It's that wonderful time of year again; when most of the good movies in the theaters are from last year, and normal people like us are finally able to weigh in on the films that have already won a handful of awards, and critics have already praised and included in their top ten lists. The Oscar nominations have been out for almost a week, so let's see how they did this year...
First, let me list some notable films from 2009 I have yet to see: The Blind Side, Bronson, Hunger, The Last Station, Nine, A Prophet, A Single Man, The White Ribbon. It pains me to include the The Blind Side as a "notable" film, but all of the awards for Sandra Bullock, as well as its two Oscar nominations have forced my hand. I've also included Bronson, which did not receive any nominations, but the critical response to Tom Hardy's performance has been significant.
Now, lets talk about the acting nominations. Ladies first:
Actress in a Supporting Role
There really isn't much to say here. I think Samantha Morton deserved a nomination for her role in The Messenger, as well as Vinessa Shaw in Two Lovers, but I can't say that the Academy got it wrong. Mo'Nique will win the Oscar, and she deserves it. Her monstrous character in Precious was beyond anything I've ever seen. Simply frightening. If I had to pick another contender, I'd go with Vera Farmiga from Up in the Air as a very distant dark horse candidate.
Actress in a Leading Role
I have a feeling that this category will be the most disappointing for me. Sure, it might be a bit unfair for me to judge Bullock's performance in a movie I haven't seen, but I have her entire filmography to show me that at best she's a mediocre hack. The fact that she's a the favorite to win is a crying shame. Just so you don't think I'm completely unreasonable, I will see The Blind Side, and will admit if I am wrong. Meryl Streep's role in Julie & Julia is at least nomination worthy, and she has almost as much of a chance to win as Sandra. The actual best performance by an actress in a leading role belongs to Cary Mulligan for An Education. She's in practically every scene and simply lights up the screen in each one. As I've mentioned before, the comparisons to Audrey Hepburn are justified. Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe was probably the second best performance from a lead actress I saw in 2009 for her role as the abused teenager, Precious, but she has no chance at all of winning. It's a shame, because I think this category more than any other seems to be driven by politics more than merit (Note: Sally Hawkins didn't even get nominated last year).
Actor in a Supporting Role
Again, only brief thoughts on this category. Matt Damon for Invictus? Give me a break... Glad to see the nomination for Woody in The Messenger, and Stanly Tucci could have also been nominated for Julie & Julia, but I haven't seen The Lovely Bones. The fact is, Christoph Waltz was a force of freaking nature in Inglourious Basterds, and he's won every award leading up to the Oscars. He's by far the favorite, deservedly so, and the only upset I could fathom would be if they decided to give it to Christopher Plummer, for The Last Station, as a lifetime achievement award, but that is highly unlikely.
Actor in a Leading Role
I can't argue with many of these nominations, although I have to say that Morgan Freeman's was probably the weakest. I mean, I get it. There's no way they don't nominate him for playing Nelson Mandela, but there were others who deserved it more. Joaquin Phoenix gave a great performance in Two Lovers, and until two nights ago Sam Rockwell in Moon was by far my favorite. Two nights ago is when I saw Crazy Heart. Jeff Bridges makes it look so incredibly easy. His performance as Bad Blake, an old washed up country star, has been garnered with about every acting award so far, and he will take home the Oscar on March 7.
Now for the writers of words and music:
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
I think the Academy got it right with this category for the most part (I think In the Loop is grossly overrated), and would be really happy if either Up in the Air or An Education won. I also think it's pretty cool that District 9 received a nomination. The favorite has to be Up in the Air. Jason Reitman is an exceptional director, but I think he's equally good at adapting novels. Thank You for Smoking was one of favorite films in 2005, and I'd love to see him recognized this year.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
This is a very exciting category this year, because the last time Quentin Tarantino was nominated for an Oscar, he won this award for Pulp Fiction, back in 1994. He is the favorite to win this year for Inglourious Basterds, and since that is my favorite film of 2009, I certainly hope he wins. A Serious Man by the Coen brothers is also nominated, as well as Pixar's Up, each incredibly deserving. The Hurt Locker and The Messenger are also great films, so this is a win/win category for me, but here's hoping that my favorite film maker, Quentin Tarantino, takes it home.
Music (Original Score)
Here we go with more of the usual suspects with James Horner and Hans Zimmer. That's all well and good, but I feel two of the best scores were left out this year. Clint Mansell sets the mood incredibly well with his score for Duncan Jones' Moon. Besides John Williams, Clint is probably my favorite film composer working today. He was made famous with his haunting score for Requiem for a Dream, and created one of my favorite scores of all time with The Fountain, both films by Darren Aronofsky. The second guy who got the shaft is Marvin Hamlisch who crafted the wonderful music from The Informant!. Marvin has been writing music for film, television, and the stage for decades, and has been nominated for nine Oscars, winning one of them, but his work on The Informant! is truly worthy of recognition. It's probably due to the lackluster acceptance of the film itself that hurt his chances for a nomination. At least one of nominations are worthy of actually winning, and that is Michael Giacchino for Up. Simply a delightful score, both lighthearted and poignant. I hope it wins, and I expect it to.
Music (Original Song)
There usually aren't too many movies that feature "original songs," so there isn't really much to be snubbed. Of the nominees, I've seen The Princess and the Frog and Crazy Heart, which make up for three of the five nominees, Basically, everything about The Princess and the Frog was forgettable for me. I loved Randy Newman's score for Toy Story, but this just doesn't contain the same magic. The song that deserves to win, and will win, is "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)". It perfectly depicts the tone and feeling of this small, special film. It reminds me of Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler" from last year, except that it's actually used as a plot devise in the film, which to me makes it an even stronger contender.
The technical awards:
Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects
I fully expect Avatar to win all three of these Oscars, although I wouldn't be surprised if The Hurt Locker or Star Trek made off with one of the sound awards. I actually think they should just get rid of the sound mixing, because if Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen can get an Oscar nomination, that category is immediately deemed irrelevant.
Cinematography and Film Editing
I'm gonna keep this one short; Inglourious Basterds deserves to win both of these, but Avatar probably will.
Maestros of cinema:
Directing
I agree with all of these nominees except for probably Lee Daniels. Don't get me wrong, I actually like Precious much more than Avatar, but the fact is no one could have made Avatar except for James Cameron. His vision, tenacity, and relentlessly obsessive nature made it possible for him to persevere the years of hard work and create what is the most impressive technical feat of film making to date. Of course to a fault, he was unable to see the need to hire a real writer, thus hurting the film significantly. Oddly enough, it's his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, that is the favorite to win the Oscar for The Hurt Locker. This is a tightly directed film, made in the Middle East under some pretty tough conditions. I would probably agree with the masses in awarding her, if it wasn't for Quentin Tarantino. He is my favorite film maker, because he is a cinematic genius and a living film encyclopedia. These traits lead to the most entertaining and well made movies being made today. A film making team I would have loved to see nominated are Joel and Ethan Coen. Sure, they just won two years ago for No Country for Old Men, but they deserve it again for A Serious Man. Anyways, Kathryn will win.
And the best films are:
Animated Feature Film
Up will win. I think this is quite clear, but there were some very, very good animated films this year. Henry Selick's Coraline is a beautiful film and a masterclass in stop motion animation, while Fantastic Mr. Fox is a wonderful, quirky Wes Anderson film using the same medium. As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't overly impressed with The Princess and the Frog, and I've never heard of The Secret of Kells. There were two other animated films that probably should have been there instead. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was a visual treat, but more importantly was laugh out loud funny. Ponyo was also very good, and more deserving that Disney's newest 2D project.
Documentary (Feature)
This is hard for me to judge since I haven't seen any of the nominees, however, I have seen a couple great documentaries this year. Both Tyson and Anvil: The Story of Anvil should be here. Both were captivating, funny, and at times touching. I seriously doubt that all five of the nominated films are better than these two. Having not seen them, I can only go with what I've heard, and it seems that Food, Inc. and The Cove have gotten the most press. I'd have to pick The Cove on this one. It really fits in with a lot of the Academies tree hugging tendencies.
Foreign Language Film
I'm certainly disappointed to not see Gomorrah or Sin Nombre nominated, because they are two of my favorite films this year. Again I haven't seen these nominees, but I've heard a lot about A Prophet and the Cannes Palm Dior winner The White Ribbon. I think it's a toss up between these two films, but then again I didn't see Departures coming at all before it won last year over the highly praised Waltz with Bashir. There's really no telling with this one.
Best Picture
The Academy infamously decided to nominate ten films for best picture, due to the fact that films like The Dark Knight and Wall-E weren't nominate last year, hurting their ratings. It's clear that a negative side affect of this decision is that it waters down the honor of being nominated. We all know that the five films that would have been nominated had they not made the change are Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, and Up in the Air. I must say though that out of the remaining five films that made the cut, three of them are in my top five. Never have so many of my favorite films in a given year been nominated for all of the major categories. The experts have been calling this category a battle between the ex-spouses, Cameron and Bigelow, Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker. I feel that because many aspects of Avatar are so weak (note: no acting or writing nominations) that The Hurt Locker is indeed the favorite to win this year. Obviously I'd love for Inglourious Basterds to win, but it's probably about the third or fourth most likely to win, along with Up in the Air.
I've been a little vague about where I rank certain films, because I'm going to publish my top ten of the year very soon. I just want to watch a couple more films first. Stay tuned, and please, leave a comment and tell me what you think about the Oscars this year.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans
The latest from German director Werner Herzog is not a sequel to the 1992 film Bad Lieutenant, directed by Abel Ferrara. In an interview, Herzog has mentioned that he's never seen that film. After seeing Herzog's film The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans, it is easy to believe Mr. Herzog. It employs the name simply as a marketing ploy because one of the producers owned the rights. The only other similarity is that each film centers around a police lieutenant that does some very, very bad things...
Nicholas Cage is in top form as Terrance McDonagh, a police officer recently promoted to Lieutenant for his act of bravery in rescuing a prisoner from a rapidly flooding jail cell during the immediate aftermath of hurricane Katrina. This same act left also left Terrance with a serious case of chronic back pain. I'm not sure if this guy really needed an excuse to be reckless and deviant, but the back pain definitely seemed to be the catalyst for a rapidly deteriorating drug habit, mostly procured from crime scenes and the evidence locker. Staying high pretty much all day long, his methods are questionable at best, and frequently criminal. The narrative focus is on a heinous murder investigation that Terrence is the lead detective on, but the real focus is on Terrance, and the way he deals with his pain, his drunk father, his prostitute girlfriend, his gambling habit, and his drug dealer business partner. In the midst of all this insanity, he still tries to do his job as a detective the best he can.
The tone of this film drifts from serious police drama to dark absurd comedy, leaning more towards the latter. Herzog spends a lot of time entertaining Terrance's periodic hallucinations as well as giving the audience some interesting points of view. Without giving too much away, there are some hilarious shots featuring reptiles, on more than one occasion, that linger to a point beyond comfort and managed to evoke much nervous laughter from my friends and I at our private screening. While I understand that this is pretty far from mainstream entertainment, it's still a shame that not more people are seeing this film.
I'm a big fan of Nicholas Cage. I have been ever since the mid/late nineties, when he gave us The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off, and Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead. John Woo's Face/Off is still one of my favorite action films ever, and his over the top performance as criminal mastermind Caster Troy is a joy to watch. It didn't take me long to catch up with some of his other landmark performances, including Leaving Las Vegas, for which he won his Oscar, and his hilarious role in the Coen brothers' Raising Arizona. In the twenty-first century he's given us several good films, including Matchstick Men, Lord of War, The Weather Man, The Family Man, and Adaptation, which features his best performance yet. Sure, he had a bad stretch here recently, late in the decade, but I assure you, Nicholas Cage is back and better than ever! His performance in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans is completely ridiculous, while at the same time being some how understated. It's a joy to behold, and quite simply Mr. Cage makes this film well worth seeing. I hear his contribution to the upcoming film Kick-Ass is also great, and I look forward to many more great performances from this under-rated actor.
Nicholas Cage is in top form as Terrance McDonagh, a police officer recently promoted to Lieutenant for his act of bravery in rescuing a prisoner from a rapidly flooding jail cell during the immediate aftermath of hurricane Katrina. This same act left also left Terrance with a serious case of chronic back pain. I'm not sure if this guy really needed an excuse to be reckless and deviant, but the back pain definitely seemed to be the catalyst for a rapidly deteriorating drug habit, mostly procured from crime scenes and the evidence locker. Staying high pretty much all day long, his methods are questionable at best, and frequently criminal. The narrative focus is on a heinous murder investigation that Terrence is the lead detective on, but the real focus is on Terrance, and the way he deals with his pain, his drunk father, his prostitute girlfriend, his gambling habit, and his drug dealer business partner. In the midst of all this insanity, he still tries to do his job as a detective the best he can.
The tone of this film drifts from serious police drama to dark absurd comedy, leaning more towards the latter. Herzog spends a lot of time entertaining Terrance's periodic hallucinations as well as giving the audience some interesting points of view. Without giving too much away, there are some hilarious shots featuring reptiles, on more than one occasion, that linger to a point beyond comfort and managed to evoke much nervous laughter from my friends and I at our private screening. While I understand that this is pretty far from mainstream entertainment, it's still a shame that not more people are seeing this film.
I'm a big fan of Nicholas Cage. I have been ever since the mid/late nineties, when he gave us The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off, and Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead. John Woo's Face/Off is still one of my favorite action films ever, and his over the top performance as criminal mastermind Caster Troy is a joy to watch. It didn't take me long to catch up with some of his other landmark performances, including Leaving Las Vegas, for which he won his Oscar, and his hilarious role in the Coen brothers' Raising Arizona. In the twenty-first century he's given us several good films, including Matchstick Men, Lord of War, The Weather Man, The Family Man, and Adaptation, which features his best performance yet. Sure, he had a bad stretch here recently, late in the decade, but I assure you, Nicholas Cage is back and better than ever! His performance in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans is completely ridiculous, while at the same time being some how understated. It's a joy to behold, and quite simply Mr. Cage makes this film well worth seeing. I hear his contribution to the upcoming film Kick-Ass is also great, and I look forward to many more great performances from this under-rated actor.
Monday, December 21, 2009
What is Your Favorite Movie of 2009?
I just added a poll that hopefully includes your choice for the best movie of the year. If not, select "Other," then comment on this blog post to tell me what amazing film I left off the list. The poll will remain open through February 2010 to allow you to see as many 2009 releases as possible before the Oscars. Please Vote!!
Friday, December 18, 2009
This is harder than I thought...
I love writing about and discussing film. Along with actually watching movies, it's easily my favorite hobby, bordering on obsession. My intention this year was to review, at least to some extent, every movie I saw that was released theatrically in 2009. This turned out to be much harder than I thought it would be...
My personal life was crazy this year, as I was trying to help Grace plan our wedding and honeymoon, leaving little time for writing. I also have seen more movies this year than I ever have. I've seen about seventy 2009 movies already, and am not going to slow down any time soon given that we're in the middle of Oscar season.
What I've decided to do is abandon the "review every movie" policy, and focus more on films that I think are actually interesting enough to write about, as well as end of the year/decade lists, Oscar predictions, etc. I think this will be more fun and feel like less of a job for me. I already have a full time job as a CPA and don't really need to feel the weight of writing all these reviews hanging over my head.
I also hope that this will be conducive to more discussion in the comment section. I appreciate everyone who subscribes to the blog or reads the e-mails that get sent out each time I post, and I'd absolutely love for all of you to comment periodically, whenever you have a thought or opinion on the topic at hand.
I want to end this post with a list of movies that I haven't reviewed yet, but I absolutely consider to be "must see" if you have the chance. I'll write more about most of these on my "best of 2009" list:
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Hilarious! Funniest movie I've seen this year (take that Hangover)!
A Serious Man - A deeply provocative Jewish fable from the best film making duo in the business, the Coen brothers. These guys are obviously at the top of their game.
Where the Wild Things Are - The beginning and ending sequences with Max at his home are probably the most emotionally honest portrayals of childhood that I've ever seen.
An Education - This is simply a delightful film, featuring the year's best performance by an actress, lead or supporting, from Carey Mulligan. The comparisons to Audrey Hepburn are justified...
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push" by Sapphire - This is a harrowing tale of sixteen year old girl dealing with abuse from both parents and illiteracy. Featuring an impressive lead performance from Gabourey Sidibe, and the Best Supporting Actress Oscar goes to... Mo'Nique as the most monstrous character ever seen on the silver screen.
The Messenger - There are two great performances here, from Woody Herrelson and Ben Foster and members of a casualty notification team for the Army. This is definitely the best movie in the Iraq war era showing the effects of the war at home, although is fairly a-political.
The Road - This adaption of Cormac McCarthy's best selling novel is just as powerful and nearly as bleak. Also, features yet another solid performance from Viggo Mortenson.
Thirst - From the sick, twisted mind that brought us Oldboy, Chan-wook Park delivers a chilling, original take on the vampire genre. This is the second best vampire movie of the decade behind Let the Right One In.
My personal life was crazy this year, as I was trying to help Grace plan our wedding and honeymoon, leaving little time for writing. I also have seen more movies this year than I ever have. I've seen about seventy 2009 movies already, and am not going to slow down any time soon given that we're in the middle of Oscar season.
What I've decided to do is abandon the "review every movie" policy, and focus more on films that I think are actually interesting enough to write about, as well as end of the year/decade lists, Oscar predictions, etc. I think this will be more fun and feel like less of a job for me. I already have a full time job as a CPA and don't really need to feel the weight of writing all these reviews hanging over my head.
I also hope that this will be conducive to more discussion in the comment section. I appreciate everyone who subscribes to the blog or reads the e-mails that get sent out each time I post, and I'd absolutely love for all of you to comment periodically, whenever you have a thought or opinion on the topic at hand.
I want to end this post with a list of movies that I haven't reviewed yet, but I absolutely consider to be "must see" if you have the chance. I'll write more about most of these on my "best of 2009" list:
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Hilarious! Funniest movie I've seen this year (take that Hangover)!
A Serious Man - A deeply provocative Jewish fable from the best film making duo in the business, the Coen brothers. These guys are obviously at the top of their game.
Where the Wild Things Are - The beginning and ending sequences with Max at his home are probably the most emotionally honest portrayals of childhood that I've ever seen.
An Education - This is simply a delightful film, featuring the year's best performance by an actress, lead or supporting, from Carey Mulligan. The comparisons to Audrey Hepburn are justified...
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push" by Sapphire - This is a harrowing tale of sixteen year old girl dealing with abuse from both parents and illiteracy. Featuring an impressive lead performance from Gabourey Sidibe, and the Best Supporting Actress Oscar goes to... Mo'Nique as the most monstrous character ever seen on the silver screen.
The Messenger - There are two great performances here, from Woody Herrelson and Ben Foster and members of a casualty notification team for the Army. This is definitely the best movie in the Iraq war era showing the effects of the war at home, although is fairly a-political.
The Road - This adaption of Cormac McCarthy's best selling novel is just as powerful and nearly as bleak. Also, features yet another solid performance from Viggo Mortenson.
Thirst - From the sick, twisted mind that brought us Oldboy, Chan-wook Park delivers a chilling, original take on the vampire genre. This is the second best vampire movie of the decade behind Let the Right One In.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Other September Releases
I realize I am really late getting to these but I am trying to catch up, especially so I can get to some much better films I've seen lately. Please comment if you've seen any of these films and agree or disagree!
Julie & Julia
This film features two of the best actresses working today. Meryl Streep is fantastic as Julia Child, with her over the top persona and mannerisms, while Amy Adams is extremely under utilized as modern day celebrity blogger, and much less interesting Julia Powell. The film is slightly enjoyable as a whole, but completely overrated, and any Oscar talk for this movie, outside of a possible nomination for Ms. Streep, is utterly ridiculous. Seriously, it's a good date movie, and that's about it.
Extract
Mike Judge's latest live action comedy is neither as laugh out loud funny as Office Space, nor as absurd as Idiocracy, but is successful as a smaller, less ambitious comedy. To briefly summarize, Extract stars Jason Bateman as the owner of a company that makes and bottles extract, Mila Kunis as the devious temptress trying to get her hands on the company's money by way of a lawsuit involving a detached testicle, and Ben Affleck as the stoner bartender friend that talks Jason's character into hiring a male gigolo to seduce his wife so he can feel free to pursue Mila's character. High jinks ensue.
The Informant!
Steven Soderbergh's adaptation of this real life story of corporate impropriety and large scale price fixing makes for a humorous and absurd comedy with a great performance from Matt Damon as the whistle blower and FBI informant. What starts off as a corporate spy thriller gradually turns into a dark comedy with themes of mental illness, but the films is able to maintain its light tone due to a brilliant soundtrack and the Soderbergh's brisk filmmaking style. Although it didn't resonate with any real significance, The Informant! is an enjoyable ride, and Damon deserves some recognition.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
2009 Releases I've Seen on DVD, BluRay, and On Demand
Sugar
This film wins the award for most pleasant surprise of 2009 so far. I had heard essentially nothing but positive things about this movie, but it still didn't catch my attention as a film I'd really enjoy. If you know anything about this film and have had the same feelings, ignore those feelings and see this movie. It's a movie about a baseball player from the Dominican Republic (his nickname is "Sugar," 'cause he's sweet with the ladies...) who's working his way through the minor league system and earns his spot on a double A club in Nebraska. Everything about each environment we find him in feels genuine and real. This is a sports film, but with a concentrated focus on the pressures and dreams of Sugar and a few of his teammates, even covering current issues such as performance enhancing drugs and illegal immigration. If you haven't seen it yet, check out this beautifully shot little film on Blu-ray or DVD.
World's Greatest Dad
Unfortunately I'd read a spoiler filled synopsis for this film in a hotel before I eventually saw it on Cox On Demand. It didn't ruin it for me, but I'd definitely recommend not reading about this movie before you watch it. I'll only say that I highly recommend it if you are a fan of dark comedies filled with awkward situations. Robin Williams is downright brilliant in his role as a high school teacher raising a incredibly obnoxious teenage son on his own. That's all I'm saying. Oh yeah, it also features on of my favorite movie sequences set to a Queen song, ever. There, now go see it.
In the Loop
In the Loop has been billed as the funniest movie of the year by almost every critic that's reviewed it. Now at the time I'd seen this movie I didn't really have much ground to disagree, with it's only competition being The Hangover, but I'm afraid I might have to throw the "over-rated" flag on this one. While it definitely has it's moments, especially from fowl-mouthed British actor Peter Capaldi, I didn't find this obvious allegory to be quite as enlightened as the critical majority. It probably has to do with the fact that I don't agree with the view of the war in Iraq and the Bush administration that most of these liberal media types subscribe to, or maybe I'm just not smart enough to catch all the quick witted remarks and biting satire, who knows. I honestly think that if it had embraced it's screwball roots more instead of trying to make a statement, I think it would have been much funnier. Instead this is a marginally humorous film with a good cast (including James Gandolfini), but a misguided satirical aim that causes the entire film to miss the mark because of it.
Lymelife
This little indie film, starring two of the less famous Culkin brothers and Alec Baldwin, is set in the 1970s and does a pretty good job depicting the visual style of the era, with a complimentary soundtrack. Writer/director Derrick Martini examines the early modern family, economic divide brought upon by the "American dream," workaholics, adultery, and the inevitable dissolution of the family. With about as much hope as a Sam Mendes film, this bleak drama touches on themes of adolescent sexuality, school bullies, and the ever popular widespread fear of diseases (swine flu anyone?). Although I've probably made it sound like an exercises in tedium and depression, Lymelife is actually a pretty good film, with good performances and solid direction, and while I didn't love it as much as some (Ebert), I still readily recommend it.
Surveillance
This latest film from Jennifer Lynch, the daughter of David Lynch, is not quite as nightmare inducing as you'd imagine coming from a member of the Lynch family, but that isn't to say the obvious influences aren't there. This is a crime/suspense thriller with a dash of dark comedy thrown in for good measure. Surveillance kept me on the edge of my seat with my heart pounding through sever intense sequences. This film thrives on mystery and manipulating the audience's loyalties to certain characters and offers a dark twist on the "who-dun-it?" genre, as well as a good performance from Bill Pullman. It's definitely worth a rental.
Easy Virtue
Easy Virtue is a screwball comedy based on the play of the same name set in the early 20th century, on a plantation in England. The title refers to the supposed promiscuous nature of the movie's protagonist, Larita Whittaker, played saucily by the beautiful Jessica Biel. Unfortunately her beauty does no translate to an equivalent amount of acting talent, in fact it is probably more of an inverse relationship. She harps on the same defiant note throughout, always at odds with her husband's (Ben Barnes) belligerent mother, played with much greater skill, but equally monotone by the great Kristin Scott Thomas. Brought home by her newly acquired husband, John, she is simply not given a chance by his family, as by the end of the film almost everyone angry or disappointed with her about something. Well, I gave this movie a chance, and have to say I was equally disenchanted by the end. Not worth your time.
Shrink
This virtually unseen little drama stars Kevin Spacey as a Hollywood psychiatrist, struggling himself to stay coherent amid his self-medication and alcohol binges, a direct result of a personal tragedy. We follow several characters' narratives, each a patient of Spacey's character, Henry Carter, and each facing a tragedy of their own. There is irony here, and some fairly dark humor as well, but in the end the film simply doesn't stand up under its heavy material. Also, the attempt at the end to try to bring their stories full circle, in a Crash-like manner, was simply evidence of the writers trying too hard to get a pay-off that they simply didn't earn. Besides an interesting performance from the very talented Spacey, there isn't much here to demand your attention.
The Girlfriend Experience
I must admit that I am not a huge fan of Steven Soderbergh, nor have I seen much of his filmography, but I do respect his talent as a filmmaker. The Girlfriend Experience is his most recent experimental work, and the only one that I've seen. It features an understated, almost emotionless performance by porn star Sasha Grey as a high class call girl in New York City. I wouldn't call her performance "good," but it was at least adequate, which I guess shouldn't surprise me considering she's been in approximately 180 films (pornographic) since 1996. She might just be the hardest working actress around... Yes, I jest, but back to the film. It features a lot of topical conversation between her and her "Johns" about politics and economics, as well as a some relationship drama between her and her personal trainer boyfriend towards the end. Overall, I didn't find myself caring about the character at all, and not just because of her occupation, but the film didn't do much to humanize her, other than showing us what is probably a realistic look at the day in the life of a call girl. An interesting concept that doesn't materialize into anything meaningful.
This film wins the award for most pleasant surprise of 2009 so far. I had heard essentially nothing but positive things about this movie, but it still didn't catch my attention as a film I'd really enjoy. If you know anything about this film and have had the same feelings, ignore those feelings and see this movie. It's a movie about a baseball player from the Dominican Republic (his nickname is "Sugar," 'cause he's sweet with the ladies...) who's working his way through the minor league system and earns his spot on a double A club in Nebraska. Everything about each environment we find him in feels genuine and real. This is a sports film, but with a concentrated focus on the pressures and dreams of Sugar and a few of his teammates, even covering current issues such as performance enhancing drugs and illegal immigration. If you haven't seen it yet, check out this beautifully shot little film on Blu-ray or DVD.
World's Greatest Dad
Unfortunately I'd read a spoiler filled synopsis for this film in a hotel before I eventually saw it on Cox On Demand. It didn't ruin it for me, but I'd definitely recommend not reading about this movie before you watch it. I'll only say that I highly recommend it if you are a fan of dark comedies filled with awkward situations. Robin Williams is downright brilliant in his role as a high school teacher raising a incredibly obnoxious teenage son on his own. That's all I'm saying. Oh yeah, it also features on of my favorite movie sequences set to a Queen song, ever. There, now go see it.
In the Loop
In the Loop has been billed as the funniest movie of the year by almost every critic that's reviewed it. Now at the time I'd seen this movie I didn't really have much ground to disagree, with it's only competition being The Hangover, but I'm afraid I might have to throw the "over-rated" flag on this one. While it definitely has it's moments, especially from fowl-mouthed British actor Peter Capaldi, I didn't find this obvious allegory to be quite as enlightened as the critical majority. It probably has to do with the fact that I don't agree with the view of the war in Iraq and the Bush administration that most of these liberal media types subscribe to, or maybe I'm just not smart enough to catch all the quick witted remarks and biting satire, who knows. I honestly think that if it had embraced it's screwball roots more instead of trying to make a statement, I think it would have been much funnier. Instead this is a marginally humorous film with a good cast (including James Gandolfini), but a misguided satirical aim that causes the entire film to miss the mark because of it.
Lymelife
This little indie film, starring two of the less famous Culkin brothers and Alec Baldwin, is set in the 1970s and does a pretty good job depicting the visual style of the era, with a complimentary soundtrack. Writer/director Derrick Martini examines the early modern family, economic divide brought upon by the "American dream," workaholics, adultery, and the inevitable dissolution of the family. With about as much hope as a Sam Mendes film, this bleak drama touches on themes of adolescent sexuality, school bullies, and the ever popular widespread fear of diseases (swine flu anyone?). Although I've probably made it sound like an exercises in tedium and depression, Lymelife is actually a pretty good film, with good performances and solid direction, and while I didn't love it as much as some (Ebert), I still readily recommend it.
Surveillance
This latest film from Jennifer Lynch, the daughter of David Lynch, is not quite as nightmare inducing as you'd imagine coming from a member of the Lynch family, but that isn't to say the obvious influences aren't there. This is a crime/suspense thriller with a dash of dark comedy thrown in for good measure. Surveillance kept me on the edge of my seat with my heart pounding through sever intense sequences. This film thrives on mystery and manipulating the audience's loyalties to certain characters and offers a dark twist on the "who-dun-it?" genre, as well as a good performance from Bill Pullman. It's definitely worth a rental.
Easy Virtue
Easy Virtue is a screwball comedy based on the play of the same name set in the early 20th century, on a plantation in England. The title refers to the supposed promiscuous nature of the movie's protagonist, Larita Whittaker, played saucily by the beautiful Jessica Biel. Unfortunately her beauty does no translate to an equivalent amount of acting talent, in fact it is probably more of an inverse relationship. She harps on the same defiant note throughout, always at odds with her husband's (Ben Barnes) belligerent mother, played with much greater skill, but equally monotone by the great Kristin Scott Thomas. Brought home by her newly acquired husband, John, she is simply not given a chance by his family, as by the end of the film almost everyone angry or disappointed with her about something. Well, I gave this movie a chance, and have to say I was equally disenchanted by the end. Not worth your time.
Shrink
This virtually unseen little drama stars Kevin Spacey as a Hollywood psychiatrist, struggling himself to stay coherent amid his self-medication and alcohol binges, a direct result of a personal tragedy. We follow several characters' narratives, each a patient of Spacey's character, Henry Carter, and each facing a tragedy of their own. There is irony here, and some fairly dark humor as well, but in the end the film simply doesn't stand up under its heavy material. Also, the attempt at the end to try to bring their stories full circle, in a Crash-like manner, was simply evidence of the writers trying too hard to get a pay-off that they simply didn't earn. Besides an interesting performance from the very talented Spacey, there isn't much here to demand your attention.
The Girlfriend Experience
I must admit that I am not a huge fan of Steven Soderbergh, nor have I seen much of his filmography, but I do respect his talent as a filmmaker. The Girlfriend Experience is his most recent experimental work, and the only one that I've seen. It features an understated, almost emotionless performance by porn star Sasha Grey as a high class call girl in New York City. I wouldn't call her performance "good," but it was at least adequate, which I guess shouldn't surprise me considering she's been in approximately 180 films (pornographic) since 1996. She might just be the hardest working actress around... Yes, I jest, but back to the film. It features a lot of topical conversation between her and her "Johns" about politics and economics, as well as a some relationship drama between her and her personal trainer boyfriend towards the end. Overall, I didn't find myself caring about the character at all, and not just because of her occupation, but the film didn't do much to humanize her, other than showing us what is probably a realistic look at the day in the life of a call girl. An interesting concept that doesn't materialize into anything meaningful.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Ponyo
I have always loved animated movies, from the glory days of Disney to the modern classics produced like clockwork by Pixar, however, I had yet to discover the magic that is the animation from Hayao Miyazaki, who is responsible for such critically acclaimed films as Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. A few months ago (yes, I am VERY far behind in my reviews) I was able to remedy that glaring deficiency in my movie viewing history.
Ponyo is a literal "fish out of water" story, almost a modern, albeit a different cultural, re-telling of the Little Mermaid, which happens to be the first movie I actually remember seeing in the movie theater when I was about 5. Miyazaki's version is incredibly bright, colorful, and brimming with a childlike innocence that has almost abandoned modern children's films, probably because they feel the need to amuse the parents with hidden innuendos. Ponyo will entertain anyone with it's vivid visual style and impeccable story telling. This story centers around a young goldfish whose father is a scientist that lives under the sea, and whose mother is some sort of goddess of the sea. She rebelliously sneaks away from her father's ship and wanders near shore where a young boy scoops her out of the shallow water. Because she accidentally activated some magical potion back on the ship, she begins to turn into a little human girl upon reaching dry land. The story isn't new, but is told in such a fresh way that it is far from stale.
One major difference I noticed from more traditional American narratives is that there isn't really a true "bad guy" in Ponyo. There are some tense, even frightening moments to be sure, but the lack of an antagonist was strangely new and refreshing. It almost reminds me of the Brave Little Toaster in the way that it centers more around the adventure than a specific conflict, although Ponyo is definitely more light hearted. Another interesting difference is that Ponyo is a Japanese film, and thus originally voiced in Japanese. However, the US release features an expensive dubbing overhaul, bringing in voice talents such as Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, and Liam Neeson. Usually I'm not a fan of dubbing in any form, but they definitely did a good job with Ponyo.
This year has been incredible for animated films, with Coraline, Up, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (I'll write about that one soon hopefully!), but Ponyo stands out as a much different experience, and an experience well worth having.
Ponyo is a literal "fish out of water" story, almost a modern, albeit a different cultural, re-telling of the Little Mermaid, which happens to be the first movie I actually remember seeing in the movie theater when I was about 5. Miyazaki's version is incredibly bright, colorful, and brimming with a childlike innocence that has almost abandoned modern children's films, probably because they feel the need to amuse the parents with hidden innuendos. Ponyo will entertain anyone with it's vivid visual style and impeccable story telling. This story centers around a young goldfish whose father is a scientist that lives under the sea, and whose mother is some sort of goddess of the sea. She rebelliously sneaks away from her father's ship and wanders near shore where a young boy scoops her out of the shallow water. Because she accidentally activated some magical potion back on the ship, she begins to turn into a little human girl upon reaching dry land. The story isn't new, but is told in such a fresh way that it is far from stale.
One major difference I noticed from more traditional American narratives is that there isn't really a true "bad guy" in Ponyo. There are some tense, even frightening moments to be sure, but the lack of an antagonist was strangely new and refreshing. It almost reminds me of the Brave Little Toaster in the way that it centers more around the adventure than a specific conflict, although Ponyo is definitely more light hearted. Another interesting difference is that Ponyo is a Japanese film, and thus originally voiced in Japanese. However, the US release features an expensive dubbing overhaul, bringing in voice talents such as Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, and Liam Neeson. Usually I'm not a fan of dubbing in any form, but they definitely did a good job with Ponyo.
This year has been incredible for animated films, with Coraline, Up, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (I'll write about that one soon hopefully!), but Ponyo stands out as a much different experience, and an experience well worth having.
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