Check Out the Trailer

Having liked the Ang Lee version of the HULK, I had trepidations going into this reboot of the franchise for one major reason. Would Marvel sink to the level of pandering to a juvenile section of the audience who just want to see Hulk smash stuff real good? Nothing in the trailer made me think otherwise. What I got in the end, however, was another character-based superhero saga that honors the original source without indulging in the desires of the lowest common denominator. And Hulk smashed stuff real good too.

Over the opening credits we get a quick recap of the origin of the Hulk, which skillfully walks the line for those who liked Lee’s HULK and those who hated it. The other HULK’s existence is up to the viewer now. As we catch up with Bruce Banner (Edward Norton, FIGHT CLUB) he’s on the run in Brazil. Working with a secret partner in the States, he is looking for a cure for his rage problem, which transforms him into the big green guy. Gen. “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN) is determined to find him, believing that Banner’s body is the property of the U.S. military. He enlists ruthless soldier Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth, PULP FICTION) in the effort. His pursuit of Banner has estranged him from his scientist daughter Dr. Betty Ross (Liv Tyler, LORD OF THE RINGS), who is in love with Banner. When he is found in Brazil, the Hulk emerges and Blonsky becomes drunk with the idea of gaining that same power.

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Check Out the Trailer

This anthology film is a love letter to Paris and to love itself. Twenty short films were commissioned for the feature-length project set in the 20 arrondissements of Paris. Only two of those films did not make the final cut. Directors such as Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING), Joel and Ethan Coen (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN), Walter Salles (CENTRAL STATION), Sylvain Chomet (THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE, Alfonso Cuaron (CHILDREN OF MEN), Wes Craven (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET), Tom Tykwer (GO) and Alexander Payne (ABOUT SCHMIDT) all helmed sections. Stars such as Steve Buscemi, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Nick Nolte, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Gena Rowlands and Gerard Depardieu (who also directs) provide the film with their acting talents. Altogether it works as a joyous experience.

Director and star Bruno Podalydes begins the film with a hate story to Paris parking, which ends in a lonely man having a pretty passerby (Florence Muller) fall for him. Gurinder Chadha (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM) brings us a tale of a young white man (Cyril Descours) who meets a young Muslim woman (Leila Bekhti) at the park, but what will her grandfather think when he follows her to their mosque? From Gus Van Sant, there is a tale of a print shop customer (Gaspard Ulliel, HANNIBAL RISING) who is smitten instantly with the young worker (Elias McConnell, ELEPHANT), but there is a hidden obstacle to the customer’s bold declaration of his affections. In a typical Coen Brother unsentimental fashion, their “love story” finds an American tourist (Buscemi, FARGO) trapped in the middle of a lovers’ spat between a pretty young girl and her hotheaded boyfriend.

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