fuzzypuzzle

M. Night Shymalan? M. Night Hilarious Is More Like It

Forget Kung-Fu Panda! Judd Apa-who? M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening steals the crown as the funniest summer movie to date. Improperly marketed as a "horror film" this hilarious, laugh-a-minute comedy packs more chuckles into ninety minutes than Jack Black and Ben Stiller combined!

Some of my favorite parts:

1. Casting: Marky Mark as a science teacher. What a riot!
2. Funny Faces: Zooey Deschanel's patented "googly eyes" - Hilarious!
3. Funny Voices: The "whisper voice" that Marky Mark uses throughout the entire film - Inspired!
   
4. Slapstick physical comedy: The lion scene at the zoo - Oh man, I snorted my Sprite right out through my nose. Hysterical!
5. Dialog: You'll have to pick your own favorite here, but lines like "Oh here's a car." as a car drives up, you get the idea. - Knee-slappingly funny throughout.

I don't know how this genius auteur genre-jumps from horror to comedy with such ease (he's like the Coen Bothers!) but boy am I glad he does. This little indian dude knows how to bring the funny, and I for one can't wait for the sequel!

The Increasingly Apalling State of Media Reporting

I've been pretty disgusted by the network (and newspaper) coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting. Everyone from the editors writing the tasteless, disrespectful headlines (Bloodbath at Blacksburg!) to the Art Directors and graphics guys mocking up the images with tacky "distressed" type and implied blood spatter are guilty of exploitation, fear-mongering and just poor taste. Maybe I'm getting old (a recurring fear-based theme here on the FP) but whatever happened to the Walter Cronkite "newsmen" style of reporting?

Needless to say I was delighted to read a great article in today's Times about an increased number of television viewers changing the channel over to ABC to watch Charles Gibson's slightly different approach to reporting the news. The following is excerpted.

The excruciatingly close-up and continuous coverage of the massacre helps explain why viewers are increasingly turning to Charles Gibson of ABC. When it comes to an anchor’s presence at a major breaking story, less can be more.

Network anchors often behave as if they are the nation’s grief counselors. One reason that Mr. Gibson has been gaining in the ratings could be that he acts like the nation’s newsman.

And particularly in the middle of so wrenching a tragedy, tone matters as much as content. Hurricane Katrina, even more than 9/11, emboldened television newscasters to fold themselves and their feelings into the story, and that has led to the Anderson Cooperization of the evening news.

(NBC's Brian Williams) Mr. Williams is polished and authoritative when delivering the news, but he turns longwinded and cloyingly personal in one-on-one interviews, perhaps trying to compensate for a stuffy Savile Row style or to relive his more emotive reporting during Katrina.

(CBS's Katie Couric) Ms. Couric, who anchored Monday’s broadcast in white slacks and very little makeup to signal to viewers that she was hard at work in the field (actually, it was a university alumni room), is less wordy, but in interviews she tends to lower her voice to signal compassion and to gaze at the interviewee with gauzy, sorrowful looks.

Mr. Gibson, who didn’t arrive on the scene until Tuesday, was better than either of his rivals at keeping an even keel. His interview with a group of survivors on Tuesday night was more bearable to watch, mostly because his questions, posed in a kindly but neutral manner, solicited information, not emotion.

“And how would you describe his facial manner and demeanor?” Mr. Gibson asked, referring to the gunman. “Could you feel him pushing against the door?” Perhaps relieved to be asked for facts and not just their feelings, the students delivered both.

Mr. Gibson, who comes across on-screen as rumpled, pleasant and serious, doesn’t try as hard to look softhearted. Mr. Gibson didn’t look as if he were simulating emotion or fact-finding; he looked professional and self-effacing. And in a calamity, that is actually a comfort.

Communist Manifestoon

This great link comes via boing boing. It's a brilliant mash-up, utilizing hundreds of gorgeous vintage cartoon clips to explain the Communist Manifesto. The narration could probably be a bit more passionate, I would've tried to get Alec Baldwin or James Earl Jones.

In light of the current political landscape, the whole pinko, commie agenda sounds pretty good; but then I've always been a sucker for a good Manifesto.

Alive in JoBurg

This six minute film by Neil Blomkamp, about an alien invasion that occurs in Johannesburg, is infinitely more interesting than 90% of the crap on TV (and probably why Blomkamp was selected to helm the Halo film). The raw documentary style creates an eerie effect, and reminds me of some of M. Night Shyamalan's video stuff in Signs.

The Descent

There was a great post on AICN (maybe six or seven months back?)  by someone who had seen a screening of a small, little horror-film, that seemed to be off of everyone’s radar called The Descent. The reviewer mentioned writer/director Neil Marshall’s first film, Dog Soldiers, and went on to say that the Descent was a harrowing, terrifying experience for everyone in the screening audience. Needless to say, my interest was piqued; so I was very excited to learn that my girlfriend had scored tix to the Fangoria preview in Manhattan last night.

Unfortunately, Fangoria elected to precede the showing with what I’m assuming will be the DVD extras, which consisted of actress interviews, and commentary from Mr. Marshall. Regrettably they also included a considerable amount of film footage, which revealed far too much about the movie prior to the screening (theatre goers were actually yelling for the projectionist to stop it and play the film). Which is a shame, because The Descent is undoubtedly destined to become a horror classic; and I can say with all confidence that Neil Marshall is undoubtedly poised to be the next master of modern horror. (sorry Eli)

The last “horror” film I really enjoyed was 28 Days Later, but for the most part I’m not a horror fan, as I find the majority of the genre boring and predictable or (as with Mr. Roths films) simply sadistic and gross. The Descent however had me from the go. Mr. Marshall gives the audience just enough initial character development to make the audience care about the six female leads.

I don’t want to give away too much about the film (no spoilers) but the basic premise is pretty evident even in the trailer; six hard-core chicks (chicks with picks) go spelunking in an old cave, and there are some bad things down there that are out to get ‘em. I’ll admit, it doesn’t sound all that revelatory on paper (not the greatest elevator pitch I’ve ever heard)  but in Mr. Marshall’s hands this construct provides the foundation for a hell of a ride. ( I literally left the theater dazed and exhausted)

The terror recipe that Mr. Marshall employs is as follows.
1.) Take the time to build up a palpable, overwhelming sense of dread, tension, unease and claustrophobia.

2.) The moment the audience begins to settle in, throw something completely unexpected and terrifying at them; and continue to do this throughout the ENTIRE film.

The audience begins getting hammered with unexpected shocks almost immediately, and it never relents; which inevitably results in your nerves getting increasingly frayed as the film progresses. As the characters go “deeper into the rabbit hole” so do we.

The sense of unease in the theater was so great, that people were making exclamations despite themselves. “Holy shit!” … “Oh my God!” Several people were laughing, almost cackling at completely inappropriate times, and I’m convinced it was nervous laughter (I’m laughing … just so I won’t cry)

Certainly the haters will cry “frenetic editing”… “too dark to tell what’s going on”, etc. etc. but in the end Neil Marshall crafted a really creepy, terrifying story, and he executed it with artistic vision on a modest budget.

In closing I just cannot wait to see what this guy does next. I found myself thinking about it on the train ride home. What if he had a Hollywood budget and A-List actors and effects? But in the end it probably wouldn’t matter (I don’t think Hillary Swank and Jennifer Garner would have made the film any scarier) If you like to be scared (and don’t have an existing heart condition) go check it out.

Yo Gabba Gabba

Finally, something for the kids. Note the impressive cameos by the Biz and the Paul Frank monkey. Shit looks dope. You can read about the production here.

Mamet's The Unit on CBS

I'm a big David Mamet fan. I loved Glengarry Glen Ross, loved The Edge, loved the Spanish Prisoner ... you get the idea. In fact, I used to live a few blocks away from Mr. Mamet in South Boston and (being that we're both super macho and super smart) was convinced we were going to become great friends. Alas, it never came to be, but I was still thrilled to learn that he was penning a show called the Unit for CBS. (CBS is so square they didn't even pick up on Mr. Mamets' dick joke)

Anyway, part of the show focuses on the day-to-day lives of a secretive, highly trained faction of the U.S. Special Forces. Now this sounds like a very cool premise for a show, especially in Mr. Mamet's capable hands; but the OTHER part of the show focuses on the lives of the soldiers wives back home on the military base; and frankly I can't think of a many writers (living or dead) who could make that premise very interesting. I would elaborate on why both the concept and execution suck, but it would be almost as boring as watching the program, so I’ll spare you.

CBS has also retained Shawn Ryan as an executive producer on the Unit. Mr. Ryan first came to attention as the executive producer of the Shield over at FX. The Shield is admittedly a very well produced program, but it employs a five minute “music video” segment at the end of each show that can only be described as über-cheesy. Unfortunately, one of the talking heads over at CBS apparently thinks this device is “edgy” and has elected to carry it over to the Unit. In last weeks music montage the protagonist of the show  pensively studies his fractured reflection in a broken mirror that he accidentally shot while gripped in the throes of a nightmare; meanwhile, over at battalion headquarters ... his dutiful wife takes the heat from his ranking superior, claiming that she discharged the weapon while trying to kill a rat. (I’m not making this up.)

The sad part of all this is that CBS could have green lighted a better show called Ops, written by another super talented screenwriter, John August.

Mr. August describes Ops as “an adventure-drama about two guys who run a private military corporation. They’re the sub-sub-contractors for a giant corporation like Halliburton, providing field operations in really dangerous parts of the world, such as Iraq, Afghanistan or Venezuela.”

But who am I kidding, Ops probably would’ve sucked too. Mr. August reports on his BLOG that the Fox Network, who had originally ordered a pilot, was considering L.L. Cool J. for one of the leads. Huh? I doubt Mr. Cool J. could spell Afghanistan, never mind lead a private military operation over there. Anyway, check out Spartan with Val Kilmer for an idea of how cool the Unit COULD have been.

Paul Walker Is a Master Thespian

So sometime last year I was geeking out on one of several movie blogs that I regularly visit and I stumbled across an interesting little factoid about the twenty-something actor Paul Walker. Apparently he (and Brendan Fraser and Nicolas Cage?!) had been  offered the lead role in the much-hyped, upcoming Superman movie (I refuse to refer to it as a film). I did a quick scan of my memory banks and quickly determined that (with a little blue/black hair dye) he did indeed have the requisite Adonis looks, height and build for the role of the Man of Steel. So I was pretty shocked when I read on to discover that he had turned down the gig. What the F?! From my perspective, any handsome, will-probably-end up-on-a-soap-opera-or-in-porn type actor would jump at the chance to play an iconic American character like Superman. Not too mention the fact that several top-tier “Hollywood” directors (McG, Kevin Smith, Wolfgang Peterson, Brett Ratner) had all been mentioned to potentially helm the movie. Was he crazy?! Was he already committed to the Fast and the Furious Trois? (set in Paris.) I wrote it off as undeniable proof that beautiful people were infinitely stupider than us smart, black glasses wearing types.

So several months go by (as they are often wont to do) and one lazy Sunday afternoon I find myself prone on the couch half-watching a goofy little flick called Joyride which stars none other than my man, P.W. and one of my favorite comic actors Steve Zahn. Suffice it to say, the movie will almost certainly never be shown in an NYU film class. But I’d be comfortable arguing that it’s an undeniably fun film. It transported me back to my youth, watching Dennis Weaver get terrorized by a sadistic trucker in Steven Spielberg’s first (and only?) TV movie Duel. To put in perspective HOW much I enjoyed the movie, I actually looked up the screenwriter on IMDB. (It was written by JJ Abrams; creator of Alias, Lost and most recently Mission Impossible 3)

After brief reflection (very brief)  I was forced to confront the fact that Mr. Walkers performance was really pretty decent. He manages to somehow play down his looks and he generously takes a backseat to Zahn’s kooky antics. And while his character pining for homely and annoying Lelee Sobieski is admittedly completely unbelievable, I put the majority of the blame on the casting director as opposed to Mr. Walkers acting ability.

I visited IMDB again to confirm that this was indeed the dude from 2 Fast, 2 Furious. (yes, it’s spelled using numerals, and yes again, even Vin Diesel turned it down.  And the only conclusion that I could draw was that he must have a really good agent. In 2003 the crap-ola film adaptation of pseudo-science author Michael Crichton’s novel Timeline was released, and all my initial theories on Mr. Walker’s future as a soap star were confirmed anew. 

But then another couple of months go by (as they are often wont to do) and my girlfriend is out with some friends on a random Saturday night; so I stopped by the video store on my way home from work and picked up Into the Blue on a whim. (I enjoy scuba diving, bikinis and recreational drugs so I thought it’d make for a fun viewing) And AGAIN, Mr. Walker is paired up with a disarmingly charismatic supporting actor (Scott Caan does a great job playing a frat-boy, Manhattan, prick lawyer). And Mr. Walker manages to pull off a likable, ordinary, relatable character who finds himself in an altogether extraordinary situation. I had to admit I enjoyed the movie.

SIDEBAR: I really did not want to like this movie, as I had spent six months working on a similar screenplay concept with a close friend after a trip to Turks and Caicos. We were forced to abandon the idea after Variety broke the sale of this screenplay with a synopsis that was almost identical to our concept. 

So tonight I logged-on to the Newline Cinemas site (they require you to fill out a really annoying age verification form) and watched the first six minutes of Mr. Walkers latest movie Running Scared directed by Wayne Kramer. And again I have to admit, it looks pretty cool. Walker’s character looks like an interesting anti-hero type (the trailer leaves us thinking he's a criminal); and Mr. Kramer is one of a small group of contemporary directors using CG in an interesting, almost transparent way. (David Fincher does it best)  Suffice it to say, I’ll probably be in line at the multi-plex on opening day.

It’s possible that I may have been wrong about Mr. Walker and his choice to pass on the Supes role. The other two dudes who picked up the famous blue tights are both dead (and their careers were unremarkable in my humble opinion.) If Walker continues to challenge himself by choosing interesting roles and working with talented young writers and directors, he'll probably have a very long and fulfilling career in Hollywood.