President's Day Honors

President's Day, one of those countless national holidays that many of us Americans tend to overlook. Seriously, it seems as if there is some sort of national holiday at least every other week, but anyways. The Presidency of the United States has typically played a fairly big role in the world of film. Often being fictionalized to great aplum, whether it be a disaster flick, a comedy, or a straight-up drama, one thing is certain, people love to see movies made about the President of the United States.

Now, while there have been a great many movies that have told biopics about former United States' Presidents, I always tend to enjoy the fictional President a touch more. They're idealized to the letter of the American dream, and I believe that is why we flock to see a good President up there on the silver screen who is not corrupt and if existed in reality would have almost perfect approval ratings when faced with imminent destruction or turmoil. Here are my picks for the Top 3 Movie Presidents of All-Time, the ones that made the greatest lasting impact upon me.

3. The President played by E.G. Marshall in Superman II
I hope that if an obsessed Kryptonian general named Zod came down to Earth and tried to rule, I really do hope that the President would act much like E.G. Marshall did when confronted with the tyrannical Zod. He went toe-to-toe with the general, unafraid, kneeling before Zod to spare the lives of the innocent. A true-blue American movie President if there ever has been. Though, it is laugh worthy that he is simply credited as The President. Seeing as how I can't find a good clip of The President, this clip of my favorite line in the film will have to do.



2. President Thomas J. Whitmore played by Bill Pullman in Independence Day
Bill Pullman was the President with enough gall to realize his limits and decided to join in the final battle against the aliens rather than hiding in the bunker. He piloted his aircraft alongside the rest of the fighter pilots, gunning down aliens. When threatened, Bill Pullman came through and he made those aliens realize that they should not have messed with the United States of America. That is a real American President. Plus, he gives probably the best presidential speech in history, and it's just a bunch of words some screenwriters wrote. To think politicians waste so much money on overpaid speech writers.



1. President James Marshall played by Harrison Ford in Air Force One
Really, did anyone think this wouldn't be number one? Harrison Ford was the most awesome President ever. He was fearless and not afraid to get his hands dirty to get the job done. He's a marvelous speech maker, and not to mention he beats Gary Oldman to a pulp and then... Well, you just have to see it to believe.



Hooray, for Harrison Ford!

Trailer Rush: Toy Story 3 (Trailer 2)

Lots of trailers recently, and it just gets more and more stuffed. A few days back the latest trailer for Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3 hit the net, and I've been so slammed with other things that I'm finally getting around to posting my thoughts. But before that, check out the trailer:



I just can't get all that excited for this film. I'm a big fan of the first two Toy Story films, but this one just seems to be lacking the magic. I don't think I have genuinely laughed once at any of the footage I have seen for the film thus far, and that is very telling for a film that is primarily a comedy. Perhaps I wouldn't be so critical if this wasn't Pixar and if it wasn't a sequel to two of the finer animated classics ever made, but it is, and it has to live up to its predecessors, and if it can't, I'm afraid many will see this as a misfire (which with the exception of Cars, Pixar has never had). I'm still hoping Toy Story 3 will deliver, but I guess we wont really know till it hits theaters this June.

The Unsung Heroes of Film

When speaking of the Golden Age of Hollywood, there are only a small handful of Golden Age
directors that are still talked about as some of the greats of all-time. Howard Hawks, John Ford, Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles. Almost everyone who has ever watched a film knows those names. They are those filmmakers that made an impact and are still in mention today as major influences on film. But of an entire generation of filmmakers, you can't tell me that there weren't other directors from that period who were equally as innovative and have made a lasting impact upon film?

These unsung heroes of film, as I call them, are just that. All five are directors, all five have made classic films, and all five have never fully been given their due for all of their talent and impact that they had on the film industry. But no longer must they fly under the radar. I've been gestating this post for some time, and I have finally found the five Golden Age directors that I think deserve their time in the spotlight. So to release the suspense, let's get a move on:

* Carol Reed - The Oscar-winning director of such classics as The Third Man and Oliver! Nominated three times with one win, he was known for infusing his British sensibilities within his works. Like British food, his films are usually straightforward, with very few fantastical frills and whistles, but only a man such as that could successfully transform a Charles Dickens classic about an orphaned waif and make it a song-and-dance musical that became a bona fide classic.

* Victor Fleming - Winning an Oscar for Gone With The Wind, he was essentially the studio's Mr. Fix-It director in the Golden Age. If you look at the credits of many of his films, he was not the only director. Fleming was usually brought in to replace another director and fix the problems with a film to where it is audience ready. To be able to have the vision to take something someone else shot, and mimic it to shoot the other 90% of the story is astounding. Aside from Gone With The Wind he directed The Wizard of Oz and a great many other adventure classics.

* Michael Curtiz - This filmmaker racked up four Oscar nominations in his career with a resultant win on one of the occasions. His mastery of the camera was astounding. When I watch his films I feel as if I'm watching a Spielberg or Scorsese film, they're so masterfully shot, full with movement. Not only that, he gave us films like: Captains of the Clouds, Yankee Doodle Dandy, a great many other war propaganda films, and the genuine classic, Casablanca. Need I say more.

* Elia Kazan - A five time Oscar nominee and two time winner finds his remembrance through his collaborations with a young Marlon Brando. Directing such classics like On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire, he obviously knew talent when he saw it. A marvelous actor's director, often challenging actors to travel out of their comfort zone, as is noticed in his film A Face in the Crowd where good ol' Andy Griffith just plays a straight up unlikable dude. Few directors nowadays would take a gamble like that.

* William Wyler - The most nominated director in Oscar history, and people often don't even know who he is. With twelve nominations and three wins, he is a real, Golden Age filmmaker. He did it all, and so brilliantly I might add. He handled drama in The Best Years of Our Lives. Romance in Roman Holiday. And he knew a thing or two as well about epics, directing Ben-Hur. A marvelous filmmaker if there ever has been, who made the chariot race to beat all chariot races.

Movie Review: Percy Jackson and the Olympians-The Lightning Thief

I've never been a big fan of Greek mythology, so based upon that criteria I've never been a big fan of movies about the subject. Though I have grown to be pretty fond of the book series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I was astounded at how well Greek mythology was interwoven into the modern day culture as author Rick Riordan told a rip-roaring adventure tale, filled with humor, mystery, and tons of action. Like all things successful, Hollywood likes to get in the game, so it's no surprise that a film has been made of the first of the Percy Jackson books, The Lightning Thief. The film, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief, seems to have lost something in the translation, winding up as a film that really only shares the name of the book and nothing else.

The story of the film follows teen Percy Jackson, who has absent father syndrome. He has never known his biological father and harnesses deep bitterness toward the man who forced him and his mom to live with his demeaning stepfather, Gabe. Then, one day Percy's substitute teacher, Ms. Dodds, transforms into a gigantic winged beast and attacks him whilst on a field trip, to be saved by his best friend and silent guardian, Grover (who turns out to be half human-half goat), and his teacher, Mr. Brunner (who is really hero trainer and centaur, Chiron from Greek mythology). Percy learns that he is a demigod (half human-half God), and that his father is Poseidon, God of the Sea. But trouble is afoot for Percy, because Zeus's lightning bolt has been stolen and Percy is the prime suspect in the midst of a feud between brothers existing long before he was born. Now Percy must prove his innocence if he wishes to keep the world from being engulfed in an all out war between the Gods.

This film just seemed to lack any of the charm that can be found within the book. Screenwriter Craig Titley, did not have a very good handle on these characters. Percy was the smartest of his ring of friends, and not his super smart friend, Annabeth (who happens to be daughter of Athena, God of Wisdom, is there anything wrong with her being portrayed as witless and stupid?). Now, I never consider myself a book purist, I understand things must be amended in order for the book to work as a film, but this adaptation was just all over the place. They changed and cut things that should have been left in, I mean, they cut out the main villain of the entire series in this film, Kronos. Without Kronos in this first film, how can they possibly hope to make any sequels and have them make even a lick of sense?

Director Chris Columbus was the man who brought the first two Harry Potter films to the screen, he knows how to create pure movie magic, but something just wasn't clicking with this film. The film flew at a breakneck pace, never taking any time to breath and let you drink in this fantastic world. Like when Percy believes that his mother has died, he's told his mother's dead, then two seconds later he's up on his feet with a smile on his face. Not to mention, the film dispersed major plot points as if they were just reading statistics off of a teleprompter, making me wonder if someone who hasn't read the book will even be able to follow this movie, or if they will even care when it's all said and done.

As it is, I will not lie and say I didn't enjoy it when Percy and his friends battled the Hydra, or when they got trapped in this hotel & casino in Las Vegas that drugs you with sweet Lotus flowers to where you never want to leave, but these few moments were not enough to redeem this film. Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief, is a mind-numbingly raw experience from start to finish.

I give Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief an F!

Trailer Rush: The Secret of Kells

One of the big surprises of last week's announcement of Oscar nominations, was the surprise inclusion of the animated film in Best Animated Feature, The Secret of Kells, an Irish film about Irish folklore.

The film beat out critical favorites like Ponyo and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs to get the nom, and I was blown away when I first heard of the announcement; not only that, I had no clue what the film was, so I was doubly intrigued, learning that the film had only played in theaters for one week in L.A., but that was enough to qualify the film for the Oscars. Well, the film will hit theaters on a larger scale March 6th, so obviously the Oscar nomination has managed to allow it reach a higher profile, and after seeing the trailer that might be a good thing. While Up has Best Animated Feature in the bag, it allows smaller films like this to get into the public eye and actually be seen. Check out the trailer below:



I've gotta say, I dig the animation, and I don't think the story looks too shabby either, kind of channeling the best of Disney and Miyazaki in style. I am extremely curious to see this film. I hope it comes to a theater near here.