Brothers

Brothers (2009)
Directed by Jim Sheridan
Starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard

The story of the Prodigal son; a good film, dramatic, a remake that is good but not as taught as the original Danish film. Two diametrically opposed brothers, one a Marine and one a Drop-out fresh out of the slammer are at the center of this story. The young Marine goes off to Afghanistan and goes missing in action, presumed dead, the family have a funeral etc. The drop out brother (gyllenhall) helps out his grieving sister in a law, nurturing her kids, building her a new kitchen to try and win the respect of his father who has always seen him as 2nd best to his younger brother.

The story gets interesting when the brother and the wife get closer, they share a common loss, they are both empty and struggling to come to terms with the death. They like each other after years of misunderstanding. The daughters take a shine to their uncle, who is less strict and more fun than uptight military dad.

The story of Maguire is given a real twist when it's revealed that he is not dead but actually taken as a POW. While a prisoner he is forced to kill one of his own men in a nasty scene, its kill or be killed and so he beats him to death with a pipe, going against all he believes as a soldier and a man - this changes him forever. Soon after he is rescued by an invading platoon of US soldiers and returned to the US and to his stunned and surprised family. He is a different man, the trauma has damaged him for the worse, he is dark and intense. The kids prefer their uncle. Maguire builds to an explosion in his own house, a gun weilding nervous breakdown spawned by his suspiscion of his brother and wife.

It builds to an intense climax, one that we see coming all along but it still delivers. This is Maguire's best acting in years (aside from his cameo in Tropic Thunder). Portman is excellent as usual and Sam Shepard plays the old fashioned dad to a tee. Very enjoyable film, great performances, Maguire is fantastic, worth seeing for his performance alone.

Must Rent DVD

We Live In Public

We Live In Public (2009)
Directed by Ondi Timoner
Starring Josh Harris

Brilliant, fascinating, well worth watching. Winner of the 2009 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this remarkable documentary details the experiences of Josh Harris 'the greatest internet pioneer you've never heard of'. Amassed from footage shot over 10yrs and cut down from over 5000 hours of material, Timoner paints a fascinating, implosive, portrait, a rags to riches to rags tale of a contemporary genius-madman-artist-svengali.

Harris was an early internet hero, a dot-com boomer, a man who turned his vision of 'the future of online communication' into a practical interactive internet experience 10 years too early. In his process of creative invention Harris's net worth shot up to 80 million dollars. The search for personal fame is what truly motivated Harris and we get to share in the excess and experimentation that big money can bring to someone with wild and brilliant ideas. You have to respect Harris for living his dream and spending his money to execute his grand ideas.

Harris uses riches gained from his Silicon Valley backed internet company (Pseudo) to create a one of kind interactive, big brother type experiment on 'the effects of media and technology on the human identity'. It took place over 30 days in NYC using 100 people. Everyone is locked into a building, a mini society where drugs, food and clothes are provided, alongside a shooting range. The participants wear uniforms and sleep in bed-pods, they are interrogated and constantly filmed. Harris creates this society so that he can call the shots, control people, makes the rules, garner information. Its fascinating to see what goes down and how the experiment affects the participants both positively and negatively. The experiment is shut down by the police on the 1st day of the year 2000.

During all the chaos and problems Harris experiences (with his shut down society experiment) he manages to fall in love. Sadly Harris soon turns the cameras on his own relationship, rigging their nyc loft with 30 cameras and broadcasting the relationship on the internet for all to see. This experiment lasts only 6 months and their relationship of course crumbles. With no money left, Harris gives it all in and disappears only to show up years later as an apple farmer.

Harris was right about a lot of things regarding the internet and in this doc its plain to see that his thoughts and prophecies have come true. Its amazing to watch Harris live fearlessly and implode as he experiments with people and money, his brain trying to find patterns and meaning. He is on a quest for information and understanding, but at what cost, his own sanity. Underneath all the posturing and games is a serious man with serious intellect and brilliant ideas who is willing to put it all on the line, so you gotta respect that. Timoner stuck in there and finally got her story after years, all the fragments come together in her compelling and thought provoking film.

Well worth watching, a must own DVD.

The Blind Side

The Blind Side (2009)
Directed by John Lee Hancock
Starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron

See this incredible film, go rent it. Its clear after seeing this film why Bullock won her AA and GG for this role, this is a powerhouse performance.

The film is based on the true story of Michael Oher; an impoverished homeless teenager (from Memphis) who is taken in and nurtured by a loving wealthy family who eventually adopt him and help him achieve academic and athletic success, leading to him being drafted into the NFL by the Baltimore Ravens. The sport of football as in the title, is the framing device for this story, about teamwork, family, honor and loyalty. Its through football that Michael finds his voice.

The life changing opportunity and experience Michael receives works both ways, the family benefit greatly from having him around. Michael is not typical, regardless of his rough upbringing and abandoned soul, he is a warm loving gentle giant, who in turn helps the family reach a deep spiritual connection as a unit. The film is all about love and how love has the power to heal any trauma, to break any obstacle.

This is Bullock and Aaron's movie, they are magic together, their chemistry is electric. We believe them and how they affect each-other is quite profound. True stories are always the best, so easy to relate and feel the emotion. This film rocked me, make sure you have a box of tissues. Well I have kids so I guess thats to be expected. This is another movie I avoided in theaters and simply loved on dvd. Just goes to show, never judge a book by its cover. Bullock is back with this and The Proposal last year she made two solid blockbuster hits. You go girl..

Shutter Island

Shutter Island (2010)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, Max Von Sydow

The previews sold this as a horror, at least thats what I got, but its actually a psychological drama and not one of Scorsese's best. The riveting performances and visual style make up for its average story.

The film reminded me of 'A Beautiful Mind' in many ways, but Ron Howard's film was based in truth and had more weight. To me 'Shutter Island' was exciting and dramatic but over long and convoluted. The set-up and early clues in the dialogue gave away the plot too early in the story, I just sat waiting for it all to unfold. But its always fun to watch DiCaprio in action. The casting is what holds the film together. Kingsley plays his creepy role on the line with such skill he steals the show.

The film is a mystery about a Federal Marshall and his new partner who arrive at an insane asylum to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a patient. Turns out the Marshall has his own dark-past, his wife and child having being killed in a house fire. The investigation of the missing patient reveals connections to the Marshall's own past, fact and fiction get warped on his wild goose chase for the truth.

The rug-pull comes in the form of DiCaprio being revealed to be a patient at the asylum, he is a federal marshall who went crazy and shot his wife after she drowned their three kids. The role playing of detective is revealed to be the asylum's experiment, to let him run role play out his fantasy in the hope of making a breakthrough, to have him realize his own truth. The breakthrough is finally made after two hours, but the light is soon extinguished in a closing scene that I thought was rather un-necessary.

Still this is a compelling movie and there are exciting set pieces and good acting. DiCaprio is brilliant as usual and Ruffalo stands his ground. This not your run of the mill Scorsese movie, its experimental for him. Still worth the money and time to see anything this grand master does.

A must see DVD.

Armored

Armored (2009)
Directed by Nimrod Antal
Starring Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, Ty Hackett, Skeet Ulrich.

American crime drama featuring a revitalized Matt Dillon opposite excellent newcomer Ty Hackett. The story is a run of the mill Heist about a team of armored-car drivers who rob the company they work for, stealing 42 million from a Federal Reserve transfer.

The framing device for the film is the story of Colombus Short (Hackett), a newly retired veteran Marine from Iraq whose parents both died forcing him to return to the USA to take care of his younger brother. The family house going into foreclosure and Colombus needs to make money and so he is lured into the heist by co-worker Dillon.

The heist goes wrong at the rendezvous point (a stunning abandoned steel mill) when the guards are spotted by a homeless man. Fishburne shoots and kills the homeless man causing Colombus to have a change of heart and go against the team to try and stop the robbery. He sounds the alarm on the armored truck and soon a local cop is patrolling the steel mill. Fishburne shoots this cop and Colombus saves him, dragging him successfully into the armored truck. The bad guys try to get into the truck before the cops send cars out looking for the missing officer. The action builds from there to an inevitable climax.

There are a couple of implausible twists, but its action packed and fun watching Colombus use his military skills to outwit the amateur security guards. Antal does a decent job of framing the action and creating suspense. Skeet Ulrich has a decent role and delivers an edgy performance. The ensemble is very good, it just felt small and shallow emotionally, it moved so fast it was hard to connect to anyone in the story. Hackett saves the film with his vital naivete, his energetic emotional performance, he was surrounded by Lions and stepped up.

Dillon is great in this film, its a different role for him, worth watching just for his performance. He looked lean and mean, years have been taken off him somehow. This is a good popcorn, sofa film; just don't expect to be moved, shocked or enlightened.

The Box

The Box (2009)
Directed by Richard Kelly
Starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella

This was some truly unwatchable rubbish. Convoluted nonsense about a test of human nature, a complete waste of time. This film felt like a bad episode of The Twilight Zone. Its amazing considering the cast they had for this turkey. I turned it off after 20 minutes. I don't even know where to start with this film, so I wont bother. In a phrase, snore-fest. I'd be fascinated to hear from anyone who liked this film and why. Please leave comments

Amelia

Amelia (2009)
Directed by Mira Nair
Starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewen McGregor, Christopher Eccleston

This film did not fair well at the box-office or on home video and I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it, but I was surprised. This bio-pic starts off a little bumpy, suffering mostly from structural problems with a lot of jumping back and forth in time - but by 30mins in the film is on track and focusing on Earhart's around the world attempt.

Swank is spot-on as Amelia, she looks, talks and moves just like her, as seen in archive footage; its a remarkable transformation. She hams it a little but its the 30's and she's playing a strong independent siren. Gere plays Puttnam her publisher husband and biggest supporter, his loyalty and faith in Amelia are at the core of this tender love story. The ending I wont give away (unless you know your history) but it really moved me, I had no idea of her fate. The end to me almost made the film, it was bitter sweet, just like Earhart.

McGregor plays the love affair interest, a single-parent/aeronautics-genius who helps Amelia gain recognition. She is a person who cant be tied down. Their love affair is short lived and eventually she returns to her husband. This film is a love-story at heart, and we get all the facts of her aeronautical success neatly wrapped in. The films focus is not on the love triangle, the anchor of the story is the undying support of Gere for this remarkable free-spirited woman.

The effects are not so great but not bad enough to take you out of the story. There's not much action in general but the flight sequences are good and capture the risk, the old planes were very dangerous, communication was bad, no satellites, only morse and radio. One cant even imagine doing what Amelia did 8o years ago. The film brings the danger and her heroism to light. The performances hold together a fairly undramatic story. The era is captured well in the visuals, the wardrobe and make-up felt and looked right. The music was also a good fit. Ok some movies aren't for everyone and usually I agree with the mass, but in this case I enjoyed a film most people told me was crap. Rent the DVD to polish up on your history..

In The Loop

In The Loop (2009)
Directed by Armando Iannucci
Starring Peter Capaldi, james Gandolfini, Mimi Kennedy, Tom Hollander

British political satire based on a successful BBC TV Show 'Thick of it'. The film is a satire of the Anglo-American governmental wranglings leading up to the invasion of Iraq. A UK minister played brilliantly by Hollander is used as a pawn by both sides when remarks he makes to the press are used as key phrases to start the war.

The film is bitingly funny. Capaldi steals the show as the Prime Ministers enforcer, a hard-core foul mouthed Scotsman who fears no man and takes no prisoners. Gandolfini is also hilarious as a US General. The film reminded me in parts of Kubrick's Dr Strangelove (Peter Sellers), In the Loop is a whole new take but it felt similar in tone. The film is very well written and the performances were dead-pan and spot on.

The approach is anti-West Wing in this film, its raw, doco, hand-held, gritty and real. The performances never become silly which is what keeps the satire in tact. It's a very funny film that has done well in Europe. Not sure how it will go down in US. Shows like The Office are a good appetizer for a film like this. If you like Gervais you will enjoy In the Loop.

The film is worth seeing just for Capaldi's performance alone. Must rent DVD.

Good Hair

Good Hair (2009)
Directed by Jeff Stilson
Starring Chris Rock, Maya Angelou, Andre Harrell,

Funny and entertaining documentary starring Chris Rock that digs deep into the wonders of of African American hair, the salons, the customers, the product manufacturers.

When Chris Rock's daughter asked him 'Daddy why don't I have good hair?' he went on a mission to find out who put this question in his daughters head. The film follow Chris around from Salon to Salon interviewing working class women who spend upwards of $1,000 on their hair. He visits an insane hair contest in Atlanta and interviews the makers of the top selling products. They visit manufacturer processing plants etc. We learn all about the art of the weave. Chris visits India to look at where the hair comes from for the weaves. He interviews an independant chemist and they do a lab-test on hair straightener, the #1 hair product used by African Americans, the straightener eats through a coke cans in minutes.

Rev Al Sharpton makes an appearance and is quite amusing with his tales. Maya Angelou also shines a light. The doco is informing and cute, not ground breaking or revelatory film making in any way, but worth checking out. Ice T makes a cameo and reflects his Pimp take on the whole hair issue, this had me cracking up. My good friend at Video Hut recommended this and I must say I enjoyed it. Chris doesnt dominate the documentary at all, I learned and laughed, always a good thing.

Must rent DVD.

Taken

Taken (2008)
Directed by Pierre Morel
Starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Leland Orser.

Saw this movie in theatres last year and just watched it again on dvd, what a treat. Morel knows how to direct action, his style is raw-edgy and abrupt. This director doesn't cut around the action, he shows the fight with great choreography, stunt work and a moving camera.

The story is simple; a pretty American student and her best friend take a trip to Paris to follow U2 in concert. Her nervous father Neeson doesn't want her to go, she is only 17. Her mother and wealthy step-father want her to go. Neeson is over-powered and gives in. The girls get tricked at an airport in Paris and kidnapped by Albanese Human Traffickers forcing them into the sex slave trade. The girls only have a 98hr window before the chances of them being found alive again disappear.

Neeson plays the lead girls' father, an ex CIA paramilitary operative who puts his skills to work hunting down the men who kidnapped his daughter and rescuing her. His daughter calls him as the kidnapping goes down and the limited scraps of information he hears on the call - the accents, his daughters descriptions of the men as she hides under the bed etc - are all Nesson needs to piece together a plan.

Nesson travels immediately to Paris and recruits an old friend in French Intelligence to help locate the Alabanese gang neighborhoods. He travels into the underbelly and carves a trail in blood and broken bones that eventually leads to his daughter, he discovers her best friend dead from an overdose. The French Intelligence officer gets in Neeson's way and double crosses him, but Neeson makes it to his daughter as she is being auctioned off. He gets caught but manages to escape and kill the kidnappers and save his daughter.

The action is top notch and the performances are taught and realistic. Neeson is a great actor, he embodies strength. When he says to the kidnappers in this movie "I will find you, I will kill you.." we believe it and know that he will. It's great to see an action film with a kick ass super-dad fighting for the life of his daughter. In the end Neeson's connection to his daughter is strengthened. Great action, simple story, well directed, shot and edited.

This is a must own DVD.

The Ugly Truth

The Ugly Truth (2009)
Directed by Nick Luketic
Starring Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler.

Decent romantic comedy set in the world of television. Hiegl plays a control freak female TV producer who is having problems with with her ratings. Her worst nightmare is realized when, in an attempt to boost the ratings, the network hires a crass Butler to work alongside her and spice up the show. Butler runs a sleazy hit local television show 'The Ugly Truth', a cynical 'relationship advice' call-in program. The two do not like each other, they are opposites and so at first their friendship is rocky.

Soon Butler has charmed her and is giving her relationship advice, 'tests' straight out of his 'Ugly Truth' manifesto. Heigl follows his advice and it works, she gets the man she wants but soon realizes she doesn't love him. She has fallen in love with the exciting and fresh Butler, who speaks his mind and knows what's up. These two are so opposed its refreshing when they actually connect, they have good on screen chemistry.

Heigl is forced to follow and beg Butler to stay at the network after he appears on Late Night With Colin Ferguson and is offered a bigger and better deal elsewhere. They almost have drunken sex but don't. Her ex shows up and Butler leaves, but the two ex's don't connect. Pretty soon Heigl and Butler are both working a state Fair for different local networks. He tells her he turned down the big network to stay close to home. They get in an argument on a hot air balloon which takes off. He tells her he loves her and they fly off in the balloon.

It sounds rather milquetoast but it's not, its good fun. The two leads make it happen. Its a date flick, good for some giggles just dont expect 'Wuthering Heights'. Must see DVD.

Cape Fear

Cape Fear (1991)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Starring Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis

One of the best from Martin Scorsese. This is masterful dramatic work with suspense, horror, violence, eroticism and unforgettable dialogue. This story is a tightly wound spring that keeps winding until it eventually snaps setting hell loose and leading to one of the best climaxes in film history.

The story opens with murderer/rapist Max Cady (De Niro) being released from jail. Cady has come back to seek revenge on his rich Southern Attorney (Nolte) for burying evidence that could have prevented his 14 year jail sentence. Nolte plays an attorney so perfectly fragile, he is a man with everything but a backbone. Even though Cady is a demon we relate and sympathize with his 14 years in jail, sodomized and beaten. As the plot thickens and pets start dying, Nolte begs and offer money to Cady to go away but Cady doesn't want money and he isn't going away. Cady wants truth and justice, so he terrorizes the family.

Cady seduces the daughter (played brilliantly by Lewis) in a scene with superb tension and dialogue. Cady gets into the mind of the teenage girl, using her anger towards her parents to manipulate her. Cady is an intellectual, very well read, versed in law from his time spent well in prison. He quotes scriptures and authors in almost every monologue. This is one of the best film psychopaths ever to hit the screen. De Niro embodies malevolence in this role.

Nolte hires a dumb private-eye who arranges thugs to attack Cady with pipe, scare him off. Cady is attacked but overcomes the gang, takes their weapons and beats them up instead. Nolte watches all this from behind a dumpster, Cady has a hunch and shouts out loud 'Counseller, are you there, could you be there?' classic stuff. The murder of the nanny sets the family on the run to the Florida Keys to get away from Cady, who straps himself under their car traveling with the family for the big climax. The family hide on their houseboat in the keys and of course Cady follows them where he attacks the family beating up Nolte and preparing to rape the wife and daughter. A storm intervenes and the houseboat is sent into a swirling hell of ocean storm. Cady is not match for the elements and is overpowered by the family fighting together to beat him. Classic moment with lighter fluid in the face set alight.

Cady is eventually over-powered and drowned by being handcuffed to a boat rail by Nolte, the boat sinks Cady drowns. We think right up to the last moment that this man cannot be killed, and there is even a few teasers thrown in to suggest maybe he didn't die. The family jump to safety off the boat and all survive, brought closer by this nightmare event.

Lange is astounding in this film her arc is dramatic. This is the best role Nolte ever played. Lewis is smouldering cute and gives a brilliant performance as a curious teen. De Niro needs to be seen to be believed in this film, its not only a physical mountain he climbed but his transformation of face and voice should have won him the Oscar that year. The story is thrilling and the action and tension start from the first frame and don't let up until the last. Its fantastic Noir, Scorsese borrowed a lot from the original in terms of tension and mood but he made this Cape Fear 100% his own.

A must own dvd.

Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Directed by F Gary Gray
Starring Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx

Loop de loop Thriller about a man (Butler) who exacts Justice on the 'killers' who brutally raped/killed his wife and daughter and the 'justice system' that failed his family. It's 10 years after the crime and Butler has come back for revenge. Foxx plays the egomaniacal city-prosecutor who in protecting his trial success rate takes a plea bargain letting the 'real killer' serve 5 years while the 'accomplice' gets the death sentence, this destroys Butlers life and belief in the justice system.

Butler intervenes in the lethal injection execution, making the inmate suffer greatly. He then captures the other criminal (the real killer) and dismembers him using a skill saw in warehouse, while videotaping the event. He sends the dismemberment videotape to the Prosecutor's (Foxx) family. His wife and kid see it, yuk. Butler is apprehended by police and eventually confesses to the murder blaming the justice dept for failing his family. He targets Foxx and while in jail wages a terror war on the police of Chicago, how does he do this? Keep reading, haha. It felt a lot like Cape Fear. I actually rented and watched Cape Fear again because this reminded me so much of it.

So while Butler is in jail the rampage and destruction continues. How, does he have cohorts? It is then revealed in an OMG rug-pull that he is in-fact an ex Special Ops, Black Ops, best in class, whatever, blah blah blah. Anyhow the ridiculous plot then has Butler tunneling his way out of the prison to pull off the terror attacks and going back to his jail at night - yes stupid. This reveal makes the film a farce. I guess they needed a way to explain how this regular guy could get hold of missile launchers and robot machine guns from jail, hahaha.

Anyway it was ludicrous but I must say very entertaining. Both actors have great chops and it was fun to see them go head to head. Foxx delivers and Butler is good, just his old Scottish accent pokes through. Also Butler must make 10 films a year. He is in everything, a new film a month, enough already. It's good to see Butler stick it to the man because he has been very badly wronged, but the whole film goes to far and uses a sentimental hinge (daughter) to explain and justify his rampage. The film is an excuse to blow shit up and shoot guns and for the two actors to look mean and be stressed and act all melodramatic. I don't think anyone mentioned the word plausible in the script meetings. If you are willing to switch off and go with the flow, you will enjoy it. It not so terrible its unwatchable, not by far, its just schlocky entertainment.

Rent it on DVD, the action will keep you entertained, if you like that kind of thing.

The Wolfman

The Wolfman (2010)
Directed by Joe Johnstone
Starring Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins

Remake of the Hollywood classic. I went in hoping to be impressed given the stellar cast involved, but the film was crippled by its B-movie approach to the story, bad dialogue and over the top melodramatic music. The film gets more interesting as the action ramps up and the characters talk less. The plot is easy to figure out and there is nothing new in the story or the visual effects that makes this an original or unique werewolf film. There is nothing in this film that we didnt see in the early 80's in 'American Werewolf In London' by John Landis; if you cant better that classic then why bother. It's basically the same story wrapped in a different coat. Surprisingly the visual effects are no better than in AWIL; okay there are some cool closeup inner mouth transformation shots that are crazy cool, but all in all it didnt feel new or have a 'wow factor monster'. The film is actually quite a snooze as we wait through tedious set-up for it all to go down exactly as we predict. No guess work needed with this plot.

Del Toro looks bored and he resembles an overweight Paul McCartney with bad hair, bad make-up and some real bad acting until he becomes The Wolfman, then he steps it up. I wont even get into the story or plot, its not worth it. The big problem is that the film lacked character development of any kind. The dialogue and performances are so hammed up its hard not be chuckling while you watch the splatter-fest. Yes it is very gory and this makes up for the lack of suspense or tension.

Hugo Weaving plays a supporting Role as a Scotland Yard detective who 'knows all along', and he is quite good until the very end of the film when its made clear he will be playing the next Wolfman. What does that mean? The Wolfman 2. No, please!

Danny Elfman's music (in my opinion) was a bad rip on Wojciech Kilar's score for 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (91) by Francis Ford Coppola. Through and through its a clear rip-off, the beats, the tones, the movements, all of it - very disappointing.

There is no real twist in this film and the reveal of Hopkins as the Daddy Werewolf comes as no surprise. When father and son duke it out in a wolf-fight its quite comedic instead of climactic. An old grey and hairy Hopkins-wolfman had me cracking up.
Emily Blunt is fabulous as usual but she has nothing to do apart from 'fall in love' with her brother in law, yes yuck. When this happens it crushes the lead characters with bad taste and bad writing. Blunt looks beautiful as ever and cries on cue (a lot). She should have passed on this turkey. Its just a big corny laugh.

Props must be given for the fact that the Wolfman looks exactly like Wolfman from the Hollywood legend, ripped white shirt and all, the face is a total dead-ringer. The 3D is okay but clearly animated and the matte paintings are well below average, one too many timelapse moon shots. This film sat on the shelf for 2 years. Its easy to see why, it just doesnt hit the mark for such a classic title. Rent it on DVD to support these great actors regardless of the content. If you like Gore you might enjoy it, just don't expect to be gripped, moved or scared. It wont happen.

The Informant

The Informant (2009)
Directed by Steven Soderberg
Starring Matt Damon, Lucas McHugh Carroll, Eddie Jemison

Off beat comedy based on a remarkable true story. Matt Damon plays Mark Whitacre, a corporate executive for ADM (drug-manufacturer) who turned out to be one of the 'highest paid' whistler blowers to emerge from corporate America. Whitacre was a biochemist with a conscience (or so it seemed) who worked as an informant for the FBI, helping to expose the ADM 'lysine price fixing conspiracy' of the 90's. Whitacre wears a wire for 3years working with the FBI making tapes, betraying his colleagues and the damaging effect on his mental health is what the story focuses on, his unraveling and its fun to watch. Damon does a grand job, overweight and out of touch.

Whitacre is a simple, uncomplicated man with a good wife, sweet kids and a penchant for fast cars. He loves money and is a corporate kiss-ass, meanwhile he is burning the house down under his bosses noses. He leads the FBI on a wild goose chase for many years, lying, planting false evidence, weaving stories to detract and cover up the fact that he defrauded ADM for $11 million dollars (in illegal kickbacks from company deals). Whitacre stashes the stolen money in Swiss accounts and didnt report it to IRS. In exposing the company he worked for he exposed himself and end up ironically being sentenced to jail-time 3x that of the white collar criminals he helped convict.

The film is typical Soderberg with a layered narrative. It's exciting and moves fast. The film is kept fresh with lots of new faces in the cast. The pacing is tight as it scans through quite a few years in less than two hours. Damon makes this film, his performance is obtuse and vulnerable, he is a man on the edge and plays it perfectly. Ive always liked him but have often thought he chose easy roles; this role was a challenge, different for him and he pulled it off.

My fav-movie of Soderbergs's is 'Traffic' also I love 'Sex, Lies and Videotape'. This isn't his best, but its better than the Oceans 11 series, its different, political and corporate, making it less appealing to a mass audience. I was suprised, didnt think I would like this movie going in, but I actually enjoyed it thoroughly. With every film Damon makes I like him more and more; the Bourne movies were great (he kicked ass in them) but with The Informant he gets to show his chops and its refreshing. Soderberg is a movie-factory he pumps them out. He is one of the most prolific film-makers of our generation, every now and then he makes an important film that people need to see. This is one of those films.

Must rent DVD.

Frozen

Frozen (2010)
Directed by Adam Green
Starring Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers

Simple concept, very cool film, clearly inspired by Spielberg's Jaws. Three friends gets stuck up on a ski-lift chair on their last ride at a ski resort. By twist of fate the lift operator thinks they have already come off the mountain and shuts down the ski-lift; meanwhile the friends are trapped on small steel seat 75ft above the frozen ground in sub-zero temperatures. The friends think its a malfunction until all the slope lights are turned off and the mountain goes deathly quiet. Its only then that the real terror sets in, its Sunday night and the ski-resort is closed for next 5 days.

The film takes place mostly over the 1st frozen night. After a few hours of hours of panic the heroic boyfriend decides he will jump off the lift-chair to the snow below and go for help, injured or not. Of course he snaps his legs in the fall and is immobilized with nasty compound fractures. Within short order Hungry Wolves are baying in the nearby forest, smelling the blood. The worst that you can imagine happens as the wolves have a hot dinner. This death scene is made extra disturbing by the camera mostly staying on the ski-lift and the reactions of the friends while they hear their friend getting ripped apart and devoured, screaming through gargling blood. This is a brutal death from sound alone and it takes a minute or so but it really works - almost turned my stomach.

The death of the boyfriend leads to some reflective dialogue that could have been skipped as the adrenaline is drained from the momentum of the story. Daylight breaks. The two survivors have frostbite, they must get off the mountain. The friend decides to climb along the wire (regardless of wolves below) to a nearby pole. He risks his life twice but finally makes it only to be encountered by the wolves but he fights them off and escapes down the mountain on his snowboard pursued by the wolves.

The girl is left alone on the seat overnight, no one comes to help her. At dawn, almost frozen to death, she attempts to climb down and is tossed to the ground with a broken ankle, but not killed. On her way down the hill (sliding on her belly) she encounters the wolves feeding on their friend, horrific realistic scene. The wolves are distracted so she escapes, makes it to a road and is rescued by a passing car. Thats it. Her escape is so welcome, its the proper ending.

Ok so there are some flaws in this film, acting mainly and some average writing, but overall given how simple the idea is I think the director really pulled it off and created a very suspenseful thriller that at times is incredibly disturbing. Man Vs Nature. Big epic theme in small explosive movie. I was impressed. GO see this in theaters, it just came out.

Bronson

Bronson (2009)
Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn
Starring Tom Hardy, James Lange, Matt King

Superb film. A startling bio-pic of UK's most violent prisoner 'Mickey Peterson', a bare knuckle street fighter re-named Charles Bronson by his fight promoter played by Matt King. Mickey is sentenced 7 years in jail for robbing a post office at 19yrs of age. Once in Jail he finds himself very much at home, in fact he loves it. It doesn't take long for Mickey's alterego 'Bronson' to take over and cause as much trouble, violence and mayhem as he possibly can. Bronson is also a one man media blitz, his own best publicist, he loves the attention from the newspapers. Bronson's sentence is extended to 30+ years (as a matter of fact he is still imprisoned in the UK).

The film is set in prison but is not about a prison break, its about someone who loves being in prison -this is a cool twist. The story is chock full of violence and madness as Bronson carves his legend in blood and broken bones, disabling and breaking as many prison guards as he can along the way. He is moved from jail to insane asylum to jail throughout the film, the background changes but its always the same landscape. In real life Bronson was moved 120 times, wow.

The story of his time in jail is intercut with a fantasy 'one-man show' stage performance with Bronson in a theatre, in front of a black tie audience. On stage he is the narrator, the ring leader (who wears clown make up at times). He is the bully who's violent reality is pure entertainment for others, shining a bright light on our morbid curiosity. This element attempts to humanize the character by showing his soul as the artist, a man misunderstood, crushed by his own ignorance. Its powerful stuff and it works.

Bronson's arc reveals the man to be an artist and a very good one; his works actually sell in the UK. Bronson's path of destruction and violence leads to a door of artistic expression, this subtext is about someone's path to becoming an artist, reaching self-consciousness. The film is brutal real life portrait wrapped up in fantasy jacket, like a candy coated pill.

Hardy's performance is astounding, ground breaking, he was the best thing in RocknRolla but in this film he is King. I was amazed by his performance, both physically and emotionally and if this doesn't propel him to international stardom I will be surprised. Hardy literally becomes Bronson, it's a physical role equivalent of climbing Everest and he does it with ease. I was shocked that this film was snubbed in the USA, not nominated for any major awards. Perhaps the film is too raw, too brutal, too close to truth or too stylized for a US audience. The influence of Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange' permeates this film enhanced by the classic music running throughout .

The film was a breath of fresh air, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Usually when you go in to film with high expectations you're setting yourself up for disappointment, not with this movie. Great stuff.

The Escapist

The Escapist (2009)
Directed by Rupert Wyatt
Starring Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Liam Cunningham, Dominic Cooper, Sue Jorge, Steven Mackintosh.

A rather off kilter' prison escape' movie fresh out of the UK. An old inmate, played by Brian Cox, attempts a dangerous Jail Break in order to visit his terminally ill daughter whom he hasn't seen in over a decade. A gang of inmates assemble to participate, all with good reasons to want out of the 'circus type prison' in this surreal story. Its The Great Escape meets Snatch, not really. but almost that silly.

The co-lead played by Cunningham is a quiet young man, a new inmate who is threatened by a pair of homosexual brothers, inmates who 'run the jail'. This is where reality starts to bend somewhat but the stellar UK cast holds it together and makes up for most of the trangressions. It feels like an art-film and Im not sure if its deliberate or accidental, its visually poetic but too over-stylized for such a gritty hard-core narrative.

The film intercuts the escape in parallel with the build up to the escape, throughout the entire story. This becomes a frustrating plot device as the story jumps back and forth. The climax reveals why the story was presented in non-linear format as part of the escape is revealed to be a 'dream sequence' (dah-nah!!!) from a dying man. Yes, Im not lying, I was stunned. It really threw me for a loop, also made me chuckle. It was not predictable at all but very corny and implausible. I know it sounds odd, but it reminded me of the dream sequence in 'Last Temptation of Christ' (1st entry on this blog). There are effects sequences at the end of the film, when the inmates escape through the sewers that almost suggested these men were dead in heaven or hell.. only to be explained as dream sequence later, rather odd.

Check it out if you like British films, the acting is good but the story is out-there..

Parts of the movie were great, essentially the acting. UK actors have the chops sadly this film doesnt.

Strangers On A Train

Strangers On A Train (1951)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker

My favorite Hitchcock film. A classic suspense thriller, visually stylish with nail biting tension.

Guy, a 'semi-famous tennis player' and Bruno 'a rich psychopath' are two strangers who meet on a Train. The men drink, talk and open up; Guy is disgruntled because his ex-wife, a vulgar cheating small town girl, refuses to give him a divorce so he can marry the woman he truly loves Anne, the rich socialite daughter of a Senator. Bruno the psychopath wants his controlling father dead and so he suggests to Guy (on the Train) the perfect murder, criss-cross: for each man to commit the other mans murder. Guy laughs it off and exits the train, leaving behind his engraved cigarette lighter. Bruno in his madness assumes Guy has agreed to the plan and takes Guy's lighter.

Bruno strangles and kills Guys ex-wife at a fun-fair at night. Bruno goes to Guy expecting him to kill his father in return. Guy is sickened, recoiling from his involvement with this psychopath and his prior knowledge; he is riddled with paranoia and guilt although innocent - very clever stuff. Guy immediately threatens to go to the police but Bruno knows Guy is a key suspect in the murder of his ex-wife; Guy had the Motive and he has a weak alibi for his whereabouts the night of the murder. Bruno uses Guy's lighter as evidence to blackmail him, threatening to set Guy up for the murder if he doesn't go through with his part of the deal and kill his father.

Guy agrees to go through with it but instead when he arrives at Bruno's mansion, he confesses to the father (sitting in the shadows) all about Bruno's plans to kill him; but the father isn't there its Bruno sitting in the shadows. Enraged by Guys betrayal Bruno contacts Guys fiance (Anne) and tells her of his plan to frame Guy for the murder of his ex-wife. Guy and Anne must make it to the Fun-fair (where the murder was committed) before Bruno can plant the lighter as false evidence.

The two men get into a climactic fight scene at the fun-fair aboard a spinning carousel which crashes, collapses and gets destroyed while rotating at high-speed. This is some of the best action model work ever done. The suspense built in this last scene alone puts this film up there with the best of the best. It has to be seen to be believed. Finally Guy's lighter is found by the Police on Bruno's dead body that is crushed by the collapsing Carousel. Guy is no longer a suspect and is free of suspicion and guilt. It's an uplifting ending with Guy and Anne back on a train, but this time when a stranger asks him 'Are you Guy Haines?' (the same way Bruno introduced himself) Guy ignores the question and exist the compartment with Anne, a wiser man.

This movie is a real treat, it can be watched over and over. The dialogue is superb and the story plays out how you would truly hope, it builds to a fever pitch. Robert Walker's 'Bruno' is one of the most disturbed villains ever to grace the silver screen. Its magical stuff this film. The opening sequence follows the two lead actors shoes as they walk into the train station and onto the train, its says so much about the characters before we even meet them. Hitch was and remains to be the grandmaster. A must rent, must own DVD.

Zombieland

Zombieland (2009)
Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woddy Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin

I had a lot of fun and laughs watching this new horror comedy set amidst a zombie apocalypse. Mad Cow disease became Mad Human disease turning the population of the USA into zombies. Very few humans have survived and we follow a gang of them, some unlikely heroes, as they team up on a road trip to find a sanctuary free of Zombies.

On their journey they have fun killing Zombies in lots of creative ways. Of course there is a perfunctory love-story thrown in for good measure. Emma Stone is gorgeous, she smolders on screen and actually gives the film some heat and heart. Woody is especially funny in the climax, which takes place at a fun-fair. He enjoys killing zombies, 'nut up or shut up' is his motto. I enjoy watching Eisenberg; to me he is a mix of Ben Stiller and Michael Cera, his deadpan humor works well next to Harrelson's red-neck. In the story Jesse has created a set of rules he lives by to survive Zombieland, the posse end up following these rules that serve as a framing device for the film. Its simple stuff but very well done and silly as all hell. Breslin stood out to me in this comedy, didn't really have chemistry with the ensemble in my opinion.

Don't expect this film to be the best Zombie film ever made, but if you are a fan of the flesh-eaters Im sure you wont be too disappointed. You cant compare Zombieland to the comic genius (and originality displayed) in 'Shaun of the Dead' and the horror isn't shock factor heavy as in Romero's original opus. Ironically Zombieland is now the biggest grossing zombie film of all time. The set-pieces and stunts in the climax make the film worth-while.

I wished it could have been longer than 81 minutes, the ending came abruptly making the overall film a little anti climactic. It was still a fun ride. How do you spell sequel.

Must rent DVD