The Cynical Blog

Who has demonstrated a better grasp of cracking the veneer of American life than Sam Mendes you ask? Nobody? Well, I think I might have to go ahead and agree with you on that. American Beauty captured my imagination and had me looking at the mundane world around me and searching for the purity that the movie’s character were all searching for.

With Revolutionary Road, Sam Mendes explores questions of urban stereotypes again as we watch an idealistic couple trying to fight against the banality and routine that surrounds them. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet pair up again for the first time since Titanic… why hasn’t anyone caught on to that bit of hype yet?

Revolutionary Road comes to theatres on December 26th.

In what could be an effort to psych out astute fans of the the crime-movie, or perhaps it’s simply the next logical step in the evolution of the gangster film, there appears to be a paradigm shift in the mob movie: The boss is the rat. Whether it’s to get to the top or merely to stay there, mob bosses have been opting to keep their enemies way closer than their friends. In recent films such as The Departed, Layer Cake and (my apologies for the spoiler) RocknRolla this new hole in the mob’s wall of silence has been leaking.

You know what the best thing about Quantum of Solace was? The new Star Trek trailer - and even that didn’t seem to get the right kind of reception from the gathered theatrical audience.

I had managed to keep my expectations for this Bond sequel in check, but I should have realized from the start that my expectations were already way out of whack when I acknowledged it as a sequel. There has never been a bonafide sequel to a Bond film, each and every one is completely compartmentalized. Quantum of Solace on the other hand takes place about 5 to 10 minutes after the critically acclaimed Casino Royale leaves off. I would imagine it would be nearly impossible to track down a Bond fan who hadn’t seen Casino Royale at a screening of QoS, so I suppose they can get away with this, but it would be nearly impossible to follow the story without having the lead-in under your belt.

The chases are satisfying, and it’s about time they had a proper car chase in this new Craig-generation Bond. Last time all we had was a car crash. I even liked the foot-chase that followed it, despite the chaotic inter-cutting with the neighbouring horse race. What I did not like was the unbalanced writing that came from having three different writers on the team - even if one of them was Due South creator Paul Haggis. One scene in particular stands out in my mind - where Bond and his partner of the hour, Fields confront Greene at a party in Bolivia. Suddenly the writing takes on a hackneyed Dukes of Hazzard quality that leaves me wondering what happened to the high-brow (and high-handed) fashion in which the story’s been told thus far.

What else didn’t I like? I didn’t like that I couldn’t fathom the convoluted plot. Was it about oil or was it about water? Was Quantum really an uber-powerful Illuminati? If they were, how did that girl keep getting so close to them only to act all crazy again and again? I didn’t like the second stupid foot-chase that was also inter-cut with the neighbouring action, in that case it was an opera. Totally pulled me out of the action.

I kind of dig that this new generation Bond is big into the Parkour thing, but I don’t dig that they haven’t made him about the gadgets at all. Where the hell is Q? The gadgets have always been an integral part of any Bond story and to ignore it is to ignore what the stories are really about.

What else didn’t I like? That when it was over and time to say goodbye that nobody, myself included, knew that the end had come. The credits started rolling and that was it. Hopefully that means we have some ends tied up and we can see the last of these sequel-style Bond films.

I remember watching the trailers for QoS and seeing there was a definite Bourne quality to them. I couldn’t fault them for that, it was a format that proved very effective. As I watched QoS, I was on the lookout for those elements and could see some of them clearly (like the hand to hand fight in the hotel room). What I finally came to accept was that Bond has simply turned into the rich man’s Bourne, taking place in all kinds of fancy-schmancy places while Bourne operated on the edges of society in the cold. I guess opulence has been an important part of the Bond legacy for a ling time, it’s just never seemed to shallow until now.

The Verdict: I give this movie three simple letters - M E H. Meh. I could take or leave this movie a hundred percent.

The new Star Trek trailer is up on our site for your viewing pleasure. This was arguably the best thing about going to see Quantum of Solace in the theatre - the rest of my experience was pretty much downhill from there.

This trailer manages to do a good job of introducing just about everyone - apparently Uhura’s way of introducing herself is to take off her shirt… I couldn’t be more psyched for this if I tried.

Despite the fact that the sync is way out, we’re still proud to present the fifth installment of our Morning Show appearances. This time around we’re happy to chat about the greatness of Tropic Thunder.

It’s taken them a little while to get around to it, but Brian and Steve have finally posted their review of Family Guy’s Star Wars tribute: Blue Harvest.  The love is defintiely there, but are the laughs there too?

Legend tells of a movie blog called Filmicability who deigned to challenge the cinematic judgment of Sarahnomics. Sarahnomics was asked to rewrite history in her own image and create her own results for every Oscar winning Best Picture dating back to time immemorial… deciding that immemorial was just a fancy way of saying “the mid-seventies”, Sarah instead generated a list of movies that should have won the Best Picture Oscar to suit the last quarter of the last century… and a little bit of this one.

As joiners in the true sense of the word - The Film Cynics have been more than happy to take the torch from Sarahnomics and come up with their own alternate Oscar Winners lists, and before long will be ready to challenge the next blog to cross our path.

Steve’s List: (Actual winners in parentheses)

I know Steve is so over this show that he will probably not even read this post. But I just tried to sit through another mind blowingly boring episode of Heroes on NBC. It was another “flashback” episode. You know the ones where they go back in time to tell you how we got to where we are, even though we don’t know where we are going. And they can conveniently change the past to make the future makes sense. I guess Tim Kring should have written more then 1 season of a synopsis down. It would be a great device if I cared about the present.

My biggest complaint is that no one ever dies. Hell, they are bringing back characters that were never even around in the first season. As much as I like Robert Forrester as an actor, I don’t need him in this show. So lets take a vote. I have a poll on the side of the main page, asking for your opinion on which of the original “Heroes” should bite the bullet and move on to direct to DVD movies. If they are lucky.

Movies about addiction and rehabilitation are not generally a pleasant experience. Usually the characters are quite depressing and sad, making you glad that your own life does not in anyway mimic what you see on the screen. That is why I was quite pleased in the outcome of Jonathan Demme’s latest film, “Rachel Getting Married”, starring Anne Hathaway in a very un-Anne role. She plays Kym, the drug addicted black sheep of her family, who in her youth was responsible for an event that tore the family apart, and one that they are not quite over yet. She returns from rehab to attend her sisters wedding. That is pretty much it. But you can guess that when you take a self centered drug addict and put them in a situation that is not about them, the conflicts and past problems will arise. And boy do they ever.

What I really liked about this movie, is the way that Demme used the music. It was never as a second thought, all the music in the film is either being played by musicians at the house or from a car stereo or some other naturally occurring device. If there is no music being played, then there is no music music in the film. It was a very nice touch, especially nowadays when most films try to make their mark with what songs they can cram into the movie. It was very cool, and also adding to the cool factor was the fact that Tunde Adebimpe played the groom, but aside from one a cappella song, he wasn’t forced into bringing his day job to the role.

Anne Hathaway is getting rave reviews for her role in this movie and rightfully so. She delivers a solid performance and deserves every bit of attention that she is getting. Is it strong enough to garner an Oscar nom? possibly. But what it does do, it shows that this young woman has the ability to play roles other than the young New Yorker who goes shopping/gets new job/falls in love/acts adorable in every movie. The one thing that struck me as odd though is in the previews for this movie, they were promoting Annes new movie “Bride Wars” which looks like a huge pile of shit and so cliched that it makes me wonder how she picks her roles. Out of a hat? on a dare? probably by paycheck, but then I can’t blame her. The good roles generally don’t pay well and the bad ones do. Hopefully she can keep on doing the good and the bad can become a thing of her past.

Our review of Matthew Vaughn’s modern gangster classic Layer Cake is now online for your viewing pleasure.