Unknown

I am writing this review half asleep, but that shouldn't matter, and in fact it may be fitting for this film, because Liam Neeson looked like he was generally half asleep while making it.

I'm not saying that Unknown is a BAD movie, only that it could have been much much better.

The action starts with Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife Elizabeth (January Jones) arriving in Berlin for a biological conference of some kind. A luggage mishap sends Martin back towards the airport when a car crash derails his vacation plans and sends his reality spinning.

It seems that a coma has dropped Martin Harris off the face of the Earth. He finds his wife, who doesn't recognize him and is married to a man who has assumed his identity. Martin must unravel the mystery of who he is, or was; is his situation the result of a brain injury, or is he caught up in a sinister plot?

I checked the film out with my friends Jeff, Casey, and Greyson. While we were somewhat divided on how we felt about the film overall, we all agreed on what was wrong with it, so I'll start there. (I think a simple Pros/Cons list should be easy enough at this hour...)

Cons:

1. It is Stupid

Specifically, the ending is stupid. Without giving too much away, there is at one point a giant digital clock attached to... something...(use your imagination) which is completely and ridiculously unnecessary.

Besides that, the viewer is required to take a few too many leaps of faith for my liking.

Also I'd like to point out that, while the marketing team for Unknown would like you to believe it is an action packed thriller, there are only very few adrenaline-soaked moments. Mostly, Martin goes about uncovering the mystery the peaceful (read: boring) way. You know, running around Berlin, telling his crazy story to anyone who will listen.

2. January Jones

Ouch. She was really bad in this. Jeff pointed out a moment in the film, when Martin has tracked her down, that the audience (the one's who didn't watch the trailer anyway) learns that she no longer recognizes him. She did that little head tilt to the side, you know like a dog? Here I'll just show you:




I still to this day have not seen Jones project any emotion in a role other than icy ruthlessness. She's beautiful and all, but seriously, it might be time to hang it up. She hasn't improved since the 2003 Adam Sandler flick Anger Management, which says a lot.

She wasn't alone in this film though... most of the acting was pretty subpar, even from Liam and Inglourious Basterd's Diane Kruger.

3. The Corny Subplot

If you've seen the movie, you get it.



Ok, it's time for...

Pros:

1. High Production Value

The writers and actors may have phoned it in, but the production crew tried their darndest to make up for it. For the most part the movie looks and sounds great. At this point in film making history, anything not shot exclusively in front of a green-screen is good in my book. This movie gets props for using real locations in Berlin, and having actual sets with pretty good set design.

Take a decent, extended action sequence and some fairly well done "trippy" parts, and the filmmakers could have had a good movie on their hands. Oh well.

2. Bruno Ganz

Ganz, who played in one of my favorite movies, Wings of Desire, is the lone acting standout. Jurgen, an ex-Stasi private detective, is an early ally for Harris, and helps him piece the mystery together. This sickly old man provided pretty much the only tension I felt in the film, while waiting for the tottering, coughing old man to suddenly keel over in every shot.


3. SPOILER ALERT!!




January Jones got blown up.




The film is entertaining enough if you go into it with low enough expectations. I did and enjoyed the few moments of quality enough to not give it a failing grade. Unknown does take itself too seriously however, which annoyed me. I would have liked the film more if it accepted its own cheesiness. As it stands, Unknown is a poor man's Bourne.



Attendance: 3/5
Crazy Fan Boy Factor: 0/5
Crowd Response: 1/5

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Production Value: 4/5
Plot: 2/5
Action: 1/5
Liam Neeson < 90's Harrison Ford




Overall: 5/10

Featured New Release Poll- 2/25

Oscar week's poll is pretty light on releases, with only two big movies coming out, and neither looks to be in the "mega-blockbuster" category. But we shall see....

Drive Angry 3D stars Nicolas Cage as a man who escapes from hell to take on a cult that murdered his daughter. Sounds interesting enough but Nic hasn't been choosing the best material lately... lets hope for a change in his fortune.

In the other corner, Hall Pass, starring Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis. Looks like yet another entry in the rapidly growing comedic subgenre of thirty-something men behaving badly, started by The Hangover.

You know what to do!

Top Five Car Chases

I think we can all agree that nothing makes a movie interesting faster than a good car chase. Knowing this one simple fact, I looked into cinema history for some of the greatest, coolest, craziest, and most intense chases ever put to film.

As a rule, I eliminated any chases that overly rely on CGI effects and quick cut editing to enhance the chase. Only old fashioned car chases with real stunts and crashes allowed. So, unfortunately, I had to cut some of the cooler ones from recent years (Matrix Reloaded, Quantum of Solace.


5. The Blues Brothers

Honestly, if we were rating chases based on property damage alone this film would have no competition. Unfortunately, other factors had to be taken in to consideration and that's where The Blues Brothers misses points.

Still, there are some pretty nifty, memorable car chase moments in this 1980 musical-comedy directed by John Landis.

For example, when this film came out it set the record for number of vehicles destroyed in a movie, a record which stood until it's sequel, Blues Brothers 2000, came out in 1998.



The chases in this movie are mostly over the top for comedic effect, featuring hilariously inept driving by the police, insanely physics-defying stunts, and a great punchline at the end of the chase when Jake and Elwood make it to their ultimate destination.

I couldn't find a good video of the police car pileup in the final long chase scene, so here instead you can see the first chase early in the film.


4. The French Connection

This is one of the most often mentioned of all car chases on film, and with good reason.



For starters, the inclusion of Gene Hackman gets you automatic points. Not to mention the great editing and some fantastic (real) crashes. Much of the chase was shot guerrilla style, without permits, which if you live in New York must be a terrifying thought. Plus, this sequence pretty much invented the "woman pushing a stroller" bit which I'm sure has been done to death by now.

Mostly, this chase rules because it is a car chasing a TRAIN. A runaway train with a gunwielding madman onboard, So so cool.


3/3.5 Ronin

The "Michael Bay Law of Car Chases" states in article three that a car chase is made infinitely cooler if you add guns. Case in point: 1998's Ronin, a film that would suffer badly if not for the three well placed car chases through European meccas. Add Robert De Niro brandishing a rocket launcher from the sunroof and you automatically have one of the awesomest chases ever...



Then they had to go and one up it with this gem!


With some excellent stunt driving, impeccably choreographed stunts, and some of Europe's finest automobiles, Ronin easily makes this list.


2. To Live and Die in L.A.



William Friedkin is better known for the chase in The French Connection, but this is the better true car chase. Both scenes have terrific cinematography and editing though, which is an absolute must in any good car chase.

Also of note is the staging of the "driving against traffic" sequence in such a bizarre way. Notice how Chance (William Peterson) gets back into the correct flow at the end? No, the movie doesn't take place in England. Friedkin had the entire highway driving the wrong way, making for an even more disorienting scene.


1. Bullitt



The hilly streets of San Francisco. Mustang vs. Charger. The sweet reveal at 2:10 in the above clip. The tense buildup. Steve McQueen at his prime. THE iconic movie car chase. Bullitt's chase seems to have it all. But is it the best?

Did you read the above paragraph? Of course its the best!

(just for fun, watch the clip again and count how many times they pass the green VW Beetle)

The My Bloody Violent-tine Film Festival

This past weekend I had the pleasure of spending two nights at a bar watching various local independent horror shorts. The event, The "My Bloody Violent-tine Film Festival". The venue, 3 Kings Tavern. I found the festival on Craig's List and decided to enter Ring Finger in the thriller/suspense category on a lark. Happily, my film was accepted and screened both nights!

The audience reaction was definitely positive, which any filmmaker can tell you is the greatest part of making movies. When you hear people gasping in disgust, laughing, loudly exclaiming "Oh YEAH!" at the end of your movie... nothing feels better than that, my friends!

Granted, a bar is not the venue of choice for anyone showing a film. The Saturday showing was worse in that there was more noise from the patrons sitting at the bar and not watching the films, but overall the experience was a good one.

Ring Finger ended up taking home an award for "Favorite Ending", which I am particularly proud of, and also came in third place in the audience choice voting. Got lots of positive feedback from the other filmmakers there as well.

For anyone who hasn't yet seen the film, here it is.

Winner: Unknown

Liam Neeson and his psychological thriller barely eked out a win against I Am Number Four, while Big Momma was a no show (thank goodness). Was busy this weekend (will get to that in a later post ^) but I will see it this week, scout's honor!

Just Go With It

There are some actors who compel you to see every film they are in, because you never know what to expect. Actors like Daniel Day-Lewis, Russell Crowe, even Leonardo DiCaprio of late.

And then there is Adam Sandler.

Sandler has played the same part for the better part of twenty years and is still reeling in massive audiences. He may have had more misses than hits over the last decade, but box office wise the eternal man-boy is going strong.

Some of you may remember my scorn filled review of his last effort, Grown Ups, which was my least favorite film of the year. Well, you can put all your fears of a repeat aside because Just Go With It was welcomely, shockingly, mediocre! Huzzah, Mr. Sandler!

The plot of Just Go With It centers on Sandler's Danny, a shallow plastic surgeon (is there any other kind?) who is caught in a web of lies as he tries to bed a beautiful, much younger teacher Palmer, played by new-comer Brooklyn Decker of Sports Illustrated fame. The rookie actress held her own playing the dumb blonde here and she could make a career of it, but lets hope her self esteem convinces her to try other career paths.

Just Go With It also stars Jennifer Aniston as Danny's endlessly loyal assistant Katherine, whom he finagles into posing as his soon to be ex-wife.

Naturally, the lie begins to roll out of control, and rather than just admitting the truth, simple as it may be, Danny is soon buying a weekend get away at a posh Hawaii resort for Palmer, Katherine, her two kids, and Danny's cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson, who as far as I could tell was only there for "comic" relief; his often unfunny character was a low point in the movie).

There are actually some laughs to be had in Just Go With It, which was a relief. Sandler's one liners and funny voices actually hit their mark more often than not, and Katherine's kids (named Kikidee and Bart by Danny) were also a comedic high point. Their smart milking of the situation was good for quite a few chuckles at least.

As promised by the trailer there is plenty of female flesh on display, which could be what pushed this film to a weekend box office victory over the Bieb. Having Decker come out of the water Ursula Andress style in a too-small bikini was a no brainer. But Aniston, at 41 years old, held her own in a later scene and was the more appealing female character throughout the film, making Danny look like even more of an idiot.

As mentioned earlier, amongst the low points of the film is Swarsdon's character who really just seems along for the ride. His incessant antics were mildly entertaining at best, and at one point I honestly hoped his character would be killed by a feral pig. Alas, no such luck.

The film has some stretches of poorly directed and edited exposition at its beginning, as well as some mistimed physical gags. The introduction of Palmer into Danny's life happens mind-numbingly fast even by romcom standards. However, the movie was saved by some good lines and a few well used cameos and small appearances.

At the end of the day, regardless of quality this film will break 100 million box office just because Sandler is in it. I'm ok with that, having learned to accept it as one of the immutable laws of Hollywood (along with biopic+big name= Oscar nomination). I only hope that audiences going to see it are ok with accepting the immutable laws of Adam Sandler; He will play a morally suspect man, learn a few lessons about love and honesty along the way, and there will be nut shots.

Attendance: 3/5
Crazy Fan Boy Factor: 0/5
Crowd Response: 3/5

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Production Value: 3/5
Humor: 3/5
Plot: 2/5
Best Running Gag: Plastic surgery gone wrong

Overall: 6/10

Featured New Release Poll- 2/18

Since Justin Bieber's unwarranted 3D concert extravaganza arrived last week, I can now safely resume the featured new release poll! No way I was letting myself get sent to that.

Anyway back to business, you remember the drill.

First is I Am Number Four, a sci-fi spectacle produced by none other than Michael Bay (goody!). Second is the psychological actioner Unknown with Liam Neeson. How Neeson has transformed himself from Shakespearean thespian to kick ass action hero in the last few years, I will never know, but I'm sure George Lucas was involved. Finally, Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son. Yes once again Martin Lawrence dons a fat lady suit and goes undercover. Did anyone really ask for another sequel in this franchise?

Poll ends Friday so get your votes in!