Blogcritics Author: Danny Smooth

The WGA Strike: Striking Back at Writers and Producers

Danny Smooth — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 17:08:44 EST

Right or wrong, the WGA strike reveals the inflexible nature of Hollywood.
Say what you will about this strike, the validity of the demands, the inflexible stance of the management, but right now both sides are childishly stamping their feet because they didn’t get a pudding for desert. My difficulty is not over the issue, money, but over how each side has been trying weasel their way into it. It’s like...

Movie Review: Buscemi's Interview Hits Paydirt

Danny Smooth — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:44:51 EDT

Buscemi and Miller spar in an interview that will uncover their darkest secrets.
With all his experience in independent film and his reputation of finding really interesting projects, Steve Buscemi has taken the next step by writing and directing his own film, an adaptation of Theodor Holman and Theo Van Gogh’s Interview. Critiquing the give and take of celebrity journalism, Buscemi, who must have experienced similar...

Movie Review: When It Should, Gray Matters Doesn't

Danny Smooth — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 15:06:41 EDT

Inseparable sibling rom-com fails to incite laughs even with gay jokes.
Gray Matters is the zenith of the fluffy, unfunny romantic-comedy. It’s a 96 minute snore-fest about sibling dynamics and coming out in a modern world. Tom Cavanagh and Heather Graham star as the inseparable siblings, Sam and Gray who, with the prodding of their friends, try to grow individually by entering the world of dating. ...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Movie Review: The Valet Runs in Neutral

Danny Smooth — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:50:43 EDT

The Valet, written and directed by Francis Veber, seems like the kind of movie that would have a syrupy aftertaste that could turn the stomach of the biggest sweet tooth. There’s the whole Beauty and the Beast vibe happening, so there’s bound to be some sort of moral to the story or maybe a musical sequence, right?On the contrary, the film is a rather humorous take on a stereotypical guy’s fantasy of being romantically entangled with a supermodel while being paid for it. The story is about maintaining appearances, false perceptions of perfection, and surmounting personal shortcomings. And there’s also a bit of fashion show. Through a paparazzi photograph, Francois (played by Gad Elmaleh) enters the world of haute couture and lavish dinner parties, when a billionaire, Pierre Lavasseur (played by Daniel Auteuil), tries to cover up his affair with supermodel Elena (played by Alice Taglioni). Underneath the chaos brought into Francois and Elena’s lives, a true friendship develops and they end up helping each other extricate themselves from their respective problems. This is a classic “nerd and popular girl become prom king and queen” type flick. It’s really been done to death but it’s hard not to smile when the nerd gets the courage to get up on that stage and dance with the girl.Though the plot is thin this doesn’t stop the actors from being excellent in their parts. Francois is relatable, Pierre is sleazy, and Elena is beautiful and intelligent. I was unfamiliar with the cast save for Kristin Scott Thomas, but a quick look through their respective filmographies reveals that all these are well established, veteran actors. The Valet sets out a simple framework with a couple of interesting characters and finds a way to perk up a tired old story. It’s a “date movie” through and through. It’s a hard movie to hate because it’s not too sappy, there’s a decent moral, and there’s a boob joke, but it’s just as hard to really like this movie because this isn’t anything new.Opens April 27, 2007. I saw a subtitled version, but a dubbed version may be available for the wide release.

Questions and Answers with Torill Kove, Director of The Danish Poet

Danny Smooth — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:51:58 EST

The Danish Poet is a story of longing, growth, and the little everyday details that entangle everyone. It has garnered director Torill Kove her second Academy Award nomination; her first was in 2000 for My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts, and the National Film Board of Canada’s sixty-ninth. In a recent email conversation, Ms. Kove talks about her hand drawn animation and what it’s like competing with Disney, Pixar, and 20th Century Fox.Where did you get the inspiration for The Danish Poet?Inspiration came from many places over a period of time. I had wanted to write a story about coincidence, connectedness, and the bizarre turns that life can take for the silliest reasons. Once I had a grip on this concept, my inspiration came from many sources, like for example how my parents met (though, The Danish Poet isn’t about them at all). Your film is a coming of age type love story that doesn’t get too sappy or overly dramatic. How did you avoid these pitfalls?I guess don’t think of it as a coming of age film (though that’s an interesting interpretation), and maybe that’s how I avoided those pitfalls. But in general, the great thing about making an animated short is that it is actually possible to have complete artistic control. Since I wrote and directed it, I was able to steer clear of anything that I don’t like. The art style in this film is minimalist yet very emotive; what prompted you to use this particular style over another perhaps more complicated or busy style? The style is deceptively simple but since the film was digitally colored I did have other options that could have rendered it into a more visually complex film. I declined to go that route, mostly because I was worried that it would no longer completely match the narrative. Once the artwork is combined with the narrative the outcome is something that works for me and audiences have responded to the film for the most part. It looks like your film was hand drawn with minimal help from computers, how long did it take to create this film? Yes, the animation is all hand drawn and none of it, except the camera moves, is computer generated. For instance my drawings on the film are complimented by Montreal based artist Anne Ashton whose original oil paintings of the sky are included. The film took about three years to make, more or less.Your choice of soundtrack really illuminates the characters’ state of mind. Was it difficult to find the right sort of music to fit your film?The music is all original and was composed, arranged and largely performed for the film by Kevin Dean, a brilliant jazz musician and composer. He is also very familiar with Scandinavian folk music and we agreed that he would create a score that would sound Scandinavian without using existing music. The music ended up playing a very important role in setting the tone for the film.The Danish Poet has won many awards ranging from the Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto, Ontario to the International Animated Film Festival in Portugal. What was your reaction when your film was selected for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short?There’s no question that getting nominated for an Oscar is very exciting. Not just for me, but for everyone who worked on it here at the NFB and in Norway. So, I was of course very pleased. But I was also quite surprised. There were many really wonderful films on the short list and I was not at all confident that mine would be among the five nominees. Have you seen the films that you are competing against? How does it feel to be matched up against some of the best animation studios in the business like Pixar, Disney Studios and 20th Century Fox?Yes, I have seen all the other films and it would be quite easy to feel intimidated in this company. But at the end of the day, because of the fairly insular nature of the animation community, I think animators are probably each others biggest fans. I look forward to meeting the other nominees and maybe finding out something about how they work and what makes them tick. The nomination gives me an opportunity to do that and that is a real bonus. Are there any new projects that you are working on for the near future?Right now I’m making a picture book of The Danish Poet for a Norwegian publisher. Afterwards I hope to make another film, but it’s too early to tell what that’ll be. Thank you very much for your time, and I hope that by the end of February you can add Academy Award Winner to your list of achievements.I’m not banking on it, but thank you anyway!For more information, visit the National Film Board of Canada’s Webpage and the Danish Poet Webpage.

Movie Review: The Host, A Big Monster Movie With A Big Heart

Danny Smooth — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 12:59:08 EST

This South Korean monster movie swept the nation and now is on the brink of being released in North America. Since its release last year, The Host has been praised by critics at the Cannes Film Festival and has made legions of die-hard fans.The Host is inspired by the real story of illegal chemical dumping in the Han River, the river that runs right through Seoul. The fear that the toxins in the water would have dangerous effects on the public prompted the writers to concoct this tale.In the film, the chemicals mutate the marine life of the river and consequently, a large fish-like monster arises from the deep. But this is not the typical 'monster runs amok in a large metropolis' film; at its core there’s a family drama with some laughs and an environmental message.The Park family, proprietors of a small riverside restaurant/convenience store, who bicker amongst themselves constantly, are bound together tightly when the young Hyun Seo, daughter of Gang Du, is captured by the monster and dragged to its underwater lair. They beg the military and the police to help them search for the missing child, but they are met with apathy and are dismissed. So, against all odds, the family break the security cordon around the area to search for her themselves.Director Joon-ho Bong has made a decent drama that doesn’t get too sappy and at the same time a decent monster movie that doesn’t go over the top with cheesy effects and dialog. Instead of making the movie dead serious, it has elements of comedy which make it much more appealing and interesting to watch. The monster plays a large role, but the family rallying together takes the bulk of the film. We get to see the monster relatively early on in the film and the special effects don't disappoint.The cast is made up of some veteran actors from Korean cinema and television: Kang So Song plays the lazy but good-hearted Gang Du; Ah-Sung Ko plays the cheerful, Hyun Seo; Hie-Bong Byeon plays the crotchety old grandpa, Hie-bong; Du-na Bae plays the athletic sister of Gang Du, Nam Joo; Hae-il Park plays the dyspeptic activist, Nam Il. There is a small cameo from character actor Paul Lazar (of Mickey Blue Eyes, and the remake of The Manchurian Candidate), who plays a HAZMAT doctor who wants to help the Park family. He provides a ray of sunshine from the American involvement in the catastrophe. Unlike his counterparts, he shows real concern for the Park family and wishes he could help.The film is decent entertainment during its two-hour run time. It doesn’t push any boundaries or break any new ground but it works well inside the genre. It has cheesy moments, heartfelt moments, and there are a few good laughs, so check it out when it's released on March 9, 2007.Watch the trailer.

The Angry Video Game Nerd Speaks!

Danny Smooth — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:20:17 EST

With the advent of online communities like MySpace and YouTube, directors, professional and amateur, have the potential to reach vast and constantly expanding audiences. If their videos resonate with viewers, distribution of the material may turn "viral", extending the network of viewers and creating a source of celebrity.In the world of online videos, eye-catching, humourous and sometimes painful material exerts the strongest pull with viewers, as seen in the Badger Badger video, the Numa Song and the hordes of Jackass-style stunt videos. Director James Rolfe is on the brink of such notoriety with his series entitled The Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN), in which he lampoons video games from the late 80s and early 90s. Based at ScrewAttack and available through Cinemassacre, the AVGN has spread rapidly and has become a hit. I asked James about his films and the wave of popularity he is enjoying.Danny Smooth: Hello, James! According to your webpage, you've recently got a surge of hits (over one million in October 2006) because of your series of videos entitled "The AVGN". Why do you think these videos have stuck a chord with the online community?James Rolfe: Yeah, it's crazy. I got 3 million hits during December. When I first created the "Angry Nintendo Nerd" [now known as the AVGN] in 2004, it was just an in-joke for my friends. I had no idea that so many other people would find it so amusing. These are targeted at mature gamers, people my age who grew up in the time of NES & SNES, but I guess everyone's interested in the past. Somehow, it just spread like wildfire. I abandoned most of my other film projects for the meantime, to try and keep up with the nerd videos, since people keep wanting more of it.DS: How does it feel to be that well received?JR: I love that I'm entertaining so many people and that my comments on the games are being embraced by everyone, but being only one person it’s hard to keep up with it all. Twice a week, I have to sit down for many, many hours at a time to answer emails and MySpace messages. It’s crazy. I appreciate the fanbase, but I just hope everyone knows how busy I am.DS: What are you working on now?JR: I'm working on a 2-set DVD compilation of all the AVGN reviews. I also just moved and am seeking a new job with more flexible hours. That's why it's taking a while to get another video out. I'm really dependent, at the moment, of getting some money, because it’s very hard to make these videos on the side of a full -time job. So, that's my goal, to make the nerd my source of income so I can make more videos.DS: What do you see in the future for the AVGN?JR: As far as content goes, I have a lot planned. My list of games I wanna review is endless. What I hope the future holds is simply that I don't have to work a job, and get to keep making "Nerd" videos on a bigger scale and get back to some other film projects.DS: Any Non-AVGN projects in the works for the near future?JR: I have tons of films planned. Some short, some feature-length. All different. I have some goofball comedies I want to make, another zombie splatter flick and a pyschological horror film. I hope to get started on one of them within the next year.

Movie Review: Water Boys Proves That Guys Can Compete Like Girls

Danny Smooth — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 20:40:51 EST

When Suzuki finishes dead last at his latest swim meet, he realizes his passion for the sport far outreaches his abilities. As he leaves the competition, he walks by the pool where a synchronized swimming team is putting on a performance and inspiration strikes. Suzuki returns to his high school and asks his friends and newly formed swim-club to join him in preparing a synchro routine for the school talent show. When everyone else gives up on the idea, Suzuki and his small group of friends take it upon themselves to make the program a success. This is how director Shinobu Yaguchi begins his high school sports comedy, Water Boys. The story is not a new one, we’ve seen it in The Mighty Ducks, The Little Giants, and Dodgeball but it carries some uniquely Japanese touches with the kabuki theatre, very abrupt slapstick comedy to break up the dramatic scenes, and the “learn how to dance” via Dance-Dance Revolution scene. It’s a simple, linear plotline but it’s far from uninteresting with a few plot twists and lots of laughs.The acting is quite robust, capturing the boundless enthusiasm of youth, the teenage awkwardness with the opposite sex, and the adolescent drive to be accepted. The main characters, Suzuki (Satoshi Tsumabuki) the leader of the group, Sato (Hiroshi Tamaki) the arrogant one, Ohta (Akifumi Miura) the one with a frail body, Kanazawa (Koen Kondo) the guy who just learned how to swim and Saotome (Takatoshi Kaneko) the shy one, are portrayed by a group of young actors, many of whom had their debut in this film. Not only were these guys strong during their dramatic segments, they are also decent comedians. As the plot progresses we can see them grow into likeable, realistic people.This is a feel-good sports movie that has all the clichés that the viewer expects: the team of outcasts, the annoying bullies, the overbearing gym coach, the crazy mentor, and the list goes on. The novel aspect of this film is that the boys have chosen a sport that is mainly practiced by girls. So not only are the boys fighting the bullies who think they are losers, but the patriarchal notion that boys should not partake in synchronized swimming. It is impossible to hate a movie like this one but it’s hard to love it because it’s very typical. It has some Japanese flavour but it’s still just the usual “underdog succeeds through hard work” movie. The story, while humorous, is grounded enough to seem like it might have actually happened in the real world. This movie is perfect for someone who wants to see a silly Japanese movie or someone who loves an underdog story.

Movie Review: Bloody And Barbaric, Battle Royale Is A Slasher Nightmare

Danny Smooth — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 14:36:49 EST

Overly violent and uninteresting sum up the gruesome Battle Royale, which seems to be based on The Lord of the Flies and the short story “The Lottery”. It tried very hard to be gritty and provocative but ended up tepid. Billed as an action packed adventure movie, it quickly devolves into a mindless killing spree. With nary a coherent plot device during the length of the film, it chugs along as its cast of about 50 gets mowed down.In the near future, in an effort to curb teen violence(?), a randomly selected class of grade nine students is forced, by the militaristic government, to fight each other until only one remains. The kids are dropped off on a deserted island with food, water, one weapon, and an explosive necklace, to deter defectors. The kids quickly form up into groups and attempt survival by either eliminating the other teams, disassembling their necklaces and running, or simply bunkering down in one of the many empty warehouses, huts, and underground caves that are present on the island. And if a sole survivor doesn’t arise the whole lot of kids is exterminated via the exploding collars.Now, you may be wondering why the government thought that this was a good idea and the film provides a brief explanation – “‘cause we said so.” Given the previously stated point, why would the government have to ship these kids off to an island to fight? A school yard with broken bottles and knives seems just as apt. More and more questions like these crop up throughout the film and there is little to no explanation of how an uninitiated viewer, like me, should answer them. Like many films these days, this one is based on a series of books of the same name. The books garnered plenty of media attention when Japanese censors tried to get them banned from book stores for being too violent and racy. The books were never pulled and enjoyed more success from the attention than anyone could have imagined.The director, Kinji Fukasaku, clumsily darts from fight to fight, unable to keep the story on track. The cast is made up of many well known Japanese television and film stars. The North American viewers will probably notice Beat Takeshi (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, Zatoichi: the Blind Swordsman) as the embittered ex-school teacher turned military man and Chiaki Kuriyama (Gogo from Kill Bill) as the one of the school girls. Takeshi is a great actor but he seems to be typecast as the angry villain. He was the one ray of sunlight in the otherwise blackened movie. He’s on screen for about 16 minutes and unfortunately he can’t save this film.Even taken as a disposable horror flick, this film cannot be watched and unfortunately it isn’t one of those films that’s so bad that it has a sort of charm -- it’s just utter garbage. The violence isn’t even that interesting because we’ve seen this sort of thing in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Running Man and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Hard Target. I wish that Godzilla had popped up and finished off all the kids to end their misery and ours.P.S. Surprisingly, this is one of the top ten highest grossing films in Japan, having earned 3.1 billion yen.

Movie Review: Azumi and Azumi2: Death or Love - A Double Shot of Adrenaline?

Danny Smooth — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 12:35:31 EST

Azumi and Azumi 2 are based on a series of particularly graphic comics books set at the beginning of the feudal wars in Japan – a tempestuous time when no one had any control over of the country and the future seemed as bleak as the hard times of the past. What does this mean for the casual viewer? Lots and lots of ninjas. A former army general rounds up and trains a group of children to be master assassins. As the kids grow, their expertise surpasses that of any regular warrior. Once their training is complete they finally learn the truth about their mission. Then they realize that war is a complex and ethically ambiguous endeavor. Azumi, who is the female lead and the heroine of the story, is very conflicted about her actions, whereas some of her teammates approach the conflict with cold, mechanical efficiency. As the mission continues, more and more of the Azumi’s friends are killed off, leading up to the final battle. The first movie flows into the second without missing a step. It would seem that they made the movies simultaneously. But, I should warn you that they weren’t actually shot by the same director. Azumi was directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and Azumi 2 by Shusuke Kaneko. Once the second film pulls away from the end of the first, this becomes rather apparent because Kaneko does not have the same level of artistry or expertise with creating the shots or maintaining the action. Both movies star Aya Ueto, a well known Japanese idol, meaning she acts, sings, and is very cute. This was not a very complicated part to play but she did it as well as anyone could have expected with material from a martial arts movie. The other actors can’t stretch their acting skills because their characters are one-dimensional. There are some notable cameos in these two films. In the first, video game designer Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid series) appears as a wild, staff-wielding ninja. In the second, Chiaki Kuriyama (Gogo from the Kill Bill series) appears as a temperamental traveling performer. Azumi was a fun-filled ninja movie with plenty of action and enough backstory to make the viewer care about the characters. Though there are flaws, the production values of the special effects was pretty low, the acting was suspect, and there wasn’t enough plot development, the film was interesting and enjoyable to watch. Azumi 2: Death or Love, on the other hand, was brutally difficult to watch because the director tried to insert new information into the previous movie. In the first film, Azumi buries her fallen comrades, only to have them escape graves and again walk the earth during the second film. Since the separation of the films is non-existent, it cheapens watching the first movie because none of the details remain.