The Aviator

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, and Alec Baldwin
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Year: 2004
IMDB / Wikipedia

It’s easy to joke about how batshit crazy Howard Hughes was when it came to every aspect of his life, but Scorsese and DiCaprio do their best to try and humanize the larger-than-life figure in this ambitious biopic. The film begins while Howard is trying to finish his war film Hell’s Angels and shows his meticulous side and how it influences his entire life, from his relationships to his aviation endeavours, to how he copes with his Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder that eventually turns him into an eccentric recluse.

The most interesting thing about this film is about how every aspect of Hughes’ life was intertwined with the next. There was no separation of his personal and private lives and each played for or against the other his entire life and in every facet. But, above it all, the film showed that despite how “crazy” he was he was exceedingly brilliant, focused, and he had the money to back up every dream he had. This film is a wonderful character study of a man everyone claims to have known but really didn’t.

Most Valuable Actor: One of the more focused arcs of Hughes’ story was his relationship with actress Katherine Hepburn, played wonderfully by Cate Blanchett. Though people not familiar with Hepburn’s style would see Blanchett’s portrayal more as a caricature, being familiar with her I find it a fitting homage to the late actress and a performance that does everything short of killing the titular character to steal the show.

Trailer:

Australia

Starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, and David Wenham
Directed by Baz Luhrmann
Year: 2008
IMDB / Wikipedia

With every Baz Luhrmann movie you get the sense that this is an epic film revolving around a common story because, let’s be honest, that’s what he does. Everything in his films is too fake to be real yet too real to be faked; drawing a sense of emotion from within you for something you know to be fiction and that is where his talents lay. In this film, Luhrmann tells the story of English socialite Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) who travels far from home to her husband’s small cattle farm in northern Australia only to find him dead and an entire world left in her care from the clutches of the evil cattle baron King Carney (Bryan Brown) and his ruthless lackey Fletcher (Wenham). To aid in her quest to keep her land, she enlists scruffy Drover (Jackman) and a young mixed-race child and together they find pride, love, and family in the unforgiving Australian outback.

But this movie is too much to take in all in one sitting. Both times I have seen this film I took a break in the middle because it’s really two films rolled into one. Never let it be said that Luhrmann ever told a simple story because every plot device available to Luhrmann was instituted to its full effect. The story is solid, the plot is well-crafted, and the emotion is there, but the film does seem to weigh heavy on the viewer. Plus, with a 165-minute runtime you feel every minute of it as Luhrman takes his time, builds the story, and leaves with an ending that is more satisfying and gripping that you may expect solidifying Luhrmann as a director that tells his stories well though you may have to be patient for the payoff.

Most Valuable Actor: Brandon Walters as the young mixed-race Aboriginal child, Nullah who is the heart of the story. The entire second and third acts of the film revolve around him and, though more passive audiences may find him a but too sweet and too charming, he plays his role well. Not destined to be a Hollywood player (as evidenced by his sparse IMDB listing) his one major film role is one that young actors should learn from and study.

Trailer:

The Austin Powers Trilogy

International Man of Mystery
Year: 1997
IMDB / Wikipedia / Trailer

The Spy Who Shagged Me
Year: 1999
IMDB / Wikipedia / Trailer

Goldmember
Year: 2002
IMDB / Wikipedia / Trailer

Starring:
Mike Myers
Michael York
Robert Wagner
Mindy Sterling
Seth Green
Verne Troyer
Elizabeth Hurley
Heather Graham
Beyonce Knowles
Michael Caine

All films directed by: Jay Roach

I’ve given myself over a week to let these films simmer and stew in my brain before I would allow myself to write this post. The reason: because of what these films do to me. The first was a classic send-up to the genre of 1960s and 70s hackneyed spy films with some great laughs, smart writing, and a sense of self-deprecation that seemed to counter the downright obnoxious Austin Powers character that Mike Myers penned for himself. The first one was good, but the other two were a steady toboggan-ride downhill from there.

Like with most comedy sequels, the later offerings were nothing more than a re-hashing of bits that landed, re-telling old jokes that seemed funny the first time, and a sense that the same ground was being covered time and time again. Myers may have done this as a nod to the fact that many of the spy movies it was lampooning did exactly the same thing, but that’s not what parodies are for. A well-done parody needs to be better than the original in certain aspects to make it more memorable and to help it stand on its own legs. The later films did nothing but tell the same story twice and never really advanced the narrative. Plus, it did what films like this should never do and that’s try and turn great static characters into something more than they are. (SPOILER ALERT ahead) … So, Dr. Evil is good, now? He and Austin are brothers? Don’t get me started on Goldmember’s cop-out ending or with the fact Mike Myers took his dual roles and expanded it to an obnoxious fat henchman and a ridiculous uber-flexible “villain” both of whom helped destroy the franchise. In short, if all you see is the first one then stop there, count your blessings, and move on with your life.

Most Valuable Actor: Though Myers’s attempt to match Eddie Murphy’s comic dexterity in the Klump movies resulted in Fat Bastard and Goldmember, his ability to bring Austin Powers and Dr. Evil to life were strokes of comic genius. Despite the fact he’s going to make a cash-grab with a fourth installment of the franchise, you cannot fault Myers on expanding on characters that have helped define a new generation of parody films.