Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Flying fortresses, robots, ray-guns, and dinosaurs are all showcased in the nostalgic Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Directed by Kerry Conran, his film features an ace pilot and his reporting love interest who investigate the mysterious disappearances of notable scientists. The film was created completely using green scene and features some amazing visuals, but overshadows the human element of the film.

It starts off in New York City, where Dr. Jorge Vargas (Julian Curry) seeks out the alliterative reporter, Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow). He tells her that he is being chased by a Dr. Totenkorf, who is kidnapping scientists. Before he can give her more information, the city is attacked by giant robots seeking the city's generators. A special pilot called Sky Captain (Jude Law) from the Flying Legion arrives to save the day and disarms a robot, but the horde leaves suddenly without anymore conflict.

Polly seeks out Sky Captain, also known as Joe, as they are ex-lovers. They quickly start bickering over their dysfunctional history involving a secret affair and a sabotaged plane. After they settle down, they come to the conclusion that the missing scientists and the robots are connected, and decide to work together. It becomes clear to the audience that Polly is one of those intrepid reporters that will have to be rescued in the end, so Joe is wary of having her around. Before they can gather any more real clues, the Flying Legion base is attacked by flying drones. The Flying Legion's top scientist, Dex (Giovanni Ribisi), is able to figure out where the drones came from, but gets kidnapped by the robots. He leaves Joe and Polly clues, which begins their adventure around the world.

As this was the first film to be completely filmed with a "digital backlot," I could tell that Conran wanted to movie to really stand out. The first scene, where the Hindenburg is docking at the Empire State Building, is breathtaking, and the visual POW doesn't let up throughout the whole movie. It has a cool vibe that is similar to German Expressionist films and film noir. The actors' faces always have a romantic glow to them, reminiscent of older films. Sky Captain is filled with allusions that will please sci-fi and movie geeks, which include the Fleischer Superman cartoons, The Shadow, The Wizard of Oz, and King Kong, along with designs from Norman Bel Geddes and Hugh Ferris. I'm a big fan of the 1920's, 30's, and 40's, so I enjoyed myself collecting the large gamut of references, and even if you don't know them, one can still enjoy the visual feast.

The story is a little more to be desired. It is very straight forward and simple. Clues lead to new locations, where goons always show up without real explanation, and friends intervene to save Joe and Polly. Joe and Polly easily fall into squabbling, and they easily fall out of it. It seems that Paltrow and Law could have had a better time with their characters, but I think that may be caused by a lack of good directing. I image it is hard to feel emotionally involved in a scene when there is nothing but a green around you, and the director is telling you what you see. There were times that when Paltrow and Law are running, and it looks completely insincere. This is most likely caused by the soundstage being smaller than the digitial locations. Close-ups of the actors are beautifully shot and altered, but with the long shots, there seems to be an obvious disconnect.

Sky Captain still has the capabilities to be a great movie. At times, I felt like I was six again and was watching Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time with my mouth wide open. With the right direction, this could be a perfect adventure story. I wish the film industry would remake films with great ideas but require a little tweaking, instead of remaking films that were great to begin with. Sky Captain would be perfect for Spielberg, Jackson, Bird, or an older, more experienced Conran, but only if he gets his skills with the actors up there with his skills on the computer. Sky Captain is a must see for fans of pulp fiction and vintage sci-fi. It may have its flaws, but you can't say the filmmakers weren't trying.

Also, there is a notable cameo by Angelina Jolie as Commander Franky Cook, where she has an eye-patch, a goofy, British accent, and dialogue like "Alert the amphibious squadron!" If that sounds like something you'd want to see, rent this movie right now.

Basic Instinct

Basic Instinct was the erotic-thriller hit of 1992. Directed by the lover of guilty-pleasure movies, Paul Verhoeven, the film doesn't divert from his usual repertoire: shallow, pun-filled dialogue and hyper-sexual, hyper-violent scenes. The film is fun and held my attention, but I ended up thinking that this was one curious case that I could erase from my memory.

It stars Michael Douglas as L.A. Detective Nick Carran, who has a notorious trigger finger caused by cocaine and alcohol abuse. How he still on the police force is beyond me, but Nick is sent to investigate the murder of a rock-and-roll star that was killed by an ice pick while having sex. The police interrogates the last person to see the deceased musician, his girlfriend, the seductive Catherine Tramell, famously played by blond-bombshell Sharon Stone. Tramell is a psychologist and crime novelist who published a book about a rock-and-roll star who is murdered in bed with an ice pick.

That's when the movie takes us to the absurd, as if it wasn't already there. The police don't classify Tramell as the number one suspect because, as she puts it, "I'd have to be pretty stupid to write a book about killing and then kill him the way I described in my book. I'd be announcing myself as the killer. I'm not stupid." Ugh. So, the detectives ultimately decide that the killer is actually someone obsessed with Tramell. Nick is sent to investigate Tramell for clues, and she begins a game of cat and mouse. She declares that he is her new pet project because she's writing a book about a detective who falls in love with the wrong woman and ends up murdered (cue the dramatic music). So, of course, Nick falls for her while trying to treat her like a murder suspect, but his defenses crumble in her hands.

I won't give too much away about the plot, because this is a mystery film that does keep you guessing the whole time, as long as you haven't seen too many crime films. Writer Joe Eszterhas uses many of the genre's tropes and lays out the clues that are easy to find, if you know how to find them. The film is reminiscent of noir stories like Double Indemnity, but while those films featured grey versus gray conflicts of morality, Basic Instinct is a black versus blacker narrative. Nick is amoral cop who clearly cares only about himself and seems to have a death wish, which he gets to satisfy by canoodling with Tramell. She obviously has an unhealthy lifestyle and aspirations, whether she's the killer or not.

The message of the story is truly uninspiring, too. The film preaches that the best sex is violent sex. The sex between Nick and Tramell has an underlying sense of danger because of the possible ice pick that might impale him. Nick describes the sex as the "f*ck of the century," perpetuating a sexual ideal that I think is too evident in our society. There is even a scene featuring a date rape that results in no negative consequences to the rapist, and the raped ultimately shrugs off the incident.

Also, the film is highly homophobic. Tramell is bisexual and is in a lesbian relationship, which makes her girlfriend a suspect. And the fact that Tramell is in this relationship makes her more dangerous, and there is a lurking sense that the film is a conflict between straight men and lesbians. Nick has a discussion with Tramell's girlfriend that concludes with her feeling inadequate, and Nick is seen as the main lover for Tramell. There is another female character that is revealed to have had a lesbian affair in the past, and this past affair also puts her on the suspect list. While Nick and the other heterosexual men in the film aren't widely depicted as being noble citizens, the image of the dangerous, sexual lesbian is a recurring typecast in movie history. (I suggest viewing The Celluloid Closet for further discussion on the history of gay and lesbian representation in cinema.)

Not as socially dangerous as the themes of the film, but still hurtful, is the acting. I've never understood Michael Douglas' appeal, and the film made these feelings even worse. His face is so wooden and cold, but not in a cool, stoic fashion like Clint Eastwood, but more like there isn't much thinking going on behind those furrowed brows. His line reading during the more romantic scenes are truly dull. Stone puts all of her effort into it, and I can tell she is really having fun with her role. Tramell is calculating and manipulative while holding a smile on her face. She did the best she could with the character, which has become a culture icon, thanks to the humorous, vagina-exposing interrogation scene. Tramell is what I classify as scenic emotional character, meaning that the character only displays one emotion throughout the scene. She's sly, sad, surprised, happy, slutty, etc., but only one emotion at a time, which makes for flat characterization.

Basic Instinct does satisfy my presumptions about the film. I expected steamy suspense, but I didn't realized that it was going to be a camp-filled, bloody, sex romp. I should have known better, since this is from the same filmmaker of Showgirls and Starship Trooper, but Basic Instinct takes itself more serious than Verhoeven's other works, and that may be the film's greatest fault.