esrosedotblog

GODZILLA ON STEROIDS

Today's movie was

Transformers (2007)

I wanted to see this because I am tracking Shia LaBoeuf's career and this was his latest effort.

It was not worth it to sit through the bullshit.

It is one of those CGI movies that knows it can't carry the weight so it adds all kinds of side plots.

The LaBoeuf teen comedy aspect is funny to a point but full frontal cliché and somewhat over the top. He is too nerdy to be so smart. Or something. It is a tough character but is LeBoeuf's strong niche.

It is time for him to grow out of it.

He is way better than the story.

The Quatar section with Josh Duchamel is lame to the nth degree.

The government sections—Jon Voight playing it straight—are all cartoonish.

The sets are too expensive and too distracting.

The action moves very fast so you don't have to think about anything.

There is even an amusing but nasty little robot like the little weasel in the Rings Trilogy only mechanical. It doesn't play.

The whole plot is one of those things where the outsiders have all the answers but the insiders won't let them in and so they have to keep struggling while the world is ending. Probably realistic but quite irritating when you have to sit for an 2 1/2 hours.

Yeh. Way, way too long. Too self regarding by half. Half an hour!

Like I said. Bullshit.

I shut it down after 45 minutes. I couldn't go the distance. Shia or no Shia.

I will give it a stinker 1 out of Netflix5.

I hope they let LeBoeuf grow up in the Indie Jones sequel he is now filming or he will disappear into Dreamworks land never to be seen again.

Labels: film, films, shia

TO HELL AND BACK

I watched one quarter of

Constantine (2005)

I watched any of it so I could see Shia LaBouef.

I wanted to view all the movies he has made, you see.

This one is a graphic novel (comic book) adaptation (Hellblazer) and has so many effects you can't hear the dialog. Echoes, whooshes, impending doom sounds.

Keanu Reeves is Constantine and that is good.

LaBouef is Keanu's sidekick with a wannabe fascination for his hero.

We also have Pruitt Taylor Vince and Tilda Swinton.

I really like watching all these folks but they cannot save this picture which is a compendium of horror effects and bad demons trying to cross over from hell or someplace.

It is all a bummer.

Constantine is dying from high speed lung cancer. He is a lifetime chain smoker.

Rachel Weisz is in it too but I couldn't figure how she got there or what she was doing. She gave me a headache.

Some of the setups are pretty good. The opening is riveting.

But then there is an exorcist kind of segment; been there done that.

It is all segments.

The director is fresh from a music video career.

There is no music.

And so on.

This is a rare 1 out of Netflix5.

I did get the irony of Shia LaBoeuf coming up and Keanu coming down. My interest in the former waning and the latter growing.

LaBoeuf is not a Keanu. If anything he is an anti-Keanu.

LaBeouf is more John Cusack.

Anyway, I can scratch this one off the list of unseen LaBouef films.

I didn't see it all but I saw him. That was enough.

Labels: films, shia

BALLS

Today's movie was Bill Paxton's

The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005)

We watched it because I wanted to see Shia LaBoeuf who stars as Francis Ouimet who wins the 1913 American Open from the golf great Harry Vardon.

Ouimet has a great life story as does his caddy Eddy Lowery. Both are enshrined in a statue at the Brookline Country Club that depicts this photo.

Now I do not do golf in any form but this is one hell of a movie.

It is a great story and the special effects with the ball and the course and the players add to the drama. They do not distract. I think that Paxton has managed to take what could have been an interminable set of golf course shots and made it compelling and full of energy.

I do not know how a dedicated golfer would view it. I asked one today. We will see what he says.

In the meantime, I will be giving this film a 4 out of Netflix5. The story is great and the actors do a sufficient job but they never come up to the golf itself.

Except, of course, for Shia LaBouef and Stephen Dullane who play the principals; Ouimet and Vardon.

They are not played as rivals so much as brothers under the skin.

Both are lower class, both play from the inner golfer, Ouimet's rise is inspired by Vardon and so on.

The 'villain's, such as there are, are the upper class bastards who controlled the game at that time and the hangers on.

The background story about Ouimet and his father are first rate and not all soppy. I love Dad stuff.

I had a good time and I will not be taking up golf anytime soon.

Labels: films, shia

TIME WARPS

Today's film was

Holes (2003)

starring Shia LaBoeuf. He was 16 when this was shot.

He is good and it is interesting to see him grow in the film itself—dumb clueless kid to savvy hero.

This is based on a well known young adult book which everyone seems to know about but me.

It is a great film. Family fare. G rating. We do not see many of those.

It also has Jon Voight, Sigourney Weaver, and, an old favorite of mine, Tim Blake Nelson. Henry Winkler plays the dad and other stars appear here and there.

There are many levels to the film and it is challenging to watch. Not mental chewing gum.

We liked it a lot.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5. It is not a classic but it is very very well done.

Labels: films, shia

SHIA

I know. I know. You have heard enough about Shia LaBouef.

But maybe not.

Here is a great review in The Onion AV Club

Interview: Shia LaBeouf

Labels: shia

DISTURBIA

My interest in the young actor Shia LaBeouf has had some good results.

'Disturbia' grabs movie-goers' attention

I liked this quote (bold):

"Disturbia" launches a breakout year for LaBeouf, whose long-rumored casting in the fourth "Indiana Jones" movie was confirmed Friday by producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg, one of the founders of DreamWorks.

This summer, LaBeouf provides the lead voice for Sony's animated penguin comedy "Surf's Up" and stars in the science-fiction saga "Transformers."

"The person you want to be right now is Shia LaBeouf. I want to be Shia LaBeouf. I want to be 20 and have all this happening to me. It's really great for him," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "2007 is Shia's year. He proved he can open a movie all by himself."

Labels: shia

STARWATCH

I run through new young movie stars.

Keannu, Matt—even Johnny—have sort of lost my interest.

It is not a conscious process. There is not one day that I swear off any of them.

They just pass; as the seasons.

I am always on the lookout for new blood to replace the old. I am not searching. It is just that one day someone catches my interest and sticks.

The current interest is Shia LaBeouf.

I saw him in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.He played the young Dito. The old Dito was Robert Downey Jr.

He is in a new release this weekend. Disturbia. Good reviews in the NYT.

He will be in the new Indiana Jones as the grandson of Indiana and, I think, the new star of the franchise.

Not too good a career turn. I don't like them to disappear into franchises. Goodbye Toby.

His bio is interesting. Read the link above.

I got an answer to why I like him when I read this. He is considered by some to be a young John Cusack; an actor of whom I never grow tired.

Labels: films, shia