Tag Archives: movies

“Life of Pi” – 3.5 STARS

by

18

LIFE OF PIE POSTER

“Life of Pi” is a movie I could never get excited about seeing. During several trips to the theater I tried to muster up enough interest to cause me to see it but it was tough. I wasn’t convinced of the story and I’m not the biggest fan of Ang Lee. It finally took strong reviews from several of my movie blogging buddies and the large number of Oscar nominations it received to get me to check it out before it left the big screen.

“Life of Pi” is based on Yann Martel 2001 novel which was considered by many to be an unfilmable book. The project passed through the hands of several different writers and directors before finally resting with Ang Lee directing and David Magee handling the script. This was a highly ambitious work requiring a clear vision and a large number of special effects artists to make it the jaw-dropping visual experience Ang Lee was shooting for. There’s no doubting that this is a major cinematic accomplishment and even though I may not have responded as strongly as others, I was still very impressed with what the filmmakers were able to do.

“Life of Pi” is a story of religion and faith. It’s not a story of a religion or a specific faith. No, it plays it safe by just speaking to the power of faith in God while never clearly defining the God it speaks of. I guess you could say that the movie isn’t in the business of proselytizing and it steers clear of that through the very tidy character of Piscine “Pi” Patel. The movie begins with a novelist, hungry for inspiration for a new book, visiting an adult Piscine (Irrfan Kahn) after being told he had a good story to tell. Piscine begins sharing his incredible story which we see through flashbacks.

LIFE OF PIE

We first see Piscine as a child living at the zoo ran by his parents. He changes his name to Pi after facing a year’s worth of ridicule over his real name from his classmates at school. Pi grows up to be a very smart and spiritual young man. At 13-years old, he is introduced to Christianity which he adds to his Hindu upbringing. Later he adds Islam into the mix to complete his unique theological perspective. Pi’s father wants him to be more of a rationally thinking person and ends up teaching Pi some lessons that change his view of the world. At age 16, Pi and his family are forced to close down the zoo, sell their animals, and move to Canada. They hop aboard a Japanese freighter with some of their animals in tow and head across the Pacific.

While at sea a monstrous storm hits which capsizes and sinks the huge vessel. For me this was one of the most visually stunning sequences in the entire picture. Pi manages to get to a life boat but his family and everyone else onboard are killed. But he’s not alone on the small boat. A crippled zebra, a baboon, a vicious hyena, and a huge bengal tiger known in their zoo as Richard Parker are also with him. The natural chain soon kicks in and Richard Parker and Pi are the only two remaining. The bulk of the film follows the two in their attempt to survive. Suraj Sharma plays the 16-year old Pi and he is really good. Sharma went through a lot of physical preparation for this role including ocean survival training. He also had the tricky task of acting with and reacting to a tiger that wasn’t there. It’s a great performance.

The movie becomes one part survival story and another part spiritual journey although I would argue that the spirituality takes a backseat until the end of the picture. It becomes more of a subtle and subconscious component of the film as things move forward. The relationship between Pi and Richard Parker becomes the driving force of the story. They begin as predator versus prey but soon becoming territorial enemies. It’s pretty fascinating to watch Lee and Magee take both of these characters down to the most basic animalistic survival instincts. You would expect it from Richard Parker but Pi finds himself fighting against these impulses. He learns it will take more than that if they are to survive their ordeal.

Life of Pie 2

A lot has been said about the visual experience that “Life of Pi” provides. I have to admit, at times it can leave you speechless. There are some beautiful shots in the film soaked in vivid colors and framed with such imagination. The animation involved in bringing Richard Parker to life is something you just have to see. I was blown away. But I have to say what I liked in the film could have been done without 3-D. Now don’t get me wrong, the 3-D is better than 90% of the stuff that comes out today. But after all I heard, I expected something that would knock my socks off. It does have a handful of dazzling 3-D moments but I think the movie would be just as visually stimulating in bright and clear digital.

I do have another gripe. I couldn’t help but feel the movie begin to lose me a little after Pi and Richard Parker had been lost at sea for a while. It seems like the movie took too much time in progressing their relationship and moving towards the finale. The survivalist element was quite good but eventually I did start hungering for some type of conclusion. But when it did come to an end, I felt it wrapped everything up in a smart, emotional, and thought-provoking way.

So while I may not be as crazy about “Life of Pie” as some of my moviegoing friends and the Academy, I still really appreciate what Ang Lee was able to accomplish. There’s a lot of creativity and skill on display. And while I felt the story did play it safe, it also asked some questions that many movies seem afraid of. That’s something else I can appreciate. “Life of Pi” wouldn’t have cracked my top 10 list of 2012 movies, but it’s a very good film and I am really anxious to revisit it.

“Heartbreaker” – 4 STARS

by

10

HEARTBREAKER POSTER

I’m a sucker for a good romantic comedy. Call me a softy but I really respond to them. Unfortunately the genre is in shambles as studios continue to pump out one lame, brainless rom-com after another. Maybe that’s why I get so excited when I actually find one worthwhile. Maybe that’s why I almost instantly rewatch it, knowing it may be a while before I get another good one. Such was the case with the 2010 French film “Heartbreaker”.

Okay, let me get this out of the way first. “Heartbreaker” is at times incredibly silly and like many romantic comedies it’s completely predictable. But that did little to quench my enjoyment of the film. For the most part “Heartbreaker” is smart even in its silliness and director Pascal Chaumeil wisely keeps the pace up, never allowing us to mull over the absurdity of some of the things we’re seeing. And then, by the end of the movie, I realized what a great time I had with the film and even that absurdity played its own little role in my enjoyment.

HEARTBREAKER

The story goes like this, Alex (Romain Duris) runs a unique business that breaks up relationships. He works with his sister Melanie (Julie Ferrier) and her dimwitted but tech-savvy husband Marc (François Damiens) to create elaborate ruses that persuade women to break off their relationships. But the team has their own honor code. Alex never takes a job involving a perfectly matched couple and he never breaks up a happy relationship. Alex plays the handsome swooner of the operation. Melanie play the well disguised ground operative. Marc handles everything technical. We learn all about their operation in the film’s amusing opening. Alex wraps up a successful job with a series of over-the-top lines that sets the smitten target woman free and left me laughing at his scripted sappiness.

Alex is approached by a rich father with ties to organized crime who wants his daughter’s engagement to an Englishman ended. The wedding is in a few days and the couple seems happy, but Alex, knee-deep in debt with a loan shark, puts his rules aside and takes the job. The crew heads to Morocco where Alex meets the daughter Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) and poses as a bodyguard hired by her father. Juliette is a spunky and independent young woman and Alex finds out that the job is going to be more difficult than anticipated. As the wedding gets closer, Alex begins to run out of options. On top of that, things are made more difficult by the fact that he’s falling for her. Bet you didn’t see that one coming!

Heart breaker

The story is clever and the laughs are aplenty, but I thought the biggest treat was the cast. I had seen Romain Duris in a handful of other movies but never in a role quite like this. He is very funny and he wonderfully channels that good-looking arrogance and occasional knuckleheaded cluelessness. Vanessa Paradis continues to impress me with every performance of hers I see. She’s really good here playing it straight while the others around her have the fun. But she has her own funny moments that pulls some good laughs from the audience. Paradis and Duris have an odd but convincing chemistry and that’s a key ingredient to making this such an enjoyable experience. If you doubt me, just wait until you see the “Dirty Dancing” scene. I’ll just leave it at that.

As I mentioned there is a lot of predictability along the way and there’s nothing that will catch you by surprise. But the filmmakers and the cast know this and they never try to sell you anything else. It’s a rare romantic comedy that caused me to laugh a lot and to genuinely care about the characters. I’ve rewatched “Heartbreaker” a couple of times now to see how it holds up. It’s still funny. It’s still entertaining. It still leaves me extremely satisfied despite its few flaws. Now I hear that there is a US remake in the works. There’s no need in that. I would much rather this film get a bigger audience. It certainly deserves one.

“ARGO” and the Oscars

by

16

OSCAR 1

There’s a very interesting thing happening this awards season. The believed to be front-runner for Oscar’s biggest award, Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln”, finds itself in the dust of the surprising “Argo”, Ben Affleck’s Iran hostage thriller. I loved “Argo” as did many others and I have no problem with its award season success, but very few people saw this one coming. Sunday night it took home the biggest prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards to go along with the top prize it won at The Golden Globes. So now all eyes are on The Academy Awards. But for “Argo” to pull one final rabbit out of its hat it’s going to have to buck a pretty established trend.

In what I believe are two of the most inexplicable snubs in Oscar history, the Academy failed to give director nominations to either Affleck for “Argo” or Kathryn Bigelow for “Zero Dark Thirty”. Bigelow has won several recent awards including the Best Director nod from the New York Film Critics. But it’s “Argo” that’s really running wild and it’s “Argo” that could be the fly in the Academy’s soup. You see the winner of the Best Director Oscar is almost always a sign of who will win Best Picture. It’s extremely, extremely rare for a Best Picture winner to not also take home the Best Director Oscar. So what is the Academy to do? This spotlights their blatant snubs even more and with them comes real questions of motivation.

Could it be the Academy is punishing Bigelow and Affleck for the perceived politics behind their films? Now I think anyone watching these two fantastic movies with an ounce of objectivity has to conclude that both are simply telling stories and not trying to make a huge political point. Perhaps that’s why I loved them so much. I get tired of being force-fed political perspective at the expense of good storytelling. Both of these movies are set in politically charged climates yet both Affleck and Bigelow allow the audience to process the politics. In fact, for me both pictures go beyond politics and into much deeper and more personal areas – something I can really appreciate.

So what else could the Academy’s beef be with Affleck and Bigelow? Both have created strong and challenging movies that certainly deserve to be nominated. Could it be that the Academy is unhappy with Affleck and Bigelow’s failure to use their opportunity to put a hard political slant on their films? Are they angry because they see the two films as leaning too much to the political right? Whatever the inexcusable reasoning is behind it the Academy has dropped the ball and now “Argo” is bringing it all into the light. I love it!

REVIEW: “Mama”

by

16

MAMA POSTER

If there’s one thing that modern horror movies love to use it’s creepy little girls and we get a big dose of them in “Mama”, the new horror picture from executive producer Guillermo del Toro and first time director Andres Muschietti. “Mama” steers clear of the cheap and often used blood and gore and instead goes the eerie ghost story route. But while it may stay away from one set of conventional, hackneyed horror movie gimmicks it fully embraces others. But that’s okay. There’s enough here to make “Mama” feel fresh. More importantly, it has it’s fair share of creepy moments.

Jessica Chastain gets her first movie of 2013 under her belt by playing a role that shows her incredible and impressive range. Here she dons a short black wig and fake tattoos to play Annabel, the bass player in a punk rock garage band. No, I’m serious! Her boyfriend Lucas (Nicolaj Coster-Waldau) has exhausted his resources in a 5-year search for his twin brother and two young nieces. His brother snapped, killed several co-workers and his estranged wife, then disappeared with the girls. We learn all of this in the opening sequence and it’s pretty effective table setting.

MAMA 2

Lucas’ final search team stumbles across the wrecked car of his brother which leads to an old abandoned cabin. Inside they find Victoria and her younger sister Lilly. The two are nothing more than wild animals. They immediately go under the care of Dr. Dreyfuss (Daniel Kash) who is able to make progress with Victoria through the small bit of English she remembers. He ends up sending them home with Annabel and Lucas with hopes that the familiarity and love will help their progress. I shouldn’t need to tell you that something else comes home with them, something the girls simply refer to as “Mama”.

Now it won’t take you long to notice almost every familiar ghost story gimmick. There are flickering lights, mysterious slamming doors, eerie voices, terrifying dreams, loud bursts of music, and even a spooky closet and a “what’s under my bed?” scene. And of course horror movies can’t feature smart characters. Everybody does some pretty dumb yet standard stuff. I mean at what point do these people finally realize that walking towards the creepy screams, moans, and gurgling sounds IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!

MAMA 1

But let’s be honest, these things are a given when it comes to modern horror pictures so you have to accept it. And despite these predictable devices, “Mama” still manages to deliver a ghostly good time. Like any good PG-13 horror flick, the scares in “Mama” generate in your head with director Muschietti often using what the audience doesn’t see. He works heavily in mood and tone and his skillful use of sound is one of his key instruments. But he also has a keen eye for visuals and I noticed several classic techniques taken from Hitchcock and other accomplished directors. All of this makes the movie a little unnerving when it needs to be and creepy throughout. It’s never ‘jump out of your seat’ scary but it doesn’t need to be.

Then there’s the way the story plays with the deep love of a mother for their child. Two opposite approaches to this collide head-on. I won’t go into spoiler territory but I found it to be pretty clever. In fact “Mama” as a whole is pretty clever. Yes, horror movie cliches abound and the ending may leave you scratching your head, but this is still a satisfying endeavor filled with strong performances and made by a director who knows what he’s doing. This may not break new ground or take the genre in new directions, but it’s a lot of fun and ultimately satisfying. That’s how movies should be.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

“The Last Stand” – 3.5 STARS

by

11

LAST STAND POSTER

It only took a couple of cameos to get Arnold Schwarzenegger back in form and now he’s back (yes I just said that) in “The Last Stand”. You would never doubt that this is a standard Schwarzenegger picture except for the fact that the days of the one-man-army seem to be gone. But don’t misunderstand me, Arnie still pumps a ton of lead, fires the one-liners, and kicks plenty of bad guy butt. It’s just that he’s older, he knows it, and the movie takes that into account. In fact, the movie has a lot of fun with it which is just one of the reasons why it works as a whole.

First off, this is an old school action picture and that will automatically turn off some people. Some will dismiss it as retro cheese while others will dismiss it as simply mindless entertainment. I can’t argue with either of those assessments other than to say it shouldn’t be dismissed. “The Last Stand” has its share of cheesiness but intentionally so. And it’s certainly not stimulating, thought-provoking cinema but it never pretends to be. It’s a simple, straightforward movie without an ounce of pretension and it.

LAST STAND2

Schwarzenegger plays the sheriff of a small Arizona town named Sommerton which sits near the Mexican border. It’s a quiet little town and nothing happens there, that is until a local farmer (played by Harry Dean Stanton in a wonderful cameo) is found shot to death. It turns out his murder is connected to the escape of a powerful drug cartel boss in Las Vegas. The drug lord, named Cortez, is heading to the Mexican border and Sommerton is the only town that stands in his way. Needless to say, Arnie and company use the town as the last stand between Mexico and this murderous kingpin.

There’s a good supporting cast around Schwarzenegger even though no one goes to one of his films expecting Oscar caliber performances. I loved seeing Forest Whitaker in a prominent role. He plays the FBI agent who Cortez escaped from. The normally obnoxious Johnny Knoxville plays the village idiot and manages to keep his goofball schtick under control. The lovely Jaimie Alexander and Genesis Rodriguez both get moments to flex their tough girl muscles. Eduardo Noriega is a perfectly detestable villain and Peter Stormare has a blast as one of his hired hands. And then you have the always entertaining Luis Guzmán who is a a lot of fun and delivers several good laughs. None of these performances will knock your socks off, but were you really expecting them to? They go as far as the material allows them and for this kind of story that’s more than adequate.

Last STand 1

But c’mon, this is all about the action right? Director Kim Ji-woon brings a slick and stylish eye for action sequences. But what I like best is how he keeps his camera under control. So many of today’s action movies overuse quick cuts and herky-jerky cameras which makes impossible to see what’s going on. Ji-woon uses these techniques some but they never muddle the scene. Weather it’s a massive firefight or a 150 mph car chase through a corn field, he’s always in command of his camera. Now he does go heavy with the blood and some kills aren’t for the squeamish, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to letting out a “wow” or two.

The days of Arnold walking around shirtless with bowling ball biceps and taking out full armies by himself may be over but “The Last Stand” shows he’s still the king of the action flick. Look, this movie is exactly what it sets out to be and nothing else. The plot is pretty basic and there’s not one single surprise in the entire movie. But it’s also one wild ride and the perfect vehicle for Schwarzenegger. You get plenty of bangs, plenty of bullets, and plenty of bodies. You also get some pretty good laughs along the way. I don’t know about you, but that’s exactly what I want from a Schwarzenegger movie. Mission accomplished.

“Premium Rush” – 2 STARS

by

12

premium_rush_posterI really like Joseph Gordon-Levitt and its been fun watching him deservedly bloom into a full-fledged movie star. I’m a huge fan of Michael Shannon and I firmly believe he’s one of the most underappreciated actors in film today. So these two coming together to star in a movie together should be pretty great, right? Well not exactly. “Premium Rush” isn’t a terrible movie by any stretch but it’s also far from being a great one. In fact if you measure the thrilling and entertaining moments against its several flaws, the result is a painfully average film with little to no staying power.

JGL plays Wilee, an energetic free spirit who skipped the bar exam to go to work as a New York City bicycle courier. He flies through the city at breakneck speeds, weaving through traffic and pedestrians on his brakeless bike, for small pay but a huge adrenaline rush. Apparently there is an entire subculture of bicycle couriers who are competitive but who party together and stand up for each other. Wilee’s ex-girlfriend Vanessa (Dania Ramirez) is also a courier as is Manny (Wolé Parks), his chief rival for both jobs and Vanessa.

Things turn bad for Wilee after he’s given what seems to be an easy pickup and delivery. The envelope, given to him by Vanessa’s roommate Nima (Jaime Chung), ends up containing a ticket worth $50,000. Corrupt cop and gambling addict Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon) gets wind of the envelope and sets out to intercept it. After getting in deep with the Chinese mob and some loan sharks, Monday is willing to do anything to pay off his debts. He chases Wilee through New York City using his badge as a weapon to get the money.

Ok, I have to admit I had a hard time buying into a lot of this. First off, the grungy bicycle messenger community never interested me at all. Sure it was different but it didn’t even come across as believable. It’s laughable how many laws they break yet they’re able to stay in business. Wilee himself runs red lights, causes car accidents, hurts pedestrians, resists arrest, steals a police vehicle. I could go on but I suppose there is a good reason why they get away with it. The police are some of the most idiotic bumblers I’ve ever seen in a movie. There ineptitude is crucial to moving the story along but that doesn’t make it any less ridiculous.

PREMIUM RUSH

There were also issues I had with the characters and some of the performances. JGL is solid as always even though the material gets a little goofy. For example, his character has a corny time-stopping biker ESP ability that allows him to stop time and see all the available routes around a highly congested area. The first time it’s used it’s pretty cool, but after the fifth time I was shaking my head. Then there are the flimsy supporting characters and performances specifically from his fellow bikers. Ramirez ranges from flat to over-the-top. Chung is wooden and seems to resort to line reading instead of acting. Then there’s Parks’ role, a common cookie-cutter character except this time he rides a bike. Perhaps the best work comes from Michael Shannon, an actor whose got ‘off your rocker’ down perfectly. But I even felt his performance was too big and showy. But I don’t put that squarely on him.

But enough of the bad. “Premium Rush” features many hair-raising scenes of bikes zipping in, out, and over New York City traffic at insane speeds. What’s really impressive is that it’s said that most of the footage is real riding and not CGI. In fact, while filming JGL was injured after slamming his bike into the back of a taxi and being thrown into the rear window. There’s an actual shot of his injury shown during the end credits. Some incredible camerawork captures all this with great technique. I also appreciate how the movie doesn’t overextend the material. The film runs a tight and concise 90 minutes which is perfect for the story it’s telling.

As I mentioned earlier, “Premium Rush” isn’t a terrible movie even though my review may make it sound otherwise. It’s impossible not to love the bike scenes as well as the way the camera captures New York City. Unfortunately the movie is plagued by mediocre performances, paper-thin characters, and an overload of head-scratching silliness. Regardless of how exciting the movie can sometimes be, it just doesn’t have enough pop to overcome its flaws. That’s a shame because I was expecting a lot more and there is a better movie lying somewhere underneath the shortcomings.