The TV Addict 

For once synergy produces something amusing. Just in time for his sequel to hit theatres this Friday, Hellboy has been making appearances all over the place, whether he is doing public service announcements or lending his darling red face to various TV shows. My personal favorite is this one where Hellboy and Chuck (from one of my favorite shows of the past season … CHUCK) sit, play video games, and complain about how all this governmental subterfuge doesn’t mean they get the celebrity they so rightfully deserve. Great idea, even if you know it’s a superficial attempt at cross promotion.

With Zooey Deschanel there’s no one specific thing that makes me have such a big crush on her. It’s rather the amalgamation of so many things that make her so adorable and admirable. It’s the knee-weakening sexy, sultry, raspy voice. It’s that face that somehow manages to be both gorgeous and utterly cute at the same time. It’s that sheepish smile that seems to always suggest she knows something you don’t, but likes you anyway. It’s her dry, devilish (and funny) wit. It’s the expressive and lively eyes that seem to convey so much warmth, regardless of where they are directed. It’s her range of talent that allows her to seem at home in both mainstream Hollywood films and quirky, dramatic indie flicks. It’s the major hipness credit she gets for being the lead singer in an indie music band (She & Him), and the fact that she has a phenomenal voice.

It’s the personality that comes across both in her public appearances and in her film roles of being an endearing, adorable, down-to-earth everyday woman. She seems completely natural and totally at ease with who she is, and the world around her (check out the Kimmel interview below to see what I mean). She’s the type you could see yourself talking to into the wee hours of the morning about everything and nothing. The type who would be happy going on silly mini-golf adventures, dressing to the nines for a night on the town, or watching movies together (she loves old movies, especially screwball comedies, another thing I love about her).

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Back when I was a wee teenage lad, having just returned to America after a stint in Germany, I stumbled into a theatre on July 4th weekend to see INDEPENDENCE DAY. From that day on, I knew July 4th was a special day in movies, one where you could sit down to a veritable feast of special effects, explosions, and gloriously over-the-top fun action drama. So here in no particular order are the best (and worst) Independence Day weekend movies I’ve seen in theatres.

Best Films

SPIDER-MAN 2
Not only the best SPIDER-MAN movie, one of the best super-hero movies too date, but clearly in the top ranks of Independence Day weekend movies. It had everything an actually great film should have, regardless when it comes out. That being said, SPIDER-MAN 2 was a refreshing July release because it not only provided exciting action and high stakes, but thanks to its screenwriters also legitimate, accomplished drama.

TRANSFORMERS
I know there are a lot of people out there who don’t like TRANSFORMERS, but it is quintessentially what a July 4th movie should be like (right down to its flaws). Admittedly, perhaps I was able to enjoy the movie’s grand spectacle so much because I was never attached enough to the TV show to cringe in horror as the robots in disguise were turned into slightly goofy sidekicks. I also have nothing against Spielberg or Bay, at least not when they’re firing on all mainstream cylinders as they are here. Sure, it’s not a great film, but it’s a good summer movie, which is sort of the point of Independence Day movies.

TERMINATOR 2
If you even have to question why this movie is on the list, I’m not sure you’re a film buff. TERMINATOR 2 is one of the greatest action films ever made. Do I really need to say more?

INDEPENDENCE DAY
The one that truly started the whole Independence Day trend we have today. Sure, there were other movies, but I’d argue it was really INDEPENDENCE DAY – in all its silly epic grandeur – that truly set the standard for what type of movies people were looking for in July, and what type of movies would be made to cater to that demand. It also established for green-eyed studio heads how much friggin money can be earned on Independence Day weekend with the right high-profile product. As for the film, well, having re-watched it recently on Blu-Ray it holds up surprisingly well. Still silly, but still lots of fun.

MEN IN BLACK
Though I’m not sure I’d like it so much anymore now, at the time of its release I adored MEN IN BLACK. Probably the main reason was not only because it was perfect high-concept summer material, but because unlike many of its July kin it wasn’t bogged down by a case of self-importance and top-heavy seriousness. Instead it gave us an refreshingly funny and quirky spin on the summer movie that was most welcome, and that hasn’t really been reproduced in a Independence Day weekend film since. Well, except for … well, keep reading.

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Watching HANCOCK something dawned on me. Will Smith is currently not only the biggest movie star in the world, but like his character in that movie I might even argue he’s the only one of his kind left.

Now when I say movie star, I’m talking about the kind we had many of back in the 1990’s, the kind whose presence in a film could single-handedly guarantee at least a $20 million draw at the box office. We’re talking Jim Carrey, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Adam Sandler, Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts. These were stars that could get people to see a movie solely based on the fact that they were in it, and would make loads of money. Sure, admittedly, a lot of those films they starred in were high-profile summer blockbuster, which helps things considerably. The spectacle of the movies catered perfectly to the spectacle of their movie stardom.

These days though stars of that caliber seem to have all but disappeared, and I can think of a few reasons why. Some of those above mentioned stars have fallen prey to controversy and/or made idiots of themselves (Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise). Some have distanced themselves willingly from the public or projects (Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts). Some are starting to outstay their welcome, or unsuccessfully struggle between branching out and predictably pigeonholing themselves into the same old shtick (Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler). Throw in the fact that special effects have emerged as stars themselves, tabloids have reached new levels of overexposure, and the rising costs of movies (and hence greater risks) and you have a few more reasons.

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On the TV Addict
In honor of Canada day, we posted some of our favorite current Canadian small screen actors and actresses, posted an interview with BURN NOTICE’s Sharon Gless and stalked TORCHWOOD star John Barrowman at a taping of CBC’s HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA?

On the REEL Addict
We reviewed HANCOCK, posted the first five minutes of THE DARK KNIGHT and revealed some of our own favorite Canadian actors and actresses in honor of Canada Day.

This REEL Addict wants to wish a happy Independence Day weekend to one and all of my American readers. Having spent many years in America, I have several fond memories of July 4th weekend, most of them involving me gorging myself on mega-action blockbusters, or on an insane amount of food. Sometimes both at the same time. It wasn’t pretty, but still good times and that’s exactly what I hope for all of you, no matter what you’re doing.

Before you feel left out, have no fear. Just as my fellow Canadians got a special Canada Day themed film list, so too will our neighbors to the south get one. It might be a little less nation centered, but it will be a distinctly July 4th related list. Stay tuned.

Alex Proyas has earned himself years of respect for his hidden science fiction gem DARK CITY. Though I ROBOT got a lot of flack, I thought it was a genuinely fun action science flick. That’s why I’m still very much looking forward to his next fantasy/science fiction projected THE KNOWING. Though the trailer doesn’t feature anything uber-exciting (aside from that plane), I find the idea more than interesting and it has me already wondering all sort of things like where did those prescient numbers come from? And if somebody wrote them down to warn people, why the heck would they put it in a time capsule? (Guess they weren’t so clairvoyant after all).

There’s a scene in HANCOCK where the invulnerable reluctant super-hero played by Will Smith stops an oncoming train by standing directly in front of it. The sheer force of a speeding train ramming into an immovable object causes it to not only stop dead in its track but to be crushed, and all the cars behind it completely derail and scatter everywhere, making a huge mess.

It’s a perfect encapsulation of what goes wrong with HANCOCK halfway through the film, and what makes the Peter Berg directed movie the second Will Smith project (after I AM LEGEND) in a row that starts of promisingly and then violently and destructively derails. What’s more, in both films it happens after a very particular turning point that marks an abrupt change in each films’ narrative status quo.

Till that turning point occurs HANCOCK proves to be a somewhat refreshing, maybe even unique, take on the super-hero movie genre, by providing a distinctly anti (super) hero. John Hancock is a petty, alcoholic, abrasive, inept self-involved super. He’ll commit heroic acts, but it’s such an obligatory burden to him that he does it with callous disregard of property (ringing up millions of dollars in damage to the city) and others. As a result people have come to hate him, so he treats them and his surroundings with equal – and perhaps vengeful – distain. Hancock is a welcome spin on the superhero mythology by somewhat subversively suggesting that even if “with great power comes great responsibility,” if that responsibility isn’t accepted with the right intensions – or through only a sense of obligation – it’s perhaps more destructive than not accepting it in the first place.

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Cinematical’s Eugene Novikov latest edition of his excellent “From Page to Screen” column highlights an author and a novel very near and dear to my heart. Bear with me, I’m about to venture into theLiteraryaddict territory for this post, but it’ll come back to film, I promise. Sort of.

Richard Yates is one of the best authors of the twentieth century, and you’ve probably never heard of him. In many ways he’s become something of an inside thing, known and cherished by any number of famous authors whom he has influenced and also those with an obsessive love for fine literature. Though he wrote many successful novels, his most accomplished one was “Revolutionary Road” which many (including myself) consider to be one of the great American novels. It remains one of my favorite literary works ever (as are Yates breathtaking collection of short stories), and again you’ve probably never heard of it.

Except maybe you have now that Justin Haythe has adapted the novel into a screenplay to be directed by Sam Mendes, and starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. If not, do please head on over to Cinematical to check out Nokikov’s excellent article which does a great job of highlighting why “Revolutionary Road” is such a phenomenal novel and why you should be buying/reading it right now. Hopefully the film (and Novikov’s article for that matter) will get Richard Yates some of the attention he so righteously deserved, but never got as was poignantly and heart-breakingly documented in Blake Bailey’s excellent biography, “A Tragic History: The Life and Works of Richard Yates.”

If not, well then if you made the effort to read any of Yates work at least you will be part of the inside thing I mentioned above. And who doesn’t like to be an insider?

Because July 19 can’t come soon enough, enjoy the first five minutes of THE DARK KNIGHT