Peyton Reed
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I enjoyed the scenes in which Rudd first tries to function in a world of giant household objects, but only because they reminded me of The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).
At the end of the day, frankly, any film that references The Incredible Shrinking Man so beautifully deserves its moment on the stage.
The rest of the movie, with simulated direction from a mixing-lab keyboard by somebody called Peyton Reed, is a series of stunts borrowed from such sci-fi classics as The Incredible Shrinking Man and The Fly.
It seems a pity, though, that the screenplay didn’t have the guts to emulate the wonderfully ethereal close of its real progenitor, Jack Arnold’s “The Incredible Shrinking Man” (1957).
We've seen some of these tricks before, most effectively in 1957's The Incredible Shrinking Man and 1989's Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
As for the effects, they're generally excellent, particularly in a bravura inner-space sequence that hearkens back to the 1957 classic The Incredible Shrinking Man.
Pitch Perfect (2012)
Directed by Jason Moore
influenced by Bring It On (2000), Yes Man (2008)
Themes Plot
The debut work of director Jason Moore (who was nominated for a Tony for helming Avenue Q) and scripter Kay Cannon (a 30 Rock vet), the film also recalls a dulcet Mean Girls, Bring It On, and pretty much any other school-set tale about being a fish out of water, love-hate relationships, cliques, competition, and letting that little light of yours shine.
"Pitch Perfect," a scattershot but infectious comedy in the vein of "Bring It On" and TV's "Glee," is here to capitalize on the a cappella boom, although its formula -- rival performing groups compete for an award -- could be (and has been) applied to just about everything.
"Pitch Perfect" does for a capella (making music with mouths, as we're constantly reminded) what "Bring It On" was to cheerleading.
If you’re at all predisposed to the choreographed karaoke of Glee, the underdog schematics of teen competitions à la Bring It On or the Step Up cycle, and the hero-misfits of a John Hughes comedy, then this slight but sunny entertainment is something of an idiot-grin-maker.
Built on a template that’s familiar to anyone who’s seen such movies as Bring It On, this comedy uses an engaging cast and a parade of popular songs (energetically recreated by several choral groups) to create a buoyant crowd-pleaser.
Combining the energy of Bring It On, the wit of Mean Girls and the vocal abilities of Glee, Pitch Perfect is an impossible-to-dislike burst of positive energy brimming with winsome performances from a game cast.
Captain Marvel (2019)
Directed by Ryan Fleck
influenced by Ant-Man (2015), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Visuals
And it’s better for it, feeling much like a the super-charged, spunky sister of Ant-Man and Spider-Man: Homecoming rather than coming across so larger-than-life and august as Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther (though both the latter and Captain Marvel do expertly and effortlessly examine sundry social themes).
We’ve seen “de-aging” technology before, e.g., Michael Douglas in “Ant-Man,” Kurt Russell in “Guardians Vol.
In the pantheon of Marvel films, “Captain Marvel” lands somewhere below “Iron Man” but far above “Doctor Strange,” the uninteresting “Ant-Man” and the cheesy yet self-important original “Thor.”
Yes, Ant-Man and the Wasp featured Evangeline Lilly’s character in the title and had a big role for her to fill, but this is the first foray of its kind.
When it comes to Marvel movies that aim for family audiences and contain a female superhero in the title, I vastly prefer the nimble, playful Ant-Man and The Wasp to the confusing, labored Captain Marvel.
In pure MCU terms, this is a step down from the demented toonscapes of Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor: Ragnarok , but a step up from the tech-corridor blandeur of something like Ant-Man and the Wasp or any movie where various Avengers hang out in offices.
"Ant-Man" is this year’s "Guardians of the Galaxy."
The “Captain America” movies are political thrillers, “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a space opera and “Ant-Man” is, at its core, a heist movie.
What allows Ant-Man to flourish is that it largely turns its back on the solemnity and self-importance that occasionally hamper Marvel features and instead traffics in the same sort of freewheeling frivolity seen in last summer's smash, Guardians of the Galaxy.
But the tone is right, light like "Guardians of the Galaxy" rather than heavy like "Captain America," and the balance between jokes and action sequences keeps it afloat.
We're not too distant, it seems, from movies about Matter-Eater Lad, Squirrel Girl or Arm-Fall-Off-Boy (truth is, the next big one is the multi-character hellstorm "Captain America: Civil War," featuring Iron Man, Spider-Man, Ant-Man and many others, coming May, 2016, brace yourselves for impact, exclamation point), but after 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy" charmed us with a talking raccoon, a grunting tree-being and an emo Han Solo, why not give Ant-Man a shot?
Like the recent, refreshing “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Ant-Man” is a rare Marvel movie that doesn’t take itself seriously.
While it certainly doesn't possess the depth and polish of say, "The Dark Knight," match the level of weird and quirky fun as present in "Guardians" or be the near perfect cinematic adaptation like 1978's version of "Superman," "Ant-Man" is quite fun, funny and entertaining in its own right.
As with Robert Redford in last year’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” he takes the material as seriously (or lightly) as the moment requires, without the sense of, say, Marlon Brando in “Superman” (1978) obviously slumming it.
It's also wistful, exciting, hilarious and heroic, with a charming performance by unlikely superhero star Paul Rudd and some visual effects so ingeniously immersive, they recall the hallucinogenic ending sequence in "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Partway through its “Honey, I Shrunk the Burglar” plotline, “Ant-Man” turns into yet another cinematic riff on the mind-altering, reality-shifting visual journey pioneered by Stanley Kubrick in “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
While Ant-Man borrows from the likes of Inception and Ocean’s Eleven, its heist elements are reduced to window-dressing.
There's a train fight sequence hearkening back to train robbery westerns, a little Mission: Impossible thrown in, some subtle references to Ocean's Eleven and plenty more for those who know their heist movie history.
We see Scott in action on a couple small thefts building up to the third act centerpiece, and along the way we spend time with some ex-con sidekicks, cool gadgets and even a quick Mission: Impossible homage.
There's a train fight sequence hearkening back to train robbery westerns, a little Mission: Impossible thrown in, some subtle references to Ocean's Eleven and plenty more for those who know their heist movie history.
What the movie delivers for most of its running time is a surprisingly disarming amalgam of “The Incredible Shrinking Man” and “Rififi” by way of Brian De Palma ’s first “Mission Impossible” movie, except with Jules Dassin ’s goofball element thrown back in the mix.
By the time the final Mission: Impossible-style heist arrives, my mind was drifting off to all of the unpredictably loopy and lunatic places original Ant-Man director Edgar Wright might have taken the film’s sluggish climax.
Moreover, the fact that Bring It On is so willing to seem like a trifle and show you a good time is part of why the movie surprisingly proves even more fun and well-sustained than Amy Heckerling's durable Clueless, the new film's only rival for title of Best Recent Teen-Queen Dream Seen on Screen.
The dialogue instantly recalls the banter from "Clueless," which is more of a parody than the way these students really talk (at least, I hope it is), but the film really succeeds because it's light on provocation and heavy on comedy, music, and pumped-up choreography.
Perhaps the best entry in its genre since "Clueless," "Bring It On" has beauty, brains, spirit and even something of a social conscience, ingredients conspicuously absent from so many other recent teen comedies.
More "Showgirls" than "Clueless," "Bring It On" is the kind of dim-witted fun that's almost impossible to critique.
In supporting roles, Zooey Deschanel is appealing as the girl Carl meets by accident; Bradley Cooper is properly supportive as Carl's lawyer buddy; John Michael Higgins is capable as the old friend who persuades Carl to go to the "Yes" seminar; Terance Stamp is his usual menacing yet commanding self as the yes-man guru; and Rhys Darby is a kick as Carl's nerdy boss, desperately in need of fitting in (think of Rick Moranis's character from "Ghostbusters" here; I told you the film borrows heavily).
Additionally included: a take-it-or-leave-it "Spotlight on Location: The Making of Bring it On" promotional featurette; a montage of deleted scenes individually introduced by Reed; a separate helping of extended scenes (they push the PG-13 envelope about as far as it'll go before tearing); Blaque's video for "As If"; wardrobe and make-up tests for Dunst and co-star Eliza Dushku (grown up some since playing Schwarzenegger's daughter in True Lies); Bring it On's wan theatrical trailer, plus previews of Reality Bites, October Sky, and The Skulls; bios and production notes; a screensaver and a trivia quiz accessible via DVD-ROM; and last but not least, loose-lipped, full-length commentary from Reed that, in combination with an animated anecdotes option ("Did You Know That?"), reveal more than you ever thought you'd learn about Bring it On.-Bill…
Fifth, in a desperate attempt to replace the stricken woman, Torrance has to convince a dred-locked, sharp-tongued Garofalo type named Missy (Eliza Dushku, of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and True Lies) to complete the ranks in time for Nationals, which are barely more than a few weeks away.
Co-star Eliza Dushku, whose biggest movie role to date was as Arnold Schwarzenegger's daughter in True Lies (but who is best known for her recurring role as Faith in TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer), is equally easy on the eyes.
But newcomer Missy (Eliza Dushku, "True Lies") clues Tori in - the Toros' routines were all stolen from LA's Clovers, an urban squad who intend to challenge Tori's in "Bring It On."
Pride of place would go to “Them!,” the mysterious 1954 movie about ants in New Mexico that grow as huge as horses after a nuclear test; the stridulation of unseen creatures in the desert makes music—a high, wavering whistle—that you cannot wipe from your mind.
That said, Ant-Man winningly conjures the days of The Incredible Shrinking Man and Them! , cheesy science-fictions, for the young atomic age, that likewise played with scale.
Ant-Man was originally a project put in the hands of Edgar Wright, the fanboy-beloved genius behind Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End, and a filmmaker whose love of geeky things—like, say, a relatively uncool second-tier character like Ant-Man who can shrink down to the size of a you-know-what thanks to his high-tech outfit—is matched only by his inventively electric, hyperactive comedy-action directorial style.
For that, thank the four screenwriters — Shaun of the Dead's Edgar Wright (who was the initial director until the usual "creative differences" forced him out), Attack the Block's Joe Cornish, Funny or Die's Adam McKay and Rudd himself — and their ability to include witticisms both verbal ("tales to astonish" is there for the comic fans) and visual (love the bug zapper, and is that oversized toy with the happy face a nod to Ghostbusters?).
As movie fans may recall, this was supposed to be a different kind of Marvel experience in the hands of "Shaun of the Dead" director Edgar Wright.
Director Peyton Reed — who replaced original director Edgar Wright of “Shaun of the Dead” and “Scott Pilgrim” — has a lot of fun with the concept, though it is at times a hindrance.
Original director Edgar Wright, who gave us "Shaun of the Dead," "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End," was jettisoned from the production over "creative differences" and replaced by "Yes Man" director Peyton Reed.
Ant-Man began as a film project for Edgar Wright, who directed Shaun of the Dead , Hot Fuzz , and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World .
Merriest of all is a made-up film: “Mant,” the horror flick at the heart of Joe Dante’s “Matinee” (1993), which is launched by a bumptious producer in the midst of the Cuban missile crisis, bearing the magnificent tagline “Half Man, Half Ant, All Terror!”
It’s a peculiar superpower of which the film never quite gets the measure: bath-tub terrors and in-briefcase battles are kooky fun, but action sequences in which Scott mounts flying insects smack of Richard Burton riding the wings of a locust in Exorcist II: The Heretic .
The getting-to-know-you stuff between Carl and Allison, though, is where the film really takes off, and they share a number of swoon-worthy set-pieces, one set after-hours at the Hollywood Bowl (echoes of 1987's "Some Kind of Wonderful" are unavoidable) and another where they decide to fly somewhere on the spur of the moment and end up in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The starting point would be the crowd of ants in Buñuel’s “Un Chien Andalou” (1929), pouring forth from a hole in a human palm: an image provoked by a dream of Salvador Dali’s.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Directed by Peter R. Hunt
influenced Ant-Man (2015)
Characters
Playing defense: Corey Stoll's Darren Cross is less like Vin Diesel and more like Telly Savales' Blofeld from On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).
What the movie delivers for most of its running time is a surprisingly disarming amalgam of “The Incredible Shrinking Man” and “Rififi” by way of Brian De Palma ’s first “Mission Impossible” movie, except with Jules Dassin ’s goofball element thrown back in the mix.
The point of "Yes Man" is that Carl is transformed; he needs to start off as a sad-sack loser, like Jack Lemmon in "The Apartment," so he can be reborn.