Med City Movie Guy

"Fame"

Fame, a remake of the 1980 classic, follows ten kids through NYC’s High School of Performing Arts. Like the first, we watch not just the pursuit of a dream, but also the unfortunate side of the craft: the casting couches, the rip-offs, the dangers of dressing like William Shakespeare and standing innocuously in front of the public library.

    There are three types of high school students: the Ivy League-bound who excel at all things academic; those that enjoy statistics and calculate their probability of securing an above-the-median salary; and those that daydream in biology class about how cool it would be to just jump up on the lab table and dance.
    Fame follows ten who dream; ten with the discipline, the determination, the tough skin, and the talent to make it at the famous Manhattan alternative high school (and beyond). From audition day to graduation, we watch as these performers work, play, interact, and introspect.
    Among the theater crowd, the original Fame is sacrosanct; and, in general, you either like this kind of film or you don’t. That said, Fame is a good remake of a good film. That doesn’t happen very often and while this one’s not complex, it’s definitely more gritty and passionate than what we tend of see in the genre.
    The music is fresh. Yes, there is a hokey obligatory “hot lunch jam,” but it cleverly synthesizes a wide spectrum of performance styles: a classical violinist, an argument in the corner that morphs into a hip-hop rap. There’s even a place for the tap dancer.
    Everyone in Fame, more or less, has their moment in the spotlight, but two standout: aspiring actress Jenny Garrison (Kay Panabaker) and drama teacher Mr. Dowd (Charles S. Dutton). Panabaker is a relative newcomer. Dutton, of course, is an accomplished, but often underrated, actor. Other veterans include Bebe Neuwirth and Kelsey Grammer. Debbie Allen, of the original cast, has a cameo that we could have done without. (Was Irene Cara busy?)
    There are some entertaining scenes in Fame – students testing their mettle on the karaoke stage and comical auditions reminiscent of The Rock’s Elliot Wilhelm in Be Cool – but the film is not for everyone. There’s one poignant moment, for instance, when singer Denise Dupree (Naturi Naughton), in a music producer’s office, spots one of Lauryn Hill’s platinum records and subtly registers a thrill. Some people get that. Just being in the same studio. That whiff of fame. You just … you just … feel like breaking out in song.

3 Honks
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic material including teen drinking, a sexual situation and language.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810033914/trailer

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"The Informant!"

In Matt Damon’s newest film, The Informant!, the Academy Award winner plays a corporate executive who turns whistle-blower and becomes about as popular as the DNR at a support group meeting for wild elk with Chronic Wasting Disease.

     Mark Whitacre (Damon) is living the American Dream. He’s a successful executive at Archer Daniels Midland, in Decatur, Illinois. He lives in a nice house, drives nice cars and has a great family. The only thing that bothers him is his conscience. Over the years, he’s been complicit in illegal price-fixing at ADM’s lysine subsidiary. Racked with guilt and massively conflicted, he confides in FBI agent Brian Shepherd (Scott Bakula, from TV’s “Quantum Leap”). Whitacre’s convinced that when the dust settles, he’ll be seen as a hero and a natural successor to head the company even though the FBI warns that, “the corporate culture’s going to change a little bit” for him. Undaunted, he dons a wire and sets out to gather evidence to “take down the bad guys.” The only problem is that the deeper the FBI digs, the more dirt they find on Whitacre; his big mouth doesn’t help matters, either.
     The Informant! is based on the true story of the highest-ranking corporate whistle-blower in U.S. history, but the necessary boundaries of biopics put constraints on the plot. To be fair, there’s one major twist, otherwise, the story is not as “intriguing” as, for example, this year’s Duplicity, the corporate espionage thriller starring Julia Roberts. Were ADM to flip Whitacre back to game the FBI, this would be an entirely more engaging film.
     The languid story notwithstanding, Matt Damon is brilliant as the wormy but worldly Mark Whitacre, essentially a gone-corporate version of his Linus Caldwell. Reportedly, the buff star of The Bourne Identity trilogy gained thirty pounds for the role (to which I say, “big deal, gaining weight is easy, losing it is the hard part”).
     When it comes to ambiance, no one has a more unique signature than director Steven Soderbergh who helmed Traffic and the three Ocean’s 11 films. The atmosphere, the score, the cinematography – all of his ingredients are here, so what happened?
     Great expectations don’t help. Big names and a massive advertising campaign set the bar high where a different standard applies and an otherwise fine film easily comes across as a major letdown. What you take away from The Informant! is disappointment … that and whatever is stuck to the bottom of your shoe.

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1 1/2 Honks
MPAA Rating: R for language.

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http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810035860/trailer.

"Whiteout"

In Whiteout, Kate Beckinsale stars as a U.S. Marshall who’s called-on to solve the first murder in Antarctica. Locals will find uncanny familiarities in the setting: extreme cold, zero-visibility and a Vostok elementary school named for the first Antarctican to reach the summit of the corn cob water tower.

     U.S. Marshall Carrie Stetko (Beckinsale) came to Antarctica for its relative peace, though she’s still haunted by an old case that nearly took her life. That calm is broken, however, when she is called to investigate a body found in a remote part of the region. Her investigation eventually focuses on a Russian Cold War-era plane crash and some precious cargo but not before more bodies surface and the entire research base is threatened by a Winter storm that they must either beat or ride-out.
     Whiteout is based on the award-winning comic book by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber. Unfortunately, except for the stunning cinematography, it is just another murder-mystery – think: Matlock wanders onto the filming of a National Geographic special. Still, the action is brisk, immediately engaging, and there are several very “cool” scenes (like the one where accidentally-spilled coffee freezes on the floor in a matter of seconds).
     Beckinsale (Pearl Harbor, Van Helsing) is passable as Marshal Carrie Stetko but her character’s name is distractingly similar to Jennifer Lopez’s Marshall Karen Sisco in the far superior 1998 Movie Guy favorite, Out of Sight. Veteran actor Tom Skerritt (M*A*S*H Top Gun) co-stars as base doctor John Fury.
     Like The Perfect Storm, this movie’s real star is Mother Nature; and what an antagonist she is! She claims lives, limbs, and aircrafts. Other films have been set in hostile climates (Rock Hudson’s Ice Station Zebra and Disney’s Eight Below, for instance) but perhaps in no other film except Sidney Poitier’s 1998 Shoot to Kill has the weather demonstrated what a formidable adversary it can be.
     Alas, critics and movie-goers alike gave Whiteout the cold shoulder. It’s opening weekend take was far below that of fellow debutante Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself and, remarkably, even worse than that of Sandra Bullock’s bomb, All About Steve. That’s too bad. In spite of its uniquely high level of intensity, the writing’s in the snow. This one’s destined to be relegated to Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster (if there are any left by the time this is published). That’s also too bad. Whiteout will not look nearly as threatening on a 42’’ plasma as it does on a 65-foot megascreen.

 
2 Honks
MPAA Rating: R for violence, grisly images, brief strong language and some nudity.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809839458/trailer

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"Extract"

In Extract, the new comedy from writer/director Mike Judge, the dream of a small factory owner is about to be realized when a conglomerate offers to buy his business. Unfortunately, something threatens the deal: a personal injury lawsuit, or as the trial lawyers like to call it, their plan to bring prosperity to all Americans.

     Joel (Jason Bateman) has spent the last few years building a business and it’s finally paid-off. His Reynold’s Extract company is about to be acquired. There’s just one problem. An employee named “Step” (Justin Timberlake lookalike Clifton Collins Jr.), was injured on the job. A “testicular incident,” to be specific. It’s a close company and Step just wants to come back to work until a hot grifter named Cindy (Mila Kunis) convinces him to hire Joe Adler (Gene Simmons), an ambulance-chaser who advertises on TV and park benches.
     All that time at the office hasn’t helped Joel’s marriage. He and Suzie (Kristen Wiig) are more like brother and sister than man and wife. Lamenting this turn in their relationship, Joel vents to his slacker friend, Dean (Ben Affleck), who concocts a plan. Dean’s friend, “Brad the Gigolo,” will go over to Joel’s house posing as a new pool boy and attempt to seduce Suzie. If she goes for it, Joel is free to pursue the cute new temp that he hired … Cindy.
     Mike Judge, the creator of TV’s "King of the Hill," brings us this clever and anything-but-formulaic film. Like Hill, there is some subtle blue-collar humor masking more complex issues and Judge nails the factory angst here as he did the office experience in his 1992 cubicle comedy, Office Space.
     Jason Bateman -- who grew from child roles into a credible actor, most recently, as the public image consultant for Will Smith’s Hancock and as the even-keeled Mark Loring, the rudder of Juno -- is quite adept. J. K. Simmons, another Juno alumnus though probably best known for the line “bring me more pictures of Spider Man,” is Joel’s purposeful majordomo. "That 70’s Show’s" Mila Kunis, who we saw in last year’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, wonderfully plays a congirl in the mold of Glenne Headly in the 1988 Steve Martin / Michael Caine comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Mixing it up further are Kristen Wiig and Ben Affleck. She is uncharacteristically subtle and he is wildly funny.
     Because it’s in limited release, Extract earned less this weekend than some of Rochester’s panhandlers. It won’t be around for long, though. Yes, it’ll find a larger audience on DVD next year, but don’t wait. Right now, it’s the funniest thing out there.

3 Honks
MPAA Rating: R for language, sexual references and some drug use.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810039594/trailer

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