Jason Rogers - The Final Take

Safe House - No actors can keep the script safe

2012-02-14T00:49:00.000-08:00

Matt (Ryan Reynolds) and Tobin (Denzel Washington) are on the run in Safe House

Safe House - ★★½ out of 5

Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga

Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Outside Love)

"It is the characteristic excellence of the strong man that he can bring momentous issues to the fore and make a decision about them. The weak are always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen themselves." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Anti-Fascist German

It appears the stars are aligned to carry material beyond what it is capable of. In an effort to turn material into something amazing, Hollywood seems to pick up stars with a lot of box-office draw to help elevate a crappy script they have received. Sometimes, miracles happen. Other times, material cannot be saved. What this means is that films rarely have to try anymore because stars bring in the money. But the stars are trying their hardest to entertain you. Because in the end, it is about what you thought of the movie. Movies work best when the writer, director and actors are all in synchronous harmony about creating that entertainment for you.

But even if not everyone is in sync, stars can still save the day. Look at the comedy Date Night. The plot is horrendous, but the pairing of Steve Carell and Tina Fey makes the entire experience enjoyable. The pairing of the popular Denzel Washington and the underrated Ryan Reynolds should be able to elevate the thriller Safe House as well. Both have interesting characters that play off each other. If only the material gave them more to explore.

Safe House begins with the mundane life of safe house keeper Matt Weston (Reynolds) whose life is in for a huge shock. One of the most wanted men in the world Tobin Frost (Washington) has just checked into his house. But the CIA isn’t the only one hunting frost. The safe house is attacked, and Matt is left to try and get Tobin back into the hands of the Americans. Unfortunately, Tobin is a master of interrogation psychology and begins to manipulate Matt for his own means.

Safe House seems like an inappropriate title for this movie. Shoot Out would have been a better title. For a film that sells itself on the performances and psychological warfare, there seems to be very little to fight over. Bullets create and fill holes of emptiness. While the stars are together, the film rises on the questions of espionage and violence they endure. When the plot kicks in, the generic and repetitive attitude of the film shine way too brightly.

Where Safe House excels in acting it fails in development. Throughout the film, the characters don’t seem to change. They become victims of the action around them. A crime film that does this much better is Michael Mann’s Collateral. The characters toy with each other, always in the midst of a power struggle. The action has consequences and slowly throughout the night, they change personas. Safe House also has a collapsed timeline of a couple days. Yet the script by David Guggenheim offers no development of character and only a hackneyed plot. I rarely see a spy film these days that doesn’t vilify the government.

This is a classic case of material that runs out of steam. Everything is initially interesting. That brief buzz of excitement and content slowly begins to decline. What I ask you is why this keeps happening. Why is so much talent trying so hard and delivering only mediocrity?

Characters are not actors, and Hollywood needs to learn this. Relying too heavily on its star power, Safe House becomes a victim of its own style. The action is loud and frenetic. The plot is highly unimaginative. All Washington and Reynolds can do is stare at each other and hope for a better project. Tobin needs to work his interrogation magic on Hollywood. Convince them that it is not about the accessibility and simplicity. It is about how a story that we have paid to see will affect the people in it. That’s all. Simple enough?

The Pink Ribbon - Not so pretty in pink

2012-02-09T01:09:00.000-08:00

The Pink Ribbon - ★★★½ out of 5

Breast cancer is nothing to joke about. Yet, according to The Pink Ribbon, breast cancer is becoming a joke. Delving deep into the commercialization of breast cancer awareness, The Pink Ribbon uses a penetrating, didactic style to cause a stir in the breast cancer community. At the same time, this documentary reaches too far. The Pink Ribbon strays away from its core issue, bringing to light subjects that have no merit in this film, or any solid proof. Still, the comparisons they draw to advertising and consumerism about breast cancer are definitely different than other awareness groups. The Pink Ribbon is more of a discussion piece than a provocative documentary, but it asks some tough questions about the senseless, exploitive use of the pink ribbon.

The Pink Ribbon has a goal which is to make you aware of the awareness. The film argues that many people are not aware of how the pink ribbon is pasted on large companies to make them look good. This makes the cause for breast cancer seem like a giant party rather than a serious disease. The film also argues that this happy, celebration is a departure from the real issue at hand. People are dying from this disease everyday, and not enough is being done.

The success of this argument is mixed throughout the film. On the one hand, watching large companies garner even more money off a serious cause is disheartening. These companies have enough money, and using an honourable organization like breast cancer to improve their funds, and giving little in return, is very self centered. These arguments have a basis. More can and needs to be done, yet it won’t be done.

However, the breast cancer organizations still receive money from these company. Every little bit counts. The film makers and subjects seem very unappreciative of what funds the research is getting. Despite the fact that the companies are raking in more dough than they need, The Pink Ribbon cleverly disguises the fact that the pink ribbon has benefited breast cancer funding, and the interviewees are on an extreme end of the spectrum against the pink ribbon.

The Pink Ribbon also reaches for what it cannot grasp. While their argument is against how the pink ribbon has lost its original value, there is also an attempt to retort that cancer research is focusing in the wrong places. The documentary then follows this up with numerous graphs, testimonials. Not only is there no clear evidence of this study, but it is completely unnecessary. That subject is meant for another documentary.

In conclusion, The Pink Ribbon is so dense, and so eager to share its plea that something it goes beyond its documentary boundaries. This should no detract from the fact that The Pink Ribbon is awareness about awareness. It does exactly what every documentary should do. Address and issue and just ask its audience to think about that issue from another perspective. Make that issue relevant to their lives. That is how the documentary can provoke and create movements of people and protest.

Chronicle - What are you capable of?

2012-02-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

Andrew, Steve and Matt are in over their head in the found footage film Chronicle

Chronicle - ★★★ out of 5

Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan
Directed by Josh Trank (theatrical debut)

"Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility." This is my gift, my curse. Who am I?" - Peter Parker from 2002's Spider Man

After only a couple years, this found footage genre is getting old. And what is worse is that these films are financially viable options for studios. Low budget, unknown actors, and lots of cash is raked in whether the film is received well or not. Found footage is more like found cash. Chronicle attempts to incorporate a subject matter everyone loves. Disgruntled teens! No, actually superheroes. But these are not the ones you see in comic books, these are ones that don’t know how to use their power. Good thing they got it on film!

Chronicle is, well, a chronicle of three teenagers living in Seattle who stumble across something really strange in the woods outside of a party. From the perspective of a troubled teen named Andrew (Dane DeHaan), we find out that he has some serious power. Along with the hugely popular Steve (Michael B. Jordan) and his cousin Matt (Alex Russell), they being to grow in strength with this telekinesis-like powers. Blessing or curse, these kids are changed forever.
I feel if Chronicle was released earlier, before this found footage genre became so overtly a cash grab, then perhaps my opinion would be different. It does some wild things with the camerawork for a found footage film. It uses its characters, and even their powers to control the camera. There’s the abrupt cuts, the jarring angles as usual. But there is also a smoothness to it. A craft that seems to quietly enter the lives of its characters rather than exploit them with blunt confessions.
Be it repetition or the limits of the genre, the found footage style requires many gimmicks to be interesting. Chronicle uses Andrew’s powers as an excuse to levitate the camera, gliding it over and under the characters. This is an attempt to make the film feel more cinematic and jarring. The result is mixed switching between smooth, audacious camerawork and needless, facile style.
The second half of the film switches gears when Andrew’s bottled up anger and rejection reach a breaking point. What was a quiet, very humorous study of teenagers with powers turns into a loud, bombastic assault on the eyes and ears. There is a way to show this breaking point in a less destructive manner. If this action was more personal and confined among the characters, it would have meant more. Seattle is turned into Chicago from Transformers: Dark of the Moon as the destruction comes with a lot of noise and incomprehensible editing.
The second half also loses much of the attempts to do something different with this genre. Looking like a dumbed down version of Cloverfield, the special effects and technical wizardry don’t pull the film through. There is a scene where Andrew yanks all of the laptops and cameras away from everyone in the Seattle Needle, and then circles them around him. Why? Is he really thinking about filming since he’s one off the deep end? This is where the use of way too much “found footage” becomes overblown and repulsive.
However, what saves this film is its incredible attention to character and its surprising teen performances. They are entertaining and thoughtful, transcending their high school cliches, becoming a falsified friendship. These powers are a burden more than they are a pleasure. And that is where Chronicle succeeds. Daring to make superpowers a test of character, Chronicle manages to still seem fresh amongst a sea of amateurish unoriginality. The market today will eat this film up, but it will stick because of the characters. The youth talent here, both director Josh Trank and the cast, give me hope for future talent, and that they will not abuse their Hollywood powers.

The Woman in Black - Radcliffe back in black

2012-02-07T17:26:00.000-08:00

Daniel Radcliffe waves an axe instead of his usual wand in The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black - ★★½ out of 5

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Mary Stockley
Directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake)

Mr. Daily: If we open the door to superstition, where does it lead?

It has been over 100 years since the birth of cinema, and horror movies are beginning to have a pattern. The creepy story, the build up, the scare and the laughing at how you were scared. Not much has changed over the years. Some have had revolutionary special effects. Some made us scared to go back into the water or shower. Some even went meta by trying to escape themselves. But horror is a done deal as far as I’m concerned, and this new “found footage” genre of horror is getting tired after only a couple years.

However, among the darkness, The Woman in Black is a period piece horror film that prefers to take a quiet, old-fashioned approach to the idea of terror. A haunted house, mysterious deaths, a man in a new, strange environment. They are cliches, but The Woman in Black wants to take an old style and make it fresh. Daniel Radcliffe waved his last wand this past summer with the spectacular finale of Harry Potter, and now we get to see him in a full, fleshed out adult role.

The Woman in Black is a typical ghost story with well realized atmosphere and jumps galore. For nearly 20 minutes of this film, we are following Arthur (Radcliffe) around a mysterious house, looking for noises, opening doors, lighting candles. It is simple, but surprisingly effective. Rather than pounding us with tiresome jump scares, it remains reserved. This makes The Woman in Black simmer with a paranoia that another scare is along the way.

However, these scares are also the fault of the film. Relying heavily on atmosphere and silence, director James Watkins fails to give this ghost story any meaning or impact on his characters. Arthur is a young lawyer who comes to this very small village that just seems cursed from the bleak, but brilliant, cinematography. So of course things are meant to go wrong. But this story is bland and underdeveloped making the scares a distraction rather than a story distinction.

This is a tough film to think about for today’s audiences. They are so saturated with shocks and pretty people getting slashed that a film like this, going for mood over gore, just won’t catch on. Horror films create nothing but apathy for me, but Woman in Black earns my admiration because it takes mainstream ingredients (big star, typical ghost story) and actually puts effort into an eerie feel with questionable characters.

Radcliffe also has some great moments. He struggles a bit with the dialogue, but he convinces us that he can express a lot in silence. He guides us around the house convincingly. It is difficult to be convincing when nothing is happening. Radcliffe pulls it off. But he needs a better role than this so his true potential can be found.

Garnering my admiration rather than my affection The Woman in Black is successful in proving that Radcliffe has a future outside of Hogwarts. As a film though, a story is needed. The Woman in Black has such a meaningless plot that the scares feel like cheap entertainment after you have left the theater. For the last time, don’t go in the scary house. No matter what silly legends you have heard. If you are Daniel Radcliffe, they are probably true.

The Iron Lady - A huge iron deficiency

2012-02-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep) looks out on the world she rules in The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady - ★ out of 5

Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent
Directed by Phyllica Lloyd (Mamma Mia!)

"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." - Margaret Thatcher

Some of the best biographies that I have seen over the years are able to look at a famous figure in history and depict them in a way that has not been seen before. In fact, Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar from this year brings to light how to depict a controversial figure. Depict the figure as honestly as you can while creating your own vision of that person. Find an actor willing to give his/her all to the role and commit to making this person a central magnet in the film. And finally, J. Edgar also questioned many aspects of its subject’s life, whether they be confirmed facts or edgy rumors, the interest is in what position to take. Well, I will say that The Iron Lady did get one of these aspects in their film.

Margaret Thatcher is a woman who begs to have a film made about her. Her controversial actions, her womanhood and her inability to back down makes her such a prominent figure. Rich with questions about her political life behind closed doors and her personal life, Thatcher was as loud about her opinions as she was quiet about her later struggles with strokes and public speaking later in life. Whether you agreed with her strict politics or not, the Russian’s nickname for her, which is also the film’s title, was definitely the right one.

So why I ask is The Iron Lady such a complete disaster of a biopic? Just read a Wikipedia article and you will know why. So much information and emotion on a computer screen and such a lack of that on the big screen. The Iron Lady seems like one big feminist movement for Thatcher’s character. Now granted, Thatcher being a woman was a big part of her story, but nowhere close to the whole story. That is the problem. Director Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia) and writer Abi Morgan (Shame) ride the womanhood train until the film seems to have absolutely no clue where it is going.

Making Margaret Thatcher this role model for all woman isn’t the problem. The problem is how Lloyd wants to glorify Thatcher rather then let us make an opinion of her. Lloyd and Morgan are so intent on making you feel the cost of such a cruel and merciless woman that Thatcher’s life seems nothing more than a memoir written by her herself. This is just Margaret Thatcher at an old age reminiscing about Margaret Thatcher when she was in power. It seems very self-indulgent, never letting the audience in to learn, wonder or discuss who Thatcher really was. A sin in biopics if I ever saw one.

What is worse is how Llyod glosses over events as if they were nothing. There is a solid montage of about 10 years of power compressed into about 20 minutes, This footage consists of nothing but news footage, protesting and Thatcher signing a document once in awhile. Where is the controversy? Where is the internal conflict of Thatcher? The public is nothing more than scenery as Thatcher’s decisions are made in 30 seconds and the most controversial events of her leadership are glossed over and rendered irrelevant.

Even Thatcher’s life is underdeveloped. Personal biographies definitely have a more intimate and emotional portrayals than a biography that focuses only on significant events. But Thatcher’s personal life is, again, glossed over. About 10 minutes on her youth, 30 minutes on her rise to power and way, way too long on her old, fragile age after her reign as prime minister. There is literally no information, no suggestion of feelings, no sign of significance that The Iron Lady seems like another lady, just with a flickering flame just begging to be put out.

The Iron Lady has absolutely nothing to say about its subject and nothing about the period in which it took place. Her family doesn’t matter. Her controversy doesn’t matter. Her political actions seem to have no purpose. Her iron fist seems non existent. Notice how I haven’t even mentioned Meryl Streep, who indeed disappears into her role behind wonderful make up. She has all the mannerisms and speech patterns down pat as well. Too bad she is in a film about her that has no time for her. Seriously. A movie about Margaret Thatcher with no time for anything, even Thatcher herself. The Iron Lady is a travesty. A biography that is so stupefyingly misguided that the rioters in the film are a reflection of the audience.

You learn absolutely nothing and feel absolutely nothing. Thatcher ruled her land with the utmost integrity, and that was her downfall. The tagline for this film was “Never Compromise”. The downfall here is that this film sacrifices all of Thatcher for a blip of feminism with no importance thereafter. How can the writer of Shame, a deep, dark penetrating film about a fictional character, be able to make a famous political figure with publicly known information seem unbelievably bland. This isn’t even a checklist, The Iron Lady has no list and no clue.

Man on a Ledge - Guilty of script sacrifice

2012-01-29T21:31:00.000-08:00

Nick and Lydia try to work out a way to avoid suicide in Man on a Ledge

Man on a Ledge - ★★ out of 5

Starring: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jaime Bell, Ed Harris
Directed by Asgar Leth (Ghosts of Cite Soleil)

Nick Cassidy: I'm ready to die. It's important that you understand that.

Well, at least there isn’t any mystery as to what is going to take place in the movie. Maybe there will be a man on a ledge? This one location premise actually has the intrigue and compelling ideas to be a pleasant, taut thriller that it wants to be. But it never has the intelligence, or even the acting, to pull off this ridiculous plot. Director Asger Leth is left stranded with a horrendous script from Pablo F. Fenjves that fails to create any sort of interest or believability. Sam Worthington is really giving his all, but the supporting cast is awful, the humour is tasteless and the ending is a huge howler that you will feel equal parts cheated and stupefied. Man on a Ledge is neither bad enough to be campy or good enough to be exciting.

You never want to push an innocent man too far. Ex-cop Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) wants to end his life after he escapes prison and finds out his father has died. But there is more to this story than a Man on a Ledge. Negotiator Lydia (Elizabeth Banks) is trying to prove to the public that she can save lives after another suicide negotiation goes terribly wrong. Nick’s brother Joey (Jaime Bell) and his girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez, a stripper name if I ever saw one) are attempting to rob a diamond for Nick to prove his innocence. And somehow this all involves a rich bastard (Ed Harris), a corrupt cop (Anthony Mackie) and a television reporter (Kyra Sedwick)

Okay, the core of the plot dives into the theft of a diamond to prove his innocence. First of all that is an oxymoron, how thievery proves innocence when thievery is an illegal act. Secondly, Joey and Angie have to be two of the most incompetent thieves I have seen in quite sometime. They always look like they have no idea what they are doing, and amongst their needless couple fights, everyone else looks that much dumber for not figuring out where these thieves are. It really cracks me up how they cover a camera or a sensor, and that there only seems to be one camera or sensor in these “highly secure” rooms.

Although, somehow the action is exciting despite the premise not really standing up to logic. The chase scenes are executed with great shock and pace. The action ramps up suspense by the character narrowly escaping being caught and I was surprised how much action could be conceived on a ledge when the film reaches its climax. It literally becomes a high-wire act at some points and those flashes of action are what I was waiting for in the film.

But Man on a Ledge wants to defy its title and be smart and taut. But it really isn’t smart at all. It uses very cheap tricks and cliched obstacles to make their characters look smart. Heat sensors defeated with a fire extinguisher. Safes defeated by strong drills. A crowd distraction so that an explosion can happen. It is all very, VERY unbelievable. Worthington was the only one in the cast grabbing my interest. He really depicts a man on the edge, no pun intended, but also maintains the idea that he has some tricks up his sleeve making his character intriguing.

But the supporting cast is out to lunch because they either struggle with action or are one-dimensional because the script has no time for them. And the ending is the cherry on the cake. With an equally hilarious and maddening ending, Man on a Ledge ditches its intelligence and intrigue and fails to create a reliable character driven thriller. The script doesn’t work, and the one location setting makes the film rely heavily on its actors. Only one seemed to be up to the challenge. And he is the titular character. But the script forces the film to commit excitement suicide as it doesn’t have enough fun, characters to root for or believability to be the taut, one-location thriller it wants to be. This is fake-smart, wanna-be film making, and it plummets to the street below all too quickly.

2012 Oscar Predictions

2012-01-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

Best Picture

The Artist (WILL WIN)

The Descendants

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Help

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

The Tree of Life (SHOULD WIN)

War Horse

This may actually be the first time in 83 years that a non-talkie picture will win the prestigious honor on Oscar night. I think it will happen. The Tree of Life is my favourite, but it is too polarizing to even have a shot. But The Artist would be my second choice, so hurrah to the power of silence!

Best Actor

Demian Bichir - A Better Life

George Clooney - The Descendants (WILL WIN)

Jean Dujardin - The Artist (SHOULD WIN)

Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Well the one who really should win wasn't even nominated this year! Seriously Oscar, despite the fact that Shame was my favourite film of 2011, I can understand the content being to risky to be nominated. But to shun Michael Fassbender, who has had one hell of a year, is a crime. Sigh. I was in love with Jean Dujardin and when he smiled, I just couldn't stop smiling. But George Clooney has been taking home all the hardware and I have no reason to think he won't take home the big prize come Oscar night.

Best Actress

Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis - The Help

Rooney Mara - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (SHOULD WIN)

Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady (WILL WIN)

Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn

Mara tears up the screen as Lisabeth Salander, but the Oscars rarely take risks in these categories. I figure there is an upset every couple years or so, but it will be between David and Streep when it comes down to the choice. I think that Streep will take home the hardware because she has been nominated quite a few times over the past couple decades. Many people think she has been shunned lately, so I'm guessing the Oscars will give in and hand her another trophy.

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn

Jonah Hill - Moneyball

Nick Nolte - Warrior

Christopher Plummer - Beginners (SHOULD and WILL WIN)

Max von Sydow - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I know everyone is probably screaming "he was just nominated because he is old, with cancer, and he is gay". Well I can't say that hurts the proceedings. But his performance is actually vital to the story of Beginners. He pulls everything through even when Beginners falters with too much quirkiness and sentimentality. Plummer never hits a false note. That and he has picked up virtually every award imaginable so far. I will be surprised if someone else wins this.

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo - The Artist

Jessica Chastain - The Help

Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids

Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer - The Help (SHOULD and WILL WIN)

You can definitely argue that having two people nominated from the same film will split the vote. But I think Spencer will take this home. Both her and Chastain are amazing in The Help, but Spencer has more memorable scenes and has been stealing the attention away from her supporting co-stars. Spencer takes the Oscar and Chastain looks back on the 7 films she was in in 2011 and asks herself what else she needed to do to get that Oscar. I thought she should have been nominated for Take Shelter or Tree of Life, but hey, at least she got recognized.

Best Director

Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris

Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist (WILL WIN)

Terrence Malick - The Tree of Life (SHOULD WIN)

Alexander Payne - The Descendants

Martin Scorsese - Hugo

I was stunned that the Academy had the guts to nominate Malick, a very private individual who probably won't be there on the night. He deserves to win, but again, the ambiguity of The Tree of Life hurts it. That being said, Hazanavicius will take it home and what an achievement. He expresses silence not is a showy way, or shoving the silent treatment down your throat. His modern touches and love for cinema itself explode off the screen, and he is more than worthy enough to take this award home. EVen though Scorsese surprised at the Golden Globe, i think this is Hazanavicius's time. And in what great company to take it home as well.

Best Original Screenplay

The Artist

Bridesmaids

Margin Call

Midnight in Paris (WILL WIN)

A Separation (SHOULD WIN)

This is a comeback year for Woody Allen. Finally getting recognized for his talent in today's age, Midnight in Paris will definitely take home the original screenplay prize. I still loved A Separation, a bombardment on constant, explosive conversations where no side seems to be able to back down. The fact it even got nominated in an English language category is extraordinary. But, I really don't think Oscar has the guts to give it to an Iranian screenwriter. Midnight in Paris has all the hardware so far, just needs this one to cap it off.

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Descendants

Hugo

The Ides of March

Moneyball (SHOULD and WILL WIN)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

After watching Moneyball for a second time, the script by Sorkin and Zallian is an example of writers in complete control of their audience. There are numerous looks of dead silence in the film that say so much more than filling up the empty space with needless words. Every time someone says something it is important, urgent and meaningful. Now that is a splendid script. Moneyball hasn't been getting a lot of buzz as a whole movie since it came out so early in the year. But the script is getting a ton of attention, and I expect Oscar to listen to that buzz.

Best Animated Feature

A Cat In Paris

Chico and Rita

Kung Fu Panda 2

Puss in Boots

Rango (SHOULD and WILL WIN)

This has been a craptastic year for animation. And this is also one of the first years in recent memory to not have a Pixar film. Thank god, because Cars 2 was the biggest sellout of the year, and I couldn't believe that Pixar, the masters of originality in their stories, could make something so bland and uneventful. But I digress. Rango is a very original and quirky film that should take the top prize mainly because its competition isn't really much. Puss ing Boots and Kung Fu Panda 2? Please. It is amazing how desperate the Academy was with a field like this. This has to be the most disappointing nominee category this year.

Best Foreign Language Film

Bullhead (Belgium)

Footnote (Israel)

In Darkness (Poland)

Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)

A Separation (Iran) (SHOULD and WILL WIN)

To be honest, I have only seen A Separation on this list. But there is an overwhelming wave of buzz for this film. That and it has been nominated in an English language category as well. My only worry is that...it is from Iran. Bad timing with all that tension in the States. But i am praying the Oscars will finally pick the right foreign film this year after all the screw ups they have had in the past.

Best Cinematography

The Artist

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Hugo

The Tree of Life (SHOULD and WILL WIN)

War Horse

Best Editing

The Artist

The Descendants

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (SHOULD and WILL WIN)

Hugo

Moneyball

Best Art Direction

The Artist

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

Hugo (SHOULD and WILL WIN)

Midnight in Paris

War Horse

Best Costume Design

Anonymous

The Artist

Hugo (SHOULD WIN)

Jane Eyre (WILL WIN)

W.E.

Best Makeup

Albert Nobbs

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (SHOULD WIN)

The Iron Lady (WILL WIN)

Best Original Score

The Adventures of Tintin

The Artist (WILL WIN)

Hugo

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

War Horse (SHOULD WIN)

Best Original Song

"Man or Muppet" - The Muppets (SHOULD and WILL WIN)

"Real in Rio" - Rio

Best Sound Mixing

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Hugo (SHOULD and WILL WIN)

Moneyball

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

War Horse

Best Sound Editing

Drive

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (SHOULD WIN)

Hugo (WILL WIN)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

War Horse

Best Visual Effects

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

Hugo

Real Steel

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (SHOULD and WILL WIN)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

The rest of the categories will be updated later as I do not have enough information to make a valid prediction at this time.

The Grey - Survival of the fittest

2012-01-27T23:33:00.000-08:00

John is being fed to the wolves by nature in The Grey

The Grey - ★★★½ out of 5

Starring: Liam Neeson, Joe Anderson, Frank Grillo
Directed by Joe Carnahan (Narc, The A-Team)

Ottway: Don't move. Stare right back at them.

If I was about see this film, and you told me that it was directed by the man behind the bad action flick The A-Team, I would have laughed in your face. But alas, it is. Director Joe Carnahan puts on a clinic of surprises and quiet, simmering emotions. Survival films are difficult to pull off because usually the trek across a desolate land can become tedious and uneventful if you don’t have the right ingredients. But The Grey progresses greatly, never afraid to show a depth I honestly didn’t think it was going to have. For a January release with Liam Neeson’s big face on a poster, I was not expecting much. Colour me impressed. The Grey is very satisfying entertainment.

Ottway (Liam Neeson) is in charge of looking out for the oil men as they drill for oil in the Alaskan wilderness. He is a sharp shooter, and knows exactly how those wolves crave the blood of unsuspecting men. He picks them off to ensure the mens' safety. But with the death of his loved one, he is a lost man. On the way back from a job, his plane goes down in Alaska with the rest of the crew. Only a few survive, and with wolves closing in for a juicy meal, it is time to adapt to their surroundings, or die a very painful death.

I was skeptical at the beginning of this film which was a lot of hectic action follow by jump scares with wolves appearing and disappearing out of nowhere. I felt like this was going to a shock-fest of constant running and blood. The crash of the plane happens, and it seemed like business as usual. You are simply wondering who is going to live and die. They are just a bunch of ex cons with the usual nasty tales to tell.

But then the film surprisingly slows the pace down and quietly exposes each of the men for who they are. Carnahan turns the cliched fireside chat sequence in every survival film into a small but effective portrait of man. They miss their kids, loved ones yes, but they wonder their place on earth. Does it even matter if they go anywhere after they die? Is there even anywhere to go at all? They all lose faith, but was there even faith to begin with?

In addition, the film makes the environment a character. Slowly beating down our survivors to the bitter end, we see as one-by-one their personalities and skills are put to the test by animals and natures most horrifying gifts. There is a wonderful scene where one of the team demands to be left behind as he will become a burden to the rest of the group with his injuries. Carnahan shoots most of this scene in long shots, as if the wild seems to be overtaking the emotions of the character. The man wants to die with a great view, and what better an opportunity right?

Even if The Grey gets ludicrous with its action, It knows how to make nature seep into the hearts of man. Someone is testing them? No. There is no religious babbling of faith and redemption. There is life and death. Substance and nothing. And all of them are scared of both. The Grey marks a return to form for Joe Carnahan who has struggled in recent years with noisy, hyper action flicks. The Grey focuses on what it needs to be satisfying entertainment. It is isn’t obscure enough to be artsy, or common enough to be mainstream. It takes the best of both worlds and creates a blood and guts tale worthy of the call of the wild.

Haywire - They left her no choice

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

One of the rare occasions where Mallory uses a gun in Haywire

Haywire - ★★½ out of 5

Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Channing Tatum
Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Ocean's Eleven)

Kenneth: You shouldn't think of her as being a woman. That would be your first mistake.

I find it hilarious that a movie involving a female spy must always grab the attention of the viewer with her seductive nature and physical attributes. But director Steven Soderbergh makes his female lead a physical force to be reckoned with. Starring mixed martial arts star Gina Carano, Haywire is a decent distraction, but an ultimately forgettable experience because of the over-serious tone. This is a B-movie, and going into it, the audience expects that. But Soderbergh makes the tone very serious, pausing for some admittedly incredible fight scenes and tension. But the plot never amounts to anything meaningful, and that is a hefty majority of the film. I was just waiting for the film to kick it into overdrive, but it quietly paces itself. That pace doesn’t work for such a B-premise as this.

Mallory (Carano) begins the film in a diner. She doesn’t seem to concerned with what is going on around her right now. But when her spy counterpart Aaron (Chaning Tatum, still unable to convince me that he can act) shows up, things go, hem, Haywire. Switiching between the past and the present, the plot thickens when we find out the leader of Mallory’s organization (Ewan McGregor, completely out of place here) is trying to tie up the loose ends by taking her out. Throw in a corporate executive (Michael Doulas) a rich Spanish man (Antonio Banderas) and sentimental father (Bill Paxton) and you’ve got a revenge tale!

Well, not quite. I really don’t understand why this plot is so needlessly convoluted. One minute we are enjoying her escape from the bad guys, next we are sitting down in a meeting discussing the whole mess of the agency and the politics of the murder. Haywire just seems like is should have the tone of other mindless revenge films like Shoot Em’ Up or Crank, but it wants to be sophisticated. It just doesn’t work because the plot never matches the intensity or pace of the action.

But Soderbergh is the real talent behind the camera. Here his fascinating lighting choices create an uneasy tone in every scene because the odd lighting keeps changing. In addition, the action is where Soderbergh excels. Rather than using swift camera movements and manipulating the footage using editing Soderbergh allows the action to fill the frame, giving the fist fights a crisp panache. They also cut very little, showing off the choreography and Carano’s physical presence.

But where Carano dominates in physical presence, she fails in character. While she has a great body and a nice face, Gina Carano really doesn’t have that charisma or character depth that even campy films like Tomb Raider. Even in Joe Wright’s Hanna, the action has that superficial, bloody edge that is so artfully directed, yet Saorise Ronan’s character is so rich with complexities and problem. Carano’s Mallory just wants revenge. It is simple, to the point, but ultimately empty.

And that clash between a complex plot but vacant characters is why the film really isn’t a fulfilling experience. Why must this complex plot not have any complex notions for those involved? Adversly, why must this plot be so complicated for such simple emotional drive? They both try to compensate for each other, and the result is missed opportunities amidst an artsy flare.

Do I want to see more of Carano in the future. Maybe. It depends if she pursues this career or not. If she does, she may become a female Jason Statham, kicking the bad guys and “getting the job done”. Haywire comprises too much, but delivers on its small pleasures with solid action and pacing that works as a distraction. And Michael Fassbender can elevate any movie, no matter how small his role. But no one can make Haywire anything to remember the second you open the theater door to leave. This is a classic example of enjoying yourself while there, then forgetting later just what the hell you were doing there in the first place.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Extreme risk pays off but with incredible cost

2012-01-24T22:56:00.000-08:00

Oskar (Horn) and Thomas (Hanks) search for clues in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - ★★★ out of 5

Starring: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max von Sydow
Directed by Stephen Daldry (The Hours, The Reader)

Thomas Schell: If it isn't difficult to find it is not worth finding.

This has to be one of the riskiest films of the year. Other than Shame of course. Shame found controversy and ambition in its very naked presentation and premise. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close find controversy and a lot of feeling with the 9/11 attacks as the backdrop to a very compelling albeit ludicrous journey through New York. It doesn’t exploit the 9/11 tragedy but instead uses it for a dramatic force. The problem is the film becomes so sappy with hit and miss performances across the board. However, a star is born in Thomas Horn an incredible child actor whose risky performance keeps this film from drowning in a silly story. You are compelled to find out what this tiny key fits. But we are more compelled by what this key can fix.

The film opens with Oskar (Thomas Horn) playing with what has to be the happiest father ever created Thomas (Tom Hanks). But as the opening bliss of the film ends, we begin to understand just what has happened to Thomas. The day is 9/11, or “the worst day” as Oskar calls it. And Thomas is killed, leaving behind a confused son trying to make sense of it all, and a wildly melodramatic wife Linda (Sandra Bullock). Oskar winds up finding a key in his father’s closet, which convinces him that his father left him one more mystery to solve. Oskar uses this journey to fill up the spaces in himself that he doesn’t understand from this tragedy.

Now as hard as this is to accept, Extremely Loud really depicts the authenticity of what a child would feel on this horrific day. I remember being 10 years old, and seeing the smoke from the towers on television, and I had no understanding of what is going on. Only later did I learn of the details as life went on. Oskar is a boy who needs a reason for things to happen. And director Stephen Daldry doesn’t shy away from his meticulous and hyper-logical mindset. This drives him to solve problems very efficiently, but acts of complete wrong doing or evil he just cannot comprehend. It is a heartbreaking innocence that Horn portrays brilliantly.

However, the elements surrounding Oskar’s life vary from mildly engaging to flat out annoying. As a mother character, Bullock just comes off as the helpless widow who doesn’t know what to do with her out of control child. She doesn’t really have a significant role in Oskar’s life. They try to give her character some depth towards the end, but we’ve already been distanced from her too far to care. It’s too sentimental too late.

But the most polarizing aspect of Extremely Loud are its scene that it take so many risks that I equally admire it and revolt against it. Oskar meets so many people on his journey, including a woman in the midst of a divorce named Abby (Viola Davis). Coming off her stunning performance in The Help, Davis is reduced to nothing, filling up plot holes and creating contrivances. Why is she reduced to such a nothing role?

On the other hand, the Oscar nominated performance of Max von Sydow as The Renter is incredible. He reminded me of an elderly version Charlie Chaplin. Quirky, pleasant and always looking to help, he is almost as innocent as Oskar. As they wander around New York, Oskar and The Renter communicate more than anyone else in the film by saying the least. It’s quite a performance amongst other supporting members such as Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright and John Goodman who all barely have any development beyond caricature.

Daldry knows that this film is going to be driven by characters and their interactions. He nails the central story but failed to create a solid backdrop for the characters that Oskar meets. I personally can’t even imagine directing material like this. For the guts and ambition of telling this story that begs to be told, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close succeeds in creating a boy picking up the pieces of himself and a puzzle that demands to be fixed. All those pieces may not fit, but for the exhilaration of this journey, this is worth recommending. But a Best Picture nominee? That’s extremely forgiving and incredibly shallow on the Academy’s part.

Perfect Sense - Perfect at making no sense

2012-01-21T12:14:00.000-08:00

Michael and Susan in a world losing their senses in Perfect Sense

Perfect Sense - ★ out of 5

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Ewan Bremner, Stephen Dillane
Directed by David Mackenzie (Spread)

Susan: All beyond fat and flour...

The title almost makes this film a parody. Director David Mackenzie tries to craft a story about love amidst a world plagued by disease. And the results are beyond disastrous. The bottom line is Perfect Sense makes no sense, making up silly disease symptoms while squeezing in some endless sentimentality that never lets up. It gets very sickening after awhile and it is incredible that Mackenzie didn’t laugh in the fact of screenwriter Kim Fupz Aakeson when it was handed to him. The most abhorrent thing about Perfect sense is how strangely misguided the entire film seems to be. It can’t take anything in the right direction or even make one step without faltering. Like watching a train wreck, Perfect sense is oddly fascinating for every wrong reason imaginable. I wish my sense of sight and sound could have been taken away at the same time.

There are two sides to this epidemic, the working class and the ones trying to solve the problem. The working class is represented by Michael (Ewan McGregor) who is a chef in a high-class restaurant. This is also a place where many of the senses are needed, so it is very convenient for the film makers to make him a chef. The problems solvers are represented by Susan (Eva Green) a epidemiologist who is trying to figure out what this disease is. Oh right, the disease strikes all people with a powerful overwhelming emotional need (guilt, hunger, rage) and then a human sense disappears.

Yes, it is dumb. Dumb beyond comprehension. Dumb dumb dumb. This has to be the most laughable idea for a disease film in a long time. It uses the loss of sense as an excuse to ramp up the pseudo-lyrical voiceovers from Green on the people of society losing themselves. It is so corny, so shamelessly begging and so relentless you barely have a chance to even understand the plot at hand. It never makes you believe that anything is happening for any good reason.

And this world is so bleak from the start. With that grey, grainy cinematography, you can already tell something is wrong before it happens. This world never seems to bring you into its aesthetics or attributes. They just dump some more garbage onto the street when the disease gets worse. And it is amazing how quickly the human race adapts to the loss of sense. It is briefly an epidemic, then instantly fixed until the next sense is gone. How contrived is that?

I haven’t even mentioned the romance, which is what this disease revolves around. There is barely any chemistry between McGregor and Green. I don’t know if they were poorly directed, or they just needed some money, but their relationship is as dull as the world around them. They have sex, lose a sense, have sex, lose a sense. Well it doesn’t make any sense of the senses. And that sense is senseless anyways!

In all seriousness, how am I supposed to fall for a disease drama that completely over blows the effects of the disease. Allow me to walk you through this. Before they lose a sense of taste (its not a spoiler, its in the plot the humans are slowly losing their senses) the human being experiences a giant, overwhelming need for food. So we have a montage of people literally grabbing anything within their reach, even if it isn’t food, and eating it. This means raw meat, dead animals, paper, etc. There is even a shot of a man who grabs a live rabbit out of a cage and it cuts right before he eats it. WHY? Even if there is a giant outbreak of hunger, the human being still has the sense to not eat inedible things. This is so stupid and very offensive as it tries to pry itself into your emotions with abhorrent violence and intensity.

Needless to say, this film is a misfire. However, when a film goes wrong, and with a concept like this, there are usually some features that I can admire the film makers for trying at. I had no sympathy for anyone or anything in this film. While Mackenzie attempts a style, Perfect Sense comes off as one of the most baffling, odd, laughable and offensive thrillers of 2012. I reserved a spot on my worst list, and its only January! Perfect Sense is a tour de force in imperfections and how a sense of a bad script is needed in order to save the day.

War Horse - A horse with no rider

2012-01-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

Joey and Albert try to avoid the war in War Horse

War Horse - ★★ out of 5

Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup
Directed by Steven Spielberg (Jaws, E.T, The Adventures of Tintin)

Grandfather: Can you imagine flying over a war and you know you can never look down? You have to look forward, or you'll never get home. What could be braver than that? (I hate this line by the way, who cares!)

The triumphant songs by John Williams seem to punctuate every gallops. The blazing guns emphasizes the terror exhibited by the soldiers in this war. And among all the horror and bloodshed, a beautiful stallion rides free and clear. And people have countless dolly push ins to make sure we feel something. The second film this year from legendary Steven Spielberg is even more disappointing than his attempt at reviving his Indiana Jones franchise in 2008. While its technical achievements are masterful, its emotional achievements are artificial or non-existent. Watch this horse run through trenches doesn’t inspire me. It leaves me wondering what I was missing as the triumphant music blares throughout.

The journey of an exceptional horse named Joey begins with his first, and probably most poorly acted owner Albert (Jeremy Irvine). As Albert grows up watching the majestic beauty of Joey, we see his Spielberg face constantly on with wonder and amazement as he stares at the horse. Why do we never see them genuinely bond through any real interesting event. There is so many moments of him getting close to the horse and petting him, but the horse never seems to do anything in response. It’s like a one sided relationship.

But I must confess that as much as I understand the bond between human and animal, I never had that in my life. Had some goldfish that lasted two weeks, then died. However, Spielberg has made me care a lot for animals before in his other greats such as Jaws and E.T. So why didn’t I connect with War Horse? I believe that the legend surrounding this horse is built up to be greater than it actually is. The horse is just begging to be loved by anyone who comes across it because it is that obvious symbol of beauty in a time of turmoil. Spielberg didn’t sell me on connecting with the horse or any of its respective owners, as a result my distance from the horse increased as the Hollywood cheese was poured on.

But War Horse absolutely needs to be recognized for its very apparently technical wonders. The cinematography by Janusz Kaminski makes every riding and war scene shine with excellence. His use of colours during sunsets and a sunrise are particularly breathtaking. In addition, 45-time Oscar nominee John Williams crafts another compelling score. I loved the score even if the scenes were drowning in sentimentality. It pulses to the sweeping scope scope of the film, and though it may be a victim of Oscar parodies online, I think its a marvelous, triumphant score.

But the technical achievements make War Horse feel that much emptier at its center. I didn’t find any of the characters adding anything significant to the plot, or the horses mentality. I think Spielberg tries so hard to create a passionate animal powering through atrocity that he forgot about the feelings and emotions of the horse, and people that have the fortune of meeting him.

I also want to single out one scene in particular. Joey is trapped on the battlefield after the guns stop blazing. Joey is caught in barbed wire, so one of the British troops come out to try and help the horse in No Man’s Land. Eventually, a German soldier comes out to help with a pair of pliers. Here is what I don’t understand. I know that soldiers from opposite sides would sit down and have tea together sometimes because they don’t care about killing another man. It is their governments at war, and not actually them. That makes perfect sense. But why is this horse so god damn special. There are probably numerous other horses littering the battlefield and cross the land who are suffering and dying. So why is this one so important? I did not buy it, and the scene was a howler.

In the end War Horse is too obviously manipulative to create that emotional resonance need for a story of this scale and passion. Everything is being force fed to you as if you have seen an inspirational and courageous movie before. The war sequences are done brilliantly and technically the film looks amazing. But at its center, the film has little to say about the horse, the people, its journey and why we should cheer as a horse jumps a trench or two. Spielberg didn’t sell me on this one. I heard many sniffles as I left the theater, so obviously Spielberg extracted the tears he needed. They are tears because of manipulation, never finding the authenticity to truly be remembered.

A Separation - Far apart and falling apart

2012-01-20T06:54:00.000-08:00

Nader and Simin try hard to get a divorce in A Separation

A Separation - ★★★★½ out of 5

Starring: Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami, Sarina Farhadi
Directed by Asghar Farhadi (Fireworks Wednesday)

Nader: What is wrong is wrong, no matter who said it or where it's written.

A divorce is complicated, but being unable to is even more so. Little did this couple know that their marital complications would set off a chain reaction of events that would forever shake their lives. Coming out of absolutely nowhere, A Separation explodes onto the screen weaving endless, brilliant conversational pieces driving the story and consequences forward with pure dialogue. This is a huge film from Iran and has a great chance of taking home that Best Foreign Language Oscar. Why? It not only builds tension and intrigue with the family dynamics, but shatters religious and moral taboos, asking some of the toughest questions about family you will see all year. They can’t even get a divorce, but they can’t escape their fate either.

The couple in the middle of it all is Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) who are always engaging in heated discussions. They disagree for the sake of disagreeing, and the film opens with them pleading to a judge to get a divorce. Sadly; their issue isn’t seen as a threat to their marriage, but a problem they can work out. The judge dismisses them, and the heart of the film truly begins to open up. Nader has an elderly father with Alzheimers who he demands he stay and care for, but Simin wants to leave the country with her daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi).

That is the setup anyways. A Separation builds its world on class and distinction from other people. Nader must stay because of his obligation as a son, even if an old-folks home might do a better job than him. His integrity is put to the test when he hires a maid Razieh (Sareh Bayat) to both clean and looks after his father while he works. But she doesn’t know that he has Alzheimer's. A Separation values its culture so much, and a brilliant scene occurs when Razieh has to change the fathers clothes after he wets himself, and she calls her church to find out if it is a sin to see him naked.

The complications continue when we find out secrets about the characters and how a simple misunderstand begins t pick away at any chance of a happy reunion. You are ever hopeful that good decisions will prevail amongst the adults, but the conversations continue, drone on and on, but drawing us into the intensity of the conversations. Just when it seems like a problem is solved, another one makes its way into the forefront. And it never seems contrived, it evolves naturally out of the stubbornness of the characters.

But the most important part of A Separation is its uncompromising views of its country and characters. Their traits seem to try and compete against each other constantly. No one can ever be the winner in these arguments. But since no one will compromise, those close to them get hurt. In the haunting final shot of the film, A Separation forces us to remember the path these characters chose. How did we get here? Why did we get here? A quiet ending to an incendiary grenade of conversation and A Separation distinguishes itself easily as the best foreign film of the year. But it also is one of the best films overall because of its aching humanity, and about how when our egos are placed first, everyone except yourself gets hurt.

My Week With Marilyn - A week is way too long

2012-01-20T04:11:00.000-08:00

Michelle Williams as the infamous Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn

My Week With Marilyn - ★★ out of 5

Starring: Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Emma Watson
Directed by Simon Curtis (film debut)

Colin Clark: It's agony because he's a great actor who wants to be a film star, and you're a film star who wants to be a great actress. This film won't help either of you

I’d settle for just a day with her next time. My Week With Marilyn is a showcase or two main talents. Michelle Williams as the ditzy, annoying but forever loved Marilyn Monroe and Kenneth Branagh as the great Sir Laurence Olivier. The rest of the film is a huge mess, devolving into a tedious love affair and wasting a supporting cast that never even had a chance to get off the ground. I don’t deny that the two characters mentioned are very fascinating and engaging, but they can only do so much with a script that doesn’t develop a very silly and immature romance that is at the center of this film. The clumsy direction makes the film over-simplistic and makes the drama very murky. A week with this Marilyn is way too long.

The film’s central character actually isn’t Marilyn at all. A man named Colin (Eddie Redmayne) catches a huge break in the film industry. In fact, it actually happens so easily that it is laughable. After finding a house for Marilyn Monroe to stay in, he is promoted to assistant director to Sir Laurence Olivier (Branagh). Olivier’s new film is starring Marilyn Monroe (Williams) but she is a huge hassle on set. That is where Colin comes in. He is sent to try and understand who she is so that the crew can better interact with her on set. But he falls in love with her, despite already having a crush with one of the costume girls Lucy (Emma Watson).

This is why the film struggles. Had we been convinced on Colin’s intentions, his ability to work and his love for Marilyn, maybe this film would have actually worked. But how he ends up in Hollywood is unbelievable, I wasn’t convinced by Redmayne’s performance and how he falls for Marilyn Monroe is so pathetic. He merely has a swim with her, and hangs out with her. Nothing lustful or sinful as Marilyn’s life was. It feels like Colin is just stuck in the friend zone with her the whole movie.

In addition much of the supporting case is hung out to dry. The script simply had no time for them. Dame Judi Dench is such a fine actress, and she is another actor working on he film. And it seems the only reason she exists is for moral support of the other characters. Same with Emma Watson, coming off Harry Potter she looks like she cashing another check on her name. Why aren’t these incredibly talented people ever given enough time to shine?

Even when the film veers into a passion for moviemaking, we are more entertained by the sadness and numerous takes that Marilyn has to go through. This may be a message about her character, how the passion has left Hollywood, but the entertainment is thriving. But it doesn’t work in the context of this period drama. The film is neither deep or affecting. It is all surface material that follows the path already laid down for it.

And this is the shroud that My Week With Marilyn drowns itself in. It tries to make the romance with an icon iconic. It tries to follow the passion of making a film and what it must have been like to be there on set with Marilyn Monroe. It doesn’t convince us of the doomed celebrity status of Marilyn or reflect and convincing romance with her. This film should be about Marilyn, but it is more about the world surrounding her. It’s not about the world she creates, or the status she achieved. It is about a boy whose wet dreams come true. It doesn’t get more Hollywood than that I suppose.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - This war is a mighty cold one

2012-01-19T15:33:00.000-08:00

Peter and George are in too deep in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - ★★★½ out of 5

Starring: Gary Oldman, Toby Jones, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy
Directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let The Right One In)

George Smiley: We are not so very different, you and I. We've both spent our lives looking for the weaknesses in one another.

The paranoia of the cold war seems to have the British up in arms. Based on the best-selling book by John Le Carre, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tomas Alfredson’s meticulous and moody adaptation has one of the best casts of the entire year. Led by the towering, quiet performance of Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor has all of the elements to be a true classic espionage thriller. The problem is that the material is so dense, the plot so thick and the implications so many that the emotional investment is sacrificed for stunning cinematography and incredible performances. Luckily, Alfredson knows how to create that edge, that fear of an enemy and that slow pace that keeps you glancing over your shoulder from scene to scene.

The early 1970s had British intelligence really scared. But Control (John Hurt) has resigned from his head of the intelligence agency because of a mission in Budapest that went horribly wrong. George Smiley (Oldman) is called out of retirement to find out what went wrong. What he knows is that there is a mole right at the top of the intelligence period. The suspects? Percy (Toby Jones), Bill (Colin Firth), Roy (Ciaran Hinds) and Toby (David Dencik). And things become much more complicated than that.

What Alfredson nails right on the head is a sense of mistrust that plagues the film. You are never quite sure who to believe. Things et even more mysterious when a rogue operative Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy, exceptional here) shows up at Smiley’s house. What are the facts? Is he in on the whole facade? The mistrust is not merely embedded in the plot, but created by the cold, cynical atmosphere that surrounds the film. Information is easy to come by, but the credibility of that information is what Smiley is seeking.

But with all the twists and turns our involvement in Tinker Tailor turns from a window of paranoia to a haze of confusion. You sort of understand what is going on. Sort of. But that oddity of feeling left out from the plot detracts the emotional engagement in what these characters stand for. They are all fascinating characters with their feelings simmering beneath their duty. But the fates of the characters are hit and miss in terms of interest and even cohesiveness

Of course with a character driven film, the characters must be performed well. But the cast goes above the buzz of having “every great British actor working today” in a film. They each substitute mannerisms for when they are unable to express how they feel. I was particularly fascinated by Peter (Benedict Cumberbatch) who plays Smiley’s guinea pig. He is sent to do some dangerous jobs, but he also only speaks when he needs to. Always loyal, never questioning, you almost doubt which side he is on simply by his mannerisms.

And Alfredson’s film flies forward on those mannerisms and many other subtleties. The shady environments by cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema. The air of uncertainty at this time almost become characters of their own, complimenting the human characters at the game of whodunnit gets deeper and deeper. I highly recommend this film, but can’t help but wonder what would have happened had this film been a little longer and more clear on its intentions. Then again, maybe the uncertainty is the aspect that keeps us in the state of the characters. Paranoid, confused and always uncertain when they’ve gone too deep, and wondering if they can even escape their own kind.

The Artist - Silence is more than golden

2012-01-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

Jean Duardin and Bernice Bejo reach out for a bravo they so rightly deserve in The Artist

The Artist - ★★★★½ out of 5

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius

Silence is golden, but a lot of films these days just don’t know when to shut up. But the oasis among the barren wasteland of loud Hollywood entertainment is probably the biggest crowd pleaser of the year. The Artist is a (almost) purely silent film that is other an ode to the days of older cinema and a message to the audiences of today. Writer/director Michel Hazanavicius expresses an insane amount of joy towards his characters and what cinema stands for. Whether you are a movie lover, or are just walking in trying to find out if The Artist is for you, it is. Surely going to be a Best Picture nominee in 2012, The Artist is true passion shining through the Hollywood we know today, and a beacon for future passion projects.

The Artist follows the story of famous film actor George Valentin (Jean Duarjin) who thrives in the 1920s as a hue silent film star. He has the spotlight, a huge house, numerous priceless possessions, he is self absorbed, has a wonderful servant and always chases after the women he pleases. But times are changing and, ironically, sound is becoming the next big thing. In addition, a local unknown woman named Peppy (Berenice Bejo) begins to climb her way to stardom, except people love to see AND hear her. George begins his spiral downward as this artist seems lost amidst the creation of a new definition of a star.

Where The Artist succeeds so obviously is how you instantly forget that it is a silent film. Even though the film falls into conventions, that is actually kind of the magic that The Artist produces. It makes itself a conventional love affair with a modern twist, ingeniously depicting the decent of Valentin into the world of sound. This is an advancement to the rest of the world, but for him it is a setback.

And Peppy conveniently has a lot of pep. Bejo brilliantly throws back to the clock to a woman in the 1920s, full of confidence and curiosity. But she also has the modern edge that Bejo cannot help but depict. Both of these French actors are incredibly charming, playing off each other’s strengths and weaknesses. When they are together on the screen, your smile is as big as Valentin’s.

But this is a more difficult film to review than you might think. Am I just giving this film props because it has the guts to be silent in an era where everyone is looking towards the future? I think The Artist has a very specific message that pertains to our world today. While a technical advancement may be sound, an emotional advancement is silence. So many films, commercials and media bombard us with flashes, images, violence and a tonnes of loud noise. The Artist is quiet, but not silent about it’s opinions. It has thanks to give to Singin’ in the Rain, and of course that masterpiece is better. But the years in which they were made have something else to say about movies entirely.

Where Singin’ in the Rain wanted us to embrace change, The Artist wants us to glance back for a moment. A moment where love becomes universal because silence resonates in all languages. A moment where the conventional is reached in an unconventional way. A moment to pause in pure fascinating at how risky this concept it. This is where I challenge you reader. Risk it all like the filmmakers. Pay for a ticket and sit in the silence. I can guarantee, that silence will have so much to say to you.

5 Overrated Films in 2011

2012-01-17T12:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess this is where we agree to disagree. While 2011 has stirred up many masterpieces and flops, some of those so called masterpieces just didn't do it for me. As a result, we have this list. Very quickly, in no particular order, here are 5 overrated films from 2011.

My Week With Marilyn - Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with acting noms for Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh who both turn in solid performances. The film itself is an exercise in tedious romance. The main character Colin just isn't performed or written well. Sadly, the story focuses on his love affair with Marilyn and it just isn't believable at all. It is bland, uneventful and barely even able to keep me awake. Plus Dame Judi Dench, Emma Watson and Toby Jones are all fine actors wondering why they have no purpose in the film. This film needed focus and interest, and great acting barely keeps Marilyn from being an awful tragedy. Much like her career.

Puss In Boots - Just wow. The fact that this film is about to break $500 million world wide and hold a score of over 80% on Rotten Tomatoes is just a travesty. Great visuals are expected, and Puss in Boots has absolutely nothing to show for it. Apparently Puss in Boots grew up in an orphanage with Humpty Dumpty. Wait it gets better, they dreamed of finding a magic beanstalk to take them to a golden egg up in the clouds where they can be rich. Wow, great message. And don't forget Salma Hayak as the love interest for Puss, because that will help. I went to see the move with a friend who was unusually affectionate towards cats. She was just as angry as I was.

Kung Fu Panda 2 - Once again we have another animated film from Dreamworks, and once again I fail to comprehend the massive amount of cash and over 80% score on Rotten Tomatoes. This story has been beaten to death. Since the family wasn't really involved in the first film, you just know that Poe is going to go search for the family in this one. Well, that leaves the rest of the characters and talented voice cast out to dry. But their friendship and comedic banter is what made the first one so enjoyable. Add to this a laughable villain, a predictable plot and an ending just begging you to come back for the final chapter and Kung Fu Panda 2 drowns itself in family schmaltz.

War Horse - Here is my problem with this Spielberg film. I did not care about the horse or the people. There is an expectation going into the film that you are supposed to instantly like the horse. Well, I was never given a chance to even become apart of this horse's world because the music begins, we have the push in on all the amazed faces, and we like the horse. Well I didn't buy it. Give War Horse all the technical awards that is definitely deserves, but at its center the characters are merely caricatures (the timid teenage boy, the overbearing mother, the reminiscing grandfather etc.) and watching the horse escape everything is an expectation that never creates emotional resonance. This is a Spielberg film where the manipulation is too obvious, too fast and too much.

Thor - With over 70% on Rotten Tomatoes and a solid amount at the box office, this deserves a spot on this list. This isn't a terrible movie, but I only enjoyed it because of its accidental camp factor. Should we really be laughing at a superhero? Thor is a God who has all the muscle and superpowers to take down all the bad guys, yet director Kenneth Branagh makes him seem like one big jokes. And all the supporting performance are left out to dry. I couldn't believe how useless Natalie Portman was. Sporadic action, lame dialogue and a lack of build are only the icing on the cake. Thor isn't ood, but you will pribably be laughing more often at how silly it is.

Shame - No shame in calling this a masterpiece

2012-01-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

Brandon stares off into the New York landscape in Shame

Shame - ★★★★★ out of 5

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale
Directed by Steve McQueen (Hunger)

Sissy Sullivan: We're not bad people. We just come from a bad place.

In the days of censorship, pre-ordained plots and everything focusing on aesthetics and beauty, one film dares to defy everything. Shame is the latest from director Steve McQueen (no not that one, he’s dead as I found out the hard way) who crafted 2008’s brilliant prison depiction Hunger. That launched himself and actor Michael Fassbender into the notice of Hollywood. But with Shame, these two extraordinary talents rocket past any of their previous works without hesitation. Plunging forward into some of the most graphic, provocative, ferocious and bewildering material of the year, Shame is a most that sacrifices nothing and gains everything by completely stupefying its audience. One word can barely do Shame justice, but this word also explains a type of cinema that McQueen finds the most important. Fearless.

In the city of New York, Brandon (Fassbender) works for an undisclosed business company while struggling to control his addiction to everything sexual. Whether it be masturbation during work hours, internet pornography, hookers, escorts, or just plain one night stands, Brandon can’t get enough of it. And the frequency of it is very alarming. McQueen doesn’t shy away from the lifestyle of Brandon. This is a very sexually active lifestyle, so McQueen chooses to depict it in the most explicit way possible. His characters are naked to us. We can see right through them because we have seen everything about them. Including their genitalia. Just watching Brandon urinate during the opening scenes establishes that Shame is going to hold nothing back.

And it never loses its emotional grip. Things get out of hand when Brandon’s wayward sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan, incredibly effective here) is forced to move in with Brandon. In a beautiful, nearly uncut piece of music, Mulligan sings “New York, New York” brilliantly in a bar as Brandon listens. It is a brief hiatus of disarming beauty amongst the depravity going on in Brandon’s life.

But this is a spiral out of control, not a family drama by any means. The problems between the two siblings are simple but effective. They share a lot of screaming, awkwardness and both are damaged for whatever reason. Their pasts are never explained. I love when films focus on the “now” rather than “then”. The amount of emotional force that McQueen pulls through this complex character study is astounding. For the entire 101 minutes of Shame, you can’t seem to break free from Brandon and his plunge into the scum of the New York streets.

But is he? I mean, he has a respectable job, a solid apartment, and he enjoys the company of other women very often. This is incredible film making that is dead on with its intentions. What we see is the window into the truth about Brandon, while all the other characters, except for his sister, don’t know who he really is, or his sick habits. He is losing it, and slowly McQueen weaves a web of drama that the characters and audience cannot escape.

I also love how McQueen extends the shots of scenes. You watch as scenes slowly turn into something different than before. When Sissy interrupts Brandon while he is masturbating, she begins to laugh on the couch. He comes outside and jumps onto of her seemingly in a playful manner. Then he begins to scream at her and her laughter turns to utter terror. That is what is magical about McQueen’s style. The characters change before your eyes without cutting, drawing you into their problems and values.

But at its core Shame is so ferocious, so blunt, but at the same time so subtle. McQueen throws his heart and soul at the audience, showing him how he sees the life of Brandon. A completely stripped, torn character, Brandon is not a mirror to us, but a horrific depiction of a man caught in the web of modern society while engaging in the most primal and natural impulses. This is a brilliant masterpiece that challenges the viewer and never gives in to censorship or conventions.

The Best Films of 2011

2012-01-02T12:51:00.000-08:00

After my last post was digging up memories I never wanted to remember, it is now time to show you the memories that will last forever with me. A lot of people have been knocking this year of movies for its underperformance at the box-office. But numbers are numbers. And films are films. The greatest films are always in the places you least suspect. Now is the time to chop of the close-but-not-quite films and find the real cream of the crop this year. This was a very difficult list, with many huge surprises, unconventional narratives and shocking performances gracing the silver screen this year. This is my list. Take it or leave it. But if you leave it, bring on the criticism. Here is my list of the best films of 2011 from BEST to VERY BEST.

Honorable Mentions: Drive, Melancholia, Super 8, The Muppets, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, We Need To Talk About Kevin, J. Edgar, Warrior

Films I Missed: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Iron Lady, My Week With Marilyn, Jane Eyre, Rampart, A Better Life

The gang's all here. Your unlikely heroes of the day

20) Attack the Block - Think Shaun of the Dead meets an alien invasion. Hell, even Nick Frost jumps into the cast with the wild proceedings. This is a debut film for writer/director Joe Cornish, who expertly crafts in some self aware laughs, generation quips and some thrilling action on a shoestring budget. But what will surprise you most about this film is how a gang of lowlife thugs slowly but surely turn into really inspiring heroes. You'll be surprised how invested you are in this simple concept. But for it's huge heart on barely any bucks, this film makes the list for its wit and imagination. And I just love how those gangsters say the word "block" all the time.

Wrestling physically and with emotion

19) Win Win - It certainly is. A very original story and fine acting really break some new ground in the indie department. While conventionally directed, this film is driven by the wonderful performances from the cast, especially by that of the always reliable Paul Giammati. Win Win continuously challenges itself, turning the plot on its head and journeying to some very dark and complex places at times. Win Win is about guilt and anguish that adults sometimes run into as well as the reflection of adults on teenagers. This is a small film with a lot of emotional pull.

This relationship is way more than skin deep

18) The Skin I Live In - Easily one of Pedro Almodovar's strangest films to date, but that I why I enjoyed it so much. The wild, twisted and perverted plot goes to places that are quietly explosive and incredibly detailed. Almodovar directs the wonderful Antonio Banderas with the precision of a surgeon, and he makes plastic surgery seem like a demented art form. Maybe it is. The final act is a surprising disappointment, but the rest of The Skin I Live is an eerie and arousing meditation on how a surgeon can go mad with power when trying to play god.

The final wave of the wand for the three heroes

17) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 - We have part one of another teen series of movies on my worst list (*cough* Twilight *cough*) and this one on my best list. Why you ask? Because director David Yates sends Harry Potter off in style, never compromising the integrity of the characters that have thrilled audiences and myself for over a decade. This is exactly the finale that this film series deserved. Emotionally resonating and brilliantly filmed, this is a message to all the other blockbuster makers out there. This is how you do it, and this is how you make a franchise ripple through generations.

When can we let our children be? When can we stop watching them?

16) Trust - This was a film that flew under everyone's radar. And I don't blame for for such an edgy and tough film to market. Friends star David Schwimer directs this very unsettling film following a teenage girl with a boyfriend she only knows through text and electronic communication. The results are catastrophic. Just when Trust looks like it is going to veer into a revenge fantasy, it retracts and focuses on the shattering of the family dynamics after a traumatic experience. It isn't about what happened, it is about whether this family can persevere and cope with the devastation.

The end is only the beginning for this father and son

15) Beginners - Another unconventionally told story on the list here. Switching between the past and present, an adult man must deal with his father delivering him two shocking pieces of news. The first that he was always gay, even while married to his mother. The other is that he has terminal cancer. This is a somber, bittersweet film, but it reaches great emotional depths thanks to wonderful performances and an offbeat style that makes chemistry among all characters click. Props to Christopher Plummer especially, sure to get an Oscar nomination this year.

This film is great, but what happened to Hugo halfway through?

14) Hugo - Of course this is a Martin Scorsese film. That is exactly what you think while watching it. No one could have directed this brilliant love letter to cinema better than trans-generational master Martin Scorsese. Just watching him choreograph the life and times of George Merilles, be it factual or fictionalized, is watching true passion shine through the film strip. It is a journey of discovering the parts to a machine. But is slowly turns into a sweeping love of movies and what they stand for. Made by machines, enforced by humans, Hugo is truly magical merging the past and presents of film historicism seamlessly.

The all star cast isn't invulnerable just because they are stars

13) Contagion - Don't touch anything, don't talk to anyone. I was extremely self-conscious after this seething disease thriller from the great Steven Soderbergh. Executed by a great cast with aching realism, Contagion never shoves the drama in your face, but lets it quietly affect all the characters that you are apart of. This slowly brings their problems to you, creating an infectious experience that craftily gets under your skin. And I love how the film doesn't end with the human race necessarily persevering through the outbreak. If anything, it shows how vulnerable we really are.

A father and two daughters that hate him. It is never that simple with Payne

12) The Descendants - After 7 long years away from the screen, Alexander Payne returns to the directors chair with a triumph of a character study. A father struggling with his daughters isn't anything new to the movie story world. But Payne spins a dark web of subtlety and grievance that has a huge edge to it. The Descendants pulls very few punches, and it may not be for everyone. But this is George Clooney in top form as he always seems to be. He is one of the most consistently talented performers in Hollywood right now, and The Descendants is the perfect showcase for his talent, and Payne's melancholic view towards Hawaii.

Fincher is so good that this feels like a lesser effort than his other films. And it's still great!

11) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Yes, I know the Swedish version of this film came out only two short years ago. But both are very different films. I believe this one to be the better one because master American director David Fincher is just too good at what he does. While it lacks the boldness and urgent necessity of his other serial killer films like Seven and Zodiac, Tattoo is gloriously acted by Rooney Mara as the infamous Lisabeth Salander. Fincher spins a web of rape, religion, violence, scam and murder. Mesmerizing and gripping, Tattoo is indeed dense, so be sure to pay attention. You will be greatly rewarded.

I never would've thought Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill could be so good together

10) Moneyball - This is definitely one of the riskiest sports movies in years. Director Bennett Miller working with a script from Steve Zallian and Aaron Sorkin sacrifice the heart of baseball and dares to make it a game of pure numbers. But where the heart does come from is the people who statistically changed the game forever. Brad Pitt and, surprisingly, Jonah Hill turn in standout performances, creating an inspirational story of perseverance and pathos that has an incredible emotional payoff. It is a sports movie for people who hate sports movies, but also for those who love what the game of baseball stands for in modern society.

Who better to preach about gang problems than those who has been there and back

9) The Interrupters - This documentary from Steve James, who directed the masterpiece Hoop Dreams, tackles the issues of gang violence and mentality in the streets of Chicago. This is not a film with statistics or politics even close to the subject. This is about the people who were in gangs. Who did time for murders and robberies. Who struggled their whole life with drugs and abuse. You simply can't look away as these convicted felons try and do some good by going back to the place where it all began for them, and try and save others from their fate. Can it be done? It seems hopeless. But just watching them try and maybe even succeed is truly, heartbreakingly powerful.

Woody Allen always expresses his love for the countries he shoots in

8) Midnight In Paris - Easily one of Woody Allen's best films in years. This is a film that feels like a warm blanket that you instantly want to snuggle up with. With a stunning cast led by the incredibly charming Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris is a journey through time where everyone seems to be reminiscing of the days before. The historical authors and artists are hilarious, feeding Wilson with fascinating ideals and the great depth of artistry. By the end we realize that the time we live in may not be the ideal time for us, but a time that we have to make the best of. And sometimes, even the best can come out of it.

An Olsen sister going for an Oscar? Maybe, just maybe

7) Martha Marcy May Marlene - Hang on, one of the Olsen twins can act? Close. This is actualy their sister Elizabeth Olsen, and holy does she announce her presence in the acting world. Shattering us with a devastating performance, Martha Marcy May Marlene is a creepy, fractured psychological thriller showing how mental and physical abuse leave waves of mental torture that can last a lifetime. But is Martha's experience truly over? In the haunting final shot of the film, the darkness that has consumed Martha's life becomes ours. We are left with nothing but paranoia running through our veins and a shoulder to look over constantly. Amazing for first time director Sean Durkin.

The silence is golden as The Artist puts on a clinic of showmanship

6) The Artist - Now is this film on this list because I am a movie lover, and it is wonderful to see an (almost) entirely silent film in 2011? No, but it doesn't hurt the proceedings either. The Artist is a conventional Hollywood romance with a bunch of modern twists that writer/director Michel Hazanavicius throws in gorgeously. This is a brilliantly acted ode to the silent screen, with much thanks to Singin' In The Rain for much of its inspiration. But it never pounds you over the head with the fact that it is a silent film. But it sure as hell argues that silence is not only golden, but more powerful than many talkies today.

Awkward, very awkward. But very authentic all the same

5) Submarine - A debut film with a brilliantly quirky, comedic approach. For those who love Wes Anderson, Submarine is like one of his films with a strange, much darker twist. At first I used David Lynch to describe what Submarine was trying to do, but now I retract that. Writer/director Richard Ayoade has created something distinctly unique and viciously dark and poignant about puberty. This is a film that truly surprised me with how uncompromising it was with it's editing and technique. Lose your virginity and save your parents' marriage. Sounds like a perfect mission to me.

Should he save his family from himself or the storm?

4) Take Shelter - Hang on for a powerhouse of suburban drama. But definitely not in the way you might think. Featuring a career best performance from Michael Shannon, Take Shelter is nearly two hours of constant anxiety coursing through your blood stream. This is a disaster film, but spun into the psychology of a man losing his grip with his family and reality. You are never quite sure what is worse. The fact that a storm could be approaching to demolish everything, or that our leading man might snap and hurt his family. And he isn't sure either.

The divorce is only the beginning of the problems

3) A Separation - The second foreign language film on my list is A Separation, a film that came out of absolutely nowhere from Iran. This is an incendiary grenade of conversation and an exploitation of family taboos, values, religion and hope. Words cannot describe the power of A Separation. This is a film that is constantly talking and it also constantly has so much to say. A divorce is never easy on anyone, but who know this separation would set of a chain reaction of explosive events that change the lives of the characters forever. That last shot will have you in awe at the merciless brilliance of director Asgar Farhadi. This had better win the 2012 Oscar for Best Foreign Film (although it probably won't with the tension between Iran and the U.S. at the moment).

Don't even try to work it out. Let the film wash over and engulf you

2) The Tree of Life - Now is the time to defend myself. The film with more walkouts than any other film this year has also had the complete opposite reaction for viewers such as myself. Yes, this tree is plotless. But that is kind of the point. Hitting every moment from pure exhilaration to utter madness, The Tree of Life takes you through every emotion whether it be loving or hatred. The subtlety master Terrence Malick has created his own 2001: A Space Odyssey. An expression of unparalleled vision, Malick explores how a child wrestles between his mother and father, and how that impact on one life can cause the biggest crack in space. At least that's my interpretation. What people need to understand is that there is no singular path. No definitive answers. And no way Malick will give into his viewers. I admire that more than anything. You provide the answers for yourself in this unshakable, sprawling expression of the universe. Don't put your thinking cap on, open your heart as wide as it can go.

No shame in calling this the best film of 2011

1) Shame - Like no other film you will see this year. Shame is something that blew me through the back of my seat at how completely, and i mean COMPLETELY, fearless it truly is from both a film making and acting standpoint. Michael Fassbender delivers a career defining performance as Brandon, a sex-addict who cannot cope with life after his sister moves into town. I have never seen such a vision all year exploit the deepest and darkest of human intimacy the way director Steve McQueen does here. This is as uncompromising as cinema can get. Watching this in the theater, people just did not know how to react to what they were watching. It was ecstatic listening to their reactions as Brandon just casually gets up as well watch him, in full nudity, urinate into a toilet. It is graphic beyond words, but never pornographic. It is powerful beyond words, but never overloaded. It is acted wondrously. The extended takes by Steve McQueen draw out the intimacy as scene change before your eyes without cutting. One minute, Brandon is screwing a woman by the roadside, the next he is wandering around a gay whorehouse trying to find a piece of himself. No other film this year completely gripped me from opening shot to closing shot the way Shame did. If you risk it all, like Fassbender and the rest of the film makers did, you will be greatly rewarded. But be warned, Shame finds it's emotional power in some of the most unexpected and ferocious of places. With some of the biggest guts I've seen all year, McQueen challenges his audience, throwing his heart and soul at them, gripping us as we watch one man's decent into sexual animosity. But he never asks you to come into this dark, bleak world of emptiness. You just get sucked in. For all those reasons, and many more, this is my favourite film of 2011.

The Absolute Worst Films of 2011

2011-12-31T13:52:00.000-08:00

The movies on this list are like this plane. A crash landing.

I think the movies always have a great year if you look in the right places. But once in a while we turn over a rock and what we find isn't exactly up to par with us. But this article is about neither of those places. This is the bottom of the barrel. The most unearthly experiences that I have had this year. People always ask me why I feel the need to see these films. Maybe it is a reality check from all the great films that I've seen this year. Maybe I'm secretly a masochist, enjoying the pain train that goes through these films. Maybe I'm the biggest optimist ever and hopes that films I think are going to be crap will surprise me. But most of these films made money, so I guess I wasn't the only one who was stupid that day. Relish in the horrible torture once again as I count down the worst films of 2011 from WORST to the ABSOLUTE WORST.

Dishonorable Mentions: Green Lantern, Your Highness, The Hangover Part II, Cars 2, I Am Number Four, Sucker Punch, The Rite, In Time

What I Didn't See: Jack and Jill, The Smurfs, Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star, Beastly, Gnomeo and Juliet

"I wish there was only 300 of us..."

20) Immortals - It is 300 without the storytelling abilities. Director Tarsem Singh has the visual flare to create this kind of tale, but characters are stuck in a hopeless quest for a supernatural power that will save mankind. And who cares. One can only hope we never have to see the sequal to this really trashy and meaningless tale where people just continuously kill each other. Yet it couldn't be more boring. The blood runs, the characters run, and I run from the theater to go pop in 300 again.

Oh look, a cross in the fire, nice symbolism

19) Season of the Witch - Well, Nicolas Cage has another haircut again. I just want him to flip out and go bananas like his other amazing characters in other great films like Matchstick Men and Lord of War. This hopeless epic just never has any sort of pace to it. Boring itself into the ground until the special effects finale where we don't care which witch is which. I wish Cage would start making great films again. Some of you may think he never has. I do and I still have hope.

"I may not be Bella...but I'm close enough"

18) Red Riding Hood - Oh my god can we stop with the terrible love triangles already. This is the Twilight saga, but with a murder mystery thrown in. This feels like a choose your own adventure book where the only possible outcome is obvious. Follow the hunky man into the woods, or stay and help your father in a time of need. I can't believe that Director Catherine Hardwicke (who also directed the first Twilight) created the authentically ferocious Thirteen, and now makes this piece of garbage with no sense of romance or what it is like being a closed off teenager

"Well...at least we're slightly better than Cop Out"

17) The Green Hornet - How can a superhero movie seem so ridiculously cartoonish and make absolutely no sense. Why can Kato slow down time? Why is Christoph Waltz giving a terrible performance? But here is the biggie. They say they are going to act like the bad guys to get close to the real bad guys, but actually, they are the good guys. The whole film they are ridiculed by the papers, hated by the public and even by the very end, are thought of as kidnappers and criminals. Weren't you supposed to be the good guys? I thought director Michael Gondry was a good guy too. Apparently not.

Paul Bettany looks to the heavens for a better movie role

16) Priest - Holy SHIT what a long film. Oh wait, it was only 87 minutes. Well it certainly felt that long. Paul Bettany is left stranded in a movie with more long shots of motorbikes crossing a desert than I can count. My god this desert doesn't seem to end. Really lackluster special effects don't exactly help either as the action seems to be the only thing this movie relies on. It goes downhill fast, beginning as a rip off of Blade Runner meets the holy trinity, and becoming derivative in no time. You know Priest is bad when the religious aspect could have been taken away, and the film would have remained the same

"My sword is longer than my arm, therefore I am tough"

15) Conan The Barbarian - The first film was a so-bad it's good film. So why remake it? You remake a bad film, and you get a worse film. Isn't that a fundamental understanding by now? We have had countless remakes over the past couple years. And making Jason Momoa Conan seemed like a good move with his work on Game of Thrones. But he is reduced to grunts and looking very ugly. Let's hope the barbarians work things out with words in the future.

Oh I fear you Puss, I fear you

14) Puss in Boots - I will forever be amazed that this broke 80% on the critical website Rotten Tomatoes. We live in 2011, amazing visuals are expected of animated films. This story is crap! Combining a couple of cats, Humpty Dumpty at an orphanage, Jack and the Beanstalk will save everything etc. What on earth is going on? I got two big laughs from this film, and none of them were from a main character. One cat keeps popping up and going "Oooooooo" at some "shocking" things that happen. What a terrible animated film, join your friend Catwoman in the litter box.

"Did you find my chalk outline of you romantic?"

13) Restless - The unlucky number on this list goes to Gus Van Sant who clearly needed some money for his next project. Newcomer Henry Hopper needs to work on his acting skills, his terrible performance really detracts from the film and the nonsensical, quirky plot never justifies itself. It is a very awkward film with one bad decision being made after another. This was my first film i saw at TIFF this year, and Sant barely had any answers to the questions. A man asked a question in the audience "how did you avoid the cliches of other teen romances?". I laughed very quietly to myself.

"Hey, we have expression this film!"

12) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - I might as well reserve a spot for Part 2 next year because I have no idea what they are going to make out of it. I get it, it is a tween romance for the 12-15 year olds. But for some reason, adult females are going to see this as well. Is this their mid-life crisis, and they go and see Twilight to recapture how hilariously silly their youth was as they chased after...vampires? Yeah, never mind. I had hope after the tolerable Eclipse, but this is REALLY bad. On the plus side, Kristen Stewart does smile a lot. It is a miracle!

11) Something Borrowed - This is a film where I can't even imagine who it would play to. The lead girl is indecisive and easily manipulated. The leading male is a grade-A douchebag who toys with the lead girls emotions, and knows it. Her best friend is an annoying, hateful ditz who steals the man that she likes. And the one bright spot is John Krasinski, simply laughing about how everything in the film is just plain wrong. Too bad they did nothing to fix it. The ending caps off a film that seems to invite hatred.

How does this happen to this idiot? It makes no sense

10) Just Go With It - I'd rather not. Unfortunately I never got around to wasting my time on Jack and Jill or else Adam Sandler might have had two appearances on this list. I don't understand how this film makes $100 million like it did, but Adam Sandler is definiely my least favourite comedian in Hollywood. He always plays a terrible person who magically redeems himself through the reconciliation of love. Since we always seem to hate Sandler's character, watching him find true love is an outrage. That, the terrible humour, and very hollow secondary girl make Just Go With It want you to just get away from it.

Her eyebrows REALLY bothered me

9) Abduction - Even outside of the Twilight franchise, Lautner still cannot act. It is very strange that Oscar nominated director John Singleton would stoop so low. This is terrible material that even the finest lead actors wouldn't be able to rescue. Singleton needed money or something because there is no effort here and no excuse for such fine actors like Sigourney Weaver and Alfred Molina to be in a film like this. My favourite line happens during a shootout at a diner. Molina shouts to Lautner "get behind something solid!". So I did. I covered my face with my hands and waited for the horror to end.

Stay behind me...you're better than Megan Fox

8) Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Everyone wonders why I hate on Michael Bay so much. $1.1 billion dollars later, and cinema dies a little inside. At a relentless 154 minutes, Transformers has become the equivalent of screaming "Optimus!" while throwing some pots and pans down a stair well. The humour is tasteless, the characters are non existent, and the destruction in Chicago goes on for about an hour with no rhyme or reason. In other words, your typical Michael Bay film. And this is an improvement! Wow. Just wow.

This is what Diaz is apparently for, not comedy

7) Bad Teacher - That it is. I was truly amazed that Cameron Diaz playing someone outside of her regular type cast was completely unfunny. She is just a nasty, low-life gold digger with no reason to root for her depravity. Unlike Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa, Bad Teacher plays everything seriously, hoping the laughs will have that dark edge to make the comedy more risque. Well...I just wanted some laughs period. Jason Segal gave me two solid laughs. The rest of Bad Teacher is teaching us how not to do comedy. They drop the F-bomb, I stamp the film with an F.

Look at all the stereotypes they fit in one car

6) The Sitter - David Gordon Green's other 2011 release Your Highness barely missed this list because of Danny McBride and how he can make the most tasteless jokes really funny. But even Jonah Hill can't rescue The Sitter, a hopeless, offensive, plotless waste of time. It preaches to gay rights. The foreign exchange student drops bombs in toilets. The white girl wants to be nothing but pretty. The black men talk in jives and slang. And violence plus gang mentality unites everyone in a jovial happy ending. Bleck! I wanted to puke at how insulting this is to comedies everywhere.

"But none of you matter now...what matters is nothing!"

5) Battle: Los Angeles - Usually action films are forgettable, but this is memorable for all of the wrong reasons. There is no character development, the plot makes absolutely no sense, and the action is without a style or a purpose. Taken from the pages of Michael Bay, Battle: LA managed to give me a headache with its editing. It managed to put me to sleep with its characters. And it managed to anger with with how blatantly disrespectful it is to military actions. At least Bay respects soldiers. This is how bad action can get. I can't see it getting worse. But go ahead Hollywood, prove me wrong once again.

"Halle...both of our careers are dying...and we're in a hospital...do you think that's a sign?"

4) New Year's Eve - You know your in trouble when the legendary Robert De Niro spends the whole movie in a bed dying. It is incredible how soulless New Year's Eve can be. It completely disrespects the audience that is coming to see it. They shove a bunch of stars in a film, expecting them to do wonders with a horrendous script. Garry Marshall makes them seem like they wear way too much make-up and forgot their lines. They are laughing their way to the bank, and they give out nothing. And the worst part is, they know they're doing so.

If only they ran out of air sooner

3) Sanctum - Oh my god just die! That was the thought I had this whole film. The characters are drawn so thinly and so poorly, that every time they open their mouths you want some ear plugs. And there is no tension at all in this film. It doesn't matter when anyone dies. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who died a little inside that night. Very poorly constructed environments, incoherent editing, cardboard acting and a boatload of water add up to a drowning experience where you can't even breathe to cry out for help.

They are smiling. I am not

2) The Art of Getting By - At least Restless had some points for trying new ideas with its plot, it just didn't go anywhere. The Art of Getting By gets no points. That's right a ZERO star rating from me. Why? Because it shoves every single indie cliche into a film, knows that it is doing so, and has nothing to say for itself. The acting is horrendous, and the two characters are all the film has. The weird guy meets the cute girl who sees something in him. Oh and both their parents are having troubles. What a surprise. Oh and he has some weird drawings in a sketchbook. UGH! The scenes don't even link together. There is never a moment of development. One scene explains what is happening in the next scene, then they go to that scene. Rinse and repeat. The first 30 minutes I hated, but then it devolves to where I felt nothing. And that is the biggest sin a movie can commit.

"Where is the movie? I don't see it"

1) The Roommate - But at the top of this list is something somehow worse. All I need to do is quote my entire review word for word. There is no acting. There are no scares. There are no thrills. There is no suspense. There isn't even any cheap enticements or guilty pleasures like nudity or violence. There is nothing worth recommending. There is no reaction to anything. Therefore I conclude that I have absolutely nothing to talk about.

We Bought a Zoo - I bought the cheese

2011-12-31T07:21:00.000-08:00

Benjamin has a new poster for his zoo in We Bought a Zoo

We Bought a Zoo - ★★★ out of 5

Starring: Matt Damon, Scarlette Johanson, Elle Fanning, Colin Ford
Directed by Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Say Anything)

Benjamin Mee: You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.

The second this film ended I began to question my credibility as a critic. How did I enjoy this film? We Bought a Zoo is the latest film from director Cameron Crowe who has been struggling in the past few years with misfires like Elizabethtown and the polarizing Vanilla Sky. Would I call this a bounce back for him? Possibly. Again, this is a film that as I watched, I was amazed I wasn’t hating it. The manipulative family dynamics. The endless, bombastic soundtrack tugging your heartstrings. The predictable relationships and plot. These are all ingredients for a sappy, family melodrama with some animals thrown it. But We Bought a Zoo has a huge heart of gold, a relentless amount of optimism and a fantastic performance from Matt Damon that, against all odds, kept a grin on my face.

After Benjamin (Damon) loses his wife to an illness, he is left wondering what to do next with his daughter Rosie (Maggie Jones) and his older son Dylan (Colin Ford). So together they go off and try to find a new place to live. They find a house and it is perfect. One problem, it is a zoo still maintained y the state. They buy the house, they buy the zoo as well. Out of some mid-life crisis, Benjamin decides that he is geuinely going to make an effort to get this zoo working again. It is all he really has. He can reconnect with his family, and maybe even strike up a romance with the hot zookeeper.

So read that over. Yup. You know exactly how this film is going to progress. That is something I hate. When you go to a movie and within the first 30 minutes you know how the whole film will progress and end. There is no surprise or discovery, and this seems like a film that would offer many of those.

Again, how did I like this film. Am I just that easy to win over? I don’t think so. Crowe is relentless with his optimism and hope. He injects that into Benjamin and Damon gives a fearlessly happy performance, constantly winning me over in every scene. Damon is such a fine actor. He can play the gritty hero like Jason Bourne, or an emotionally hopeful father like here. I believed him, even when the script sends him down only one direction.

What I also enjoyed about We Bought a Zoo is how it invites all the cliches for the animal lovers, but doesn’t let them overrun the film. Don’t get me wrong, the cheesiness is indeed overblown, but at least the bonding with the animals isn’t forcing us to like them. It is just there as a pleasant backdrop, an escape for the character in the film.

Crowe keps pouring on the happiness, the sappiness and the ludicrousness. Would someone really go this much into debt just to save a zoo that he didn’t even want in the first place? Maybe not. But Crowe knows this story is not about believability, but inspiration. This heart is so massive, so shamelessly cloying and so unabashedly warm that you have to give into it. I couldn’t believe that I was falling for such an obviously transparent movie. But I was.

I left the theater with some friends who I had seen it with, and they were just as amazed as I was that they liked this movie, and its endless amounts of Hollywood cheese. Why? Crowe pours the emotions on so thick and Damon performs it so well, that even the excess that goes over your head leaves a small imprint on you each scene. Those imprints build, creating a collage of unstoppable happiness that is as much inviting as it is repulsive. I almost hate myself for liking this film. But why on earth should I be unhappy that I enjoyed myself? We Bought a Zoo has one of the hugest hearts of the year. That and Damon’s performance with force you to give up. Give up your rational thought and get lost in this zoo. We Bought a Zoo is a film I really should have despised. But Crowe keeps nothing caged in this zoo for the better.

Young Adult - Needs to grow up

2011-12-30T11:11:00.000-08:00

Meet Mavis, a husband's worst nightmare in Young Adult

Young Adult - ★★½ out of 5

Starring: Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson
Directed by Jason Reitman (Juno, Up In The Air)

Mavis Gary: You can some to the city with me like we always planned.
Buddy Slade: Mavis, I'm a married man.
Mavis Gary: I know, we can beat this thing together.

That girl you hated in high school, well, she is still in high school. The second collaboration between Oscar winning screenwriter Diablo Cody and Oscar nominated director Jason Reitman is the exploitation of immaturity in all its hilarity and bruising impact. This is different ground for both the actors and makers because this is nasty, bottom-of-the-barrel storytelling but done with such style. Sadly, Young Adult turns out to be Reitman’s least appealing film he’s made. It strikes the wrong tone too often and the right tone sporadically. Despite strong performances from Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt, Young Adult just needs to grow up.

Middle ages woman Mavis (Charlize Theron) was the most popular girl in high school, She was also the height of bitchiness. But she has just gone through a painful divorce and spends her time getting loaded and going out on the town for some fun. She needs something stable in her life. So, after seeing an email, she tries to strike up an old relationship with high school sweetheart Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson). Makes perfect sense. The problem is that he is married with a kid and a happy life. But with the help of high school acquaintance Matt (Patton Oswalt), she is determined to get him ack, despite their “baggage”.

The first half of this film is devoted to building up who Mavis is. A prom-queen bitch stuck in an old body. An inconsiderate little brat who doesn’t understand the concept of responsibility. A crazy woman with wild intentions who gets what she wants, when she wants. All of these concepts are obviously detrimental to her progression in life, but we are meant to enjoy her company, despite the guilt we feel from laughing at her misfortunes and thoughts

I admire Young Adult for its risky dark tone it creates. I mean we are laughing at a woman who needs some serious help. But we laugh. For the first half of the film anyways, we continuously are amazed how depraved Mavis is. The tiny things that Cody writes in her script get many small chuckles. The fact she is a children’s book writer. Her Hello Kitty shirt. How she drinks Diet Coke everyday when she wakes up. Those tiny nuances deepen her character and our perception of Mavis.

But oddly, the second half of the film is explosively dramatic. There is nothing wrong with that, but the dramatic scenes force the film into a lull of less enjoyment. And the drama is simply awkward and not something the audience can connect with. Mavis and Matt have a touching scene in the woods of their old school, but all it is a checklist of character flaws. They recite what is wrong with each other, forcing us to care, it isn’t authentic and really hurts the film.

Another hugely important scene in the climax of the film drags on and on and on. It goes past the point of being a poignant realization to be downright invasive. It is too much crammed into such a short amount of time. Why are we forcing this drama to explode when we feel the dread that it will anyways. Reitman really butchers the drama of the film, never letting us into the troubles of Mavis, or allowing us to wonder about what she feels. It is one sided, and we feel nothing but awkward because we think we should feel differently. But we don’t

Before the end there are so many out of place scenes that add up to next to nothing. Then it ends like one of Mavis’ novels. I won’t spoil how she writes her novel, but it is such a tacky escape for Mavis. Is that a good message? She will always be stuck in one of her own written stories? I don’t think so. Young Adult gives us the crafty performances and laughs we expect, but fails to capture us with the drama of the characters. Which is a large chunk of the film. Reitman seems to act like he is an adult with this material, but he seems like a rookie with the drama. Everyone gets older, but not everyone grows up. I wish the film makers were more mature than Mavis. You just want Young Adult to be an actual adult about things.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) - What is hidden in snow, comes forth in the thaw

2011-12-28T20:10:00.000-08:00

Mikael and Lisabeth discuss the evidence in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) - ★★★★ out of 5

Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer
Directed by David Fincher (Seven, Zodiac, The Social Network)

Mikael Blomkvist: The last time I reported on something without being absolutely sure I lost my life savings. I need a research assistant.

The mysteries of the mist seem to always have meaning when in the hands of a master. Master Hollywood director David Fincher delivers the succulent murder puzzle that entranced many who had read the novel that this film is based on by Steig Larsson. But it was not necessarily the mystery that had viewers hooked. It was the unconventional, overly-pierced, snarky Lisabeth Salander that captured the minds of readers. There had already been a Swedish version of the novels, with Noomi Rapace greatly playing that character. Here, Fincher merges the mystery and character fascination into a truly absorbing experience sure to please fans of the novel and newcomers to the whole material. It lacks the ambition and risk of Fincher’s other masterworks like Seven and Zodiac. But Fincher is just too good, too detailed and too passionate about what he does to even consider that The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo isn’t one of the best thrillers of the year.

This dense mystery begins with journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig, very strong) and his humiliation after he reported in depth on the controversy a business person, but then his facts were proven wrong in court. Embarrassed, he begrudgingly accepts an invitation from Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer, another great supporting performance this year) to solve the mystery of a murdered granddaughter in his family. The oddities and darkness of this disturbing murder goes back way further than the 40 years that Henrik said the granddaughter Harriet was murdered.

The other part of this movie is devoted to the story of Lisabeth Salander (Rooney Mara, hard to believe its her after her exceptional performance in Fincher’s The Social Network). This expert computer hacker helps companies do background checks on their employees. She is ruthless, violent and seemingly always aggravated. But thing take a turn for the worse when her new legal guardian starts causing her trouble. I won’t spoil how, but it is very disturbing. Fincher worked her hard on set, and Mara publicly stated how challenging Fincher is. But it was worth it, her performance is excellent.

Slowly these stories begin to merge. Now if you have seen a David Fincher film, you know that he never rushes anything. That is even more punctuated here. At nearly 160 minutes, Tattoo slowly builds the web of its mystery. And before you know it, you are slapped right in the middle of these converging stories and the search for details. Something as simple as looking up a name or hacking a hard drive is engaging. Thanks to editors Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall who do a remarkable job or cross-cutting the sequential events of each character very well.

Before I go any further, Tattoo comes out on the heels of a novel, another film about exactly the same thing, and Fincher’s masterpiece The Social Network. Expectations for the film are through the roof but also reserved as to the purpose of this American remake. I find this film better than the Swedish version because of how it focuses more on the mystery and less on excess. While I enjoyed the Swedish version for its deeper themes on Lisabeth’s sexuality and Mikeal’s Millennium magazine, here everything seems much more taut and focused. The mystery doesn’t run out of gas because Fincher is so thorough with its creation.

Even though this is no doubt and incredibly well made film, it lacks the insight and ambition of Fincher’s other masterful serial killer films Seven and Zodiac. Seven had a conceptually fascinating concept that went beyond solving the mystery, but the characters solving themselves as well. And Zodiac made us just as obsessed with finding out who this killer was as the character were. Tattoo makes us anxious to figure out the mystery, but never places us in the middle of the thrills. Tattoo has plenty of adrenaline, but it is exhilarating on a thrill based level, not a personal level.

And I think that is why this Fincher film is below his last. I laugh as I type this because of the rating you see above, but Fincher is a man demanding of his actors and himself. This is a great film, but not the monumental character changer that Seven was. Or the meticulous obsessor that Zodiac was. It is dense material woven as well as it possibly can be.

As mentioned, this film is dense. Really dense. I would even say borderline convoluted. I fear for consumers who haven’t read the novel. I haven’t read the novel either, but Fincher plays to us non-reader with real genius. There are so many people to follow that Fincher knows you won’t be able to keep track of every single one. So he quickens the pace while the information scenes take place, then slows them down towards the end so that you get what was said. You feel like you are figuring out this puzzle with as much confusion and intrigue as the characters. Fincher makes the audience work to pay attention so that his viewers will be involved even more.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a difficult one to review. My opinion is a mixture of expectations, a comparative film and how the mystery works as a whole. I think this film is as brilliant as it can be, and I can’t see this film interpreted much better with the numerous other themes seemingly like excess. They cut what they had to and included what they needed. Fincher is too good with his craft and that makes Tattoo a great film. But what makes Tattoo a Fincher film is it complete control of its tone and objectivity. Tattoo is incredibly complex and very long, but it never loses its way. Get lost in the fog up North, and risk it all with Fincher. Because he risks a lot for us every time he is behind the camera.

The Skin I Live In - More than skin deep beauty

2011-12-27T16:17:00.000-08:00

Robert and Vera shed their skins in The Skin I Live In

The Skin I Live In - ★★★★ out of 5

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes
Directed by Pedro Almodovar (Volver, All About My Mother)

Marilia: The things the love of a mad man can do.

Beauty is only skin deep. What resides underneath the skin for this plastic surgeon is a perverted obsession with perfection and resurrecting the past. Pedro Almodovar’s latest melodrama is definitely is strangest and twisted subject matter to date. Where as his other films focus on the darkness and beauty of love, The Skin I Live In is a meticulous creation of the truly bizarre. At times shocking, always beautiful and wildly sexual, The Skin I Live In takes a dangerously risky plot and makes an odd but compelling tale of loss, the human condition and gender boundaries. I can easily say that you won’t see another film like this in 2011.

A very brilliant but very insane plastic surgeon named Robert (Antonio Banderas) is grieving after his wife burns to death in a car accident. To cope with this, he creates a new, but highly unethical, synthetic skin that resists bug bites and especially burns for an extended period of time. But why create this skin without a practical use for this. Well he has one. In his house, he has a woman locked up named Vera (Elena Anaya) who he uses to practice his experimental skins on. As a guinea pig she is an object of abuse, but utter beauty to Robert. But as the film digs into Robert’s past, we see that the beauty of this experiment is only skin deep.

What a return to form for Antonio Banderas. After wasting his life away cashing checks with the character of Puss in Boots this year, and in the previous Shrek films, we are reminded of how powerful an actor Banderas can be. This is as deep as his supporting performance in 1993’s Philadelphia, except much more subtle. There are no long speeches about how traumatized he is, or how insane he can be. He is cold, efficient, and his character is brought out through meticulous surgeries and brutal efficiency. He seems like a sane person, which makes his actions that much more frightening.

Almodovar has such an uncanny eye for the smallest of nuances. Something as uninteresting as making a slide with a drop of blood on it seems to important to the plot. With The Skin I Live his, he disposes of the usual throws of romance and family values from his other films and creates a truly perverse, twisted and strangely appealing concept that isn’t for the squeamish. There are some shocking reveals, graphic sexuality and lots of violence. But Almodovar never exploits these mechanisms, they evolve out of the plot and are necessarily for emotional impact.

The plot builds and builds with some shocking reveals as mentioned. They aren’t ones that I can spoil, or even explain the motivation behind. Almodovar purposefully makes the motivations so deep and dark they are impossible to penetrate. As Robert begins to take a liking to Vera, we slowly find out that this relationship has a deep and disturbing seed that is baffling but also rewarding. These are emotions that no one can understand, and we are repulsed and moved. It isn’t about empathy, but sympathy.

Which makes the falling action of this film a real let down. After a reveal of a big plot point, the final act of the film struggles to have any meaning. All I had was questions, where maybe the truth about characters’ feelings may be explained. But to no avail. The Skin I Live In ends on a ho-hum note, never diving into the fetish or tone of what it wants to say. The finale seems abrupt and rushed while the rest of the film thrives on details and nuances.

But The Skin I Live in reflects how uncomfortable we can be inside of our own skin. And Robert has this uncanny ability to play God by completely altering how someone looks. But what he cannot control is how they feel. That is his weakness and the films strength. Relying on subtlety and detail, The Skin I Live in a dark, perplexing and challenging view of plastic surgery in all the empowerment and damage it can do. As the skin becomes for durable and gorgeous, the insides become more fragile and ugly.

The Interrupters - Break the chain, save a life

2011-12-27T00:52:00.000-08:00

Ameena stares in the face of gang members in The Interrupters

The Interrupters - ★★★★ out of 5

Directed by Steve James (Hoop Dreams)

Epidemics do not always mean an outbreak of a disease, but an outbreak of a particular undesirable phenomenon. Steve James breaks incredible ground with his latest documentary The Interrupters. This is a grueling, gut-wrenching documentary following the year in the life of a violence ridden Chicago. Following the organization CeaseFire, The Interrupters is a desperate plea for action on an issue that may be too big even for the most hopeful mind. Always invigorating and rarely preachy, James unbelievably sucks us into this world of gang mentality where we aren’t just placed into the midst of a real life issue. We become the issue.

Like some of the worlds most renowned crime films, James lets his character materialize out of their environments that they have been brought up in. He depicts the suburbs of Chicago honestly. It is a place of true fear. A place where you aren’t expected to make it past the age of 30. A place in need of a miracle. James knows that he cannot provide them with this miracle, but he can raise awareness. This is an organization against maybe every gang member in the neighborhood. Like James, these interrupters have some serious guts.

But The Interrupters is not about going from house to house and cleaning up the problems. They fight fire with fire, but more like a lit match fighting a burning house. They use constructive conflict to resolve senseless conflict. To this city, violence is a disease that is passed from generation to generation. There is no definitive cure for violence, so The Interrupters try to break that chain of misfortune.

They do not talk to the cops. They do not tell the cops what crimes are going down either. They are trying to sever the link in this awful chain of retaliation and tenacity among the gangs. But they are trying to break this cold, hard, steel chain with a pair of flathead pliers. This is metal scraping metal, and that friction is where The Interrupters dares to go.

James discovers motivations, hidden influences, true feelings and raw, uncensored fear. Even the ones doing the crimes are scared. And what is so fascinating to me is that you can tell that someone’s life is being touched simply by the fact that they stay silent. So many moments of silence in this film are truly powerful. But JAmes is an auteur at creating and emotional wave for the lives of the these people. He builds up their characters like a dramatic film, but then you remember: this is real.

James has an eye for the city of Chicago as well. During a montage of gang-related deaths, James doesn’t dwell on the lives lost, but the life that can be given to those willing to take a chance. One shot of two make-shift memorial sites are right next to each other, presumably at the point where the death occurred. Then I realized, one of those graves must have been there before, and someone else was murdered right in front of it. The paranoia set in with me. You fall hard for this neighborhood and their stories of woe and fear.

The Interrupters rarely milks its premise, relying on real life interactions that aren’t rehearsed. My favourite scene has to be when on of the interrupters Cobe, goes over to visit a friend who he met in prison. The police had just taken his mother and brother away, and he was livid. Cobe tries to help, but its impossible for him to do anything. This man is raging, ready to kill, and you can feel it. The edginess of murder and crime is seething throughout the film, making every gang interaction unpredictable and incredibly surprising.

So what does is all mean? The INterrupters is bleak bout its subject matter but somehow hopeful for an outcome. The hopefulness is forced in the best way possible. These people have to have hope, or all of what they stand for is diminished. We must e hopeful to, but as an audience we have to decide if the hope we feel is actually hopeful or hopeless. The answer? Who knows. There are endless links and chains of violence in this city, it seems like an impossible task.

It is about keeping that reputation, that pride in oneself. This is why they fight, because they stand for something they don’t understand. If someone kills my friend, I’m going to kill their friend. There is no end in sight, and no mental classes will do any good with these kids. These links and reactionary retaliation must be severed. As James connects with us, The Interrupters connect with their subjects. Moving, searing and achingly real, The Interrupters will have you staring in awe at the unbelievable amount of violence in Chicago. But it will also have you cheering. They say interruption is rude, but having the idea to say something, and want to provoke change, and then not doing it? That is worse.

Killer Elite - Far from being elite

2011-12-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

Jason Statham and Robert De Niro cash another check in Killer Elite

Killer Elite - ★★ out of 5

Starring: Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro
Directed by Gary McKendry (debut)

Spike: This ends today.

There is another job and it has to be done. With a Jason Statham you can expect many things. A pointless romance with a woman in the background. A lot of action with a lot of fist fights. A talk about the codes of men. Oh, and he also always plays a criminal or a killer. That checklist is completed once again for Killer Elite, a Statham movie that tries to make a difference by adding more stars to the mix but it ends up being more of the same. I was pleasantly surprised that Killer Elite was so sophisticate and confident with its pacing as a political thriller. However, this narrative is stretched so long and so thin that it kills the action buzz, and we are left ho-humming along as this unoriginal plot about being a killer progresses.

The plot once again revolves around Statham playing a killer for hire named Danny. But he is asked to murder three men in connection with a venomous killing in the small country of Oman. These killings connect back to 3 British SAS (Special Air Service) agents, and now it is up to Danny and his long time pal Hunter (Robert De Niro) to take them out. But it isn’t that simple. Another agent for the English, ex-SAS operator Spike (Clive Owen) is trying to stop the exposure of their mistakes, while Danny, as usual, just wants to get the job done.

I was surprised at how my expectations for this film and the style of this film were completely different. Killer Elite is being sold as a pulse-pounding, mindless Jason Statham vehicle. It isn’t that. It is more of a political thriller, carefully setting up scene by scene how the drama is going to play. For those looking for a Statham action film, you will probably be let down. I was actually surprised how much confidence director Gary McKendry shows. He doesn’t just shove stars in a film to make a quick buck. He is genuinely trying to make these true events seem important. The effort is there.

But the material is not. The narrative of this film stretches so long and so thin it is very hard to penetrate the action and plot. You really want to be apart of this controversy. To get swept up in the gunplay. To feel the paranoia of espionage. But the scenes just drag on and on and on. It takes them 30 minutes to explain how they are going to execute a murder, then 2 minutes to commit it. The slow pace prevents us from getting caught up in this conspiracy and from enjoying the muddled guilty pleasures of action.

Star power just isn’t enough here. Statham has such a presence as an action star that you want to see him kicking that ass and not his character. That is how much of a type-cast actor he is. And he is so good at it I want to see him challenge himself with other roles. He’s always a gangster, criminal, killer or all three. Maybe a fatherly role next time?

Clive Owen has the porn star mustache on thick, and at least he is trying to have some fun with the weak material. He just seems so trapped by the boundaries the script provides. He is never able to let loose. But De Niro just has no chance of letting loose. For the past 11 years, his performances have been looking tired and unenthusiastic. He doesn’t even look like he has fun in the bad films he is choosing. You can only ride your name for so long. De Niro is a legend but I’m beginning to think he is abusing that title with another lackluster performance.

On paper, this movie sounds like fun. Three fine actors thrust into the midst of a political thriller, with lots of fist fights and gunplay. But the material never supports these actors or the action. The story rambles on, trying to be so meaningful and preachy and it just doesn’t work. Would it have worked better if it had less of a brain. Who knows. I appreciate the genuine effort that the film makers have given Killer Elite, but it tries so hard to be an elite piece of political drama that it ends up feeling like a thick, amateurish thriller.

Conan the Barbarian - Barbaric to sit through

2011-12-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

"As I stare through my eye lids, I remain very, very angry"

Conan the Barbarian - ★½ out of 5

Starring: Jason Momoa, Rose McGowan, Ron Perlman
Directed by Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Pathfinder)

Conan: Run from me... and I will tear apart the mountains to find you! I will follow you to Hell!

This name sounds more fit to be a video game title than a feature length film. But alas, the executives at Millennium Films decided that remaking an already B-movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was a good idea. But, it is still a video game and the worst part is you can’t even play it. Conan is nothing but a simplistic revenge tale without the character interaction needed to make us root for this barbaric warrior. He goes from village to village, senselessly killing people, bedding the women, all in the name of finding the man who killed his father. This could have been some guilty fun, but Conan is too serious, too grim and way too bloody to even have a chance of being fun.

Conan (Jason Momoa) watches his father (Ron Perlman) die after his village is rapes and pillaged by a mysterious man named Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang) who is trying to find the missing piece to a mystical mask so he can become a god. Now Conan wants revenge.

That is the entire plot and there are barely any other elements that come into the foreground. The lifestyle, the ethics of the land, the warrior mentality. All of it is explained in a few grunts and huffs. These characters never seem to do anything but walk, then stop to plan where they are going to walk to next. Conan is simply a warrior with one direct purpose and you know that anything that stands in his way.

What I want to know is why does everything in this film look like it needed some more vitamins? The environments are all downcast and covered in dirt and grunge. The cinematography is horrendous, so grim and morose. And everyone looks like they need a hair cut. I understand the time of Barbarians wasn’t the cleanest, but we can at least make these times looks slick and vibrant. 300 and even this year’s terrible Immortals had a much better look.

But technicalities aside, on the most basic level of masculine, guilty enjoyment, Conan just doesn’t have the artistry to craft exciting action sequences. Everyone in this film dies with a single slash. Except for the final battle of course. The leader actually knows how to engage in some simplistic sword play. The rest are pawns sent out to be slaughtered. It is incredibly boring watching men get murdered let and right so quickly. The blood runs and runs and runs. We are numb to blood in 2011, Conan just throws buckets of it at you.

Conan is just a failed attempt at a remake with an amateurish director who believes in blood and guts rather than characters and plot. With The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and 2009’s Friday the 13th reboot, it seems that director Marcus Nipsel needs to learn how to direct a remake properly. His films are an endless climax, constantly trying to dazzle us with action. It is so easy to see that the core of Conan has nothing to offer. Remaking an already purposely bad film and trying to make it serious simply isn’t the direction to go. Conan the Barbarian is a waste of time, and barbaric to think that anyone would find this endless spew of blood enjoyable.

Soul Surfer - Lots of surf but not a lot of soul

2011-12-23T21:27:00.000-08:00

Bethany Hamilton tries to surf again with one arm in Soul Surfer

Soul Surfer - ★★ out of 5

Starring: AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt, Carrie Underwood
Directed by Sean McNamara (Bratz)

Bethany Hamilton: I'm done, aren't I? I can't even paddle out to the line up passed the big waves. I don't understand, what happened to... I can do all things. Why? Why did this happen? Why did I have to lose everything?

Beneath the waves, a remarkable true story lies in the waiting. The actual story that Soul Surfer depicts is a very inspiring one. But it feels like something that should be saved for the 6 o’clock news rather than be turned into a subpar feature film like this. Soul Surfer really captures the ocean of possibilities with its lush environments and beautiful surfing sequences. But the central character of Bethany just isn’t given enough time to shine or enough obstacles to over come. This is a faith based film, where faith is not the hope that something will happen, but the creation of a certainty in the plot. Soul Surfer is an inspiring real life story that doesn’t deserve this uninspired thick spread of Hollywood cheese.

Meet skilled surfer Bethany Hamilton (AnnaSophia Robb) a very charming and bright young girl who has dream of winning the national surfing championship. Their family was born to live in the water, and with the help of the parents Cheri (Helen Hunt) and Tom (Dennis Quaid) this Christian family is big-hearted and open-minded. Tragedy strikes when Bethany is the victim of a shark attack. She loses her entire left arm and this affects her balance. Can she work back and be able to compete in the finals? Well...yeah.

With all of these inspirational tales, we know the outcome, and it is about getting to that outcome and overcoming impossibility that truly motivates us to care and cheer. Moneyball was about an underdog, and that story has wonderful acting and a few twists to the game of baseball. Bethany is also an underdog because of her handicap, but she has few obstacles to overcome.

That is the biggest problem with Soul Surfer, it solves problems by making faith the solution to everything. The film actually works best when Bethany is under duress trying to figure out what to do next. But the Lord works in mysterious ways, and apparently makes sure that women with one arm win surfing competitions. With help from Sarah (Carrie Underwood, brutal acting) Bethany discovers her inspiration though going to visit India after the massive earthquake of 2004. This faith and Indian sequences feel forced and out of place, desperately trying to create a reason for Bethany to want to get back in the water. It isn’t there, it doesn’t feel authentic.

Even still, the scenery is beautiful in Hawaii. The surfing sequences are wonderfully shot by director Sean McNamara. He shoots the surfing through the waves, and you can sometimes see the silhouettes of the surfers through the wave and they surf down a pipe wave. Its gorgeous. The visual flair creates a genuine passion behind this story. This is her life. Constantly among the waves and unflinchingly competitive.

But since McNamara doesn’t spend enough time creating motivation and barriers for Bethany, the visuals come off as a tourist video for Hawaii. The place is gorgeous, as it is in every other movie. Soul Surfer needs to focus on its story and create a more dramatic impact. This story is compelling because we know it is true in real life. But to work cinematically, we need to know the story and still care about the outcome regardless of previous information. Soul Surfer doesn’t do that, and it deserves better. There is a story that needs to be told here, but Bethany is left as driftwood among the reefs. Soul Surfer doesn’t have enough soul, or enough faith, in its main character to stay up on its board.

The Sitter - In the shitter

2011-12-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

Noah and company can't seem to outrun their awful film The Sitter

The Sitter - ★ out of 5

Starring: Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell, Landry Bender, Max Records
Directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Your Highness)

Karl: You're as queer as a football bat, and that's fine.

I think it should be advised that David Gordon Green get a babysitter to watch over his movie choices. Having decided to direct a script from first time writers Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka, The Sitter is a monumental failure in developing laughs, characters, sight gags, a feasible plot and...well anything. This film blatantly disregards its offensive stereotypes and instead holds them up on a pedestal as they cuss and whine in an attempt for laughs. It goes beyond annoying to excruciating. Derivative, stupendously unfunny and abhorrently nasty, The Sitter presents this long overused material as if no one has ever seen a comedy before. Because that is the only way you would laugh at The Sitter.

The film begins with Noah (Jonah Hill, why why why) an overweight, jobless man living at home giving oral sex to his “girlfriend” Marisa (Ari Grayner, really bad here) on her bed. But she doesn’t return the favour and you can tell that these two look at their relationship a different way. And then, Noah goes and babysits some kids. Yes. That is exactly what happens in the movie. It jumps from one scene to another making up conflicts as it goes. As a result, the conflict is virtually non-existent because it isn’t continuous.

What is worse is that the writers try to incorporate modern issues for no purpose, causing them to come off as tasteless and offensive. During a scene of realization, Noah tells one of the kids that he is babysitting that he is gay. Now, I have no problem with gay character in the film, but the fact that he is gay has no context in the story of itself because it isn’t about him. The fact that he is gay just comes of as a big preachy message to American society about accepting homosexuality. That is not for a film like this.

At least it wasn’t as offensive as Sam Rockwell playing a homosexual, underground drug dealer. Of course gay men dress up in nothing but leather and want hugs all the time. Of course they fly around on roller skates and have a gay accent. This scene really makes me angry because the drug dealers didn’t have to be gay at all. They could’ve just been...you know...funny! But the writers seem to think that the fact they are gay is funny. It really, really, really isn’t. Rockwell is a fine actor, why the hell he chose to do this film is beyond me.

To name off a few more stereotypes, we have the young girl Blith (Landry Bender) who talks gangster, puts on way too much make up and feels like an 18 year old prostitute at the age of 10. How is this funny? She swears, she punches a man in the gonads, and she spray perfume in Noah’s face. This is low, low, low humour.

The third and final child is Rodrigo, probably the most offensive stereotype of them all. A adopted child and exchange student from Mexico, Rodrigo spends his time lighting fireworks and blowing up toilets with homemade bombs. Wow, just wow. If this is supposed to be funny, someone forgot what year we live in.

Even more so are the black gangs who do nothing but joves talk and get all up in your face and stuff, as they put it. The Sitter actually endorses gang mentality, which cracks me up because being in a gang in the first place is exactly what you don’t want your kid to do. And The Sitter makes sure that if you’re apart of the right gang, you will gain respect. This makes no sense.

You can call this review just my easily offended self reflecting on what I had seen. Well, I’m not easily offended actually, The Sitter is just an insult to all the things mentioned above. Above all of those is comedy. I snickered a few times during the opening few minutes, then The Sitter does downhill and never comes up for air. Drowning in its own nasty, vulgar and crude material, The Sitter doesn’t even try and hide how bad it is. It bares itself and everything about this film is completely repulsive. This is probably the worst comedy this year. You want a good Jonah Hill film? See the fantastic Moneyball, which even though it is a sport drama, has more laughs than this shitastic comedy

Arthur Christmas - The best gift is the last child

2011-12-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

Arthur and Bryony are off to save Christmas in Arthur Christmas

Arthur Christmas - ★★★½ out of 5

Voices: James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie
Directed by Sarah Smith

Grandsanta: Arthur, there is a way.
Arthur: It's impossible.
Grandsanta: They used to say it was impossible to teach women to read.

Every child in the world deserves a real Christmas. At least, that’s what Arthur thinks. But his family of Clauses seem to think more efficiently than with their hearts. Arthur Christmas is the latest animated film from Aardman Animation, the creators of Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run. Their effort pays off with a very clever concept and surprising emotional involvement. This material is definitely nothing new, but writer/director Sarah White somehow makes it seem so fresh for the holidays. A wondrous treat sure to crack a smile, Arthur Christmas captures the spirit of Christmas while mocking the modernity of today’s world.

Christmas isn’t the same as it used to be. Christmas is no longer delivered in a sleigh, but in a giant, high tech ship called S-1. This increases the efficiency of Christmas in a foolproof system run by a mission control in the North Pole. This is run by Steve (Hugh Laurie) the technologically advanced son of the current Santa Clause (Jim Broadbent). But Santa is behind on the times and lets his son run the show. But his other son Arthur (James McAvoy) is stuck in the mail room, passionately replying to all of the letters children send Santa.

But Christmas is in peril when the S-1 returns and one gift was missed in the cargo hold. Now it becomes a personal conflict of interest. On the one hand, it is just one gift for one child among the billions in the world. On the other hand, it is Santa’s job to try and provide for all the kids at Christmas. No one at the North Pole seems to care, they are either apathetic or nonchalant about the situation. But a hero will emerge who does care, as he tries to save Christmas for the one child who needs it.

The voice acting here is phenomenal. McAvoy evokes such an infectious innocence for Arthur. He just wants every single person on this planet to be happy. He responds to every single letter. He wants all the dreams to e fulfilled as his have. He lives at he North Pole with Santa as a father! That is amazing. Arthur Christmas spreads its happiness and visuals on thick, never letting you go from its joyous grasp.

In addition, the concepts behind Arthur Christmas are very slick and intelligent. This high tech system makes sense for Santa. A new age of technology is among us, so why not make Santa’s job easier? Its a concept that makes sense and allows the character issues to evolve naturally rather then by random events.

But the spirit that Arthur Christmas tries to capture just isn’t anything we haven’t seen in every other Christmas film ever made. It is about unity. It is about the love of Christmas. It is about every child being amazed at the sight of Santa. It is about the spirit of Christmas trumping consumerism. Seen it, seen it, seen it. I wish the message during this film was more inspired.

But even though the message is full of cliches, how the message is presented is surprisingly emotional. Arthur Christmas uses its concept to propel its broad humour into a celebratory feeling of accomplishment. Christmas seems to bring out the good in all of us as every movie seems to depict, but Arthur Christmas achieves that in fresh ways through great characters. It isn’t about getting the presents there on time, it is making sure that every kid is happy. And watching a child open a present is the most exciting thing that Santa will ever see.