Joe Wright’s
Atonement
Opens Friday, December 7, 2007
Starring: Keira
Knightley (Cecilia Turner) ; James McAvoy (Robbie
Turner); Saoirse Ronan (young Briony Tallis);
Romola Garai (Briony Tallis at 18); Harriet Walter
(Emily Tallis); Brenda Blethlyn (Grace Turner);
and Vanessa Redgrave (present day Briony). Based
on the novel by Ian McEwen
Reviewed
by Wendy R. Williams
British director
Joe Wright has fulfilled the promise he exhibited
with 2005’s Pride and Prejudice
with his helming of the lushly gorgeous Atonement.
Set in 1935 during the start of World War II,
the story is awash in class struggle, jealousy,
repression and sexuality.
Thirteen year old
Briony (Saoirse Ronan) is an aspiring writer and
a child of privilege. Born into the upper class
of England, Briony lives with her parents and
older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) in a story
book country house. And in what should have been
one glorious day spent in the beautiful English
countryside, Briony misinterprets a series of
events and ruins the lives of her sister and her
sister’s secret lover, the house keeper’s
son Robbie (James McAvoy).
The English class
caste system was in a state of flux in 1935 and
Robbie’s aspiring to romance Cecilia was
emblematic of the coming changes in class structure.
Robbie had been sent to Cambridge as a scholarship
student at the same time that Cecelia had been
away at Cambridge.
On that fateful day, the hottest day of the year,
Robbie accidentally breaks a vase, a piece of
which falls into a fountain. Cecelia is furious
about the loss of the vase and strips to her underwear
and dives into the fountain to retrieve the missing
piece and emerges sopping wet and for all purposes
naked. The stripping, diving and emerging are
observed by the jealous and naive Briony who misinterprets
both this and a series of other overheated events
that occur that same day.
The next part of
the film is set during World War II. Robbie, whose
prospects for professional success and love have
been ruined by Briony’s lies, is in France
fighting the Germans. The English have been routed
and are waiting at Dunkirk to be rescued in a
scene that echoes Dante’s Inferno.
Both Cecelia and Briony are working as nurses
in London. Briony has come to her senses and realized
what a horrible sin she committed when she was
a naïve, class-conscious, thirteen-year-old,
know-it-all. Briony desperately wants her sister
and Robbie to forgive her, but the lives she ruined
have become Humpty Dumpties and nothing she can
do can put them back together again.
In the last segment
we see the now dying Briony (Vanessa Redgrave),
a successful novelist at the end of her life,
being interviewed for a television show. And we
learn that Briony’s entire life has been
spent wishing for a forgiveness/atonement that
has never come.
And as for the
cast:The multi-talented Keira Knightly (the Pirate
movies and Wright's Pride and Predjudice)
is stunningly beautiful as Cecelia. Her scenes
with James McAvoy explode with eroticism. McAvoy
(The Last King of Scotland) has definitely
proven to be one of the (if not the) most talented
young English actor of his generation. And young
Saoirse Ronan does a brilliant job of portraying
the multi-faceted young Briony as a basically
good young woman who is so confused by her emerging
sexuality that she commits a monstrous act of
evil. And Romola Garai as the eighteen year old
Briony is heart breaking as she strives for forgiveness
by submerging her soul in the quest to help wounded
British soldiers. And what can I say about the
incomparable Vanessa Redgrave that has not already
been said except to say “Ditto.”
Joe Wright did a beautiful job putting together
this multi-layered story of love, war, jealousy
and grief. Atonement is destined to be
a classic; it is definitely a movie I will not
soon forget.
12/13/2007:
According to this article on MSNBC.com,
Atonement received seven nominations
for the Golden Globes, the largest number of nominations
for any film.
Ethan Hawke and Philip
Seymour Hoffman in
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Sidney Lumet's
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Opens Friday, October 26, 2007
Reviewed by Alejandra
Serret
Sidney Lumet is
a little guy. He’s short, slight in frame,
has fury eyebrows, and small hands. A quick comparison
to Scorsese seems too easy and yet, like the better-known,
younger director, Lumet is a genius behind the
camera. At eighty-four years old his career has
burgeoned with films like Dog Day Afternoon,
The Wiz and Serpico, working
with greats at their peak—Pacino, Brando,
Hoffman, as in Philip Seymour (although this one
is up for discussion). Lumet is as they say, a
legend.
At it again, decades
after his most noted work, Lumet brings us Before
the Devil Knows You’re Dead: a film
best described as a Greek tragedy of a dysfunctional
family unable to pull themselves from their destructive
path. The tragic characters in turmoil: the father
who is too hard on his eldest son, the younger
brother who strives for his elder brother’s
attention, the much loved mother/martyr, jealousy,
adultery, and betrayal. Lumet tells their story
in a non-linear way exposing the family’s
unraveling in the opening scene—a robbery
gone horribly wrong. (Actually, the film begins
with a provocative sex scene between Andy (Hoffman)
and his wife Gina, played by Marisa Tomei.)
Philip Seymour
Hoffman plays Andy, a character that is manipulative
and scheming. Ethan Hawke plays the younger, less
intelligent brother. Both Hawke and Lumet argue
that the more obvious casting choice would have
been the reversal—Hawke as the calculating
older brother and Hoffman as the self-loathing,
self-deprecating Hank. This option, however, allowed
them both to play with more challenging, less-expectant
character traits. Hawke found it hardest to play
such a moral-lacking, weak character, but took
the role for its attachment to Lumet—an
opportunity he thanks Hoffman’s success
for.
The tangled plot
unwinds in a non-linear way divulging portions
of itself at a time. From the beginning, viewers
know that partners-in-crime Andy and Hank plan
the nearly perfect crime: the robbery of a local
mom and pop jewelry store. The catch is that it
is their mother and father’s store, one
they are intimate with. Their seemingly flawless
plan goes haywire, resulting in their mother’s
death. Without the matriarch at their center,
the family crumbles. The males are unable to lay
their expectations to rest—Charles, the
patriarch of the family, played by Albert Finney
is hardest on Andy. Andy vies for his father’s
affection and Hank fights for Andy’s. It’s
the never-ending cycle that stays unresolved.
The caliber
of acting speaks volumes of this film, which is
at once surprising and expected. Lumet stays true
to his nature and does not disappoint. His experience
has kept him sharp, allowing for precise and beautiful
story telling in Before the Devil Knows You’re
Dead.
Tom Wilkinson, Ewan McGregor
and Colin Farrell in Cassandra's Dream
Woody Allen's
Cassandra's Dream
Opens Friday, December 28, 2007
Starring: Ewan
McGregor; Colin Farrell; Hayley Atwell; Sally
Hawkins; and Tom Wilkinson.
Reviewed
by Wendy R. Williams
What would you be willing
to do to save your life? Not from death but to
save yourself from dying of boredom or worse,
to save yourself from having to live without the
use of your knees?
Woody Allen's
Cassandra’s Dream tells the story of
two lower-middle-class London brothers - the upwardly
mobile Ian (played by Ewan McGregor) and his gambling-addicted
loser brother Terry (played by a Colin Farrell
you have never seen before). Ian wants more from
life than his present existence, one where he
works in the family restaurant and dates cute
waitresses. And one beautiful day, while driving
through the countryside in a “borrowed”
vintage sports car (Terry is a mechanic), he sees
Angela (played by a gorgeous Hayley Atwell) stranded
on the side of road attempting to fix her disabled
car. It is love at first sight and jump starts
Ian’s desire to become a player in life
by investing in a hot-but-dubious-sounding real
estate deal in California.
Meanwhile Ian’s
brother Terry has a different kind of problem:
Terry is addicted to gambling. When he wins, it
is intoxicating. Terry won so big one time at
the dog track that he was able to buy a sail boat
named Cassandra’s Dream which he named after
the winning dog in the race. But sometimes Terry
does not do so well and recently Terry lost ninety-thousand
pounds to some not-so-nice men. And this is ninety-thousand
pounds that Terry has no prayer of ever being
able to pay back.
But never fear;
there is salvation in sight. These shlubby boys
have a rich uncle who has relocated to California
and who now comes to London for a visit. Uncle
Howard (played by Tom Wilkinson) is everyone’s
dream uncle. He has never had children himself
and dotes on his sister’s boys.
So we are then
treated to a darkly funny family conference. Uncle
Howard and the boys meet and both boys explain
that they each need ninety-thousand pounds –
Ian to invest in his real estate deal and prove
himself worthy of the beautiful Angela and Terry
to live the rest of his life without the use of
crutches. Uncle Howard smiles kindly and says
of course. He does not even seem to be listening
as the boys promise to pay him back. But then
Uncle Howard tells his darling nephews that he
needs a small favor in return. Uncle Howard also
needs to save his life and he will be happy to
save his nephews lives if they will do the same
for him.
And thus the die
is cast. The boys have been asked to perform a
morally reprehensible act and if they do not do
it, they will both lose not their physical lives
but their present existence. But if they do help
out dear Uncle Howard, how will they be able to
live with themselves afterwards?
Cassandra’s
Dream is the latest of Woody Allen’s
London films. The film is gloomy and realistic.
The mood is set by Phillip Glass’s haunting
score and Vilmos Zsigmond’s (who also shot
Melinda and Melinda) cinematography.
But unlike Allen's other London films, Dream
is not darkly elegant like Match Point
or quirkily funny like Scoop; it is more
of a Bud Light version of Allen’s New York
based masterpiece, Crimes and Misdemeanors.
But in Dream,
Allen does not relent in the downward thrust of
his plot like he did in Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Allen allows the characters to find their own
destiny with no whimsical twists of fate or self-justifying
moralizing to catapult them to a different outcome.
All the actors
do fine jobs. Ewan McGregor plays the charming
cad with his usual insouciance. Colin Farrell
is a revelation as the loser brother; there is
none of his usual “I’m a movie star”
posturing. Newcomer Hayley Atwell does a fine
job of playing the just-reachable goddess. And
in a small part, Sally Hawkins (as Terry’s
wife Kate) does a great job of impersonating Woody
Allen’s muse, Scarlett Johansson (Hawkins
could pass for Johansson's sister). But the real
acting kudos go to Tom Wilkinson who is subtly
hysterical in his role as the loving uncle who
comes for a visit with just a bit of baggage for
his nephews to carry.
Jon Poll’s
Charlie Bartlett
Opens Friday, February 22, 2008
Starring: Robert
Downey; Anton Yelchin: Hope Davis: Kat Dennings:
Murphey Bivens
Reviewed at the
2007 Tribeca Film Festival by Wendy R. Williams
Charlie Barlett
is a quirky charming saga that tells the
story of the new guy at a suburban a high school,
a charismatic misfit who parlays his unassuming
wit and charm to become the most popular kid on
campus. And along his route to becoming “prom
king,” he falls in love with the principal’s
quasi-Goth daughter Susan (a charming Kat Dennings
with lots of red lipstick) and finds his nemesis
in person of the manically-depressed-alcoholic-high-school-principal,
Mr. Gardner (Robert Downey, Jr.).
Here is a quote from the Tribeca Film Festival
press release, “Failing to fit in at a high
school run by a disenchanted principal (Robert
Downey, Jr.), awkward Charlie Bartlett (Anton
Yelchin) is running out of options for making
friends--until he names himself the school "psychiatrist."
When he starts doling out advice, and the occasional
pill, to classmates, his popularity soars in this
witty take on teenage insecurity.”
This movie is funny on so many levels. Charlie
lives in gothic mansion with his eccentric mother
Marilyn (played by the mega talented Hope Davis),
with whom he has a Hansel-and-Gretel-in-the-woods
relationship. The family obviously has money (there
is a chauffeured Bentley), but are also obviously
over come by some mysterious melancholy. There
are so many hysterical scenes: (1) Charlie looking
up psychiatric drugs in pharmacological texts
and then surfing psychiatric couches describing
the exact symptoms that can be cured by the pill-of
–the-month (2) Charlie setting up his psychiatric
office in the men’s room (he in one stall
the supplicant in the other – Catholic anyone?).
This movie has an amazing tone and the credit
can only be given to the director, John Poll.
He kept his symphony under tight control.
And now about Robert Downey in his role as the
principal, Mr. Gardner. Downey plays Gardner as
a total whack job, but as the scariest kind of
whacko – the one where all of the rage is
tamped down so far you can only “see”
it when the hairs stand up on the back of your
neck. The scene where Downey is drunkenly shooting
mechanized toy boats in his swimming pool should
be taught in acting class. He is terrifying but
he also seems trustworthy??? He is enraged by
Charlie; but who doesn’t become enraged
when forced to watch someone else walk on water?
Mike Nichols'
Charlie Wilson’s War
Opens Friday, December 21, 2007
Reviewed by Frank
J. Avella
Charlie Wilson’s
War is yet another hotly anticipated holiday
release that was immediately pummeled by a gaggle
of quasi-critics (those self-appointed Oscar “experts”
you’ve heard so much bashing about this
season) as not worthy of all the expectation hyped
upon it. Well, firstly, the expectation was hyped
by these gurus of nada themselves, proving once
again that ‘those who can’t’
love to build up and then immediately tear down.
The good news,
my film friends, is that the “chosen”
few were fucking wrong (not the first time) and
full of shit (not surprising) for Charlie
Wilson’s War is not only one of the
most sharply written, deftly directed and masterfully
acted films of the year, it’s a fan-frikkin’-tastically
funny comedy as well, something the season is
sorely lacking.
Aaron Sorkin, who
began his career as a playwright (A Few Good
Men) and then moved very quickly to episodic
TV (The West Wing) and has recently moved back
to Broadway (The Farnsworth Invention)
has penned a smart, savvy, satiric look at one
man’s ablilty to manage the impossible...with
a little help from his friends.
The film follows
the womanizing, boozing liberal Congressman from
Texas known as “Goodtime Charlie”
along an unexpected journey to free the Afghans
from the Soviet stronghold, after the invasion
of 1979. Wilson is the perfect Washington operator.
He knows the right people and knows how to get
things done. When he asks for five million dollars
for something the CIA is planning, he gets it--no
questions asked.
Charlie is, initially,
hoodwinked into this challenge by the wealthy
and powerful Houston socialite Joanne Herring,
played with delight and relish by a stunning Julia
Roberts. This may not be the pretty woman we’re
used to (especially in that fright wig) but she
sinks her teeth in solidly here and delivers.
It’s Joanne
who arranges a key meeting between Charlie and
the Pakistani president. Toss in a sardonic and
bitter CIA op (played perfectly by Philip Seymour
Hoffman) as well as Israelis and Arabs (who were
brought together for the first and ONLY time)
and Charlie has the ammunition he needs (figuratively
and literally) to aide the Afghans in their plight
against the, then, Soviets. Of course, helping
with the defeat must never reflect back to the
U.S.
Much information
is tossed at the audience in the movie. Some of
it will not brain-stick during the first viewing,
but it doesn’t have to. It’s fine
to simply grasp the crux of what is going on and
the unbelievable achievement one man and a few
enemy countries were able to accomplish. The results
proved terrific (the end of the cold war with
the fall of the Soviet wall) and terrible (much
of the training of the Muslims created a breeding
ground for the Islamic fundamentalists that would
go on to hate America and seek revenge...)
There’s been
some controversy about the original ending being
forced-cut by Universal because Wilson and Herring
did not appreciate being connected, even peripherally,to
what would eventually be the 9/11 attacks--so
they allegedly sought legal counsel and twisted
a few studio arms. Regardless, the point is felt,
even though the current ending feels too abrupt.
Otherwise the film moves fluidly and is finely
edited (by Oscar winner John Bloom).
Tom Hanks is doing
some of his best work now. Along with Road
to Perdition, this is one of his sharpest
performances. He’s unafraid to give Charlie
the faults and freckles that make him who he is.
This is not a Jimmy Stewart turn (and it easily
could have been). Hanks humanizes Charlie for
us so we can understand and appreciate the folly
of politics and of personal judgments. Hanks does
what the Harrison Fords of the industry are afraid
to do, he takes chances with his film selections
and with his craft. The results are an ever expanding
repertoire of fascinating characters as well as
choices..
A special mention
to the wonderful Amy Adams (Enchanted),
who is one of the few girls in the film Charlie
does not sleep with as well as the perennially
political Ned Beatty, always on his game.
Director Mike Nichols
is a craftsman who has made some truly great films
(Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,
The Graduate, Silkwood and the
made for TV masterwork, Angels in America).
Charlie may not make that list but it
stands proud with his most stellar work.
Paulo Morelli’s
City of Men
Starring: Douglas Silva,
Darlan Cunha, Jonathan Hassgensen, Rodrigo Dos
Santos, Camila Monteiro, Naima Silva, Eduardo
“BR” Piranha, Luciando Vidigal, and
Pedro Henrique.
Reviewed by Marguerite Daniels
20 years ago a
green Dan Quayle drew comparison between himself
and John F. Kennedy and received the famed verbal
smack-down response from Lloyd Bentsen who uttered:
“Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I
knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of
mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.”
Sadly, the same can be said of Paulo Morelli’s
City of Men, a film which is being billed
as a companion piece to the Oscar®-nominated
City of God, directed by Fernando Meirelles.
City of Men is no City of God.
There are
obvious similarities: the names of the films are
similar, both films are shot in the favelas of
Rio, both are coming of age stories, and both
films share the same young actors, but unfortunately
for City of Men it lacks the searing
direction found in the original film and the matching-monikered
television series. The film borrows the frantic
action-filled high adrenalin rush of City
of God but doesn’t deliver the poignant
desperation of the original film, and without
perilous anxiety the film falls flat.
This isn’t
to say that I didn’t like City of Men,
I liked it fine, but I really wanted to love City
of Men as much as I loved City of God
and City of Men, the television series.
In City of Men we are reintroduced to
Acerola “Ace” (played beautifully
by Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha “Wallace”
(the endearing Darlan Cunha). Those familiar with
the television series (and it does pay to have
familiarity with the television series before
seeing this film) will be pleased to see Ace and
Wallace fully grown at eighteen. Both are enduring
personal hardships: Ace has become a father, and
Wallace is searching for the father he never knew.
While they seek to understand themselves, a secret
from the past threatens to destroy both of them,
and the two young men are thrust into opposing
sides of a gang war. And what a scary gang war
it is. Everyone’s lives are altered in the
favelas as the ruling drug dealer is challenged.
Innocent people die, families are torn apart.
None of this is new territory for the series.
The new theme in City of Men deals with
how the lack of fathers in the favelas affects
the young people. Alas, the long-lost father theme
isn’t subtly executed. Viewers of the film
are repeatedly told that Ace shouldn’t be
like his father and abandon his son. When Wallace
finally locates his father (played masterfully
by the ruggedly handsome Rodrigo Santos) the audience
is told over and over again that he’s a
bad father for not caring for his son.
Of course,
we already know all of this. The boys have grown
up in dangerous, gun-infested shantytown, after
all. What’s of greater concern in this film
is a theme that is never explored: even with present
and available paternal units, how could our fair
heroes find safe-havens in such squalor? The same
economic divide that creates the environment still
exists, and the missing daddy issue just seems
pat. Without real social change in Brazil, criminal
enterprises will continue to prosper.
So, ok,
City of Men isn’t a great film,
but the art direction presented by Adriano Goldman
(Director of Photography) and Rafael Ronconi (Art
Director) is equally picturesque and haunting,
and I’ll be purchasing the soundtrack (kudos
to composer Antonio Pinto) as soon as it is available.
I suppose this is a classic example of familiarity
breeding contempt since I know the story of Ace
and Wallace well. Over the past six years I’ve
watched Ace and Wallace grow-up. I guess I simply
yearned for a more poignant vehicle for their
send-off.
Julian Schnabel's
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
French with English Subtitles
Opens November 30, 2007
Starring: Mathieu
Amalric (Jean-Dominique Bauby); Emmanuelle Seigner
(Céline Desmoulins); Marie-Josée
Croze (Henriette Durand); Anne Consigny (Claude);
and Olatz Lopez Garmendia (Marie Lopez).
Reviewed by Wendy
R. Williams
Julian Schnabel
(Basquait, Before Night Falls)
has made a gorgeous, sensual feast of a film about
the sad story of Jean Dominique Bauby, the editor
of Elle France, who at the young age
of forty-three suffered a stroke that left him
in "locked-in" condition. Unable to
move any part of his body except his left eye,
Bauby (played by Mathieu Amalric), wrote a book
(also titled The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
about his experience.
Working from a
script by Ronald Harwood (The Pianist,
Love in the Time of Cholera, Oliver
Twist) the first half of the film is told
through the camera-eye of Bauby's left eye. As
the story opens, we as Bauby's eye, awake to see
kindly worried people hovering over our bed telling
us that we have had a stroke and now that we are
awake we should be just fine. Then one of the
doctors asks Bauby to say his name, he does and
no one hears him except us, the film audience.
Bauby then narrates
his own movie, telling us the story of his old
and new life. Bauby's affliction has not made
him into a saint. He is instead the same sardonic
hedonist that he was before the accident.
The story follows
Bauby's work with his gorgeous therapists, Henriette
(played by Marie-Josée Croze) and Marie
(Schnabel's wife Olatz Lopez Garmendia). Henriette
devises a method by which Bauby can communicate
with the world - a chart with the letters of the
French alphabet arranged in most-used order. She
painstakingly goes through the alphabet and Bauby
blinks when she reaches a letter that he wishes
to use. Bauby signals that he would like to write
the book that he had contracted to write before
the accident and the therapist make arrangements
with his publisher to have yet another beautiful
woman take dictation, Claude (played by Marie
Anne Consigny).
This film is never
maudlin; it is beautifully shot by Janusz Kaminski,
also Steven Spielberg's cinematographer. We leave
the viewpoint of Bauby's eye and see the world
around him. The hospital room is a green marvel
and the hospital itself is located by the sea;
the entire setting is lovely. And to paraphrase
Dr. Seuss, oh the things Bauby saw. Bauby receives
visitors, the gorgeous mother of his three children,
Celine (played by Emmanuelle Seigner). We see
them on the beach with Celine's skirt being lifted
by the wind. His equally gorgeous children visit
and play in the sand. And Bauby's beautiful view
of the world is not restricted to his present
"diving bell." We follow the butterfly
of his imagination as he remembers his past and
takes flights of fancy into the future. And we
follow him as he drives former girlfriend to Lourdes,
her hair beautifully blowing in the wind. Bauby
was a lustful man and the film is permeated with
Bauby's (and Schnabel's) lust for life.
Bell is
one of the best films I have seen this year and
that is quite a complement with films like Gone
Baby Gone and Before the Devil Knows
You're Dead for competition. Schnabel won
the prize for Best Director at the Cannes Film
Festival for Bell and this film will
surely be an Oscar contender for Schnabel, Harwood,
Kiminski and the talented (and gorgeous) cast.
Kevin Lima’s
Enchanted
Opens November 21, 2007
Starring: Amy Adams; Patrick Dempsey; James Marsden;
and Timothy Spall.
Reviewed by Frank
J. Avella
To say Amy
Adams is enchanting in Enchanted is redundant--to
the third power actually. Anyone who saw her hilarious
and heartbreaking turn in Junebug, two
years ago, knows just how extraordinary this actress
is. This is a star-making performance, no question.
One that will rightly garner Adams an Academy
Award nomination. What is so remarkable about
Kevin Lima’s new film is just how much it
lives up to Adams’ talents!
Enchanted
is the first live action/animation blend that
I have ever seen that actually investigates what
it is like for a cartoon to become human…for
a drawn fairy princess (to be) to become a flesh
and blood woman bursting with confusion, lust
and her own newfound idiosyncrasies. (It’s
not rated R so it doesn’t go THAT far—this
is still Disney!) And thanks to Adams we are privy
to her inner world and we watch her move from
her one-dimensional demeanor, excitedly and with
trepidation, to exploring full three-dimensionality!
I do not feel the
need to give away any of the plot. Suffice to
say; you’ve seen it all before…until
you haven’t!
Disney gets lots
of props for not just allowing the creative forces
at work to skew and satire their precious film
characters, heritage, image, etc…but to
do it in such a clever and deliciously whacky
way. This never feels like a paint-by-numbers
Hollywood film.
The movie has the
chutzpah to poke fun at many animated (and musical)
conventions such as: having characters burst into
song for no real reason and the delightful staple
of summoning nearby creatures to help out our
heroine. The latter is brilliantly turned upside
down in the number: “Happy Working Song”
when Adams asks the help of a slew of nearby pigeons,
rats and cockroaches to help clean Patrick Dempsey’s
(yes, McDreamy!) apartment. It is an instant classic
clip as we watch with joy and horror as these
vermin infest the screen, all led with happy glee
by Adams! Even the character’s name, Giselle,
is a fun riff on past Disney heroines.
The three new songs
by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz are wonderful,
with “That’s How You Know” having
a particularly Oscary ring to it.
Besides the sensational
Adams, James Marsden should be singled out for
a stellar Prince of a performance. Marsden, once
an Ally McBealer, currently seen in Hairspray,
is one of the most underrated actors working today.
And there seems to be no limits to his talents.
Finally, the film
is a Valentine to the greatest city in the world:
New York—and specifically, Manhattan. Central
Park, Lincoln Center and, in particular, Times
Square, are photographed with such love that we
understand why Giselle is so taken with our fair
city, that she would want to permanently stay
and not return to the magical kingdom she came
from.
David Moreau and Xavier
Palud’s
The Eye
Opens Friday, February 1, 2008
Starring: Jessica
Alba (Sydney Wells); Alessandro Nivola (Dr. Paul
Faulkner); Parker Posey (Helen Wells); Rade Serbedzija
(Simon McCullough); Fernanda Romero (Ana Christina
Martinez); and Chloe Moretz (Alicia Millstone).
Reviewed
by Wendy R. Williams
Read
the Interview with Jessica Alba
Directors David Moreau
and Xavier Palud took on quite a challenge when
they decided to remark the Pang Brother’s
Hong Kong based film, The Eye. The
Eye has become a bit of a cult classic with
lovers of horror films. I saw the original and
reviewed
it when it was part of the Lincoln Center
Film Society’s Hong Kong Film Series in
2002.
Both versions of
The Eye tell the story of a young woman
who has been blind since early childhood. Her
vision is restored when she receives a corneal
transplant. But with her new sight comes horrifying
images of people who dying. Our heroine then consults
a doctor (a psychiatrist in the Hong Kong film
and a neural specialist in the Moreau/Palud film).
The remake is now
set in Los Angeles and our heroine Sidney Wells
(Jessica Alba) is now a concert violinist. There
are other differences between the films. In the
Hong Kong version of the film, the heroine’s
doctor and friends are open to the possibility
of the supernatural. In the Moreau/Palud film,
everyone thinks Sidney has had a mental breakdown;
her doctor, Dr. Paul Faulkner (played by Alessandro
Nivola; her sister Helen (played by Parker Posey);
and the conductor of the symphony, Simon Mc Cullough
(played by Rade Serbedzija).
Sidney’s
mind has become a living horror house. She is
constantly visually assaulted: There are dead
people in her elevator and her hallway and every
night at 1AM she awakes to visions of people screaming
as the burn to death.
No one believes
Sidney, so she does what any seeing/thinking person
would do, she goggles transplant memories using
her Braille computer and printer. Sidney finds
information about a phenomenon known as cellular
memory. This is the supposed tranfer of a donor's
memories with transplanted body parts. Sidney
then convinces her very skeptical doctor to help
her find her donor, the woman Sidney sees when
she looks in the mirror. Sidney and Paul then
travel to a small town in Mexico to find out what
happened to her donor, Fernanda Romero (played
by Ana Christina Martinez). And when they do,
they find the source of the horror.
So, how does
everyone do? Jessica Alba played Sidney as a very
contained character who does everything that is
humanly possible to stay centered when her entire
world begins to crater into the abyss. Alessandro
Nivola gives a nuanced performance as the skeptical
doctor. Parker Posey does a fine job of playing
the part of the supportive but disbelieving sister
and she does so without any of her usual quirks.
And little Chloe Moretz was heart breaking as
the brain cancer patient who befriends Sidney
in the hospital.
Casey Affleck, Morgan
Freeman and Michelle Monaghan
Ben Affleck's
Gone Baby Gone
Opens everywhere Friday, October 19, 2007
Reviewed by Alejandra
Serret
When I hear Ben
Affleck’s name associated with a project
I can't help but wonder if the moment has arrived
in which he can assert himself as a Hollywood
powerhouse and detach himself from career blunders
like Gigli, Jersey Girl and
Paycheck. His recent work as George Reeves
in Hollywoodland (while it bombed at
the box office) brought him close, not only displaying
true talent but a desire to challenge himself
artistically. After spending the majority of his
career in front of the camera, he is most impressive
behind, with his directorial debut, Gone Baby
Gone. It’s been 10 years since Ben
Affleck wowed audiences with Good Will Hunting,
which he co-wrote and acted in, winning an Oscar.
He has again proved his worthiness with his adaptation
of Dennis Lehane’s novel Gone Baby Gone,
like his other work (i.e. Mystic River),
it explores Boston’s grimmer side.
South Boston natives/private
investigators/lovers Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck)
and Angie Genarro (Michelle Monaghan) work to
uncover the mystery surrounding the disappearance
of four-year-old Amanda McCready. Familiar with
the streets and people of Dorchester, the partners
dive head first, investing themselves in finding
her. While the Boston Police Department may have
experience on their side, Kenzie and Genarro have
connections and understand the street mentality.
The chilling truth they unearth tells the story
of a neglected child and the community she lives
in—at once coming together and coming apart.
Ben Affleck is
able to execute a genuine tone and cadence in
Gone Baby Gone through his dedication
to authenticity—from the actors to the setting
and technique. The film begins with deliberate,
almost poetic shots of Dorchester. Affleck captured
the beauty of the ordinary, which became heightened
through a traumatic event. His younger brother
Casey Affleck, who has recently garnered positive
buzz with his portrayal of Robert Ford in The
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert
Ford, delivered perfectly, owning his role
as Patrick Kenzie.
Casey Affleck’s
subtlety exposes a genuine talent allowing viewers
to become invested in Amanda’s plight and
the desire to see her home safely. While his performance
raises the film’s potential, it’s
the cast chemistry that makes it a true success.
Michelle Monaghan is believable and not overshadowed
by Morgan Freeman (police chief Jack Doyle) or
Ed Harris (police detective Remy Bressant). While
both veterans deliver as expected, it’s
in the more unexpected roles that the film shines.
Amy Ryan, who plays Helene McCready, and Jill
Quigg, as her best friend Dottie, capture the
jargon, accent, and attitude. Ben Affleck showcases
his attention to detail and his dedication to
accurately portraying a city in the ways that
it is both bad and good. He does Lehane justice
through his adaptation and vision of Gone
Baby Gone.
Bryan Gunner
Cole’s
Day Zero
Opens Friday, January 18th, 2008
Starring: Elijah
Wood (Aaron Feller); Jon Bernthal (James Dixon);
Chris Klein (George Rifkin); Ginnifer Goodwin
(Molly Rifkin); Elisabeth Moss (Patricia); Ally
Sheedy (Dr. Reynolds).
Reviewed by John
Janusz
Day
Zero is a drama set in a near-futuristic
America at a time when the national draft has
been reinstated. Three best friends from high
school are now in their early thirties as they
each simultaneously receive their thirty day draft
notice. The film focuses not on the war itself,
but the lives of the three protagonists and their
reactions to being drafted from the moment they
receive their notice up until their deployment.
The film features: Elijah Wood as Aaron Feller,
a neurotic writer who makes weekly visits to his
shrink (Ally Sheedy); Chris Klein as George Rifkin,
a yuppie lawyer; and Jon Bernthal as James Dixon,
a fearless NYC cabdriver. All three come from
different backgrounds, live different lifestyles
and view enlisting in the military in different
ways. George comes from a wealthy family, is happily
married (to Ginnifer Goodwin) and has a successful
career. He desperately searches for any way he
can escape his military obligation and continue
on his current life course. Dixon, on the other
hand, does not come from a wealthy family, is
not in a serious relationship and does not have
a successful career. However, he is intent on
going into battle in order to defend the freedom
of choice that he currently enjoys. The tension
grows between the two as they rationalize their
respective opinions on the matter. Aaron takes
a completely different course and (in an attempt
to prepare himself for the life of a soldier)
makes a Top 10 Ten List of things to do before
he reports for duty that includes actions that
range from skydiving to sleeping with a prostitute.
Overall, the film is intriguing due to the possible
relevancy of a semi-thought-provoking plot. Aaron,
George and Dixon have three distinctly varied
reactions to their draft notices, and a viewer
is likely to agree or disagree with each of them
as well as ask oneself what one might do given
the same predicament. The film then develops a
sympathetic background story for each of its characters
before revealing what resolution each comes to
on Day Zero.
Cate Blanchett in
Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There
Opens November 21, 2007
Reviewed by Frank J. Avella
In a season of
ambitious filmic endeavors, Todd Haynes’
I’m Not There, which is “inspired
by the life and work of Bob Dylan” stands
as one of the most ambitious, and as such, divisive
pics of 2007.
The one and seemingly
ONLY thing most folks agree on is Cate Blanchett’s
performance. Her Dylan is simply astonishing.
But more on her later.
I’m Not
There is mock-docu-pastiche of sorts, a cinema
mosaic of various incarnations that embody the
essence of the many different Dylans, through
the years, as the man reinvented himself—funneled
through the brilliant and inventive mind of Mr.
Haynes. The notion is that one can never truly
capture a person onscreen--their essence. You
can read all the books, articles, listen to all
the music--interview all the loved (and not so
loved) ones and even talk to the subject himself,
and still not really get a good idea who that
person is. And Dylan, the icon, is even more mysterious
than most.
In I’m
Not There, Haynes has impressively created
a host of persons who, together, may give some
representation of the enigmatic artist. It’s
a fascinating premise and he has, single-handedly,
reinvented the (oh, so stale) biopic. Does it
work? Well, now that depends. The film is not
a failure, nor is it a resounding success (to
this critic, anyway). Yet it’s very much
like my perception of Dylan, flawed but extraordinary
(at times).
The six Dylans
include: an 11-year old African-American folk
singer who calls himself Woody Guthrie (the appealing
Marcus Carl Franklin); the progressive singer
on-the-verge known as Jack Rollins (the always
interesting Christian Bale); a difficult Hollywood
actor named Robbie (Heath Ledger); a reclusive
Billy the Kid (Richard Gere); an-Arthur Rimbaudish
poet (an effective Ben Whishaw) and, the Dylan
centerpiece (de resistance!) Jude (wholly embodied
by Blanchett), the curly-mopped superstar, leading
the sweet life (yes, La Dolce Vita)!
All these Dylans are presented in a maddening,
yet poetic, mosaic-like structure.
I greatly admire
the film, but that isn’t the same as loving
it. Actually, I haven’t felt so perplexed
about my own reaction to a film in a very long
time.
The Blanchett sequence
borrows generously from Fellini, specifically
Otto e’ Mezza (8 1/2),
and in there might lay my chief problem with I’m
Not There. I adore Fellini. He’s one
of my favorite auteurs. Fellini (along with Bergman)
was able to concoct his own personal vision hatched
from his lunatic/genius head, put it onscreen
and, somehow, it was miraculously accessible--most
of the time. Haynes’ film is most definitely
personal, almost too personal—somewhat impossible
to penetrate. He has distilled his own Dylan from
all his research and all his love. So it feels
like it’s exclusively Haynes’ Dylan—and
not one we can embrace or even understand. Yet,
perhaps that is the point. Perhaps it’s
okay for this film to be a trip into the mind
of Haynes via Dylan (instead of vice versa). I’m
truly not certain. Perhaps after repeated viewings
I will come to totally embrace the pic…or
loathe it.
What does work,
works supremely well. Heath Ledger is quite powerful
and his scenes with Charlotte Gainsbourg are wonderful
to watch. And there are many sequences that astound
(specifically one that involves Allen Ginsberg
and Jesus Christ—I will say no more). The
Gere scenes are less enthralling and that has
less to do with the actor than with the fact that
those moments never meld with the rest of the
film.
But as soon as
Cate Blanchett blasts onto the screen as the freaky,
androgynous Dylan the movie takes off to tremendously
joyous heights. Blanchett has proven that there
isn’t much she can’t do. From Elizabeth
onward, she has shown her versatility and her
bravery in making choices. No one else in her
peer group (with the possible exception of Kate
Winslet) can come close to her remarkable body
of work these last ten years.
Her Jude isn’t
so much an impersonation—although she is
the closest to a real Dylan that we get (whatever
that means), it’s an exhilarating immersion
into Haynes’ most richly written ‘subject.’
Blanchett’s scenes are what one remembers
most after the credits roll and the lights come
up.
I love the film’s
theme of identity, certainly something that all
artists (all people probably) struggle with. Haynes
puts forth the notion that ultimate freedom is
escaping the pigeonholing and being able to reinvent
yourself as you go through different life cycles.
(Jane Fonda is a great example of an artist who
has metamorphosed more than most and has always
fascinated with her next incarnation.) And why
not? Isn’t that what a realized life should
be? Constantly searching for answers to that eternal
‘why am I here’ question?
I came to this
film as someone who appreciates Dylan--the power
of his music. I wouldn’t call myself a fan.
The film made me crave more. So I went right out
and picked up the four-hour Scorsese documentary
and I bought a few Dylan CDs. I am very happy
I did. If the film does the same for others, then
maybe we’ll all develop our own visions/notions
of Bob Dylan and who he is…who he needs
to be…to us--individually.
Jason Reitman’s
Juno
Opens December 25, 2007
Reviewed by Corey
Shtasel-Gottlieb
There is a movie each year,
it seems, that emerges quietly and suddenly to
touch audiences with its unassuming charm. Such
a film works by repackaging the depressing and
the mundane into a product that allows us to laugh
at ourselves—to find humor where sadness
typically lives. In 2007, that movie is Juno.
Witty, ballsy writing and an endearing cast allow
Juno to function successfully as both biting and
adorable. A story of real substance emerges from
behind the curtain of the prototypical dark comedy,
producing a final product that is raw and hilarious
and true to life. It may not be the year’s
best picture, but Juno will be remembered
as the sleeper film that took 2007 by surprise.
Set on a definitively Minnesotan middle class
landscape, Juno tells the story of Juno
Macguff (Ellen Page), a high school sophomore
who finds herself pregnant after a one-night romp
with best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera).
Spooked by a less than comforting trip to the
abortion clinic, Juno decides to give her baby
up for adoption. Her awkwardly evolving relationship
with the adoptive parents-to-be (played by Jennifer
Garner and Jason Bateman) is painfully humorous,
as she belly-flops gracelessly into their white-bread
lifestyle. Such is the way in which she approaches
each of pregnancy’s seemingly fragile obstacles,
trampling over maternity outfits and ultrasounds
like a bull in a china shop. At face value, Juno
may be the picture of inelegance, but in truth
she is just the opposite: super witty and free-spirited,
she exudes a depth of confidence that is admirable,
even shocking, for a person in her situation.
She embraces her role as the elephant-in-the-room
with a self-deprecating sincerity that renders
her deeply lovable. The core of the film’s
success resides in screenwriter Diablo Cody’s
development of such a character.
Embedded within the story of Juno’s pregnancy
is her relationship with Paulie Bleeker, the film’s
ultimate boy-next-door. Bleeker is Juno’s
soft spot. A goofy gold headband and tiny track
shorts uniform his innocent dorkiness; his quiet
sensitivity clashes with typical depictions of
teenage fathers. Like Juno, he appears to appreciate
his own awkwardness for what it is, though his
admission at the film’s end that “Actually,
I try really hard” makes clear that he is
a bit less secure. Nevertheless, his lack of cynicism
is disarming, and melds almost seamlessly with
Juno’s no-bullshit approach. The love story
into which the film ultimately evolves is a product
of this dynamic—it is untraditional, perhaps
unrealistic, but mostly just, well, sweet.
The strength of Juno’s storyline
is complemented by first-rate acting on all cylinders.
Ellen Page makes the movie. She is so fully entrenched
in this role, so believable, that I find it difficult
to believe that she is not Juno Macguff in real
life. This is, without question, her coming out
party, a performance that should be awarded with
her first Oscar nomination. Cera is good, too.
Although he doesn’t deviate much from his
soft-spoken Superbad shtick, he is perfect for
the part. It is the supporting acting, though,
that elevates Juno to next-level quality. J.K.
Simmons and Allison Janney are excellent as Juno’s
father and stepmother, and not merely from a comedic
perspective; both portray a depth of emotion that
gives credence to the notion of parents as actual
people. The same is true of Jason Bateman and
Jennifer Garner, whose stereotypical yuppyness
melts to reveal a real, struggling couple at movie’s
end. These are the types of performances that
will provide Juno the same warm reception
that made Little Miss Sunshine a hit
in 2006.
In one of the strongest years for film in recent
memory, Juno stands out among 2007’s
brightest. Smart, funny, and original, it infuses
something dark and taboo with genuine warmth.
It is a must-see.
Vincent Paronnaud and
Marjane Satrapi's
Persepolis
Opens Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Reviewed by Julia
Sirmons
A film about angst
and rebellion under the thumb of an oppressive
Islamist regime may, at first glance, seem like
unlikely holiday movie-going fare. Nevertheless,
tales of the resiliency of the human spirit and
the triumph of rebellion and dignity in the most
of trying of political circumstances are very
much in keeping with the greatest story every
told. With that in mind, there's no better way
to keep the seasonal joie de vivre going than
by checking out Persepolis, the visually
arresting, earthy and affecting animated film
adapted form Iranian author Marjane Satrapi's
intensely personal graphic novels.
The film's narrative
spans the course of both books; beginning with
the young Marjane witnessing the fall of the Shah
and the rise of the Islamist revolution, following
her to school in Vienna then back home to Tehran
and finally off to Paris to begin a new life as
an artist.
As graphically
striking as Satrapi's print illustrations are,
the live animation gives the story a new vitality
and depth. Shaded entirely in blacks, whites,
and greys, the illustrations and images manage
to convey a wide variety of emotions: the warm
and homey feel of Marjane's close-knit family,
the eerie and magical depictions of young Marjane's
fantasy world, the traditional Persian aesthetic
of the segments that explain Iranian history,
the neo-noir punk feel of Marjane's sojourn in
Vienna, and the bleak, ominous look of the scenes
of political protest and rebellion. The visual
complexity of Persepolis is truly dazzling;
it looks unlike any film you've ever seen.
As much as the
narrative of Persepolis is inexorably
entwined with the history of modern Iran, it really
is a much more universal story – that of
a smart, tough, rebellious girl struggling to
come into her own when all the weight of circumstance
and society are fighting against her. One of the
great delights of seeing the story on celluloid
is that the character of Marjane (voiced by Gabrielle
Lopes Benites as a girl and by Chiara Mastroianni
as a teenager and adult) really comes to life.
To see the character develop from a fearless kung-fu-loving
young badass to a moody and an outraged teen and
finally a defiant, self-confident woman is heartrendingly
real. The superb cast of powerful, memorable characters
is rounded off by Marjane's formidable and supportive
parents (voiced Simon Akbarian and Mastroianni's
real-life mother, Catherine Deneuve), and her
doting but gutsy grandma (the incomparable Danielle
Darrieux).
In this day and
age, when oppressive regimes stamp out personal
freedoms across the globe, Persepolis
is an empowering call to arms; a strong reminder
that the human desire for liberty can thrive under
the most difficult circumstances. A more inspiring
Christmas message would be difficult to find.
Sylvester Stallone's
Rambo
Opens Friday January 25, 2008
Rambo Returns With a Republican
Starring: Sylvester
Stallone; Julie Benz (Dexter); Paul Schulze
(The Sopranos); Matthew Marsden (Resident
Evil: Extinction, Black Hawk Down);
Graham McTavish (HBO's Rome); Rey Gallegos
(American Wedding); Tim Kang (Third
Watch); Jake LaBotz (Ghost World);
Maung Maung Khin and Ken Howard.
Reviewed by Francesca
C. Simon
The presidential
campaign is a battleground with a cast of Democratic
and Republican hopefuls tossing insult grenades,
spitting out accusations at machine gun speed
and looking for ways to launch surprise attacks
that will catch their enemies off guard. Legislative
voting record body parts flying through the airwaves,
mouth to mouth combat on the campaign trail and
midnight hour strategizing under the cover of
media darkness makes a bloody setting for the
final scenes of the 2008 Presidential Election
in November. It sort of sounds like a Rambo
movie, right?!
We who watch
the action always wait for the hero to arrive
in the final hour to ensure victory. Republican
John McCain’s hero may have just arrived
armed with a movie to add additional ammunition
to McCain’s war hero arsenal! Sylvester
Stallone – the embodiment of the war veteran
Rambo – has endorsed McCain. In New York
to promote his new movie Rambo, which
will blast into theatres today, Stallone told
Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade that typecasting
McCain as President would be the right maneuver.
“I like McCain a lot. A lot,” Stallone
tells Kilmeade on Fox News’ morning show
“Fox and Friends" which aired today,
Friday, January 25, 2008. “And you know,
things may change along the way, but there’s
something about matching the character with the
script. And right now, the script that’s
being written and reality is pretty brutal and
pretty hard-edged like a rough action film, and
you need somebody who’s been in that to
deal with it.”
That sums
up Stallone in the new Rambo movie which he helped
write and directed single handedly. This film
comes almost twenty years after the last film
in the series and this time the setting is northern
Thailand. John Rambo is running a longboat on
the Salween River near the Thai-Burma (Myanmar)
border where the Burmese-Karen conflict, continues
to rage after six decades. The film setting is
based on fact. The Burmese-Karen conflict is the
world's longest-running civil war and is currently
raging in real life into its 60th year. It is
a brutal saga of genocide.
"I thought
the Burmese setting would be ideal because it's
a story that's not just about Rambo. It's actually
happening. It's true," says Stallone. "From
the time I heard about it and began researching
it, I thought, 'If I could just combine the two
– raising “awareness of the Karen-Burmese
civil war and giving the audience a good adventure
story – that would be perfect.” It
seems he has succeeded.
Rambo is a bloody reminder of the reality
of war that shoots through the heart and mind
the painful images of young American men and women
in military uniforms falling on foreign soil wounded,
bleeding and breathing their dying breath with
the hope that their sacrifice will not be in vain.
This movie punches you in the gut with the horrific
bloody sights and high caliber blasting sounds
of real war. This is ninety minutes of war –
not a ten second news clip.
We first
see Rambo (who is living a solitary, simple life
in the mountains and jungles of Thailand) face
to fang with a gigantic poisonous snake, which
he captures and sells. No noble career here. Two
human rights missionaries Sarah (Julie Benz) and
Michael (Paul Schulze), plead with him to carry
them up the Salween River, so they can deliver
medical supplies and food to the Karen tribe,
who are victims of genocide at the hands of the
Burmese military junta.
Rambo first refuses but finally responds to Sarah,
who is the only female in the missionary group.
She speaks softly and imploring him to help them.
We’re not quite sure what makes Rambo change
his mind, but he lets everyone know that he’s
only making the trip for Sarah. Rambo makes the
run up the river, drops them off and returns to
his solitude. But less than two weeks later, pastor
Arthur Marsh (Ken
Howard) finds Rambo and tells him the missionaries
have been captured by the Burmese army. He knows
that Sarah will suffer abuse in the hands of the
brutal military and so he agrees to take a group
of mercenaries up river to rescue the missionaries.
The adventurous effort begins and the action moves
into full gear.
“I
think Sarah stirs something in Rambo, his innate
sense of good versus evil,” explains Stallone.
“He sees this beautiful young woman, and
her doctor boyfriend, who are willing to risk
their safe and comfortable lives to help people
they don't even know who live on the other side
of the world. That awakens something in him. By
saving Sarah, and trying to save the missionaries,
he's also saving part of himself.”
Don't look for deep character development in this
movie. There's no deep passion between the missionaries
Sarah and Paul although they're engaged. The mercenaries
fuss, cuss and spit – but none of them really
move you. There's no insight into the vicious
Burmese Major Tint, epitome of evil, effectively
played by Muang Muang Khin. This man was, in real
life, a resistance fighter for the Karen rebels.
There is no back story of village families or
idealistic soldiers. But the feel of the film
is fiercely authentic. Stallone urged the casting
of native Karen/Burmese who were from the region
and knew about the factual Karen/Burmese conflict.
So real Karen refugees, amputees, land mine victims
and former Burmese soldiers were hired and this
indeed adds a depth of horror and desperation
to their performances. The familiar frames of
rice paddies, dense jungle and the splattering
of blood and guts will bring back many bad memories
of Vietnam for many viewers. The acting is, well,
action-oriented. But Julie Benz should get a special
award from somebody for all the mud, blood, running,
rain, and noise she had to endure.
Stallone
says he never intended to write and direct Rambo
but says he didn’t want to face any
r
