Adam Fendelman

‘Michael Jackson’s This is It’ Would Evocatively, Memorably Move Even Rhythmless Zombies

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:59:03 -0600

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Even a rhythmless zombie will be able to siphon Michael Jackson’s prowess now. And this time, this is it.

If you thought the king of pop wouldn’t deliver on his latest bout of 50 sold-out worldwide concerts, think again. “Michael Jackson’s This is It” takes you on a raw ride behind the scenes, pulls at all the right heartstrings and unleashes what the late master performer would have done had he not passed much too young.

The poster for the “Michael Jackson’s This is It” concert film.
Image credit: Sony Pictures

The 112 minutes of this Michael Jackson legacy – comprised of footage leading up to his very last weeks on Earth – fly by as you try to prevent the closing credits from scrolling too soon. No matter your musical taste, there likely isn’t a tune in this concert film that you won’t recognize (perhaps except for one about MJ’s green love for our “sick” planet).

The documentary and its CD sountrack feature most of the following hits: “Thriller,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Billie Jean,” “This is It,” “Earth Song,” “Heal the World,” “Black or White,” “Beat It,” “Who is It,” “Threatened,” “Ghosts,” “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground),” “The Love You Save,” “I’ll Be There,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Put the Blame on Mame,” “Human Nature,” “HIStory,” “Jam,” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Speechless,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin,” “They Don’t Care About Us” and “Bad”.

For the right to whittle these minutes down from more than 100 hours of rehearsal footage, Sony Pictures paid a handsome $60 million. The film, which opened in 99 countries on Oct. 28, 2009, currently only has a planned two-week run. “Michael Jackson’s This is It” will expand to 110 countries by this weekend and could be extended beyond the two weeks depending on its box-office performance.

The tour was supposed to begin in the summer of 2009 in London. The film, which is produced with the full support of Michael Jackson’s estate, chronicles the lead up to the tour from March through June 2009. Tickets for the currently limited film engagement went on sale on Sept. 27, 2009. The featurette from the film can be watched now below.

Interestingly, only Michael Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009 upgraded the film to the big screen despite an initial plan for it to go straight to DVD.

Director Kenny Ortega (“Michael Jackson Memorial” on TV, “High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” “High School Musical 2,” “High School Musical,” “Hocus Pocus,” “Newsies”) uses the rare screen time not only for one last reminder of how Michael Jackson’s trend-setting stylings remain timeless but also as a unique peak inside the man in this mirror.

“Michael Jackson’s This is It” captures the artist’s perfectionism, love for his fans, adoration for his colleagues and perhaps most surprisingly his loneliness despite a legion of global lovers.

You get the sense that Michael Jackson sometimes tunes into the world that loves him but also fades out to another place where he hears what it’s supposed to sound like, sees what it should look like and feels what it must feel like. Though Michael stands on stage with either no one in the crowd or just his close-knit band of performers, he projects what it would have looked like with his full houses.

The film is paced chronologically in the order in which the tour was rehearsed. The editing room revolved between using high-definition frames as well as lower-quality rehearsal footage. If lower-quality footage was intended to give you the sense that you’re a fly on the wall in this rehearsal space, the same feeling was accomplished with the high-def cameras. It’s unclear why the decision was made to use lower-quality cameras.

The film’s most questionable decision, though, was to avoid the more controversial aspects of his life. While “Michael Jackson’s This is It” is pitched as a behind-the-scenes film and it delivers on that promise, the documentary serves as a pleasure chest to fans without objectively scrutinizing his life.

As would be expected, everyone in this film utterly respects and idolizes Michael Jackson. It’s as if anyone they’ve ever worked with before was practice for this prime time to shine with the best. The design of the film is to help compensate all these performers for the global tour was supposed to be but not meant to be.

While the film could receive criticism for emotionally exploiting a fan’s need for closure through financial gain, such a claim would be unwarranted. This is a story that’s worthy of the big screen and these performers deserve the rewards the film reaps.

RELATED READING
More film reviews from critic Adam Fendelman.

Though “Thriller” was injected with special effects now that weren’t around then, “Smooth Criminal” was designed now to look like it did long ago in Chicago. The film ultimately chooses to pay homage to Michael Jackson’s life – without recognizing his death – and allows the music to make his impact immortal.

“Michael Jackson’s This is It” from director Kenny Ortega features Michael Jackson along with the following performers: Alex Al, Nick Bass, Michael Bearden, Daniel Celebre, Mekia Cox, Misha Gabriel, Chris Grant, Judith Hill, Dorian Holley, Shannon Holtzapffel, Devin Jamieson, Bashiri Johnson, Charles Klapow, Jonathan Moffett, Tommy Organ, Orianthi, Darryl Phinnessee, Mo Pleasure, Dres Reid, Ken Stacey, Tyne Stecklein, Timor Steffens and more.

The film opened on Oct. 28, 2009. “Michael Jackson’s This is It” which has a running time of 112 minutes, is rated “PG” for some suggestive choreography and scary images.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

‘A Serious Man’ Plays as Masterfully Fictionalized Autobiography For Joel, Ethan Coen

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 10:55:28 -0600

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – “A Serious Man” isn’t the story of Joel and Ethan Coen’s lives. But you might not necessarily know it. While the brothers continue to turn their films into Hollywood gold, this 1967-set black comedy is among the more personal projects in their repertoire.

That gamut is growing into a serious catalog with “Burn After Reading,” 2007 best-picture Oscar winner “No Country for Old Men,” “The Ladykillers,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Fargo” and “Raising Arizona” now under their yamakas over the course of two decades.

Michael Stuhlbarg (left) stars as Larry Gopnik and Fred Melamed (right) stars as Sy Ableman in Joel and Ethan Coen’s “A Serious Man”.
Photo credit: Wilson Webb

While the yamaka is designed to signify deference to god, “A Serious Man” pays homage to the Coens’ culture in an authentically Jewish way. But this is more than just one of the more Jewish films you’ve seen since “Schindler’s List”. “A Serious Man” is powered by a highly internal script and actors who externalize a series of very unfortunate events.

The film centers around one man in particular who you’ve likely never seen on screen before: Michael Stuhlbarg. The Coen brothers, who are referred to in the industry as the “two-headed director” and are often known by actors to receive the same response to a question from either brother, took a chance on this cast. Tony Award nominee Michael Stuhlbarg plays Larry Gopnik.

Richard Kind stars as Uncle Arthur in Joel and Ethan Coen’s “A Serious Man”.
Photo credit: Wilson Webb

Gopnik is a Midwestern professor who watches his life fall apart before his own eyes. His wife asks for a divorce, his inept brother won’t move out of the house, his kid steals his money for plastic surgery, blackmail is attempted by his student and an anonymous tipster attempts to defame his character and prevent him from being awarded tenure.

Stuhlbarg, who was as surprised to win the lead role as you may be to see him on screen for the first time, said at the Chicago screening for the film that he was challenged by building accurate emotional progression with his character. Because the sequences were shot out of order, he said he constantly had to remember at where his character’s emotional evolution left off.

Left to his own devices and without direction by the Coen brothers, Stuhlbarg said he found it difficult not to unleash an extrovert when in a given moment he was supposed to be an introvert. The transition from an emotionally internal to an aggressively external person is believable because such attention was paid to assuring an authentic buildup.

Writers and directors Joel Coen (left) and Ethan Coen (right) on the set of their new film “A Serious Man”.
Photo credit: Wilson Webb

Stuhlbarg also commented on the intensely personal nature this film played for the Coens and how much of themselves they injected into it. The names of the characters who ride the school bus with Larry Gopnik’s son, Danny (Aaron Wolff), are the names of the children the Coens were raised with.

Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick, Jessica McManus, Peter Breitmayer, Brent Braunschweig, David Kang, Benjy Portnoe, Jon Kaminski Jr., Ari Hoptman and Alan Mandell as the omnipotent Rabbi Marshak round out a brilliantly cast crew of supporting actors without a single weak link.

The Coens made the conscious choice not to cast many of their regular choices (including Joel’s wife, Frances McDormand, who has starred in many of their films and is known for her “Fargo” role).

Following a fascinating and haunting initial Yiddish sequence that sets the stage for the film (where a potential “dybbuk” – or a dislocated soul of a dead person in Jewish folklore – is played by Fyvush Finkel), “A Serious Man” successfully explores intriguing questions about Judaism while challenging its faith, morality and family structure.

Amy Landecker stars as Mrs. Samsky in Joel and Ethan Coen’s “A Serious Man”.
Photo credit: Wilson Webb

While the pacing for the film is consistently melancholy, so does “A Serious Man” cast a potentially unfair impression of the common Jewish family.

Filmgoers need to remember that movies often take everyday situations to the extreme. The Coens aren’t necessarily saying every Jewish family lives like this or experiences such unfortunate events. While the script certainly sticks with you long after you leave the theater and tends to bring about curiosities in your own life, you are also left with many unanswered questions.

Though this is by Coen design, I find fault in the lack of a better back story. Why is Larry Gopnik so down on his luck in the first place? He seems like a good man. Are we to interpret from this that god (or “Hashem” in the Jewish faith) punishes good people? Why?

Larry Gopnik is mostly a third-party observer even to his own life. He’s usually watching it happen before his own eyes rather than taking control of the changes or attempting to do much about them. Despite seeking counsel from various rabbis, he constantly seems surprised about everything that unravels.

Stuhlbarg said in Chicago he found intrigue with this aspect of his character and how blind Gopnik is to his own life and the people in it. Stuhlbarg promised he’d take this lesson away from the film and be present with family and friends rather than absent.

While some films tie up all their loose ends and deliver a climactic gift to you in a perfectly wrapped present, the Coens don’t here.

Instead, their overarching goal is to encourage you to ask questions about yourself – no matter your faith or lack thereof – through an extreme example of how one man’s life can go terribly wrong when he doesn’t ask questions and take action.

“A Serious Man” from writers and directors Joel Coen and Ethan Coen stars Michael Stuhlbarg , Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick, Jessica McManus, Peter Breitmayer, Brent Braunschweig, David Kang, Benjy Portnoe, Jon Kaminski Jr., Ari Hoptman and Alan Mandell. The film opened everywhere on Oct. 9, 2009. “A Serious Man,” which has a running time of 105 minutes, is rated “R” for language, some sexuality and nudity and brief violence.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Jennifer’s Body’ a Bloody, Out-of-Body Dud For Oscar-Winning ‘Juno’ Scribe Diablo Cody

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:01:00 -0600

Rating: 1.5/5.0

CHICAGO – For Oscar-winning “Juno” writer Diablo Cody, writing “Jennifer’s Body” with “Transformers” star Megan Fox and “Mamma Mia!” star Amanda Seyfried as the two lead women was as much of an out-of-body experience as Charlize Theron’s against-type role in 2003’s “Monster”.

The difference? Theron nailed it; Cody bloodied this bold opportunity.

The insatiable appetite of Jennifer (Megan Fox) takes her on the prowl for a meaty snack in “Jennifer’s Body”.
Photo credit: Doane Gregory, 20th Century Fox

Since our Nov. 2007 interview with Cody for the Oscar-winning “Juno,” we know she’s as quick with her wit in person as she is with her pen for the screen.

While an early reading of the “Jennifer’s Body” script showed promise, once it hit the screen Cody’s razor-sharp wit was blunted against the mismatched backdrop of two female leads who couldn’t sell the script and the overarching horror tone that the talented Cody hasn’t yet mastered.

Like “Juno,” you still hear Cody’s obscure and uniquely twisted pop-culture references. Like “Juno,” you once again travel with Cody as she deftly maneuvers the cliché without being so. Like “Juno,” Cody has found another way to inject the importance of relationships into strong female roles.

Needy (Amanda Seyfried) emerges after encountering her best friend, Jennifer (Megan Fox), who has become
a demon in Diablo Cody’s “Jennifer’s Body”.
Photo credit: Doane Gregory, 20th Century Fox

But “Jennifer’s Body” more than disappoints – and, in fact, offends considering the prodigy who wrote it – on three primal levels.

First, the “horror” in this horror film merely used visual gore and loud, jarring noises as the mechanism by which you were supposed to be scared. Only doing so and doing so in predictable manners allowed you to successfully anticipate a “scary moment”. You’re therefore underwhelmed because you see it coming a mile away.

Second, I somewhat understand why Megan Fox was selected for this lead role, but she’s unquestionably all wrong for it like oil is for water. Sure, this script necessitated a sexually ravenous and stunning siren for its demonic, flesh-eating lead. Yeah, Fox fits that bill like she always does.

Jennifer (Megan Fox) prepares to feast on her best friend’s boyfriend, Chip (Johnny Simmons), in “Jennifer’s Body”.
Photo credit: Doane Gregory, 20th Century Fox

But either Fox needs to learn to be cast for a role when it’s more than just about physical beauty, or better yet, this film needed a sexpot who could successfully pull off the temptress act and act well, too. The latter? That’s not Fox’s forte.

Third, Amanda Seyfried’s performance is even more surprising and perplexing than Fox’s predictably underwhelming go at Cody’s first attempt at a horror film. That girl can act and sing. She demonstrated both playing opposite the legendary Meryl Streep in 2008’s “Mamma Mia!”.

While Seyfried even pulls off immersing herself into a world of Mormons in HBO’s “Big Love,” here she plays the less-attractive and weaker friend of the duo in a manner that’s well below her capabilities. It feels contrived for her to even be in this supernatural universe that Cody has strangely created.

Though the script is sprinkled with some well-inked Cody lines (almost entirely from Seyfried’s mouth, which is in stark comparison to the dirty garbage from Fox’s), this dotting will even cause diehard Cody fans to second guess what they may have thought was her impeccable pen.

After being possessed by a hungry demon, Jennifer (Megan Fox) transitions from being high school evil to the real deal in “Jennifer’s Body”.
Photo credit: James Dittiger, 20th Century Fox

It may take you a moment, by the way, to recognize Adam Brody in the film’s hunky indie-rock, lead-signing band role. Following my interview with Brody for “In the Land of Women,” I didn’t even make the connection for 60 minutes in. But Brody is the least of this film’s worries.

As well, a cameo role as Seyfried’s mom by the refreshingly talented Amy Sedaris pays off, but is still underutilized.

Even the relatively unknown Johnny Simmons dishes up a surprisingly genuine performance as Seyfried’s boyfriend. Still, when the three best-performed roles in the film come from various supporting actors who can’t carry the distaste away from the two lead roles, even the formulaic Hollywood ending can’t set the balance of this pendulum straight.

Since the 31-year-old, Chicago-born Diablo Cody is still new as a paid Hollywood scribe (she also expertly writes Showtime’s “United States of Tara” starring the flawlessly cast Toni Collette), I won’t dock her points for once again using much of her safe talent in “Jennifer’s Body” as she did in “Juno”.

As Cody’s still at that phase where she needs to prove herself until she can officially break out as a go-to writer who won’t do you wrong, using the riotous and fast-talking J.K. Simmons of “Juno” fame in a slow-talking “Jennifer’s Body” role is forgivable and does serve up some momentary refreshment.

With Cody also on as the film’s executive producer, seeing the names Jason Reitman and Mason Novick credited as producers is another safe selection. Reitman directed Cody’s “Juno” (as well as “Thank You for Smoking”) while Chicago-native producer Mason Novick is credited as first discovering Cody through her long-running blog, which was called “The Pussy Ranch”.

But while Karyn Kusama directing “Jennifer’s Body” makes some sense based on her directorial filmography of female-centric films to complement Cody’s tendency to write for strong female leads, having only directed one episode of TV’s “The L Word,” “Æon Flux” and “Girlfight” still reveals her as a relative newcomer and a risky selection to helm the film. The risk doesn’t pay off.

Nary a “horror” theme will you find in Kusama’s repertoire and it shines through like a discombobulated thumb in her latest work. As for Cody, she’s at her best when she’s writing comedy and, most important, awkward but true-to-life experiences of the artistic and eccentric kind.

But if there’s lauding to be awarded to Cody this time around, it’s only for the honesty of the extremes in a best friendship between two high school girls who are confusingly learning life, boys, sex and fitting in. Beyond that singularly redeeming theme, this film is a tragic desecration of mammoth talent that’ll serve as an arresting step back in Cody’s buoyant career.

“Jennifer’s Body” from Oscar-winning “Juno” writer Diablo Cody and director Karyn Kusama stars Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, J.K. Simmons, Amy Sedaris, Ryan Levine, Juan Riedinger, Colin Askey, Chris Pratt, Juno Ruddell, Kyle Gallner and Josh Emerson. The film, which was released nationwide on Sept. 18, 2009, is rated “R” for sexuality, bloody violence, language and brief drug use with a 102-minute running time.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Johnny Depp’s ‘Public Enemies’ Delivers Bona Fide Chicago Powerhouse

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:24:13 -0600

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Was John Dillinger an Adolf Hitler-level criminal mastermind or a modern-day Robin Hood superman? In the authentic reality portrayed by the god-like Johnny Depp in the Chicago-filmed “Public Enemies,” he’s a little bit of both for blockbuster filmmaker Michael Mann.

Unfortunately, Depp’s nemesis – special agent Melvin Purvis as played by “The Dark Knight” mainstay Christian Bale – falls flat. Bale rolls through the motions with a monotone and monotonous role that needed the tension of a World War conflict rather than a rubber band.

Christian Bale stars as special agent Melvin Purvis – the nemesis of the legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger – in “Public Enemies” from filmmaker Michael Mann.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

The French actress Marion Cotillard, on the other hand, delivers yet another intoxicating performance as Billie Frechette this time in a supporting role. We’re reminded why she ever-so-definitely deserved her 2008 Oscar for so absolutely embodying Edith Piaf in 2007’s “La Vie en Rose”.

Leelee Sobieski is thrown in toward the end as the downplayed character Polly Hamilton in a relatively wasted and unnecessary cameo. In addition, Matt Craven – who you’ve almost certainly never heard of, has no relation to Wes Craven and looks strikingly like Sean Penn – is merely being mentioned in this review for the three aforementioned points of comedy.

Giovanni Ribisi from “My Name is Earl,” “Friends” and the underrated film “Heaven” (that too many people haven’t seen but should rent tomorrow) methodically portrays Alvin “Creepy” Karpis. While John Dillinger was public enemy No. 1 for the FBI, Karpis was the final public enemy to be nailed.

Johnny Depp as the legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger in “Public Enemies” from filmmaker Michael Mann.
Photo credit: Peter Mountain, Universal Pictures

Karpis’ capture catapulted FBI director J. Edgar Hoover – portrayed with spot-on calculation by Billy Crudup of “Watchmen” and “Almost Famous” fame – and the FBI to national eminence. In the “Public Enemies” period piece, J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI both have a tall task: proving to the American government and people that they should exist and are competent crime stoppers.

The FBI takes on John Dillinger’s infamous bank-robbing gang as well as other high-profile public enemies (including Stephen Graham as Baby Face Nelson and Channing Tatum as Pretty Boy Floyd) as a launch pad for proving that their government jobs should exist and be handsomely funded.

While moviegoers clearly pack a love-or-hate relationship for Christian Bale following his long career of hit-or-miss films, Johnny Depp typically draws universal appeal at the box office from fans of all ages and genders. Depp’s deep, crazed, complicated and multi-dimensional portrayal of John Dillinger makes this film worth buying into for his performance alone.

Johnny Depp (left) and Marion Cotillard in “Public Enemies” from filmmaker Michael Mann.
Photo credit: Peter Mountain, Universal Pictures

While the camera always loves Depp’s face and he’s never tough to look at, WGA writers Michael Mann, Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman grace Depp with a bevy of potent material. He confidently crows in the film, for example, that he can rob a bank with his dogged posse in 100 seconds “flat”.

When Bale first meets and confronts Depp in jail one of the many times he’s captured before later escaping, Depp attempts to delve into Bale’s head about “what keeps him up at night” and whether the images of all the criminals he’s captured and killed haunt his dreams. When Bale turns the question back on Depp, the demented Depp only says one witty word: “coffee”.

Likewise, Dillinger’s balls-to-the-wall and aggressively confrontational criminal character is best exemplified by a scene when Depp walks right into a Chicago police department in the light of the day and without a guise.

Johnny Depp (middle) and Marion Cotillard in “Public Enemies” from filmmaker Michael Mann.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

Intrigued by finding the office of a special task force devoted singularly to his incarceration, he strolls through it at a snail’s pace and asks a gaggle of cops “what’s the score?” of a baseball game they’re listening to on the radio. They don’t even notice who’s asking.

The seminal moment in Chicago at the Biograph Theater – where Dillinger dangerously attends the 1934 film “Manhattan Melodrama” with Polly Hamilton – climatically executes with authenticity, tension and grainy, “you are there” cinematography.

Despite scores of cinematic achievements and veritable character representations, “Public Enemies” loses points on its pacing. Some moviegoers might find themselves feeling the film as episodic with an internal build to a climax rather than a more external and outwardly visual manufacture of events.

Certain scenes sometimes felt too ignorant even for the times, too.

While everyone knew what was really happening during the Holocaust but many were brainwashed into denying, ignoring or overlooking the mass genocide that was taking place right before their eyes, a naïveté by people who would have benefitted by turning Dillinger in sometimes felt forced and histrionic.

Despite such minor strikes and overlooking a yawn of a performance by Christian Bale, “Public Enemies” indeed stars two decisive characters among 2009’s best so far: Johnny Depp and the meticulously recreated environment that is the city of Chicago itself.

“Public Enemies” from director Michael Mann stars Johnny Depp, Christain Bale, Marion Cotillard, Leelee Sobieski, Giovanni Ribisi, Billy Crudup, Channing Tatum, James Russo, Stephen Dorff, Stephen Graham, Bill Camp, Chandler Williams, Branka Katic, Jason Clarke, Christian Stolte and David Wenham. The film, which was released nationwide on July 1, 2009, is rated “R” for gangster violence and some language with a 140-minute running time.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Sean Penn’s Oscar-Possible Harvey Milk Puts Face to Gay Rights in ‘Milk’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:03:22 -0700

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Just as Tom Hanks put a face to AIDS in 1993’s “Philadelphia,” Sean Penn has now put a face to gay rights as Harvey Milk in the new Gus Van Sant true-story film “Milk”.

While Penn’s Harvey Milk had the physical demeanor of a petite and gentle man, the fire inside the real-life activist for gay rights – and more broadly civil rights – was both his blessing and sometimes his poison. Milk found balancing personal relationships challenging amid his relentless quest to be the first gay politician in California.

Sean Penn stars as real-life gay rights icon Harvey Milk in director Gus Van Sant’s “Milk”.
Photo credit: Phil Bray

The film’s story takes place in the 1970s when those who were out of the closet were much less accepted than they are today. Milk found himself fighting not only the adversity to his political dream because it hadn’t been done before but also a powerful politician in his state as well as an omnipresent national force against gay rights.

But even more than gay rights, Milk’s life was devoted to the same tenants of newly elected U.S. president Barack Obama: change and hope.

Because of the political corollaries to Obama’s message for change today as well as the brouhaha in California now over gay marriage (and the potential to repeal the thousands who snuck in during the short period of time when the law allowed them), the timing for the release of the film today couldn’t be more prescient.

Alison Pill (left) and Emile Hirsch (right) star as real-life gay rights activists Anne Kronenberg and Cleve Jones (respectively) in director Gus Van Sant’s “Milk”.
Photo credit: Phil Bray

While we’ve seen Penn deliver Oscar-worthy roles before (he won for “Mystic River”) and he does again for Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting,” “Finding Forrester,” “Paranoid Park”), what assists in the power of his transformative character performance is the complement of a sea of other notable actors playing against type. We’re treated to an entirely new way to look at Emile Hirsch – whose character range is now light years away from 2007’s “Into the Wild” – and Diego Luna.

While in “Milk” he wore no dancing shoes from 2004’s “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,” Luna’s gay character as Milk’s real-life lover is both something we’ve never seen before from him but also something that’s most certainly not a stretch to see from him.

Josh Brolin – who for this critic took three times of screening 2007’s “No Country for Old Men” and then a brilliantly authentic performance in 2008’s “W.” as George W. Bush to be sold on him – was the one questionable link in this stalwart cast who could most loudly make you go “hmmm…”.

Diego Luna portrays Harvey Milk’s real-life lover Jack Lira in director Gus Van Sant’s “Milk”.
Photo credit: Phil Bray

Brolin’s inner conflict and heterosexual ways (despite an unusual homosexual inference from Milk) could leave you with the same mixed feelings about his performance that he clearly had in delivering his own character. While “Milk” currently stands out among director Gus Van Sant’s best film thus far, in his direction you certainly felt his ambition for honesty and authenticity.

But you also felt his sensitivity and even sometimes his restraint. His filmmaking felt like he’d show you just enough to do the story justice but not enough to go over the line and make you uncomfortable.

While a sign of interesting filmmaking is the willingness to make you uncomfortable, legendary filmmaking will do so with a purpose and a reason while leaving a meaningful and lasting impression. This isn’t a story to take lightly or a concept to be told delicately.

It’s a holocaust on inequality that’s demanding to be heard and absolved to break down even today’s barriers that still hold the gay man and woman back.

Make sure you stay for the credits. In a film that cast countless primary, supporting and background gay characters, you’ll be treated to the one and only credit of the entirely unknown actor Brian Yates Sharber as the “Gay Man”.

“Milk” stars Sean Penn as Harvey Milk along with Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, James Franco and Alison Pill. “Milk,” which is directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black, opened in Chicago on Nov. 26, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

In Purely Exploiting Gratuitous Violence, Paul W.S. Anderson’s ‘Death Race’ Remake Kills All Comedic Value

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:23:00 -0600

Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – While 2008’s “Death Race” makes no secret about being a remake of 1975’s “Death Race 2000” with David Carradine as the title character Frankenstein and Sylvester Stallone as his archrival Machine Gun Joe Viterbo, what’s perhaps less obvious but still clear is how the film steals from others.

Though the “Death Race” story has a different book cover, Jason Statham’s character as Jensen Ames and then the masked Frankenstein can be directly correlated to (as just one example) Nicolas Cage’s character in 1997’s “Con Air”. We’ve certainly seen this before: a man who’s supposedly in the slammer innocently and has a monster axe to grind.

Navigator Case (Natalie Martinez) arrives from the women’s prison in an action-thriller set in the near future with the world’s most brutal sporting event as its backdrop in “Death Race”.
Photo credit: Takashi Seida

While films today can be rewarded for being quality remakes of compelling yesteryear memories, 2008’s “Death Race” not only disappoints in its unoriginal ripping from other films but ultimately loses face in its mission merely for unadulterated and gratuitous violence.

“Death Race” is yet another film along the lines of so many second-rate Hollywood products we see today feeling pressured to blow stuff up bigger and badder while servicing the human need to fantasize in the utterly ridiculous. All the while, a weak story is slapped on top of what essentially just amounts to an anthology of big booms.

Sometimes films succeed in being pure entertainment and don’t attempt to have underlying meaning or instigate inspirational change. When they do, though, they’re most successful when their fundamental purpose at least has some redeeming value.

Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) drives Frankenstein’s Monster in an action-thriller set in the near future with the world’s most brutal sporting event as its backdrop in “Death Race”.
Photo credit: Takashi Seida

The unfortunately simple message of “Death Race” merely says we’re living in a time and place where financial corruption can allow us to prostitute ourselves to charge $250 to watch one guy violently off another for our viewing pleasure. In the film, 70 million morbid viewers take the plunge.

To keep our sanity and our hope in this day and age, we have to believe our society won’t ever bow that low.

Perhaps the most interesting choice for “Death Race” was to send it entirely astray from “Death Race 2000” in its lack of comedy. The 1975 version was only part violence and very much part comedy, too. This time around, though, there’s also no presidential plotline.

Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) kills time in his prison cell in an action-thriller set in the near future with the world’s most brutal sporting event as its backdrop in “Death Race”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

Instead of winning the 1975 death race for the chance to meet the president, the modern version offers the winner the chance to leave prison.

Frankenstein’s Monster is attacked in “Death Race”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

The relatively unknown supporting character Frederick Koehler in this “Death Race” is actually one of the most standout and appreciated roles in the film.

While not exactly comic relief, he plays a memorably tense character named Lists who essentially serves as Wikipedia for Statham’s race-to-the-death driving team.

As for the decision to cast Joan Allen in 2008’s version, we can only pray that she doesn’t continue her current line of typecast roles any further.

Playing the warden in “Death Race” is directly akin to her Pam Landy government character in 2004’s “The Bourne Supremacy” and then again in 2007’s “The Bourne Ultimatum”.

While her character is no surprise based on her past work, the opposite can be said about Tyrese Gibson’s role in “Death Race”. The real-life model plays Statham’s archrival Machine Gun Joe Viterbo as well as an Old Navy model trying to sell ultra-luxury chic on a fine designer’s runway.

With a strangely unnecessary homosexual spin scripted for Gibson’s character that doesn’t make any meaningful sense as to why his sexual orientation would even matter, even though he attempts to sell you on being a man who gets down and dirty you’re still afraid for him to break a fingernail.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Death Race” image gallery.

RELATED READING
More film reviews from critic Adam Fendelman.

One of the film’s one and only redeeming values is its decision to cast Statham as the title character.

Following his work on 2002’s “The Transporter” and then 2005’s “Transporter 2,” his ability to sell grit continues to get the job done here. Statham will deal his Frank Martin character a trilogy in 2008 with “Transporter 3”.

Famed filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson (who directed and wrote “Death Race” and also directed 2004’s “AVP: Alien vs. Predator,” 2002’s “Resident Evil” and 1995’s “Mortal Kombat”) continues playing to the darkest parts of the human heart and filling them with sludge.

Anderson in 2009 will next attempt to butcher a film version of “Castlevania” based on the beloved video game.

“Death Race,” which is written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, stars Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Natalie Martinez, Ian McShane, Max Ryan, Jason Clarke and Frederick Koehler. The film opened everywhere on Aug. 22, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Hit-or-Miss Mastermind Woody Allen Recaptures Genius With Eccentric ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:01:00 -0600

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – While legendary writer and director Woody Allen can’t always be equated with sheer genius these days and is more accurately described as a hit-or-miss proposition, the sorely undermarketed and film-festival touring “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” serves as unquestionable retribution for his recently questionable work.

The film, which stars Hollywood sensations Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz, all throughout makes you feel like Allen’s script has something brilliant up its artistic sleeve. While at times you’ll easily predict when sex is on deck, Allen uses “No Country for Old Men” star Javier Bardem literally as his blunt instrument.

Penélope Cruz stars as María Elena in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” from director Woody Allen.
Photo credit: Victor Bello, The Weinstein Company

In the real world, of course, even a man of his charisma couldn’t walk up to a woman with Scarlett Johansson’s magnetism and lure her into a weekend of bliss and eroticism with these simple words: “We’re getting on my plane in an hour for a weekend of drinking fine wine and making love.”

While Bardem can this time because Allen’s script makes Johansson’s risqué character do it, his true treat is scoring a triple play by convincing Johansson’s rule-driven friend – played by the relatively unknown Rebecca Hall – to seek the same interesting slice of life.

Hall’s character is completely out of character in going along with this ride and is in the process of marrying a man who feels to her much like a sedative.

Javier Bardem (left center) and Scarlett Johansson (right center) star in Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”.
Photo credit: Victor Bello, The Weinstein Company

Amid all the wining and dining, Bardem displays his range as an actor. He puts out of our mind his powerfully villainous character in “No Country for Old Men” and completely transforms himself for Allen’s creation into an artistic, charismatic and confident Spanish lover.

The protagonists, of course, wouldn’t be complete without the antagonistic presence of Penélope Cruz. Despite training rigorously with a teacher and a paintbrush for her painting scenes, though, Cruz still admits to having “faked” these scenes.

In fact, Cruz says in real life she’s a “terrible artist” and is nothing like her “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” character. While she gets by with the brush in the film, it’s not her painting that ultimately slathers herself memorably onto you.

Left to right on set: Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”.
Photo credit: Victor Bello, The Weinstein Company

It’s her irate, suicidal and jealous performance that stands out with its emotional and physical carnage. Cruz landed the role of María Elena from director Woody Allen in 40 seconds flat.

Scarlett Johansson’s appearance in the latest Allen work of art is especially his personal joy. Despite appearing in three Allen films in the past three years (“Match Point” in 2005, “Scoop” in 2006 and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” in 2008), Johansson decisively denies being his latest “muse”.

When the subject has come up repeatedly in press junkets for the film, she always says they take pleasure in “having fun” together. The 72-year-old Allen, on the other hand, liberally confesses that the 23-year-old “Lost in Translation” star has often been the muse for many of his latest films.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” image gallery.

RELATED READING
More film reviews from critic Adam Fendelman.

Johansson follows in the shadows of actresses and former Allen lovers Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow. Instead of it being Johansson in 2005’s “Match Point,” Allen initially selected British star Kate Winslet.

While Winslet may have gone on to muse Allen thereafter, she pulled out from the 2005 film to spend more time with her children.

Despite its interesting backstory and compelling film story, the whole work of art that is “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” goes somewhat to poop in its anti-climatic ending. You can feel Allen struggling with how to end this fascinating journey. His decision to waiver somewhere in the grey matter of life is a tragically unfulfilling choice.

Had the ending been rewritten, “Vicky Christina Barcelona” would be one of Allen’s finest works without question. Even without the rewrite, though, it stands as one Allen magnum opus nonetheless.

“Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” which is written and directed by Woody Allen and stars Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, Patricia Clarkson and Chris Messina, opens on Aug. 15, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ Boldly Goes Animated With Potent Story, Mediocre Animation, Anemic Acting

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:01:00 -0600

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” which is the inaugural animated “Star Wars” project from Lucasfilm Animation and “Star Wars” architect George Lucas, feels and looks every bit as introductory as a foundational attempt could be.

In many ways, the film again typifies what every “Star Wars” film always does. We’re again treated to yet another compelling storyline. Despite public perception that Lucas declared three years ago that the decades-long “Star Wars” saga has come to an end, Lucas now clarifies.

Jedi Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) prepares for battle in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.
Image credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Lucas merely says the Skywalker family plotline has runs its course.

Upon its completion, he now has a plethora of new stories to impart – and much more money to rake in – about the beloved galaxy so far, far away. In the “Star Wars” storyline, the three-year clone wars took place between “Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones” and “Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”.

Story aside, though, we’re again deluged with atrociously melodramatic acting (this time solely in the form of voice work). What’s most interesting is that the cheesy acting, which is legendary in the “Star Wars” saga, actually for the first time has found a better home.

Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) engages in battle with an enemy in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.
Image credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

The animated format actually manages to dial down the dreadful acting and makes it more tolerable than the live-action, human format.

In terms of the quality of its animation, which is clearly front and center in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” the film flirts in a middle ground between amateur and truly elite design work. The quality of the work neither completely underwhelms nor blazes a new path for the future of animation.

The animation ultimately pales in comparison to the world’s best movie animator – Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios – and much more closely resembles modern-day video games. You needn’t put this animation under a microscope to see the awkwardly square designs where decidedly smoother and rounder imagery should appear.

Heroic Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) confronts a foe from the past in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.
Image credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

It’s also no secret that “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” is essentially a feature-length, glorified television pilot for Lucas’ upcoming cable TV series of the same name. The 30-minute TV version, which will also be fully animated, is slated to premier on Oct. 3, 2008 on the Cartoon Network.

Lucas took a chance and cashed in on a big bet when he brought on his own “padawan learner” – Dave Filoni – to direct the feature-length animated film “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.

This image is Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman) concept art for “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.
Image credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Prior to the brazen Hollywood assignment, the relatively unknown Filoni only had directing experience with seven episodes of the low-profile TV series “Avatar: The Last Airbender”.

Now Filoni isn’t the only relative unknown who Lucas selected as a primary driver of the film.

Aside from original “Star Wars” actors Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of Mace Windu, Christopher Lee as the voice of Count Dooku and Anthony Daniels as the voice of C-3PO, nearly all other characters look like, sound like and act like their “A”-list counterparts but certainly aren’t.

Yoda, for example, is now voiced by Tom Kane rather than the famous Frank Oz.

Anakin Skywalker (who later becomes Darth Vader) is Matt Lanter (instead of Hayden Christensen), Obi-Wan Kenobi is James Arnold Taylor (instead of Ewan McGregor), Padmé Amidala is Catherine Taber (instead of Natalie Portman) and Chancellor Palpatine is Ian Abercrombie (instead of Ian McDiarmid).

Amid the bunch of newcomers and unknowns, Lucas does his greatest service with the introduction of the talented but reckless padawan learner Ahsoka Tano. Rather than being assigned to Obi-Wan Kenobi for her Jedi training, though, Yoda selects Anakin Skywalker to take her on.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” image gallery.

RELATED READING
More film reviews from critic Adam Fendelman.

Voiced by TV talent Ashley Eckstein (whose longest TV run has been eight episodes on “That’s So Raven”), Ahsoka Tano is as much the star in this film as any other more recognizable character.

Rotta the Huttlet (voiced by David Acord) is also an endearing character introduction. He’s the ailing baby of Jabba the Hutt.

Pixar, by the way, was actually founded in 1979 as a division of Lucasfilm. It was then spun off and purchased in 1986 by Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs.

The Walt Disney Co. then scooped up Pixar in 2006 for a not-too-shabby $7.4 billion. Lucasfilm Animation was founded in 2003 as a division of George Lucas’ Lucasfilm.

“Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” which is directed by Dave Filoni and written by George Lucas and others, stars Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, Tom Kane, Nika Futterman, Ian Abercrombie, Catherine Taber, Kevin Michael Richardson, David Acord and Anthony Daniels. The film opened everywhere on Aug. 15, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

God’s Vajoojoo Tastes Like Semi-Glorious ‘Pineapple Express’ in Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen Stoner Film

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:01:00 -0600

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – If god had a vajoojoo, Judd Apatow and company think it’d taste something like smoking “Pineapple Express”. There’s no question “Pineapple Express” is ultimately a stoner film, but is it the ultimate stoner film of our decade?

Always the most difficult proposition in a comedy is maintaining its comedic pacing with consistency.

Dale Denton (Seth Rogen, standing) and Saul Silver (James Franco, being carried) are two lazy stoners running for their lives in “Pineapple Express”.
Photo credit: Dale Robinette

A comedy’s goal is to sidesplittingly laugh your socks off from start to finish (and even after the credits roll). So often, though, a semi-successful comedy will instead feel like a humorous rollercoaster replete with some ups and some downs due to the inability to maintain its “A”-game material in a consistent fashion.

“Pineapple Express” falls victim to the comedic consistency trap. While the story has its heart in the right place for a film that’s centered on reefer madness and the script successfully grows ever-more complex and ridiculous, the story needs to be sliced and diced.

For every two comedic lines that successfully land one falls short. While the film certainly has the beginnings of stoner-film greatness, it’s still sometimes stifled by lines that had the potential to be roundhouse knockouts and instead were crippled stumbles.

Saul Silver (James Franco, left), Red (Danny McBride, center) and Dale Denton (Seth Rogen, right) in “Pineapple Express”.
Photo credit: Dale Robinette

That said, everything successful about “Pineapple Express” comes in threes from its writing (Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg) and its primary actors (Seth Rogen, James Franco and Danny McBride).

There’s a lot of talk about James Franco playing against type for this role. Based on his performance, though, this shouldn’t be viewed as Franco playing against type. This should be viewed as Franco having found his type. For Franco, all other roles pale in comparison.

Despite his excruciatingly untalented performances in box-office monoliths “Spider-Man,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Spider-Man 3,” Franco’s drug-dealing, always-high demeanor in “Pineapple Express” proves he indeed has acting chops that have been otherwise been hidden away. All he needed was a little Mary Jane to deliver him from acting evil.

Dale Denton (Seth Rogen, left) and Saul Silver (James Franco, right) are two lazy stoners in “Pineapple Express”.
Photo credit: Dale Robinette

Now a painfully atrocious “Pineapple Express” performance by Rosie Perez – who hasn’t delivered a noteworthy performance since 1992’s “White Men Can’t Jump” (or 2001’s “Riding in Cars with Boys,” but that’s really stretching things) – without a doubt is the trippy film’s biggest buzzkill.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Pineapple Express” image gallery.

RELATED READING
More film reviews from critic Adam Fendelman.

Gary Cole (her partner in crime) delivers an equally frightful performance. Amber Heard – a name you’ve likely never heard of before – continues trying to make her way in Hollywood after being bolstered by various “hot” ratings from magazines including Jane and Maxim.

Heard plays Rogen’s much younger high school girlfriend who fits with him just as much as a Mormon fits married to a Jew. Though this film is marketed with the burgeoning star power of James Franco and Seth Rogen behind the powerful comedic name of writer and producer Judd Apatow, we are not to forget Danny McBride.

Whether you loved McBride or hated him in “The Foot Fist Way” (or have never even heard of that film), “Pineapple Express” isn’t just the duo its advertising may have made you believe. McBride is the necessary tripod of this trio. Rogen co-wrote the story along with Apatow and Evan Goldberg (who also wrote “Superbad” along with Rogen).

“Pineapple Express,” which is directed by David Gordon Green and is written by Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow and Evan Goldberg, stars Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Rosie Perez, Amber Heard, Gary Cole and Kevin Corrigan. The film opened everywhere on Aug. 6, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Despite Jet Li’s Would-Be Resurrection, ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’ Still Flops

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:35:55 -0600

Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The threequel that culminates with “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” is so hackneyed that even the main star of the previous two films – Brendan Fraser – wasn’t enough to sell audiences on a third return. Universal Studios needed to enlist co-star Jet Li to stand a fighting chance and take the mood the Asian way.

Jet Li as the vicious emperor comes back to life in “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” which races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the spectacular Himalayas.
Photo credit: Digital Domain, copyright Universal Studios

If there’s a single success this may have, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” may finally be the only film that can vanquish the epic, two-week reign of “The Dark Knight” at the box office. Projections target approximately $50 million for its opening weekend.

Brendan Fraser’s Hollywood dossier is currently most memorable for these three films, which progress from mediocre all the way to 2008’s tragedy. Likewise, Fraser in the Indiana Jones-like role (but not nearly as well-scripted as Harrison Ford’s character) is a surefire recipe for mediocrity.

It’s no mystery why the evolution from “The Mummy” in 1999 ($43.4 million opening; $155.4 million total) and then “The Mummy Returns” ($68 million opening; $202 million total) only two years later in 2001 took seven years to yield “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”.

The vicious emperor (Jet Li) conjures the elements in “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” which races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the spectacular Himalayas.
Photo credit: Digital Domain, copyright Universal Studios

The filmmakers, studio and production companies clearly spent seven years flailing about a single question: Do we really want to make a third or should we just let this one go at two? In the decision to green-light the threequel, Jet Li’s star power and villainous character clearly was the film’s attempt for rejuvenation.

Li, though, is more often in irate CGI character than he is in his own skin. When he’s there, he is indeed menacing and ruthless, but the power of Jet Li is best harnessed when the martial master can merely be himself.

Explorers Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn O’Connell (Maria Bello) in “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” which races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the spectacular Himalayas.
Photo credit: Digital Domain, copyright Universal Studios

The third film suffered the unfortunate loss of the always brilliant Rachel Weisz, who was replaced by Maria Bello (she had the charm but lacked the fire), and Luke Ford unfortunately steps in for the first time as Brendan Fraser’s son. Ford has as much acting range as the CGI abominable snowmen.

The big-effect sequences feel like Hollywood’s merely pressured to deliver a blockbuster.

The difference between failed films such as “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” and wildly successful films such as “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight” is they don’t just do the fancy schmancy. They also have substance, too. Even Fraser himself scoffs in the film at the notion of “another mummy”.

If you find yourself dozing off (like yours truly) and awaking confusingly thinking you’re in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (this Fraser flick clearly rips the “he needs a magical element to avert death” sequence) along with the “weapons blot out the sun” sequence, you’d be among friends.

“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” which stars Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello and Michelle Yeoh, opened everywhere on Aug. 1, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com