Predestination

Michael Spierig & Peter Spierig, 2014

IMDB

2/5

One of the redeeming qualities of Ethan Hawke is he will take on a wide variety of roles. He will jump into low-key indie performances as he has done with his with his many collaborations with the great Richard Linklater. But he will also venture into more unique roles, occasionally in the Sci-Fi genre, as he has done in vampire-themed Daybreakers or space-themed Gattaca.

Out of his 56 acting credits listed on IMDB, the variety is obvious as he has played everything from an LAPD cop to a plane-crash survivor to a leading Hamlet role in a 2000 adaptation. The thing with Hawke is he always brings a certain familiarity to his roles. He has a real distinctive energy in most of his work. But his barkeep character is for the most part a serious one. As a time traveling agent he attempts to save lives by preventing disasters. Frustrated by his inability to successfully catch up to a terrorist dead-set on racking up fatalities, he is seemingly in eternal pursuit through time.

The tone of the film changes when he are introduced to the “Unmarried Mother” character (Sarah Snook). It seems as if we are supposed to be fooled, but most viewers probably will not be. This doesn’t fully take away from the direction that the story goes. The Spierig Brothers go on to lay out a pretty engaging story that is complex and unique. But it grows complicated, becomes a bit convoluted. By the end of the movie it feels like they are attempting to cram in exposition and it feels rushed. At this point in 2015 we have seen so many time travel films. Some are good: Back to the Future, Looper, Groundhog Day, Donnie Darko, Primer, Timecrimes. Some are not-so-good: Black Knight, Terminator 3, Terminator Salvation, Click. When you think of the good ones, there’s always some memory that you carry with you that you can always come back to. With the bad ones, like most bad movies, don’t give you much to come back to mentally. That’s the big question here. Is there any memorable element in Predestination to come back to? Predestination certainly has some brains behind it but it just doesn't leave you with much to talk about afterwards. Sometimes movies need to be more than just smart. Sometimes audiences need something more impactful. It's probably in the imagery, and we just don't have enough of it here.

Enemy

Denis Villeneuve, 2014

GoWatchIt

2/5

Adam discovers that he has an exact double of himself and is tortured by the discovery, unable to resist locating his twin.

Villeneuve sets the tone immediately in the film, setting up a dark and menacing piece. He doesn't hold anything back really, using a tense score similar to Jonathan Glazer's 2014 Under the Skin and going heavy with muted color palette, with golden glows similar to The Assassination of Jesse James but without the radiance. Perhaps a bit too over-stylized, as that very color palette gets a bit wearing after a while. Villeneuve's world that he puts Adam in isn't a very inviting one. In a sense it's like a version of the futuristic urban landscape shown in Her but with a heroin needle sticking out of the arm. Gyllenhaal's Adam character (kudos to Gyllenhaal for another quite good dark performance here) is one who immediately appears jaded from the monotony of his daily grind. He teaches at a local university, returns home to his small apartment with a small window of time to have sex with his apathetic girlfriend, wakes up and does it all over again. Discovering the clone-like version of himself in the indie movie doesn't invigorate him but disturbs him. He begins his pursuit of Anthony AKA Daniel St. Claire, but it's a confusing one.

As the scenes play out of him attempting to connect with Anthony, there was a lot of internal dialogue going on in my head saying things like wait, why wouldn't he say this or that or why is he acting like that. These actions and reactions only contribute to the confusing tone of the movie. The spider symbolism is forced upon you. The film works with themes like identity and one's perception of reality, but these themes are juggled with imagery that falls into disorientation. The premise is intriguing, but the psychological thriller elements would be better in the hands of someone like Hitchcock who can really get into a general audiences head, and not just a pocket of niche but forgiving cinephiles.

Villeneuve is certainly a creative auteur, there are nods to Salvador Dali's Les Elephants with the image of the spider walking over the city. Some of the dream sequences are reminiscent of David Lynch's work. But the fault is that he gets a little too ambitious with it and doesn't maintain organization. Ultimately things get lost in the abstraction. Villeneuve makes bold decisions with the material in José Saramago's novel The Double (which the film is adapted from), but he goes a bit too far into the abstract realm. The ending of the film isn't very satisfying as it's very eyebrow-raising. It would be okay if there was a bit more construction on getting there, but he confuses the audience with contradictions and vague illusions. Enemy feels like an incomplete product with an ending that is meant to wow without having to fully answer WHY.

Vanilla Sky

Cameron Crowe, 2001

Can I Stream it?

5/5

Publishing empire heir David Ames (Tom Cruise) struggles to put the pieces back together in his life after a horrible automobile accident with lover Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz)

Cameron Crowe is an interesting filmmaker, having taken many directions over the course of his career. He pursued his heart with Say Anything. He pursued his love of music (and of course his own history of journalism for Rolling Stone) with Almost Famous. He pursued personal reflection and personal unraveling in Jerry Maguire. He mistakenly tried to make a more populist kid-pleaser picture with We Bought a Zoo, but that feels like a film that didn't ultimately become what he had originally envisioned. But Vanilla Sky is his most interesting work, his most ambitious work, his most under-appreciated. It's already such a bold move taking one of the biggest actors in Hollywood at the time (Cruise), and disfiguring his face. That aside, he also demanded a big performance from Cruise who really did deliver. There are so many elements at work, some of them so obviously personal to Crowe. The way that this movie looks at love and death, memories, blossoming love. It hasn't been done exactly like this before. The effect of our memories on our subconscious. The impact of dreams. The toxic elements of our life that we fall into. Societal structure, technology, it's really all there. People often criticize this film for being too convoluted, confusing. That's actually quite surprising, because the reveal at the climax really does lay everything out there. The film really builds and builds, getting more complex. The final moments on screen our so powerful and emotional. It should have you questioning your own life, your own existence.

Gone Girl

David Fincher, 2014

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Adapted from the popular book written by Gillian Flynn, the film is about husband Nick Dunne (Ben Afflect), suspected of murdering his missing wife Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike).

Fincher sets the tone early in the film with his distinctive style. A starkness, Reznor's ambient score echoing in the background. A low grade tension is present. When we are introduced to Affleck's character, he is already a man of questionable morals. Affleck seems to always be just tolerable enough in front of the camera in terms of his range when it comes to his acting abilities. He's never going to be a energetic force. Fincher seems to get the most out of Affleck with the Nick character, always making you feel suspicious of him. Gone Girl is largely a meditation on America's obsession with killer culture and celebritizing the monsters. We live in a culture where actual wife killers like Scott Peterson get a plethora of media attention. Men like Peterson, or Charles Manson, go on to receive love letters while sitting on death row. We also live in a culture where questionable suspects are tried and convicted by the court of public opinion before actually having set foot in an actual courtroom. These themes are at play, but it's not simply a straight-up satirical piece like Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. It's a blood-soaked mind-game that looks at relationships and the roles we play. The head games some are forced to engage in. The way the people around us look at us, judge us. The conclusions we jump to with such conviction. If the film were in other hands, it probably wouldn't have worked out so well. And although by the conclusion it feels like the film had multiple endings already, Fincher manages to keep everything in control.

Edge of Tomorrow

Doug Liman, 2014

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Typically reluctant to get involved in the physical elements of war, Cage (Tom Cruise) finds himself on the battleground fighting against an invading alien force that has already destroyed much of the world. When he falls victim to one of the creatures during a firefight, he realizes that when he dies he awakens at the beginning of the day where everything starts over again.

Liman's Sci-Fi thriller is a mix between Groundhog Day and Starship Troopers (who would have though that would have ever been possible?). Cruise once again finds himself in the Sci-fi genre, where at this point he should feel quite comfortable having already starred in films like Minority Report, Oblivion, War of the Worlds -the latter two dealing with similar plots of aliens invading Earth. But where last year's Oblivion fell victim to dragging predictability, Edge really keeps you engaged and maintains it's rapid pace to the end. Unfortunately Edge fell victim to poor marketing, and didn't really perform well at the box office in early June 2014 when it was released. It should have done much better, seeing as it wasn't up against any big-budget action films but instead found itself up against tween-adaptation/tearjerker The Fault in our Stars. But it was probably too smart for the typical action-seeking-moviegoers who are still mourning the loss of Paul Walker from cinema, forever depressed about the unfillable hole in their precious Fast and the Furious franchise. But who cares about the numbers, really. The only unfortunate part of it is that Liman wasn't immediately praised for his work here, and he really should have been. Instead, the film will likely go on to maintain more of a cult status which is fine too. History should be kind to you Doug Liman.

The film is certainly not absent of lots of CGI and big-budget effects, but they really provide a complimentary dynamic to the brilliant screenwriting. It never feels gimmicky or ever makes you feel like there's any kind of imbalance. It doesn't just try to wear you down with stimulation. It's a heady piece that puts your brain to work. And along with the great writing, Liman puts some his familiar Bourne Identity film-making techniques to work again, with a lot of the erratic jumps and cuts. During the opening moments of the film you realize that the earth has been invaded by aliens as they land on earth on asteroids. You don't see them right away, and when you are finally introduced to them on the battlefield you realize how much of an unstoppable force they are. They sort of come off as a hybrid of Predator & James Cameron's Alien on amphetamines. By the time you actually have one in your sights, it's probably too late to take it down unless you have an impeccable shot. And Cruise's early work on the battlefield is anything but impeccable. Playing against type, he attempts to blackmail his commanding officer in an attempt to cowardly escape actual battle. It's a clever trick, because you really get a sense of his character's evolution as he has to repeat each day correcting his mistakes, hoping to eventually figure out how to defeat the mighty force. In a genre where is quite the disparity of quality, Edge manages to stand out while performing its own take on the alien invasion theme.

Chained

Jennifer Chambers Lynch, 2012


3/5

Lynch directs this torture-horror picture about a serial killer who traps his victims with his taxi cab and brings them to his house to kill them. He uses a boy, son of a past victim, as a slave in his home to help clean up his messes and work on his scrapbook which details his slayings.

Lynch's work is probably the creative equivalent of bringing Eli Roth home on a date to meet her father David. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Just different from a film that her father would make, and of course she is going to be forced to endure countless comparisons from the film community given the impact that David Lynch has had on modern cinema. She has certainly picked up some of the chops, while the film is quite disturbing at times it still maintains an artful quality to it. D'Onofrio disappears into his role as Bob, proving that he can become an even more involved killer than his character in The Cell. His victim, Rabbit (Eamon Farren), maintains a very obvious sympathetic edge throughout the film, as he sits in the run down shack malnourished eating the scraps left behind by Bob. When it comes to the attention to set design, the serial killer's house is so chilling the Fedex guy would be afraid to place a package on the front steps. The visual canvas of the film is laid out using a lot of bleak colors, and when you are in the presence of some light it's usually a circa 1970's lamp providing a disconcerting glow throughout the filthy shack. The windows are boarded up. The basement, which is home to the remains of the many victims, is lit only and ironically by Christmas lights. Night falls, and the glow of fluorescent-lit "Comfort" written on the top of the Taxi Cab provides the same tension you feel when trapped in the house with the monster. Lynch not only plays off of visual cues but also with sound as well. There is a very present bass-driven hum throughout the film, maintaining a sense of impending horror. To sum it all up... it's a film that will appeal to the horror fan, but anyone that's planning a re-watch really needs a psychological evaluation.

Side Effects

Steven Soderburgh, 2013


3/5

          Emily (Rooney Mara) is struggling through depression. During a hospital stay she meets psychiatrist Dr. Banks (Jude Law) who begins treating her. Part of the treatment is with a new, experimental drug called "Eblixa" which is immediately effective, but it's soon realized that it has surprising side effects.
          An engaging, suspenseful film with an intricate story in the mystery genre by the ever-prolific Steven Soderburgh. Having been disappointed with Soderburgh several times in the past, I go into every film with varied expectations, but found this one to be compelling. More sophisticated than Haywire but less far-fetched than Contagion, it has a more realistic feel to it that makes it particularly chilling. The film is shot in New York City, and somehow Soderburgh makes that feel fresh. Instead of the over-shot New York skyline in view, he treats you to corner angles of a green-lit Empire State Building at night through a contemporary apartment window. Almost immediately you see his signature ambient yellow-glow, clean photography of sharp architecture and precise editing. There's a resonant humming throughout the film that seems to be used by many filmmakers these days but certainly adds a chilling pitch that is very fitting in the moment. A very engaging score by Thomas Newman, especially with the use of dream-like tones reminiscent of "Song for Jesse" in the The Assassination of Jesse James. Rooney Mara is really effective in her role as Emily. She is vulnerable, sympathetic but effectively unpredictable. Jude Law gives a noteworthy performance as the determined Dr. Jonathan Banks. It's the third time that Soderburgh has cast Channing Tatum, and for good reason. He's sharp in his role as Martin Taylor, Emily's stock-trading husband recently jailed for insider trading. Soderburgh is without a doubt an intelligent filmmaker, and while I may not love all of his work, they all certainly possess a common signature that is unmistakably his own.

Fear X

Nicolas Winding Refn, 2003


2/5

          Harry Cain (John Turturro) is a passive mall security guard who is suffering through the loss of his wife, who was murdered in the parking garage of the very mall he is employed at. When he returns home from his security shift, he spends his lonely nights scouring through hours of mall surveillance videos trying to find any clue that may lead him to the person responsible.
          Refn's films are usually a feast for the eyes, but this one is a feast for the eyelids. It's stripped of his common qualities: avant-garde structure, mysterious story-line, pronounced musical score and stylistic visual elements. Instead, this film is audibly bleak, intellectually dull, scenically bleak, and visually empty. It almost feels as if it would better be served as a short rather than a feature film. Refn teases you with a couple of throwaway visualizations that end up looking like primitive circa-1990 lava lamp screen-savers and aren't backed by story. I will always welcome dream sequences with Refn, but in Fear X they just didn't fit in well. Scenically, the film has the same aesthetics as Fargo without any of the flavor. The mediocre writing is evident, and seen early. The story moves at a snail's pace in the beginning, teasing you with build-up of tension in one particular scene (neighbor's house), and never really picks itself up. John Turturro, who is always impressive, feels one-dimensional. It's hard to buy the heavy heart when a cop is questioning the depths of his love for his late wife and he just stares into space without getting on the defensive. Sure, he's a pacifist  I get it. But he seemed to be on the edge at that very moment. Refn got Larry Smith (The Shining) on board for photography, Turturro as the lead (who SHOULD have pulled some serious weight, right?)...momentum should have been created, but it just wasn't. I wonder if this was the result that Refn saw prior to filming. For some reason I don't think so.

The Cabin in the Woods

(REWATCHED)

Drew Goddard & Joss Whedon, 2011


4/5

          A group of college buddies decide to venture into the woods for a camping weekend of the typical college recreational stuff - getting high, drinking beer, having sex. When they get to the cabin they discover the cabin has a dark history... and it only gets worse for them from there.
          You will likely hear that plot-line and dismiss this film thinking that is sounds like EVERY other horror film made in the past ten years. And it does. But that's the point. Anyone who is going into this film hoping its a mind-numbing teen-screamer (like Scream, Wrong Turn, Texas Chainsaw Massacre) is likely going to be disappointed. It's smarter than that and deserves more credit. It's one of the most under-rated films of 2011 (and was actually shelved and not released until 2012). It's more of a satirical piece written in a three-act structure that transcends the typically overused horror techniques. It's fresh, innovative, imaginative, creative, suspenseful, surprising. It deconstructs the cliche slasher and brilliantly exploits the predictable twists with the aid of some well-timed comedy. It's masked as an poor man's Evil Dead that really morphs into a clever psychological thriller. It will satisfy the horror purists with some bloodshed and some Friday the 13thesque aesthetic but will also appeal to those who are more dismissive of the horror genre and are looking for something more heady that doesn't just play on freak-factor. At the beginning of the third act there is a scene (and you will know exactly which one I'm talking about) that's so creative, beautifully gory and shocking that I've gone to YouTube to re-watch it several times.

Pontypool

Bruce McDonald, 2008


3/5

          Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie) is a lifer alcohol-fueled disc-jockey who drags himself into a snow-covered dreary studio to do his night shift - expecting it to be a very typical broadcast. He soon realizes the impending blizzard has also brought something else with it, a mysterious virus that has an immediate sweeping effect on the small town of Pontypool. Soon enough it makes its way to the Studio where he is left with limited resources, company, and the facts on what is causing it. His two producers, Sydney Briar (Lisa Houle) and Laurel-Ann Drummond (Georgina Reilly) look to him for guidance, and he is left to rely on his experience and quick-wit.
          This film is rather refreshing given the already over-saturated pool of zombie films. It's a twist on the genre that I have not seen before, and was quite surprised and impressed when it revealed itself. I really liked the bleak colors used and the look of the aged studio with its paint-peeling walls and long neglected decor. McHattie and Houle really stood out in their roles. The filmmaker really played with audio which seems to be a less-traveled road where zombie film-makers tend to rely more on heavily stylized gore. There is a scene in the first act where Grant Mazzy pulls over on the side of the road after he drops his cell phone on the passenger-side floor. A woman who he believes is his daughter knocks on his door and he immediately realizes is a hallucination. As she disappears there is an ambient, repetitive voice that echoes for about 10 seconds or so. The subtlety of that moment haunted me and stuck with me more than any other single moment in the film. McDonald was able to hold onto that technique though, and it continued to play out through the rest of the film in slightly varied incarnations.
          You serve as Grant Mazzy's invisible companion over the course of the night. Grant Mazzy is lonesome yet approachable. He seems heart-torn but remains a curious intellectual. You later end up dealing with the same level of uncertainty as he is, where the frantic speculators make phone calls to the studio which ultimately turns into actual physical bodies OUTSIDE the studio doors. You need to feel comfortable with Grant Mazzy because he's all you got. And it's not so bad.

The Prestige

Christopher Nolan, 2006


4/5

          Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are rival magicians with a long history together. This was not always the case, as they had started their apprenticeship together in earlier years. Any bond they had was eventually torn by tragedy, which planted a seed of disdain and envy that grew into a complicated hatred as the years went on. The jealousy also grew as they continued to try to outdo each other in their performances. When Borden finally introduced his "Transporting Man" demonstration into his act, Angier HAD to figure out the method. Seeking help from Nicola Tesla (David Bowie), he was determined to reveal Borden's trickery, if only for himself to outdo in his own repertoire.
          A day later this film is sticking with me. I am mad at myself for waiting so long to see this, especially after hearing so much positive feedback from everyone. It reeks of Nolan immediately, of course in a good way. Christian Bale is an amazing actor and Nolan really knows how to direct him well. Hugh Jackman, who is usually hit or miss for me is great and really delivers a memorable performance, probably the best performance I've seen from him. With such sophisticated attention to detail this film clearly deserved its Oscar nod for Best Art Direction (although I cannot fault the Academy for giving the award to Pan's Labyrinth). Scarlett Johansson was stellar in her role as Angier's assistant, Olivia Wenscombe, someone who is passionate and multi-layered. Rebecca Hall, who played Sarah Borden, was also really impressive. There really wasn't one bad performance in the film.
         I don't believe ANYONE other than Nolan could have made this film. The direction was so flawless and the story-line really made you feel as if you were an audience member watching the magician's perform. Nolan jumps around in the timeline of the story, in that Nolan-esque way. The film has everything: suspense, love, death, surprise, spectacle, and DAVID BOWIE! The ending was very satisfying, in fact I am still thinking about it.

Timecrimes

Nacho Vigalondo, 2007

4/5

This is a Spanish time travel film starring Karra Elejalde. Very well made, well written, well acted. Elejalde was compelling in the lead role as Hector. I found him to be a sympathetic character within the first 15 minutes of the film. This film has the same grittiness and sophistication as "Primer" (2004), but on a much higher budget ($2.6M vs $7K). Not sure where that budget went because the film is absent of big budget effects, CGI, makeup, etc. It just didnt need it. So rich in storyline, the 90 min. runtime went by quickly and I was completely satisfied with the ending.

Identity

James Mangold, 2003

2/5

This film is about a group of strangers who become stranded at a remote motel one night while a crazed murderer is on the loose. There are a couple of plot twists, but this film just feels very predictable. I felt like this had something going for it early, but that seemed to fade away abruptly. I'm disappointed because I really like John Cusack's older films (Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, One Crazy Summer), but with those older films comes a lot of mediocre films like this one that I just don't care for.