2007, 140 minutes
w/ Emile Hirsch, Catherine Keener & Marcia Gay Harden
[Sidenote: what a weekend to see two excellent adaptations of books I'd read beforehand! Sean Penn may not have been the go-to guy to direct this project; I probably would have pre-ordered it by now had Werner Herzog been helming -- but Penn has undoubtedly turned in one of the finest visual and overall film efforts of the year thus far. While it was probably easier having read Jon Krakauer's novel, Penn's script fluidly flips between Christopher McCandless' episodic trip and his final, fatal Alaskan adventure. His direction is incredibly confident despite still being a young director and taking on the most epic project of his career. There are only a handful of young actors talented enough for the role of McCandless, and Emile Hirsch is possibly the only one with the looks to play the role. And he plays it magnificently, performing both serious "I read poetry" musing scenes and happy-go-lucky comic material with startling ease. I think I'll be expecting an Oscar nomination for him after seeing everything left to come. Anyway, the story goes like this: intelligent college graduate with a bright future ditches his savings account and family to become a rugged individualist for the summer and ultimately the rest of his life. Why? Penn gives reason for McCandless' spontaneous nature throughout, including a disgust for the corporate world and his father's spousal abuse while growing up. The cross country (and also, Mexico) trip sees McCandless meeting and befriending countless colorful characters, all played beautifully by the actors. The always lovely Catherine Keener and amateur actor Brian Dierker effortlessly play a hippie couple who help guide Christopher. Vince Vaughn makes the most of his pretty funny material as a grain farmer who hires and befriends him early in his journey. Kristen Stewart reminds me that she's pretty damn talented for being just 18-years old as a brief love interest of his despite playing a 15-year old [don't worry, McCandless is no pedo]. The most touching and impressive supporting performance, though, comes from Hal Holbrook (Deep Throat!) as a lonely, retired old man who takes McCandless in for a brief time right before his Alaskan trip and, in a brilliantly emotional scene, asks to adopt him. I've already gone too far and won't describe Alaska specifically but will mention it contains some of Hirsch's best acting and some absolutely beautiful cinematography from Eric Gautier. It would have been nice to hear Penn take a bit of a stance on the McCandless character's choices, as the novel did, but I understand that it probably wasn't completely easy to even include the domestic violence scenes with the real McCandless' permission. Props also due to the Eddie Veddar driven soundtrack that helps pace the 140 minutes picture.]
****
EDIT: ***1/4
Monday, November 26, 2007
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead [dir. Sidney Lumet]
2007, 117 minutes
w/ Philip S. Hoffman, Ethan Hawke & Albert Finney
[While the latest film I've seen from Lumet was 1976's Network, I think it's safe to say that he's nonetheless back making good movies with this one. That being said, it's not quite as good as it could have been. Before the Devil... is a brutally told meditation on the causes and effects of a heist gone terribly wrong and how it splits and brings together siblings, spouses and children. Much like Lumet's earlier films, Before the Devil is run by money, and the lengths people will go to get more. Perhaps the world's finest working actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman and the rather underrated if limited Ethan Hawke give perfectly pitched performances as brothers who decide to rob their parents' jewelry store as they both feel they need money. While the heist seems like it should be in the bag: the jewelry's insured, neither parent is working that morning and they know the combinations to everything....they fuck up, and more than one person ends up dead. In the middle of this is Hoffman's wife played by the ageless Marisa Tomei, who is conveniently meeting Hawke once a week for a lay. The film switches narratives and timelines (at least structuring them well with "2 days before robbery" titles) constantly, but the device is not used to its potential and almost seems a hassle. The picture is at its best when focusing on the mysterious Hoffman character and the likable Hawke, but seems to often have an agenda of trying to impress with little details in plot explained later on through narrative switches. The film spirals to a powerful though predictable ending. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a bit of an underwhelming picture considering it's potential, but regardless is a film that gets more right than it does wrong, and features four excellent performances from Hoffman, Hawke, Tomei and the brothers' father played by the ever consistent Albert Finney.]
**1/2
w/ Philip S. Hoffman, Ethan Hawke & Albert Finney
[While the latest film I've seen from Lumet was 1976's Network, I think it's safe to say that he's nonetheless back making good movies with this one. That being said, it's not quite as good as it could have been. Before the Devil... is a brutally told meditation on the causes and effects of a heist gone terribly wrong and how it splits and brings together siblings, spouses and children. Much like Lumet's earlier films, Before the Devil is run by money, and the lengths people will go to get more. Perhaps the world's finest working actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman and the rather underrated if limited Ethan Hawke give perfectly pitched performances as brothers who decide to rob their parents' jewelry store as they both feel they need money. While the heist seems like it should be in the bag: the jewelry's insured, neither parent is working that morning and they know the combinations to everything....they fuck up, and more than one person ends up dead. In the middle of this is Hoffman's wife played by the ageless Marisa Tomei, who is conveniently meeting Hawke once a week for a lay. The film switches narratives and timelines (at least structuring them well with "2 days before robbery" titles) constantly, but the device is not used to its potential and almost seems a hassle. The picture is at its best when focusing on the mysterious Hoffman character and the likable Hawke, but seems to often have an agenda of trying to impress with little details in plot explained later on through narrative switches. The film spirals to a powerful though predictable ending. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a bit of an underwhelming picture considering it's potential, but regardless is a film that gets more right than it does wrong, and features four excellent performances from Hoffman, Hawke, Tomei and the brothers' father played by the ever consistent Albert Finney.]
**1/2
Friday, November 23, 2007
Rescue Dawn [dir. Werner Herzog]
2007, 126 minutes
w/ Christian Bale, Steve Zahn & Jeremy Davies
[An auteur like Werner Herzog doing a Vietnam pic thirty years after Apocalypse Now and twenty after Full Metal Jacket? And based on a documentary that he already filmed ten years earlier? You may believe you've seen everything there is to see about Vietnam, and that may be true, but you've never seen it through eyes quite like Herzog, or Dieter Dengler's. The film wastes little time packing Dengler (Bale) into a plane and with some questionable CGI crashing him into a Vietnamese jungle before slowing down the plot and letting you breathe in the air and hear the footsteps of what could be a barrage at any moment. Dengler ends up in a P.O.W. camp with Americans Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies, who have over time become more or less delirious and hopeless. Dengler, though, is a hero and absolutely refuses to accept their fate. Much of the movie is spent in planning an escape as well as the torture the prisoners [there are seven in total] are put through. The three lead actors get down to about 130 pounds, Davies possibly bottoming out at a shocking 110 by the looks of the ribcage sticking out of his chest. Herzog being one of the most dedicated directors to touch a camera predictably gets wonderfully natural performances out of his actors by extreme method acting -- none of them were given trailers, or shoes, for that matter during filming. Say what you will about the plot that follows, which is almost completely non-fiction, but Herzog has offered up what's probably his most accessible film to date while still being able to make an important character out of nature and its beauty.]
***3/4
w/ Christian Bale, Steve Zahn & Jeremy Davies
[An auteur like Werner Herzog doing a Vietnam pic thirty years after Apocalypse Now and twenty after Full Metal Jacket? And based on a documentary that he already filmed ten years earlier? You may believe you've seen everything there is to see about Vietnam, and that may be true, but you've never seen it through eyes quite like Herzog, or Dieter Dengler's. The film wastes little time packing Dengler (Bale) into a plane and with some questionable CGI crashing him into a Vietnamese jungle before slowing down the plot and letting you breathe in the air and hear the footsteps of what could be a barrage at any moment. Dengler ends up in a P.O.W. camp with Americans Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies, who have over time become more or less delirious and hopeless. Dengler, though, is a hero and absolutely refuses to accept their fate. Much of the movie is spent in planning an escape as well as the torture the prisoners [there are seven in total] are put through. The three lead actors get down to about 130 pounds, Davies possibly bottoming out at a shocking 110 by the looks of the ribcage sticking out of his chest. Herzog being one of the most dedicated directors to touch a camera predictably gets wonderfully natural performances out of his actors by extreme method acting -- none of them were given trailers, or shoes, for that matter during filming. Say what you will about the plot that follows, which is almost completely non-fiction, but Herzog has offered up what's probably his most accessible film to date while still being able to make an important character out of nature and its beauty.]
***3/4
Superbad [dir. Greg Mottola]
2007, 114 minutes
w/ Michael Cera, Jonah Hill & Christopher Mintz-Plasse
[Having finally seen the most talked about comedy of the year, I'm late but nonetheless ecstatic to report that it's indeed the funniest film of the year and, at least within its subject matter, possibly since Kevin Smith's Clerks. Recognize the possible bias of me being a high school senior, but this really is what seems to be the decade's timeless high school picture as Dazed and Confused was for the '80s (despite of course debuting in the '90s...). Michael Cera and Jonah Hill give wonderfully contrasting comedic performances and yet still manage to hit emotional notes simply by the tangible fear of the future bleeding from them throughout the picture. Now that that's out of the way, Superbad thrives off sex and alcohol, as do the jokes. And unlike, say, the very funny Mean Girls, every fucking joke is fresh and hilarious and unimaginably quotable. We could have spent ten hours with these two main characters, but pens Rogen and Hader [who star as immature cops in an equally entertaining subplot] decided to throw in a third protagonist, and the most effortlessly funny, Fogle aka McLovin. Oh, and besides being hilarious with its slew of crude humor, Rogen/Hader even throw in Fellini, Coen, and Orson Welles references just in case cinephiles like myself weren't blown out of the water enough. I immediately wanted and still do want to see this again, and probably a third time after that.]
****
w/ Michael Cera, Jonah Hill & Christopher Mintz-Plasse
[Having finally seen the most talked about comedy of the year, I'm late but nonetheless ecstatic to report that it's indeed the funniest film of the year and, at least within its subject matter, possibly since Kevin Smith's Clerks. Recognize the possible bias of me being a high school senior, but this really is what seems to be the decade's timeless high school picture as Dazed and Confused was for the '80s (despite of course debuting in the '90s...). Michael Cera and Jonah Hill give wonderfully contrasting comedic performances and yet still manage to hit emotional notes simply by the tangible fear of the future bleeding from them throughout the picture. Now that that's out of the way, Superbad thrives off sex and alcohol, as do the jokes. And unlike, say, the very funny Mean Girls, every fucking joke is fresh and hilarious and unimaginably quotable. We could have spent ten hours with these two main characters, but pens Rogen and Hader [who star as immature cops in an equally entertaining subplot] decided to throw in a third protagonist, and the most effortlessly funny, Fogle aka McLovin. Oh, and besides being hilarious with its slew of crude humor, Rogen/Hader even throw in Fellini, Coen, and Orson Welles references just in case cinephiles like myself weren't blown out of the water enough. I immediately wanted and still do want to see this again, and probably a third time after that.]
****
No Country for Old Men [dir. Joel & Ethan Coen]
2007, 122 minutes
w/ Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem & Tommy Lee Jones
[The Coen bros. are "back" after a couple misfired with their best film since Fargo, a movie that ranks with Barton Fink and Blood Simple. as Coen masterpieces. Having read Cormac McCarthy's chilling neo-western in anticipation of the film, it's truly impressive how smoothly the story was put to screen, thanks in large to the three lead actors' wonderful performances. There are few actors one could have expected to play up to the role of Chigurh; and honestly Javier Bardem wouldn't have come to mind immediately: look how young and clean he looks in Collateral just two years ago. And yet he gained weight (or fat, at least), added the proper amount of aging effects and had his hair cut in what's possibly the most intimidatingly bad style possible and wha-la, the perfect looking Chigurh and one of the few actors in the world who could pull off his drawl, step and stare easily. Up-and-comer Josh Brolin seems to have been born for the role and Tommy Lee Jones delivers the picture's two key monologues as if he were McCarthy himself. The actors do not carry the load themselves, though. If you've never paid attention to sound editing or cinematography before, take the time to notice how crisply the bullets pierce cars and flesh and how perfectly framed Chigurh's encounter with Wells is. The plot itself seems written as if to be handed over to the Coens who instill adequately dark comedy ("look at that fuckin bone") and Hitchcockian suspense so that nearly every scene feels pulsing with life. The last twenty minutes or so veer slightly off from the novel's plot, namely SPOILS FOLLOW: in the climax of the picture when Bell goes back to the closed off hotel room to check if Chigurh's come back to the scene of Moss' death. The scene itself is open to interpretation but after reading into several theories I can't but believe that Chigurh was already gone by the time Bell arrived at the door, and the shots of Chigurh waiting in the room with his rifle were out of Bell's fear of death that is a major theme throughout the film. The picture also denies its audience as clean of an ending as the novel, which is a rather daring but ultimately wise decision when Bell gives his musing monologue about his father and death, and the screen blacks out. There was absolutely no musical score in the picture, making the credits that much more chilling.]
****
w/ Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem & Tommy Lee Jones
[The Coen bros. are "back" after a couple misfired with their best film since Fargo, a movie that ranks with Barton Fink and Blood Simple. as Coen masterpieces. Having read Cormac McCarthy's chilling neo-western in anticipation of the film, it's truly impressive how smoothly the story was put to screen, thanks in large to the three lead actors' wonderful performances. There are few actors one could have expected to play up to the role of Chigurh; and honestly Javier Bardem wouldn't have come to mind immediately: look how young and clean he looks in Collateral just two years ago. And yet he gained weight (or fat, at least), added the proper amount of aging effects and had his hair cut in what's possibly the most intimidatingly bad style possible and wha-la, the perfect looking Chigurh and one of the few actors in the world who could pull off his drawl, step and stare easily. Up-and-comer Josh Brolin seems to have been born for the role and Tommy Lee Jones delivers the picture's two key monologues as if he were McCarthy himself. The actors do not carry the load themselves, though. If you've never paid attention to sound editing or cinematography before, take the time to notice how crisply the bullets pierce cars and flesh and how perfectly framed Chigurh's encounter with Wells is. The plot itself seems written as if to be handed over to the Coens who instill adequately dark comedy ("look at that fuckin bone") and Hitchcockian suspense so that nearly every scene feels pulsing with life. The last twenty minutes or so veer slightly off from the novel's plot, namely SPOILS FOLLOW: in the climax of the picture when Bell goes back to the closed off hotel room to check if Chigurh's come back to the scene of Moss' death. The scene itself is open to interpretation but after reading into several theories I can't but believe that Chigurh was already gone by the time Bell arrived at the door, and the shots of Chigurh waiting in the room with his rifle were out of Bell's fear of death that is a major theme throughout the film. The picture also denies its audience as clean of an ending as the novel, which is a rather daring but ultimately wise decision when Bell gives his musing monologue about his father and death, and the screen blacks out. There was absolutely no musical score in the picture, making the credits that much more chilling.]
****
Friday, November 9, 2007
Fantastic Planet [dir. Rene Laloux]
1973, 72 minutes
Animated
[Let me start out by saying everyone should see this film. Almost everyone gets caught in the sand trap of genre films and it's necessary to see a Fantastic Planet at least every once in a while to broaden one's mind and appreciate how artistically creative cinema can be. Pic tells the story of a planet where advanced creatures called Traags rule, fifty times larger than humans who are essentially kept as pets/slaves, and because they reproduce so much quicker, are exterminated every so often. The story follows a human (called Oms as in 'hommes) who because of a flaw is able to gain the knowledge of the Traags and begins an uprising against the suppressive Traags. The storyline is far less important than the unmatchable atmosphere of the movie, made better by its eerie score and imaginative creatures including an animal that traps birds in its branch like arms and throws them down to their death--this is just a transition between scenes. Planet contains themes of slavery and war and is incredibly poignant despite its black humor in the most sublte ways. Fantastic.
****
Animated
[Let me start out by saying everyone should see this film. Almost everyone gets caught in the sand trap of genre films and it's necessary to see a Fantastic Planet at least every once in a while to broaden one's mind and appreciate how artistically creative cinema can be. Pic tells the story of a planet where advanced creatures called Traags rule, fifty times larger than humans who are essentially kept as pets/slaves, and because they reproduce so much quicker, are exterminated every so often. The story follows a human (called Oms as in 'hommes) who because of a flaw is able to gain the knowledge of the Traags and begins an uprising against the suppressive Traags. The storyline is far less important than the unmatchable atmosphere of the movie, made better by its eerie score and imaginative creatures including an animal that traps birds in its branch like arms and throws them down to their death--this is just a transition between scenes. Planet contains themes of slavery and war and is incredibly poignant despite its black humor in the most sublte ways. Fantastic.
****
Saw IV [dir. Darren Lynn Bousman]
2007, 95 minutes
w/ Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor & Lyriq Bent
[I honestly only saw this as something to do with a few of my friends, and was pretty sure going in that it was going to be as rediculously pretentious and psuedo-intellectual as ever; I wasn't wrong. It seems it's impossible not to like the Saws without being called a hater, but I think this has the most obvious flaws in acting, script and a silly ending which make my case easier to deliver to those who insist its one of the smartest series to hit theatres in years. I kind of had a good time, I laughed quite a few times throughout (including this great scene involving two guys chained together, one with his eyes and the other with his mouth sowed shut...you shoud know classic dialogue is to follow) and shook my head at several of the movie's fifty-two twists but again, I had a good time for it was expectedly horrid but the people I was with and attempted MST3K commentary made it fun.]
1/2*
w/ Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor & Lyriq Bent
[I honestly only saw this as something to do with a few of my friends, and was pretty sure going in that it was going to be as rediculously pretentious and psuedo-intellectual as ever; I wasn't wrong. It seems it's impossible not to like the Saws without being called a hater, but I think this has the most obvious flaws in acting, script and a silly ending which make my case easier to deliver to those who insist its one of the smartest series to hit theatres in years. I kind of had a good time, I laughed quite a few times throughout (including this great scene involving two guys chained together, one with his eyes and the other with his mouth sowed shut...you shoud know classic dialogue is to follow) and shook my head at several of the movie's fifty-two twists but again, I had a good time for it was expectedly horrid but the people I was with and attempted MST3K commentary made it fun.]
1/2*
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