S.G. Browne

When I saw the slate of films scheduled to be released this summer, I found myself filled with anticipation for more than a dozen upcoming movies, including Super 8, Green Lantern, X-Men: First Class, Horrible Bosses, Cowboys & Indians, and The Tree of Life. While I haven’t seen all of these films yet, I have to say that so far I’ve been underwhelmed.

Super 8 was fun and entertaining, but I felt it lacked the emotional resonance of the Spielberg films to which it paid homage. Horrible Bosses wasn’t nearly as funny as I’d hoped it would be, especially considering the cast. And while I appreciated the acting and what Malick was saying in The Tree of Life, if I want to spend half an hour watching the evolution of life on Earth, I’ll turn on The Discovery Channel.

Maybe it’s because I have a subscription to Entertainment Weekly. Maybe it’s because I’m too familiar with the actors and directors. Maybe it’s because I read and hear too much hype about these films so that by the time I actually see them, they can’t possibly live up to my expectations.

I remember going to see movies and not knowing anything about them except maybe a little word of mouth buzz. I didn’t know anything about films like Big, The Untouchables, or Beverly Hills Cop before I saw them other than who the stars of the films were. I had no idea what the movies were about or who was directing them or what critics were saying. I don’t even remember seeing any television commercials. Or billboards. Or ads on the sides of buses. I just went to see films and enjoyed them without any preconceived notions.

I didn’t even have any expectations when I went to see Star Wars for the first time in 1977. And I didn’t have a clue what Raiders of the Lost Ark was about until I saw the film on video a year after it left the theaters. But today, the advertising is impossible to miss.

I don’t know if the saturation of information and hype is partially to blame for my less-than-enthusiastic response to some of these films, but so far the best movie I’ve seen this summer has been Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, which had no significant marketing or hoopla surrounding it but which was a fun, intelligent, and creative film. And which should at least get Allen an Oscar nomination for Best Original Script.

As this is Independence Day here in the United States, I thought I’d celebrate in blog style by reviewing Independence Day, my favorite of the patriotic/Fourth of July themed films. Yes, I realize I’m shunning Born on the Fourth of July, The Patriot, and the grandfather of patriotic films, Yankee Doodle Dandy, but I wasn’t alive in 1942, I though The Patriot was a little self-indulgent, and I was never really sure if I liked Born on the Fourth of July. So the decision was pretty much a no-brainer.

Which, I realize, is what many people felt about Independence Day. It lacked smarts and was just a silly disaster film that disappointed all of those expecting something more serious and heart-pounding and terrifying. But I wasn’t one of those people. I just wanted to see the White House and New York City get blown up and I wasn’t disappointed.

Yes, Independence Day is a bit of a throw back to the disaster films of the 1970s, with a bunch of human interest story lines that can detract from the action, but I’m a fan of Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith and their banter in the alien spacecraft still makes me chuckle.

I admit that there was a significant cornball-factor, especially the characters played by Judd Hirsch and Randy Quaid. Not to mention the inspirational speech delivered by Bill Pullman. But Brent Spiner as the crazed research scientist was delightful and the special effects were a lot of fun. So if you’re in the mood for some good old-fashioned alien-invasion, blow-up-the-world fun, give this one a look. Or watch it again for the first time.

And if you want to blow off watching the fireworks and make it a double feature of guilty pleasure patriotic disaster films, throw on Armageddon and get your Aerosmith on.

I’m not sure how I missed this movie when it came out five years ago, but someone recently recommended it to me so I ordered it from Netflix and sat down last night with a pint of Chubby Hubby from Ben & Jerry’s to give it a go.

Written and directed by James Gunn (who also wrote the remake of Dawn of the Dead), Slither is a B-comedy horror film in the tradition of Tremors that does a great job of balancing both the horror and the comedy, with a solid job on the latter.

Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle) stars as the sheriff of Wheelsy, a quiet town in South Carolina that gets overrun by an alien plague of slithering, slug-like creatures that infect the brains of humans and turn them into flesh-eating zombies with a hive mind. And Michael Rooker stars as the tycoon turned into a mutant, octopus-like creature that can split you in half with a flick of his tentacle.

You had me at mutant, octopus-like creature.

With Elizabeth Banks, Gregg Henry, and supporting roles from a handful of familiar faces (including Jenna Fischer from The Office), Slither has a solid cast to go along with a well-written script and a lot of fun, disgusting special effects. Plus a soundtrack that includes a song from Air Supply. What more could you ask for?

Part comedy, part horror film, part zombie flick, and part alien invasion, Slither is all fun. Just don’t eat any sushi while watching it.

You know those inspirational teacher movies?  The ones like Stand and Deliver, Mr. Holland’s Opus, and Dead Poets Society?

“Oh Captain, my Captain.”

And who can forget Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds?

Well, Hamlet 2 is nothing like any of them because it doesn’t take itself seriously.  Instead, it makes fun of the inspirational teacher films in a fun, twisted way that combines social satire with the irreverence of South Park and includes catchy, toe-tapping musical numbers like “Rock Me Sexy Jesus.”

Hamlet 2 tells the story of Dana Marschz (played by Steve Coogan), a failed actor and recovering alcoholic who teaches high school drama in Tucson, AZ, where, according to the voice over, “dreams go to die.”

Marschz, who puts on bad plays based on award-winning films, finds his unpopular drama class suddenly attended by a collection of slackers who only took his class because all of the other cool electives got axed in budget cuts.  When his job is threatened by the same budget crisis, Marschz tries to inspire his students, save his job, and work out long-standing emotional issues about his father by writing and producing an original musical play: a sequel to Hamlet that includes time travel, controversial sexual content, and Jesus Christ.

Also starring Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler,  David Arquette,  and Elisabeth Shue as herself, Hamlet 2 makes fun of religion, gays, Latinos, Hollywood, high school, the ACLU, and Elisabeth Shue, among other things.

So if you enjoy social satires and you don’t take your beliefs too seriously, then I think you’ll have a lot of fun with this one.  But if you’re easily offended by jokes about Jesus, minorities, or by seeing Steve Coogan’s bare ass, then you might want to think about giving this one a pass.

Hey, poetry!

Prior to Sunday night’s Academy Awards show, I didn’t think I had much of an emotional investment in the outcome of any of the races.  But as I was sitting with my buddy Brad drinking a Corona and filling out my Oscar Pool Picks, I realized I cared more than I thought.

I also realized I would have preferred to have been drinking my Corona on a tropical beach beneath an umbrella with nothing in front of me but a turquoise ocean beneath an azure sky.  Maybe a bikini or two.

But I digress…

Of the 10 films up for Best Picture, I’d seen nine of them (127 Hours the only holdout) so as opposed to the past couple of years, I felt like I had a pretty good handle on what I thought deserved to win.  Yes, I thought The King’s Speech was worthy of the little gold man but I was hoping the Academy would avoid taking the safe pick and go instead with the edgier and more timely The Social Network as the best film of 2010.  And I probably could have lived with their choice had they awarded David Fincher with the Best Director Oscar, which I felt he deserved for the excellent job he did.  But then, he’s one of my favorite directors and I am a little biased.

As for the rest of the major awards, I thought Colin Firth was worthy of being named Best Actor and, as a Natalie Portman and a Black Swan fan, was happy to see her walk away with the Best Actress Oscar.  But secretly, I was cheering for Michelle Williams. Personally, I think she would have looked much more dazzling accepting the award.

By the way, what was the over/under on how many outfits Anne Hathaway would wear?

The last two major awards, and the two that are most relevant to me, were the Oscars for Original Screenplay and Adapted Screenplay.  While I thought The Social Network was the clear choice for the latter of the two and happy it took home the gold, I wasn’t as excited about the Original Screenplay as I’ve been in years past, when I rooted for scripts like The Fisher King, Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, Fargo, Good Will Hunting, Being John Malkovich, Almost Famous, Memento, Little Miss Sunshine, and Juno.  (Of the ten listed, seven won the Oscar, with The Fisher King, Being John Malkovich, and Memento losing out.)

And after rambling on, I’ve lost my place.  Ah yes.  Original Screenplay.  While I was hoping Inception might manage to pull it out this year, I couldn’t fault the choice of The King’s Speech as the winner.  It was well-crafted and a lot less confusing.  But like I said, I didn’t really care.

That’s it for the post-Oscar wrap-up.  Oh, and for the record, I only picked 13 out of the 24 awards correctly.  How did you do?  And what did you think of the winners?