Thoughts on Cinema

Epic opening to Battle Los Angeles engages the eye but fails to give you much more than a swig of what it could truly be.

Battle Los Angeles was the equivalent of going to a fast food chain expecting a heavy meaty grease saturated guilty pleasure and coming away shockingly unsatisfied despite lowered expectations. Perhaps the reason why it was so unsatisfactory was due to millions spent in marketing the CGI and interviews that promised character depth but neither was delivered.

As the arch typical staff sergeant with a sketchy war record, Aaron Eckhart was supposed to convince us of this gritty battle hardened non-compromising rough neck. Instead the material delivered nothing that would suggest this guy was unhinged and untrustworthy after saving two marines at the get go. Without getting too far ahead none of these characters suggested they were capable marines let alone belong in the military. The unit more closely resembled college kids playing lazer tag for the first time. Stop this review if you’ve heard of the lippy soldier, the soldier married with a kid, the soldier trying to get married and the soldier whose family member died with an ax to grind. Maybe that’s why Michelle Rodriguez who played the communications officer was the best shot of the bunch. Maybe she had a career change moment kind of like one has in college when you suddenly realize its not worth pursuing something if you don’t get something out of it.

The most successful war films don’t try to make it about different personalities meshing at a job. Instead they focus on the inner and outer conflict itself. The quintessential problem with Battle Los Angeles was the lack of conflict. Its focused on filling a quota en route to an objective. Therefore the stakes were never raised.

If you’re wondering why I keep emphasizing the characterizations, the CGI is already spoken for if you saw the trailer. The aliens are so out of focus that no one can remember what they look like. To coin a phrase, out of sight is out of mind. A film where its audience can barely remember what the aliens look like makes you wonder, why bother with aliens? One theory, any attempt to do a legitimate Red Dawn with nation du jour would risk offending paying customers in the international box office.

Battle Los Angeles was the equivalent of Invasion USA meets Independance Day except more time was spent hiding in bombed out areas of a Hollywood set than delivering the actual battle.

By the time, the tired plot reached the aliens’ objective it made even less sense why the aliens would choose LA especially if you understand some of the water shortages and fires over the recent years.

If I had to give Battle LA a drink rating, I’d have to give it a day old open bottle of sparkling water. Flat without any of the bubbly personality that violent video game porn should deliver on the big screen. Never thought I would live to say this but where is Michael Bay?

Are you crazy is that your problem? Maybe but crazy is often beautiful.

There were no surprises, plot twists or clever ruses in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. Simply put, it was a character study chronicling the downward spiral of a young woman’s sanity in the ultra competitive world of ballet. If you’ve ever had any experience with athletics, you can certainly relate to the heavy abusive rituals that Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) endured on a daily basis in her quest for artistic perfection. From the movie’s start, it’s painfully apparent ballet can never be a recreational activity, it’s an all consuming mistress with a stop watch who will take second place from no one.

Unfortunately perfection has its price. The very unpredictable Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) has final say in who dances to his beat in the Black Swan play. Much to Nina’s delight, the lead is hers to lose but on the condition that she would do whatever Mr. Leroy says. As his demands are raised so did Nina’s stress level.

Enter Nina’s rival played by Mila Kunis. Kunis’ free spirit without a care or consequence was the anti-thesis of Nina’s approach to life and the perfect foil for her own downfall as her darker half takes over.

Darren Aronofsky mastery over his craft was also a feat of perfection. The camera work, editing, sound, and execution of the script was every bit of the White Swan: Form and function. The suspense, seduction, and disturbing horrific self destruction of human fragility was his Black Swan. Together, it’s no surprise that this film had received so many nominations. Not since Jodie Foster and Jonathan Demme has an actress and director duo been so insync. Portman didn’t just convince us of White and Black sides of her soul but the most important part, the painful transformation. It’s the transition scenes that really raised the stakes and invested our fears and hopes for Nina.

If I could rate Black Swan with a beverage of choice, it’s easily a fine wine that’s just going to get better with age. Cheers.

Undeniably almost every Vietnam movie or story ever made seems to continuously subscribe to a nihilist rite of passage for American soldiers who go from boys to men in one tour of duty. Hopefully Hollywood can uncover this gold mine of originality that is very accessible to new and old readers of comic books.

Brahm Revel’s Guerillas began conventionally as a cliche’ band of brothers but quickly made an unconventional plot twist that invoked cinema based themes in Platoon and the Island of Doctor Moreau. Disillusioned John Francis Clayton, the book’s main protagonist, was drafted into a war that he quickly wanted no part in. War may not be fit for man but beast as Clayton was saved by trained guerillas gone rogue. Clayton discovered his new found Ape platoon to be more humane than the one he lost in a fire fight. It seemed clear that animals are far more proficient killers and Mr. Revel didn’t hesitate in how men and ape aren’t inherently evil but both are trained as killers. As the story progressed their advantageous ability to nurture shined through the chaos and killing. Perhaps Mr. Revel was trying to say we could learn a lot about the way animals behave and maybe their code of acceptance isn’t defined by race or species but naivety.

As a story board artist for the Venture Brothers, Mr. Revel’s visual language never failed to be clear and effective in pushing the story forward even when dialogue was absent. Much like the Venture Brothers he balanced the darker violent components with equally lighter moments such as using a soldier man’s love for cigarettes to cleverly articulate monkey see, monkey do humor.

Guerillas is a book about survival, coming of age, and most importantly acceptance. We all want to be on the same side but for whatever reason, we can’t accept each other for who we are. If animals can live with man, why can’t we accept each other? Perhaps human beings suffer from a rare gene that animals have. It’s called common sense.

If I had to rate Guerillas, I’d give it a refreshing after work beer that is familiar and yet something to look forward to. Cheers.

Anime has garnered a huge following in the West since the first shows were brought over in the Sixties, beginning with Astro Boy and Speed Racer.  Fifty years later, anime shows are still being brought over and translated for American audiences, the newest of which is Durarara, based on a light novel/manga series.  Revolving around a multitude of colorful characters, from simple high school students to mythological beings, Durarara tries to weave dozens of arcs to create an entertaining story but gets tangled up along the way.

Durarara is eerily similar to ABC’s Lost through its sense of mystery, its journey into the supernatural, but most of all, its narrative structure.  Made up of character-focused episodes, Durarara takes place in Ikebukuro, Tokyo as freshman Mikado Ryūgamine transfers to a local school at the invitation of his old friend, Kida Masaomi.  In the first episode, Kida gives Mikado a grand tour of the city, telling him about the gangs and the who’s-who of area, along with the urban legend of a headless biker, the Black Rider.  From there, the lives of over a dozen characters intertwine due to a series of attacks on city citizens connected to corrupt companies, secret gangs, and ancient myths.

It takes the first five or six episodes to do what the pilot should’ve done in introducing this world.  By attempting to flesh out each character in their own episode(s), the story gets spread so thin that you will finish a third of the series before you get a firm grasp on one of the main plots.  Luckily, with the show running at only twenty-four episodes, the plotlines get less drawn out from there, but that circles back to the problem of too many characters.  Some who are given too much screen time suddenly become irrelevant and disappear without tying up all of their loose ends.  At the same time, characters you want to see more often, like the violent bartender Shizuo or Russian sushi-chef Simon, are given a scene here or there without any further exposure of their back-story.

On the upside, Durarara juggles the drama and humor very well once it gets the ball rolling.  The different plotlines stem from reality-based problems such as gangs and teenage love while splicing in supernatural forces from Japanese and Celtic mythology, and like any youth-based story, there are plenty of laughs and light-hearted moments.  These are nice touches that never seem overbearing to the series as the story, deep down, is about the characters and their progression through a less-than-ordinary life.  As for the animation, it’s slick and vibrant in its use of colors.  It may not be like Akira or other anime where every crack or shadow is detailed to convey a sense of realism, but the artwork is stunning to look at most of the time and captures the feel of the city and its inhabitants.

Durarara drags at first, but then it sprints at the end, leaving behind the feeling that maybe one day the series will wrap up the story arcs it left open.  Minus the setbacks, it is a quick, cold beer for being a show that anime fans can enjoy without the worry being disappointed after several years of commitment.

Part 1 is now on DVD and Part 2 will be released on March 29, followed by Part 3 on May 31.

-Sean