Happy Birthday, John Malkovich!

Today, we're celebrating the 58th birthday of Academy Award-nominated actor, John Malkovich. He made his feature-film debut in an uncredited performance in 1978's A Wedding, but he didn't get his first credited appearance until 1984's Places in the Heart, for which he earned his first Oscar nomination. From there, Malkovich made appearances in high-profile films like 1987's Empire of the Sun and 1988's Dangerous Liaisons. In 1993, he earned his second Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in In the Line of Fire. He continued to act in some of the bigger films of the 1990s, including 1997's Con Air, 1998's Rounders and 1999's Being John Malkovich, for which his namesake was used. His resumé in the 2000s has been a tad bit lackluster, but he's still managed to appear in films like 2005's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 2006's Eragon and 2008's Burn After Reading. Most recently, audiences have seen John in this summer's Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and you'll next see him in 2012's As Linhas de Torres. So, to celebrate his birthday, I've listed my five favorite Malkovich performances. I hope you enjoy the videos! Once again, happy birthday, John!

5. Teddy KGB
Rounders (1998)


*****

4. Marvin Boggs
Red (2010)


*****

3. Osborne Cox
Burn After Reading (2008)


*****

2. Lennie Small
Of Mice and Men (1992)


*****

1. John Horatio Malkovich
Being John Malkovich (1999)

Movie Review: THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK

THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK

1998
PG-13

The Man in the Iron Mask is a 1998 action film directed by Randall Wallace. It has been called a very loose adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Vicomte de Bragelonne, the second sequel to the famed The Three Musketeers. This film follows a plot by everyone's favorite musketeers: Aramis (Jeremy Irons), Athos (John Malkovich) and Porthos (Gérard Depardieu). These aging soldiers have major issues with how the current king, King Louis XIV (Leonardo DiCaprio), is treating the people of France. The three men decide to take action by finding a prisoner encased in an iron mask to replace the king on his throne. This prisoner (also played by DiCaprio) serves well because he is the unknowing twin brother of the current king. However, one man truly stands in their way: D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne), who was once the fourth musketeer in their small group. So the story essentially becomes a battle between the two sides, each of which is either trying to start or prevent a chance in the country's kingship.

If the previous synopsis seemed a little bit convoluted, then you'd be hitting the nail on the head. It's not that the storyline is hard to follow - in fact, it's a little too simplistic. Rather, it's just not very good. I felt like it was entirely predictable. You'd be hard pressed to think that the film would end in a way other than it does, and that doesn't necessarily bode well for this particular film. However, the biggest problem with the film (and I blame the screenplay) is that it never truly pulls you into the story. The Man in the Iron Mask is a film you can watch while working on other things. It's the perfect multi-task flick because you can be working on something else and still know exactly what's going on in the film. For some, this is a good thing because they won't miss any major plot details. In terms of a film's effectiveness, however, there's no hook. That's not a good thing.

I also had some issue with the level of acting in the movie. While no one is downright awful - save Judith Godrèche, who plays King Louis' love interest throughout the film - there's really nobody that's terribly good, either. If anyone is standing above the rest, it's Irons, who I found to be the most believable. Byrne is also very good, but his blank stares kinda killed it a little bit. My biggest issues, however, were with the actors who couldn't even manage to deliver even a hint of an accent. Whereas most of the cast, as well as all supporting and nameless characters, had some sort of accent (it was supposed to be something like French, but anything that didn't sound "American" was a plus for me in this movie), a few of our big names couldn't bring anything like that to the table. For starters, DiCaprio was totally out of his element. I feel like it was too early in his career to delve into a film where he would play dual roles, especially if he couldn't give either character an accent. Shouldn't the King of France sound French? Malkovich also does nothing different with his voice, and that probably annoyed me the most, considering he's a phenomenal actor who's usually so dedicated to his craft. And even though he only plays a minor role early in the film, Peter Sarsgaard doesn't give us an accent. I know I'm nit-picking, but you've gotta be better than that, guys. Seriously.

Oh, and I'd also like to mention that we get a Hugh Laurie sighting in the film. He's not an important role, by any means, but I suppose it's worth mention that "House" did do films before becoming a full-time, certified doctor.

Overall, The Man in the Iron Mask is a tad bit on the boring side, and although you can watch it while working on other things, it still may not be worth your time. Nothing's really adding up to anything of quality, which really is sad considering the caliber of actor we're presented. It's all just too bad.

Movie Review Summary:

Grade: D
1.5 Thumbs Down

Movie Review: RED

RED

2010
PG-13


You can watch the trailer here

I don't want to say, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen," but it's the first thing that comes to mind. On paper, Red seemed like a movie destined to succeed. With an all-star cast, whose four top bills have combined for eleven Oscar nominations and two wins, and a seemingly pleasant script, this action-comedy looked for a road to success. However, what you sometimes see on paper doesn't always translate well to the silver screen. Director Robert Schwentke should've been able to do better.

The screenplay itself is relatively simple: it follows Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), a retired CIA operative, as he tries to piece together the reasoning behind a CIA hit squads attempt on his life. Joining forces with some old associates, as well as a newfound love interest, Moses attacks the CIA itself in order to find the answers he's looking for. Like I said - pretty basic. With an action-comedy, you can't really afford to have too detailed of a plot, so the storyline worked relatively well. My problem, however, was that there just wasn't enough action or comedy to carry the film. The action sequences were few and much too far in-between, and the comedy relied on a variety of desperate grabs for laughter. Yes, I laughed throughout the movie, but the laughs seemed relatively cheap, and I couldn't begin to bring myself into the goings-on of the film.

Acting-wise, I have no real complaints. Willis is a little off-key with a character that's part John McClane from Die Hard and part Mark Wahlberg from The Happening. As one can imagine, this didn't turn out very well. Luckily, some of the supporting actors partially lived up to their billing, even if the material they had to work with wasn't entirely well-formed. John Malkovich and Helen Mirren stand out about the rest, and it's always a delight to see Morgan Freeman grace the screen.

Although there's nothing glaring that I can point out from this movie, it just didn't hook me and bring me into the story. The characters seemed one-dimensional, and the screenplay just didn't allow for much room to run. A cast like this should have knocked this one out of the park, but Red simply settles for the sacrifice bunt.

Movie Review Summary:
Grade: C-
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