Fantastic Fest 2009

Whether or not it's a fair comparison, people are going to think about Michael Bay when they watch Peter Berg's movie Battleship. This movie proves though, that only one person can do Michael Bay action correctly, and his name isn't Peter Berg.

Battleship is every bit the type of film that you can "turn your brain off to." It isn't going to win over a lot of critics, and it may not even win over the casual moviegoer, but give it some time after the first 30 minutes or so and you'll either not care anymore and enjoy the ride, or you'll just have to brace yourself for a pretty miserable 90 more minutes of what you just sat through.

Based on the famous board game of the same name, Battleship starts out with a bizarre storyline. Scientists have apparently figured out that they can send a signal to a galaxy that has a similar planet to ours and so, you know, they do it. A few years later, an alien invasion begins. That's pretty much it. There are other characters and storylines of course, but they're just footnotes on the outlandish actions scenes that dominate the movie after the 30-minute mark.

Some of the characters include Lieutenant Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch), who is dating Admiral Shane's (Liam Neeson) daughter Sam (Brooklyn Decker). Alex is also the brother of Commander Stone Hopper (Alexander Skarsgård). Stone is the overachieving opposite of Alex's wasted potential despite his skill. Battleship has a large cast of smaller characters but the story pretty much revolves around those four people.

The story taking such a small focus is one of the biggest problems with Battleship. The film had an opportunity to make a really epic story with an international and world-ending focus similar to Independence Day, but instead chose to literally put all of the main characters in a bubble (you'll see what I mean). It was a matter of silly convenient timing that the aliens attack during RIMPAC, a multinational war games event hosted by naval battle forces of dozens of different countries, but then the film completely ignores the fact that the other countries could maybe help fight off the aliens, and those forces are nowhere to be seen.

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It's another week free of hype and blockbuster films, with plenty of gems around Austin to keep film fans pleased, especially classic film fans. The Paramount Theatre kicks off its highly anticipated Summer Classic Film Series next Thursday night with To Kill a Mockingbird and Pillow Talk.

Galveston-based animator and filmmaker Kelly Sears will be in town to screen a series of short works for the Experimental Response Cinema on Wednesday, May 23, 7:30 pm, at Spider House. This 2011 Texas Filmmaker Production Fund (TFPF) recipient has had her experimental films screened at Los Angeles Film Festival, Sundance, and SXSW Film Festival including the animated short horror film Once It Started It Could Not End Otherwise. Her films feature images of the past to tell modern stories through the use of analog and digital animation.

The Alamo Drafthouse is screening the classic movie Rashomon at the Ritz on Monday at 7:30 pm as part of their Film Foundation series. This 1950 film is a classic representation of the radical style of Akira Kurosawa, as well as the gorgeous cinematography of Kazuo Miyagawa, and the stoic but sometimes amusing performance of one of my favorite classic actors, Toshirô Mifune.

Every third Monday of the month beginning this Monday, May 21, Austin Film Festival (AFF) presents their Audience Award Film Series. The first film in this series to be screened at the Alamo Village at 7 pm is Sironia (review). Shot in Waco by now-local filmmaker Brandon Dickerson, this music-heavy film from AFF 2011 tells the story of a LA musician whose quest for stardom doesn't go as planned, so he and his expectant wife retreat to the simplicity of Sironia, Texas ... or so they think. Be sure to stay through the credits for a treat.

Movies We've Seen

Mansome -- The latest documentary from Morgan Spurlock explores masculinity in a time where metrosexual and manscaping abounds. Mike states in his review, "In exploring what it means to be a man, Spurlock focuses only on the superficial and avoids any internal answers to the question as he presents these vain, arrogant, even asinine subjects as being just as superficial and worried about appearance as women." (Arbor)

What to Expect When You're Expecting -- This romantic comedy depicts five interconnected couples experiencing the joys and surprises of pregnancy and parenthood as they learn not everything goes according to plan. J.C. says it's "far from the worst thing you'll ever see in theaters, but its cheap laughs might trick you into thinking you've seen a decent movie until you start really thinking about it." Read his review. (wide)

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What to Expect When You're Expecting is the epitome of what's wrong with the romantic comedy genre. Sure, it's actually a mildly entertaining movie, but what makes it seem that way is the fact that it includes a few genuinely hilarious laughs in an otherwise stale plotted movie. Most of the hearty laughs come from supporting characters who don't have much to do with the story at all or are otherwise a subplot of a far less interesting storyline.

What to Expect When You're Expecting is far from the worst thing you'll ever see in theaters, but its cheap laughs might trick you into thinking you've seen a decent movie until you start really thinking about it.

If the film has a centralized story, it's that of Jules Baxter (Cameron Diaz), who hosts a TV show called Lose It and Weep and is currently a contestant on a celebrity dance-off show where she has been intimately involved with her dance partner. In what turned out to be the most elaborate "pregnancy nausea" gags, it's revealed that her and her partner have gotten pregnant.

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