Culver City Observer -

MEN IN BLACK III

It has long been said that the third time’s a charm. Sadly, that phrase doesn’t too often apply to movie franchises. By the time the third sequel film roles around, characters are typically hackneyed, old, tired and sorely lacking in enthusiasm and originality. With MEN IN BLACK III, however, after a ten year absence, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones jump back into the alien-busting saddle with lasers and neuralizers blazing, bringing us the return of Agents J and K in a summer blockbuster extravaganza that’s out of this world. While we meet more than our fill of requisite aliens, this go round there’s a story that is not only fun, but filled with heart and humor.

Boris the Animal is one of the most heinous criminals in the universe. The last of the Bogladites, thanks to Agent K, he has spent the past 40 years housed in Lunar Max, a high security prison on the moon. One armed (thanks to K), at the time of his capture, Boris and company were on a path of destruction (a la “Independence Day”) to invade and destroy every planet in the universe, with the Earth next on the list. In a legendary act of heroism, during a showdown at cape Canaveral, a very young Agent K “disarmed” Boris, and at the same time designed and put a security system called “The Arc Net” into play as a means to protect the Earth from invasion...all on July 16, 1969, the day Apollo 11 lifted off for the moon. Interestingly, none of this has ever been revealed to K’s faithful partner, J.

But 40 years in maximum security with his one remaining arm housed in a steel straight jacket (his hand is home to an ugly little creature that shoots out spikes, killing unwitting victims), and body, neck and other extremities chained to a concrete wall, can make someone more than a bit cranky, not to mention give them a lot of time to plot revenge and escape. And Boris has done just that. His plan: escape, head to Earth, time travel back to 1969 and kill K before K can take his arms and his freedom.

While Boris is hatching his little scheme, back on Earth, J and K are doing what they do best - control the alien population and battle intergalactic crime in NYC while trading barbs and bickering together like an old married couple. And after all these years, J still knows how to get under K’s skin, especially when trying to dredge up mysteries of the universe that K doesn’t think should ever be told, mysteries that deal with K’s past.

Without warning, something untoward happens and a noticeable shift in the universe happens. Heading out for the day to pick up K, J finds K’s apartment to not be his apartment. And MIB is now run by Agent O who, to squelch the panic rising in J at not being able to find K, informs him that K has been dead for 40 years, having been killed by Boris the Animal in a showdown at Cape Canaveral. But that’s not what happened! Or is it?

Quickly realizing that time has indeed shifted, J knows what he must do - travel back in time to 1969 to save K and the earth and do what should have been done from the start, kill Boris.

Encountering a more than pleasant, in fact, NICE Agent K, the two embark on the most dangerous and revealing of all their missions - save K, save the world and find out what made K go from sweet as pie to pie eating curmudgeon.

Smith and Jones are the best at what they do. As J and K, no one protects the intergalactic peace better than they. Retaining their well established sensibilities with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as the free-wheeling, smart alecky J and stoic, acerbic, crusty, nary a smile cracking K, we are treated to a comfortable and entertaining familiarity. We know them and still love them. But then director Barry Sonnenfeld and scribe Etan Cohen give us a twist. Thanks to the joys of time travel, we get to meet a young, unjaded K, courtesy of Josh Brolin. Can we just say - doppleganger!!!!

Brolin is perfection! While Brolin has always born a strong resemblance to Jones (get a look at some college pics of Jones and then look at Brolin), slide him into a black suit, slick back the hair, and let him nail the perfunctory cadence of Jones’ K speak and yes indeed, we truly have gone back in time. The casting of, and performance by, Brolin is pure genius. Never making K a caricature or imitation of Jones’ work, Brolin starts with the outward appearance and then develops his own interpretation that is a loving homage to a beloved character.

Joining in the fray in one of the most frighteningly believable alien performances to come around in many a year is “Flight of the Conchordes”, Jemaine Clement. Thanks to the handiwork of creature creator Rick Baker, Clement is transformed, both physically and emotionally, to the point of creep-me-out levels, while still retaining an “earthy” 1960's “Easy Rider” quality and look. Commanding, interesting and exciting, Clement brings a strong physicality to the role that is more than fun.

Emma Thompson gets her own shot at donning the black suit, albeit one with a skirt (done intentionally by the costumers to show off her legs), as the new head of MIB, Agent O. And Thompson has her own little bit of mystery going on. Successfully blending secrecy, rapid fire dialogue delivery and smart alecky wit to rival that of Will Smith, should there by an MIB4, I sincerely hope we see more of Thompson’s O. As part of the time travelling twist, Alice Eve plays a young O who is more than enamored with the young K, and who, contrary to the K we’ve all known, is more than smitten with the buxom little blonde.

A real star in the heavens is a sweet turn by Michael Stuhlbarg as Griffin, a loveable alien who not only predicts the future, but does so on a multi-planed level. Stuhlbarg steals not only many of the scenes with Smith and Jones, but your heart as well. Stuhlbarg’s Griffin is to MIB3 what Joe Pesci brought to the Riggs-Murtaugh dynamic of “Lethal Weapon”. Not to be missed is one spot-on hysterical performance by Bill Hader as Andy Warhol. Beyond funny. Warhol himself would undoubtedly be applauding!

Written by Etan Cohen, not only do we delve deeper into the characters and their intriguingly layered relationship (not to mention the importance of pie), but with time travel taking us into 1960's NY and wrapping in the thematic elements of Apollo 11 and man’s first manned mission to the moon, is a candy store for the creative. From culturally quick witted dialogue to celebratory visual thematics, Cohen and director Sonnenfeld make us feel as if we too, have transported back to 1969. And surprising as it may seem, tears will flow at the most emotional climactic scene in the franchise so bring tissues!

Applause, Applause to Sonnenfeld and team for their stunning use of 3D technology. Now this is what 3D is for! Not gratuitous in any respect, the 3D is used wisely, judiciously and to its highest capabilities, adding tactile sensory depth visually and emotionally, enhancing the film and the viewing experience. Complimenting the 3D are the FX talents of Ken Ralston and Jay Redd, the excellence of which is only compounded by the VFX from Sony Picture Imageworks. Several scenes are so “trippy” that even I was gasping at the beauty and wonder. And of course, Rick Baker works his own magic with make-up and creature creation - over 100 new aliens in all, including himself in a small cameo. Also adding to the eye-popping (literally and figuratively) extravaganza are the coolest gadgets and gizmos we’ve seen yet. And make sure you pay attention to production design for 1969. Banks of Univac computers, old school equipment (not to mention old school yet, high tech, room-sized neuralizer) with a futuristic capability and sensibility will have you agog, not to mention the integration and recreation of the Apollo 11 launch.

The final piece of the puzzle is Danny Elfman’s hauntingly captivating score.

MEN IN BLACK 3 - it’s out of this world!

THE INTOUCHABLES

Already nominated for 9 Cezar Awards, France’s equivalent of the Oscars, THE INTOUCHABLES is, in a word, stupendous. The first real Must See Film of the Year and Feel Good Film of the Summer, directors Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache bring us this uplifting, touching, funny story of a millionaire and street-wise ex-con from the projects that just fills the heart with joy and laughter. Based on the true story of quadriplegic millionaire Phillipe Pozzo di Borgo and his caretaker, Algerian-born Abdel, Toledano and Nakache tweak the story a bit from the documentary, “A La Vie, A La Mort” which chronicled the story of Phillipe and Abdel, change Abdel to a Senegalese named Driss (in order to cast the amazing Omar Sy), fill the film with electrifying performances, witty and heartfelt dialogue, and add in some killer R&B music that gets the juices flowing and voila, we have THE INTOUCHABLES touching the heart with laughter.

Celebrating and embracing the differences of each man and their respective walks of life, the base situation in and of itself bodes well for poignant, heartfelt laughter, but in the skilled hands of Toledano and Nakache, leads to hilarious result.

With a strong narrative technique we meet Phillippe and Driss in the present day on a cold, rainy night as they race along with glistening wet streets of Paris in a Maserati from Phillipe’s fleet of cars. Stopped by the cops, we immediately set a sense of who these men are and feel as if not only have they been friends for life, but so have we. Pulling a con on the cops, the two men are like kids in a candy store pulling pranks on the teacher. Their glee is infectious and downright laugh-out-loud funny setting the tone for what is yet to come.

Shifting the narrative back in time to the day of their first meeting, it’s easy to see this is a match made in heaven. Appearing at Phillippe’s doorstep under the guise of applying for a job as caretaker for the quadriplegic, Driss is anything but proper. Irreverent, loud mouthed and disinterested, he shows no pity for Phillippe and his condition, and is self-absorbed in his own problem - needing a signature on his paperwork to show he “tried” to get a job so that he can continue to collect welfare benefits. With a conversation about Berlioz as common ground - although for Phillippe, he’s talking the composer, while Driss is taking the name of the projects where he lives - one can sense the electricity between them. Before meeting Driss, Phillippe was just sitting in his wheelchair with no spark, no life force, no emotion. But within moments of their engagement, he comes alive, the eyes brighten, while Driss becomes even more engaging and entertaining as if showing off in a school play.

In the most unlikely pairing, Driss and Phillippe become inseparable, not just as employer and employee, but as friends. Like boys in the school yard, they plot and plan, talking women, sex, child-rearing for Phillippe’s bratty and out-of-control daughter, plan prank filled days, and of course, bond through the universal touchstone of music and the arts. While Phillippe is a devotee of the classics in all respects, Driss is a fool for the life beats that come with a pulse pounding tune from Earth, Wind & Fire. Somewhere along the way, the two men inexplicably intertwine and become one. Poignant and beautiful to watch develop.

Francois Cluzet amazes as quadriplegic Phillippe Pozzo di Borgo while Omar Sy just blows you out of the water as Driss. Funny, charismatic, entertaining, engaging...and his smile and laugh - infectious joy!!! I cannot get enough of Sy or the chemistry between he and Cluzet. As for Cluzet, the role of Phillippe was particularly challenging as he is known for tackling roles with minimal dialogue, relying on physical nuance to convey expression. Here, he had no body to use which thus placed him in a relatively unfamiliar position of emotional participation only. Interestingly, he found Sy becoming his body. “When he dances, it’s a little as if I were dancing. When he jokes, it’s a little as if I were joking.” Difficult was also portraying the concept of pain and particularly “phantom” leg pains.

Written and directed by Toledano and Nakache, the script is unapologetic with its honesty when it comes to social taboos and political correctness tapestried into a story of irreverent humor.

An incredible journey of two men and a friendship destined to last a lifetime. A testament to the human spirit and the humanity within each of us. THE INTOUCHABLES will touch you in the most unimaginable and unforgettable ways.

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