Star Trek-New Movie Review From James Myers, The Entertainment Critic

Movie Review:  Star Trek

 

The Entertainment Critic Movie Review

http://jamesmyerstheentertainmentcritic.blogspot.com/

In Theatres Now Review

Opened May 8, 2009

By James Myers

 

Rating: 8 of 10

 

Director: J.J. Abrams

Writers (WGA): Roberto Orci (written by) &

Alex Kurtzman (written by)

 

Cast:

 

Chris Pine         ...        James T. Kirk

 

Zachary Quinto ...        Spock

 

Leonard Nimoy            ...        Spock Prime

 

Eric Bana         ...        Nero

 

Bruce Greenwood        ...        Capt. Christopher Pike

 

Karl Urban       ...        Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy

 

Zoe Saldana     ...        Nyota Uhura

 

Simon Pegg      ...        Scotty

 

John Cho          ...        Hikaru Sulu

            Anton Yelchin   ...        Pavel Chekov

 

Ben Cross        ...        Sarek

 

Winona Ryder  ...        Amanda Grayson

 

Chris Hemsworth          ...        George Kirk

 

Jennifer Morrison          ...        Winona Kirk

 

Rachel Nichols ...        Gaila

 

 

 

            There is always a risk when you make a movie that is in effect a sequel to a legendary book, television series, and series of films that brings with it a unique subset of fans.  It’s even riskier when you take on a cult following of a series that refuses to go away and has achieved near biblical proportions.  The Hollywood solution to this problem goes back to Godfather II, where you show a prequel that fills in some holes, has younger stars and adds a 21^st Century edginess to the legend.  After a reported $72.5 million dollar weekend for the legend, Star Trek has used this formula to perfection.  http://uk.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUKTRE5491IW20090511.  The film is expected gross in the $130 million plus neighborhood and that is a real good neighborhood to be in.  I loved this picture!  The young actors, the fresh plot, &  the special effects make this a true summer movie send off.

 

In the year 2387, a star near Romulus is on the verge of going supernova and threatens to destroy the planet and endanger the rest of the galaxy. The Vulcans, led by Ambassador Spock, build a ship to carry a supply of "red matter", which, once ignited, can create a singularity, drawing the supernova into a black hole. However, they are too late to save Romulus, and the supernova nearly wipes out the entire species. Captain Nero of the Romulan mining ship Narada, having watched his family and home world die, attempts to exact revenge on Spock, but both ships are caught in the event horizon of the black hole, traveling to the past and, through their actions, creating an "alternate, parallel" timeline from The Original Series.

 

The Narada arrives about 150 years before the incident, and lays siege to a nearby Federation starship, the USS Kelvin, firing its weapons and severely damaging the starship. Nero demands that her captain, Richard Robau, surrender, and learns that neither Spock nor the ship he was aboard has arrived yet. Nero kills Robau and orders the destruction of the ship. As the Kelvin is evacuated, acting Captain George Kirk is forced to stay behind to provide cover for the fleeing shuttlecraft, and dies shortly after his son, James Tiberius Kirk, is born. The Narada crew calculates that due to the event horizon, Spock will appear in about 20 years, and silently wait for him. When Ambassador Spock arrives, Nero captures his ship and the remaining supply of red matter, and banishes Spock to the planet Delta Vega near Vulcan, telling him to prepare to watch his home world die.

 

Without his father, Kirk becomes an intelligent but reckless and cynical young man. After getting into a bar fight with Starfleet cadets in Iowa, he is approached by Captain Christopher Pike. Pike sees a lot of potential in Kirk, and is dismayed that he is wasting his intelligence on his self-destructive behavior. He then challenges Kirk to outdo his father, who was captain for only 12 minutes but saved 800 lives. Kirk takes Pike up on the challenge, enlists in Starfleet and befriends Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy and Uhura. However, when Kirk alters the Kobayashi Maru test, he angers Commander Spock, who is still struggling with his human side's emotions. During the official hearing, after which Kirk is suspended, Starfleet receives a distress signal from Vulcan, and the fleet docked above Earth, is prepared to launch with the cadets helping to man the ships. Acting as his attending physician, Dr. McCoy manages to bring Kirk on board the USS Enterprise, while Uhura convinces Spock to transfer her assignment to the Enterprise as well, after being assigned to the USS Farragut.

 

The fleet warps to Vulcan, with the Enterprise trailing the other ships. Kirk connects information about the distress call from Vulcan with a Klingon signal Uhura had translated the day before regarding an attack on several Birds of Prey, and quickly warns Captain Pike that they are heading into a trap and will encounter the same ship that destroyed the Kelvin twenty five years earlier. Pike follows Kirk's advice in time, as the rest of the fleet has already been wiped out by the Narada.

 

The Enterprise maneuvers through the debris, sustaining only minor damage to the hull. The Narada is also drilling into the core of Vulcan, and the drilling machine is blocking all external communications and transporters. Nero hails the Enterprise, and encounters Spock, who this Spock hasn't met before, to which Nero replies that they will. He orders Captain Pike to surrender himself and Pike does, leaving Spock in command and Kirk as first officer, baffling both men in the process. However, Pike uses the maneuver to arrange for Kirk, Hikaru Sulu, and Chief Engineer Olsen to perform an orbital skydive onto the drilling platform and destroy it. Though Olsen, carrying the explosive charges, is vaporized in the attempt, Kirk and Sulu are able to stop the drill, but not before it drills to the planet's core. Nero launches a sample of the red matter into the core of Vulcan, causing the planet to start imploding into the black hole. Spock is able to rescue most of the Elders, including his father Sarek, but his mother Amanda Grayson is lost in the beam out as nearly six billion of other Vulcans perish on the surface.

 

After Vulcan's destruction, Spock estimates only ten thousand Vulcans are left and that they are now an "endangered species." Uhura, who is involved in a romantic relationship with Spock, attempts to help him cope with the loss. The Narada leaves on a course set for Earth, using Pike's Starfleet command codes, which he was forced to divulge through infection with a mind-controlling parasite, to bypass Earth's security forces.

 

Kirk attempts to convince Spock to travel to Earth to stop Nero from doing the same he did to Vulcan, but Spock instead banishes him to the frozen planet Delta Vega and orders the ship to rendezvous with the rest of the fleet. On Delta Vega, Kirk encounters the elderly Ambassador Spock from 2387, who relays the future events through a mind meld and insists that Kirk must become captain of the Enterprise. The two travel to a nearby Starfleet outpost where they meet the talented Montgomery Scott. Spock helps Scott refine his equations for "transwarp transportation" to allow Kirk and Scott to beam aboard the Enterprise while she is still at warp. After they are beamed aboard, Scotty is trapped in the Enterprise's water tanks. Only when Chekov detects the emergency valve being opened does Spock know that something has been beamed aboard. Questioned as to how they beamed aboard the Enterprise while it was traveling at warp, Kirk and Scotty refuse to answer. Kirk manages to anger Commander Spock, forcing him to give up command due to being emotionally compromised, and Kirk takes the Captain's chair. Spock, Scott, and math-whiz Pavel Chekov devise a plan to bring the Enterprise to Titan and take advantage of Saturn's magnetosphere to disguise their presence from the Narada, allowing them to beam Kirk and Spock aboard unnoticed.

 

While Kirk comes face to face with Nero, Spock retakes the future Ambassador Spock's ship, and uses it to destroy the drill and lure the Narada away from Earth. With the Narada safely far from Earth, Spock pilots the ship on a collision course with the Narada. Kirk, Pike, and Spock are beamed safely away before the ships collide, creating a black hole in which the Narada is caught. Kirk offers to help rescue Nero, but the Romulan refuses. As the Enterprise finishes off the Narada, she is able to free herself from the black hole's gravity well due to Scott's plan to ignite the ship's warp drive reactor cores in the black hole both to seal it off and to gain speed from the resulting explosion.

 

Kirk is promoted to captain of the Enterprise, relieving the newly promoted Admiral Pike, who is shown in a wheelchair. While searching for his father, Spock encounters his older self in the Starfleet hangar; Spock Prime is departing to help found a new colony for the remaining Vulcans in order to rebuild their society. Spock informs his older self of his intention to leave Starfleet to help in the rebuilding, Ambassador Spock tells his younger self that he and Kirk need each other and that he should remain in Starfleet. Taking his twin's advice, Spock does so, becoming first officer under Kirk's command.

 

As the Enterprise warps away, Leonard Nimoy recites a version of the "Where no man has gone before" monologue.

 

I think the thing that makes this film is the new, young talent.  Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, as a cocky, but smart tough misfit that matures before our eyes during the film is about as interesting a characterization as you can get.  He choose not to mimic William Shatner, but he does remind me a little bit of Harrison Ford’s early Indiana Jones character.  Pine holds our interest; Zachary Quinto as Spock is revolutionary.  A young Spock that grieves his mother, looses his temper, and has a hot girlfriend?  Just try to take your eyes off of him when he is on the screen.  His presence is stunning in this film.  Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy is a bitching cynic; Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura is perfect in her role and Eric Bana as Captain Nero is an obsessed, scary villain.  One thing about these ‘comic book-television series’ films is that if the bad guy is weak or uninteresting, the film fails.  Bana is a strong villain that makes you believe he’d wait 25 years to get even.  The characters make this film worth the price of admission. Welcome to the film summer of 2009.  Star Trek may be just the beginning. 

 

Website:  http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/movie/index.html

Movie Trailer: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/movie/index.html

 

New Movie Review By James Myers, The Entertainment Critic: Watchmen

Movie Review:  Watchmen

 

The Entertainment Critic Movie Review

http://jamesmyerstheentertainmentcritic.blogspot.com/

In Theatres Now Review

Opened March 3, 2009

By James Myers

 

Rating: 7 of 10

 

Director:  Zack Snyder

 

Writers (WGA): David Hayter (screenplay) and Alex Tse (screenplay), Dave Gibbons             (graphic novel illustrator), Alan Moore (graphic novel) uncredited

 

Release Date: 6 March 2009 (USA)

 

Genre: Action | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

 

Malin Akerman ...        Laurie Jupiter / Silk Spectre II

 

Billy Crudup     ...        Dr. Manhattan / Jon Osterman

 

Matthew Goode           ...        Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias

 

Jackie Earle Haley        ...        Walter Kovacs / Rorschach

 

Jeffrey Dean Morgan    ...        Edward Blake / The Comedian

 

Patrick Wilson  ...        Dan Dreiberg / Nite Owl II

 

Carla Gugino    ...        Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre

 

Matt Frewer     ...        Edgar Jacobi / Moloch the Mystic

 

Stephen McHattie         ...        Hollis Mason / Nite Owl

 

Laura Mennell  ...        Janey Slater

 

Rob LaBelle     ...        Wally Weaver

 

Gary Houston   ...        John McLaughlin

 

James M. Connor         ...        Pat Buchanan (as James Michael Connor)

 

Mary Ann Burger         ...        Eleanor Clift

 

John Shaw        ...        Doug Roth

 

Robert Wisden ...        Richard Nixon

 

Jerry Wasserman          ...        Detective Fine

 

Don Thompson ...        Detective Gallagher

 

Frank Novak    ...        Henry Kissinger

 

Sean Allan        ...        Norad General #1

 

Ron Fassler      ...        Ted Koppel

 

Stephanie Belding         ...        Janet Black

 

Chris Burns      ...        Dumb Thug

 

 

Produced by

Wesley Coller   ....       Co-producer

Herb Gains       ....       Executive producer

Lawrence Gordon        Producer

Lloyd Levin      ....       Producer

Deborah Snyder           Producer

Thomas Tull      ....       Executive producer

 

            Watchmen has been one of the more anticipated films of the early spring season.  There is always a tension in creating a film like this one, where the subject matter and storyline is well-know to the followers of the comic/graphic novels and engaging the members of the public that are not familiar with the comics and not cult followers.  This film succeeds on both levels; true to the original graphic novels of writer Alan Moore, artist, Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins, yet intriguing and engaging to those of us not as familiar with the story.  In this story of a parallel universe still stuck in the Nixon Administration, we are immediately drawn into this tale of retired and outlawed superheroes/vigilantes when one of the superheroes is murdered in the opening scene.  You have no pulse if you are not immediately drawn into the story of the personal development and struggles of the protagonists as an investigation into the murder of a government sponsored superhero pulls them out of retirement and eventually leads them to confront a plot by one of their own to stave off nuclear war by killing millions of people.  The secondary plotline is of course to find the killer of the fallen hero, The Comedian, who had plenty of potential enemies when he has was alive, who would want him dead.

 

            By 1985, only one Watchman, a masked vigilante named Rorschach, (Jackie Earle Haley) remains active. Investigating the murder of government agent Edward Blake (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Rorschach discovers him to be a fellow Watchman known as The Comedian and concludes that someone is trying to eliminate masked heroes. He goes off to warn his retired comrades: the emotionally detached Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), his lover Laurie Jupiter (Malin Akerman), the second Silk Spectre, Dan Dreiberg (Stephen McHattie), the second Nite Owl, and Adrian Veidt (Matthew Goode) Ozymandias, but makes little progress.

 

After Blake's funeral, Dr. Manhattan is accused of causing cancer in his former friends and colleagues from before the accident that turned him into the being he is now. Manhattan exiles himself to Mars, giving the Soviet Union the confidence to invade Afghanistan in his absence. Later, Rorschach's conspiracy theory appears to be justified when Adrian, who had long since made his identity as Ozymandias public before retiring, narrowly avoids an assassination attempt, and Rorschach himself is framed for murder.

Meanwhile, Laurie falls in love with Dan, having previously broken up with Manhattan, and the two former heroes decide to come out of retirement as they grow closer to one another. After breaking Rorschach out of prison alongside Nite Owl, Silk Spectre is confronted by Manhattan, who takes her to Mars and explains he is no longer interested in humanity, denying her request to intervene. Probing her memories, they both discover that The Comedian is her father. His interest in humanity renewed, Manhattan returns to Earth with Silk Spectre.

 

Investigating further into the conspiracy, Rorschach and Nite Owl discover that Adrian may be behind everything. Rorschach records his suspicions in his journal, which recounts the events of the story thus far from his perspective, and posts it to a newspaper office. Rorschach and Nite Owl confront Adrian, presumably now Ozymandias once again, in his Antarctic retreat. Ozymandias confirms that he is the mastermind behind The Comedian's murder, Manhattan's exile, and the framing of Rorschach; he also staged his own assassination attempt to place himself above suspicion. He explains that his plan is to unify the United States and Soviet Union and prevent nuclear war by destroying the world's main cities with exploding energy reactors he had Dr. Manhattan create for him under the pretense of providing free energy for the world. Rorschach and Nite Owl attempt to stop him, only to find his plan has already been enacted; the energy signatures are recognized as Dr. Manhattan’s and the two opposing sides of the Cold War unite to combat their “common enemy.”

 

Silk Spectre and Manhattan arrive at the ruins of New York City and realize Ozymandias plan. They arrive to confront him, only to agree that, with the cessation of hostilities around the world, this conspiracy is best left unrevealed to the public. Rorschach, however, is unwilling to cooperate, and allows himself to be vaporized by Manhattan as a means of stopping him from revealing the truth. Manhattan shares a final kiss with Silk Spectre and departs for another galaxy.

 

With the end of the Cold War and the transformation of humanity into a united front, Laurie and Dan return to the destroyed New York City, which is being rebuilt, and begin life anew together. Meanwhile, a newspaper editor in New York complains about how there is nothing worthwhile to print, and has a young employee look for something in a collection of crank letters in which he finds Rorschach's journal.

            This is a heavy, urban, graphic film, with earth shaking violence, cool special effects, and a little gratuitous sex thrown in for extra fun.  I like the film as a viewer, because it was done in such a compelling manner as to draw you into the personal lives of these remarkable beings.  The character development made the film worth watching, and the plot was a shocker, particularly after the assassination attempt.  The reoccurring theme of ‘who watches the watchmen’ was startling in light of the fact that much like real life politics, the people who are supposed to watch out for our survival may also become the authors of our destruction.  The drop of blood on the smiley face reinforces the uneasiness of the ‘who watches those in power’ theme that permeates this film, making it a contemporary parable for our modern times.  Costuming was well done in this film as well.  By updating and modernizing the original masks, the film takes on a contemporary point of view that makes it more realistic and acceptable.  The music in the film, Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'", which is played over the opening montage; Jimi Hendrix's cover of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower"; Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence"; the German version of Nena's "99 Luftballons"; a musak version of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World"; and Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable" added to the alternative universe/contemporary for 1980’s feel of the picture.  This was a great superhero picture, not as jolting as ‘The Dark Knight’ or quite as engaging as the first ‘Spiderman,’ but this film was more an exploration into each characters motivation, background, and psychology than other flicks of this genre had attempted before.  This one is a striking, free for all, fun ride and thriller that jarred the sensibilities to thought and comparison with the universe of political philosophy we currently find ourselves engaged in.  Worth the money, go see Watchmen.  It is a film that will thrill you and give you more to think about then the liberals vs. the conservatives.

 

 

Movie Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3orQKBxiEg

THE DEATH OF NEO CONSERVATISM, THOUGHTS ON RUSH LIMBAUGH, AND THE REAL REASON FOR ALL OF THE RECENT BLUSTER-THE UPCOMING FIGHT OVER PRESIDENT OBAMA’S

THE DEATH OF NEO CONSERVATISM, THOUGHTS ON RUSH LIMBAUGH, AND THE REAL REASON FOR ALL OF THE RECENT BLUSTER-THE UPCOMING FIGHT OVER PRESIDENT OBAMA’S BUDGET

 

 

           

            On Saturday, February 28, 2009, Mr. Rush Limbaugh gave a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).  He has been called the voice of the Republican Party and the heart of the conservative movement, and in my mind he is the apparent savior of the Neoconservative movement that dominated politics in the last 8 years, holding Ronald Regan as a sacred cow. 

 

            The focus of Mr. Limbaugh’s speech was for Conservatives to take back the Republican Party and the Nation.  Punctuating by jumping up and down, chest thumping, fist pumping, and heart slamming, his talk was about staying the conservative course in the Republican Party and being proud of Obstructionism and non-bipartisan politics.  The tone of the speech has been called “mocking, bulling, full of contempt, harsh, unapologetic”, and in some instances eerily “sinister.”  As is his tendency, there was very little substance, and there was a lot more playing to the crowd, attempting to energize the group.  Unfortunately, he had very little substantially to say and his angry, insulting, rude and unapologetic message, considering the mess the Bush Administration and the Neocons left the American People with, was in appropriate.

            "We conservatives have not done a good enough job of just laying out basically who we are because we make the mistake of assuming that people know. What they know is largely incorrect, based on the way we're portrayed in pop culture, in the drive-by media, by the Democrat party," the neoconservative talk show host told a mostly-young crowd of energized supporters.

            His basic premise in his speech based on some basic tenants of conservative philosophy, sprinkled with a combative, begrudging tone about the recent political losses the movement had suffered as a result of the Presidential election,

            "We want every American to be the best he or she chooses to be. We recognize that we are all individuals. We love and revere our founding documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independent. We believe that the preamble of the Constitution contains an inarguable truth, that we are all endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, freedom. And the pursuit of happiness."

 

            That all sounds good Rush, but when you examine more closely what you had to say, the ‘pursuit of happiness’ is primarily reserved for the upper class, “achievers” and the rest of us will just have to wait.  He went on to say that conservatives don’t hate anybody, and since all people are created equal, we all start out the same, but what separates us is our will to succeed, our desire to be the best.  He went on to say, that we must succeed on our own, without any government interaction.  The people who do not accept the government’s help are achievers and anyone who does is a loser.  The losers fail because the government makes them passive people who do not strive to make their lives better and government intervention harms these people, making them soft, passive under achievers, that are done a great disservice by an overreaching, our of control government.  Large, overextended government stifles our creativity, our entrepreneurship, and in doing so contributes to a welfare state, prolonging the war on poverty.  Belonging to an American political party or movement makes you a contestant with the other guys, and the only choice is to pound them into submission, winners survive and losers be damned.

 

            The problem with all of this is that the Neoconservatives have failed to recognize and take into account their role in our current situation, and according to Mr. Limbaugh have no need to apologize for it.  Mr Limbaugh’s little talk failed to take into account that the Neocons version of government caused this mess by deregulating banks, inducing people to refinance mortgages to what was called a fixed rate from an adjustable rate, in an elaborate bait and switch scheme resulting in doubling or tripling our payments.  It did not take into account the unfettered spending the Neocons engaged in when they financed the War in Iraq, which was sold to the American People on the basis of a lie; that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and we must stop them or die.  It failed to take into account how that lie lead to deaths of over 4,000 American, 100,000 Iraqis and the injury and mental maiming of  100,000 more American soldiers, then potential damages and costs of which we can only guess at today.  It did not take into account the detainees at Guantanamo, who should have been afforded the rights of American citizens as we have allowed nationals in our country to possess in our criminal courts for years.  It did not take into account the people in New Orleans who suffered from the natural disaster of Katrina, only to find their government uncaring, unconcerned and unresponsive to this plight.  Nope, no apologies from old Rush; just more expressions of preserving wealth for the wealthy and yet another prayer than someday trickle down economics would finally save the day for the Republicans, the Neocons and disciples of Ronald Regan.

 

            Mr Limbaugh instead said the democrat party (he refused to call it the democratic party) relied on big government to solve all of our problems, that we cannot rely on them to answer our prayers, because in doing so this makes us weak, mindless globs of underachievers, that blindly follow along to the beat of kindly, liberal fascists.  Uh-huh?  Here is what he didn’t say.  He didn’t talk about how the Neocons had titled the table and screwed us.  He didn’t talk about how they had changed the climate in which we live and left us with a mess.  He didn’t talk about the tremendous costs of lie to us and leading us in a criminally fraudulent way into the War in Iraq, based of WMD.  Not an expression of sorry we led you into that war, sorry about the trillion dollar costs, sorry about the loss of life and treasure.  He didn’t say he was sorry about the bait and switch mortgage crisis, sorry about the con game, sorry about you being unable to pay for your car or mortgage because we took advantage of you and in doing so, we sold all of your bad paper all over the financial world, plunging the entire world in to a near depression.  He did not say that he was sorry the Neocons caused a financial crash as a result of their greed by tilting the free market of capitalism to such an extreme, that it has plunged the world into a recession bordering on a near depression.

            He did not say that he was sorry that the little financial tricks threatened the student loan system, making it more difficult to get a student loan and in turn threatening millions of college educations.  He did not say he was sorry Neo-conservatism made it hard to get sick, go to the doctor, or enter a hospital because we don’t have health insurance.  He did not say that he was sorry our last President had in effect suspended the Bill of Rights, wiretapping its citizens and insurgents alike, reading our e-mail, and violating our Right to Privacy.  When Mr. Bush detained indefinitely insurgent suspects in Guantanamo, meaning on his whim and against any person he so choose to brand an enemy of the state, he in effect suspended all of our civil rights, like the right to bail, the right to know what you have been charged with, the right to counsel, the right to defend your self, the right to discover the prosecutions’ evidence against you, the right to a speedy trial, the right to confront and cross-examine your accusers, the right against self-incrimination, (didn’t Bush and Neocons say we don’t torture?), the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, the right to be convicted only by a standard of beyond a reasonable doubt, the right to trial by jury and the right to appeal.  No, no tilting of nature and natural causes there that underlies traditional conservative philosophy. 

 

            No acknowledgement of what they did to our civil justice system either.  One of the last things Mr. Bush did before he ran out the door was to make it harder to sue a long term care facility for negligence or gross neglect of elderly patients.  So the least of us in our society has no legal protection either, but instead face dismissals of their cases under the guise of federal preemption? No right to bring a negligence action, no right to compensatory/punitive damages, no right to a jury trial, no right to address grievances?  No protection for these people against abuse?  The old, infirm, ill and sick are losers too? No apology for Katrina victims or the Bailed out banks who instead of lending money, have tried to help themselves to the governments (our) generosity to save them from ruin.  What can be inferred from his little talk is that Mr. Limbaugh is in effect saying that winners can take advantage of losers.  This reminds me of a line from the movie, Animal House, where one of the pledges lends his car to a frat brother, who returns it to him a complete wreck, and afterwards says, “hey, you f_ _ _ _ _ up.  You trusted us.”

 

            No, there was no acknowledgement of the problems created by Neocons in the last 8 years, no admission of mistakes, no accountability, no apology and let’s move on talks.  No, there was not even a bipartisan tone to the talk, in fact it was just the opposite. 

"Bipartisanship occurs only after one other result. And that is victory," he said. "What they mean is we check our core principles at the door, come in, let them run the show, and then agree with them. To us bipartisanship is making them agree with us after we have cleaned their clocks and beaten them, and that has to be what we are focused on.” (emphasis added).  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khxpmGLxPEM

 

            So desperate are the Neocons to preserve what they believe is status quo, that Mr. Limbaugh once again reiterated that he wishes for President Obama to fail.  Never mind that if the President fails, our country might fail too.  Damn the torpedoes and the consequences, the Winners like Rush have to be in power.  Comparing the remark to his desire to see the Arizona Cardinals "fail" in this year's Super Bowl game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Limbaugh defended his comment without denying it. "This notion that I want the president to fail, folks, this shows you a sign of the problem we've got," he said. "What is so strange about being honest and saying, I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to restructure and reform this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation? Why would I want that to succeed?" he said, bringing the crowd once again to its feet.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6N1tTdpuAU

 

            See the winning and competing thing is very, very big to Rush.  Mr Limbaugh here is a clue for you.  First of all given the situation we’re in, these are extraordinary times, which call for extraordinary measures.  President Obama has said that these measures are not the norm, but immediate action needs to be taken, or the situation will get much, much worse.  A lot of economists and experts agree with him.  This is not a normal liaise faire, leave the market alone business cycle, but one artificially induced by the outside greedy forces the Neocons allowed to do as they pleased. Second, me thinks you protest too much.  The American people made their choice in November; it is time for a change, the old trickle down, Ronald Regan theories of good government have not worked.  Your movement has seen its day and it is over.  You’ve failed.  Take responsibility, be accountable for the wrongs and adjust.  Comparing the outcome of the stimulus bill or the new upcoming budget that addresses many of the issues like employment, education, healthcare, and basic civil rights is not an athletic contest.  There is much more at stake here.  To argue to drag your feet, beat our brains in, win at all costs attitude is not helpful.  Campbell Brown from CNN put it best in response to your article in the Wall Street Journal, and your criticism of the a reporter from that network who disagreed with you, “Mr. Limbaugh…the histrionics and the name calling, they undermine anything constructive that you have to say… our country is in desperate straights right now, and we need ideas.  But what we don’t need is nasty rhetoric, and useless noise.  This does not help anyone get a job, keep a job or feed their family.  If there ever was a time to put the meanness behind us and focus on real dialogue and real solutions, this is the time.”

Obama Talks About His Stimulus Package

MSNBC.com

Obama: Pass stimulus or recession lasts ‘years’

President-elect warns the downturn could become ‘dramatically worse’

BREAKING NEWS

msnbc.com news services

updated 10:41 a.m. CT, Thurs., Jan. 8, 2009

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama warned Thursday morning that the nation’s recession could “linger for years” unless Congress acts to pump unprecedented sums from Washington into the U.S. economy, adding that the current economic crisis is “unlike any we have seen in our lifetime.”

“I don’t believe it’s too late to change course, but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible,” Obama said in a speech at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., outside Washington. It was his highest-profile case yet on an issue certain to define his early presidency.

“A bad situation could become dramatically worse,” he added, painting a dire picture — including double-digit unemployment and $1 trillion in lost economic activity — that recalled the days of the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The current economic crisis is due to “an era of profound irresponsibility,” Obama said, adding that it is “time to set a new course for this economy, and that change must begin now.”

Obama also laid out goals of doubling the production of alternative energy over three years, updating most federal buildings to improve energy efficiency, making medical records electronic, expanding broadband networks and updating schools and universities.

It was the fourth day in a row that Obama has made a pitch for a huge infusion of taxpayer dollars to revive the sinking economy.

His events have increasingly taken on the trappings and air of the presidency, with the speech — coming a full 12 days before he takes over at the White House — a particularly showy move. Presidents-elect typically stick to naming administration appointments and otherwise staying in the background during the transition period between Election Day and Inauguration Day, but Obama has clearly made the calculation that a nation anxious about its economic outlook and eager to bid farewell to the current president, George W. Bush, needs to hear from him differently and more frequently.

Indeed, the economic news is grim.

Consumers and companies are folding under the negative forces of a collapsed housing market, a global credit crunch and the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. The recession, which started in December 2007, already is the longest in a quarter-century.

Major U.S. retailers reporter December sales that were so dismal, even Wal-Mart fell short of already low expectations.

New claims for unemployment benefits dropped unexpectedly last week, but the number of people continuing to seek aid rose sharply. The Labor Department says initial applications for unemployment insurance dropped by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 467,000 for the week ending Jan. 3. Wall Street economists expected initial claims to increase to 540,000. The figure partly reflects seasonal volatility that occurs around the New Year’s holiday.

Still, the number of people continuing to claim jobless benefits jumped unexpectedly by 101,000 to 4.61 million. That was above analysts’ expectations of 4.5 million and the highest level since November 1982.

'More families will lose their savings'
For all of 2008, employers probably slashed payrolls by at least 2.4 million. That's based on economists' forecasts for a net loss of 500,000 additional jobs in December, as well as the job losses previously reported. Some, however, think the number of jobs cut last month will be higher, around 600,000 or 700,000. The Labor Department will release that report Friday.

"For every day we wait or point fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs," Obama said. "More families will lose their savings. More dreams will be deferred and denied. And our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse."

A day after the release of a stunning new estimate — that the federal budget deficit will reach an unprecedented $1.2 trillion this year, nearly three times last year's record — Obama acknowledged the new stimulus spending will "certainly add to the budget deficit." He also acknowledged some sympathy with those who "might be skeptical of this plan" because so much federal money has already been spent or committed in an attempt — largely unsuccessful so far — to get credit, the lifeblood of the American economy, flowing freely once again.

Such statements are coded to appeal to budget hawks in both parties, whom Obama wants to win over so that approval of a package draws wide, bipartisan support in the Democratic-led Congress.

To answer their concerns, he promised to allow funding only for what works. He also pledged a new level of transparency about where the money is going. A day earlier, he promised to tackle the out-of-control fiscal problem posed by Social Security and Medicare entitlement programs and named a special watchdog to clamp down on all federal programs.

Obama made broader arguments, too, saying that the private sector, typically the answer, cannot do what is needed now.

Still-evolving package
"At this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe," he said.

Obama's transition team and Democratic congressional leaders are working daily to hammer out the still-evolving package, expected to total nearly $800 billion. The initial hope had been to have a new stimulus package approved by Congress in time for Obama to sign it upon taking office on Jan. 20. That timeline has slipped considerably, into at least mid-February if not later.

The package is expected to include tax cuts for businesses and middle-class workers, money to help cash-starved states with Medicaid programs and other operating costs, and a huge share for infrastructure building, investments in energy efficiency and a rebuilding of the information technology system for health care. Much of the latter portions of the plan are aimed at what Obama likes to talk about as the need for "reinvestment" and not just "recovery."

"It is not just another public works program," he said in the speech. "It's a plan that recognizes both the paradox and the promise of this moment, the fact that there are millions of Americans trying to find work even as, all around the country, there is so much work to be done."

He also promised action to address the economy's ills beyond the package, such as tackling the massive wave of home foreclosures many experts expect, preventing the failure of financial institutions, rewriting financial regulations and keeping accountable the "Wall Street wrongdoers" who engage in risky investing.

More on Obama | stimulus

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28555437/

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New Movie Review From James Myers, The Entertainment Critic: The Dark Knight

Movie Review: The Dark Knight

The Entertainment Critic Movie Review

www.theentertainmentcritic.com

www.theentertainmentcritic.net

www.theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com

In Theatres Now Review

Opened July 18, 2008

By James Myers

Rating: 9 of 10

Director: Christopher Nolan

Writers (WGA): Jonathan Nolan (screenplay) and

Christopher Nolan (screenplay)

Release Date: 18 July 2008 (USA)

Genre: Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller more

Tagline: Why So Serious?

Plot:

Batman and James Gordon join forces with Gotham's new District Attorney, Harvey Dent, to take on a psychotic bank robber known as The Joker.

Plot Keywords:

One Man Army | Scarred Face | Based On Comic | Evil Clown | Ice Cream Parlor

Numbers Show 'Dark Knight' Will Smash Several Box-Office Records (From Rope Of Silicon. 19 July 2008, 2:40 AM, PDT)

Cast:

Christian Bale ... Bruce Wayne / Batman

Heath Ledger ... The Joker

Aaron Eckhart ... Harvey Dent / Two-Face

Michael Caine ... Alfred Pennyworth

Maggie Gyllenhaal ... Rachel Dawes

Gary Oldman ... Lt. James Gordon

Morgan Freeman ... Lucius Fox

Monique Curnen ... Det. Ramirez

Ron Dean ... Detective Wuertz

Cillian Murphy ... Dr. Jonathan Crane / The Scarecrow

Chin Han ... Lau

Nestor Carbonell ... Mayor

Eric Roberts ... Salvatore Maroni

Ritchie Coster ... The Chechen

Anthony Michael Hall ... Mike Engel

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace.

Runtime: 152 min

Country: USA

Language: English

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS | Sonics-DDP (IMAX version)

Certification:

Norway:15 | New Zealand:M | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:PG | Canada:14+ | USA:PG-13 | Australia:M | UK:12A | South Korea:15 | Ireland:15A

Filming Locations:

Battersea Power Station, Battersea, London, England, UK more

Company: Warner Bros. Pictures

Every summer there is that one blockbuster that is the marquee event of the summer, the ‘Jaws’ type blockbuster that film buffs are willing to stand in line to see. The Dark Knight is 2008’s top blockbuster, and by the time its run ends, it may be the most pervasive blockbuster ever. Dark, mysterious, and foreboding, this is an edgy, gripping thriller. The performance by the late Heath Ledger more than meets the hype, and it alone is worth the price of admission. The Dark Knight is a 2008 American superhero film co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is a sequel to Batman Begins (2005). Christian Bale reprises the lead role. Batman's primary conflicts in the film include his fight against the Joker (Heath Ledger) and his strained friendship with district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).

For his conception of the film, Nolan was inspired by the Joker's first two appearances in the comics and Batman: The Long Halloween. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago (as was Batman Begins), as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. The director used an IMAX camera to film six major action sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in the film. The Batsuit was redesigned, with a cowl allowing Bale to move his head. The film also introduces a recreation of the Batcycle, known as the Batpod.

The film begins with the Joker robbing a mob-owned bank, and double crossing his accomplices so he can have all the money. That night, multiple Batman impersonators interrupt a meeting between mobsters and the Scarecrow. The real Batman shows up and subdues everyone, but injuries suffered during the confrontation force him to acquire a new, more functional suit of armor. Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon (Gary Oldman), contemplate bringing new district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) in on their plan to eradicate the mob, and the possibility that Dent will become the hero to the people that Batman cannot be. At the same time, Bruce and Harvey are both competing for the love of Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The mob bosses meet to discuss how to handle Batman, Gordon, and Dent, while a Chinese mobster accountant, Lau (Chin Han), lets the gang leaders know he has taken their money to Hong Kong to prevent the police and the district attorney from seizing it in an imminent bank raid. The Joker arrives and proposes to kill Batman for them, and also tries to convince them that Lau will give them all up to the police if he is caught.

After Batman successfully abducts Lau in Hong Kong and delivers him to the Gotham City police, the mobsters agree to pay the Joker half of their money in return for killing Batman. The Joker tells all of Gotham that if the Batman does not unmask himself and turn himself in to the police, then he will kill innocent people every day. When the Joker begins killing off public officials despite the best efforts of the police and Batman to thwart him, Wayne decides to give in and turn himself in to the police. However, before he can do so, Dent publically admits to being "the Batman" to draw the Joker out of hiding. The Joker attempts to kill Dent during transport, but Gordon and Batman arrive in time to stop and arrest him. With the Joker in custody, Batman interrogates the Joker, physically beating him until he reveals that Rachel and Dent have been taken to opposite sides of the city, far-enough apart that Batman does not have time to save both of them. Batman speeds off to save Rachel, while Gordon and the police head after Dent. Unknown to them, the Joker has switched the locations of both, sending Batman after Dent and Gordon after Rachel. With the help of a pre-planted phone bomb, the Joker escapes with Lau in tow.

Dent and Rachel awaken to find themselves tied to chairs with barrels of explosive material surrounding them. Dent attempts to free himself, but accidentally immerses the left side of his face in turpentine when he falls on the floor. Batman arrives and rescues Dent just as both buildings explode; the left side of Dent's face is burned during the explosion. Gordon does not reach Rachel in time and she dies in the explosion. In the hospital, Dent is driven to madness over the loss of Rachel, which he blames on Batman, Gordon and the Joker. The Joker sets up another elaborate plan; first he convinces Harvey to exact revenge on those responsible for Rachel's death.

While "Harvey Two-Face"(Aaron Eckhart) confronts the corrupt cops and the mobsters one by one, flipping a coin to decide their fates, the Joker burns Lau at the top of the clown's share of mob money, stacked into a tower. The Joker then declares that he will rule the streets and that anyone left in Gotham at nightfall will be subject to his rule, but also suggests the outbound bridges and tunnels are booby trapped which makes the ferries the preferred method out of the city. Knowing the large ships would be filled to capacity, the Joker plants explosives on two ferries and gives the passengers on board the chance to destroy the opposing vessel, one full of prison convicts and another with civilians, in order to save their own lives. Batman tracks the Joker to an uncompleted skyscraper—turning all the cell phones in Gotham into a giant sonar system—and prevents him from blowing up two ferries when both vessels' occupants decide they would rather die than kill innocents.

Dangling from a wire, the Joker acknowledges that Batman really is incorruptible, but that Dent was not and he has unleashed Harvey's madness upon the city. Batman finds Gordon and his family with Dent at the building where Rachel died. Harvey proceeds to judge Batman, himself, and Gordon's son through the chance of coin flip, which he sees as the only fairness left in the world. Harvey shoots Batman in the stomach but before he can determine the boy's fate, Batman tackles him over the side of the building, saving Gordon's son. As Dent lies motionless on the ground, Batman and Gordon decide that the Joker would win if anyone found out about Dent's corruption and madness. In order to uphold Dent's vision, Batman convinces Gordon to blame all of Dent's murders on him to preserve Dent's image as Gotham's hero and give the city hope. As Gordon destroys the Bat-Signal, a manhunt is issued for Batman.

The competing themes in the movie make the dark, sinister backdrop even more persuasive. Does the vigilante have to abandon his code of helping law enforcement within some set of rules to rid the world of uncontrollable evil? Bruce Wayne as Batman longs for ‘a normal life’ with Rachel, who he has lost to the larger that life DA Harvey Dent. As long as he remains the Batman, he cannot have a normal life; he cannot have Rachel. The Joker, a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy," played expertly by Heath Ledger (“I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger.”), is reminiscent of Alex (Malcolm McDowell) in a Clockwork Orange. He seems to want only anarchy and chaos, existential disaster to prove his paradigm of life: all goodness is corruptible and men are innately evil, contemptible beings. (“Introduce a little anarchy... Upset the established order... Well then everyone loses their minds!”) If you have ever read Mark Twain’s ‘The Man Who Corrupted Hadlyburg’ you get the idea. Man is cable of only good or evil; the Joker’s real mission is to prove man is capable of only ‘ultraviolent’ evil, particularly the Batman. His mission is to put his adversaries in impossible ethical and moral dilemmas that have no real solution and where the problem solvers do not know the truth behind their choices until it is too late. And once they choose, the inadvertently commit acts of evil violence. Humiliation, exposure, and dominance motivate the Joker. Micheal Caine as ‘Alfred’ says it best: “Some men aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

Unknowingly, it is his desire to exposure Batman as evil by performing acts of incredible violence that keeps Bruce Wayne from achieving his goal of acceptance and ‘a normal life.’ This tension is incredible throughout the movie, buttresses by living and vivid action sequences that simply have to be seen to be believed.

The writing and direction in this film is first-rate. The background and sets are incredibly gritty and urban. Chicago provides much of the locale in the film. The acting for a comic book movie is truly surprising, and the special effects are memorizing. The score and the music for the film make the dark sets seem even darker. But the glue that truly holds this film together is Health Ledger’s amazing performance. His obsessive performance of a complex and inexplicable criminal make this story more than just a comic book crime thriller, but a study of the intricacies of a serial killer that rivals Charles Manson. This is a performance that may well rate an Oscar nomination. Emotionally, you may leave the theatre feeling drained. This is an involving film that requires your attention. Don’t be surprised if your neighbors tell you to see it twice.

Complex, dark and disturbing, this is an intense film that has moments when you are startled right out of your chair, and may be too intense for young viewers. The Dark Knight is clearly this summer’s best film so far and maybe the best grossing summer film ever. The Dark Knight opened on July 16, 2008 in Australia and July 18, 2008 with midnight screenings in 3,040 theaters. From the first midnight screenings, the film has earned $18.5 million and has set a new midnight debut record beating Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith which earned $16.9 million. The Dark Knight set a single-day box office record of $66.4 million, breaking a record of $59.8 million previously held by Spider-Man 3. This weekend as I write this, it has been widely reported that all 4000 theatres nationwide are sold out. An ambitious film, this one is this summer’s must see. Almost perfect, I give this one an enthusiastic recommendation.

Movie Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M_dzsvEfyM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2efmHXjCwc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vWRDs-jEto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Reo19mW5p7w

New Movie Review From The Entertainment Critic: Hancock

Movie Review: Hancock

The Entertainment Critic Movie Review
http://www.theentertainmentcritic.com/
http://www.theentertainmentcritic.net/
www.theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com

In Theatres Now Review
Opened July 2nd, 2008
By James Myers

Rating: 8 of 10

Director: Peter Berg

Writers (WGA):Vincent Ngo (written by) &
Vince Gilligan (written by)

Release Date: 2 July 2008 (USA)
Genre: Action Comedy Drama Fantasy more
Tagline: There are heroes. There are superheroes. And then there's... more
Plot: A hard-living superhero who has fallen out of favor with the public enters into a questionable relationship with the wife of the public relations professional who's trying to repair his image.
Plot Keywords: Train Wreck Superhero Interracial Relationship Character Name In Title
Awards: 1 nomination more

Cast (Cast overview, first billed only)

Will Smith ... John Hancock

Charlize Theron ... Mary Embrey

Jason Bateman ... Ray Embrey

Jae Head ... Aaron Embrey

Eddie Marsan ... Red

David Mattey ... Man Mountain

Maetrix Fitten ... Matrix

Thomas Lennon ... Mike

Johnny Galecki ... Jeremy

Hayley Marie Norman ... Hottie
Dorothy Cecchi ... Woman in Dive Bar
Michelle Lemon ... Girl at Bus Bench
Akiva Goldsman ... Executive #1

Michael Mann ... Executive #2
Brad Leland ... Executive #3

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and language.
Runtime: 92 min
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 2.35: 1
Sound Mix: DTS SDDS Dolby Digital
Certification: South Korea:12 USA:PG-13 Ireland:12A Singapore: PG UK:12A Australia:M Malaysia: U
Filming Locations: 105 Freeway, Los Angeles, California, USA


The King of July 4th is back with a most unusual film about super heroes and public relations. Will Smith is Hancock, an alcoholic superhero who is despised by the public, down on his luck, and an irresponsible bum. Hancock saves the day while demolishing pavement, cars, hurting the people he intends to save, and in general racking up costs by the millions in damages as a result of his handiwork. Surly and unlovable, he opens the film drunk on a park bench. He then flies off to run down a trio of robbers on the freeway who is driving an O.J. looking van. To stop them, he places them atop the needle on the Capital Records building after smashing up several cars on the freeway. His public is not amused.

His next feat brings Ray Embrey, (Justin Bateman) into the picture as an unsuccessful public relations executive that Hancock saves from a train. Typical of Hancock, he flips Bateman in his car upside down and demolishes the train. Despite the difficulty, Ray offers to take Hancock under this PR wing to make him over as a more public friendly superhero. Hancock is an automatic hit with Ray’s son, Aaron (Jae Head), particularly after he scares the bejeesus out of the neighborhood bully. Ray’s wife, Mary (Charlize Theron) does not seen taken with her husband’s new client. Ray points out to Hancock that his exploits on You Tube that include him flipping a whale off of a beach and landing him on the only boat in the ocean, and knocking children down for an ice cream while scantly dressed have not helped his image. Then after a Nancy Grace tirade on television, Ray comes up with a brainstorm to restore Hancock’s image; Hancock must make amends publicly and report to jail.

Hancock makes his speech and reports to the pokey. His first encounter with the inmates is one of the funniest scenes in the movie, and maybe the most memorable. Ray is right; crime goes up and eventually, the authorities clamor for Hancock to be let out and to help them with a bank hold up. The new and improved Hancock wears a leather uniform, tells the cops they are doing “a good job,” and asks women if he has permission to touch them, even when they are under bullet fire. His handling of the head robber is another funny moment in the film.

The texture of the film changes from comedy to romantic drama when Hancock is attracted to Ray’s wife, Mary. I won’t spoil the plot here, but there is a major, major twist that comes out of no where; but in effect makes the film much more interesting than just the comedic ‘let’s fix the super guy’s manners.’ In the final, climatic scene, Hancock overcomes the 2 cons he disciplined in the joint, plus their new leader, the head bank robber. All ends well.

The film is carried by the trio of Smith, Bateman, and Theron. The script seemed to me that that film could not make up its mind to be a comedy or a romantic drama, but Smith’s star power keeps everything together. Peter Berg as the director seems to have kept a difficult project together. Considering that story was originally written by Vincent Ngo in 1996 and had languished in Hollywood for some time, and that the project had various directors attached, including Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Jonathan Mostow, and Gabriele Muccino, the film came out remarkably well. Hancock was originally intended to be filmed before I Am Legend, also starring Will Smith. Special effects were outstanding and underrated in this film.

The film was at its very best when it was trying to reform the crestfallen superhero and there are unresolved issues of origin and his strange ties to Theron that arise in the course of the picture. You also get the feeling at the end when Hancock takes his act to New York that there could be a sequel. All in all, Hancock is a good time. Smith somehow manages to pull the hodge-podge script together and in the end a more likeable Hancock is loved by the movie audience. There was open and loud applause by the audience in the early screening that I attended, largely made up of some members of the public and other movie critics. The King of the 4th of July has delivered once again for his public. Long live the king. This one is an entertaining summer effort, held together by superstar, Will Smith.



Movie Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqrktGTZAdw

New Movie Review From The Entertainment Critic: The Incredible Hulk

Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk

The Entertainment Critic Movie Review
www.theentertainmentcritic.com
www.theentertainmentcritic.net
www.theentertainmentcriticmagazine.com

In Theatres Now Review
Opened June 13, 2008
By James Myers

Rating: 8 of 10

Director: Ang Lee

Writers (WGA): Stan Lee (Marvel comic book character) and
Jack Kirby (Marvel comic book character)...

Release Date: 20 June 2003 (USA) more view trailer
Genre: Action Drama Fantasy Sci-Fi Thriller more
Tagline: Unleash the fury!
Plot: A geneticist's experimental accident curses him with the tendency to become a powerful giant green brute under emotional stress.
Plot Keywords: X Ray Diffraction Dream Sequence Barefoot Crushed To Death Shaving more
Awards: 1 win & 8 nominations more

Cast (Cast overview, first billed only)

Eric Bana ... Bruce Banner

Jennifer Connelly ... Betty Ross

Sam Elliott ... Ross

Josh Lucas ... Talbot

Nick Nolte ... Father
Paul Kersey ... Young David Banner

Cara Buono ... Edith Banner

Todd Tesen ... Young Ross
Kevin Rankin ... Harper
Celia Weston ... Mrs. Krensler

Mike Erwin ... Teenage Bruce Banner

Lou Ferrigno ... Security Guard
Stan Lee ... Security Guard

Regi Davis ... Security Guard
Craig Damon ... Security Guard

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, some disturbing images and brief partial nudity.
Parents Guide: View content advisory for parents
Runtime: 138 min
Country: USA
Language: English Spanish
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.85: 1 more
Sound Mix: DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX SDDS

Company: Universal Pictures more

To say that there was concern when this picture opened would be an understatement. There had already been a television series and another failed motion picture, but the Marvel Comics movies have peaked the public interest. In this regard, The Incredible Hulk was surprising entertaining and successful. The Incredible Hulk is a 2008 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character the Hulk, which was released on June 13, 2008. It is directed by Louis Leterrier and stars Edward Norton as Bruce Banner / the Hulk, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, William Hurt as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, and Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky / the Abomination. The film follows Banner as he flees the pursuit of General Ross while attempting to find a cure to rid himself of the Hulk. When Blonsky personally volunteers to be injected with Banner's gamma formula to aid Ross in his capture, he becomes an even greater monster, and Banner must accept his inner beast to defeat Blonsky.

A series of flashback shots show the gamma radiation accident that transformed scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) into the Hulk, and hospitalized his lover Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). Now a fugitive from the United States Army, and Betty's father, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt), Banner goes on the run for five years. He settles in Brazil, working in a soft drink bottling factory while attempting to find a cure for his condition with the help of an Internet friend, "Mr. Blue". He also studies martial arts and meditative breathing techniques with a Brazilian Jujitsu expert (Rickson Gracie) to help control his emotions, and has not suffered a transformation for five months.

After Banner suffers a cut, and his blood drips into a soda bottle eventually drank by an ill-fated consumer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Stan Lee), Ross discovers Banner's location, and sends a team to capture him, led by Russian-born British special operations expert Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth). Following a ferocious battle in the soft drink bottling plant where he transforms into the Hulk, Banner escapes Blonsky, and ends up in Guatemala. He travels to the United States, where he sees that a now-recovered Betty is working at Culver University and is dating psychiatrist Leonard Samson (Ty Burrell). He also sees his old friend Stanley, a pizzeria owner, who gives him a job as a delivery boy. Banner uses this job to sneak past a security guard (Lou Ferrigno) to continue his research. After Betty visits the pizzeria and sees Bruce, she later reunites with him.

Blonsky reports to Ross that Banner evaded them in Brazil because of the appearance of a large green monster. Ross explains that the monster is Banner, and that he was created accidentally during an experiment in radiation-resistance that was inspired by World War II era military bio-force enhancement research (or "Super-Soldiers", as Blonsky puts it). Blonsky, seeking both revenge and power, volunteers as a test subject in order to capture Banner, and receives a small dose of the mothballed original Vita Ray serum. He leads an assault on Banner at Culver University, during which Betty is knocked unconscious. Despite Blonsky's increased strength, speed and agility, the Hulk crushes most of the bones in Blonsky's body. The Hulk saves Betty from an explosion and escapes with her to the Smoky Mountain National Forest.

Banner and Betty then travel to Empire State University in New York City, where they meet "Mr. Blue", Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson). Accompanying Sterns to his lab, Banner and Betty learn that Sterns has developed a possible antidote that may cure Banner's condition or merely reverse each individual transformation while an overdose could kill him. Despite the risks, Banner agrees to test Sterns' antidote and is restrained before being shocked into transforming with electricity before being reverted to normal with an injection of the serum. Exhilarated by the success of the antidote, Sterns reveals that he has synthesized Banner's blood sample into a large supply with the intention of using it to enhance the human condition to the next evolutionary level. Appalled by what Sterns had done and fearful of the Hulk's power falling into the wrong hands, Banner attempts to convince Sterns to destroy the blood supply but is shot by a tranquillizer from one of General Ross' snipers.

As both Banner and Betty are taken into custody, Blonsky, whose super-soldier treatment has healed all his injuries but is desperate for more power, demands Sterns subject him to a dose of the Banner's gamma radiation treatment. Sterns warns that the combination of the Super Soldier formula and a gamma treatment would be an unpredictable combination that could turn him into an "abomination". Blonsky is less than concerned about this, and Sterns promptly administers the gamma charge. As Blonsky mutates into the monstrous Abomination, he knocks Sterns aside and an irradiated sample of Banner's blood-derivative drips into an open wound on Sterns’ temple, causing his cranium to mutate and expand. In an attempt to draw the Hulk out, the Abomination goes on a rampage through Harlem and Banner, realizing that he is the only one who can stop the Abomination, convinces General Ross to release him. He jumps out of Ross' helicopter as it hovers over the city, hoping the fall will stimulate his adrenal glands into triggering a transformation. Banner's plan succeeds and after a brutal battle the Hulk manages to defeat the Abomination by strangling him with a huge chain, though he releases his grip after a plea from Betty. The Abomination collapses and the Hulk flees the scene with the army in hot pursuit.

Thirty-one days later, Banner is in Bella Coola, British Columbia. Instead of trying to suppress his transformations, he is attempting to initiate them in a controlled manner. As his eyes turn green, a grin appears on his face. Meanwhile, General Ross is drinking in a bar when he is approached by Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) who reveals that a "team" is being put together.



The film is well-directed and the special effects were striking. The performances by Norton and Liv Tyler are excellent, giving the film an authentic quality. William Hurt as the military figure Ross is convincing as an obsessed, stop at nothing Army man. The best performance in the film goes to Tim Ross, the everyman of acting and motion pictures. His Emil Blonsky is convincing and a bad guy who inspires fear and tension in the picture, making the movie fun. Tim Blake Nelson as the overzealous scientist was perfect in his role, and a scene stealer. Overall, this was a great job by a good cast.

In its opening weekend, the film grossed an estimated $54.5 million in 3,505 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #1 at the box office. Behind Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, it was the second-highest gross for a film released over a Father's Day weekend. This surpassed the Los Angeles Times’ report of expectations of a $45 million opening, following the disappointing response to the 2003 film. Universal believed word of mouth will contribute to the film eventually breaking even. A Cinemascope poll indicated the majority of viewers were male and graded the film an A-, and 82% of them had seen the 2003 film. It also opened in thirty-eight other countries, which added $31 million to the total opening. You can count on a sequel.

Overall, this was a fun action joyride that I give a big thumbs up to. It is a great summer film, and it definitely overcame the shortcomings of both the television show and the prior film. Rate this one a pleasant summer surprise, buy an extra large popcorn and enjoy the picture.