After Halloween weekend, we will officially be in Awards Season, where the studios' prestige films will be released in hopes of gaining award glory. There may be some that I'm currently overlooking, but here are some to consider:
Shutter Island- Possible Awards- Picture, Actor (DiCaprio), Director, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Musical Score. This expertly crafted thriller is a wonderful showcase of the joined talent of Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese. Some theater-goers were left disappointed by the ending, but in a year of many so-so movies, perhaps the intelligence and craft of this picture will earn it love, despite its early release.
Inception- Possible Awards- Picture, Actor (DiCaprio again), Supporting Actor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Supporting Actress (Ellen Page), Director, Original Screenplay, Visual Effects, Cinematography, Musical Score, Editing, and just about everything else. I'm currently naming this the year's best film because this juggernaut requires and demands multiple viewings, something that studios love. Sure, it made a ton of money and was a huge risk, but just about everyone who saw the movie loved it. Every element has been put in place perfectly. It's a masterpiece.
The Social Network- Possible Awards- Picture, Actor (Jesse Eisenberg), Supporting Actor (Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield), Director, Adapted Screenplay, Editing. I do believe that this is one of the year's best films, but I left feeling somewhat underwhelmed. This will probably fade with time, but the rapid-fire dialogue and pacing of the funniest comedy imaginable (no, it is not a comedy- it just has the pacing of one) make this fascinating portrait of a man no one wants but everyone seemingly needs is fascinating.
The Ghost Writer- Possible Awards- Picture, Actor (Ewan McGregor), Supporting Actor (Pierce Brosnan), Supporting Actress (Olivia Williams), Adapted Screenplay, Musical Score, Director. This thriller has been called absorbing, masterful, addictive, fascinating, and brilliant, and I found it to be a wonderful combination of those terms. Although it was a box office flop, the Academy would be mistaken to overlook this wonderful thriller with expertly crafted performances.
Those three are the only Best Picture-worthy films I have personally watched, but here are some possible nominations with titles to look out for.
Kick-Ass- Best Supporting Actress (Chloe Moretz, but it's probably not happening)
Let Me In- Best Actress (Chloe Moretz), Best Visual Effects
Leaves of Grass- Best Actor (Edward Norton)
Winter's Bone- Picture, Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence), Adapted Screenplay.
The American- Best Actor (George Clooney)
Waiting for Superman- Best Documentary
The Kids are All Right- Picture, Original Screenplay, Actress (Annette Bening, Julianne Moore), Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo)
Restrepo- Best Documentary
Black Swan- Best Picture, Original Screenplay, Original Score, Actress (Natalie Portman), Supporting Actress (Mila Kunis)
Hereafter- Best Actor (Matt Damon)
The King's Speech- Best Picture, Actor (Colin Firth), Actress (Helena Bonham Carter), Director, Original Screenplay
Of course, this is a simply preliminary list, and many of the films mentioned I have not seen. We should also consider the Razzie Awards which dis-honor the worst achievements of the year:
Life As We Know It- Worst Picture, Actress (Katherine Heigl), Screenplay
The Last Airbender- Picture, Screenplay, Director
The A-Team- Picture, various
Sex and the City 2- Picture, Actress x4, Screen Couple
Nightmare on Elm Street- various
Killers- Picture, Actor (Ashton Kutcher), Actress (Katherine Heigl), Screen Couple, various.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Frozen - **+ out of ****
"Frozen" is a movie that is very difficult to make effectively. In short, it's about three 20-somethings being stranded on a ski lift late Sunday night when the resort closes until the following Friday. I've heard it compared to the nail-biting "Open Water," but for our purposes, let's just assume you haven't watched anything like this before.
The trio (Kevin Zegers, Shawn Ashmore, and Emma Bell) can't seem to catch a break. After the aforementioned negligence, they discover that they have no real solution. Of course, no one hears them yell, and they aren't accounted for later (I'm sure you knew that as soon as I told you they were stuck on a ski lift). A storm is settling in, they're 50 feet above the ground, the wire that runs the ski lift is razor sharp, they're too far away to climb down a ladder, and wolves become notified of their presence. Yes, you read that correctly- wolves. I was able to buy that much, but if the movie went much farther (or was longer than 93 minutes), I would have expected ravenous buzzards carrying cobras to make an appearance.
One loses a glove, and there is an icky moment where that person realizes that they had left their hand on the metal bar and removes it (painfully, of course). You see quite a bit more gore than I would have wanted other than that (and I have a strong stomach, mind you), and that seems to be the movie's biggest flaw. There's enough suspense through several scenes that had no gore that it almost felt like a stretch to include blood and guts. I won't reveal any more about it because if I do, you could probably piece the entire movie together and be left without much of a ride.
The acting is very good. There are some nice tender moments, and I had enough knowledge of each character that I could distinguish one from the rest without resorting to assignment through 'the one in the red jacket,' 'the one with the goggles,' and 'the chick.' I thought I recognized all three actors, but after doing some www.imdb.com research, I realized that I've only been familiar with one, Keven Zegers ("Transamerica" and the remake of "Dawn of the Dead"). I later discovered that Shawn Ashmore played Iceman in the "X-Men" trilogy, and I'm not familiar with any of Emma Stone's work. Whatever. I hope these guys get great work in the future.
The writer/director, Adam Green ("Hatchet"), is able to do a lot with the simple setting and premise. Shot without special effects or green screen technology, I found many things to be effective without reaching. For instance, the camera occasionally looms around the skiers on the lift, there are intimate close-ups, and there are sometimes views from above or below. After an hour, you think that Green has used up every angle in the book, but the simplicity and logic of the camera shots keep you glued. Also, remember when I mentioned that there were no special effects? Well, I meant it- the actors really were 50 feet in the air. They even helped change the camera lenses between takes.
In short, the gore factor was a little too high for this medium, but the suspense and performances save it. I found this for $10 over the weekend. Check it out if it's your thing.
Rated R for some disturbing images and language.
Buy it here.
The trio (Kevin Zegers, Shawn Ashmore, and Emma Bell) can't seem to catch a break. After the aforementioned negligence, they discover that they have no real solution. Of course, no one hears them yell, and they aren't accounted for later (I'm sure you knew that as soon as I told you they were stuck on a ski lift). A storm is settling in, they're 50 feet above the ground, the wire that runs the ski lift is razor sharp, they're too far away to climb down a ladder, and wolves become notified of their presence. Yes, you read that correctly- wolves. I was able to buy that much, but if the movie went much farther (or was longer than 93 minutes), I would have expected ravenous buzzards carrying cobras to make an appearance.
One loses a glove, and there is an icky moment where that person realizes that they had left their hand on the metal bar and removes it (painfully, of course). You see quite a bit more gore than I would have wanted other than that (and I have a strong stomach, mind you), and that seems to be the movie's biggest flaw. There's enough suspense through several scenes that had no gore that it almost felt like a stretch to include blood and guts. I won't reveal any more about it because if I do, you could probably piece the entire movie together and be left without much of a ride.
The acting is very good. There are some nice tender moments, and I had enough knowledge of each character that I could distinguish one from the rest without resorting to assignment through 'the one in the red jacket,' 'the one with the goggles,' and 'the chick.' I thought I recognized all three actors, but after doing some www.imdb.com research, I realized that I've only been familiar with one, Keven Zegers ("Transamerica" and the remake of "Dawn of the Dead"). I later discovered that Shawn Ashmore played Iceman in the "X-Men" trilogy, and I'm not familiar with any of Emma Stone's work. Whatever. I hope these guys get great work in the future.
The writer/director, Adam Green ("Hatchet"), is able to do a lot with the simple setting and premise. Shot without special effects or green screen technology, I found many things to be effective without reaching. For instance, the camera occasionally looms around the skiers on the lift, there are intimate close-ups, and there are sometimes views from above or below. After an hour, you think that Green has used up every angle in the book, but the simplicity and logic of the camera shots keep you glued. Also, remember when I mentioned that there were no special effects? Well, I meant it- the actors really were 50 feet in the air. They even helped change the camera lenses between takes.
In short, the gore factor was a little too high for this medium, but the suspense and performances save it. I found this for $10 over the weekend. Check it out if it's your thing.
Rated R for some disturbing images and language.
Buy it here.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
The Social Network - ***+ out of ****
Facebook annoys me. I really have no interest in learning about its creation because any more, having a Facebook account feels like a laborious chore, checking your 'Friends,' seeing if you were tagged in any embarrassing pictures, possibly having applications to deal with (I've met people that actually plan out their days around FarmVille), and updating your bio, interests, and all that. I rarely even use my Facebook account nowadays, so understandably, I was skeptical about David Fincher's movie. I was wrong to think that. "The Social Network" is absorbing, fascinating, and flows like hot chocolate. The aftertaste propelled me into deep thought-mode as I just can't get the movie out of my head.
Jesse Eisenberg is Mark Zuckerberg, the credited founder of Facebook, but as the movie shows us, he didn't exactly come up with the idea all by himself. After a disastrous date with Erica Albright (Rooney Mara), she informs him that they're no longer dating and that he's an asshole after Mark makes some paranoid cracks at her and some digs about her attending BU while he's a Harvard man. As revenge, Mark gets drunk and writes some very bad things about her in his blog (although it's unclear how many people actually read it) which sparks him to create 'facemash,' a site dedicated to showing the pictures of two girls so you can pick the prettier one. The site generates 22,000 hits, crashing the Harvard server. Men are cheering Zuckerberg on while women hate him.
From this, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer and 3/4 of Josh Pence) decide that they would like to make a social network called 'The Harvard Connection.' Zuckerberg agrees to help them so he can gain respect from his 'facemash' fiasco. Forty-two days later, Zuckerberg tells them that he's not too keen on the original idea that they set up and splits ways so he can continue to work on Facebook. Undoubtedly, Zuckerberg wouldn't have come up with Facebook had it not been for their offer.
In the meantime, Zuckerberg is aided by several other guys but most notably Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield with enough intensity to fuel his own movie). Eduardo invests enough money to get Facebook started but would eventually be muscled out of the company by Zuckerberg and his new friend, Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake, excellent), the creator of Napster. Zuckerberg is basically seduced by Parker who makes few contributions to the company. He told Mark and Eduardo to drop the word 'the' from 'The Facebook' and just stick with 'Facebook.' Other than that, Parker seems to spend much of his time in the company putting Zuckerberg in contact with rich people who can help it expand.
Facebook becomes a hit. However, Eduardo and the Winklevoss twins get seriously pissed off and decide to sue Zuckerberg for their portion of the company. The story is told mostly as flashbacks during the deposition for those lawsuits.
David Fincher directs this material from Aaron Sorkin (the genius behind "The West Wing") as if they were made for each other. The dialogue draws you in, and the direction brings you closer. The performances are deeply layered, and it has the pacing and feel of a thriller like "Inception." The sets are so well-designed that I'm not sure how many people actually noticed them. We always accepted that they were where they said they were. It's really masterful stuff all around.
I won't reveal the final image, but I can say to you that it is one of the most poetic moments I've witnessed this year. It has something of a dull ache to its poignancy as you realize how isolated Zuckerberg really is from human contact. He always seems to be like a visitor to a foreign country, not bothering to ever interact effectively with people. I find the irony of the fact that the creator of the biggest social network of our time can't communicate with human beings to be a very bittersweet thought. Of course, this isn't something that the script created; it's based on actual accounts.
I highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see how an un-tellable story can be made into a captivating movie that stays with you long after it's over. In case you're wondering, the half-star deduction was because I left wanting more of a dagger in society's shoulder. Perhaps that will change after the next viewing, but for now, I think I need to consider deleting my Facebook.
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug and alcohol use and language.
Check your local theater for showtimes.
Jesse Eisenberg is Mark Zuckerberg, the credited founder of Facebook, but as the movie shows us, he didn't exactly come up with the idea all by himself. After a disastrous date with Erica Albright (Rooney Mara), she informs him that they're no longer dating and that he's an asshole after Mark makes some paranoid cracks at her and some digs about her attending BU while he's a Harvard man. As revenge, Mark gets drunk and writes some very bad things about her in his blog (although it's unclear how many people actually read it) which sparks him to create 'facemash,' a site dedicated to showing the pictures of two girls so you can pick the prettier one. The site generates 22,000 hits, crashing the Harvard server. Men are cheering Zuckerberg on while women hate him.
From this, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer and 3/4 of Josh Pence) decide that they would like to make a social network called 'The Harvard Connection.' Zuckerberg agrees to help them so he can gain respect from his 'facemash' fiasco. Forty-two days later, Zuckerberg tells them that he's not too keen on the original idea that they set up and splits ways so he can continue to work on Facebook. Undoubtedly, Zuckerberg wouldn't have come up with Facebook had it not been for their offer.
In the meantime, Zuckerberg is aided by several other guys but most notably Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield with enough intensity to fuel his own movie). Eduardo invests enough money to get Facebook started but would eventually be muscled out of the company by Zuckerberg and his new friend, Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake, excellent), the creator of Napster. Zuckerberg is basically seduced by Parker who makes few contributions to the company. He told Mark and Eduardo to drop the word 'the' from 'The Facebook' and just stick with 'Facebook.' Other than that, Parker seems to spend much of his time in the company putting Zuckerberg in contact with rich people who can help it expand.
Facebook becomes a hit. However, Eduardo and the Winklevoss twins get seriously pissed off and decide to sue Zuckerberg for their portion of the company. The story is told mostly as flashbacks during the deposition for those lawsuits.
David Fincher directs this material from Aaron Sorkin (the genius behind "The West Wing") as if they were made for each other. The dialogue draws you in, and the direction brings you closer. The performances are deeply layered, and it has the pacing and feel of a thriller like "Inception." The sets are so well-designed that I'm not sure how many people actually noticed them. We always accepted that they were where they said they were. It's really masterful stuff all around.
I won't reveal the final image, but I can say to you that it is one of the most poetic moments I've witnessed this year. It has something of a dull ache to its poignancy as you realize how isolated Zuckerberg really is from human contact. He always seems to be like a visitor to a foreign country, not bothering to ever interact effectively with people. I find the irony of the fact that the creator of the biggest social network of our time can't communicate with human beings to be a very bittersweet thought. Of course, this isn't something that the script created; it's based on actual accounts.
I highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see how an un-tellable story can be made into a captivating movie that stays with you long after it's over. In case you're wondering, the half-star deduction was because I left wanting more of a dagger in society's shoulder. Perhaps that will change after the next viewing, but for now, I think I need to consider deleting my Facebook.
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug and alcohol use and language.
Check your local theater for showtimes.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Let Me In - *** out of ****
For English-speaking folk who are more afraid of subtitles than the supernatural, "Let Me In" will prove to be well-worth your ticket price. I know the Swedish original, "Let the Right One In," quite well, and because I feel that it is a perfect film, I was very skeptical when it was announced that Matt Reeves ("Cloverfield") would be writing and directing this American update.
The plot is virtually the same, but it is a movie that is more fun to discover on your own, so there will be minimal spoilers in this review. Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee from "The Road") is a young boy turning 13 who is constantly bullied at school. His parents are separated, and he has this overwhelming feeling of loneliness in his life. His mother, who he lives with, only appears onscreen to alert him to dinner and remind him to pray before his meals. His father only exists in the form of a desperate phone call, and it becomes clear that neither really wants him.
This changes when he meets Abby (Chloe Grace-Moretz of "Kick-Ass"). Abby is intelligent way beyond her years, does not wear shoes in the snow, and seems to have a strange relationship with the man living with her (the great Richard Jenkins from "The Visitor" and "Burn After Reading"). Owen does not question these strange circumstances but instead sees Abby as a different version of himself, and they form a friendship although Abby immediately warns him, "We can't be friends."
At the same time as this, a bizarre series of murders seems to be plaguing their small town, and a police inspector (Elias Koteas from small parts in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Shutter Island") tries to make sense of everything. This key role wasn't quite emphasized well enough in this version, but his purpose within the plot is still there. He doesn't serve the same role of the audience as trying to figure out what's happening in this movie but instead is on his own while we figure everything out ahead of him.
That's about all you will get from me in the plot. The acting in this film is a revelation of child acting with Chloe Grace-Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee nailing dimensions of their characters that would be difficult for most adult actors. The pair are the foundation of the movie, and they both perform beyond admirably. I was most impressed by Miss Moretz. If you think about the dimensions of her character and what was required of her, you know that this was not a simple feat. I was reminded of Anna Paquin's (HBO's "True Blood") Oscar-winning role in "The Piano." Chloe has the most lines and must also show the greatest struggle and range of emotion.
Matt Reeves appeared to me to not be the one to effectively make this movie because I was disappointed in "Cloverfield." I guess when the advertising campaign made you more scared than the final product, you're bound feeling as if something is missing. He proves to be very competent here, allowing the dull yellows and greens to light the areas with the red blood serving as the finishing touch. The pacing of some scenes felt a little off, and the suspense was lacking in certain areas where the original made it unbearable. These problems aside, Reeves did a splendid job of working with child actors in very adult roles.
The computer graphics are slicker, and although they looked wonderful, I was anxiously awaiting the 'cat attack' scene from "Let the Right One In." Unfortunately, it was cut. Perhaps it does make more sense to cut it in this version, but because that was the cheesiest-looking effect from the original, I was looking forward to seeing it polished.
As of right now, you're probably thinking that I'm reviewing a different movie than the trailer you saw. I am not. "Let Me In" is chilling, scary, morbidly satisfying, and unafraid of stepping on shaky territory. That the movie on the whole was able to handle these things with such grace and ease truly surprised me. Yes, I would classify it as a horror film while the original was a dramatic thriller, but those who are not familiar with the story will go into this and experience a good movie. Whether it's a good horror movie, good drama, good thriller, or what-have-you is beyond the point. This hybrid works extremely well despite whatever doubts I have about it being made in the first place. Watch this version first, then find "Let the Right One In" on DVD. It's like seeing the movie before reading the novel so you aren't disappointed.
Rated R for strong bloody horror violence, language and a brief sexual situation.
Check your local theater for showtimes.
The plot is virtually the same, but it is a movie that is more fun to discover on your own, so there will be minimal spoilers in this review. Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee from "The Road") is a young boy turning 13 who is constantly bullied at school. His parents are separated, and he has this overwhelming feeling of loneliness in his life. His mother, who he lives with, only appears onscreen to alert him to dinner and remind him to pray before his meals. His father only exists in the form of a desperate phone call, and it becomes clear that neither really wants him.
This changes when he meets Abby (Chloe Grace-Moretz of "Kick-Ass"). Abby is intelligent way beyond her years, does not wear shoes in the snow, and seems to have a strange relationship with the man living with her (the great Richard Jenkins from "The Visitor" and "Burn After Reading"). Owen does not question these strange circumstances but instead sees Abby as a different version of himself, and they form a friendship although Abby immediately warns him, "We can't be friends."
At the same time as this, a bizarre series of murders seems to be plaguing their small town, and a police inspector (Elias Koteas from small parts in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Shutter Island") tries to make sense of everything. This key role wasn't quite emphasized well enough in this version, but his purpose within the plot is still there. He doesn't serve the same role of the audience as trying to figure out what's happening in this movie but instead is on his own while we figure everything out ahead of him.
That's about all you will get from me in the plot. The acting in this film is a revelation of child acting with Chloe Grace-Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee nailing dimensions of their characters that would be difficult for most adult actors. The pair are the foundation of the movie, and they both perform beyond admirably. I was most impressed by Miss Moretz. If you think about the dimensions of her character and what was required of her, you know that this was not a simple feat. I was reminded of Anna Paquin's (HBO's "True Blood") Oscar-winning role in "The Piano." Chloe has the most lines and must also show the greatest struggle and range of emotion.
Matt Reeves appeared to me to not be the one to effectively make this movie because I was disappointed in "Cloverfield." I guess when the advertising campaign made you more scared than the final product, you're bound feeling as if something is missing. He proves to be very competent here, allowing the dull yellows and greens to light the areas with the red blood serving as the finishing touch. The pacing of some scenes felt a little off, and the suspense was lacking in certain areas where the original made it unbearable. These problems aside, Reeves did a splendid job of working with child actors in very adult roles.
The computer graphics are slicker, and although they looked wonderful, I was anxiously awaiting the 'cat attack' scene from "Let the Right One In." Unfortunately, it was cut. Perhaps it does make more sense to cut it in this version, but because that was the cheesiest-looking effect from the original, I was looking forward to seeing it polished.
As of right now, you're probably thinking that I'm reviewing a different movie than the trailer you saw. I am not. "Let Me In" is chilling, scary, morbidly satisfying, and unafraid of stepping on shaky territory. That the movie on the whole was able to handle these things with such grace and ease truly surprised me. Yes, I would classify it as a horror film while the original was a dramatic thriller, but those who are not familiar with the story will go into this and experience a good movie. Whether it's a good horror movie, good drama, good thriller, or what-have-you is beyond the point. This hybrid works extremely well despite whatever doubts I have about it being made in the first place. Watch this version first, then find "Let the Right One In" on DVD. It's like seeing the movie before reading the novel so you aren't disappointed.
Rated R for strong bloody horror violence, language and a brief sexual situation.
Check your local theater for showtimes.
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