Review Roundup #3

This is the last of my 2009 “Review Roundup.” I managed to see almost all of the movies I’ve wanted to so I can mostly-confidently do a “best of 2009″ in the near future. If I missed something that ends up being good I guess it’s S.O.L. in terms of that. Oh well. This is, like the previous one, a somewhat substantial chunk of mini reviews.

In other news, school just started, and so has El Ninyo, so there’s lots to do around here. Hopefully I’ll do better than my one post last semester, but we’ll see. I’d like to do more extended essays on various movies or albums if I ever get the time for that. Okay, so here’s those reviewettes I was talking about.

- INVICTUS – (2009)

Dir:Clint Eastwood; Star:Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman
True story about South African rugby team’s attempt to win the 1995 rugby World Cup with the support of the newly empowered Nelson Mandela, who hopes to unite the post-apartheid country behind the team. It benefits from equal components of a sports movie and a diary of social change; despite playing everything by the book, both aspects work off of the other well. I’ve always said that Morgan Freeman looks suspiciously similar to Nelson Mandela, and I’m glad to see him finally playing the part, which he does with grace. Damon also adopts the difficult South African accent quite naturally. Even if you don’t already know how the story ends, it’s predictable from the very beginning. Nevertheless, it does what it intends to do well and is satisfyingly inspirational.

- UP IN THE AIR – (2009)

Dir:Jason Reitman; Star:George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
Ryan Bingham (Clooney) travels from city to city for a company that is contracted to fire people for other companies, sparing them from having to deal with the emotional confrontation inherent in the task. Bingham has always lived on the road as his job has demanded, having developed great efficiency and a detachment from long term relationships.  He then has to show the newly hired Kendrick how he does his job in order to teach her the intricate art of letting someone go. He has accepted his own solitary lifestyle when new events and new people force him to reconsider. Writer/director Reitman and Sheldon Turner’s brilliant screenplay perfectly forms its characters and is entirely relevant to 2009 America, without being overly sentimental. Clooney was born for this role, which involves an exuberant charisma that only he seems to have, while Kendrick brings across her youthful-but-naive personality with precision. Their interplay is instantly captivating and their motives and decisions feel nothing but completely real; the editing and pacing are also flawless.  Up in the Air is a very moving study of masked introversion that benefits from the accessibility provided by its Hollywood production, rather than succumbing to marketable genre cliches. This is Reitman’s third and best film (he previously directed the also great Juno); he gets everything right and the payoff is tremendous.

Here’s the trailer.

- BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL – NEW ORLEANS- (2009)

Dir:Werner Herzog Star:Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer
Nicholas Cage plays a detective who is plagued by a drug problem in post-Katrina New Orleans. His addiction throws him off balance, making him on edge and rather zany. Cage is great in this crazy to-the-point-of-wackiness performance which is complimented by some of Herzog’s appropriately bizarre asides (think staring matches with an iguana) and an apt, disillusioned, blues soundtrack. These offbeat quirks are the centerpiece of the movie and are indeed quite fun to watch, making up for the bland and underdeveloped good cop/bad cop storyline.

- BROKEN EMBRACES- (2009 – Spanish)

Dir:Pedro Almodovar; Star:Penelope Cruz, Lluis Homar
A movie director looks back at his life with one of his actresses/lovers who was involved in a sour relationship with a jealous man that she didn’t want to be with. Almodovar’s latest work is less flamboyant but more intimate than his previous efforts, playing as an homage to the importance of film making as an emotive outlet for the film makers. It features many striking allusions to his own and other great works in cinema, notably Alfred Hitchcock, all bathed in the beautiful pastel color palate one has come to expect with the director. Penelope Cruz shines as the main point of inspiration, as she likely has been for Almodovar, who has used her frequently.  Broken Embraces is a fascinating and subtly haunting film  about the creative process that’s both self aware and tense. Pedro Almodovar’s personal connection with his work, which itself is a motivating theme here, gives the film a unique and undeniable flavor that both studies and savors human relationships.

Pedro Almodovar is my favorite contemporary director, whose previous films include the great Volver, Talk to Her, and All About My Mother.  Here is a trailer for Broken Embraces, which while thematically different, is among his best work.

- THE MESSENGER – (2009)

Dir:Oren Moverman; Star:Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson
A soldier fresh from Iraq is given the task of informing next-of-kin when their loved ones die in combat. He’s paired with a more experienced messenger, and the two form a friendship. Eventually one of them starts to form an inappropriate relationship with one of the women he informed, going against protocol and angering the other. Highly dramatic, with impressive performances by Foster and Harrelson, who find conflicts between personal sympathy and army guidelines. It suffers from an uneven midsection but picks up by the end. An interesting and emotional look at the war in Iraq on the home front.

- YOU, THE LIVING – (2009 – Swedish)

Dir:Roy Andersson; Star:N/A
A striking series of tragicomic vignettes following several people living their mundane lives in a Swedish city. Each scene consists of typically one, uninterrupted, and usually static shot; each slightly related to others. The situations are often funny, and all are doused in a surreal haze of modern ennui. A highly artistic, but directly noticeable examination of the banality of living life when it’s nothing but a slow funeral march towards the inevitable death. It may be the most cynical movie I’ve ever seen, but it shows that it’s the quirks that are strangely comforting. Beautifully staged, with fantastic desaturated cinematography that perfectly fits Andersson’s theme; every shot is simply stunning.

Here’s one of the 50 vignettes, in which a man tries to impress a dinner party.

- AWAY WE GO – (2009)

Dir:Sam Mendes; Star:John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph
A couple expecting a child moves from town to town trying to find a place where they can form a home and raise a family. Along the way are friends and acquaintances from whom they discern what it is they want and don’t want for themselves. This is more about the journey than its destination, which the characters are never really sure of. Its simple approach directs focus on the strength of their relationship which is never in question thanks to the entertaining and endearing leads. It also features a great indie/folk soundtrack and an uncanny sense of place.  Mendes’ most understated film to date, this is a charming and optimistic experience about settling down.

Here’s the trailer.

- RUDO Y CURSÌ – (2009 – Mexican)

Dir:Carlos Cuaron; Star:Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna
The producers and stars of 2001′s Y Tu Mama Tambien team up again in this thoroughly enjoyable story about two brothers in Mexico who are scouted to play professional soccer for different teams, both facing obstacles (drugs, gambling, pressures of stardom etc) to their respective success. This, of course, leads to a climactic showdown between the two brothers’ teams, which is a truly tense moment due to many complicating external factors. A formulaic story about sibling rivalry that also (wisely) comments on the many social problems of modern Mexico. It’s great fun to see Luna and Bernal together again.
I’d say it’s worth watching if only to see Gael Garcia Bernal singing a spanish version of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You To Want Me” in a hilariously low-budget music video (complete with sleazy dancers)!

- THE PROPOSAL – (2009)

Dir:Anne Fletcher; Star:Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds
New York city big wig (Bullock) who is really a Canadian citizen has residency troubles, so in order to keep her job she forces her assistant (Reynolds) to pretend to be her fiance lest he lose his job. In order to thwart immigration officials the two go to visit the assistant’s family in Alaska, where they’re faced with the task of pretending to his entire family that they are engaged. A funny concept that’s also entirely predictable; it’s still quite enjoyable seeing these two attractive and likable stars playing off many It Happened One Night scenarios. An entertaining use of an hour and a half.

- SITA SINGS THE BLUES – (2009)

Dir:Nina Paley; Star:N/A
Very original, independent, animated feature highlighting the story of Valmicki’s Ramayana with at least three different artistic styles: A pencil-y lo-fi plot following a woman who is dumped by her boyfriend, a paper-cut out plot in which three (often very annoying) narrators have a discussion about the Ramayana, and an ovular westernized depiction of what the narrators are discussing in which Sita sings 1920′s vocal blues music (!). Eventually you realize that this movie is just the director complaining about one of her past break ups, so it doesn’t amount to much, but it’s wonderfully creative.

Conveniently, due to copyright difficulties, this film was released freely under a Creative Commons license and can be seen legally on Youtube! Or, if you don’t want the time commitment but still want to get a taste of its style, here’s a standout musical number from the movie.

- TRUCKER- (2009)

Dir:James Mottern; Star:Michelle Monaghan, Nathon Fillion
Bad-ass female truck driver Monaghan must take care of her son who she hasn’t seen since his birth, learning about life and parenthood in the process. I spent most of the time noticing how Michelle Monaghan looks like Michael Jackson, but her acting is good. It’s fun watching her character come to grips with the new-found responsibility, although this “odd-couple” premise has been done many times before.

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