Day One Hundred and Thirty-eight - Cop Land, "How crime noir should be, for the most part."

When you think police drama, just off the top of your head... would you ever consider Sylvester Stallone could make it as a vulnerable, kowtowed sheriff to a bridge and tunnel police community in Jersey?

I mean, really? Stallone?

But, when you watch him do it... it's really not so bad. Especially when you consider he doesn't really have to act all that much. His lines are few and far between and, basically, all that's required of him is to look a bit sad and mopey, even when he's smiling... because, for the majority of the film, he's a broken down lapdog to the real movers and shakers of Garrison, NJ, the mobbed up corrupt cops who live there.

That's where most of the acting talent in this film lies: Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert Patrick, Michael Rapaport, and Peter Berg are NYPD... but dirty, so very dirty, and the majority of the film revolves around Rapaport's faked suicide and the fallout it brings down on the members of the 37th precinct.

Nominally, Stallone is the lead as Cop Land's resident Sheriff Freddy, but I find myself feeling that it's more about the ensemble. Whether it's Keitel's Ray or Liotta's Figgsy, the drama that plays out for the folks in the know of Garrison is compelling, even if the writing is weak.

I think my favorite scenes revolved around Robert De Niro's internal affairs investigator who first appeals to Freddy's sense of justice and duty but then refuses to help when Ray has the mayor shut down the investigation. This, of course, forces Freddy to take matters into his own hands, leading to the eventual climax.

A few things do bother me about the film.

For one thing, there are some weird as heck casting choices. While Stallone as the stoic lead was jarring at first, I kind of grew into it, but Janeane Garofalo as a deputy? And Annabella Sciorra doesn't exactly have much in the way of screen time, which is disappointing since she's supposed to be a key motivator for Freddy's life.

Then there's the kidnapping of Rapaport's "Superboy" Babitch by Ray's inner circle during the climax. There's no nod as to how they knew that Sheriff Freddy had found him and was ready to bring him to One Police Plaza and tear everything down. I didn't need much, just something, you know?

Still, that very same climax has one of the best sequences in police drama history where Freddy is almost completely deafened by a gunshot and is forced to confront the inner circle at Ray's only hearing the bullets flying. It's great cinema and very effective use of sound direction as the audience only hears what Freddy does... the ringing of tinnitus and the occasional pistol report.

As much as I love the climax, though, I just couldn't help but laugh at John Spencer's death scene with it's obvious boxy squibs and his ham-fisted gunplay.

It's not a perfect movie, but it's actually pretty darn interesting and worth the watch. It's definitely not The Departed, but it works.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Sixty-three - Titan A.E., or "Come back down to Earth, oh yeah."

I have fond memories of Don Bluth's work in the 80's.

The Secret of Nimh, An American Tail, and All Dogs Go to Heaven were great films that managed to weave death and darkness in addition to basic heroism in children's tales in a way that both frightened and inspired me in my early years. He never really shied away from violence or despair and I loved him for that.

When I first saw trailers for Titan A.E., I was already an adult and thought it was great that he was tackling Science Fiction... especially considering most of his 90's films just hadn't done it for me.

This was especially important because it seemed to have subtle anime stylings as well. Now, that may have just been me projecting. I was just discovering anime as a medium despite having been exposed to it early through the Americanizations of Voltron and Robotech. In my late teens, though, I was finally beginning to realize that there were dozens of schools and styles across the Pacific that Americans were just discovering and spreading. Akima's obvious Asian heritage in Titan A.E. probably just triggered my Weeaboo button when it shouldn't have.

Either way, back then... I was excited for Titan.

Then I saw it.

I thought it was alright, and the grand majority of its CGI animation (the Dredge notwithstanding) was pretty good for the era, but there were better space opera alternatives at the time... like the ill-fated Invasion America.

Coming back to it almost fifteen years later, thanks to Netflix, I feel that my initial hesitance was justified. It's a fun little adventure, at times, but is mostly terrible thanks to puerile writing and predictable story arcs.

I mean, it's one thing to make a chosen one story in space... it's quite another to rely on a silly overly-menacing villain race, an unnecessary second act betrayal, and a love story that comes out of nowhere.

To be honest, I really wanted to believe the Kale/Akima romance, but there was nothing really there. They go from hostile to bosom buddies with little to no prompting and with absolutely no obvious chemistry. Not to mention the fact that when they are both captured and Akima is doomed to the vast expanse of space by the Dredge (the terribad CGI villains of Titan A.E.), she just happens to be picked up by slavers so she can be conveniently rescued by the rest of the crew?

Just how far does a tracking implant transmit, anyway? Yeesh.

Added to that cheese is the second act turn by the Han Solo-esque captain, Korso, and the laughable action sequences, where Janeane Garofalo and Drew Barrymore do nothing but spout inane one-liners and yell petulantly at incoming Dredge fighters, and they pretty much lost me completely.

Just a tip, Don... when you announce that all of the enemy fighters break off to return to the mother ship for a Death Star-like superlaser attack only to have two conveniently come back and attack in what has to be the single most obvious plot hole I've seen in months, you know things you should've known there were problems in the writer's room.

If Anastasia or Rock-a-Doodle hadn't done it, Titan A.E. definitely nailed the coffin shut on Don Bluth's career for me. You are so much better off watching Heavy Metal 2000 for silly space fantasy.

I'm serious... F.A.K.K.2 did a much better job with pretty much every single archetype that Titan A.E. used... but to much greater affect.

And with a better soundtrack, too.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~