Frosty Slumdogs and Milk
Okay, so with a break from school I’ve finally gotten the chance to catch up on all things art, especially movies and music! hooray you say? good. I got this absurd idea to write reviews from now on that are 100% sarcastic where I say the complete opposite of what I really mean for every movie I see, or some sort of exaggerated thing like that. That would be amusing wouldn’t it? Well I’ll keep that idea open for the future. As for now I feel compelled to get these reviews on cyberink so I can see some more without worrying about forgetting things etc. Regardless there’s a lot of good stuff this time of year both in theaters and now on video, so you should check it out I think. Look for a best of 2008 Movies and Music post soon, as that time of year is approaching and it’s fun to be reflective. Mirrors are exciting. It’ll be fun to do a music post soon to sort of mix things up around here, no? So here are some new reviews.
– SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE- (2008)
Dir:Danny Boyle; Star: Dev Patel
They do not make movies like this anymore. Jamal Malik, an 18-ish tea server in India has just gotten to the final question on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire,” but the police don’t believe that someone like Jamal, who was born and raised in the muck of India’s crowded slums without an education could have possibly done it without cheating. Jamal then reveals the story of his life as a boy through which he happened to learn the answers through experience to the questions he had answered in order to clear his name for a chance to compete for the final question. This clever device is, however, only secondary to the story of Jamal’s troubled past in the slums and the true motives that drive his unlikely quest in the hot seat. The story is timelessly simple, but the presentation is brilliantly arranged by screenwriters Simon Beaufoy and Vikas Swarup. Director Boyle’s lightning fast camera brings undernourished India to vivid life like Fernando Meirelles did for Brazil in City of God, but with an eye for both the harsh conditions and the hope-inspiring adaptations to them. The culture presented is both vibrant and exciting, complimented by expert pacing that makes the story absolutely absorbing. The film presents a rapidly modernizing India that hasn’t really been seen before in western cinema, and the cast is littered with native Indian actors who are hardly recognized outside of Asia. This makes the characters all the more real and unpretentious; underdogs to root for the whole way. Slumdog Millionaire feels unlike anything that has hit America in the last 20 years, it’s heart renderingly genuine and blazingly empowering. The story, the characters, and the themes transcend the culture and feel out of time, forever existing and forever fueling the human heart, but it never feels cliche or oversimple thanks to Boyle’s stylish presentation, the marvelous editing of Chris Dickens, and the sincere performance by child and adult actors alike. It reveals a slice of the world that everyone can relate to no matter how different it may seem. To quote Time Magazine, Slumdog Millionaire is a “buoyant him to life and a film to celebrate;” a movie that blends the traditional with the new in an excitingly real way that opens the eyes and touches the soul, all of which are trademarks of a pinnacle in modern film making.
—
Milk. It does a movie good.
– MILK – (2008) 
Dir: Gus Van Sant; Star: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile Hirsch
The roller-coaster true story about the rise of San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk in the 1970’s, as he became the first openly gay man elected to major public office. Along the way we meet a slew of friends and ominous adversaries. Eventually his tumultuous, misunderstanding-laden relationship with fellow supervisor Dan White leads to his inevitable assassination. Milk’s personal relationships are paired side by side with his public campaign, working to give intimate depth to the characters as they play their roles in the movement for equality. It’s skillfully assembled by Van Sant and company with outstanding performances all around. Penn is however, the anchor to it all, giving an utterly convincing performance that garners unwavering sympathy and respect for the character and his alternative lifestyle, while showing that the iconic Harvey Milk was all but human. The performances and direction are so good that the homosexual relationships depicted come across as they have never before in mainstream cinema; it presents homosexuality not as some deplorable or detestably bestial act but as a loving relationship equal to that between a man and a woman. It’s not some hidden relationship repressed in the characters’ minds (like in Brokeback Mountain), it’s out there and it feels tangibly real. This reality is something that the homophobic sphere of the country needs to come to grips with. Milk comes, coincidentally, at an extremely appropriate time in American history, with the recent passage of CA Prop 8 banning gay marriage among other acts throughout the country. It is clear that a significant portion of America looks down upon homosexuality to an extent where it encroaches on their civil rights. Because of this Milk the film seems to play its own part, however minuscule, in the larger movement that Harvey Milk the person acted upon. Regardless of current politics, Milk is an extremely powerful movie, superbly crafted and expressively realized with slick momentum and passion. The result is one of the best films of the year, and the emotional punch is nothing short of inspirational.
—
– FROST/NIXON – (2008) 
Dir:Ron Howard; Star: Michael Sheen, Frank Langella
Sharp adaptation of Peter Morgan’s award winning Broadway play based upon a series of interviews given by former president Richard Nixon to the young, inexperienced, hot shot journalist David Frost in exchange for a boatload of money in 1977 following the recent Watergate scandal and Nixon’s resignation. Langella towers as Dick himself, imitating with precision and bringing across levels of emotional depth absent from simple public appearance, and Sheen is also good as the popular and enthusiastic Frost. Both actors completely fill out their characters with skill and nuance, partially aided by the fact that both Langella and Sheen starred in the broadway play. Framed with “interviews” with characters in the film (played by their actors) after the fact that seem both informative and a little fake. It does a good job at showing that Frost and Nixon are not all that dissimilar despite their outward differences, drilling deeper into the two personalities as the film progresses. A small, well made character study that’s certainly interesting thanks to the inspired screenwriting, cinematography, direction, and performances.
Almost There…
So, It’s about the time of the year when we get to the goods cinematically, with all the production companies cranking out their heavyweights for Oscar season. Unfortunately, all the reviews here don’t really reflect it. At least there’s always the reliably quirky British charm. So we can call this update the calm before the storm? They’re not all that badDon’t worry, they’ll get better I’m sure.
Thanksgiving break was an interesting opportunity to see some new movies. I stopped by Hollywood video back home to see what new releases they had, and it turns out that there is absolutely nothing worth renting right now. I don’t know if it’s because there are really just a bunch of bad movies out there from this year or I’ve just seen them all already. Probably a combination of the two. Then I went hunting for some movies to see in theaters hoping to catch Charlie Kauffman’s “Synecdoche, New York” or maybe even the rising star “Slumdog Millionaire,” but to no avail. The only things playing ANYWHERE were sequels to action movies no one gives a hoot about, the new Bond flick, and a handful of family Christmas movies. God I hate all this mainstream commercialism, with the studios telling us what we can watch. Oh well, here are these, soon there will be better times?
I'm in the desert, so I must wear shades.
– QUANTUM OF SOLACE – (2008 – pg13) 
Dir: Marc Forster; Star: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Judi Dench
2006’s Casino Royale was a breadth of fresh air for the long running franchise, injecting new layers of depth to the characters and new potential for the future. And in 2008 it all comes crumbling down. Daniel Craig still makes a great Bond, but the story tries to pick up where the last left off, yet only in theme. For instance, one of the great villains in the last movie was inexplicably killed prior to this release and substituted with a much less frightening or inspired Mr. White. It seems as though the screenwriters wanted to mix substance with explosion, but they got so lost in the process that they figured there need not be any real reason for anything to take place in the first place. I still don’t know what the hell a Quantum of Solace is. Anyway, this is a no-go, the series has fallen on its face, and the filmmakers need to rethink their strategy before forcing millions to see it on label alone. There needs to be something there. After seeing Quantum of Solace I asked myself, what the hell just happened, and why does it matter? Without an answer to my question I drove home in a sad stupor of spoiled possibility.
Mmm Grey
– CHANGELING – (2008 – R) 
Dir: Clint Eastwood; Star: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jason Butler Harner
Clint Eastwood is STILL making high quality movies, and Changeling is no exception. It’s the fairly unknown true story of a Los Angeles mother who’s son is kidnapped, and ‘returned,’ although she is convinced that the boy that she’s given is not really her son. Eventually the LAPD tries to suppress her rather than lose face to the anxious media. Doused in a somber aura, like many of Eastwood’s recent works, the depressing plot revelations hit with force. Cinematographer Tom Stern’s visual style is becoming a trademark with Eastwood’s films, filling the screen with an ominously brooding, yet overly conventional veil of austerity. At times, it seems almost like a vehicle for Jolie, who is great no less, but her scenes are framed in such a way that it feels at times as if it may spiral into ‘just a sequence of scenes of Angelina Jolie freaking out,’ which seems a tad underintegrated. Butler Harner is also terrific as the genuinely terrifying man who abducted her son. Unfortunately the film never lets up, getting lost in its overlength while also trying to accomplish too much. It’s at its best when Jolie is confined to a mental hospital against her will -a move which echoes the ire of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but this is only a sidenote in a much larger scheme. By the end some closure is reached but it really doesn’t feel as if anything definitive has been said; there doesn’t seem to be a message or anything to take away. In all, it seem as though it’s but a well crafted bit of LA lore and nothing more.
If it's about the child's perspective, we don't have to try!
– THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS – (2008 – R)
Dir: Mark Herman; Star: Asa Butterfield
Schindler’s List inspired the viewer with the truth, in the process giving them hope by showing what one person can do to resist a great travesty. It told its story with a brutally honest and harsh eye. Life is Beautiful inspired the viewer with fiction by giving them an irresistibly likable character and the innocent son he spared of the violent reality of the holocaust. Boy in the Striped Pajamas does none of this. It may have worked as a novel, but as a film it’s clearly fictional and every plot device set up to drive a reaction is noticeable and contrived. There is no charm to its characters or reality to its stance. Of course the filmmakers could argue that since it’s told from a child’s perspective (the child of a Nazi concentration camp commandant),then this is all the visual depiction of his innocent viewpoint. This worked in E.T. because we were given great performances and nuanced production (read: genuine emotion). None of this exists here; the performances are either melodramatic or awkward as hell (the child actors’ conversations are as blocky and unnatural as bonfire made out of legos). The production values are on par with a weekend tv movie on the BBC and the son’s delusions with reality don’t seem to have any weight or signifcance. There is also a severe lack of attention to detail that is so glaringly obvious. Why, for example, does the interned Jewish kid who the son befriends appear to weigh a good 20 pounds more than a well-fed son of the commandant? Why aren’t there any guards in the guard towers? Why does the concentration camp look like nothing but a couple of buildings populated by a handful of extras instead of the steaming cesspool it should be? All of these annoyances help to detract from the reality of the film. It is all so calculated, it’s clear that we’re all watching a poorly made movie. This is what makes the shocking finale seem all the more loathesomly melodramatic and pointless. It’s the kind of ending that would ONLY work if the story were either true or we were absorbed enough to give a hoot about the characters. I would applaud the effort if only there were a greater one.
"Oh! What-chu-ma-call-it ding dang dilly dilly da da hoo hoo!"
– HAPPY-GO-LUCKY – (2008 – R)
Dir: Mike Leigh; Star: Sally Hawkins
Enter the incessantly optimistic, cheerful, fun loving, life-living Poppy played to quirky perfection by Sally Hawkins. Give us a taste of her life and her irresistable outlook on the world. Give us some romance, some good times with the girls, some good old fashioned british charm, and throw in an angry pessimist driving instructor (played amazingly by Eddie Marsan) who never gives up on a student, least of all Poppy, who would rather point out the attractive men on the street than focus entirely on the road. Just as it seems that this Poppy may be too good to be true (in an annoyingly happy way), throw in layers of depth and maturity to reinforce the proceedings. We see that Poppy isn’t a child in an adult’s world. She’s a self aware adult who doesn’t care what other people think, and who is ready willing and able to live life with enthusiasm and gusto. It’s all uniquely entertaining, well written and acted, very British, and infectiously encouraging.
————————————–
– PERSEPOLIS – (2007 – pg13)
Animated rendition of Marjan Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novels following her adolescence in and out of post Shah-Iran. A stunningly creative work and a high quality examination of the effects of a super conservative theocracy on both the free spirited and the female, and the dilemma between personal freedom and family comfort. Laced with disarming comedy and striking imagery. One of the more meaningful animated films to ever reach mainstream audiences.
-1408 – (2007 – pg13)
Writer braves night in haunted room 1408, which tends to cause people to die. Like most Stephen King adaptations it starts out with great intrigue and ends in some confused quest for some supernatural figment of a delusional imagination.
Michael's Movie Reviews and Musical Musings 