Author: Brodie Mann

I've been a podcaster and radio DJ for over 15 years, and an appreciator of my favourite things for my entire life. That includes film, music, food and of course... a nice glass of rum.

Merry Christmas!

Brodie Fanns!

I want to wish you all a Happy Christmas. You all mean so much to me. I hope your Holiday season is wonderful, and that the new year brings great things for you and yours. And for me, too.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

-Brodie Mann

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Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

4 Stars

The makers of the *insert genre name here* Movie franchise need to take a cue from Judd Apatow and crew on how to make a good parody. When making a parody, you don’t make exaggerated versions of pre-existing characters and exaggerate the situations to sophomoric proportions. You create your own characters, which are exaggerated companions to who they are parodying. And that’s why Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story works.

Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) is the biggest country/rock star to come out of the 50’s, and Walk Hard documents his rise and fall, and then phoenix like re-emergence from the ashes. Cox battles the hazards of fame, drug addiction and multiple wives to become a music legend.

Walk Hard primarily satirizes Johnny Cash’s Walk the Line and Ray Charles’ Ray, but pulls material from all sorts of films to create a larger than life music star who suffers all the cliché trappings of rock superstardom. It serves as a throw back to the Mel Brooks films of the 60’s and 70’s, and the Zucker/Abrams flicks of the 80’s, where it serves as a knowing parody, but never gives a wink and a nod to the audience. The film is presented as a goofy account of a fictional man’s real life. Think Forrest Gump, only written by, well, Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up), the man who’s name is practically required on all comedies if it wants to do well at the box office.

The production would be nothing without Reilly’s (Chicago, Talladega Nights) chops as an actor, singer and as an all around performer. He’s able to play a simple man who makes it big and lives his life in almost ignorant bliss. There’s a sweet charm to his portrayal, and of anyone else in the Apatow cast of characters, I don’t think anyone could have captured the character quite as well as Reilly.

Reilly also has an amazing supporting cast to boost the films comic credentials. Justin Long, Jack Black, Paul Rudd and Jason Schwartzman come together to play The Beatles (George, Paul, John and Ringo, respectively) providing for one of the more hilarious scenes in the movie as Cox is going on a journey of self discovery. Jenna Fischer (The Office) as longtime love interest Darleen Madison provides some good laughs and a good break from the male dominated comedy.

There were times when it felt like they were reaching for jokes, providing us with some groan worthy moments. And certain spots make it feel like an over-blown Saturday Night Live skit, but it then it circles back around and gets funny again.

I’m looking forward to the next Apatow project, and whatever he and his entourage have in store for us.

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Ledger vs. Nicholson: Who is a better Joker?

I’m going to forgo my usual stock trailer entry where I just present it for your viewing pleasure. I’m also going to forgo a supplemental Top 5 list for now (I’ll do that tomorrow). What I am going to do is do a commentary/preview. Yes, a preview. I’m not going to review a film. I’m going to preview a film. And not just preview it. But put it in a historical perspective, and get a bunch of people pissed at me.

I’m going to incur the wrath of many a movie fan with the following proclamation, but it’s something I feel very strongly about. Even though the release date for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight is still around 8 months away, and I have yet to see the actual film and have only seen the trailer (see trailer at the end of the post), Heath Ledger is a better Joker than Jack Nicholson.

What?! BLASPHEMOR! HERECY! HOW DARE YOU! You, sir, are a liar and a braggart! Apparently my reading audience is comprised mostly of villagers from an early 19th century horror novel. Anyway, I’ll say it again for those of you who don’t really believe I said what I just said. HEATH LEDGER IS A BETTER JOKER THAN JACK NICHOLSON!

Why would I say something like that? Especially a full eight months before I’ll be able to see his full actual performance? Well there are many reasons why. And I do intend to explain myself. Trust me, I’m not all talk on this one. I can back it up.

1) The actor is not bigger than the character.

This is the primary reason (hence it’s number). When Batman came out in 1989, he was JACK FUCKIN’ NICHOLSON! He still is. But he was then. Biggest goddamn star in the world. And the way it worked, the movie needed Jack more than Jack needed the movie. And he came in, and was Jack Nicholson. He wasn’t the Joker. He was Jack. It seemed like they had based the character on Jack. Someone explain the difference between the following four characters to me: Randle P. McMurphy, Jack Torrence, Jack Napier/Joker and Frank Costello. The only difference is that when it comes to mainstream pop-culture, The Joker was a pre-existing, long standing character. Sure McMurphy and Torrence existed in novels, and Costello based on an actual guy, but they weren’t part of pop culture till the films came out.

But the Joker has been around for, at the time Batman came out, 50 years. He had a few incarnations in comic books, and on TV by both Ceasar Romero on the live action series in the 60’s and Lennie Weinrib in the 70’s animated series. So he was a long established character for comic book nerds (it’s ok, I’m one of you) and mainstream fans a like. Then JACK FUCKIN’ NICHOLSON comes in. And he’s bigger than god at this point. Meaning he’s also bigger than the character. So Jack’s not going to come in and find the nuance of Jack Napier/The Joker. He’s gonna do whatever the fuck he wants to do. And that’s exactly what he does. He comes into the production, that Tim Burton and Michael Keaton seem pretty jazzed about, and says “So what’s this, a movie about a flying rat? As long as I can watch the Laker game I’ll stand wherever the hell you want me to stand.” It shows in his performance that this is just a paycheck to him. And of course, because he’s JACK FUCKIN’ NICHOLSON he gets one of the most lucrative upfront deals ever brokered. So there it is. Jack is bigger than an iconic character, and it shows, and the audience suffers. Because all we get is Jack Nicolson, sorry, JACK FUCKIN’ NICHOLSON playing JACK FUCKIN’ NICHOLSON, while wearing a funny suit with goofy make-up on.

Fast forward to 16 years later. Batman Begins gets made by Christopher Nolan. Christian Bale and Gary Oldman, two actors widely regarded as the finest of the era, are portraying Batman and Lt. Gordon. Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson and Ken Watanabe were tapped to play the villains. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Rutger Hauer and Linus Roache rounded out the supporting cast. Oh… and Katie Holmes was in it too. But that’s 10 Oscar nominations with three wins. You’ve got a cast of consummate professionals, particularly in Bale and Oldman who are known for just burying themselves in their characters.

So what does Nolan do for the sequel? Gets that cast back (this time with a real actress for Rachel Dawes, thank you Maggie Gyllenhaal), and adds two equally fine actors to round out the sequel cast. You get Aaron Eckhart who gave one of the more brilliant performances of 2005 in Thank For Smoking as Harvey Dent. And he gets Heath Ledger. “Who? The kid from A Knight’s Tale? Heath Ledger? That gay cowboy?” Yes the very same. Because believe it or not, Heath Ledger has blossomed into one of my favourite contemporary actors. Really, it’s been since Lords of Dogtown that I finally began to take notice of his talent, as I had initially written him off as a pretty-boy pin-up actor. Then he does Brokeback Mountain, which despite my misgivings with the film (standard love-story hampered by bland filmmaking), still has stand-out performances from all involved, but particularly Ledger.

But Ledger is still Ledger. He’s not HEATH FUCKIN’ LEDGER. He’s just Heath Ledger. But The Joker is THE FUCKIN’ JOKER! Ever since about 2:30am on June 15th, 2005, people have been wondering who is going to play the Joker in the sequel. And then they announced it. Heath Ledger. And at the time, I think I was the only one I knew that really defended the choice. Because I had recently come around to him as an actor, and I had seen what he was capable of. In one year he was four wildly different characters with Skip Engblom (Lords of Dogtown), Jacob Grimm (The Brothers Grimm), Ennis del Mar (Brokeback Mountain) and Casanova (Casanova). I had seen what he could do, and thought he could bring something to the character.

Now that I’ve seen the trailer, and seen him in action, based on a two minute clip, he’s definitely the right choice for the role. Can anyone watch that and tell me that they’re seeing Heath Ledger in that. Is that Heath Ledger playing Heath Ledger with a funny suit and goofy make-up? Or is it Heath Ledger playing The Joker? I think it’s the latter, as opposed to the former. Now go back, watch JACK FUCKIN’ NICHOLSON as the Joker, and try and tell me that it’s not just Jack playing Jack with a funny suit and goofy make-up.

Heath Ledger is not bigger than the character, which makes it easier for him to become the character. And he can do a better job as the character because he can really explore the Joker. Which I think he does.

2) Batman gets top billing

You sure as shit don’t give the villain top billing over the titular hero. But noooooooo, JACK FUCKIN’ NICHOLSON had to be top billing. Above the title on promotions. It was Jack Nicolson in Batman, with Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger. Now, I realize he’s JACK FUCKIN’ NICHOLSON, and don’t get me wrong here, I enjoy most of what he does. But, in Batman, shouldn’t the guy actually playing Batman get top billing? In Batman Begins, there were six names above the title, and who was first? Christian Bale. Christian Bale wasn’t the big star he’s become. Outside of certain circles, people were saying “Christian who?” And he’s getting top billing over Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman (the sixth name was Katie Holmes, but I think at this point, anyone could get billing over Katie Holmes). Because for a Batman movie, the guy playing Batman is the most important. Not the ego of the guy playing the villain.

I had another point to go here, but I think that has come out in my previous two. I just want to take this opportunity to say, that while it may seem like it, this is not an “Anti-Nicholson” rant. I’m a fan of his work, and have a good portion of his good movies. But I’m just tired of hearing everybody say “Well, Heath Ledger’s no Jack Nicholson.” Of course he’s not. If Nolan wanted Nicholson, he would have cast Nicholson. He cast Ledger because he wanted to see what Ledger could bring to the character. Nolan’s quoted as to saying “Because he’s fearless,” when asked “Why Heath Ledger?” Ledger beat out the likes of Paul Bettany, Adrien Brody and Sean Penn for the role. I think we all need to end this love affair with the Nicholson take on Joker, as when you really look at it, it’s just Nicholson in a funny suit with goofy make-up. Ledger actually immerses himself in the character. If you didn’t know that it was Ledger, you wouldn’t know it was Ledger.

Anyway, after pissing off so many fans, I present you with the trailer. This copy doesn’t really do it justice, but I can’t really post the HD versions. Go to the Dark Knight video page here, and check the HD versions for both Quicktime and WMP.

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I Am Legend

I Am Legend

3.5 Stars

Name two good movies that you never thought would be combined together to form another good movie. How about Cast Away and 28 Days Later? Sounds like a weird amalgamation, right? Well, it is… but thanks to a great story by Richard Matheson and the charismatic action of Will Smith, it works in the new Francis Lawrence flick, I Am Legend.

When a deadly virus wipes out over 90% of the world’s population, sole survivor Robert Neville (Will Smith) lives in the desolate New York trying to find a cure to help the few who survived the virus, but became souless zombies. He lives his life by a strict routine, outside by daybreak, indoors by nightfall, as the zombies have an aversion to UV rays. At mid-day, in accordance with a looped broadcast he sends out over the radio waves, he waits in New York Harbor for any other survivors there may be.

This movie works the same way Cast Away worked. If you’ve got a leading man with enough talent and charisma, he can literally carry a movie. And Will Smith (Independence Day, Ali) has enough charisma and talent to carry two movies. Much of the movie is him interracting with his dog, and the “friends” he’s made up using store mannequins.

I think that Will Smith made this film. There are very few other actors who are fascinating enough to warrant watching just them for two hours. It’s a true credit to his talent that he can carry the film, and I think he did a magnificent job.

Francis Lawrence actually accomplishes what few former music video directors are able to. He’s grown as a film maker since is feature debut with Constantine. And while it’s a step up, there’s still something left to be desired in his sophomore effort. It seemed a bit empty. The special effects were nice to look at, and it’s amazing how they were able to empty out New York City for some of the scenes. But all of Smith’s charisma and wonderous special effects weren’t enough to save it from being an average end of the world disaster flick. It seemed to be in step with 2004’s The Day After Tomorrow instead of 28 Days Later… like it should have been.

It’s definitely warrants a viewing, but for a more insightful look at a post-apocalyptic world, there are better films out there.

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100 Favourite… Part II

Well Brodie Fanns, it’s time for another installment of my Top 100 Favourite Films of All Time. If you remember last week I started off by counting down 100-76, with The Longest Day kicked off the list at number 100, Blade Runner at 88, and M*A*S*H* rounding out the bottom portion of the list at 76. Earlier this week, the supplemental list was my Top 5 Foreign, Non-English films, with last year’s El Laberinto del Fauno from Mexico at number 4, and 1952’s Umberto D from Italy taking the top spot.

Now here, I present you with numbers 75-51. Next week we start in with commentary and possible YouTube videos. Keep an eye out this weekend for a review of I Am Legend.

Without further ado…

75) Wayne’s World
74) High Fidelity
73) Army of Darkness
72) It Happened One Night
71) The Hustler
70) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
69) The Lion King
68) Leon: The Professional
67) Dirty Harry
66) The Day The Earth Stood Still
65) Cool Hand Luke
64) This Is Spinal Tap…
63) A Clockwork Orange
62) Serenity
61) Ben-Hur
60) Alien
59) Airplane!
58) The Princess Bride
57) Night of the Living Dead
56) The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
55) Serpico
54) The Warriors
53) Fast Times at Ridgemont High
52) The Great Escape
51) Star Wars Epsiodes IV-VI

For the record, Star Wars Episodes IV-VI garner one spot, because I view the original trilogy as a complete viewing experience. All three are parts that make up a whole. Where as say, Alien, which is also part of a series (4, or 6 if you count the Alien vs. Predator flicks), they aren’t part of one long story being told. They are individual stories concerning the same characters, but it isn’t one long story, like Star Wars is. And if you’re wondering why it’s just episodes IV-VI, since technically, episodes I-III are part of one big long saga, the answer is quite simple. IV-VI did perfectly fine on their own for 22 years. And let’s face it… I-III suck. End of story. No discussion. I-III suck. Including Revenge of the Sith. It may be the prettiest whore in the brothel, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a whore. And let’s face it… Lucas is a whore. Those movies weren’t made because Lucas was dying to tell more of the story. Lucas was dying to SELL more of the story. Lucas is a whore.

Ok… I’m done pontificating for now.

See you next time Brodie Fanns!

-Brodie Mann

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