What I'm Watching - Hancock

What would a Fourth of July weekend be without a big movie from Will Smith? So, like many others (the film is set to gross at least $100 million in the United States this long weekend and will top its $150 million-plus budget with its worldwide take) I ventured out to see Hancock yesterday, Smith's newest film where he plays a Superhero who, well, doesn't understand or know how to act like a superhero.

I'll be the first to admit I am not a superhero or comic-book movie person. So it is without regret that I readily admit to never having seen any of the Spiderman movies which have made so much money in recent years, or any of the X-Men or Iron Man or Incredible Hulk films. A few years back, when Batman Begins was all the rage, I went to the movies with some buddies, but while they saw Batman, I instead bought tickets for the well-done and vastly underrated boxing movie Cinderella Man.

But Hancock looked (and was) different. While most superhero movies are pure fantasy (with a good deal of special effects, cool as they are, added in) and Hancock certainly has a good amount of that (it is, after all, a movie about a man with superhuman strength who can fly) what I enjoyed most about it was how grounded the movie is. What if a superhero, instead of constantly coming to victims' rescue, didn't understand or know how to use his or her powers, struggled with the psychology of being a superhero, and caused more harm than good, no matter the intent? That's how Hancock begins, and it's a fascinating concept and character study.

I didn't find the laughs in Hancock as plentiful as some, but that's not why I wanted to see the movie. I went to see it for the dramatic story of a superhero struggling to be super, and for most of the movie that's what we got. And the big twist in the movie (which I won't reveal here) was well-done, and one I did not see coming (though, looking back, made sense and was subtly foreshadowed).

Certainly a film well worth seeing, and much better than the poor reviews the movie seems to have been tagged with make it sound. And with Smith, the always funny Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron (who makes just about anything worthwhile, and as an aside, I just realized this is the second Theron-Smith movie to be panned by critics, but which I actually enjoyed, with The Legend of Bagger Vance being the first) what more do you need?. And while I don't know if I need to see a sequel to the film (there's some talk into making the movie a franchise, a common idea in Hollywood these days anytime any movie does even remotely well at the box office) I recommend Hancock.

What I'm Watching - HBO's Recount

HBO is really on a roll right now (though, I guess the question is, when are they not?). After the incredibly good John Adams mini-series, HBO took a look at a much more recent period in our political history, the Florida recount which decided the 2000 Presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

I'll always remember that night. The satisfaction when the networks called Florida for Gore. The bewilderment when they took it back. The frustration when it looked like Bush was pulling ahead for good. I remember late into the night, continually refreshing CNN.com's election site, looking at the county-by-county returns as they came in, in real-time, keeping track of Bush and Gore's votes (and the changes as new votes were reported) on a blank piece of printer paper next to my computer. I stayed up as long as I could that night, waiting for word on who won the election. And the country stayed waiting a lot longer than that. If I end up working in politics one day (or, perhaps a better word is when) I'll probably look back on that night, and the night I found out I passed the Bar Exam (where instead of going out and celebrating, I was watching MSNBC's coverage of the Indiana and North Carolina Democratic Primaries until after 1:00 a.m. waiting for results from Gary, Indiana to come in to see if Barack Obama had swept the night, and swept out Hillary Clinton from the Democratic nomination fight) as nights where it was clearest to me that more than sports and more than almost anything else, politics was what was in my blood.

HBO's Recount, staring the great Kevin Spacey as Al Gore's former Chief of Staff and Florida recount, premiered tonight, and it captured the tension, and the spectacle, and the over-the-top nature of the characters and caricatures which made up the Florida recount. Despite knowing how it was going to end (as my buddy Dave, who was watching the movie pointed out, the movie was like watching 'Titanic,' we all knew the unfortunate fate awaiting the Gore team in the end) the movie was full of tension and great performances. Tom Wilkinson, who was was exceptional as Benjamin Franklin in the John Adams miniseries was equally as brilliant in Recount as George W. Bush's Recount leader, James Baker. And Laura Dern disappeared into her role as Katherine Harris, which may be the biggest compliment you can pay an actor or actress. She completely became Kathrine Harris, and played her perfectly. The rest of the cast was phenomenal as well.

And while the movie may have had a slight Democratic slant (the main character, after all, was Al Gore's former Chief of Staff), it was fair to the story I thought, and presented both sides. Some of the moments were over the top, but so was the real life recount. HBO has done another great job with another terrific cast, and if you have a chance to catch what I'm sure will be the first of many re showings Monday night at 9:00, check it out. Especially with another close election upcoming (and another between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton which won't seem to end) we cannot forget about the lessons of the past, and through HBO's Recount, we never will.

The Lighting Round: 21, Detroit Tigers, and More

So you start a new job, in the real world, after four years of undergrad followed immediately by three years of law school, and suddenly you lose track of your blog. Well, let's not make that a habit. So let's catch up on what I've missed.

* 21: The Movie - Good but not great * Last weekend I went and checked out the new movie, 21 based on the great and best selling book Bringing Down The House. For those unfamiliar, the movie, based largely on the book, follows a group of MIT whizkids who, with some help from one of their professors, put together a very successful card-counting operation which make them hundreds of thousands of dollars before the Vegas establishment catches on. The movie, staring Kevin Spacey as the morally suspect ringleader/professor, was good, and exciting, but could not hold up to the greatness of the book. And maybe I have been spoiled by NBC's great Las Vegas so casino-themed movies have a hard time measuring up. Las Vegas did such a great job of capturing the casino and Vegas atmosphere, I almost walked out of 21 thinking that had the TV show done a mini-movie with the same storyline, it would have been much better. That said, it was still a good movie, maybe a bit long, and yet with some storylines not fully fleshed out as they could have been (which probably tells you there's a bit of dead time in the movie which could have been better spent elsewhere) but in the end, worth seeing.

* Detroit Tigers start 2008 season 0-4 * Well, at least Jason Grilli is in mid-season form, giving up three straight hits in the seventh inning of yesterday's game against the Chicago White Sox including the game winning three-run home-run dropping the Tigers to 0-4. Obviously, this is not how the Tigers, who have the second highest payroll in baseball, and who have expectations through the roof, wanted to start the year. I refuse to panic though. Even though Nate Robertson struggled yesterday, for the most part, the problem has been the offense, and the slow start Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, Gary Shef...Well, everyone has gotten off to except for Clete Thomas, the kid who never played above AA before Curtis Granderson got hurt. The offense is too good to not turn around. So, let's not panic and get concerned. We'll turn it around. A month from now, if we are 5, 6, 7 games under .500, then we can talk, otherwise...

* NFL Draft Coming Up * I had a dream the other night (I wish I weren't kidding) that I missed the NFL Draft (which would never happen in real life) and as I was struggling with my cell phone to find out who the Lions drafted, I found out they traded up to the #2 pick in the draft to take some running back I had never heard of. I remember being so furious. Then I woke up, thankfully. The Draft is less than a month away, and I keep hoping the Lions don't waste their first round pick on another offensive skill player. Yes, we need a running back. But we need linebackers and defensive lineman and offensive lineman much more. I'm getting very nervous though it's going to be offense, offense, offense again.

* NHL and NBA Playoffs on the horizon * I haven't written much (if anything) about the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons in a long time, but now that the meaningless regular seasons are nearing their end-point, and the playoffs get ready to start, I'm excited to start really paying attention again and blogging again. Both teams have had great regular seasons, and the Pistons have really seen growth in their young stars, which has allowed them to rebuild without anybody noticing. It's amazing. But no matter how great the regular seasons were, if they don't win the playoffs, it won't matter at all.

And with that, time to see if the Tigers can win a game. Eventually we do, right?

What I'm Watching - A Lot of Movies

It's been a nice period during the past few weeks, relaxing, watching a lot of Hardball and Countdown (and the new David Gregory MSNBC show, Race for the White House, which I'll post on in a few days) and even checking out Hannity and Colmes to see how badly the right is slandering Obama, but I think I may stop because it just raises my blood pressure and no good comes of watching it. Tonight, Hannity attacked Obama because some Super Delegate who has no connection to the Obama campaign said some outlandish things. I'm waiting for the exclusive on the racist tendency's of Obama's mailman next week and why this should force Obama to resign from office.

But this post is not about politics, it's about movies, because aside from the political nonsense, and the occasional Pistons and Wings games, I've been catching up on a lot of movies in the past few weeks. With a new Blu Ray DVD player and DirecTV providing me all of the movie channels free for three months, I've been filling my DVR with every HD movie I haven't seen yet (and even some I have). So what have I watched so far?

Michael Clayton (Blu Ray)- After finishing up Damages on Blu Ray (which I wrote about last week) I moved on to another legal drama short on the law on the new high-definition DVD format, the Oscar nominated and critically acclaimed Michael Clayton. And I was, well, pretty underwhelmed. It was good, don't get me wrong, but it didn't blow me away like I thought it was going to. I was surprised at how small a role Tilda Swinton had, especially after she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and while George Clooney was good, and the supporting cast was good, I don't know, maybe my expectations were too high. There were some great scenes, especially the final "negotiation" (not that you can really call it that) between Swinton and Clayton, but overall, I wasn't a huge fan. I do have to say though, Blu Ray DVDs are pretty amazing. The picture and audio quality just blows everything else out of the water.

Gattaca (Blu Ray) - I've said a few times before in the blog that I don't consider myself a "Sci-Fi Guy." I never got into Star Trek, never watched the Star Wars movies, but there are a lot of science-fiction movies and television shows I like, and Gattaca is near the top of the list. The mid 1990s thriller featuring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law, is a story about overcoming the odds and perseverance as much as it is about genetic engineering and what life could be like in the "near future." Gattaca has always been one of my favorite movies (it's probably in my Top 5 with Field of Dreams, Almost Famous, The Fugitive, and maybe Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and when the new version was released on Blu Ray this week, I jumped at the chance to add it to my collection. And with superior picture and sound (as mentioned above) you can't go wrong.

Deja Vu- I love having the movie channels and being able to DVR all sorts of films I never saw and watch them in HD whenever I feel like it. I watched Deja Vu yesterday, and for those unfamiliar, it stars Denzel Washington as an ATF Agent who uses new government technology to first investigate, then travel back in time to try to stop, a murder and terrorist attack by Jim Caviezel. Time travel movies usually make my head hurt, because of the logical problems time travel always presents, but unlike a lot of reviews of the movie, which were pretty harsh, but I liked this a lot. The ending, which I won't ruin, was both frustrating but somewhat logical. There were a lot of things which could have been done better, but overall, unlike many, I really liked Deja Vu and would recommend it.

Thank You For Smoking- I was really looking forward to this movie. It got great reviews, it was about Washington lobbying, had an all-star cast including William H. Macy, Rob Lowe, Katie Holmes and Mario Bello. And I hated it. Well, maybe hate is too strong. I thought it was over the top, too cute for its own good, and many of the characters were not characters at all but caricatures. And maybe that was the point because this movie was supposed to be a satire of lobbying, but, I just didn't find it very entertaining. Maybe that speaks more to me not enjoying satires, I don't know. But William H. Macy's character was a cartoon character, the great Mario Bello, whom I loved in The Cooler, was completely wasted in a nothing role, and that was basically it.

Stranger Than Fiction- Now here was a good movie. I'll be the first to admit I am not a huge Will Ferrell fan. I know most people are, but I just don't find his brand of humor entertaining. I have a similar view of most of Jim Carrey's most successful and well received comedies. And just as I loved Carrey in some of his more serious roles (like The Truman Show, which I am a big fan of) I really liked Ferrell in this more serious movie that still has a more understated humor which shines through. Dustin Hoffman is good here as well, and the story keeps you engaged from start to finish. You really don't know how the story is going to end until it does, and it keeps you guessing. Makes you wish Ferrell took on more semi-serious roles instead of the next sports-satire that he's gotten into a loop of doing, because somewhat surprisingly, he was very very good here.

So what's next, with time running down before I start work in April? I have I-Robot on Blu Ray, which I was told is quickly becoming the "demo disc" to use to really show off the power of the Blu Ray players. And I have a few other movies left on the DVR, but at least for the next few days, movies (and politics for that matter) take a back seat to basketball, as the NCAA Tournament starts up (BTW -- North Carolina over UCLA in the finals).

What I'm Watching -- Charlie Wilson's War

After visiting Ford Field for the final time in 2007 to watch the Detroit Lions play (I'll be back in just a few days time for the Motor City Bowl and likely back in March for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament) and, shockingly, win, I ventured out to the Birmingham 8 to check out a movie I have been looking forward to seeing since I learned Aaron Sorkin had penned the script: Charlie Wilson's War. I wasn't disappointed.

I'll watch almost anything Aaron Sorkin writes. As a devout West Wing fanatic (I've seen every episode at least two or three times, some more than that, and I know a lot of the show's dialogue by heart) and Sports Night fan before that (which, of course, is where the name of this blog, Quo Vadimus, comes from -- Well, actually, to be fair, it comes from Latin, but I learned it from Sports Night long before I covered it in my four semesters of classical Latin in undergrad) and as somebody who thinks A Few Good Men and the American President are two great movies, I pretty much think Sorkin can do no wrong. And even if that isn't always true (as my eulogy for Sorkin's failed Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip proves I'll still give what Sorkin is selling a fair shake before I give up on it.

In this case, Sorkin was selling the true story of Congressman Charles Wilson, a Texas Democrat who helped launch a covert war, brought the Saudis and Israelis together (if even unofficially) and brought down the Soviet Union, feats before thought impossible. When I first read that the movie and its actors had been nominated in the "comedy" category of the Golden Globes, I was a bit confused as the subject matter, on its fact, doesn't lend itself to comedy. But while the Cold War and the end of the USSR may not be a barrel of laughs, the real-life characters behind the Afghans rise against the Russians, Wilson (played by Tom Hanks) and his CIA-confidant Gust Avrakotos (played by the great Philip Seymour Hoffman) are hilarious. Seymour Hoffman is especially great and very very funny. The movie is sharp, fast-paced (and quick at just over 90-minutes of screen time) and tells a story worth telling. Amy Adams is also great in her role as Wilson's legislative assistant, chief among a staff of incredibly beautiful assistants (one of whom is Rachel Nichols of Alias fame).

The movie is also thought-provoking and serious, as much for its ending as the story of how Wilson was able to build the budget for covert operations from $5 million to at least 100-times that amount by the end of hostilities in Afghanistan. While Congress had no problem pumping hundreds of millions of dollars in aide to the Afghanistan people to fight the Russians, the government quickly lost interest after the fall of the Berlin Wall, refused to provide Afghanistan the money it needed to rebuild its demolished infrastructure and schools, and created a vacuum of power which was unfortunately filled by the Tailban, and we all know where that tragically led. The movie does not spend much time on the after-effects of Wilson's "war" but it does make its point in the end in a very profound way, and a way which has drawn some criticism from the Reagan administration.

This a very very good movie, with the right mix of humor, levity, and seriousness. It's a well-written script with great actors giving life to Sorkin's words, and it's well worth seeing, especially when compared with some of the mindless films that are currently drowning theaters. Mindless fun can be attractive sometimes, but don't let the serious nature of the topic of Charlie Wilson's War fool you. It's not all inside Washington politics, not all international diplomacy and war and it's certainly one of the best movies I have seen this year.

What I'm Watching -- I Am Legend

I don't like zombie movies. As a general rule that is. Well, I can't really say that because before tonight, I've never really seen a zombie movie. Horror movies, slasher movies, gory movies, just never have been anything I've been interested in seeing. Dramatic thrillers? Now those are good. But The Ring or 28 Days Later? I'll skip those. But, tonight, after taking my second law school exam in three days (only two more to go in my law school career) me and nine of my law school buddies decided to head out to the movie theater, take the night off from studying, and see Will Smith's new film, zombie movie I Am Legend.

First things first, we saw the "IMAX" version, and while the movie screen was bigger than a normal movie screen, and curved, and the sound was really good, not really worth the extra money. Maybe the theater just had a cheap IMAX screen, who knows. I felt during the previews that the largeness of the screen just like overwhelmed my senses, but as the movie itself got going, it just seemed like any other screen.

As for the movie itself, because I've ever really seen a zombie/horror movie before, I have little to compare this to. The special effects were decent but not great, but the cinematography was pretty good, as the shots of Smith hitting golf balls off an abandoned aircraft carrier near Times Square was pretty cool. One of the reviews I had read going into the movie compared Smith's role to that of Tom Hanks in Cast Away, as both pretty much had to carry a movie literally singlehandedly, with no other actors to play off of for a majority of the movie. It was a very good comparison. Smith is a great actor, and he was really good here. It can't be easy acting pretty much by yourself, but Smith made it work, and kept the movie suspenseful. It was scary at parts, funny at others, and the ending was a bit weak, but overall, it was a fine movie. Not the best I've seen this year, but a good movie.

Still, probably won't be seeing any more zombie movies for a while

What I'm Watching -- American Gangster

So after watching Michigan lose to Wisconsin earlier in the day I took in another bloodbath this evening, the new Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington movie, American Gangster (which while violent, was actually not nearly as gratuitously violent as I thought it was going to be). The reviews for the film have been glowing, and I definitely came out of the theater agreeing with the consensus. Both Washington and Crowe provide convincing and stirring performances, and the film, though long at almost two and a half hours, did not seem long at all when I was wacthing it, as I was riveted by the performances and the overall story. And any movie in which Joe Louis is a character, even a minor one, is cool by me.

Overall, I really did not have a lot negative to say about the film, except perhaps that the film underused the Cuba Gooding Jr. character, Niky Barnes, who apparently is a significant figure in the real life story, but was a minor character in this movie. Otherwise, the movie does what any good bio-pic/historical movie does, and that's make me want to check the stories of the real people on Wikipedia, which is what I did when I got back from the movie. Just a very, very solid film. Highly recommended.

Michigan vs. Ohio State: The Rivalry - Documentary Review

There is nothing quite like the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry. For those who live it on a year-in, year-out basis, it needs no explanation. For non-football fans, watch HBO's new documentary "Michigan vs. Ohio State: The Rivalry" because after watching the hour-long program, you'll understand why every year, on the third Saturday in November, the states of Michigan and Ohio stand divided, and football takes center stage.

I just returned from an advanced screening of the program (debuting on HBO on November 13) and it was a packed Michigan Theater full of fans and former players (including Jamie Morris, current announcer Jim Brandstatter, and quarterback Rick Leach, who gave a speech after the viewing of the program) and everyone seemed to enjoy the presentation. And everyone got to boo Comcast when it was thanked for their assistance in putting on the night's event, which I think people found therapeutic (Michigan fans are at odds with the cable giant over a dispute with the Big Ten Network, leading to Michigan games, as well as other Big Ten games, not being aired on local television). Before I get to a review of the program, here's a trailer floating around YouTube which gives you an feel for what the show is like.

Overall I thought the documentary was good. It is hard to boil down the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, and all of its history and tradition to only an hour, but the producers did as good a job as could be expected. Certainly after watching it, you really got a good feeling for the start of the rivalry, and the Ten Year War between Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes. The program featured lots of interviews with former players (though no current, or even recently current players were featured. I think Desmond Howard was the most recent Michigan player interviewed), coaches (including Bo and Ohio State coach Earle Bruce), media (including Michigan alumnus and Hardball reporter David Schuster, who I was unaware went to Michigan), fans, and alumni (like Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes fame). And there was a lot of game footage, including some old footage I had never seen before.

I thought though, and I'm probably only saying this because I'm a University of Michigan alum (soon to be twice over), but I thought a little more time was spent on Ohio State than Michigan, and the program painted Ohio and Ohio State in a slightly better light. The show, for example, had a really nice five to seven minute segment on how dedicated Ohio State fans are to their school, and how football is a second (or, for some people, a first) religion in Columbus. It was a well put together segment and while some of the Ohio State fans came off as a bit nutty (as most super-dedicated fans are) I really respected their love and dedication to their team. There was no similar segment for Michigan and our love of school and state. The documentary did, though, spend a few minutes discussing all of the players Michigan has "stolen" from the State of Ohio.

Later, the program went through all of the Ohio State coaches after Woody Hayes was fired, including short segments on the tenures of Earle Bruce, John Cooper (which was more, admittedly, a pro-Michigan segment than anything else, since it highlighted Cooper's inability to beat Michigan), and Jim Tressel. For Michigan, there was no similar "post-Bo" segment, as aside from being seen on the sidelines in one video clip, Gary Moeller was never seen, and Lloyd Carr was never seen or even mentioned by name. Not once. That's remarkable. Ohio State's 2002 National Title was mentioned, but not Michigan's triumph in 1997. Again, I'm probably biased towards thinking Michigan got downplayed, but it was definitely something I noticed. And I was really surprised Bob Ufer, the legendary Michigan announcer, was not talked about more, and some his famed play-by-play calls were not used more. Maybe that was a cost issue (as obtaining the rights to Ufer's calls may have been prohibitive) but it was missed.

Overall though, the documentary was well done and well put together and you come out wishing that it were longer and wishing the Michigan-Ohio State game were this weekend instead of next. Check it out next week when it airs on HBO, it's the perfect appetizer for what should be one heckuva main course when Michigan battles Ohio State for the Big Ten Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl at the Big House in Ann Arbor.

What I'm Watching -- The Kingdom

I don't watch a lot of movies in the theater. DVDs, sure. But, even movies I see previews for, and think "Hey, that would be fun to go watch" I usually don't, for whatever reason. But, when I first heard the premise for The Kingdom, about a group of FBI agents investigating a terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia, I knew I wanted to see it in theater. Maybe it was Jennifer Garner. Probably. Closest to Syndey Bristow she's played in the movies, and The Kingdom was directed by Peter Berg, who coincidentally guest starred on Garner's television show, Alias. Berg put a lot of people he knew and worked with before into the movie. Early on, I was struck by how attractive a school-teacher was in an early scene with Jamie Foxx's character, I was later unsurprised to find out she was played by Minka Kelly, who plays a cheerleader on the television show Friday Night Lights, which Berg helped bring to the small-screen after he directed the feature film version. Berg's real-life agent is Ari Emanuel, who is the inspiration behind Jeremy Piven's character on Entourage. Piven appears in the movie in a great role as a slimy State Department official. Even Kyle Chandler stops by for a cameo (Chandler plays the head coach on Friday Night Lights).

Seeing Jamie Foxx in a movie set in the Middle East though, that gave me pause. I saw Jarhead in the theater was was bored out of my mind. I also saw Syriana, and thought it was just fair. So, my history with movies set in the present-day Middle East, not so good. But, despite that history, and despite mediocre reviews, I thought The Kingdom was great, and I would highly recommend it.

The cast is top notch. Garner and Foxx are joined by the underrated and always solid Chris Cooper (who was phenomenal in Breach, a movie I always wanted to see and just saw a few weeks back), Jason Bateman, and Jeremy Piven. I tend to like Berg's movies (Friday Night Lights and The Rundown to name two) and I thought The Kingdom was the best of the three. It was powerful, suspenseful, had some great action, and the light-comedy contained in the movie was well placed and provided a breather in between bombings and shootouts. The acting was great, as was the overall story, and I really don't understand the negative reviews. The last scene, especially, was almost chilling. This is a great film, one of the best I have seen in a while.