Drive Review

"You put this kid behind the wheel of a car and there is nothing he can't do." - Shannon

I didn't think movies like this were made anymore. I know, it is done mostly in homage, but the mixture of 80s style with late 60s dark tones in movies for Drive was refreshing. I heard this was intriguing, but I honestly did go in expecting more of a Transporter type action film. Imagine my surprise that it was an independent action movie (one of my favorite genre splices). While I will address the movie's visible flaws, I will mainly be detailing what I found so interesting about it along with the usual monkey business.

Based on the novel by James Sallis, Drive is, naturally, about a driver. The nameless Driver (Ryan Gosling) is a professional and pragmatic motorist. He makes his living in Los Angeles where he works as stunt driver for Hollywood action movies by day (irony, I guess), but occasionally he will act as a getaway driver for criminals. But despite living his life very minimally, almost as if he was just another part for his car, The Driver manages to befriend his neighbors, a single mother Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son. Their growing bond is interrupted by the arrival of Irene's ex-con husband, who brings with him some seedy criminal baggage, including two menacing gangsters (Albert Brooks & Ron Perlman). Realizing the family is in danger, The Driver puts himself on the line to ensure their safety. He does this with extreme prejudice.

I realized immediately that this is a pretty overused story. It's the classic western scenario, a quiet nameless hero with a dark past wanders into the lives of some beautiful but unfortunate people and discovers that there are some things worth fighting for, then cue epic good vs evil battle. So, it's nothing new. But it is well done. And it is one of the better ones I've seen in awhile.

The acting department is small this time; not excellent but interesting, nonetheless. Of course, the face of this film is Ryan Gosling as The Driver. Over the past few years, Gosling has proven himself to be a charismatic and talented actor, even earning himself an Best Actor Oscar nomination previously. Unfortunately, this is not the movie to see that displays his full range. This is because The Driver character is very stoic, a man of few words. He purposely defines himself by his expertise, consumed by his craft and solitude. It in those brief moments where the character's true personality starts to break out that Gosling shines. The starring actress Carey Mulligan also suffers from the movie's emphasis on subtlety. In the role of Irene, the single mother, she also appears as a soft spoken figure, endearingly innocent but soft spoken still. Her role is primarily as a macGuffin, the motivation The Driver needs to progress the plot. I know she is already praised as a superior young actress, but I wish this wasn't the first role I've seen her in; it isn't a bad role, just not a very interesting one, even if the subtlety was intentional. And speaking of poorly utilized actresses, Christina Hendricks from Madmen is in this movie in a role that could literally be played by any hot actress. Hendricks is also a competent and well recognized star, and she has maybe three scenes in this and has lines in, I think, only one of them. Stellar. The primary supporting characters in this movie are pretty solid, however. I'm glad to see Oscar Isaac act as a believable guy as opposed to that cheesy villain he played in Sucker Punch. I felt for his character Standard, the recently paroled husband who tries to get out but...well, you know how it goes. Bryan Cranston isn't Walter White in this movie, the complete opposite, in fact. As Shannon he is a nice and sympathetic character, but his clear vulnerability puts you on edge whenever he is around the cold gangsters. Speaking of which, if Ryan Gosling's badassery or Christina Hendricks' chest don't sell people on this movie, Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman will as the Jewish gangsters Bernie and Dino. Perlman is an amusingly abrasive troublemaker, just the way we like him. Brooks is the real big bad here, though (I mean, he's not Frank Scorpio big bad, but it's pretty villainous). He is a testy, aggravated old criminal who wants to be reasonable, make money, and stay out of trouble, but is willing to tie up loose ends when things go wrong. So the acting was pretty decent, but I just think it could have been so much more impressive if the characters had been a bit more expressive. I know it's noir and everyone is shrouded in mystery, but, come on.

I'd be surprised if this didn't appeal to the art house crowd, Drive seems tailor made for that demographic. It is directed by Nicholas Winding Refn (a director chosen by Gosling), known as a visually fascinating and highly stylized director, so I guess the artsy aspect of the movie is kind of unavoidable. That doesn't mean its bad. The cinematography is gorgeous, with the cool light and dark contrasts so often found in film noir, and the overall handling of the film seems pretty well done. There are moments, glaring moments, when the art is overbearing (characters in this movie have pauses long enough and silent enough to make Christopher Walken role his eyes). That is this film's real problem: this is indeed a style over substance movie; too much of either is usually very apparent and often irritating. The thing is both style and substance within this movie resonated with me, it was just blatantly obvious that directorial art was held in higher regard than Hossein Amini's moody script.

Another criticism was the gory violence of the movie. It is not as if this was straight up gorn, in fact, the violence comes in so much later in the film that it still catches you off guard even if you do know about it. The complaints were that the violence was over the top. Well, I guess it is kind of. I haven't seen characters kill other characters so bluntly and viciously and quickly like this very often. But, thinking realistically, if someone is getting shot or stabbed blood will get everywhere. And to add to that, none of the dangerous players in this movie don't care about showy fist fights or kickboxing or gun kata, they try to kill each other brutally and quickly; The Driver takes guys down before they even get a chance to attack him. Over the top or realistic, either way, the instances of violence are undeniably hardcore.

However, what really struck me were the influences this movie seemed to have proudly on its sleeve. Drive is inspired by many introspective, psychological thrillers and dramas that famously stood out in cinema of the last 50 or 60 years. As opposed to huge marketable actioners like The Fast and The Furious or Transporter, Drive has more of the feel of a movie like Bullitt (with the precise, tricky, but not totally implausible driving) or Taxi Driver (with a disturbed individual going to messy extremes to protect innocence/family values). The pacing, soundtrack, and photography is very much inspired by smooth 80s thrillers; love the credits with the hot pink font cast over LA at night. I actually downloaded The Driver's theme song that played throughout the movie.

All in all, Drive may have been a bit misleading in its advertisements, the characters may been overly nuanced and underdeveloped, and there was that weird scene involving a beach and a latex mask, but I still found myself enjoying it. I can clearly see how polarizing movies like these are nowadays, but to be fair, movies like this aren't made a lot anymore. This is a movie where the characters sort of let their actions dictate what kind of people they are, it takes a lot of time to bury itself into its own dark tones. It is visually impressive, the acting was exceptional when it was allowed to be, and I just like what they did with the story (though overused, I still love this hero scenario). I was glad my suspicions weren't correct and it wasn't a rehash of an explosive Grant Theft Auto type movie; even if the movie isn't great, I still would rather see a movie like this than one of those.

Three out of four swallowed bullets.

This has been a rather lengthy from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.

The Thing (2011) Review

"It's not human. Yet." - Tagline

I've never been particularly picky, so maybe this movie was worse than I thought it was. It certainly is not as good or as scary as John Carpenter's remake from the '80s. But as a prequel that tries to tie into the other movie, I'd say it did a decent job. My skepticism arose early on as I initially thought this was another goddamn remake, but later it was because I thought they wouldn't be able to pull off The Thing these days. But all of the problems I thought I would have with the prequel turned out to be rather enjoyable and still ended up being disappointed that the movie's problems were the problems of a remake. As a prequel, I thought The Thing would have zero or ham-handed continuity, which I don't think it really did. As for the remake problems, it could not help but go through the exact same scenarios in this film that they went through in the first.

Being it is a prequel, the new Thing follows the Norwegian science team the heroes from the original film discovered. These were the people who found The Thing and its spaceship in a glacier in Antarctica, so they of course are not going to make it. Along for the ride is the protagonist, paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who is recruited to oversee the excavation of the alien. A tampering with the ice block it is incased in allows the thing to break free from it's confinement and escape. You know how this goes. After killing the initial monster, Kate discovers that the alien's cells were infecting and imitating the cells of its victims. It becomes apparent to her that the thing has already started to kill and transform into the other scientists. But who is human and who is an alien. And the fight for survival begins. Grab your flamethrowers and trust no one.

Now I'm guessing what most people are concerned about is the technical aspects of this movie in comparison to the 1982 classic. It doesn't really compare. I mean they try to get as close to how The Thing looks when it just explodes into a violent monster of gore, but the computer generated effects never look especially real, not like something you could touch or believe could touch you. I will say the filmmakers are at inventive in how they made the special effects. It felt like they were trying as best as they could to remain true to the original version. The transformation scenes are on a similar level of grotesque and intense (really does feel like it'd be hard to react when a guy's whole body turns into half a dozen aliens). The gore aspect is almost as gratuitous as it was in the first film, which is good. I was afraid they'd try to tone it down or something. Really this did have some hardcore, freaky-ass moments in this movie.

Unfortunately, the plot is where it gets murky. Granted, the filmmakers do do a good job of making it appear like its a different kind of story, but, fundamentally, it is the same movie. A lot of the same scenarios play out here, but they tweak what happens in these bits in ways that were fresh enough to make to forgive it. But the fact that the same type of events happened in both the Norwegian station and the American one is not very unreasonable, given the nature of the thing. I surprisingly got some effect out of the story. I still managed to care about some of the characters; most of them seemed like likable people, especially for scientists and contractors. I could guess who was who too many times, but the reveals still ended up freaking me out. This is a prequel, however, so everything has to segue with the first film inevitably. I think the movie manages this well throughout the film, earning a little "oh yeah, that's cool" every now and then.

The acting was really well rounded. No one seemed like they were unbelievable (even though they all should be better dressed for Antarctica). The main star is Mary Winstead as the heroine, Kate. Winstead is a good actress who has proven competent in just about everything I've seen her in. And I bought her as this character. She's not Kurt Russell as MacReady, but she really does have that Sigourney Weaver vibe; that idealistic, uncompromising, but vulnerable Ellen Ripley thing. It works though and its not glaring. The actual Kurt Russell, problem solver guy character is filled by Joel Edgerton, who does a fairly good job as that guy. He's not totally MacReady, but he's just a guy like MacReady. There's always one in horror movies. Adewale long middle name Agbaji plays another American contractor alongside Edgerton, and I continue to ask how the hell is this guy getting such bad roles. Agbaji is a good actor, but his role here could have been filled by literally anybody. And yet still, he was decent even without doing much. Eric Christian Olsen is Kate's friend and the bad doctor's researcher Adam, and I actually thought he did good job for, again, such a minor role. Character actor Ulrich Thomson plays a corrupt douchebag once again as the head researcher who puts science before everything excluding his own life. All of the Norwegian team actors did well, considering their only main relevance was to die. The most notable one is Jorgen Langhelle as the intense Norwegian badass, Lars, a character we may already be a bit familiar with. I didn't have much of a problem with the acting.

Now for the creature itself. Is The Thing any better or any worse? Well, it certainly doesn't beat the horrific organic yet contagious look of the original, everything spewing from and ripping out of that hunk of fake human. Doesn't surpass that. In this movie, The Thing is clearly CGI throughout (though, I've read there are moments when special effects makeup or stop motion was used). That doesn't mean there is not a certain freakish quality to be applied to these new special effects. For one thing, the transformations happen a helluva lot faster. Bodies just sort of explode in a bloody mess of tentacles and jaws. The amount of razor sharp teeth for heads appearing in this movie could have convinced me I was watching Resident Evil walkthroughs. The thing and its many incarnations are all fleshy, pussing, swollen, ever changing globs of chaos. But one particular contrast would be that this thing is quick on its feet (its common with horror movies these days) as opposed to the original's tendency to either flail or just sort of expand. An interesting detail is that the first form we see it in, when it breaks from the ice, looks vaguely insectoid, almost like a different creature. It occurred to me that the thing's alien ship probably belonged to some other alien species that the thing encountered, killed, and imitated. Or not.

In the end, this The Thing prequel is not too bad for a modern monster movie. As stated, there are some hardcore moments. And the way this movie connects with the '80s film is satisfying in its own way. Aside from essentially rehashing the first movie in ways that ranged from refreshing to irritating, I rather enjoyed this flick. You might too.

Two and a half out of four fillings.

This has been a review ripe for Halloween from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.

Top Ten Lost Characters (excluding Locke)

"You were all alone. You were all looking for something you couldn't find out there. I chose you because you needed this place as much as it needed you." - Jacob

(MUEY SPOILERS!!!)

Lost has some of the most amazing, fun, and fascinating characters I've seen. Which is funny, because they aren't all totally original or anything. The real reason they are so great is probably because the show spends a large portion of its time to let the audience get to know them. You learn of their secrets, their demons, what they've done, what they are capable of doing, and they all felt real (even The Monster). I enjoyed them all in some way or another, but if I had to choose ten favorites this would be it. However, yes, I am excluding my already proclaimed favorite character on the show, man of adventure and utter tragedy himself, John Locke. Let's begin.

10. Hugo "Hurley" Reyes

"I want some freakin' answers!"

I rank Hurley at ten because, well, Hurley is a given too. Not liking Hurley is the equivalent to making a thousand smiling children cry. Though he at first seems like an ordinary, generous, and laid back young man, he has his own secrets, naturally. If the fact that he is a multi-millionaire and businessman isn't surprising enough, the introduction of his infamous Numbers did the trick. Though anyone looking in on the outside would assume he had it all, Hurley was literally stalked by fate. Misfortune plagued his already out of sorts life after he used the Numbers, and it was his quest to find their meaning that led him to board Flight 815 and crash on the Island. On the Island, Hurley did his best to help others and make things easier when he could; he, actually, has an active role in many of the main events. Though terribly afraid, Hurley is also exceptionally brave and capable of leadership in desperate situations. I think a thing that really struck me when it was all over was that Hurley ends up the Protector of the Island. I just think it's cool that the true everyman, the vessel for the audience, in fact, winds up becoming such a powerful force in the world. It kind of exemplifies Lost's theme of starting over and discovering yourself. Hurley was funny, lovable, heroic, flawed, and probably the show's purest character.

9. Boone Carlyle

"Relieved...I felt relieved..."

Though his role was considerably minor in comparison to the others, I still thought Boone was a well done character. Boone was one of the first survivors to take an active role in leadership. Though strong and brave, he usually fell short of heroism and ended up being more troublesome than helpful. His story doesn't really kick off until he befriends Locke and they find the Hatch. It's then when Boone begins seeing things differently. I also liked that he started to let go of Shannon after that psychedelic trip (I need Locke to whip me up some of that!). Of course, if I'm being honest, Boone's true purpose was to influence the actions of Locke, Jack, and Shannon. This was accomplished when he became the first main character to die. And damn, the episode where Jack tries to save him is so very intense and depressing (though beautiful too in a lot of ways). But yeah, it's his death that turns Shannon into a wildcard, and, more importantly, begins the legendary cycle of mistrust between Jack and Locke. This point is echoed repeatedly as Boone makes appearances throughout the series after that, either in flashbacks, dreams, or hallucinations (and the afterlife). I liked Boone for his determination, heart, and common sense. His unrequited love and manipulations from his stepsister Shannon also gained him sympathy. Was glad he was part of the reunion at the end.

8. Jacob

"You've got ink on your forehead."

Next to his brother, Jacob is probably the most mysterious character in the series. Built up by the native Others to be the great, brilliant, magnificent, and even supernatural individual in control of The Island, Jacob was kept hidden for most of the show. His motives were said to include protecting the Island and befriending people seen as special. I never trust The Others though, so I will just go with who he really is. It was at the end of Season 5 and entirety of Season 6 that Jacob revealed himself. He was seen in flashbacks orchestrating events that would bring many of our favorite characters to the Island, before his death is rigged by his nemesis, The Man in Black. Near the end of the show, we discover that Jacob was born on the Island some 2,000 years ago, along with his brother, The Man in Black. In contrast to MIB's cold and pragmatic nature, Jacob primarily thought with his heart and was ruled by his emotions. This leads him to kill his brother in a fit of rage, while also turning him into a force of true destruction. In the present, he is still compassionate but is also more confident and wise. Yes, it is true that his meddling with fate resulted in the hundreds of deaths we see throughout the show, but he really couldn't risk his brother escaping. It's also admirable that he did his best to do the right thing and help others, even after he was dead. I also thought it was interesting that even Jacob, a character who we all thought of as a an all powerful deity for so long, was just another victim of some random fate. All Jacob wanted was peace and I can respect that.

7. Sun Hwa Kwon

"I lose, either way."

I think Sun is a character who had some of the biggest transformations. Her arc in the series mainly involves her growing more self reliant and developing a stronger personality. Sun and Jin episodes were always compelling even if they weren't as exciting as other arcs. Her transformation from the long suffering wife to independent hero was nice to see. I was also surprised that Sun was from a wealthy family (I thought they were both middle class when I first saw them). Even in her world of luxury back then, Sun's destiny was still controlled, this time by her parents. It is her father to be blamed for the gold hearted Jin's initial douchebaggery, as well. Jin was such a bastard during the first season, it made Sun's strength even more satisfying (even though, we are all happy they worked things out). Sun does a lot, actually: she lies to her husband and others, kills an Other, and smacks around several main characters. In the last few seasons though, when she gets her own money, power, and motive for revenge, she owns her corrupt father financially and literally, gaining control of his corporation and even begins a vendetta against Ben Linus. I won't again go into how tragic her and Jin's deaths were. I will just say that starting your revolt by unbuttoning your shirt collar and ending it with corporate espionage and assassination plots is quite something.

6. Mr. Eko

"I did not ask for the life that I was given. But it was given, nonetheless. And with it, I did my best."

Eko is just one of those characters you think of when you think of Lost. One of those stand out characters. Probably because he's a badass. At first appearing to be a chivalrous giant, flashbacks reveal his dark past as a vicious drug lord in Nigeria. His actions eventually end up killing his priest brother and leaving him mistaken for a man of god himself. Eko rolls with it, though, out of respect for his brother. His darkness never seems to leave him, however, no matter how hard he struggles to redeem himself. On the Island, he serves as a defender of his group of survivors but eventually becomes a new man of faith, next to Locke. But while Locke clinged to faith out of desperation, Eko did it more for atonement. Unfortunately, he is another character who was cut short upon making a true discovery about himself and died like the majority of the tail section survivors. I wasn't angry that he died as much as I was angry that his death is almost immediately forgotten by the rest of the characters. His true spiritual relationship with the survivors was intriguing, as were his interactions with The Monster. I think his main purpose in the show was to teach Locke not to turn his back on his faith. More incentive: Eko was known for cutting down his enemies with a machete; he carved himself a club, nicknamed "scripture stick", on which he carved insightful Bible passages; and he's not only the one person not to run away from The Monster, but he freaking stares it down. 'Cause Eko ain't afraid.

5. Jack Shephard

"I'm gonna fix you."

Jack is the first character we meet. His eyes open, he finds himself in some jungle, he is in shock, scared, injured, and confused all at once. Nevertheless, after about a minute of wondering where he is, he rushes to the scene of a plane crash, his plane. And he immediately charges into the fray as explosions, screams, and panic fills the air. He isn't concerned about himself or his wound, he only sees people in danger and he saves them. And amazingly the next scene where his wound is stitched up, he tells a past story that reveals that he is more than a collected, magnificent hero, he's an extremely vulnerable human being. And those two aspects intrigued me about Jack from the beginning. His tragic backstory was not as Shakespearian as Locke's or Ben's or as western as Kate's or Sawyer's, Jack's backstory is a bit more personal and real. Your drunk old man telling you not to be a hero because "you just don't have what it takes" when you're a stubborn kid might have some consequences. Jack's interactions with his father, his wife, and, yeah, even that weird tattoo artist he banged were all compelling and they really showed how this man's doubts and fears and anger constantly lead to his destruction (like most of the characters, I know). I guess it's poetic, a man so obsessed with fixing other people's situations is himself a broken man. His status on the Island did get tedious after about three or four seasons of denial about what was going on. Being a doctor who usually lives in a world of rationality (when it isn't about him personally, that is), Jack was originally a man of science. That's a good excuse, I understand, but there was just too much craziness happening in those few months he spent on the Island for him to keep insisting there wasn't anything strange going on. Yeah, so that became frustrating after awhile. I guess though, not every person can change too drastically in just a few months. Three years and one dead man of faith later, Jack didn't know who he was anymore and in this instance faith in the impossible was the only thing he had. In other words, he got more badass and everything he did became interesting. In fact, the man who once seemed to just be a cosmic rag doll started driving events and setting things in motion himself. Plus, his death was the only one that made me weep; then again, I think the whole last scene was perfectly designed to make you weep. Looking back, Jack's journey was really impressive and inspiring in its own way. The fact that he realized he had what takes all along was reason enough for him to be number five.

4. James Ford aka Sawyer aka Jim LaFluer

"I became the man I was hunting. Became Sawyer."

Every character was emotionally wounded in a profound way as a child, but I don't know if any of them got it as bad as Sawyer. Granted, I did find his backstory particularly badass because I love a good revenge story, but what makes it so good is because of how depressing it is. As a kid his parents are manipulated by a mysterious con artist named Mr. Sawyer, resulting in his father killing his mother and then himself (sitting on the bed little Sawyer is hiding under no less). This prompted him to write a letter promising revenge, but that path leads him to become just as good a confidence man as his nemesis, to the point where he takes on the name Sawyer too. His plight on the Island was very interesting. Mixing his abrasive southern demeanor with his brilliant cunning, he set out to get what he wanted more than redemption: punishment. And for the first half of the series that is the person he tried to be, feeling he should pay for the bad things he did. Thankfully though, the second half shows him embracing his opportunity to change things and be the hero he must have thought he was in the beginning. From a broader perspective, Sawyer is really just a very well done version of the bad boy character. One of the better ones I've seen, at least. He's also a genuine fan service machine (which I don't think anyone minded): he was funny, intriguing, badass, handsome (and very often shirtless), well acted, provided the majority of pop culture references, and was just a well rounded character with a fantastic arc. That's why he's on the list.

3. Sayid Jarrah

"What would be the use of killing you when we're both already dead."

Just because Locke takes home the prize for worst possible life ever doesn't mean the other characters' lives couldn't be routinely destroyed in the most powerful of ways. Next to Hurley, Sayid was an initial favorite character. The fact that he is one of the few survivors immediately trying to help and figure things earned him sympathy, as well as the racism and accusations that immediately befell him because he was Iraqi. Even cooler is the fact that he was a soldier (like I said, the survivors only certified badass), tech whiz, and natural leader. Plus the dark 'greater good' perspective that rested beneath his benevolence was evident early on and is built on very well. Sayid is a man who can never forgive himself for the people he tortured after the war. Ever. That's a compelling backstory right there. The fact that the Island events force that monster out of him is even saddening. Sayid is actually the best example of all of these characters who are constantly trying to be good and do the right thing but are constantly setback by the sins of their pasts. Also the fact that he already considered himself damned meant he was more willing to go to extremes for that greater good. But as much as Sayid tried to be a hero he still ended up believing he was pure evil, ruining many lives, losing everyone he ever loved, dying, being resurrected a hollow shell of himself, and then dying again. Hurley, probably his best friend, telling him he was a good guy in the after life despite of what Sayid himself thought was very touching. Was especially glad he got a happy ending. God knows he deserved it.

2. Benjamin Linus

"How many times do I have to tell you, John? I always have a plan."

Another character like Sawyer who you initially hate, than love to hate, than just love. Ben probably believed for a long time that he and his people were the good guys. It was hard for me to believe when he dedicated his time to abducting, harrassing, killing, and generally making life hell for a group of unfortunate innocents. Especially when he was only concerned with a few of them. But, as usual, as time went on, we started to see some different shades to the Island natives' sinister leader. For as grand and mysterious as he likes to appear, Ben is cut from much of the same cloth as the heroes. He was emotionally scarred as a child by an abusive father, lost his innocence when he killed his father and the island's DHARMA Initiative (which he was a member of in his youth), and became an intelligent manipulator, a trait that led to his becoming leader of The Others. It's especially painful that he was another character whose entire life may have been just another part of The Man in Black's scheme. He had the habit of mixing his sincere ambitions with more personal ones. Ben was even more dedicated to his personal destiny than his rival, Locke, to the point that he sacrificed his daughter when his power was threatened. An interesting aspect of season six was that Ben was no longer a powerful leader, he was just a follower, and as a follower he realized none of the real good guys respected or trusted him. I'm glad that didn't deter him from trying to redeem himself and fight for the right side at last. In the end, I liked Ben because he was freakishly smart and badass to boot, because he realized he was the bad guy and turned good, because Michael Emerson is an awesome actor, and because he made things interesting.

1. Desmond Hume

"God allegedly has bigger plans for me."

Odysseus. Billy Pilgrim. The badass Scotsman, Desmond Hume. All good men who are caught in the most unfortunate of destinies. Though, Desmond is pretty much a combination of the first two. Desmond is a true victim of love. His poor handling of good relationships usually results in him making life altering decisions that he hopes will make him a better person, but ended up leaving him more empty. Namely, participating in a race around the world, hoping to impress his beloved Penny's father, Charles Widmore, and instead gets caught in a storm while lost at sea. He awakens on the Island where he is...initiated into the DHARMA Initiative, and spends the next three years pressing the button in the Hatch. As fate would have it, one day Desmond isn't able to push the button on time, correcting the mistake just as things start to crazy. This, however, results in Oceanic 815 and all of the characters we know and love crashing on the Island. Though introduced as a half-crazed Omega Man in a hell of his own, he turns out to be a bit more once he integrates into the group. His longing to get back to the woman he loves is probably one of the show's most endearing and famous story lines; I think we were all relieved when Des and Penny finally did reunite. But as a survivor, his role is perhaps one of the more interesting. He becomes something of a leader figure along with Sawyer once he begins hunting and protecting the castaways. More significantly though, his attempt to save the world by self destructing the Hatch led to his very bewildering relationship with The Island's power. This includes allowing him to see Charlie's death in the future and trying to prevent it (which he could not), finding himself skipping back and forth between the present and 1996, and even crossing over into the afterlife for a brief second (or was it?) Desmond was a soldier and did time in military prison, so he is not one to screw with. Aside from his tragic love story and emotional vulnerability, I thought Desmond's real part in the whole show was as a variable in the lives of the survivors. He is responsible for crashing their plane, beginning the story, and he is responsible for bringing them together in the afterlife, ending the story. Just thought it was kind of beautiful that Desmond, a man most saw as a coward, who saw himself as living a life without purpose, in the end he got to be an essential part of so many lives, eventually even leading everyone to their own place of serenity. He was great because I felt for him and wanted him to win, because he was the coolest of the Island's super humans, because he introduced us to the Hatch, because he got back to Penny, and because he is just a likable guy. Truly one of my favorite characters.

So those are my favorite characters, but, again, I loved all of the characters, even most of the very minor ones. They are a testament to how good of a show Lost was.

This has been another top ten list from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Review

"His news is bigger than your news." - tagline

This review, like most of my reviews, will not do the movie any justice.

There are movies that come along that will be watched again and again and again. They will not get old. We can recite nearly every line from them. These movies are legendary for some generations. This movie is called Anchorman. It was one in a slew of Will Ferrell films in which Ferrell had some kind of new weird job. None of the others really held a candle to Anchorman, though. And that's why it's worth talking about. This movie is hilarious in all of the best, in your face and screaming ways.

This is one of those comedies that is stupid in very genius ways, like Napoleon Dynamite or Austin Powers: Goldmember. The world of Anchorman is very clearly fictional, and all of the characters nearing a cartoon level. But that's what's awesome about it.

Set in the mid 1980s or '70s or '60s, I don't know, something retro, Anchorman is the story of San Diego news anchor Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell). Burgundy, despite being an obnoxious douchebag (or rather in spite of being an obnoxious douchebag), is on top of the world. He is seen as something of an icon in his city, because apparently a news anchor is the only thing people in this city care about. Everything changes once Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) enters his world, secretly jonesing for an anchor job of her own. Ladies man Ron wants the professional Veronica bad, which could spell trouble for him down the road.

This is one where I really need to talk about the characters. First off, Will Ferrell uses his man child routine to great effect here. Ron Burgundy, while passing himself off as a suave, sophisticated badass, is really a childish, delusional, semi-retarded prima donna. To say Ferrell plays it to the bone is an understatement. It's actually kind of amazing. One minute Burgundy is living like a king and acting like one and the next he is a self loathing mass of nothing and acting like one. His news team consists of assholes as colorful as the A-Team. There's lifelong cool kid Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), the sexually confused party animal Champ Kind (David Koechner), and, most importantly, the mentally retarded and somewhat homicidal meteorologist Brick Tamland (Steve Carell). I think all Anchorman fans would not mind a spinoff featuring all three of these news team idiots, especially Brick and his tridant. There are many other fun celebrity cameos that make the movie even more ridiculous and hilarious. So yeah, the cast is great. You gotta love when everyone plays such a stupid situation as if it were so dire.

The movie's humor meshes absurdity with dark comedy very well. It's the type of comedy that's funny because it's stupid in kind of a genius way. That doesn't make sense, but that's how I describe it. Describing the comedy behind the movie will only come off as artificial and not as good. You just gotta watch it.

What carries the movie more than anything are the cartoonishly ridiculous characters that inhabit it. Ron Burgundy himself is the juice though. The legend built around him in the film sort of bleeds over to the audience. Because by the end of it, he is a legendary character. Of course he's a pretty poor excuse for a human being. He's the freaking anchorman and it's made pretty clear in the movie that he has no idea what he's reading on the teleprompter, but he can read it well. Along with Will Ferrel's famed man child routine, Ron has plenty of other quirks. He is suave and confident but ignorantly insensitive, he claims to be well read but can't pronounce 'jogging', he is a smooth ladies man but is a totally obnoxious simpleton, and he has some sort of weird symbiotic attachment to his dog, Baxter.

The writing by Adam McKay and Ferrel is so stupefyingly goofy. With the performances elevating a script to a level of comic gold, Anchorman is a solid movie. From an all news man street fight to a struggle for life in the bear pit, the movie is comedic gold. Watch it.

This has been a classic review from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading. And your welcome, Pugsley.

Clique Clique Boom

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals. And you know it." - Agent K

As a high school student, I know a thing or two about cliques. I think the term is a bit broader than most people think these days. Fortunately this isn't a movie so members of the 'jock clique' don't harrass the 'nerd clique' with relentless sadism. The 'material girl' doesn't try to walk all over the 'plain girl.' If things like that do happen, it is not done as over the top as movies would portray us. We aren't archetypes, we are people and the way people feel about others is always different. Plus, a lot of regular people don't care enough about what another group is doing to try and go out of their way to do something to them.

I will say that certain cliques really do embody what it means to be a clique. Because cliques are essentially groups of like minded people who interact with each other more frequently than most classmates. Obviously, similar personalities means they are going to exert a certain tone and mood. It doesn't mean the people in those cliques will keep to themselves and look down upon everyone else. Unless someone's just a major asshole, most people will just judge individuals based on their personalities rather than the company they keep.

A clique is not necessarily a group of one single archetype. Sure there will be similar personalities, but if that's the case it's because people prefer like-minded friends. This isn't always the case either, so I'm not sure how to put it. What I do is try to find people who I am comfortable around. Who don't try to belittle me or piss me off. But you can be friends with anyone you want to be. Cliques don't matter, in my opinion.

This has been my thoughts from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.

Super 8 Review

"Let's find this thing and blow the shit out of it!" - Cary

Super 8 might be the very definition of a summer blockbuster. It is the story of a group of kids, fresh into summer vacation, who begin their adventure by making a movie and then descend into a world of mystery as the hunt for a strange monster begins. It is a bit of a passion project from filmmaker J.J. Abrams, who has worked along side Steven Spielberg to create a homage to some of Spielberg's most classic movies, while also making a simply awesome film.

Taking place in the town of Lillian, Ohio in 1979, Super 8 follows 12 year-old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), a boy who is still mourning the loss of his mother who died horribly months prior. His relationship with his father, Sheriff's Deputy Jack Lamb (Kyle Chandler), is estranged, to say the least. As previously mentioned, the story kicks off while Joe is helping his best friend, Charles (Riley Griffiths), shoot a home made zombie movie. With a super 8 camera and a gang of friends in tow, Joe witnesses a destructive train crash while shooting a scene at night. Something breaks out of one of the train cars and disappears into the night. After an ominous warning from the man who caused the crash (Glynn Turman), the mysterious arrival of secretive military forces, and various reports of people, animals, and random objects disappearing all over, Joe and his friends realize things are not looking well for their simple little town.

And I won't spoil what it is that pops out of the train car, since some people haven't managed to put it together. I guess not everyone watched E.T. as a kid, because that's the feel I got from this movie. It has elements of other Spielberg classics as well, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Goonies, but E.T. was a bit of a composite of both of those films. I won't say the movie was totally original, because it was NOT totally original. It did feel like a J.J. Abrams movie, but with the remembrance and love of the Steven Spielberg movies a lot of us grew up with.

I will tell you only one thing about the 'something': apparently his name is Cooper.

Abrams is a good director. His films are well shot, well acted, and well written. He's one of those very talented filmmakers who can find a balance between a fun action movie and an emotional story with characters you can care about. There can be whimsy and tragedy within the depth of his work, so important elements are not disregarded too often. He's found a lot of praise because of his work in spearheading some of America's most popular shows like Alias, Lost, or Fringe in recent years. Super 8 is only his third movie, and so far it is probably his best.

The special effects are apparent but well done. Cooper is not the most impressive CGI creation I've seen, but he was still interesting to look at and makes some pretty ungodly sounds. The train crash sequence was brilliant, a sort neverending catastrophe that brought to mind the opening plane crash scene of Lost (an episode Abrams wrote and directed). Probably the best moment with the effects is the end sequence, which we've seen before in many other movies like this, but it was still cool and a little bit mesmerizing.

The music was by Michael Giacchino, whose beautiful and haunting compositions were one of Lost's trademarks for years. They also won him an Academy Award for his work on Up. Here he finds that tone again, the kinds that bring peace to the mind in calmer moments while creating a disorienting and horrific atmosphere in danger sequences.

I didn't live in the late '70s or early '80s so I'm not sure if they got everything right. Judging from my dad's reactions watching the movie, I'd say the film had plenty of the details of every day life back then accurate. An older character in the movie has a funny reaction to a teenager's walkman: (paraphrasing) "That's just what we need, everyone walking around with stereos." Oh the irony.

What I was most impressed with was the child actors in the movie. I mean, normally, I hate most movie kids. A lot of times they come off as annoying or awkwardly cutesy. These kids are good, and they're believable. Joel Courtney as Joe finds a lot of the charm of an innocent youth, trying to look for the good in the world and standing up for himself and others. Hope he gets more roles and increases his range. Probably the most impressive among them was Elle Fanning as Alice Dainard, a new addition to the film crew and object of Joe's affection. Fanning shows incredible acting ability in this film; if she was in older sister, Dakota's shadow before, she isn't now. Alice is the oldest among the kids. She has a troubled home life and finds comfort in a friendship with Joe. There is conflict in that relationship that is meant to be kept secret but is pretty clear from the get go. Equally impressive are Riley Griffiths as Charles, the ambitious ringleader and aspiring filmmaker. Charles reminded me of Ed Wood with his film zeal, maybe even Orson Welles. The other kids in this gang of unlikely heroes are the over anxious Martin (Gabriel Basso), sarcastic nerd Preston (Zach Mills), and hilarious pyromaniac Carey (Ryan Lee). All of them are awesome characters for this movie, and played better than I ever would have expected.

The adult actors bring it just as well, though they aren't as involved. Kyle Chandler, star of the series Friday Night Lights, is a bit of a standard movie dad. The kind that is too angry, who tries to remain stoic, who cares but doesn't know how to show it. Chandler is a good actor so he plays this role well. A man who makes do by not mentioning what should be mentioned and trying to connect with his son in all the wrong ways. A character like this must have a redemption, and whenever it happens in movies I'm almost never disappointed. Nor was I here. Ron Eldard's character of Louis, Alice's father, was a bit standard too, but played well equally. This man haunted by his demons, hard drinking being his only seeming salvation, letting anger he feels for himself lash out at other people. Both fathers could have had more development, but I felt for both still because of how well they were portrayed in just a few scenes. Noah Emmerich plays shady Col. Nelec, the military man seizing control of the town and hunting whatever got loose. Emmerich always looks like such a nice guy, but he very often plays corrupt or troubled characters. And he does it good. So acting, once again, I'm very cool with.

I highly recommend this movie. It is a very good time. Super 8 is not as original as much as it is refreshing. It has been awhile since I've been so taken with a movie. One of those movies where likable, relatable kids are at the center as the heroes, seeking out adventures under the noses of worried parents. A movie where revelations about the self and about life are found in the search for answers to mysterious, dangerous questions. Where family is shown true as a factor that can be as strong as it can be fragile. Where something different is more complex than what our fearful eyes would have us believe. A movie that feels kind of like an exciting, twisting roller coaster and also tugs at your heart. A damn good movie is what I call it.

This has been another review that comes a bit late from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.

X-Men: First Class Review

Hank: "Are you sure we can't get you to shave your head?"
Charles: "Don't touch my hair."
Hank: "Right."

(SPOILERS, I guess; well, spoilers if you haven't seen the last four movies. You know what, no, shame on you for reading a review of the fifth movie when you haven't seen the last four.)

I loved the first three X-Men movies. Yes, even Last Stand. The Wolverine movie was meh. They are all movies dealing with being different, being repressed, and being yourself. They are also action packed adventures with a whole laundry list of super powered heroes and villains. X-Men was one of the first Marvel films to be released in the last decade and it gave a feeling of what was to come. That Marvel feeling where they take superhero stories and make them a bit more serious. Well, now we are on to X-Men: First Class, our second prequel to the first trilogy and I don't really know about it. I mean I like it but...I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me run down the basics first. First Class is the story of how the whole X-Men concept began, and also how two mutant leaders went from friends as Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr to enemies as Professor X and Magneto.

A lot happens in this movie. A LOT. It takes place in the 1960s where mutants are just being discovered for the first time by the CIA. This happens when Agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) finds out powerful mutant Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) is manipulating US and Soviet forces into conflict at around the time of the Cuban missle crisis. She seeks help from Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), a recently titled professor of genetic mutation. Xavier, as we know, is a young and powerful mutant himself who can read and control people's minds. He agrees to help the feds, and soon crosses paths with another mutant, Eric Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), who can control metal, of course. Lensherr is out for revenge against Shaw, who wronged him greatly as a child when Shaw was a Nazi scientist in WWII. Charles and Eric soon become friends and recruit other hidden young mutants into their team to stop Shaw and his Hellfire Club of evil mutants. This leads to a series of events that are meant to explain some of the things that happened in the previous films, of course.

Honestly though, there is not a lot of synchronicity between the prequels and the trilogy. Things happen in First Class, important and very mentionable things, that are never mentioned in the trilogy. It's like Sabretooh being Wolverine's brother in the prequel when they didn't even know each other in the first film. Still, the things that we did know about and are now shown were executed pretty well. The whole movie is well done. It's just not as good as I was hoping.

I did get what I was hoping for with the entire concept of prequels to this series: a film about Professor X and Magneto. They were probably my favorite characters in the first trilogy and I wanted to see how they got to the point where we first met them. And we got that. I won't do any comparisons between how James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender play the characters as opposed to the awesome Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, because they are different people between films. Both younger actors convey the older men's fundamental personalities. But this is back in the day when Magneto was a bit more reasonable (a bit!) and the Professor was the life of the party. But how they become friends and enemies was the best part of this movie for me. It was just as fun seeing the dynamic being established as it was seeing it being resolved. McAvoy and Fassbender carry this film, they are both very good actors.

The other mutants I wasn't all too impressed with. They are fun I will give them that. New characters for the movies include Havor (Lucas Till), Cyclops' older brother, I guess, who can absorb energy and project it lethally. An Americanized Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones), whose vocals are ultrasonic. An Angel (Zoe Kravits; Lenny's daughter?) before Angel, who has insectoid wings and acidic saliva. And Darwin (Eli Gathegi, from Twilight fame), who can adapt; it's hard to explain, but it's cool. I liked most of these characters, except that there was no real introduction to their team status. They just sort of are friends who would die for each other in the span of one weekend it seemed.
I felt about the same for the Hellfire Club. I guess I got as much as I expected out of Emma Frost (played by an underwhelming but stimulating January Jones), because Frost has always been a devious little sexpot. So I wasn't disappointed entirely on that end. Riptide (Alex Gonzales) can create cyclones from his palms, and that is probably the stupidest ability I've seen so far; I mean that is Heroes caliber of stupid ability. Nightcrawler's long lost father it would seem, Azazel (Jason Flemyng) was probably the most badass. Not only can he teleport, but he uses a sword. Not only that, but he uses his tail to stab people. He's basically classic Nightcrawler, just evil. Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw is in his badass vilain element, I must say. Shaw probably has the most destructive power I've seen since Phoenix from Last Stand: he can absorb literally anything he is attacked with and give it back with devastating results. Bacon also gets to do a lot of different languages in this movie, all of which he spoke very fluently. He also plays probably one of the best Nazis I've seen in years.
There are other familiar faces as well. Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is on the side of good this time as Charles' childhood best friend and initial team member. This was a fun element as well, seeing a very young and confused Mystique trying to decide between living with intolerance and fighting for peace alongside the Professor or accepting who she is and seeking dominance with the more ambitious and accepting Magneto. Jennifer Lawrence, fresh from the Ozarks and in all her beauty, is pretty good in this role. She brings depth to the sexy blue femme fatale we know. Also Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) appears as a young scientist working with the CIA who also has ape-like feet and incredible agility. He tries to discover a cure for physical mutations while leaving the powers intact. Can you see where this is going? Hoult is good as a young and nerdy Beast, even though his role in some of the story's elements contradicts the first films, but nevermind.
You know that scene you always think would be cool to see where the heroes sit down and brainstorm on what their hero names will be? It's in this movie, and it was probably my least favorite moment.
What sells this movie for me, honestly, is one cameo in the middle. Anyone who is a fan of the X-Men movies will probably agree when it happens.

I can say much about the action or effects. There isn't much I thought stood out. Shaw and the Hellfire Club lay seige to a CIA compound, which leads to some pretty sweet destruction. The last battle is like a small war, and is well directed.

I don't dislike this movie, but I was just kind of floored with how unbelievably silly it was. I know, most superhero movies are silly, but this was almost like it was outright admitting it while also trying to be serious. The director is Matthew Vaughn (director of Layer Cake and Kick Ass), so I suppose he might have brought a bit of a sense of humor to it. It's set in the 60s, so it plays kind of like an early James Bond movie. There is a large amount of half naked women in the film, for no real reason. I mean I didn't mind, but it felt almost exploitive while not being complete exploitation. The first thing we see Rose Byrne do as Moira is strip down to go undercover, which sounds like an oxymoron, but oh well. It was Rose Byrne, though, so I was very grateful, instead. The politics, military and how the Cuban Missile Crisis comes into play was all a bit much. It was like a weird version of Dr. Strangelove. When you get Michael Ironside and James Remar as military commanders in just bit roles, you are trying to be funny. I seriously think Remar was playing the same guy from the beginning of Pineapple Express. But being it is Matthew Vaughn, this film can be hardcore and emotional as well as witty. There are some majorly messed up deaths and injuries in this movie, usually involving Magneto.

So yeah, First Class was uh... a little weird. It was fun, though, I enjoyed it despite of its glaring chronological flaws and in spite of its parody-like abandon. I got what I wanted and a bit more. I'm sure audiences who don't knit-pick the shit out of movies like I do will have a pretty good time. Probably an even better time then I did.

This has been an uncanny review from Your Modest Guru. And no one got that.