to provide fantastic comic relief and a believable no-nonsense Lieutenant. Some people thought he was over-the-top, but I thought he was perfect and the best part of the movie. The opening scene, with Christopher Waltz expertly showing his snake like charm and venom, is a testament to Tarantino’s brilliance as a writer and a director and sets the tone perfectly for the film. I loved the dialogue, the characters, the humor, the action, the gratuitous violence - the whole 2 1/2 hour package. But as I said earlier - I love Tarantino.

#1 - 500 Days of Summer

So here it is - my favorite movie of the summer. Maybe a surprise to some of you, maybe not. And before we get started, no, I did not pick this solely because Zooey Deschanel is in it. Although, that didn’t hurt. My ranking for this movie is extremely subjective and I realize that without a personal connection one would probably rate it lower than some of the others on the list. However, I had that connection. I related to this movie on many different levels (probably a little too much) and I feel it’s the most accurate relationship movie I’ve ever seen. It beautifully highlights the subtle actions of a relationship that define in which direction it will ultimately go. The shared jokes, the conversations where you should have seen trouble, the struggle between true feelings and convenience and the ability to be led-on by someone (or lead them on) even when you know it will lead to your own unhappiness. It illuminates the highest highs of love - the feeling of unbridled happiness - but doesn’t leave out the often glossed over despair of unrequited love. The script was unexpectedly witty (be alert because many of the jokes are told so off-the-cuff that they’re easy to miss) and Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt were perfectly cast. Who knew the kid from “3rd Rock From the Sun” would turn out to be a good actor, and Deschanel was so convincing as the “indecisive heartbreaker” that I found myself actually disliking her during the movie - something I didn’t think I was capable of doing. The scene where we see Gordon-Levitt’s expectations vs. reality in a split-screen format is perfect. I mean 100% flawless. It was something to which everyone can relate. There was also creativity to spare. Out-of-sequence formatting, sporadic dance numbers, animation and the overall visual style were all utilized effectively, but in a way that directly tied to the storyline and not as ostentatious excess. Anyway, I could go on about this movie all day, but I’m sure you all get the idea. It really stayed with me after I saw it and I still find myself reviewing/analyzing scenes sometimes. It’s the movie I always wanted to write about girls, but never did. It’s not your standard romantic comedy, probably not a romantic comedy at all, and I recommend it highly. It’s rare that a movie lives up to expectations these days, but this one certainly did - and I had the bar set pretty high going in.

There you have it. I hope you enjoyed my run down of my favorite summer movies. I trust you all feel more informed and able to make smart rental decisions in the coming weeks and months. I don’t charge a fee for my services, but will accept lavish praise in the comments section. And cash. I always accept cash. And Megan Fox.

-John

This summer, some movies came out. Additionally, and not unrelatedly, (that can’t be a word) I went to some movies this summer. It’s true, ask around. In fact, I saw nine movies this summer - summer being defined as the weekend Star Trek came out until Labor Day - and seven of them were really good. So, now I’m going tell you what I thought about those nine movies, and rank them, so that if you didn’t see them you’ll be educated when deciding on what movies to throw in your respective Netflix/Blockbuster queue. It’s my present to you all.

#9 GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Contrary to popular belief, this movie doesn’t really pit GI Joe vs. COBRA. Actually, our favorite, top secret, nickname only, elite fighting squad battles Destro and his army of mindless soldiers. The story revolves around nano-technology and the premise that, apparently, there is no limit to its power. In fact, a creepy scientist with a warped face (never a desirable adjective when describing one’s face) used nanotechnology to make Destro’s soldiers mindless! OMG! I suspect real nanotechnology may have a power limit, but not in GI Joe world. In the end GI Joe wins, but no one really dies (true to the cartoon), so we get to see ol’ warped face transform into Cobra Commander and head off into the distance. Overall, the movie was just ok. It had a lot of action, but the effects were a little too computer-enhanced and made some scenes look kind of lame. The dialogue was pretty bad, and even though that was to be expected - it was still really bad. Jokes fell awkwardly flat and the actors’ deliveries ranged from poor to very poor. Especially Channing Tatum. On top of being a great dancer, I’ve heard he’s actually a really funny guy, so maybe a different style of comedic material would have been appropriate for him - like if he “stepped it up” and breakdanced on Cobra Commanders warped-ass face. That would have been sweet. Other pluses: Sienna Miller & Rachel Nichols (pictured above) were both hot, there was a sweet scene between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow from when they were kids, and a really well put together military flashback during what looked like Desert Storm. Also, there was a Boom Boom Pow remix over the credits. I love that song. The movie wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible. I would say it was offically “just ok”, and rank it 9th out of my 9 summer movies.

#8 Transformers 2: Revenge of The Fallen

Critics destroyed this movie after it came out. They said it was a travesty. A disgrace. The worst movie ever made. I’m not really sure what these people were expecting. There were some good robots and some bad robots and then they fought each other periodically. During the periods of non-fighting, the robots were all looking for some ancient space artifact, Megan Fox was face-warpingly hot (that may be my new phrase), Shia LaBeouf was 50/50 with his jokes, and a lot of stuff exploded. Pretty much a replica of the first movie. Not astounding, but entertaining. Other good aspects: The Constructacons, the Deceptacon posing as a blazing hot college girl, and Megan Fox. Things that were not good: the extremely lame dream sequence where Shia meets Optimus Prime’s ancestors - it was terrible, the two mildly racist autobots who were supposed to be from the hood or something and the scene where LaBeouf’s parents got high. Overall - definitely worth watching, not nearly as bad as people said, but due to the fact that I ended up seeing a bunch of good movies this summer, it only ranks 8th out of 9. Megan Fox.

#7 The Cove

So here’s where they start getting good. It was pretty tough to rank the following seven, because I enjoyed them all a lot. Yet, I did it anyway. Coming in at number seven is The Cove. A movie that dolphin lovers really want to see and then probably wish they hadn’t. Because of all the dolphin killing. They go in to the theater to support dolphins and then get an eyeful of murderous Japanese fisherman hacking away. The movie follows Richard O’ Barry of Flipper fame as he engages in environmental activism, trying to undo the harm he did to dolphins during his ten years on the show. He feels responsible for popularizing trained dolphins due to the success of the show in the 1960s. He travels the world, often being banned in certain towns for trying to deter fisherman and whalers, raising awareness (I hate that phrase - not even sure what it really means) on the cruelty of confining dolphins withiin water parks. Due to his infamous presence, he joins up with some filmmakers to form a crack squadron capable of shedding light on the atrocities being committed against dolphins. Cool things in the movie: pretty sweet covert action, trying to get audio/video footage of the actual cove area where most of the butchering takes place; sweet footage of dolphins underwater; and some good comedy at the expense of less wealthy island nations. Not so great parts: some themes were a little repetitive and preachy, and there wasn’t as much covert, night-vision footage as I would have liked. I like me some covert night-vision footage. A very solid documentary and well worth watching.

#6 District 9

This ranking is a testament to the overall strength of the movies I saw this summer, not a poor reflection of this particular film. District 9 is a very well written, engaging movie with some of the more imaginative action sequences I’ve seen in a long time. The basic premise is that aliens visit Earth, their ship breaks down, and then humans forbid them from leaving and make them live in slums until their weapons technology can be comprehended. The aliens are of a different biological composition than we’re used to seeing in the movie-world (they look like giant roaches that walk on two legs) and are a rare combination of superiority and inferiority that presents a very compelling dichotomy. The aliens are far more advanced with regard to technology and possess superior strength, yet are easily held captive on Earth by humans who don’t seem to fear them. The social commentary is layered throughout with thinly veiled references to Apartheid and general human rights, and Sharlto Copley is outstanding as our favorite alien social worker - watch for him to have a breakout year. It’s a fast-paced, unique film that may have ranked higher on this list if I hadn’t been so unbelievably tired while watching it. Highly recommend it.

Thus concludes Part 1 of my summer movie recap. I hope it was as poignant and soul-stirring as I had intended. My guess is that it was more soul-stirring but I can’t be sure until the polling is finished. Tune in soon for the thrilling conclusion to “Summer Movies Become Fall Rentals”…

-JS

I saw Man on Wire in theaters last year and right afterwards, I said it was the best documentary of the year and it went onto win an Academy Award. I’m telling you this because I want you to be impressed. I also wanted you to know that I had the same feeling after I saw The Cove last Friday. This should win an Oscar for best documentary and I urge everyone to see it, you will not be disappointed.

The Cove is about a group of activists that go to a tiny village in Japan in the hopes of exposing the selling and killing of thousands of dolphins. For whatever reason, I was not necessarily pysched to go see this movie. A movie about saving the dolphins was not at the top of the priority list for me. My list goes something like this, #1 cookies, #2 Carolina Basketball, #7 Showers, #12 sleep, and way down below, #532 dolphins.

I heard it was a good movie, but I thought a whole movie about saving some dolphins would get a bit taxing. But I was mistaken. This is a riveting film that literally left me speechless after it was over. Clocking in at 92 minutes, the film never drags, never fails to be informative, but yet does it in a way that doesn’t come off as preachy, overly bias, or just plain boring. For a good portion of the movie, it even takes on this Mission Impossible type of vibe which is really entertaining. I don’t want to mislead you, there are some pretty harrowing moments, and there is one scene that will probably stay with you for some time. But, it’s an important film, a film that deserves to be seen, especially over some of the current fluff that’s out in theaters right now. I’m looking at you GI Joe, Paper Heart, and 500 Days of Summer. I promise you will enjoy it. That’s a popcoast2coast guarantee.

RN

I read a great article in GQ about the new Tyson movie this past month and I wish I could find it online and post a link here but I can’t find it. So, you’ll just have to buy the magazine if you want to see it…or just search for it longer than the 10 seconds that I spent searching for it. My point, is that the article was well written and probably about 10 times better than what I can say about it. But, I still wanted to add my two cents.

I got a chance to see the movie this past weekend with my brother and the lady at the Arclight, which is my favorite theater in LA. First of all, Dawn swears she saw Naomi Campbell in the theater so the whole time I’m watching, I’m thinking, did Mike Tyson date Naomi Campbell at some point? And if so, will it be weird when he talks about her? In the end there was no mention of Naomi in the film, so I guess she was lucky or unlucky, I really have no idea. Sorry for the tangent.

The documentary - well, it was fine. In fact, now that I think about it, it could have been great because the subject, Mike Tyson, is as you probably know, is fascinating. Unfortunately, it’s more of a vehicle to push Tyson’s reformed ways and that’s too bad. The only interview subject is Mike Tyson and I feel like by doing that, the filmmaker just pushes his pro Tyson agenda which feels way too heavy handed. Why not interview other folks who have various opinions on the man? Why spend so little time on his rape conviction? Or even his drug/alcohol addiction? It comes to no surprise that Mike had an unbelievably difficult childhood and many of his later actions in life can be directly linked to that time. At times he might illicit compassion and understanding but in the end, the director does a disservice to the audience and to really Tyson himself, by only giving a one-sided view on this very controversial person.

RN

There aren’t a ton of movies out right now in the theater that I wanted to see, but the lady and I decided to go check out Taken with Liam Neeson. I’m sure you’ve seen the trailers for this one - you know, where the daughter is on the phone, about to get kidnapped, and then the kidnapper gets on the phone and Liam says, “I have a particular set of skills; skills that I have acquired over a long period of time,” etc. It’s actually a cool trailer. Ok, ok, so maybe, it’s not the coolest looking movie of all-time.

So, the first 20 minutes of the movie, we get the back-story…you know how this goes: Liam is a divorcee, looking to have a relationship with his 17 year-old daughter who just so happens to look like she’s 30. He used to be some sort of CIA guy, but quit that job because, gosh darn it, he’s a great Dad and the only thing that’s important to him is his daughter. Anyway, the daughter now lives with the mom and her rich-ass step-dad and she wants to go to Paris for the summer with a friend. Liam, being the protective and paranoid father that he is, thinks this is a bad idea, but ultimately relents. When she gets to Paris, she is immediately kidnapped and what do you know, Liam has to travel to Paris to kick some major ass. Look - it ain’t Shakespeare. In fact, it’s more like Rambo meets The Bourne Identity. (That’s what happens in Hollywood. When writers/producers pitch movies, they say, oh yeah, it’s like Annie Hall meets the Terminator.)

I’m not going to give the whole movie away or anything (not that it’s that hard to figure out just by watching the trailers), but I will say that I learned a few things from this movie.

#1 - 17 year-old girls (who look 30) run everywhere. This girl would run when she saw her Dad at her birthday. Run to go open her present. Run when she saw her friend at the airport. Run, run, run…It was as if I were watching a Will Smith movie.

#2 - Liam Neeson took out roughly 39 guys in the movie, all by himself…usually only using a karate-type chop to the neck. Note to self: learn this karate chop move asap.

#3 - The sex trade industry has really classed itself up. I had no idea they had top secret billionaire guys bidding on young women. How do you even get into one of those affairs? Are they just sitting around smoking their cigars at one of their business meetings and one guy is like, “Oh, we should buy some stock in Exxon, I think it’s the right move.”? And some other guy is like…”yeah, that’s a great idea; hey why don’t we go celebrate by buying some women at a secret underground place and spend millions of dollars on them? What do you say??”. (Please note that I do not endorse the sex trade business. Just want to make that clear.)

Overall, the movie was a bit cheesy. But if you are looking for a decent action flick that stars some 50 year-old dude beating the living crap out of people without so much as a flesh wound, then go see this movie.

RN

Milk – My guess is that my movie review of Milk will probably be different from any other review out there for this film….because even though I bought a ticket to see the movie and even though I was physically in the theater, I did not get a chance to see it. A quick recap – Dawn and I bought tickets to the 10:25pm showing of Milk on Friday night and on the ticket stub, it said theater 7 and when the usher tore our tickets, he told us to go to theater 7…and we did. As we sat in the theater, awaiting the start of the true story about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, I noticed that there were all sorts of different folks coming into the theater. Young, old, white, black, Latino, Asian, male, female, I’m telling you, it was really great to see. I mean, I knew LA was progressive, but I had no idea just how progressive. To be honest with you, I was kind of proud looking around the audience thinking, “hey, our society really is making huge strides”. Who the hell knew?

After a 10 minute delay, the film finally started; although it kind of took me by surprise as the opening scene was shot in a bar and it looked to be set in the present day. I thought that was strange, but I went with it. I thought maybe this was a gay bar and they might be setting up some sort of flashback thing. Then Vince Vaughn appeared on screen and I thought, “man, I had no idea he was in this movie”. The camera then panned over to show Reece Witherspoon at the bar and then it clicked. Dawn and I immediately looked at each other and we both realized that we were in the wrong theater. I thought back to all these different kinds of people in the theater and it all made sense. They weren’t here to see an Oscar worthy performance, they were here to see Vince Vaughn get wrestled to the ground by Jon Favreau. That’s what they paid 12 bones to see.

Anyway, it was too late to go to the correct theater, so Dawn and I sat and watched that sorry excuse for a movie. I take that back, there were a few funny lines, but overall, the movie was not good. And I like most of the actors in the film: Vince Vaughn, Reece Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, etc, it just wasn’t a very good movie. The lesson here – I’m not really sure what the lesson is, but I guess I need to go see Milk again.

Rhett

A few weeks ago, my lady and Whit (my old roomie) and I went to Lamella’s (an independent movie theater) to check out Man On Wire. To be honest with you, my lady begrudgingly came along and Whit, well, he just didn’t have a lot of stuff going on so he came without a lot of expectations. Me on the other hand, I was excited about this documentary since seeing it in the trades earlier in the year. The story is about Frenchman Philippe Petit and his daring & illegal attempt to walk on a tight rope between the World Trade Center Towers in 1974. Honestly, the movie really boils down to a man and a dream, albeit, the dream seems pretty crazy, but I guess most dreams seem crazy at first. Two things really stuck out to me while watching this movie. 1 – Tons of old footage… I mean, I never pick up a video camera and film my friends but these guys were smart enough to document a lot of the planning that was involved. 2 – Only the French, with their romantic language can make tight rope walking seem like the most elegant and life altering thing one can do in life.

The film more or less jumps between the aforementioned footage, interviews with Petit and his crew, and some reenactments (which tend to get a bit tiresome) to retell the story of Petit’s achievement as well as a little bit about his background. One glaring miss by the filmmakers was how Petit was able to afford these tight roping expeditions. It took years of planning yet aside from some street performances by Petit, we never really find out how he managed to pay for everything. The planning stages of the movie drags a bit but it’s important to get a sense of what it took to plan such a thing, as Petit and his crew obviously didn’t have any permits for a tight rope act between the Towers. The guys that actually helped set up the wires had a lot of guts as well, considering they were the guys that Petit counted on and if they made a mistake, then Petit could fall to his death, and if they succeeded, they would be arrested. After this long build-up, you finally get to see Petit’s performance on the rope and I will say that it is beautifully mesmerizing and gives you a sense of hope and wonderment all at the same time.

While Man On Wire does have some blemishes, it’s really a moving and uplifting film about Philippe Petit’s passionate pursuit of a dream that will leave you talking about it for days. To be honest with you, it left me a little envious seeing how Philippe found his dream and achieved it but at the same time, it does give you a little hope that if he can do it, so could you.

RN

This summer marked the return of two of my favorite entertainment franchises of all time: Indiana Jones and The X-Files. Even though both films opened to mixed reviews, I was very excited to see the current series installments, and finally got around to doing so last week. I first took in a late night screening of Dr. Jones and company with K-Dogg, as I assumed it was probably on its last big-screen legs, since it came out in May. I really didn’t have a lot of prior knowledge about the plot and figured I’d be fine with watching Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf trapsing around jungles, dodging bad guys and solving clues in search of some mysterious treasure. I wish I’d had a little prior knowledge. Not sure what George Lucas was thinking, maybe he’s an X-Files fan too, but he had the good doctor tracking down mystical alien skulls in the amazon rain forest, eluding lame CGI monkeys (part of a ridiculous, Tarzanesque rope swinging sequence for Shia LaBeouf) and eventullay winding up in an alien chamber that turns out to be a spacecraft of some kind. What? What happened to punching Nazis in the face and hunting for biblical treasures? What happened to awesome booby traps and using supreme historical knowledge to uncover hidden catacombs? I’m all for the fact that Indiana Jones does have some fantastical elements to it - heavenly ghouls, melting faces and archaic guardian knights - but aliens? The kind from outer space? Really? It just didn’t work for me. From the get-go something was off. The lighting in the opening sequence was almost washed out, Ford’s comedic timing and delivery weren’t very crisp, Cate Blanchette’s acting prowess was completely wasted and LaBeouf’s 50s-greaser persona was overembelished. It all felt forced and really only delivered in the disappointment category. For the record, I wasn’t someone who felt that the franchise should have been left alone. In fact, I think it’s the perfect type of series that can sustain additions as long as they’re consistent with what has already been done. The third movie with Sean Connerey is a perfect example of that guideline. I’m not trying to completely destroy the movie either; it did have a couple of really well done, classic Indiana Jones chase scenes that honored the glory of the preceding films and Harrison Ford was physically up to the task and looked the part in every way - something that was of concern for fans before opening day. Be that as it may, it wasn’t enough to carry the movie. Maybe this was just a segue movie for the studio to transition LaBeouf into the starring role in order to perpetuate the Jones legacy (a terrible idea) and maybe Indianapolis LaBeouf (a rogue CIA agent) and the Curse of the Internet Hackers is just around the corner, poised to make $400 million. If so, the studio can laugh in my face, but I just felt like there were lofty expectations for such a storied franchise I happen to love and it just fell short. Really short. Not saying I wouldn’t watch the fake Shia-movie mentioned above, but I’d probably wait for it to come on HBO.

Upon entering into a Sunday matinee of X-Files 2 with Nealworld I had a little bit to go on: mysterious killings, weird priest, stand alone-non conspiracy plot line and most critics thought it sucked. I thought the plotline sounded promising and all the negative reviews in the world couldn’t keep me away from the movie I wanted to see most in 2008. That’s right, I was looking forward to The X-Files 2 more than Batman. What can I say: I love the show and the thought of a Mulder and Scully reunion dwarfed all other cinematic debuts. It’s just how I’m living. Anyway, the opening credits instantly sparked fond memories of my beloved show and when the siganture music played I was right back into that supernatural world and ready to see Duchovny and Anderson bring it all together for me. Before I go any further I think I need to explain that I really love the X-Files, especially the characters of Mulder and Scully. I would watch a movie about them taking a nice afternoon bike ride together followed up with Fox reading to Dana aloud from whatever is laying around. Perhaps it’s even the phone book - whatever. I’ll watch him read to her from the phone book. I feel it’s important for you to be aware of my bias as you read the rest of this. Overall, I felt the movie was good - not great, but good. The plotline was solid and had the right balance between legitimate FBI case and traditional X-Files mysticism, and Duchovny and Anderson had their usual perfect chemistry. I was actually a little surprised coming out of the theater that the movie had been so poorly received; I certainly didn’t see any glaring problems with the film and found it to be quite entertaining. In fact, the only real problem was with the script. There wasn’t enough backstory about what Mulder had been doing since his departure from the bureau and for the first half of the movie it was completely unclear as to the status of his relationship with Scully. Not sure why that was so ambiguous, but it felt like the writers were in a hurry to just get Mulder and Scully back to working for the FBI so they could progress the primary storyline, so more personal issues were glossed over or resolved too quickly. I really liked the struggle between faith and personal strength that Scully went through - Gillian Anderson is such a great actress, she should really be cast in more movies - I just wish it had been used to tie Mulder and Scully together rather than serve as a weak device to temporarily separate them. The supporting cast was good, with the exception of a disappointing Xzibit, and some familiar faces provided nice cameos along the way. I felt it was a solid sequel that X-Files fans will enjoy and those with no ties to the show should also find entertaining. Plus, it’s just good to see Mulder and Scully back in action. Don’t see myself getting tired of that.

Indiana Jones vs. Mulder & Scully. Battle of the movie gaints. When the smoke clears, The X-Files is the clear winner of the cinematic brawl (despite what box office totals will tell you) and presides as the reigning champion of revived franchises. America’s favorite FBI agents stand tall and remind Dr. Jones that they’ve got way more experience with the paranormal and that perhaps he should leave alien encounters to the experts.

-John

Check out the latest podcast, where your favorite pop culture wizards explore Gotham City and the summer’s hottest blockbuster, The Dark Knight. Rhett and John weigh in on the movie that’s got everyone talking and then delve into a few other summer titles that may not be making as much noise, but are still worth examining. Before all of that, John tries to capitalize on his previous, stunning GTM victory from the last show. Will he be successful? Will Rhett stump him with his vast movie knowledge? Will they rate Batman as highly as everyone else? Will The Love Guru go down as the one of the worst movies of all time? Only the podcast can reveal these answers, and more. Maybe not more, but definitely those answers…

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