X-Men Xceeds Xpectations
Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin and Hugh Jackman arrive at the official Cannes news conference.
***
Although I was told that I couldn't attend the advanced screening of "X-Men: The Last Stand," I tried anyway. Because I already had received a badge, I was able to get in.
While standing in line at the entrance to the theater, I struck up a conversation with Justin Chang, a film critic for Los Angeles-based Variety magazine. I asked a lot of questions about Variety and about his job. Chang, it turns out, writes only one or two movie reviews a week. Most of the time, he does layout, design and editing on Quark for the publication.
One of the interesting things about Variety is that it has its own style -- or slanguage. NBC, for example, is referred to in all articles as Peacock, CBS is called Eye and ABC is called Alphabet. Chang said that Variety breaks all sorts of styles, and agreed that it moves the farthest away from AP Style compared to major newspapers.
Chang has a pretty cushy job, although he said he'd eventually like to branch out into more mainstream press. We swapped information, and when I visit L.A., I might ask him to give me a tour of Variety's offices.
***
Meanwhile, "X-Men 3" is the best superhero film I've seen so far. I was worried about the film after Brett Ratner replaced Bryan Singer as director. Ratner's "Red Dragon" is a good film, but his "Rush Hour" films aren't all that.
The third X-men film deals with the return of Jean Grey, who was presumed dead at the end of the second movie. Grey, it turns out, has split-personality disorder because of Professor X. The professor knew that Grey would not be able to control her powers unless her agressive and uninhibited side was not contained. As a result, he buried that side of her at a young age into her subconscious. Grey's near-death experience, unfortuantely, has brought this side up to the surface -- with fatal results.
Meanwhile, the government has developed a genetic cure for mutants, something that Magento wants to obtain and destroy. This leads to a confrontational showdown on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco.
Ratner, surprisingly, does a great job in this film. The movie still maintains the style and tone of the first and second films, it's not too over the top, and it has a willingness to kill off major characters.
I went in hoping that the movie would be good, but not expecting it to be good. It has exceeded my expectations.
3.5 stars
***
Wayne's star system
1 star --> avoid at all costs
2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on
3 stars --> rent it eventually
4 stars --> must see before you die
***Although I was told that I couldn't attend the advanced screening of "X-Men: The Last Stand," I tried anyway. Because I already had received a badge, I was able to get in.
While standing in line at the entrance to the theater, I struck up a conversation with Justin Chang, a film critic for Los Angeles-based Variety magazine. I asked a lot of questions about Variety and about his job. Chang, it turns out, writes only one or two movie reviews a week. Most of the time, he does layout, design and editing on Quark for the publication.
One of the interesting things about Variety is that it has its own style -- or slanguage. NBC, for example, is referred to in all articles as Peacock, CBS is called Eye and ABC is called Alphabet. Chang said that Variety breaks all sorts of styles, and agreed that it moves the farthest away from AP Style compared to major newspapers.
Chang has a pretty cushy job, although he said he'd eventually like to branch out into more mainstream press. We swapped information, and when I visit L.A., I might ask him to give me a tour of Variety's offices.
***
Meanwhile, "X-Men 3" is the best superhero film I've seen so far. I was worried about the film after Brett Ratner replaced Bryan Singer as director. Ratner's "Red Dragon" is a good film, but his "Rush Hour" films aren't all that.
The third X-men film deals with the return of Jean Grey, who was presumed dead at the end of the second movie. Grey, it turns out, has split-personality disorder because of Professor X. The professor knew that Grey would not be able to control her powers unless her agressive and uninhibited side was not contained. As a result, he buried that side of her at a young age into her subconscious. Grey's near-death experience, unfortuantely, has brought this side up to the surface -- with fatal results.
Meanwhile, the government has developed a genetic cure for mutants, something that Magento wants to obtain and destroy. This leads to a confrontational showdown on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco.
Ratner, surprisingly, does a great job in this film. The movie still maintains the style and tone of the first and second films, it's not too over the top, and it has a willingness to kill off major characters.
I went in hoping that the movie would be good, but not expecting it to be good. It has exceeded my expectations.
3.5 stars
***
Wayne's star system
1 star --> avoid at all costs
2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on
3 stars --> rent it eventually
4 stars --> must see before you die
posted by Wayne Ma at
9:14 AM
3 Comments:
That X3 synopsis sounds like a great porno plot. Just replace "fatal results" with "sexy results."
By
Anonymous, at 12:22 PM
If you write another headline like that, I'm flying to France to break your puny Mactop across my knee!!!!
By
printjunky, at 7:14 PM
You have now managed to pack more excitement into a week than we can muster in the QC in 4 1/2 years.
Great stuff, Wayne!
By
Anonymous, at 1:21 PM
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