Machine Guns vs. Throwing Stars

I’ve had a pretty steady “love-love” relationship with the filmmakers, Larry and Andy Wachowski. Their first major stab at writing/directing, BOUND, was a magnificent thriller/noir movie that just happened to feature women as both the anti-hero(ine) and the femme fatale. With a great performance from both women (Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly, respectively), and the main villain of the piece, Caesar (played by the irascible Joe Pantoliono, who I have followed and loved through his career, in the similar role of the pimp in RISKY BUSINESS, to the sidekick of Tommy Lee Jones’ Federal Marshall in the THE FUGITIVE movies, and finally to his appearance in the Wachowski’s THE MATRIX.), the movie is stylish, sleek and most of all gave us the introduction to these movie-makers that I don’t know if their previous screen-writing venture did, in ASSASSINS.

Of course, then THE MATRIX, and it’s sequels, came along and changed everything. It changed the state of science fiction movies, the way action was done – either earnestly or as satire, and most of all these two men, sparked another filmic universe; that has really been equalled in my eyes by Peter Jackson, Quentin Tarantino and Alfred Hitchcock. (I’m sure there’s more, but those are the main ones I could think of.) You can tell a movie made by the Wachowski Brothers, from the way certain things are shot, from dialogue (in the Wachowski’s case, there always tends to be the quasi-zen, bullshit philosophy), and a repeating of certain actors. Whether it’s Pantoliono, Hugo Weaving (MATRIX and V FOR VENDETTA), Randall Duk Kim (MATRIX SEQUELS) and now the Korean pop star Rain, who was featured in SPEED RACER and now is the lead in the Wachowski Brothers’ produced, James McTeigue directed (same setup as V FOR VENDETTA, only the Wachowski’s didn’t write this screenplay) NINJA ASSASSIN.

It’s necessary to mention the V FOR VENDETTA setup, because this gives us our second – or third if you count the apparent refilming of the Nicole Kidman movie THE INVASION, which is a remake of  the tried and true idea of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS – look at the directing chops of McTeigue. V FOR VENDETTA also stands out as the Wachowski’s foray into literal adaptation – as their no arguing that their previous movie were “inspired by” other’s works before, V FOR VENDETTA was based off the great graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. The action moved away from the patented Wachowski-inspired look of bullet time, and instead gave us blade lines. A tradition stooped in comic book art, but something that took what had become played out, and added another level to it. V FOR VENDETTA has become my favorite movie of these filmmakers; despite it’s going astray of the comic book’s intentions; and being more vital than their own work in THE MATRIX universe. (It might be said that the sequels lessened the impact or tainted the work of the original, but I just think that VENDETTA is more about trying to create a new world, and THE MATRIX is more about destroying an old one. And there is a fine line, and possibly a non-sensical viewpoint in that opinion.)

Written from an original story by Matthew Sand, and then gone over again by screen-comic book-television writer J. Michael Straczynski, NINJA ASSASSIN sadly lacks some of the finer points that we’ve gotten in the past from the creative minds behind this movie (and oddly, that even includes Strazcynski’s previous Oscar contender, CHANGELING). There’s certainly the action, the stylized violence – that most closely resembles V FOR VENDETTA – and there’s a little of the dialogue that I’ve come to expect (something about how a tattoo reveals not who the man is, but what kind of man he is…Not completely sure), but the storytelling is off. Even without it being a movie with the creative pedigree it has, there’s a fine action movie here, but there’s just something in the incorporation of the woman government agent out of her depth, the needless training montage of our hero in his apartment alone flinging around throwing stars and blades on chains, and even some of the hackneyed plot devices, that makes the movie less than the sum of it’s parts.

The movie only really works in it’s basest form. The action, and fight scenes between good ninja and bad ninja, ninja against military forces, and the numerous training flashbacks showing us this secret clan that kidnaps children turning them into deadly assassins. The opening five minutes of the movie really are kind of the peak of the piece. The top of a man’s head is chopped off, leaving us to see his lower jaw and tongue flopping, before he falls down dead and a flurry of super-speed throwing stars come through and eviscerate an entire gang of incessant, wannabe gangsters. I thought that this was a setup for a movie that would continue to raise the stakes, and take us even further into the world of, well, ninja assassins. Instead we cut from that to two government agents talking about ninjas; played by the ever watchable – both for talent and for looks – Naomie Harris (who you might not recognize from the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies and Michael Mann’s MIAMI VICE retread) and Ben Miles, who was the television secretary for the government, Dascomb, in V FOR VENDETTA. From there we cut to a scene of Raizo (Rain), doing laundry and a vague fight, that we only see a few moments of and then the vague outcome. Then it’s back to the Europol agents, talking. Then Raizo again, in his apartment, training. Needless to say, I understand that the movie can’t be wall-to-wall ninja mayhem, but this really kind of killed the flow of the movie.

Luckily, we then get the insight into where Raizo came from, the harsh conditions he was trained in – and this movie spares no children the brunt of physical violence – and then finally, it seems the inevitable meeting between Harris’ agent, Mika, and Raizo. When we do get our first glimpses of the ninja, momentarily in the opening scene, and then in the attack on Mika; there’s some awesome cinematic and special effects tricks used to show the stealthiness of how the ninjas move and blend into shadows. There’s a touch of fantasy in the way they turn into blurs and seem to move faster than the camera – or eye – can see; how they can materialize out of shadows that shouldn’t be able to contain a human form, and of course the mass amounts of mayhem.

One thing that came to mind as I watched masses of both ninja and military forced being dismembered and shredded to pieces either by bullets or bladed weapons, was the difference in how I felt about the violence; especially in contrast to say 2012, where we’re basically treated to the obliteration of the human (and I’d dare say all life’s) population. In that movie it was really disconcerting to see all this destruction on a screen (rated PG-13, nonetheless), and the main point of view we followed was the near hijinks of a few – argumentatively undeserving – souls, outrunning earthquakes, falling skyscrapers and big wave surfing aircraft carriers. In NINJA ASSASSIN, we see every person that dies, on-screen, or we see the results of this violence in the form of (barely) survivors being carried away from the battlefield.  It was a strange feeling, and I’m not entirely sure what, or how I feel about it.

But, NINJA ASSASSIN is worth seeing if you love ninjas, oceans of blood and body parts; but if you’re looking for a real story – even one as ham-handed as the Wachowskis can be – probably better to pop in that V FOR VENDETTA dvd again, instead. It’s a far more rewarding experience.

**And as much as one of my favorite moments in the trailer is the ninja being run over by the car, at the end, that whole scene is just ridiculous to think that ninjas wouldn’t think of a better way of catching their prey, than by running through the streets of a major city. Just seemed silly.

Three Rivers Film Festival

Over the past couple years, I’ve made it out to this smaller film festival, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (where I live). My first year, I saw the amazing performance of the Boston Alloy Orchestra, perform their original score to the 1927 silent era movie, UNDERWORLD – a gangster movie/love triangle thriller – and the “what is reality” movie, THE NINES, with Ryan Reynolds and written/directed by John August (BIG FISH, along with numerous other Tim Burton movies). Both of these movies I saw in the suburban theater in Regent Square. It’s small, and the sound system is made up of two medium sized speakers in the front of the auditorium. It seats about 300 people, and usually these showings are pretty packed.

The festival itself, tends to mix a portion of more mainstream fare – if only in the sense of “festival-movies” being mainstream. THE NINES, was not a mainstream movie, but it’s also bigger than something locally produced by unknown talents – a good assortment of foreign-language movies, and the locally produced stuff that probably doesn’t stand too much of a chance of being seen outside of it’s region of production. The festival presents it’s movies distributed throughout the city in three different neighborhoods, and theaters. But, for what seems like a pretty small-scale event, it seems to do pretty well.

I didn’t get out to see anything last year – that I can remember – even though there was a screening of the apparently brilliant silent movie, THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, with the Boston Alloy Orchestra, again. And this year, I’m going to try and remedy that by making it to their performance of THE BLACK PIRATE, written and starring Douglas Fairbanks. The movie that initially gave us the spectacular stunt of a buccaneer, sliding down a sail using a little knife. I imagine it’s going to be amazing!

So, this weekend, I managed to get out and see two movies (luckily it was a double-feature type format, which made it easier). After forgetting that the festival was going on, I missed the opening night showing of both PRECIOUS and THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS. Then I had planned on seeing one of the two showings of BRONSON (missed them) and then it was only on my way out the door that I saw that after one showing of BRONSON was a screening of Chan Wook Park’s latest movie, THIRST. Something about a priest turning into a vampire, or something totally and completely screwed up.

Anyway, determined not to miss the last movie that I really wanted to see, THE MESSENGER, I headed out. The movie playing afterwards, I hadn’t heard of before, but my roommate knew of it and wanted to see SERIOUS MOONLIGHT. So, that’s my double feature.

THE MESSENGER is the new movie starring Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson, who are soldiers in the Army, who are assigned the duty to notify the next of kin, when a soldier is killed. It’s a procedural on how to present yourself, the language to use and most of all how to try and distance yourself from the atrociousness of the job. The movie is co-written and directed by Oren Moverman, who has written the screenplays for JESUS’ SON and I’M NOT THERE, the Bob Dylan bio-pic/fantasy. The other screenwriter is Alessandro Camon, who has mostly been a producer, associated with movies like AMERICAN PSYCHO, the new BAD LIEUTENANT movie with Nicolas Cage and Warner Herzog.

The story follows Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Foster), who after being injured in combat is sent home to serve his last few months in the motor pool, and is also given the task of handing out condolences. He’s introduced by an extreme close-up on his eye, which has a large scar underneath it, as he’s putting eye drops in. Then we meet what seems like his girlfriend, who they quickly jump straight into having sex and then go have dinner. The girlfriend, Kelly (played by Jena Malone – all grown up, when did that happen?!), is actually engaged to someone else, and we see that this is sort of meant as a goodbye present.

His introduction and orientation by Captain Tony Stone (Harrelson), leaves Montgomery cold, and not too fond of his superior officer, who is a little too fond of the term “head case” and might actually be one. Their first notification is to a family, who when they get there, they’re forced to deal with one of their rules – “We don’t wait. If the person isn’t there, we come back later.” – because the soldier’s mother isn’t home, but his pregnant girlfriend (but technically not family) is, and she wants to know whether the guy is in trouble or not. Once the mother shows up, the screaming and denial of the women is primal and ridiculous in how devastated they are; but it’s absolutely heart-rending and believable. (I can’t imagine worrying about sounding silly when told your son has just died.)

Stone and Montgomery spend their nights drinking, screwing (girls, not each other) and talking, either over the phone or at the bar. Stone asks if Will “IM’s”, but Will doesn’t have a computer. We get a couple more trips out to deliver bad news to family members, and then we meet Olivia Pitterson, who is hanging laundry when the guys come to tell her, her husband was killed. As opposed to everyone else we’ve seen react to this news, she thanks them, shakes their hands and says how hard it must be for them to tell her this. Shocked, Stone mentions that he’s never seen anything like that before. For whatever reason, Will becomes entangled with Olivia (played wonderfully by Samantha Morton – SYNECDOCHE, NY and MINORITY REPORT). He gives her and her son a ride home from a mall, checks out her car, and attends her husband’s funeral – from a distance.

This is where the movie gets a little side-tracked. Stone disappears for a while. While this strange domestic-like situation develops, to a sad moment where they both realize that they’re not really ready for the road they’re going down. This then leads us back to Stone, who advocates some time off and a trip to the country. There’s girls, booze, fights and party crashing.

The performances are all fantastic. Foster, who has been pretty amazing in everything I’ve seen him in; from the psycho cowboy, Charlie Prince, in 3:10 TO YUMA. The deranged, vampire-scout in 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, and even his tiny role in X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, where he played the character, Angel and only appeared in a strange sub chapter in the movie. And despite the praise that Foster is getting for this movie, I have to say the screen belongs to Harrelson here.

Looking him up, Woody Harrelson, after taking a break from acting between 1999 to about 2005, has had around 3 projects a year since then. And 2009 has seemed to be his major breakout year. He’s irascible in ZOMBIELAND, completely off his rocker in 2012 – and possibly in his headlining role in the yet unreleased superhero movie DEFENDOR; but here he’s funny, but subdued. He gets to show that he’s portraying a fully-fledged character and not just a caricature, as he pretends to be in certain parts of the movie.  We see him talk about women, he gives a great homage to APOCALYPSE NOW, and at the end is completely shattered. It’s a great, great performance.

SERIOUS MOONLIGHT is a little lighter in it’s subject matter, even if it’s heritage is not. The movie was meant as the follow-up to writer/director Adrienne Shelly, who had made a splash with the movie WAITRESS. Tragically, she was killed by someone who was robbing her apartment. I haven’t seen WAITRESS, nor any of the other smaller movies that she’s written, or even acted in (that I can tell by her IMDB page). But, after seeing this movie, I see that it was a great loss and am sad that there won’t be any more stories from this person’s perspective.

Which, actually, makes the subject matter in this movie a little more prescient and sad in that it’s about a married couple (portrayed by Timothy Hutton and Meg Ryan), who run into each other at their country home, the day before either of them was supposed to be there. Ian (Hutton) has come to the cabin in preparation for a night of bliss with his mistress before leaving a note telling his wife that he’s leaving her, and taking off to Paris. His wife, Louise (Ryan), arrives and sees the flowers and romantic setting and thinks that it’s meant for her. So, when she finds out that her husband is planning on ditching her – with part of his note dictating to feed the fish – she does what any normal person would (wish) to do. She knocks him out, and ties him to a chair. In an effort to win back his love.

The movie is the directorial debut of actress/comedienne Cheryl Hines (CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, and in a bit of synchronicity with the previous movie I talked about, THE GRAND, with Woody Harrelson – among many others). She does a fine job in handling the humor and drama of the story. I think that there are some missteps in wedging in some weird flashback sequences, but the best part is the ambiguity of the ending/certain events that happen.

What happens is, Louise ties Ian up to a chair. He wakes up, screams that he hates Louise, then says he loves her so she’ll cut him free. When he gets free he tries to escape and leads Louise to knock him out again, and this time tying him to the toilet in the bathroom, since that was also part of his ploy to get loose before. Louise, then says she’s going out to buy stuff for a romantic dinner and while she’s gone a guy shows up (played by Justin Long, AKA the Mac guy), who at first is mowing the lawn. Then sees Ian banging his head off the window in the bathroom. He goes inside, see Ian tied up and decides to rob the place. Louise gets home, and she winds up getting knocked out and tied up in the bathroom along with Ian. To then add insult to injury, the mistress shows up (played by Kristen Bell), and also winds up tied up in the bathroom.

There’s discussions, there’s escape attempts and ultimately there’s the choice that Ian has to make when faced with both women in his life. The movie in total is pretty cute, very funny and has some fairly tense moments. The tension works, because the movie flies by the seat of it’s pants and you’re not really sure if the movie will go “there”, in regards to violence or other areas.

The performances are a little over the top, probably with Bell’s young, “other woman” character being the most grounded and realistic. Meg Ryan, probably turns in one of my favorite roles of hers here. It’s sort of like the movie ADDICTED TO LOVE, where she’s obsessed with an ex, only this is a much more mature (strange to say) role. But, she does a great job, at being believable as the woman that just won’t accept that her marriage is over. Timothy Hutton (from the tv series LEVERAGE) does great, with the little he’s allowed to do – literally, as he’s tied up for nearly the entire movie.

I guess this movie is scheduled for release in December, so I’d say check it out; or see if it’s playing at some kind of film festival by you.

And the website for the Three Rivers Film Festival, can be found here: www.3rff.com

I kind of think that as long as Emmerich is destroying the world in movies…

We’ll be safe from the real thing. Honestly, there’s no way nature could possibly kill us more amazingly than the way Roland Emmerich has been able to in his movies. 2012, the latest incarnation of global destruction, is an awe-inspiring piece of work that goes more in-depth than recent planet destroyer KNOWING; lacks less realistic character development/interaction than anything Michael Bay has done; and still manages to be pretty entertaining.

Is 2012 a good movie? Definitely not. Unless you’re looking for a silly, wild-ride of people out-running natural disasters, miraculously saving the day at the last possible second, and of courses ham-fisted love stories/familial drama, you’ll probably be bored.

I have to say though, the amount of chaos and mass death shown, or represented in this movie, really ought to have earned it an R-rating. This isn’t cartoon violence, or from a distance mayhem. We have a front row seat to the death of most of the human race. With good CGI.

 

Shaking the can, movie lovers need your help.

I’ve written about the podcasts and websites I follow, love and adore a few times now. One of my absolute favorites is THE FILM TALK. It’s two men, one who lives in Tennessee, and the other lives in North Carolina. Both have spent a great portion of their lives eyeball-deep in movies. One a professed actual filmmaker (well, IMDB says he’s been an actor), and the other is an author and professorial in the study of spirituality and film.

Their conversations are full of wit, snark and usually tons of insight, and right now they’re kind of in a financial bind. Now, I’m no Sally Struthers, and this blog is no late-night infomercial, but if you go here, you’ll see that for only $3 a month, or some other kind of contribution, can help keep this site (read the blog, it can be nearly as good as the podcasts – not to mention the usually great conversations that happen in the comments), and the podcast running.

I see this as beneficial to everyone. They can keep doing the show, I can keep enjoying their show, and you can keep…doing what you’re doing. And if you don’t believe me, check out this review from iTunes:

“They both come from the viewpoint of being outside the conventional “American” point-of-view. Both have spent either quite a lot of time outside the US, or naturally not being from here and from that, they bring up a lot of interesting points, that not only sometimes go into pretentious territory (but never snobby), but mostly is just a fresh eye on how our society has absorbed the way we see violence and what movies are saying about our world.”

Ok, fine, I wrote that (and rereading it, not my finest hour). But, still, a great show, worthy of your support. Check them out.

What does a weird button, and sparkling eyes have to do with each other?

They both kill things, that’s the answer you’re looking for. In the new movies, THE BOX and THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, both methods, may not be explicitly used in the death of another person (or animal), but they are tools.

THE BOX is writer/director Richard Kelly’s third foray in to feature filmmaking. DONNIE DARKO, his initial movie about a young boy who might be the only one who can save the world was a huge cult-sensation (though not a financial success, initially). It showed us a new mind that broke out from the normal constraints of sci-fi movies. His second, SOUTHLAND TALES, was so complex, or just down-right incomprehensible (maybe less so, if you read the comic book prequels), that the only thing it had going for it was a musical number with Justin Timberlake, and The Rock dressing up as Donnie Darko. It’s otherwise strange casting of ex-SNL alumni (Jon Lovitz and Cheri Oteri?!), the strange characters with white hair (especially Wallace Shawn), and already mentioned obtuse plot, really made this movie fairly unpopular, even with Kelly’s more loyal fans (I think. I can only really speak to the view of myself and a number of my friends, who liked DD, but not ST.)

But, THE BOX looked intriguing nonetheless. I’m not one to write someone off just because of a misstep or two, and the casting, the premise and the fact that the movie is adapted from a short story by Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, and various The Twilight Zone episodes), had me pretty interested. The movie’s story is about a family, the wife a school teacher – who seemingly took the job at this semi-prestigious private school, for the faculty discount; the husband a rocket scientist (or camera developer, not really sure) who has ambitions of going to space, who works at NASA. And their young son. One day they’re delivered a number of blows: the faculty discount has been discontinued starting the following semester, the husband is denied his chance at being an astronaut, and finally a strange man appears at their door with a package. Inside the package is a box, with a bubble-top and button underneath it. The deal is, you push the button and someone, somewhere in the world, dies; but the family is then rewarded with one million dollars.

The movie builds up like the tension might be mounted in this family’s discussion on whether to push the button or not. But, in really one of the most violent, and jump-inducing, moments in the movie, the button is pushed. What happens from there, is conspiracy, intrigue and lots of creepy people staring at the main characters. The story covers a lot of ground. We get to see inside what this “experiment” with the box is setup to do, some clues as to who is behind it, and most importantly the reason why the box is continually being passed around.

The casting for the movie is all pretty solid for the leads. James Marsden as Arthur Lewis is pretty good in his role as the wannabe astronaut. We’re shown that he’s a good man, who doesn’t tend to take things lying down and loves his Corvette. Cameron Diaz, who plays Marsden’s wife, Norma, shows that she actually can act – though her southern accent, at times was a little grating. But, she has a very interesting character trait, as Norma, that helps to make her empathetic to the stand-out character in the movie. And that is Arlington Steward, played wonderfully, by Frank Langella. In the movie he’s dressed very dapper, even with a little bowler hat, but a good portion of his face is missing, due to a run-in with a freak lightning strike. Steward is the man with the box. He gives us, and the Lewis’ the rules and warnings about the box; he explains as well as he can, the experiment with the box; and even though he could essentially be seen as “the villain” of the piece, is never threatening, menacing or anything other than genial and seemingly benevolent. (which of course, can be all of those villainous things in their own right.)

The climax of the movie comes with the over-lapping of the three stages of the experiment surrounding the box. One, from the previous possessor; two of the Lewis’ who are at the critical stage; and three, another family who have just been given the same choice and what they choose to do. The movie, in its entirety is much deeper than I thought it would be, and I have to say might take the place of DONNIE DARKO as my favorite Richard Kelly movie. Maybe that’s to do with the guiding hand of Matheson’s initial story, or maybe it just shows a maturity in Kelly. Either way, this is a great movie that will have you thinking about it, and discussing – if not arguing, as was (practically) the case – with your friends.

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, is directed by Grant Heslov (co-screenwriter of GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK), with a screenplay by Peter Straughan (HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS & ALIENATE PEOPLE) based on a book by Jon Ronson. The story follows Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), a news reporter working in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who decides that he needs to go to Iraq and come up with a real story. His wife has left him, his coworkers are dying and he’s done nothing with his life. During an interview with a man who claims to have killed his hamster with his mind (the man, played wonderfully by Stephen Root), gives Bob his first bite of what might very well be his destiny.

In Kuwait City, waiting to be granted access to Iraq – and being shunned by his peers who have already been to the war-front – he meets the very man that Root’s character had mentioned. When this connection is mentioned, Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) gets up and walks away. Bob follows him and is almost shooed away, when Lyn sees something that Bob had been drawing. This his in, into Iraq and the secrets of how to become a Jedi Warrior.

I’ve described this movie as possibly the best STAR WARS movie made – and definitely better than the prequels we did get; in case you didn’t know, also starring Ewan McGregor. The story follows the basic premise of a rambunctious young man (or slightly older, naive reporter) who knows he’s meant to do something special with his life. In the ensuing adventures Lyn and Bob have together, they’re taken hostage by some Iraqi kidnappers (careful not to call them terrorists, or Al Queda. Not all Iraqis are one or either of those things.), run over a man and hit the only exposed rock in the desert, and of course find salvation (literally) in the middle of the desert. Along the way Lyn tells the story of the New Earth Army, founded by a Vietnam veteran who dreamed up a new way to approach military conflict; through mental and psychic powers.

Via these flashbacks, we are introduced to Bill Django, played magnificently by Jeff Bridges who manages to venture back into his Dude days from THE BIG LEBOWSKI, but not repeat himself. He is given permission by the government to explore alternate means to fight our battles, this gives us a montage of seeing Django getting high, getting hand jobs and even falling from great heights (which he does numerous times throughout the movie). When he returns, he’s sporting a long pony-tail, hands out flowers to his recruits and teaches them how to dance. Clooney’s character eventually appears, mop-topped and soon shows his aptitude for mental prognostication. We see him seemingly psychically work out the location of a kidnapped diplomat, guess the contents of a random box and even, yes, kill a goat with his mind. Soon, another big-wig is brought in, in the form of Kevin Spacey’s character, Larry Hooper. Hooper is supposedly a great psychic (and spoon-bender) and gets extremely frustrated when he’s outpaced by Lyn. This leads to him using multiple nefarious means to get even. Eventually, it’s Bob’s turn to become a Jedi master (all without Clooney being cut in half by Darth Maul!), turn the tables on a contracted, personal military outfit, and finally reach his destiny.

The casting, acting and the humor/satire of this movie are all fantastic. The story seems to drag a little in certain moments, but then it pops right back with something fairly screwed up (like the convoy of mercenaries, led by Robert Patrick, that Bob and Lyn get stuck with). And the laughs are enough to keep you interested. Clooney is great as this burned out, fully believable character of a man that believes he has psychic powers. And there’s enough stuff that goes his way to maybe lend credence to that. McGregor, who’s putting on that generic American accent, is maybe a little too naive in parts of the movie, and is really at his best only in the few times that he really starts questioning whether the situation he’s in is just too crazy. Spacey, in his few minutes on-screen manages to chew up the scenery (not unbelievable), and also be down-right hilarious (especially during the climax of the movie).

Overall, it’s a great comment on the situation in Iraq, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously and isn’t beating anyone over the head with any outright political agenda. I think that what agenda there is there, comes really just from knowing who these people are in real life. It’s definitely worth seeing. I don’t think that it’s as conversation stimulating as THE BOX was, but it’s a fun entertainment, nonetheless.

(And you’ll agree, I’m sure about this being the best STAR WARS movie!!)

It’s Halloween, time for some scary movies.

I’m not the biggest follower of horror movies. I tend to like psychological thrillers/mind-benders more – which are scary in their own right, but tend to be lacking in the ghosts, the ghouls and unstoppable forces. But, since it is that time of year, and it’s the one holiday that doesn’t tend to give us movies that are generic family dramas, or silly comedies; I felt the need to see a few that have been pretty well hyped this year as some landmarks for the horror genre.

First up is the underdog movie that has taken over America, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. The ghost story shot by the stars, in an attempt to get proof that Katie is being haunted by a ghost – or maybe even a demon. The movie starts with Micah (played by Micah), is looking into a mirror showing us his new film camera that he’s purchased. It’s set up that since moving in to their new house together, there has been an influx of strange noises and whispers when Micah and Katie are sleeping. So, Micah’s main plan is to video tape then as they sleep to see if there’s anything to see – or recorded via his EVP recorder.

The joy in this movie is that it’s a much more stable hand-held first-person POV movie – as opposed to CLOVERFIELD or even the movie that PARANORMAL ACTIVITY is compared to the most, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. For most of the movie, the camera is placed on a tri-pod and just pointed at two people laying in bed. The moments that the camera is moving, it’s not as jerky and flying everywhere to make people sick (I’d think. I’ve never had an issue with any of that.) The other great thing in the movie is the tension and atmosphere of the movie. Since this is meant to be a documentary of these two people’s lives, there is no soundtrack and the only ambient sounds we get are apparently when there’s supernatural activity happening. There’s a rumble on the speakers, maybe a door moves about fifteen degrees, then moves back, or maybe even a loud thud that sounds like the house has been cannon-balled. But, the great trick that the movie pulls is actually part of the filming, and that is the time-stamp during the night shots.

As we see the film fast-forward, the numbers fly by, 1AM to 3AM, and then it’ll slow down and play and something weird might happen, then it’ll fast forward again. So, you tend to get so caught up watching the clock, that when something else happens on screen (a sound or movement) it makes the movie scarier. Also, unlike the trailer – which will be below – where it shows the audience screaming and jumping, what happened more in my theater was giggling. Not laughing at the movie – either because it’s not good or whatever – but, it’s nervous laughter. That kind of thing where you just have no other reaction to give other than laughing because what you’re seeing is so messed up.

It’s a great movie, definitely worth seeing in a theater full of people (and at the rate it’s pulling in money, I don’t think that’ll be a problem for a while.), and will probably make you reconsider sleeping with the lights off, or even questioning whether those weird noises are being caused by a ghost haunting your girlfriend (or boyfriend).

Next we have one of two homages to 1980’s horror. TRICK ‘R TREAT is in the same vein as the anthology movies like CREEPSHOW or THE TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE. This one though, is by writer/director Michael Dougherty (he co-wrote X-MEN 2 and SUPERMAN RETURNS) and features the likes of Dylan Baker, Brian Cox and Anna Paquin.

The story itself is a fractured timeline of events, all taking place on Halloween night in a small-ish Ohio town. It starts with a couple coming home after a town parade, and then bicker about taking down the decorations – ghosts and jack-o-lanterns – before heading inside for the night. The guy, says leave it; the girl says take it down. So, she stays outside, and we get the POV of something that’s coming to get her. Is it because she blew out the pumpkin before Halloween is over? Or because she didn’t have candy to give as an offering? And does it matter – or make it cooler – that the couple is played by Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica, Dollhouse) and Leslie Bibb (LAW ABIDING CITIZEN and TALLADEGA NIGHTS)? Then we meet a group of girls trying on their halloween costumes and teasing Paquin’s character because tonight is going to be her “first time”, and she just wants to find the right guy. There’s the little kid who goes around knocking over jack-o-lanterns and stealing candy, only to be harshly reprimanded by Baker’s character; who gets a couple of great moments. A group of kids who make their way to a rock quarry to pay their respects to the dead. And then, finally there’s Cox’s final showdown with a little kid in a burlap bag mask.

The movie goes back and forward through the night – with I have to say, some confusing and kind of ridiculous captions, only saying “Later” and “Earlier”. It kind of became a joke whenever the angle cut, my friends or I would say, “Later, but not as late as earlier”. (It was all done in fun, but an actual clock caption might have worked a little better.) The writing and pacing are all pretty great. Pretty much all the stories work against what you’re initial thoughts on what’ll happen, like the damsel in distress might actually be a little more than she appears. The guy handing out candy, with a weird smile on his face, might not have your best interest at heart, and of course it’s always better to have candy around when a Halloween spirit comes knocking on your door.

Overall though, a strong entry, and one that looks like a shiny, Hollywood produced scary movie. Check it out – Halloween or not. The amazing thing is, is that this movie was actually made a couple years ago, and had sat on a shelf and then only released on DVD. So, it’s sad that this wasn’t given a chance to profit in a movie theater – as I think it would have done.

And finally for my Halloween Spectacular – or day after Halloween, as it seems – is another writer/director’s movie about things that go bump in the night – or more specifically, Satanists. Ti West, who has made a couple of other features, here gives us a perfect in look and mood, send up of 1980’s, horror movies. And along with cute, young girls who will be the victims…er I mean, stars, there’s a great supporting cast of horror alums like Tom Noonan (MANHUNTER), Dee Wallace (THE FRIGHTENER’S and the mom from E.T.).

The movie centers around Samantha, played by Jocelin Donahue, a young girl who is looking for a new place to live – so she can seemingly get out of her dorm, where she shares space with a sloppy lay-about. Only thing is, after she finds her perfect place, she has to find a way to come up with the money. Naturally, this is when she sees a poster with the words “Baby$itter needed” and a phone number. She calls it, leaves a message; and is immediately called back (on a pay phone, and seemingly at a number she didn’t give!! Creepy!!) The man on the phone says he’ll meet her in a while, where he winds up not showing up.

Ok, well, she figures that’s that; only when she gets home, her roommate tells her that some guy called. Samantha calls the number and the guy apologizes, and says he’ll pay double what he normally would, he’s really desperate. So, she has her friend Megan drive her to this family’s house – way out in the who knows where (probably Ohio again).

Oh and did I mention that there’s an eclipse? Well, there is, and the man reveals that he doesn’t actually have a kid that needs babysitting, it’s his frail mother; who really just needs someone there in case of an emergency. He offers $300 extra (just the amount she needs, plus more), plus more importantly, money for pizza.

The movie is pretty well made, for looking like it was shot on a low-quality camera. It’s got the graininess, and the off-lighting. But, it works to establish the mood. And after only one brutal, piece of violence, it takes quite a while for the terror to build. At first, when Samantha is at the house, she’s just exploring, and dancing with her walkman on, and generally being the conventional horror movie babysitter. But, when the true horror begins, it’s pretty great. Noonan is fantastic as the off-putting and creepy man. He’s super tall, has a cane and seems occasionally about ready to burst into a fit of rage. The woman that plays his wife, Mary Woronov, who is also pretty tall, is very creepy.

But, it’s really the last 10-15 minutes that make this movie great. It goes into territory covered by the recent movie THE DESCENT (the UK, cave-spelunking movie, not the Rosario Dawson rape/revenge movie I’ve talked about before), and Rosemary’s Baby. And as good as the last part of the movie is, it’s the last few moments that really give you that gut punch.

HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, is another movie – like TRICK ‘R TREAT – that was actually made a while ago, and is only now being released. It’s available to watch on On Demand, and is seemingly getting a small roll-out in theaters. Check it out as well.

When the wheels of justice move, it takes Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler to stop it…maybe

Hey there everyone. I see that people have mostly only been checking out my “Women of the 80’s” and “The Hangover” posts in the time since I last posted anything. This isn’t the topic that I had originally intended to return with (that one will be forthcoming), but having just got back from watching LAW ABIDING CITIZEN, I felt the need to immediately write up some thoughts about it.

First of all the ironic twist – in my life, not in the movie, so no spoilers – is that two years ago I had my own little kerfuffle with the law. A policeman got a little over-zealous and well, it wasn’t pretty. Well, today marks the second time that I’ve now seen that same police officer, directing traffic. Is it the same as blowing up half the city and killing lots of people? No. But, I felt vindicated.

Anyway, LAW ABIDING CITIZEN is the new movie from director F. Gary Gray – THE ITALIAN JOB – and screen-writer (and sometimes director in his own right) Kurt Wimmer (EQUILIBRIUM and the not so good ULTRAVIOLET). The story focusses on Clyde Shelton (Butler), who is an inventor and uber-genius, government hitman. In the beginning of the movie, his family is attacked and his daughter and wife are killed. The setup for the movie moves pretty quickly, this tragic event is over in a matter of minutes. We’re then introduced to hot-shot prosecutor Nick Rice (Foxx), who we learn is gunning for the big job of District Attorney, and in order to keep his perfect conviction record, he strikes a deal with one of the guys who killed Clyde’s family. Then the movie cuts to ten years later, and that’s when the action begins.

The movie is a little bit TAKEN and a little bit SEVEN (the Brad Pitt movie, for those not paying attention), it’s also in the same vein as another – little seen, I believe – recent Gerard Butler movie called SHATTERED; where Butler’s character is put in a weaker position and has his family in jeopardy under the guidance of a man with a gun to his head. That man, by the way, is Pierce Brosnan (just to get further off topic, that was their second time in the same movie – as Butler had a role in TOMORROW NEVER DIES, but they didn’t perform together there). Anyway, after ten years, Clyde makes his movie in getting justice from both the actual killers of his family and the unjust court system, that allows killers and indecent men to go free (if not immediately, much sooner than they probably ought to be).

Clyde’s plan is genius. He manages to stay quite a few steps ahead of Nick through most of the movie, and there’s some pretty awesome/gruesome/messed up stuff that happens in this movie. The reason that this movie manages to be so compelling and – to be honest – pretty damn good, is that the character make choices. They’re not the right choices – from our seats, obviously – but they’re the logical choices. When a man sitting in a jail cell says he’s going to bring down the entire city unless you bring him an iPod and a steak by 6pm, you say, “screw off” and deliver the food at 6:10. Then, after the city is coming apart, you say, “damn, should have brought it sooner.” As the movie goes on though, it does start to wander off the path, and I have to admit that the ending is weak in that it shies away from letting the man who is only brought down by a ghost in the machine-like deus ex-machina, and has one of the characters seemingly damning himself; or at least leaving us in that limbo of whether it’s ever appropriate to kill someone for the greater good, or what the consequences of doing something like that.

Butler is pretty great as Clyde Shelton. There’s a look in his eyes that allows you to believe that he could be this man, and that tiny bit of cockiness that he exudes shows us that he has the confidence to do exactly what he says he will. Foxx has the most work to do, and is really the least appreciated role in the movie, probably. He has to work with Clyde, he has to react to what Clyde does, he has to protect his family and friends, and though we spend more of the movie with him than with Butler, he’s not quite as engaging of a character. At least until the end, where it looks like he might be making the step that is alluded to earlier in the movie.

The supporting cast is full of faces old and new. We’ve got Bruce McGill, Colm Meaney, Leslie Bibb, Viola Davis and a whole slew of new faces. They all do great jobs. Davis is polar opposite from her performance in DOUBT. Bibb is showing herself to be a great actress, and hopefully she’ll start getting some larger roles – and ones that don’t feel the need to comment on her legs or other body parts. My only major issue with the movie, that for whatever reason just stuck with me, is how Colm Meaney and his seeming partner (Michael Irby), start off as homicide detectives, wind up police bodyguards and then add another task (not spoiling anything) that just seemed like it was put in there so we didn’t have to have any more characters. Not a big deal, but it bothered me.

Overall, the movie is exciting. It brings Gray back to form like with his early movie, THE NEGOTIATOR, which had a similar setup with Samuel L. Jackson as a hostage negotiator who takes his own hostage and how he’s able to out-maneuver the man sent to talk him down, in this case the man is Kevin Spacey, by the way. That movie was tense and also not the most brilliant of movies, but it’s engaging and keeps you on the edge of your seat. And sometimes that’s all I need.

Oh, and this is my 75th post. Congrats to me!!

Creative Screenwriting Podcast, an amazing journey into the minds of movie writers

I’ve written before about the podcasts that I enjoy listening to. Certain ones, like The Film Talk, /Filmcast, and The Scene Unseen Podcast are great shows, but I’ve found one that goes into the other side of the creative process. The Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s podcast, hosted by Jeff Goldsmith, Senior Editor of the actual magazine, and the podcast covers both larger projects (Q&A’s with THE DARK KNIGHT’s Jonathan Nolan, CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON writer Eric Roth) and smaller, more independent writers like 500 DAYS OF SUMMER’s Scott Neustadter and THE BROTHER’S BLOOM writer director Rian Johnson.

Jeff Goldsmith is a great interviewer, that seems to have a good base of questions he asks each writer, and really digs in on the specifics of each writer’s specific script. There’s been the episode with the writer of THE INFORMANT, Scott Z. Burns, where he had pages of an old version of the script where Matt Damon’s character had multiple voiceovers going at one time – that they read on the stage. There are questions answered (Brian Helgeland/THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123), alternate plot-lines revealed (Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick/ZOMBIELAND) and character design (Jody Hill/OBSERVE AND REPORT).

Check out the show, it’s available through iTunes, and I think that you’ll enjoy what you hear and probably learn some really neat information about some great, contemporary movies.

Creative Screenwriting Podcast

OBSERVE AND REPORT and ADVENTURELAND

I seriously had way too many ideas for the title of this post, that I had to just go with the titles of the movies. So, yeah; OBSERVE AND REPORT and ADVENTURELAND. Both movies are comedies that really go down different roads to that almost take them out of that one genre of movie. OBSERVE AND REPORT, gets so dark and brutal that I almost feel like it goes into horror; and ADVENTURELAND ventures into pretty heavy dramatic territory with it’s themes and character relationships. But, I spent a great deal of time laughing at both, and feel they’re fully worth seeing, so that leads us to me writing about them (and not very well, I see). The kind of funny connection between these two movies, is 2007’s SUPERBAD – which is also a great comedy – written and directed by Greg Mottola, and featured Seth Rogen in a police uniform. Don’t worry, you’ll get the connection in a few minutes.

So, OBSERVE AND REPORT is the story of Ronnie Barnhardt, the head of security in the mall that the majority of the movie takes place. He’s a disturbed man, like “taking medication” disturbed (not that there’s anything wrong with that) who takes his position a little too seriously (not that unusual) and is just a little too obsessive about things he comes into contact with; namely Brandi, the make-up counter girl (played by Anna Faris), or becoming a police officer like his nemesis in the movie, Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta). For the first part, Ronnie gets his in with Brandi after she’s been flashed by a guy who has been running around the mall’s parking lot flashing people. This seems like it’s going to be the crux of the movie, this is also when we’re introduced to Detective Harrison, who Ronnie sees as invading his turf and just not knowing how to do his job.

After another plot thread develops where someone is breaking into stores and robbing them, after hours in the mall, Ronnie decides he wants to try and become a police officer. He goes into an office, gets the applications, gives a couple runs through an obstacle course (amazingly, tearing people to the side and running the course pretty well – considering we’re talking about pre-slimmed down Seth Rogen here), and going on a ‘Ride-along’ with Detective Harrison. Harrison takes Ronnie to the worst part of town – a street corner called the crossroads, and tells Ronnie to take a walk around. When he gets out of the car, Harrison takes off; only to then have Ronnie be approached by some kids offering him crack and the kid’s father (played in a cameo role by Danny McBride) come up and threaten Ronnie. Ronnie incapacitates – and from a line of dialogue, kills – McBride’s character and about five other guys.

During this time Ronnie’s feeling pretty good about himself. So, he manages to finagle a date with Brandi – who seemingly forgets and shows up in a car full of guys dropping her off at her place – and they go out, get lots of drinks, share Ronnie’s medication, and wind up in an awkward and much-discussed situation. Needless to say this is as far as their relationship ever gets.

Ronnie has some subordinates in his security guard detail. A pair of Asian twins played by John and Matt Yuan, jerry-curled, Latino Dennis (an unrecognizable Michael Pena), and new recruit Charles played by Jesse Plemons. For the role of Ronnie, Seth Rogen seemed to have actually put on a few pounds, shaved his trademark messy “jew-fro” and turned down the cute and cuddly for the more threatening and psychotic. There was a joke his character made in THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN about Steve Carell’s character being a serial killer. Well, Ronnie fits that mold to a “T”, in this movie. his mother (Celia Weston) is always drunk, encourages Ronnie before his date with the story of her and Ronnie’s father’s first date (she says something like, “I knew he was special and that I was going to fuck him.” To which Ronnie says he hopes that’ll happen for him. (Whether he means the someone special thing, or just having sex, who knows; and I would doubt that he’d be as thoughtful to consider the former.)

The movie takes some very dark turns, which is kind of the stock in trade that writer/director Jody Hill, seems to enjoy. There’s a moment that seems to be a nod to the South Korean movie OLDBOY, the fight I already mentioned with the drug dealers, but there’s another one with a pack of skateboarding kids that just gets brutal, and then there’s the more explicit moments. Whether it’s the questionable date rape scene (is it, isn’t it? I’m not arguing either way.), and the streaker, who in the climax to the movie we get to see running through the halls of the mall, in full glory, and then the way that chase ends really kind of sucks all the air out of the theater (although, you’re going to now be watching this at home, I’d think). But, as dark as it gets, there’s a lot of humor too. Aziz Ansari has a couple of scenes, as a kiosk employee selling those skin creams that come from like the Dead Sea or something. (He gets probably one of my favorite lines in the movie, and it refers to Chik-Fil-A.) There’s also a whole other sub-plot with a cinnamon-shop with a girl that’s got a cast on her leg, Nell (played by Collette Wolfe) and is constantly hounded by her manager, played by Patton Oswalt.

Overall, it’s a great, and funny movie. Just expect there to be some moments that might cause you to pause and reconsider what you’re seeing. But, I have to imagine that it’s a more fulfilling experience than the previous mall cop movie, about that guy Paul Blart. (No I haven’t seen it, yes I’m blindly casting aspersions at it. Don’t make me go all Ronnie Barnhardt on you!)

ADVENTURELAND, the not quite latest movie starring Jesse Eisenberg (see ZOMBIELAND – not a sequel, but both take place in a themepark, only one has zombies – for that honor), Kristen Stewart, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig and Ryan Reynolds. Much like OBSERVE AND REPORT, this is a movie that was marketed on the back of it’s sister movies SUPERBAD, and other Judd Apatow-related movies, but in reality it ventures off that side-splittingly funny track and heads down some pretty serious subject matter – along with also having some really funny stuff in it.

Jesse Eisenberg plays James Brennan, a kid who just graduated from high school and is supposed to be heading off to Europe for the summer before heading to Columbia in the fall. When his parents, tell him that James’ father is being transferred to Pittsburgh (my home town, woot!), and basaically down-sized in his company; he has to give up his hopes for Europe and find a job to pay his own way into college. James has no skills to speak of and isn’t “even qualified for manual labor” as he says in one scene. So, he goes with a job offered via a friend, named Frigo, at Adventureland – the local theme park. It’s here he meets the people in charge, married couple Bobby (Bill Hader, rocking a monster mustache) and Paulette (Kristen Wiig, being hilarious by not really doing much at all). They assign James to work Games, where he meets and befriends Joel (played by Martin Starr, who is probably more famous as the bearded friend of Seth Rogen’s in KNOCKED UP), and is also introduced to Em, who is played by Kristen Stewart – in a role quite the opposite of her now more notorious character Bella in the TWILIGHT series. Opposite, in that Em is far more developed, mature and an actual woman who makes mistakes and is fallible without being a caricature.

The movie follows these people through their summer of 1987, working at the theme park, their nights afterward partying and drinking and having (or trying to have) sex. As with any movie set during the summer when kids are away from their parents, Adventureland has it’s own idyllic idols that each sex admires, envies or just lusts after. For the girls it’s the park’s maintenance man Connell (Ryan Reynolds), who is married but is known to have wandering eyes, and an available room in his mom’s basement. For the guys it’s Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva), a young girl who seemingly likes to act like she’s mature and sexually open, but really just likes to taunt the boys with her looks and Madonna-lite dance moves. Needless to say, James winds up falling for Em, and we get some hijinks related to his awkwardness in trying to woo her. (Like the swimming scene that leads to him being pointed out for having an erection – this also..ahem..comes up again later.) Then there’s the added complication of both of our young lovers being chosen by the “desirable ones”, for their own little escapades.

The major reason why this movie works is Jesse Eisenberg. He’s believable as the bumbling geek, who tries to be cool, but also doesn’t mind being different. He looks authentic in his nervousness and bumbling way of delivering lines, and doesn’t seem as goofy as certain other actors that get compared to Eisenberg a lot. But, the supporting cast also helps. Stewart, in this movie shows us again why she’s one of the best young actors right now, with the role of Em, and all the reasons that I’ve stated on why this character is appealing, engaging and in the end sympathetic. But, it’s mostly in the rest of the cast that the humor really comes from. Starr is brilliant as the iconoclastic, intellectual – who in one scene is told by a girl she can’t see him because he’s jewish, to which he responds, “but I’m an atheist, maybe more of a pragmatic nihilist I guess or an existential pagan if you will…” So, that’s the kind of high-level humor to expect from Martin Starr – and it works. Hader and Wiig, co-stars on the current run of SNL, work fantastic together. There’s a scene from the trailer – that I’m sure will be in the one posted below – where Hader is announcing the horse race game, and we see Paulette mouthing the same words that Bobby is yelling out. Then she says, “this is how we met”.

Overall, though it’s a strong contender for picking up where the recently departed John Hughes left off. It’s full of real people, with problems, wants and needs, and the characters learning their way in the world instead of it just seeming scripted and telling us the same story we’ve seen a million times. So, do yourself a favor and go see it. It’s one of those movies – like 500 DAYS OF SUMMER and THE BROTHERS BLOOM – that makes 2009 a great year for small, romantic movies that tread on a slightly different path.

And I feel like I’d be remiss in not mentioning that this movie was shot in Pittsburgh – as I did mention, actually – but that the theme park that stands in for Adventureland, is Pittsburgh’s own local theme park called Kennywood. And this movie really makes me want to go. And you should all come here and enjoy that too.

All these new shows, and nothing’s on

Well, we’re now into the Fall Television Season, and there are some shows that really stand out (GLEE) and others that are abysmal (HANK) and the return of some good shows (LIE TO ME) and shows that I wish I could like, but they just grate the wrong way (CASTLE).

First the new shows. You’ll probably notice that there will be a severe lack of certain network’s shows – ie. I don’t watch CBS, CW or those specialty channels like HBO or Showtime (well, I don’t get those, but sometimes I’m still able to catch and episode or two, but I won’t be talking about them). Most of the TV I watch is actually done on my computer, so I utilize HULU.com and that gives me access to FOX, NBC, ABC, and their sister channels. So, if by some chance THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, or BORED TO DEATH actually turn out to be good; I won’t know.

My favorite new show of the season is GLEE. It’s created by the people behind NIP/TUCK, and it’s about a high school Spanish teacher who also dreams of heading his school’s Glee club to regional championships. We also get peaks into the lives of the outcasts who sign up for the club. Including the neurotic wannabe star, who repeatedly gets slushies thrown in her face; a girl who sings fantastically but can barely say a complete sentence without stuttering. The highlight for the show is Jane Lynch’s Sue Sylvester, who heads the school’s cheerleading squad and is out to crush the Glee club – because it’s cutting into her budget. The other great thing is actually the musical numbers. There’s been a lot Showtune-y kind of songs, but there’s also some great contemporary songs like Kanye’s “Gold Digger” and Jazmine Sullivan’s “Bust the Windows Out Your Car”.

Next is COMMUNITY, the new sit-com starring Joel McHale, as a lawyer who apparently doesn’t have an authentic license to practice law. So, for whatever reason he enrolls in a local community college. In an effort to get closer to a fellow student (Gillian Jacobs), he fakes a Spanish tutoring class, which is thwarted when other “losers” show up for the tutoring. The rest of the cast is filled with interesting characters, headed by Chevy Chase’s Pierce, Alison (Trudi Campbell on MAD MEN) Brie’s mousey Annie, and the cameo appearances of Ken Jeong and John Oliver.

MODERN FAMILY is also another show that’s showing promise, with an ensemble cast – featuring Ed O’Neill, Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen – about a number of families (who are actually all one family) and their working through the difficulties of raising kids, dealing with spouses and the hilarity of familial missteps.

The last of the comedy shows is COUGAR TOWN, the new show by the creators of SCRUBS and starring Courtney Cox, as a mom who missed her 20’s and is trying to relive that time of her life. The supporting cast is filled with great actors – from the SCRUBS hold-over, Christa Miller to Brian Van Holt and Busy Philipps. The show plays great with what could be a cliched concept. Cox is great in the comedic role, and is probably going to lead to a better character than Monica on FRIENDS.

On the dramatic front, the biggest show that’s premiered is FLASHFORWARD, the new show from writer/director David S. Goyer (the new Batman franchise and the BLADE trilogy), starring Joseph Fiennes, John Cho and Sonya Walger, about everyone in the world blacking out and having a vision of six months into the future. The show, has a fascinating premise and for the most part shows a lot of promise. There’s some quirks, or missteps in some of the acting (Cho’s character seemed kind of stiff and reminded me of the non-actors from Clint Eastwood’s GRAN TORINO), but even worse are the blatant promotional material from other shows; a giant billboard for Oceanic Airlines (from LOST), an ad on a bus for DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. It’s a nitpick, but it takes what could be a serious and great show into something that seems like it’s just trying to keep a certain audience interested.

MERCY is the new medical drama by one of the creators of the television version of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, and has a cast of largely unknown actors – with the exceptions of Michelle Trachtenberg and Guillermo Diaz (WEEDS) – playing various medical staff in a hospital. It’s a little GREY’S ANATOMY, but it’s not quite as pedantic as that show (but we’ll give it time). But, so far it’s working.

In its second season LIE TO ME, seems like it’s going to continue being a strong show with a cool, different approach to the “solve a crime” procedural. The flashes of photographs of real-life examples of the same lies that are covered in the show are really the drawing part of the show. Tim Roth continues to be just weird enough, and engaging as Dr. Cal Lightman, the human lie-detector. The supporting characters are also great, and I’m glad it survived the last season, where we lost a number of great shows (TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES and LIFE, in particular).

MAD MEN, which is in its third season – and I’ve previously talked about the show – is continuing with the strong storylines, and the fascination of its characters.

FRINGE has also returned and considering the amazing place that the show left on, at the end of last season, it’s been an interesting start with the new stories, the twists in character development, and of course the awkwardness of John Noble’s Walter Bishop.

And finally, the underdog from last season that managed to come back is DOLLHOUSE. The intro music still bothers me, but there’s some interesting character developments.

There are still some shows that haven’t premiered yet, like V and the animated series ARCHER, but seem interesting. WHITE COLLAR is another series that ought to be on the air soon, and considering the strength of BURN NOTICE – the other show released from USA Networks – it seems like it could be good. But, otherwise it’s a pretty good season from the shows I’ve already seen.