Kevin Smith: Burn in Hell

Directed by: Zak Knutson, Joey Figueroa












This is another installment in the series of Kevin Smith Q&A sessions.  These clips were taken from one event filmed in Austin, Texas after a screening of Smith's film "Red State."

The best story he told - also, the longest - traced his conflict with an ultra-conservative church whose actions, to an extent, inspired the script for "Red State."  He explained his combative relationship with the members of the church, as well as how he organized his counter-protests when they began attempting to picket screenings of his film.

For the first time, Smith's usually lighthearted demeanor took a slightly darker turn, as he discussed his father's death.  Yet, never to let an opportunity pass, he uses it as a springboard to encourage everyone to get out and do something with their lives.

I'd highly recommend that you see "Red State" before seeing this.  In fact, I'd recommend viewing all of Kevin Smith's movies and previous Q&A releases before seeing this.  But if you're already a Kevin Smith geek, it's worth checking out.

Take Me Home Tonight

Directed by: Michael Dowse

Written by: Jackie Filgo, Jeff Filgo (screenplay); Topher Grace, Gordon Kaywin (story)








There's a special place in the world for the "party movie."  It's not a type of movie you can watch with any regularity.  You have to be in the right place, at the right time, in the right frame of mind.  But when all the stars align and luck is on your side, then it's the perfect time to see a movie like "Take Me Home Tonight." (I may have mentioned all this before when I wrote about "Dazed and Confused."  Forgive me if I'm a bit repetitive.)

Summarizing the plot would really serve no purpose for a movie like this.  Suffice to say, Matt Franklin (Grace) has an opportunity to impress his long-time crush Tori (Palmer) at the year's biggest bash, and the usual party antics ensue.  There's a subplot about his little sister (Faris) trying to decide between going to college or marrying her boyfriend (Pratt).  Oh yeah, and it's the 1980's.

The movie has some very memorable debauchery spread evenly throughout the plot.  This keeps the film moving forward from beginning to end.  Too often, a film like this stalls after two-thirds of the movie because the characters have run out of silly things to do, but this one manages to keep things fresh and interesting.

Unfortunately, beyond that, the movie doesn't hold much weight.

The whole "Hey!  It's the 1980's!" premise comes and goes when required for a joke, but is not consistently meaningful.  Instead, it seems more like an idea that was thrown around occasionally but never quite stuck.

The actors basically phoned it in.  Any of them could have been replaced with just about anyone else and it probably wouldn't have changed anything.  There weren't any standout performances or defining moments for anyone.  (The exception to this would be Demetri Martin - who can never be replaced.)

In retrospect, my introductory paragraph may have given the film more credit than it really deserved or earned.  "Take Me Home Tonight" is sub-par, even for a party movie.  But, that's not the worst thing in the world when you're looking for a party movie.

Leap Year

Directed by: Anand Tucker

Written by: Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont










The premise is remarkably simple and saccharine: Hot-to-trot city girl decides to follow her boyfriend to Ireland to propose to him on leap day.  Along the way, she meets a down-and-out country boy who teaches her that she doesn't really want what she thinks she wants.  She is conflicted, then, about who she truly loves, has an epiphany, and they all live happily ever after.

Given that synopsis, you'd predict that this movie would be a gagger.  And, to an extent, it is.  But, it wasn't as horrible as I had thought it would be.

The movie had two major weaknesses holding it back.

The first: a plot so transparent it could be used as glass.  This is a necessary evil in the rom-com genre, but it definitely made the movie feel longer than it needed to be because you could see every event in the plot coming several minutes ahead of time, and every minute in the interim between the moment you saw it coming and the moment it actually arrived was generally irrelevant.

The second: Amy Adams.  This movie could have been better with just about anyone - including an inanimate cardboard cutout - in the main role.  Whether it was a flaw in the writing of the character or in the way Adams tried to portray her (or, most likely, a combination of the two), there was very little to like about the main character.  As an audience in a movie like this, we're supposed to root for the main character to find true love.  But in this case, she was so absolutely not-endearing that I found myself hoping that there would be a twist in which the male lead would just abandon her on the side of the road.  (Alas, it didn't happen.)

This was a pretty standard rom-com, and it definitely was held back from being rated even "decent rom-com" by these major issues.  I don't feel like spending any more time re-living this film here.

Pitch Black

Directed by: David Twohy

Written by: Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat, David Twohy










Sometimes, a good movie flies under the radar.  Other times, a movie flies under the radar because it stinks.  Unfortunately, "Pitch Black" is one of the latter.

A ship carrying a variety of passengers, including escaped convict Riddick (Diesel), crashes on a seemingly deserted planet.  Soon, though, the stranded travelers realize that something terrible lurks in the shadows of the planet.  And, just conveniently enough, they've crashed mere hours before an unusually long eclipse.  Can they trust Riddick to help them get off the planet?  Or will these light-sensitive beasts tear them apart before the sun emerges again?

Now, if only the actual script were as good as the summary I just wrote.

I remember when "Pitch Black" originally came out, and although I was intrigued at the time I never bothered to actually go see it.  The rise and presence of Vin Diesel in the action film world had kept this film in the back of my mind for a long time.  Finally, I broke and watched it.

And I regret it.

It's a real doozy of a stinker.  For a movie which hinges on nasty beasts coming out of the darkness, the movie is obnoxiously bright (literally) for nearly half the running time.  Then, when it finally does get dark, there's really nothing to see.  We only get a few shots of the monsters, but they are revealed to be unimpressive.  (The design of the beasts seems to have been culled from the reject pile of "Starship Troopers.")

Now, a movie lacking in action can be held up by interesting characters.  Unfortunately, these characters are more flat than a can of soda left out for a week.  Even the main character - Riddick - doesn't do much more than exist as a tough-guy.  At one point, one of the young characters reveals that "he" is really a "she" - but that shocking fact really has no impact or implications for the story.

Aside from a couple of "jump" moments, this movie was an absolute waste of my time, and I regret wasting precious internet bandwidth watching it.

The Ghost Writer

Directed by: Roman Polanski

Written by: Roman Polanski, Robert Harris (screenplay); Robert Harris (novel)










I'm always looking for a good political thriller, and this Polanksi film came highly recommended.

When the original ghostwriter mysteriously dies, a new young writer (McGregor) is brought on to finish putting together the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister (Brosnan).  Soon, though, as he spends more time working with the PM and his entourage, the more it becomes evident that there is a conspiracy. But what exactly is being covered up, and who is behind the conspiracy?  Is it the PM's personal assistant (Cattrall) keeping state secrets hidden?  Or his wife, hiding something personal?  Or a political attack by his rivals?  Or, perhaps, something even more sinister?

Polanski does a great job of pacing the story slowly, deliberately, without letting the plot drag on too long.  Just when things are starting to feel too slow, he inserts a major twist or a new mystery to keep things moving forward.  He quickly establishes the nature of the film in the opening sequence (the unattended car on the ferry), and from then on, each twist also escalates in complexity, leading to the biggest reveal at the end and the final, haunting shot.

There are obviously parallels that could be drawn between Brosnan's character and the real British PM Tony Blair.  But it's not necessary to have any of that background to understand the film.  If anything, the comparisons are almost an unnecessary distraction from the completely fictional story being told.

This was a really good movie, and really hit the spot in terms of what I was looking for when I decided to see it.  It's rich, complex, and a bit dark.

The Ecstasy of Influence

By: Jonthan Lethem












Jonathan Lethem has always had a strong way with prose, and his novels are usually pretty well written.  But, personally, I've always found it just as interesting to hear him talk about his work, so I was excited to hear about a new collection of his non-fiction.

In the interest of saving time, I'm not going to do an essay-by-essay analysis of the text.  Instead, I'll just go over a couple of the highlights and touch on a couple of the weaker points.

The first few essays were the most fascinating for me.  In them, he discusses his time working in various bookstores across the country.  He analyzes both the day-to-day life of working as a bookstore clerk, as well as sharing some of the sub-cultures who roam the stacks.

The title essay "The Ecstasy of Influence" is also fantastic.  In it, he outlines - in what can almost be described as a manifesto - the importance of influence in literature or for any piece of artwork.  To prove his point, he reveals at the end that most of the essay itself had been culled from other pieces of literature.  It's a fascinating read and well worth tracking down online.

There are a few essays that were a little too experimental for my taste.  There is also a whole section of essays devoted to "The Mad Brooklynite" which I had a hard time connecting with, both at a literary level and because I have never been there personally.

Overall, "The Ecstasy of Influence" is a great collection, although it could have been trimmed down and cleaned up a bit.