Shortly before my senior year of high school, “Donnie Darko” became one of my favorite movies. Its heady, philosophical themes seemed to offer me something of substance, while its metaphysical meanderings bent my brain in ways I couldn’t quite comprehend, but absolutely loved.
According to the A.V. Club, on April 28 we’re going to get another taste of the Darko universe in the form of “S. Darko,” the story of Donnie’s younger, albeit aged, younger sister (last time we saw her, she was innocently asking what a “fuckass” was over family dinner).
But I’m seeing a few red flags that are making me extremely wary:
1. Original writer/director Richard Kelly has no involvement with the project.
2. It’s being released directly to DVD/Blu-Ray.
3. According to Wikipedia’s plot summary, at the end of the movie, Donnie’s sister “Sam learns the true meaning of family and friendship, and tries to save what really matters.”
Sounds like Donnie’s dark legacy is getting whored out for some low-budget, feel-good home entertainment.
Movie Review: “Sex Drive”
October 21, 2008
Director Sean Anders’ “Sex Drive” is a slapstick comedy that plays a lot like a saccharine “Superbad.”
The story centers on 18-year-old Ian Lafferty (Josh Zuckerman), a virgin who decides to take a road trip from Chicago to Tennessee with his two friends to hook up with “Ms. Tasty,” a girl he met on the Internet who promises that if he “comes all the way” for her, she’ll “go all the way” for him.
Sex Drive's humor was muddled by poorly-scripted sentimentality.
Primarily driving the humor in this tale of high school sexual frustration is the kind of raunchy flippancy that made “Superbad” so successful.
But there is also a whole lot of skin, and by the time you leave the theater, you’ll probably wish you hadn’t seen most of it.
The biggest problem with “Sex Drive,” however, is that it just can’t seem to commit to its comedy. Underlying Lafferty’s quest for physical satisfaction is his love for his best friend Felicia (Amanda Crew), which complicates the movie’s focus and makes it feel like a vulgar pseudo-romantic comedy. Many hilarious scenes are mixed with poorly scripted sentimentality, while moments lined with sentiment nosedive into awkward humor.
The story line is familiar: Nice guy likes female best friend, but female best friend is attracted to a different guy who doesn’t really care about her.
Eventually, the best friends start to come to their senses. You can probably fill in the blanks from there.
But if Anders was targeting a high school audience, he certainly did it well.
Fall Out Boy makes a cameo appearance at an Amish “Rumspringa” party at which the friends find themselves stranded. For better or worse, the movie also incorporates elements of the MySpace culture. As Lafferty chats with Ms. Tasty, the screen becomes littered with emoticons, webspeak and profile pictures.
Of the three co-stars, Clark Duke plays his role most naturally. Duke perfected the part of the endearingly dorky guy who wants to be smooth during his work with Michael Cera on the online CBS series “Clark and Michael,” but as Lafferty’s friend Lance in “Sex Drive” he gets to play the guy who’s actually smooth. And though Seth Green’s role as an auto-repair savvy Amish man is minor, his deadpan sarcasm becomes a recurring beat throughout the film.
If nothing else, “Sex Drive” will serve as an adequate cure for weekend boredom. After all, it’s not every day you get to see a pistol-wielding donut in action.
Rating: 2 stars
Originally published in the Austin American-Statesman 17 October 2008.
Movie Review: “Burn After Reading”
October 2, 2008
Originally published in the Hilltop Views 1 October 2008.
“Burn” just a good laugh
Last year’s award-winning “No Country for Old Men” was a breathtaking film. Joel and Ethan Coen’s latest offering, “Burn After Reading,” is a nice change of pace from somber to comical bloodshed.
Though the film is rife with all-star performances, Brad Pitt’s is among the best. Pitt plays a dimwitted personal trainer who stumbles upon an uncompleted memoir that he believes to be sensitive CIA information. His repetition of simple phrases and subtle eye squints expose him as a guy who wants to hit it big with his half-baked blackmail scheme, but simply doesn’t have the intelligence to do it.
With each plot movement in “Burn After Reading,” the Coens push their characters a little closer to conflict, then step back to see if chaos ensues. “I know what you represent,” John Malkovich’s character says to another when everything inevitably erupts. “You represent the idiocy of today.”
But the film isn’t even as deep as this insight suggests. As the movie comes to a close, the story arcs of many of the characters fizzle out. Others are simply axed.
The final scene, which offers limited resolution without the main characters present, suggests the Coens didn’t care about tying everything together neatly. “Burn After Reading” is mostly an outlandish portrayal of what happens when shallow self-interest grasps limited leverage.
Beyond that, it’s just funny.
Movie Review: “The X-Files: I Want to Believe”
September 10, 2008
Originally published in The Hilltop Views 10 September 2008.
For six years after the end of the ninth and final season of the awarding-winning sci-fi/drama/comedy series “The X-Files,” rumors about a second movie abounded. This summer, 10 years after the first movie hit theaters, rumor became reality. But instead of building on the complex, thought-provoking characters and plots of the show’s past that often left viewers wondering where their sympathies should lie, the movie severely disappointed. Sleepy subplots, half-baked antagonists, and forced romance all came together to make “The X-Files: I Want to Believe” one of the biggest box-office duds of the summer, which effectively killed the rumor of a third, conclusive movie. Unfortunately for X-Files fans, the truth will have to stay out there.
Movie Reviews: “Into the Wild”
November 18, 2007
My girlfriend has been excited about “Into the Wild” for months. For one, Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys is among our favorite films, so we’re both Emile Hirsch fans.
But she also read the book over the summer and loved it, and knowing my fondness for outdoor adventure and my fascination with the natural lifestyle advocated by Thoreau in “Walden,” she insisted that we go see the film this weekend.
What I love about the story of Chris McCandless (the man upon whom the film is based) is his willingness and drive to renounce society and travel the country. I, like many, am guilty of participating in one of those “down with the system” 4AM conversations in the dorm room, talking about government corruption and the desire for a simpler, more sincere life.
But McCandless actually went through with it. The scene where Hirsch (who plays McCandless) burns his social security card and gives away his $24,000 in savings sent chills down my spine.
And of course, his ensuing adventures are incredible. Whether he’s kayaking down raging rapids or running alongside a herd of moose in the Alaskan plain, he’s always pushing the boundaries of his environment and moving beyond the experiences with which he is familiar. And it’s all portrayed in the film alongside a surprisingly complementary soundtrack composed by Eddie Vedder.
But of course, McCandless’s philosophy of life had its flaws, and it’s heartbreaking to see how his journey ends. But “Into the Wild” is an incredible glimpse into the life of a radically minimalist individual with a passion for new experience and a drive to defy the overindulgent conventional wisdom of today.
