Dogtooth

Yorgos Lanthimos, 2009

IMDB

4/5

How refreshing it is to see a film made by a filmmaker who clearly has a unusual vision, seems to execute it the way that he wants without censoring himself or showing any restraint. Dogtooth is a film that appears to not be under any scrutiny by focus groups. It's completely bizarre, troubling at times, but completely intriguing. It even manages to inject some black comedy here and there. That particular technique seems to be more common with European cinema, where there is less of an emphasis on how a film is marketed.

Playing with themes of control and isolation, Lanthimos is able to construct this white-backed setting that to any casual observer would look like a rather pleasant place to grow up. But that would be to someone who grew up in regular society, with friends, normal parents who knew that there would be some questionable elements that your children would face. You wonder at times, why is the father so dead-set on keeping his children separated from the rest of the world. Obviously he doesn't want to expose them to the negative elements that are out there. Paranoid projections, past trauma causing unrealistic assumptions. Dogtooth is a philosophical film in a sense. Clearly what the mother and father are doing is completely wrong, certainly deserving of legal punishment. But what about when the children are well-fed, well taken care of? It brings up a lot of moral issues. But the lack of socialization, free-will, freedom of choice is undoubtedly damaging. That's probably the bottom line. That it's not up to your parents to create your world. You reach an age where it's your mortal right to flee the coop, to see whats out there. In a biological sense. And the children don't get any of these freedoms. Instead, they think that fish can appear in swimming pools and that cats are evil blood-thirsty creatures. Because of this, the parents are not much different than the real-life figures that we see on the news from time to time after a dungeon is uncovered after the imprisoned escape or someone discovers the whole thing. The mother and father are creating people who have inner cores of benevolence but are completely unprepared for the outside world. Lanthimos is able to skillfully create this little world that has you completely entranced, as disturbing as it is at times you can't look away. There's so much invention and artistic originality with Dogtooth. There's no other films like it. Even though you don't spend a lot of time in this fortified property, it's going to be in your brain forever after 90 minutes of being there.

World's Greatest Dad

Bobcat Goldthwait, 2009

Can I Stream it?

4/5

High School Teacher Lance (Robin Williams) is surprised at the reaction of the school after his son's suicide.

World's Greatest is a uniquely dark piece of work bordering on ridiculousness at various points. Goldthwait manages to channel some energy that is challenging enough to resemble Todd Solondz while also making it absurd enough to resemble John Waters. But he still manages to mold it into something with some real charm. Goldthwait is comfortable making films about some controversial subject matter, and doesn't seem to care if you can't handle it. The subjects of suicide, hardcore pornography or auto-erotic asphyxiation don't sit well with everybody. Bobcat doesn't hesitate to explore this realm here. The film is filled with great performances, anchored with a really familiar warm performance from Robin Williams. His teacher character is much different from past teacher roles like his legendary performance in Good Will Hunting. While he had a sense of callused confidence there, here is more of a sweet doormat just looking to have a positive accord with the people in his life. Lance sips from his World's Greatest Dad coffee cup that he quietly cherishes because of it's ironic value. Probably the only nice thing that Kyle has ever done for Lance. Most of his exchanges with Kyle (Daryl Sabara) are one-sided - where Kyle says something dismissive to him and he simply walks away with his head down. Williams' Lance character draws the sympathy early when you see how horribly Kyle treats him. After a few exchanges you are begging for Kyle to get his comeuppance. The surprising reaction from everyone mourning Kyle's death is a familiar feeling. Quite often we see despicable people pass on only to draw a surprising amount of grief from many. They forget about the horrible things the person had done over the years. The person becomes a saintly figure. World's Greatest Dad is a look at death through an uninhibited lens. Sudden luck, a dramatic shift in life after a traumatic event. It's a really singular picture by Goldthwait that impressively balances the tragedy and comedy elements. 

The Vicious Kind

Lee Toland Krieger, 2009

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Dealing with heartbreak from a recent breakup, Caleb (Adam Scott) attempts to be protective of his younger brother who is home from college by scaring off his girlfriend, who he surprisingly starts having feelings for.

Set in Norfolk Connecticut, The Vicious Kind is a small New England love story packed with raw emotion. It's the minimalist design that makes the film appealing. You rely on the performances of three very different men and a beautiful girl, all who have their own personal issues that manifest themselves in various ways when in the presence of Emma (Brittany Snow). Caleb is mostly angry and heartbroken. The jet black hair of Emma is a feature similar to his ex-girlfriends, so it's not hard for Emma to actually become the woman who just broke Caleb's heart. Caleb's father Donald (J.K. Simmons) has his own issues with women, a general disrespect for them, which erupts quite quickly at the dinner table when introduced to Emma for the first time. And young Peter (Alex Frost), the most sympathetic character in the picture, is just so innocent and sincere. He hasn't been burned by the world yet.

The film studies the long-existing, never-boring father-son conflict. The brother/brother competitive dynamic. Ones personal destruction after a breakup and the inevitable slow rebuild. The Caleb character is a departure for usually-comedic actor Adam Scott, who has no trouble putting it all on the screen. He is defeated, bitter, resentful. He is unpredictable and impulsive, his mood turning on a dime. One minute he is sobbing to himself, cigarette in mouth. The next he is explosive to anyone around him. The film's best attributes are certainly in the performances and and solid camera work. The myriad of medium shots bring you into the weight of the moment, especially with the often rough exchanges between Caleb and Emma. The film gets a bit sloppy, especially with some of the flashbacks of Caleb with his ex-girlfriend. It makes sense they exist, if anything they give some kind of history to Caleb. But it seems a bit unnecessary. Adam Scott provides enough in the present-day Caleb to really deliver a thorough character without back-story. He shows this from the remarkable opening shot of the film with him sitting in a diner booth with watery eyes. Hopefully he pursues more dramatic roles in the future. He certainly has the chops.

Hachi: A Dog's Tale

Lasse Hallstrom, 2009


3/5

Based on a true story, Parker Wilson (Richard Gere) discovers a stray dog at his local train station. Not wanting to surrender it to the pound, he decides to take it home. He soon discovers that the dog returns to the train station every day to await his return from the University where he teaches.

The Japanese story of Hachiko, the loyal Akita Inu, is told in Western form. It's a compelling story and a look at an everlasting emotional bond of dog and man. Richard Gere is reunited with Jason Alexander, who plays Carol the station manager. Although the film is quite formulaic, it doesn't need to run on much more than its rather basic story to extract the teardrops. Gere is effective as the forbearing father who can't think of the dog spending the night in the cold puppy pound. Ironically, Hachi sits through the cold winter months waiting for Parker to step off of the train cart. The connection between the two is both unique and inspiring. Hallstrom uses creative techniques such as shooting from Hachi's perspective, using vague colors to mimic canine vision. The emotional tone of the movie will solicit memories of Marley and Me. While somber at times, its a story worth being told.

Castaway on the Moon

Hey-jun Lee, 2009

4/5

Kim has hit rock bottom. With accumulating debt and a recent breakup, he feels he has nothing to live for. He decides to end it all, and jumps off of a bridge into the Han River. He wakes up on the shores of an island, wet and confused. He's not even sure if he's alive, or in some form of an afterlife. 

Castaway on the Moon maintains more of an imaginative, dream-like tone than Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away (2000, Tom Hanks). Initially, you sit in doubt as to whether or not Kim is alive, dead, or in some alternate dimension where sits as a lone observer of the lively city in front of him. He's left with no resources other than what washes ashore on the island. He's left to his wits, which he admits actually makes him smarter. While he labors on the island to survive and keep himself busy, he doesn't realize that a bedroom-dwelling hermit is observing his activities via camera. He gives her a new-found passion, a curiosity for what's outside her bedroom door. She hides her face from an mysterious incident from years past. Her grocery list is sent via text to her mother who nervously places it outside her bedroom door. Each day passes, and the garbage bags pile up in her room. Kim needs to hit his rock bottom to see the beauty in life, and that beauty resides in the small things. He creates his own universe, far removed from credit card debt. Far removed from dead-end relationships. Far removed from courtesy callers. His duck-boat home feels welcoming. In the end its rewarding for everyone involved. 

[REC] 2

Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza, 2009


4/5

Balaguero and Plaza take you back to the same apartment building where the first film is set. A few SWAT team officers accompany a health minister into the building in an effort to find survivors. When they enter the building, they realize that they are not in the company of a health minister. He's a completely different type of minister, one who is very aware of what's inside the building and how to stop the infection from spreading.

[REC] 2 picks up immediately after the end of the first film, and does so seamlessly. The film immediately takes an interesting turn. It starts off as a Zombie found-footage film very much like the first, but soon morphs into this religious-possession-zombie hybrid. The viewer sees the film through the lenses of helmet cams and handhelds, and the unreliable cam-light guides the way through the narrow corridors of the building. The jittery shots add to the feeling of sudden panic. Shadow play, zombie babies, technical difficulties with the camera that lead to abrupt blackness create this spectrum of terror that easily rivals any horror classic. In fact, just the ceiling trembling from the pitter-patter of baby zombies crawling is enough to scare the hell out of anyone. The found footage element also puts you in the company of the officers as they reinforce the feeling of being trapped in this decaying apartment building. Balaguero and Plaza perform this camera trick a few times where there is a skipping to the video image, almost 3D like. The image freezes, skips a bit, all lined up with the audio track. It felt unique and only added to the tension already present in the scene. Of course sometimes its also what you DON'T see, and the filmmakers effectively let your imagination go to work on the unknown elements that are on the other side of the door, or lurking in the shadows. The film succeeds in its minimal story, effective pacing, and solid scares. [REC] 2 is an evolved, more multifarious version of the first film. But it never tries to separate or out-do itself from the first, and that's why it stays consistent.

Plot Hole? It's surprising how obedient the SWAT officers are to the minister. He continues to tell them they cannot leave the building until they complete the mission, but what is stopping them from just turning around and walking out? He doesn't appear to be in a position to reprimand them or threaten their careers. Besides, their careers would be the last thing they would be thinking about after enduring a night like this. I would imagine when they leave the building they would be job-hunting the next day.

The Horde

Yannick Dahan & Benjamin Rocher, 2009


3/5

          In this French Zombie film, a small group of cops decide to raid a condemned apartment building where a group of gangsters are holding one of their own hostage. When they get into the building, they have to battle more than just gangsters.
          Okay, so there are a number of factors that go into making a zombie film nowadays and a lot of those details have a big impact on how effective the film will be. It's unarguably an over-saturated genre and there are certainly more losers than winners. One, how fast do they move? In this? Fast. Very reminiscent to the fast-moving zombies in 28 Days Later. Actually, they closely resemble those zombies than any other film in the genre. Two, are they actually scary? Yes. Very. Three, do the living know what they are dealing with, and do they attempt to fight them off in a manner that's original? Absolutely. Actually quite originally. What is appealing in this is their absolute inability to actually take them down. They have no idea why the dead are suddenly rising and why bullets seem to do nothing against them. Are there twists in the plot that will set this film apart from EVERY other zombie film? Eh, not really but that's okay. The world falling apart around them, how realistic is it? Because it focuses on the events unfolding in the building itself, the explosion-filled skies and the distant booms become more of a backdrop.
          The Horde succeeds in the sense that it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. It know's exactly what it is and doesn't try to be anything else. It focuses on the style and not so much on the substance. The story itself doesn't carry a lot of weight, nor does it really need to. Sure, it adds an interesting dynamic in the sense that the humans don't even like each other let alone whats on the other side of the door. But the tension between them seems to dissipate to a point where it's not so evident. The "OH SHIT" scenes where they find themselves cornered, while predictable, are still suspenseful and are well-crafted. The scene with Ouessem (Jean-Pierre Martins) standing on top of the car was beautifully orchestrated and well-shot. The film is very similar to The Raid Redemption except it's taking a converse trajectory. These people are trying to make their way DOWN the steps to the first level to get out of the building, not even focusing on what they are actually going to have to confront when they get out of the condemned building. One of the most thought-provoking concepts with the zombie genre are the constant moral dilemmas. There's also the common questions that go through your head while watching. You're likely going to gravitate to a specific character during the film. Is he/she going to make it to the end? And even if they do, what kind of world are they going to be living in? Do they even want to be living in it? Life seems awfully cheap when you see people around you falling rapidly and your very existence hinges on you simply not tripping over your own feet.

30 for 30: Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?

Michael Tollin, 2009


4/5

          Take a step back in time to the early 80's when the NFL actually had some competition, albeit short-term. Michael Tollin examines what specifically caused the sensational USFL to come to a screeching halt even though they had some big names on the field and big money in the front office.
          These 30 for 30 documentaries are very well made, and I've yet to see one I do not like. This is a particularly interesting examination because its hard to even think of any organization competing with the NFL, which is clearly the biggest sport in the U.S. and is a behemoth in television ratings. That wasn't always the case, and at one point America was looking for something different. The USFL offered a league with more edge, less regulation, and a more intimate connection between the players and the fans. It seems that the two biggest faults that were made that led to the demise were 1) expanding the league from 12 teams too early and 2) Donald Trump's push to move the league from the Spring to the Fall much too quickly. Trump is not painted well in this film, and is the scapegoat from all of the people involved in the league who felt wronged in some way. Ultimately, I think its a fun idea to think of a Football league played the Spring - but I don't believe it would remain sustainable in today's climate. The modern day equivalent to this is the Canadian Football League. There are of course some talented players in the CFL, but the National Football League is the mecca of the sport and sits high on top of its mountain. At one point there may have been room for some competition in the football market, but those days are clearly over.

The Fourth Kind

Olatunde Osunsanmi, 2009

1/5

          Alaskan psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovavich) is alarmed when several of her patients are experiencing similar memories that seem like alien abductions. She uses her skills hypnosis to try and tap into the root of these memories in an attempt to provide treatment.

          A poor script, bad acting and forced fake archival footage ruin this film. The premise of alien abduction victims seeking therapy is actually not a horrible one. You get your hopes up when you see that Jovavich is in it, who has really provided some great performances (The Fifth Element) in the Sci-Fi genre in the past. Unfortunately this wasn't one of her best roles. If Aliens HAD landed in Nome, Alaska I wish they would have taken this footage with them as well. The constant overlay of fake archival footage is distracting and takes you out of the moment. You will have neck pain from constantly having to shift your focus left and right at the "archival footage" and the Actor recreating the moment from the opposite side of the split-screen. They should have just relied on good acting because the film was very obviously fictional from the beginning. The disclaimer at the beginning by Milla Jovavich, warning you of the disturbing images you are about to see, will make your eyes roll. Such weak writing when the sheriff tells her she is under arrest after a traumatic event during one of the therapy sessions. What exactly, officer, was she being charged with? There is a long build-up during the length of the film but it falls flat at the end and is dull throughout the whole process. There is nobody to get behind. 

          The only positive of this film was the periodic images of the Alaskan landscape, which provided a marginal aesthetic. But this film could have very well been filmed in Colorado. Apparently Universal tried to hype the film up by releasing fake newspapers prior the release. You really shouldn't have to try that hard. 

       

Adventureland

Greg Mottola, 2009

3/5

Adventureland is the often traveled late-teen/early 20's love story. The film is set in the 1980's, although the only feature that seems to remind you of that is the soundtrack (Lou Reed, The Cure, Bowie, Falco) that is very forced. Jesse Eisenberg is Jesse Eisenberg like he is in EVERY other film. I don't have a huge problem with that (I guess I don't in any of his films) - he satisfies me in his role as James Brennan. James is awkward,   tense & insecure. James is hard-up for cash and works at the local theme park "Adventureland". Adventureland is run by Bobby & Paulette, played by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. Any fans of them will feel satisfied with their quirky comedic roles. Kristen Stewart is impressive in her role as Em Lewin. Kristen Stewart is perfect at playing the introverted, conflicted and mysterious love interest. I hope she is picky with her future acting roles, now that shes had a nice pay-day from those AWFUL Twilight films. She has a natural ability that seems quite evident. Memorable shot in the film: Bumper car scene (my favorite scene in the film). Although flawed, repetitive, and predictable - Adventureland is endearing, entertaining and funny.