Is it better to be appreciated in your own time, or later discovered for your unacknowledged brilliance? This is something I can’t help but question in the film box office as of late. I was driven to examine this very question after a recent screening of the film “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”.

“Pilgrim” felt like the film people had been wanting for quite some time, and yet when finally released it underperformed; why? When a film has a poor box office gross it could always be a number of things. Sometimes it could be timing, competition, or, in some cases, a scandal involving the film’s cast or crew. The reason why I find this subject so alarming is it feels that lately the films I enjoy the most are the ones that take the mass audience a long time to appreciate.

Now granted this isn’t always the case, but I analyzed every movie I have seen this year and besides two (“Inception” and “Shutter Island”) these films were largely ignored by the public. It started early this year in April when I saw “Kick-Ass” and “Macgruber” at both festival and theater screenings, then later continued when I looked back at other films I enjoyed but no one else saw.

The strangest thing, and definitely the most annoying, was the ignorance of the people who hadn’t seen these movies to begin with. The biggest complaint I heard from people who DIDN’T see “Kick-Ass” was that they said they don’t like superhero movies. While this is a valid complaint when it comes to a film like this, if they had actually watched it they would see the film addressed this very issue.

Normally I would chalk this up to mere ignorance, but there seems to be a growing epidemic of film preconceptions. This happened just a month later with “Macgruber” where people simply just wrote the film off entirely even when it had some surprisingly good reviews.

To put my own movie preconceptions to the test I screened two films against my will. My roommate’s girlfriend had previously recommended two films to me and I scoffed at both. She told me to give them a chance because I was being too cynical and I replied with just more cynicism. To make amends, I told her I would watch the two films with her and give my honest opinion. What were these two films you ask? “The Ugly Truth” and “The Last Song”, yes I know, bad, right? I swallowed my pride with a big, nervous gulp and went where few men have boldly gone before.

When it came to “The Ugly Truth”, I knew the film would be bad by both my standards and that of the general public. Katherine Heigle is a “1-note actress”, she has only proven herself in one role (“Knocked Up”) and has simply replayed that same sassy yet slightly annoying character in different shades since. I also knew by the bad acting and atrocious dialogue in the trailer that I had a pretty good idea of how the film would play out. So what happened after I was done viewing the film? Was I surprised? No, of course not! Because, SPOILER ALERT, the two characters who “hate” each other by the end fall in love just as I predicted and yes Heigle’s shades of Grey acting were all the same. The sad part about this is, I fell asleep halfway through the film because I knew this very thing would happen, so I had to wake up and endure the finale.

By the time I finished “The Ugly Truth” I simply did not have it in me to finish the “The Last Song”. I watched the first half of the film and after realizing the similarities between the two, I knew I would not be fooled twice in one night. So while I gave the films that I had preconceptions about a chance, I’m sure you are asking, what did I learn?

Well to be honest, not a whole hell of a lot, sadly. What I did scrape by with however, was this; when you decide whether or not you want to see a movie, do your research. Now I know that sounds like work but it’s really not. The reason why I knew “Knight and Day” would be an enjoyable film was because both the director (James Mangold -  “Walk the Line” “3:10 to Yuma”) and it’s star (Tom Cruise) have proven track records. The reason why the film failed at the box office however was simply because people are unwilling to forgive Mr. Cruise for his past transgression in the tabloids.

So stop basing your opinion of a movie on a trailer or a man’s religion, but maybe see what the film is about and who the writer or director was instead. To compare, the films the director of “The Ugly Truth”  had made previously were “Legally Blonde” and “Monster-in-Law”, yeah ’nuff said. It’s not too hard to detect the bad films of the world out there, but occasionally you can be fooled. Although when it comes to bad movies I’d much rather watch “Dinner for Schmucks” again instead of watching Miley Cyrus try to act.

We saw two films on our first day here at SXSW. The Mark Millar adapted graphic novel, Kick-Ass, and the White Stripes documentary, The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights. Kick-Ass was first. There is a lot of hype surrounding this film, and it does not disappoint. If you’re unfamiliar with Kick-Ass, you can watch the red band trailer here, but I would not recommend watching it if you plan on seeing the film. The trailer shows too much, and kind of ruins some of the punchlines and ultra-violent action scenes.

To put it simply, it’s about a comic geek (played pitch perfect by Aaron Johnson) that is sick of the world being filled with villains and no heroes. So he takes action into his own hands and starts dressing up and fighting crime under the name “Kick-Ass”.  Unfortunately, he has no super powers, so he ends up taking some pretty heavy beatings.

As Nicolas Cage’s character, “Big Daddy”, says in the film, “he should change his name to ass kick”. Nicolas Cage is great in the film, he does a few things with his character (that I won’t give away) that got a huge reaction with the festival audience, but I do wonder how well it will go over with the general audience.

Even better than Cage, however, is Chloe Moretz, who plays “Hit Girl”, the daughter and sidekick of  “Big Daddy”. The 12-year-old actress steals the show. Audiences will fall in love with her character like they did Natalie Portman in The Professional. It’s a great character, and Moretz seems like she was born to play the part. Matthew Vaughn, the director, mentioned that she was only the second girl that auditioned for the part and they knew right away that she was perfect. “Hit Girl” is like a 12-year-old version of The Bride from Kill Bill, except twice as ruthless. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (aka McLovin) also is a perfect fit for the sleazy “Red Mist”.

There are lots of big laughs in this film and lots of over the top violence, but the film has a lot of energy and is a lot of fun. If you don’t mind crude humor or gory violence then chances are you’ll love this film. Ruben Fleischer, the director of Zombieland, was at the screening and I heard he loved it. Basically, if you had a good time watching a film like Zombieland, or enjoyed any superhero/comic book film (good or bad) then Kick-Ass is a film for you. It’s definitely a crowd-pleaser and I’m pretty sure it will be a huge hit. After the screening I ran into the comedian Doug Benson (check out his awesome podcast, I Love Movies) and we were talking about how great Kick-Ass was. He said he thought it was “the first, perfect superhero film” he’s seen. He also raved about Chloe Moretz, as we were waiting in line for the new White Stripes documentary, and talked about how he thought she should be nominated for an Academy Award.

Doug Benson and I, right after Kick-Ass, waiting in line for The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights

The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights is a documentary about the White Stripes as they tour Canada and celebrate their 10 year anniversary. If you’re a White Stripes fan, I highly recommend this film. If you’re a fan of “rock docs”, I also highly recommend this film. The concert footage is great, and very unique.

This is the first time the Detroit natives have toured Canada and they decided to play a lot of large shows, as well as a lot of smaller, more intimate shows. For instance, they play one show at a bowling alley, and another on a moving boat, as the crowd watches from the nearby shore. Another highlight is their “one note show”, which is pretty hilarious because it is exactly that, a one note show.

The director of the film, Emmett Malloy, really captures some great moments between Jack and Meg, and the concert footage is amazing. Malloy did a fantastic job making the film fit The White Stripes color scheme, using a lot of red, and switching to black and white at times. He commented that it helped that they were in Canada and the Canadian colors are red and white. A lot of the interviews are also done in good fun, where the interviewer (who I believe is Malloy) is lying in a bed behind Jack and Meg, and asking the questions from there. Jack does most of the talking, as usual, and Meg mostly sits quiet. At one point, Jack takes a moment to clarify that Meg is just really shy and that’s what she prefers, and it’s not so much that he loves the spotlight.

Although there is one funny moment where Jack snaps on Meg for being so quiet, and uses a great Randy Newman reference to emphasize his point. Jack White is undeniably cool, and he knows it. Normally that trait would annoy the hell out of me, but Jack White has earned his coolness, and so it’s hard not to applaud him for it. From his cool guitars, like the one he named after Rita Hayworth, to his snazzy suits and matching entourage, and then of course his phenomenal guitar playing, the guy is just cool.

Not too much light is shed on Jack and Meg’s relationship, and Malloy intended it to be that way. He stated that he thought the mystery behind them is so much a part of the band, and he wanted to keep that intact. The two of them are such opposites. Jack will will have these elaborate answers where he talks about how he thinks work ethic and inspiration are one and the same, and how deadlines are good because they force creativity, whereas complete freedom causes you to be lazy and thus uninspired. And then Meg will just nod and very rarely say a couple sentences, and when she does it’s always subtitled because she talks so low. But that dynamic is what makes them The White Stripes.

The contrast of Jack’s loud perspective, and Meg’s quiet smirk as she listens and acknowledges his every word. Jack’s energy and wild guitar playing on stage, and Meg’s childlike pounding on the drums. Meg absolutely adores Jack, you can see it throughout the film, and I think it’s a large part of what drives him and the dynamic of the band. We don’t know where The White Stripes currently stand, their 10th anniversary show in Nova Scotia, where Malloy captured some beautiful moments, was their last show. Their latest tour was canceled. I really don’t think we’ve seen the last of them together though, because Jack is an entertainer, and Meg is his biggest fan.

The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights will be released on DVD on March 16, 2010 and Kick-Ass is set to be released theatrically on April 16, 2010.

To read Jared’s full review on Kick-Ass click here.

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Here is a picture from the Kick-Ass Q&A. (L-R) Mark Millar, Matthew Vaughn, Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Clark Duke

Director Emmett Malloy talking about The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights

I attended the opening night premiere of “Kick-Ass” today. The film’s title is one that will be used endlessly to describe the film by both critics and audiences alike.

The film is directed by Mathew Vaughn (“Stardust” “Layer Cake”) and brings a style all his own to this film. Based on Mark Millar’s and John Romita’s original and visionary work, this film takes a graphic novel adaptation such as “Sin City” and goes one step further. It not only brings justice to the original material in which it was based, but at the same time brings a depth to a story that a graphic novel cannot fully convey.

The story revolves around Dave Lezewski, or more so, his alter ego Kick-Ass (played by relative newcomer Aaron Johnson) who wonders a simple question; why don’t real superheroes actually exist? Johnson finds his answer with no training and embarks on a journey of what it actually means to be a hero. He is cast perfectly being somewhat unknown in this story, giving the audience a character they can root for. On the other side of the spectrum, we have the “villain” of the story played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse who in almost a rare cliche, comic, move, is the opposite of Johnson’s performance. Though this may have something to do with what the actor was given in written form, he mostly plays on the absurd and gives no heart or depth to that same character as seen before in “Superbad” and “Role Models”. In all fairness however, Plasse has to compete with that of current villain go-to-guy Mark Strong and the brilliantly conceived Nicolas Cage. Both of which play the adults in this world of care-free, crime-busting, children.

With the previous talent aside, the real scene stealer is the 13 year old actress, Chloe Moertz. Playing Nicolas Cage’s daughter and a fellow defender of justice, she exerts a top notch performance that is never doubted for a second. Stealing every scene she is in, Moertz plays this part as if it was written for her entirely.

The fight scenes, both including Moertz, and in the film, have such a unique style and flare to them. Giving off a natural feel with it’s choreography, and combined with a tone that’s fast paced and intense, it comes out to be a perfect blend of both entertainment and violence.

Paired up with these well acted and uniquely edited scenes is a score, and music supervision, that almost pokes fun at the genre in which it is paying homage to. Yet, while posing with a subtle front, it hits just the right chords to become perfectly placed at the same time.

There’s truly not enough good I can say about this film other than spoiling the entire thing for it’s unseen audience. From start to finish this film gives you an exhilarating feeling that lets you both relish the moment in which you are experiencing, while simultaneously making you crave more.

With a resounding calm, I can fully recommend  this film to those who seek an original, yet mainstream, voice to speak out against the onslaught of hum-drum comic book films. It is fast, in-your-face, action with an original story and some amazing acting that leaves you to wonder; what more could I ask for? I can honestly say that after seeing this film, I’m still scratching my head and wondering that very same thing.