Reviews
Skyline (2010)
The "Film Critic" Part Of You Loses. You'll Like Skyline!
**Contains Spoilers**
Very many reviewers here paste Skyline; it's criticized for its lack of character and plot development, and dismal tone. To make matters worse, can we really accept an alien invasion that lacks an expected (read "proper") denouement? What, the U.S. Air Force, Marines, Army, and special ops groups can't get the job done? And what's with the surviving indestructible characters? Don't they deserve to triumph over the forces of extra-terrestrial evil as they would were it a "better" movie where, one hopes, without mussing hair and smearing makeup as the radioactive dust settles? In short, how can all this combined fire-power and dogged perseverance ....fail?
I'm glad it just didn't work out for the earth people this time. More entertaining this way. For me, it's enough that Skyline breaks the trendy spooling out of feel-good plot lines that expose viewers to tedious personal histories and love-lives in character development guise; don't we viewers, filmmakers and writers reason, want relief from too much fast-breaking action and related developments? And isn't it in the America-always-wins world view that the plot should hammer home the creative resourcefulness of humankind? We overcome the worst kind of adversity; we make the evil invader pay.
Not in Skyline. The Streuses deserve our thanks for avoiding another Independence Day or War of the Worlds (the Tom Cruise version, not the superb 50's original!). No need to rehash, in other words, the reviews already posted here that point to the obvious weaknesses of the film. The strengths are not so obvious, masked perhaps as they are by its low budget and lack of so-called star-power. Yet, once captivated by the pace of the action and special effects, I'll bet the only reason you'll hit the pause button will be for a bladder break and maybe to fish a 3 minute bag of popcorn out of the kitchen nucleator.
If you're a sci-fi addict, as I am, I think you'll like it in spite of the reasons the film-critic(al) part of your brain thinks it's not a "good film"!
Moonlight Serenade (2009)
You'll Love Anyway!
I confess I found this film irresistible. It's primarily a vehicle for a terrific score, consisting almost entirely of the superb performances and arrangements of Joey DeFrancesco (Frank D). What a pleasant showcase for classics from sorely missed show tunes and jazz of the 40's and 50's, all capably rendered by Amy Adams and Scott G. Anderson. DeFrancesco, incidentally, not only plays the Hammond B, but also piano and trumpet in the movie score (though his Frank D is seen performing only on the Hammond B in the film itself). The film seems to have been somewhat inspired by Steve Koves' Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), though it's not up to the outstanding production values of that film, or the first-rate performances of Jeff and Beau Bridges and (especially) Michelle Pfeiffer, who received an Academy Award nomination. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Moonlight Serenade for ALL the reasons that others who posted here have already pointed out. It was great to hear these wonderful, time-tested classical popular and jazz compositions again. I own the film and would love to find the sound track, but no luck so far.