Death Race sends the summer movie season out with a crash

“If you stay here in this Death Race it will be the most unselfish act of love I have ever seen…..” … and cue the laughter. Not from any of the actors on screen mind you, but from a room full of people screening the new Jason Statham movie. At least that’s what happened when I saw the movie and the above line was spoken by one of the film’s main characters. My hunch tells me that you don’t need any context to think it’s funny either, and the best part is the movie is chock full of them. This blog should bring up an interesting question: Can a movie that probably knows it’s bad from the first frame really be criticized? Let me put it this way, I had fun watching Snakes on a Plane. In all of its stupid trashy glory, I actually (don’t laugh) shared an ‘experience’ with the people I saw it with. I felt like we had gone through something together. After Death Race, I just had a headache.
America’s first filmmakers did much to convince the tide of critical opinion that their art-form was more than just mindless dribble. Had Death Race been on the docket way back when, it would have done little to advance the cause. Walking out, I wondered to myself how a summer full of mostly decent movies could have taken a turn for the worse in less than an hour and a half.
We learn from the opening title frames (best not to waste precious on-screen time with things like plot, but get straight to the mind-numbing action sequences) that the story takes place in the near future. Times are rough and the economy is even worse. A steelworker named Jenson Aimes (Jason Statham, on-screen master of the cold, icy stare) is wrongfully accused for the murder of his wife and sent to Terminal prison. Prisons like Terminal, we learn, are privately owned corporations in which big bucks are made broadcasting pay-for-view car races on the internet. The inmates race to the death in a kind of roman gladiatorial blood-bath that the public consumes gleefully. Win 5 races, and an inmate is allowed to walk free. The souped up armour cars muscle around the track in a relentless barrage of sight and sound upon the cerebrum. The beautiful Joan Allen's talent is wasted on her performance as the warden who tries to manipulate Statham’s character into staying and participating in the races. One scene in particular probably owes her the award for the most creative use of profanities in a single sentence. (Trust me, when you hear it, you won’t forget it, and chances are you’ll be scratching your head like I was).
If the plot seems simple enough that’s because it is. In fact, it’s simple enough to do exactly what it is supposed to do and that is to act merely as a vehicle to set up the action sequences themselves, which are heavy on the violence and low on the excitement.
Though it will no doubt do well at the box office, this movie is ultimately nothing more than an assault on not only the senses, but on reason as well.

1/5

"Don't look now, you've got some real tears going. That's the stuff that accolade's made of."
- Osiris

In an age where Hollywood’s stock is not exactly as high as it has been in the past, it helps to know that the folks in tinseltown still have the ability to laugh at themselves. At least that is the notion that some might conjure up after seeing Tropic Thunder. But don’t kid yourself. This is still the same industry that made Lions for Lambs. Ben Stiller’s 1st directorial stint since 2001’s mostly stagnant Zoolander is a sharp comedy that parodies not just movies you might have seen before, but the entire movie-going experience itself.
This “movie about the movies” tells the story of a troupe of actors on location to shoot abig budget Vietnam War film based on an ex marine’s allegedly true memoir. When the five actors are dropped off in the middle of the jungle by their eccentric European director, they are forced to become the actual soldiers that they are portraying. The film is a biting satire of the entire movie industry, complete with fake coming attractions, and a whole slue of spoofed war movies. There is virtually no “archetype” in the film business that is left off of writer/director/star Ben Stiller’s hit list. All of the Hollywood star stereotypes are represented in the film’s main characters. There is the action star who despite his best efforts, can’t seem to get the bill in more dramatic roles (Stiller), the goofball comic whose flatulence ridden joke movies are mostly busts (Jack Black), and the over the top method actor (an impressive performance from Robert Downey Jr.) who goes to extreme albeit ridiculous lengths to effectively portray his roles.
The average viewer having paid attention to the pre-release buzz might have a few lingering questions: Is it vulgar? Yes. Is it excessive? Definitely. Is it funny? Mostly. The wickedly satirical screenplay rescues the film from becoming another “stupid” comedy in the vein of Naked Gun or Airplane! and is genuinely clever as well. There are many recognizable scene parodies laced within the plot, and the action sequences are surprisingly well executed. A star-studded line up of cameos highlights the film’s more enjoyable moments, including an unrecognizable Tom Cruise as the foul-mouthed studio exec. who relentlessly pushes his film crew’s buttons and pulls strings from his US office. Cruise’s role couldn’t have come at a better time for the seasoned actor who as of late, has done more to hurt the public opinion of his character than some actors can muster up in a whole lifetime.
The film undoubtedly has its flaws, mainly in Black who brings little to the comedic table. Downey Jr’s performance, while impressive begins to run dry from all of the relentless yet folksy diatribes the script employs. While the jokes don’t always deliver, it is the satire that sustains Thunder in letting the audience in on the joke, lambasting the industry that we all too often love to hate. What Stiller reminds us so well though, is that despite every thing about Hollywod that irritates us, from the industry’s annual self-congratulatory awards ceremony, to the myriad of stars reaching for some kind of soap-box to propel them into the stratosphere of actors who “care”, we can’t live without the movies. Perhaps the biggest if not the only huge accomplishment of Thunder is in confirming the movie industry’s uncanny ability to, despite its reputation, get us to the box offices. Even when the joke is on them.

3/5

"When you talk about films, nobody agrees with anybody. Guys get mad at each other and the air is full of screaming."
- David Newman and Robert Benton,
"The Movies Will Save Themselves" - 1968

Thus begins my foray into the world of online journalism. It is a world in which everyone who's anyone that has too much to say about nothing says more than anyone can bear to handle. So why throw my opinions into the mix of countless others that have gone before using their share of tactless humor, bad grammar, and an air of vain conceit? It's funny you should ask...

Films have had the ability to inspire, disturb, deter conflict, insight riot, and generally make fodder for good old fashioned rabble rousin' conversation since their conception over 100 years ago. For all intents and purposes, this blog will attempt to inform you the audience, about films of both contemporary and historical significance without being overly aurterish (I'm not that learned), or too critical (I'm not a professional). I will choose a film a week keeping in line with the column I am currently writing entitled "The Movie Minute". It is my goal that all who should come across this page would share in the discussion as well. Without further ado... Let's watch.