The Formidable Film Critic

For Your Consideration: 84th Academy Awards Nominations

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

©AMPAS

At the crack of dawn this morning in Beverly Hills, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2010 Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence announced the nominees for the 84th Academy Awards. Putting an end to months of speculation for many film aficionados and movie buffs alike. Having correctly predicted 71% of the nominees myself, I was pretty pleased with the vast majority of the Academy's selections this year. Considering that there were several films that I knowingly disregarded (i.e. The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo, Midnight in Paris) out of self-denial for them being actual contenders, I am very pleased with that statistic. There really weren't any true surprises to the final list of nominees; however, many an argument can be made about the various omissions. In terms of the number of nominations, Martin Scorsese's Hugo led the pack, scoring 11 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Close behind with 10 nominations was Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist. The mass recognition of these two films came as no surprise, since both films have long been considered front runners in several categories since the Oscar race began to take shape last Fall. In all, the Academy recognized 9 films for Best Picture of the year.

The "Big Five" Awards (8)
Best Picture, Director, Leading Actor, Leading Actress & Screenplay (Adapted or Original)
Supporting Actor & Supporting Actress subsequently fall under this classification as well. Think of it like the NCAA's Big 10, which ironically has 12 schools in its conference.

Best Picture Nominees:

The Artist -- Thomas Langmann, Producer
The Descendants -- Jim Burke, Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor, Producers
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Scott Rudin, Producer
The Help -- Brunson Green, Chris Columbus & Michael Barnathan, Producers
Hugo -- Graham King & Martin Scorsese, Producers
Midnight in Paris -- Letty Aronson & Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
Moneyball -- Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz & Brad Pitt, Producers
The Tree of Life -- Nominees to be determined
War Horse -- Steven Spielberg & Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Best Director Nominees:

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Actor Nominees:

Demián Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Actress Nominees:

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor Nominees:

Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Supporting Actress Nominees:

Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Adapted Screenplay Nominees:

The Descendants -- Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Hugo -- Screenplay by John Logan
The Ides of March -- Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
Moneyball -- Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -- Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

Best Original Screenplay Nominees:

The Artist -- Written by Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids -- Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
Margin Call -- Written by J.C. Chandor
Midnight in Paris -- Written by Woody Allen
A Separation -- Written by Asghar Farhadi

The "Artistic" Awards (5)
Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup, Original Score & Original Song

Best Art Direction Nominess:

The Artist -- Production Design by Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration by Robert Gould
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 -- Production Design by Stuart Craig; Set Decoration by Stephenie McMillan
Hugo -- Production Design by Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration by Francesca Lo Schiavo
Midnight in Paris -- Production Design by Anne Seibel; Set Decoration by Hélène Dubreuil
War Horse -- Production Design by Rick Carter; Set Decoration by Lee Sandales

Best Costume Design Nominees:

Anonymous -- Lisy Christl
The Artist -- Mark Bridges
Hugo -- Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre -- Michael O'Connor
W.E. -- Arianne Phillips

Best Makeup Nominess:

Albert Nobbs -- Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston & Matthew W. Mungle
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 -- Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight & Lisa Tomblin
The Iron Lady -- Mark Coulier & J. Roy Helland

Best Original Score Nominees:

The Adventures of Tintin -- John Williams
The Artist -- Ludovic Bource
Hugo -- Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -- Alberto Iglesias
War Horse -- John Williams

Best Original Song Nominees:

"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets -- Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio" from Rio -- Music by Sergio Mendes & Carlinhos Brown; Lyric by Siedah Garrett

The "Special Film" Awards (6)
Animated Feature, Animated Short, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short, Foreign Language Film & Live Action Short

Best Animated Feature Film Nominees:

A Cat in Paris -- Directed by Alain Gagnol & Jean-Loup Felicioli
Chico & Rita -- Directed by Fernando Trueba & Javier Mariscal
Kung Fu Panda 2 -- Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Puss in Boots -- Directed by Chris Miller
Rango -- Directed by Gore Verbinski

Best Animated Short Film Nominees:

Dimanche/Sunday -- Directed by Patrick Doyon
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore -- Directed by William Joyce & Brandon Oldenburg
La Luna -- Directed by Enrico Casarosa
A Morning Stroll -- Directed by Grant Orchard & Sue Goffe
Wild Life -- Directed by Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tilby

Best Documentary Feature Nominees:

Hell and Back Again -- Directed by Danfung Dennis & Mike Lerner
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front -- Directed by Marshall Curry & Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory -- Directed by Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky
Pina -- Directed by Wim Wenders & Gian-Piero Ringel
Undefeated -- Directed by TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay & Richard Middlemas

Best Documentary Short Nominees:

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement -- Directed by Robin Fryday & Gail Dolgin
God Is the Bigger Elvis -- Directed by Rebecca Cammisa & Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad -- Directed by James Spione
Saving Face -- Directed by Daniel Junge & Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom -- Directed by Lucy Walker & Kira Carstensen

Best Foreign Language Film Nominees:

Bullhead (Belgium) -- Directed by Michael R. Roskam
Footnote (Israel) -- Directed by Joseph Cedar
In Darkness (Poland) -- Directed by Agnieszka Holland
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) -- Directed by Philippe Falardeau
A Separation (Iran) -- Directed by Asghar Farhadi

Best Live Action Short Nominees:

Pentecost -- Directed by Peter McDonald & Eimear O'Kane
Raju -- Directed by Max Zähle & Stefan Gieren
The Shore -- Directed by Terry George & Oorlagh George
Time Freak -- Directed by Andrew Bowler & Gigi Causey
Tuba Atlantic -- Directed by Hallvar Witzø

The "Technical" Awards (5)
Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing & Visual Effects

Best Cinematography Nominees:

The Artist -- Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo -- Robert Richardson
The Tree of Life -- Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse -- Janusz Kaminski

Best Film Editing Nominees:

The Artist -- Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants -- Kevin Tent
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall
Hugo -- Thelma Schoonmaker
Moneyball -- Christopher Tellefsen

Best Sound Editing Nominees:

Drive -- Lon Bender & Victor Ray Ennis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- Ren Klyce
Hugo -- Philip Stockton & Eugene Gearty
Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Ethan Van der Ryn & Erik Aadahl
War Horse -- Richard Hymns & Gary Rydstrom

Best Sound Mixing Nominees:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce & Bo Persson
Hugo -- Tom Fleischman & John Midgley
Moneyball -- Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco & Ed Novick
Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush & Peter J. Devlin
War Horse -- Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson & Stuart Wilson

Best Visual Effects Nominees:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 -- Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler & John Richardson
Hugo -- Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman & Alex Henning
Real Steel -- Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor & Swen Gillberg
Rise of the Planet of the Apes -- Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White & Daniel Barrett
Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler & John Frazier

What films were nominated that surprised you? Who wasn't nominated that should have been? If you were the sole person compiling the nominations, what films would make your Best Pictures list? Give me your take on this year's line-up of Oscar nominees..

Night-By-Night: Sundance 2012

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

It's snowing in Park City, Utah, but the sun has only just risen. This year's slate of films leave much to be expected because the talent, both on the screen and behind the camera, leaves room for nothing less. In addition to founder Robert Redford, patrons can expect to see the likes of Jeremy Irons, Melissa Leo, Robert De Niro, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Susan Sarandon, who herself has two film premiering here. Over the next ten days, hoards of critics and movie buffs alike will be treated to their first taste of what lies ahead in film this year. Some notable films by established filmmakers include Academy Award-winner James Marsh's new film Shadow Dancer, about a mother with a dodgy past who ventures to Belfast as a British Intelligence mole at the threat of imprisonment, looks to have a more personal take on the female spy than we have seen from more commercial films in the past. Also, French actress Julie Delpy, best known for her roles in Before Sunset and Before Sunrise opposite Ethan Hawke, directs herself in her latest feature 2 Days In New York, which stars Chris Rock as her common-law husband who has to endure the unwitting antics of her family when they come for a visit. The film seemingly puts a new spin on both "meeting the in-laws" and interracial relationships.

Probably even more exciting are the new directors who are making their debut here. Several alumni who have done just so in the past, include Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Soderbergh, Darren Aronofsky, and Quentin Tarantino. Newcomer So Yong Kim's film For Ellen, centralizes on a failing musician father who journeys a great distance to try to retain parental custody over his estranged daughter. Kim, who also wrote the screenplay, humanizes the main character of Joby (played by Paul Dano) in the most unlikely of manners. Another notable film, Ira Sachs' drama Keep The Lights On is about a decade long love affair between two men in New York City during the 90's. Sach's specialized choices, such as the musical score and cinematography, beautifully brings this film together and forces audiences to appreciate it as more than just another gay genre film. These are just a few of the many movies by relative rookies that hold much promise. Sundance, after all, is most renowned for affording new filmmakers their "big break" into a very competitive industry.

Strangely enough, another draw are this year's musical festivities and varying musical artists who will be making appearances. Ice-T and hip hop icons Chuck D and Grandmaster Caz are slatted to perform in 'A Celebration of Music in Film' on Saturday, which compliments the premiere of Andy Baybutt and Ice-T's collaborative film Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap. The Sundance ASCAP Music Café has a fantastic line up of musicians performing at their venue this year. Including John Forte, Natasha Bedingfield, David Gray, Josh Kelley, Flying Lotus, A Fine Frenzy, and The All-American Rejects. Check out who's performing, when and where in detail at the festival's official Music page here. Sundance seemingly is as much about the music, as it is about the films.

And for those of you who might not be feeling the urban-spectacle this weekend, British comedian Eddie Izzard will also be doing a stand-up show at the New Frontier venue. His appearance is meant as a precursor to his forthcoming IFC television series “Bullet in the Face” which airs this summer. Plus, for all you early risers (myself not included), there's a great schedule of daily intimate discussions with many of the filmmakers at the Cinema Café. Which probably is far easier to get a seat for than the panel discussions at the premieres. So there seems to be a little something for everyone, and I encourage you to "look again".. B-)

OPENING NIGHT, Thursday, January 19th
Hello I Must Be Going | Directed by Todd Louiso

Christopher Abbott & Melanie Lynskey

Divorced and demoralized Amy Minsky’s prospects look bleak when she is condemned to move back in with her parents at the age of 35. Everyone wants to help, but, as her patience level with advice is plummeting, a bold teenage boy enters her life, igniting her last bit of self-esteem. What ensues is an unconventional love story infused with all the good things Amy needs to get on in life, and that just may include great sex. Todd Louiso and screenwriter Sarah Koskoff tread new ground with a modern agenda and infectious optimism. They gently seduce us into a relationship dilemma that far exceeds age difference. The two lead actors—Melanie Lynskey and Christopher Abbott—are bursting with talent, ensuring that their situation is believable and compelling us to root for them. Hello I Must Be Going is fresh and original, proving what we so easily forget: the best medicine for most of the discomforts in life is the power of human connection.

Friday, January 20th

Red Lights | Directed by Rodrigo Cortés

Cillian Murphy

Two investigators of paranormal hoaxes, the veteran Dr. Margaret Matheson and her young assistant, Tom Buckley, study the most varied metaphysical phenomena with the aim of proving their fraudulent origins. Simon Silver, a legendary blind psychic, reappears after an enigmatic absence of 30 years to become the greatest international challenge to both orthodox science and professional sceptics. Tom starts to develop an intense obsession with Silver, whose magnetism becomes stronger with each new manifestation of inexplicable events. As Tom gets closer to Silver, tension mounts, and his worldview is threatened to its core. Red Lights is movie magic at its very best. Classically conceived and executed, it is an example of pure cinema, constructed by combining thrillingly meticulous filmmaking with extraordinary performances. Rodrigo Cortés (Buried screened at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival) shrewdly straddles both sides of the paranormal argument, creating an analytical conundrum with passion in its story line. In doing so, he fashions an exhilarating cinematic experience where illusion confronts science, and the truth lies hidden deeply within.

Saturday, January 21st

Arbitrage | Directed by Nicholas Jarecki

Susan Sarandon & Richard Gere

Nicholas Jarecki makes an auspicious directorial debut with this taut and alluring suspense thriller about love, loyalty, and high finance. Arbitrage—buying low and selling high—depends on a person’s ability to determine the true value of any given market. It’s a talent that has made billionaire hedge fund magnate Robert Miller the very portrait of success in American business. But on the eve of his sixtieth birthday, Miller finds himself desperately trying to sell his trading empire to a major bank before the extent of his fraud is discovered. When an unexpected bloody error challenges his perception of what things are worth, Miller finds that his business is not the only thing hanging in the balance. Building on the chemistry and charisma of an outstanding cast, including Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling, Tim Roth, and Nate Parker, Jarecki leads us through the slick and duplicitous limits of impunity and composes an anatomy of the way asset bubbles can burst.

Sunday, January 22nd

Liberal Arts | Directed by Josh Radnor

Elizabeth Olsen & Josh Radnor

Newly single, 35, and uninspired by his job, Jesse Fisher worries that his best days are behind him. But no matter how much he buries his head in a book, life keeps pulling Jesse back. When his favorite college professor invites him to campus to speak at his retirement dinner, Jesse jumps at the chance. He is prepared for the nostalgia of the dining halls and dorm rooms, the parties and poetry seminars; what he doesn’t see coming is Zibby—a beautiful, precocious, classical-music-loving sophomore. Zibby awakens scary, exciting, long-dormant feelings of possibility and connection that Jesse thought he had buried forever. The multitalented Josh Radnor once again returns to the Sundance Film Festival (happythankyoumoreplease won the 2010 dramatic Audience Award), wearing three hats. As writer, director, and star of Liberal Arts, Radnor could teach a master class in filmmaking. Given that his engaging costar is Elizabeth Olsen, the master class here is one in chemistry between two exceptional actors.

Monday, January 23rd

Bachelorette | Directed by Leslye Headland

Lizzy Caplan, Kirsten Dunst & Isla Fisher

Regan is used to being first at everything. Imagine her horror and chagrin when she finds out the girl everyone called Pig Face in high school is going to tie the knot before she does! But Regan sucks it up and takes on bridesmaid duties along with her childhood pals: substance-abusing, promiscuous Gena and ditzy Katie. The single ladies are determined to put their bitterness aside and have an awesomely hedonistic bachelorette party. Armed with acerbic wit and seemingly endless supplies of coke and booze, the foul-mouthed femmes embark on one very long and emotional night filled with major wedding-dress panic, various bodily fluids, and cute ex-boyfriends. Kirsten Dunst is consistently funny leading the talented cast, which includes the delightful scene stealer, Rebel Wilson, who plays Becky, a.k.a. Pig Face. Adding to the tradition of successful bridal comedies, this debut feature by writer/director Leslye Headland is a sassy and sometimes romantic ride that never forgets to celebrate the complexities of female friendship.

Tuesday, January 24th

Goats | Directed by Christopher Neil

Graham Phillips & David Duchovny

Having a self-absorbed New Age mother and an estranged father means 15-year-old Ellis Whitman has grown up relying on an unconventional guardian: a goat-trekking, marijuana-growing sage called Goat Man. So when Ellis decides to leave the alternative ways of his desert homestead for a stuffy East Coast prep school, major changes are in store. But not in the way you’d think. Though often stoned, the exceedingly smart and capable Ellis effortlessly aces school and excels at track. As the year progresses, it’s his relationships with the adults in his life that test him, challenging his beliefs about responsibility and trustworthiness. With its expansive vision of family and passel of delicious oddball characters transposed from screenwriter Poirier’s novel with deadpan naturalism, Goats wryly balances satire with poignancy and tenderness. Ellis’s eventual disillusionment with his various “parents” forces him to seek and find strength within and to realize the truth about love: it’s never perfect, but it is always there.

Wednesday, January 25th

California Solo | Directed by Marshall Lewy

Robert Carlyle

Lachlan MacAldonich is a self-described “lazy Scotsman” and former guitar player for a once-popular 1990s rock band. No longer famous, he now lives a comfortably numb existence working on an organic farm outside Los Angeles. He drinks himself into a stupor every night and retires to his shabby apartment to record his podcast, recounting the tragic deaths of great musicians. After a particularly heavy night of drowning his sorrows at a local watering hole, he is arrested for driving under the influence. This snag, coupled with a long-ago conviction for a drug offense, means Lachlan faces possible deportation. His only hope of remaining stateside is proving that his absence would cause extreme hardship for a spouse or relative—forcing him to confront relationships he thought were buried forever. Robert Carlyle injects equal amounts of washed-up rock star and winsome charm into the lead role of a lovable loser struggling with personal demons and an intractable legal system. In his eagerly awaited follow-up to 2007’s Blue State, writer/director Marshall Lewy paints an intimate portrait of human fallibility and the ever-present possibility of making things right, even from the darkest depths.

Thursday, January 26th

Robot & Frank | Directed by Jake Schreier

Frank Langella

Set sometime in the future, Robot & Frank is a delightful dramatic comedy, a buddy picture, and, for good measure, a heist film. Curmudgeonly old Frank lives by himself. His routine involves daily visits to his local library, where he has a twinkle in his eye for the librarian. His grown children are concerned about their father’s well-being and buy him a caretaker robot. Initially resistant to the idea, Frank soon appreciates the benefits of robotic support—like nutritious meals and a clean house—and eventually begins to treat his robot like a true companion. With his robot’s assistance, Frank’s passion for his old, unlawful profession is reignited, for better or worse. Frank Langella makes acting—and acting with a robot, no less—look effortless, and his relationship with the machine is filled with poignant exchanges and amusing adventures. First-time director Jake Schreier creates a lush world with futuristic flourishes and tells a beautiful story about family and the implications of humankind’s ever-changing relationship with technology.

Friday, January 27th

Predisposed | Directed by Phil Dorling & Ron Nyswaner

Jesse Eisenberg, Melissa Leo, Isiah Whitlock Jr. & Tracy Morgan

Piano prodigy Eli Smith has talent to burn, but he is constantly derailed by his troubled mother, whose vices keep getting in his way. On the day of his big audition for a prestigious music program, Eli attempts to get his life on track by taking her to rehab. Enlisting help from two hapless drug dealers, mother and son embark on a riotous journey where events spiral comically out of control. Along the way, this gang of misfits faces the mistakes of the past, the challenges of the future, and the possibilities of love. Phil Dorling and Ron Nyswaner return to the Sundance Film Festival with an extended version of their short that played in the 2009 Festival. Making the most of the full-length format, they humorously and poignantly flesh out the complicated nature of addiction and how it affects those around us . . . especially family. The all-star cast, including Jesse Eisenberg and Melissa Leo, wonderfully bring to life the shrewdly conceived script by the two writers/directors, who reveal a deft ability to balance the disparate notes in a film that will make you laugh out loud one moment and swell with emotion the next.

Saturday, January 28th

The Words | Directed by Brian Klugman & Lee Sternthal

Bradley Cooper & Jeremy Irons

Rory Jansen, a struggling writer, aspires to be the next great literary voice. When he discovers a lost manuscript in a weathered attaché case, he realizes he possesses something extraordinary that he desperately wishes he had created. Rory decides to pass the work off as his own and finally receives the recognition he desperately craves. However, he soon learns that living with his choice will not be as easy as he thought as he faces a moral dilemma that will make him take a hard look at the man he has become. In their directorial debut, Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal have crafted a subtle tale that examines how overwhelming desire can lead to unforeseen and unwanted consequences. Bolstered by a strong cast, led by Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Irons, The Words adeptly assembles multiple narratives that reveal how one man’s lost legacy holds the life of another man captive.

Sunday, January 29th

Lay the Favorite | Directed by Stephen Frears

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Beth Raymer is a beautiful girl with a big heart who leaves her dancing job at a Florida strip club to become a Las Vegas cocktail waitress. Not exactly an ideal career choice, but her borderline-ditzy personality doesn’t give her many options. In walks Dink, a professional sports bettor who sees through her bubbly exterior and offers her a job placing wagers all over town to gain an advantage over the casinos. Her surprisingly impeccable mind for numbers soon cements her status as Dink’s good-luck charm, until his gorgeous-but-frigid wife, Tulip, starts to get jealous. Faced with no other choice but to fire Beth, Dink’s luck runs out when she heads to New York to work for a smarmy bookie, a turn of events that lands her squarely on the wrong side of the law. Acclaimed director Stephen Frears first wowed Sundance Film Festival audiences in 1985 with his sardonic thriller The Hit, and returned in 1991 with The Grifters, which garnered several Oscar nominations. With Lay the Favorite, Frears nimbly displays his penchant for interweaving comedy and drama to create a thoroughly satisfying tale of improbable friendship found in the unlikeliest of places.

Carnage

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

What could possibly happen when two contemporary, middle-aged, New York City couples get together? A lot more than just coffee and cobbler, to say the least. The plot seems simple enough--two sets of parents meet to try and resolve circumventing issues after their respective sons have a school yard fight. However, the individualism of both couples and of each parent separately, progressively fuel a battle of their own. And what initially starts out as an effort to find resolve between them, spawns into an outrageous series of quarrels that has very little to do with either of their children. The actual fight sequence between Ethan and Zachary (portrayed by Eliot Berger and Polanski's own son Elvis) that opens the movie provides a nice introduction to the storyline. In the theater version, the incident was referred to a lot but never actually seen. Seeing the incident allows us to put a face to the names and actually see these boys as more than just the bane of their parents' lives at present. It may seem insignificant at first, but it is this quarrel that is the very root that feeds all the later mishaps and misfits of Carnage.

Director Roman Polanski has a body of work that spans over half a century. Though varied in plot and characters, they all embrace human indifference and dramatizes even the simplest of circumstances. Early audiences trembled over the horrors of Rosemary's Baby and reveled in his contempt to intrigue in the multilayered plot of Chinatown. Younger audiences hare probably more familiar with a sentimental reproach by the director, particularly with The Pianist which earned him a Best Director Oscar in 2002. Despite being a satirical comedy, Carnage is no different. Polanski's regard for personal voice resonates here, despite the extremities of the characters. Though this might be a new playing field for director, the storyline itself holds true to Polanski's style of individual character emphasis.

Some have already compared Carnage to other films, such as Mike Nichols' Closer because that story intimately revolves around four characters and Richard Linklater's Tape because the entire film takes place in a single motel room. Although neither of them really are fair comparisons in terms of story or genre. Carnage actually mirrors one of his very early Polish films Nóż w wodzie (Knife in the Water), where the same sort of minimalist focus is made on a few central characters foregoing interpersonal rivalry and tension. This kind of intimacy both on screen and with the director's approach, couldn't have been better paired. A different director might have fumbled over the prospects of confined spaces and so few characters, but not Polanski. We have seen precisely this sort of insular attention and urban alienation before in many of his prior films, including Repulsion, The Tenant, and of course Rosemary's Baby. At the film's North American debut at the New York Film Festival, event director Richard Pena probably best summarized both Carnage and Polanksi in his introduction, "(He's) a poet of small spaces … in just a couple of rooms, he can conjure up an entire world, an entire society."

Some of Polanski's prior films that were originally stage plays include Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden which featured Ben Kingsley and Sigourney Weaver, and Shakespeare's tragedy about the price of ambition, MacBeth with Jon Finch in the title role. So he is long versed in the tactics of stage to screen adaptation. And more often than not, Polanski has had a hand in writing the scripts for the movies he directs. All too is true of Carnage. He collaborated with playwright Yasmina Reza while in Switzerland, to faithfully bring her one-act play "Le Dieu du Carnage" to the Silver Screen. Perhaps, the fact that he himself was under house arrest at the time contributed to the insights of the confined setting. Although Raza's play had originated in Zürich back in 2006, it is not the version that most people are familiar with. After a successful run in Paris, Academy Award Winner* Christopher Hampton had translated the French play for English-speaking audiences which had a stint in London and then New York. The Broadway rendition brought together a stellar quartet of actors: James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis. Each of whom garnered Tony Award nominations for their performances, with Harden winning for Best Leading Actress, and the overall production winning for Best Play and Best Direction. So to say the least, there is naturally a certain amount of expectation for the film version.

At first glace, the two couples seemingly couldn't be any more different than night and day. The Cowan's are your a-typical, white collar, corporate workaholics, while the Longstreets are the more artistic, creative types who work for themselves. What makes these two couples so intriguing are not so much the ways that they are different, but rather the ways they are similar. As the story progresses, we are exposed to more and more of the back story of each of these characters. There is a dynamic that evolves between the four of them. First as the two couples, then as women and men, and eventually as four complete irrationals at each other's necks. We can revel in the idea of knowing that even the most ideal of couples have their differences.

From the very beginning, Penelope Longstreet is clearly the most offended by the fight between their sons and really is the first instigator among them. The character herself takes bleeding-heart liberal to a whole other level. Such is prevalent long before she flies of her emotional rocker about various superficialities like word choices and meaningless social ideals. I physically wanted to slap her on more than one occasion and if she were my wife I'd have put her out long before any hamster. Jodi Foster's performance as Penelope is both overdone and overrated. She doesn't convey Penelope's inner neurosis enough by the sarcastic phrases alone, so she consistently exaggerates her facial expressions to compensate. Her eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her skull several times. This really isn't that surprising considering Foster's recent slew of bad so-called thrillers (Panic Room, Flightplan, The Brave One, etc). She really hasn't done anything particularly outstanding since Nell, which was nearly two decades ago. Polanski's cinematic eye may be partially to blame, since there are way too many up-close-and-personal shots of her emotional outbursts. This wouldn't be at all unusual, if she was less contrite and seemed more at ease with the dialog. You never quite believe what she is preaching about, be it Western societal standards or proper juvenile etiquette. Foster's Penelope just lacks genuine conviction. Forceful tears and irrational antics alone doesn't believably convey human sentiment.

John C. Reilly as "everyman" Michael Longstreet probably has the most thankless role of the lot. A working class man and token peacemaker, he tries his damnedest to be the supportive husband to a dominating wife and the good son to an anxiously ill mother who's about to undergo surgery. Michael, himself, is clearly a mama's boy who seemingly has been underscored by the women in his life since his own childhood. By humorously putting himself down as means to support his views, Michael seeks to conceal an inferiority complex behind an optimistic displacement that borders on Pollyanna-esque annoyance. Nonetheless, Reilly is a good fit here. He has great comedic timing and doesn't loose sight of his character in the dialog, unlike Foster. As an actor, Reilly is probably best known for playing aimless imbeciles (think Dale Doback in Step Brothers) or hapless authority figures like Officer Kurring in Magnolia. This is actually pretty unfortunate when you consider the range of roles Reilly has undertaken. His turn as the ever loyal and under-appreciated husband Amos Hart in Chicago garnered him an Academy Award nomination; justly so when you consider how many actors could iconize being a looser and put it to music. But because Reilly so frequently portrays these roles, it's not a breakthrough here in itself. Nonetheless, his astute ability to make otherwise docile situations comedic does add to the movie.

Let's talk about Kate. Much like Reilly, Kate Winslet's character Nancy Cowan plays second fiddle to her spouse. Despite having her own career and personal successes, she struggles with a precedence that their home and children are the domaine of the woman. Her situation brings about one of the more interesting topics of the film--sexual stereotypes. Winslet herself is right on par with her portrayal of this frustrated wife with her own set of ideals and opinions. She bounces back and forth between playing the understanding mother to the zealous self-righteous cynic. There are a few absurdities involving a hamster and a cell phone that bring her character to its peak, but nothing unusual for Winslet. Like Reilly, it's just Kate being Kate. She brings her usual high standard of performance to the table, but the character of Nancy is nothing out of the ordinary, nor is Winslet extraordinary really. When she played the repressed house wife in Todd Field's Little Children, that was extraordinary. Here, she is really nothing more than this frustrated career woman who is desperate for her husband's attention and involvement in more conventional ways.

As corporate attorney Alan Cowan, Waltz unsuspectingly steals the show right out from all his counterparts. At first, Alan seems like he is just there because his wife is forcing him to and you don't think much of him. He starts off subtly in the back seat of things and finagles his way under everyone else's skin, to include the audience. He is constantly taking cell phone calls from his office amidst active conversations, which include when he himself is the one speaking. As the storyline progresses and the other characters come out of their skin, it is Alan who underscores all the main themes. Considering how everyone else in the room has breeched the boundaries of social politeness, it is surprising that it's the money-grubbing lawyer who is the one putting things into perspective. I was pleasantly surprised by Waltz because he just might have performed this role better than it was previously done on stage. He fits into this character so well; it's more than just his air or a concealed accent. His take on this despicable lawyer who consistently represents the interests of practicality above so-called morals, is the guy you love to hate. To the same extent that Foster failed to live up to the standards set forth by Marcia Gay Harden, so too does Waltz outdo Jeff Daniels. Of the four of these actors, it is Christoph Waltz whom deserves the most praise. Just as Alan advises to his work associate in this film, Waltz "goes for the jugular" and makes a killing.

Adaptations are always a difficult medium to produce and even more so to judge. It's not necessarily fair to compare a rendition based upon the ideals set forth by the original. But it is almost unavoidable not to. Some of the more noticeable differences include a change in Alan's endearments for his wife from "woof-woof" to "doodle", the character's first and last names which were perviously Alan & Annette Raleigh and Michael & Veronica Novak, and most obviously the expanded set that extends beyond just the living room. These may seem like insignificant alterations in the scheme of things, but the visuals have tainted the plot development to a certain extent. Polanski and Reza's script does remain true to the core themes, but the film itself doesn't have the same impact as the stage version. Much of this has to do with the sense of minimalism that was capitalized upon in the play becomes lost in the sprawling effects of the setting. The very views from the Longstreet's windows, the kitchen, the bathroom, the hallways, the elevator all extract from this sense of confinement that was so brilliantly reinforced on stage. Unfortunately, this also takes away from the effects of the dialog and in turn, the overall film itself.

The confinement to the apartment itself, drives the whole concept behind this story. There were several moments where the Cowan's are on the verge of leaving but fail to. This allusion is frustrating within itself. Just when you think they are going to escape, their coats are on and they're in front of the elevator, some other issue is brought about, and they are right back in the center of the Longstreet's social abyss. Because the play didn't do this visually, it is clear that it was a tactical choice by the director. Whether or not it was a wise one, is up to the viewer. Film.com critic Laremy Legel justly criticized Polanski that "The methods employed to keep everyone in the same room, and to keep the plot together, are not as realistic.." However, it is precisely these outlandish circumstances that make up a good satire piece. The very fact that these couples can't seem to say goodbye is in itself hilarious. So to reiterate Legel's perspective, "Once you accept (that) they're gonna be in the apparent, the film gets better." Not evidence enough, if you ask me.

Rating: ★ ★ 1/2
Bottom Line: A decent rendition of the play and entertaining in its own right. But aside from a stellar performance by Waltz and despite Polanski's best efforts, it's nothing really that spectacular.

Original Score by Alexandre Desplat

For Your Consideration: 2011 Oscar Contenders

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

It's awards season once again and with it comes the prospective best films of the year to earn their weight in gold, namely Oscar® gold. I have assembled my short list of predictions below (more descriptive breakdowns of each category to come) outlining which films I believe to be at the front of the pack and inevitably the most "Oscar® worthy".

A few notes: I do realize that new rules in the Academy will leave a varied number of Best Picture Nominees (anywhere between 5-10) this year, but I went ahead and presented the maximum possible. Which I also held to other categories that also have a variable margin as to its number of nominees, such as Visual Effects and Animated Feature. FFC predictions are listed either alphabetically by film title or by singular nominee's last name. I highlighted my present picks for the winners in gold, which I'm certain will change as the weeks progress and the competition get's deeper into the thick of it all. Also, I included a "plus one" contender to each category as a small precursor to the many hopefuls in consideration this year. The acting awards alone left me muddled for hours trying to narrow it down!..

Best Picture:

The Artist

The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 
The Help
Hugo
Midnight In Paris
Moneyball
War Horse
+Bridesmaids
+Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
+The Tree of Life

Best Director:
Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Steven Spielberg, War Horse
+Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Best Actor:

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
+Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

Best Actress:
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
+Adepero Oduye, Pariah

Best Supporting Actor:
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Nick Nolte, Warrior
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
+Armie Hammer, J. Edgar

Best Supporting Actress:
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
+Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Descendants -- Screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton & Jim Rash

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Screenplay by Eric Roth
Hugo -- Screenplay by John Logan
Moneyball -- Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillion & Stan Chervin
War Horse -- Screenplay by Lee Hall & Richard Curtis
+Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -- Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughn

Best Original Screenplay:
The Artist -- Written by Michel Hazanavicius
Beginners -- Written by Mike Mills
Margin Call -- Written by J.C. Chandor

Midnight In Paris -- Written by Woody Allen

Win Win -- Written by Thomas McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
+50/50 -- Written by Will Reiser

Best Animated Feature Film:
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret Unicorn -- Directed by Steven Spielberg
Cars 2 -- Directed by John Lasseter & Brad Lewis
Kung Fu Panda 2 -- Directed by Jennifer Yu

Rango -- Directed by Gore Verbinski

Wrinkles -- Directed by Ignacio Ferreras
+Puss In Boots -- Directed by Chris Miller

Best Animated Short Film
Dimanche/Sunday -- Directed by Patrick Doyon (National Film Board of Canada)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore -- Directed by William Joyce & Brandon Oldenburg (Moonbot Studios LA, LLC)

La Luna -- Directed by Enrico Casarosa (Pixar Animation Studios)
Magic Piano -- Directed by Martin Clapp (BreakThru Films)
Paths of Hate -- Directed by Damian Nenow (Platige Image)
+Luminaris -- Directed by Juan Pablo Zaramella (JPZtudio)

Best Art Direction: 

The Artist -- Production Design by Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration by Austin Buchinsky & Robert Gould

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Production Design by K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration by George Detitta, Jr.
Hugo -- Production Design by Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration by Francesca Lo Schiavo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -- Production Design by Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration by Zsuzsa Mihalek
War Horse -- Production Design by Rick Carter; Set Decoration by Lee Sandales
+Anonymous -- Production Design by Sebastian Krawinkel; Set Decoration by Simon-Julien Boucherie

Best Cinematography:
Janusz Kaminski, War Horse
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
Bob Richardson, Hugo
Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
+Jeff Cronenweth, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Costume Design:

Mark Bridges, The Artist

Wendy Chuck, The Descendants
Jacqueline Durran, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Michael O'Connor, Jane Eyre
Sandy Powell, Hugo
+Sammy Sheldon, X-Men: First Class

Best Documentary Feature Film:

Bill Cunningham New York -- Directed by Richard Press

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front -- Directed by Marshall Curry & Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory -- Directed by Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky
Pina -- Directed by Wim Wenders
Project Nim -- Directed by James Marsh
+Buck -- Directed by Cindy Meehl

Best Documentary Short Film:
 The Barber of Birmingham -- Directed by Gail Dolgin & Robin Fryday
God Is the Bigger Elvis -- Directed by Rebecca Cammisa
Incident in New Baghdad -- Directed by James Spione 
Pipe Dreams -- Directed by Ben Green
Saving Face -- Directed by Peter James Iengo 
+In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt's Unfinished Revolution -- Directed by Jon Alpert & Matthew O'Neill   

Best Editing: 

The Artist   -- Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius

Hugo -- Thelma Schoonmaker
Midnight In Paris -- Alisa Lepselter
Moneyball -- Christopher Tellefsen
War Horse --  Michael Kahn
+Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Claire Simpson

Best Foreign Language Film: 
Footnote (Israel) -- Directed by Joseph Cedar
In Darkness (Poland) -- Directed by Agnieszka Holland
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) -- Directed by Philippe Falardeau

A Separation (Iran) -- Directed by Asghar Farhadi

Superclásico (Denmark) -- Directed by Ole Christian Madsen
+Pina (Germany) -- Directed by Wim Wenders

Best Live Action Short Film
Je Pourrais Être Votre Grand-Mère (I Could Be Your Grandmother) -- Directed by Bernard Tanguy
Raju -- Directed by Max Zähle
The Roar of the Sea -- Directed by Ana Rocha Fernandes & Torsten Truscheit
Sailcloth -- Directed by Elfar Adalsteins
Tuba Atlantic -- Directed by Hallvar Witzø
+Time Freak -- Directed by Andrew Bowler

Best Makeup: 
Albert Nobbs -- Matthew W. Mungle, Lynn Johnston & Martial Corneville 
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life -- Patrick Girault, Gill Robillard & Floris Schuller
The Iron Lady --J. Roy Helland & Eva Miller
+Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 -- Mark Coulier, Jennifer Hegarty & Lisa Tomblin

Best Original Score:

Ludovic Bource, The Artist

Alexandre Desplat, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Howard Shore, Hugo
John Williams, War Horse
+Dario Marianelli, Jane Eyre

Best Original Song: 
"Lay Your Head Down" from Albert Nobbs -- Music & Lyrics by Bryan Bryne & Glenn Close (performed by Sinead O'Connor)
"Star Spangled Man" from Captain America: The First Avenger -- Music & Lyrics by Alan Menken & David Zippel (performed by The Star Spangled Singers)
"The Living Proof" from The Help -- Music & Lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Damon Thomas & Harvey Mason, Jr. (performed by Mary J. Blige)
"The Keeper" from Machine Gun Preacher -- Music & Lyrics by Chris Cornell
"Pictures in My Head" from The Muppets -- Music & Lyrics by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis & Chen Neeman (performed by Kermit & the Muppets)
+"Where the River Goes" from Footloose -- Music & Lyrics by Zac Brown, Wyatt Durrette, Drew Pearson & Anne Preven (performed by Zac Brown)

Best Sound Editing:
The Adventures of Tintin -- Dave Whitehead & Chris Ward  
Rise of the Planet of the Apes -- Chuck Michael & John Morris
Super 8 -- Ben Burtt & Matthew Wood
Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Ethan Van Der Ryn & Erik Aadahl
War Horse -- Richard Hymns
+Drive -- Lon Bender & Victor Ray Ennis

Best Sound Mixing: 
Hugo -- John Midgley, Tom Fleischman & Simon Rhodes
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides -- Lee Orloff, Paul Massey, Chris Boyes & Alan Meyerson
Super 8 -- Mark Ulano, Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson & Dan Wallin

Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Peter J. Devlin, Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers & Jeffrey J. Haboush

War Horse -- Stuart Wilson, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson & Tom Johnson
+Hanna -- Roland Winke, Christopher Scarabosio, Craig Berkey & Andrew Dudman

Best Visual Effects:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 -- Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler & David Vickery
Hugo -- Rob Legato, Craig Barron, Brandon Bartlett, John Bowers, Matthew Gratzner, Ben Grossmann & Alex Henning

Rise of the Planet of the Apes -- Joe Letteri, Justin Cornish, Daniel Barrett, Jeff Capogreco & Gord Dunick

Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler & John Frazier
The Tree of Life -- Douglas Trumbull
+Real Steel -- Matthew Gratzner, Erik Nash & Olaf Wendt

What films were your favorites? Who deserves Oscar® glory this year? Which movies and/or nominees do you think deserve to be, or not be, on this list? Please do enlighten me.. B-)

Contagion

2011-09-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

The term “contagion” itself is formally described in Webster's as a “disease-producing agent as a virus; an influence that spreads rapidly; the transmission of a disease by direct or indirect contact”. Steven Soderbergh’s film of the same name depicts all of the above. In the movie, an anomalous virus (MEV-1) that kills within days makes its way around the globe by way of random encounters between unsuspecting fomites and unfortunate hosts. Mirroring the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918 which killed some 50 million people, Contagion presents an abhorrent glimpse into the trepidation of what could happen if such a pandemic were to occur again today. And by that regard, some have deemed the film to be a horror movie. Not so much like Stanley Kubrick or Clive Barker, rather a vastly more realistic horror that is induced through the prospect of human mortality. The very idea that you could be dead in 48 hours because you shook hands with someone earlier is frightful, or at the very least thought provoking. Soderbergh fosters that fear and creates a faced-paced thriller that is actually very plausible. The world has seen such epidemics many times before and at present, in some afflicted places such as Vietnam and Haiti, many people are experiencing a contagion for themselves. This film takes that reality and introduces it to the general public—how does such a disaster like this begins, how do people deal with it, and ultimately how they survive it.

Gwyneth Paltrow as Beth Emhoff in the final stages of the MEV-1 virus.

The story itself begins on "Day 2", on the brink of an onset of global infection. Beth Emhoff, played by Academy Award® winner Gwyneth Paltrow, is en route to her home in Minneapolis from a business trip in Hong Kong. We find her in the air port, admits dozens of people, making phone calls and passing time at a bar awaiting her flight. And then she coughs. Not a big deal right? People cough all the time when they inhale smoke or ingest something down the wrong canal—wrong. By this point, Beth has already contracted the virus and unsuspectingly is passing it along to everyone and everything she comes in contact with. She disregards her seemingly everyday symptoms, attributing them to mere jet-lack, and boards her plane as planned. However when she does reach her suburban home front, she ends up collapsing, foaming at the mouth, and having severe seizures. Beth is rushed to the hospital where she abruptly dies. It is clear at this moment that what she had contracted in Asia was much more serious than just jet-lack.

Matt Damon as Mitch Emhoff

Academy Award® winner Matt Damon portrays Beth's husband Mitch Emhoff. As if losing his wife wasn't already devastating enough, he returns home to find that his stepson has also died inexplicably with identical symptoms. Mitch is left without any answers from the attending physicians who understandably can't diagnose what they know nothing about. He is immediately put under isolation at the hospital, but soon deduce that since he hasn't developed any symptoms despite his direct contact with the virus, he must be immune. Although he has already lost one child, he quickly realizes that he still has a daughter to think about and sets his priorities on her survival. Although I cannot speak as highly of the young actress Anna Jacoby-Heron who plays his daughter Jory Emhoff, Damon's performance here is probably the best of the entire picture. We see this astute progression of emotions from the very moment that the doctors tell him that his wife is dead, to him trying to salvage a regard for her very memory in the end. Damon captures the essence of a grief stricken husband and desperate father, reflecting what the everyday man would likely be going through during such pandemonium.

Burying the dead to prevent further infection.

Audiences have been quick to compare Contagion with Wolfgang Petersen's 1995 film Outbreak, which is a blunder. Aside from the surface plot surrounding a new form of influenza being introduced into the human population, the two films have almost nothing in common. In true Soderbergh-fashion, Contagion highlights numerous characters as they undergo various circumstances and situations, all without ever really centralizing on any one in particular. Ironically, it is a movie about chaos done in a chaotic style that is actually very cohesive. Such an approach has come to be known as "hyperlink cinema" which was originally coined by critic Alissa Quart in her review of Don Roos' Happy Endings for the media journal Film Comment. That movie is an entirely different sort altogether, but the method of multilinear storytelling is the same. Soderbergh has used this approach before, most notably in his crime drama Traffic which won him an Academy Award for Best Director. He takes a very similar approach with Contagion, both stylistically and technically. It explores the human situations during a pandemic through a number of different perspectives: an infectee, a scientist, a controller, an opportunist. We are able to follow various story lines simultaneously while witnessing a progression of fear and uncertainty among the public. Unfortunately, what worked so superbly with Traffic, doesn’t quite peg as gainfully here. It is difficult to emotionally empathize with most of the characters individually because so little is divulged of them or they simply die-off before we can. This premise has the makings of a prime-time television series, if I ever saw one. So we become primarily focused on the overall threat of infection itself. That's all fine and dandy, but hardly the elements of great ensemble piece.

Elliott Gould as Dr. Ian Sussman

Typically financial limitations put restraints on the number of household names that are attached to a project, but when dealing with a Steven Soderbergh film that just doesn't apply. Bringing together such an esteemed cast has come to be somewhat of a Soderbergh-standard (reference his Ocean's trilogy). And Contagion's cast is no exception. And significantly enough, these aren't merely just a bunch of movie stars, they are an array of excellent actors. Among them are three Emmys, four SAG Awards, five Golden Globes, four BAFTA Awards, and four Oscars. Not to mention a variable array of nominations and other awards. Admittedly, this particular ensemble does fit together well. Not one of them dominates the film and they each execute their roles quite reputably, despite how little overall screen time they may have individually. Very few directors can get away with that with such a cast of A-List performers. Because of this, his reputation as being the "modern day Robert Altman" certainly stands true.

It is pretty well known around Hollywood that Soderbergh regularly employs the same cinema-tographer, Peter Andrews, in his films. What is not commonly known is that Peter Andrews and Steven Soderbergh are one in the same. This actually explains a lot about the behind-the-camera methods used in so many of Soderbergh's films. He repeatedly employs a cinematic technique where the camera closely fixes on objects that are contaminated and have become fomites (or carriers) of the virus. It reminded me of Joe Wright's technique in Pride & Prejudice, where he placed particular emphasis on the character's hands and the moments they touched one another with them. Although there it was used to create a romantic sensibility, it has the same kind of effect in Contagion by channeling attentions on an unlikely place. As so categorically pointed out by Dr. Mears, "The average person touches their face three to five times every waking minute. In between that we're touching door knobs, water fountains, and each other." Incorporate a rather thrilling musical score composed by Cliff Martinez, and you're enthralled in the threat of this virus almost instantly. These sequences enlighten the audiences as to just how quickly others can become infected and provides a visual sense that they are experiencing the contamination for themselves. Not to the extent of being real-time per say, but by bringing attention to varying details that unless you have obsessive-compulsive disorder, probably overlook a hundred times a day.

Marion Cotillard as Dr. Leonora Orantes

The scientific accuracy of the film has already been praised in a number of reputable medical journals and by experts. But did this really benefit the movie's overall scheme? That depends on whom you ask. Actual scientific experts and medical professionals were brought onto the set to guide both the crew and the cast during filming. Real-life epidemiologist Dr. W. Ian Lipkin helped with the film's art direction by designing realistic laboratories and plausible viruses. Lipkin also coached the actors on how to properly portray someone with a similar viral disease. This contribution proved to be most useful for Gwyneth Paltrow and everyone else who dies on screen. Probably the most useful contribution made by the film's consultants was how scientific controllers would handle the situation of a pandemic. The reactions and involvement of both local and international governing agencies are well depicted. Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard plays Dr. Leonora Orantes, an epidemiologist from the World Health Organization who travels to Hong Kong to investigate the origin of the virus. The reiterates the concept that understanding where the virus came from is an important factor in fighting it.

Kate Winslet as Dr. Erin Mears

Officials from the US federal agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are even more apparent. Being an American film, this comes as no surprise. Scenarios of such magnitude are no stranger to the CDC. Although the organization has only been operating in an official capacity since 1992, its purpose and functions have been in existence since 1940's, when the threat of a malaria outbreak at the offset of World War II was eminent. Instinctively after Beth Emhoff's unexplained death, the director of the CDC Dr. Ellis Cheever (played by Academy Award® nominee Laurence Fishburne) deploys an epidemic intelligence service officer Dr. Erin Mears (played by Academy Award® winner Kate Winslet) to Minneapolis to investigate. This is a prime example of how the CDC would handle such a pandemic situation in its early stages of terrorem. It is Dr. Mears who is first on site to handle the control of the virus. But contaminating it at this point seems to be a lost cause. Winslet delivers, as she always does, as this compassionate medical scientist. We can believe not only that she is this very knowledgable professional but that she does actually care about the people she is working to save.

Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Ellis Cheever

Naturally, both Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns sought to be as factual as possible. Burns, who is probably best known for the Bourne trilogy, constructs a intricate story of human self-interest. Unfortunately his characters are too broad and underdeveloped, so the underlying plot is weakened because the virus is set up as the focal point and not the people. In the early stages of the script, Warner Brothers hired a consultant to review and critique its general accuracy. Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Laurie Garrett worked closely with Burns throughout his creative process over a exhaustive series of some thirty drafts of the script. Her expertise and experience with such epidemics as the Ebola virus and Anthrax, helped guarantee that the scenarios in Contagion were depicted as realistically as possible. This is big shift for Burns, considering his prior collaboration with Soderbergh and Matt Damon (The Informant!) attempted to find humor in a big business conspiracy scenario, repeat attempted. His other, more prominent effort, The Bourne Ultimatum which also stars Damon was for more resilient. Although being the third film in that series laid stable ground work for any potholes in the storyline. Nonetheless, Burns' script does exploit some outlandish human instincts and unbelievable ignorances. There is a great example of this midway through the film where Dr. Cheever advises his own wife to clear out of their home in Chicago completely before the National Guard places the entire city under quarantine. While he may have known about the pandemic the whole time, it doesn't actually strike him until this moment when he personally relates its threat to his own family. His conversation is overheard by a building janitor named Roger (played by Academy Award® nominee John Hawkes) who berates Dr. Cheever saying, "We have loved ones too." This raises the ethical questions about what is privileged information and just who is privileged to it.

Jude Law as Alan Krumwiede

This brings me to another subplot in the film about an independent journalist who catches wind of the epidemic before anyone else in the general public. When another infectee in Hong Kong suddenly dies on a public bus, a video clip of it is posted online almost immediately thanks to the power of internet-capable cell phones with cameras. Alan Krumwiede, played by Academy Award® nominee Jude Law, sees the incident as a strong lead to a story that is not far-off from the SARS outbreak of 2003. Law brings a weasely tone to his character, making him easy to loath from the start. He pitches his lead to a lowly copy writer at the San Francisco Chronicle, but she hastily disregards both the story and Krumwiede. This sets him loose to the unaccountable genre of blogs (like my own here) where fact and fiction are often hard to differentiate. When the pandemic does go public, the media powers that be approach Krumwiede about using his so-called talents to influence the public in their favor. Krumwiede formulates a conspiracy theory that the CDC is in cahoots with pharmaceutical companies in order to maximize profits by nurturing the demand for a vaccine which he claims already exists. He dubiously posts video footage on his blog of himself being sick, taking an over-the-counter "cure" called forsythia, and recovering from his infection. This sparks even more hysteria in a presently unruled population, as people seek out forsythia in acts of desperation to survive. Managing to turn the masses, who have deemed him a new age "prophet", against the government . This does enlighten to a reality that people should be cautious about accepting information from so-called news sources that are not immediately accountable to anyone else but themselves. If there is any villain in this movie besides the MEV-1 virus, Krumwiede is it.

Jennifer Ehle as Dr. Ally Hextall

Finding a real vaccine lies at the heart of the story. Early on, Dr. Ian Sussman, played by Academy Award® nominee Elliott Gould, is commissioned by the CDC to unravel the virus itself. He does make progress by discovering a line of bat cells that will support an agent against the virus, but is ordered to discontinue his research and destroy all live samples when the outbreak escalates. Meanwhile, CDC scientist Dr. Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) is racing to find a cure as well. The breakthroughs of Dr. Sussman lead her to characterize the virus as being derived from a breed of genetic material of known bat and pig viruses. She too is on the brink of discovering a cure, but the bureaucracy behind any kind of experimentation on human subjects delays substantial progress. This presents an entirely different theme of the film that reflects how our own laws and governing procedures can work against us. Virology expert Dr. Paul Offit has cited "Contagion" to be refreshing and loyal, stating that "Typically when movies take on science, they tend to sacrifice the science in favor of drama. That wasn't true here." As a matter of fact, it is quite the opposite; the drama was sacrificed for the science. Since the majority of the public are neither doctors nor scientists, this contrary approach may have been a blunder on Soderbergh’s part. This is a fictional account after all, not a documentary. So while it may be very true-to-life and scientifically accurate, it only lightly scratches the surface of the being a prominent melodrama. With all the varying subplots and circumstances going on, Contagion probably would have made a better television series.

It is interesting to see so many perspectives of people and how the public might react to such a pandemic. While there were some strong plot points, for the most part the array of subplots don't come together. There isn't much that ties the characters to each other or to the audience besides that they are all at risk of dying from this virus. More could have been done to emphasize them as individuals. It is far too emotionally detached from these characters and too frequently it feels like you're watching CNN and not a theatrical movie. We hardly care whether any of these people survive. Soderbergh remains true to his cinematic style and has created a visually exciting film, despite its thematic short comings. Contagion invokes some personal thought as to how the world would react to a pandemic of this magnitude. The film depicts both the CDC and the World Health Organization as ultimately being the "good guys". Which itself is surprising, considering that so many other films of this nature have been so anti-government. But even more importantly, reminds us that people are inherently good. Under such life threatening circumstances, just how righteous would you be?

Rating: ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Bottom Line: Despite it's phlegmatic multitude of characters and although it fails to invoke audience endearments, it succeeds in its true-to-life portrayal of a global pandemic.

Cliff Martinez: "They're Calling My Flight"

Night-By-Night Guide to the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival

2011-04-20T08:00:00.005-04:00

Along with the coming of baseball season, brings early insights to the year's cinematic endeavors. Since its inception back in 2001, the "Triangle below Cannal Street" is not just about name brand boutiques and overpriced flats. But it also has come to represent the best of what New Yorkers consider cinematic art, at least in the eyes of founders Robert DeNiro & Jane Rosenthal. This year, we will see a variety of films that range from documentaries about eclectic over-the-hill pop stars like Elton John, to family dramedies starring over-their-career actresses like Kathleen Turner. Though the festival isn't quite as substantial as Robert Redford's Sundance, it is not without its own merits. One added bonus that I have always enjoyed about Tribeca are the industry workshops they sponsor in addition to the regular film screenings. This year, there will be discussions held on a variety of topics that any aspiring film maker should find worth-while, including "Shooting Film on a Budget" and "Based on True Events" just to name a few. And of course, there's the ever popular post-film talks with the film makers, new and old alike.

OPENING NIGHT, Wednesday, April 20th
The Union | Directed by Cameron Crowe

Elton John and Leon Russell

A captivating and exhilarating real-life experience of musical creation and generosity, The Union is an unprecedented look at the creative life of Elton John and his remarkable collaborative album with his early-career idol, Leon Russell. Never before filmed in his composing process, John is captured by director Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire) in a candid portrait of one of the world’s most treasured artists and performers. Legendary producer T Bone Burnett, John's lifelong lyricist Bernie Taupin, icons Neil Young and Brian Wilson, legendary R&B organist Booker T. Jones, steel guitarist Robert Randolph, and a 10-piece gospel choir are featured on the album, while appearances by Ringo Starr, Stevie Nicks, Jeff Bridges, and Grace Jones color this documentary about a love of making music.

Thursday, April 21st

The Bang Bang Club | Directed by Steven Silver

Ryan Phillipp

The Bang Bang Club is the true story of four young combat photographers bonded by friendship and their sense of purpose to tell the truth. They risk their lives and use their cameras to tell the world of the violence associated with the first free elections in post-Apartheid South Africa. Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman and Taylor Kitsch star in a film that explores the thrills, danger, and moral questions associated with exposing the truth. Based on the book The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War by Marinovich and Silva, this gripping film explores the thrills, danger, and moral ambiguity associated with representing war, and features stellar performances from Ryan Phillippe, Neels Van Jaarsveld, Frank Rautenbach, and Taylor Kitsch as the heroic young journalists who risk their lives for their cause and their craft.

Friday, April 22nd
Angels Crest | Directed by Gaby Dellal

Jeremy Piven

The small working-class town of Angels Crest rests quietly in one of the vast valleys of the Rocky Mountains. Not much happens in this tight-knit community except for the occasional convergence in the local diner where locals mull over drip coffee and trade gossip. The recession is evident, and residents do what they can to get by on what little they have. Ethan (Thomas Dekker), one of the town's inhabitants, is a young father but not much more than a kid himself. He has no choice but to look after his three-year-old son Nate, since mom Cindy (Lynn Collins) is an alcoholic. But one snowy day, Ethan's good intentions are thwarted by a moment of thoughtlessness, resulting in tragedy. A local prosecutor (Jeremy Piven) haunted by his past goes after Ethan, and the ensuing confusion and grief catapult the townspeople into strange new directions as they try to make sense of what happened and where the blame lies.

Saturday, April 23rd

Assault | Directed by Julien Leclercq

On December 24, 1994, when four heavily armed terrorists from the Algerian Armed Islamic Group hijacked an Air France plane bound for Paris at Algiers' airport, the 227 passengers on board seemed destined for tragedy. After hours of tireless negotiations the plane was granted permission to leave only to head to Marseille for refueling. Mindfully avoiding politics and emphasizing only the events themselves, The Assault weaves together the violent and claustrophobic onboard drama, with backstories of the tough SWAT officer and father Thierry (Vincent Elbaz), the determined jihadist from the slums of Algiers (Aymen Saidi), and an overly ambitious French Interior Ministry worker. Action-savvy director Julien Leclercq (Chrysalis) boldly returns with this taut, real-life thriller that culminates in an explosive gun-wielding standoff—which, at the time, aired live in front of an audience of 21 million television viewers. Leclercq seamlessly intertwines this harrowing real-life footage, heightening the stakes while driving home this heroic but foreboding event in French history.

Sunday, April 24th
The Perfect Family | Directed by Anne Renton

Kathleen Turner

Suburban mother and devout Catholic Eileen Cleary (Kathleen Turner) has always kept up appearances. When she runs for the Catholic Woman of the Year title at her local parish—an award she has coveted for years—her final test is introducing her family to the board for the seal of approval. Now she must finally face the nonconformist family she has been glossing over for years. Her gay daughter, Shannon (Emily Deschanel), a successful lawyer, is about to marry her life partner Angela (Angelique Cabral). Her unhappily married son Frank Jr. (Jason Ritter) is cheating on his wife with the local manicurist. And Eileen's own marriage to a recovered alcoholic is pulling at the seams. This heartfelt dysfunctional family comedy boasts a memorable performance from Academy Award nominee Turner as the conflicted and comical matriarch, alongside a bright ensemble cast including Richard Chamberlain and Michael McGrady. Newcomer director Anne Renton keeps the pacing taut and crafts an honest, modern family tale. Writers Claire V. Riley and Paula Goldberg infuse just the right amount of seriousness and levity into their script, reminding us that family is never truly perfect.

Monday, April 25th

Last Night | Directed by Massy Tadjedin

Guillaume Canet and Keira Knightley

New York City is a stunning backdrop for this story of a successful, gorgeous, and outwardly perfect married couple confronting the turbulence of temptation. Joanna (Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley) and Michael Reed (Sam Worthington) are seven years into a loyal and healthy marriage, both balancing challenging but rewarding careers, and enjoying what the city has to offer. One night when the Reeds attend a company party, Joanna witnesses an exchange of glances between her husband and a sexy colleague, Laura (the smart and seductive Eva Mendes), whom Michael never mentioned before. Suspicion mounts when Michael heads out on a business trip with the attractive co-worker in tow. As Joanna begins to doubt Michael's intentions, she finds herself facing her own temptation when her ex-lover Alex (the handsome Guillaume Canet) resurfaces. Writer/director Massy Tadjedin gently exposes the tangled web of emotions surrounding doubt and jealousy that subtly tug at the seams of a modern relationship in this finely woven tale. Knightley and Worthington bring maturity and confidence to this city couple in crisis, and temper both with just the right amount of vulnerability.

Tuesday, April 26th
Higher Ground | Directed by Vera Farmiga

Dagmara Dominczyk and Vera Farmiga

Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air) plays Corinne, a young wife and mother whose journey of self-discovery throws a tight-knit community off-kilter. Growing up a teenage misfit in the 1960s, young Corinne (played by Farmiga's sister Taissa) settles down early with her high school sweetheart, local band guitarist Ethan. When the new family is saved from a near-tragedy, Corinne and Ethan discover and incorporate a new sense of spirituality into their lives. However, over the next 20 years, small injustices accumulate and chip away at Corinne's certainty. Higher Ground depicts one woman's transitioning belief system over a lifetime, and how a crisis of faith can come about in the absence of any single crisis at all. Farmiga's patient filmmaking imbues her epic story with a contemplative introspection, making her directorial debut a personal study on the nature of doubt—whether it's of religion, leadership, or self. Cementing her as a bold new directing talent, Farmiga's adaption of Carolyn S. Briggs' memoir "This Dark World" is an authentic and resonant rumination on a woman who learns that no matter how many times she loses her footing, she has within herself all that's necessary to get to a higher place.

Wednesday, April 27th

Everything Must Go | Directed by Dan Rush

Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell delivers an understated performance in writer/director Dan Rush's funny and touching adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story "Why Don't You Dance?" Nick Porter has just been fired from his sales job after, well, not keeping sober. Things get worse as he returns home to find that his wife has left him, changed the locks, cut him off from their credit cards, and thrown all his stuff out on the front lawn. With the last few bucks in his pocket, he buys some beer and sets up a yard sale to sell off everything he has. Under Texas law, he can keep his sale going for five days, but is that enough time for Nick to get it together? Everything Must Go is anchored by Ferrell's ability to make Nick sympathetic even when the character—often clutching a can of beer—is at rock bottom. He shares many moving scenes with a lonely pregnant neighbor (Rebecca Hall), a teen kid that hangs around (Christopher Jordan Wallace), and an old high school friend (Laura Dern). Rush expertly balances the humorous moments and the serious tones in this story of starting over and moving on.

Thursday, April 28th
Puncture | Directed by Mark Kassen & Adam Kassen

Chris Evans

Mike Weiss (Chris Evans) is a talented young Houston lawyer and a functioning drug addict. Paul Danziger (co-director Mark Kassen), his longtime friend and partner, is the straight-laced and responsible yin to Mike's yang. Their mom-and-pop personal injury law firm is getting by, but things really get interesting when they decide to take on a case involving Vicky (Vinessa Shaw), a local ER nurse, who is pricked by a contaminated needle on the job. As Weiss and Danziger dig deeper into the case, a health care and pharmaceutical conspiracy teeters on exposure and heavyweight attorneys move in on the defense. Out of their league but invested in their own principles, the mounting pressure of the case pushes the two underdog lawyers and their business to the breaking point. Brothers and first-time directors Mark and Adam Kassen bring this real-life story to the screen with all the urgency and passion of the subjects themselves. The result is an effective issue-driven drama that finds its footing in a contemporary David and Goliath story. The performances are solid and Chris Evans refreshingly infuses Weiss with crackling charisma while grounding him with real insecurities and compassion.

Friday, April 29th
Janie Jones | Directed by David M. Rosenthal

Alessandro Nivola and Abigail Breslin

Ethan Brand (Alessandro Nivola) and his band are on the comeback trail when a former flame (Elisabeth Shue) drops a bomb in his lap: their 13-year-old daughter, Janie Jones (Abigail Breslin). Ethan refuses to believe Janie is his kid, but when her mom suddenly leaves for rehab, the child has no place to go but into the tour bus and on the road with the band. With no inclination toward fatherhood, Ethan continues his hard-living ways, leaving Janie to fend for herself in the dive bars and sleazy motels along the way. As Ethan's self-destructive spiral threatens to derail the tour, Janie uses her own surprising musical talents to help guide him down the rocky road to redemption. Nivola and Breslin naturally embrace their musical characters—both actually sing and perform in the film—while developing Ethan and Janie's relationship in a refined way to delicately express the emotional needs of the characters. Writer/director David M. Rosenthal blends the musical setting with road trip movie elements that add subtle layers to the dynamic of his two main characters.

CLOSING NIGHT, Saturday, April 30th
Newlyweds | Written, Directed & Starring Edwards Burns

Caitlin FitzGerald and Edward Burns

When you get married, you're not just getting a husband or wife—you get the family, the friends, even the exes. Buzzy and Katy are newlyweds. Katy's meddlesome sister Marcia has been married to Buzzy's friend Max for 18 years. As Marcia and Max's marriage is crumbling under the weight of life together as empty-nesters, Buzzy and Katy's honeymoon period is upended when Buzzy's wild-child baby sister shows up at the couple's TriBeCa apartment with more than a little baggage. With crackling humor and sharp insights into modern relationships, writer/director/actor Edward Burns tracks the tangled threads of these New Yorkers over three days. Aiming to root out the reality and bypassing the Hollywood sentimentality of love and marriage, he takes a documentary approach that is no less visually striking for its on-the-fly style. Shot entirely in TriBeCa, it's a quintessential New York film from a quintessential New York director. Burns has a singular way of getting past the veil of anonymity that comes with living in this city to really strike the core of his characters, played with candor and confidence by a top-notch ensemble that includes himself, Caitlin FitzGerald, Max Baker, Marsha Dietlein Bennett, and Kerry Bishé.

True Grit

2010-12-22T08:00:00.081-05:00

The Coen Brothers have become as much of a household name as Clorox bleach. Their original stories and unique style have always pushed the boundaries of conventional film making. However, their latest collaboration "True Grit" is more of a tributary inflexion of the classic Western movie than an innovative original story. Although it does posses the same renowned ambiance of a typical Coen movie, it simply is not as enthralling as one would expect from their creative stock. It does contain the usual elements of un-usual characters who find themselves in raunchy predicaments, but fails to surprise in the manner that most of their prior films have done so. Save an impressive performance by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, it simply is not as profound or staggering as one would expect from Joel and Ethan Coen. Nonetheless, it does capture a visual grander of the West that parallels such film greats as Martin Ritt's "Hud" and Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain". The movie was shot outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico and around the rural areas of Granger and Austin, Texas. Though there are some very bountiful scenes of sweeping canyons and spacious desert fields, there are just as many scenes that are harsh and threatening. Such superb cinematography is no surprise coming from eight-time Academy Award nominee Roger Deakins; he incorporates just enough subtleties in each scene to create a phantasmal mood for the film, despite an impoverished storyline.

"True Grit" just isn't quite as ground breaking as "No Country For Old Men" was. Joel and Ethan adapted the script from Charles Portis' novel of the same name and is the second screen adaptation of his book. The first was done in 1969 which was directed by Henry Hathaway and starred John Wayne in an Oscar-winning performance. Despite both movies having the same storyline, the two films are vastly different from one another. There is after all a forty year generational difference between them. The first version failed to convey the harsh, and often violent, reality of the times and seemingly excluded a lot the situational humor of the novel. Ethan attributes this to the fact that the book was narrated in the first person from the perspective of Mattie Ross, a teenage girl on a mission of revenge, disguised as justice. The Coen's touch here adds an eccentric comic demeanor that lacked in the original version. They directly used many of the humdinger lines of Portis' novel which clearly added to the poise and presence the characters.

Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross

The film opens with the execution of Frank Ross by his hired hand Tom Chaney, played by Coen alum Josh Brolin, while the two are on an expedition to Fort Smith to buy some horses. Chaney robs Ross' corps of $150 and two gold pieces that he always carried for sentimental reasons, then flees into Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma). This incident is projected in an erie blue overtone that creates a somber tone and sets the mood for the entire film. We soon enter upon Ross' fourteen year old daughter Mattie (Steinfeld) who ventures up from their Arkansas farm, accompanied only by an indentured servant, to settle her father's affairs and ensure justice of his untimely murder. Young actress Hailee Steinfeld almost immediately steals the movie away from her more famous costars. Steinfeld conveys a superlative sense of retribution underlined by vengeance as Mattie Ross. There is a great scene between Mattie and a horse trader named Colonel Stonehill (Dakin Matthews) where she insistently collects on her late father's dealings. It is at this moment that the audience quickly realize that this little girl is no one to be trifled with. Steinfeld was discovered through an open casting call that was put out seeking someone between the ages of 12 and 17 who looked simple in demeanor but could convey "unusually steely nerves and a straightforward manner". Her performance is one of the few redeeming qualities of the film on the whole and merits high praise as one of the best supporting performances of the year.

Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn

After some investigation, Mattie learns that Chaney has joined an outlaw gang led by the infamous "Lucky" Ned Pepper, portrayed by Barry Pepper who ironically has the same last name. In order to ensure that Chaney is arrested and tried for her father's murder, she unwittingly seeks the assistance of the toughest U.S. marshal in the district, Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn (Jeff Bridges). He, however, turns out to be a scrupulous drunk whose unruly practices are being questioned by authorities in court. Nonetheless, Mattie is "searching for a man of true grit" and Cogburn fit her ideals of just such a bounty hunter. This is Bridges' first role since he winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing a washed-up country music singer in Scott Cooper's "Crazy Heart". Similarly, western film icon John Wayne won his only Oscar for his turn as Rooster Cogburn in the original "True Grit". The part of Rooster Cogburn was quite a departure for Wayne, at the time, who was known for playing the straight-laced hero. But it still seemed like Wayne was playing Wayne. Such is not the case here with Bridges; it seems more like Bridges is playing Rooster. His interpretation of Rooster Cogburn is unique because he embraces more of the darker actions of this anti-hero character, which was precisely how Joel and Ethan depict him in their script.

Matt Damon as La Boeuf

Whilst waiting to hear whether or not Rooster accepts her commission, Mattie encounters upon a Texas ranger named La Boeuf (played by Matt Damon) who has already been tracking Chaney for the murder of a Texas state senator. Physically, he is very aloof, sporting a set of spurs that jingle louder than Santa's sleigh, and an overly grown mustache that practically turns him into a caricature. His introduction comes as a complete surprise to Mattie as she awakes from a bad dream to find him watching her sleep. Their initial impression of one another is not very high, particularly after Mattie receives a letter from Rooster that he has partnered with La Boeuf instead of her. Despite them trying to leave Mattie behind, she proves more tenacious and resourceful than they'd expected and eventually she becomes an accepted member of the posse. Damon's performance is decent enough and audiences will undoubtedly be drawn to the film because he is in it. Neither La Boeuf or Damon are hardly sidekick material. The wry ranger has issues and motives all of his own and his presence seemingly complicates matters more than it helps.

Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney

This unusual trio of bounty hunters begin to appreciate each other more and more, eventually developing a certain regard for one another. Particularly through their various encounters with villains Tom Chaney and Lucky Ned Pepper. Brolin is no stranger to gritty character roles, having previously portrayed the sinister Dr. William Block in Robert Rodriguez's "Grind House" as well as the malevolent city supervisor Dan White in Gus Van Sant's biopic "Milk". Although he doesn't get much screen time here, the significance of Chaney in the overall plot carries his presence throughout most every scene. Brolin is ruthless and barbarous as Chaney, and we have little empathy for him. Lucky, on the other hand, grants us slightly more compassion, despite being on the other side of the law. Barry Pepper is one of those actors whom, in my opinion, is vastly underrated. This is mainly because the roles he plays are not principal parts and he is often overshadowed by more renowned actors. Two such films that come to mind are "The Green Mile" and "Saving Private Ryan". Still, as small as his part may be here once again, he still leaves an impact as the gang leader with an unlikely sense of humanity.

Steinfeld with Barry Pepper as Lucky Ned Pepper

The character of Mattie is herself a portraiture of feminism during a such raw period in history when codes of honor governed society rather than abstract law. In film, women of that era are typically depicted as frail homemakers or immoral prostitutes. We rarely ever see a woman characterized as a cowboy on screen, let alone a female protagonist in a Western. "When you introduce women into that kind of world, something very interesting happens and you have an interesting dynamic straight away," states Emmy Award-winner Simon Moore who wrote the original screenplay for "The Quick and the Dead". Mattie's predicament is actually very similar to Moore's character The Lady (played by Sharon Stone in the film) who joins a dueling competition in order avenge her father's death at the hands of the self-proclaimed sheriff of the town Redemption. While Mattie certainly is no gunfighter herself, she realizes the importance of carrying a weapon of her own and the kind of power that it ensues. And like The Lady, Mattie is no conventional woman by any means. She is aggressive and rambunctious in her own right and governs herself in the same manner. Fourteen years old or not, for any woman living in the Old West this is profoundly prodigious. And although the apolitical Coens were not trying to foster a movie about feminism in any right, the implications behind the character of Mattie cannot be be ignored, whether intentional by the film makers or not.

Steinfeld and Damon

The Coen Brothers films have always demanded attention, but they did not receive real critical recognition until 1996 with "Fargo". And although they directed and produced that film separately, they wrote the screenplay collaboratively. Since then, they have worked on every film together as writers, producers, and directors jointly. People have often referred to Joel and Ethan Coen as “the bicephalous director” (the two-headed director). Many actors who have worked with the brothers have said that more often than not, the two have the same ideas and responses for various scenes and questions. Yet, their "two-headed" approach to "True Grit" might very well have been a deteriorating factor for the film on the whole. Though it is a more faithful adaptation than Henry Hathaway's initial version was in 1969, the movie itself brings little that hasn't been seen before from similar westerns or tales of vengeance.

Joel & Ethan Coen

"True Grit" seems to fulfill a more commercial compulsion than a creative one, which is not necessarily a criticism. Movies are after all a business and "if it doesn't make money, then it wasn't worth making." Although "No Country For Old Men" proved that the Coens could achieve both acclamation and financial success, it unfortunately might have been their fluke exception. Their last film "A Serious Man" brought in a mere $31 million and was essentially a box office failure, despite being highly praised by critics and honored with two Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. This seems to be the Coen Curse: if the movie is substantial and innovative without any big name actors attached then it is probably a fantastic movie, or if it carries a star studded cast and does well financially, then it is probably mediocre in comparison to their other works. So once again, we are upon a Coen Brothers film that does carry a few high profile names, yet lacks the overall creative spirit and imaginativeness that audiences have come to value them for.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Bottom Line: Not your quaint-essential Coen Brothers piece, but entertaining in its own right. Hailee Steinfeld's performance alone is worth seeing.

Johnny Cash: "God's Gonna Cut You Down"

Made In Dagenham

2010-11-19T08:00:00.132-05:00

The tag line from Sony Pictures Classics for the film is "An ordinary woman achieves something extraordinary." What it really should read is "extraordinary actors in an ordinary movie". Perhaps my expectations were too high, but when I hear about a film set against the working women's labor struggle of 1960's England, that screams highly developed plot and high caliber performances—one would think. The story is based upon the true to life struggle of 187 female machinist workers at the Ford Motor Factory in Dagenham, England who went on a labor strike to gain equal salaries to that of their male counterparts. It loosely focuses upon one woman in particular, Mrs. Rita O'Grady (Sally Hawkins) who unassumingly becomes the spokeswoman for her co-workers at the instance of their sympathetic union representative Albert Hopkins (Bob Hoskins). While the film itself does address the issues of woman's labor suffrage during that period, it fails to convey a dire sense of personal turmoil or the struggle of the working class, female or otherwise. I almost entirely fault the screenwriter, William Ivory, for this. After all, it is his original script here. However, one cannot disclude the major role that Director Nigel Cole had in translating Ivory's words onto the screen. Overall, the film is anticlimactic and very predictable.

When considering Cole's prior works like "Saving Grace", this surprise-free feature is a disappointing surprise in itself. His approach mimics the same manufactured uplift he presented in "Calendar Girls". Audiences have become accustomed to the way he surrounds his characters and conveys their individual quirkiness on camera. This just wasn't the case with "Made In Dagenham". There is much potential for Rita and several of the other supporting characters to come alive on screen, but for the most part, this just doesn't happen. And it is not because of the lack of quality acting ability, but rather due to the weak situations put forth in general. The film only lightly touches upon the struggles of these women. While I do understand Cole's intent to keep the overall tone light and comedic, this mild approach to the circumstances only lessons the audience's regard for the characters. Even the main protagonist Rita's situation is pretty mundane and easy to foretell. How can Cole expect us to empathize with these women, if we aren't ever extensively exposed to their personal grief or individual disquietude. Films like Stephen Daldry's "Billy Eliot" or Peter Cattaneo's "The Full Monty" were such great movies because they encompassed the characters as they cooped with their circumstances set against a worker's strike. "Made In Dagenham" however does just the opposite as the strike itself leads the plot, making the characters seem secondary in the overall storyline.

Sally Hawkins as strike leader Rita O'Grady

We really only scratch the surface with the central protagonist of Rita O'Grady. The character herself is a composite of personas of several different real life woman of the time. We witness Rita as she interacts with various high level officials, motivates her coworkers to believe in themselves, and unknowingly overpowers her husband, but we never really gain true insight into her psyche. Everything just kind of happens to her, and because she accepts it, so do we. One would think that the very circumstances of a strike would entice some genuine melodrama and contention, but it doesn't. At least, it's not expressed here. Like I mentioned before, this is not because of talentless actors or poor screen performances that the movie falls short. Sally Hawkins does seemingly carry the movie single-handedly, despite such a monotoned storyline. She fosters a quietly confident and sympathetic Rita, establishing her as the backbone of everyone in her life, not just among her fellow co-workers but within her own family as well. It is her mildly spoken leadership that becomes the driving force behind the entire strike. And Hawkins makes the most of what Mrs. O'Grady's character has to offer. Not since her performance as the optimistic school teacher Poppy in Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky" have we seen Hawkins take such command of a role. She maintains a lighthearted assertion that ultimately dictates the pliable mood of the entire film, as bland as that mood may be.

Daniel Mays as Eddie O'Grady &
Thomas Arnold as Martin at work in the factory.

The closest thing to real strife occurs when Rita's husband Eddie (Daniel Mays) confronts her about what the strike is doing to their family and to their marriage. "This is being on strike! You run out of cash and you end up screaming at each other," proclaims Eddie. This is a peak point in the film because it is one of the only times we see how both Rita and Eddie are emotionally effected by all that is going on. Though it hardly has the same kind family turmoil of "Norma Rae" and only has a minor impact on the overall application for the film. Mays himself stretches his acting legs here and creates a realistic sense of who Eddie O'Grady is. While we have seen his talents before in such films as "All or Nothing" and "Vera Drake", this might be Mays' most visible role to date. His portrayal of Eddie as a conscientious objector who initially is just trying his best to humor his wife and maintain their home life, shows his versatility as an actor. He comes off as a generally supportive husband to Rita, as we witness him assuming household responsibilities while Rita is out making the rounds. That is until it starts to effect his own livelihood. Then we finally get to see some interpersonal conflict on screen, even if only for a brief scene.

There are two secondary characters that parallel Rita in the film: Secretary of State Barbara Castle (Miranda Richardson) and the wife of Ford's head of industrial relations Lisa Hopkins (Rosamund Pike). Each widen the perspective of the role of women during that time by conveying two vastly contrasting characters. This wittingly allows the audience to interpret the social predicaments of the era, but in the same sense acts as an overall distraction to the struggling female machinists. There just isn't enough of a connection between either Mrs. Hopkins or Secretary Castle and Rita. But they do contribute to the film's overall humor, despite having little significance to the plot itself.

Rosamund Pike as Lisa Hopkins

Nonetheless, probably the most noteworthy portrayal of strong emotional conviction comes from Rosamund Pike. Her turn as Lisa Hopkins, the largely overlooked wife of Ford's high-powered executive Peter Hopkins, is nothing short of magnanimous. Pike steals just about every seen she is in, and damn near steals the entire movie from Hawkins. But her character's overall significance in the story itself is too minute to allow that to happen. Still, Pike captures the tone of the era to the tee with a quietly unaccepting bitterness of how women were regarded by society. In a captivatingly endearing scene where Lisa tries to encourage Rita to push forward with her strike efforts, the discounted Cambridge-educated housewife exclaims "I'm 31 years old, I have a first-class honors degree from one of the greatest universities in the world, and my husband treats me like a fool." Her character provides an external perspective of just how poorly women were regarded. It is unfortunate however that the same kind of interrelation doesn't occur with Rita or any of the other characters.

Miranda Richardson as Secretary of State Barbara Castle

Secretary of State Barbara Castle represents the government perspective of the entire situation at hand. Miranda Richardson consistently delivers witty dialog with heartfelt humor. This is a surprising change of pace for the actress whose previous acclamations, such as her role as Richard Gere's aggrieved wife in "Damage" or as the wife of renowned poet T.S. Eliot in "Tom & Viv", were highly dramatic and emotional intense. The character in itself represents a small contradiction to both the film and the period, because women rarely held any kind of significant office or had much authority to speak of. It simply wasn't commonplace in those days. And while Secretary Castle was certainly no Hillary Clinton, she did bare a very significant role in the overall movement towards sexual equality in the workplace. And she was a significant instigator in Parliament of the Equal Pay Act of 1970 which prohibited any less favorable treatment between men and women in terms of pay and conditions of employment.

It is because of this feminist depiction on screen that "Made In Dagenham" will most likely appeal to audiences of middle-class women. Women who are proactive about their individuality and financial independence. And this very aspect alone opens a very significant window about feminist portrayal in the cinema. Why is it that such a film will probably be seen by mainly women? It's certainly not because Hollywood cinema still stereotypes women by portraying them as "suffering under male domination", as suggested by Professor Shohini Chaudhuri of the Department of Literature at the University of Essex. With all due respect to Prof. Chaudhuri, this is not 1970 anymore and women have certainly earned their place both in society and on the big screen. I am not claiming ignorance here; the power struggles of the female sex did, and probably does still in lesser circles, exist. However, there is much to be said about the approach that the director does himself take in regards to this feminist portrayal on screen.

Albert (Bob Hoskins) motivating the female machinist workers.

In an early scene, Bob Hoskins' character Albert enters the warehouse where the women have stripped down to their undergarments to endure the immense heat of the intense summer weather and poor factory conditions. Albert shrieks "Oh my God!" in disbelief when he sees them and quickly covers his eyes. The camera continuously follows him as he makes his way through a room without censorship and in fact turns the situation of these half-naked women into a humorous jest. This is a prime example of Cole's attempt to lesson the impact of a predominant "male gaze" and introduces an atmosphere where men are the ones who are embarrassed, and the women act out as assertive and confident. Hoskins delivers his usual adoration here as a sentimental union rep who reminisces of his own childhood where his mother single-handedly raised and supported him under very similar circumstances. Hoskins is so jolly and charming here in such a selfless manner that one cannot help but like him. And he makes it more and more difficult to criticize him on any level; it reminds me greatly of Hilary Swank and her mass appeal among Academy members.

According to Philosophy Professor Cynthia Freeland of the University of Huston, feminist film theory is founded upon "the feminist claim that men and women are differentially positioned by cinema: men as subjects identifying with agents who drive the film's narrative forward, women as objects for masculine desire and fetishistic gazing." There is another scene involving Jaime Winstone's character Sandra where she seemingly abandons the cause by agreeing to pose for a professional photo shoot for the Ford Motor Company. Despite her quirky response of painting "Equal Pay for Women" across her midsection, the very scene merely objectifies her as being inferior and as a lesser commodity. It's these kind of improbably anecdotes that ultimately weaken the significance of these female characters. The very notion that they could convert one of the striking workers with an unfounded promise of a fashion career is preposterous. Not so much because Sandra could be swayed, but that the Ford Motor Company would go to such lengths at all. Because Ivory fails to create characters with intrinsic depth, all the audience has to rely on are the meagerly addressed events of the story like that one.

There is another scene where the women set out to publicly protest on Parliament's front lawn. They fumble about as they attempt to organize their picket line and go public with their message that women deserve sexual equality in the workplace. Haphazardly, their banner displays only half of that statement and appears to say "we want sex". While this was an actual mishap that occurred at the time, this scene does little to convince the audience to take them or their cause seriously, and actually just objectifies them more.

When discussing the film with several other patrons and openly conveying the fact that I did not like the film, a female colleague of mine interjected that "it's probably just not your kind of film". I greatly resented that statement because, contrary to the movie itself, it was entirely "my kind of film". Another female viewer proclaimed that my disappointment was the result of my extreme "Hollywood story" expectations. That too was a gross generalization on her part. I didn't dislike the movie because it was about women; I didn't like the movie because it failed to execute a rousing character-driven story about a subject that most certainly had the vision to exhilarate precisely that. Maybe it isn't fair to expect the emotional zeal of "Norma Rae" or the serious sexual predicaments put forth in "North Country"; but when dealing with a narrative of such a dramatic nature, how can one discard the drama?

One of the most compelling scenes of the entire movie comes at the very end, when footage of the real life woman machinists are displayed as the closing credits roll; so perhaps this story is better suited to be a documentary. The film seemingly aims to escape the real life theatrics of this fervid story. Cole is just overly cloying in his approach to the circumstances of a poverty stricken working class society. And as a result, "Made In Dagenham" fails to impose its political issues upon the audience or excite any kind of emotions for them. In a word, it's just plain dull. Although Sally Hawkins and Rosamond Pike give praiseworthy performances and the very subject of sexual inequality in the workplace is intrinsically stimulating, it is still not enough to turn a mediocre script into a great movie.

Rating: ★ ★
Bottom Line: An anticlimactic piece that sadly doesn't entice much thought or emotion. Extremely disappointing considering the historic premise of the story and the best efforts of the cast.

City Island

2010-03-19T08:00:00.053-04:00

Everyone in the world probably thinks that their family is a little peculiar. Well the Bronx family portrayed in Raymond De Felitta’s new feature film takes that presumption to a whole other level. The Rizzo Family is probably a lot like your own family in the sense that they too conceal a lot of intimate details from one another. De Felitta wrote and directed this story about how misguided assumptions can tear apart even the closest of relatives. Based on the previews, it seemed that this was a modern satire along the same lines as Little Miss Sunshine or Juno. I was wrong to make such a generalization of the film. While there are a great number of hilarious scenes and circumstances in the movie, it stands out as more of a family dramedy than anything else. As we watch the members of the Rizzo clan, we discover that neuroticism as we know it, is nothing compared to that of these folks. Everybody has a secret that they are keeping, but the dramatics escalate when those secrets start to affect everyone else.

The movie itself premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival last July and won the Heineken Audience Award. I recently got the chance to meet De Felitta at a screening that was held at the IFC Center in Manhattan a few weeks ago, where he freely discussed City Island with active members of the Producers Guild. He described the film as a “labor of love” and a collaborative effort of many, particularly the actors. Apparently there are several improvised segments of dialog that appears in the final cut that were completely created by the actors; including one of the scenes with Academy Award-Winner Alan Arkin who plays a knavish acting teacher criticizing his student’s methods.

Alan Arkin as Michael Malakov

Anyone who has ever been to City Island could safely say that it is a sleepy little community on the outskirts of the outskirts of the Big City. As a predominantly blue-collar fishing town, the area retains much of its personality from its residents. There are two common phrases that are highlighted early on in the film: Clam Digger and Mussel Sucker. A Clam Digger is someone who was born and raised on City Island and who has lived their entire life there. A Mussel Sucker is anyone else who immigrated there from somewhere else. It’s New England-esque demeanor and obscurity alone accounts for much of the overall ambiguousness of the film. The island itself is only a few miles long and about three-quarters of a mile wide. It has a profound history of being a shipbuilding center for some of our country’s greatest vessels, including some prominent World War II battleships. This is the unique setting of De Felitta’s story that centralizes around an atypical Italian-American family that fights about everything imaginable, but deep-down really loves and cares about each other despite it all.

Andy Garcia as Vince Rizzo

The patriarch of the Rizzo Family is Vince Rizzo, portrayed by Andy Garcia, who is experiencing a midlife crisis. Like most everyone else in his life, he has some sense of dissatisfaction with his current situation. He works as a “corrections officer”, not merely a prison guard as he adamantly points out throughout the film. But what Vince really aspires to be is an actor. He has secretly been taking a regular acting class in Manhattan without anyone in his family knowing about it. And resorts to reading his various acting books while perched out of a skylight in the family bathroom. Vince is particularly fond of Marlon Brando and even goes as far as mimicking him at his first ever film audition. Most audiences are not used to seeing Garcia in comedic roles. He nonetheless delivers as the working-class aspiring actor who is trying to reconnect with his family, his entire family. Most everyone at some point in their life has sought something or someone that seemed out of reach. Garcia successfully conveys this simple-minded guy Vince who wants something more than he has, but is still very uncertain about himself because of his circumstances of being a Clam Digger.

Julianna Margulies as Joyce, with Dominik García-Lorido as Vivian

Vince has been lying about taking this acting class to his wife Joyce, played by Julianna Margulies. As far as she thinks, whenever Vince goes out, he is at his regular poker game. But soon starts to suspect otherwise, when she tries to contact him at work on the very same day he calls in “sick” so that he can attend an open call audition for a new Martin Scorsese picture. To fuel her suspicions, when she discovers that Vince has been hiding his friendship with a female classmate (Emily Mortimer), Joyce presumes the worst. So begins needless turmoil and heartache on her part because she assumes that her husband is cheating on her. It has been a while since we have seen Margulies in any kind of role. She came out of a suto retirement to do this film after Garcia personally asked her to get involved. Her big screen comeback exposes yet another facet of the Emmy Award –winning actress’ talents. Despite the fact that the audience knows the truth about what is actually going with Vince, we still feel sympathy for Joyce’s circumstance because of the emotional duress crafted by Margulies. As a middle-aged housewife it is easy to understand why Joyce would feel neglected and spiteful. Though it is understandable that this situation could easily be misconstrued by anyone, all it really reinforces are the stereotypes that husbands are completely ignorant of the emotional sensibilities of their wives, and that wives are irrational when it comes to matters of the heart and more often than not jump to the wrong conclusions.

Steven Strait as Tony

To her detriment, Joyce takes a keen interest in Tony (Steven Strait), the ex-convict who Vince takes into their home as part of his parole because he is his son. No one else knows that he is his biological child though, not even Tony himself. In his mind, Vince is just a prison guard doing him a favor because he knew his mother once upon a time. And that is the same explanation that Vince gives his family. The plot thickens when Joyce become attracted to him, which is easy to understand considering that he spends much of his time working without a shirt on and that she thinks her husband has been cheating on her. This situation directly parallels Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex”. As we watch the extent of their physical involvement develop, we can predict that trouble is arising with a capitol T. Strait himself is a relative newcomer to the film industry, whose most prominent role was as the main hunter D’Leh in Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 BC. In City Island however, we get to see more than just physical acting from him. Strait shows great promise here and hopefully he won’t waste his potential doing aimless adolescent roles in purely box office driven teen movies.

Ezra Miller as Vince Jr., aka Vinnie

Vince and Joyce’s two children Vivian and Vinnie (Ezra Miller & Dominik García-Lorido) each have their own share of secrets. Vivian who is supposedly home on Spring Break has been working as a stripper in lieu of being a college student. She is Andy Garcia’s real life daughter and seemingly had no problems countering her dad on screen. Vinnie has an unusual fetish for large fat women and spends most of his time fantasizing about his neighbor and other obese women on the Internet. According to De Felitta, they kept adding more and more screen time for Miller because he was charismatically contributing hilarious improvisations during the filming. It seems that the whole Rizzo family is lying about one thing or another. Which is the unifying plot point of the entire film.

The movie on the whole conveys the most unlikely of circumstances and still presents genuine emotion for the characters. It is not purely a situational comedy though, and De Felitta takes the audience on an entertaining roller coaster ride of human predicament. Garcia, who was also a producer on the film, was very pleased with his collaborative efforts with the director, “We became partners in the movie, and went on this journey together. We have similar sensibilities.” In all, there is a pretty basic story line going on here, despite the intentionally convoluted twists and turns. The film itself never looses sight on its characters and justly earns its classification as a dramatic-comedy. Enjoyable and entertaining from start to finish, I believe that most viewers will be able to identify with the fact that we all have secrets of our own.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Bottom Line: A charming story about a dysfunctional family laced with endearing little twists. A tad predictable but still fun nonetheless!

Avatar

2009-12-18T08:00:00.008-05:00

Being director James Cameron’s first non-documentary feature since his monster epic Titanic which was over twelve years ago, I was honestly expecting a great deal more, especially considering that this is a movie that he wrote, directed and produced. However, he does have a track record for technically advanced films that often fall short on plot and structure. And Avatar is no exception to this trend. This is probably the most overly hyped film of the year. Aside from the radiant special effects and masterful editing, there was nothing too impressive about this movie. Cameron had originally written an eighty-page scriptment some fifteen years ago and filming was supposed to commence immediately after Titanic. But he held off on pursuing its development and production because the visual effects capabilities were limited at the time. Cameron had a vision of what the film would look like and did not want to cheapen his foresight of this imagined world on screen. This kind of integrity for a filmmaker is indeed admirable, and I am not saying that this is a bad movie nor am I saying that Cameron’s work isn’t without merit. What I am saying is that Avatar simply isn’t as great as people have been making it out to be.

The self-proclaimed “King of the World” has created an entirely fictional universe centered around this lush Earth-like moon called Pandora. When a new deployment of soldiers from Earth arrive on Pandora, one of the commanding officers proclaims, “You’re not in Kansas in anymore,” which is a reference to Cameron’s favorite film The Wizard of Oz. As a satellite of the planet Polyphemus, it harbors enormous deposits of an extremely rare and valuable mineral called Unobtainium. Over 150 years into the future, humans have exhausted their resources on their own planet and have begun the relentless pursuit of this substance that is vital to the very survival of the human race. This aspect presents one of many gaps in the storyline; the backdrop as to what exactly happened on Earth is never explained and why humans are forced to travel light years away to recover this precious mineral Unobtainium. All this is unveiled early on in the film as the audience quickly realizes that the humans are the predators invading another species’ realm of existence. Sound at all familiar? Well, if you ever saw Hector Babenco’s At Play in the Fields of the Lord about an indigenous tribe that is being threatened by gold miners in the jungles of Brazil, then you can probably identify with Avatar. And this isn’t even the most compelling film comparison.

Now in all fairness, the conjoined art direction and special effects employed to create this alien planet is nothing short of spectacular. The two worlds of live action and computer-generated segments gracefully combine together on screen and in no way appear false or layered. Much of which is a direct result of the technological advancements made in the computer-generated images (CGI) filming process on this film. The use of digital images on screen began in1993 when Steven Spielberg integrated live action scenes with computer-generated dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. The visual effects team at Weta Digital of New Zealand has taken this process to a whole new level. For Avatar, Cameron made use of an augmented reality system called a "virtual camera" to view the computer-generated outcome of the motion capture process in real time, much in the same way video games manipulate images from various angles. This new virtual camera system fosters a brand new method of motion-caption filmmaking. All previous methods limited the extent of the virtual output profusely. Cameron proclaimed this development as a “form of pure creation where if you want to move a tree or a mountain or the sky or change the time of day, you have complete control over the elements.”

They also created a new system of digitally lighting massive areas so as to realistically create the atmosphere and nuances of the jungles on Pandora. But probably the most significant achievement was the design of a specialized camera that captured the intricate facial expressions of the actors themselves. This allowed the filmmakers to transfer 100% of the actors' physical performances to their digital counterparts. So the filmmakers don’t just create a computer-animated image in response to prerecorded dialog. The real emotions and reactions of each actor’s face are actually used to create the image of the generated character. Therefore, the depictions of the alien beings on screen are just as much performances as the actual humans are. Weta Digital’s procedure could possibly eliminate any future issues of considering CGI performances for acting awards. This was so controversial in 2002 when Andy Serkis was in contention for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for his voice role as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers which until now has been the most plausible character created in this manner.

The aliens on Pandora are the Na’vi, a ten-foot-tall blue-skinned species of sapient humanoids. They intricately co-exist with the nature on their planet/moon, and worship a Mother Nature-type being known as Eywa. Much of who they are revolves around the animals and plants, to the point where they can feel can the very livelihood of their surrounding environment. Dr. Paul Frommer, a linguist professor at USC, created the fictional language spoken by the Na’vi in the movie. Their tongue's phonemes include ejective consonants such as the "kx" in "skxawng" that are found in the Amharic language of Ethiopia, and the initial "ng" that Cameron may have taken from New Zealand Maori. While Unobtainium draws strong comparisons to society’s addiction to oil, the Na'vi draw obvious parallels with Native Americans. This faction presents obvious similarities with such films as Terrence Malick’s The New World which retells the story of Captain John Smith and British settlers invading the Powhatan Tribe in what is now Virginia, and Disney’s version of the same story Pocahontas.

The anticipated resistance of the Na’vi against the human invasion of Pandora entices alternate methods to infiltrate their world in a more diplomatic fashion. A group of scientists develop the Avatar Program, which telepathically implants the mind of a given human into a genetically engineered biological body of a Na’vi alien. These Avatars are genetically created from the DNA of its designated human occupant, creating a kind of sixth sense connection. Sigourney Weaver plays Dr. Grace Augustine, an exobiologist in charge of the Avatar Program. She brings a cursory sense to the role while still maintaining a presence of authority. From her Alien roles, we already know that Weaver is very capable of portraying such a strong intelligent female character.

Jake Scully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic US Marine who is recruited for the mission on Pandora after his twin brother is killed in action before he can partake in the Avatar Program himself. Because his DNA is of the same make-up as his sibling, Jake essential takes over where he left off. After waking up from a six-year cryogenic sleep, Jake finds himself on Pandora amidst the Avatar Program and all that embodies it. Once in his Avatar form, Jake fully inhabits his new part-alien, part-human body from its head to its prehensile tail. Revealing in his new found abilities to run, jump, and have complete use and feeling of his legs again. Worthington is tough, gruff and assertive all at once as the genetic pioneer turned insurrectionist. He fosters his character both as a human and an Avatar quite well. We believe that his remorse for his dead brother is genuine, but can empathize with his desire to be able to walk again.

Although physically emancipated, Jake is consciously bound to the corporation that put him in his Avatar. He is tasked to infiltrate the Na’vi culture and persuade them to cooperate with the mining operation. Jake soon meets a Na’vi female by the name of Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) who saves his life and brings him back to her clan. As Jake spends more and more time with her, a profound trust ensues and inevitably a romance blossoms between them. This angle is very cliché and becomes the obvious contradicting motive behind Jake’s do or don’t dilemma. Even though Saldana never appears on screen as anything but an alien, the melodramatic level to which she takes her character to is a huge saving point for the film. Saldana embraces the technology and allows her performance to transcend her character's unfamiliar appearance. You can almost feel the emotion in her eyes and hear the compassion and conviction in her dialogue, making you forget that you’re even watching a CGI hybrid of human performances. I could see Saldana being nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, which would make her the first to do so as a fully computer generated character.

Another performance that renders well is Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch. Lang creates a comic book-like character of masculinity as this marine turned warrior who seemingly can endure anything. He is consumed by his will and sees this as a do or die mission for the sake of all mankind; this is a common character type for Cameron. The scars on his face only reinforce that he is just as tough as he lets on. Lang reaches out and fiercely dominates this role, much in the way that he did earlier this year in Michael Mann’s Public Enemies. Colonel Quaritch becomes the bad guy you love to hate. The other token villain of the movie is Parker Selfridge, played by Giovanni Ribisi. He is the nasty corporate executive who will stop at nothing to overthrow the Na’vi and ultimately harvest their Unobtainium supply. Parker is the most ignorant of all and represents a cliché sense of Capitalism that is overly exhausted throughout the film.

Putting all the technical achievements and filming developments aside, the overall story of the film is not anything revolutionary. Too many people are consumed by the layers of special effects and forget that at there is a story at the root of it all. Cameron’s script is rooted in this contemporary eco-green mindset, nurturing messages and sympathies that are entirely predictable and unchallenging. When Jake infiltrates the Na’vi and falls in love with Neytiri, he begins to question his own values and the morals behind the Avatar Program. He is torn between two bodies and his two loyalties. This story has been told before, and before it, and before it again. Avatar too closely parallels other major films, namely Elliot Silverstein’s A Man Called Horse and Kevin Costner’s Academy Award winning Dances With Wolves, right down to the conflict of interest that evolves from the romance with a native woman and reverenced denouement for the tribe. Cameron’s characterizations and dialogue are often crude and simplistic, although the hackneyed dialogue does seem appropriate for the genre. However, it is notable that Cameron does attempt to use a classic three-act structure here, which is unlike most sci-fi and action films that have an aggressive opening scene to draw viewers in. When a film is regarded as highly as Avatar has been, it is only fair to expect a marvelously intricate and original storyline. Avatar fails at this and thrives only on its visual effects for mass appeal. This alone is not enough to constitute a great film.

James Cameron is a great overall filmmaker, even if his prose is shoddy and mediocre. Thematically, Avatar plays too simplistically into stereotypical nefarious white-man versus virtuous-native clichés. It is undeniable that he does have a knack for orchestrating movies that effectively forge a variety of aspects on screen. And he has gone to great lengths to create a movie that seeps with profound detail and has visually stimulating scenes. On a purely experiential level, the technical advances made will certainly be employed in future films to come and has raised the standards for all features of its kind. His relentless effort to bring credibility to science fiction cinema is an archetype of achievement. While Avatar may indeed be the most expensive and technically ambitious film ever made, it falls short on overall illustriousness for an epic.

Rating: ★ ★ 1/2
Bottom Line: Although a visually stunning spectacle, it is an overly hyped epic that is essentially just Dances With Wolves in Sci-Fi.

Leona Lewis: "I See You"

Up In The Air

2009-12-04T11:00:00.006-05:00

Have you recently lost your job? Is your business suffering because the consumer market is on a severe down? Have you felt the repercussions of the poor economy in any way, shape or form? If you are living anywhere in America right now, you probably answered “yes” to one of these questions. And if so, I highly recommend that you see this film. Director Jason Reitman has once again crafted a movie that drives its message home by focusing on characters through lightweight existentialism. Much like his prior films, Juno and Thank You For Smoking, Up In The Air takes a typically nontraditional protagonist and gives us a rare window into their unconventional existence. Reitman co-wrote the screenplay with Sheldon Turner, whose previous work is limited to mediocre horror film remakes and a bad Adam Sandler movie. Although it is based upon Walter Kirn’s novel of the same name, the film takes a vastly different approach than the original story. I would not be surprised if both Reitman and Turner take home an Oscar this year for their lofty adaptation.

George Clooney & Director/Screenwriter Jason Reitman

Reitman brings this typically unspoken situation of losing one’s job into the limelight and parades the victims around in a less than exalted manner. And through this, we ourselves see venerability, fear, and honest human emotion. The film begins with a montage of everyday people’s reactions to loosing their everyday jobs. Reitman employed real people, not actors, for this segment. Each one had recently been terminated in their real-life jobs and were asked to reenact what they actually said (or wish they’d said) when they found out the bad news. This sequence was an excellent introduction into the storyline that relates present day economic realities without trivializing them. Now even if you’ve been fired yourself, you probably haven’t seen someone else’s response to such a situation. It is far more unpredictable than most have ever witnessed. Firing a coworker is typically the last thing that anyone wants to perform them self, nonetheless someone has to do it—enter Ryan Bingham.

George Clooney as Ryan Bingham

Ryan Bingham, played by George Clooney, is a “career transition counselor” for Career Transition Counseling (CTC), an Omaha-based company whose sole responsibility is to intervene on the daunting task of laying-off employees for corporate executives who are too gutless to handle it themselves. “Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it's because they sat there that they were able to do it.” This is Ryan Bingham’s borderline cliché response that he systematically feeds to people who are now eligible for unemployment benefits. In fact, much of the way Ryan manages his life is cliché. He believes in efficiency and opportunity above all, he lives for his job, and he has little affinity for anything else, including his home, his lovers and even his family. Clooney astutely combines his dramatic talents with the witty natured zeal that he has come to be known for. Ryan Bingham consumes us because of Clooney’s charismatic portrayal of this otherwise menial man. This is someone who spares no luxury while commuting from city to city for work, but lives in a barely furnished studio apartment that overlooks practically nothing. He boasts, “Last year, I spent 322 days on the road, which means I had to spend 43 miserable days at home.” Clearly this man has attachment issues. But putting the psychoanalyst hat aside, Ryan himself seems content with his impersonal existence and interprets this as “happiness”.

Clooney & Vera Farmiga

At a pivotal point, Bingham chance encounters another travel-holic in an airport lounge named Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) who seemingly lives as he does. Alex is a leggy, intelligent, full fledged romantic operative, who is basically the female version of him. She is his match in more ways than one. Almost immediately after they meet, the two quickly swap stories and business experiences, comparing each other’s privileges and membership perks in a series of inquisitive double-entendres. For people of their background, this is an obscure form of foreplay that eventually leads to them sleeping together. Before calling it a night, Alex assures him, “I am the woman you don’t have to worry about.” Farmiga has a magnificent connection with Clooney in this film. Their chemistry forges the characters like two elements of hydrogen with oxygen. They play off of one another’s complications and leave most everything else beyond the bedroom at the door, so we think.

Clooney hasn’t been this well matched since Brad Pitt in the Ocean’s Movies, and he’s not even a love interest. Farmiga delivers a confident and assertive performance while still maintaining a Baby Boom sense of feminism. We have seen this from her before in Scorsese’s The Departed, but not in so intricately a manner. Alex exposes a side of Ryan that few people have been able to do and we begin to see a side of him that is vulnerable, compassionate and human. She inadvertently lures Ryan into new territory, becoming his “plus one” in more ways than one.

Anna Kendrick as Natalie Keener

This revelation comes about almost directly as a result of Ryan’s recent interaction with his new protégé Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick). She is a fresh-out-of-college recruit who concocts the idea of conducting layoffs remotely over the internet in order to cut overall company expenses. This threatens Bingham’s very lifestyle and he immediately objects to the concept. He asserts that Natalie is too young and too inexperienced to understand just how difficult firing someone can be. As a result, his boss, Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman), assigns him to teach her the ropes. She soon embarks on her training under Ryan. From the very beginning, he imposes his travel standards upon her. One of his first lessons is on getting through airport security, “Never get behind old people. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal and they never seem to appreciate how little time they have left. Bingo, Asians. They pack light, travel efficiently, and they have a thing for slip on shoes. Gotta love 'em.” Natalie righteously objects, “That’s racist.” “I'm like my mother, I stereotype. It's faster.”

Clooney & Kendrick with J.K. Simmons

Natalie quickly learns that there is a lot more to firing people than just reciting a memorized script and handing out unemployment packets. Kendrick creates a character that is naive not only about her new job, but about how the world works and more importantly, how people work. When her long time boyfriend breaks up with her via text message, she has a complete emotional break down. Ryan’s response is, “Wow. That's kind of like getting fired over the internet.” And so Natalie finds herself at a point in her own life where she too is left to question her circumstances. So many young actors are inadvertently bred to be lazy when it comes to matters of true emotion—not Kendrick. Her youth does not hinder her presence in this role in the slightest. Her Broadway background carries onto the screen as we witness a performer who capitalizes on individual expression and inner monologue before all else.


Clooney

Reitman has crafted another fantastic portrayal of human happenstance that everyone can identify with, even if they can’t relate to specific incidents. This kind of consistency in his films is a rare sign of true film genius. Clooney, who already has a reputation for his commitment to making quality films with substantial story lines, also manages to impress. He proves again that despite his movie star status, he has integrity in his work and depth in his acting abilities. Much of the reason why the story is so alluring is because of the circumstances that surround Ryan Bingham. When he says, “To know me, is to fly with me,” we believe that his existence revolves around frequent flying and business ventures that are anywhere but home. But he soon discovers that he is much more than that and in the process, we too discover that he is much more than that. In the beginning, Ryan thrives on his isolation and independence, but realizes soon enough that perhaps life is better with family, friends, and loved ones. This film stretches beyond just the predicaments of firing people from their jobs. It is a profound insight into this man's life and how he manages to find a more profound sense of happiness than he ever knew.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: A splendid contemporary glimpse into one man's ventures that induces us to reflect upon our own lives

"Help Yourself" performed by Sad Brad Smith

For Your Consideration: 10 Best Pictures of the Year

2009-12-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

On June 24th, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced some momentous news about next year's Oscars--there will be 10 nominees for Best Picture, instead of the usual 5. This is probably the biggest embarkment the Academy has taken since the inception of the supporting actor/actress awards in 1936. "After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year," said President Sid Ganis. "The final outcome, of course, will be the same – one Best Picture winner – but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009." This was clearly done in response to much debate concerning the exclusion of certain genres of films, such as animated features and action/adventure films, namely WALL-E and The Dark Knight. The Academy's decision opens the doors for more movies to vie for the ultimate honor of being named Best Picture of the Year.

The following films (alphabetically) are my picks for this year's Best Picture Nominees:

1. Avatar
Directed by James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver and Giovanni Ribisi

"In a distant future, humanity discovers the planet 'Alpha Centauri B-4', and for those scientists and astronauts who've traversed the gulf between neighboring suns and arrived on its alien soil know it as 'Pandora'. A world filled with an incredible diversity of beautiful and deadly ammonia-breathing lifeforms. Its also a world that harbors treasures and resources almost beyond price. But just as the original Pandora's Box wrought devastation on those who would use it for their own gain, so too this world may destroy not just the Pandorans home, but ours as well. Avatar is the story of a wounded ex-marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival." -Scificountdown.com
Rating: ★ ★ 1/2
Bottom Line: Although a visually stunning spectacle, it is an old story redone to the tune of CGI Special Effects; it's essentially just Dances With Wolves in SciFi.

2. The Blind Side
Directed by John Lee Hancock
Starring Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron, Tim McGraw, Jae Head, Lily Collins, Ray McKinnon and Kathy Bates
"Based on the true story of Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy who take in a homeless teenage African-American, Michael "Big Mike" Oher. Michael has no idea who his father is and his mother is a drug addict. Michael has had little formal education and few skills to help him learn. Leigh Anne soon takes charge however, as is her nature, ensuring that the young man has every opportunity to succeed. When he expresses an interest in football, she goes all out to help him, including giving the coach a few ideas on how best to use Michael's skills. They not only provide him with a loving home, but hire a tutor to help him improve his grades to the point where he would qualify for an NCAA Division I athletic scholarship. Michael Oher was the first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL draft." -garykmcd
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: Even if you're not a fan of football, you will appreciate the message behind this film. It's the feel good movie of the year!

3. An Education
Directed by Lone Scherfig
Staring Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike, Dominic Cooper, Olivia Williams and Emma Thompson

"Written by Nick Hornby, An Education is the story of a young girl's choice between Oxford and the university of life. Sixteen and gifted, Jenny (Mulligan) is destined for Oxford. Her parents' own dreams of fulfilment are built on Jenny's success. However, her eyes are opened to a world of glamorous possibility beyond the boundaries of suburbia when she meets the considerably older, distinctly urbane, David (Sarsgaard)." -BBC Films
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: A remarkably distinguished coming of age story that truly embodies the angst and emotional trauma of life's many lessons.

4. The Hurt Locker
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Staring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce

"Three members of the Army's elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squad battle insurgents and each other as they search for and disarm a wave of roadside bombs on the streets of Baghdad-in order to try and make the city a safer place for Iraqis and Americans alike. Their mission is clear-protect and save-but it's anything but easy, as the margin of error when defusing a war-zone bomb is zero. This thrilling and heart-pounding look at the effects of combat and danger on the human psyche is based on the first-hand observations of journalist and screenwriter Mark Boal, who was embedded with a special bomb unit in Iraq. These men spoke of explosions as putting you in 'the hurt locker'." -Summit Entertainment
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: Finally a modern war film set in the Middle East that isn't cliché. A great film that focus on the characters not the politics.

5. Inglourious Basterds
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Staring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Diane Kruger, Daniel Bruhl, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Mélanie Laurent and Til Schweiger

"In Nazi occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history." -The Massie Twins
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: Entertainingly glorifies violence in a way we have not seen in some time.

6. Invictus*
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon

Based on John Carlin's book "Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation". "The inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela (Freeman) joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team (Damon) to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match." -IGN
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: Magnificent story of liberation and triumph of an entire nation, superb acting as always from both Freeman & Damon.

7. Precious
Directed by Lee Daniels
Staring Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton and Lenny Kravitz

Already won the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize for Best Drama at the Sundance Film Festival this past January. "Set in Harlem in 1987, it is the story of Claireece 'Precious' Jones (Sidibe), a sixteen-year-old African-American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother (Mo'Nique), a poisonously angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is a place of chaos, and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and an awful secret: she can neither read nor write." -Lionsgate
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: A heart-wrenching story about the hardships of an abused and seemingly hopeless teenager in Harlem. Masterful performances take this film to a whole nother level, one that most are probably not used to seeing.

8. A Single Man*
Directed by Tom Ford
Staring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Nicholas Hoult and Jon Kortajarena

"Set in Los Angeles on November 30, 1962, a month after the Cuban missile crisis, A Single Man is the story of George Falconer (Firth), a middle-aged British college professor who has struggled to find meaning in his life since the sudden death eight months earlier of his longtime partner, Jim (Goode). Throughout the single day depicted in the film, George dwells on his past and his seemingly empty future as he prepares for his planned suicide that evening. Before meeting his close friend Charley (Moore) for dinner, he has unexpected encounters with a Spanish prostitute (Kortajarena) and a young student (Hoult) who has become fixated on George as a kindred spirit." -The Weinstein Company
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: Masterfully acted story about life, death and circumstance that truly relates human grievance and lament.

9. Up
Directed by Pete Docter
Staring Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger, Bob Peterson, Jordan Nagai and Delroy Lindo

"From the revolutionary minds of Pixar Animation Studios and the acclaimed director of Monsters, Inc. comes a hilarious uplifting adventure where the sky is no longer the limit. Carl Fredicksen, a retired balloon salesman, is part rascal, part dreamer who is ready for his last chance at high-flying excitement. Tying thousands of balloons to his house, Carl sets off to the lost world of his childhood dreams. Unbeknownst to Carl, Russell, an overeager 8-year old Wildnerness Explorer who has never ventured beyond his backyard, is in the wrong place at the wrong time - Carl's front porch! The world's most unlikely duo reach new heights and meets fantastic friends like Dug, a dog with a special collar that allows him to speak, and Kevin, the rare 13-foot tall flightless bird. Stuck together in the wilds of the jungle, Carl realizes that sometimes life's biggest adventures aren't the ones you set out for." -Disney Pixar
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: A candid tale of two explorers who find themselves through the help of the other. Heart-warming from beginning to end.

10. Up In The Air
Directed by Jason Reitman
Staring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick and Jason Bateman

"From Jason Reitman, the Oscar nominated director of Juno, comes this dramatic comedy starring Oscar winner George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing expert whose cherished life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and after he’s met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams (Farmiga)." -Paramount Pictures
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: A splendid contemporary glimpse of one man's ventures that induces us to reflect upon our own lives. An absolute must see!

+1. A Serious Man
Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen
Staring Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Sari Wagner Lennick, Fred Melamed, Aaron Wolff and Jessica McManus

"The story of an ordinary man’s search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith (Lennick) that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances, Sy Ableman (Melamed), who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larry’s unemployable brother Arthur (Kind) is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny (Wolff) is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah (McManus) is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job." -Focus Features
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: A must see! Especially if you can appreciate the dark farcical style of the Coen Brothers.

The Short List:

"Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going to allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize," commented Ganis. "I can’t wait to see what that list of ten looks like when the nominees are announced in February."

*Did not make the final cut on February 2nd, thereby did not get an Academy Award Nomination for Best Picture. Neill Blomkamp's science fiction thriller "District 9" was the other film nominated that was not previously mentioned by this list.

The Blind Side

2009-11-20T08:00:00.003-05:00

“This team is your family.” This line stuck out the most with me, on a personal level. A very close friend and teammate of mine recently conveyed very similar sentiments to me, having not been playing with them or even around much this past fall season. This concept of a team being like your family is the overriding theme of this film. There is much to be said about anything that unifies people from different walks of life and improves upon their very existence. This is the reason I have always loved playing team sports. Very few things in my own life have afforded me the kind of trust in my comrades and belief in my contributions as playing football and rugby. And that is precisely what The Blind Side so auspiciously conveys. Sandra Bullock, who portrays Leigh Anne Tuohy in the film, commented in a recent interview, “A family unit doesn’t work unless everyone’s working together. The Team doesn’t work, if everyone’s not working together… Working as a team or a family advances people faster and better than someone by themselves.”

Quinton Aaron & Sandra Bullock

The Blind Side is a warm-hearted drama that is based on the true story of Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher. Director John Lee Hancock (The Rookie and The Alamo) first was inspired to turn Oher’s story into a film after reading Michael Lewis’ 2006 novel, “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game”. Lewis highlights Oher’s football career prior to the NFL, from his early days in high school and onto college. The book also focuses on the pivotal evolution of the very position of left tackle that revolutionized offensive football strategy during the 1980s. This occurred in large part in response to former New York Giant’s outside linebacker Lawrence Taylor’s significant blind side tackle of Washington Redskins' quarterback Joe Theismann which fractured both his tibia and fibula, ultimately ending his professional football career. Viewers in an ESPN poll voted the NFL’s “Most Shocking Moment in History” the injury, and The Washington Post dubbed the tackle “The Hit That No One Who Saw It Can Ever Forget”.

Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher

The movie itself opens with the very incident where Taylor snapped Theismann's leg. It connects the importance of the tackle position in football to the molding of Michael Oher and his uncanny protective instincts. The position brought unprecedented importance to the offensive lineman tasked with protecting the quarterback’s blind side from the pass rusher and befittingly preventing sacks. For my non-football-privy readers, the offensive tackle essentially became a “bodyguard” for the quarterback, with particular importance placed on the side that he could not see from while attempting a pass. Ultimately, this fostered a new dominance for the quarterback and placed an increased importance on the role of the left tackle.

Bullock with Patrick G. Keenan & Maria Howell

Sandra Bullock’s turn as Michael's vivacious foster mother is nothing short of marvelous. We have come to know Bullock for the numerous romantic comedies and action flicks she frequently stars in. It really wasn’t until Paul Haggis’ Best Picture Academy Award–winning Crash did we first see any glimpse of versatility from Bullock. She has broken the mold with this role and garnered a newfound respect as an actress. Her character, Leigh Anne Tuohy, truly is at the heart of this story. She is a wealthy Memphis interior decorator and socialite whose husband, Sean (Tim McGraw), owns several fast-food franchises. She clearly is the dominant one in her marriage and is somewhat of a control freak. But this doesn’t mean to say that she’s heartless. In fact, we quickly discover that she is actually very compassionate. When she first notices Michael Oher, he is interacting with her son S.J. (Jae Head) after school. She later sees him walking along a road after a school event in the cold. Knowing that he a friend of S.J.’s, she inquires as to whether or not he has a place to stay. “Don’t you dare lie to me.” She takes him home with their family and makes him a bed on their couch for the night. This begins her undertaking to help Michael in everyway she can.

Jae Head & Aaron

Michael Oher (played by Quinton Aaron), reluctantly nicknamed Big Mike, is a quiet recently transferred student on scholarship at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis. Based on his appearance alone, he is very much out of place among the other suburban kids being driven to and from school in their parent’s luxury cars. According to tests and conventional observers, Michael is a lost cause when he first enters Briarcrest. He is a 6-foot-5-inch, 340-pound giant with zero learning or communication skills, and a profound inability to indicate his own desires. Michael soon meets S.J. who gives Michael some advice on how to make friends, advising him to smile more so that he seems is less intimidating. But it is precisely Michael’s natural intimidation that proves to be an asset to him later on. Naturally, Michael struggles with the adjustment to the new school and his new life, but eventually find his nitch on the football field.

Aaron

Newcomer Quinton Aaron brings a subtle innocence to the role of Michael. Although Aaron has very few lines in the film, he still conveys an immense amount of emotion. Michael is curiously blank character despite this new opportunity for him to at Briarcrest. Hancock doesn’t really elaborate upon his past with the exception of a few menial flashbacks, which very well may have been a wise choice. Even when Leigh Anne is exploring his roots by visiting his former urban neighborhood and speaking with Michael’s drug addicted mother, the exposure is limited. This approach forces the audience to appreciate Michael as he makes his strides to improve himself and focus less on his former life of despair. Watching Michael go from this otherwise hopeless teenager to an all-around football star is quite endearing. We witness how Leigh Anne and the entire Tuohy family come to his aid and give him everything that he didn’t have before: a home, a family, love. One of Leigh Anne’s girlfriends eventually commends her, “You’re changing that boys life.” And she quickly responds, “No, he’s changing mine.”

Tim McGraw, Aaron & Bullock

This isn't a sports movie, any more than Friday Night Lights is a sports television show. As with that series, the emphasis is on the human story behind the game, and in particular on the selflessness and decency exhibited by the Tuohys and their new family member. From the beginning, Hancock viewed the The Blind Side as more than just another story of the underdog becoming top dog. While Lewis had used Oher’s story as a backdrop in his book to create a personal relation to the evolution of football, Hancock does exact the opposite and translates that secondary story into a feel good tale about human relationships. He saw Lewis' unconventional plot structure not as an obstacle but as an opportunity, “To me, it was all about the same thing: How did the stars align to shine so brightly on this one kid in the projects in Memphis?”

Quinton Aaron & Sandra Bullock

Hancock set his sights high by addressing the emotional journey of Michael and constructs a film that is so much more than just a sports movie. Sandra Bullock's performance is both devout and revolutionary and I expect will garnish her an Oscar nomination. There is a real life story here and that alone makes it endearing. This is a warmhearted drama that doesn't suffer too much from the emotional manipulation and trite platitudes that often plague such films about real people. True to Lewis' subtitle, "Evolution of a Game," the film highlights how even the most unconventional practices can evolve and develop given the right circumstance—just as Michael Oher did.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: Even if you're not a fan of football, you will appreciate the message behind this film. It's the feel good movie of the year!

Five for Fighting: "Chances"

The Men Who Stare at Goats

2009-11-06T08:00:00.003-05:00

“More of this is true than you would believe.” is the opening statement for this film that sets a pretext for an astonishing tale. At least, that is what one would assume. Such isn’t the case, however. We all know George Clooney to be the kind of ambitious actor/director/producer who seeks out good stories and challenges greatness in his projects. He teams up again with Grant Heslov, who he had previously collaborated with on Good Night, and Good Luck. Although they have swapped productions roles here (Clooney produces while Heslov directs), you would think that they would have come up with the same kind of brilliance that they concocted in 2005. Perhaps the major difference with this film is that it was NOT co-written by the two. Regardless of this, the story just doesn’t execute.

Peter Straughan, whose work spans over numerous genres including radio sitcoms and stage plays, is the screenwriter. This movie is based directly upon Jon Ronson’s nonfiction novel, of the same name, which reveals the details behind a secret government unit called the First Earth Battalion (renamed the New Earth Army in the film). Ronson is probably best known for his documentary film work and distinctive self-deprecating reporting style, which incorporates aspects of Gonzo journalism. Unfortunately, Straughan does not execute the same treatment of expression in his script. But aside from the actual literary approach, the story doesn’t even grasp this so-called veritable world of military intelligence. I do realize that this is a comedy, however so much more could have been brought to the storyline, particularly some of the actual tactics used by the US Army. Instead, the story becomes cliché and doesn’t actually seem believable, or humorous for that matter.

Ewan McGregor plays the lead character of Bob Wilton, who is based on Ronson himself. Wilton is a recently divorced journalist who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan (this is a bad omen to begin with). In an attempt to redeem himself to his wife and in his professional career, he ventures to Iraq at the height of the war in the Middle East in hopes to find some revolutionary story. This is idealistic and hopeless on his part. Wilton is vastly pathetic, insecurely emotional and needlessly irrational. How could anyone possibly respect such a bloke? McGregor manages to be likeable here, despite his deplorable character. But it is not the same kind of allure that he has had in such films as Moulin Rouge! and Trainspotting.

The irony that this film is about these so-called Jedi Warriors and that Ewan McGregor is the main character is humorous in itself. They make references to Star Wars throughout the entire movie. Since McGregor played Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episodes 1 through 3 of the Star Wars saga, it adds an element of strangeness to his character here. Wilton is someone who is trying to coop with his wife leaving him for his one-armed boss and his own mediocrity in his professional life. His solution is to go to Iraq and write a groundbreaking story that would give him a career boost and personal redemption. Seems simple enough right? Not really. He inadvertently finds himself chasing a story about so-called psychic warriors, enter George Clooney.

In Kuwait City, Wilton inadvertently meets Lyn Cassady (Clooney) at a hotel while waiting for his chance to cross into Iraq. After an accidental interrogation, Wilton unveils that Cassady was once a member of the New Earth Army and is currently on a top-secret mission for the government. Cassady goes onto to explain his role and exactly how he came to be a part of this select group of psychic spies trained to use paranormal powers against the country's enemies known as the Jedi. It is around this point in the film where you start to roll your eyes. It’s not even that the scenario is so inconceivable, but that the reproach is utterly ridiculous. Clooney’s character is supposed to be this psychic guru, the most talented of all the Jedi. But all he really accomplishes throughout the story is extreme exasperation.

If there is anything or anyone to commend in this film it is Jeff Bridges. His performance as Bill Django, a Vietnam War vet turned hippie, is ridiculously charismatic. The character himself is based on real combat commander Jim Channon, who sought ways to make war dramatically less violent by using methods based around advanced human performance and the human potential movement. Channon spent two years in the 1970s investigating new age movements that subsequently resulted in an illustrated 150-page field manual entitled “Evolutionary Tactics” published by the U.S. Army in 1978. Bill Django, however, is less contemplative than Channon and finds foolheaded methods to train his so-called Jedi to be “warrior monks”. Through a series of flashbacks, we come to learn about Django’s initial endeavors and experiments, some wildly insane but all entertaining, all thanks to Bridges. As this flower toting-peace loving-weed smoking-Army officer, Bridges put forth his best performance since The Dude from the Coen Brother’s classic cult film, The Big Lebowski.

Kevin Spacy also headlines the supporting cast as the self-absorbed despicable sergeant Larry Hooper. Spacy isn’t anything special in this film. But that rests upon the fact that his character isn’t much himself. Hooper is an ambitious newcomer to the New Earth Army who eventually takes over the Team after he gets Django kicked out in disgrace. Hooper makes it very easy to hate him, and really only is looking out for number one. This self-preservation theme is reminiscent of The Italian Job, but without the big financial motive.

As things progressively go wrong for Wilton and Cassady during their mission, Wilton understandably starts to wonder if Cassady really is a Jedi Warrior with paranormal abilities or if he’s just plain crazy. Cassady blames it all on a "curse" he inadvertently acquired during an experiment in which he stared at a goat until its heart stopped beating. "The dark side took the dream and twisted it." "None of it was real," sites Wilton at one point. With material like this, one would have liked a more incisive comedy to materialize around the decline and fall of the New Age movement. The New Earth Army bears some historical significance because of the context for which it is based. Did our government allocate funds towards the development of a psychic team of soldiers? This question itself poses much intrigue for not only those who are supernatural zealots, but for the tax paying public on the whole. This story could easily have been converted onto the screen in a different way. A psychological thriller that breeds from the mystery of The X-Files and the human turmoil during wartime of Apocalypse Now, could have been a great screen epic. This film farce that plays upon the stupidity of its characters is mediocre at best.

This is not typically the kind of film I would go see to begin with. I am not someone who typically revels in the comedy of human situations. But that isn’t even why I disliked this movie. It’s supposed to be about psychic soldiers, super heroes if you will, and more interestingly, how our military has tried to use such people as weapons. Believable? Not really. Entertaining? Only somewhat. For me personally, The Men Who Stare at Goats just does not come together. There are ridiculous characters that seemingly have metaphysical abilities but aside from the dream sequences and flashbacks, you almost never see any of them performed. It basically just implies that these Jedi have extra ordinary talents. And it seems like you’re watching a version of the X-Men where they are all stoned and mental half-wits. “We’re Jedi. We don’t fight with guns, we fight with our minds.” Mind war indeed; I have been mentally trying to beat-up Clooney and Heslov since I left the theater.

Rating: ★ ★
Bottom Line: They showed every good funny scene in the 3-minute preview. Save yourself the grief & disappointment, and stay home.

Precious

2009-11-06T08:00:00.002-05:00

With all the hype surrounding this movie, I had expected an extremely moving film about the hard knocks of life. That was a huge underestimation on my part. This film relinquishes any preconceived inner-city stereotypes that one might have, and exposes a down right horrific world of destitution and misfortune. To call Precious merely a social statement is like saying that Titanic was about a sinking boat. Director Lee Daniels has created a disarming film that doesn’t force false empathy or emotion from its viewers. The story line alone pushes the audience to feel for these characters without seeming constructed or imposing. With each scene there is a new revelation, some are hopeful but most are disarming. It is a rare occurrence for a movie to entice such a deplorable emotional reaction.

You cannot discuss this movie without considering the book that it was based upon. Not knowing anything about the book itself or having never read it won’t hinder your impression of this film. But it might just make you appreciate the film that much more. Geoffrey S. Fletcher adapted the novel “Push” by Sapphire in a way that maintains the overall sense of the story, right down to the dialog. Much in the same way that Sapphire did, Fletcher purposely implores a dialect that reiterates the main character’s illiteracy. Because the script was written in the first person, told from Precious’ point of view, the choice to spell words phonetically, such as "nuffin'," "git," "borned" and "wif", fiercely adds to the realism of the story. Despite the fact that you don’t actually see the words spelled out on screen. When Precious was first screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, it was listed under its original title “Push: Based On The Novel By Sapphire”. But because there was another film entitled “Push” being featured at the same time, Daniels changed it to Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire.

Gabourey Sidibe as Precious

Claireece "Precious" Jones, played by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, is possibly the most unfortunate of characters ever to appear on the silver screen. The hardships she faces in her everyday life are unparalleled and it only seems to get worse. Her parents verbally, sexually and physically abuse her and is an illiterate overweight teenager expecting her second child from her own father. In the opening scene, we find Precious sitting in class, dreamily trying to engage in the lesson, proclaiming, “I like math. I don’t open the book. I just sit there.” So begins a series of voice-overs throughout the film that provide insight into Precious’ random thoughts and explains how she copes with her problems. Sidibe’s breakout performance has been rightfully hailed as one of the most moving performances of the year. Her physical appearance alone resonates this forsaken girl, and not just the fact that she is so morbidly obese. Her weight overburdens her eyes, but nonetheless resonates of someone who been through much hardship. Sidibe consumes the character of Precious so believably that we begin to see them, not as an actress playing a role, but as one in the same.

There are several dream sequences throughout the film of Precious fantasizing about the life she wants. One is of her onstage at the Apollo, acting out a scene from Vittorio De Sica's Two Women and receiving a scarf as a talisman from a red-clad fairy godmother (played by former Essence magazine editor Susan L. Taylor). Another is of her being photographed in paparazzi –like fashion for the cover of a magazine, adorning flashy ensembles and over the top outfits. These scenes transferred much of what Precious envisioned in her mind for the audience. Daniels’ choice to include these sequences takes a bit away from the story itself, but presents an aspect of Precious that simply couldn’t have been done in the book. While I do understand the motives for including these soliloquies, they present a certain level of confusion in the story as to what is real and what is imagined.

Mo'Nique as Mary

The root of Precious’ problems can be attributed to her heinous home life. She lives with her drug addict father Carl and her unemployed dysfunctional mother Mary, played by comedian and talk show host Mo’Nique. From a very early age, Precious is continuously abused by both of her parents. Carl began to sexual molest and rape Precious from a very early age, and as a result Mary develops a severe resentment towards her and is threatened that he prefers their daughter to her. In reaction, Mary abuses Precious, physically, mentally, emotionally, and on a smaller scale, even sexually. Precious’ first child Mongo (short for Mongoloid) lives with Precious’ grandmother, but Mary still claims the baby as a dependant and receives welfare benefits accordingly. Mo’Nique is absolutely astonishing as Mary. She steals every scene she is in with her poignant and terrifying portrayal of this absolute monster of a human being, “You’re a dummy! Ain't no body want you, ain’t no body need you!” There is a riveting scene with Mary, Precious and Ms. Weiss, a social worker played by a makeup-free Mariah Carey, which is as emotionally powerful as anything else we’ve seen this year from anyone. It is quite surprising to see Mo’nique in such a highly dramatic role because audiences know her mainly as a standup comic. It is highly probable that she will take home an Academy Award next March for her performance.

Sidibe with Paula Patton as Ms. Rain

Early in the story, Precious finds herself being interrogated by her school principal Mrs. Lichenstein (Nealla Gordon) about the circumstances surrounding her second pregnancy. This administrator has very little compassion for her and does nothing to discover how she became pregnant again, what her home life dictates upon her, or why she is still in middle school at the age of sixteen. This lousy excuse of an educator’s solution for Precious is to expel her and pass her onto someone else by referring her to an alternative school called Each One, Teach One where she can get her GED. It is here that Precious meets Ms. Blu Rain, played by Paula Patton, a former school teacher who believes that everyone has a future, no matter how dysfunctional their past may be. The character seems to be directly derived from Sapphire herself, who used to be a literacy teacher in Harlem and the Bronx. When Precious first begins classes there, she is almost completely illiterate and understands very little. But over time, Ms. Rain teaches her to read and write and Precious slowly develops both as a student and a person. Ms. Rain is the first person to ever take an active interest in Precious and push her in a positive direction. She instills a sense of self-belief in Precious that never existed on any level. This is a huge contrast to Mrs. Lichenstein and we witness how the influence of a teacher can indeed impact a child.

Sidibe with Mariah Carey as Ms. Weiss

At the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, the film received a fifteen-minute standing ovation from the audience after the film was screened. Daniels responded that he was “embarrassed” and weary of showing his film there because he did not want to “exploit black people”. This has been an underlying issue for the film since its release. Certain critics have reprimanded Daniels for “demeaning the idea of black American life” to the world. There is indeed a constant bombardment of social issues throughout the film: incest, rape, teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, illiteracy. Which almost makes the story seem unrealistic and borderline cliché. We begin to wonder if anything else could possibly happen to this poor unfortunate girl. Dana Stevens felt that the film drags the audience “through the lower depths of the human experience” and “leaves no space to be able to come to their own conclusions.” Although the predicaments Precious finds herself in are no doubt horrendous and shocking, the film presents a subject matter that is not well known to the general public. And such awareness cannot be shunned upon, regardless of how demoralizing the story may be.

Lee Daniels directs Sidibe and Xosha Roquemore

Daniels’ film exposes a world that most people never knew existed or if they did, they pretend it doesn’t. I always speak about how certain directors foster a strong concept of realism into their films, but Daniels takes that reproach to another level. This film addresses the hard issue up front without sugar coating anything. It forces us to accept the fact that we do not live in a perfect world, not by a long shot. No matter how bad you may think your own life is, it is seemingly guaranteed that someone else is worse off. But that is not the message behind this movie. Precious is about cherishing what you do have, no matter how miniscule or depreciated it may seem. And instills a belief that there is always hope no matter how bad things may get. “The longest journey begins with a single step.”

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: A heart-wrenching story about the hardships of an abused and seemingly hopeless teenager in Harlem. Masterful acting performances take this film to a whole other level.

Mary J. Blige: "Destiny"

Skin

2009-10-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

This movie has all the elements for a potentially riveting film: a disheartening story that deals with racial injustice, a protagonist who faces personal dissension beyond her control, and a historical setting that confronts the political transitions of an entire country. Television director Anthony Fabian makes his feature film debut here with good intentions but obvious inexperience. There are many gaps in the storyline that are caused by mere inconsistency with the overall flow of the film. Skin opens with Sandra Laing (played by Sophie Okonedo) on the day of the First Free Election in South Africa in 1994 and quickly flashes back to her childhood days, some three decades earlier. This is very similar to the approach that James Mangold took with his biopic Walk the Line; where you are introduced to the main character, taken back in time to their youth, and observe their development up to the opening sequence. Fabian, however, does not demonstrate the same kind of genius as Mangold and instead the film merely displays a series of misfortunate events rather than witnessing the growth of its characters. This is not entirely the fault of the director, the script probably was not character driven, but it still ultimately sells the real life story of Sandra Laing short.

Sandra was a “black” woman who was born to and raised by two white Afrikaner parents during South Africa’s Apartheid. Because of some sort of genetic irregularity, she has physical features such as dark skin and nappy hair that make her look black. Her white parents, Abraham and Sannie Laing (played by Sam Neill & Alice Krige) are modest yet successful shopkeepers in Transvaal, a rural region of eastern South Africa. No one in their hometown seems to care about the differences between Sandra and her parents because of their situation among the townspeople. But when the couple enrolls Sandra at a prominent boarding school where her elder white brother is already enrolled, for white citizens only, it becomes very apparent that she is “different”.

Young Sandra (played by Ella Ramangwane) adamantly proclaims “I'm not black!” to an open-minded dormmate of hers who conveys that she has many black friends back home in Swaziland. While Sandra realizes that she is a spectacle there, she does not find any fault in her appearance, yet. This is a major plot point in the film because it demonstrates how the innocence of a child can relate major injustices, in this case racial discrimination, to an otherwise ignorant society. As Sandra continues to attend classes and live there, the discrimination becomes more and more apparent. It quickly becomes an issue for many other students, their parents, and the staff, which ultimately leads to the legal proceedings to determine Sandra’s race and origin. Ramangwane adorns as the child Sandra, notably in a scene where she attempts to change her skin color by applying a lightening cream to herself that is not intended for human application.

Academy Award-nominee Sophie Okonedo portrays Sandra during her adolescent and adult years. She executes steadfastly as both a naïve schoolgirl and later on as an oppressed wife and mother. Such versatility is not surprising from Okonedo, as we have seen her discourse in such films as The Secret Life of Bees and of course Hotel Rwanda. Although Okonedo conveys a visceral presence on screen, her character does not really grow throughout the film. Her situations may change, but Sandra herself seemingly does not evolve as a character. The conflicts she faces are not enough to force the audience into an emotional state where they can sympathize with her. And while I may not know the complete story of Sandra Laing, this is the biggest downfall of the movie. How can viewers appreciate the film, if they are unable to identify with either the character’s situation or the circumstances surrounding her at the time?

Sam Neil turns in a decent performance as Sandra’s father Abraham. His efforts to fight the system and redeem his family are admirable. We watch his struggles to get Sandra reclassified as white, all the way up to the Supreme Court. There, a geneticist argues convincingly that, as a result of South Africa's long colonialist history, most Afrikaners probably have some “colored” blood in them. Abraham's relentless, angry pursuit of such justice unfortunately has little impact on the prejudices of others, and really only ensures that Sandra herself remains unacceptable in Afrikaner society. And while his stubbornness and convictions seem praiseworthy at first, it only results in his personal demise.

There seems to be a plethora of movies coming out this season set against the Apartheid. The word Apartheid literally means “separateness” in Afrikaans. The era known as the Apartheid was a system of racial segregation that was legally introduced and enforced by the ruling power of South Africa, the National Party, between 1948 and 1994. The historical background of this film plays a significant role in the story. I do not believe that the general public knows much about the Apartheid of South Africa. Because the film itself does not provide an extensive insight into the circumstances of the country at the time, the situation that surrounds Sandra Laing and her family become evanescent. This is a major oversight on the filmmaker’s part. It is clear why Skin has been so well received at the Pan African Film Festival and at the British Independent Film Awards. But audiences without background knowledge of the Apartheid may not yield as much empathy because of its overall lack of deliverance.

Rating: ★ ★
Bottom Line: A copiously done film about racial injustice that lacks cohesion and emotional appetite. At most, add it to your Netflix list.

Eastwood's Invictus Unveiled

2009-10-27T23:00:00.000-04:00

After many weeks of anticipation, Warner Brothers Pictures has finally released the trailer for Cilnt Eastwood's new film Invictus. It tells the inspiring true story of how then President Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joined forces with the Captain of South Africa's rugby team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), to help unite their country.

This is a glimps into how former South African President Nelson Mandela united his country after decades of racial segregation and oppression under the Afrikaner-dominated National Party. The film seemingly begins on Robben Island Prison where Mandela served eighteen years, the greater part of his twenty-seven years imprisoned. Upon his release in 1990, Mandela knew that his battles with the Apartheid were not yet over, for him or his country. He continued to lead the African National Congress towards a peaceful resolution among the black majority of South Africa and eventually grant equal voting rights in both national and local elections. And on April 27th, 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected as the country's first black president in South Africa's first multi-racial election. Eastwood's film seemingly picks up there.

Invictus is based on the book "Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation" by John Carlin. He had sold the rights to Freeman, who quickly signed Eastwood on to direct. Anthony Peckham was commissioned to write the adaptation and he closely collaborated with Carlin on how to best translate his book onto the screen. “In terms of stature and stars, this certainly is one of the biggest films ever to be made in South Africa,” states the head of the Cape Town Film Commission, Laurence Mitchell.

Matt Damon was also signed onto the project very early to play the main supporting role of Francois Pienaar, the Captain of the Team. Damon began intensive training under the guidance of Chester Williams, who himself was a member of the 1995 South African Team. Scott Eastwood, Clint's son, was cast as flyhalf Joel Stransky whose paramount drop goal provided them the 3 points they needed to beat New Zealand and win the 1995 Rugby Union World Cup in a post-apartheid South Africa. That was the last time amateur teams would compete in the World Cup; two months after South Africa's monumental victory, the International Rugby Board opened the event to professional players.

Despite its limited exposure thus far, Invictus has already prompted much buzz in the film community as being a major Oscar contender this year for Best Picture, Director, Actor and Supporting Actor categories, among various others. Warner Brothers has held up promotions until just today, but I am certain this tardiness will not hinder Academy voters in any way whatsoever. Can Eastwood add to the already 5 Academy Awards on his mantle? Although I have yet to see the movie for myself, I would definitely say so. Invictus has the stuff that Oscars are made of.

In the film, Mandela poses the questions to Pienaar, "How do we inspire ourselves to greatness, when nothing less will do? How do we inspire everyone around us?" Pienaar and the rest of the South African Springboks National Rugby Union Team answered Mandela's question by bringing their divided nation together through their sport. Living in New York City on the eve our first World Series since the Subway Series against the Mets in 2000, there is a feeling of illustriousness in the air. You can sense it when you walk down the streets, ride the subways, and talk to anyone here, whether they are Yankees Fans or not. Imagine how that World Cup effected the people of South Africa in the midst of such a revolutionary change as the fall of the Apartheid. With the release of Eastwood's Invictus, we won't have to just imagine; we can see it and revel in it for ourselves.

Release Date: December 11, 2009
More Images from the film:

An Education

2009-10-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

An Education is a coming of age tale about a sixteen-year-old girl who falls in love with a man twice her age. Relatively unknown Danish director Lone Scherfig has created a film that truly captures the innocence of youth. The script itself is based upon the memoirs of British journalist Lynn Barber who didn’t originally publish her story until this year. There was an essay written in the "Granta", a student publication at Cambridge University, which featured Barber’s personal story. Screenwriter Nick Hornby read this and immediately was draw to the story. He states that what appealed to him most was this “suburban girl who's frightened that she's going to get cut out of everything good that happens in the city. That, to me, is a big story in popular culture. It's the story of pretty much every rock 'n' roll band.” Hornby, a novelist himself, also wrote the screen adaptation for such popular films as High Fidelity and About a Boy, and applies his usual shrewd understanding of pop palatability again here.

Production designer Andrew McAlpine masterfully constructs a somber setting of post-World War II London. A feeling of repression lingers in each scene which so eloquently demonstrate what the city was like before the huge artistic counterculture of the 1960s. The period itself plays into the characters a great deal, because it is the foundation for so much of who they are and how they approach the circumstances before them. There is a vast contrast of moods created by the littlest things like a rainstorm or a costume change. Scherfig keeps the visual angels on screen low and close to the actors throughout the entire film. For such a character driven piece, this is a brilliant tactic by the director because it creates an intimacy where empathy otherwise might not readily lend to the audience. But ultimately, it is the performances that truly bring this story and this film to the limelight.

Carey Mulligan as Jenny

Young British actress Carey Mulligan astutely portrays the main character of Jenny. Up until now, she has been widely under the radar, appearing mainly on British television and in supporting roles in such films as Pride & Prejudice and Public Enemies. Scherfig had auditioned many girls for the part, but something about Mulligan captivated her. “Carey was always the one I liked best,” she says. “We adjusted the part a little bit to her.” She is attractive without being too glamorous and captures the essence of Jenny by fostering an intelligent yet idealistic adolescent. The way Mulligan interacts with her costars conveys an actress well beyond her years. Many have justfully compared her to screen legend Audrey Hepburn. But will Mulligan have the same kind of golden appeal to excite an Academy Award? Most critics have already deemed her as a lock for a nomination, if not the current front-runner, and I am most certainly in agreement. Mulligan’s performance clearly registers as one of the best of the year. You can see the determination and ambition in her eyes, while still maintaining a demonstrative sense of naiveté.

Matthew Beard as Graham, with Mulligan

“Carey has a sweetness to her that suits the film. If we had written it that way, I would worry the film was overly cute. But she is really like that, it comes to her naturally. I chose to risk a little more of that rather than focus on Jenny's lippiness and fighting with her father.” proclaims Scherfig. Jenny is the victim of her parent’s expectations. They seek to mold her into being an accomplished student and ultimately gain acceptance into the prestigious Oxford University. This is obviously more of her father’s notion than her own. Jenny herself fantasizes of a cigarette-smoking, music embellishing, French culture driven world that she has only read about. As naturally expected of most all suppressed individuals, Jenny seeks to rebel, but only subtly at first. She sneaks around with her girlfriends, smoking and gossiping, as any normal teenage girl might. She even has captured the fancy of a young boy, played by Matthew Beard, who courts Jenny early in the film under the surveillance of her parents. Until this point, it seems like Jenny’s life is pretty atypical. This all changes once she meets David.

Peter Sarsgaard as David

Peter Sarsgaard plays the part of David Goldman, an eccentric thirty-something year old who divides his time between extravagant outings and his so-called business endeavors. Sarsgaard reminds me a great deal of a friend of mine (Benji K.) who not only looks a lot like him, but has the same kind of restless ambition that is easily alluring. David not only manages to charm Jenny with his debonair style and whirlwind ideals of romance, but everyone else he encounters as well. David inadvertently stumbles upon Jenny in a chance meeting while he is driving by in his maroon colored Bristol, amidst a torrential downpour outside the studio where she has cello rehearsals. He implores her to save her instrument from water damage by allowing him to chauffer it to her destination. He assures her that he’s merely interested in rescuing her cello and suggests that she just walks along side the car as he drives. Jenny succumbs and soon enough, she too is being driven home by this perfectly charming stranger. So begins Jenny’s relationship with David, and the heart of the story.

Mulligan with Dominic Cooper as Danny

By today's standards, it would be easy to dismiss this courtship as immoral and inappropriate, considering their age difference. But that instinctive reaction is easily dismissed after it becomes very apparent that Jenny is courting David just as much. The encounters she has as a direct result of dating David force a sophistication upon her that she questionably may not be ready to coop with. Sarsgaard is both appealing and devious all at once. He certainly knows that Jenny is far younger than him, but asks her out just the same, “Do you go to concerts?” Jenny responds, “No, we don't believe in concerts.” “Oh, I assure you, they're real.” She accepts his invitation under the condition that he is able to gain her parent's permission. No easy feat considering just how controlling her they are, particularly her father Jack, played by Alfred Molina. But his suave tactics prevail, as David showers Jenny’s mother Marjorie (Cara Seymour) with compliments and manages to relate to Jack on his level. All of a sudden, Jenny is catapulted into a world where she no longer is just imagining this extravagant lifestyle; she is actually living in it.

Alfred Molina as Jack Mellor

Molina’s performance as Jenny’s overbearing yet sincere father is nothing short of brilliant. He adds depth and persona to an otherwise annoying character, by conveying true sincerity while still communal. His yelling and commanding tone reaches beyond just maintaining control of his household. Jack seeks to guide his only child to a path of certainty and security. And even though his constant bellowing may seem like him just being an overprotective father, Molina reveals himself to be much more, as a genuinely concerned guardian. Himself, a vastly underrated actor, Molina has finally garnished the kind of praise that may grant him an Oscar nomination next February. I think he deserved more attention for his turn as Diego Rivera in Frida, but it is better late than never.

Olivia Williams as Miss Stubbs, with Mulligan

Jenny can be categorized as the classic overachiever. She is studious, yet still popular among her peers. She romanticizes about exploring worlds beyond the realm of London and goes to great extent to study neighboring cultures, particularly French. There are a few key figures in her life, outside of her parents, who have the most influence on her. Well at least until David comes along. First, there is her Literature teacher Miss Stubbs, played by Olivia Williams. She regards Jenny as her prized pupil, one who she holds to the highest expectations. She imposes this ideal upon Jenny that students like her are “the reason” why she is teacher. And that concept is what weighs on Jenny’s mind throughout all of her explorations. Emma Thompson also bears some significance on her as the Headmistress of Jenny’s school. She often is tasked with grounding Jenny’s whims and continuously reminds her of the importance of being an accomplished, educated young woman. It is these educators who serve Jenny in the most practical of ways, and remind us all of how underrated and unappreciated teachers often are.

Emma Thompson as the Headmistress, with Mulligan

There are a number of things that come to mind when you think about coming of age stories. And while this may fall under such a story category, it most certainly is not stereotypical. There is so much simplistic beauty in An Education, but the film is nonetheless palletized with complex situations and characters. As we watch Jenny grow before our eyes, our appreciation for our own life trials is heightened. Most everyone can remember what it was like to be sixteen. For some, it was a time for exploration, and for others, a time for establishment. But not many of us truly experience such a worldly erudition as Jenny does at that age. The lessons that she finds herself engulfed in cannot be found in any book or taught in any classroom. Both Scherfig and Hornby must have carefully considered this in their creative processes. Carey Mulligan’s turn as this impressionable and bewildered girl with this undeniable thirst for culture and knowledge is nothing short of remarkable. She absolutely blossoms on the screen. Mulligan embraces an image of innocence while flourishing in the circumstances of her new found “education”. And as we watch Jenny out on the town, attending concerts and going to fine restaurants rather than merely dreaming of it all from her bedroom floor whilst listening to Juliette Greco records, we too are educated. Cependant “Si tu t’imagines”—life doesn't always turn out as you imagine it.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: A remarkably distinguished coming of age story that truly embodies the angst and emotional trauma of life's many lessons.

"You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger" performed by Beth Rowley

A Serious Man

2009-10-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

There are two groups of people who should go see this movie: 1. anyone who is Jewish and 2. anyone who knows someone who is Jewish. Writers/directors Joel and Ethan Coen have done it again with their latest parody on American-Jewish culture in the sixties. The public has come to know their style of film making to be intricately elaborate and situationally extremist, and A Serious Man is most certainly both. Personally, I wish I had gone to see this with one of my Jewish friends, but only so that I would have had an on-hand expert to immediately clue me in on some of the scenarios depicted in the film. There were several scenes where the audience bursted out into laughter without any real premise to do so; it dawned on me that these must have been some sort of Jewish inside jokes, if you will. Despite my lack of cognition, the movie was highly entertaining and not just in a Coen Brothers sort of way. We have seen this approach from them before in such films as Raising Arizona and Fargo that embrace a known ethnology that we may not all know personally, but certainly know of. This pre-establishes a level of endearance to audiences because most can certainly relate to the idea of what these characters are going through. So even if you're not of any kind of Jewish decent, the predicaments are so intriguing that it arouses a curiosity to want to know about being Jewish. Or at the very least, want to know about these characters. This is what makes this such a great film.

Joel and Ethan Coen on set

The opening scene is a sort of flashback to another time and probably another country, where two married Jewish peasants find themselves entertaining an alleged neighbor who has just aided the husband outside. The couple debate aimlessly (entirely in Yiddish) as to whether this guest is actually their rabbi neighbor or a demon in disguise. Because there is a severe snow storm, it is inevitable that they invite him in. Amidst their conversation with this rabbi/demon, the wife finds the courage to confront their visitor in the most unlikely of methods and he finally leaves their home. The scene ends violently but enigmatically with the line, "Good riddance to evil." This sets an unnerving tone for the rest of the film that bad things do happen to good people.

Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry Gopnick

The central character is a middle-aged physics professor named Larry Gopnick, played by Michael Stuhlbarg. Larry finds himself hurled into a series of events that have little to do with his own actions and everything to do with everyone else. Stuhlbarg is relatively unknown beyond Broadway circles, so audiences do not likely have a prerequisite for his performance. This was probably a wise decision for the Coens. Stuhlbarg creates a spectacle for a character that isn't very interesting at all, but that in itself is the premise for the entire movie. On the surface, Larry has the seemingly ideal suburban life: a steady job, a home, wife and family whom he loves. But his ignorance towards understanding the depths of the people in his life, erupt into a downward spiral of events that leave him questioning his very existence and his faith. It's not so much that audience's will sympathize with Larry Gopnick, as much as they will be dumbstruck by his passivity. The Coens brilliantly intertwine various predicaments with Larry to create the perfect plight of sins of omission.

Stuhlbarg with Sari Lennick as his wife Judith

Larry's woes seemingly begin when his wife Judith (Sari Lennick) initiates a conversation about them getting a divorce. He is in a state of complete shock by this and questions why and how it has come to this between them. Although she insists that it is not because of another man, she admits to being romantically "involved" with one of their recently widowed friends Sy Ableman, played by Fred Melamed. To Judith, Sy is essentially everything that Larry is not. In reality, Sy is overbearing, presumptuous, and self-indulgent. He takes it upon himself to console Larry about him loosing his wife to him and even goes as far as trying to nurture him by hugging him, despite the obvious awkwardness Larry has around him. This is just one example of many characters in this story who force themselves upon our protagonist, altering his life as he knows it.

Stuhlbarg with Richard Kind as Uncle Arthur

On Sy's recommendation, Judith ardently implores Larry to move out of their home. Being the push over that he is, Larry concedes to them and takes residence at a local motel called "The Jolly Roger". He also takes with him his unemployable brother Arthur (Richard Kind) who had been sleeping on their couch and imposing upon their hospitality. Although directly inconsequential to Larry's predicament, he obviously cares about his brother very much and is willing to endure the burden of looking after him despite Arthur's apathy and listless behavior. Kind is on point here with his portrayal of Larry's imposing mooch of a sibling who struggles with self-assurance and self-worth. There is a climactic scene where Arthur has an emotional break down, pleading to Larry his envy of his ideal life while his own is mediocre. The irony of this is bewildering because Larry believes the exact same thing about himself, and sees his life as anything but ideal. This is the kind of play upon situations that the Coen Brothers craft so extremely well.

Lennick with Jessica McManus as Sarah

Back in the late 80's, an offended moviegoer contacted the Coen Brothers about their film Raising Arizona. Apparently the use of so many Polish jokes and cultural parodies were so vexing, this man and his mother had abruptly left the theater in the middle of the film. He beseeched them to "Next time, why don't you make a film about Jews?" And although it is over twenty years later, this film is their response to that complaint. Ethan has dubbed this their "Jew film". As with most all of their movies, the Coen Brothers have already endured much negative criticism, this time from the Jewish Community. One reaction accused them of "turning on their own people". There are scenes that incorporate some very blatant caricatures on Jewish culture: kids falling asleep out of boredom in Hebrew school, rabbis who are depicted as puerile and incompetent, and a shallow daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) who aims to have a nose job done. This is the same kind of generalized reactions that have come against Larry David citing his "offensive nature (to) his own self hatred and selfishness". David responded, "I hate myself, but it's not because I'm Jewish." Jewish viewers should not to take this film so personally. It is after all a movie; we are talking about a work of art, of fiction, not about some real-life "shandah for the goyim” like Bernie Madoff. Besides, the Coens present a disclaimer in the credits that "No Jews were hurt in the filming of this movie."

Aaron Wolff as Danny

While Joel and Ethan Coen did grow up in suburban Minnesota and their own father was a college professor, this is clearly not entirely an autobiography. The scene where Larry is bribed by a South Korean student (David Kang) who has failed his class and is at threat of losing his scholarship did actually happen to their father at the University of Minnesota. However, not quite as it is depicted in the film. He had given the money back and reported the student to the dean without any moral dilemma, unlike Larry. The Coen Brothers do implore a father-son theme throughout the story; we learn more and more about Larry's son Danny (Aaron Wolff) and how he inadvertently manages to put his father's life into perspective through his own naivete. Many have incorrectly assumed that A Serious Man is directly about their own lives simply because they are Jewish. While I believe it to be drawn from many of their own experiences (what good story isn't), it shouldn't be seen as their life story, as much as a story about life's predicaments.

Stuhlbarg with Fred Melamed as Sy Ableman

My old film professor Louis Giannetti would be proud to know that his theories on visual style and overall tone were among the first things I noticed about A Serious Man. The Coen Brothers have fostered an elaborate Mise-en-scène once again, while maintaining a pragmatic approach to their comic stylization. Much like O Brother, Where Art Thou?, they implore the use of popular period music to cleverly envoke a distinct mood in the film; here, they recurrently use the song "Somebody To Love" by Jefferson Airplane as if it is scripture--which may very well be to the Coen Brothers. And as always, their attention to detail both with the scripted dialogue and visuals on the screen are sharp and vigilant. The movie opens with a Rashi-attributed quote, "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you," which epitomizes exactly how Larry Gopnick copes with life.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: A must see! Especially if you can appreciate the dark farcical style of the Coen Brothers.

Jefferson Air Plane: "Don't You Want Somebody to Love"

Bright Star

2009-09-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

This film has renewed my belief that Hollywood can indeed capture the essence of romance. Academy Award winner Jane Campion has returned in full force with this remarkably poignant tale about renowned poet John Keats and the love that inspired his work & enticed his life. In the same fashion as her acclaimed film The Piano, Campion brings about a subtle melancholy mood that is subdued only by the strength of the actors on screen. With a relatively unknown cast, the audience is drawn in not by glamor or popularity but by the performances themselves. Such seems to be the trend with many the actor under Campion's direction, including Holly Hunter, Anna Paquin, and Nicole Kidman to name a few. And once again, she has created a masterpiece of character driven storytelling with Bright Star.

The film opens in Hampstead Village with our heroine Fanny Brawne, played by Abbie Cornish, tailoring her latest ensemble. We quickly learn that Miss Brawne is a seasoned fashion designer who takes much pride in both her work and her opinions. In a time when women did not have conventional jobs, it is peculiar to see that Fanny actually makes a living as a designer. Her father is seemingly no longer alive and she has two younger siblings. So her vocation does lend to the idea that her family is not incredibly well-off and therefore her income is a great asset to her kin. Cornish creates a character that is both passionate and lamentable. As her feelings for Mr. Keats develop, we can slowly see Fanny's vulnerability unravel and her very existence becomes focal upon her relationship. The range of emotions that Cornish portrays is astounding. Campion comments that "Abbie's portrayal of Fanny is transcendent; this performance puts her in a category with the top actors of her generation." I predict that Cornish will easily garnish an Oscar nomination for this role and undoubtedly will now be at the forefront of the public's attention.

Films about poets in general have not been very good recants of their actual biographies. More often than not, such scripts are tailored in a way that focuses too much on their actual lives. Like in the film Sylvia, Gwyneth Paltrow seeks to create a dismal recantation of Sylvia Plath's love life but fails to effectively parallel it to her writing. This is not what Campion achieves in Bright Star. Because she wrote the screenplay herself, as is her creative tendency, she probably knew exactly the story she was looking to tell. Keats had left behind a detailed account of his relationship with Fanny Brawne in the numerous letters he wrote to her and to her sister. Campion clearly paid very close attention to the details of his correspondences and as a result we see how Keats loved and how it reflected upon his work. Though often subtle, Keats' poems are laced throughout the film so methodically it's almost artful. There is an elegant recital of Keats' poem "Ode to the Nightingale" in the closing scene that kept the audience glued to their seats long after the credits started to role.

This quintessence of legendary English poet John Keats is captured in whole by Ben Whishaw. He conceives a man who is both burdened by his failures and idealistic in his ambitions. You can see the sentiment of concern in Keats' eyes when he speaks of those most dear to him, namely his brother Tom and later Fanny. He uses an indirect modesty to recant how life has brought him to Hampstead. He curses his circumstances without being ungrateful to his companion Mr. Charles Armitage Brown, played by Paul Schneider, even though it is clear that he has not profited from his pen. Today, John Keats is considered to be the father of the Romantic movement, but he did not live to see such adoration or success. His dire financial restraints hinder not only his livelihood but ultimately prohibit him form marrying Fanny. The two seemed to be star crossed lovers from the get go who have everything and everyone against them.

Mister Browne establishes himself very early on as a foe to Fanny. Schneider fosters a range of emotions as Keats' best friend and sustains himself to be an annoyance for most of the film. He outright almost sabotages his friend by sending Fanny a Valentine message, proclaiming he is merely playing her "game". But he too inevitably faces his own predicaments with love and finds himself forced to make sacrifices of his own that he had not anticipated. Unfortunately, this directly impacts Keats. And their relationship is suspended as each man struggles with their own predicaments of love. Although Browne often overlooks his mate's personal sentiments, he always meant him well. Perhaps one of the most emotional monologues in the film is when Browne comes to the devastating realization of just what Keats means to him, "I failed John Keats! I failed John Keats! I did not know how tightly he had wound himself around my heart!"

On a cinematic level, Campion creates a vividly lush film that compliments the emotional situations of the characters. There are wonderfully resounding scenes set against open fields of purple flowers and the many splendors of the forest. This is a London that does not exist today, as much of that countryside has long since been developed. There are creative shots of Keats atop a tree reveling in his feelings and off-centered closeups of many an innate object, such as a key worn on a necklace or a detailed cross stitch threading, each capture the moment perfectly. There are numerous other symbolic images of Fanny and John's relationship made throughout the film: the Wall that divides their bedrooms in their adjacent houses, the Cat who fills a void while Fanny is separated from her love, and the Butterfly that transforms from a caterpillar with new found means of freedom.

In Bright Star, we find ourselves in the midst of a truly great romantic film where the simplicity of poetry and passion carry us all the way through to the very end. The acting is utterly superb and I applaud both Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish, as well as Paul Schneider, on their portrayals of such emotionally rigorous characters. Once again, director Jane Campion has written a script about human desire and emotional circumstance and created a film that surpasses the predictability of other period films of its kind. Her movie captures the force behind John Keats' greatest works and we can now put a face to the lyrics in many of his poems. "Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow." So too does Jane Campion's film Bright Star.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: An extraordinary biopic of love & passion.

Inglourious Basterds

2009-08-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

When anyone mentions the name Quentin Tarantino, a mélange of words come to mind: extreme, audacious, impudent. But much of his style is modeled after the numerous cult cinema classics and Inglourious Basterds is no exception to this. Tarantino not only has remade the original version of the 1978 film of the same name (only spelled correctly as "Inglorious Bastards"), but he has crafted a true parody on World War II films in general that rings to the tune of The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare and The Great Escape, to name a few. The drastic difference here is that Tarantino distributes an equal amount of screen time between the good and bad guys. Many of the more esteemed war epics often ignore that realm of contradictory regard. So while Tarantino may ignore the factual accounts of the period, he executes a balanced story that enhances the perspective of the enemy, though still diabolical, simply by allowing them face time. He focuses on the story, not just the history. This is precisely why he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Pulp Fiction. And once again, his approach is indeed noteworthy and original, to say the very least.

Sonke Mohring, Til Schweiger & Brad Pitt

Tarantino himself has classified the film as a “spaghetti western, but with World War II iconography” and is essentially his tribute to the broad sub-genre of Euro War or Macaroni War films. The story is divided into five chapters, much in the same methods as Tarantino’s prior works. The film is 2 hours and 33 minutes in length. It’s not so much how long the movie goes on for, as it is how it converges in the end. While there are implications that tie each segment to one another, they could easily have been done as five separate short films. Inglourious Basterds probably would have been a great miniseries for Cinemax or HBO. There just aren’t enough cliffhangers or plot dependencies on each of the storylines. Much of the dialog is redundant and superfluous, particularly that of the Nazis, saved only by the circumstances of the characters. Nonetheless, it is still entertaining in a campy, interminable sort of way.

Denis Menochet & Christoph Waltz

The opening scene of the movie, like all Tarantino films, introduces several key characters and provides the back-story for later chapters. It begins with the simple line “Once upon time… in Nazi occupied France,” alluding to so many fictional tales before it. Here we meet the Nazi “Jew Hunter” Colonel Hans Landa, played by Christoph Waltz. Landa interrogates a French dairy farmer Perrier LaPadite (Denis Menochet) who he suspects of harboring a family of Jews within the confines of his residence. Amidst his vigorous inquiry, Landa asks for a glass of milk. After guzzling it down, he snidely remarks on LaPadite’s daughters and his cows, “à votre famille et à vos vaches, je dis bravo.” Although the literal translation of the word “la vache” means cow, it also has very derogatory connotations attached to it, particularly in the context of women; in French, it is common slang for bitch or cunt. This is a blatant and intentional insult towards La Padite, and he most certainly understands its fool meaning here.


Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa

Waltz turns in a dynamic performance here as
the central antagonist who sets the tone for the entire rest of the film. His very nickname details the obvious passion and efficiency he has for capturing Jews. Waltz creates a character that you love to hate. His Colonel Landa is profoundly knowledgeable on many levels, he is a romantic while still being sinister, and is charming despite his very obvious endeavors to execute anyone who goes against the Nazi credo. Although the part was originally offered to Leonardo DiCaprio, Tarantino ultimately decided to cast a German actor instead. Tarantino has said that he might be “the greatest character he's ever written” and attributes much of the character’s revered execution to Christoph Waltz himself. “He (Waltz) gave me my movie back,” Tarantino proclaimed. He received the Best Actor Award at Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and is almost certain to receive an Oscar nomination come February.

Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine

Brad Pitt is obviously still the headliner of the film, who plays 1st Lieutenant Aldo Raine, who is better known as “Aldo the Apache”. Raine is a raunchy southerner from Tennessee with good ole fashioned ideals: shoot it, stuff it, or marry it. Pitt creates a character fiercely jaded by his days in the Secret Service and weaned on extreme acts of violence. Had this have not been a Tarantino film; Raine would be an unlikely protagonist. However, the very fact that it is a Tarantino film explains how such an unruly vigilante can be the hero. Pitt delivers his lines with a thick southern accent right out of the back woods of Tennessee. “You probably heard we ain’t in the prisoner-takin’ business; we in the killin’ Nazi business. And cousin, Business is a-boomin’.” The character himself is derived from many sources. Tarantino had written him as “a voluble, freewheeling outlaw” and a tribute to Aldo Ray, a relatively unknown actor from such war cult classics as Sweet Savage and Battle Cry, and who was crafted after comedian George Carlin’s Indian Sergeant. Pitt himself revives this parody very well, following in the footsteps of Kevin Kline and Robert Downey, Jr., and fosters a subjugator that even the squeamish can cheer for.

Eli Roth as Sgt. Donny Donowitz

Of the eight men who make up Aldo’s Basterds, probably the most memorable is Sergeant Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth), better known as “Jew Bear”. He is a vivacious, Boston-born Jew whose weapon of choice is a baseball bat. He has single handedly established himself as a legend among the Nazi Party as a ruthless threat of the worst kind and they outright fear him. Before he leaves for Germany, Donny gets every Jew in his neighborhood in Boston to sign his baseball bat with the name of a loved one in the war overseas. And he uses this bat to literally pummel Nazi skulls in. Roth proclaims that there is true irony in this—beating people with baseball bats. He had told Tarantino when he first signed onto the film “Do you realize that everyone in Boston has a baseball bat, and most bats in Massachusetts are used off the field?” Roth embodies the Jew Bear with ardor and vigor, adding a twisted comic relief as Aldo’s right hand man.

Til Schweiger as Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz

Til Schweiger’s performance as Sergeant Hugo Stiglitz is also noteworthy. He crafts a strong, silent & strange psychopath who says very little. Schweiger is able to convey so much through his expressions and mannerisms without ever saying a word. For such a dialog driven script, this an astonishing feat. Stiglitz becomes a Basterd out his own hatred for the Nazis. Aldo had recruits him from the Oberfeldwebel in the Wehrmacht where he killed 13 SS Gestapo majors. The character's name is a tribute to the famous 70s B-movie Mexploitation actor Hugo Stiglitz. Fittingly, the character's guitar riff theme is taken from Slaughter, a Blaxploitation movie starring Jim Brown. The scene in the basement tavern where they are drinking and playing games with Nazi officers, foot soldiers and spies alike, has Schweiger silently glowering and scheming his next move. Til Schweiger is a real gem in the Basterds rank-and-file.

Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus

Although the story presents itself in an angle that everyone is in this position of power, there is distinct ideal of female empowerment here. It is obvious that Aldo and Landa have dominant personalities, the women have a much more beguiling storyline with regards to this. Shoshanna Dreyfus, played by Mélanie Laurent, is a young Jewish girl who is hunted in the very beginning and narrowly manages to escape from Landa. Considering how much a typical Tarantino film bounces around, Shoshanna is probably the closest thing to being the lead character of the entire movie. In fact, Tarantino has said that he had always thought of her as a “main character”. What makes her so intriguing is that she seeks her revenge in a much less conventional way than Aldo’s Basterds and arguably is more successful than they are.

Diane Kruger as Bridget von Hammersmark

The other female protagonist is Bridget von Hammersmark, played by Diane Kruger. She is a very well known movie actress who moonlights as a German double agent. Her fame proves to be both an asset and a curse. While it allows her certain liberties that the everyday person, especially a woman, would not have, it also makes more susceptible to excessive attention. And she too, narrowly escapes persecution from the Nazis in her initial rendezvous with the Basterds. While they may not have a lot of direct power, both Bridget and Shoshanna do what they can and finagle their way into getting what they want. They present a certain amount of tension relief for the film that follows in the footsteps of such Shakespearean female protagonists as Lady Macbeth, Cordelia or Portia. Shakespeare cleverly had made his women more authoritative figures than the men, entirely unbeknownst to them, and so too has Tarantino. Although we know from his other films (Kill Bill, Jackie Brown) that female empowerment is a popular theme for him. Bridget and Shoshanna are creatures of patience, which fosters a longevity in their careers as anti-Nazi crusaders.

Though this is not meant to be a historical recap of the war in any way, Tarantino does manage to incorporate the history of the cinema a great deal. He works in a number of references to several German filmmakers, including Nazi Leni Riefenstahl, German silent-film comedian Max Linder and German director G.W. Pabst. And the film that premieres at Shoshanna’s theater is based on an actual movie produced by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

Eli Roth & Brad Pitt

Christoph Waltz’s performance as the “sinister yet poetic pipe-smoking Jew-hunter” is enough of a reason to go see this film. Waltz crafts a Nazi who is right out of our worst nightmares: sophisticated, suave, and sadistic, all at once. He most certainly stole the show, from not just Brad Pitt but from Tarantino. If you have ever watched any of Tarantino’s previous films, you know his style and approach. You can expect the same extremist plot twists and developments with a touch of redemption for all our Jewish brethren. It does come off as a grandiloquence series of scenes, but not quite as collaborative as some of his other film. In the words of Lieutenant Raine, “We just wanted to say we’re a big fan of your work. When it comes to killing Nazis.” It is because of this same regard for Tarantino that one can tolerate this film’s deficiencies and simply enjoy it for what it is—film farce.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: Entertainingly glorifies violence in a way we have not seen in some time.

"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" performed by David Bowie

Julie & Julia

2009-08-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

Nora Ephron’s film about the culinary endeavors of two very different women from two very different eras depicts delicious scenes of culinary genius but falls short of being delectable overall. It is a cinematic infirmity nurturing one cliché after another, all of which we seen before. The Academy Award nominated screenwriter has created another heartwarming biopic, after the likes of her first script Silkwood. The film itself bounces back and forth between the two main characters Julia Child and Julie Powell, both women with culinary ambitions, and between two different eras. Ephron attempts to combine their two memoirs, "My Life in France," which Child wrote with her grandnephew Alex Prud'homme, and "Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously," by Powell. Although Ephron also directs but ultimately leaves something wanting from the film. I have yet to see a film of directed by Ephron that truly brings about the grandeur of human circumstance the way her prior scripts have. Perhaps if Sony Pictures had employed Rob Reiner or Mike Nichols to direct, the film would have come together better.

There is already a lot of buzz surrounding Meryl Streep being nominated for the 16th time in her career by the Academy. However, I do not feel this is either a breakthrough role for her or an Oscar worthy performance. The emotional subtlety she creates is carried mainly by her accent and the physical illusion of her character’s grandeur created by Ephron. But it essentially lacks the emotional zeal that should merit Best Actress recognition and I can think of many others this year who have fostered their portrayals accordingly. Nonetheless, Streep executes well as Julia Child.

Julia’s husband Paul Child (Stanley Tucci) is relocated to Paris to work at the United States Information Agency. Her predictable routine of dinner parties and events leaves Julia with a major void in her life. Julia asks, "What do you think it means when you don't like your friends?" She finds herself in uncharted territory with plenty of time on her hands and little to no confidants. And as a result, she begins to take classes at Le Cordon Bleu, studying culinary arts. Her naive approach towards being emerged in French culture in the beginning of the film is both endearing and poignant. The antics endured by her character as she attends classes are often delightful and humorous. She is upstaged early on by her classmates, because she is inexperienced but also because she is a woman; who at the time were not respected as chefs. However, Julia persists and does complete her formal training.

The film fails to recreate the true themes behind Child’s novel "My Life in France”, which the script is based upon. This is a major shortcoming on Ephron’s part because the book was intended to tell the story of how living in France liberated her from her traditional lifestyle through cooking. Instead, it focuses on merely on surface events, with a serious inadequacy of personal deprivation. It reminiscences of Gene Kelly in An American Paris, only this time instead of painting pursuits, Julia’s looking to master the art of cooking. But the same “fish out of water” scenario is the same. And instead of a new romantic beau, Julia is courted by two struggling French cookbook writers Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck, played by Helen Carey and Linda Emond respectively, who are trying to break into the American market of domestic remuneration. Together, these three women aim to collaborate and publish “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” which would become the very first French cookbook ever written in English. The failures and success of their venture set the premise for much of the film, bitter sweetly reinforcing the triviality of “if first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

Amy Adams plays Child’s modern day neophyte and counterpart Julie Powell. She is a young newlywed who finds herself at a career standstill and seeks something more out of her life, just like Julia. Julie decides to start writing a Blog where she intends to cook every single recipe in Julia Child’s book and write about it. She gives herself a deadline of one year because, as she proclaims, “Let’s face it, I mean, I never finish anything.” She goes through countless trial in the kitchen as she attempts to prepare and cook Child’s recipes. Julie becomes engulfed by her project to cook all 524 recipes in 365 days, and predictably enough, everything else become secondary, including her husband at times. She faces much turmoil in her endeavor, and is often frustrated by incomplete ingredients or failed execution. “I got carried away at Dean & Deluca last night and spent half my take home check!” and even then is still forced to make substations and improvisations to salvage her meals. Many of her subsequent scenes present Lucille Ball-like situations, although not with quite the same humor.

This portrayal is far more realistic than the one of Child. The audience can see how much Julie is struggling just to find everything she needs and sometimes still comes up short in the kitchen. This candid portrayal of Julie contrasts the happy-go-lucky sensibilities of Julia pictured strolling throughout the Parisian marketplace where nothing seems to bother her. Adams’ shines again in this supporting role and brings about the same endearing qualities of her Ashley Johnsten in Junebug and Giselle in Enchanted.

Two extremely understanding and unrealistically acquiescent husbands support both women. Stanley Tucci plays Julie’s husband Paul Child and Chris Messina plays Julie’s husband Eric Powell. Again, Ephron creates an unbalance between the two characters and the two periods. Paul is seemingly perfect on the surface and takes care of his wife unconditionally. Eric on the other hand is supportive, but not in the same circumstances to financially secure both his and his wife’s livelihood without her contribution. This contrast recognizes that we do live in hard times today than in the 1940’s and that the sanctity and expectation of marriage has greatly changed since the Donna Reed days where our wives were happy homemakers. This is a subtle social message that Ephron could have incorporated more, but instead chose to focus on just the cooking. Both Tucci and Messina humbly revel in their capacities as Mr. Julia Child and Mr. Julie Powell, each bringing about a new found appreciation to the phrase “Behind every great woman there's a great man.”

Julie & Julia has the same situational humor of many of Nora Ephron’s prior films that parallel two vastly different characters on a journey of discovery, namely When Harry Met Sally… and Sleepless in Seattle. It addresses the surface issues of women and their pursuits, but without ever truly moving us. As enjoyable as this foodie movie may be at times, you can’t help but wish it had a deeper, more nuanced measure of the women themselves, beyond just them in the kitchen. Unlike other such culinary films about female chefs, such as Babette's Feast, Big Night, Like Water for Chocolate and Woman on Top, Julie & Julia disappointingly is overcast by their shadows. Julia Child’s own recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon in the featured cookbook of the film, she states that if the sauce is “too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning.” I don’t think Nora Ephron followed these simple instructions with her film and as a result ended up with Beef Stew—though satisfying, nothing extraordinary.

Rating: ★ ★
Bottomline: Entertaining enough, but more of an ensemble of clichés than anything.

Adam

2009-07-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

This movie hits very close to home for me. My own little brother has Asperger's Syndrome, which is the form of autism that the title character Adam (played by Hugh Dancy) has. WebMD describes Asperger's Syndrome as a type of pervasive development disorder (PDD) that "involves delays in the development of many basic skills, most notably the ability to socialize with others, to communicate, and to use imagination." But knowing how my own brother is, that is far too general of a statement. And after watching this movie, I am confident you will agree.

Hugh Dancy's portrayal of someone with Asperger’s is remarkably spot on. He brings a profound sense of reality to the role by fostering innocence in Adam that is both endearing and empathetic. People with this disorder are fully capable of having very normal lives; they just exist on a different plain from the rest of us. Dancy creates a character that is easy to like, despite his oddities. And you find yourself caring about Adam not because he has Asperger’s, but because you are able to empathize with his predicaments, if not relate to them yourself. It is evident early on in the film that something is a little off with Adam Raki. You see him plunged into unfamiliar territory: first, with the death of his father, then living alone for the first time in his life, and soon with his courtship of his new female neighbor. There are several scenes where Dancy truly captures the under rationalization of Adam, especially in his dramatic outbursts and moments of emotional turmoil.

Rose Bryne and Hugh Dancy

We have seen the depth that Rose Bryne brings to the table, most notably in her Emmy nominated role as Ellen Parsons on the hit television show Damages. And she is nothing short of that as Beth Buchwald in Adam. Beth herself is at a crossroads in her life—she recently ended a prior relationship with a successful, good-on-paper ex-fiance, she is cooping with her career mediocrity as an elementary school teacher with aspirations of becoming an author, and on top of it all, her “perfect” father is being prosecuted for white collar crimes. It seems like she meets Adam at just the right time, because she too is looking for someone to lean on. Bryne brings a saintly persona to a character that seemingly is just as naive in many respects as Adam is, just without a mental disorder.

Frankie Faison as Harlan

Frankie Faison adds some comic relief as Harlan, Adam’s father’s friend who indirectly looks after his interests. One of the classic moments in the film is when Harlan and Adam are having lunch. Adam begins to talk about the Voyager satellite, because astronomy is his passion. Harlan cuts him off proclaiming, “lunch time is for guy talk”. Adam pauses for a moment and replies, “A woman moved into 3A”. Harlan smiles, “Alright, now that’s lunch talk!” It is Harlan who encourages Adam to pursue Beth and tries to give him advice as to how to do so. He understands Adam’s condition probably better than anyone, and therefore can entice him in a positive way to make new ventures in his life. One might consider him to be Adam’s conscience.

When Adam finally does court Beth, we truly begin to see how Asperger’s affects him. Most people would easily consider his actions strange, but once you know that he has this condition, it all makes sense. This scene itself is rather humorous, because Adam admits to being “sexually excited” by her and asks if she was as well. Instinctively, she is about to leave, until he explains that he doesn’t always say the right things because of his condition. It is interesting to see the how someone with Asperger’s would deal with being in a relationship because it’s the simple things that look difficult. He has to meet he friends, her family, and somehow integrate himself into her life in a way he never has; how is this so different from what we all endure in our own relationships? What makes this film so endearing is that a “neurotypical” person (as so frequently referred to by Adam himself) would face the same challenges that he does with dating and surprisingly we start to relate to him.

Peter Gallagher as Marty Buchwald

The subplot of Beth’s parents is somewhat of a distraction to the film. Peter Gallagher and Amy Irving play Marty and Rebecca Buchwald, Beth’s well-to-do parents who still have a great deal of influence on their daughter’s life. The whole Daddy’s Little Girl angel is quite trite, yet explains a lot behind why Beth is the way she is. In her eyes, her father can do no wrong and she is naturally devastated to find out that he’s a criminal. All of sudden, the story line shifts from Adam struggling to just be with Beth, to Beth’s father not wanting her to be with him at all, “He’s not the guy for you.” I think we could have seen a lot less of Gallagher’s character and still had the same understanding of Beth.

There are some absolutely great moments of candor in this film. When Beth brings Adam a box of chocolates as a gesture to thank him, he says, “I’m not Forrest Gump, you know.” Other critics have compared Adam to films such as Rain Man and Forrest Gump, because the main character in these films is also autistic. However, this particular film is not at all like them. In fact, I would compare it more with other New York-set films such as Woody Allen’s Annie Hall or Mike Nichols’ Regarding Henry. What makes this film so refreshing is the fact that Hollywood is recognizing more of the actual illness than before. By creating a movie who’s protagonist has a mental disorder that is directly addressed within the movie, is unlike many films before. It does so, without making Adam’s Asperger’s the focal point of the whole story and achieves an attractive plausibility for the viewer.

I am not so easily convinced when it comes to cinematic portrayals of characters that are suffering from some sort of mental condition. However, Max Mayer’s film Adam is anything but unrealistic. It is poignant when you least expect it to be and dramatic in an unfamiliar sort. It reaches out to us and explains life through the eyes of someone who would otherwise be written off altogether. I think we all have had a moment or two where we felt like we just weren’t being understood. This is a film about choices and circumstances, and loving someone in between all of that.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Bottom Line: Simply put, Adam is a tiny little film with a great big heart.

Public Enemies

2009-07-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

Through the classic style of director Michael Mann, we catch a brief glimpse into the life of famed outlaw John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) in his latest biopic Public Enemies. Although arguably plain in plot structure and character development, the film strikes a highly accurate note with history and recounts Dillinger's period as a fugitive extremely well. This is undoubtedly thanks to the brilliant adaptation of Bryan Burrough's non-fiction book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. Mann recreates this era of criminal malice and legal inconsistency without elaborating too much on the character's individual circumstances. This is a poor choice for a film that is set against the backdrop of The Great Depression. One cannot justly recount the story of Dillinger without conveying the struggles induced by the times.

In the opening scene where Dillinger is broken out of prison by his faithful comrades, Homer Van Meter and Baby Face Nelson to name a few, we are introduced to the slew of bandits that remain loyal to Dillinger. This is one of the best scenes of the entire film because it sets the mood and pace for what is in store for these criminals. There is a wonderful onscreen moment where Depp creates a conflicting sense of anger and sorrow as Dillinger is physically forced to "let go" of one of his men as they race off in their getaway car. Such inner emotional struggle is rarely conveyed by anyone else because Mann has created a film that we are not necessarily induced to interpret through the character's feelings, but merely witnesses to a series of events.

Johnny Depp as John Dillinger

Depp does however manage to create a criminal that the audience can empathize with. His sterilized approach to the character of John Dillinger is not without merits. You feel compassion for Dillinger despite his illegal actions and he comes across as being a modern day Robin Hood. In the first robbery, Dillinger briefly addresses one of the clients in the bank, telling him "we're not here for your money, we're here for the bank's money". This was one disappointing aspect of the real John Dillinger that Mann did not fully elaborate upon in this film. Depp approaches Dillinger as a man of high morals and great character, creating a gentleman criminal on screen.

Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover

Probably one of the most historical scenes, independent of Dillinger's raids, is the part where J. Edgar Hoover, played by Billy Crudup, addresses the Senate sub-committee responsible for all Bureau appropriations, asking them for more funding in order to keep up with the likes of Dillinger. Although the back story is left unmentioned in the film, it is very obvious that Senator Kenneth McKeller has a personal vendetta against Hoover, just by his demeanor and the sort of questioning he poses upon him. Because so much of Burrough's novel was about the initial construction of the FBI, the omission of such key plot points seems outright sinful. What was going on with Hoover and the Bureau of Investigation could have been just as encapsulating as Dillinger's evasive life.

Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis

Christian Bale's performance as Melvin Purvis is just as responsive as Depp's. Here is a character whose sole purpose is to catch the protagonist, along with all his criminal associates. Purvis' presence creates a traditional good guy versus bad guy subplot. When he discovers that Dillinger's girlfriend Billie Frechette, played by Marion Cotillard, has been abused by one of his agents, he rescues her without question. He also recognizes that his initial staff of G-Men are no match for Dillinger's posse and pleads to Hoover to bring in more experienced agents to avoid further deaths of his men. Bale manages to retain the audience's good opinion of him because he stands by his commitment to the safety of his men and is loyal to a system of justice that upholds human decency and honor.

Marion Cotillard as Billie Frenchette

Dillinger's love interest, Billie Frechette, added a great deal to the story. She was the one character that had no ties or connections except through her love for Dillinger. And while his associates were seemingly always loyal to him, she did not have an ulterior motive aside from being with him. When the two first meet, she asks Dillinger what he does for a living; he openly replies "I rob banks". This is reminiscent of Warren Beatty in Bonnie & Clyde where he admits to the farmer that they too "rob banks". The look of surprise on Faye Dunaway's face is very much like Cotillard's reaction, where she says, "That's a serious thing to say to a girl you just met." The audience can often feel the turmoil of Billie Frechette through her eyes. Cotillard embraces the role of Dillinger's lover soulfully and passionately, often without saying a single word. This is the kind of performance that we have come to expect from this Academy Award winning actress.

The director's approach to this film fell short of the historical context of both Dillinger's gang and the men at the Bureau of Investigation at the time. The script itself focuses on the situations at hand and ignores the surrounding circumstances of the characters. I am honestly surprised that Michael Mann accepted this sort of simplicity so willing, having directed other highly intricate films as The Insider & Collateral. Overall though, the movie was very well acted and beautifully reenacted on the screen. What it lacked in story strength, it made up for in dynamic scenes of excitement. As a result, the audience never looses interest in the antics of John Dillinger or the crusade of Melvin Purvis.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Bottom Line: A period gangster film that parades bank robbers as heroes. Michael Mann delivers as always, but the story itself remains lacking.

Chéri

2009-06-26T08:00:00.021-04:00

Stephen Frears' latest film Chéri reunites him with his Dangerous Liaisons associates, screenwriter Christopher Hampton and Michelle Pfeiffer. Although this film is neither her best screen performance nor Frears' best work, by a long shot. Coming off of his Academy Award nomination in 2006 for his work on The Queen, set very high standards for anything Frears produces. The same expectations hold true for Hampton, having actually won an Oscar for Dangerous Liaisons and also most recently being nominated for his adaptation of Ian MacEwan's Atonement. Hampton, however, fails here to conquer the same kind of character driven brilliance of those aforementioned films. Though Chéri struggles to foster a meaningful plot, Frears manages to create an astonishing piece of film art by employing wonderfully elaborate sets and ravishing costumes. Audiences can expect the same kind of visual magnificence found in his prior films, even though the storyline itself is weak.

The film opens with a scene of Kathy Bates, who plays Chéri's neurotic mother, Madame Charlotte Peloux. She commissions Léa de Lonval, Pfeiffer's character, to "guide" her son on his journey to manhood out of her growing concern for his frivolous nature. Little did she expect that Lea would fall for the young innocent. Charlotte's plea to Léa is endearing and genuine. She proclaims that, "He pays no attention to me anymore, but I'm sure he'll listen to anything you have to say." The only oddity that I found with this plot point was the idea that a woman, in this case Lea, would be the best candidate to mentor a young boy, Chéri. It just seems strange, considering both the time period and the culture. Bates revisits her over-utilized role as the "Mother Hen", which we have seen her do so many times before. As much as I esteem her as an actress, Bates does not bring anything to the character of Madam Peloux. In fact, I have not seen Bates truly bring much to the silver screen in quite some time, probably not since About Schmidt.

The main character of Chéri Peloux, portrayed by newcomer Rupert Friend, is a naive and blameless dupe. Despite his attempt to be loyal and considerate of both his mother and Lea, he still comes off as nothing more than an overindulged impudent. You don't feel for him because he's not convincing of his own feelings. I believe Lea sums Chéri up best when she says, "I can't criticize his character, mainly because he doesn't seem to have one." The innocent mouse routine that he sustains throughout the film becomes tiresome and dull, especially once you realize that the cat isn't even really chasing him. You begin to question whether or not he really does love Lea at all. Can someone so innocent possible know what it means to love? Friend takes a minimalist approach to his character and fulfills the physical attributes of Chéri, but nothing more.

Despite a mediocre script, Michelle Pfeiffer's performance as the heroin Léa de Lonval is nonetheless brilliant. We have not seen much of Pfeiffer as of late, but I respect that she has been more selective about the roles she takes on. She captures the very essence of how an older woman of forty-nine would handle love. There's a wonderful seen where Chéri tries to convince her that they can continue to carry on the way they always have, where Léa remains grounded in the reality that their relationship as it was, shall never be the same. He seems to be more disappointed than heartbroken, that she is not mournful of their break-up. She asserts that he can't expect her to "curl up and die" and reminds him that he is "not the only young man I've said goodbye to". It isn't until she is alone that she truly realizes just how much she did love him. Pfeiffer's emotional portrayal of Léa's heartache is stunning and wrenching all at once. And she carries this film almost entirely on her own.

There are some absolutely vivid scenes throughout the film. The settings alone are breathtaking and possibly make up for rest of the film's inadequacies. It reminds me a great deal of last year's eighteenth century period film The Duchess, that too came up short overall but had spectacular art direction and costumes. Chéri's Art Director Denis Schnegg really struck a high note with his wonderfully elaborate sets. Every single scene is filled with dramatic details from the floors to the ceiling. Even the plants in the conservatory scene are luminous and overpowering. Schnegg spared nothing when it came to the set details in Chéri and as a result, we are visually engrossed by the film. The costumes of all the characters are also lavishly memorable, overwhelming the audience even more than the actors do. Léa's waredrobe in particular is lush and radiates her inner turmoil with colors that compliment her emotions well. The same is true for Kathy Bates' jolly character, who is often sporting metallic yellows and browns. I tip my hat to the film's Costume Designers (Denis Schnegg and Consolata Boyle) for contributing about the only redeeming part of this entire picture.

Overall Chéri did not execute well. Pfieffer made the most of her character, but the story itself was limiting. The characters are not appealing enough for anyone to really care about them. They show very little emotional vulnerability, despite the obvious situational problems of love and circumstance. Like all tales of forbidden desires, the outcome is usually tragic and predictable. The story also drops off very abruptly and in the end, you are left with a dissatisfying feeling. After sitting through an hour and a half of innocuous conversations and directionless events in the lives of these aristocrats, you don't even care about what happens next. Movies that end with 'cliffhangers' should leave the audience wanting more. Chéri just doesn't accomplish that.

Rating: ★ 1/2
Bottom Line: Not even the visually stunning costumes can disguise this very flat film.