411 Fact or Fiction Movies/TV 10.10.08: Week 147

Posted by Ben Piper on 10.10.2008

Will Body of Lies be nothing short of spectacular entertainment? Will City of Ember be a disappointment or a serviceable family-friendly action flick? Are people excited to see Christian Slater's new show My Own Worst Enemy? 411's Will Helm and Michael Tyner debate these and other topics in week 147 of Fact or Fiction: Movies/TV!



Hello, everyone! Welcome back yet again to the one column sure to cause debate and general unrest among the masses, Fact or Fiction! This week we've got Will Helm and 411 newcomer Michael Tyner sharing with the rest of the class. Let's see what they have to say…

1. Based upon the previews and the commercials you've seen thus far, Quarantine looks to be a solid horror flick you're eager to watch.

Will Helm: Fiction. Though my column is in the midst of Horror Movie Mania 2008, I'm not a fan of the genre. I know; I suck for that. Though Quarantine looks original on the surface, to me it seems like a slew of recent -- and not-so-recent -- films. For some reason, one of the big subgenres in horror nowadays is "claustrophobic horror," wherein the main character(s) are trapped somewhere facing an unseen force or themselves . . . such as The Happening, The Mist, The Descent, and so on. Quarantine reminds me quite a bit of these aforementioned movies, with touches of The Blair Witch Project and even the original Night of the Living Dead thrown in for good measure; as such, I'm not looking forward to it and don't believe it'll be anything terribly special. At least it's being released in October.

Michael Tyner: Fiction. Quarantine is another in a long line foreign horror remakes, and I frankly stopped caring a long time ago. Horror always falls into trends, with the exploitation flicks in the 70s, slasher movies with signature villains in the 80s, tounge-in-cheek teenage thrill rides in the 90s, and now we have mostly teen-oriented remakes of old horror movies and new foreign horror movies. I think that is why the horror genre has never kept my interest; but anyway, that is more of a general tirade. The previews for Quarantine (a remake of the film [REC] as I mentioned before) do make it look like something that will actually scare the audience, something that has been lacking from the genre the past few years. The advertising for the movie is pretty solid, but I'm not by any stretch of the imagination eager to see it.

Score: 1 for 1

2. The possibility of Rosie O'Donnell hosting her own weekly prime time variety series makes you cringe and shudder at the mere thought.

Will Helm: Fiction. Call me wacky, call me crazy, call me stoned . . . I love variety shows. I actually own the DVDs of Pink Lady and Jeff, just to illustrate my point. That being said, I think Rosie O'Donnell wouldn't be a terrible variety-show host at all. When she tones down her recent angst, she can be a quite entertaining comedienne. And, to be honest, she needn't be onscreen much; all she needs to do is set up the next act with little interference. After all, the world needs more variety shows and if Rosie O'Donnell is the one to make that come true, so be it.

Michael Tyner: Fiction. I can think of only two occasions Rosie O'Donnell has really proven her worth to society; the first was in A League of Their Own and the second was as the host of her own show. She is too angsty as of late to be around other people who might have clashing opinions, but let her run the show and showcase some different celebrities and musical acts and I think it will do well. America loves well done variety shows, and hasn't really seen one in a while. With the pretty gloomy tone in our country right now I think the public will eat this up.

Score: 2 for 2

3. You'd tune in for a Norman Lear created HBO series that centers around the world of the 70's era of professional wrestling.

Will Helm: Fact. When I heard this news, it made me really, really wish I still had HBO. Even though it seems that Showtime is the leader in original cable programming, HBO has the legacy and reputation as the source of pop-culture icons like The Sopranos and Sex in the City -- even though the latter REALLY makes me shudder. If done right, a '70s wrestling series can succeed in a big way, especially with the reduced restrictions HBO allows its shows. This program can be disturbing, hilarious, racy, and more . . . as long as it doesn't end up a weekly version of The Wrestler.

Michael Tyner: Fact. I'll tune into just about anything wrestling-related at least once, and when I read about this upcoming show I got a little giddy inside. It all depends on if they portray the show from a completely kayfabe perspective or not; I love watching shoot interviews and hearing people tell their road stories and if this show draws from things like that I'll absolutely love it. If it is all kayfabe it still has a lot of potential, especially being on a premium network like HBO and with the buzz being created by The Wrestler.

Score: 3 for 3

Switch!!!

4. While City of Ember appears on its surface to be a serviceable family-friendly action flick, you cannot help but believe that if and when you finally watch it you'll be disappointed with the results.

Michael Tyner: Fact. I haven't read the novel, but for about the first half of the trailer I thought that it looked pretty good. But when they start showing you more of the action instead of the set-up, it looks like it will all just fall into your typical race-against-time apocolyptic kind of movie. And I still don't buy serious Bill Murray, no matter how good he was in Lost In Translation.

Will Helm: Fiction. I've heard on good authority that the book is good, so the source material isn't in question. I like the people in the film, as well -- I can dig "serious" Bill Murray and I've always been a fan of Tim Robbins' acting (and his taste in hockey teams). The look and feel of the film also give me pause -- in the good way -- as they seem to borrow heavily from Jeunet's City of Lost Children and anything by del Toro, two men who aren't bad to lift stuff from. Hopefully, all of these elements add up to a film that lives up to -- or even surpasses -- expectations, and I have faith that City of Ember will do just that.

Score: 3 for 4

5. You're eager to check out Christian Slater's first foray into episodic television, My Own Worst Enemy.

Michael Tyner: Fact. I'm torn on this one, because for the most part I haven't liked much of what Slater has done in the past decade or so. It all started with Very Bad Things which was a very, very bad movie and hasn't seen many high points since. Bobby drew some acclaim, and his performance on NBC's My Name Is Earl was pretty good, but I just don't think much of him lately. That said, the premise of My Own Worst Enemy seems interesting; we've never really seen a complete split personality like this featured on TV before. I'm tuning into the premiere and giving this show one chance; we'll see how that goes.

Will Helm: Fiction. I remember back in the day when everyone was creaming their jeans saying that Christian Slater was the next Jack Nicholson . . . then he had to go and have his "personal demons" get the better of him. To be honest, I wish nothing but the best for the guy, but, sadly, I don't think My Own Worst Enemy is the best for the guy. First off, it steals the title of a song from Lit. In addition, and most damning, the viewers already know the premise of the showing going into the first episode. Any chances for suspense or mystery are thrown out the window and any attempt therein will just seem like unintentional irony since the audience knows what's going on, but the characters don't. Christian Slater can do better than this and, though I hope he finds success, I don't think this will be it.

Score: 3 for 5

6. With Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio starring on top of Ridley Scott directing, you have a hard time believing that Body Of Lies will be anything short of spectacular entertainment.

Michael Tyner: Fact. Being a young teenager when Titanic was released, I've tried my best to keep up the Leo hatred but it simply can't be done. Somewhere around the time Gangs of New York was done he just became this brilliant actor and I haven't been disappointed in a performance of his since. The story has been done before, but watching the previews you don't even completely realize it until later; and not to mention there is new Guns N' Roses at the end of the flick! Crowe and DiCaprio both have proven to have a strong point in action movies and the trend should definitely continue with Body of Lies.

Will Helm: Fact. Say what you will, but Leonardo DiCaprio tried his damnedest to throw off the yoke of a teen idol and, judging by his choices, he's doing a pretty good job of it. In addition, this film features Russell Crowe at his seemingly dickish best, one of those talents that he doesn't get to show off often enough. As well, master director Ridley Scott knows how to get the best of his actors and use them to their fullest potential, so he's certainly not a weak link. The only thing that could potentially hold this film back is the quality of the writing and/or the plot itself, but I have a feeling that the combined powers of DiCaprio, Crowe, and Scott could power through even that obstacle and make Body of Lies a rare early-autumn winner.

Final Score: 4 for 6

And there you have it, Will and Michael agree more often than not. Oh, and Will? You're stoned.

Check back in next week for another thrilling installment of Fact or Fiction: Movies/TV!
-BP