Comic book adaptations are notoriously difficult to achieve with exceptional results. The two outstanding contributions to the cinematic world of superhero films are Sam Raimi's Spiderman series and Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy. Chris Nolan's Batman Begins is serviceable (granted, to many it is an exceptional film), and Bryan Singer's X-Men flicks work on at least a mechanical level. What is noteworthy, however, is that the artistic success of these films is directly related to the inherent artistry of its director, in general. Iron Man director Jon Favreau, is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a cinema artist, and the picture suffers because of this.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: SEEING RED: Iron Man & Redbelt" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last Comment:

So I did a triple feature this weekend. Sunday I went to the Grove, and saw three movies for the price of two. They got better as the day progressed, thank god. I went from Street Kings to Harold & Kumar Escape Guantanamo Bay to Baby Mama. In the first I almost fell asleep. In the second I laughed politely a handful of times. And in the third I fell in love with Tina Fey.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: TRIPLE FEATURE: Baby Guantanamo Kings" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 12:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Last Comment: mynameisjenn on May 5, 2008 08:42 PM.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is yet another successful example of the Judd Apatow formula. Which is not to discredit the film's star and writer, Jason Segel, or it's director, Nicholas Stoller. In fact, it is Apatow's commitment to providing those faithful members of his long-gestating troupe with an opportunity to put their own personal stories up there on screen that makes this movie work as well, if not better, than the last five or six or seven Apatow-produced hits.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: BETTER OFF DEAD: Forgetting Sarah Marshall" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Last Comment: crt123 on Apr 28, 2008 12:57 PM.

What do John Woo and Wong Kar-Wai have in common? Perhaps the question telegraphs the answer, but that's not going to stop me from taking a dump all over My Bluberry Nights. Snoozeville, this picture is.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: LOST IN TRANSLATION: My Blueberry Nights" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 7:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last Comment:

There Will Be Blood is, unarguably, a film that should primarily be experienced in a cinema. It is a big movie and was meant to be seen on a big screen. But at home, on a television, the experience loses no power. I imagine one could watch Paul Thomas Anderson's latest opus on an iPod and still be moved. It's just a heckuva motion picture. Among 2007's best.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: BLACK GOLD: There Will Be Blood on DVD" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last Comment:

Martin Scorsese has just gotten better with age. It is safe to say most folks out there consider Marty's best work to be behind him, way behind him. Twenty or thirty years behind him. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas. A lot of people want to know where that Marty went. Well, those people must have been re-watching those AFI Top 100 favorites as he blew past them, continuing to make masterpiece (Gangs Of New York) after masterpiece (The Aviator), only to be rewarded for The Departed, his least interesting picture since, well, ever. For being conservative, and walking that pedestrian Hollywood line, Marty was awarded an Oscar. Now he can get back to the business of filmmaking: Witness, Shine A Light.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: THE SENIOR CLASS: Shine A Light" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last Comment:

The war in Iraq has inspired numerous films over the past year or two. None have been able to match the sort of power of the Vietnam films they can't help but be compared to. Nothing has matched Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket or Cimino's Deer Hunter or Ashby's Coming Home or Scorsese's Taxi Driver or Stone's Platoon. There is no Casualties of War, though De Palma came close to matching his own picture with his very similar Redacted. So, what gives? Why has it been so difficult for contemporary filmmakers to match the power of their predecessors? The fact is, the directors of our time with powers to match those of Hollywood's last Golden Age are not making pictures about the war. The best film to be made about the war in Iraq - David O. Russell's Three Kings - isn't even about the present war in Iraq. Kimberly Peirce's Stop-Loss is an honorable effort, racked with problems both formal and thematic, and is ultimately as confusing and confused as its subject matter.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: A LOSING BATTLE: Stop-Loss" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 6:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Last Comment: Memememe on Apr 1, 2008 08:43 PM.

Among the many great and frustrating benefits of living in Los Angeles is the absolute plethora of film screenings. Great, for obvious reasons, but frustrating because it is practically impossible to see everything. This past weekend nothing was opening worth seeing - I've yet to see a Tyler Perry film, and I'm okay with that - so instead I ventured out to the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theater and enjoyed a few Mario Bava classics.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: MARIO BAVA at the American Cinemathique" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 8:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last Comment:

God bless David Gordon Green, and his new picture Snow Angels. Since his first feature, George Washington, and on through his subsequent works (All The Real Girls and Undertow) Green has been doing his best to give working class folk a place in the cinematic landscape that is free of judgment, condescension or romanticism. Snow Angels, his fourth feature, is his most accomplished picture yet.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: THE ANGEL OF DEATH: Snow Angels" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 2:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last Comment:

Okay, okay, okay, Doomsday is almost, almost beyond comprehension. So absurd is every frame of this film that I don't think I closed my mouth, or even blinked, more than a handful of times during the entire movie. Multiple times I was holding my head in my hands in disbelief. On a few occasions I actually turned to fellow audience members only to meet their gaze, and we shook our heads at each other, unable to believe what the fuck was happening up on that screen. I never talk in movies, but on more than one occasion I could not help but utter the phrase, "That's just ridiculous", out loud. No one seemed to mind.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: GONZO, BONKERS, BANANAS: Doomsday" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 12:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Last Comment: Donna Martin Graduates! on Mar 17, 2008 10:57 AM.

Last year sometime, a friend of mine suggested I watch Funny Games. I put it on my Netflix cue, with some reluctance and very low expectations. All I'd seen of Michael Haneke's work at that point was Cache (Hidden), a movie I found interesting when it came out in the theater, but didn't totally appreciate right away. It wasn't until my Netflix'd Funny Games arrived in the mail that I started to hear, or rather see, Haneke's voice. That day I ran out and bought Cache, and upon second and third viewings really started to appreciate what Haneke is up to. Today I bought tickets to the first screening of the new Funny Games remake that I could make it to. And I was not disappointed.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: WHITE ON WHITE CRIME: Funny Games" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 1:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Last Comment: blondie78757@yahoo.com on Mar 28, 2008 08:34 AM.

Roger Donaldson is one of these guys that makes sturdy movies. Not the kind of pictures that anyone is likely to remember in 30 years, but may pop up in the occasional genre revival series or film class. You know, Species as part of a sci-fi fest; Cocktail in a 80s retrospective or a Tom Cruise survey; Thriteen Days - political films. It's safe to say The Bank Job could very well find its way into a series showcasing the heist film. It's built with at least as much integrity as the bank the villains in the movie rob.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: STEAL THIS MOVIE: The Bank Job" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last Comment:

From the moment the theater goes dark, and Will Ferrell's silly, sultry R&B song begins playing over the opening credits of Semi-Pro, I am smiling. Not for a single moment in the movie's 90 minute runtime do I stop smiling. Unless, of course, I start laughing out loud - which I do frequently. And so do a lot of people in the audience. Everyone is having a good time.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: Balls Out: Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 1:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last Comment:

Well, folks, you may have noticed that no column went up last week. My excuse for that is that I started a new job recently and have been juggling my writing between home and the office, and somewhere in the course of emailing the document back and forth, it got deleted (not even in my sent mail for some reason). And in the ensuing days, I just haven't had time to completely re-write it.

In fact, I haven't had time for much of anything. I've always tried to be honest when something in my day-to-day life intrudes on moviegasm, so I'm just going to go ahead and say that between the new gig and some outside projects, I just don't have the time to put the thought and care into my columns that I hope you've become accustomed to (if not the proofreading).

So I'm taking a hiatus from moviegasm for a while. Hopefully, I'll come back to it when things settle down again, but in the meantime, I leave you in the capable hands of Damien Belliveau.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: " »

Posted in Moviegasm by Sutter Cane at 7:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Last Comment: JasonR on Mar 4, 2008 08:03 AM.

With Jumper, director Doug Liman has practically completed the transformation from indie-sensation to mainstream-pulp-dealer. It is a common and enviable trajectory that many young directors fight tooth and nail for (whether they admit it or not). What's not to like? Spielberg did it. Jackson did it. Raimi did it. Hell, auteur du jour David Gordon Green is directing the next Judd Apatow comedy. The transformation is a good one.

Continue reading "Moviegasm: Back To The 80s: Jumper and Be Kind Rewind" »

Posted in Moviegasm by Damien Belliveau at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last Comment: