THE KING’S SPEECH
I used to try to watch all the Oscar best picture nominees before the ceremony. Now they have expanded the nominees to 10 which is really a joke. Now, in addition to movies I saw based on interest in the film itself, I try to catch movies that get a lot of good word of mouth up to and after a nomination. The King’s Speech is one of those movies. Without the nomination, I doubt I would have seen it in theaters. Up front, I do want to say that any movies from 2010 have a tough challenge to dethrone Inception and The Social Network as the best of the year.
This movie takes place in 1930’s England. Edward, the son of the King of England, and second in line to the throne, (played by Colin Firth) is troubled by bad stuttering. This is a big problem because as a member of British royalty, he must make public speeches. This destroys his confidence as he is under pressure to properly represent his family and the British Empire. His loving wife (Helena Bonham Carter) keeps trying to hire speech therapists for her husband, all who fail. Finally, she brings him to an eccentric speech therapist, and Australian, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). He actually seems to improve Edward’s speech. However Lionel requires very personal interaction and that becomes too much for Edward to handle at times. To make things worse, Edward’s father dies making his older brother king and Edward next in line to the throne. As Nazi Germany becomes an imminent threat to England, Edward’s brother begins to fail terribly as King, putting pressure on Edward to take over the throne. Edward must now rely more than he wanted on Nigel to prepare to be a king.
This movie is really lovely. The cast is very good led by Geoffrey Rush who creates a character as rich, complex, funny and compelling as those he played in Shine and Munich. Colin Firth is also very good but Rush really is the better actor. Helena Bonham Carter also is very enjoyable as his wife, making her very human in what easily could have been a two dimensional character. Michael Gambon, as Edward’s father, is brilliant in his few scenes that show quite effectively the lack of support from Edward’s family growing up. The writing is very good, providing rich dialog to lift the performances. The story moves along quite well. Director Tom Hooper, who I know nothing about, directs this well, providing strong visuals when needed but also letting the interplay between actors play out.
My criticisms for this movie are few. I think Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill was too much of a caricature. There is also a pivotal scene which is essentially a three minute read speech which just goes on too long. A better director would have cut it down a bit. There is some cursing but nothing to justify an R rating in my opinion. One other thing that does bother me is that this is one in a long line of movies that want to deify the British Monarchy and idealize British intentions during World War II. It is a conscious aspect of the film that has to be overcome before judging the film on its merits.
To conclude, I highly recommend this movie. At just under two hours it is not a movie that will bore you to death. The humor and likable characters make this movie well worthwhile.
UNKNOWN
A few years back I missed out on seeing Liam Neeson’s Taken in theaters. Not quite sure why. I think it looked a bit cheesy and I am not sure I bought Liam Neeson in an action role like the one he played. It went on to make a ton of money and get rave reviews. Last year I finally saw it on DVD and loved it. It was a perfect movie within its genre, like a great burger that is perfectly made without being gourmet or fancy. To avoid the same mistake, I rushed to see this new Neeson action movie. To increase my motivation, I had heard it was getting great reviews.
The movie starts off in a very matter of fact manner. A doctor named Martin Harris (played by Neeson) and his wife (played by January Jones of Mad Men) arrive in Berlin for a conference. They go through the usual business that one traveling in a country for the first time goes through; getting through customs and catching a cab to their hotel. Before Mr. Harris can go into the hotel with his wife, he realizes he left his briefcase with his passport at the airport. He immediately takes a cab back to the airport without even telling his wife who is already in the lobby. While in the cab, incidentally driven by a pretty immigrant woman (Diane Kruger), Mr. Harris cannot get a signal on his phone to call his wife. Before he knows it a freak car accident occurs leaving Mr. Harris in a coma for a few days. When he comes to in a hospital he has some amnesia. He goes to the hotel to see his wife. However, when he encounters her, she does not recognize him. To make things worse, he is introduced by his wife to a man (played by Aidan Quinn) who claims he is Martin Harris. Now, the Mr. Harris must find out what happened to him and why there is a man taking his place.
As long winded as the preceding plot set up is, it only scratches the surface of
a truly well made thriller full of interesting plot twists. It is these plot twists
driven by great characters supported by great performances that make this movie work.
Liam Neeson is clearly believable and intriguing as a man stuck in a dire situation
in a foreign country. You have to supsend some reality in this movie but it is not
hard in the way Neeson carries the role and the way the movie plays out. The twists
are not gimmicky but move the story very well into new and interesting territory
as they play out. What is fun is that just when you t
the movie figured out, a new
twist changes the game. Director Jaume Collet-
The cast in this movie is strong. In addition to Neeson, there are nice performances by Aidan Quinn, who was all but vanished from movies, and Frank Langella in a pivotal role. However there are two standout performances that deserve great praise. Bruno Ganz plays a quirky private investigator. The character he plays is great but Ganz really brings fun life into the German detective. Also, Diane Kruger is a force to be reckoned with as an actress. She follows up her great performance in the overrated Inglorious Bastards with this one where she plays a Serbian illegal immigrant who unfortunately gets caught up in the mess of Neeson’s Martin Harris. Even though she is German in a movie that takes place in Berlin, she pulls off the immigrant part well. January Jones is well cast in her role however she does not bring the range that Kruger does.
If you have any interest in this movie it is a must see. The commercials and trailers don’t play up the mystery thriller aspect well so if you like movies like Chinatown and the Maltese Falcon, you will definitely enjoy how Unknown plays out.
Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky is a highly acclaimed director yet up till Black Swan I have only managed to see The Fountain and parts of Requiem for a Dream. In The Fountain I saw a movie that played very deep and intellectual but just fell flat and disconnected. In the few parts of Requiem for a Dream I saw a young girl pretty much made into a prostitute and an older woman haunted by seemingly going mad. I never walked away feeling this was the work or a great director. But with all the rave and Oscar nominations for the movie and Natalie Portman I made sure to catch it. I should have avoided it.
The film is about Nina, played by Natalie Portman, a young ballerina working for a dance company for years who dreams of playing the titular character in an upcoming ballet. The movie begins with the announcement of the lead ballerina, Winona Ryder, retiring and that a new version of Swan Lake will be produced with the new lead ballerina playing both the pure white swan and the seductive black swan. The director of the ballet, Thomas (Vincent Cassel) casts Nina in the lead but struggles with her playing the seductive black swan. He also lusts after her in a masochistic way. Nina’s stride for perfection in the role becomes a personal struggle in keeping her sanity. Making things worse are her controlling mother, played by Barbara Hershey, and Lily, a new ballerina (played by Mila Kunis) who Nina believes is trying to sabotage things in order to take the lead role from her.
I did not like this movie. Quite frankly it is angry and hateful towards women and does a bad job of hiding this in playing itself to be an arthouse film. Aronofsky has talent but wants to toy with his audience in the same way Thomas toys with Nina. The movie is too fragmented in showing Nina going mad and paranoid. You never quite know what is real but to a point that it is hard to follow Nina’s descent into madness. While Aronofksy has some creative camera work some of the shot selections add nothing to the story, such as a high use of tight shots of the back of the head of characters as they are walking someplace. This movie has an impressive cast but it is lost in the fragmentation of the movie. Barbara Hershey’s character is never fully fleshed out and becomes a two dimensional monster. Same goes for Winona Ryder’s character who starts off crazy and for no reason becomes crazier and crazier just to make it convenient for Nina to go crazy. Mila Kunis, while naturally seductive, does not play Lily well as the evil temptation in Nina’s life. If she was to represent the seductive swan to Nina, then Kunis was miscast and would have been better played by Kristina Anapau who plays another rival ballerina. However it is not all Kunis’ fault because of the character itself is misused.
Among the positive points of the movie is the use of the music for Swan Lake. The powerful score still resonates in my head and that is a testament to how it was placed in the movie. It also had top notch costume design and deserves the Oscar nomination in that category. Vincent Cassel and Natalie Portman play their parts extremely well. The drab color palette in the movie is a strong choice given its theme.
In conclusion this movie misses its mark and it is just disturbing. If the point of the movie was to show a parallel between Nina as the white swan and Lily as the black swan then Aronofsky does not understand women or the story. Lili’s is not seductive but outright sexually overflowing and attractive. She toys with men in this movie but does not seduce anyone. Nina also fails to try out being seductive to understand the black swan instead becoming chaotic by making out with random men at a bar and having a homosexual fantasy with Lily, which is fine for soft porn but not for a character piece like the movie makes itself out to be. Finally, men in this movie are either set pieces or evil. This further flaws the movie because the white swan in Swan Lake kills herself over losing her lover, this is explained early on in the film. Therefore the movie lacks showing a redeeming quality in men for Nina to connect with in order to understand the white swan’s sorrow. Aronofsky just misses the point. Thus you should miss this movie.
True Grit
The Cohen Brothers are hit and miss with me. However, when they hit they hit with classics like No Country for Old Men, Fargo and Raising Arizona. The commercials really got me here as the movie seemed like a gritty intense dramatic western. What I saw was a bit different but very much a Cohen brothers movie.
The movie begins with the cold blooded killing of a man by a life long criminal named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). The dead man’s quirky, smart and determined 14 year old daughter, Mattie Ross played by Hailee Steinfeld, decides she wants Chaney brought to justice. She enlists the help of a very reluctant Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) because she was told he had the “true grit” to hunt down Chaney. They must go into territory controlled by native Americans where they believe Chaney is hiding with a criminal gang. Along the way they pick up the help of a very talkative Texas Marshall played by Matt Damon.
This movie to me was kind of a disappointment in spite of a lot of well done parts. I think it has to do with my expectations. There is very little suspense. The movie is more of a character piece of Mattie Ross and Rooster Cogburn, which is a good thing because they are great characters played by great actors. Mattie, even at this young age, is doomed to live out a stubborn determined woman in a man’s world, which will garner admiration but not adoration. Rooster Cogburn is a man living the last of his glory days and clings to Mattie because she represents what remains of his decency and character. The Texas Marshall, while well intentioned and helpful, does not have the “true grit” to understand and connect to either Mattie or Rooster. The end is unique and ties up the story, however it leaves a little to be desired as far as payoff and that his why I cannot outright recommend it.
This movie is very well directed like all Cohen brother movies. It moves well and has a nice music score. All the supporting actors do well, particularly Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper. Matt Damon is limited by his character but good. The film has two great pieces that really elevate it. One is the wonderful cinematography by Roger Deakins. This move just looks beautiful and is a joy just to watch the landscapes. The other is the acting of Hailee Steinfeld and Jeff Bridges. They really are amazing making characters that can be caricatures real. Neither pull any punches in making their characters as real in their flaws at the risk of being downright unlikeable. However Mattie’s determination for justice and Rooster’s determination to protect her innocence overcomes their flaws.
THE OTHER GUYS
The last Will Ferrel movie I saw was Blades of Glory which I did not think was bad. However Will Ferrel’s movies had become tiring and just weren’t comparing to prior work such as Anchorman. Just following critic’s reviews and feedback from friends, I knew I wasn’t missing anything by not watching duds like Land of the Lost or Taladega Nights. Then Hollywood Reporter gave this movie a great review so I decided to give this a chance when the movie I originally wanted to see (Inception) sold out.
The movie plot is simple enough. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlbergh play two cops at the bottom of the totem poll in their New York city station. The heroes of the station, played by Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson, unexpectedly die early on in one of the movies funniest scenes. Then Ferrell and Wahlbergh are motivated to try to take on a big case involving high stakes financial fraud. The plan is hilarity ensues.
The problem with this movie is that is moves at a snail’s space with lots of speed bumps in the way. While some jokes in some scenes are very funny, in between are just scenes badly directed with unfunny jokes. Unlike Anchorman, which moved quite well so you didn’t notice the bad jokes, this movie literally pauses and drags out the bad jokes to make you forget a funny moment that just happened. A lot of the funny scenes you see in the trailer and in the commercials for this movie actually don’t appear in the movie itself. It seems as if once the movie was shot, it just fell apart in editing where things were just put in the final cut without any sense.
If you are starved to see some kind of comedy in a theatre, then you are the only person who should see the Other Guys. Other than that every one else, the other guys ironically, should wait until this comes on basic cable.
SALT
I actually was not a fan of this movie when I first saw the previews for it. Angelina Jolie is hit and miss for me, with the last movie I rushed to see her in was Mr. and Mrs. Smith, mainly due to the reputation of the director. However, I attended the Salt panel at Comic Con and my interest was spiked. Mainly because it was directed by Phillip Noyce, who directed the good Jack Ryan movies with Harrison Ford and one of my favorite movies Rabbit Proof Fence. The action scenes also looked amazing. It was reported this movie was originally going to be a vehicle for Tom Cruise.
The movie centers on a CIA agent, Salt played by Angelina Jolie, who was recently saved from captivity by the man who would become her husband. During an interrogation of a surprise source Salt is accused of being a Russian spy. The CIA must take this seriously and while they are trying to determine the legitimacy of the accusation Salt escapes. What results is a cat and mouse caper where Salt’s motives are questioned throughout.
This movie unfortunately becomes very formulaic at the worst points. Angelina Jolie is intriguing, you want to care for her and find out who she is, but that is not enough to overcome the movie’s shortcomings. The action scenes are good but not great as this movie requires. Live Schreiber plays Salt’s CIA friend who is troubled by having to chase her down. However his character becomes a very convenient and predictable plot point. You can see the ending a mile away. The best part of this movie is Chiwetel Ejofor, an agent who starts out just as a hunter with Salt as his goal but then comes to realize who she really is. Big problem with this movie is originality in script and characters. It is a waste of the talent on and off the screen.
If you are a fan of Angelina Jolie, I don’t have to recommend for you to see this. It is palatable as a light date movie as it is only 98 minutes and moves smoothly. However, it is best saved as a rental or even to wait for it on TV. It is interesting to think what Tom Cruise would have done with it taking into consideration Knight and Day which was a very pleasant surprise.
INCEPTION
Christopher Nolan became a favorite director or mine after Insomnia, a movie that gets better with every viewing. Nolan’s Batman Begins was one of the best made superhero movies I had seen as far as quality in the creative sense. His Dark Knight elevated the superhero movie and it was my favorite movie of 2008. Therefore when I saw previews for Inception and its dream espionage concept, it became the movie of the summer I wanted to see.
Inception stars Leo DiCaprio as Cobb, a corporate spy for hire who actually sneaks into the dreams of people who have important and valuable information. The concept is high end but it is not impossible to follow the basic premise. Cobb is troubled by guilt associated with the death of his wife, played by Marion Cotillard, and that guilt materializes in the dreams Cobb invades and it interrupts his missions. When a client, played by Ken Watanabe, offers Cobb a mission to top all missions, Cobb gathers a team of dream spies to take on this mission which has dangerous challenges that will become even more than they anticipated.
This movie is downright amazing. It redeems my hope in filmmaking that gets
trashed by most of the product out there. The cast is downright top notch, which
includes Michael Kaine, Joseph Gordon-
The real star of this movie, in addition to the plot, is Nolan the director. His visual style gets you in awe of the amazing sets and locales, but also gets you to pay attention to the faces of the actors to let them move the story. He raises the stakes for himself in this movie having four story lines stacking on each other to build up to the end and he carries it off without it becoming an attempt to show off.
If you are not a movie person, it might be difficult to sit through this two and a half hour movie. It is also not light cinema if you are just looking for a fun date movie. Other than that, I recommend the movie to everyone else who has any interest in the movie. You will not be disappointed. Not a movie to wait for a rental or cable.
DEVIL
M. Knight Shyamalyan pretty much lost me after the Village many years ago. Since then I have not seen a movie of his and when I hear from friends and read reviews of his films I don’t regret it. I am even angry at the director/writer for setting me up to be a big fan with Signs and the Sixth Sense. I knew I was not alone when, during the trailer for this movie, people in the audience groaned when they saw he was attached to the movie, as his story. Even the title, Devil, comes off silly. However, this website is dedicated to horror and suspense so I thought I should check it out.
The story premise is easily told from the commercials and previews; five strangers get stuck in an elevator in a business building. However, it is not a normal elevator, as horrible things, including deaths begin to happen. In addition to the five strangers, the movie focuses on a detective Bowden (Chris Messina) who lost his family to an unknown drunk driver five years before and attempted to kill himself six months before. He happens among the trapped elevator dilemma as he is investigating a suicide which seemed to occur in the building with the elevator. Detective Bowden spends most of his time on this case with two security guards in an office that monitors the elevators and has access to the video feed from a camera in the elevator. As things go awry, one of the security guards, a Hispanic man and devout Catholic, becomes convinced the people in the elevator have come under the spell of the devil himself. Detective Bowden of course has lost his faith with his family and therefore ignores the religious security guards story of doom until things keep getting weirder and more deadly.
Hate to say it but this movie works. It hearkens back to the old Twilight Zone episodes with strange things happening to seemingly ordinary people played by unknown actors. It is corny in its suspense but it is done well so you buy into it. The screenwriter (Brian Nelson) and directors (John Erick and Drew Dowdle) all accept this is a cheesy premise but decide to put their all into making it legitimate suspense and horror. Yes this has the signature M. Knight Shyamalan twist at the end and the moral of the story is corny. However, it is entertaining for what it is.
The movie has blood and gore but nothing to be at an R rating level. It is surprising low on the curse words and the acting is good by all the unknowns. I saw a lot of bad movies on a long plane ride about a month back and would have been thoroughly relieved had half of them carried a story as well as this movie did. Do not run to see this if you are not a suspense fan. However if you want to see it or eventually catch it on cable or by rental, you will not be disappointed to watch to the end.
EASY A
Actress Emma Stone had a nice little part in Superbad but it was nothing to say she was a star. Actually I thought they were playing her prettier than she really is and did not like her raspy voice. However the commercials for Easy A appealed to me because she seemed to be very genuine. For a strange role of a high school girl pretending to be promiscuous, Emma Stone seems to make it believable.
At noted above the premise is pretty simple. Emma plays Olive, a typical and plain high schooler who seems to be invisible to all. A lie to her best friend about losing her virginity is overheard by her nemesis, played by Amanda Byrnes, who spreads the rumor around high school. In order to help save a homosexual friend from high school hell, Olive pretends she slept with him at a party. This leads to other favors for high school losers and Olive’s personal life becomes its own hell as her promiscuous reputation grows. Things get worse when Olive again sacrifices her reputation to protect a favorite teacher.
I really enjoyed this movie. At only one hour and thirty-
Above all what makes this movie work is Emma Stone as Olive. She really owns the screen bringing a ton of humanity to her character. You never fail to believe this girl is likable, smart, charming and that the reason she gets into so much trouble in the movie is out of pure compassion. One scene that really sells is when she comforts Amanda Byrnes character even though she is the worst of Olive’s problems.
Only point I take issue with is the cartoonish stupid and evil portrayal of Christians in the film. Its getting old, tiring, and hypocritical. Other than that, see this movie as soon as you can.
The movie takes place in a small suburban town in the 1970’s and focuses on a group of middle class schoolchildren who are spending their summer making a short film on Super 8 cameras. The story focuses on Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), who recently lost his mother in a bad steel mill accident. Joe’s father (Kyle Chandler), a police officer, is not coping well with the loss of his wife and this hurts his relationship with Joe. One night, the boys decide to film at a nearby train station with an added cast member, Alice (Elle Fanning), whom Joe has a crush on. Unfortunately, a military train derails from its tracks as the kids are filming. This implicates them in what turns out to be a military cover up of what truly was in the military train. Both Joe, his friends, and Joe’s father end up embroiled in the military takeover of the town and strange events that begin to take place. It soon become obvious something not of this world is in town and Joe and his friends are in danger.
I really enjoyed this movie. Some of it has to be because I grew up loving movies this movie references, such as E.T., Goonies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Back to the Future. The kids are innocent, good natured, and fun. There is a lovely young love relationship between Joe and Alice that develops. You truly sympathize with the hardship the loss of Joe’s mother causes his family and others in town. The story moves at a perfect pace building up to a very rewarding conclusion. The cast is strong from top to bottom. The musical score harkens to Spielberg’s early scores by John Williams.
The movie has very few shortcomings. One is a similarity to one of Abram’s prior projects Cloverfield which I cannot specify without ruining an important surprise. Another minor annoyance is in trying to pay homage to Spielberg movies, there is an overused blue light reflection on the lens, digitally added. Abrams overuses it in the beginning of the movie, then forgets about it, then adds it in the end of the movie. It just sticks out badly.
Overall I strongly recommend this film. Unfortunately this movie will add to what seems to be the imminent doom for Green Lantern because I think people will prefer and recommend seeing Super 8 instead. Good movie for the whole family.
SUPER 8
To me the jury is still out on crowning director J.J. Abrams as the new Spielberg even though the media wants to. I enjoyed the Star Trek reboot and his contributions to LOST. He has a great way of making characters interesting and moving plots along. However, I still do not have a classic style or one signature work that sticks out from him. I do not know if Super 8 is a good way to measure him. This is because, to my liking, Steven Spielberg produced this movie which is specifically set out to mimic his films from 1975 to 1985. Spielberg’s signature is all over this film.
This is a great ending to a wonderful movie series. I have always enjoyed these films because of the craftsmanship. They are like a fine tailored London suit in terms of quality of product. The visuals are beautiful. While the last movie were too dark and weak on locales, this movie takes full advantage of the world J.K. Rowling created with great locations and sets. Director David Yates has to be commended on his use of light and color to create mood. Lately I have been disappointed with 3D, especially in live action but here the 3D works great. You feel like you are in the actual space instead of feeling like you are staring at layers of images spaced apart. At the beginning of the movie, Harry has to interrogate and bargain with a foe. There is a quiet tension created with a few simple shots but the 3D really heightens the emotion.
The thing that has held this series together has been the relationships between the characters. In particular the loving camaraderie between Harry, Hermione and Ron is the glue of this movie and the series. I do have to note it is not a strong here as in other films but that has to do more with the story having to move a conclusion. There is a nice bit at the end to make up for that though. The relationships between secondary characters is also endearing and very much alive in this movie. I was happy one of my favorites, Luna Lovegood, was well featured here. Also one other young wizard comes out of nowhere to play a pivotal role in the movie and it is pulled of well.
I do not think anyone needs to be convinced to see this movie. Which is good because it is a good one to watch. I regret catching an early morning viewing because there are some great parts for a livelier audience to break out in cheer. My one complaint is that the ending has a does go a bit generic on the final moments where you can name 100 other movies with the same type of scenes. Nonetheless I will miss seeing such a long series of high quality films. It was nice to see the three main characters and the actors who played them grow up into adults.
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS PART II
If you have not seen any of the Harry Potter you are wasting your time with this one. You honestly have to catch the last two to understand the latest outing. Unfortunately the last two are the darkest and, in my opinion, weakest of the bunch. I would recommend starting back with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix if you can. You do not have to read the books to enjoy the films. I refuse to ever read the books because movies and books are so different that to compare a movie to its book form is unfair to both mediums. Now on to the grand finale of the Harry Potter films. This time in 3D. It is worth the price of admission.
Without getting into too much complicated detail the plot of the movie is simple, a fight to the death between Harry Potter and his nemesis the evil Voldemort. The movie begins with Harry, his friends Hermione and Ron, trying to regroup after a bad loss. They are on the search for specific, unknown trinkets, called horcruxes, that, if destroyed, can kill or weaken Voldemort. They must find them before Voldemort and his army destroy the heroes’ beloved school Hogwarts. As the story unfolds, we find that Harry and another character have their pasts intertwined and this revelation raises the stakes of what Harry must sacrifice.