Hancock

Hancock

Film review by: Witney Seibold

 

 

            In the mid 1980s, Marvel Comics published a short-running title called “Damage Control” which dealt with the adventures of three ordinary human begins who work for an agency devoted to cleaning up the messes left behind by superhero’s battles. Smashed cars, torn-up pavement, giant robot corpses and the like had to be accounted for somewhere, and it was up to Damage Control to figure out how that sort of thing was billed, and who was culpable (of course, larger mysteries came to light). That’s a clever idea.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Film review by: Witney Seibold

 

 

“You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning…

           

“And that, I think, was the handle — that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave…

“So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”

                                    -Hunter Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Tell No One

Tell No One

Film review by: Witney Seibold

 

 

            Here’s the twisty plot: Eight years ago, Alex (François Cluzet) went on a romantic swim with his wife Margot (Marie-Josée Croze). She exited the moonlit lake before he did, and screamed from the bushes. When exiting the lake to help her, Alex was bludgeoned by an unseen person, and didn’t come to for a few days. His wife had been killed.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Film review by: Witney Seibold

 

 

            Director Guillermo Del Toro has now solidly established himself as a force to be reckoned with. His name is whispered in the same hushed tones as Tim Burton’s was in the early 1990s.

The Incredible Hulk

The Incredible Hulk

Film review by: Witney Seibold

 

 

            “Grrr! I just split my pants like THE INCREDIBLE HULK! See that? Brawndo will make you need NEW PANTS!”

 

                                    -Commercial for the “Brawndo” sports drink

 

WALL-E

WALL-E

Film review by: Witney Seibold

 

 

            The first half hour or so of Pixar’s new animated film “WALL-E” has nearly no dialogue. There are a few bits of expository dialogue through ancient recordings of Earth’s old CEO/president (a live-action Fred Willard), but mostly it follows a little boxy Waste Allocated Load-Lifter (Earth class) robot as it wanders the ruined post-apocalyptic landscape, slowly but surely compacting Earth’s trash into neat piles. The tenacious little guy has been doing this for 700 years.

Speed Racer

Speed Racer

Film review by: Witney Seibold

Watching “Speed Racer” is like freebasing Pixy Stix. It’s like inserting Skittles directly under your eyelids (I can TASTE the rainbow!). It’s like diving, Scrooge McDuck-style, into a pool full of neon crayons. It’s like the nightmare you had after a three-day Red Bull bender. It’s like being beaten to death with a rolled-up blacklight poster. It’s like being locked in a glass cell that is slowly filling with gummi bears.

The Producers

Criminals, Scoundrels, and Other Lovable Types

Film essay by: Witney Seibold

 

 

            I went to New York City with my mother in mid-October, 2001 to take in a few Broadway shows.