A few months back I had the pleasure of attending the A.F.I. Los Angeles Film Festival. I love L.A. and A.F.I. had put together a fine slate of films so I jumped at the chance to attend. I’m no festival rookie and I know how exhausting seeing 2-3 films a day plus writing reviews and blogs can be so, I plan accordingly. I get sleep, eat food and try to do my job. Still, it can be a grind and that’s the reason I feel like I owe Kelly Reichardt’s film “Wendy and Lucy” a full star.

When I saw the film, I was under whelmed and as a result, I think my review has an air of me blowing the film off. And thinking back on it, that’s exactly how I felt. However the thing is today, nearly a full three months after seeing “Wendy and Lucy,” I can’t quit thinking about the film and for that reason (amongst others that I will get to momentarily) I feel I owe “Wendy and Lucy” as well as director Kelly Reichardt an apology and a full star as I had originally given it only three and 1/2 and it’s worthy of 4 and 1/2.

My re-thinking of the film started a few days after seeing it but really hit me hard when we had the financial crash and that subsequent sense of desperation swept the nation. As I tried in my mind to match a face that I could relate to this overwhelming sense of danger and loss, all that kept coming to me was Michelle Williams’ character Wendy. As I saw news reports of layoffs and people bailing on their homes either for cheaper places or due to bank foreclosures, my mind again went to Williams’ Wendy. I knew this wasn’t a real person or even based on anyone specific, but it’s Wendy’s plight and courage to carry on that made me relate to her in this scary time.

While it’s true these things I’m mentioning don’t actually happen in “Wendy and Lucy,” I couldn’t, and still can’t, escape the idea that what Reichardt was speaking to in her film was a sense of reaching for something better in your life when all the doors to the world seem to be slamming in your face and the houses they lead to are crumbling. In the film just when you think young Wendy will catch a break, someone who could feasibly help her if they wanted to does not. Just when you think the sun will shine again, the skies go dark and clouds gather. Just when you think there can’t be much more of a sinking feeling that all is lost for this girl, something else happens. But she perseveres the best she can and as a result, I now feel “Wendy and Lucy” is an amazing accomplishment and a true companion piece to John Ford’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Others have been doing some thinking about this minor masterpiece as well. Cinetic Media’s Matt Dentler also found himself thinking about the film and found it to be a kind of anti-Noir Film Noir. Greencine Daily has been compiling thoughts and reviews on the film and both A.O. Scott of the New York Times and Phil Nugent of Screengrab seem to have come to deeper feelings on the film after letting it percolate for a few days.

Of course I could be way, way off in my interpretation and my mental tie-in to the current state of our union, but my point is, “Wendy and Lucy” has stuck with me unlike many other films have. And I also know that star ratings are silly, arbitrary and kind of weird, but since we use ‘em around here, I feel the need to come clean. Thus I will add a star to my review of the film and admit I may have been a wee bit grumpy when I saw it and thus, had my judgment clouded. Any film that still echoes in your mind months after seeing it is clearly something special and I hope my original, lackadaisical response didn’t turn folks away.

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Since I’m tired of complaining about Oscar nominations and cheap movie studios, let us break for a moment to discuss something awesome.

Although it is theoretically pitched to a younger audience, with bright colors and gee-wiz adventure, the newest Batman cartoon has a certain level-headed sophistication that makes it completely watchable for audiences of any age. Despite being a cartoon that seemed to have been invented purely to sell newer and different action figures to an ever younger audience demographic, Cartoon Network’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold is smart about its kid-friendly science fiction adventures. And it’s also very funny.

Taking its name and its modus operandi from the long running (and occasionally canceled) comic book series, the show teams Batman with a different B-level DC comic book hero every week, sending them both off on adventure in far-off lands, alien worlds, and fantastical environments. The secret to the show’s success is two-fold. The stakes are still life and death and Batman is still his gruff, no-nonsense self, which renders the insane occurrences around him and his nonchalant reactions to them downright hysterical.

Ironically, the light tone allows the creators to engage in rather violent fist-cuffs and smack downs, while the characters discuss matters of death freely without constantly using disguise words like ‘destroy’ or ‘disappear’ or ‘lost’. For example, not only did the most recent episode have an onscreen death of a major hero, but the show’s otherwise light and funny Christmas episode (awesomely titled ‘Invasion Of The Secret Santas’) contained the most vivid flashback of the Wayne murders that I’ve ever seen in a Batman cartoon.

Second of all, Batman (voiced with punchy authority by Diedrich Bader) remains ever the hard ass, although he is more grouchy taskmaster than brooding psychotic. Crime fighting is a job for him, and whoever is riding shotgun in the Batmobile sure as hell better pull their weight. But, since he is crime fighting with equals and not junior partners, the dialogue has a sense of true camaraderie and respect. Batman may believe he’s superior to many of his partners, but he genuinely likes them and considers them his friends (if only in internal monologues).

I’m also quite fond of the crime fighting ‘Dos and Don’ts’, where Batman and Green Arrow or The Blue Beetle discuss personal strategies, making the show into an occasional superhero version of Burn Notice (apparently, if you carry knock-out pills in your belt, you need a special casing so they don’t go off on you while you’re moving). And Bats is forever unphased, which lends a trippy kick to the all the absurd goings on (”Are you seeing what I’m seeing?,” asks Plastic Man, “Because I’m seeing gorillas riding pterodactyls, with harpoon guns, stealing a boat.”) While Bader is a surprisingly convincing Batman, the show is extra funny if you imagine Christian Bale’s McGruff The Crime Bat uttering some of Batman’s choice dialogue (”Pretend you didn’t see that,” Batman sternly advices two traumatized youngsters, after they witness Batman punching the head off a robot Santa Claus).

In the end, Batman: The Brave and the Bold works because of its absolute matter of fact presentation of the goofball subject matter. Whether attacked by murderous Santa robots or facing down unhinged dinosaurs, Batman treats it like any other day at the races. Tongues are obviously placed firmly in cheek, but the show is serious when it needs to be (”If I wanted you to retire,” Batman explains to an over the hill Wild Cat, “it’s because you’re like a father to me… and I don’t want to lose another one.”). This is easily the most consistently funny Batman property since Adam West hung up his cape in 1968. It’s certainly not high art like Batman: The Animated Series, but it’s smarter than The Batman and it’s a perfect counter-balance to the realism-drenched crime drama that is The Dark Knight.  Because even the darkest of Dark Knights may have been undone by “Fluke, the most obnoxious dolphin on the planet.”

Grade: A-

Scott Mendelson

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From Variety comes this report that Mickey Rourke is being offered a measly $250,000 to play a major villain in the upcoming Iron Man 2, a low-ball figure that may cause him to make The Expendables instead. I’ve previously written about Marvel’s apparent attempts at penny-pinching the May 2010 sequel before, but this new information is startling. Marvel is allegedly as badly hurt by the economy as any company (unlike DC Comics’ relationship with Time Warner, Marvel Comics has no giant conglomerate to fall back on) and they are trying to find ways to save.

The latest casualty was Samuel L. Jackson, who will now NOT be playing fan-favorite Nick Fury in this sequel (or apparently in The Avengers, if that even gets made), allegedly due to a very low-ball offer for a genuine supporting role (as opposed to the applause-inducing cameo at the end of the first film). Folks, on opening weekend, geeks and non-geeks alike were talking about two and only two things: Robert Downey Jr’s performance and making sure their friends knew to stay for the end credits for the Sam Jackson cameo. Hey, I guess Marvel can always go with someone who has experience playing Nick Fury, Mr. David Hasselhoff.

Also in negotiations to apparently work for peanuts are Sam Rockwell as a second villain and Emily Blunt as Black Widow. Blunt as Black Widow serves two functions, since she could theoretically take much of Fury’s expository dialogue and allow the producers to potentially dial down Gynneth Paltrow’s role, thus allowing them to go cheap on her too if they so wish. Toss that in with Don Cheadle replacing Terrance Howard (boy, am I starting to wonder if his exit wasn’t about money after all) and you certainly have an eclectic and interesting cast for this superhero sequel. None of these fine actors are so underemployed that they have to take whatever they can get for a sure to be huge moneymaking tent pole picture. We’ll see who bites and for how much money.

I can understand that Marvel wants to cut corners when it can, but is playing hardball with the sequel to your most valuable property really the way to go? Iron Man single-handedly made Marvel into a real movie studio and briefly created the impression that they were movie making geniuses. Whatever issues I had with Marvel’s choices in the past, they spent A-grade money on a B-level comic book character and let Jon Favreau make the film he wanted to make. They took a risk and it paid off big time for them. And they’ve been making some whip-smart choices about who directs their various properties, so I was hoping to be able to cheer for them for awhile. But this is not smart decision making. Yes, they may be saving up so that they can blow their wad in other, more technical arenas, but Iron Man was a success because of its characters and fine actors, not because of its occasional flying robot action scenes.

If you want to cut costs, don’t do it on your flagship franchise, the one that is all but guaranteed to return said investment. There is a strong possibility that a high-quality Iron Man 2 could very well be the highest grossing film of summer 2010, with only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1) standing in its way. If spending an extra $20 million gets a top-flight cast and makes sure that the current cast is happy, then spend $20 million. Hey, Marvel… want to save almost $200 million in production and marketing costs? Don’t make Ant Man.

On the plus side, the current spendthrift ways make it more likely that Marvel will cast Jon Hamm as Captain America in Joe Johnston’s film adaptation (since he’ll likely work for peanuts). Of course, if Marvel is set on going cheap, then there is always the frightening possibility that the 1990 Albert Pyun Captain America film may end up being the superior version.

I come at this not as a foe but as a friend. I didn’t worship Iron Man like a lot of people did, but there were ingredients there for a vastly superior sequel. With a stunningly successful original behind them, and most of the introductory exposition out of the way, the filmmakers can make a film that has the confidence to deal with the various geopolitical issues that were brought up rather than toss them away for a rock-em-sock-em robots climax. I understand the need to save money for any major company. But if you’re Marvel Studios, Iron Man 2 is not the film to cut corners on (and for that matter, neither is Captain America).

Scott Mendelson

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Melissa Leo has an Oscar nomination. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

It stinks that The Dark Knight got snubbed in the major categories and it stinks that The Reader seems to have exemplified the worst of the Academy’s judgment (it’s badly reviewed and barely seen by audiences… oh, but it’s a Harvey Weinstein production about Nazis and The Holocaust!!). It stinks that the long overdue Kate Winslet will likely win Best Actress for a supporting role that allegedly ranks as one of her lesser performances. It stinks that Bruce Springsteen didn’t get a Best Song nomination in a category that only has three entries this year.

Wall-E made 162 ten-best lists on the official Movie City News scoreboard.
The Dark Knight made 134 lists.
The Reader made 22.

This isn’t just about The Dark Knight getting snubbed, or Wall-E getting denied. This is about a series of inexplicable and/or artistically indefensible calls that, on one hand is a cry of refusal to acknowledge that mainstream cinema can be art, while on the other hand engaging in the kind of apparent ’star-fucking’ that is usually attributed to the Golden Globes.

To wit - The Academy has passed over The Dark Knight and/or Wall-E, films that 94% and 97% of the nations critics at least really liked, over The Reader, a film that few have seen and that has amassed a barely-fresh 60% on Rotten Tomatoes (for comparison, Snakes On A Plane currently sits at 70%).

Once again, nearly all of the major nominees came from official ‘Oscar bait’ films; films that were held until the very end of the year, often screened at the last minute so that the quality of said film wouldn’t cancel out the hype. We wonder year after year why so many studio releases are pitched to the lowest-common denominator, and then we watch as every allegedly high quality film that the studios dare to make all come out in the same 60 day period. In snubbing The Dark Knight and Wall-E, the Academy seems to be saying A) don’t bother with quality genre pictures, because we’re just going to ignore them and B) don’t bother releasing good films before November, because we have no long term memory and we’ll forget them.

On the other hand, the Academy made sure to nominate Angelina Jolie for The Changeling (instead of Sally Hawkins in Happy Go Lucky) and Brad Pitt for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button; performances that were neither acclaimed nor particularly challenging (to be fair, Jolie and Pitt were much better in such films as A Mighty Heart and Burn After Reading). Why do I get the feeling that they would have nominated Jennifer Aniston as Best Actress for Marley & Me if they could have found a way to justify it?

As for Bruce Springsteen’s shocking omission from the Best Original Song category (for The Wrestler), it may have fallen prey to the rule concerning original songs (no songs that are just over the end credits). I don’t recall exactly how the song plays out at the end of The Wrestler, but maybe they should have done what Pixar did, and have some kind of story being told during the end credits like in Wall-E (Thomas Newman and Peter Gabriel’s catchy ‘Down To Earth’ was nominated).

I could go on and on about the dumb calls that were made (Bolt over Waltz With Bashir in the Best Animated Film category), but I’m well aware that it’s merely an exercise in futility and simply a case of substituting my own judgment for the Academy.

I could discuss my unease with Robert Downey Jr. getting an Oscar nomination for a gimmick rather than a sterling lead role in a popcorn entertainment. I didn’t even like Iron Man, but he single-handedly convinced the world that a merely ‘ok’ movie was a truly great one. But I’ll give the Academy the benefit of the doubt and hope that they nominated the performance that Downey Jr. gave in Tropic Thunder as method actor Kirk Lazarus (however overrated it was) rather than nominating the concept of a white actor playing a black guy. I’ll concede my possible oversensitivity and let it pass. But I will certainly wonder out loud why Danny Boyle was the sole-nominated director for Slumdog Millionaire when it was in fact co-directed by Loveleen Tandan.

But, in the end, aside from the fact that Oscar nominations matter little in the grand scheme of things, I can take comfort in the calls that the MPAA got right. They nominated Richard Jenkins for The Visitor. They nominated Viola Davis for Doubt (her one scene is one of the best scenes in any movie of 2008). They didn’t just nominate Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn, but also their equally good costars, Marisa Tomei and Josh Brolin (proving that they actually watched The Wrestler and Milk). The original screenplay category has a few outside the box choices (Happy Go Lucky, Wall-E, Frozen River).

And, of course, I can take pleasure that, as of this moment, Melissa Leo is now an Academy Award-nominated actress. Yes, ladies and gents, Melissa Leo, Sgt Kay Howard, who has struggled to find decent roles in ten years since she was booted off of Homicide: Life On The Street for not being pretty enough and for the bad press drummed up by her stalker ex boyfriend John Heard (the unequivocal ‘jump the shark’ moment for that beloved show)… she now has an Oscar nomination. So, if I may take a moment to extend a token and long overdue middle finger to NBC and John Heard respectively, Melissa Leo will now and forever more be labeled as ‘Academy Award nominee’.

Scott Mendelson

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by Scott Mendelson

Now that I’ve seen pretty much every piece of end of the year Oscar-bait, I realize that I could have written this list over Thanksgiving and been pretty on the mark. Many of the awards bait films were good, but none of them were truly great. So, with most of the major films in the bag, I can officially write the ‘best films of the year’ list (possibly worthy films I missed - Doubt, The Reader, Rachel Getting Married, and Tell No One). However, as always, this is a list of my favorite films, not the ‘best’. I guarantee there were better films in 2008 than at least a handful of entries here. But these are the most enjoyable, most moving, most compelling, and most intriguing movie going experiences from 2008. Here we go…

10. Lakeview Terrace
A social drama disguised as a popcorn thriller, this surprisingly potent film is actually a study in racism, class, and the frailty of moral absolutism. While Samuel L. Jackson has a few over-the-top moments as a racist cop who targets the mixed-race couple who moves in next door, he spends the majority of the film playing a simmering, angry man who is too proud to admit that his worldview is bathed in bitterness rather than conservative moral superiority. Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington play a young, idealistic stereotypically liberal couple who discover ugly truths about themselves, as well as the practical limits of their progressive pacifism. Like all good social criticism, in the end, no one’s hands are clean and everyone is wrong. Like a few films on this list, this one is better than its reputation.

9. The Bank Job
Finally, Jason Statham gets the opportunity to do his thing in a film of real quality. Based on a true story of the Bakers Street bank vault heist, this 1970s period piece is awash in British politics and rich character work. Roger Donaldson re-establishes himself as a director of top-notch thrillers, and this film stands tall as the best caper film in many years.

8. You Don’t Mess With The Zohan
The years happiest surprise, this stunningly optimistic and surprisingly thoughtful Adam Sandler comedy confronts the Israel/Palestine conundrum head on and decides to ‘give peace a chance’. Starring Sandler as an ex-Israeli soldier who fakes his death and moves to New York to become a hair dresser, this film takes equal comic potshots at Israelis and Palestinians and dares to offer gentle, but pointed criticism of both cultures’ inexplicable need to murder each other over a random patch of land. Writers Sandler, Judd Apatow, and Robert Smigel add a sharp, socially conscious wit to the usual Sandler buffoonery. I am not a fan of Adam Sandler comedies, but this is the best film he has ever made.

7. Wall-E/Kung Fu Panda
Two great cartoons from the two biggest animation houses in the business. One is an artful, socially minded fable that is as touching and sweet as it is mournful and haunting. The other is a rip-snorting action film that happens to feature Dustin Hoffman’s third best performance this decade (alone with Moonlight Mile and Stranger Than Fiction), as well as Jack Black’s best film work ever. Wall-E takes the classic Pixar morality play (‘Do I merely survive in safety or truly live in danger?’) and applies it to the entire human race, a struggle seen through the eyes of two lonely robots who find love on a decimated Earth. Kung Fu Panda dares to be a real action drama, with expertly staged and emotionally intense combat scenes and the character development to match. Both films are character rich and visually gorgeous. They couldn’t be more different, but they are both incredibly potent family entertainments. Why choose one?

6. Hancock
One of the more divisive movies of the year, this thoughtful and touching fable of a man in search of his own identity is cleverly disguised as a wham-bam super hero comedy headlined by the biggest star on the planet. Whether taken as a metaphor for America’s relationship with the rest of the world, or simply taken as a friendship between two men who both sincerely want to help the world, this is a messy, imperfect movie that is absolutely a piece of art. Jason Bateman gives one of the best performances of the year, and Will Smith never holds back the sadness and self-pity that form the core of his ornery, irresponsible super hero. I’ve seen this movie a few times and it gets better each viewing. Don’t hate it because of what it’s not. Love it for what it is.

5. Frozen River
Melissa Leo, from Homicide: Life on the Street, finally gets a film role worthy of her talents. She and Misty Upam (no slouch herself) anchor a strikingly sparse, but brutally powerful film about the pain and stench of poverty and the desperation of the working poor. Leo stars as an impoverished mother of two, who turns to smuggling illegal aliens across the border in order to feed her family. The film works fine as a slow-paced thriller, but its core value is a stark depiction of a world all too hidden in modern America, where dinner consists of popcorn and tang, ambition consists of being promoted to full time at the Dollar Store, and families dream of living in double-wide trailers so they can be just a little warmer at night. It’s a dark, morality play set in a world where people have no bootstraps to pull themselves up by in the first place.

4. Role Models
The funniest film of the year, and proof that Wet Hot American Summer was no fluke. In a year where everyone wanted to be Judd Apatow, director David Wain topped the current king of comedy by toning down the smut and adding just a touch of low-key empathy to the sorts of juvenile losers that usually exist merely as foils. Any film can toss in a medieval-role-playing-obsessed nerd and a profanity-spewing African American kid, but this film dares to treat these stereotypes as flesh and blood characters, worthy of our empathy and respect. Paul Rudd (in his first comedic lead role) and Sean William Scott (in his best work since The Rundown) bring just enough plausibility to the film, so that by the time the climactic action scene goes down (and said climax is truly the best action scene of the year), you’re laughing because you realize you‘re more invested in the ‘comic action’ than you were in the many summer action spectacles.

3. Bush’s War/Dear Zachary
The two best documentaries of the year, period. Bush’s War is a 4.5 hour documentary originally aired as a Frontline special on PBS to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the initial Iraq invasion. However, as I said when I included When the Levee’s Broke as number 2 on my 2006 list, my list = my rules. This is a definitive time capsule of the disastrous decisions and inexplicable motives behind the biggest foreign policy blunder of our time. With countless interviews from people of all political stripes, this two-part series serves as a perfect bookend for Taxi to the Dark Side and No End in Sight. The first half covers the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and the planning and run up to the Iraq War. Part two covers the results of said decisions. By virtue of its sheer length and detail, this mammoth production covers nearly everything, and it shines Frontline’s blinding light of cold objectivity on the choices that shaped the next century of global politics. This is easily the most important documentary of the year.

Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father is a far more intimate and singular tragedy, showing the aftershocks of a single, almost ‘normal’ American homicide. After Andrew Bagby is murdered by his mentally unstable ex-girlfriend, his longtime friend and filmmaker Kurt Kuenne sets out to make a film chronicling all of the people who loved Andrew, as a time capsule of sorts full of memories and stories of this all-too short life. The story takes a shocking turn when the alleged murderer is revealed to be pregnant with Andrew’s son. The battle between Shelly and Andrew’s parents over the custody of Zachary is an emotional firestorm and undeniably compelling. I am willing to concede the one-sided nature of this film, and I am willing to concede that the piece is often-amateurish in construction. But with a story this jolting and this effecting, the truth is all you need. This is a devastating, must-see documentary.

2. The Dark Knight
That it wasn’t a flawless masterpiece is no shame on those involved. Chris Nolan’s crime epic still stands as a powerful achievement and a grand entertainment. With this accomplishment (along with Memento, Batman Begins, and The Prestige), Nolan becomes my new favorite director. Every actor brings their A-game, from the late Health Ledger (taking his rightful place next to Jack Nicholson and Mark Hamill) to Gary Oldman (in one of his very best performances) and Michael Caine. Morgan Freeman gets one of the funniest moments in his career, and Christian Bale again makes a fine Bruce Wayne (alas, the less said about his McGruff: The Crime Bat voice, the better). The labyrinth plot makes a surprising amount of sense for the first two thirds, and its third-act flaws are born of over-ambition, which is always forgivable in the service of something this good. This is a rare beast, a comic book adaptation that is a drama first and an action film second. Whether it spoke of the times we live in or was a more allegorical biblical parable, it still stands tall as the most ambitious blockbuster since Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. That audiences so readily embraced this long, morose, and uncommonly thoughtful tent-pole release is a sign of hope for lovers of film everywhere. Because sometimes people deserve more… sometimes they deserve to have their faith rewarded. Warts and all, The Dark Knight restored our faith in big-budget, major studio film making.

But, it is not my favorite film of the year. It may be the best film of the year, and it is certainly the movie I will watch most often from 2008. But there is one film that gave me a rush unlike any other. I’ve only seen it once, but it was my favorite film going experience of 2008.

1. Speed Racer
The year’s most high-profile flop and the most misunderstood movie is also my favorite film of 2008. Whether too punch drunk on the visuals, or still licking their wounds from the Matrix sequels, critics descended on this film like a pack of wolves. And they were wrong. Some said there was too much racing; some said there was not enough. Some said that the plot was too complicated, while others claimed there was no story. ‘Critic A’ claimed that the film lacked character development while ‘Critic B’ claimed that there were too many ‘boring character talky’ scenes. They were all dead wrong and history will judge accordingly.

For those with the ability to see the forest for the trees, this was a wonderfully acted fable about family togetherness and loyalty during times of economic and emotional strife. Amidst the complicated plot involving business mergers and fixed races emerged a simple story about one young man who wanted to restore his family’s honor and heal the wounds inflicted by his brother’s death years before. The script never talks down for kids, and the emotional drama is played as real as any Pixar film. John Goodman does some of the best work of his career, while Matthew Fox gives his best big screen performance to date as Racer X. Villain Roger Allem has an evil monologue that is like music and even Richard Roundtree has a brief scene that reveals years of character back story with a single line of dialogue.

And oh the technical wonderland! The lights, the colors, the fight scenes with ninjas, the 360-degree panning montages (a completely new way to do expositional montages), and the races themselves, which are a chaotic blur when they are merely background for plot, but crystal clear and completely comprehensible when the outcome matters. Visually, this is unlike any film ever made, and the film works on every important level. It is well directed, sharply edited, acted with complete conviction, and a complete joy to experience. It is a peerless adventure, a rock-solid family drama, a delightful kids film, and a splendid piece of pop entertainment. That so many couldn’t see past the bright colors and fast cars only means that they cheated themselves. Don’t make their mistake.

Honorable mentions – an additional 11 films that are worth sampling

Dragon Hunters
- this French animated import has strikingly imaginative visuals and a wholly original animated world

The Family That Preys
-Tyler Perry tries Douglas Sirk and is surprisingly successful, with a great turn by Alfre Woodard

Gonzo
-an exhaustive, critical documentary on the doomed life of Hunter S. Thompson

Hellboy II: The Golden Army
-a visually scrumptious fairy tale that improves on the pretty solid original film by refusing to soft-pedal the dark moral quagmires at play

Let The Right One In
-some of the most haunting, and beautiful moments of violence I’ve ever seen.

Man On A Wire
-a completely fascinating story that doesn’t need tricks and gimmicks.

Nothing But The Truth
-a quality adult drama with fine performances all around (Fera Varmiga deserved an Oscar nomination)

The Ruins
-scary, because we realize that we would have made the same choices in a similar situation.

Slumdog Millionaire
-ignore the ‘Great Gatsby-ish’ romance, the core plot still works, with a wonderfully shaded supporting performance by Bollywood star Anil Kapoor.

The Visitor
-character actor Richard Jenkins finally gets a lead role and runs with it in a quietly touching low-key drama.

Waltz With Bashir
- A strikingly powerful ‘animated documentary’ that uses the medium of animation to explore the hallucinatory mindset of young men at war; with the true-life violence being uncommonly potent when presented in the form of a ‘cartoon’.

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Whether or not this bothers you upon viewing said film is probably a question of how much you’ll still admit to liking Forrest Gump. I loved the film back in July, 1994 and I still do today. But I know I’m in the minority. Of all the many victims of ‘blockbuster backlash’, none has suffered as much as Robert Zemeckis’s Oscar-winning mega hit. Like Titanic, this is a critically praised, audience adored, and Oscar-winning smash that no one admits to liking anymore.

Let us disregard (while acknowledging) the people who genuinely didn’t like the film when it first opened in July of 1994.  The biggest reason for the backlash that has turned the film into an alleged pariah, aside from the general need for the movie going ‘elite’ to inherently dislike anything popular, is the accidental role that the film has played in the 1990s culture war. The film’s folksy, southern bent and overt emotionalism is the kind of thing that usually sends the movie snobs heading to the hills. And it didn’t help that, during a speech in summer 1994 about violence and obscenity in Hollywood movies, eventual presidential candidate Bob Dole singled out Forrest Gump (along with The Lion King and The Flintstones) as the kind of movies that Hollywood should make more of. And when the GOP took back the Senate and the House Of Representatives in November and declared a new era of conservative rule, the seemingly ‘conservative’ Forrest Gump became the filmic whipping boy of angry film-loving liberals. And the release just three months later of the counter-culture movie of the decade, Pulp Fiction, brought about a bizarre ‘us vs. them’ dichotomy where one film was the cool, hip, liberal movie and the other was the square, cheesy, conservative film. This was especially inexplicable as Quentin Tarantino himself was a fan of Zemeckis’s film as well.

But aside from the ‘it’s overrated’ and ‘its corny’ sentiments tossed out by the naysayers, the one charge that has stuck is Zemeckis’s somewhat foppish treatment of the 1960s radical youth movement that Forrest Gump’s childhood sweetheart, Jenny Curran, finds herself involved in. It is absolutely true that the anti-war movement is shown in a somewhat cartoonish fashion, with the somewhat naive and over-their-heads ‘free love generation’ being portrayed as simplistic in their thinking, incompetent, and occasionally violent (the latter does have some historical precedent).

Fair enough but (pardon a slight digression), from my interactions with today’s equivalent, Zemeckis may not be entirely off base. Like any mass movement, there are certain liberals/progressives who know little of what they speak. These are the sorts that in 2004 thought that their liberal education began and ended with Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. These are the people who honestly think that Barack Obama will bring about world peace, end hunger, save the environment, and bring balance to the force in the first hundred days. They joined the Obama campaign because it was the cool thing to do, because he was charismatic and handsome, and because they wanted to be part of a vague ‘movement’. These are the people who embarrassed themselves (and us) when they were asked about what Obama specifically stood for, because they had no clue of his policy stances on any given issue. And trust me, as a dye-in-the wool liberal, they are just as annoying as the equivalent ‘ditto-heads’ on the right.

But even if we don’t feel like making excuses for Zemeckis’s treatment of the 1960s anti-war youth movement (and note that he paints a more positive picture of the civil rights movement of that era), we must acknowledge a couple of things. For one thing, the film is viewed through the eyes of its simple-minded protagonist, someone who invariably saw the world in stark black and white and was probably confused by the moral complexity of his time. For another thing, complaining that the film punishes Jenny for her wild-child ways or criticizes those who wanted to make a difference is missing the point of the movie.

For all the heart-tugging moments and soaring music (Alan Silvestri’s music is still one of my favorite scores of all time), the film is actually a two-pronged dark comedy, a very twisted take on the American Dream. First of all, Forrest Gump is basically the angel of death. Every person he comes in contact with, from Jenny, Bubba, and Lieutenant Dan, to the various real-life historical figures he meets in his life, they all, meet terrible fates. Some (John F. Kennedy, John Lennon, and in a deleted scene, Martin Luther King Jr.) are assassinated, some (Lieutenant Dan, George Wallace) are left crippled by violence, some (Jenny, Elvis Presley) meet ignoble ends via drug use and various forms of potentially reckless behavior. For whatever reason (perhaps Gump’s incredibly good luck is counterbalanced by terrible luck for anyone in his path), Forrest Gump brings suffering, misery, and death to anyone unlucky enough to meet him.

Further more, Mr. Forrest Gump represents the very worst of America - he constantly succeeds in every avenue of his life, without even trying, without even caring. While the countless people he meets try and struggle to succeed, to make a difference, they all fail or fall by the wayside while this accidental success story plows by them. Only in America, Zemeckis may be saying, could a man who knows so little, cares so little, and tries so little in fact succeed at so much by random chance, while the ambitious and determined crash and burn in his wake (yes, the similarities to the ‘Homer’s Enemy‘ episode of The Simspons are not lost on me).

The irony of course in all of this is that many of the critics are falling over The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button BECAUSE of its similarities to Forrest Gump. Its more high-brow presentation, muted emotionalism, and more straightforward storytelling allows said critics to champion this allegedly more grown-up version of the same story. Sorry folks. Forrest Gump is the more grown-up movie. It does not wear its intentions on its sleeve. It dares to have a sense of humor about its far-fetched fable, and it actually has something sneakier to say about life other than ‘you live, you die, try to love while you can’. Despite its audience-pleasing flourishes and its bright, sunny atmosphere, Forrest Gump is a far more complicated, and far darker fable than the relatively simplistic The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.

And that’s all I’ve got to say about that, right now.

Scott Mendelson

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One was a subtle and chilling teaser, one that featured almost no footage of the lead and absolutely no shots of the young supporting cast.  It was the kind that could only have worked with an established brand that audiences trusted.  The other was a barn-burning hail Mary pass, a chest-thumping call for respect.  Ironically both were for titles that were supposed to open this holiday season but ended up moving to the summer.

Best Trailer:  Quantum Of Solace

The second preview, the full trailer, was a rock-solid action piece that emphasized human drama amidst the carnage.  Call it false advertising, but the trailer gave pretty much every emotional beat that the film had to offer.  It accomplished two things - it hid the fact that the movie was pretty much non-stop action and it’s emphasis on drama allowed many of the action beats to be left unspoiled in the film itself.  A classy, emotionally compelling trailer for a movie that fell short in both areas.

Worst teaser: The Spirit (B)

This would qualify as a trailer, except that it tells you nothing about the plot or the characters.  It’s just two minutes of hot women making moves on our hero, complete with ‘come-hither’ lines that were cheesy before high school.  Proof-positive that Frank Miller apparently got laid less in high school and college than the average nerd.

Worst trailer: Watchmen (B)

The initial teaser, released with The Dark Knight back in July, was a silent, visual splendor, ironically set to music that originated from Batman & Robin.  This second trailer, however, had dialogue;  lots of dialogue, most of it on-the nose and not a little cheesy.  With ample plot spoilers, the ‘here’s the storyline in the simplest possible terms’ exposition, and its healthy sampling of Rorschach’s goofy vocals (which sounded worse than Christian Bale’s McGruff The Crime Bat voice), this had the odd effect of making a very smart story look very dumb.

Best Poster: Terminator: Salvation

Released rather recently, this is a rather nifty video poster.  But, even taken as a pure visual, the final image is striking and would still be the best poster of 2008.  Click on the poster for a taste of the future of marketing.  Everything released from this film thus far indicates that this is not a cheap cash-in, but a real attempt to restart the franchise.

Worst Poster: The Dark Knight
Sorry sports fans, the copious Batman-centric posters from this Batman sequel failed to produce a single keeper (the single flaw in an otherwise perfect advertising campaign).  But the worst offenders ironically became the main posters.  With its visual center of attention being a giant wheel, and Batman stuck in a silly stretched out pose, this pales even in comparison to the Batman Begins artwork (specifically the Batman plummeting downward shot).
Even goofier was the second main poster, which had Batman looking stupidly triumphant standing outside an apparently bombed building that has a flaming bat-signal in the middle.  Bad enough that the poster needed to have cheese ball writing on the top (”Welcome to a world without rules”), but the image by itself seems to indicate that Batman is responsible for the destruction in the background (burning bat insignia = gang tagging sign).  The Joker-centric posters were deliciously disturbing, but, for reasons unknown, no one was able to get an artistic handle on the main character.

Scott Mendelson

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I put off my top-ten of the year list for as long as possible (so that I might see the few Oscar bait movies that I have missed). In the interim, this piece was about certain scenes, moments, character beats, and what not that worked in 2008, regardless of the quality of the films that contained them. Here are my ten favorite ‘moments’ in 2008.

Best unheralded performance: Gary Oldman - The Dark Knight
Much has been said about Health Ledger’s almost certain-to-be Oscar winning performance as The Joker. So let me be one to give credit to my favorite performance in the film, that of Gary Oldman as the weathered and beaten down representative of decency and honor known as Jim Gordon. His most touching moment comes about 90 minutes in, when he shares a brief, quiet moment with his son. Having faked his death so that The Joker wouldn’t go after his family, Gordon returns home to an angry but relieved wife and kids. Quietly sneaking into his son’s bedroom, his idolizing child asks him: “Did Batman save you daddy?” Oldman smiles, kisses his son on the forehead and (truthfully) replies: “Actually, this time I saved him.” The son smiles and the moment is heartbreaking (in a relentlessly bleak story, it’s the rare and very last moment of happiness in the picture). Moments later, Jim gets a call that Harvey Dent is missing. And it all goes downhill from there.

Best Action Scene: Role-Playing Smack Down - Role Models
Better edited than the police van chase in The Dark Knight. More real-world plausible than the jungle chase in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. More emotionally rousing than the ‘rock-sock-em robots’ climax of Iron Man. More comprehensible than any mish-mash fight scene in Quantum of Solace. The funniest film of the year contains the funniest scene of the year, which is also best action scene of the year. Set at a giant Renaissance Faire-type battle royale, this sword/axe/mace face-off is both hilarious and completely credible as an action spectacle. Even though everyone knows its a fake fight with fake weapons, the film has earned our emotional investment in these misfits, so we actually care about the outcome. Ironically, this was allegedly staged by some of the action-choreographers from the last two Bourne films… so THIS is what an action scene looks like when Paul Greengrass isn’t cutting it within an inch of its soul. This was the most rousing action scene of the year.

Most heartwarming coda: Hancock’s gift to Ray - Hancock
This mega-hit Will Smith superhero deconstruction was one of the more divisive movies of the year. I’m in the ‘loved it’ camp (it plays even better on a smaller screen). Point being, if the movie is working for you up till the end, you may just water up just a little during the incredibly potent coda. No spoilers, but it ends the movie on a lovely note of earned goodwill.

Most emotionally potent line of dialogue: “We seem to have reached the age where life stops giving us things and starts taking them away.” - Jim Broadbent - Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
Whatever the flaws of the fourth Indiana Jones picture, it does work as a coda to the life of our favorite whip-wielding archaeologist. The film starts from a place where Indy is beaten down by life, abandoned by his country, too old to start over and faced with the very real prospect of dying alone and in exile. Indiana Jones then gets one last opportunity at happiness, in the guise of the opportunity that he turned away from so many years earlier. Ironically, the absence of Sean Connery and the death of Denholm Elliott give the film a poignancy that it otherwise would have lacked. The mourning of friends and family and the rediscovery of new family prevents the film from simply being an exercise in nostalgia.

Best scene in a bad movie: ‘Cough Syrup’ - The Happening
While Mark Wahlberg gives a uniquely terrible performance in The Happening, he does have one good moment towards the end of the film. After his wife (Zooey Deshanel) confesses to meeting an attractive friend for lunch (the thing that has been troubling her all movie), Wahlberg launches into a brief monologue about how he had a mild crush on a pharmacist at a local drug store, a crush which led him to getting a bottle of cough syrup that he didn’t need. His wife asks if he’s joking. It doesn’t matter if he is, she instantly gets the point and simply smiles with relief and says ‘thank you’. In a movie where many of the characters seem oddly inhuman, this one moment reminds us that M. Night Shyamalan usually has a subtle grasp of relationships between friends, families, and lovers.

Best use of old music: “It Only Takes A Moment” - Wall-E
And that is all
That love’s about
And we’ll recall… when time runs out
That it only took a moment
To be loved a whole life long!

This Hello Dolly ballad is one of a few reoccurring songs in this terrific cartoon, and its the one that most pulls the heartstrings. I have never heard the song in its original context, but it is achingly sad here, a constant reminder of the fragility of emotional connections. It also serves as drumbeat reminder of the (literal) tragedy of the trashing of an entire planet and the finite nature of life itself. Wall-E is a movie that gets better each time, and I’ll probably get slightly emotional each and every time I hear that refrain for, well, for my whole life long.

Best end credits bonus - “Thank You For The Music” - Mama Mia!
Next time you watch Mama Mia!, do stay for the whole end credits. The reward is a gorgeous cover of ABBA’s “Thank You For The Music”, a song that was cut out of the film. As good as Amanda Seyfried is during the actual movie, she absolutely kills on this (if I recall) nearly ‘A Capella’ version of one of ABBA’s better songs. It is one of a few good songs that didn’t belong in the narrative (along with “What’s The Name Of The Game”), but it’s a shame that this terrific rendition won’t get a wider audience. So if you’re one of the many, many people who bought Mama Mia! on DVD or Blu Ray, please skip to the end of the end.

Smartest moment in a horror film - Scott Patterson saves himself - Saw V
Of all the many people caught in various traps by Jigsaw or one of his apprentices, only one victim had the quick-thinking and intelligence to save his own sorry butt. Trapped with his head stuck in a cube that was rapidly filling with water, FBI agent Strahm does the only thing he can think of. He grabs his pen and stabs himself in the throat, giving himself an instant tracheotomy and saving his own life. It is the kind of intelligent behavior that is so rarely seen in even good horror films, that you almost want to stand up and cheer. If only the rest of the film was as smart.

Best Bruised-Forearm moment - Kenneth Branagh picks up his wine - Valkyrie
Branagh and Bill Nighy plot to kill Hitler by putting a bomb inside a case of wine. When it fails to detonate, Branagh then has to go back and collect said wine bottle to prevent discovery. It’s kind of awkward.

Scott Mendelson

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1) Let the Right One In – Kids, vampires and film festival circuit hype was total indication, in my book, that this movie would be a dud. Man, was I a knucklehead. Upon seeing it, I believe I mentioned elsewhere on Film Threat that this could possibly be my favorite vampire movie ever. Now that I’ve had time to think it over I can say that, yes, “Let the Right One In” is my favorite vampire movie. But that’s not necessarily a mouthful because, let’s face it, most vampire movies are dogshit. It’s not my fault, it’s just how the cookie crumbles. What really stands out about “Let the Right One In”, not just as a great vampire movie, but a great movie in general, is its patience in storytelling. It’s not in a race to give up the goods, however, it doesn’t skimp on them either as major payoff definitely occurs. It’s scary, it’s gorgeous, it’s mysterious and it encourages post screening discussion. Do see it at your earliest convenience.

2) The Dark Knight – And talking about movies living up to their hype – Holy Fuck! And it gets better each time I watch it. Nothing against Tim Burton and everything against Joel Schumacher, but Christopher Nolan is the perfect guy to bring Batman to the big screen, a filmmaker concerned more with character development and depth over flash and nipples.

3) Cloverfield – Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been a fan of giant monsters, Godzilla to be more specific. I grew up watching Godzilla flicks and I continue to do so as often as I can. As a teenager, I had a dream of making a Godzilla movie some day and the idea was to incorporate a more involving human character storyline. Scientists, armies, kids with psychic abilities and lame aliens from other worlds are hallmarks of all Godzilla movies – and I love them, but, at the same time, I realize they can get a little old, too and they just really existed as filler until the real monster mashing action began. So I wondered, what if you actually gave a shit about the human characters and what if they were just as much of the focus of the film as the monster or monsters were. Bad news is that I never realized my dream. Great news is that somebody else did it for me and they did it really fucking well. Sure, the shaky cam thing was quite a bit much, but all in all you really get a sense of what it would feel like if something this incredible actually happened. It’s one of those movies that I wish I could go back and see for the first time again just to relive that stressful movie experience.

4) Inside – This French horror movie is actually dated 2007, but it didn’t hit the U.S. until last year thanks to a DVD release from Dimension Extreme. And when it hit, it hit big with horror fans – real horror fans – and soon the web was all abuzz with excitement…and repulsion…for this movie that many were putting up there with “High Tension.” Now that I’ve seen it, I’ve gotta say, the buzz is justified. The film focuses on a pregnant woman, home alone, defending herself against a vicious stranger trying to get to her unborn baby. Imagine “The Strangers,” but way better, way grislier, way more of a kick in the nuts. I can’t remember the last time I sat, mouth wide-open, in total shock at the violence being committed on screen. But this isn’t one of those torture porn flicks where brutal acts are taking place just for the fuck of it. “Inside” is a rather tense cat and mouse game that becomes more and more bloody as it rolls along. Looks like Dimension Extreme isn’t just living up to their title, but putting out quality flicks as well what with the release of this and Greg Mclean’s awesomely exceptional “Rogue”.

5) Doomsday – I’m finally on board with Neil Marshall. “Dog Soldiers” I thought was just alright and I never did see “The Descent”, although I heard so much about it that I felt I had seen it – mutiple times – so I never bothered. Besides, I’m not seeing a movie about a bunch of hot women stuck in a cave unles it’s XXX rated. So, when I saw the trailer for “Doomsday”, I thought – Man, I would really like to believe that movie is going to deliver everything it’s promising. But I figured it wouldn’t. Nothing against Neil Marshall, but I just didn’t see anyone pulling off a decent “Road Warrior” scented action flick these days. WRONG!!! Definitely one of the more fun viewings I had all last year. From second one this movie just cranks out the goods – pseduo zombies, post-apocalyptic punks, medieval bullshit, car chases and buckets of gore. Yeah, it’s unbelievable and goofy, but it’s a rollercoaster and it’s a lot of fun. Sometimes, that’s all you want and need.

6) Rambo – What, no love for John Rambo? The sad thing is, I’m finding a lot of people didn’t even see his latest “adventure” and just assumed that it would suck. Can’t blame ‘em, really – the guy did become a cartoon, after all. But I couldn’t get enough of this movie that is so light on plot that it’s hardly existant – Rambo is suckered into heading into Burma to rescue American missionaries from the clutches of the evil Burmese military. Carnage ensues. So, yes, light on plot, however, that totally works in this movie’s favor. That and the supporting characters – the mercenaries that team up with Rambo on his mission – all make sense, they do their part, they’re likeable and there’s dumb double cross plot twist like you would expect in movies like this. No, things are kept really simple. Rambo and pals infiltrate a military camp and wipe everyone out – HOORAY! The film also has quite a mean streak to it and the gore flows in generous amounts. I had to give my Rambo action figure a shower afterwards.

7) Igor – This one may have been the biggest surprise for me last year. Really wasn’t expecting anything from it and was just killing time on a Saturday afternoon. But this one has the spirit of “Mad Monster Party” and it sold me immediately. I just wish it had been marketed a little differently as I really feel it has more of an audience than just children. There’s definitely enough humor and gothic eye candy here to please monster movie fans of all ages. And Eddie Izzard is rad as the voice of the villain.

8) The Wrestler – Everyone keeps talking about how this is Mickey Rourke’s comeback. But didn’t he make his comeback already as The Cook in 2002’s “Spun”? Here, check it out…

Okay, so you can argue that “The Wrestler” is his BIG Oscar worthy comeback – a movie you could tell yer grandma about. And, yes, it’s as great as everyone has been saying and Mickey Rourke is incredible in it. Absolutely rock solid film.

9) Gran Torino – About ten years ago, I felt that there was still time to make another Dirty Harry movie. Let Clint make it himself and I’m sure he would’ve been able to pull off something great – certainly better than “The Dead Pool”, anyway. But as time went on, the window quickly closed until, yeah, there was just no way Callahan was going to be hitting the streets of San Francisco again. But now, years later, there’s “Gran Torino” and what we essentially have is a retired Harry Callahan, living in Michigan and screaming at his Korean neighbors to get off his lawn. Now, this is no great movie by any stretch of the imagination – representation of gang life on the street comes off as a little sanitized and goofy and most of the supporting characters are two dimensional and not aided in any way by some really terrible performances. But, it’s Clint Eastwood doing the old crotchety racist routine for nearly two hours and it’s comedy gold. Sure, things start getting grim around the third act, but by the time that comes you’ve been set-up pretty well and are ready for Clint to take care of business. In short, it’s candy. It’s a giant piece of candy for Eastwood fans, more specifically, for fans of the Dirty Harry series.

10) Good Dick – Sorta reminiscent of “Me and You and Everyone We Know” in that you’re seated with an impossibly awkward, but entirely amusing, relationship between two people who really shouldn’t even be in the same room at the same time, but instead decide to watch porn together. “Good Dick” tickled my ass.

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I’m kidding of course. The trades are reporting that Warner and Fox have reached a settlement over Watchmen that will involve an up-front payment of $5-$10 million, plus a chunk of revenue points of about 5-8% (and financial incentives on any sequels and spin-offs… which is about as likely as a sequel to Titanic).

Glad to see that peace has returned to our village. This could be a surprisingly good deal for Warner Bros. With the minimum numbers at play ($5 million upfront, 5% of the gross), Watchmen will have to make at least $250 million worldwide for the pay out to equal the $17.5 million that WB handed over back in summer 2005 over The Dukes Of Hazzard film. If the maximum pay off is in order ($10 million upfront, 8% of the worldwide gross), Watchmen has to gross just $94 million worldwide to equal $17.5 million in pay out. If you recall, they had to pay $17.5 million cash for forgetting to get the rights to the movie Moonrunners, the 1975 film that the original show was based on. The article does not clarify whether DVD/Blu Ray business is included in the percentage, but if they are, then things of course look better for Fox. But, risking a bigger pay off for a % of the cut does have a risk. Yes, that’s right, for all the huffing and puffing about mean ol’ Fox trying to bully poor Warner Bros., this is the second time the legal department has made this very basic mistake in three years.

If I may completely speculate for a moment, if the film does monster business worldwide (at $500 million worldwide, Fox stands to gain $50 million at maximum pay out, $30 million minimum), Warner could theoretically argue that they should only pay the smaller amounts (or a different, even smaller amount) on the fact that the film’s success is due to Warner Bros’ superior marketing department. And, considering the mediocre year that Fox had last year, versus the superior year that WB had (albeit, without The Dark Knight it would have been pretty glum), that seems like a plausible argument. And, furthermore, if the film flops, Warner could then argue that the ‘negative media coverage’ brought about by the public litigation hurt the gross of the film. Complete garbage of course, but it would be worth a shot if the film flops.

Also amusing is the fact that, according to the article, Fox spent just $1.4 million in development fees on the Watchmen project before it was put in turnaround. So, had Warner just done their basic, entertainment law 101-level homework, they could have just cut a check for $1.4 million a couple years ago and saved themselves quite a bit of headache and drama.

Look, I love Warner Bros, and they have a solid reputation for letting filmmakers pretty much do what they want with major properties, be it the Matrix series, the Harry Potter series, or the recent Nolan Batman films. Sometimes this makes them just under a billion dollars worldwide (since The Dark Knight was not released in China), sometimes it brings them Speed Racer (yes, my favorite film of 2008, but I will not dispute the financial detestation that resulted). But this is legal acquisition 101 - don’t develop a property that you’re not absolutely sure, 100% in writing certain that you have the rights to. Whoever messed this up in the legal department deserves to be fired and counter-sued for complete malpractice.

While I’m glad the matter is resolved, and I look forward to seeing the picture, there is a small part of me that kind of wished that Fox had out and out won at court. That they had won the distribution rights to the picture, that they had then decided to cut the film to a more ‘audience-friendly’ PG-13, and edited it down to 90 minutes. I mean, issues of artistic freedom and what not aside, could you even imagine the sheer insanity that would have caused in the geek community? Can you imagine how hilarious the AICN talk back boards would be, or the comments boards at the various other geek-centered movie sites? It would be absolute nerd pandemonium, with riots in the streets, runs on the comic book stores, and worldwide boycotts of upcoming Fox films. Nerd brother would turn against geek brother, with Joss Whedon being called in to try to quell the masses (after which Fox would thank him by canceling Dollhouse after two episodes). But, of course, they’d all still go see the ‘kid-friendly cut’ of Watchmen on opening weekend just the same.

Scott Mendelson

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