23 posts tagged “movie”
Long time since I wrote a movie review, but this one was so good that I had to review it.
Spain has certainly seen great output of films in the last few years. Volver was brilliant and emotional. Pan's Labyrinth was unique, dark and fanciful. This latest masterpiece comes from Labyrinth director Guillermo Del Toro's protégé Juan Antonio Bayona: El Orfanato, or The Orphanage in English.
Orphange is a supernatural thriller dealing with the afterlife touching on what we know as a doppelgänger (hinted at briefly in the film). It was well crafted without ever falling into the sort of clichés we're so used to in films of this sort. There were times I felt a clichés coming on only for Bayona to dismiss it right out for something deeper.
The eponymous orphanage of the film was home to the protagonist Laura as a child. It is a fairly grand 19th Century mansion overlooking a gorgeous beach with a lighthouse perched atop a craig. The vistas shown in the film are spectacular and definitely urges me to visit Spain in the near future. The multilevel dwelling housed six children and a few nurses on staff.
Laura was adopted at an early age and later in life returns to the orphanage with her husband and son Simón to reopen the mansion to children with special needs. Very shortly upon their residency Simón has found friendship in invisible children, which is brushed off by his parents as loneliness. But just as they're ready to open the home up, Simón disappears suddenly, sending the family, and country into a frenzy to find the missing boy. After months of searching, Laura begins to fear the invisible friends were not so imaginary.
The pacing and musical score of Orphanage give it a very eerie feeling, but also takes time to touch on the emotional turmoil within this mother. While situations and circumstance grow increasingly tense, she is ever so eager to find her boy.
At this point I will rate the film and then continue on with my thoughts as they may or may not contain spoilers. 4.5 stars for brilliant delivery, acting, sound and visuals.
The Orphanage is a subtle take on Peter Pan. I know it sounds odd, but that's what I've found. Early in the movie Simón is reading the book and asks why Wendy didn't go back to Neverland. At the end of the movie is pulled from Peter Pan when the children realize it is Laura "all grown up." If you remember the story of Pan well enough, Wendy is in an orphanage herself and later runs the orphanage. Bayona is making Neverland the afterlife where you never grow old. He also explains that when you are near death's door you are more receptive to seeing the other side, so we can say Wendy's previous journey to Neverland was from a place of serious illness. Not only is it a great story by itself, the parallels add to it another level of intrigue and wonder.
This was well made, and had great sets and so much fine detail that they even had a Hüsker Dü flier stuck on a phone booth int he late '70s. I liked Mother's character and I wish they spent more time with him, Michael Keaton really nailed that role. What didn't go well with me was the overarching mole story was lost in the first two parts, probably to make it work on TV for those who wouldn't watch the whole thing. Part 2 was over-the-top probably just to stuff it with action, and it was so unbelievable that one caseworker would be in the middle of both the '56 Hungarian Revolution and the '60 Bay of Pigs Invasion. Chris O'Donnell's character, Jack, was also annoying. He always had the same attitude, and seemed so fake. Why he was the centerpiece is beyond me. He kept saying stupid things like Captain Obvious, and was a general idiot. It's amazing the other agents gave him accolades when he was so obviously simple. There were other continuity issues, in spite of the great detail - for example in Hungary they were stuck in a building and couldn't escape and then after the Russians wouldn't accept surrender they just walked out a basement door to freedom. I wish they had a more cohesive story over the three parts and they would have focused on Keaton's character more, but overall it was an entertaining series, and I would recommend it to espionage fans.
I've been disappointed by the films that strive to do what This is England has done. Forget Football Factory and Green Street Holligans, those are s myopic and petty they can be logged in the forgettable files. Where these other two films had violence and frivolity as their base, England has characters with soul.
A rag-tag bunch of skinheads in the early '80s are truly living lives racked with pain and loss. I can't get over the tremendous performances of the young Thomas Turgoose and the intense Stephen Graham. These are not archetypal characters, they have so much depth and emotion I was emotionally pained at the conclusion.
These are men and children who have had a life with troubled families brought together seeking a connection with this new family. But this family is ripped apart in several ways. These are ordinary people doing ordinary things, but they need a connection with something bigger to give their lives purpose. They've been dumped by fathers and the government and they're sick of it. You can feel for them in their anger, but you're also repulsed by their conclusions.
And more than the emotions, we have an unintended social commentary of today's debate in these United States twenty-five years later. The characters in the film are sick of immigrants coming into the country and not assimilating into Englishmen while millions are jobless. Today we have the same thing going on. It's been reflected in almost every nation throughout history. If there's one thing that ruins our world more than anything else it is nationalism.
I give this one 5 stars.
Last night I went to see Superbad with Nicole, Robert, Schner, and Nate (it was Nate's birthday get-together). Yeah, Superbad was a suck fest. I didn't laugh once in the first 20-30 minutes, and then it was giggles a few more times before the end. It was a really long "comedy" as well at 2 hours long. It just dragged on and on without going anywhere and without getting any funnier. A few times in the film I was leaning over to Nicole saying, "This movie blows." It's basically a mix of American Pie, Super Troopers and Napoleon Dynamite. I didn't like any of those films either, so it was a whole lot of suck. It was seriously vulgar for no purpose other than to be vulgar. It was crude just to be crude. I don't mind vulgar and crude, but usually there should be something funny about it.
The best way I can describe it is: It was nearly as boring as actually being there.
The story is set in 19th Century Britain, and as you may know, Britain used to be drab browns and blacks, and this is the palette used by creator Ôtomo Katsuhiro (of Akira fame). And what a beautiful picture he paints! I was awestruck by how detailed the animation was. The steam, gears, gadgets, hair, and everything was drawn so immaculately I was drawn right into the film. I watched it on DVD, and it's on Blu-ray in Japan for even better detail (the BD version has no English subtitles or English language track as it's a Japanese import currently). I watched the English language track and the voice action was also top-notch.
A young boy named Roy takes us on a wild adventure of a lifetime when a mysterious "steam ball" his grandfather created arrives at his door. When a corporation comes to take the ball, Roy is chased through the English countryside by incredible steam-powered mechanisms. The initial chase sequence is suspenseful and exciting with lots of action. If I go further I will ruin the story, but I won't. Just rest assured that Steamboy offers up action, adventure and emotion by spades.
5/5 stars
I can't say anything bad about the technical quality of the film. The editing, photography and acting are superb. Rather, it is the convoluted mess of the pacing that confuses what little story we're given. I get that it was meant to express one idea, and in that it achieved. It showed how the world is smaller than we think it is, but there's a huge gulf between cultures.
I know this isn't much of a review, but there wasn't much to review. I mean, in one way there was a lot, but it's like the trimmings from the edges of a steak. But when you get down to the cut, it's thin and overcooked.
2.5 of 5 stars
I'm not a collector of movies, but every once in a while a movie is just so good I have to own it. The Squid and the Whale made it into my very small DVD library very unexpectedly. It all started with a movie night at my last apartment. I didn't have anything in from Netflix, so Chris brings this movie out to screen. Of everyone I know, Chris's opinion of movies is probably the least heeded. He seems to find the worst films in the world and cherishes them while he doesn't like the best made, most entertaining, or otherwise brilliant movies. So I wasn't expecting much of anything but a sorry borefest like all his other films (for example, But I'm a Cheerleader, to be reviewed later on). When the film ended, Joe and Brian said, "Chris, never make me watch a movie like that again," but I was cheering.
To be sure, this is not your typical film. It doesn't start like other films, the dialog isn't like other films, the cinematic style isn't like other films, and the end is definitely unlike other films. This is the story of divorce from the perspective of two young brothers whose parents are both accomplished authors living in Brooklyn. Divorce isn't entertaining, but story telling isn't about entertainment nearly as much as it is in telling a story (obviously). Noah Baumbach did a fantastic job writing the quirky characters and their eccentric language. They aren't speaking English as you or I would speak it for they come from a literary family where they speak of Jean-Luc Godard, Orson Welles, and Franz Kafka in depth, but in a way that is non sequitur to the story but makes sense to the conversation they're having.
There is a lot of similarity between Baumbach's style and that of Wes Anderson, which can be credited to Anderson's producing this particular film (Baumbach also co-wrote Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou). It is a very serious film, but it treats the subject in a way I can only describe as "real." Anderson makes films that are normal things, but they're funny things, and Baumbach has this in Squid perfectly. We aren't in a comedy, we're in life, but life is funny, life is sad, life is depressing. There are points in the film where we are laughing, and other parts where we're crying, and others where we're uncomfortable - real.
"Joan, let me ask you something. All that work I did at the end of our marriage, making dinners, cleaning up, being more attentive. It never was going to make a difference, was it? You were leaving no matter what..."
"You never made a dinner."
"I made burgers that time you had pneumonia."
Some
movies you'll watch do put you in the depressing situation, but they
usually all resolve in the Hollywood fashion. This one is much more
like Little Miss Sunshine in that it has a melancholy ending. But the ending is still very strong and powerful.
I did buy this movie, and if you come over we'll watch it together. 5 of 5 stars.
The story is of an exceptional group of students at a Sheffield boys grammar school who have achieved the highest A-level scores ever. The headmaster of the school brings in a special tutor, named Irwin, to prepare them for the Oxbridge entrance exams to earn placement in Oxford or Cambridge. Irwin persuades the students to give a laissez-faire treatment to the facts to give an interesting, unorthodox spin of historical events. He says they know the facts, and so does every other student applying, so they need to stand out by giving bias to their essays. Meanwhile, the boys' other teacher, Hector, emphasizes factual knowledge of culture and art, and isn't so fond of the liberties encouraged by Irwin.
The story is much more complex than this, but you really should just watch the film and get lost in the incredible storytelling. The dialog is beautifully crafted, and the acting is terrific - they even do a whole scene in French, which is hilarious. As always, plays never seem like a movie on the screen, but this one does a much better job than any other I've seen. I highly recommend The History Boys. 4.5 of 5 stars.
After months and four viewings of the film so far (I bought it of course), I'm finally writing about Brick.
Who says you need mega-dollar actors, special effects, and elaborate sets to create a compelling story? Writer/Director Rian Johnson managed to complete Brick for under $450,000.
The utter brilliance of this film makes it difficult to even write about it, and every time I watch it I'm more intrigued with the characters. Joseph Gordon-Levitt really carries the film with his character Brenden's fearless quick-wit and carefully crafted lines. The whole cast, however, works together so well and the chemistry is as such that the exchange is so quick you really have to pay attention to catch all the wit.
The film opens with Brenden crouched near a tunnel contemplating the dead body of his ex-girlfriend Emily. The next scene starts the story two days prior with Brenden receiving a phone call from Emily where she says hurriedly, "Look, I did what she said with the brick. I didn't know it was bad, but The Pin's on it now for poor Frisco, and they're playing it all on me." From this one line Brenden begins the noirish detective journey through the upper-crust drug circles through twists and turns to the conclusion.
Johnson created this tale in the tradition of classic hardboiled detective stories the likes of The Maltese Falcon (even quoting this film), but placing the events in a suburban Southern Californian high school, giving this a unique modern edge.
I don't really know if I can write anymore about Brick, you'll just have to discover this gem yourself. 5 of 5 stars.
