Die Hard 4, Magnolia, Little Children, and more

Live Free or Die Hard - 4.0 The new Die Hard movie is pretty standard summer fare. Suspend your disbelief, watch a bunch of stuff blow up, witness some of the worst marksmanship of all-time from the bad guys, and against all odds see the hero come through in the end. This particular entry into the summer blockbuster canon did have a few good things going for it: 1. A relatively interesting plot where cyber terrorists plan a 'fire sale' that essentially disables all the things that we count on computers to run for us like transportation, financial markets, essential utilities, etc; 2. several nifty action set pieces; and 3. amusing one-liners, mostly Willis talking shit to the terrorists. However, a lack of chemistry between Willis and his sidekick, the dude from the Apple commercials, and a complete and utter lack of any transitions whatsoever end up dooming this film to relegation to the decent thoughtless entertainment category instead of the good action category (I put the Bourne movies, the new Bond, the original Die Hard in this category). Two examples of the lack of transitions: first, there is a ridiculous 15 minute fight on a series of concrete overpasses between Bruce Willis and a fighter jet (yes, a fighter jet...which was only one of the flying vehicles John McClane successfully conquered from the ground in this movie). When it ends with Bruce jumping off of the top of the fighter jet, sliding down a perfectly placed diagonal slab of concrete to the ground just inches ahead of the fiery blast behind him (recurring theme in this movie), he looks up and lo and behold, there's the truck he was chasing before the fighter jet distracted him like 100 fucking feet away. So, of course, Bruce just runs over to the warehouse where the truck stops and confronts the bad guys who came ever so close to getting away this time. Another example is when "all the gas on the eastern seaboard" is sent Bruce and the apple dude's way at some power plant type place right after they had just narrowly stopped the bad guys (and token bad hot Asian kung fu girl) from blacking out the entire east coast. This, of course, leads to a(nother) massive explosion where Bruce and apple dude run for their lives before diving inside a conveniently unlocked van. This van, with the doors still open no less, apparently shields them from said explosion and two seconds later they're flying in a helicopter to see Kevin Smith. I mean, who the hell writes this stuff? They come up with some of the most creative ways for Bruce to beat someone's ass during the countless fight scenes, but when fleeing from a massive explosion, the best they can come up with is dive in a van and leave the doors open?? I don't get it. Anyways, as far as mindless summer action goes, Live Free or Die Hard serves as pretty decent entertainment, similar to other recent summer entries like The Island, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and X-Men 3. But even with my disbelief suspended, there was such glaring stupidity at times (I mean you really really want to kill Bruce don't you Seth Bullock...er, superbad cyber terrorist guy? Then why the fuck don't you just shoot him instead of talking to him for 10 minutes every time you or one of your cronies capture him?) that prevented this film from reaching the heights that previous Die Hards and other good action movies have. Since I have several other movies to review, I'm going to keep my comments short... Magnolia - 9.0 Magnolia is an example of what is probably my favorite type of movie right now - multiple, intersecting story lines. This particular film is characterized by dynamic camerawork and incredibly strong acting set to a fantastic score. Some of the shots in Magnolia are breathtaking, whether it be the continuous movement when PT Anderson's camera follows several different characters through a TV studio without a cut for somewhere close to 5 minutes, or the uneasy stillness when Tom Cruise's character is losing his battle to not break down at the bedside of the dying father who had neglected him and his cancer-stricken mother as a teenager (with Phillip Seymour Hoffman's nurse uncomfortably out of focus in the background). Likewise, the acting is outstanding from essentially every member of the huge ensemble cast, with Cruise, William H. Macy, and Melora Waters giving particularly strong performances. Finally, the ever present music was so good that I actually downloaded the soundtrack the next day, a pretty big rarity for me. All in all, the plot is complex and takes a little while to get into but if patient this film is ultimately rewarding. Little Children - 7.5 This tale of suburban discontent is similar to Todd Field's previous film, In the Bedroom, which was also excellent. A fantastic performance from Kate Winslet (surprise surprise) and strong supporting turns from Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley really carry this movie. It isn't optimistic but it is certainly an interesting take on suburbia. And for the record, I think Winslet's performance in Little Children was more impressive than Helen Mirren in The Queen (I personally preferred Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal and Penelope Cruz in Volver as well). Winslet's now been nominated for 5 academy awards (and she's like 30!) and still hasn't won. It's pretty sad that Halle Berry and Charlize Theron have oscars and Kate doesn't yet. The Devil Wears Prada - 4.0 This movie was decent but nothing special, in my opinion. Meryl Streep as the evil boss was definitely the high point, with Vinny Chase (unsuccessfully) trying to act being the low. The story never really grabbed me so I only half paid attention while looking at my computer. I'm thinking I was just too uninterested in the subject matter, the fashion industry, to really care about the movie - I mean I thought Anne Hathaway was looking pretty good at the beginning in her sweaters and tanktops and looked kind of like a whore when she was all fashioned up in the stylish clothes later on. Anyways, not really my cup of tea but I guess I can see why some people would enjoy it (it's sort of like the girls version of a sports movie). Adam's Rib - 5.0 This is an old comedy starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy about a husband and wife opposing each other in the case of a woman who shot her cheating husband. In general, I'm not a big fan of old comedies, and this film wasn't much different - I laughed only a handful of times (if that). Even so, Hepburn and Tracy have such chemistry and charisma that the movie wasn't completely worthless. If asked to give a three word review, I'd go with: decent light entertainment. That was easy, the end.