Get Smart - Review

"Get Smart"


If you're a smart moviegoer, you won't go into "Get Smart" expecting the 2008 film version to be anywhere near as good as the iconic TV series. That's no knock on the movie, just praise for Mel Brooks and Don Adams' original spy spoof series. Quite frankly, I wasn't expecting anything other than another fairly formulaic summer comedy out of "Get Smart," but I was pleasantly surprised. This isn't a comedy classic or a great film by any means, but it's an entertaining film that succeeds mainly due to its cast. There's absolutely no one else in Hollywood that could play Maxwell Smart as perfectly as Steve Carell. From the timing of his delivery to his facial expressions, Carell nails the part, and he's very funny (no surprise there). Watch him smirk while improbably dodging a room full of lasers, or try to intimidate the evil Siegfried and his assistant while delivering the movie's funniest line (Chuck Norris fans, rejoice!) Carell elevates the movie from okay to pretty good because - well, he's really funny.
The plot of "Get Smart" is as follows: Smart is an excellent intelligence analyst for USA intelligence agency CONTROL, but hopes to be a field agent like his idol Agent 23 (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). When rival organization KAOS attacks CONTROL headquarters and subsequently learns the identities of all CONTROL agents, The Chief (Alan Arkin) promotes Max to field agent, pairing him with super-fit, super-hot Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) as the pair travels to Russia to research KAOS's development of nuclear weapons. As expected, hijinks ensue.
The chemistry between Carell and Hathaway is excellent here. You probably won't believe the obvious eventual romantic subplot between them, but as a spy team they work. Hathaway effortlessly turns in a great performance here as the serious foil to Carell's comic antics. Johnson also has his moments as super-suave Agent 23 and Arkin is wonderful as the Chief. The problems with the film certainly don't stem from the cast. "Get Smart" works pretty well as a comedy, but as a spy movie it doesn't always roll. The action set pieces are unspectacular and often too over-the-top to work, and as previously mentioned, the romantic subplot seems forced. The movie also tries to make comic relief out of Bruce and Lloyd, played by Masi Oka and Nate Torrence. Hey, look!...the two nerds are played by an Asian guy and a fat kid! Couldn't have seen that one coming! As fate would have it, a direct-to-DVD movie "Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control," is set to be released in a few weeks.

The Verdict: Get Smart is hit-or-miss at times, but thanks mainly to Carell, it makes it by that much.
2.5 / 4 stars

Dear Brian Cashman...

For the love of god, DO SOMETHING! to change this bullpen. Today's Game 1 of the Yankees/Mets two-stadium doubleheader was an absolute disaster for the Bronx Bombers, who lost 15-6 and made The Struggling Carlos Delgado (his permanent name at this point) look like George Herman ****ing Ruth. Yes, Ross Ohlendorf, I'm looking at you. Edwar Ramirez, who looks like a completely different pitcher in the past few weeks, also struggled, and LaTroy Hawkins gave up 1 run in 2 innings for the best outing of anyone. That's right, "best" and "LaTroy Hawkins" in the same sentence, and it wasn't "best at allowing runs to score." Anyway, here are a few choices for the Yanks, in my opinion:

- Brian Fuentes, Colorado
It appears unlikely the Rockies will be repeating their second-half magic of this year, and they have Manny Corpas anyway. Fuentes' name has been floating out there in trade discussions for a while. He has a 2.01 ERA in 34 games and would slide into the 8th inning role right away. The Yanks have enough pitching prospects to get a deal done. Speaking of which...

- J. Brent Cox, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (AAA)
A 1.44 ERA over three minor league levels this season, with a 0.73 mark in 10 games at AAA. I think he's still hurt, but expect to see him sometime in the second half.

- Mark Melancon, Trenton Thunder (AA)
In 19.2 IP at Trenton, a 1.37 ERA and 0.61 WHIP. Melancon is supposed to be the closest thing to Joba (bullpen version, anyway) in the Yankee minors and could make the jump all the way from A ball to the majors this season. Look for a promotion to AAA sooner rather than later.

- David Robertson, SWB Yankees (AAA)
To quote the Baseball Toaster website: "In over 130 innings as a pro, he's yet to give up a home run, and in 28 appearances between Double- and Triple-A this year, he has a 1.74 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings. With a low-90s fastball and outstanding slider, Robertson may not have Melancon's upside, but he might get the call sooner."

- Eddie Guardado, Texas Rangers
Everyday Eddie has pretty decent numbers in Texas: 30 games, 18 H in 26.1 IP, 3.42 ERA, and an excellent WHIP of 0.99. I know he's old, but the Yankees could use a lefty who's not Billy Traber or...wait a minute, did we just call up Kei Igawa? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A final word from MLBTradeRumors in a possible reliever market is here:
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/06/the-reliever-ma.html



And a "Get Smart" review is on the way!

Juno - Review

"Juno"

2.5 / 4 stars

"Juno" is an indie film. It knows it's an indie film. And that's exactly the problem. I went into this film really wanting to love it but came out of it with a decidedly mixed attitude. "Juno" is a very nicely-cast and well-acted movie with some truly wonderful performances, but it's also irritating as hell. It tries way to hard to be the Lovable Indie Comedy of the Year(TM) with quirky humor and constant one-liners. Now some people may find these one-liners amusing and entirely quotable. I was wholly irritated at points thanks to the constant barrage of them. "Your eggo is preggo," says the drugstore clerk when Juno goes for her pregnancy test. "This is one doodle that can't be undid, homeskillet." "Honest to blog?" asks Juno's friend Leah when she hears of her pregnancy. An irritated girl behind the abortion clinic counter says "we need to know every sore and every score." All of these are within the first 20 or so minutes of the movie, and that's just a sampling. I'm sure the Napoleon Dynamite lovers and the hipsters out there will eat this up, and somehow the Academy did (Best Original Screenplay???? Really????) but it didn't work for me.
It's not fair to rate a film entirely on its dialogue though, and there are several good things about "Juno." The story revolves around 16-year-old Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) who decides to experiment with sex with her nerdy friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera), and finds herself pregnant. With help from her friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby), Juno finds a couple played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman to adopt her baby. Predictably, problems ensue, which will not be spoiled here. Give credit to the actors and actresses here though. Page is destined for stardom, and it's not her fault the screenplay is irritating; she does a very nice job here as Juno. It's the two couples who shine brightest. Garner is just wonderful as a woman who believes she's destined to be a mother, and Bateman is very good as her rock star-aspiring husband. Juno's father and stepmother, played by J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney, are perfectly cast as a tough but understanding set of parents. Juno's relationship with her dad is hinted at a few times and only given a bit of screen time, but is beautiful when given the time to shine. The problems arise with some of the character relationships. Juno and Mark's relationship takes an unusual and perhaps unneccessary turn. And then there's Paulie Bleeker, who I really felt was an unlikable character. He's never around to help Juno despite being the father and it makes you wonder why she still loves him.
"Juno" does have a heart, and that's more than you can say about a lot of comedies. But it's not the type of movie that I could fall in love with and left me with as many negative feelings as positive ones. The whip-smart dialogue combined with the annoying-as-hell indie soundtrack all screams loudly in the movie's attempt to be the Lovable Indie Comedy of the Year(TM). Juno's not a bad movie - it simply tries too hard.

Been slacking on the reviews

I'm up at the girlfriend's house so I have not been posting much on this. I promise to my 4 readers that I will put up a bunch more reviews when I get home. Here's a few quick ones:

Blazing Saddles - *** Funny Mel Brooks satire of the Wild West. Harvey Korman is pure gold.
Die Hard - **** Action movies aren't supposed to be this good

So, it's been a day...

...and Darabont's script still kicks ass. I read it over again to make sure I'm not dreaming.

George Lucas should honestly be tested for mental retardation, and thrown away and locked up in an asylum for rejecting this.

Not only does it immediately come to mind that "hey, this fixes a lot of the problems in Indy IV!" but you start to realize problems from Crystal Skull that you didn't even know where there. For instance, Indy has something to do in the climax in this one. It's a Last Crusade-esque choice where he has to choose if he wants this great power. There are some dumb sequences too, like 4 waterfall drops instead of 3 from Crystal Skull, but a lot of the similar stuff is either explained better or given a purpose. Yes, there are aliens in the end. But it make sense, and the climax is fantastic. It's such a shame that this will have to be one of the greatest movies never made, and nothing more.

Indiana Jones and the City of Gods...

So I happened to stumble across Frank Darabont's unused script for Indiana Jones 4. Apparently this script was loved by everyone...except George Lucas, who then gave us the mediocre Crystal Skull. Anyway, Darabont wrote the screenplay for and directed The Shawshank Redemption and the Green Mile. So that's about all you need to know about him. I just finished this scrpit and I want to cry...it's not perfect. But it's still amazing and would have been a MUCH MUCH MUCH better 4th film in my opinion. If you want the script, shoot me an IM or an e-mail and you can judge for yourself. It's worth it.

Fargo - Review

"Fargo"

3.5 out of 4 stars


There is one thing the Coen brothers aren't very good at, and that's sticking to a genre. "Fargo" is essentially a thriller with some comedy, drama, and action. If this sounds familiar, it's probably because you're thinking of last year's "No Country for Old Men," which not coincidentally with also done by the Coens. With that in mind, I propose "Coen brothers" as a new genre in the same vein as action, comedy, horror, western, and thriller. "Fargo" isn't quite as good as "No Country," but then again, what is? It's a bizarre setup with some quirky humor and great characters that ultimately succeeds in a big way.
"Fargo" starts off in Fargo, North Dakota, and stays there for all of...oh, five minutes, before moving to Minnesota. William H. Macy plays Jerry Lundegaard, a down-on-his-luck, completely inept car salesman. He hires two goons, played by Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare, to kidnap his wife and demand $80,000 in ransom money. Jerry knows the money, which he needs for what he describes as "personal" reasons, will be paid by his wealthy father-in-law Wade, played by Harve Pressnell. Of course, things go horribly wrong from there. Marge Grunderson, played by Frances McDormand in an Oscar-winning performance, is a local police chief assigned to the case. She seems naive and casual throughout but is actually a sharp and able officer. McDormand is very good, although I wouldn't say Oscar-worthy. The supporting cast is fantastic, from Macy (who has nominated for an Oscar - rightfully so), Buscemi, and even Stormare despite having very little to say for most of the film. The movie is also very, very funny. It's not so much laugh-out-loud funny, but quirky with a lot of subtle humor. The Minnesota accents and dialogue are also great as the Coens master the language of the region. It's a bizarre movie like I previously stated and a bit tough to critique but trust me...this is a very good film. If you are a fan of the Coen brothers, you'll like this film, and if you are not, then you should be.