'Chick Flicks' that aren't really chick flicks (ie - ones that are actually good movies)

I've always had a theory that there is no such thing as a good 'chick flick'. In that, I meant that a chick flick was by nature a bad film, made by people who knew it was lacking but expected women to flock to it anyway because it was "about womens' issues". Simple version - One True Thing was a real movie, while Stepmom was a 'chick flick'. But, instead of further dissecting the genre (that will be for another day), let us start the week of Valentine's Day by singling out a few quality films that may be labeled 'chick flicks' by the critical community, but rise above that title by being good.

Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants (2005)
Why it works - Because this adaptation of the popular young adult novels plays like a real drama, with no excuses made for its young cast or PG rating. In many ways, its characters are actually far more mature and three-dimensional than those in many Oscar-bait adult dramas. All four actresses shine, but Blake Lively (in basically her first professional acting job) and America Ferrera have the meatiest story lines. When Lively's overly driven Bridget regrets sleeping with her older soccer coach, they both take equal responsibility for the mess they've made. No one is a victim or victimizer based on their gender. Ferrera's storyline, involving her bitterness at her father (Bradley Whitford) remarrying into a very white new family, provides the climax, and the finale is far more touching than you'd expect. In this world, these four girls are best friends not because they shop for shoes and talk about boys (Alexis Bledel's adventure in Greece is the only storyline specifically about romance), but because they are actually there to help each other with life's struggles.

Return To Me (2000)
Why it works - This Bonnie Hunt directed romantic comedy belongs on a pedestal next to When Harry Met Sally and Annie Hall. Why? Simple, this is the rare romantic comedy that actually shows the couple (David Duchovny and Minnie Driver) actually getting to know each other. Unlike most romantic comedies which basically boil down to 'you're hot... I'm hot, let's pursue each other for the rest of the movie', this one actually takes the time to form a real personal chemistry between the widowed doctor and the waitress who ended up with his late wife's heart. Unlike many romantic comedies where you fear for the future of the couple, this film works because you know that if they can survive the initial courtship, they'll stay together forever. Bonus points - when his wife dies in the opening scenes, Duchovny performs one of the most realistic weeping scenes I have ever seen from a male movie star (his vulnerability is stunning - loud tears, gasping for breath, snot pouring out of his nose - which makes the moment that much more effective).

Mean Girls (2004)
Why it works - I discussed this one in a prior essay involving female escapism, basically alleging that it actually follows the template for the male escapism genre. Personal thesis arguments aside, this is still one of the very best movies ever made about high school girls. Lindsey Lohan deservedly became a star (regardless of what happened afterward), and Rachel McAdams and Amada Seyfreid used this as a building block toward longterm careers (poor Lacy Chabert can't quite break out). Writer and co-star Tina Fey proved she could write smart stories and build fictional worlds outside of the sketch realm, paving the way for 30 Rock and general global domination. This is the rare female driven film where getting the guy is not the primary or even secondary concern. Rather, the goal in this picture is simply remembering how to be a decent human being. And it's also quite funny.

13 Going On 30 (2004)
Why it works - This theoretical female variation on Big actually surpasses the Tom Hanks classic for emotional pathos. If Tom Hanks snagged an Oscar nomination for basically playing a ten-year old, then Jennifer Garner deserved a nod too for successfully playing a thirteen-year-old trapped in the body of her future thirty-year-old self. While this is a more straightforward romantic comedy, where snagging the guy eventually becomes the primary concern, the emotions are more realistic and the tone is more somber than you'd expect. Plus, Mark Ruffalo once again brings a gravity and depth to the rom-com traps that make the movie better than it otherwise might have been (Rumor Has It and Just Like Heaven may not be good movies, but he singlehandedly makes them watchable).

At heart, this is a dark comedy about a young woman who loses seventeen-years of her life, only to take up and realizes that she became a pretty terrible human being in those missing years. The act of snagging the childhood friend that she mistreated becomes as much about redemption as romance. But the film dares to suggest that she has no right to that redemption if it comes as the expense of other peoples' happiness. Until the very final moments (which, intentionally or not, equate total happiness with winning the guy), this is one of the darkest and deepest romantic comedies out there.

Scott Mendelson

'James was here' (James Whitmore - RIP)

James Whitmore, one of my favorite character actors, has died at 87.  He was diagnosed with lung cancer just this Thanksgiving.   He passed away this afternoon. Most of our peers will know him as Brooks in The Shawshank Redemption.  I will always think of him as the eccentric, but charming Dr. Albert Frock in The Relic (in a horror film filled with onscreen gore, his character gets the dignity of an offscreen death).  He was also terrific as Raymond Oz, a once brilliant attorney crippled by memory loss, in The Practice.  His career spanned 146 credits from 1949 to 2007.  Another legend is gone.  He will be very missed.  

James Whitmore - October 1, 1921 - February 6th, 2009.

Scott Mendelson

Review: Chocolate (2009)

Chocolate
2009
95 minutes
rated R (violence throughout, and brief sexuality/nudity)

by Scott Mendelson

I've never been a fan of watching circus performers do their thing without nets. Sure, we're told, it's more exciting without a net, it somehow makes the trapeze act or balance routine more impressive, but it also makes it scary as hell. It's a lot more fun watching a trapeze act knowing that if they screw up, they won't plunge to their death. I'll take peace of mind over increased suspense when the stakes are for real.

I bring this up because the action in Chocolate is incredibly painful looking and, as we see in the closing credits, it was in fact quite brutal on the actors and stunt people. We see a number of seemingly very serious injuries as a result of the onscreen carnage. I'm not sure at what point it stops being a movie and becomes something resembling a snuff film. There is a scene about halfway through the film in which a number of foes get stabbed or impaled with meat hooks in various body parts. I'm scared to ask how they did that.

Anyway, Chocolate is the latest Thai martial arts import from Prachya Pinkaew, the guy behind the Tony Jaa spectacles Ong-Bak and The Protector (the latter affectionately referred to among friends as the 'give me back my elephants!' movie). As usual, the plot is pretty simple. Basically it involves a forbidden romance between two people from warring mob families. Dad is Yakuuza and mom is from the Thai mob. After giving birth to an autistic child, Dad is forced to flee to Japan while mom is shunned, forced to raise her special needs child alone. After young Zen's mother is stricken with cancer, the young go-getter applies her potent martial arts skills (learned from watching previous Pinkaew films on television) to track down various criminal elements that owe her mother money and extract it one way or another.

Aside from the somewhat overly melodramatic storytelling, the film really doesn't get going until the second act. But even when the fights finally start up, there is an odd discomfort in watching them. Although family friend Moom assures Zen that the targets are in debt to their mother, we really don't know for sure how many of these local businesses aren't just local businesses that aren't really involved in skullduggery. For all we know, Zen spends a good forty-five minutes basically extorting innocent businesses for money and beating the living hell out of anyone who tries to stop her. Then again, they may actually make the movie unintentionally hilarious, depending on your mood.

But it must be stated that the fight scenes, two in particular, are quite impressive. The aforementioned mid-film battle in an abattoir is both lyrical and gruesome, with both spectacular fighting and horrifying injuries. The final battle, set outside a large, multi-story shophouse, waged up and down the various ledges, is one of the greatest fight scenes I have ever seen on film. Seriously, this one is worth the price of admission all by itself. The stunt work is astounding (and frighteningly real, as it turns out), as men fly out of windows, crash into ledges, smash into billboards, and otherwise send their (theoretical) health insurance premiums skyrocketing. I sat there hoping, wishing that someone would make a video game out of this movie, as the shophouse finale would make a stunningly fun final level.

Chocolate is pretty much what you expect from the genre. The plot is paper thin and yet occasionally convoluted, the acting is serviceable, and the techical aspects are more than adequate. But, at the very least, the film is worth seeing for the splendid fight scenes and Panna Rittikrai's refreshingly comprehensible choreography. And again, that last smackdown must be seen to be believed. I'm personally finding it difficult to believe that no one got killed in the process.  Oh well, that's something Pinkaew can aim for on his next feature.

Grade: B

Brightest Day: Martin Campbell in negotiations for the Green Lantern movie

You all knew I was going to comment on this one...

Variety is reporting that Warner Bros. is fast-tracking one of their bigger DC super hero properties for the silver screen. Next to the 'Trinity' (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman), Green Lantern is arguably DC Comics' biggest icon (second only perhaps to The Flash). The great news is that Warner Bros. is apparently attempting to snag Martin Campbell. Yup, the director behind the two best modern-day James Bond pictures, as well as one of the finest superhero films ever made (The Mask Of Zorro) is allegedly on tap to helm one of the jewels in the DC catalog. It's no secret that I am a huge fan of Mr. Campbell, so this news fills me with unexpected joy. When it comes to emotionally charged action that is shot in wide takes, edited sparingly, and easy to follow, Campbell is one of the very best out there.

Of course, Green Lantern is arguably one of the more expensive properties in the DC staple (possible armies of Green Lanterns, outer space adventures, hard-core sci-fi elements, etc), so it'll be interesting to see if they can bring this one in under $200 million. It'll be even more interesting to see which of the several featured Green Lanterns they choose to highlight. Even money is on silver-age favorite and recently 'resurrected' Hal Jordan. If Marvel is dumb enough to let Jon Hamm slip away from their Captain America picture, he'd make a terrific Hal Jordan as well (Matthew Fox makes sense to me too). Come what may, this is very exciting news.

Scott Mendelson

Review: He's Just Not That Into You (2009)

He's Just Not That into You
2009
126 minutes
Rated PG-13

I've written at length in the recent past about so-called 'chick flick's that play into what I call female escapist fantasy. It differentiates from male fantasy in that it involves casting off responsibility and living only for yourself (comparably, stereotypical male fantasy movies involve immature boys who 'man up', take responsibility for their actions and are able to live selflessly to their betterment and reward). IE - Sex & The City: The Movie is a female escapist fantasy, while Iron Man is a male escapist fantasy.

What's most intriguing about He's Just Not That Into You is how deftly it avoids the female escapism template for much of its running time. The narrative, as most of you know, involves the intertwining lives of several adult professionals as they navigate the perils of romance and finding or keeping that special someone. By the end of the film, some of these couples will remain intact, some will break apart, and maybe even a new couple or two will be formed. But pretty much every relationship is rooted in a grounded maturity and responsibility. No one casts off their responsibilities for the sake of their own empowerment. Nor does anyone particularly feel the need to save the proverbial day for the sake of their own manhood.

Also worth noting is that the film avoids painting its characters with broad moral strokes. Likable, sympathetic characters do terrible things while maintaining their humanity. This is not a story of good and evil, but about the difficult choices that humans make on the dating scene. Warts and all (and the film's arcs have a certainly perfunctory feel throughout), the film is a worthwhile and semi-realistic examination of how the real world of dating and romance differs from the fairy-tale fantasies sold to men and women of all ages.

He's Just Not That Into You is better than expected, as it's the rare 'chick flick' that doesn't sugarcoat the harsh realities of making relationships work. Everyone in the star-studded cast takes the material seriously (Ginnifer Goodwin fearlessly throws herself into a genuinely obnoxious character), and Justin Long has never been better. It's not a perfect film, but there's certainly more under and on the surface than most large-scale romantic comedies. In fact, its strength comes from its willingness to embrace the inherent drama in its story.

Grade: B

Odd coincidence - two infamous 'milk carton' movies to be released on Friday, February 6th.

By 'milk carton', I'm referring to those 'have you seen this person?' pictures that used to be on milk cartons back in the day. On February 6th, two notoriously delayed features, He's Just Not That Into You and Fanboys, are both finally being released after countless date changes.

In the case of the New Line Cinemas/Warner Bros release, He's Just Not That Into You was plopped around the release schedule for the second half of 2008, with Warner Bros (theoretically) best deciding how to take advantage of the Sex And The City hook and the allegedly just discovered audience of adult female moviegoers. Same studio, same general target demographic (and, apparently, same genre of female escapism). Ironically, despite the months of negative buzz and the somewhat squirm-inducing trailer, the film is getting pretty decent reviews. Business should be rock-solid this weekend, although I still contend that the casting of Jennifer Connelly implies that the film will have a bitter, unhappy ending with at least one suicide.

Fanboys is a completely different story. While He's Just Not That Into You is being given a 3000+ screen release, with official press screenings, a saturation ad campaign, and publicity tours by the cast, Fanboys is literally being dumped into a pathetic 40 screens this Friday. This Weinstein Company picture has literally been awaiting a release date since at least Spring, 2006. Anyway, it concerns a group of friends attempting to sneak their dying comrade into Skywalker Ranch in the winter of 1999, to see Star Wars: Episode One: The Phantom Menace before he succumbs to cancer. Much of the delay was allegedly the result of Harvey Weinstein trying to force the filmmakers to completely remove the cancer portion of the story, but apparently artistic freedom won out (a rare thing with Harvey, I know...). The reviews are lousy so far, and this will arguably be the quietest studio dump since 20th Century Fox's Idiocracy back in September 2006.

I don't have anything profound to add here. I'm just highly amused that these two infamously delayed pictures are both finally being released, on the same day no less.

Scott Mendelson

Review: Frozen River Blu Ray (2008)

Frozen River
97 minutes
rated R (language)

release date - 02/10/09
price: $39.99 (buy it on Amazon for $29.99)
Sony Pictures Classics
1080P - 1.78:1 16x9 wide screen
English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English SDH, English and French subtitles
Special Feature - Commentary with director Courtney Hunt and producer Heather Rae

The Film:
Frozen River is one of the best films of 2008... period. Whatever issues I have with the Oscars this year, all will be forgiven if Melissa Leo wins the Best Actress award. Here's what I wrote about the film on my best-of-2008 wrap-up:

Melissa Leo, from Homicide: Life on the Street, finally gets a film role worthy of her talents. She and Misty Upam (no slouch herself) anchor a strikingly sparse, but brutally powerful film about the pain and stench of poverty and the desperation of the working poor. Leo stars as an impoverished mother of two, who turns to smuggling illegal aliens across the border in order to feed her family. The film works fine as a slow-paced thriller, but its core value is a stark depiction of a world all too hidden in modern America, where dinner consists of popcorn and tang, ambition consists of being promoted to full time at the Dollar Store, and families dream of living in double-wide trailers so they can be just a little warmer at night. It’s a dark morality play set in a world where people have no bootstraps to pull themselves up by in the first place.

The Blu Ray disc:
The film is shot on HD video, so this is certainly not a reference disc in any capacity. But the high bit-rate image is clean, bright, and heavily detailed.

I can't speak for the surround aspects of the audio track (what's the point in loud surround sound, when you have to keep the volume low-ish for a sleeping infant in the evening?), but the dialogue is always crisp and understandable.

Aside from the theatrical trailer, the only special feature is a feature-length commentary (with optional English subtitles) with Courtney Hunt and Heather Rae. While it's unfortunate that star Melissa Leo is not a participant, this is still a rock-solid, information packed track. While there are occasional lulls, there is an emphasis on quality over quantity. They deal right off the bat with that silly 'Leo is a diva' story that broke last summer (basically, they had several conversations about specific character beats and/or choices). There are countless stories about trying to make this bare bones, guerrilla style production (under $1 million, shot in 24 days). If you liked the movie, this track is well worth listening to.

Frozen River is one of the very best dramas of 2008, and its two major Oscar nominations more than made up for the various snubs. The slim special features and the theoretical lack of repeat viewing (it's not exactly a movie to be enjoyed over and over again) prevent me from recommending a purchase for the casual moviegoer. But it demands to be seen at least once.

The video: B+
The audio: B
The extras: C
The film: A

Scott Mendelson

A solution to film piracy and theater attendance in America: make movies for grownups?

Gran Torino and Taken. What do these two films have in common?

They both were made by, about, and for adult audiences. They both opened well above expectations, at number one for the weekend box office, with $29.4 million and $24.7 million respectively. They both achieved these results with a majority of audience members who were 25 years old or older. Oh, and both of these films had DVD-quality bootleg copies widely available on the Internet months before the wide release date.

So let's play devil's advocate and believe the studios' claims that one of the main reasons that kids aren't going to the movies as much is because they are downloading them illegally online. And let's for a moment acknowledge that one of the main reasons grown ups aren't going to the movies is because the films in wide release are usually aimed at teens and young adults. Let's also concede that one of the main drawbacks of theater attendance is having to view a film aimed at juveniles while said kids engage in all manner of disruptive behavior during the film (texting, talking, walking around the theater, etc*).

Ok, so if grown ups don't go to theaters because the films are aimed at kids (and the kids are obnoxious), and the kids are going in declining numbers to films aimed at them because they have other ways to spend their time and/or they are downloading those kid-friendly movies off of Bit Torrent, then might the solution be obvious? What if studios were to make more grown-up friendly genre movies all year round (as opposed to just year-end Oscar bait that is marketed as being 'good for you')?

Well, in theory, the adults would show up, the kids would see something else and not bother them, and said adult films wouldn't get downloaded because the target demographic doesn't know how or doesn't care to download said films anyway. And since most grown up dramas and thrillers are more cast-driven than FX-charged, the films would be much cheaper to make (and theoretically cheaper to market, since you could concentrate on traditional advertising methods).

I'd argue that the same pattern might hold for family films like Paul Blart: Mall Cop, but that's a rant for another day. Just a thought.

Scott Mendelson

* Full disclosure: While the theater etiquette of teens has gotten worse (or rather, maybe I was just spoiled by two years living near the relatively polite AMC Burbank 16 crowd), some of the worst movie going behavior in recent months came from older adults. During the opening weekend of Quantum of Solace, a 60-something gentleman (who, to be fair, seemed mentally impaired) occasionally tried to engage me in polite conversation, frequently downloaded photos onto his cell-phone, and offered to show me said photos of Daniel Craig during the feature. Furthermore, while viewing Waltz With Bashir at the local art house theater, there was an older couple who kept their cell phone on and allowed it to ring a few times. On the plus side, I reported them to the theater staff after the second occurrence and the ushers immediately interceded.

'Swear AT me!'

There is no question that this lengthy, profanity-laced tirade, a reaction from Christian Bale to director of photography Shane Hurlbut apparently ruining a take on the set of Terminator: Salvation, is a touch unprofessional. And there is no question that whomever leaked this tape was equally unprofessional (especially as it's apparently several months-old).  And it is quite possible that Bale quickly realized what an ass he was being and did his best to kiss and make up. Usually I don't comment on stuff like this. But, there is absolutely no question that anyone listening to this won't have two reactions: A) Wow, he seems to be switching accents mid-sentence.  B) This would have been so much funnier if he had done this in his McGruff the Crime Bat growl from The Dark Knight.

Scott Mendelson

Fast and/or Furious trailers (because they had nowhere left to go)...

I haven't seen any of the Fast and the Furious films (I liked the first film better when it was called Point Break), but the trailers for part IV do look darn spectacular.

Real stunt work, impressive choreography, action scenes that you can actually follow, and everyone looks oddly happy to be back. But then, that's the most impressive thing about these spots.

Most impressive is the way that Universal has made the idea of all four old cast members coming back into some kind of kick-ass reunion; rather than the last, bitter refuge for actors who didn't get much traction off of the first picture.

Scott Mendelson