The Da Vinci Code

Like Dan Brown’s novel, the film version of The Da Vinci Code is a fast-paced thriller with religious truths, or untruths, as the key motivator for all characters. The film is indeed quick, particularly in its first scenes, which might make it more difficult to follow for those that have not read the book. Also like the novel, the film is not stylistically profound and is mostly straightforward in the delivery of dialogue and action. Director Ron Howard does, however, give a clean-cut film with a few style choices that are reminiscent of A Beautiful Mind, such as an interesting choice of sparingly infusing the present moment with history and occasionally allowing the audience to see what a character is imagining. The acting is also strong, especially that of Brits Ian McKellen and Paul Bettany, and I think Tom Hanks’ much talked about hair really suits his Robert Langdon and truly made him more, but not completely, believable as a “Harrison Ford in tweed.” Regardless of religious opinion or historical accuracy, The Da Vinci Code is an entertaining ride with some heartfelt moments and beautiful shots of The Louvre and French and British landscapes, all reasons worthy enough to go see this film and have a good time at the movies.

Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany, Jean Reno
Director: Ron Howard
Runtime: 149 minutes

Art School Confidential

A great work of art should have a purpose, a profound statement, or at least an avant-garde style. Unfortunately, Art School Confidential doesn’t produce a masterpiece of any sort from director Terry Zwigoff, the creative force behind the quirky and dry humored Ghost World. Unlike the latter, the characters in Confidential are given lackluster dialogue and the situations and relationships they find themselves in are unrealistic. The first half offers some laughs due to comical stereotypes of the artsy student and winded BS-filled explanations of unimpressive artwork. The second half, however, strays into strange territory with a murder mystery plot that isn’t even that enticing or surprising. In a sense, the end concludes with the statement that a successful artist must have an extreme characteristic, such as being a convicted murderer. Confidential gives some interesting topics to think about, but the story and characters are unoriginal and two-dimensional.

Starring: Max Minghella, John Malkovich, Sophia Myles, Jim Broadbent
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Runtime: 102 minutes

Ren's Rapid Reviews

Due to a busy schedule and plain laziness, I have fallen far behind on my reviews. Thus Ren’s Rapid Reviews has been created in order to give you a quick sense of what I thought about the films that I selfishly neglected.

*Tsotsi
A heartbreaking and powerful story that makes you think about loyalty, love, and relationships and how one’s actions are justified, or not justified, through different perspectives. This film about a South African thug won this year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

*Friends with Money
Although there are interesting and sometimes funny conversations among the female friends and their significant others, the film is rather dull and the friends with actual money only talk about what organization they’re going to donate their money to next, yet they don’t actually seem to care about anybody but themselves. It’s slow and doesn’t really have anything important to say.

*American Dreamz
As an over-the-top satire of the current administration and an ever-so-popular talent search television show, American Dreamz produces the most obvious parodies that it’s not even funny because you don’t have to think about who or what they’re making fun of. It’s like a Saturday Night Live sketch gone horribly wrong because one, the cast is not a group of trained comedians (except for SNL’s Seth Meyers who delivers a few laughs), and two, because it’s two friggin’ hours long!

*Thank You For Smoking
Now here’s a satire worth talking about. It’s fresh, funny, and non- filtered. It has an honest script and wonderfully witty performances that make you want to root for this edgy and smooth-talking tobacco lobbyist. It’s interesting, however, that not a single person is seen smoking in the entire film.

*Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
A mediocre follow-up to Ice Age that is inconsistent and simply doesn’t make sense. But then again, what animated movie about extinct mammals would? A musical number is even thrown in there just to add to the chaos of the apocalyptic themes. The sad thing is that it gives kids false hope about these endangered animals by actually keeping them alive and having a herd of mammoths come strolling in at the end, only knowing that their species is going to slowly and painfully die off one by one in the near future.

*Take the Lead
The dance scenes and some fresh teenage faces are the most entertaining aspects to Take the Lead. Most of the subplots are drawn out a few scenes too many and there are the stereotypical characters that make up the ordinary teen flicks that take place in rougher neighborhoods. Performances are a bit contrived and the movie tries too hard to incorporate several “follow your heart” messages in this predictable teen soap opera.

*V for Vendetta
The action is fun, the dialogue is thought provoking, and the visuals are stimulating with an eclectic choice in music, such as when Tchaikovsky’s Overture of 1812 accompanies the eruption of Big Ben. It’s an exciting and curious ride, but it is ultimately a dark and devastating look at positions of power and their manipulation and exploitation of the people they reside over. The hope is, however, that this power can be overthrown, at any cost.