Coop's Film Blog: drama

2/5

Robert Zemeckis has had a long career of directing unique / interesting films that have a lasting impact. Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Death Becomes Her, Forrest Gump, Contact, Cast Away.. the list goes on. So much of his work is open for multiple viewings. So for me personally, he’s someone who I will see everything he does.

His latest work is a biopic of famed wire-walker Philippe Petit. Petit gained recognition for his daring stunt when he walked on wire between the two Twin Towers shortly after their construction in 1974. The stunt was the focus of the popular 2008 documentary Man on Wire. So going into the film you already know that it’s going to be a period piece / computer-generated simulation of the event, seeing as virtually everyone on Earth is aware that the Towers are no longer in existence. The casting of Joseph Gordon Levitt is welcomed, seeing as he is one of the more consistent modern working actors.

But The Walk isn’t able to maintain that lasting impression that Zemeckis’ other films do. It’s a CGI-scape filled poor accents and not enough substance. First off, the Petit character comes off a purely arrogant, selfish man who doesn’t appreciate the people around him. One of which is girlfriend Annie (Charlotte Le Bon) who is nothing more than a extension of Petit’s huge ego. She, like the other partners, are barely allowed to show any identity. Petit is a person with tunnel vision. He cares about nothing more than walking the wire and making the front page. So you are forced to spend a great deal of time with someone who is really not all that like-able and challenging to become invested in. The only redeeming qualities of Petit’s character is really Levitt’s natural charm that sneaks through.

It becomes obvious that the only real reward of the film is going to be his inevitable wire-walk in the end. At that point it’s just frankly hard to believe that Levitt is suspended above anything but a green screen. And his defiant back and forth across the wire while the police wait anxiously on both buildings actually feels dragged out and aggravating. Not to take away from the quality of the effects. It's quite amazing that buildings like the Twin Towers can be so beautifully reconstructed on film. It all looks real, no doubt about that. The cars below, the 1970's Manhattan skyline, the ant-sized cars slowly moving 100 stories below. Maybe it's the fact that the buildings themselves cause such an visceral reaction because of their historical importance, that it's difficult to the trick the mind into believing what you are seeing - specifically with those buildings. It’s understandable that Zemeckis would be interested in making the picture because it’s certainly an interesting story. But maybe it’s better preserved in the documentary category.

November 22, 2015

Goodbye World

Denis Henry Hennelly, 2014

1/5

We are living in an age of numerous apocalyptic movies. Nuclear wars, zombie plagues, global pandemics, terrorist attacks. The list goes on. Seems like every year we are served a dozen or so of them and we are forced to weed through them to find one of quality. Goodbye World, is one of the ones of little quality. The film starts off interesting. An ambiguous text starts to circulate saying "Goodbye World", puzzling the recipients. As a group of old friends plan their arrival to friend James' (Adrian Grenier) remote mountain house, order is beginning to break down. The group of friends are reuniting after years of not seeing each other for various reasons. Their reunion just happens to coincide with the collapse of civilization. And coincidentally, James happens to be a doomsday-prepper type who happens to have everything they will need when shit hits the fan. How convenient! The fact that he has all of the supplies, solar power, medicine neutralizes the panic and for most of the film all we really have to indicate that things have really collapsed is some smoke way off in the distance. Oh, and the occasional invader such as a pair of soldiers aggressively trying to claim their place on the compound.

It's a movie that would have certainly benefited from being much simpler. It could have been an effective limited storytelling piece in an enclosed setting. But the stakes would have needed to be higher. Instead of pure panic and main conflict points were marital troubles, which would seem so trivial in a time like this. There were also just way too many story threads in general. Business conflict between the men. An old couple that still has feelings for each other. A woman still dealing with political fallout from a sex scandal. An ex con lecturer who does college tours.

The movie would have been a great opportunity for Adrian Grenier to do something that he was never able to do during his many years on HBO's Entourage: prove that he is a viable actor. Unfortunately, he fails to do that here. There actually isn't really a memorable performance in the film. Goodbye World is an frustratingly confused film. Probably a movie that was didn't end up materializing the way it was intended to. Instead of keeping things simple, it fell into a web of unnecessary complications. It's a movie that also has some glaring flaws, like kids just standing there when someone is shot to their death or when there is a stranger screaming at a mother. One of the most irritating points in the film is when one of the main characters reveal themselves to be a an absolute computer aficionado. How convenient!

September 29, 2015

Being Flynn

Paul Weitz, 2012

3/5

Being Flynn is a Boston-based drama based on the memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn. The film gives young Paul Dano another opportunity to work with one of the greatest actors of all time - Robert Deniro. Dano has had some fortunate employment opportunities at this point in his career. Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood, Michelle Williams in Kelly Reichart's Meek's Cutoff, Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine. Add Steve McQueen in 12 Years a Slave and Denis Villeneuve in Prisoners, two of the best living directors, and it's pretty obvious that Dano has one of the most colorful resumes in Hollywood. He deserves these opportunities though, because he delivers every time.

The narration starts off a bit confused, with young Nick Flynn (Dano) fighting for control of the story with his father Jonathan Flynn (Deniro). It becomes evident quite quickly in the story that Jonathan is a bit delusional. He is more of a drinker than a writer, but the booze gives him a cloudy arrogance that has him thinking that he is a great writer that simply hasn't released his masterpiece yet. One of the first things we hear from him is "There were three great American writers. Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger, and me... John Flynn". After he says this we see him driving out of parking garage in his taxi cab, his real day job. Nick didn't have a relationship with his father at all, raised solely by his mother Jody (Julianne Moore). Moore is sort of the perfect person for the role, the tired woman who is trying desperately to keep it together for her son. Nick describes his early years as being guided by lots of boyfriends. Being Flynn has what could be considered one of the best shots of all time, certainly one of the best of the past 20 years. We see a panning camera where Nick is playing catch with one of Jody's boyfriends, and as the camera pans back and forth each time it's a different boyfriend. Finally it shows his biological father John, but when Nick goes to throw the ball he isn't there on the other side and the ball goes rolling into the street. Powerful. The film is an example of how far Deniro has come as an actor. In 1976 Deniro drove a taxi cab in Scorcese's masterpiece Taxi Driver. His Travis Bickle character was more of a numb sociopath. Here Deniro is able to channel more of a narcissistic, delusional, stubborn alcoholic that is quite different than the role he filled 36 years prior. Still detached, but more conversant.

It's a story of finding your place in the world while trying to avoid the mistakes of your predecessors. A struggle of separating yourself from your parents, trying to see yourself as a unique person. We do see an arch in Nick's character, and after enduring some time in some pretty heavy drama, you really need some form of redemption. One of the frustrating qualities of John's character is his absolute defiance to break down. His thick stubborn personality never breaks, and it almost feels like if it cracked a little it would have added some more substance to the story. Interesting to think about whether this was a deliberate thing, part of the actual Flynn family narrative or whether Deniro's decision to bring that armored performance to his Jonathan role.

June 13, 2015

Maps To The Stars

David Cronenberg, 2015

4/5

Cronenberg is a man not afraid to go to dark places. With Maps he also shows he's a man not afraid to go to dark places and also not afraid to ruffle some feathers. Maps is an indictment on Hollywood and the celebrity culture that surrounds it. He does this all through a cast of rather dreadful characters. Sociopathic past-her-prime actress Havana Segrand (perfectly cast Julianne Moore in her boldest role since Boogie Nights). Mentally-ill assistant with a shady past Agatha Weiss (Mia Wasikowska). Charlatan health guru Dr. Weiss (John Cusack). Justin Bieber-esque spoiled rich actor kid Benjie Weiss (Evan Bird). Self medicating ghost in the house Christina Weiss (Olivia Williams). Nobody is really spared in the film. They are all figures that have their own ulterior motives, own selfish needs. There is nobody present that has much purity. And yet, with all of the darkness that is emanating through the story, its a completely seductive film. Maybe it's for the pure theater of it all. Maybe it's that you want to see certain people get what's coming to them. Maybe it's because you really want to see how far they will take it. What their personal limits really are. You want to see how low people really can go. How much of their own soul they are willing to sell for a piece of temporary success. Maps makes Los Angeles look like it's a city that belongs on another planet. Because the people in this story aren't really human. They are cold effigies. They are the hollow remnants of creatures that used to be human, but over time lost their souls. Can the L.A. culture really do this to you? Cronenberg would certainly have you believing so.

March 10, 2015

Incendies

Denis Villeneuve, 2010

4/5

Every family has their secrets. The secrets can vary in severity. Some are innocent, like a mother that had gone on a momentary shoplifting excursion decades earlier. She lets it slip out over a dinner where she drank one too many glasses of wine with her college-aged kids. They all laugh about it, “oh mom!”. But some are more painful. Infidelity, buried under years of silence. Some are incomprehensible. Abuse, confinement, torture. Rarely are family secrets as brutal as the Marwan family secrets. Instead of discovering the secrets from their mother directly, they must learn about them from her last will and testament as her former employer / notary reads it all to them. Their mother was a woman that they appear to have never known fully, a woman that they struggled to understand. Daughter Jeanne is more restrained as she attempts to process it all, while twin brother Simon sits frustrated. Like most people, they assume the whole last will and testament process would be a rather efficient one. One where they could simply go through the typical procedure and get some closure and move on with their lives.

Their search for the newly discovered, unknown blood relatives leads them on an emotional journey, mostly traveled by Jeanne while Simon sits with it all for a while. The film is largely this search for answers. Villeneuve is a filmmaker not afraid to make his audiences endure some of the details. He is unrestrained, unfiltered, unapologetic. Because of this, Incendies itself is a difficult film to watch at times. The story itself is heavy. As the layers of the onion are unpeeled, the emotional toll grows bigger and bigger. Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulindoes a fantastic job with her Jeanne character. Empathetic and desperate for answers, you can see the weight growing on her. She must retrace steps of her mothers past, completely oblivious to the fact that they are places that her mother was so desperate to get away from. Her mother was so determined to create a new life for herself and her family. She was so determined to provide a life for her children that would differ from her own. A life without the same struggles, the same pain, the same subjection, the same drudgery. But while she was able to geographically escape the torture of her past, she was clearly never able to fully escape it psychologically. She must have realized in her final days that her children must know the truth, must know their true lineage. An exploration into the idea of future generations carrying their ancestor’s past, whether they like it or not. The story is a persevering attempt to seek closure, and you seek it as much as the Marwan twins do. You get the closure you’re looking for, leaving you wondering if it’s even enough after such a gripping story reveals such brutal truth.

February 16, 2015

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring

Ki-Duk Kim, 2004

4/5

Situated in a remote valley in the middle of dense forest, an old monk raises a young boy on his floating monastery.

Ki-Duk Kim's Spring is kind of a difficult film to write about. Various people will likely interpret it in different ways. It relies on more visual cues to tell the story rather than a lot of dialogue. But in its most simple description, it's a story about a boy growing up in a secluded Buddhist monastery with his master who took him in as an infant. Or you could make the argument that the film is really about the monk. Isolated from society, he tries to insulate his kin from the outside forces that are destined to corrupt him. He warns that lust leads to the intent to murder others. Seems a bit extreme, but we soon learn that although his methods of instruction may be unconventional, he is much wiser than he lets on. There are many different sects in the Buddhist religion. Like the Trappist monks in the Roman Catholic church who do not speak, there are Buddhist monasteries where the monks and students take vows of silence and spend their days meditating or praying. That is basically the daily routine for the master and the boy, who spend most of the day in the vicinity of the floating monastery. They either pray, meditate, or collect resources in the surrounding forest. The outside world plays a very small role in the film, serving as sort of an exterior realm. People leave that exterior realm and enter the free-standing doors (alluringly built without walls) that open to the monastery's pond. Or, as we see in the film, the master has to occasionally go to the outside world to gather some supplies that he is unable to obtain on his own. But the film is limited in setting, staying in and around the floating cloister. It's like a self-contained floating temple of peace and wisdom.

The seasons bring not only physical change to the surrounding area but the emotional tone of the story. It also brings passing time, adjustment, growth, knowledge, new lessons, new experiences. The film reinforces the notion that just like the seasons, life itself is recurring. Every new year brings the new natural cycle. The plans are born, they grow, they die, and there is a rebirth in different form. The same could be said about life itself, or as anyone who subscribes to the Buddhist faith believes. The movie is a meditation of the cyclical nature of life. It makes the simple story feel much more important, and really gives you a lot to come away with.

February 8, 2015

Joe

David Gordon Green, 2014

3/5

Like he did in previous film Prince Avalanche, Green drops you into the heart of the south in rural Texas. It's a different Texas though this time. This one is a more menacing blue-collar landscape, with dark red-lit brothels, dive bars and rust-laden pickup trucks. Lots of folks living check to check, hour to hour, struggling to make ends meet. Drunks that wander through the streets like slow zombies, scraping to get any buck in their hands so that they can feed the beast sip by sip. Although there are many shifty figures in the story, the film is largely about the relationship between ex-con Joe and drifter-kid Gary. Gary is clearly looking for someone to fulfill a father role while his cannot even gather the balance to walk on his own two feet from his heavy alcoholism. Joe feels responsible to take care of Gary, presumably seeing a younger version of himself in him and also probably feeling guilt about his own negligence in his personal life. Throughout the film he struggles greatly with restraining himself from seeking justice against the dark forces around Gary, mostly his dirt-bag father.

Joe is one of those movies that it almost feels strange you say you enjoyed, because there are so many elements that aren't enjoyable to see. Drug / alcohol addiction, child abuse, animal abuse, violence. It's certainly a negatively charged piece. But what makes Joe good is what makes television series like True Detective good, or Jeff Nichols films good - like last years Mud that Sheridan also appeared in. It gives you the opportunity to see some of the darkest sides of humanity. The Joe character is certainly more of an anti-hero. You root for him to help deliver some come-uppance to the horrible figures in the story, but he is not without his flaws either. He is an absentee boyfriend and father that is slowly killing himself with cigarettes and alcohol. He seems to be a good boss, but not really a good guy. His actions are largely impulsive. His occupation consists of poisoning trees one axe-swing at a time. You wonder if it feeds into his self-destruction, as if he is one of the trees in the forest. Or are the trees themselves reminders of his past, and it's his duty to expel them from the earth? He does take care of his employees and attempts to take care of Gary to a certain extent, but Joe is a work-in-progress that still has a lot of work to do.

Nicholas Cage finally takes on a role that isn't intended to just be another back-tax payment. Instead here you can tell he puts a lot of effort into his performance with his Joe character. He balances retrain and rage so well here, almost like he's redneck version of Bruce Banner. Tye Sheridan is amazing; showing that he's one of the best up and comer actors working today. Sheridan should have a long career ahead of him. He's already been fortunate enough to work with Terrence Malick, Jeff Nichols and David Gordon Green in his first three features, who happen to be some of the best filmmakers working today. Gary Poulter creates one of the most despicable characters ever on screen with his Wade (Gary's dad) character. The film itself is almost like a freaky fun-house of crazies. The town itself is almost a character in the film, with a constant feeling of uncertainty, structures falling apart piece by piece. At the end of the two hour run you are probably happy to get out of the story, but some of the imagery at least shows you some sense of rebirth after a rather destructive climax.

January 22, 2015

The Theory of Everything

James Marsh, 2014

GoWatchit

3/5

This biopic shows the life of renowned physicist Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) from his college days at Cambridge to his later years after suffering a rare neurological disease.

Theory is just a simple love story between two simple people. Nah, not really. It's actually a complicated love story involving a sweet young English girl named Jane (Felicity Jones) and a theoretical physicist who happens to be one of the most brilliant minds of our modern history. The film begins in Hawking's college years. His life is similar to that of many college kids. Roommates, beers with with buddies, busting chops. He has surrounded himself with loyal friends. They are close, respectful of each other. They encourage each other in their successes. Maybe that's an English thing. He meets Jane and it's quite obvious that it's love at first sight. There is the obligatory boyfriend roadblock that Stephen must endure (shortly) but after he does the sparks fly. But it's a unique relationship in the sense that Stephen can literally quantify the atomic mass of those sparks to interested Jane. Theory sort of takes on the Good Will Hunting approach of showing the guy working away on the chalkboard. He may as well be writing Chinese poetry for those who aren't fluent in advanced physics. But fortunately for dummies like me, the movie is more about the relationship between Jane and Stephen. And of course his sudden tragic illness. His illness hits at a point that is normally a healthy peak for most young men. At an age where most young men feel invincible. And why wouldn't they? You can literally go out with your mates and throw back pints all night and not even have a trace of a hangover the next day. Stephen is told that he has two years to live, misdiagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease. The doctor describes how his body will shut down slowly to the point that he will be completely paralyzed. He is quick to ask about his brain. Of course in pure ironic fashion, his precious brain will be unscathed. It's not only Stephen that realizes that he has this precious mind. Everyone around him is stunned to hear the news, and you get a sense that everyone is eager to preserve Stephen's mind. Jane is the one willing to take on the biggest workload. Through sickness and through health, as the saying goes. Her patience is tested, her commitment to the marriage. The movie examines the personal sacrifices and the devotion to your mate. Dealing with the unpredictable elements that life throws at you. Stephen can look up to the sky and make advanced calculations and probabilities of the universe, but he is so limited that he must rely on poor Jane to put his sweaters on or to feed him.

It's a really nice looking film. Lots of shifting colors. There is a constant golden glow that is reminiscent to fellow sharp mind story Limitless. Felicity Jones proves that she's one of the better young actors working right now. And Redmayne, well his performance is nothing short of remarkable. He so impressively manages to push through his physical deterioration with such authenticity and careful restraint. His smile shifts to one of young innocence to one of pure struggle as the story progresses. But it's a film filled with good acting - not one bad performance. It will have you appreciating the things you have, the people around you. You will sympathize, you will try to understand. Figures like Hawking are rare gems. Many are aware of his scientific achievements, but it's welcoming to see it on film. This biopic is right on time.

January 19, 2015

American Sniper

Clint Eastwood, 2014

GoWatchIt

2/5

Adapted from the biography of the same name, This biopic tells the story of Chris Kyle, considered the deadliest sniper in American History with 160 confirmed kills out of 255 probable kills.

To call the opening portion of American Sniper excessively Patriotic would be an understatement. It is like a Budweiser commercial starring Kenny Chesney with two Bald Eagles sitting on his shoulders. Bradley Cooper delivers a restrained, subdued energy to his Chris Kyle character. He's a man that keeps his feelings bottled up, a tradition pased on by the now-overly-cliched 1950's style father. There are attempts to show the origins of Chris Kyle the person, but they are short. They show you the beginnings of his shooting skills with a quick opening hunting scene with his father. They show you his strong devotion to his country when he sees the 9/11 attacks on television, and he is basically on the next plane to Iraq. They are light touches. Instead of constructing a layered protagonist you are served a mumbling Cowboy. You never get a true sense of his sniping numbers piling up. The battle scenes themselves are largely one-sided and never really cut into the complexity of the Middle Eastern conflicts.

To be fair, it is still an important story without question worthy of a movie. If it continues the national dialogue about PTSD sufferers than it succeeds. People like Chris Kyle need to be commended and praised for their service to our country. If it weren't for him, soldiers like him, we would all be living a much different life. Heck, we'd probably be speaking German. But this movie fails to properly examine Chris Kyle the person. Instead it creates a hollow hero image but its a character thats lacking. And in terms of judging this as a Great War film, it isn't even in the conversation. It doesn't have the intensity or impact of a Hurt Locker or Zero Dark Thirty. Instead, it belongs in the same category as not-so-good also rans such as Jim Sheridan’s 2009 PTSD drama Brothers starring Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal. Eastwood is likely to blame. He’s certainly not Kathryn Bigelow. He’s an 84 year old filmmaker whose sensibilities have probably changed. He probably doesn’t have the energy to piss anyone off anymore. Even with the ending of the film, he takes the Werner Herzog approach. It feels like a cop-out. Chris Kyle was an American Hero, and his story would have probably been served better through the eyes of a different filmmaker.

December 13, 2014

The One I Love

Charlie McDowell, 2014

3/5

At the suggestion of their couple's therapist, Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elizabeth Moss) venture to a secluded retreat in an effort to rekindle their love for each other. But soon after arriving to the beautiful property they realize that the guest house has supernatural powers.

The One I Love is a smart little movie that someone could probably convince you was written by Charlie Kaufman and not Justin Lader (Bottom Floor, Errand Boys). Some of the mind-bending romantic elements are something out of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The layers of confusing exposition are something out of Adaptation. Some of the comedic imagery is something out of Multiplicity. Both Moss and Duplass are good together on screen, with Moss being the sensitive and emotional type and Duplass being the more cynical detached type. Both are struggling to keep the romance alive. They have reached a point of staleness in the relationship. The honeymoon phase is long gone. They are left with fading memories of what once was great, the more recent memories not being so favorable. Regardless, they decide to give it one last shot. The two manage to juggle the heavy mind-load of the movie, while also juggling their own multiple personalities. It fails to tie up some of the loose ends in the end, but it goes far enough into the abstract realm that it gives you quite a bit to come away with.

November 11, 2014

Boyhood

Richard Linklater, 2014

5/5

Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Boyhood focuses mostly on Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from age 5 to age 18 as he endures some of the most formative years of his young life in Texas.

Linklater has a really interesting voice when it comes to looking at the world. It's evident in virtually all of his films; a sort of rebellious, looking at the clouds, lost in the music abstractism. When it's channeled through the eyes of a young boy, it continues to be engaging and visceral. Boyhood is his boldest work. The dedication and ambition to create a movie that spans 12 years is astonishing. The production has to run on the cast's good faith due to the fact that they can't secure contracts for that length of time. All during such a critical and sensitive time in young Ellar Coltrane and Lorelai Linklater's (his real life daughter) life. Time when they are distracted by so many other things. People their age are playing football one moment and in the school band the next. Constantly running on impulses. The 12 year production even involved having a backup plan in the event that Linklater suddenly died; Ethan Hawke would step in and complete the film.

Boyhood is a beautiful, heartfelt masterpiece. It's a complete coming of age tale combined with a turbulent family drama, and the scale of it is much bigger than some of the spotty acting that may be present at times. It plays out like a rock record with some goofs that were baked in to the final pressing. After all, Led Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You" wouldn't be the same without John Bonham's squeaky bass pedal. Not only are you seeing young Coltrane actually age through the story but you are actually seeing the wrinkles on the faces of Hawke and Arquette appear over time, and with them the memories of their comprehensive characters develop. The chapters of their life unfold and you are there on the journey. The ebbs and flows, ups and downs. The more bountiful days, the more desperate ones. It's captivating, exhaustive, and just real.

October 7, 2014

Calvary

John Michael McDonagh, 2014

4/5

Father James (Brendan Gleeson) is taking confessions at his small-town church when a voice tells him that he plans on killing him in a week, revenge for the sexual abuse that the mysterious man was subjected to as a child.

The small-town Irish setting is gloomy, lonely. The visual aesthetic spills over to the overall tone of the film. The town consists of quiet encounters of it’s inhabitants during the day, and the consumption of spirits at the local bar come nighttime. Father James lost his wife years before he entered the priesthood, and you get a sense that it’s a grief that he carries with him through his daily life. He’s surrounded by many morally compromised people in his small Irish community. Adulterers, abusers, drunks, sex addicts, the greedy. They all float around him as if he’s some kind of central force that they can descend upon every Sunday to clear their conscience. When his daughter comes to visit him, it’s a reminder of his past life and his inability to completely escape the memories. After all Father is an enduring figure. Willing to drink a beer with his congregation members, but reluctant to consume whiskey (for an unspoken reason, presumably justified). When he hears the familiar voice through the grated window of the confession booth, he struggles to understand why he would be chosen to be the human sacrifice for some unknown priest’s sins. He has put in good time becoming a good man. But he is forced to spend the following week reflecting on his life, on humanity in general. He ultimately realizes that he is no different than the people of his community. They all breathe the same air, have the same blood in their veins. It’s all taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to show up on that beach the following week.

September 30, 2014

Robot & Frank

Jake Schreier, 2012

3/5

Retired thief Frank (Frank Langella) has become a strain on his adult children Hunter (James Marsden) and Madison (Liv Tyler). When Hunter suddenly delivers a robot to the home in an effort to assist him with household duties, his father is at first quite resistant to the idea. But Frank soon forms a bond with the machine and finds companionship from an unlikely source.

Written by Christopher Ford, the unlikely friendship piece is based in the not-so-distant future. Sophisticated robots are completely attainable, albeit a bit expensive, but people still drive Audi's that are of similar design of today's models. Libraries exist, although on their way out as shown in the small town of Cold Spring (which was actually shot in the more populated Westchester town of Rye, NY). This whole Library on it's way out theme is part of the film, and actually kind of ambiguous. Librarian Jennifer (Susan Sarandon) informs Frank the facility is about to change form into some kind of experimental avant-garde locale that will still be a hub for reading, although it's not quite clear how. Not so important as the story really focuses on Frank and his struggles with himself. He is forgetful but also morally questionable. He is sympathetic while also at the same time quite stubborn and moderately manipulative. Frank is without a doubt a complicated character. His dementia is questionable throughout the film. His son Hunter, long skeptical especially after enduring his father's years in prison, assumes the robot will take a bit of the load off of his back. He is after all making long trips to his father's rural home and away from his own family. He is a straight-laced man, presumably eager to not repeat the same mistakes his father made.

The film is rooted in good performances, without the need for any real special effects or camera trickery. The dynamic between the man and the machine is believable, quite compelling actually. Certainly an study on our culture's dependence on technology, and the inevitable growing dependence. When the final credits roll and you see the stock footage with actual robots in the media and that addicting electronic song plays out, you will likely continue to sit there taking the last bits in.

August 29, 2014

Broken Flowers

Jim Jarmusch, 2005

3/5

Bill Murray delivers one of his more subdued performances, similar in a sense to his character in Lost in Translation. But while his Bob Harris character in Lost in Translation had a more cynical sense of humor with a certain degree of energy to pursue some level of enjoyment, his Don Johnston character here is more gloomy and forsaken. He has a sheer deadpan quality to him. In the first few minutes of the film you see his weary girlfriend (Julie Delpy) walking out on him, giving you the feeling that it's one of many over the years. He goes on to sit frozen on the couch like a reclusive ghost with the lights off, like he is in a heartbroken purgatory. He would continue to do this indefinitely if it weren't for his intrusive friend / wannabe private investigator Winston (Jeffrey Wright) pressing him on details and really causing him to get up and get moving. Winston is living the opposite life as Don, with a loving wife and active children running around. When Winston gets knowledge of the letter he pushes Don to probe the possibilities. This leads Don on a wild goose chase, desperately hoping to find out which one of his several exes have given birth to his son.

You get the feeling that Don feels like he's getting a last chance for something. Perhaps be present in SOME kind of relationship. He may not have any faith in pursuing a new relationship with a woman, but who knows, maybe his oddball personality can mesh well with a young child. You don't really get any sense that he wants to change for the most part. So you continue to watch Don drag himself through his past. He is served with some smiles, some frowns. It's quite obvious that some relationships had ended much more poorly. The differences between the women are quite dramatic, it seems as if Don continued to try to connect with varying personalities without much success.

Jarmusch really creates an interesting picture here. It certainly isn't fast-paced. It moves along at Don's pace. He has grown into a tired crawl in his life. But it's a picture that doesn't bore. Bill Murray has that ability to keep you engaged with his character, no matter how detached he may be. His pursuit pulls you in and keeps you wondering to the bitter end.

August 27, 2014

The Fault in Our Stars

Josh Boone, 2014

3/5

Hazel (Shailene Woodley) is a cynical teenage girl who has struggled with cancer for most of her young life. But her perspective changes when she meets rebel boy and fellow cancer survivor Gus (Ansel Elgort) who stirs everything up in her life.

Boone's adaptation of John Green's tweener novel is a bold one, challenging the cancer genre by examining the nuances that come with the illness in a relationship/family dynamic instead of just showing two young kids withering away from the disease. We have all seen someone struggle and perish from some form of cancer, but typically not someone sub-30 years old. There is something particularly unfair and difficult to handle about watching someone that young suffer. But this film doesn't just drown itself in melodrama. It doesn't shout "why me? why me?" at the universe. It features characters who have a more off the cuff, unrestrained voice. After all, they've been living with it for so long. But like any other teen they fall victim to their hearts, the most unfortunate aspect of it being that they cant get lost in the "We are going to be together forever and ever" delusion. They realize that there is an early expiration date. Woodley is the perfect fit for the Hazel character. She brings the same vulnerability and sensitivity that she brought in last year's The Spectacular Now. She is certainly one of the best gifts to the world of cinema in the last few years. Hazel doesn't simply play the victim, although it's certainly warranted. She's been kicked in the gut for basically her entire young life. Forced to lug around an oxygen tank to assist her in something we all take for granted, BREATHING - she has long faced the reality that her days are likely numbered and she won't outlive her devoted parents. Her parents, played by Laura Dern and Sam Trammell, really help to show the perspective of the parents who have also been screwed by the universe with their ill daughter. They've basically dedicated all of their adult lives to taking care of her. But once again, the film challenges that dynamic as well. Hazel is frustrated by her parents efforts. She wants them to have a life together, even if she may not be in it with them. They've lost a lot of sleep over the years. They've been at the breaking point more than once. It raises the notion that while the physical cancer is inside of Hazel's body, it really does spread into many of the peripheral lives. The film is probably considered Ansel Elgort's coming out party. At first glance his Gus character is conflicting because of the irritating cockiness that he exudes. There's also that unrealistic unlit cigarette thing. But you're stuck with him for a while, and there is a turning point in the film where his character really comes around and Elgort displays some true talent. The scene where Gus wants to experience his funeral as a living person and hear the eulogies is so unique and beautifully dark, certainly one of those moments likely to stick with you.

The Fault is not a positive piece to put on with hopes of having some smiles and good laugh. It asks a lot of questions and fails to have much of a filter asking them. It's painful and raw, genuine. But not every film is supposed to be a feel-good story. You (should) go to a film to examine the full spectrum of the human experience, and this is certainly on one end of it.

July 1, 2014

The Beach

(REWATCHED)

Danny Boyle, 2000

2/5

Boyle is a great film-maker with a lot of memorable titles under his belt. His early career consist of some dramatic gems in Shallow Grave and Trainspotting (possibly his best work). His later career would evolve into a more ambitious stylistic approach with films like Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, and 28 Days Later. But before he made those also great films, he performed experiments and tested the waters with his film-making like he did with The Beach. Adapted from the novel written by Alex Garland, the film consists of main character Richard (DiCaprio) venturing to Thailand looking for unique adventure. While staying at a hostel one night, he begins talking to crazed-neighbor Daffy (played by Doyle favorite Robert Carlyle) who tells him about a paradise-like island that is hidden from the sea. Richard discounts the island as a myth until he finds a map on his door the next day, and Daffy gone. Richard decides to travel to the island to see if the legend is true. He soon finds that not only is the legend very much true, but there is much more to this island than anyone would expect.

Boyle's experiments with the film for the most part fail because he wastes valuable time on them. Time that would be better spent developing the already confusing characters was spent on visual trickery and recklessly abstract narrative. The film also feels experimental for a young Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio had previously starred in films like What's Eating Gilbert Grape and The Basketball Diaries that showed that he certainly had talent but it needed some refinement and evolution. When we are introduced to DiCaprio, its through an odd narrative where Richard comes off as a bit abrasive. He lives up to that same personality soon after when he meets the young girl staying next to him and he is mildly aggressive with her boyfriend. You would think a young traveler would have a more benign, welcoming demeanor. This aggression is elevated soon after when they are aruging on top of the rock ledge, where things seemed a bit over-dramatized and over-aggressive. His behavior continues to be self-serving, and you never really feel obligated to get behind him as a protagonist. The swerving that sloppily navigates the film through the first two thirds of the film eventually leads to the Richard isolation jungle scenes in the third where it just crashes completely. Boyle's Beach experiment fails because it doesn't focus enough on pure performances and story and instead relies on overindulgence and reckless reverie.

June 2, 2014

Out of the Furnace

Scott Cooper, 2013

4/5

Russell Baze is struggling to make ends meat while also trying to take care of his ailing father and reckless veteran brother who struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder from his tours in Iraq.

You are immediately faced with the paint-peeling working-class rust-colored backdrop of North Braddock Pennsylvania. The obvious sense of blue-collar gloom is evident throughout the picture, as if everyone in the film is connected to the steel mill in one way or another and worried that it can close it’s doors and put set off a domino-effect of depression. Bale brings more of a restrained energy to his Russell character. Instead of a salient effect to his voice there are traces of a Pittsburgh(ish) accent that glints from his marble mouth here and there. Bale’s character Russell is most certainly connected to the mill, where you see him grueling over fire pits covered in grime. He draws an immediate sense of sympathy for his character when you see how he looks out for those close to him and how hard he works to do so. You get a sense that there is inescapable hardship for him, as if he can never leave the doomed industrial town he’s certainly residing in. He’s loyal to his family. He sees the damage that the war caused on his brother Rodney has endured both physically and psychologically and rather than continue to press him on it, he quietly tries to assist him however he can (most of the time being financially). Most of the time it’s just by being loyal to him. But there’s an obvious sense of protection that he feels for him, as if its a promise he made to his father. But more than likely it’s a promise he has made to himself. Although his character is a man with mistakes, he is willing to pay his debts to society and attempt to right his wrongs. He carries his guilt like it’s a ten pound weight strapped to his soul. And even with the unforgivable things he may have done, he has a sense of warm loyalty and Bale manages to keep you engaged in his Russell character and stay on his side. While Rodney takes his hits on the face, Russell takes them to the heart.

Cooper succeeds in developing nuanced characters rather thoroughly than just making a action-packed revenge piece after a character gets wiped out in the first twenty minutes. In one sense it’s a story about a man’s misfortune, but there are many other forces at work and every actor involved in the film really contributes a multi-layered performance. It’s a heavily masculine piece as well. There is an overt lack of estrogen flowing, as you only see one or two female characters. We finally get another taste of Woody Harrelson working on the dark side. He never disappoints as a villain, and his Harlan DeGroat character is something right out of the evil forces his character attempts to track down in HBO’s True Detective. Out of the Furnace is pure drama, providing us with the lasting image of a strained man mired in the melodrama of personal conflicts in a struggling city.

May 31, 2014

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Peter Jackson, 2013

4/5

The second film in the Hobbit trilogy catches up to Bilbo Baggins and his Dwarven companions as they inch closer to Erebor which has been guarded by the legendary dragon Smaug for some time.

The second installment in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy bears quite a bit of resemblance to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and there is nothing wrong with that. Jackson has a great track record of providing great style with great story, albeit it mostly CGI'd. The alternate universe depicted in Desolation is a much less forgiving one than the first in the series. Enlarged insects. The dwarves find themselves running into old enemies. The orcs build strength. There is an ominous build-up of dark energy. Bilbo is finding himself falling victim to his new-found ring's powers. Even the landscape itself is a much more bleak one. Absent of the vibrant colors shown in the first film, this one is decorated with cobwebs and gray tones. Unlike the first film, there isn't a lot of time for all-night feasts in pubs. The clock is ticking. While Smaug has a more mythical presence in the first film, he is certainly a physical presence in this one. The enormous digitized beast does not disappoint.

Now with fifteen hours of film created, is there anything more thoroughly entrancing than Jackson's wide-screen depiction Middle Earth? Of course people could say Star Wars, or Star Trek, maybe the Harry Potter films or any other franchise with hours and hours of material. But they just don't feel as detailed. While some of the other franchises may have a more complex story-line, an argument can be made that they fall short visually. Jackson has put the Tolkien-created world on film in a way that when you sit down and start watching, depending on your viewing environment (and you aren't watching it on your iPhone with no headphones), you are IN his world. Those three hours fly by. You don't want it to be over. They are always a feast for the eyes. Candy for the cortex. Merrymaking for the mind. You can't blame the guy for building himself his own Hobbit house in New Zealand. He did that, right?

May 27, 2014

Enlightened (Season 2)

Mike White & Laura Dern, 2013