Week 6: The Descendants
Direction: Alexander Payne
Acting: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller Matthew Lillard
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Date viewed: 10 February 2012
Location viewed: Ritz East, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rating: 8/10
It is no secret that George Clooney is a wonderful actor well-deserving of his Oscar nomination for this role. It is also not a secret (if you have read the film’s synopsis) that Matthew King, Clooney’s character, is mired in tragedy at the beginning of the film: his wife is injured in a boating accident and has slipped into a coma. It is extremely fulfilling to see Clooney playing such a humanizing role; Matthew King quickly becomes a single parent, becoming responsible for his kids and seems flustered by this task saying that he was always the “back-up” parent. King is preoccupied with his law firm and with a family trust: a parcel of land on the island of Kauaʻi that he is the main benefactor of and must find a way to take care of the sale of the land before the trust dissolves.
Directed by Alexander Payne (About Schmidt, Sideways), the film features many a meaningful shot. Upon hearing some heavy news regarding his wife’s condition, King finds himself stopping on a bridge, with a high angle shot framing him in his lowly, depressed state…on a metaphorical bridge over troubled water. Later in the film, as his life is seemingly spinning out of control, we have a top-down shot of King in a stairwell. These shots typically signify a downward spiral for a character. Here, King is moving up the stairs going against the grain, and possibly swimming against the current of mainstream motifs—just as his character is fighting the odds with his sad situation struggling to get by as a crisis-riddled situationly-single father.
Adding to the film’s luster are its minor characters. King’s daughters each play a key part in helping him to become a better and stronger parent. Each daughter is rebellious in her own way. Young Scottie, played by Amara Miller, sends lewd text messages to her schoolmates, endangering her position at a posh private school. The older, college-aged Alexandra, played by Shailene Woodley, is found drunk after curfew at her college dormitory when King comes to pick her up. Though each is rebellious in nature, each are mature enough to help King is his struggles. Alexandra is the typical teenage daughter, nitpicking everything her dad attempts to do for her. She is full of anger for her neglectful parents and fearful of what might happen to her mother in her current condition, her last words before the coma coming from a fight.
Alexandra’s friend Sid (Nick Krause), who finds himself tagging along in many of the family’s escapades, is a character whom you find liking more and more as the film progresses. Sid’s problem is that he has no filter, and says whatever he may be thinking at any moment in time. This finds him getting punched in the face once, and nearly moments afterwards. Later, his intelligence shines through and his presence makes sense. King and him share a tender moment late at night in a hotel room in Kaua’i when King has trouble sleeping.
The film shows the growth of many of the films characters including King, Sid and his daughters all while his wife declines in health. King successfully island hops finding information and inspiration in his trek to become a better father and husband while trying to settle his private and affairs.
Final word: A film definitely worth seeing. It is both sad and hilarious. It is reminiscent of 2011’s 50-50 in that it can can concurrently make you sad and burst out in laughter in the same scene. The film can be relatable for viewers both parents and children alike, especially those who have gone through a family-shaking crisis as these characters have.
sad/side note: Week 5’s entry about Drive went missing in Internet world. When I have a chance, I will retype it.
Week 4: The Living Wake
The Living Wake
Release date: 16 May 2010 (First wide release)
Direction: Sol Tryon
Acting: Mike O’Connell, Jesse Eisenberg, Jim Gaffigan
Genre: Independent, Comedy
Date viewed: 28 January 2012
Location viewed: Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rating: 2.5/10
The Living Wake opens up with a “News on the March” parody in which we are introduced to the main character of the film, K. Roth Binew, while his addled life story and current predicament—an unnamed, incurable disease—are reviewed for viewers. The scenes are of poor quality, and not from the intention to seem like an olden-style film. The quality of filming is what is off-putting and is furthered by the (hopefully intended) poor comical acting of Binew’s doctor. While this particular scene was meant as a parody, it succeeded in name only.
The acting of the film is, much of the time, overacted. A hint of a Shakespearean style is put forth by co-writer O’Connell’s rendition of Benew; O’Connell in this role seemingly thinks he is akin to Kenneth Branagh in one of his many roles. Additionally, later on in the film, there is a Macbeth-like scene in which Benew speaks to an apparition in which no one else can see, only furthering people’s view that he has gone mad. Jesse Eisenberg’s character, Mills, a foil to Benew, thankfully brings some semblance of goodness to the film. Though Mills is at one point characterized as mute by Benew’s mother, his character gives a poetic voice life to the film. However, it is not just Mills that lends a poetic voice. Dreadfully, the writers, O’Connell and Peter Kline, have a knack for vocabulary, but not one for substance. Their attempts at humor are often good in thought, but not in delivery.
Take for example an exasperated quote by Benew, who after seeing a childhood love and parting ways expresses, “I wonder if Hannibal felt this empty after taking Carthage…although, it was pleasant to tongue-kiss my former nanny.” Toilet humor can often be humorous, as evidenced in many films in dark comedy that have come before. But too many times in this film, the viewer wonders when a fit of laughter will come rather than a forced smirk.
Only adding to the travesty, late in the film, a genre-twisting scene wherein Benew breaks out into song in a cemetery is grossly misplaced in the narrative. Perhaps they wanted to shorten the film’s length, letting the song sum up events quickly—which I thank them for.
Final word: This film tries too hard, and never quite makes the mark. It partly redeems itself with it’s dark and humorous ending; sadly, this comes 90 minutes too late to create a lasting impression. If the film were to only consist of it’s first and last five minutes, with a modest summation in its midst, it could be a humorous and short. Sadly, this falls short and comes across as a caricature of an independent film and may bolster the naysayers of independent film falling into the stereotypes of the all-too-often too artistic, too high-brow caricatures that have been painted. Find a better indie flick that will redeem the genre.
Week 3: The Flowers of War
The Flowers of War
Release date: 20 January 2012
Direction: Yimou Zhang
Acting: Christian Bale, et al
Genre: Drama, History
Date viewed: 18 January 2012
Location viewed: Ritz at the Bourse, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rating: 7/10
When a film keeps you uneasy or uncertain of ways to speak about it more than 24 hours after its viewing, the filmmakers have done their job well. If a viewer feels too on-edge to even creep to the edge of their seat during gut-wrenching scenes of violence and tragedy, the story is being unfolded well. There is a fine line between tasteful art in proving a point and tasteless, senseless violence in film. Many films fall on either end of this line, whereas Yimou Zhang’s The Flowers of War straddles that line for much of the film, making viewers gasp, sink into their seats, feel their hearts sink into their stomachs and perhaps even weep.I left this film feeling empty. Much of the violence was extremely uncomfortable, but for those familiar with the overarching (hi)story of the film’s setting, the film’s content is only the tip of the iceberg.
The film takes place in 1937, during Japan’s forceful occupation of the city of Nanking, the former Republic of China capital. The violent takeover became known as the Rape of Nanking for the mass genocide and rape-killings of many Chinese men, women and children. Christian Bale plays John Miller, a buffoonish, drunk-prone, mortician-by-trade westerner sent into the city to a Catholic convent to prepare the convent’s priest for burial. After his arrival, he realizes that he is the only adult present in the entire compound.
The film opens up in the midst of a cold and gray, beautifully shot battle scene. The scenes flash back and forth between young school-aged girls running for cover and John Miller also searching for a place of refuge. Bale narrowly escapes a soldier multiple times, and becomes lucky in a near-death showdown with a japanese soldier. He soon escapes and finds a hiding spot with two of the schoolgirls. He speaks broken Chinese to the girls asking if they know the whereabouts of the church. As he is ready to give up, and move on, one of the girls bravely replies that they are students at the church. The girls then lead Miller back to the church, where we meet the young boy turned chaperone, “George”. Not long after, the convent becomes overcrowded as prostitutes from a nearby brothel force their way in to hide themselves from the Japanese onslaught, after being promised the safe-haven by the church’s former cook.
As with many characters in times of war and strife, much maturation occurs. We see the quick growth of many characters, but specifically in Bale’s Miller and one of the convent girls, Shujuan. The young “Shu” acts well beyond her years from her introduction in the film, but has a steady growth in her demeanor and traits as the film progresses. Miller, who stumbles, both metaphorically and in actuality, into his leadership role, is a surprisingly quick-witted thinker with a paternalistic edge, which we later learn is due to him being a father.
The film’s discomfort, and a reason that many may not like this film, are the extremely graphic scenes contained within. One should know going into a viewing of the film that a film portraying a vignette of a horrific moment in human history, that it cannot be given justice without including some of these terrible traits. With that said, the violence, at times, seems over-the-top. As one who has seen many a violent and graphic film, I felt uncomfortable during many parts of the movie. There are scenes of death, rape and violence all throughout, affecting characters both young and old. Be ready for this, as it happens unexpectedly throughout the course of the film.
Although there is much doom and gloom, the film does find ways to sneak in beauty in much of the dark deaths. The film is very beautifully shot. A range of colors, and sometimes a lack thereof, show the beautiful visual skill of both the director and cinematographer. In one scene, a chinese soldier fighting a Japanese brigade hides out in a paper/textile factory. When detonating a series of grenades, the large explosion, which kills many, features a slow-motion scene in which many colorful pieces of fabric fall from the sky, creating a cinematic rainbow of colors. Additionally, In many of the fast-paced scenes of violence, and well-chosen handheld camera captures the action, only adding skillfully to a scene’s tension and uneasiness.
Final word: This film will affect you. If you are interested in seeing this, you must be prepared for that. Do not see it if you are easily shaken by graphic scenes of violence.
Week 2: Sin Nombre
Sin Nombre
Release date: 15 May 2009
Direction: Cary Fukunaga
Acting: Edgar Flores, Paulina Gaitan
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Date viewed: 11 January 2012
Location viewed: Home, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rating: 7/10
Writer/director Cary Fukunaga’s Spanish-language film, Sin Nombre, is about a young hoodlum trying to juggle his private life with his life as a gang member, which is a task easier said than done. Willy, ‘El Casper’, is a member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, based on a true-life gang of the same name. Fukunaga did extensive research into gang life, even employing the help of gang members to edit his script. Willy is conflicted, attempting to both spend time with his girlfriend, who lives out of his gang’s territory while also staying loyal to the MS-13.
His young tag-along, who later gets initiated into the gang, is El Smiley, given his gang name after receiving 13 seconds of “cortes”—both a punishment and initiation rite wherein gang members punch and kick the recipient until the 13 seconds have been called out by whoever has made the order.
The film, at its core, is truly about immigration, and the trials one must go through to make it. The film craftily weaves in the story of Sayra, a young Honduran who meets with her father in Mexico in order to make a journey over the border into the United States. Her family must join the migrants who ride the tops of trains in an attempt to make it to the border to find a better life in the states. Fukunaga himself took 3 trips on the tops of trains to better understand the life and craft a realistic story. Their ultimate plan is to meet up with relatives in New Jersey, with her father ingraining an important phone number in their heads on their short voyage to the trains of their contact in the U.S.
Later, El Casper, El Smiley and gang-leader Mago head out on a mission for the benefit of the gang. The crafty weaving of the stories bring the strands together as the boys end up at the train station where Sayra and her family members have been waiting for a train to hop on. As a train arrives, the members of both sets of stories board the trains. What the gang-bangers purpose is on the train remains to be seen until a few towns over when a heist begins. Something goes terribly wrong, forcing El Casper to separate himself from the gang.
After El Casper’s daring escape, El Smiley remains loyal to the gang—though he still needs to prove himself. He offers to find, and kill, El Casper to show his devotion to the gang-family. El Smiley begins meeting up with other sects of the gang along the journey, finding himself slowly becoming more accepted in the gang world.
The film is reminiscent of another Spanish-language film Diarios de Motocicleta, featuring Gael García Bernal as a young Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (Che). (In doing light research, one comes to find that Bernal had a hand in the film’s production as an Executive Producer.) Sin Nombre’s use of actual migrants as extras, it’s beautiful shots of landscape and true-grit stories of the issues of the migrants will keep the attention of fans of Diarios. Its writer/director’s deep research into gang life as well as migrant life make it an intelligent film for fans of intelligent cinema.
Final word: If you are a fan of the aforementioned Diarios de Motocicleta, you will more than likely enjoy this. Although the film is a bit slow at times, it has an intelligent story with enough excitement to keep you drawn in for the entire migration from start to finish.
Week 1: Man on a Ledge
Man on a Ledge
Release date: 27 January 2012
Direction: Asger Leth
Acting: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Ed Harris, et al
Genre: Thriller
Date viewed: 4 January 2012
Location viewed: Ritz East, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rating: 8.5/10
Man on a Ledge is the first feature film from young director Asger Leth, starring Sam Worthington, of Avatar fame, as ex-cop-turned-fugitive Nick Cassidy, and it is quite the effort put forth from these two young guns. The film starts fast-paced from the gates, and keeps the frantic tempo going for most of the start of the film. The film opens up with Cassidy walking the streets of New York to find himself at the Roosevelt Hotel, a swanky hotel in mid-manhattan. The direction mixes in jarring overhead shots of city streets, cutting back to views of Cassidy traversing the busy streets. Once at the hotel, Cassidy checks in to begin his elaborate scheme of a faux suicide attempt, in an effort to bring attention to his case and to ultimately prove something to the world.
The film noticeably has no introductory credits or title sequences, but the film’s title is creatively announced and introduced to us by an onlooker seconds after Cassidy makes a daring step out onto the ledge of his hotel room as a woman shrieks, “Up there! There is a man on a ledge!”
Once on the ledge, the authorities are promptly notified of a jumper and quickly shut down the surrounding city streets and send up officers to talk down the unknown Cassidy, checked in under an assumed name. Once officers talk to Cassidy, he immediately requests the assistance of a specific officer, Lydia Mercer (played by Elizabeth Banks), known for her shortfalls, with a recent mishap in the case of a young officer jumping off a bridge under her care. The bumbling Mercer shows up to the scene just in time, carelessly walking through the scene and arriving within seconds of Cassidy’s threatened jump.
Cassidy’s stunt serves a dual purpose: it is an elaborate scheme to prove his innocence, but it is mainly a distraction from a jewel heist happening directly across the street in real estate mogul David Englander’s (Ed Harris) offices. As the story unfolds, we find out that Englander may be directly involved with Cassidy’s arrest and conviction, but in what regard? Englander is a non-caring, cold business man, who upon learning of a jumper closing the streets near the hotel, delaying guests at a business meeting, scoffs, “Why don’t these people just shoot themselves in the head?” His attitude changes after police identify the would-be jumper.
Also featured in the film is a terribly-casted Kyra Sedgwick, lately known for her role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson in TNT’s The Closer. Sedwick, casted as Suzie Morales, plays an overzealous television reporter looking for an edge in the suicide attempt. In playing a hispanic character, Sedgwick attempts a poor accent, but in later scenes forgets to use her ill-fated inflection. The character’s place in the movie is needed, but Sedgwick’s acting is easily forgettable. Worth mentioning are roles played by Jamie Bell, the ex-child star of Billy Elliott, and Anthony Mackie, playing Cassidy’s brother and police force partner, respectively.
The film has many twists and turns throughout its plot keeping viewers interested. There are many scenes that seem a tad predictable; however, this may seemingly be on purpose. Many times, these predictions are thrown back in the viewers face, as if the writer Pablo F. Fenjves meant for it only for his own amusement at the spoiled surprise. Without giving too much away, there are mistakes that characters make that would seem to lead to their demise that were done purposefully, as we later find out.
The movie keeps one guessing until the end, as the viewer learns to not make a definitive guess as, again, guesses may be for naut. The film’s acting is superb, with the exception of the aforementioned Sedgwick. The direction is also great, with an exciting pace and shots paired with a great original story.
Final word: Go see this when it comes out. If you are into thrillers, it will be well worth your money.
Welcome
Today marks the beginning of a new year. Tomorrow, I will be finishing up one of my old projects (found by clicking here). I want(ed) to keep up with a project, because it made sure that I did at least one thing productive each day, and it kept me honest because I kept up with it, even when it became a nag. This project will not be daily, but rather weekly; expect 52 posts from this tumblelog.
I am an English teacher with who graduated with a minor in Film Criticism. To make sure that it is not solely a side-note on my transcripts and a highlight on my résumé, it was my wish to start a blog which highlights my writing. Herein, I will watch movies, both new and old, and review them for your reading pleasure. It is my hope that this blog will spark dialogue and criticism of its own. Truly, I would like to hear what you, my readers, think about the same films. If you have not seen them, tell me if I have made you want to see the film, or save it for another day. Additionally, critique my writing, including my syntax, style and conventions. I want to become a better writer by the end of this project, and have something to show by the end of it. Perhaps this could become a résumé in itself.
Expect my first post by Wednesday January 4th; I will be seeing an advanced screening of Man on a Ledge featuring Sam Worthington that night.
