The Kingdom, Hotel Chevalier, The Condemned

The Kingdom - I was hooked from the opening - a watered down time table of terrorism since the 1930's all told in about 4 minutes. Excellent opening. I wish I could say the same about the entire movie. The Kingdom definitely has its moments of solid, good story telling and filmmaking. Unfortunately, it has its bad moments as well, including a horrible ending. The cast is pretty solid and led by Jamie Foxx who is usually hit or miss for me. This time he's a hit. His character is charming and cocky... two things I'm pretty sure Foxx are as well. So he plays it easily. He's joined by the always wonderful Chris Cooper and the adorable Jennifer Garner. Also starring one of my movie star boyfriends Jason Bateman (let's not even talk about his few final scenes on film... my heart almost couldn't stand it!). Anyway, they go to Saudi Arabia to avenge and investigate the death of a friend even though the government tells them not to go. They aren't met with wide open arms and at first they can do nothing but look at the crime scene - no investigation, no touching of evidence, nothing. Director Peter Berg goes way overboard with the hand-held cameras and quick edits to simulate hyper action. There were way too many close ups where eyeballs took up half the screen. It wants to be Syriana but it's too watered down to be Syriana. Plus, near the end it turns more into a video game than anything else. Even though I was totally invested in the movie from the start, it lost me at the end and left me with a sour feeling. It absolutely feels like an anti-terrorist video game where the government is sent in to kill as many terrorists as possible. Dodging bullets, avoiding rockets, shooting terrorists in the head, frantic gun shots in a hallway. It was a bit much. As a filmmaker Berg could have redeemed himself and his message but instead he took the low road. The movie ends with a nugget of advice being passed down from both the Americans and the Saudis: "Kill all of them." Wonderful message. Still, it wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen. Still, the first half was solid. Still, I love Jason Bateman who is always funny and reliable, no matter how much the material around him sucks.

Grade: C

Hotel Chevalier - There's really not much you can say about a 13 minute short film. You may or may not know that it is the prelude to The Darjeeling Limited. It was written and directed by Wes Anderson and it stars Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman. It's a really wonderful little short that serves to introduce us to one of the main characters of Darjeeling, Jack (Schwartzman), a rich broken hearted man living in a Paris hotel. He's soon joined in his room by his ex-girlfriend (Portman) and they come face to face with their pain and feelings for each other. Anderson says its necessary to see this to understand Darjeeling... I don't really understand why but you should still see it anyway. It's short and sweet and shot beautifully. It's got a great tone, a great soundtrack and great dialogue. There's little actually said but there are a lot of hints at what the story might actually be. It captures a particular feel the way any good short story/film does. It's all pure Anderson - dead pan, melancholy, hurtful. It's like a perfect snapshot of a relationship. Schwartzman's performance is stronger than Portman's but she's still great as well. Plus, she gets mostly nude. I'm sure, if nothing else, that will entice some people to see this short.

Grade: B+

The Condemned - Again, I've seen worse movies. The story follows a rich television producer who decides to branch out and use the internet to show his new endeavor: 10 death row inmates and killers put together on an island. They all must try to kill each other because only one can win... and that person will be set free. It's not a terribly bad idea for a movie actually. Or a reality show. I sort of, kind of feel like I would probably watch it. Anyway, the idea isn't terrible but the execution mostly is. If you are a fan of wrestling or action movies then you'll probably like this movie. It's got a lot of Steve Austin and a lot of fights and action sequences. The movie isn't trying to be Shakespeare or intellectual. The fight scenes are sometimes choppy and hard to see. The plot is predictable. Oh, plus Vinnie Jones is in it and I love him! He's really wonderful even in a movie like this which is mostly crap. It's mostly a waste of time and money. Now, on to the acting. What acting?! Steve Austin should stick to wrestling. Again, Vinnie Jones is the only really doing anything remotely resembling acting. The cinematography is lacking. The violence is extreme and repetitive. Plus the movie is two hours long and it feels like 4, at least.

Grade: D-