Boston in the movies

For roughly 15 of my 38 years I lived in the greater Boston area - Sudbury, East Cambridge, The Fens, Brighton, and Watertown - these were the places I lived. I used to hang out at The Druid in Inman Square, Donohue's on Bigelow Ave in Watertown, Watch City Brewing in Waltham, The Sunset Grille, and the Kells, just to name a few of my favorite places.

I enjoy watching films that feature Boston for a number of reasons (we WILL NOT discuss the abomination that is Blown Away), not the least of which is the fact that I like seeing the places I know. At the same time it makes me feel both homesick and a little less homesick.

There have been some decidedly average films that I enjoyed - The Matchmaker, From the Hip, and sure, there have been some dogs in there - Blown Away, Fever Pitch (I really wanted this to be so much better), Celtic Pride (I am sad to admit, I sort of worked on this film - my wife and I helped to keep the crowd in the Boston Garden entertained between takes of crowd shots) - but there have been some spectacular successes.

For my money, the best films shot on the streets of the Hub - even peripherally - include...

Field of Dreams
The Departed
Good Will Hunting
The Verdict
Mystic River
Monument Ave.
Glory
The Brinks Job
Southie
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

I bring all this up because I recently watched Gone Baby Gone. It was a good film, and I enjoyed it, yet I was still a little disappointed in it.

I made the mistake of reading the Dennis Lehane novel from which it was adapted first. The novel was far superior, and I likely would have enjoyed the film more had I not read the book first, but having read it first, there were a number of problems.

Like I said, I did think this was a good film, and I would recommend it, but here are some of the issues (many of which come from having read the book) -

Ben Affleck and his co-hort Aaron Stockard short-changed the character of Angela Gennaro, detective Patrick Kenzie's partner, making her a one dimensional character that was little more than a foil for Casey Affleck's Kenzie. The two also completely removed any hint at Kenzie's background as an abused child, something that in the books (there are five) is part of what drives the character. In this book it's part of what drives Kenzie to take this case against his better judgment.

While there were complaints from some critics that Morgan Freeman was miscast, my issues were with the people playing Cheese (and this one stems from the scripting choice), and Bubba.

In the book Cheese is of Nordic descent and likes to think he's black. A much more interesting character than the movie's version, and in reading the book, no one outside of Ben Affleck would come away with their image of Bubba meeting the one he portrayed in the film - that of a rap wannabe. Bubba was described essentially in the book as Vincent D'Onfrio's character from Full Metal Jacket - except he wasn't slow or dumb, and was a weapons savant.

The movie felt a little rushed, and could actually have stood to be a half hour to 45 minutes longer. There were certain scenes that would have benefited from a little more exposition, as would the character development - particularly of Angela.

There is a lot to recommend this film - the performances of Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Titus Welliver and Amy Ryan were excellent, and Morgan Freeman was solid. Casey Affleck was even okay in a roll that didn't really suit him. The visuals of Dorchester were nice, and big brother Ben seems to have a good eye from behind the lens.

As I previously noted, I would recommend the film - just watch it before you read the book.

Where this film ranks among Boston films, I would probably rank them roughly in this order -

1. The Departed
2. Mystic River
3. Good Will Hunting
4. The Verdict
5. Field of Dreams
6. Glory
7. Monument Ave.
8. Southie
9. The Brinks Job
10. The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
11. Gone Baby Gone

Faaabulous

A brief word about the adaptation of Frank Miller's 300 which I recently watched on DVD.

As bad as it was, I am glad I saw it, if for no other reason than to be able to give the film the following one sentence review -

It is the best unintentional comedy to hit the screens since Showgirls.

That is all.

Fantasy geeks rejoice

What is best in life?

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.

It appears, according to Cinematical, that a new Conan movie may be in the plans at New Line. Cinematical reports that New Line has an 18-month window on the rights with one option to extend the rights of unreported duration.

With Conan the Governor immersed in the political machinations of California, and Mako having passed away, the casting for one of the roles that has become inexorably linked with Shwarzenegger's acting career is now wide open. I expect that the names that Hollywood will come up with for the old pulp-novel and comic book stand-by will include the likes of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, or even John Cena.

It's hard to see anyone other than Arnie in the roll...that said, it should be noted that he wasn't cast for his acting ability, or that funny look he gets on his face when he's straining really hard and gritting his teeth. He was cast for the exact same reason that anyone of those wrestling stars would be cast - because they're large, muscle bound creatures that would be a match for the physicality of the roll. Let the speculation begin.

Personally, if they had to go with one of the wrestlers, I vote for The Rock. Ten years ago I would have gone with Kevin Sorbo. If they don't want to go pro wrestler, I could also see them looking at Vin Diesel.

The more I speculate about this, the bigger a car wreck it feels like.

Comic books, the movies and the last 17 years...

The better part of the last two decades have seen probably the most successful marriage of the comic book and film industries ever. Sure, there were adaptations for film and television of some of the biggest names in the comic book industry that predate 1990 - most notably the Adam West Batman series and films and the early Superman serials and the George Reeves series, not to mention the reinvention of the character in 1978 with Christopher Reeve.

Since 1990 and Tim Burton's popular butchering of Batman, we have seen everything from the cerebral American Splendor, to the heroic X-Men, to the heroic Goth tragedy The Crow (boy, there's a mouthful). Some have been excellent, others less so.

For my money, the ten best have been (the order is pretty much subject to change on my whim, but this is pretty much how I see it) -

1. American Splendor - How Paul Giamatti didn't get at least a best actor nomination out of this is beyond me. The movie may deal with many more serious issues than other comic book adaptations, but this little slice of Harvey Pekar's life is absolutely fascinating, in part because of how it was filmed, but in larger part because of Giamatti.

2. A History of Violence - Admittedly, I am coming from only one side of this, having never read the graphic novel, but for a movie, it was pretty damn good. Worth watching, if for no other reason than to see the performance of William Hurt.

3. The Crow - Honestly, I enjoyed Brandon Lee's swan song more than the comic book itself. Dark and moody, this is the movie that Burton's Batman should have been. Even Michael Wincott who played the villain in The Crow was a better villain than Jack Nicholson's Joker.

4. Blade - Very nice adaptation of one of Marvel's fringe characters. Good action, decent acting, and nice development of their very own mythology surrounding Vampires.

5. Batman Begins - Finally, a Batman movie that was shot right, cast right (Katie Holmes notwithstanding), and scripted right. Ironic though that it took pretty much a British cast to get the American super hero right.

6. Spider-man - Outside of making the Green Goblin look like some sort of nouveau sports mascot, I was impressed with the adaptation's faithfulness (in spite of certain liberties, such as the biological webbing) to the comic book, and personally had no issue with Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane as many fans do. The character itself is kind of innocuous, so why would I be bothered by any vaguely competent actor in the roll?

7. X-Men - An entertaining action film well done from beginning to end.

8. Heavy Metal - This animated piece, dated by today's standards, is a personal favorite, and I know, not to everyone's taste. I never understood the need to string the vignettes together, as most of the stories probably would have stood on their own. Like the magazine, the stories varied from the comic, to the tragic, to the melodramatic...and it always reminds me of college, but that's a different story.

9. Sin City - Frank Miller's homage to the noir detective stories of the 1940's. If you go into it expecting a deep and meaningful film, be prepared to be disappointed.

10. The Rocketeer - Reminiscent of the 1940's serials, upon which the comic book was based, this was just fun. Pay particular attention to Timothy Dalton and Alan Arkin who appear to be enjoying their parts more than anyone else in the picture.

There are plenty of others that I would consider - Akira, Men in Black, The Mask are all worthy, and on another day, one of them might bump one of the above. For today, though, that's my list.

I would love to hear what others have to say about their favorites, or what you might disagree with that made my list.

Battlestar Galactica going into its final season

Check out this report from The Hollywood Reporter. I guess that means that by the end of 2008, anyone who wants a Galactica fix will either have to watch in reruns, get the DVD's, or for new story lines, pick up the comic book unless the Caprica spin-off actually moves forward.

For my money, this has been the best show on television since it first aired as a mini-series. Even the weak episodes have been pretty good.

As for resorting to the comic book for new story lines, personally, I've never been fond of comic book adaptations. For the most part I have found that the writing never lives up to the original source material (and sometimes it works the other way...League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Constantine, I'm looking at you).

I don't know if it's just that the writers don't have all the nuances down, or if it's something else, but the adaptations just never seem to work.

As for the four years of Galactica? I would like to express my gratitude to the producers, directors, writers, and actors who have given life to what was a cheesy sci-fi show from my youth. I still can't believe that the one begot the other, but thanks all, it's been one hell of a ride and I'm looking forward to the final season. Just please, please find a way to make that season three ending work without it coming off as ridiculous (I know that each of the characters were having trouble sleeping, but none of them seemed so far gone that they should have been channeling Bob Dylan).

A quick note on FF: Rise of the Silver Surfer

I don't know yet whether or not I will go to see this film. I have only seen parts of the first Fantastic Four film and didn't think a whole lot of what I saw. I am, however a Silver Surfer geek. I have several issues of of the original series published in the 1960's as well as a number of the one-shot specials, etc. (although the series that was published during the 1990's wasn't nearly as well done as the original, so I have only a limited number of those issues).

All that aside, I wanted to mention that I feel that the Surfer looks good in the previews (I'm not saying anything about the movie, just the Surfer's appearance), and it's interesting to note that Doug Jones is playing the Marvel standby.

For those of you comic geeks who are unfamiliar with Jones, trust me, you have seen him before. Jones is a veteran of the comic book film adaptation game having appeared in Batman Returns (1992), Tank Girl (1995), Mystery Men (1999), The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000), Men In Black II (2002), Hellboy (2004), and the upcoming Hellboy II (2008), not to mention other fantasy favorites such as the Hush episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as one of the Gentlemen, and as both Pan and the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth.

You may not recognize Jones as he is often in monster make-up (in Hellboy he played Abe Sapien).