Reviews: Hellboy II, Children of Men, Blueberry Nights

Being stuck at home with mono means I get to watch a lot of movies. Here are some notable ones.

Hellboy II: Thumbs Up

What do you get when you take a mediocre script and put it into the hands of a great director? Pure gold. Guillermo del Torro is one of the greatest directors of the last decade. He's best known for Pan's Labrynth, a fantasy movie with nods to The Labrynth, Dark Crystal, Life is Beautiful, and The Little Prince. Not only is his work visually stunning, but everything else is too--lighting, cinematography, camera angles, timing . . . the man is a true master.

But does that apply to a popcorn action movie like Hellboy? I saw Hellboy I, it was mildly entertaining. It's based on a comic book and the premise is creative--a demon who fights for the good guys (in this case the US government). His love interest is Selma Blair. The script is entertaining because it's willing to laugh at itself. When someone is trying to explain the convoluted (and frankly needless) plot, Hellboy interrupts and says, "Yeah yeah, kill the bad guys, I get it."

The best thing del Torro does is to slow down the movie. Early on, Hellboy must confront a giant tree-like thing that's terrorizing New York City. When he finally kills it, the result is visually beautiful. Another director would have maybe lingered for a couple seconds before going on to the next action scene. But del Torro waits. He lets the leaves float gently to the ground. He gives the characters to look up and notice the beauty around them.

But my favorite scene in the movie is when Hellboy and his fellow good guy weirdo, the fish man, are relaxing with a six pack of beer and a sappy record, and they're drunkenly talking about the girls they love. It's a classic frat boy "I'm just trying to figure out girls" conversation, spoken by two non-humans with superpowers. Del Torro has the sense to let the scene linger so you really feel that these two characters are bonding.

So yeah, thumbs up to Hellboy. Honestly one of the best movies I've seen this year. And I'm not alone; it gets an 88% on RottenTomatoes.com.

Children of Men: Thumbs Up

Ah, dystopian futures. They're so fun. "What if something major went wrong and society slowly started to crumble?" Always fun to watch.

This time, people can't have children any more. Thankfully, the movie doesn't try to tell us why. Futuristic pseudo-science just gets in the way. In fact, one character tells a joke based on the fact that no one knows why. It's one of the details that makes the movie seem much more real.

This isn't Blade Runner; this is our world with slightly newer cars and flat screens on the subway. (Also reinforced windows, so the angry mobs outside the train can't throw things at you.) People can't have children any more, and most of the world has descended into chaos. Except, of course, "let's keep a stiff upper lip" Britain. British society "soldiers on," as the propaganda tells us, although the British government has somewhat descended into a police state and they want to kick out all the foreigners. Of course there are also daily terrorist bombings.

The plot revolves around an ordinary man, an ex-hippie who now works in the Finance Ministry and drinks Starbucks. He gets sucked into a suspensful thriller, based on a possible cure. There's a stellar supporting cast, including Michael Caine as a long-haired, pot-smoking hippie who lives out in the forest.

There's no one single thing that makes this movie good. It's simply a combination of good acting, good dialogue, good plot, good characters, and good directing. Special effects are used very sparingly, but that only makes the movie seem more real and down-to-earth. If there's one thing that adds a truly magical element, it's the music. As the movie embraces the same liberal counter-culture themes that exist in our own society, the soundtrack plays classic rock from the first hippie revolution. Although the movie claims to be about the future, the music makes it easy to draw parallels to what has happened before and what is happening now. Ultimately the movie isn't trying to make a statement, but if you're like the protagonist and you're willing to dig under the surface, you'll find something there.

Blueberry Nights: Thumbs Down

OK I'll admit it, the only reason I watched this movie is because it has Natalie Portman as a hustler. Unfortunately, Natalie only gets a bit part, although she does it well. The thing that ruins this movie is Nora Jones. She's a good singer, and she's relatively cute, but she's not a very good actress. It's an interesting plot, and the supporting cast is phenomenal, especially Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz, and Jude Law. Instead, it looks like the movie was simply meant to be a Nora vehicle so she could refer to herself as an "actress." Too bad.

Oh yeah, and while I was blogging I also played two games online with three friends. Fear my l33t skillz.

J<