Jumper + more

Jumper - Jumper suffers from what many movies suffer from - great idea, poor execution. I actually really loved the idea - a man could teleport anywhere in the world but has to deal with evil guys hunting for him because only God should have the power to be everywhere and anywhere. The film has great pacing and energy. The special effects are pretty solid (there is a particular fight scene between Hayden Christensen and Jamie Bell near the end which is just simply great). Jamie Bell's performance as the nervy Griffin is the clear stand out. His performance adds a frantic energy to every scene he is in. He's smart and funny and engaging. Unfortunately, he's not in the film nearly enough. Most of the good things I can say end there. The film suffers from one big thing: Hayden Christensen. He surely has the looks to be a matinee idol. He's a great looking kid and he's not a terrible actor (see: Shattered Glass). Unfortunately, he is more often than not wooden and ineffective. I could use those words to describe his performance here as well. There's very little development in the story as well. This could have been a really great superhero or anti-hero story but the writers hardly seemed to notice just how self involved the hero really is. It was almost enough to make the audience root for the villain, Samuel L. Jackson - except he was almost cartoonish, what with the blonde hair and ridiculous dialogue. And I love Samuel L. Jackson! Then there's Rachel Bilson. Summer, Summer, Summer. I loved you oh so much on The O.C. However, I fear she showed the extent of her abilities on that show. The fast talking cutsie thing worked very well on that hipster show but you can't always do the same thing. In film, you have to be able to branch out and do different things. I just don't think Bilson has it in her. Then there is the rumor floating around that Bilson and Christensen are romantically linked in real life. I don't care if it's true or not. If it is true, however, I really hope they have a lot more chemistry in real life because they have none on screen. Unfortunately, this movie is mostly mediocre. A great plot and Jamie Bell can only get you so far. Action sequences aside, the movie becomes quite boring. Jumper is somtimes fun and sometimes interesting. I actually hope they make a sequel and perhaps they can do a better job the second time around because it really is an interesting idea.
Grade: C-

Sex and Breakfast - This is a small little movie that is intimate and mostly interesting. It focuses on two young couples having trouble in their relationships. James (Macaulay Culkin) and Heather (my girl Alexis Dziena) are in love but Heather is unable to acheive orgasm with James. Ellis (Kuno Becker) and Renee (Eliza Dushku) want to marry but they feel like they've become boring. Both couples are looking to spice up their sex lives and see a counselor who suggests group sex. The thing about this movie is it's not as shocking as you would think. When you hear the concept, you think, 'Oh, it's going to be all about sex with tons of nudity and whatever.' But, not so much. It's actually pretty character driven and focuses more on the relationships of the couple than their eventual intimate interactions. The writing is a little hit or miss for me and I don't know if the movie completely works. It actually would have worked a lot better as a short film, I think. Still, the performances are all solid and well done. It's not a great movie, but it's decent.
Grade: C+

Wind Chill - The beginning of this movie isn't half bad. It's sort of ominous, it gives you a great atmosphere and a good character and story build up. I mean, sure the characters are unlikeable, but that doesn't really matter to me much. Emily Blunt is good at being a bitch when she wants to be. Her character sort of has an arc which is unusual for ghost stories. Ashton Holmes is only slightly creepy. There's not much to work with set wise because it's basically too kids stuck in a pile of snow for a long time. The writing is pretty weak. It makes too many uncomfortable shifts from 'romantic' to 'horror.' It just doesn't work in horror movies. The only way romance should ever play a part in a horror movie is if the couple is already established at the beginning of the movie. People usually don't fall in love during terrifying situations. There's absolutely nothing scary about this movie whatsoever. The biggest waste of all is that it just throws away all the atmosphere it built up so well in the beginning. In the end, I just wanted someone to kill the lead characters because they were just so stupid I could barely stand it. Please, skip this movie at all costs.
Grade: D

Sicko, Factory Girl (DVD)

Sicko - A short coversation I had with my mother this morning: Mama - "What movie did you go see last night?" Me - "Sicko." Mama - "Oh, is it a horror film?" Me - "Kind of." Sicko is the kind of thought provoking film that just might terrify you. I never really realized just how bad our health care system is here in the United States. In the last few years, I've become more and more disappointed with our government and the state of our country. In light of seeing this documentary, I admit that I am rather ashamed of our government and health care system. It's a disgrace. I honestly can't believe that third world countries such as Cuba have health care systems that are more or less free. It's a riveting look at the state of our country from director/writer/producer/liberal Michael Moore. This is the best film Moore has done yet. It is less sensationalistic than Farenheit 9/11 (although I enjoyed that as well). It is absolutely not Bush bashing in the least. It's not anti-American in the least. It's pro-bettering America through knowledge and education. It's really a shame that there were four people at this film when I saw it last night. People should be spending their money and time on something like this and getting educated on the topic rather than seeing mind-numbing movies like Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean and The Simpsons (although I haven't seen it so whatever). I really, really, really hope this film makes an impact in the upcoming election. This movie is emotionally effective as well. There are multiple times when my eyes watered up. It's absolutely disgusting to see a young mother lose their 14 month old child to high fevers because her insurance company would only pay for pre-approved hospitals and the hosptial she went to kicked her out because her insurance wouldn't cover it. How can people do that to other people? I really don't know what is worse: not having insurance at all or having it and having your claims be denied for bullshit reasons? Moore takes everything a step farther when he shows the despicable way rescue workers at Ground Zero were treated after the disaster because many of them were not officially employed by the government or were volunteers. This is a movie you absolutey have to see. Then Moore visits other countries with impeccable health care: you pay nothing, you have little wait time at hospitals, you get medication for cheap, cheap prices. These countires (Canada, Britain, France and even Cuba) want to help their people. They do preventative care. In Britain, they even pay YOU for your transportation costs to get to the hospital! Things need to change in our country and I really hope this documnetary will educate viewers and, hopefully, have an impact on the future of our country.

Grade: B+

Factory Girl - This seems to be a growing trend. There's a movie that I just can't wait to see and after months and months and months of waiting, I finally see it and... it's a terrible, disappointing mess. This is how it was with Factory Girl. This film is just cliche after cliche after cliche. The characters are all two-dimensional (I'm sorry but Andy and Edie are far more fascinating in real life than they appear to be in this terrible after school special-esque movie). The script is uninspired and falls flat most of the time. To be fair, Sienna Miller does an absolutely wonderful job with the material she was given. But, unfortunately, it's not a lot to work with. One of the major flaws in the movie is that there are really no characters that you can actually like. Characters kept calling Andy Warhol's artwork superficial, and really, this movie is just superficial. No character is ever developed enough to care about them. I should probably give props to Guy Pearce while I'm at it because I imagine it's very hard to try to portray someone like Andy Warhol who is now more than an icon than a man. However, the choices in this movie left him feeling more like a parody than a person. The film takes the easy road more than once with the depiction of drugs that look like an After School Special and predictable dialogue. There are the obligatory walks through Central Park to show they are in New York and even a shot of the Eiffel Tower which just yells, "Hey, we're in Paris now!" The casting of Hayden Christensen as a Bob Dylan esque character (Billy Quinn!) is just completely bizarre to me. The thing that bugs me most though is the way this film portrays Edie who I've been fascinated with for years. It's a shame that this may be some people's only introduction to her life because it's really not worthy of her (or Warhol for that matter). They both deserve much more than this. All of these characters who are endlessly fascinating and all of these experiences and the way they shaped the art culture of the 60s is an interesting story. There is a riveting film in there somewhere. Factory Girl just isn't it.

Grade: D+