World Trade Center Oliver Stone / 2006 / USA (1st time; big screen)
Stone's film has no real energy, no real explosive or electric rhythm, no narrative drive. It's not a bad film by any means - in fact it's rather watchable - but it's decidedly ordinary. It looks like a TV movie, viewable to all, with intentions of inspiration and shortcomings in production value. Two moments of mild effect - when the first tower falls, with the men inside, and when the two survivors first hear help above on the ground. It's a conventional film, though, about an extraordinary event; and what is it that makes Nicolas Cage far more enjoyable to watch when he's deliberately and physically disabled under a pile of rubble, as opposed to a pro-active, no-shit member of the emergency services...? Flat.
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The Illusionist Neil Burger / 2006 / USA (1st time; stream)
It begins with a "come on, let's get on with it" exposition, a flashback within a flashback, and unfolds finally as a piece of detective fiction, in which the detective is a secondary character yet the one through which we view events, in awe of the mysterious illusionist of the title. The middle third is the best bit by far - it creates great potential for a battle of wits between the master magician in love with the bride-to-be of the jealous, bad-tempered prince. Suggestions of a thriller, potential for a more exciting second half, though, are cut short, and it turns out to finally be rather quite ordinary. Oh well.
Action comedy, really, and it's good stuff. In fact, it's very good stuff, at times. A tad long, and the final quarter isn't nearly as good as the first three, but it boasts a shameless charm and succession of cheesy one-liners, a very old-fashioned goodie versus baddie plot with adequate enough romantic interest. A better lead could have helped, because this one is a bit cardboard, but the action scenes are really cool in an "I wish I was Superman" kind of way.
...dot com bold typeface rhetoric. You go clickety click and get your head split. 'The hell you look like on a message board Discussing whether or not the Brother is hardcore?