PREDATORS

Director: Nimrod Antal

Stars: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali
Year: 2010
Rating: R

On the surface, this seemed a done deal; there's not an actor whose talent I respect more than Adrien Brody, and while I thought him a curious chose for the lead role in Predators, I was willing to go with the flow until I saw the film ... after all, I'm also a huge fan of the Predator series (yes, even the first Alien vs. Predator, although its sequel was quite a disappointment). And with a fine supporting cast that includes a few of the best "character actors" working today, I knew the film would at least have some substance in the acting department, if not the story itself.

The film certainly opens up with a bang; Adrien Brody, hurtling toward the ground after having evidently been tossed from a plane, regains consciousness just in time to open the parachute he wears, saving his life as he lands in the middle of a tropical jungle. Confused and disoriented, Brody's character soon learns he's not the only one in the same situation - in the first few minutes of the film, eight people of various nationalities and from different parts of the world all learn they share nothing in common but this same bizarre experience. None of them can remember what happened leading up to their blacking out, or why the hell they've been literally thrown into some wild jungle with various sorts of weapons they've never seen before on their person.

Brody's character, because of his military training and determined-to-survive mentality, becomes the unspoken leader as the others follow him, searching for a way out ... even as the lone woman in the group, Isabelle (Alice Braga, channeling Michelle Rodriguez at her toughest here), shows little trust and even less liking for Brody's tough, loner demeanor.

The group, forging their way toward high land to get an idea of where they are, soon come across some strange crates, attached to parachutes, that lay broken and open and empty on the ground. What was in the crates becomes frighteningly apparent when the group is attached by dog-like creatures the likes no human has ever seen before - and it becomes apparent, very quickly, that these creatures are only the first offense; behind them is something bigger, deadlier, and hot on their trail - an alien species out to hunt them for sport, tracking them through the forest to pick them off one by one.

Predators is very much a throwback to the first films in the series, negating the whole Aliens crossover films entirely. Here we are back in the jungle, with predators again hunting humans - only this time its a group of murderers and mercenaries, those who don't fit into society, chosen for the game, as opposed to a group of soldiers fighting a war ... and this time the action takes place on an alien world. The predators themselves have been upgraded, as well; know there are the "regular" predators as from the first two films, but also an even more advanced species of hunter, bigger and uglier and meaner than even the "regular" predators, who indeed hunt the smaller, "weaker" faction of society when there are no humans or other creatures to hunt. It's a nice upgrade, and the monsters in this film are most convincing.

As is the acting, thanks to a fine cast - led by Brody, who here is all buffed out and as Rambo-like as he can get, only with much better acting chops - who do their best with material that ranges from very intriguing to a bit on the melodramatic side. Laurence Fishburne, in particular, plays a nutcase named Noland and almost borders on over-acting in a couple of scenes - but overall the film's pacing is right, the cinematography beautiful, and even the music in the film is used smartly, when either heightening suspense of simply setting a somber mood ... as our little group is, indeed, picked off one by one by the predators.

Good points aside, the film has its share of problems. The road traveled here is all too familiar to anyone who has seen the previous films in the series, so that even though many things have changed since Arnold Schwarzenegger caked himself with mud in the first film, the mood and energy and storyline of the film just don't feel particularly fresh. The action overall is well-paced and suspenseful - but overall things feel a bit rushed here, and the downbeat ending , setting the scene for another sequel, gives a hint of things to come that just doesn't satisfy, or have any real resolution.

I liked Predators; just didn't love it. It's a must-see (maybe "should-see"?) for completists of the series - or even for Adrien Brody fans - but otherwise you can catch it on cable of via Netflix, and be perfectly satisfied. With the cast involved especially, however, you can't help but feel it could have been a little better. *** - Reel Cool

Artistic Inspiration: My Interview with KYLE CLARE

Since my first interview on this blog, with Gran Torino's Bee Vang, I've halfheartedly sought out other actors to speak with; actors whose work not only inspired me, but also who deserved the attention of everyone I knew, because his or her talent was so freaking out there, it should be seen. Well, between moving to L.A. and other things in life intervening, I came across an actor who - in just one performance - blew me away so much, I sort of dug in and hung on, more than happy to work around his busy schedule until he could find the time for a chat.

You may never have heard of him, but I suspect that is only temporary. It's real talent that holds its own in this town, building a lengthy career, and if that's the case I think Kyle Clare is pretty much set.

It was Watercolors that did it for me. The first time I saw the film, I sat down expecting another formulaic film about a young gay high school boy who falls for the jock he can never have - yet, somehow, manages to get, even if only temporarily. Such indie films are rampant, usually showing excessive skin in lieu of a plot or characterization, and almost always such films also end in tragedy for those involved, especially the main character (or someone he or she loves).

Watercolors broke that, beautifully. On paper it may play out as as read above, but thanks to the phenomenal heart and soul put into the film by writer/director David Oliveras, as well as the pure, very honest and humane performances of the two lead actors, Tye Olson and Kyle Clare, Watercolors takes a compassionate, very honest and wholly real approach to its subject matter - and delivers beautifully. And much as Tye Olson's character of Danny finds artistic inspiration for his drawings and paintings in the form of Kyle Clare's character Carter, it's Clare himself, with his performance, who inspired not only this interview, but my own work as a writer, as well. I hope he won't mind if I call him my friend, but that's just how Kyle is; one conversation, and he treats you like he's known you forever.

But enough of that; you can read the review here; this piece is about one of the stars of a film everyone who has ever fallen in love should see.

Kyle Clare, was born in Santa Monica in January of 1985, the son of parents who divorced while he was still very young. Movies were a big passion even from an early age, and a young Kyle would often find himself acting out characters to the point where he wouldn't answer to his own name. He was signed to a children's agency as a kid, but barely remembers the experience; it was in the eighth grade, after his class attended a show at the high school, that young Kyle first realized THIS was what he wanted to do.

Though he'd start off well, playing the purser in "Anything Goes" in high school, Clare's the first to admit, "I didn't have it all together in high school. I tested well, but didn't really have a plan." While he got good grades, and had landed the lead in every show by the time he was a senior, it was a guidance counselor who saw a young man in need of direction that saw the young man's talent and handed him a few applications for acting schools. Four days after graduating high school, Kyle auditioned for the prestigious AMDA (American Musical and Dramatic Academy) conservatory in New York City, who accepted him into their program. "So I was just graduated from high school and off to New York," Clare recalls, citing that his mother especially ask him, "Are you sure this is what you want to do?" - but by then, the acting bug had fully bitten.

Clare has nothing but good thing to say about the AMDA, though it was often all work and no play. "It was a tough school," he says. " There was no time to rest, you were always acting. But I learned that you get out only what you put into it ... and if you're really focused, which I was, then you can get a lot out of it." When asked how he feels attending the conservatory helped shape his career, Clare stresses "the best training an actor can get is from theater; theatrically-trained actors have a real advantage." That said, Clare did eventually choose to take the second year of his two-year training in Los Angeles, where he could focus more on film and television, though his respect and admiration for the school and for theater are obvious when he admits, "Looking back, had I been older I might have stayed (in New York) and pursued stage, but the glitz and glamor of being rich and famous gets to you ..."

Then, soon after graduating from AMDA, Kyle Clare only wanted to take a break when his girlfriend at the time, Jessica, talked him into submitting for an independent film he'd found was seeking actors online. After reading about the indie film Watercolors, which was to be shot on video for a more-than-modest budge of $35,000, Kyle wasn't sure about submitting for a role in which he'd be not only playing a closeted gay male (especially for his very first film role), but also for a part that, right out, stated would require nudity. But Jessica encouraged him to seek out the role, pointing out that Carter was Kyle Clare as described in the breakdown - a lean and athletic with long hair - but that didn't stop Clare from being more than a little nervous at the audition.

"What really made me nervous, though, was that I knew I was perfect for the role," Kyle says. "I was nervous about getting it, about playing a gay character and the nudity, but I called back and after the call back I heard from David (Oliveras, the writer and director). He told me it was between me and this other guy, and he wanted to get together and just hang out, get to know me. After the second time we hung out, he called to offer me the role."

From here, the friendship between Oliveras and Clare only grew, especially as Kyle grew more excited about the project, and even became a part of the casting process. "At the time I was cast, Danny's character was called Eric, and another actor had been cast in the role. But after two weeks of rehearsals the vibe just wasn't right, and David ended up letting the other actor go. He asked me to help him re-cast Eric, and we got this kid who dropped out, like, after one rehearsal ... so by now, five weeks since being cast as Carter, we were still looking for a Danny - which was what David had changed the other lead character's name to - and then Tye Olson walks in."

Clare was impressed from the beginning. "Tye walks in, and Tye was Danny. I read with him, then Tye left and I turned to David and said, 'I want him.' We called him at Starbucks and cast him."

But more than just winning a role, what makes Watercolors work is that the Olson and Clare seem absolutely in-sync with their performances; you fully believe in the characters and their relationship with each other, both good and bad. And talking with Kyle Clare, it's easy to see, now, why the film works on an emotional level the way it does.

"Even if I wasn't shooting, I was on-set all the time. David, Tye and I became "the trio" - we hung out together, talked about characters, and got very close. I don't like to over-rehearse, but forming this great friendship with Tye and David, just hanging out and talking about the characters and story, really helped the film."

And it works; just see the film to believe that. Better still, go by the fact that Kyle Clare - for his first feature-length role, won the 2008 Best Supporting Actor Audience Award at the Clip Film Festival, and FilmOut San Diego, in 2009, presented him with the Jury Award for Best Supporting Actor, for playing Carter Melman. Not bad, for a straight guy playing a complex, troubled and closeted gay teen in his first film.

When asked how his family and friends reacted to seeing him as Carter, Clare curiously mentions that his mother of all people had little problem with the character. "I had blond curly hair as a little kid," he remembers, "and was always made fun of, seen as artistic and a little weird. In school, because I was artistic and a performer, I was called gay a lot, so I think my mom sort of always wondered if I was gay, which prepared her a little more." To this day, while Clare knows he has his father's overall respect and support, he's not even sure if his father has seen the film - "though I know he bought it the day it came out on DVD" - and admits to taking a ribbing from his friends about playing Carter, especially for the nudity. And even his girlfriend at the time, Jessica - who started the whole thing - was very proud of his work as Carter, and loved the film.

Life since Watercolors involves Kyle Clare cutting his acting teeth back on the stage - particularly with Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre in North Hollywood. "It's really unique, a 50-set, black box theater; total audience immersion, with some crazy, really out there shows ... and I've learned a lot there; it's prepared me for when the right project comes along. Being forced to play some really crazy characters, its torn and pulled and stretched me; now I know, if I can do Zombie Joe's, then I can do into any audition, on any set, and pull off the character. With every show I'm stretched; tested."

It's also taught Clare to be an actor's actor. His taste in favorite performers - or actors he'd like to work with one day - runs toward a few of the most well-renowned working today. "Sean Penn is my man. He's so deep. I really relate my style to his in some way, he really seems to understand his characters; he's so cerebral." On Robert Downey Jr. - "One of the most naturally-gifted actors of all time; he never ceases to entertain or amaze me." And Clare adds Sam Rockwell as a third influence on his work, stating "he's just an incredible actor, period."

Just approaching his twenty-sixth birthday, when asked where he'd like to be in, say, five years, Clare - as many actors before him - mentions wanting to direct in time. But as always with Kyle Clare, it all has to come with meaning: "People have said they'll see me hitting my stride in my thirties," he says. "If so, I hope I can continue to do roles that I find interesting and satisfying. Working on things that mean something; heartfelt projects I want to do, and be able to sustain myself doing them. Just be able to act, and focus on that; whether theater or small, independent films, I would like to be where I can do the projects I want to do." When asked the kind of character he'd most like to play right now, Clare - in line with his theatrical training - cites his desire to explore the psychology of a character out of the norm of society. "Mental illness intrigues me," says Clare. "Exploring the character or a crazy person, or maybe a savant or even a psychopath, like Heath Ledger's Joker. I'd die a happy man if I could play a role like that, or maybe even like Sean Penn in I am Sam ... Hoffman in Rain Man. It's the only other role I've consciously thought of doing."

But no matter what, Kyle Clare is in it for the long haul. With most of his lengthy career still left ahead of him, the young and hugely talented performer has been around enough to have some good, solid and very realistic advice for the aspiring actor; advice as blunt and honest and together as Clare himself.

"Go home, sit down, and think about the whole thing. If you could ever see yourself doing anything else ... then do that. If you have doubts then do something else, because to be successful and effective and a good actor, it must be something you HAVE to do."

For more about this amazing actor and his work, go to www.kyleclare.com

BREAKFAST WITH SCOT

Director: Laurie Lynd
Stars: Tom Cavanagh, Ben Shenkman, Noah Bernett, Jeananne Goossen, Dylan Everett
Year: 2007
Rating: PG-13

While Breakfast with Scot plays more like a TV-movie with a twist, the characters - as well as the actors portraying them - give a certain charm to the tale, especially in the case of the three leads.

Tom Cavanagh (TV's "Ed") stars as Eric McNally, an ex-Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player whose career has been sidelined due to an injury. Now reporting for cable sports station in Toronto, Eric still rides on his popularity as a gruff, no-nonsense hard-head on the ice ... who happens to also harbor one small secret: that he's gay, and living with his boyfriend of several years named Sam, a corporate attorney. Eric and Sam lead a quiet life, Sam not so concerned about being out but Eric much more on the downlow about things because of his career and reputation ...

When one day that quiet is shattered, as Sam learns that his brother's ex-girlfriend has died of a drug overdose, and until Sam's brother (who is supposedly in Brazil) can be located, Sam and Eric are next in line to be granted custody of the dead woman's eleven-year-old son, Scot.

Eric freaks; the last thing he wants is a kid in the house, let alone a young roughneck kid he'll have to clean up after, or be responsible for. Sam calms him down, telling Eric they really have no choice and he'll make sure Scot doesn't cause any trouble; that this will only be until they find his brother, then Scot will be gone for good, but until then how can they desert a young boy?

But when Scot arrives, it's clear early on that this is no run-of-the-mill kid. In fact, with a wardrobe of tights, boas, hairbrushes that light up, and clothes with more sparkle than a Vegas showgirl costume, Scot alone is more flamboyant than Eric and Sam put together. At first, this tests Eric's patience even more - especially when, because of Sam's more rigid work schedule, he is forced to take care of and spend more time with Scot, especially out in public - but soon a bond does form between the flamboyant young boy and Eric, especially when Eric talks Scot into giving up some of his more "out" tendencies (the jewelry, his mother's makeup), and even teaches the boy to play hockey to sort of "man him up" a bit.

Question is, is this a good thing? As mentioned, the story plays out like a TV-movie, maybe on Lifetime if it were a gay channel, but even with a fairly schmaltzy ending the film still has some real heart and warmth to it; again, chiefly due to the three leads - though there is also an outstanding performance by young actor Dylan Everett in the film as well, playing a foul-mouthed kid in Eric and Sam's neighborhood who is all too realistic about his feelings on gays in general and Scot in particular.

Breakfast with Scot is harmless entertainment that will touch at the heartstrings a bit, even while being a bit manipulative in doing so. Tom Cavanagh is great as Eric, carrying the emotional weight of the film on his shoulders, and while Ben Shenkman does an equally impressive job as Sam, I wish his character were given much more to do. Special kudos, though, to Noah Bernett, who plays Scot with real humor and heart, in an engaging film with a very positive message of tolerance in the end. Definitely worth seeing (and no, I'm not going to tell you why there is only one "t" at the end of Scot's name; you'll have to watch it yourself to find out). ***1/2 - Reel Cool-Reel Awesome

DESPICABLE ME

Director: Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud
Stars: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig
Year: 2010
Rating: PG

When we first meet Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) in the visually stunning animated feature Despicable Me, we understand right away that Gru is a pretty callous bad guy. Bearing more than a passing resemblance to Uncle Fester from "The Addams Family" television series, Gru is anything but lovable or altogether ooky; from making children cry to attempting to take over the world, Gru is a supervillain of the highest order.

Or, at least, he used to be. Gru's gotten older, and there is most definitely a crop of younger, even more evil supervillains coming up behind him, with bigger and more expensive plans to take over the world. SO expensive, in fact, that when Gru goes to the Bank of Evil to take out a loan for his latest, most evil plot of all - to shrink and steal the moon, holding it for ransom - he is turned down by the bank's president, who no longer is so sure of Gru's capabilities, and is instead forced to steal the shrink ray first, to prove he is still the baddest villain. The new villain on the block, a young impresario named Vector (voiced by Jason Segel), has recently stolen the great pyramid of Giza in Egypt, replacing it with an inflatable copy, and such daring, super-DUPER villainy has put Gru squarely into the #2 position of bad guys.

So Gru - along with the help of his elderly friend Dr Nefario (Russell Brand), and his many hundred of odd-looking, bright yellow minions, manages to steal the shrink ray ... only to have the machine, in turn, stolen from him by Vector, even as he escapes capture! Thwarted and determined to regain ground as #1 supervillain, a disgruntled Gru makes several attempts to break into Vector's compound - with hilarious results that prove, to a badly-bruised and beaten Gru, that Vector's fortress is impenetrable.

That is, until Gru witnesses three young orphan girls, out selling cookies to raise money for their orphanage, allowed in to the compound when Vector learns they have his favorite cookies. So Gru, being evil and uncaring, makes immediate plans to adopt the girls, plant robot cookies into their supply of treats, and use them to gain access to Vector's home and get the shrink ray machine back.

But what Gru doesn't count on is that raising three little girls can, in itself, be more work than the most evil of plots. What starts off as a nuisance and a chore, necessary to put his plans into action, instead starts to change the lives of Gru, the girls, and everyone around them. And even as Gru fights to get back his Most Evil Supervillain title, he also grows to learn a lot more about life, and love, and what's really important than he'd ever knew possible.

Yeah, you can sort of see where things are going in Despicable Me early on, but it takes nothing away from the joy in getting there. Carell, even with the harsh European accent, is perfect as Gru, turning from evil to empathetic in the course of the film, in scenes that go from hilarious to touching and everything in between. Visually the film is a treat for the eyes, the animation oddly quirky and perfect for the story. Happily, even all those yellow guys, Gru's minions, don't take over things like such supporting characters usually do in these films; instead, they remain wholly entertaining, surprisingly fresh and funny, and provide some great moments in the story without stealing them from other characters.

You won't find a lot of depth of story or character here, but on the other hand the silliness and slight story and appealing characters all come together to make Despicable Me a charming film worth seeing, even owning on DVD. It's feel-good animation that comes from the heart, and also provides some hearty laughs; who could ask for more? **** - Reel Awesome