Black Swan

As a wrestler in high school, I never understood the mentality of the athletes who would wrestle in the 103 lb. weight class: starving themselves to maintain weight while going through a grueling practice. They must have done it for the roar of the crowd or the thrill of victory (though I'm still not sure it was worth the sacrifice). Black Swan is a film about a ballerina that understands this mentality and captures ballet brutally on the screen. It focuses on a dancer named Nina (Natalie Portman) gearing up for the lead in Swan Lake. As she morphs into the part of the role for which she is not fully qualified, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur as she faces a rivalry from a newly arrived dancer (Mila Kunis) and pressure from her instructor (Vincent Cassel). Black Swan is another hit from dark director Darren Aronofsky, and understands that dark side of sports that so many competitors are drawn to.

Man on the Moon

Milos Forman is considered the director of misfits, having directed films about such misunderstood souls such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, and The People vs. Larry Flynt. With Man on the Moon he may have directed his greatest misfit to date, with his portrait of the interminable and ingenious Andy Kaufman, with Jim Carrey towering at the center. The film does not seem to be a standard issued biopic but one that Kaufman himself may have approved. We follow his adult career from Saturday Night Live to Taxi to Pro Wrestling and later into his battle with cancer. All the while we find ourselves either laughing or scratching our head at his antics.

127 Hours

January 2011 Review 127 Hours tells the true to life tale of Aron Ralston’s horrific 2003 mountain climbing excursion in Robber’s Roost, Utah. Without telling a soul, Ralston grabs a few supplies and heads out on his trek. The opening of the film is mostly silent, as we see Aron navigate the dangerous terrain of the Utah desert. Soon, fate takes its part and a small avalanche ensues, releasing a boulder that lands on Aron’s right arm, hopelessly trapping him at the base of a canyon. It is from this position that most of the film is seen.

            127 Hours, base on a book by Ralston called Between a Rock and a Hard Place, must have seemed liked a tough sell to the studios due to the limited spacing of the narrative. However, it is a success due to the screenwriting, directing, and acting, all involved firing on all cylinders to deliver a successful film. James Franco shows his range as Ralston while delivering his comic sensibilities as well. He generates feelings in us for a character that could have been made out to be selfish or unlikable. The performance is on an Academy Award level.

The screenwriters, realizing how limited they are, do an interesting thing by visualizing Ralston’s thoughts, fears, fantasies, etc. while he is trapped. This helps increase audience sympathy and further bring us into his plight. Other techniques are used as well that help broaden the film and make its limited range negligible.

Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting) seems like the natural choice to direct Aron’s story (he also co-wrote). After a career dabbling in fantasy, action, survival, and horror, his resume corresponds to the material. What we get (along with some agonizingly intense moments) is a well made actioneer where the protagonist is immobilized for most of the film and where most of the action takes place in our minds.

Original Review Danny Boyle seems to be the natural choice to direct Aron Ralston's story, after dabbling in fantasy, survival, and horror tales, and Ralston's story containing all of those elements. 127 Hours begins with Ralston (played with believability by James Franco) fool-heartedly preparing for a weekend canyoning excursion. While out he does some biking, meets some girls, then becomes stuck more or less between a rock and a hard place-the title of Ralson's book (a boulder traps his hand and he becomes unable to extract it). Much of the film will take place from this point on, and it is here where Boyle's talents come into play (Franco's are not wasted either) making the film exciting and even brutally intense at moments. The outcome of this story is known by many who follow news events, but the way audience members were shrieking and cringing during a key sequence is a testament to the fillmmaker's abilities.

Waiting for 'Superman'

Waiting for 'Superman' is the latest from Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) and tells about the state of our public schools. The documentary is presented through visual stats and interviews with school administrators. Also, to add a human element, we meet five affable young students who are in danger of being sent to a school with a poor graduation rate and must be entered into a lottery to attend a more successful charter school.

When writing reviews, I try to avoid words like 'boring' or 'tedious' but I couldn't help but notice the number of times I checked my watch during this movie. Granted the material is worth examining, that doesn't necessarily make it cinematic (I felt the same way about An Inconvenient Truth), and I feel this material would be better suited to a PBS prime time special. 

Restrepo

The title of this film refers to an outpost in the most dangerous sector of Afghanistan and is named after PFC Juan Restrepo, who opens the film with a gung-ho attitude about his 2007 deployment and is soon and sadly a fallen comrade in arms.  Restrepo is a fascinating first-person account of soldiers in the Korangal Valley and is told with one-on-one interviews with the soldiers as well as with a camera that is seemingly on the front lines. The result is a depiction of war which has been rarely captured before on film.

The beauty of the region is also evident, and given the contrast to the constant fighting in the area, it makes the film all the more engaging. The soldiers we get to know appear as intelligent and tireless in what may be a futile endeavor. The film captures minute details such as the daily cleaning of gear interspersed with harsh moments where the soldiers face deadly threats.  The War on Terror has been going on for 10 plus years and it would be hard to find someone who did not have an opinion on the conflict. While noting that films about the war have not done well with American audiences, watching Restrepo can only enhance and enlighten our perspective.

Jackass 3D

 “I demand that a film express either the joy of making cinema or the agony of making cinema.”
Francois Truffaut is undoubtedly turning as I type this, but I think it applies. I'm not uploading a picture. I've seen enough vomit for one night.

Sidenote: This film should be a call to reexamine our ratings system. The fact that most theaters will show this film and not X-rated/NC-17 films like Bad Lieutenant and Last Tango In Paris says a lot, and the fact that people took their kids to see this "R rated" fare says even more.

Catfish

Catfish is a "documentary" that I'm more than tempted to examine, but it works better the less you know about it going in. So I'm just going to leave it at that.

Let Me In

I was kind of shocked at the level of gore in Let Me In. It's not excessive as far as horror movies go, it just seems shocking to see in a movie about vampires, which I always associate with Bela Lugosi or Max Schrek (I admit I'm not familiar with Dracula films starring Christopher Lee or Klaus Kinski or even the Twilight films for that matter). Those classic films specialized in atmosphere and unseen terror. Let Me In generates the atmosphere, but when it turns gory I think it missteps. It is based on a very recent and revered Swedish film called "Let the Right One In", and both films tell the story of a bullied young boy who forms a bond with a young vampire girl (the words vampire or the like are never stated). The remake recreates the mood and tension of the first film while adding plot elements, which may be unnecessary (the exceptional Richard Jenkins is miscast). The child actors are great in their roles and in the end we are left with a satisfying, moody film whose pros outweigh its cons.

The House of Steinbrenner

The House of Steinbrenner opens with the last year's Yankee World Series victory and the documentary comes off at first as a Yankee love fest, likely to sicken most baseball fans. However, as the transition from the old Yankee Stadium to the new one and the change in management from George Steinbrenner to his children is explored, we get a sense of the history and current state of the undeniably great organization. George, who died earlier this year, appears in stock interviews and I was impressed by his honesty about himself and how he seemed to be a grounded person. Interviews with his son Hal, whom he passed the torch to and has received criticism, reveals a less fiery yet still disciplined nature. Through interviews with fans, players, and media we get a sense of what the team means to a city, and how important baseball is to all of us.

Jack Goes Boating

Philip Seymour Hoffman is an actor who opens himself up on screen, leaving all of his good and bad qualities for the audience to bear. With his first film as a director his approach is somewhat similar as he takes a stage play and opens it up as much as he can, something that is often hard to do with the material. Here we have the story of two relationships, one just blossoming and the other withering, and we observe how all involve act towards their respective partners. Jack (Hoffman) and Clyde (John Ortiz) are limo drivers and best pals. Clyde is confidant and has been in a long term relationship with Lucy. He wants to see his socially awkward friend happy and decides to hook him up with Connie (Amy Ryan),  one of Lucy's coworkers. After hitting it off on the first date, Jack wants things to be perfect for their next encounter so he begins taking cooking lessons. He also takes swimming lessons, so he can take Connie on a romantic boat ride when the weather improves. These sweet happenings are counteracted with Clyde and Lucy's relationship, which has been disintegrating after several instances of infidelity. Not all the ongoings in this film seem believable, but the actors bring credibility to their roles. Hoffman succeeds at playing another misfit, this time with hair braids who retreats into himself and his reggae music. Amy Adams, who became clear to viewers as the crack addled racist mother in Gone Baby Gone and then endeared herself to viewers of TV's The Office, again strikes the right notes as Connie, a damaged soul herself. There is warmth and tenderness in their courtship. By the time the movie was finished, I thought the film had misstepped in a few places, but I was really rooting for the characters, even if I didn't always buy some of their dialogue and actions.

Jaws

Jaws is recognized as many things: A study in tension, the movie that created the summer blockbuster, and the film that put Steven Spielberg on the map. Watching it at a 35th anniversary screening, I had forgotten how well realized the characters are, how humorous it was in places, and what a meticulously constructed and well made film it is. There is so much more going on in the film then just a small island vacation town dealing with a shark threatening their summer business. One of the things that caught my attention was the use of closeup and how great the actors were cast in the film: Roy Scheider as the weary yet assured Chief Brody.Richard Dreyfuss as the young and intelligent marine biologist who takes offense at the local's insults. And of course Robert Shaw as the hard boiled Irishman who takes the bounty on the Great White. Although the scenes involving the shark are masterful, the best scene comes during a moment in the cabin of The Orca, just after the three men bond and drunkenly sing, "Show Me The Way To Go Home." A tattoo inquiry leads Quint to recount his ordeal on the Indianapolis during World War II. His tale is able to generate as much terror as any of the scenes involving the shark, and is an example of how this is great moviemaking, not just a great suspense blockbuster.                    

Harry Brown

We go into revenge thrillers knowing what to expect, with audience manipulation being among the expectations. Therefore, if we treat them as an acting showcase for the star, the payoff can be great, and Michael Caine proves that a great actor can elevate most any material, no matter how grotesquely violent it may be. Caine plays the title character, an ex-servicemen with a dying wife, and after the gang murder of his best mate, he has nothing to left to lose and begins to take out the junkie drug dealing slime who infest his apartment complex. In addition to these clichés, add to the list the lone cop who suspects a pensioner vigilante, her partner who doesn’t buy it but eventually comes around, and an entire police force who misreads the situation entirely. What is not standard however is Caine’s (usual) magnetic and restrained performance where he makes us believe, like Clint did in Gran Torino, that a geriatric could take out a band of thugs and bring peace to a turbulent neighborhood.
 ***

Cemetery Junction

One doesn't expect an affecting drama and a well shot film from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, but that is what we have with their latest offering, along with their expected humorous touches. Cemetery Junction is a coming of age story of three young men in 1973 Reading, England. While spending their days drinking, chasing birds, and goofing off one receives an opportunity to rise above his working class roots and date the girl of his dreams, although she is the boss's daughter and engaged to one of his coworkers. This isn't new territory, but great actors like Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watson guide the way, with Gervais thrown in for comic relief, and the trio of friends played by likable enough actors.
***

Nowhere Boy

Nowhere Boy is a horrible film that takes all of the elements that made John Lennon's early life compelling and fouls them up or omits them entirely. Set during his fifteenth year in 1955, we see young John bum around Liverpool, argue with his guardian aunt, and spend time with his mentally unbalanced mother. We never see scenes of him doing any writing whatsoever and the movie implies he learned guitar from his mother in a matter of days. The actors range from uninspired to godawful and all that results is soapy melodrama and an uninteresting film about a young man who grew up to be one of the greatest minds of the 20th century.
*

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

23 years after the first film, the Wall Street sequel picks up in 2008 on the precipice of the global financial collapse A free man for seven years, Gordon Gekko is now an outsider to the world he once ruled and now does tours promoting his new book "Is Greed Good?" At one of these seminars, he meets a young broker who is dating his estranged daughter. The two form a partnership with the goal of crushing a ruthless hedge fund billionaire who has wronged both of them and reuniting Gekko's daughter with him. Shia LaBeouf is out of his league with heavyweight actors who carry him throughout the picture: Michael Douglas maintains his slick ruthlessness and Josh Brolin is fine in a role similar to Douglas's in the first film. Carey Mulligan and Susan Sarandan are fine as well as LaBeouf girlfriend and mom. Also, Frank Langella and Eli Wallach are excellent in smaller roles. Money Never Sleeps makes some biting statements about the current economy and has some nice visuals as well as unnecessary visual effects. The ending is also pat and does not do the characters justice, although the ride is worthwhile
***

I'm Still Here

Amidst all the hoopla surrounding I’m still here and the speculation surrounding its authenticity, what few are mentioning is how well the film is made. Joaquin Phoenix’s bizarre behavior is documented following his retirement from acting and foray into the acting world and following brother-in-law and director Casey Affleck’s announcement that the movie was indeed a hoax, I was asking myself while watching this how anyone could think it was real. The film has writing credits to begin with and is clearly the work of a group of friends goofing around. Still, what is remarkable is how Phoenix maintained this persona for such an extended period, how deep the hoax goes, and how downright hilarious and entertaining the final product is. I think the film works as a lampoon of celebrity entitlement and behavior and I think the Phoenix performance, if it is indeed one, is brilliant. Many disagree of its worth as a performance or mockery, and even if it isn’t one of those things, it is fascinating and one of the funniest films of the year.
***1/2

The Bridges of Madison County

The title refers to the cover story of a 1965 issue of National Geographic, and when two grown siblings find that their recently deceased mother’s will stipulates that she wishes to be thrown off of one of these bridges, they are more than perplexed. Why would she not want to be buried in the spot reserved for her next to her loving husband? We learn the answer to that question as a four day love affair between the woman and a visiting photographer is revealed through flashback. This could have been a soapy mess, but thanks to the fine direction of Clint Eastwood, it proves to be a thoughtful rumination and honest portrait of a true love that was never meant to be. Playing an Italian immigrant, whose dreams did not involve growing up on an Iowan farm, but whose life somehow ended up that way, Meryl Streep is luminous and Clint shows vulnerability while retaining his tough guy persona as the photographer. The movie is a little long yet nonetheless intelligent, effective, and affecting.

***1/2

Breathless

Sometimes it takes only one film to open the doors to the creation of innumerous subsequent films and watching Breathless, it is clear that many modern movies were made because of it. Made at the beginning of the French New Wave, it was written by Francois Truffaut and directed by Jean-Luc Godard and implemented a style that had not been used, or not widely used in mainstream cinema. Filmed with jump cuts (two different consecutive shots of the same focal point) and implementing a free form style light on plot and heavy on rambling dialogue, I was reminded of many following films with a similar style. It stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as a petty car thief who models himself on Humphrey Bogart. After killing a cop, he hides out in Paris while waiting for travel funds to come through. During this time, he romanticizes an American woman (Jean Seberg) while the two hold rambling and wide ranging discussions in their hotel rooms. Though I thought the film was maybe too loose and could have used a little more plot, it is undeniably influential and a movie that liberated the movies.
***1/2

Unmatched

The 30 for 30 series finally lets the girls play, and in what was admittedly the entry I had anticipated the least, it turns out to be one of the better ones in the series. Old friends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova get together to reminisce on their intense rivalry in which the two squared off an incredible amount of times in women’s tennis singles, forming one of the greatest and seldom mentioned rivalries in professional sports. The heart of the story lies in the friendship the two had formed over the years and the two come across as genuine people and not entitled and selfish athletes. Although it seems long even for its hour duration and we are ready for it to end by the time the Natalie Merchant song has played by for the third time, it still tells a fine story of an intense rivalry and a tender friendship.
***

Animal Kingdom

           The film opens with a television game show being regarded by a seventeen year old boy as he sits next to his slumped over mother. As the paramedics arrive, he calmly informs them that she has overdosed on heroin. He then continues watching the TV while the men unsuccessfully try to revive his mother. This casual attitude gives us an idea of the people who will populate the film.

            Soon the boy is taken in by his Grandma, a short and spunky woman not dissimilar to Ma Barker as she houses her three criminal sons and their associate. Although she died a junkie, these were the people that the boy’s mother had sheltered from him for his entire life. Now he has been introduced to their gang, or pack if you will. Soon he will be entangled in their criminal web and immersed in more danger than anyone could have imagined.
           Several abrubt killings will take place and the teen, played with believability by fresh faced James Frecheville, will stand at the center of the film, caught between loyalty to his criminal family and responsibility to the law. Guy Pearce convincingly plays the detective who heads the case and offers a way out to the young man. 

Animal Kingdom is an Australian export and the debut film from David Michod. It is based on famous events that occurred in Melbourne in 1988, which the film wisely decides to not tell us. It is a gritty film containing despicable characters and their reprehensible acts. I thought the film was intriguing, but lacked characterization and proper pacing. I also did not buy into certain plot developments and character decisions that take place towards the end of the film. 

Still, many scenes come off with force and it is engaging throughout its duration. Also, one scene involving a character’s realization and a subsequent chase is handled with perfection, in a manner which generates chills. Despite its flaws, Animal Kingdom is an honest depiction of the criminal lifestyle and worth seeking out. It is a good film for a first time director, and the kind of film that makes you want to see what else the director will do.
**1/2

Eraserhead

David Lynch is a talented director who makes challenging films, and has a fervent following, as would be indicated by the number of people who follow him on Twitter. He is also an arrogant filmmaker, who makes baffling movies seemingly for himself. Just because a film is original and offbeat does not always mean it is worthwhile. Eraserhead was his premier film. Shot in black and white, it is a technically sound film—even ahead of its time. However, like his subsequent work, it meanders along and is loaded with pretense and supposedly symbolic imagery as we follow a man in a desolate town as he cares for his severely deformed baby amidst a series of extremely odd circumstances. It is undeniably influential and has inspired a generation of independent filmmakers, even if Lynch’s high reputation as a director is undeserved.

 **1/2

The Town

In a career of ups and downs, Ben Affleck has experienced his greatest successes in films set in Boston, the city where he hails from. Going into The Town I was expecting to be disappointed as it could have gone wrong in so many ways or been a clone of other like flicks. I walked out of the theater thinking it to be one of the best films of the year. Starring and directing from a script he adapted, Affleck has crafted a film about a group of bank robbers that gets so many things right: from the exciting heist sequences to the authentic characters to greatly capturing the city, The Town is no less than a marvel. Affleck shines in the lead role with Jeremy Renner, as his boyhood friend and hotheaded accomplice, shining in a supporting role. Renner brings a sadness to his psychotic character as he plays a man who knows he is trapped in a life of crime and poverty, and sees violence as his only option. Chris Cooper also has a brief yet powerful role as Affleck’s father, also a bank robber who delivers a hard hitting speech to his son during a visit. Also worth mentioning, maybe most importantly, is the success of the romance in the story. Movies of this nature always have a romantic subplot, which you often wish had been left on the cutting room floor. Here, in a situation that could have been contrived and false, we are given a romance between Affleck and Rebecca Miller which is handled with tenderness and comes off a genuine. The Town is an achievement and a reason to forgive Affleck for some his past cinematic transgressions.
***1/2

The Expendables

There isn’t really much to say about this one: a bunch of shit get blown up and a bunch of dudes get head tossed, knifed, and shot up—pretty much what you’d expect. I was just wondering why such a great action cast would settle for the same old same old. Why not try something new?

**

The Bad and the Beautiful

The Bad and the Beautiful tells the story of a heartless producer, and although not quite in the same league as the other 1950s Hollywood scandal and corruption classic Sunset Boulevard, it is a powerful condemnation on its own. The story of powerful producer Jonathon Shields (Kirk Douglas in a commanding performance) begins when three of his former colleagues are called in by producer Walter Pidgeon to work on Shield’s latest project. All three hold the utmost contempt for him and the bulk of the film will consist of three segments, where each will tell the story as to why they refuse to work with the once great filmmaker. Barry Sullivan plays an aspiring director who teamed up with Shields and broke into the industry only to be stabbed in the back. Lana Turner plays the alcoholic bit player who is given a big break by Shields, only to be misled. Dick Powell plays a writer whom Shields lures to Hollywood , who will soon face a tragedy involving his star struck wife (Gloria Grahame in an Oscar winning performance). The Bad and The Beautiful drags at parts, but each segment is punctuated with segments of scenes and intense acting. The way the story is told is unique and engaging though, and provides a fine prism through which to view a corrupt Golden Age of Hollywood.
***

One Night in Vegas

One Night in Vegas features some affable people recounting their personal experiences with Mike Tyson and Tupac, but this documentary has no place in the 30 for 30 series as it hardly has anything at all to do with sports. Opening with a truly terrible poetry recitation and unnecessarily made into a cartoon resembling a graphic novel, ONIV supposedly tells the story of the friendship between Tyson and Tupac, as well as the Tyson/Seldon Fight attended by Tupac on the same night he was gunned down. However, there is little mention of the fight, and almost no mention of the two’s friendship. Instead we get reminitions on both men’s lives and details of their times in prison, all of which adds up to very little.
**