122. Rock of Ages

122. (02 Jun) Rock of Ages (2012, Adam Shankman)* 37

It's no wonder movie musicals are practically dead. Adam Shankman takes otherwise fun stage shows, sucks the joy out of them and prevents them from feeling remotely filmic. The casting here is atrocious aside from a fiendishly delightful Catherine Zeta-Jones, who knows just what movie's she's in while everyone else is being much, much too serious. She steals the movie with "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," making it potent and delightful, despite the scene itself being terribly photographed and edited. Tom Cruise and especially Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin come across badly.

Rock of Ages

Here's a movie for you if, and only if, you are a 80s child or maybe if you are a die-hard rock fan. Based on the musical of the same name, this film adaptation casts Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx, a rock legend whose similarities with Guns 'N' Roses front-man Axl Rose are a bit uncanny. A story about a small town girl arriving in Hollywood and falling in love with a city boy, almost instantly, remains the weakest point of the film. Granted Julianne Hough playing Sherrie and Diego Boneta as the city boy Drew are both vocally talented, but their on-screen chemistry leave a lot to be desired. Amidst a number of rock ballads and a few rock songs, the cast go about falling in love, rediscovering themselves, and saving the "last" rock institution left on the sunset strip, The Bourbon Room, owned by Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin) and his right-hand man Lonny (Russell Brand).

It's probably the versatility of Tom Cruise that takes the audience by surprise and also manages to be the saving grace of the film. His vocal talents and screen presence is simply outstanding and in stark contrast of the roles that he normally performs. While most of the other characters are grossly underdeveloped, it seems that only Tom Cruise and Paul Giamatti as Stacee Jaxx's manager Paul Gill are the two actors really enjoying their roles.

Rock of Ages is a great excuse to get together with your high school chums, but unfortunately due to the whole lovey-dovey storyline it ends up choosing songs that have been done to death in film earlier or even covered by the cast of Glee. I was glad to hear Tom Cruise take on Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" as his opening number for it remains one of the most underrated rock songs from the time.

The remaining cast of Catharina Zeta-Jones as the Mayor's wife out to shut down The Bourbon Room, Malin Ackerman as the Rolling Stones reporter interviewing Stacee Jaxx, Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand go about with roles that have very little meat to them. While Lonny would have been a character that was right up Russell's alley, it seems he holds back owing to the fact that the film was rated 12A so it could appeal to a wider audience. Alec Baldwin and Catharina Zeta-Jones bring nothing new to their characters portraying toned down versions of acts they have done before in films or TV series.

Rock of Ages has its comic moments, but isn't laugh-out-loud funny. It has foot tapping rock music, but not songs that would want you to stand up and sing and dance in the aisles. It has performances that shine, while others that just don't leave any impact. In the end it remains a walk down memory lane, one that starts with Guns 'N' Roses' Paradise City, and should have in all honestly ended with Sweet Child O' Mine, but alas that is not the case.

Rating - 3/5      

          

Tom Cruise "Looks Like" Ernest Hemingway.

Tom Cruise( born July 3, 1962), has been nominated for three Academy Awards and has won three Golden Globe Awards for the same movies: Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Jerry Maguire (1996), Magnolia (1999). He started his career with the movie Endless Love. Cruise's first appearance in a major film was in 1981's Taps. His first leading role was in the film Risky Business, (1983). Cruise played the role of a heroic naval pilot in the popular and successful 1986 film Top Gun, and also secret agent Ethan Hunt in the series of Mission: Impossible . He has performed in many other successful films, including: Rain Man (1988), Days of Thunder (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), Vanilla Sky (2001),Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004), and War of the Worlds (2005).

Ernest Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American author and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collections and two non-fiction works. Three novels, four collections of short stories and three non-fiction works were published posthumously.

Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol

It's less complex than the first film. Now, I know complexity is not always a requirement for action films, nevertheless after the first installment I do expect a certain level of suspense and tension in this franchise.

It's action is not at par with Mission Impossible 2. Let's face it people, Brad Bird might have made some pretty amazing animations, but when it comes to action, John Woo is considered a legend and thus the action in the second installment of the franchise is simply outstanding.

It lacks a villain that can stand at parity with the hero of the film, Tom Cruise, something that we saw and appreciated in the third installment of the franchise with Philip Seymour Hoffman. True, Philip Seymour was so good in the movie that he pretty much overshadowed Tom Cruise and maybe, just maybe, that's why we have a villain who despite have plans of world domination is pretty lackluster and simply not as effective.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a pretty average fair for a movie. It has some great locations, although I don't believe most of the scenes of India were actually shot in India. The story is pretty slim with no real emotion, characterization, or even suspense and mystery.

I have to confess and say that the inclusion of Anil Kapoor in the cast was something I was really happy about and I was looking forward to his performance. What I saw was the complete opposite of what I wanted to see. His rather small cameo was how to put this gently...stupid! I can see the charm for any Indian actor to be part of the western film industry, and especially in a franchise like this, but at the cost of a role that brings nothing to the movie, or the character, or to the actors popularity beats the purpose altogether.

On the plus side, the action in the film is quite good. It might not be the best, nevertheless the action scenes set in Dubai was truly exhilarating and at some places even reminiscent of the rock climbing opening scene from Mission Impossible II.

The supporting cast of the film, which comprised of Simon Pegg and Paula Patton, is just that, a support for Tom Cruise. The only exception being Jeremy Renner who seems to be able to shine in any role he is given off late.

After the somewhat surprisingly good Mission Impossible III, Ghost Protocol comes as a disappointment. Its lack of a strong story and specifically strong characters makes it probably the worst film of the franchise so far. What the producers need to desperately do now is give the franchise a makeover that does not necessarily mean replacing Tom Cruise, but one which will hopefully take the story into a little bit darker territory.

Rating 2/5 Stars  

Best Supporting Actor 1999: Results

5. Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules- Caine with a strange accent gives a dull sometimes almost lifeless performance that never seems to bring the genuine emotions one would for a part that seems like it is only ever trying to be emotional.

4. Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile-Duncan achieves this well with his performance by finding just the right sort of characterization for Coffey all the way through the film.

3. Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley-  Law gives an performance effective because he never only seizes one note with his performance and realistically portrays both Dickie's cruel and charming side equally well.

2. Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense- It would have been very easy to lose the human element to the horror that comes into the film, but Osment always is able to keep the humanity in his character alive throughout the film in his performance.

1. Tom Cruise in Magnolia- Cruise might not be my favorite actor, but he is absolutely brilliant here absolutely succeeding with a character that could have gone wrong in a great number of ways but never does. He turns his bizarre guru in a memorable and very intriguing character.

Deserving Performances:
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia
Alan Rickman in Galaxy Quest

Best Supporting Actor 1999: Tom Cruise in Magnolia

Tom Cruise received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Frank T.J. Mackey in Magnolia.

Magnolia depicts a multitude of intersecting stories involving people searching or dealing with many very different problems.

Magnolia is a large ensemble film with many intersecting stories but the only performer nominated from the entire cast was Tom Cruise as the sex self help male domination guru. Cruise certainly gives an audacious performance here that he very different from anything he did before this performance. This is not say Cruise does not use some of the same methods in terms of his acting as some of his earlier performances, but never in support of a character quite like Frank T.J. Mackey the seduce and destroy guru. Cruise though uses some of these common techniques in a vastly different fashion.

Cruise never lets the fact that he is Tom Cruise get in the way of his performance as Frank Mackey. He never apologizes for a moment for his character's beliefs or actions. He absolutely becomes Mackey with the utmost conviction never once winking to the audience otherwise or even acting like underneath the performance he thinks poorly of Mackey, through his whole performance Cruise is utterly devoted with the character and does not waver for even a moment. This devotion of Mackey is shown in every scene particularly in his opening seminar scene.

In his first seminar scene Cruise effectively exudes the confidence in Mackey, and his undying to devotion to his ideas and his cause. Cruise finds the perfect way to portray the methods of Mackey, and just the sort of parody, without ever being a parody, of a self guru with a rather insane concept for what he completely believes in. Cruise is properly magnetic as well as energetic in these moments, and honestly sells the whole rather bizarre concept of Mackey's seminars through his performance. Cruise honestly is the guru and makes the character believable.

The meat of his scenes involve his interview with a female reporter though. Cruise stays effective as he shows even on a one on one interview Mackey still keeps the same style acting like some sort of aggressive animal at all times. In these scenes though Cruise also effectively shows the weaknesses behind his seemingly overflowing confidence. Cruise is terrific here because he does not overdo the weaknesses in Mackey and makes his character's revelations over his past subtle. The small little moments in his performance that suggest the pain and vulnerability of Mackey Cruise infuses well with his far more extroverted moments.

As Mackey when asked about his past Cruise carefully only suggest that he is hiding something. Cruise is interesting here because he basically just goes through his past quickly, but when questioned about Cruise shows that Mackey almost attempts to charm his way through it. Cruise probably has never used that smile of his in a film better than he does here. He shows it as basically almost an attack in Mackey's disposal for both his method, and to avoid facing his past which the interviewer wants him to do. Cruise continues to succeed as Mackey becomes more and more pressured to face what he doesn't want to.

Cruise is interesting as he tones down the charm of Mackey who starts his tactics, and Cruise shows a predator looking for a single weakness while making the smallest attacks. Cruise's smallest facial gestures in the scene are absolutely brilliant as he shows in full view Mackey's rather lowly method that really loses any charm it might of had when he feels attacked. Cruise effectively portrays Mackey's loss of confidence well particularly in his second seminar where he loses any magnetic quality he had before, and just seems much more lost an overly emotional.

His pivotal moments come in his final scene where he finally does face what he was trying to avoid, and that is seeing his dying estranged father (Jason Robards). Cruise does make the most of these final moments as all of Mackey's defenses go away and he talks to his dying father. Cruise is effective in his portrayal of the hatred he feels for his father due to his treatment of his mother. Cruise shows a vulnerability and sadness in Mackey that honestly quite moving despite Mackey previous actions in the film. When also suffering the grief over his father though again Cruise is terrific in his almost silent portrayal near the end effectively realizes the long troubles and issues with his father in a single scene. Cruise might not be my favorite actor, but he is absolutely brilliant here absolutely succeeding with a character that could have gone wrong in a great number of ways but never does.

Best Supporting Actor 1999

And the Nominees Were:

Tom Cruise in Magnolia

Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley

Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules

Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile

Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense

Rain Man

Rain Man, 1988
Directed by Barry Levinson
Nominated for 8 Oscars, Won 4
Up Against: The Accidental Tourist, Dangerous Liasons, Mississippi Burning, Working Girl

Synopsis: Charlie Babbit is living in LA, working as a down-and-out automobile salesman. When Charlie hears word that his father has died, he barely feels anything. He and his father have had an estranged relationship since Charlie was sixteen years old, when he borrowed his fathers 1948 Buick convertible without permission, with his friends, got pulled over for 'stealing a car', and his father left him in jail for 2 days while he friends all made bail. Charlie goes to his father's funeral, and then learns that his father's money ($3 million) is going into a trust, and Charlie has only been left the 1948 Buick, and his father's prized rose bushes. While in searches of finding out who the $3 million has gone to, he discovers he has an older brother. His name is Raymond, he's an autistic man living at a home for special needs patients, and he has inherited the $3 million. Charlie is angry, he never knew about Raymond, and that Ray has no need for this money. He decides to "take" his brother from his home, and tries to bargain him for the money, all while traveling cross-country with his autistic brother, hardly knowing how to deal with him.

When I started up this project, my mum was really excited that I would be watching this movie. My dad too, and several other people I knew told me this was an amazing movie. So naturally, I was excited to watch it. I was even more excited after watching Kramer vs Kramer, and seeing Dustin Hoffman as a great actor.

Personally, I found the plot a little slow. Most of the movie was spent in Charlie and Ray traveling across country, and Charlie getting annoyed and yelling at Ray, and Ray just being, well, Ray, and living in his own little world. There was a small plot about Charlie's car company, how it's about to go under, and how he'll owe people a lot of money, and he's broke. There's the little plot about the $3 million, and trying to gain custody of his brother so he can have the money. Oh, and all the funny things they do on their way to LA, like Charlie finding out Ray has a special talent with numbers. They go to Vegas and Ray counts cards so that Charlie can pay back his clients, with which their deals have fallen through. But this movie is really about Charlie and Ray. Charlie trying to come to terms on how to deal with Ray, about how Ray isn't "in there somewhere", this is just how he is. And just dealing with the fact that he had a brother he never knew about.

But above all, this was really a showcase for Dustin Hoffman. Dustin Hoffman playing Ray, the autistic man, who recites "Who's On First?" when nervous, watches Jeopardy at 5 everyday, has lights out at 11, and doesn't like to fly on planes because they crash, likes clothes from K-Mart, and memorizes everything he reads. While Dustin Hoffman was originally cast as Charlie, he changed his mind after encountering Leslie Lemke, who was blind, mentally handicapped, and had cerebal palsy but who could play full piano concertos by ear. He spent a year working with autistic people and their families to try and understand them better, and how they think, and deal with relationships. And this really paid off. Dustin Hoffman was so utterly convincing that I couldn't believe he was that father I had seen in Kramer vs Kramer, that he wasn't autistic. Even though Hoffman reportedly said that this was his "worst work" while filming, he won his second Oscar. And rightly so. His performance was absolutely incredible. While autism was known to some people in the 80's, Hoffman really give a face to what autism was, and really changed people's perspectives on it.

And then there's Tom Cruise. Many people seem to not mention how really good he was too. He and Hoffman had such great chemistry, and you really believed they were somehow brothers. Charlie is erratic and abrasive, and he simply cannot understand Ray at first, thinking his needs and antics are an act. But he slowly comes to terms with who Ray is, and what Ray is to him. And he plays this so well. He's really able to hold his own much of the time, and does a great job.

Overall, this movie was a wonderful treat. The acting was superb, even if the story was a tad weak and didn't really wrap everything up in the end. Hoffman gave one of the best performances I've seen thus far. This film also features Hans Zimmers first Hollywood score, and got Dustin Hoffman his second Best Actor award, as well with winning, Picture, Director and Screenplay. Overall, a good movie.

8/10

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL
Written by Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec
Directed by Brad Bird
Starring Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and Simon Pegg

After seeing the third installment in the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE series, and after witnessing the self destruction of franchise star, Tom Cruise, over the last few years, I would have bet that the most impossible mission of all would be getting a fourth film made. And that is to say nothing of whether it would even be watchable. Yet here we are with a fourth film on our hands and it was created at the hands of a director famous for animated rats (RATATOUILLE) no less. Somehow though, not only does Brad Bird manage to reinvigorate a dying series in one grand sweep but he also succeeds in unleashing one of the most exciting blockbusters I’ve seen all year.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL is simply a non-stop blast of energy from start to finish. Drawing on his experience with the spy game (THE INCREDIBLES), Bird crafts a twisted trip for the viewer to get caught up in. His experience with the limitless genre of animation is directly applied to his intense and creative vision of the supposed real world. Of course, in real life, regular people don’t scale the biggest building in the world with their hands, but we can all agree this is pretty far away from real life. Audiences don’t want to watch Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team, - rounded out here by a hilariously endearing Simon Pegg, a stunning but not so intriguing Paula Patton and a solid, sexy Jeremy Renner - in reasonably tense scenarios. No, they want to see them in situations no one alive could ever get through but somehow still do. It isn’t about actual realism; it’s about finding out how far you can push implausibility and stopping just shy of that sweet spot.

Hunt is the perfect character for Cruise. He exhibits strength and smarts and does so with savvy. This is wear Cruise cruises. Hunt leads but he does so with few words and very little emoting. This is where Cruise usually crashes so its refreshing to watch him coast by on what he does best for a change. And as he leads his disavowed team on a mission to stop nuclear war from breaking out, he does so with a commanding stance and a reinvigorated sense of determination. It almost feels as though Cruise is not just fighting to save the world but he’s pushing it hard because he knows his career is on the line too. By the time he completes his mission, he has taken us on a ride so exhilarating, it actually had me getting flush from excitement and nerves. It is a mission both he and Bird can claim as accomplished with pride and as far as you’re concerned, it is well worth accepting.

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol trailer

When Pixar's resident genius (as far as this blogger is concerned) decided to depart momentarily from animation and segue into action films, I was nervous.  When it turned out said action film was going to be the fourth installment of the somehow popular Mission: Impossible franchise, I was still nervous.  With story by Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams, the film becomes ever more curious.  Each film since the first one has seemed sort of...useless, even with the addition of Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  However, in this we have both Tom Cruise and the heir apparent Jeremy Renner, who curiously doesn't get his name mentioned in the trailer, which is below.  Don't expect much Oscar love from this film though, not even in the technical categories.

Also co-starring Precious's Paula Patton, Lost's Josh Holloway, and Hot Fuzz's Simon Pegg.

Lions for Lambs

“Lions for Lambs” is a well-intentioned but ultimately flawed film. It’s by no means a bad film, but its one of the most uncinematic films I’ve seen in a long time. Often times it reminded me of a filmed stage play.

The latest directorial effort from Robert Redford, “Lions for Lambs” juggles three distinct storylines. In one, liberal college professor Robert Redford tries to talk a gifted but apathetic student (Andrew Garfield) out of wasting his time in college.

Redford points to two students (Derek Luke and Michael Pena) in his political science class who overcame poor backgrounds to make successes for themselves in college. They are inspired by Redford to do something with their lives, so they join the army to fight the War on Terror overseas. Redford is horrified that his classes may have influenced these two to enlist.

The second story shows these two as soldiers, stranded on a mountaintop after a disastrous mission in Afghanistan. They are surrounded by the enemy as the Army attempts to mount a rescue operation.

The third has Republican Senator Tom Cruise giving an interview to journalist Meryl Streep about why fighting the War on Terror overseas is so essential to this country’s survival.

(An observational note here. I saw this the other night at the great Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, which still has a marquee. I was amused to see Redford’s and Streep’s name on the marquee, but not Cruise’s. Is he that much of a turnoff to people? Who could have foreseen this even two years ago?)

Here goes my Tom Cruise defense. This segment of the film was my favorite because Cruise gives the best performance. And why not? He’s a fine actor, always has been. I don’t care about his personal life or his religious beliefs. When I go to the movies, I want him to give the best performance he is capable of giving and that’s all. Here he delivers one of his very best here. Often charmingly contemptuous towards Streep, his arguments are well-reasoned.

So more than one side of the argument is presented, which I thought was the right approach. Redford is good too. He has that quiet authority he has gained after more than 40 years in movies and can hold a scene like few can.

Like I said it’s not a bad movie. It’s just there. The writing is smart, but I can’t see it changing the opinions of anyone. It does have the good grace to be over and done with in 90 minutes, which is always admirable.

Special mention must be made of red-haired Christopher Carley, who takes a lead role during a classroom debate with the two soldiers. He is the cousin of my co-worker Van Giles and does a fine job. I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.

Rating for "Lions for Lambs": Two and a half stars.