Happy Christmas to you and your families from the Cardinal Review Staff. May you have a great holiday and a great New Year. Hope you get to see some of the great movies that have just been released =)
The sad thing is that the theater that is closest to my house is a commercial multiplex. Despite the fact that it is next to a fantastic coffee shop and in walking distance, the films they have rarely inspire me to make the seven block trek. In the past, I have routinely gone to catch some less-than-good action films to make my days off a bit less bland. It is only because it is so close that I subjected myself to National Treasure 2, Jumper, and Eagle Eye. (Ok, that’s a little bit of a lie. I saw Jumper because Shane Jenkins said the acting was so bad it had to be seen to be believed. And he was right…)
This is now the second weekend where I have been trapped inside my house and forced to weather the heat not coming from my radiators. Ideally, I would love to get out and go see a film - perhaps warm up with a nice cuppa beforehand. The current multiplex offerings, however, are bleak. Have holidays always been this bad?
I used to remember that there were always good winter movies. In the past couple years the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Narnia films were the backbone of the winter blockbuster season. My current choices are Quantum of Solace, Transporter 3, Bolt, Four Christmases, and Twilight. That is the best this Hollywood holiday season has to offer?
If I did not work for an art house cinema, I would happily journey across town and catch Slumdog Millionare, Milk or Synecdoche, but honestly, I do not want to cheat on my own place of employment, nor do I want to spend my time escaping my freezing house to be depressed. Is it a sad request to want to see a film for escapist purposes and not artistic ones, but not walk out feeling dumber? Part of me is happy that Hollywood got its moneymaking out of the way in the Summer (thank you Dark Knight) and has left room for some indie hits. But did it really have to push everything else into next year? I guess I need to find a good book to cozy up with, because there is nothing that is going to tempt me into watching Four Christmases.
Jean-Claude kickboxes through the fourth wall.
JCVD 
Belgium (2008)
Mabrouk El Mechri, dir.
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s self-reflexive JCVD provides the aging star of Kickboxer and Universal Soldier with a unique return to relevance. Artistic, personal, and peppered with action, the film should be enjoyable even to those not familiar with Van Damme’s cannon.
Largely in French and set in his native city of Brussels, JCVD presents an intimate portrait of the actor that, despite being fictional, cannot be too far from the truth. Opening with a brilliant, single-take action extravaganza (a must see for Van Damme fans), the aging star highlights his entire action career in five minutes. Flame throwers, machetes, and gun-toting henchmen are all dispatched by his signature roundhouse. This scene sets the stage for the rest of the film: a memory of glory days in contrast to the present.
After losing a role to Steven Segal (who promised to cut off his ponytail) and on the brink of losing his daughter in a custody suit, Vam Damme returns to Brussels to straighten out his life. Within minutes of his return, a post office is robbed at gunpoint and sources point to JCVD as the culprit. The genius of what follows is a mix of rumination on the difference between an action hero and actor, the desperation of post-fame, and a heist gone bad. The maxim that “There is no bad press” applies to not only Van Damme’s film persona, who brings throngs of fans to the scene of the robbery, but hints at a return of Jean-Claude on bigger screens.
JCVD is perhaps the film that may take Jean-Claude beyond straight to DVD action films and return him to the spotlight. Jean-Claude himself is unquestionably the key to the film, and his honest self reflection, which culminates in a fourth wall breaking monologue, imbues him with a reserved dignity. I hope that Universal Soldier 3 does not undo what JCVD has done.
When was the last time you saw a clever teen vampire love story?
Let the Right One In 
2008 (Sweden)
Tomas Alfredson, dir.
Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson
For those of you who thought this was going to be about Twilight, please stop reading this now. This is not the type of movie you will be interested in. If you are someone who has been itching for a sparse Scandinavian vampire love story, then I would suggest you hurry. I have a feeling this one will not be in the theaters long, especially now that Halloween (and Thanksgiving) have past.
Picked on in school and largely ignored by his divorced parents, 12-year old Oskar’s life matches the bleak, snow-filled courtyards that surround him. Looking for companionship and the strength to stand up to his tormentors, he finds a unique friendship and answer to both in his new neighbor Eli. Initially bonding through quiet loneliness, Oskar learns that Eli has deeper reasons for her distance from society.
Compared to the teenie-bopper version of Vampire love that is currently plaguing the multiplexes, Let the Right One In is a brilliant edition to the vampire genre. Instead of portraying Eli as a monster, Tomas Alfredson allows her to fill the same role as Oskar, a lonely sole looking for someone to befriend and look after her. The disturbing truth that Eli subsists on blood is humanized by casting it almost as an eating disorder she tries her hardest to overcome. For great stretches of the film, she withstains from feeding and seems gaunt and sickly; and when she tries the penny candy Oskar gives her, she is violently ill. This subtle move of using vampire lore, another example being the titular inablity to enter unless invited, go beyond mere stock character ticks but allow us to see the limitations of Eli’s life and what she is willing to sacrifice for her friendship with Oskar.
While this movie will not be for everyone, I would strongly recommend giving it a try. In contrast to over-hyped, standard horror fare, the simplicity and earnestness of the film is refreshing.
Just a quick post - all of the old reviews are still accesible through the old site, which you can access through our old films page. (Note - it will not work for Chrome users…see Do-Over.)
Is it truely a Bond film if you have to wait for the credits to learn her name is Strawberry Fields?
The Quantum of Solace 
2008 (UK)
Marc Forster, dir.
Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Olga Kurylenko
I have nothing against good action films and seeing this new Bond installment with the throbbing bass of the multiplex was an excellent way to end a wild week. However, there is a specific subset of action film that I have come to expect with Bond. Despite the fact that the perplexing title was taken from an obscure, but actual, Bond story, Quantum of Solace should have been named The Bourne Obsession. With Marc Forster at the helm after Martin Campbell bailed following his spectacular reinvention of Bond in Casino Royale, Bond changed directions sharply. So sharply in fact that he is no longer Bond.
By the numbers:
0 Number of times that the lines “Bond. James Bond.” are uttered.
0 Number of gadgets.
0 Number of memorable, witty one-liners.
100 Number of minutes it takes for the gun barrel opening and Bond theme to appear.
If I wanted to see a movie featuring rooftop chases, a spiteful spy, and location shots all around the globe, I would simply pop my copy of The Bourne Ultimatum into my DVD player. Paul Greengrass at least knows how to cut and pace action so that it is intelligible; Quantum was nauseating.
When I go to a Bond film, there are certain things that I have come to expect. That is because without them, there is not much to distinguish Bond from any other action film. Unfortunately, Paul Haggis’ script and Marc Forster’s emotional take on the 22nd installment cuts out all that makes Bond who he is. Sure there is some gritty subtext and some battles with M over how much a loose cannon he can be, but even when he reinvented Batman in 1985, Frank Miller did not strip him of the Batmobile, Batcave, and pointy ears.
With the griping out of the way, there is one fantastic scene worth seeing on the big screen. Shot at the Bregenz Opera Festival during the finale of Tosca’s Act II, Bond’s infiltration of “Quantum’s” meeting is fantastic. Puccini’s crazed music and the wild sets of the floating Festival cause Forster to linger a little longer and not jump so fast between cuts. The result is the only action scene in the film that has a true intensity and is not forced in the editing room.
Google Chrome was the last straw. I spent the better part of a month getting the auto-sort feature sorted out and all of the movie posters organized for better viewing. And they worked for the better part of a day. On that day, Google Chrome came out and none of my code worked. That was August 11, 2008.
So, I caved. I bought into someone else’s design and web-savvy organizational tools. But what that means is that we will hopefully be returning for good. All of the problems I had before, putting the design cart before the sitting down to actually write the reviews horse are now over.
Of course I am going to try to get this looking like the old site did - I put enough effort into that redesign to want to keep it. But from now on, I am not going to get stuck writing all of the code - I will let this nifty database do it for me. That means better organization for you: random selections, search capability, and less hassle finding good reviews.
It is going to take a little while to get sorted out, but it will be over a period of time. I hope to have all of the old reviews posted soon. Until then, as I have said before, check in often - we will be changing things. Hopefully this time, that means content and not just looks.
~Chris