The Patriot Act

Rather then give you another brilliant and insightful movie review (oh wait, those are all Tony’s) I figured I would take the opportunity presented to me by the 4^th of July to discuss patriotic movies. Patriotic movies have emerged as their own genre over the years but what qualifies as patriotic has as many answers as there are movie watchers. After all, Oliver Stone would call Born on the 4^th of July patriotic, but he is probably the only one.

So the question is, what is your favorite Patriotic movie? I have listed some possibilities here.

Now for the sake of argument we are going to have to include war movies into this category because, for the most part, they tend to be patriotic and herald the sacrifices our armed services made in defense of democracy and the American way of life. So I have listed a few here with my thoughts, just to get us thinking.

Saving Private Ryan – Probably the best war movie ever made. It vividly portrays America at one of its most dramatic moments in history. Storming the beaches of Normandy and liberating Europe from one of the greatest evils the world has ever faced. Very few moments reflect American values like D-Day, and no movie portrays it like Saving Private Ryan. It is the definitive moment in the European theatre and possibly the war as a whole except…

The Sands of Iwa Jima – Made in 1949 this John Wayne film was nominated for numerous academy awards, although it never won any. It follows Sgt. John Stryker, (John Wayne) a hardened veteran, as he trains his group of raw recruits and then leads them on the bloody marine assault of Iwa Jima against the Japanese. The viscous fighting on Mount Suribachi is legendary and the movie culminates in what is the most iconic image of the war, the Marine’s raising of the flag over Mount Suribachi. This image is the defining moment of the war effort, representing the tremendous sacrifices our country made and great victories that followed. To this day Iwa Jima has inspired films about it (Flags of Our Fathers for one) and is the famous sculpture that is the Marine memorial in Washington D.C. Interestingly enough the flag in the movie is the actual flag that was raised on Suribachi and for you John Wayne fans, this is one of the few movies his character actually dies in. (Can you name any others?)

The Patriot – We had to list this one, also called Braveheart 2. Mel Gibson portrays Benjamin Martin, a Continental Army officer based loosely on the famous Francis Marion the “Swamp Fox” and their unorthodox “Indian” tactics. Of course, the movie culminates at the Battle of Cowpens and the British defeat at Yorktown, thus establishing America as the great country it would become.

We Were Soldiers – I am not mentioning this Vietnam movie because it also stars Mel Gibson. I am mentioning this movie as a great patriotic movie because it takes what was essentially a battle that was a stalemate and somehow turns it into an American triumph at the Battle of Ia Drang, the first major U.S. engagement in Vietnam. Oh, not only that but it completely leaves out the other part of the battle that included a North Vietnamese ambush that wiped out another U.S. Cavalry brigade. To top it all, it takes an embarrassing war that we lost and that our leadership completely failed the American people, and somehow makes us look good. How patriotic is that?

Okay I know what your saying, there are tons of other movies that could qualify Citizen Kane, Patton, The Ten Commandments, you name it, and it’s true this topic is open to debate. However, in my humble opinion, there is one movie above all else that is hands down the most patriotic movie ever made. One movie that rises above the rest and distinguishes itself as one of the finest films ever made. That movie is….

Team America – The theme song to this film says it all. “America! F*%$ yeah!” The fight for freedom, the war against terror, the wanton destruction of parts of France, what else could define American heroism like a group of super soldier puppets? Throw in what else America does best, mock evil dictators like Kim Jong Il and spineless liberals and you have an instant hit that is sure to withstand the test of time. To be sure, if you are easily offended you should NEVER see this movie. If you aren’t easily offended you still should never see this movie. However, if your soul is so calloused that nothing ever offends you then have at it!

So this 4^th of July, while you cook your barbeque and eat your watermelon, take a moment to remember those who came before and the sacrifices they made as well as those who are out making sacrifices now. All so we can enjoy the freedom we have to write silly movie blogs and go to Comic-Con and to say what we want and worship as we want and live as only those who are truly free can.

Tron goes online in San Diego

The highly anticipated Tron: Legacy banners have been sighted in down town San Diego. Tron will no doubt be one of the biggest movies of the year and one of the most attended panel at Comic Con (Thurs 11:15 am, Hall H). I can’t wait!

X-men: First class (what we know so far)

X-Men: First Class

Matthew Vaughn (Kick-ass) will be directing this Reboot.

The Social Network

About a year ago, I was booked and sent to UCLA to work on this movie as background. It was a proud moment because this movie would ultimately provide me with the last voucher I needed to be able to join SAG (the Screen Actors Guild).

I also met some cool friends on set that I still remain in touch with. We added each other on ‘the social network’ (Facebook) through working on David Fincher’s ‘The Social Network’- a movie about the founders of Facebook. We plan on having our own premiere screening together when the movie releases on October 1st. Reliving our 15 hr day on screen for 2-3 seconds.

Conan the Barbarian

Coming 2011.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Left). Official photo of actor Jason Momoa as Conan (Right).

The Green Hornet Trailer

The Green Hornet starring Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, and Christoph Waltz opens January 2011.

Tony’s Audition for the Comic Con Documentary

As a proud Babbler and total nerd, I am auditioning for the upcoming documentary on Comic Con called Episode Four: A Fan’s Hope. It is being shot on location this year. The purpose of the doc is to follow around a few Comic Con fanatics as they are immersed in the amazing four day experience. Being produced by the legendary Stan Lee and visionary creative Joss Whedon, this documentary is sure to honor the ‘nerd arts’ and capture the spirit of the annual Comic Con. It is also being directed by talented storyteller Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me. My dream is to highlight BabbleOn 5 and share our team’s passion for the best event of the year- the San Diego Comic Con.
Show your support by clicking on this YouTube vid and leaving a positive comment. Thank you!

Learn more about the documentary on Morgan Spurlock’s page.

The Toys are back in town

As anticipated, Toy Story 3 completely dominated the box office this past weekend. Not only did it easily dominate the box office, but made $109 million, making it Pixar’s highest grossing launch ever, is a triumph that the people at CGI-animation headquarters are undoubtedly celebrating in their ultra-colorful, creativity-fostering pseudo-cubicles. Its success also meant that ticket revenues were up 29 percent over the same time period last year. Karate Kid got kicked back in to second but was still able to cross over into 100 million dollar land. Everything else lost a lot of momentum as a result of Pixar’s cash magnet. The DC Jonah Hex got shot square between the eyes landing in 7th place with a measly $5 million. With nothing major opening soon, Toy Story will surely continue it’s domination till Twilight (July 16th).

This Wk		Title	Dist.	Weekend Gross	Cumulative Gross	Rlse Wks
1		Toy Story 3	Walt Disney Studios Distribution	$109,000,000	$109,000,000	1
2		The Karate Kid	Sony Pictures Releasing	$29,000,000	$106,254,000	2
3		The A-Team	20th Century Fox Distribution	$13,775,000	$49,797,000	2
4		Get Him to the Greek	Universal Pictures	$6,117,000	$47,857,000	3
5		Shrek Forever After	Paramount Pictures	$5,520,000	$222,977,000	5

Get Him to the Greek

Get Him to the Greek is the next chapter in the recent re-awaken of the ‘buddy road trip’ genre largely birthed by Judd Apatow.  Needed ingredients; sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll then just add water and stir. Bottoms up…

Get Him to the Greek is about a low-level grunt named Aaron Green played by the supersized Jonah Hill (Superbad). He is tasked by his media mogul boss, Sergio Roma (Sean Combs) to escort rock legend Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) from London back to America for his mega-hyped concert at the Greek Theater. An insane amount of hijinks ensue not only causing a lot of soul-searching but also causing these two to become unexpected friends (unexpected to them, it’s obviously telegraphed to us). Relationships, careers, and personal dignity hang in the balance as Aaron and Aldous barely survive their trip to the Greek.

There are ridiculous amounts of shenanigans and tom foolery going on in this  story. Some of it works and some of it does not. Like many similar road trip movies, it’s all about what can be done to ‘out shock’ the last scene. Jonah Hill’s conservative character is moderately successful but I found him a little boring at times. He is definitely more comfortable when playing his over-the-top and obnoxious roles he’s been known for. Speaking of comfort, Russell Brand (playing a spinoff  role from Forgetting Sarah Marshall) is definitely very comfortable playing the burnt out and way over-the-top aging rocker. It was reported that he is just playing himself and the authenticity shows through. As opposite as they are, their chemistry is undeniable and it helped build the first part of this story. 

Something then goes wrong as we enter the latter half. The storylines fray and get convoluted. There is a lot of relationship talk and ultimately it loses too much momentum. Their ‘friendship’ takes some wierd turns and starts losing credibility by the passing seconds. By the time the much-hyped anniversary concert begins, I just didn’t really care about this whole thing. It’s suppose to be the climax of the movie and I found myself unimpressed. Another problem is that for a music film, the music is pretty bland. Their satirized songs are pretty witty but after that the creativity drops off. It certainly didn’t make me run out and download the soundtrack from iTunes.

The surprise bright spot in this whole wacky affair is Sean Combs. He does a fantastic job not taking himself too seriously and playing a role that is as crazy as Aldous Snow, but in a corporate exec sort of way. He may not be the best physical actor in the world but he gives it his all and he becomes the most memorable part in the film.

The dark spot is Jonah Hill, but not for his acting. He is not a pleasant actor to watch. His weight was a genuine distraction while watching. His physical presence reminded me of John Candy or Chris Farley- and I don’t mean in a good way. If he doesn’t go on the Seth Rogin diet soon, he might end up with the same fate as those dead comedians. I have nothing against large people but he just looks unhealthy. It was making me sweat and breath hard just watching him.

All in all, Get Him to the Greek has a few genuine chuckles (The ‘stroking the fur’ gag plays well) but you would have to be a fan of road trip movies to really enjoy this. I didn’t end of liking these characters anymore when the ending credits rolled and as a result the 2 hour journey wasn’t worth it for me. So if you must see this, instead of the Greek theater, try go to the dollar theater.

I give this a 2.5 Babbles out of 5.

Kicking A-Team?

Recently I posted a Babble about TV shows I would (probably) like remade into movies or new TV series. This was, of course, prompted by the A-Team movie that us Babblers saw on Friday night. It was with fear and trepidation that I went into this movie, afraid that Hollywood would ruin one of the most beloved titles of my youth. So the verdict? Well they didn’t do a great job with it, but it wasn’t bad either.

Okay, the action was ridiculously over the top, and I mean ridiculously, but the A-Team was always a little over the top. The good part however, is that the films cast and crew KNEW it was over the top, and instead of trying to get you to buy into something as serious attempt at an action movie, they just rolled with it and had fun along the way. The film definitely did not take itself to seriously.

While recreating such venerable characters as Murdock, Face, Hannibal and B.A. Baracus one had to take care not to mess them up to bad and for the most part the movie did a really good job. Liam Neeson, while always a good actor, makes a decent Hannibal Smith. He doesn’t quite have the swagger and attitude of the original but he is good enough. I thought Bradley Cooper did an incredibly good job as Face, and best of all was Sharlto Copley (from District 9 fame) as the mad Murdock. He was good, really good and brought a lot of life to the movie. Unfortunately Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was largely forgettable as B.A. Baracus, who never really lived up to the Bad-Ass Mofo that the original Mr. T played so well. Oddly enough, in a strange plot twist he undergoes Zen enlightenment and decides he can’t justify killing people anymore.  It was a strange twist and completely unnecessary and I pity the fool.

Best part of the movie was that the writers completely nailed the camaraderie of the team as the interacted with each other. The dialogue between them felt genuine like, an old group of friends who knew each other well and had been together a long time, and that is what really saves the movie.

I did learn one important fact through this movie. The A in A-Team apparently stands abs, as in Bradley Coopers, which every girl in America seems to love. Every time I hear a girl mention that they want to see this movie it is in the context of Bradley Cooper and his abs, which now that I think about it there were quite a few shots of him shirtless. Now I know why.

So in short, go see this one with the guys, girls go drool with the girls, hang out, have fun, relive the 80’s but don’t take it to seriously.

I give this one 2.5 Babbles out of 5.

Stan Lee talks Comic Con on the Late Late Show

Stan Lee and Craig Ferguson exchange jabs on the Late Late Show. Stan ‘The Man’ Lee is the originator of a significant part of the Marvel mythology and is considered the godfather of the comic book world. In this interview, he talks about the San Diego Comic Con and the upcoming documentary he is producing capturing the event.

Here is my audition reel to be in this stellar documentary. Check it out and leave a comment!

The Karate Kid

(“*No spoilers*)
Did I fall into a hot tub time machine? The A-Team and Karate Kid in one weekend is almost too much for any child of the 80’s to handle. I had a surprisingly good time at the A-Team (although critically bad) but would the new Karate Kid have similar success? I think the wise Mr Miyagi would say, “if done right, no can defense“. Let’s see if it was done right.

If you don’t know what Karate Kid is about, you deserve a side kick to the head. Turn off your computer and watch it now. So I will save you all time and say that this story is pretty much identical to the first with the exception of location and names. They move, the kid gets picked on, he learns Kung Fu, and kicks butt at the finale tournament. So let me start with the positives of this new version.

Overall, this is an enjoyable film. They take their time not to rush the story, it drags a little but I do appreciate that it breaths throughout. Jaden Smith may not be a great actor but he was winning me over during the course of the movie. His charm is undeniable, which is no surprise since he is obviously drawing from the talented genetic gene pool from his mother and father- and it shows through in the expressions. He looks like a younger, reincarnated version of the Fresh Prince, which is good in some scenes and not so good in others. Certainly no Oscar buzz from this role but I look forward to what Jaden will develop in the future. I love that the beauty and wonder of China was on display. It borderlines on a travel promo for the country but nevertheless it was still captivating. Fight scenes were at a minimum but were at premium quality. The best part of this film is Jackie Chan. For his first non-action role, his dramatic portrayal of Mr Han helped anchor this story. He had big (or small?) shoes to fill and he did an impressive job. Pat Morita still did it better but Chan delivered with what he had  to work with and brought some uniqueness to the role. The antagonist Cheng (counter part to 84 ‘s ‘Johnny’) is quite the formable foe. As a 39 year old, would not want to mess with this 13 year old that clearly has anger issues. Now on the negatives.

Let me make something clear, this is not a re-boot by any stretch of the imagination. It is a clear RIP OFF of the original down to scenes and lines. My question is, why remake an almost perfect film as the orignal Karate Kid? Were they hoping to make it better, not likely. So why copy it verbatim in parts. All the major plot points are there and there is nothing left to reveal by the end. It’s no wonder that the original writer is credited because they basically just applied a new director to his old script. There are absolutely no risk taking and its predestined path ruins the moment at times. Why is this movie set in China? Do we not have enough Asians here in the states? There is no reference to the fact that they are in a communist country or in a hyper controlled environment. The fact that after Cheng loses the tournament that he and his family will probably be imprisoned for life as well as his Master and Dojo operation shut down for bringing the motherland shame. They just wanted to pimp out the scenery which is a waste of potential storytelling. There is also a needless romantic story which again, harkens back to the original. In my opinion, these kids are just too young to make it convincing and would have served better as a solid friendship. Do we really need to see a kissing scene with 12 year old kids? Blech! I guess in an effort to appeal to the ‘tweener’ audience, the romance is awkwardly shoe horned in. There is also a dance scene with Meiying which is way too sexy and it’s just embarrassing. Finally, this worst problem with this movie is that it is a soul-less xerox copy of the first. It’s a slick production but without the heart or passion that drove the Karate Kid franchise.

Like the A-Team, I was very skeptical of this remake. The trailers and pics did not win me over so my expectations were pretty low. To my surprise, I did enjoy this film. It was fun and any guy can relate to the hardships of being the new kid in town. It’s PG so this would be good to see with your pre-teen or early teen sons if they can withstand some graphic fight scenes. However, I am curious to how this Twilight generation would rate this version 2.0 in comparison with the first. For me, I had some ‘kicks’ watching this but it still was a far second to the Macchio and Morita’s masterpiece.  

I give this a 3 Babbles out of 5