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Let’s not parse words here: The Simpsons sucks serious balls. It is with great regret that we make such a declaration, because in its heyday, the best episodes of the series could rank among the greatest moments of television ever produced. The trouble is… its heyday was like ten seasons ago. Since then, the series has devolved into one the most embarrassingly awful television train wrecks this side of a Jay Leno opening monologue. And it is with this context that the Simpsons Movie came as a surprising breath of fresh air.
This may have something to do with the early developers of the show coming back to help write it perhaps. Matt Groening, Al Jean, and even James L. Brooks, for fuck’s sake, helped pen the script (and Brooks’ involvement is clearly noticeable, as the film at times oozes with his flair for the sentimental). Also, some off the best writers from the series’ past were called in to contribute, such as John Swartzwelder and Jon Vitti.
The plot involves Homer causing an environmental catastrophe which leads to Springfield having to be quarantined by covering the entire town with a gigantic dome. As appropriate for a feature film, the story fells epic and best told on the big screen. While the jokes fly fast and land with a wallop, the writers also take time to remind you why the Simpsons are such a pop culture phenomenon which resonates strongly with so many people: this is a real family that cares deeply for each other.
Though not achieving quite the level of the best the series has had to offer, the film was wildly entertaining and nothing short of hilarious… just don’t have any hope that the series has any life left on the small screen.
Grade: B
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Make no mistake about it—this is a great film, easily one of the most entertaining and well acted movies from 2007. However, after the lavish praise and heaps of Oscars this film garnered, someone needs to take it down a peg. So, forgive us as we shit on it for a moment. It may seem strange to castigate a film on our “best of” list, but we here at InsubordiNation are real Coen brothers fans— fans that have been with them since the beginning. And No Country for Old Men, while a good flick, lies somewhere near the bottom in the Coen oeuvre.
Granted, this film followed the two most offensively awful cinematic abortions the Coens ever shat out (Intolerable Cruelty and the Lady Killers), and by comparison looks like a masterpiece, but No County may actually signal a dispiriting new benchmark for the brothers Coen—an omen solidifying the death of their beloved signature style. In this film, gone is their unique blend of artsy and neurotic but deeply passionate and introspective dark-comedy.
For those familiar with their work, you used to be able to just watch a Coen brothers’ film and immediately recognize it as their work whether you knew the film or not, much like the films of Kubrick or Bergman. You simply cannot do this with No Country, and there is something very depressing about that.
In the end, No Country for Old Men is a great movie… about a good guy who finds a briefcase full of money and a bad guy who wants it back. Any existential musings tacked on beyond that, though not totally without merit, feel a bit awkward and unearned. There are practically no themes in this film not already and better tackled in their earlier work (Blood Simple, Fargo).
The Coens have without a doubt made some of the greatest films in the history of celluloid, and sorry to say, but this ain’t one of ‘em.
Grade: B+ |
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Who would have thought someone once involved in the writing process of douche-bag-extraordinaire-filmmaker Michael Bay’s Armageddon was capable of making an exceptional dramatic feature. Michael Clayton was the directorial debut for Tony Gilroy, who also penned the script. Gilroy, who had gained previous notoriety for writing the Bourne movies, has churned out one wallop of a near flawless legal thriller.
Perhaps the only real notable flaw of the film is that it’s presents the filmgoer with nothing really new. We’ve all seen the “little guy against the big evil corporation” legal-thriller before. Yet, somehow Gilroy manages to make the concept feel fresh and exciting. The film is crafted with a subtlety and maturity that registers intelligent and endlessly compelling.
And while some of the film’s story telling devices smack of contrivance (do corporations really write one damning smoking-gun memo that mustn’t fall into the wrong hands detailing their complicity in serious crimes?), the plot moves along at such a masterful tempo, juggling the perfect balance of character development and suspense-mystery, that you won’t care if the film may be a tad unrealistic and derivative.
This is a solid film through and through. And props go out to George Clooney for continuing to do confusing, politically-charged indie-films (Syriana, Good Night and Good Luck). Maybe we can forgive him in advance for the inevitable Oceans 14.
Grade: B+ |
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Ratatouille is the latest computer animated feature from Pixar studios and continues their long line of excellent work (disregarding the surprising lackluster effort of Cars). Writer/director Brad Bird, who used to work on The Simpsons and King of the Hill and whose previous films include the excellent The Incredibles and the hugely underappreciated The Iron Giant, inherited this project after Jan Pinkava left Pixar, but he makes the film wholly his own.
The film follows the misadventures of a culinary-obsessed rat named Remy (voiced competently by comedian Patton Oswalt, giving the film some indie credentials) as he finds himself in the kitchen of a legendary Parisian restaurant teamed with a screwball and talentless cook named Linguini (voiced by Lou Ramona). Remy must secretly direct Linguini to craft exquisite cuisine. The rat does this while hiding under Linguini’s chef hat and controlling him like a massive marionette by pulling his hair.
Everything from the art direction (using a vibrant but soft-edged palette of colors) and character design down to the story telling and character development is highly engaging and never dull. It achieves both comic low jinks and poignant sentimentalism, managing to wallow in the absurd (i.e. rats in the kitchen cooking gourmet meals) while treading lightly into social commentary (i.e. great art can come from surprising sources). And though the film is perhaps a tad predictable and may not be the most erudite film from last year (this is an animated family feature of course), it is certainly one of the most entertaining.
Grade: A- |
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Alex Gibney has emerged as one of the best political documentarians working today; and his latest Academy Award winning film, Taxi to the Dark Side, follows his previous exceptional work, The Trails of Henry Kissinger, and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.
His current films details the mysterious and controversial death of a taxi driver named Dilwar who died is US custody in Afghanistan, his death ruled a homicide. From here the story examines the horrific detainee experience of the US interrogation policies and scandals, from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay.
The film is at times difficult to watch and will certainly get your blood boiling, but such is the necessary mark of good documentary filmmaking. However, unlike the occasional slips of Michael Moore, the film is not a polemic screed constantly reinforcing its own agenda, but instead, employs the actual soldiers involved to tell the story. The result is a damning indictment of Bush administration policies which seem to unofficially condone the use of torture in the fighting the so-called “War on Terror.”
In one rather pertinent scene, Gibney interviews his own father who had been an interrogator of POWS in World War II. His father explains that such tactics used today were strictly prohibited during his time and expresses serious doubts about their effectiveness.
In many ways, the documentary is an argument for the soul of America, exploring whether our national character has been jeopardized in pursuing this new breed of militarism. The title of the film is paraphrased from a quote by Vice President Cheney who, during an interview with Tim Russert, suggested that America must “work the dark side” in this new war. The question remains– at what cost? Grade: A- |
