Volume 04, Number 16
Movies
Movie News
By Bill Hersey
It was all very high tech on the dynamic set at UIP's Park Hyatt Press Conference for the big bucks making Transformers. Special guests brought in for the conference were Director Michael Bay and actor Josh Duhamel.
Both expressed their joy over the success of the film— "The biggest opener of all time in China and Korea." Josh said. "Michael's tough, but great to work with—he really knows what he's doing. The first time I saw the film I was absolutely amazed and so proud to be in it. I'd like to say ‘domo arigatou Mr. Roboto...' just joking." In regards to Josh, Michael said jokingly, "He wasn't very good—just needed a good director. I met him a year before we started making the films and he does have a leading man's look." Actually, Michael does as well.
I've known Michael for a long time, and set up parties at the Lex for a couple of his films. One of the best was when he was here with producer Jerry Bruckheimer for Pearl Harbor (Buena Vista).
Thanks to friends at UIP we had a party at The New Lex for Michael, Josh, Paramount execs, and their friends during their visit. It was a really laid back evening with good friends and nice people.
Movie Review - Transformers—A Summer Blockbuster in Little Disguise.
by Marie Teather
Summer releases are expected to pack in the action to walloping sized proportions and Transformers being this year's no-holds barred special-effects punching blockbuster is no exception. Director Michael Bay of prior planet-saving box-office hits such as Armageddon and The Rock, joins forces with Steven Spielberg to bring the metamorphosing robots back from a 1980's toy closet for a whole new and consuming generation.
Twenty-first century kids understandably want more than giant mindless mechanical machines and so the Transformers have been pimped-up to cybernetic standards. For the human-loving and sentimental Autobots; a Search and Rescue Hummer H2 disguises the philosophical and peace-loving Ractet, while a cheeky yellow Chevrolet Camaro masquerades as the hip-hop dancing Bumblebee. Decepticons take on evil alien qualities, hacking into US security systems when not disguised as cell-phones or cop-cars—technologies that bane the human race at even the best of times.
Beyond astounding effects and the ever amazing transformation of seeing animate objects morph into weapon wielding robots, the plot is however confusing and a notepad is recommended to keep all the players straight in your head. The basic storyline is a familiar one of good robot verses bad robot. Throw in there, (amongst many other subplots), a teenage boy saving the world from the alien robots who for reasons unclear, are intent on destroying our planet should we not destroy it by our violent little selves beforehand. Yes, just like Independence Day before it, this movie comes with a message but who better to deliver one than Optimus Prime himself? There's no denying Transformers is going to be big.
It's a little cheesy; it's a little overkill, but nevertheless, it's a summer action movie at its best.
East/West Double Bill
by M. Halliday
Written and directed by Steven Zaillian and based on the book by Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action is a serious film that spurns thrills and spills and concentrates on telling its story, in this case a true one, in a sober, mature, and ultimately enthralling way. Here, proving again that with the right script he can be very effective, Travolta plays Jan Schlichtmann, the head of a small law firm who takes on a case of water poisoning by two large corporations, W.R. Grace and Beatrice, that may or may not have resulted in the deaths, by leukemia, of 12 children. The film follows the long legal battle for justice that ensued. As the story unfolds, it becomes less about the guilt of the corporations and more about the cynical, strictly business nature of a legal system that claims impartiality but clearly favors the powerful.
A brilliant turn by Robert Duvall, stealing every scene he is in as the head lawyer for the defendants, and an excellent supporting cast including William H. Macy add to the film's quality. Overshadowed somewhat by the flashier Erin Brockovich, A Civil Action superbly illustrates the difficulties the average citizen has when up against a powerful corporation in defensive mode; and, at the same time, gives an ominous foretaste of the possible legal struggles ahead as the world wakes up to the potentially catastrophic environmental damage already done in the name of big business. Hayao Miyazaki is, pretty much, the undisputed master of the animated movie. Though all his films are concerned to some extent with nature and our relationship with it, in Princess Mononoke, one of the biggest grossing domestic films of all time, the struggle between man, industry, and nature takes center stage. Set in the 14th century, the film tells the story of Prince Ashitaka's journey to find a cure for a wound (and curse) he has picked up slaying a giant boar that has live snakes for skin.
On his journey he meets a crazed samurai, a corrupt priest, forest gnomes, and Lady Eboshi, a matriarch who controls a massive steelworks on the edge of a vast forest. The story's main conflict is between this factory and the forest animals that are being killed off as the steelworks expands. Ashitaka attempts to reconcile the two and find a cure for his wounds. The plot is complex and, unusually for this kind of subject matter, the lines between good and evil are never as clearcut as one would expect. The characters are developed with a depth that puts most live action films to shame. As well as the environment, Princess Mononoke utilizes elements of Japanese history and legend to tell a wonderful, original, enchanting story.