Movies: May 2007 Archives

I have to disagree with my esteemed Idol Chatter colleague Kris Rasmussen as well as, for that matter, several other reviewers, including CNN's Tom Charity, Rolling Stone's Peter Travis, and Time magazine's Richard Schigel, all of whom offered strongly negative reviews of"Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End."

I think "Pirates 3" is one of the few movies brave enough to think that we movie audiences have a mind that can comprehend more than just one subplot and a Michael Bay-ish or (in this case, Jerry Bruckheimer-ish) action track. And, as a person of faith, I appreciate any movie which exposes a deeper element to matters of the spiritual journey, which "Pirates 3" clearly does.

The Pirates "code," introduced so simply and clearly in the first two episodes, is taken to a new level, moving beyond the basics to the unveiling of the Codex and its various interpretations (and self-interests?), in a way not unlike Bible translations and denominational scuffles today. The main characters' decisions are made (and options leveraged) against prior covenants they are forced to live with, even if they didn't participate in their making. Such are the basic tenets of faith, a truth which many in our narcissistic and self-driven spiritual schemed age forget.

Generations ago--if you believe the Bible at all--covenants were made between God and humankind, between God and Abraham, Noah and David, between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and between Jesus and his disciples. Pronouncements (curses?) were made between God and Satan, and their circumstances have played out on earth. Perhaps a fantasy film like "Pirates of teh Carribean" can awaken a generation of non-church goers to the importance of remembering what we can't control (the code) before what we can control (our choices).

"Producer Jerry Bruckheimer does deserve a shout-out: It takes a kind of genius to sucker audiences into repeatedly buying the same party tricks," said Travis. "'At World's End' left me at wit's end wading through nearly three hours of punishing exposition, endless blather (pirates take meetings--who knew?), an overload of digital effects and shameless setups," said Schigel. I find it fascinating that the same critics who find some movies too thin or superficial can't see the depth of this one. It is fulfilling on so many levels, and perhaps these guys just went to the movies after checking their brains at the door. If so, they missed it!

"If you are like me, and you appreciated the heart and mythology of the original 'Pirates' as well as the zany humor of the sequel, you are going to be deeply disappointed in this latest chapter," Kris wrote in her blog piece. While I agree with her on most things, this isn't one of them. This film takes the mythology deeper and requires the zany humor (in several layers, Disney style) as a welcome reprieve from the plot's tension and conflict.

"I hope Depp and the others choose to drydock this franchise," Rasmussen said. I hope for the opposite. As it is with faith, the journey is always inspiring when the drama of future possibilities is weighed against prior covenants which will be put to the test. It is there they find meaning, and when we get to our own "World's End," we'd do best to have remembered such things.

Davis Guggenheim, who took home an Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth," has a fiction film hitting theaters this Friday. "Gracie," which stars Carly Schroeder as a 14-year-old girl who goes from underdog to soccer champ in the aftermath of her brother's death, seems about as akin to endangered polar bears as, I don't know, "Adventures in Babysitting," the '80s hit starring Guggenheim's wife Elisabeth Shue. Shue, who played soccer as a child and who was later devastated by her brother's death, is the real-life inspiration for "Gracie."

"I have a secret," Guggenheim said in a recent interview with me. "Everyone says these movies are so completely different, but I think they're very similar."

As Guggenheim points out, both movies share the classic heroic arc perpetuated by Joseph Campbell: a protagonist who confronts major obstacles to achieve great things. So Al Gore, who promoted his then-unpopular belief via a book ("Earth in the Balance") after his son's nearly fatal car crash, later decided to hit the road with an environmentally cautionary slide show, and Guggenheim was there with a video camera.

Likewise, Schroeder's Gracie, in a fine evocation of Shue's gutsy teenage doppelganger--Guggenheim describes his wife as a teenaged "hellion" who stole her priest stepfather's church convertible and drove around town wearing a bonnet--commits what a friend calls 'social suicide' by trading cheerleading pompoms for soccer cleats. Though her father (Dermot Mulroney) initially discourages her, and her mother (Shue) initially doesn't think her soccer dreams are possible, Gracie strenuously trains and wins over even the pit-bullish head coach who bans girls from the weight room and discourages her from taking her brother's place on the Varsity soccer team.

Gracie's opponents may bring to mind global warming detractors, from students protesting showings of the film to right-wing critics who made a fuss when both the book and documentary were released. According to Guggenheim, the Academy Award didn't give "Inconvenient Truth" more credibility--it had credibility from the get-go. The Academy Award got people to see it. And science or sports not-withstanding, the filmmaker credits his latest projects with teaching him about the human spirit.

"This is gonna sound cliché. And I wouldn't have said this a year ago. But the thing I'm focused on is people's spirit; it's that thing you can't describe that Elisabeth has, and that sometimes does not represent itself until you hit bottom, until life knocks you on your ass. And out of that comes your spirit," Guggenheim said.

Spirit will be needed in the fight against global warming, which Guggenheim said has the potential of bridging the left and right, citing Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses and Rupert Murdoch's decision to make FOX carbon neutral as examples.

"The ice melts have only gotten worse, the polar bears have only gotten worse, the sea level rise has only gotten worse. Global warming is with us for a long time and to stop it it's going to take immobilization of huge proportions. It's like a war."

Guggenheim's next battle may be the making of a documentary focused on the rising oceans.

"The people who didn't want to see real change thought if they ignored us we would go away," he said. "And we didn't."

-- Posted by Jenny Halper

If you are content with snazzy special effects, lots of swashbuckling action sequences and lots and lots of Johnny Depp one liners, then undoubtedly you will enjoy the third installment of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." However, if you are like me, and you appreciated the heart and mythology of the original "Pirates" as well as the zany humor of the sequel, you are going to be deeply disappointed in this latest chapter.

"At World's End" is a convoluted, ridiculously long (does any movie about pirates need to be almost three hours in length?) drama that is hard to follow and ultimately the nonsensical action wastes the opportunity to tell a great story about choices, destiny, and sacrificial love.

Trying to explain the plot of "At World's End" is a little like trying to explain all three seasons of "Lost" to someone who has never seen the TV show before. As the story opens, Will and Elizabeth are still attempting to find a crew and a ship so they can helm a rescue mission to find Jack Sparrow. However, there is a massacre of pirates being conducted by an evil Lord Beckett as well as other trials and tribulations for the pirate duo to overcome. Add to that, the ongoing story of saving Will's father, capturing evil Davey Jones' heart, and a "Lord of the Rings" style twist with the pirates Nine Brethren of the Court--a group that is to band together to save their piracy world--and it's no wonder my head was spinning only 90 minutes into the film.

The best part of the movie were the moments when we saw Will finally becoming the leader he was destined to be by making sacrifices for love and family, but that is only a small part of a bloated shipwreck of a story. I am also not a big fan of turning Davy Jones into less of a villain and more of a pirate who was just misunderstood. Why can't any of these blockbuster action movies allow their villains to be evil without making excuses for them?

If you stick around long enough to watch the twist after the closing credits, you will also realize there is a possibility for another "Pirate's" movie, though nothing has been annnounced. I, however, am of the opinion, that there is no more gold or treasure to be found in this cast of characters, and I hope Depp and the others choose to drydock this franchise.

What is it like to perform the Hajj? The only people who can tell this story are the Muslims who have been there. So how can everyone else--Muslims and non-Muslims--get a real sense of what it is like? Sure, documentaries have been filmed and books have been published. In fact, Beliefnet has its own excellent coverage of the Hajj. But how cool would it be to know what the pilgrims themselves feel day-by-day as they go through the various stages of this holy Islamic pilgrimage?

Well, now we have that chance. JustSayGo Films , makers of the award-winning film "American Ramadan," are looking for people who plan to go on the Hajj in 2007. They want to film a documentary on the journey unlike any other--not only are they going to film the various parts of the trip, but they plan to give video cameras to the participants and have them record a video diary.

This is bound to be a unique look at the Hajj from the perspective of American Muslims--which is why I decided to join the project myself. If anyone else is interested in participating in this exciting endeavor they should contact the filmmakers.

--Hesham Hassaballa

I really wasn't too cynical about yet another mega-franchise sequel in this summer's movie line-up. I wanted to be sure that I saw "Shrek the Third" with a lot of kids in the audience, including a few from my own family. What I found was exactly what I expected: The younger the audience, the better (and funnier) the film was received.

And since humor was the primary inspirational influence in this one, I think most parents were left uninspired while most of the kids left having had a good laugh …but also uninspired, as in "Mom, can we go out to eat?" or "What are we going to see next?"

Ever since Disney started making animated films for the whole family, the secret formula for animated movie success has been the ability for a flick to have "layers" of comedy and content for all ages. In the most beloved (and recent) animated films that we want to see over and over again, we find that for every piece of visual humor and childspeak (for kids), there's also some bathroom humor and teen culture chat (for adolescents) and some dry humor and current events for the adults. (Think "Finding Nemo")

"Shrek the Third" had what the kids required, but much less for the adolescents and almost nothing for the adults, other than the air-conditioned theater and a screen to keep the kids occupied.

The film was neither heartwarming nor witty when compared to the first two Shreks, and the laughs were fewer. Maybe this was because Eddie Murphy (the donkey) seemed to have far fewer lines, or perhaps because Mike Myers’ Shrek had to play truer to formula then to character. Yes, the layered comedy for adults (including some sarcasm that the chitlins wouldn't get) was present, but just wasn't all that funny. The choreography was very nice, but the characters within it were less inspiring.

The first two Shreks tugged on the heartstrings and brought inspiration through both the characters and the plot. "Shrek the Third" felt simply like another episode in the series of a mega-franchise that didn't leave me wanting to see the next episode. My kids however, may have a different answer.

In either case, this movie felt like the poster example for how good actors and writers can be muted for the sake of the exact formulaic approach that the first two Shreks made fun of. To get rid of that taste and leave the franchise on an inspiring note would be the only reason to make a Shrek IV.

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