Movie Lovers Only

Augh, I did it again!  I was just jotting down some notes and playing with my camera, and before I knew it, I’d shot a movie!  Actually, it took a little more planning than that, and I involved some very gracious, talented people.

A brief back story:  In January, I watched Paranormal Activity at my apartment.  This was a bad idea, as I have an active imagination and live alone.  However, shooting a feature film on a single camera with a couple friends and a minimum of effects was an intriguing concept.  The camera in the film is a top-notch professional camera, but couldn’t one tell a story in the same way using a different, cheaper camera?  I conceived of a feature composed entirely of footage from consumer devices: webcams, cell phones, security cameras, etc.  Instead of trying to make the whole movie, I got a Flip Ultra HD Video camera and decided to film what I envisioned being the opening of the film, which I always thought would be a standalone story of its own.  The result is the short film you see here.  (Warning: mature content)

Please share this with friends.    Below is what I call “print commentary”:  some notes about making the film instead of just detailing the whole process.

0:00 – This opening isn’t as creepy as it is unsettling.  Even though there’s no picture, there’s a lot being communicated here with the lack of it.  Not to mention the sound.  This scene immediately invites the viewer to engage by asking questions.

0:35 – A confused man’s face.  A messy apartment.  The audience is being given answers little by little, but there’s a lot being fed with no overt explanation.  Oh, that’s my apartment, by the way.

0:43 – Momentary Batman cameo.

0:47 – This was the most difficult shot in the film.  There’s blue tape on top of a Tupperware bin marking where he’s supposed to set down the camera in order to frame everything correctly.  But he had to do it fast with a very small margin of error.   We have a number of botched takes where something crucial is out of frame.  And this is a long, continuous take.

1:03 – Ronda’s a great sport.  Apparently, she and Abby did something with tape (?) to keep her bra in place, but to this day, I’m not really sure what it was.  They refuse to tell me.

1:36 – This shot was difficult as well, but there’s less to frame.  In fact, the effect is heightened by what little we actually see of the actors.  Plus, we didn’t need a prop for the cocaine this way.

1:50 – The slap is an aural effect, avoiding too much explanation.  We do see his hand fly up, then suddenly, hair hits the camera.  The slapping sound is actually his hand hitting hers, but it sells.

2:01 – This was an unexpectedly unnatural moment for both actors in rehearsal.  It was made a little easier by the fact that they were acquainted before the film.  I think it works well with the abrupt cut.

2:04 – Abby got to say “action” on this scene so I could wait outside to say “cut.”

2:28 – The dynamic lighting in the hallway is just the way that hallway really is.  I love the feeling of movement and eerie quality it creates.

2:51 – Unintentional but very desirable washout.  Again, it helps to have things happening on the screen while we’re in transition here.

3:12 – Sam’s hands are his most ominous feature.  Good thing.

3:27 – One of the best things about this approach was that the way each character handles the camera says something about who they are.

3:44 – I told him to mumble, but not what to mumble.

4:04 – Abby’s cameo.

4:34 – The reflecting red light on the peephole was unforeseen, but again, there’s something about it that just seems right.

5:00 – There are takes that reveal more, but the off-camera slap and brief glimpses of silhouettes on the wall in this take are more effective.

5:02 – Honestly, the rape is less graphic than I’d imagined, but it’s the thought, not the visual, that’s most disturbing.  The shot was written to be Mandy’s leg, but focusing on her face made a lot more sense.

5:27 – Abby’s house.  The doormat says “Wipe Your Paws.”  Which he does.

5:45 – This was a great location, and one of its best features was the changing floors between the door and the basement.

6:07 – He gave Chris a nightlight.

6:14 – By far the dirtiest-looking scene, and I have no problem with that.  Low light isn’t the Flip’s best environment, but I think it suits the climax well.  Chuck’s performance comes through loud and clear.

6:18 - The sound quality of Sam’s voice behind the camera contrasts well with Chuck’s in front.  Sam’s is almost godlike.

7:02 – The tension in this take was palpable.  It’s never more obvious than at this moment.

7:22 – In a simpler version than my original plan, Sam’s shirt was pre-bloodied (new word!), and he charged empty-handed.  When he stood up to walk to the camera, Abby handed him a real knife.  Movie magic.

7:27 – If you pause here, you can see a hand print on Sam’s chest.

7:28 – Sam’s eyes are perfect for this ending.

I just wanted to give a small shout-out to three films that made 2009 a better year, but saw no action last night at the Academy Awards.  Between the expansion of the Best Picture category and the scarcity of truly stellar Hollywood films last year, surely there’s room for these unique, touching, courageous pictures.

1) Where the Wild Things Are

A 10-sentence book adapted into a two-hour character study, Spike Jonze’s quirky kids flick is tough to analyze, but fascinating nonetheless.  Jonze and co-writer Dave Eggers turn the land of the Wild Things into a wilderness, complete with vast deserts and canyons, perhaps representing the blank slate that imagination can fill.  And young Max, fleeing a childhood with no one to connect to, finds idiosyncratic but remarkably authentic friends who support him and trust him.  In this world, Max learns through the personalities of the Wild Things what it’s like to be in other people’s shoes and how his behavior affects those around him.  When Max returns home, he’s moved into a new stage in his life.  The film never answers exactly where Max was, but does it matter?

Some people complain that Max is unlikeable and that the film’s message doesn’t resonate, but I’ve noticed a gender divide in that opinion.  It seems that in unlocking the workings of a child’s mind, Jonze and Eggers evoked the responses they wanted from those of us who used to be little boys, but not girls.  So the film could be considered a niche offering in a sense, but I don’t believe that diminishes its accomplishments.

2) Away We Go

I just caught this one recently on Blu-Ray, but I was so touched by it that I have to include it here.  A couple looking for a place to raise their unborn child (she swears she’s only 6 months in) visits friends and families in various parts of the country (and Canada), hoping to find a home for their new family.  This isn’t a road trip comedy, though it very well could have been from its premise.  Very little time is spent in transit, and much more on the destinations.  This breaks up the film into a neat structure, where each family they visit represents a theme of family life in a very exaggerated fashion.  Most of the humor (and indeed the drama) comes from the relatively normal visitors trying to deal with the dysfunction around them both socially and philosophically.   John Krazinski of The Office and Maya Rudolph of SNL give surprisingly nuanced and identifiable performances with great chemistry, lending the dramatic moments a gravity that raises the film above its roots to a more significant place.

3) (500) Days of Summer

One of my early picks for the Best Picture category, I’m still rather shocked that it wasn’t even mentioned.  How could this wonderfully original, poignant, hilarious, gripping, unequivocal experience be excluded?  Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives a career performance in one of the greatest love stories ever filmed as Tom, falling madly into and maddingly out of love with the infinitely entrancing Zooey Deschanel as Summer.  The narrative jumps back and forth in time to specific days within the titular 500, often showing how much Tom depended on Summer by showing what happens to him after their break-up.  The arc of the film leads not to the end of the 500 days (okay, so maybe it does, but not exactly), but to the conclusion of what the lead characters’ relationship meant to each of them, what ended it, and what to do with it now.  In one of the film’s most powerful scenes, Tom visits Summer after their break-up, and his imagination runs parallel to the reality of how that encounter plays out.

First-time director Marc Webb taps into something beautiful as he explores the workings of these characters’ minds, evoking strong romantic emotions and primal instinct all at once.  It’s a masterpiece in every sense, and to me, it’s the Dark Knight of 2009.  I must admit a bias due to my strong identification with the lead character’s plight, but I believe every man with a heart he admits to having will feel similarly.

_______________

I firmly believe that (500) Days of Summer and Where the Wild Things Are belonged in the Best Picture category, but Away We Go featured excellent performances from its leads that deserved recognition.  Everyone has an opinion, I know, but looking at the nominations this year, I was a little disappointed by the lack of greatness compared to 2008’s offerings.  And then I remembered these wonderful pictures.

I’ve got a few things on the horizon I wanted to let you know about.

First of all, a lot of people want to know what the big delay is on making my directorial debut public, especially since the movie has been complete since November.  Well, there are two things keeping it under wraps.  First, the ending credits are incomplete.  Some credits were thrown onto the current copy just so we could make the deadline on a couple of film festivals; we planned to correct them before exhibition.  I worked with a lot of great people for free, so the least I can do is ensure that they’re credited correctly.  So my producer is fixing that the first chance she gets.  I shouldn’t detail the second reason publicly, but I can tell you that there’s just a bit of remaining red tape that it takes time to cut through before we’re allowed to exhibit the film.

In short, we plan to have the film online anytime now.  Hopefully, it won’t stay in limbo for more than a few more days.

Currently, I’m in the midst of a much smaller project I’m directing and co-producing from my own script.  It’s an experimental horror short told through “found footage,” a technique used in independent films The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. We’ll shoot it next weekend, and it will be cut and released online in mid-March.  I have another short film project that I’m starting to put together to shoot in the spring, but I’m keeping a lid on details until we’re closer to shooting (hint: it’s really exciting).

Finally, I’ve been hired by a local studio to write the screenplay for a feature (maybe?) film from a producer’s outline.  He and I have had a few conversations about the story and characters, but we’re still in the early stages of figuring this thing out.  Needless to say, it’s a very cool project being made by some very talented people, and I can’t wait to delve deeper into it.

So that’s what’s on the schedule for the next few months.  And if anybody’s wondering, YES, I AM AVAILABLE FOR PAID WORK.  Trust me, I’ll make time.  I’m very flexible.

That’s what I’m going through until April.  A barren wasteland.

Oh, there was promise.  It came in the form of Martin Campbell’s Edge of Darkness, Pierre Morel’s From Paris with Love, and Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island.  2010 could actually have the strongest start for event films in a long time, I said.  Directors of such films as Casino Royale, Taken, and The Departed (among others) kicking off the year?  Who could ask for more?

But these were mirages: the first brought down by lukewarm reactions and a waning star, the second rolling into theaters with little to recommend it based on the marketing, and the third now clinging to its third announced release date.  Why was a film featuring the one-two punch of Scorsese-DiCaprio pushed out of Oscar contention into Low Expectation Land?  That doesn’t bode well for this one, despite a powerful cast.

So far, the only taste of quality has come from a surprisingly fresh The Book of Eli, which has defied critics to carry good box-office numbers and decent word-of-mouth.  I confess that this is the only one I’ve actually seen of those listed above, but I get the impression that I’ve seen the best and done well to avoid the rest.

What’s left to keep me going until blockbuster season?  Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland debuts in a month, but it’s hardly going to replace an action-packed thriller.  Paul Greengrass directs Matt Damon again in de-facto Bourne 4 under the moniker Green Zone the following weekend, but without the franchise behind it, this looks to be little more than a brief distraction, watching Damon defying authority and breaking nameless people’s bones (though I pray I’m wrong).

Truly, the action/thriller genre is in a sad state at the moment.  We have a lot to look forward to once the summer rolls around, but until then, I’m counting on Louis Leterrier’s Clash of the Titans remake to be the oasis I need.  If not, I’m afraid I’m going to run out of adrenaline by the time Iron Man 2 hits theaters.  And that would just be sad.

Clash of the Titans trailers

Terminators from 1984 to 2009

It took me awhile to realize that, as much as I’m looking forward to seeing Terminator Salvation, this might not be nearly as interesting to people who haven’t seen all three previous films.  The first two installments were highly successful in their time, but the third was not as well-received, and much of the target population of such movies nowadays grew up on The Matrix, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Transformers, and haven’t even seen this sci-fi action saga.

This being the case, I thought I’d do what I can to help mankind and offer a quick rundown of the original trilogy, so if you haven’t seen all three movies, or if you’ve just forgotten the major plot points, you can absorb the important details and go into the new film and enjoy it instead of trying to figure out what you’re missing.

If you’d rather start from the beginning and just not see the new film until you’ve caught up, more power to you; don’t read any more.  That said, I’ll try not to overindulge in my descriptions so that you can still watch the older movies and enjoy them as they are.

*****SPOILERS BELOW*****

The Terminator (1984)

The premise is actually similar to The Matrix, if less complicated:  In the year 2029, machines controlled by a central computer called SkyNet have decided to take over the world and crush humanity.  A small but fierce human resistance led by a man named John Connor refuses to be quashed, so the machines send a Terminator T-800 cyborg (a humanoid machine disguised with human flesh) back in time to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, John’s mother, destroying the resistance before it starts.  However, the humans send their own man, Kyle Reese, back as well to stop the Terminator and save Sarah.

The entire film is a battle royale between the soldier Reese and the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), with the human Reese no match for the larger, indestructible killing machine.  Sarah, who is neither married nor pregnant, slowly learns to trust Kyle as the film progresses toward the final showdown.  In the end, the Terminator is finally crushed in a factory, and it turns out that Kyle is the one who impregnates Sarah with the future John Connor.  If that sounds like a time paradox, that’s because it is.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Taking place eleven years after the events of the first film, T2 finds Sarah Connor institutionalized for her perceived schizophrenia based on her belief in what Kyle Reese told her about the future.  John, whom she had begun raising to lead the eventual resistance movement, is now a problem kid in foster care, believing that his mom is crazy.  As before, two visitors from the future appear: another T-800 (Arnold again), this time reprogrammed by the human resistance to protect John Connor from the bad guy, a T-1000.  This new threat is simply a hunk of liquid metal that can take any form, impersonating police officers and creating metal blades out of its body, designed specifically to kill John Connor.

For its long runtime and much more involved plot than its predecessor, there’s very little to know about this film.  It really only brings one thing to the table, and that’s the concept of “Judgment Day,” a date in 1997 when an automated defense computer system created by the US military called “SkyNet” would gain sentience and trigger a nuclear holocaust in an attempt to wipe out humanity, starting the war.  Using intelligence provided to them by the T-800, the Connors manage to destroy SkyNet and the T-1000, supposedly preventing Judgment Day from ever occurring and saving the future of humanity.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2004)

As it turns out, victory is short-lived.  Now an adult, John Connor lives in constant paranoia that Judgment Day has not been averted, only postponed.  His fears are confirmed when a T-X, a female terminator that carries an arsenal of futuristic weapons, arrives not to kill John Connor, but to kill all future leaders of the human resistance, hoping to weaken the movement before it can gain momentum.  However, in the course of carrying out its assassinations, it gets wind of John Connor and his future wife, Katherine Brewster, and sets off after them.  Of course, yet another T-800 (Arnold is back, as promised), sent by the resistance, arrives to protect them from the much more advanced threat.

A chain of events reveals that SkyNet wasn’t destroyed, but absorbed by the US government.  When activated, as predicted all along, it locks out all human interface and sends nuclear missiles all over the globe to wipe out humanity.  Meanwhile, the battle of the terminators ends at a fallout shelter where both machines are destroyed.  John and Kate (minus eight) are among the very few protected from the nuclear holocaust and begin to make contact with any survivors in order to explain what’s happening and what to do about it.

History of the Future

The timeline of future events is hazy at best and obviously complicated by the paradoxes that make up each film.  Kyle Reese recounts his days as a soldier when the machines had begun making more and more realistic-looking terminators in order to infiltrate the human resistance’s bases.  Reese also claims that the first T-800 was sent back to kill Sarah Connor in 2029 because the human resistance had destroyed the machines’ command center, effectively turning the tide of the war.  However, this would appear to be premature celebration, as the machines not only survived to send two more terminators back, but made significant technological advances between them.  We know that the war continued at least to 2032, when a T-800 killed John Connor.  Ironically, this same T-800 was immediately captured, reprogrammed, and sent after the T-X to protect John and Kate.  All other details are either superfulous or speculative.

Terminator Salvation

I must admit, after seeing T3, I had very little interest in seeing any more sequels.  I felt that the story had ended in a good place and that the war of the future was useful as a backdrop but not really worth exploring.  As I followed production of Terminator Salvation, I found myself more and more engrossed in the story possibilities and the world that the filmmakers were creating for this post-apocalyptic story.  Set 14 years after Judgment Day but 11 years prior to the first T-800 being sent back, it tells the story of the advent of cyborgs designed to eliminate the human resistance and the complications thereof, personified by the first truly sympathic terminator.  The director has plans for a fifth and sixth installment, meaning he intends to fill in a lot spaces on this virtually empty canvas.  We’ll just have to see if it brings anything to the table that actually enhances the existing mythology or if it’s merely content to connect the dots.

If you don’t already know, I’m directing and co-producing a short film from one of my original scripts, entitled Absolution.  I’ll give periodic updates on this blog to give everyone an inside look at the process of making this film.

Selling an Idea for Free

It sure would be nice if all potential screenwriters could submit their scripts directly to Hollywood, and various directors would sort through them one by one, looking for the masterpiece they could buy for $1 million and turn into a blockbuster.  The reality is that getting a masterful script into the hands of Steven Spielberg is a little more involved than that.  I’m going to need a strong resume of Hollywood films, and for that, I’ll need to get my screenplays filmed, and for that, I’ll need representation, and for that, I’ll need some successful background in film, and for that, I’ll need to make something that works.

Which leads me to where I am now.  Without any of that.

In February, I went to the 24 Hour Film School in Columbus and was advised, like all the other attendees, that the best way to get experience at this stage is to make a short film.  You have locations (your house, your friend’s house, and where you work), you have equipment (community television cameras are free), and you have actors (yourself and your buddies).  Everything you need, and anything you don’t have can be obtained on a Wal-Mart budget.

So I wrote a short film.  To be completely honest, it’s a page-one rewrite of an idea I had in college, with the advantage of my education over the past two years.  That took no time whatsoever, and I was pretty happy with the finished product.

Next, I told my friends about it and found out what my options were.  I have friends who are willing and able to help with camera work and editing, which was encouraging.  At this early stage, I only added one person to the team: my friend, Abby, to co-produce by helping me organize and coordinate the whole process.

Then, I went to a mixer for the Southern Ohio Filmmaker’s Association (SOFA).  Apparently, there’s a rather large and healthy underground film community here in Cincinnati, and I made contact with people who do everything, from actors to production assistants to editors.  People started to read about my script and get excited about it, and suddenly, it looked like my little personal project might have more potential than I thought.

Early Pre-production

One of the first people to read my script was a cinematographer I met at the first SOFA mixer I attended.  At the same time, I posted an ad on CraigsList on casting and decided to get the ball rolling, with or without any more help.

The morning of the auditions, the cinematographer called back, having read the script and been pleasantly surprised at how much he liked it.  (I shared his surprise.)  Suddenly, I had another person on my team, an experienced person who was willing to help me through directing my first short film.

A word of advice:  Plan auditions well in advance.  I had been in contact with probably six people who were interested, and only two showed up at the scheduled audition time.  We ended up having people schedule auditions at restaurants throughout the next week in order to get enough people to read for each role.  The environment was less than ideal, but it gave everyone an opportunity to audition on their own schedule.

We’re still in the midst of auditioning, but I feel good about what I’ve seen and about who I’m going to see.  There’s something surreal about hearing people read the words I wrote, and I can’t wait to put it all together and see what my cast can do with it.

All in all, I don’t think I could be more encouraged by the reactions I’m getting to the script:
“I read the script, and I think it’s great, to be honest”
“I just read the screenplay and I REALLY liked it!”
“I really respond to your writing”
“I was really thrilled with the script”
“It sounds like a fantastic project to work on”

Thanks to everyone for being so encouraging.  I hope the film reflects all the good things in the script and everything the actors bring to it.

We’ve got a lot of work to do.

Okay, I owe you an explanation.

I’ve been missing from this blog for two months straight, not a peep out of me unless you’ve been watching the chat box on the main site.  Not a very good way to launch a redesigned website.  And not a great way to inspire confidence after I abandoned the last format because I wasn’t keeping up with it.  So I’m starting this post at a considerable disadvantage of my own making.

But I can explain!

Here’s the short version:  Shortly after my first post, I started plans to propose to my girlfriend, which I did at the end of January.  She said yes, and that’s no small responsibility.  In addition to requiring both of us to start thinking ahead and considering things we hadn’t thought about before, I started wondering if a little extra money couldn’t hurt.  I recently picked up a couple of freelance web design jobs for local clients.  Nothing elaborate, but these things take time.  But there’s more good news, and this actually has something to do with the site:

A few weeks ago, I went to an event called the 24 Hour Film School in Columbus.  It’s basically a panel where aspiring filmmakers and actors get the chance to ask questions of Hollywood producers, directors, and writers.  Afterward, I got to talk to one of the panelists who wrote for Smallville, among other things.  He was excited to hear that I was working on a Superman spec script and asked to see it.  From that point on, I worked furiously to finish it quickly and hone the entire screenplay to make it presentable to an industry professional.

Just today, he read it and emailed me expressing his happiness with the script and wanted to read more of my work.  I’m very encouraged by his comments and I’ll be working hard to finish what I have so I can send more to him.

So, naturally, I’ve been extremely busy, and though things have slowed down a bit, I’m still in high gear for the next few weeks at least.  The best part about this is that I’m still able to keep my friends and family as top priorities, so even though I’m the busiest I’ve been in years, it’s pretty much all good news.

Thus ends my post about why I haven’t been posting.  As a result of all this craziness, I think it’s best if I don’t finish the 2008 year-in-review I’ve started.  I like what I have, but it’s after the Oscars now, and if I try to finish it, I’ll only fall farther behind.  Let’s just leave it at what it is and move forward.

I’ll be back shortly with some more news and a couple movie reviews.  See you all in the chat box!

I’m supposed to put an introduction here, but I think the title is sort of self-explanatory, so I’ll just jump right in.  I trust these two sentences are padding enough for those of you who crave intros.

Well, 2008 was supposed to be the biggest year for movies in a long time, but a combination of factors changed a lot at the last minute.  As the big ball in Times Square dropped and we all marveled at how devoid of franchise films 2007 was, we were supposed to see the releases of Indiana Jones, Batman, James Bond, Harry Potter, and Star Trek films within the same year.  Each of these films was highly anticipated, either due to the dormancy of the respective franchise for a long time or the wild success of the previous entry… or, in Indy’s case, both.  Not to mention some major contenders for the box-office crown, most coming from comics pages (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II), with the exception of the ultimate chick flick, star-studded Mamma Mia, which would somehow become a phenomenon despite opening against juggernaut The Dark Knight, but I’ll get to that.

But I digress.  Star Trek, anticipated largely due to J.J. Abrams’ name in the trailer, was bumped to May 2009 for the likely and legitimate reason of avoiding competing with proven lucrative franchises, as the fate of the entire Star Trek universe hinges on its performance.  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was eventually knocked from the holidays 2008 to July 2009 for reasons that change depending on who you ask.  Warner Bros. initially claimed that they needed the extra time to polish the film due in part to delays of the Writers’ Strike.  That’s probably the last dying gasp of a studio executive who got used to blaming the writers for everything, probably just bitter about having to settle for a 6-disc changer in his Jaguar instead of a 10-disc.  The slowed economy rears its ugly head.  But I digress again.  The fact is that the claim of the strike affecting the film doesn’t make much sense, since that statement was made after principle photography was completed and months prior to the release of the film.  The more likely reason was probably two-fold:  Between parties celebrating the massive success of The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. execs sobered up and realized that the upcoming Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, could do to Harry Potter what The Dark Knight did to Hellboy II.  Knowing that they’d still turn a profit, but fearing that the revitalized Bond franchise might be a bigger box-office force than it seemed, they chose to bump the movie to the relatively franchise-free summer of the following year to maximize profits.  The second reason was eventually admitted by one of those very execs, and while annoying to Potter fans, it makes good business sense:  “We just needed a summer movie.”

(Sidenote:  I’m making reference to things I’ve read over the course of the year, so I don’t have links to prove my references.  You’ll just have to take my word for it at this point, and to anyone it concerns, no copyright infringement is intended.  Feel free to stake your claim in the comments.)

And so it was with quite a bit of studio drama and four opening paragraphs that 2008 began.  The Writer’s Strike was in full swing, and probably the best case for adequately compensating writers came with Abrams-produced Cloverfield.  A narrative diamond in the early 2008 rough, Cloverfield is creative, engrossing, and altogether very satisfying to watch.  Generally, the only films of high quality available in january are Oscar contenders from the previous year (indeed, that’s when I saw Atonement and There Will Be Blood), which makes a strong entry like Cloverfield very refreshing.

Unfortunately, I was let down by the major releases for the next few months.  The best-looking comedy, Be Kind, Rewind was little more than watchable, and attempted actioners Jumper and 10,000 B.C. fell flat, with extra contempt reserved for the latter.  Even sexy, well-acted The Other Boleyn Girl managed to be bland and unsatisfying.  About the only film that at least met my expectations was rom-com Definitely, Maybe (there sure were a lot of commas in those movie titles, weren’t there?), which was adequately charming and less predictable than most of its kind.  My favorite surprise of the pre-summer season was Horton Hears a Who, which was flawed but fun, and does the source material justice with its visuals, narration, and both Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell in top form.  Not to mention that any movie that animates a mouse to look like Seth Rogen somehow is worth the time.

Still, there wasn’t a whole lot worth seeing – until May.  And that, my friends, is where we’ll pick up in the next installment.

Next time:  Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Narnia, Indiana Jones, and the crown jewel itself, The Dark Knight.  Plus, the triumph of animation in 2008.