The Eagle and “Hancock”
By kyle | July 4, 2008
Fourth of July special question: how many eagles are there in “Hancock”?
I noticed:
1. Eagle on bench Hancock sleeps on.
2. Eagle on his knit cap.
3. Eagle-shaped gold pendant worn around his neck.
4. Was Charlize Theron wearing an EAGLES t-shirt to bed? I’m not sure.
5. Eagle on back of Hancock’s fancy new uniform.
6. Giant eagle statue as he walks into bank robbery shootout.
7. Stone eagle over bell on his trailer/home.
8. Eagle drawing on wall inside his home? Not sure.
9. Live eagle with him on top of Empire State Building.
Topics: Movies, Politics | No Comments »
Review: “Diminished Capacity”
By kyle | July 4, 2008
A little movie about a memory-impaired (because of concussion) Chicago editor (Matthew Broderick) and his addled redneck uncle (Alan Alda) was a bright surprise among the wasteland of indie films. My review of “Diminished Capacity” is here. Chicago Cubs fans, this film is a must-see for you.
Topics: Movies, Sports | No Comments »
Review: “Gonzo”
By kyle | July 4, 2008
Would it be too much to ask for a documentary about Hunter S. Thompson to avoid getting bogged down in a 1974 Jimmy Carter speech? My review of “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson” is here.
Topics: History, Magazines, Movies, Newspapers, Politics | No Comments »
Review: “Hancock”
By kyle | July 4, 2008
SUPERBAD
Kyle Smith review of “Hancock”
Rated PG-13/92 minutes
Picture a superhero whose enemy isn’t an octopus man or a giant spider but political correctness and you’ll have some idea of the cleverness that animates “Hancock,” a hip-hop superdude for our time. [For more on the movie's symbolism, see my earlier post.]
“Hancock,” which stars Will Smith as a lazy, alcoholic, foul-mouthed lout who happens to fly, be impervious to bullets and save lives when he can be bothered, essentially asks: what if Redd Foxx grew up on Krypton? (The irascible Foxx was a sort of black Archie Bunker on “Sanford and Son,” a 70s TV show whose theme song is deployed in a typically bawdy prison scene in this movie).
Watching Smith edge away from his clean-cut image and play a Rotten Prince makes the first half of “Hancock” consistently funny, although in its second half, a plot twist (which I won’t reveal or even hint at) takes the movie in an entirely different direction that isn’t completely satisfying.
At the start, Hancock is a drunk who sleeps on benches in L.A. When a little kid arrives Jimmy Olsen-ishly to tell him about bad guys on the prowl, he takes in the information and makes it clear that the child is cramping his style. “Whachoo want? A cookie?” he asks.
Then Hancock flies off to capture the miscreants (every time he takes off or lands, he wrecks the street around him), picking up their car and slamming it into a skyscraper, with almost complete disregard for property. Hancock doesn’t appear to be licensed or insured to practice superheroism.
In addition to being the world’s leading cause of collateral damage, Hancock isn’t a very nice man. After meeting Ray, a PR consultant (Jason Bateman) who suggests that he needs a makeover, a superhero costume and better relationships with the media, Hancock takes a look at what other superdudes are wearing. What do you think of this one? Asks the pr man, holding up the cover of a comic book. “Homo,” is Hancock’s verdict. Somebody lock this guy up and retrain him.
Locking Hancock up is exactly what society decides to do, and in this film directed by Peter Berg, who also made last fall’s film “The Kingdom,” about Americans and Arabs working together to foil terrorists in the Middle East, the title character is the enemy of the people. He has a few hundred lawsuits pending against him for all of the stuff he’s wrecked. Even when he saves Ray’s life, people complain that he did it the wrong way. Ray thinks that’s crazy: Hancock is the barrier between decent folk and the bad guys, and though he isn’t perfect, the price we collectively pay for his services is more than reasonable.
The film is a witty defense of America as an imperfect, sometimes blundering but ultimately invaluable and benevolent force, although Berg, who took a lot of heat (mainly for being infuriatingly patriotic) for “The Kingdom,” doesn’t press the message so hard that everyone is going to notice it. And anyway he seems to drop it in the second half.
Not for nothing does Hancock share his name with one of the fiercest patriots in American history; the movie also takes pain to establish the eagle (a frequently seen image) as Hancock’s symbol, even at the beginning when it’s merely a patch on his ratty ski cap. “I’m the only one of my kind,” Hancock complains, by virtue of explaining his difficulties, as the world’s only superpower, in getting along with others.
What others? How about the French? When Ray’s son is harassed by a French boy, Ray’s wife (Charlize Theron) points out that there is much more to the story. The bullying French kid — one of the best laughs the movie gets is when it simply tells us that the little punk is named “Michel” — is having a tough time at home, you see.
Maybe so, but his is the kind of excuse-making that Hancock can’t work up much patience for, and when he is made to endure group therapy and explore his feelings the mood is kind of dreary, kind of comical and completely pointless — much like a U.N. meeting.
Topics: Comic Books, Movies, Politics | 7 Comments »
Problem with RSS?
By kyle | July 3, 2008
Reader Clayton writes:
Kyle,
There is a problem with your RSS feed. I use Google’s “Reader” to read my feeds and whenever I click a link in one of your blog posts I am re-directed to some spammy website selling prescription drugs. This even occurs when I click the title of your blog post to visit the entry on your actual website.
I’m not sure if this is a problem on your end or if there is something screwy with my Reader, but your blog/feed is the only one that has this problem.
Can anyone shed any light on this? I’m not technical enough to answer the question.
Topics: Movies | 5 Comments »
“The Dark Knight”: Showing at 12:01 a.m, 12:02 a.m., 12:03 a.m….
By kyle | July 3, 2008
Is this unheard of? “The Dark Knight” is not only showing at midnight two weeks hence, it’s showing on several screens at midnight in the Greenwich Village multiplex (lots of students) at Union Square. Many showings are sold out. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Movies | 1 Comment »
Review: “Man on Wire”
By kyle | July 2, 2008
KISS THE SKY
Note: this film opens on July 25
Kyle Smith review of “Man on Wire”
PG-13/94 minutes
In 1974, a detachment of international desperadoes carrying a bow and arrow sneaked into the World Trade Center intent on committing an illegal act of beauty.
What exactly they succeeded in doing might not have been clear until the arrival of “Man on Wire,” James Marsh’s sublime docudrama about a 135 pound serving of undiluted mischief who dreamt of walking across the sky.
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Movies, New York City | 2 Comments »
Midterm Report Card: The Worst Movies of the First Half of 2008
By kyle | July 2, 2008
So many candidates. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Movies | 11 Comments »
Midterm Report Card: The Best Movies of The First Half of 2008
By kyle | July 2, 2008
I’ve sat through so much bizarrely unwatchable dreck this year–movies whose scripts shouldn’t have made it past the intern who does the first read–that I am surprised to find, upon reviewing the record, that there were more than 10 movies I really liked. (Click on hyperlinks for my reviews.) So here we go: Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Movies | 2 Comments »
More Thoughts on “Wall-E,” “Wal-Mart,” the Mouse House, etc.
By kyle | July 2, 2008
My “Wall-E” review is pinballing around the Web, attracting a surprising amount of attention. Now a few conservatives are taking a whack at me. One blogger called my review “outraged,” which is precisely what it isn’t. It also is not a “rant,” which increasingly is a word used by angry writers who are frustrated by their inability to locate anger in someone who made them angry.
A point that keeps coming up is that I attacked the film on political grounds. Not really. It’s anti-corporate, but so what? So was “Fight Club,” which I loved (until it went too far at the end.) Another point that seems to make people lather up around the chops is that I said I’d never seen a company spending so much money to insult its own customers. I am accused of defending Wal-Mart, or Disney, or consumerism, or obesity, or something like that. The (hazy) argument goes that I am some sort of Grimace-shaped blob who is offended by jokes about my fellow fatlings (actually, I find American obesity to be terrifying and ugly, which is one reason why I take my vacations in the much more civilized nation of France) or a corporate drone who is probably being paid off on the sly by some monocled Monopoly man who secretly cultivates film critics (although apparently I’m the only one he ever gets to), or that this whole thing has something to do with Rupert Murdoch.
Guys, the New York Post published a four-star review of this film and called it a masterpiece. Rupert Murdoch doesn’t own my blog. Assuming he didn’t like the film (and for all I know he loved it) wouldn’t you think that if he was pulling strings on movie reviews, he would start with, you know, the ones being published in his own paper?
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Movies | 8 Comments »