Based on a freewheeling 1960s Japanese cartoon that revolves around a family of picket-fence motor sport fanatics, “Speed Racer” is obviously built with young kids in mind, but cinema-savvy adults may have a better chance appreciating the technological wizardry that’s on display in this eye-popping orgasm of color and motion. Then again, kids will probably respond to the movie’s apple-pie America mentality and, although the directors do their best to disguise it with manic time-jumping, the plot is about as simple as it gets.

Emile Hirsch plays Speed Racer, a young race car driver who wants to make his family proud by restoring his disgraced brother’s name. How to do that? Racing, of course. Mom and Pops Racer (John Goodman and Susan Sarandon) head this single-minded extended family, which also includes a loyal mechanic (Kick Gurry), chaste girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci), and a younger brother (Paulie Litt) with a Jersey accent whose constant companion is a monkey.

The world of “Speed Racer” is a place where power-hungry corporate trolls wear purple suits and gold chains and a pure white glass of milk is the celebratory drink in the winner’s circle. Since subtlety is nowhere to be found, the actors are merely there to serve the Racer universe. Ricci and Goodman are especially up to the task. With her big, unblinking doe eyes and his firm, yet Brady-like delivery, they actually seem like they stepped right out of a cartoon…

which is exactly what the Wachowskis, directing their first film since “The Matrix” trilogy, are going for. Essentially, they’re just trading one form of animation for another. Gone is the crude, old-fashioned animation of the ‘60s. Jittery movements, badly-dubbed dialogue, and stopped frames have been replaced by—no pun intended—speed, and lots of it. “Speed Racer,” shot almost entirely on a greenscreen set with brightly colored costumes and props and computer-generated backgrounds, is constantly moving.

The tug-of-war between inventive visual storytelling and narrative cohesion is apparent from the very first sequence, a protracted flash-back-and-forth car chase that makes it difficult to tell how or where one plotline ends and the next one begins. Like anime (the current cultural juggernaut that the original cartoon influenced), however, it just takes awhile to adjust to the film’s herky-jerky rhythms and movements. There is also something freeing about watching this movie because it establishes early on that it’s not playing by certain cinematic rules.

Criticize it all you want for pandering to the fast-paced style of editing that modern audiences are used to, but “Speed Racer” is way ahead of you. It doesn’t play to our expectations; it leaves them in the dust. The Wachowski brothers push the boundaries of film language and storytelling through seemingly impossible camera angles, constantly moving split-screen transitions, and split-second close-ups and zoom outs.

One rule the film would have been better off adhering too, however, is that any overwhelming sensory experience will have more effect the shorter it is. He may be lightning fast on the track and be restricted by none of the laws of physics, but Speed Racer’s movie clocks in at about two hours and nine minutes. There is so little downtime, too, that a couple lower-energy scenes actually seem like endings.

It may not be an absorbing emotional experience as much as it is an unrelenting spectacle, but “Speed Racer” is overflowing with enough energy to make you ‘feel’ like you’ve really seen something. If you believe, like Speed and his family do, that a car is a “living, breathing” thing, then the movie as a whole may live for you as well. Whether you are put off by the constant assault on the senses is anyone’s guess. If you’re like me, though, you’ll be content just to enjoy a ride unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. And in times when everything has old is new again, pulling off that feat is a wonder in itself.

YouTube Direct Link

I’ve been following this movie pretty closely, even though I know I will eventually be disappointed, but director Zack Snyder (“300″) has posted his second video journal from his adaptation of Alan Moore’s revered graphic novel “Watchmen.” This one centers around the costume design, and oh man, it looks good. If only a six-hour movie was possible, then I might be more confident about the content. … Not long after completing “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” Jason Segel pitched his idea for a Muppet movie and got a greenlight! His affection for Kermit and company is obvious, because MTV is reporting he’s written a cameo for Charles Grodin, who played the lead in “The Great Muppet Caper,” and has been in only two movies in the last 15 years. This just proves Segel is truly the shit.

By now, you know Oliver Stone (of “World Trade Center” fame, might I add) is making a move about George W. Bush simply called “W.” I’ll let you decide for yourself what kind of tone he will take, but has there ever been a President whose place in history is this obvious before his last term is even over? Here’s the amazing cast; chew on this for awhile:
Josh Brolin … George W. Bush
Elizabeth Banks … Laura Bush
Thandie Newton … National Security Advisor turned secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Ioan Gruffudd … Tony Blair
Rob Corddry (wow, quite a step up from “Harold and Kumar”)… Ari Fleischer
James Cromwell … George Herbert Walker Bush
Ellen Burstyn … Barbara Bush
Jeffrey Wright … General Colin Powell

Scarlett Johansson and Zooey Deschanel buck the singing actor’s trend and make interesting music … U.K. VJ duo Addictive TV remixes the entire “Iron Man” movie into one song using video and sound effects from the film. … Stephen Sommers, who has a pretty good sense of humor and also directed “The Mummy” movies, is doing a live-action adaptation of “G.I. Joe” that has a lot of people excited. I was never into that cartoon as a kid, so I could care less, but a lot of nerds are buzzing. JoBlo has some exclusive pictures and a look at some of the cast, from Dennis Quaid and Sienna Miller to Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko on “Lost”).

Finally, here’s a movie I’m excited about: “Australia,” which features Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman as ranchers in World War II from guess where who get caught in a Japanese bombing, is coming out November 14th. Director Baz Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge”). I’ll let iTunes explain how his video podcast series, already underway, is upping the ante for fans and filmmakers:

Every few weeks through October, a new podcast episode from Baz and his production team will introduce you to another aspect of moviemaking, starting with on-set still photography, then moving on to costume design, cinematography, scoring, and more. You’ll get insights from the artists at work on “Australia,” watch them in action, view footage the rest of the world hasn’t seen yet, and follow along as the movie comes together.

Five of the episodes arrive with something extra: a creative challenge for you. Each time one of these episodes is released, you’ll have three weeks to complete the challenge and post it to the Apple Student Gallery. If your project is one of the best (10 from high schoolers and 10 from college students), you’ll win an iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod touch, or a MacBook Pro. And if your work is chosen as the most creative of all, you’ll be going on yet another kind of adventure—a trip for two to Australia on Qantas Airways. Five challenges mean you’ve got five chances to win.

Oh, and one more thing. Submit the top project for the final challenge, and Baz himself will plan your trip to Oz, meet you there, and take you along on the promotional tour for the film in the U.S. Your project will even be included on the DVD release of “Australia.”

What goes bump in the night? What lurks just below the surface? Why haven’t you been for a late night swim since you were a child? You may find the answers in this week’s Top Ten list, J.D.’s Top 10 Films From the Deep. Just in time for the summer vacation season comes a list of 10 films that take place in, on, or under the water.

10. Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)

There is no way “Titanic” was going to make this list, however the follow-up documentary which James “King of the World” Cameron made, post his bloated Celine Dion-themed behemoth, was actually quite interesting. The film was narrated by Bill Paxton (who also starred in “Titanic”), and Cameron and co. developed new underwater filming technologies to bring the wreckage of the Titanic to life in 3D. The mysteries of this famous shipwreck are far more illuminating from a historical perspective, minus all the sappy ridiculousness that Cameron poured so copiously all over his Oscar-winning smash-hit.

Old Rose: 1,500 people went into the sea… when Titanic sank from under us… there were twenty boats floating nearby… and only one came back. Six were saved from the water… myself included. *Six*. Out of 1,500. Afterward, the 700 people in the boats had nothing to do but wait… wait to die… wait to live… wait for an absolution… that would never come.

9. Deep Blue Sea (1999)

THIS IS A TERRIBLE MOVIE! However, sometimes unintentional humor, sharks, and LL Cool J all mixed together makes for high-end entertainment. Seriously, I can’t defend this film. I would try, but I swear I get a kick out of it because it is so over the top. Directer Renny Harlin is known as much for his big-budget action stinkers as the few (ie: “Cliffhanger” and “Die Hard 2″) that aren’t so bad. I base a great deal of my appreciation of this truly bad-is-good film on the monologue sequence where Samuel L. Jackson gives a tough-as-nails speech about how their going to make it out of the situation and then gets promptly swallowed up like an hors d’oeuvres by a problem-solving Mako shark. The rest of it I blame on LL Cool J.

Russell Franklin: So here’s the riddle. What does an eight thousand pound mako shark with a brain the size of a flat head V8 engine and no natural predators think about?
Carter Blake: Well, I’m not waiting around here to find out!

8. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

There are few actors who experience a redefinition quite like Bill Murray has in the last decade. From “The Royal Tenenbaums” to “Broken Flowers” to “Lost in Translation” and “Rushmore,” Murray has charted a new course in his work that few actors are capable of or willing to attempt. Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” is easily his least accessible film to date with regards to characters and story, but it remains thoroughly intriguing. From an art direction standpoint, the scenes in this film that take place on a doll house-like, cutaway set of the ship, are on par with visionary filmmakers like Michel Gondry and Tim Burton’s finest moments.

Ned Plimpton: I’m gonna fight you, Steve.
Steve Zissou: You never say, “I’m gonna fight you, Steve.” You just smile and act natural, and then you sucker-punch him.
Ned Plimpton: You fight your way, and I’ll fight mine.
Steve Zissou: Oh, listen, Ned. Don’t you try to…
Steve Zissou: I think your Team Zissou ring might’ve caught me on the lip.

7. Lady in the Water (2006)

This film got a bad rap. Quite possibly because M. Night Shyamalan cast himself as the man who will save the world, but more likely because the film was fundamentally misunderstood - it is a fairy tale. I believe now, as I did when I first watched the film in the theater, that viewed through that lens it is a clever and enjoyable ride with yet another fabulous performance from Paul Giamatti. The girl comes through a swimming pool from a water world below, so technically this counts.

Cleveland Heep: H-how was the movie?
Harry Farber: Sucked
Cleveland Heep: Oh… what a shame.
Harry Farber: Characters were walking around, saying their thoughts out loud. Who does that? And in a typical romance where the couple finally tell each other they love one another in the rain. Why does everyonelike to stand around and talk in the rain in movies?
Cleveland Heep: Um… well maybe it’s a metaphor for purification; starting new.
Harry Farber: No, it’s not!

6. Cast Away (2000)

This one is the most debatable entry on the From the Deep list, but quite a bit of the film takes place on the ocean. The scenes with Hanks barely escaping a dramatic plane crash, or lying lifeless on what’s left of a makeshift raft being gently prodded by handy whales constitute a film primarily on or entirely surrounded by water. If you’ve ever been overcome by work and stress and given in to the desire to escape to a deserted island in your mind, this film will make you think twice about your aspirations to become Robinson Caruso.

Chuck Noland: We might just make it. Did that thought ever cross your brain? Well regardless I would rather take my chance out there on the ocean, that to stay here and die on this shithole island spending the rest of my life talking to a god damn VOLLEYBALL.

5. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Despite the presence and star power of Russell Crowe, Austrailian director Peter Weir’s (”Dead Poets Society”) epic about sea captain Jack Aubrey didn’t exactly set any new box office records in 2003. It did, however, garner Weir a Best Director nomination and a Best Picture nomination for the film shot almost entirely on the water. Crowe and co-star Paul Bettany anchor the film with solid performances and obvious chemistry, and the ship-to-ship battle sequences are a thing of wonder.

Capt. Jack Aubrey: I respect your right to disagree with me, but I can only afford one rebel on this ship. I hate it when you talk of the service in this way. It makes me feel so very low. You think I want to flog Nagle? A man who hacked the ropes that sent his mate to his death? Under MY orders? Do you not see? The only things that keep this wooden world together are hard work…
Dr. Stephen Maturin: Jack, the man failed to salute. There’s hierarchies even in nature. There is no disdain in nature. There is no…
Capt. Jack Aubrey: Men must be governed! Often not wisely, but governed nonetheless.
Dr. Stephen Maturin: That’s the excuse of every tyrant in history, from Nero to Bonaparte. I, for one, am opposed to authority. It is an egg of misery and opression.
Capt. Jack Aubrey: You’ve come to the wrong shop for anarchy, brother.

4. Crimson Tide (1995)

One of the two submarine films on the list - the one still to come has the better story - but, “Crimson Tide” has better dialogue. Supposedly script-doctored by Quentin Tarantino, “Tide” is a claustrophobic, mutinous adventure with rapid fire dialogue and plot twists that make it one of my favorite military films of all time. Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington are phenomenal bouncing off one another and, if I’m not mistaken, this was my first proper introduction to both Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson) and Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini).

Capt. Ramsey: You do qualify your remarks. If someone asked me if we should bomb Japan, a simple “Yes.” By all means sir, drop that fucker, twice! I don’t mean to suggest that you’re indecisive, Mr Hunter. Not at all. Just, uh… complicated. ‘course, that’s the way the Navy wants you. Me, they wanted simple.
Hunter: Well, you certainly fooled them, sir.
Capt. Ramsey: Be careful there, Mr Hunter. It’s all I’ve got to rely on, being a simple-minded son of a bitch. Rickover gave me my command, a checklist, a target and a button to push. All I gotta know is how to push it, they tell me when. They seem to want you to know why.
Hunter: I would hope they’d want us all to know why, sir.

3. The Abyss (1989)

James Cameron makes his second appearance on the list at spot number three with “The Abyss.” I remember watching a “making of ” on HBO or Cinemax in high school and thinking, maybe for the first time, about what it would take to shoot a film like “The Abyss.” Special masks were engineered so the actor’s faces would be recognizable during underwater dialogue sequences, they flooded parking lots and built a set inside a grain silo which was then filled with water covered with black beads on the surface to block out all light. I recommend the extended edition of the film with a few extra minutes of the alien plotline that was left out of the theatrical version.

Ensign Monk: Bud, give me a reading from your liquid oxygen gauge.
Virgil: 5 minuts worth
Lindsey Brigman: What?
Alan “Hippy” Carnes: It took him *thirty* minutes just to get down there!
Lindsey Brigman: Bud! Do you hear me? You drop your weights and start back now, Bud. The gauge could be wrong. Do you hear me? Just drop your weights and start back now. The gauge could be wrong! The gauge could be wrong, you drop your weights and start back now!
Virgil: Going to stay awhile

2. The Hunt For Red October (1990)

This is by far the best of the Jack Ryan films based on the novels by Tom Clancy. Unfortunately, “October” star Alec Baldwin chose not to reprise his role as Ryan in future films, turning the part over to Harrison Ford for a few decent films (”Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger”) - and then there was the Affleck incident. The ensemble cast is amazing, with far too many names to list here. The story is top notch, Baldwin and Sean Connery both turn in career-best performances and director John McTiernan of “Die Hard” fame brought it all together into one cohesive action-adventure thriller from the depths. Playing chicken with nuclear submarines is usually going to add some tension.

Jack Ryan: Has he made any Crazy Ivans?
Capt. Bart Mancuso: What difference does that make?
Jack Ryan: Because his next one is going to be to starboard.
Capt. Bart Mancuso: Why? Because his last was to port?
Jack Ryan: No. Because he always goes to starboard in the bottom half of the hour.

1. Jaws (1975)

This is the one that started it all. “Jaws” is the prototype summer blockbuster and the ultimate motivation for an almost genetic fear of all things moving in the deep - which many people, including myself, are entirely familiar with. Even the long list of tragically flawed ‘films from the deep’ that “Jaws” spawned - which include “Alligator,” “Lake Placid,” “Orca,” “Leviathan,” and many, many more - can’t undo the magnificence of Steven Spielberg’s breakout feature. It’s a movie that was so affecting that it put a permanent hex on sharks, the same way the Garden of Eden story has besmirched the reputation of snakes for centuries.

Hooper: Mr. Vaughn, what we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, an eating machine. It’s really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks, and that’s all. Now, why don’t you take a long, close look at this sign.
Hooper: Those proportions are correct.
Mayor Vaughn: Love to prove that, wouldn’t ya? Get your name into the National Geographic.

Moments after the credits rolled and the sweet sounds of Black Sabbath fade into the night, Eric and J.D. remain in the empty theater (creepy!) to give an Instant Review of “Iron Man,” starring Robert Downey, Jr. Watch Addictive TV turn the movie into an original song using video and sound effects (and see a quick clip of Eric interviewing them) here. If you want the full-on, considered analysis in print (and who wouldn’t?), then click here for Eric’s print review.