I spent the night coughing up a lung early Saturday morning, so I was able to catch a few movies to dull the pain. Here's some thoughts to pass the time.
300 - Yeah, this movie is still really, really dumb. But rarely is dumb done with such confidence and bravado, so it would be foolish for me to completely dismiss the film outright. Sure, it's a live-action video game, so the action sequences, when not redundant, have zero tension. But there is fun to be had with this movie, from its one-note acting to laughably over-the-top dialogue. Actually, it's the first movie that's not nearly bad enough to be on 'Mystery Science Theater 3000,' but would be so welcome there all the same.
Any Given Sunday - Since I've spent the last 10 years enduring some truly awful Oliver Stone-cinema, I'm willing to give this cliched mess - made in 1999 - a slight pass. Like '300' before, it's a one-note movie about macho assholes who allow themselves to be mauled for our amusement. The problem is, '300' kind of knew this (although I had my doubts at certain points), whereas 'Any Given Sunday' thinks it has a few profound points. I think the scene with Al Pacino explaining the virtue of football to Jamie Foxx while the carriage race from 'Ben Hur' blares in the background finally destroyed my goodwill. Subtlety was never Stone's strong point. But then again, it's far superior than his nauseating history lesson, 'Alexander,' or his limp-dicked 'World Trade Center' and 'W.' Small pleasures to be sure, but I'll take what I can get from a once-great filmmaker.
Blade II - If Guillermo del Toro ever stops making original wonders like 'Pan's Labyrinth,' then he should definitely be the go-to guy for genre retouches. I say this because 'Blade II' has absolutely no right to be as good as it is. The first installment was energetic and bloody fun, but I had no hope for the second go-around of a vampire hybrid who spends night slaying his own. The script and story you could care less about, but del Toro creates some truly marvelous set pieces and action sequences. The vampire Reapers themselves are a wonder of perverse inventiveness. Roger Ebert put it best when he called the film "a vomitorium of viscera." And although del Toro would go on to prove what he could do with strong material, 'Blade II' should be used in film school to show what a gifted filmmaker can do with shit.
