An Epic Year pt. 1

Okay, so here it is time to finish up all of those mountains of movie reviews that I’ve been needing to do since break started, my god I’ve pretty much seen everything I wanted to… And I had a long list. So here’s part one of those, since it would take too much time to do them all now, part II will have (hopefully) a slew of like-minded independent films from 2008 as well as a best of the year list or something to those ends. School starts on Monday so from then on it’ll be back to the even longer breaks between entries, but who knows, perhaps I’ll revert to using the site here as an actual blog blog on which I will blog more blog like things, surely there’s always something to talk about, hopefully having to do with music or movies, or potentially having nothing to do with those. Feel free to comment on anything, it encourages me to use the site more.

So I won’t talk about anything in the news, even though Israel is tearing it up in Palestine, Barry O is about to be sworn in, and a US Airways pilot just made perhaps the first successful commercial airline crash landing in the Hudson River.. Yes these are exciting times, but we’ve got movies to go over! There are a lot of them, so I’ll try to be concise.

—

– THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON- (2008)

Dir:David Fincher; Star:Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton
Meticulous rendition of an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story following curious character Pitt who’s born with the body of an old man and ages backwards, falling in love and living his bizarre life emotionally detached from most of the world. Fincher creates and entrancing aura aided by first rate cinematography,  scoring, and cutting edge makeup and visual effects departments that bring this modern fairy tale to dreamy life. The entire cast is good, especially Pitt who’s role is anything but easy. It’s certainly long (nearly 3 hours), and a modern framing involving Hurricane Katrina at a New Orleans hospital seems unnecessary and contrived.  Essentially a cinematic dream that’s both thoughtful and meditative in examining the lasting effect of human relationships from a new angle, filled with imagery and production magic. An admirable accomplishment by all considering the risks in creating such a film, a lack of conciseness is the main fault here.

The suburban hell is pungently scary

– REVOLUTIONARY ROAD – (2008)

Dir:Sam Mendes; Star:Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio
Young couple moves to suburbia to raise a family and maintain a job, leaving former actress wife at home where she realizes here life isn’t turning out the way she had imagined for either of them. Husband wants to pursue both his prior ambitions and what’s best for his new family amid the conscious eye of the suburban onlooker. Mendes crafts this film beautifully, with an obsessive eye for detail and a masterful command over his players. The dialogue is so finely realized and depicted that this feels more like a stage performance where emotion is presented between characters and between them and the environment. Winslet and DiCaprio both give some of the best performances of their careers with such a gravitas that it makes the ‘stage performance’ all the more astounding -every turn is raw and frightening yet somehow inevitable in the polished world of confinement to a social standard that doesn’t mesh with their young ambition. Michael Shannon’s performance is so good in the central role as the “mentally insane,” yet eerily reasonable son of one of the tidy suburbanites that everything seems to click with Mendes’ clear commentary on the harms of such a society. As the social chaos mounts one can revel in the absurdity of the situation, which is somehow humorous, as if it would be ridiculous to let ourselves lose this much control in the first place. These are strange and complex emotions that are rarely tapped so well on screen. Thomas Newman’s provocative score punctuates the tension perfectly, it’s utilized on cue yet infrequently enough to remain evocative. Revolutionary Road skates a fine line; its raw compulsion may be seen as melodramatic or forced by some, but they’re probably missing the key themes and motifs that make the entire work gel into a cohesive whole; a striking statement graced by some of the most powerfully dramatic performances of the year, and an artful work finely shaped into the frightening reality it represents.

-THE READER – (2008)

Dir:Stephen Daldry; Star:Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Kate Winslet
A German man looks back upon an affair he had with a mysterious woman in post WWII Germany which left his young heart on edge; he later learns that his ex-lover is on trial for Nazi war crimes. A film about internal conflict and the confusion of young love with outstanding performances all around, especially by newcomer David Kross. Winslet’s character is as enigmatic as the motivations, yet as the layers are revealed a beautiful picture comes to the forefront. Nico Muhly contributes an emotive score that highlights the character’s struggling emotions and helplessness. The Reader is an internal struggle that is slowly brought to light, giving time for contemplation while leaving room for discussion. It’s an intriguing, dark, and truly powerful film.

'I have a keen Eye for opportunity.'

– VALKYRIE- (2008)

Dir: Bryan Singer; Star:Tom Cruise, Tom Wilkinson, Kenneth Brannagh
True story about a group of Nazi elites who plotted a coup d’etat to overthrow Hitler during World War II called Operation Valkyrie that both involved assassinating the Fuhrer and assuming control over the military. Despite the fact that they’re all supposed to be Nazi’s, the entire cast is British (with many familiar faces) and speaks with a English accent, except for Cruise who speaks with an American accent! Despite these blatantly out of place details the film is surprisingly absorbing, maintaining a good level of tension by the climax. If only we didn’t already know the ending.. it could have had a much stronger impact.

Clash of the Titans

– DOUBT- (2008)

Dir:John Patrick Shanley; Star:Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis
Director Shanley adapted his own play about a Catholic school principal (Streep) in 1964 who suspects that the new liberal pastor (Hoffman) has formed an inappropriate relationship with a lonely African American student despite a lack of concrete evidence, and the young and impressionable schoolteacher Adams is on his side. A battle of wills and suspicions, motives and appearances, and the new and the old that presents an ideal opposition for two of the greatest actors alive to duke it out head to head, and when they do it’s absolutely magnetic to watch. Shanley doesn’t try to do too much, just enough to flesh out the roles and to provide the actors with a place to sink their teeth in. An interesting wind motif complements the themes of change, a conflict central to this intriguing drama.

'You're all gonna die..'

– THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL – (2008)

Dir: Scott Derrickson; Star: Jennifer Connelly, Keanu Reeves
Lifeless, pointless remake of the 1951 Sci-fi classic in which an alien.. giant robot.. thing lands on Earth and threatens to destroy it, that is if astro-biologist (*squirm!!*) Jennifer Connelly can’t convince the altruistic, ominous alien Reeves to help save Earth first. Starts with a bang and then becomes an unbearably long sequence of talking and escaping from things despite and potential human sense of reason or necessity, and then ends with some grandiose message about ecological health. Or something like that. A sheer let down for any fan of Cloverfield/Independence Day/I Am Legend type end of the world sci-fi scenarios, or anyone looking for anything else that might be good in a movie.  At least Jennifer Connelly has such pretty eyes. .

Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my GOD!

– BURN AFTER READING – (2008)

Dir:Joel & Ethan Coen; Star:George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Francis McDormand, John Malkovich
Zany CIA/gym employee farce about health nut Pitt who blackmails bad-ass Malkovich for his disc of “CIA shit,” and everyone everywhere gets in way over their heads in a way that only the Coen brothers could imagine. Everyone is completely moronic in an amusing way, Pitt is definitely the best and the most fun to watch due to his ridiculous demeanor which is over the top while remaining somehow natural.. Each character sort of has their own quirks that are good fun to watch in their own way but the movie itself never really amounts to anything. Then again it probably was never meant to.

– GHOST TOWN- (2008)

Dir:David Koepp; Star:Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Tea Leoni
People-hating dentist Bertram Pincus (Gervais) has a near death experience during a routine colonoscopy and can suddenly see ghosts of people in New York City who all want him to help them to resolve their unfinished business. One such ghost (Kinnear) wants Pincus to keep his widow from marrying a hotshot lawyer, comedy ensues.  Gervais, who is otherwise known as the face of the original UK Office series is a freshly welcome source of comedic brilliance that seems to finally be merging over to the US. The amusing situation itself is aided by a sturdy screenplay written by the director, an earnest cast, and an infectiously intelligent sense of humor. A first rate romantic comedy that’s as heartwarming as it is funny. Good stuff.

'I hate everyone.'

– TOWELHEAD- (2008)

Dir: Alan Ball; Star: Summer Bishil, Aaron Eckhart, Toni Collette
A Lebanese American girl goes to live with her single father who happens to be a hyperbole of evil over-controlling parents, which certainly isn’t a good thing for his young daughter who is becoming sexually curious. Add in the patriotic pedophile neighbor Eckhart and an African American boyfriend (god forbid…), toss it together and spit it out. Features an awful screenplay that is little more than an endless series of mercilessly awkward events and ridiculous dialogue that seems to show little real insight on anything. Toni Collette is the only likable character here, and she doesn’t really turn up until near the end! An attempt at something more that misses on all counts.