This Is It

This Is It
Director: Kenny Ortega
112 minutes
1.78:1

Prior to this, Kenny Ortega is most famous for molding a generation of musical-loving teens with his High School Musical movies. But with This Is It, he will be known as the director who gave millions of people closure.

Culled from hours of rehearsal footage, This Is It shows an artist who wants to give his fans the time of their life. He wants to entertain them and show them something they've never seen before. He had the unique vision, the kind-hearted tenacity and the brilliant instinct to deliver a concert series that would have been memorable.

Ortega would be the first to say that this is not about the director. This Is It is about his friend and collaborator whose professional side is finally being revealed. But here, professional is personal and that is what makes the film captivating. This is a documentary about a concert that was a work-in-progress, one that never sees its full-dress rehearsal.

The video and sound editors did one hell of a job of making the best of what is available. The film is made up of HD and SD footage. Because it was never intended to be a concert film, it does not have the high gloss of sweeping cameras moves and wide shots. Even some of the songs are made up of two or three different rehearsal dates. But what is lacking in video, the audio makes up for it big time. The digital projection of the movie means that the performances sound fantastic, full of detail and vibrancy. It makes it an up close and personal experience, better than the best seats in the stadium.

Running only for two weeks, This Is It is a tribute to a man whose lasting legacy is his mark in music and popular culture. It is a celebration of his eternal gift to the world. Clap, shake, groove and dance to the one and only Michael Jackson.

Surrogates

Surrogates
Director: Jonathan Mostow
98 minutes
2.39:1

Jonathan Mostow does not have a perfect batting score when it comes to directing movies but Surrogates will certainly improve it.

Based on a graphic novel, Surrogates paints the world as being populated by super robots, called surrogates, while their human controllers stay at home. Then one day, two surrogates got killed and so did their human, a crime unheard of in 15 years.

There are obvious flaws in the storytelling - the accelerated time line of surrogate adoption as well as the rushed ending - but Surrogates hold up as a good entry in sci fi. Writers Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato retain the essential parts from Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele's graphic novel to tell a thrilling story of the evolution of technology. Mostow made the story credible, exciting and relevant.

The cast is uniformly great. The ones that got the most breadth are Bruce Willis and Rosamund Pike as the Greers and James Cromwell as Canter as they represent the cracks underneath the veneer of human liberation. Most of the VFX are seamless except for Willis' surrogates, which was intentionally plasticized.

Breakdown, a white-knuckle ride from start to finish, is still Mostow's best movie. But Surrogates is still commendable because it asks the right questions about the use of human substitutes and what it could mean for civilization.

Avatar - 15-Minute PREVIEW
Director: James Cameron
15 minutes
2.39:1

James Cameron is a very talented guy because whenever he makes a movie, people take notice. And it's hard not to take notice of Avatar.

The 15-minute preview of Cameron's latest is absolutely amazing. But to an average Joe who only saw the teaser, it can come off as looking unspectacular. The reason is the seamlessness of the photorealistic CGI of the Na'vi as they appear in the teaser. But the teaser don't show complete scenes with a lot of dialogue and THAT is where the magic is!

In the preview, the interaction of the avatar and human is shown within the same shot. And while this is not exactly new, what haven't been seen in movies since Gollum is that intricate and completely believable level of facial animation. It's absolutely seamless to the dialog! What J6P may not understand/know is that the Na'vi and the avatars are not humans in makeup and suits - they are completely, head-to-toe emotion-captured CGI creature! There's a scene in the preview where Sigourney Weaver's avatar is guiding the hero in the forest; it LOOKS, ACTS and SPEAKS like it's Weaver but she is younger, taller and BLUE!

Seriously, three months is a long time to wait to watch the entire movie! Avatar may not be have a groundbreaking story - some liken it to Pocahontas in space - but the method of storytelling is definitely revolutionary. The same experience can easily be expected next year when Spielberg's finish off his TinTin movie, since both films are done using emotion-capture and both are worked on by Weta Digital.

Avatar will mark another notch in the craft of filmmaking. Just like other visual effects before - think Cameron's T1000 liquid metal or the liquid ROV in The Abyss, or Spielberg's dinosaur and aliens, or the Wachowski's bullet-time or even PJ's Gollum - movies PROCEEDING it will overuse its technology to cover under-develop ideas. But come December, you have to go to a 3D theater to witness another film history unfolding before your eyes with Avatar.

Taking Of Pelham 123

Taking Of Pelham 123
Director: Tony Scott
105 minutes
2.39:1

Leave it to Tony Scott to dive into the remake arena of Hollywood and pull off a surprisingly involving thriller.

The Scott-Washington team has worked on three successful films before and this one is no exception. The script by Brian Helgeland is smart and Scott executed it with great comedic and thrilling moments. The cast - John Turturro and Ramon Rodriguez reunited for this film - from the background characters to the supporting characters, are very good. The editing is tight and as usual showcases Scott's penchant of flashy sequences.

The score is contemporary and works well with the film's overall style. Everything else about the production is also impeccable.

This is a surprising film to schedule during the "summer" months but the gamble worked. Taking Of Pelham 123 is one of the better hostage negotiation thrillers to come in a long while.

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
Director: David Yates
153 minutes
2.39:1

Puberty and adolescence are such tumultuous times. That's why in Harry's sixth outing, he's a more interesting character.

Much darker than any of the previous films, Half-Blood Prince in that regard because it stamps out any inclination that it was as kid-friendly as the first film. As it should be expected since if the same kid who watched the first film when s/he was six, s/he would be 12 by now and clamoring for more teen fare. Steve Kloves did a great job at picking the essence of the book and David Yates have to be commended for a great work at directing.

The entire cast is excellent, from the main to the bit players that have played their individual characters known all these years. Everything about the production is first rate - set designs, costumes, hair and makeup, special effects, VFX, editing, sound mixing and design.

The Potter saga is coming to an end. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince is doing such a great job at setting it all up.