Madeleine the Movie Maven

Movie Review & Lab Results for Pan’s Labyrinth

Screenwriter: Guillermo del Toro

Pan’s Labyrinth turned out to be another force to be reckoned with from 2006. With three Oscar® wins – for cinematography, art direction and makeup – it, too, proved it was worth its weight in hype.

It’s also the third subject in my first trailer experiment. Initially, I felt it had the look and feel of a film I would like (it did) but I was concerned the choppy trailer hinted that the film could have story problems (it didn’t). So, how did it all “pan” out?! [Ha, ha, ha, ha!!... Oh, come on, it was a little funny.]

For those of you who’ve been living on Mars for the past few months (or without cable), Pan’s Labyrinth is the ultimate fantasy about how an overactive imagination and love of fairy tales can get you through almost any horrible situation.

Young Ofelia (Ivana Banquero) travels with her pregnant mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), to join Ofelia’s wicked stepfather, Vidal (Sergei Lopez), a captain in Spanish dictator Francisco Franco’s army (post-World War II). Vidal is on the hunt for rebels who’ve embedded themselves deep in the forests of the rural countryside. His sociopathic tendencies make life very miserable for all those around him. Longing to be rescued from his egomania, sarcasm and downright cruelty, Ofelia spends time in a nearby labyrinth where she finds an unusual group of characters who are waiting for a savior of their own.

What I liked: Breathtaking cinematography, art direction and score… great story, acting, writing… I haven’t seen a villain this ruthless since the father in Karakter (Character).

What I didn’t: It was a wee bit violent for my liking.

I predicted: Worth full price

After seeing the film, I say: Worth full price

What do you say?

TEST RESULTS
So what did I learn from this test? I learned to trust my first instincts. When I initially saw this trailer, I said to myself, “Self, this is a movie for me.” However, if I wasn’t already a fan of sci fi/fantasy films, I may have been turned off by the somewhat scattered plot presentation in the trailer.

What did you learn?

Only one more test to go…

Movie Review & Lab Results for Rocky Balboa

L-L-Let’s get ready to revieeewwwwwwwww, Rockyyyyy Balboaaaaaaa! [cue Rocky theme music… “da-da-Daaaaa, da-Da-daaaaa…”]

Now that you have that memorable song running through your head, it’s time for me to present the results to part 2 of my first Trailer Experiment.

To recap, I predicted that I would rank the sixth installment of the Rocky movie series, Rocky Balboa, as “Matinee.” After watching the trailer, I was concerned that the story would be a rehashing of the previous five Rockys. Or is it Rockies? Either way, I’m happy to report that I liked this movie more than I thought I would.

Written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, the creator of the Rocky characters, Rocky Balboa shows us where the champ and his family ended up post-boxing career. Adrian has passed on after a bout with “woman cancer.” Son Robert, a.k.a. Rocky, Jr., (Milo Ventimiglia, of TV show, Heroes, fame) is trying to go the distance working in corporate America (never an easy opponent, I assure you). And Paulie (Burt Young) is still drowning his sorrows in booze, lamenting that his meat-packing job is all he has in life.

So how is the champ doing? Well, he’s still a local celebrity/hero in his hometown of Philadelphia. Fans stop him in public to ask for an autograph. They patron his quaint Italian restaurant called "Adrian’s" to see his boxing memorabilia and have Rocky regale them with stories about his good ol’ days. [Check this out: One of my readers was an extra in a restaurant scene. Click here to read how Sly hand-picked her to be in his movie.]

But Rocky seems to be a little lost without Adrian and takes to reminiscing in the old neighborhoods, which unfortunately have not faired as well as he.

During one of his trips down memory lane, Rocky meets single-mom and barmaid Marie (Geraldine Hughes) at one of his former hangouts. They hit it off and start spending time with each other. Marie introduces Rocky to her son, Steps (James Francis Kelly III), who Rocky seems to relate to more than his son. But Rocky isn’t satisfied. There’s a “beast in the basement” that he needs to exorcise. Thanks to modern technology and an interesting hypothesis put forth by ESPN, Rocky gets his chance.

What I liked: This is an older, wiser, more endearing Rocky, who struggles to give his life meaning in the wake of the death of his beloved Adrian; Paulie’s reaction to Rocky’s musings, “You haven’t peaked yet?!” Great line!

What I didn’t: The editing was a little choppy; the script could’ve used a little polish in places

I predicted: Matinee

After seeing the film, I say: Yo! It’s worth full price

What do you say?

EPILOGUE
So, will there be a Rocky VII? I’m not up on the latest gossip regarding this topic, but let’s brainstorm a few ideas anyway…. I could see Rocky becoming boxing manager and mentor to Steps, which could lead to a showdown between Steps and Rocky, Jr. (this scenario might be too similar to Rocky V).... Or, Rocky could manage the next hot female boxer, something akin to Million Dollar Baby (which was good, but not worth all the hype/awards i.m.o.)… Or, there’s always the prequel option, examining the childhood experiences that led Rocky to the boxing ring. Whatever happens, Stallone can be proud that his timeless story has come full circle, even with the couple of “bumps” it hit along the way (Rocky IV and V).

What do you think?

TEST RESULTS
Part 2 of this experiment taught me that my instincts about a film based on its trailer are not always clear-cut. Sometimes I can’t figure out what my gut is telling me. When this particular feeling appears, I need to remind myself to give the film the benefit of the doubt.

What did you learn?

Stayed tuned for results from part 3 of this trailer experiment: Pan’s Labyrinth, which I’m seeing tonight!

Off I go to listen to my new Bitter:Sweet CD, “The Mating Game,” to get this Rocky theme out of my head….

Movie Review & Lab Results for Children of Men

Screenwriters: Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby; based on a book by P.D. James

FIRST THINGS FIRST

I have good news and bad news. The good news is I saw Children of Men, one of four movies that are part of my current movie trailer experiment (see Madeleine’s Film Labs: Trailer Experiment #1). The bad news is my prediction was wrong. And I’m really quite sad about it. Not because I was wrong, but because the movie didn’t live up to the high hopes I had for it after watching the trailer.

What’s worse is, I left the theater wondering why I was disappointed. Most of the critics have been raving about this film. Why didn’t I agree? In an attempt to understand my reaction, I drove to Borders to find a copy of the P.D. James’ book (of the same name). After reading the first few pages, I realized what I thought CofM was missing: a foundation of emotional depth and profound consequences at the beginning that would have intensified/ensured my need to care more about the story, the quest and the characters’ futures.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the premise, CofM portrays a not-too-distant future where a mysterious, worldwide infertility problem has forced mankind into a race against time to prevent its probable extinction. To complicate matters further, each nation operates as a police state, reminiscent of George Orwell’s “1984.” Special documents are required to travel from city to city. Ominous “big brother”-like propaganda statements appear as public service announcements on city jumbotrons, and home computers and televisions: “Avoiding fertility tests is a crime,” and “Report all illegal immigrants.” (I’m still not sure what illegal aliens have to do with a massive infertility problem, but this issue was a constant thread throughout the story.) And most disturbing of all, suicide kits called “Quietus” are advertised like Viagra is today.

Then, of course, we have the FISH activists, led by Julian (Julianne Moore), who are working with the elusive, unseen folks running The Human Project, a scientific organization that’s trying to solve the infertility problem. Julian kidnaps Theo (Clive Owen), a former activist and disillusioned Ministry of Energy employee who also happens to be her ex-husband. Julian asks him to acquire travel papers for Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) a young girl who, miraculously, is eight months pregnant. The travel papers would allow Kee to reach The Human Project scientists who hopefully would discover how she was able to conceive. While on the run from good guys turned bad, Theo, Kee and midwife/caretaker Miriam (Pam Ferris) wind up at the secluded home of Theo’s hippie friend, Jasper (Michael Caine), who lives off the radar with his catatonic wife.

Jasper arranges a rendezvous with a crazy soldier named Syd (Peter Mullen) in an effort to get the trio to their final destination.

What I liked: The art and set direction have a present day look to it, which made me feel as if this kind of crisis could take place tomorrow. The camera work gives it an "up close and personal" feel. The acting was decent, although the Syd character was way over the top. (Not that you couldn’t meet this kind of person on a journey such as this…)

What I didn’t: Usually, when a screenplay has more than two writers it means the plot had some issues. That seems to be the case for this film.... The incomplete storyline setup in the first 20 minutes.... The lack of emotional depth regarding the consequences of how quickly mankind could cease to exist. I didn’t feel compelled to discuss the, albeit obvious, ramifications from a tragedy of this magnitude like I did at the end of Blood Diamond.... And I’m also confused about key plot points that weren’t set up and/or explained. For more on this, read the Mini Spoiler Section at the end of this post….

Bottom line, I guess I would’ve made different creative choices.

I predicted: I’d pay to see it twice!

After seeing the film, I say: Matinee. (And I’ll probably read the book to discover the intentions of the original author.)

What do you say?

LAB RESULTS

So what did we learn from part 1 of this experiment? For me, I’m reminded of the old advertising adage: A product’s advertising can be award-winning, but that doesn’t mean the product will be. I still think the trailer did a great job in getting my attention and making me want to see this film. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the film itself didn't live up to the trailer's promises.

Stayed tuned for results from part 2 of this trailer experiment.

WARNING: MINI SPOILER SECTION!

Besides the lack of emotional depth and really giving the audience a true understanding of the desperate nature of the whole situation, I also had trouble with three key turning points:

1. Why did the FISH activists assassinate Julian, their current leader? This was never explained.

2. How did the FISH activists find Jasper’s home? The way it was setup, it would’ve taken weeks to discover his hideaway in the woods.

3. (At the end) Upon seeing the newborn child, why wasn’t a group of soldiers assigned to escort it, the mother and Theo out of the refugee camp/city to safety?

I also think the emotional drama could've been improved by Theo showing Kee how to take care of her new infant.

Feel free to email me your thoughts/speculation/explanations/opinions….

Madeleine's Film Labs: Trailer Experiment #1

For those of you who, like myself, get disgusted when a movie doesn’t live up to its trailer (or when it reveals too much), I thought it might be fun to conduct a little experiment. Who knows? Maybe a movie studio exec or director will stumble across our likes/dislikes, observations and recommendations and consider them when creating future trailers. I invite you to play along….

I’ve chosen four trailers of movies I plan to see in the next few weeks, three of which I’d like to see and the fourth because I believe a lot of moviegoers will see it. Plus, I’m curious to see how this franchise pans out. Here are the trailers I’ve chosen and their expected wide release dates:

Rocky Balboa (trailer 1) – in theaters now

Children of Men – January 5

Pan’s Labyrinth – January 19

Fast Track – January 19

Okay, here’s how this will work. Click on the links above to view the trailers then make your predictions in the Comments section below. After watching the movies, post your actual ratings and compare them to your predictions. (Don't feel you have to see all four to participate.) We can use my regular rating scale (see My Rating System) for simplicity sake.

Based on their trailers, here are my predictions:

For Rocky Balboa, Madeleine predicts: Matinee. Although the trailer gives us a good idea about the concept, I’m left to wonder how the filmmakers have made this story fresh, interesting and unpredictable.

For Children of Men, Madeleine predicts: I’d pay to see it twice! When I first saw this trailer, I nearly jumped out of my stadium seat with joy. This movie is right up my alley. The trailer tantalizes the audience with its premise in a concise, organized manner.

For Pan’s Labyrinth, Madeleine predicts: Worth full price. While this also appears to be “a Madeleine movie,” its trailer is the perfect example of a big pet peeve of mine – quick cuts from various scenes that match the voiceover dialogue I’m not paying attention to because I’m too busy trying to figure out the storyline from the massive jumble of quick-cuts being flashed before me. Which makes me think the storyline might have some problems. If it weren’t for the mesmerizing art direction and incredible CGI effects, I might not have predicted such a high rating.

For Fast Track, Madeleine predicts: Matinee. I’m a big Zach Braff fan, but this movie looks to be a tad predictable, and I’m afraid all of the funny scenes are in the trailer.

So, those are my predictions. I hope you’ll play along! Click the Comments link below to post your predictions. Let’s see how we do….