The Bourne Ultimatum matched and perhaps exceeded expectations. A solid bookend to the original trilogy, though the story has little resemblance to the original books. That was inevitable considering the changes to the story in the first two movies (I don’t believe Marie dies, for example, and she’s French Canadian in the books, not German). The action is intense but tighter than the first two movies, including a great sequence set in Tangiers.

The film was surprisingly political, though it didn’t hit you over the head with it. The small CIA counter-terrorism team that forms Bourne’s primary opponents in this episode have unlimited powers, including the authority to capture or kill anyone, including U.S. citizens. The abuse of that authority to protect some senior government officials forms a core part of the story. Numerous dossiers of Blackbriar targets (the covert op Bourne is trying to unravel) contain the clearly visible stamp “U.S. Citizen.” I’m also a political nerd with a particular attention to surveillance and civil liberties issues, so maybe it just stood out to me.

Short version, don’t miss it, especially if you liked the first two. Whether it’s worth seeing in the theater or not depends on how much you liked the first two. I really liked the last two and had to see this one on the big screen.

Update: forgot to mention that the Moby song Extreme Ways (iTunes link) has stood up well across all the movies. Does anyone know if the opening to that song is sampled from another movie soundtack? I have this vague recollection of those violins in a older movie from the 60s or 70s, but can’t place it.

Also, I feel like I should suggest the books if you like this sort of storyline (spy/intelligence/intrigue). The The Bourne Identity remains one of my favorite books, and it and The Icarus Agenda are among my favorite Robert Ludlum books. Both worth a read and a quick library visit.

The Judd Apatow streak has ended with Superbad. The biggest thing that bugged me about the film was that so many moments had the chance to be absolutely hilarious but ended up flat. Even with those, though, it just left me feeling like the film was OK. We were really surprised by this considering the reviews it was getting.

My suggestion is to save this one for a rental. There are some ridiculous moments worth seeing, but they’re not worth the $10 each to go see it.

This is an awesome movie that recreates Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing using Fisher Price Sesame Street toys. Amazingly cool. (via Boing Boing)

I watched most of the new documentary Hacking Democracy on Friday. The documentary covers the poor state of our new electronic voting machines, specifically focused on how easy they are to manipulate. The film also goes through some of the recent recount efforts in 2004, showing how recount laws prevent effective recounts from happening.

The movie clearly features Gore and Kerry supporters, but they make a clear effort to explain that it’s only the Republicans this time because they are the ones in power in the two states most directly affected by these vote count issues (Florida and Ohio).

The most surprising thing to me was hearing about some of the irregularities in the 2000 election. It was either the first time, or I have forgotten the same thing. The biggest was the negative votes given to Gore in Volusia County, FL. While the correct count was discovered and used in the final tally, the movie emphasizes that the investigation into the root cause ended when the recount effort ended.

In fact, my biggest takeaway was the importance of real recount efforts. I didn’t realize how much money and effort is only available when an official recount is underway. When the recount effort ended in 2000, the investigation stopped. When Kerry conceded in 2004, little was done to follow through on a recount investigation. Even when a recount gets underway, the actual recount process presents several opportunities for people to “rig” the recount so that recounts don’t happen, whether out of malice or simple mistakes.

I’m happy to see more people talking about these things. Katrina Vanden Heuvel has a decent article listing some reforms that would benefit both parties (and even third parties). Most of them are pretty interesting, but at a minimum, I would love to see a federal requirement that recounts must be possible by hand using ballots that a voter has personally verified. In other words, you can have electronic machines as long as they output a receipt that shows your votes that you then deposit in a box. The paper ballots, not the computers, are used for recounts. Or, you can just go back to pen and paper. They still do that here in Canada (I’m in Montreal this weekend) and it seems to work well.

You can learn more about reform efforts, including what you can do this election to help, at VerifiedVoting.org and Black Box Voting. This is a non-partisan issue, and one that should be important to us all.

(found the Nation article via Atrios)

I’m watching Enemy of the State while I’m working right now. It’s really a pretty bad movie, full of obvious flaws, but it’s also quite prescient in a lot of ways. I’m not talking about the hyper paranoia about the NSA altering credit card statements and destroying a person’s life. I’m talking about the back story. The pending legislation that sounds very similar to what we eventually passed as the PATRIOT Act. The rhetoric about rights being balanced with security when “buildings start blowing up.” And, in a case where reality is stranger than fiction, the movie talks about a comprehensive domestic spying program where they can trace phone calls based on keywords or other data mining techniques.

It’s not an original idea, of course. But it’s interesting to see a movie that puts the whole thing together in a fictional world that is so similar to our own. Especially in a movie that was made in 1998, pre-9/11 and pre-apocalyptic paranoia. The first World Trade Center bombing and the Oklahoma City bombings only got the imagination churning. It took 9/11 to turn paranoia into reality.

I just got Serenity on DVD and am watching it tonight. Even after all this time, it’s still hard to watch Wash die.

I’m watching Ocean’s Twelve right now. Soon as I saw Bruce Willis, I knew it was going downhill. The whole Julia Roberts as Tess as Julia Roberts thing just went beyond stupid.

It’s pretty much a typical Hollywood sequel. They tried so hard to capture the feel, style, and pace of the original that they made it predictable.

But, I have to say, the twist at the end is pretty funny.

Rating: 7/10

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is the latest film from director/writer Wes Anderson who also did The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore. I don’t have much to say about this flick. If you liked the other two movies, you’ll like this. This one is much more like The Royal Tenenbaums than Rushmore, but even slower. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I fell asleep for 5 or 10 minutes during the movie and I rarely do that.

It really is a decent film if you like the genre. The ending is pretty funny and I was happy I watched it, but I can’t recommend it. It’s basically the same cast from TRT, they all can act, and they do a great job. The story is just not that great.

Rating: 4.5/10

Well, that was not what I expected.

It was better.

So, a couple of honest admissions up front. First, I was really afraid that the movie was going to lose a lot of the charm of the series because it had to introduce the characters in the first 20 minutes. That took at least 3 hours of TV episodes in the series. Second, when I read the Salon review, I was pretty concerned about some of the particulars.

In the end, though, all those fears were unfounded. I think the film tilted a little in favor of fans of the series, meaning that some details about the characters won’t seem as authentic to newcomers. That’s a tough balancing act, but I think Whedon and company chose well. There were some noticeable differences in the characters which I won’t go into now. It all makes sense and not much will ruin this series if it ever comes back to the little screen (please, pretty please, someone pick it up!).

By the way, if you’ve been watching the previews or the sneak peeks on the Sci-Fi channel, they didn’t give away much. Most of the funny lines your remember from the previews happen in the first 20 minutes or so of the flick and the rest is fresh. So, keep watching the sneak previews and the trailers… you’re not getting the best of the film.

The Salon review also mentioned that one character’s death will hit regular fans of the series pretty hard. That’s an understatement. Seriously, my jaw was hanging half open for a good five minutes after. It’s not just who dies, but how. It’s good, though, that they’re not afraid to kill off key characters… it was probably the least predictable moment in the film.

Speaking of predictable, let’s move on to some of my criticisms. The movie is as predictable as a TV episode because, well, it has to be. I mean, beyond the unexpected death or two, the good guys prevail, they have some great luck, a crazy clever plan, and, oh yeah, River does something spectacular. It’s not ho hum, so much as it isn’t all that suspenseful. In fact, it’s the Whedon style that keeps the movie entertaining: the quips, the little twists, and skillful usage of the full cast. It’s basically like the old James Bond movies, if you know what I mean.

Overall, though, this is highly recommended. Even Heidi, who wasn’t a fan of the original series, enjoyed it. It’s not everything I was hoping for and had some small flaws, but I loved it. Go see it.

Rating: 7.5/10

Update: If you want to be scared off, check out the photos on Flickr from folks that attended the many premiere parties.

Ah, it’s finally arrived: Serenity.

Must. Go. See.

The review I linked to above is probably the best one that captures how fans of the series, like me, are looking at this film. It’s (finally) the next bit of the story we’ve desperately wanted to continue. I really want someone to pick up the series because it was just an awesome little show. Though, I’m a bit concerned about the movie:

So if “Serenity” is this good — and as a piece of filmmaking, I’m hard-pressed to find much fault with it — why am I still feeling the strong pull of those “Firefly” episodes? Whedon knows what he’s doing here: When he puts lines like “I got no rudder. Wind blows northerly, I go north” in Mal’s mouth, he does so for a reason. Everything in “Serenity,” including the delicate shorthand used to delineate the relationship between Wash and Zoe, who are husband and wife, is part of a meticulously worked-out plan, a way of cluing us in to the hearts and minds of these characters, fast.

But some “Firefly” characters, most notably Shepherd Book, are accounted for but get lost by the wayside. And when certain characters die, those deaths are likely to hit “Firefly” fans much harder than they do “Firefly” novices.

That’s understandable, but I still feel some anxiety that “Serenity” will be viewed by audiences unfamiliar with Whedon’s work as just another sci-fi-geek enthusiasm. My problem, I think, is that “Serenity” dredges up some of the same feelings I have when a movie adaptation of a book I love just doesn’t measure up. I’m so used to “reading” Whedon in the long form — so used to riding the rhythms of his television series, rhythms he sustains beautifully week after week, season after season — that “Serenity,” as carefully worked out as it is, feels a bit too compact, truncated. That’s less a failing on Whedon’s part than a recognition of the way TV, done right, can re-create for us the luxury of sinking into a good, long novel. I hope Whedon makes many more movies (and there’s the enticing possibility that “Serenity,” if it does well, will be the beginning of a franchise). Faced with a big screen, Whedon knows exactly what to do with it. But the small one needs him, too. Of all the pleasures TV watching has to offer, he has perhaps tapped the greatest one: that of waiting on the docks, anxious to find out what happens next.

We need the series back.

Heidi and I went to go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Sunday afternoon. Both of us are fans of the original movie and were curious to see how Tim Burton would handle the remake. Of course, Heidi mostly wanted to see it because Johnny Depp is in it, but who’s surprised about that?

The biggest change in the whole movie is, of course, the Tim Burton effect. This movie is darker and stylized in that Tim Burton way. If that’s your thing, you’ll like the movie. If not, you might still like the movie but you’ll probably be weirded out by the Oompa-Loompas. Then again, the Oompa Loompas are pretty damn weird. In fact, if there’s a word that is this movie, it’s weird. The characters say it, you’ll say it when you watch, and the story is, well, a bit weird.

If you remember the earlier film with Gene Wilder, you’ll notice some differences in the overall story. There’s a new backstory about Wonka and his father. And it’s a weird little story. Not the general story, that’s pretty straightforward, but the particulars… for example, the father and Wonka both wear latex gloves. You hear the latex gloves squeaking throughout the movie. Or the obsessiveness by both, father with clean teeth and Wonka with candy. They’re just weird.

Beyond that, though, the story is very close to the book. There are a few changes here and there, but they’re mostly details. If you liked the first one or like the story, you’ll like this movie. It’s well done, the acting is good, and, most importantly, it all works.

Rating: 8/10

Heidi and I finally saw Sideways last night on DVD, complete with a glass of wine for Heidi. The wine was an important touch, since this movie is set in the wineries of California.

The two main characters, Miles and Jack, are heading up to the vineyards for a week long wine tasting and golf trip to get away before Jack’s wedding the following Saturday. Miles is an English teacher, divorced and a writer trying to get a book published. He’s dorky and a wine connoisseur. Jack is an actor who once had a role in a major soap opera who now does voiceovers in commercials. Miles is looking forward to the wines and the vineyards. Jack, on the other hand, plans on sleeping with some woman, any woman really. They end up meeting two women and go out with them. The rest of the movie follows them along the week as we watch Miles try to regain his confidence and Jack come to terms with the end of bachelorhood.

The movie is one of those that you watch the whole way through without consciously wondering what happens next. I had no anticipation about how it was going to end but I wasn’t bored either. It’s like watching a baseball or basketball game where you don’t care about either team and where nothing spectacular happens. It has some good moments, it remains competitive throughout, and the better team wins by a little bit in the end. That’s pretty much this movie. I didn’t really identify with the two main characters, didn’t really care about them much, but because they weren’t plastic and were played by good actors, I kept watching and enjoyed it. The ending, while not your typical happy ending, is still one where things turn out alright for Miles and Jack.

It’s a good movie for a quiet evening at home but there’s nothing remarkable enough to make me say, “You have to go see this movie.” And that’s probably the biggest flaw in the whole thing. If you have an opportunity to see this, you should see it. Don’t feel too bad if you miss it, though. It’ll be on cable soon enough and you’ll get to see it there (though the funniest and most surprising moment of the film will be edited out on basic cable).

Rating: 6.5/10

We just came back from seeing Batman Begins tonight. A number of reviews said that this movie was closer to the comic books than any of the others since the first one and we’d have to agree.

One of the things about the Batman comics is that the character isn’t Superman. He’s not the clean ideal of a superhero that Superman is. He’s motivated by demons and he’s a dark character in an even darker world. It’s why I loved Tim Burton’s direction in the first two movies. He remained true to that character and to that world. Joel Schumacher, for all of his other accomplishments, well… he’s not exactly right for Batman. The third and fourth movies were cheesy and flashy, too much like the goofy TV shows that really had nothing to do with the comics. And I liked the TV shows. Christopher Nolan is a much better choice. If you’ve seen Memento, you know why. If you haven’t seen Memento, go see it.

Batman Begins is more story driven than the last few Batman flicks. I think that kept Heidi more interested in it than she would’ve been otherwise. I think seeing Christian Bale outside his Batman mask a lot didn’t hurt either. Then again, he actually delivered a solid performance, as did Katie Holmes, Liam Neeson, and everyone else. Gary Oldman was especially believable as a young Commissioner Gordon. The look and voice were just right.

As for the action, the movie is good but not great. This is my biggest disappointment overall. Like The Bourne Identity and some other recent action films, the camera angles were just too close to really appreciate the action. You got to see the speed but not the skill or the technique. Which is cool in its own way, but not what I like. In Batman Begins, the experience is worse because it’s so dark to begin with. You’re just seeing bad guys fall down and what looks like Batman spinning in circles. Which, I guess, is one way to convey that he’s moving really, really, really fast… but it also looks like a cheap camera trick. Oh well.

As for the mega caper of the story, the ending was not very believable either. Heidi put it pretty well… the action at the end seemed “incredible” as in “not credible.” I’m very willing to suspend disbelief but the ending was a bit convenient. Good thing is that it’s not even that important. The caper gets wrapped up, which is fine, and the main story keeps chugging which is really all that matters about the movie (the caper seems more like an incidental thing on the way to finding out how Batman becomes Batman).

And that main story is pretty damn good. Rating: 8.5/10

If you’re not sure you want to see this, watch this trailer. If you find that funny, GO NOW!

We saw it last night in a very empty theater — an aside, theaters in CT show you just how lame this place is. Few movies ever seem full, especially geeky movies like this. I think I’ve been to a few full shows in my time here and they’ve been for lame things like National Treasure. Oh, and by full, I don’t mean sold out, I just mean it’s hard to find more than 2 seats together.

The movie was awesome and hilarious. I still haven’t read the books, by the way, so I’m not someone with a childhood memory that the movie needed to live up to. Oh yeah, stay until the credits end. There is one bit during the credits worth seeing.

No idea how legit this movie is, but damn it’s fun to watch. Skateboards and a basketball, pretty cool…

Found via my del.icio.us inbox.