I have to see myself on that boat AGAIN! In 3D this time?!
Rating: 6 out of 10
Every director certainly has a style and while some may try to shake things up every now and again, keep people on their toes, others stay the course and deliver time and time again what you have come to expect from them. That’s not always a bad thing, especially when you have serious accolades and awards already under your belt, but it can also set up a certain type of expectation about the quality and depth of each story you bring to the screen, which sometimes can be a lot to overcome. The truth is there is no end to the sophomore curse. Your last fantastic picture is always quickly overshadowed by your current less than stellar outing. Clint Eastwood is the man under the spotlight right now and what he brings to the table is another tale of power, passion and persecution, all inside one continuously conflicted person.
J. Edgar is one theory of the story behind the story, the man behind the machine that created the F.B.I. and reportedly had the skeletons of scores of American citizens, including the presidents he served under. The film follows his rise to power, his curious relationship with his number two man, and his own seemingly unquenchable need to be feared and revered, leaving a legacy that could never be tarnished.
J. Edgar offers a scenario of what might have went on behind closed doors between Hoover and Tolsen, his number two man, and what motivated Hoover to push himself as hard as he did. Much of it is based on circumstance and conjecture though, so it’d be best to view this film as an imaginative or (at best) a mildly educated guess about the truth behind the most feared man in decades.
Eastwood delivers yet again another deep, layered and complex narrative about a troubled protagonist, someone who you are never really sure whether you want to root for. The film is extremely slow paced and at times drags in its repetition, showing Hoover in one situation after another where his power is called into question. Jumping back and forth between his later life and his early years was a nice touch in the beginning, but by the end, it felt disjointed, like you were being dragged back into the past or thrust into the future just at the moment when things were getting good right where you were. I might have thought about just using the older version of Hoover as bookends to the story and play it out more along a traditional timeline, but who knows, that very well could have dragged as well.
The performances are always the most important part of these types of biopics. You need to be able to lose sight of the actor, usually someone incredibly well known, and truly see the person he is trying to represent. Look at Frank Langella as Nixon in Frost/Nixon, Will Smith as Muhammad Ali in Ali, even our man here, Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in The Aviator, these are invested performances that elevate the movie beyond just a mere educational stroll in the cinematic park. Yet, DiCaprio falters this time in capturing his past fervor, not for lack of trying, just due to a lack of foundation underneath the moments. Naomi Watts also struggles to really find footing as the dutiful secretary, Helen Gandy. The true breakout here is Armie Hammer as Tolson, who brings a magical assured quality to his early life and a beautiful gentleness in his senior years. Hammer truly burst onto the scene last year in his dual performance as the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network, but in J. Edgar he shows he can handle much more than just overconfidence. Tolson is really the moral compass of the film and the only avenue for the audience to navigate their way in, but even with such a virtuoso performance from Hammer, it wasn’t enough to pull the whole film together in the end.
Eastwood’s decision to use younger actors in dramatically older roles also may not have worked to the film’s advantage. I understand it allows a connection, both physical and emotional, between the two versions of the character on screen, but sometimes it can also feel jarring. While we have come light years ahead in the technology of makeup, truly transforming these early birds into aged senior citizens, the one thing that remains is the sound and tenor of their voice. There is something so unique and distinct about a voice that has been speaking for seventy or eighty years, something that is nearly impossible for these youthful actors to capture. Once again, Hammer seemed to outshine DiCaprio in this arena as well, but I still feel it might have been more powerful to have actual older actors in those roles.
The End of the Page recommendation:J. Edgar has some punch to it, but fails to reach the heights of Eastwood’s past or the power of Hoover’s legacy.
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago at 12:59 pm. Add a comment
Yeah, I came five days early to the game. So what? I like front row seats.
Rating: 9 out of 10
As we start heading into the commonly known “Oscar season”, I just get more and more excited each weekend. There is always some movie sparking my interest just around the corner, a new film I’ve been reading about for months and trying with all my powers to not let the bar of hope get raised too high. There are always going to be disappointments, even when they are good films, because I was waiting for great, but what keeps me going are those films who look up at the bar and say, “Oh yeah, not a problem.” Welcome to one of those films…
Moneyball is based on the true story of Billy Beane, a one-time possible superstar in the MLB who turned general manager of the Oakland A’s. After missing once again on his chance for the World Series crown, Beane went rogue, adopted a new system and went after players using a statistical model instead of banking on superstars. It threatened everything the game was built on, it threatened the way things were done in sports, and worst of all…it worked.
Aaron Sorkin‘s name on the poster was the first thing to catch my eye. I sat there as the lights went down and wondered if he could keep his winning streak going (his last two, Charlie Wilson’s War and The Social Network being two of my favorite all time movies). So without wanting to, my bar was already set high into the stratosphere, but as the credits rolled, I felt the film had touched the clouds. Maybe it didn’t hit open space, but still miles above most of what we see on a week-to-week basis. You could feel his power in the dialogue; some classic Sorkin work. I could almost feel particular scenes the way they would have been played on stage. The film wasn’t loaded up with as many quick witted tit-for-tat moments as his last two films, instead it flowed with much more subtlety, using a more even keel in order to lead the audience through an entire season of baseball. I don’t want to give all the credit to Sorkin, since the writing credit is split between himself and Steven Zallian (an Oscar winner himself), but I really don’t know how the work balanced out between them. That split might also be some of the reason why Moneyball doesn’t have that normal Sorkin whip-crack pacing.
Yet, no matter how well the words are written, they still have to be delivered by someone with the skill and sincerity to make them land and Brad Pitt did not disappoint. Without knowing too much of the original story beforehand I was a little concerned with seeing Pitt in this role, which I previously only thought of as a general manager of a baseball team. What really saves him and grounds it in believability is the history of Billy Beane being a failed baseball superstar. Pitt brought the subtle sorrow, the underlying regret he always had nipping at his heels, which helps fuel his desire not only to win, but also to see the game fundamentally changed. What I found most impressive was somewhere along the way, I forgot I was watching Brad Pitt. He disappeared into a dip-spitting, hand-nosed gambler just trying his damnedest to pull off the greatest underdog victory in history. Those are rare performances and they should be recognized as such.
Jonah Hill came along for the ride, playing Peter Brand, the young economics genius who helped develop the formula Beane uses to build his new championship-hopeful team. It definitely is the most dramatic role Hill has tackled so far and put him toe-to-toe with a modern-day film legend in Pitt. Hill held his own and refused to settle for sitting in Pitt’s shadow. In terms of the performances, my only disappointment was with one of my favorite living actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman. It has nothing to do with his take on Art Howe, the coach of the team under Beane. It was more to do with him barely being a part of the story. He got a precious few scenes early on in the film and then disappeared completely almost halfway through the movie. I just wish we could have gotten more of him and Pitt dueling, as he did so brilliantly with Tom Hanks in Charlie Wilson’s War.
In the end, Moneyball did reach my bar of hope and expectation, but it didn’t blow if off the chart as his past two films have.
The End of the Page recommendation: Moneyball is a solid crack to right field. For some it will clear the back wall and make some fan in the bleachers very, very happy. For others, I think it will come in as a good film, but not quite the game winner they were hoping for.
This was when they stopped asking Shia to bring his friends to Show-and-Tell at school.
Rating: 3 out of 10 (adult rating)
Rating: 8 out of 10 (12-Year Old rating)
I’m going to commit what to many will seem like film geek treason, I will now connect Michael Bay and Terrence Malick into one theory of filmmaking.
Yep, deal with it.
Malick and Bay share one important thing and that is a completely unabashed tunnelvision for the type of film they want, damn the naysayers, critics and crowds. They both make movies mainly for themselves and in truth, there is nothing wrong with that. As an audience member you need to know going in exactly what you are going to get. It is the only way to really enjoy anything that falls from the cameras of these two (and some other notables). With that said, let’s dive headlong into the metallic masterpiece of summertime popcorn, Transformers!
Transformers: Dark of the Moon continues the story of Sam Witwicky and his Autobot friends. While Sam struggles to gain a purpose in life outside of Decepticon attacks, the Autobots are off helping the government on secret missions. Then everything is torn apart by the discovery of the original Autobot escape ship, known as The Ark, and the captain of that ship, Sentinel Prime. He alone holds the key to technology that could either help reshape the Transformers home world or completely destroy ours. The Decepticons, completely aware of this discovery, make an immediate power play and the war is back, bigger than ever.
Kids buying the Transformer toys today only want one thing, huge robots in spectacular 3D slow motion destroying each other and every building in sight. From this narrow viewpoint, Bay delivers in bulk. The highway fight sequence brought back memories of other high-speed terror scenes like in Matrix Reloaded and The Island (maybe a little too reminiscent of that last one according to some eagle eyed movie nerds). Since Bay actually filmed these scenes in the latest and greatest 3D technology, it was admittedly pretty amazing to watch. In other scenes, some of the CGI was so intensely crisp that it actually started popping too far from the live footage, making it stand out, which ruins a little of the illusion.
So the special effects is where it was at. Big robots, big explosions, big buildings falling down. Those were the high points.
The low points were pretty much everything else.
Standing in the center of all the toys-on-roids insanity is Shia LaBeouf, who in my opinion is a really good actor banking inside really bad movies. I can’t fault him for taking parts in some of the biggest franchises in movie history (Transformers and Indiana Jones) because the exposure and paycheck are nearly impossible to pass up, but in terms of showing his skills as an actor, those hefty titles have done him nothing but a painful disservice. He made his big splash on the scene in the Disney TV show Even Stevens and then on the big screen in the Rear Window update, Disturbia. Many people also don’t remember one of my personal favorite performances in the Project Greenlight-sponsored film, The Battle of Shaker Heights. Shia has the chops, but gets surrounded by weak emotional performances, both from CGI and real people. In this outing, Megan Fox‘s eye candy character was replaced by Victoria Secret’s model (and current Jason Statham girlfriend), Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Whiteley was an improvement in sense of acting ability, but the part was written levels below what Fox was given. The original love interest had layers, depth and some edge, while Whiteley was given virtually no background, no emotional outlet and nothing to do but stand there and be hot. Sure, the 12-year old in the audience doesn’t want or need more, but to them I say, “Go grab a Victoria Secret’s catalog from your parent’s bathroom and stay out of my movie.”
Beyond the magical pair of leads, Bay brings back the regular tough guys, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson, to keep on keeping on. They both do fine jobs and don’t try to make this more than it is. Coming in for the first time in the franchise is Frances McDormand, an Academy Award winner to class up the joint. While she was amusing and brought a little more skill to the screen, her part was borderline over-the-top, even in a movie with three story tall robots, because she had to balance out John Tuturro who drifts somewhere off to Hunter S. Thompson land. As if they weren’t enough, Bay decides to bring in an unusual amount of big name cameos, including John Malkovich (who does a decent job in his few scenes) and Ken Jeong (who seems to be acting in a completely different movie, possibly thinks he’s filming Hangover 3). I saved the best for last though, my personal favorite and the only person I was actually thrilled to see appear on screen, Alan Tudyk (who plays Tuturo’s assistant/bodyguard). Tudyk is a cult TV and film legend to his legions of fans spanning from the days of Firefly, Dollhouse and other projects not created by Joss Wheedon. Tudyk was the one person I actually cheered form when he magically appeared on screen.
I could go into a section now where I talk about the story, the plotlines, the connective tissue of the writing, but in reality, Bay didn’t really care and neither do the younger members of the crowd, so let’s just skip it.
The End of the Page recommendation: Transformers: Dark of the Moon starts slow, goes out with a bang and delivers surface entertainment for the middle school crowd.
This suit is powered by sheer will (and a fanny pack of 9-volt batteries)
Rating: 5 out of 10
Every trend in the movies goes through the same motions. They come out of left field when no one thought it would be a viable idea, then instantly becoming the most watched genre in years, finally over-extending itself to the point of pure silver screen saturation and the profits nose dive off the celluloid cliff. You can usually mark the first movie going over the edge by how far it pushes the genre out beyond the norm. For fans of the comic book genre, even knowing that Iron Man 3, Captain America and The Avengers are still on their way, this weekends superhero offering gave many pause, wondering if this was one spandex’d crusader too many. Did the curtain begin to fall?
Nope. Not quite yet.
Green Lantern tells the story of Hal Jordan, a reckless flyboy who is chosen by a magical ring to protect his planet from destruction. Never one to follow through on anything, Jordan must struggle to discover the hero he never imagined was waiting inside.
I was going to start with some of the struggles and hardships that this story and script had to work through, but really, let’s get down to the green, glowing tacks here…Ryan Reynolds. He is not just playing a superhero, the man actually is one. No matter how bad the dialogue, no matter how convoluted the script, no matter what crazy situation you put him in, his charm and nearly flawless ease on screen allows him to raise that bar a little higher. I’m not saying that all these things were necessarily terrible here, but they could have been and Reynolds still would have found a way to make it work. Following his career since the Van Wilder days, Reynolds has never failed to enliven each and every project and provide at least one or two solid moments of wit and enjoyment on screen. For his generation of actors, I believe he is the closest they will get to George Clooney, a man who can truly balance comedy, action and drama all while looking like he was born to play that part.
Now that we have that out of the way, back to the problems. With all the comic book movies capturing the audiences recently, most are earth-bound or at least set mostly in an environment we can all easily recognize. Thor was the first in the new battalion of superhero flicks to test the waters of magical landscapes and far away universes and it succeeded fairly well. Without that preceding it, Green Lantern might have suffered more by spending so much time in outer space, but Thor built a bridge to that arena (and then busted it at the end of the movie…*in-joke*) so Green Lantern flew right over and pushed even farther out into the cosmos. Instead, the surrounding characters and subplots became the weakest links. Sadly the first half of the movie had to do so much of the heavy lifting: establishing the universe, literally, and giving some foundation for all these new and outlandish creatures, while still getting enough time to bring in their human counterparts back home. Peter Sarsgaard pulled out some decent angst and rage, but was never given enough time to really fuel the fire. Even worse was Blake Lively, who was given absolutely no room to breathe in a virtually lifeless character. Her introduction as a fellow fighter pilot was painfully unnecessary and forced her to try and work her way back into relevancy, which might have worked if given time, but she really wasn’t. As for the arch-villain CGI cloud creature, Parallax, the effects were impressive, but the story behind him felt flawed and unstable, so he never brought a whole lot of weight or tension to the scenes.
Overall, I still give this a five rating because it brings us back to those true summertime carefree flicks that didn’t try to give more than we bargained for. People who say this is a failure because it isn’t Dark Knight are making unfair and outlandish comparisons. Director Martin Campbell (who helmed two of the more successful recent Bond chapters, Goldeneye and Casino Royale) wasn’t going for grit and bones, he wanted light, fun and entertaining for the few moments he had you trapped in the theater. In that context, and with the effortless abilities of Ryan Reynolds, they achieved their goal, albeit one set far lower than what audiences may have envisioned.
The End of the Page recommendation: Green Lantern may hold a little more light for the comic book enthusiast, but for the mainstream moviegoer, this is only a mildly flickering flame, not a bright light of the summer.
Posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago at 9:49 am. Add a comment
By kissing this hand, I hearby make you Queen of Comic-Con.
Rating: 7 out of 10
With comic book movies sweeping across the cinematic landscape like a dust storm across the Sahara, there was bound to be a point where the phenomenon was going to hit a gorge, somewhere the storm would falter and fizzle out. During the last golden age of comic book flicks, that Hindenburg failure was The Phantom (although personally I think most of the audience missed the tongue-in-cheek humor of it). This time around, we haven’t quite picked the rotten apple out of the planned line up yet, but there were many early on who cast their votes against this tale of a Norse god with magical roofing equipment. I was even on the fence myself until they attracted legendary Shakespearean Kenneth Branagh to the helm, which lent a sense of credibility really unseen in this recent comic crop. Did it work? Read on and see…
Thor is the fairy tale of a tempestuous prince (Thor) and his brother (Loki), both waiting for the day when one will become the new king of Asgard and protector of the Nine Realms. Thor is a fierce and bloodthirsty warrior longing for the days of battles gone by, where his father staked his claim in the legends of yore. Loki, on the other hand, is more mischievous and plays the games using his trickster magic instead of his fists. After once again rushing headlong into battle without thinking, Thor angers his father to the point of being banished to Earth with none of his godlike powers, where he meets Jane and her crew of storm chasers. Odin (Thor’s father) then collapses under the stress and anguish into a deep sleep, leaving Loki to run the realm. Now the tables are turned and Loki unfurls his true plan for Asgard and all the Nine Realms, including Earth, where Thor must stand up and reclaim his birthright.
Now that description has one major flaw, which really was part of the reason many were so skeptical before about how this film would turn out. A good deal of the story takes place in a magical kingdom far out in the universe above sparkling star clouds. All the comic book films were are used to in this go around have been about people with extraordinary powers, but all living here on our world, basing everything in our reality. Thor is the first in recent history to yank the audience back out to the realm of Superman and mythology. Some film critics were worried audiences wouldn’t follow the trend into the magical wonderland and lose connection with the characters. Well, that was a valid fear, but once the project fell into the more than capable hands of Kenneth Branagh, he did exactly what was needed and found a way to ground pieces of the film in more relatable themes; family discord, paternal acceptance and of course, true love. Sounds simple on paper, but I think it was an impressive effort to balance those themes with scenes of shiny kingdoms, multi-colored armor and big blue Frost Giants (who reminded me of angry background actors from Avatar). Bringing the movie together from that vantage point, the writers and Branagh were able to save Thor from becoming the first real stumbling block for the comic book genre this time around.
But Branagh’s success was not only in finding those relatable themes, but his casting of Chris Hemsworth as the legendary Norse god worked better than I could have expected. Stepping into those shiny boots and grabbing the magical hammer would be terrifying for any actor because it would be incredibly easy to be written off as a joke, but Hemsworth really brought something human out of the myth and played a tender balance between over-confident warrior and gracious visitor. For much of his screen time I felt Hemsworth pulled heavily from old films about King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table, their valor, chivalry and bravery. By giving glimpses of those well-known archetypes, he helped overshadow the magic and spectacle of Asgard and its myths. Riding high in the clouds with Hemsworth were Anthony Hopkins (as Odin), Idris Elba (as Heimdall, the gatekeeper) and Tom Hiddleston (as Loki), among others. Hopkins again helped to lend some dramatic weight to the film and shined a little brighter than he has in his past few projects. He admitted in an interview to phoning it in recently, giving Branagh credit for forcing him back into pushing his limits. Elba was a controversial choice early on because some die-hard comic fans felt the changing of the original character’s race was kowtowing to political correctness or unneeded diversity, but whatever the original reasoning was, Elba brought a real stoutness and stoic resolve in each scene, proving his casting as worthy. Tom Hiddleston also did a commendable job as the mischievous Loki, balancing his devious nature with the true pain of someone who felt they had been betrayed as well, but the writing of his character left many holes and setups which never truly paid off.
Helping to keep things grounded back on Earth were Natalie Portman (as Jane), Kat Dennings (as Darcy, Jane’s sister) and Stellan Skarsgard (as Erik, Jane’s teacher and physics partner). Portman has shown once again she will not be typecast as the indie darling and consider herself above the big budget blockbusters. She is adorable and relatable with an real ease on screen, but this was also not a big stretch for her talent. Dennings chimed in mostly as the comic relief and delivered line after line in her classic sarcastic style, helping to set a less serious tone for the rest of the film. As for Skarsgard, good stuff, but he wasn’t really given a whole lot to work with.
The true success here is that on the walk out of the theatre I mentioned to friends the numerous plot holes and unresolved questions, but when they asked, “So what did you think?” I was still able to respond, “I liked it.” The fun was there and the balance of comedy, action and drama was handled well, to which I give much of that credit to Branagh. In a lesser man’s hands, this film could have easily fallen into Fantastic Four territory, and let’s be honest, we all know how that came out.
The End of the Page recommendation: Thor is worthy of a good matinee viewing for big screen afternoon enjoyment. Don’t worry about the story too much, because it’s seems they didn’t either.
What did you think of the winged god of thunder? Let me know.
Why do I keep eating at those damn sidewalk taco stands?
Rating: 7 out of 10
A new age is coming, or maybe just returning to its once proud form. The age of the action hero who isn’t ripping through his tank top in post-pubescent fury, but instead seething with a controlled rage only found in those with a few years to their name. Faces grizzled by battles both won and lost, voices scratched by the screams of sorrow and victory and hands that know the feeling of breaking a nose, not just the squeeze of a trigger. We had it once with John Wayne in the west, but then it moved into the city and we found our urban cowboys in Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood. Now, a new maturity is reigns with one man sitting firmly on the throne, Liam Neeson, and he’s back on a somewhat familiar ride, but he makes it enjoyable nonetheless.
Unknown is the fractured story of Dr. Martin Harris (played by Neeson), on his way to a Biotechnology summit in Berlin when his car careens off the road and into the icy waters of a German river. Awakening four days later in a hospital, he embarks on a fervent attempt to reconnect with his wife, who not only doesn’t recognize him upon their reunion, but has another man next to her claiming to be the very same man. Trying to tie the loose ends of his spindling memory, our original Dr. Harris finds himself embroiled in a plot much larger than he could ever imagine, winding around a foreign prince, an immigrant taxi driver and a secret many people are willing to kill to control.
Last time we saw Neeson running through the streets fighting with people it was in the freight-train momentum film, Taken. Neeson drove through the movie with an unwavering determination that in other cases might have made the character seem one-sided, but he was able to make the single-point laser focus still seem layered and interesting. Neeson didn’t miss a beat as he walked onto the set of Unknown, he still carries the mack truck mindset of barreling through anyone and everyone to get what he needs, but here the layering is more upfront since his character is dealing with fractured memories and a wife who won’t even acknowledge him anymore. On the writing front, the script is well done, but seems to miss out on some key moments that would have helped to deepen the motivations in a few scenes later in the film.
**ACTUAL SPOILER WARNING – HERE COMES THE GOOD STUFF**
I can’t really talk about the missing moments without mentioning the plot details surrounding those particular scenes. Once it is revealed that Neeson actually is a secret agent and the people trying to kill him are actually members of his old team, the story does ring a little close to the Bourne franchise, but that actually didn’t bother me too much. What falls a little flat is the emotional connections between Neeson and his old team, specifically with January Jones‘ character (who we originally believe to be his wife) and Aidan Quinn (who originally is touted as the “real” Martin Harris). There is an interesting layer that is never explored about how January Jones really feels about turning on her undercover partner and also how Aidan Quinn feels about stepping into his shoes. The final fight between Neeson and Quinn could’ve inserted some nice interplay, but just went for the action, while Jones never got to have a final meeting with Neeson because she went out in a somewhat unclimactic explosion. I’ve said it before, you can win or lose your audience in the last five minutes and this came dangerously close to losing me.
While those story points did leave the ending slightly under par, the rest of the film holds up the overall experience and Neeson just continues to prove his dominance in the action/thriller genre. Also, not to be forgotten, Bruno Ganz turns in an excellent performance as the old ex-German secret service friend who comes to Neeson’s aid. It culminates in a truly magnificent scene between Ganz and Frank Langella, who is in the film for a woefully short time.
The End of the Page recommendation: Unknown is an enjoyable romp through the spy-ridden streets of Berlin.
Posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago at 4:19 pm. Add a comment
When someone mentions they are excited about going to see movies during the “holiday season”, you probably get visions in your head of chipper families around festive dining room tables, playfully bickering and sharing memories of holiday hi-jinx, eventually collapsing into a montage of lessons learned and hugs received. But it is specifically during seasons like that where it is really beneficial to read a synopsis of the movie you are about to see, because not only could the holiday joy be mysteriously missing from the film, but you could leave a lot more disturbed than you ever intended. Happy Holidays!
Black Swan is the tempestuous tale of a young ballerina named Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) who yearns more than ever to star in her troupe’s upcoming revision of the classic Swan Lake, where the Swan Queen and her nemesis will be danced by the same person. Pushed and tested by her tyrannical director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), Nina is an example of elegance as the White Swan, but must reach deep inside her prim and proper casing and find the darkness and desire necessary to fully inhabit the Black Swan. The pressure only increases with the introduction of Lily (Mila Kunis), a young sultry transfer from the San Francisco ballet, who seems to only want her friendship, but Nina fears she is after so much more.
Before seeing the film, many imagined it to fall securely under the category of drama, but little did they know indie-film aficionado, director Darren Aronofsky, was unleashing on them one of the most dark and disturbing psychological thrillers, possibly even horror films, of this year. Returning to true form, after a touching turn with The Wrestler, Aronofsky brings back what we have come to expect of him through multiple viewings of Pi and Requiem for a Dream. Beautiful imagery is seamlessly intertwined with horrific context, resulting in scenes that remain nearly unforgettable for weeks afterwards. Relying on much simpler tactics than the ones he employed in Requiem, Black Swan creates a tension-filled reality where the audience bears witness to a sad and terrible descent into madness. Credit also must be given to the writers (which are currently shown as Mark Heyman and John J. McLaughlin for the screenplay, with Andres Heinz for screenplay and story), who all helped to weave a poignant portrayal of the tenuous balance between passion and perdition.
I’ll add my name to the bandwagon cheers for the performances of nearly every main character in this film. Natalie Portman is a gold mine, once again stepping humbly into the spotlight of young Hollywood royalty. She seems to refuse to be nailed down into any pigeon hole (proven by her immediate upcoming release of the romantic sex comedy, No Strings Attached), preferring to prove to audiences that actors can still successfully live on both sides of the comedy/drama fence. Portman brings a raw timidness to her portrayal of the damaged ballerina girl, living breath by breath under the weight of her own expectations and those of her kind, but painfully overbearing mother (played tremendously by Barbara Hershey), a former dancer herself. Her final frightening and sensual transformation into the Black Swan brings an amazing close to an already stellar performance. But not to be outdone, and many will argue the more surprising in quality, is Mila Kunis. Mostly known for her long running role on the stoner-inspired comedy, That 70′s Show, and also for currently voicing the persistently and hilariously abused Meg on Family Guy, Kunis rarely steps into the darkly psychological sphere; while the character of Lily was much more suited to her ability to play with dangerous sexuality, the tone and gravitas with which Kunis displayed it was wildly unexpected. Kunis held her ground passionately while sharing the screen with Portman and I proved many of her detractors wrong. Acting as the engine behind this derailing train to purgatory is Vincent Cassel, the brutally honest (or possibly just brutal) ballet director. The charm Cassel wielded in some of his previous films was turned on its head here as he displayed the darkness and seediness behind the beauty of the ballet world. Rounding out the mounting pressure on our fragile lead dancer was the legendary Barbara Hershey. The layers and depth of Hershey’s performance grants each audience member the gift of choosing to at once agree and despise the actions of the desperate and frantic parent. One of the more common discussions I heard after the film was, “What would you do if that was your daughter?” and people were passionately on all sides of this delicate issue.
The End of the Page Recommendation: If you want to be moved, possibly not in the most pleasant of ways, absolutely do not miss Black Swan. It is a valiant return to form for Aronofsky and a welcome reminder of the power of Portman.
p.s. For those who read my tweet earlier about Black Swan feeling like American Psycho in dancing shoes, another trivia-minded connection does exist between these two films: Mila Kunis played the villain in the direct-to-video sequel, American Psycho II: All American Girl.
Boo! Scared you, didn’t I? Now send me money and I’ll tell you how I can protect you from people like me.
Rating: 9 out of 10
There are many things that connect us all, no matter where we live, what color we are and which God we believe in. One of the deepest and most integral of those connections is fear. We all have it, whether it’s worrying about the spread of Communism, the shortage of scientific breakthroughs toward a cure for cancer, or maybe just late night jitters about the foul-smelling thing hiding underneath the bed. Most of it can be boiled down to a simple phrase, “fear of the other“. While some fears can be debated and argued as being justified, the underlying problem with fear is that once someone or something knows what your fear is, it can be used against you as a weapon. People throughout history have made their livelihoods based on that fact alone and it is on proud display here in the present day inside the formation of the Tea Party movement and the outlandish opposition to Barack Obama.
The Backlash by Will Bunch is a well thought out and deeply researched journey into the heart of the fear that sprung forth like snakes-in-a-can upon the inauguration of our new President. While many progressives and liberals clamor from the sideline, poking fun at the Tea Party and their growing membership, Bunch takes the honorable mission of tracing the movement to some of its more humble beginnings and the people actually at the ground level. What he discovers is real people with real fears who are being co-opted by big business and private interests in order to stop the change promised by the new administration.
One of the first things most people were introduced to when they saw the Tea Party crash onto the political scene was their fascination and fervor for protest signs and costumes. While this might have increased their news coverage, it also quickly devalued their message. From the subtle to the incredibly overt, racist slogans and imagery littered the reports of the fledgling movement giving an overall impression that everyone involved had the same color-coded mission, to purify the White House, and by extension, the country as a whole. On one side of the cable news spectrum (MSNBC, CNN, BBC, etc…) the Tea Party was characterized as rednecks that time had obviously left behind, while the other side (championed by Fox News) raised them onto the pedestal of patriots and grassroots revolution hailed as “real America”. The problem here is that neither description is true, but labels are sticky and even removed they can leave a nasty residue behind.
Another factor behind the proliferation of the “real America” illusion was those pundits and political commentators who saw the Tea Party as the lightning-in-a-bottle moment they were waiting for. Once they grabbed onto the coattails of fear inside the Tea Party, people such as radio/TV/internet phenom Glenn Beck wove those coattails around and around into each other until the fear escalated into paranoia, which in the ratings world is a wonderful thing. Beck had actually boiled it down to a simple equation, the bumper-sticker solution to all the fear in the country:
On his November 23, 2009 show, Beck went back again to the theme of a looming economic meltdown and recommended to his listeners what could just as well be a mantra of the right-wing movement in this new decade: “The 3 G system” of “God, Gold and Guns.”
Beck skyrocketed in popularity and influence, like many of the voices from the outer right-wing fringe, preying on the fears of people feeling like their country was forgetting about them. He wheeled out his chalkboard day after day, giving his viewers something familiar from their childhood, a symbol of learning which they all believed would never lie to them. Beck littered the surface of the chalkboard with various historical people and moments, drawing incredibly slippery and weak connections between them to prove any conspiracy theory he imagined that morning. Worse than that were those occasions where he blatantly misrepresented the views of historical figures to grant his own ideas more credence. Bunch illustrates that nicely in this section:
“Beck – and probably many of his listeners – would be turned off by many of the views of the real Thomas Paine. For one thing, while Beck has tried to argue that America’s true roots lie in Christianity, the real Thomas Paine was a Deist who loathed organized religion, writing in “The Age of Reason” that all churches “appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”
You can be sure that particular quote from Paine never graced the esteemed surface of Beck’s chalkboard.
This is the thrust of Bunch’s message, that much of the Tea Party is being towed along by puppeteers and plagiarizers, purposely mis-informing them to wean the money from their wallets and the devotion from their hearts. The fervent devotees of the Tea Party should not be written off as a joke, especially since some of them actually won seats in our government during the last election. They should be listened to, but filtered through a lens of mis-appropriated fear. If we do not try and understand where they are actually coming from, people like Beck and his cohorts will continue to wield them like a bludgeon against the wall of this country until its inevitable collapse.
The End of the Page recommendation: The Backlash by Will Bunch is a staggeringly human look into the real fear behind the so-called grassroots revolution of the Tea Party and how it has been co-opted, controlled and ultimately, how it will be condemned.
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 4:36 pm. Add a comment
You’re serious? She’s going to write more of these books? But, I got other stuff to do, like, umm…food shopping!
Rating: 6 out of 10
Let’s hit this head on, since a ten year run on any film franchise deserves the respect of not beating around the bush.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 begins the final chapter of our lightning-branded fated friend and his cadre of dedicated compatriots. His arch-enemy, Voldemort, is out in the open and gathering his armies and weapons together, while the Potter team is trying to ready themselves for the inevitable battle to come. The stress of staring death directly in the face threatens to break our heroic trio apart at the very time where their bond needs to be the strongest.
Sure, the description above is a decent hook to get you interested, but it’s a terrible summary of a film because it doesn’t relate a complete story, which of course is because this movie is not a complete story either. After shuffling shoulder-to-shoulder out of the theater on opening weekend my first impression was that of resentment and anger against Warner Brothers splitting this final book into two films. I am a huge fan of the original books and I understand how much material there is in the final book (757 pages worth, to be exact), but in their effort to cover every little detail from the source material, they failed to take into account that some of the book might not be worth filming. It feels like the decision to split into two movies was made more about profits for WB and not for the enhancement of the overall experience for the fans. Honestly, I wish they would have ended this series with a much bigger bang, going out with a Lawrence of Arabia-styled epic 3 1/2 – 4 hour marathon movie (intermission included). Sure, they would sell less tickets because you could only screen it a few times a day, but it would go down in history as one of the most successful epics in film history and that should’ve been enough to make the studios proud. Alas, pride in the finished product is mostly less important than profits.
*Mild Spoilers ahead – but if you haven’t already read the book, do yourself a favor and do it now, I’ll wait right here… *
Friends of mine can corroborate this: when I finished reading this book seventeen hours after buying it on day one of release, I said, “When they make this movie, please let them drop the damn tent section!” Yes, in the book it is more needed to show the strains in our famous trio of young heroes, but even in those hallowed pages the section read very slowly and drawn out, which I knew would only be exacerbated by filming it. The little light-hearted moment of Harry and Hermione dancing in the tent felt incredibly forced and only there because they needed to break up the morose, moody whining that had already gone on too long. It was a weak attempt at solving a much bigger problem.
As for the overall structure of this offering, it suffers much more than the previous filmed chapters because it literally holds onto the ‘Part One of Two’ description to a fault. Even if you are making a film that is a piece of a bigger whole, each piece must be able to encapsulate an enjoyable movie experience on its own, which this film fails to do. I knew it would end in a cliffhanger, setting up the final battle in Part Two, but I at least hoped we would feel something had happened in the first part to whet the appetite. This turned out to feel more like a 2 1/2 hour trailer, teasing us for the end of the Potter road.
Now, after taking a breath and calming down, let me recount some of the quality points on display here. Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, all grown up and matured, felt oddly stagnant in their roles, but Rupert Grint got to stretch his acting chops a little here and prove that he was more than just a comedic foil for tension-breaking asides. There is a sad lacking of Alan Rickman, as the supremely calm Professor Snape, but again, we can expect a lot more of him in the final piece. Rhys Ifans makes a nice addition to the cast as Xenophilius Lovegood (loopy Luna’s father), but he also gets a disappointingly small two scenes to play in. Although I was disappointed in his small number of scenes, it was during one of those scenes we were treated to a really interesting animated mini-movie while Hermione recounted the story of the Three Brothers, which finally announced what the Deathly Hallows were (nearly two hours into the movie).
The artistic tone and visuals continue to hold up the world and don’t fail to make you feel like you could walk out and lift cars in the parking lot by pointing at them and waving your hand around. With all the jumping tent sequences, there were many incredibly picturesque locations, which assisted in really blending the real world together with the fantastical wizard palaces and ornate decorating of the Ministry of Magic. Yet, trying to think forward into the final piece of this decade-plus-more puzzle, I imagine we will get less pretty locations and much more crazy spell-casting visuals and magical monsters, mostly centered around the much-loved Hogwarts School of Wizardry (C’mon, who wouldn’t want to go there?)
The End of the Page Recommendation: If you haven’t read the books or at least seen all the previous movies, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part One will do nothing for you. Yet for those devoted fans who know every inch of the back story, this is mainly a teaser for a finale that I hope will live up to expectations.
Posted 1 year, 2 months ago at 8:00 am. Add a comment
Action movies, like many genre films, have one big thing going against them – we’ve seen it before. So the first thought when writing an action film is how do you make it something the popcorn-buying crowds nationwide have never laid eyes on? Then, once you realize that all the writers before you have thought the same question, and inevitably come to the same brilliant idea you just did, you have to ask a more specific question like, “What twist can I put on an old tale?” Sometimes the result still reeks of a dozen or more previous cinematic exploits, but every now and again the similarities can be easily forgiven when the finished product is just done so damn well, like the case we have here.
Red stands for “Retired, Extremely Dangerous” and when you work for the CIA and achieve a glorious marking such as that, things don’t tend to go so well for you. Frank Moses was trying to build some semblance of a life after years of working in the shadows as one of the best government agents around, but his name gets dropped on a list and the number of people still breathing on that list is growing increasingly small. Frank only has one choice, bring together the best of his old contacts and find out who marked him, then erase the person or the list — whichever feels right at the moment.
The first murmur I heard from the crowd as I walked through the hallways of the theater was surprise at how funny the movie was, to which I definitely agree. Most films of this ilk show one or two of the great lines in the trailer but the movie as a whole fails to keep up the punchiness of the original teaser. Yet with Red, the creative minds behind it decided not to just try and balance the action and violence with the humor and brevity, they chose a much more dangerous route, to keep laughter throughout by making the violence funny. From the mounted mega-cannon in the parking lot to the rocket launcher inside of a stuffed pig, the gunplay never took over from the just-plain-play. This inter-weaving of moods kept the momentum going from beginning to end and allowed a nearly two-hour film to feel much, much shorter.
Now we can mention one of the main reasons the humor is there, the cast of brilliant, talented, and, um…’well seasoned’ actors. The casting here is incredible and I will just touch on this, since I could write another thousand words on each cast member. Bruce Willis, at the head of the pack, proves once more that he is still the king of solemn action movie leading men. Soft spoken and hard hitting, he has lost almost none of his true grit from Die Hard all the way through Sin City. Red also proves how to use someone like him (being his age) and still allow it to be believable, unlike the last chapter of the Die Hard franchise. Then there’s Morgan Freeman, who often is not the big shooter out front, but the silent, stoic killer behind the big gun. Just like in Seven and Unforgiven, Freeman lends his particular gift for wisdom and depth to each scene, making it more than just a shoot ‘em up flick. Next, what can be said about John Malkovich other than very few people play crazy better. Just getting to see him charge down a street with numerous explosives strapped to his chest, screaming like a madman, should be enough to get you into those comfy theater seats. Rounding out the senior staff, saving the best for last, the one most people are talking about when they mention this film is Helen Mirren. A paragon of grace, beauty and skill, nothing could prepare an audience for how amazing it is to see her firing off hundreds of rounds from a fully-automatic death dealing cannon. She somehow manages to handle high powered weaponry in this film the same way she handled her crown in The Queen, with the utmost class. Not to be left behind, Brian Cox, Mary Louise Parker and Karl Urban all hold their own around this top-billed cast and their decades of talent.
Bonus Movie Geek reference: I’m not 100% on this, but I swear the swamp shack set for John Malkovich was the villain’s hideout in the John Cena masterpiece, The Marine. Anyone who could verify that would be greatly appreciated.
The End of the Page Recommendation:Red is one of the most surprisingly enjoyable movies for almost every type of audience member. Comedy, action, even a couple love story angles, all mix together in a magically light-hearted way.
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 10:23 am. Add a comment
I have to see myself on that boat AGAIN! In 3D this time?!
DandyID
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