The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Extended Edition)

Directed by: Peter Jackson

Written by: J.R.R. Tolkien (book); Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens (screenplay)









When it comes to telling a massive story, adding up to over nine hours (or more) total, your payoff better be huge.  "Return of the King" pays off for all the waiting and wandering of the characters and the audience.

All of the pieces that were set in motion in the first movie (several, several hours ago in film time) move toward their final resolution.  This is no easy task, considering the long list of major and semi-major characters that have been built up.  The "extended edition" I watched had even more scenes added to the climax and resolution.

As a quick side note: the "Mouth of Sauron" scene that was included in this version of the film was exactly as I imagined it when I read the book.  I was originally disappointed that it did not make the final cut in the theatrical version, but is well worth watching if you can get a copy of this cut.

The biggest complain I've heard about this movie is about all the fake-out ending moments - scenes where it seems like everything is wrapped-up and done and the screen fades away, only to fade-in a few moments later with another scene.  I'll admit, these scenes were not handled as well as they could have been, made  more complicated by the seemingly-final transitions.  As a counter-point, I'd say that if you were willing to sit through the entire series up to this point, you should understand that the film or the series is not going to end with a simple fade-out.  It's an epic, and it needs resolution.  We've journeyed with these characters so far, we need to find out what happens to them all, or the story will remain incomplete.

On the whole, "Return of the King" had the grandest scale of the series, giving it a greater sense of "epic" than the previous two.  ("Fellowship" was more of a simple quest. "Two Towers" did not gain any real scale until the final battle sequence.)  The massive battle sequence will be tough to match in future fantasy films, and should rightly be the standard to which all others are compared.

This film, and the rest of the series, are well worth watching.

Love Actually

Written and Directed by: Richard Curtis

I'm a bit behind on my blogging, so I'm only now getting to a film I saw in the days leading up to Christmas.

To start, I'm not a fan of movies with huge ensemble casts featuring piles of mega-stars. Most of the time they end up being incredibly massive puddles of puke. Typically, they pull their actors from as many different age and interest groups so as to attract the biggest audience as possible, while simultaneously watering down the plot and removing any drama to make sure that not a single person in the audience is offended or turned-off. (See: "Valentine's Day" and "New Years's Day.)

But, Richard Curtis's "Love Actually" is different. From the first time I saw it, it exceeded my wildest expectations and has now become annual viewing during the Christmas season.

There are too many different plots interwoven together for me to bother breaking down here. Suffice to say that all of them touch on the topic of love, although from many different aspects and angles. Present at different times throughout the movie are newfound love, unrequited love, love as inspiration, fading love, brotherly love, love for family, love across language barriers, and even youthful lust.

What makes "Love Actually" a great movie is that it somehow convinces you to like and care about all the characters. The characters are sincere and feel real, even if they are not necessarily believable. (Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister of England? No way!) The audience is drawn in to each character's desires.

The film also manages to avoid being overly dramatic, though one or two of the plots have some rather dramatic elements. Too often in these types of films, "plot" is confused with "life-changing drama," which can diminish a film if the card is played too often. Instead, "Love Actually" keeps the various plots fresh and moves them forward through smaller encounters and incidents. It was also nice to see how the different stories were woven together

I do have to say that the film does have some drawbacks. About 95% of the film is family-friendly, there is one story line which features nudity and pornography as a prominent element (though, to be fair, it is not pornographic in its essence). With so many plot-lines, a few of the good ones get relegated to secondary status or disappear from the film completely for a while.

Overall, though, it's a fun film, and it succeeds where other films of its type often fail.

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto

Written by: Chuck Klosterman

So, I admit, I'm a little late to the Chuck Klosterman parade - especially this, his most "famous" book (if it can be described as such). In my defense, I was in the midst of my undergraduate career when this book and its author rose in popularity. This was a point in my life in which my attempt to identify myself as "hip" included a necessary aversion to things that others offered as "hip," whether or not I would have actually enjoyed those things myself. Long story short, I'm just getting around to this now.

This book is mainly a collection of essays reflecting on and critiquing the nature of "popular culture." (And some of you are probably saying, "Aren't all of Klosterman's books like that?" My answer: Yes, they probably are. Oh well.)

Although I enjoyed the book, I do feel that all of the essays suffer from a cookie-cutter feel. Each one describes a feature of popular culture with witty observations, occasionally with a cynical venture into participation with that cultural feature to then return with more witty and cynical observations. I never felt like essays delved any deeper than a smirking know-it-all observation. Nothing seems to shake him from his tower of smug superiority. The best essayists (such as Joan Didion) are able to make the same type observations, but also reflect on how the experience has affected themselves. Klosterman never quite reaches that point, and after a while it became disappointing.

A few of the standout essays include:

1. "George Will vs. Nick Hornby" basically blasts youth soccer leagues as undercutting social development.

2. "What Happens When People Stop Being Polite" discusses the character archetypes used on reality TV shows like "The Real World."

3. "Billy Sim" discusses the nature of desire in relation to how the video game "The Sims" is played.

You get what you pay for with Klosterman - no more, no less. I enjoyed the book with the same sense of detachment which he imparted with his writing. It's enjoyable, just don't expect anything deeper than what the title implies.

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough (with some help from the Wifey) to get tickets to a special screening of "Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair." The New Beverly Cinema was screening this elusive and long-rumored print which includes both parts of the film unedited, as it was originally shown at the Cannes Film Festival, showing it as "The Fourth Film by Quentin Tarantino" as it was originally advertised. Coming in at just over four hours, this version is how Quentin Tarantino (supposedly) intended it to be seen.

There is no need to get into the bloody details of the plot (pun intended) here. Essentially, a woman survives an attempted assassination and then seeks revenge on the group of people who tried to kill her. There are a few subplots involving the assassins and a couple of battles, all leading to the climactic confrontation with Bill.

A few of the differences between this version of the film and the final version released in the US:

1. The story is treated as one long film, rather than two separate movies. Although it is still divided between "Volume 1" and "Volume 2," they are shown together with only a brief intermission.

2. Since the two parts are shown together, the narrative bridge at the beginning of "Volume 2" - in which The Bride reminds everyone of what happened in "Volume 1" - is completely cut.

3. The Japanese animation sequence showing the back story of O-Ren is slightly more gruesome, including a shot of a human having been gutted.

4. The Bride is shown removing an extra limb from Sophie Fatale, which was only implied in the regular release.

5. The battle in the Japanese dance hall between The Bride and the Crazy 88 gang seems longer and is shown in full color, making it much more graphic. (Apparently, it was edited to black and white to help earn the "R" rating for the final cut.)

From the opening shot of the bloody bride and Bills narration followed by the straight opening credits scored with Nancy Sinatra's haunting "Bang Bang, My Baby Shot Me Down," this film hooks the audience completely into its suspense. Yet the suspense is interesting because it's never a question of if the Bride will get her revenge (especially in "Volume 1" - how else would we get "Volume 2?"), but a question of how. How will all her training pay off? How will all these story lines tie together? How will she overcome the seemingly impervious Bill?

I definitely enjoyed seeing both parts together on the big screen. Although I own both films (and even have the special box that Best Buy gave away when the "Volume 2" DVD was released), I know for a fact that I would never sit down and force myself to watch them back-to-back. Viewing it in this way, though, made it much easier to see the continuity between the two very distinct parts. For example, the importance of the Hanzo sword always seemed out of place in "Volume 2," but made much more sense immediately after "Volume 1."

The New Beverly Cinema also added several trailers to the beginning of the film which were obviously major influences on Tarantino. Although not necessarily affecting the film in any way, it added an interesting perspective to the entire experience of the screening. It also revealed the significance of Gordon Liu and Sonny Chiba's inclusion in the cast, if it was not already understood

Given that Tarantino's films are all so different, it's hard to compare them to each other. And given that his career is still relatively young, it's hard to give this film much perspective. But, ultimately, "Kill Bill" will stand as one of his best, if not, at least, as his most unique.