Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 26 July 2001

Questioning his troops, he finds advice in Commissar Danilov (Fiennes) who also acts as a newspaper writer in publishing articles about the war.  He came across a brave young soldier named Sergeant Vassili Zaitsev (Law) who despite the gravity of the situation he faced, killed five leading German soldiers and lived to tell the tale.  Danilov suggests that he write of Vassili in the newspaper and his story will inspire the people of Russia to rally against the Germans.

Vassili’s infamy grows as stories spread of his deadly aim and Danilov continues to publish his accomplishments for all of Russia to read.  The tag of a “war leader” doesn’t sit well with Vassili who now finds himself a wanted man.  Respected German sniper Major Erwin Konig (Harris) has been sent from Berlin with the assignment of eliminating him.  Vassili now has to watch his back with every step he takes.

The film begins with the obligatory scene setting that we’ve come to expect from recent war flicks.  We see the shooting, the fighting, the killing and I understand the seriousness of the situation but it’s hard not to be bored since we’ve seen this over and over again.  After this introduction, Enemy At The Gates improves dramatically as the very interesting true story is told.  Instead of continuing to show us the horrors of the war, we are glued by the simple story of two men hunting each other.

The whole cast deliver excellent performances.  Law and Fiennes are strong and don’t overact or rely on unnecessary dialogue to express themselves - it’s as if they don’t know they’re being filmed.  Rachel Weisz plays a love interest that divides the two and is an ideal casting choice.  She offers much more to period pieces (such as Sunshine and Swept From The Sea) than some of her more conventional films (The Mummy and The Mummy Returns).  Ed Harris is great too as the German sniper – the look he gives is one of fear.

As one of the best war films since Saving Private Ryan, Enemy At The Gates is a compelling movie.  It proves that you don’t need million dollars stunts to create suspense.  A story about heroes and their true importance.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 12 July 2001

Jane’s a person who tends to over-analyse confronting situations.  In looking for the right man, destiny sets her up with Ray Brown (Kinnear), a Washington producer who’s just started working for the same television studio as Jane.  Despite admitting to having a girlfriend, neither seems hindered and within six weeks, the “L” word (love) is being uttered whilst they look for an apartment to move into.

Just when things start looking serious, Ray gets cold feet.  He is confused over his attraction for two different people and he retreats from Jane who cannot understand why.  Thus, her “old cow” theory is formed. 

Emotionally fragile, Jane moves in with another workmate, Eddie (Jackman), who is quite the “ladies man”.  Jane is repelled by the idea that he picks up women every night but in his differences she finds insight.  They are both intelligent people and in opening up to each other, they learn that you can find true love more than once and they may soon be finding it in each other...

Based on Laura Zigman’s book, Someone Like You is told somewhat like a novel.  Creatively, the film is split into chapters with witty titles popping up on the screen every so often to let us know we’re moving on another tangent.  This is evident more so in the beginning and disappointingly, the film resorts to a more standard style in the final half-hour.

Despite the inevitable predictability that exists in a romantic comedy, actor turned director Tony Goldwyn (A Walk On The Moon) and writer Elizabeth Chandler (A Little Princess) keep things new.  It doesn’t suggest that some men are total scumbags and some men are perfectly perfect.  It tells women that there isn’t much difference between the two and that it’s sometimes their own insecurities and misconceptions that give this impression.

Yes, this film/fantasy is targeted at women and yes, women are going to enjoy it much more than men but yes, this is a romantic comedy worth seeing.  Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman make a nice couple although it’s a hard to believe that a woman as beautiful as Judd could have such trouble finding a date.  Greg Kinnear may also consider a character change having played the sweet, charming guy once too often.  Aside, Someone Like You is not too heavy, it’s not too light, it’s just right.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 26 July 2001

Final Fantasy is the second film in a month to be based on a computer game (after Tomb Raider).  The year is 2065 and the Earth has become almost uninhabited.  A meteor crashed landed on the planet 32 years ago and brought with it a series of invisible alien life forms that instantly killed everything they touch.  A series of large shelters surrounded by electronic shields are home to those that remain alive but the future is looking bleak.

General Hein (Woods) proposes that his powerful “Zeus gun”, which orbits the Earth, should be used to obliterate the meteor base.  Previous bombing attempts were unsuccessful but Hein believes his weapon has enough force to kill them permanently.  On the other hand, Doctor Sid (Sutherland) believes force is not the answer.  His spiritual research shows that there are eight spirits which when harnessed, will reveal the key to removing the alien “ghosts”.

As these two argue over their theories before the council, Sid’s assistant, Dr. Aki Ross (Ming-Na) has been tracking and collecting these spirits.  She has already found six and just two remain before Sid’s theory can be tried.  Helping her is old friend Grey Edwards (Baldwin) and his crew but they’re not only battling the external elements, General Hein and his army are also making sure they don’t succeed.

It’s obligatory that I talk of the brilliant animation.  Aki seemed the least realistic of the lot but there are some characters who could be mistaken for humans.  At times while watching the film, you forget these people aren’t real.  It must be a delight for directors who don’t have to worry about flubbed lines and reels ending up on the cutting room floor.  Every scene can be changed and crafted to perfection.  It was only six years ago that we first made a computer generated feature and now look how far we come.  In ten years, will we even need actors?

The answer to that question is yes because despite having every characteristic of a human, emotion is lacking.  During the big thrilling finale of Final Fantasy, you won’t be too excited about the fate of these people.  This is something I can only say in hindsight but seeing Arnie hanging from a helicopter (as in True Lies) or seeing Tom Cruise hanging from the ceiling (as in Mission: Impossible) has that hard-to-define quality that is lacking from Final Fantasy.

When you look at box-office figures (which is all some studio executives do), the tale is told.  The film was a huge flop in the States as was another similar Dreamworks picture earlier this year called Titan A.E.  Perhaps the public are saying something?  Computer animation is fine just as long as it doesn’t involve rendered humans.

Valid arguments stem from this.  With so many actors struggling to find work, the Screen Actors Guild won’t be actively promoting a wave of computer generated flicks.  I don’t think they have anything to worry about.  Animation will get better and better but when it comes to action, people don’t go because of the script, they go because of the stunts and they go because of who’s in it.  It’s a lesson that has cost Columbia Tristar $100m.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 July 2001

At his daughter’s 16th birthday dinner, John is interrupted by Joey the Raccoon who comes tapping at his window.  He asks that John come into the woods and meet “The Beaver”, a mafia-like figure who is both respected and feared by the other animals of the forest.  The Beaver has called on Dr. Dolittle as he believes he’s the only person that can help them - the forest is to be logged by a corporate giant and with government approval, there isn’t much time until they’re all out of home.

With the help of a friendly zoologist, John finds a female Pacific Western bear in the forest that is on the endangered species list.  Being the only resident of her species, the court refuses to recognise her right to survival leaving John searching for a solution.  Looking for a mate, he finds a circus bear named Archie but he’s long been domesticated.  Can John break nature’s rules and reintroduce Archie into the wild to save the species (and the forest)?  Not only can he do it, he’ll make sure it’s a hilarious journey.

We aren’t talking brilliant comedy here but it’s funny enough to appeal to both adults and kids.  In the first film, much time was wasted introducing Dr. Dolittle and how he first realised he could talk with animals.  That problem is not replicated in the sequel.  Despite the improvement, the film still feels like you’re watching a bunch of unrelated skits.  Many scenes don’t flow but to their credit, they’re still amusing.

Eddie Murphy is super and it’s nice to see the “real” Eddie for a change.  In the past three years, he’s played a voice twice (in Shrek and Mulan) and in most every other film, he’s covered himself in make-up to play more than one character (The Nutty Professor, The Nutty Professor 2, Bowfinger).  Murphy has a great sense of humour but is more controlled in this film than his previous works.  I believe it works in the film’s favour.

How many celebrities did they get to provide animal voices in this film?  Just when I’m racking my brain to recognise one particular voice, another chimes in leaving me even more perplexed.  A simple check of the Internet Movie Database tells the full list includes Andy Dick, Jamie Kennedy, Lisa Kudrow, Norm Macdonald, Mandy Moore, Frankie Muniz, Michael Rapaport, Molly Shannon, Steve Zahn and even Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Dr. Dolittle 2 isn’t going to win any awards but it’s innocent enough to earn my approval and recommendation.  A silly film that makes you laugh at just right times.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 12 July 2001

Evolution suits Duchovny’s style as it’s not a “laugh out loud” comedy.  Dr Ira Kane (Duchovny) and Dr. Harry Block (Jones) are lecturers at the Glen Canyon Community College in Arkansas.  One evening, a meteor crashes through the atmosphere and destroys the car of young Wayne Green (Scott) who’s working out in the desert.  Ira and Harry investigate the meteor and after taking a sample back to their lab, find single cell organisms living inside.  Is this history in the making?  Is this alien life?

Dreaming each of the Nobel Prize, they try to keep the discovery to themselves but government agents soon arrive and headed by scientist Dr. Allison Reed (Moore), they take command of the crash site.  Within a couple of weeks, the organisms begin a transformation - they are rapidly evolving and adapting to Earth’s climactic conditions.  In the space of one month, they’ve developed further than man has in 5,000,000 years and it’s only a matter of time before they overrun the entire planet.

That’s where our team of heroes comes in.  Ira, Harry and Wayne find the government is oblivious to the true gravity of the situation and realise that it’s up to them to save the world.

From the above description, you could be fooled in thinking this is a sci-fi drama but it’s actually a spoof comedy of the same genre.  Subtlety done, there’s a pleasant uneasiness to the whole film that I believe is it’s greatest plus - you’re never quite sure what you’re supposed to think of the movie because the plot is so ludicrous and yet the characters are so serious.

Ivan Reitman is a director who knows a thing or too about screwball comedies having made Six Days Seven Nights, Junior, Dave, Kindergarten Cop, Twins, Stripes, Meatballs and yes, Ghostbusters.  The film has a few too many similarities with Ghostbusters which I won’t detail for risk of spoiling some of the plot developments I haven’t mentioned.

Despite the hilarity, more could have been made of the material.  There were a few dead scenes and worthless characters detracting from the main storyline.  Despite lukewarm reviews from other critics, I still feel many will enjoy the freshness of Evolution and it’s certainly worth a look.  I’m curious as to what others will make of the whole concept.