A History of Violence

Anyone who sees this film, I would directly refer to the greatest article on it I could have imagined could have been written. It is by Roger Ebert, and is available on his website. The review itself, enhanced my view of the film. However, here's my shot at it: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE is a film by David Cronenberg. Dark as one would imagine coming from Cronenberg, it is surprisingly reflective on his own body of work. The film concerns a man named Tom (Viggo Mortensen) who may or may not be who he says he is. He works at a small town diner, has a loving wife, son, and daughter, but contains an ounce of deception that might be essential to his survival. One day at work, two evil men walk in and attempt to rob him. Just as they threaten to rape one of his waitresses, he takes the coffee in his hand, smashes it over one man's head, and proceeds to brutally kill both men. Everyone considers Tom a hero, reporters come to his door, and even his son finds a newfound courage. Tom, however, seems a reluctant hero: camera shy. As the days pass, Tom and his wife (Maria Bello) begin to notice a trio of odd men following them in a shiny black cadillac. These men, led by a frightening Ed Harris, believe Tom to be an old mobster named Joey. They want him dead apparently, but Tom persists that he is Tom, not Joey. Truths come out, but it is the perfect title to Cronenberg's film that is the key to the mystery. Cronenberg stated that his title had three parts to it: 1) The history of violence in Tom's life. 2) The history of violence as a reconciling tool. and 3) The darwinian aspect of violence: using violence to survive. How this unfolds into the narrative is brilliant, Cronenberg's actors handle it deftly, and the direction itself is impeccable. REAR WINDOW was probably the last film I saw that affected me as deeply as this film. It's a masterpiece.
A History of Violence: ★★★★

Being John Malkovich

Puppets are an odd form for art to manifest. But for Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) they are his livelihood. He has no job, but carries out his obsession with puppets dancing to sad music on the streets of the city. His puppets are too dark for passerby to enjoy very much, and he is eventually convinced to take up a filing job at a strange company. His girlfriend Lotte (Cameron Diaz), a lover of animals, aids him in this reluctant decision. She herself is a strange woman with hair that looks like it has seen too much wind. Craig, on his first day of work, looks for the 7 1/2 floor where the company is, and is forced to stop the elevator between floors 7 and 8 to find it. At work, he encounters a sexy, but cruel woman named Maxine (Catherine Keener). He pines for her, but she is content with toying with him. Amongst this situation, Craig discovers a portal in his office that leads directly into the head of John Malkovich. The snide Maxine takes this as a business opportunity, and soon she and Craig are at the head of a secret, middle of the night company that allows people to be inside of John Malkovich's head. Here, Craig's obsession with puppets comes through, for he has a sneaky idea that as a puppetmaster, he might be able to control Malkovich in the same fashion. Business, however, is good, but Lotte becomes obsessed with being Malkovich. Besides this story, there are many subplots and oddities along the lines of a 7 and a half floor in a building. This can be attributed to the odd, occasionally pretentious writing of Charlie Kaufman. Kaufman's ideas, which are wonderfully original and creative, are handled deftly by director Spike Jonze. Despite quite a few unlikeable characters, the ideas the film puts forth slides it through. Although, perhaps, the filmmakers should have made some solidly likeable character, or at least finished the film of nicely to support the joy I felt at the ideas presented. Still, this is a worthy film.
Being John Malkovich: ★★★1/2

Jacob's Ladder

JACOB'S LADDER is a brilliant film. It is one that is consistently riveting and contains an ending that is perfect. The film stars the innately likeable Tim Robbins as Jake Singer. He's a Vietnam veteran who experienced a particularly hazy near-death experience, and who lives in a quasi-hell of fate's making. We gather through flashbacks that something funny happened in Vietnam, and that even Jake doesn't know what exactly that is. His circle of close friends, including a chiropractor and a post-office worker girlfriend, continually support Jake, but his Vietnam baggage is heavy, and he consistently falters. We also gather from flashbacks that Jake once had a loving family: a beautiful wife and three glowing sons. Now, however, Jake lives in a shoddy apartment, works a bad job, and sees demons all around him that are trying to kill him. He sinks into insanity: slowly. This is a testament to the films worth. At no single point is it apparent that Jake has lost his mind, but the gradual descent becomes clearer and clearer. The plot also does this, as we learn more about what may have happened to Vietnam, and what happened to the happier also post-Vietnam times. There is a craft in the film that is admirable, but also an intelligence about the created situation. Jake's descent is never nonsensical, but rooted in a specific statement about Jake Singer's condition. There is a statement within about the worthlessness of a stupid war, a statement about perseverance, and even a critical one of the government. What JACOB'S LADDER achieves is a sad dignity within a proclaimed horror film. It is not only good at getting this point across, but at creating an aura of horror, paranoia, and finally entertainment.
Jacob's Ladder: ★★★★

A Halfway Point (2011)

Halfway through 2011. I've missed somewhere around 50 films so far, and as I learned from 2010's experience, there are many treasures to be found past the ones critics or sites would deem 'important'. Despite this, a halfway point marks a chance to reflect. Like my revised "best of 2010" list, some of the films I had previously enjoyed, have been realized as minor trifles that were little more than killing two hours.

THE BEST:
13 Assassins
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Certified Copy
Heartbeats
Meek's Cutoff
Midnight in Paris
Rango
The Sunset Limited

THE WORST:
Cowboys & Aliens
Limitless
Sanctum
Scre4m

Cowboys & Aliens

A Candidate for Most Disappointing Film of 2011

Recalling the surprisingly good IRON MAN and it's decent sequel, I went into director Jon Favreau's COWBOYS & ALIENS expecting quite a bit. With IRON MAN, he took a plot I considered unredeemable past its title, and created one of the more entertaining films of the year. I would love to be able to deem Favreau a master of the ridiculous but, alas, this is not to be. For, with his new feature, another film with a ridiculous title / plot, another chance to make another great film, instead, with COWBOYS & ALIENS, Favreau has exhibited his immaturity as a director, an inability to direct actors, and video-game-esque action-film spectacle. The film began well enough: a weathered Daniel Craig awakening with a gunshot wound and a strange metal bracelet on his arm. Craig is a good actor, and in his early scenes has a physicality about himself that is superhuman but routed in a "Man Without A Name" Eastwood tradition of dignity. Craig's unnamed amnesiac walks into town after proving his presence on the screen, scouts the town out, gets into a few more fights, meets a beautiful girl named Ella (Olivia Wilde) and searches his pockets for clues to his identity. It turns out that Craig's character is Jake Lonergan, a crook of the old west. Jake, however, cannot remember his past, and thus acts with civility. The local sheriff (Keith Carradine), however, still considers Lonergan a hefty reward possibility, and takes him captive along with a snotty rancher boy (Paul Dano). The rancher boy's father, however, rushes into town to collect his son from the sheriff. His name is Dollarhyde and he's played here by Harrison Ford. Just as this appealing western is getting interesting though, aliens attack, rushing towards the town in dragonfly-like ships with bright lights. The aliens take many prisoners, and shoot up the town like a gang of ornery rustlers who happen to have lasers. This was the first clue that COWBOYS & ALIENS was to be anything but a great film. For, as the aliens attack, they shoot in ridiculous areas, oddly harming nobody. As a few tonally awkward scenes pass by, Lonergan eventually concedes that he should join up with Dollarhyde and the rest of the townspeople to find the aliens and rescue their kin. Favreau here attempts to imitate many better and appropriate scenes from better westerns. Like a checklist, this film has every aspect of other westerns: a boy (Noah Ringer) who learns to be a man, the awkward dandy (Sam Rockwell) who also has to become a man, the befriending of indians, sacrificial characters to further the plot, and it goes on and on. These scenes all feel forced, and Favreau is only adept at setting them up. His payoffs are often ridiculously stupid. Music swells and hats and belts rustle as everyone gets ready to battle, but when the battle comes, it's anticlimactic and badly choreographed. Favreau's too-omipresent aliens look a meld of the monster from SUPER 8 and gorilla-lobsters (as Roger Ebert described perfectly), and when they fight the townspeople, there's only two or three of them fighting at a time, while the rest take coffee breaks. Olivia Wilde is criminally underused and then deemed important and otherworldy. The alien motive is apparently to take gold from the townspeople for the simple reason that "it's just as rare for them as it is for us". (Gold isn't that rare. Also has no practical use). Olivia Wilde remarks: they're here! when the aliens are right in front of her face. The actors in Favreau's film are good because the actors behind the characters know what to do, with the exception of Olivia Wilde who is confused at how to play her character because her character in nonsensical. I could go on and on. This is essentially an immature film because it knows how to create hype for itself (the film) and even for upcoming scenes within itself, but it isn't any good at actually creating those scenes. This furthers the disappointment that the film isn't any good, and the potential the film had is also visibly squandered.

Cowboys & Aliens: ★

Captain America: The First Avenger

A Prelude

Like IRON MAN, John Favreau's surprisingly good superhero film, Joe Johnston's CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, has a sense of respect for its subject. Rather than condescendingly pandering with overlong montage, quick and lazy action, and a stupid lead character, the hero Captain America is endearing rather than mechanistic. Beginning with a scrawny Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, a wannabe soldier, CAPTAIN AMERICA slowly builds an environment around its lead, exhibiting Rogers as a feisty but muscle-weak 1940's kid who'd never spoken to a girl. Just as it is with all origin stories, Rogers is picked up by luck by a strange scientist who vows to get Rogers into the army. Despite being previously rejected for his asthma among other ailments, Rogers finds himself in training camp underneath a wonderfully curmudgeonry Tommy Lee Jones, failing every test of brawn, but winning every in brain. The strange scientist handpicks the weakling Rogers for his experiment, and scientifically, by way of Thor's father's magical power on earth (which Iron Man also uses for sustenance), Steve Rogers is transformed into Captain America. At first, he is put aside as a rallying figure for the war, but later he is used in the war with a motley crew of excitingly offbeat characters. CAPTAIN AMERICA is often pretty stupid, but only willingly so: for example, having a Nazi nemesis named the Red Skull who forces his stormtrooper-esque followers to chant: Heil Hydra! However, despite its falls into goofiness, CAPTAIN AMERICA is often fun in a traditional way which it knows it is trying to evoke. It's not great cinema, but it's fine summer entertainment / Avengers movie prelude.
Captain America: The First Avenger: ★★★

Miami Vice

Digital Night Sky

Images in MIAMI VICE (a 2006 film by Michael Mann) often appear as paintings or elaborate compositions of contrasting images of the same tonality. Consider Mann's dark, navy pasted cops on the top of a bridge against the night sky. Both planes of vision are dark, but Mann's heroes appear starkly against their also-dark-counterpart: the Miami skyline. As a feat of digital photography: MIAMI VICE is a masterpiece. The film, although apparently based on a 1980's tv series that can only inspire visions of corniness, is about two laconic policemen in the modern day. We rarely even hear their names, although viewers of the tv show would not require any introduction, and the cops stand out based on their respective traits. Jamie Foxx (Mann's collaborator on the great COLLATERAL) plays Rico, a stern, cool balance to the recklessness of his partner Sonny (Collin Farrell). Neither men talk very much, and when they do it's in quick, cool phrases rather than full sentences or coherent lay-it-out talk. We gather that both men are on a job to go undercover and reveal how a crime syndicate is discovering undercover cops. The task is dangerous, but the men are both obviously excellent at their work. Sonny gets pulled into the crime crowd, falling for the boss' financial advisor Isabella (Gong Li), and thus complicating his connection with Rico, who is trying to maintain his own marriage. Both men on either planes of relationships fail because of their occupation: inevitability is brought up by Mann with his MIAMI VICE players using primarily subtle actions. The story could be straightforward, but it is instead complicated to allow for nuance to flesh out Sonny and Rico. MIAMI VICE is a pretty great film, different perhaps from high-octane fare like HEAT, but more complicated to evoke the underlying points in COLLATERAL.
Miami Vice: ★★★★

The Adjustment Bureau

Uneven Goofiness

A sci-fi adaptation usually has to have pretty strong source material to survive extra fluff shrouding the original premise. This is the accomplishment of THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU, which comes from a short story by Philip K. Dick. Here, the source material is strong, but the fluff that has been added works well when interlaced with the rather fluffy source. The general premise of the film is that Matt Damon, a rising politician, must, by fate, meet a woman (Emily Blunt) named Elise in a bathroom, get inspired by her to give a rousing speech, and then never see her again, but rise to lofty places. The 'by fate' part of that is what is under constant scrutiny by a group of people within the adjustment bureau, who cause minor disturbances in everyday life to sway the course of mankind towards a preferred objective. These angel-like overseers are discovered by Damon (for no particular reason), and although they tell him that his fate is to never see Elise again, chance puts them together to the bureau's dismay. The entire film consists of Damon gradually learning more and more about the adjustment bureau, which causes for a crescendo in goofiness resulting in a schmaltzy but effective climax. Damon is a fine actor, and thus makes it easy for an audience to care for his endeavors. Especially when coupled with Emily Blunt, the film develops a charm about it that is accentuated by the surrounding goofy plotlines, magical hats, and seamless special effects. This is a film that is perhaps not smart enough to rise to greatness, but one that is endearing enough to be entertaining and a lot of fun.
The Adjustment Bureau: ★★★

Cracks

Recently, the Scott children (of Ridley) have been delivering some promising, intriguing films unlike those of their father. Jake Scott gave us WELCOME TO THE RILEYS which, although flawed, was a wonderful parable starring the underrated Kristen Stewart. Jake's sister, Jordan Scott directed CRACKS, which, although of a vastly different subject, is very much alike to Jake's debut. Both films are quite flawed, but both have a lot of beauty in them: which mostly serves as a promising omen for their future careers. CRACKS tells of an uptight british boarding school in the 1930's where a group of young women, led by actresses Imogen Poots and Juno Temple, idolize the enigmatic Miss G. (Eva Green). Miss G is the head of the diving team, which comprises around six to eight girls, the "queen bee" of which is Temple's Di. Everything is going well at the school, except that it is obvious that these girls' perception of 'going well' has been twisted by Miss G and the older headmistresses. Miss G, who seems to care for the girls a great deal, just furthers the girls' ignorance of the world, by spouting ridiculous bullshit on the quality of the world. Like the obligatory inspirational teacher in a film, Miss G, although inspirational to the girls, inspires them with a false, childish reality. When a girl powdered as an aristocrat from France shows up, it shakes things up. The girl, Fiamma (Maria Valverde), is one that knows what the world is actually like. When Miss G tells of her extravagant travels to Africa, Fiamma frowns in realization that they are directly extracted from books. The truth behind Miss G's obsession with oppressing the girls to the point where they don't even know they're being oppressed is a clever realization. Maria Valverde, Poots, Temple, and especially Eva Green are perfectly directed to further the plot in the correct direction. Their acting jobs could be dubbed 'bad', but they are often purposefully ridiculous. There is a lot of talent at work here, but director Jordan Scott's cinematic gestures are a little large for such a small scale story. Also, the general pacing of the film is occasionally unnecessarily supportive of facts the audience should already know. Despite this, the film is a pleasing debut.
Cracks: ★★★

Old School

So many of Will Ferrell's films are so good. Mostly because of his presence, he can elevate a film's quality with lines that would have fallen flat in the hands of another actor. Here, in OLD SCHOOL, Ferrell's occasionally very funny scenes strangely only serve to contrast how good those portions are compared to the languorous schlocky rest of the film. Beginning with a wedding that only serves to further the plot, an annoying Vince Vaughn whispers to Ferrell at his wedding that he can still get out of it even as the bride walks down the aisle. Ferrell is a doofus here, and why / how he is getting married is not so much a mystery, but an obnoxious contrivance. After Vaughn's offensive (but mostly unbelievable) remarks, a confusing scene change occurs, leading us to the party after the wedding where a mopey Luke Wilson sees an old flame and talks to Vaughn about missing childhood. Wilson is sent to a campus-side house by his two buddies in an attempt to rebound him after a disastrous relationship. Although the childish Vaughn and Ferrell only party, Wilson uses his house as a sleazy reputation-enhancer so that he'll have a chance with the girl from the wedding.
This is an extremely boring set-up, but what comes afterward is more what you could expect from Ferrell's comedic sensibilities. For, it turns out that the dean of the neighboring college has it out for Ferrell and friends. He's an old, essential-punching-pag of the trio, and takes his revenge by using some friends in high places to evict Wilson from the party-house. Vaughn, however, finds a loophole where if the house does some service for the school, Wilson can't be evicted, and thus the trio turns the house into a fraternity.
This storyline is used thinly, almost as if it were an afterthought in order for the flat jokes to exist sensibly. A few parts work: Ferrell's scenes mostly, and an 89 year old frat boy named Blue. Otherwise, the film is too pedestrian, and overly stupid, unbelievable, and, worst of all, continues to call attention to how funny other scenes were: reminding us that the scene we're watching now sucks.
Old School: ★1/2

The Fog

Pirate Ghosts

True to his nature, John Carpenter's THE FOG starts wonderfully: setting up an array of characters, lore, small towns, and a few beautiful women. Jamie Lee Curtis plays one of these women: in this film a quasi-scream queen who parades about the town while trying to uncover the mystery of a few dead men on a boat in the marina. A mysterious fog had enveloped them moments before their deaths, and it just so happened to envelop them right at midnight on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the small town. A priest, played by Hal Holbrook, level headed-ly uncovers the truth early on in the film, and although Curtis' character is ignorant of this truth, we the audience are aware early on. The priest, at midnight, discovered an old journal of his grandfathers in the church walls. Reading it, he discovered that his grandfather and five other men conspired to trick a crew of sailors to their deaths in order to steal their hidden gold. It is stressed that men were sailors with hidden gold. That, however, sounds a lot like pirates. The fog that eerily glows and stretches over the town is a vessel for the dead sailors (pirates) to attack the townspeople for revenge. Apart from this being a film about pirate ghosts, which is silly enough, the fact that the pirate ghosts kill people who weren't even related to the conspirators is all the more ridiculous. As Curtis and her counterparts flee the fog, a party celebrating the anniversary is occurring in the main part of town, but the people attending it never seem to be in any danger. No, the people celebrating the deaths of the sailors because it resulted in the creation of the town are never harmed, instead, Curtis (who is a drifter) is in harm's way. THE FOG is no fun, and eventually becomes grading. It's weak.
The Fog: ★★

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two

The End of Our Childhoods

Here is an imperfect film cinematically, that is, in its own way, perfect. This is a strange statement to make, but with the last Harry Potter film, a supposed 'end' to the series and all that comes with it, satisfactory moments and deliveries are all that one expects or desires. The film is very lopsided: and this is the fault of breaking it into two parts. Although I wholeheartedly support that decision, the film starts in a slump (which is the slump that occurs in the middle of a film). Then, it picks up and crescendos to a finish. The story is meaningless, the backstory even more so. Those who have read the books know the story and are able to fill in the missing pieces that exist. (In this version, Dumbledore is demonized much more than he was in Rowling's book).
I have already stated the imperfection, but I wonder if it really matters. DEATHLY HALLOWS PART TWO is a film that knows when to pull the strings at the right moments, and that is what mattered to me by the end. The deliveries by all of the actors in the film, Watson, Grint, and Radcliffe at the center, were perfect. Snape, played brilliantly by Alan Rickman, is portrayed beyond my wildest hopes. Rickman may very well win an Oscar for his performance (and it would truly be a supporting actor role). The final battle of Hogwarts is also magnificent, the special effects, dark music, and wonderful set creating a lush background for our beloved characters to act within. Matthew Lewis as Neville is especially satisfying in this film, coming out of his awkward shell to be a champion for Harry Potter.
DEATHLY HALLOWS PART TWO delivered on what one would have expected it to. This is all that was asked of it, and thus it is a perfect ending for Potter fans. The trio at the center should go on to become great and important actors, and the Potter films will always stand as the testament to their talents. Before the film premiered in London, Rowling said of the series, "whether you return by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you back".
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two: ★★★★

Ghosts of Mars

A Cursed Film

Quite in a rhythm after its release, the 'master of horror' John Carpenter met a barrage of bad reviews insulting every aspect of his new film GHOSTS OF MARS. It was such a bad reception, that Carpenter was sent into a ten year hiatus, reportedly losing his "love of the cinema". The movie, in a fashion like that of ALIEN mixed with the classic western, told in flashbacks of a team of super police on Mars in the future. In this future, Mars is on its way to becoming a quasi-Earth (livable, but obnoxiously red). The super police, led by Natasha Henstridge's Melanie and Pam Grier's Helena, are off to pick up a criminal from a small mining outpost in the middle of nowhere. The team embarks on their journey with a few other men, including Jason Statham as Jericho. However, upon reaching the outpost, the team finds a deserted town, but the criminal they're supposed to pick up sitting confused in his jail cell. His name is Desolation Williams, and he's played smartly by Ice Cube. Melanie and Desolation get into it quite a bit upon Desolation's addition to their crew, and a portion here feels like the shoddy start-ups to westerns. The crew soon discovers why the town is deserted, learning that a buried ghostly lifeforce was awoken by the miners, and possessed their human bodies. Melanie and her crew briskly come up with shoddy plans to kill the zombie-esque miners, but most of the rest of the film past the discovery consists of stylish shoot-em-ups. Now in contrast to the outrage of Carpenter-devotees who hated GHOSTS OF MARS, I found it refreshingly blunt about what it was and what it set out to do. This is an action film and it delivers on that action. It is not confusing or complex, but very entertaining. If any of the characters in the film feel one-dimensional, its because they're meant to be (as it is in Carpenter's THE WARD). And it's also obvious that he's capable of character development if one considers Ice Cube's Desolation Williams character. Mostly, GHOSTS OF MARS is a clever take on the western within an odd setting. This serves to accentuate the idea of storytelling or theme in a universal way.

Ghosts of Mars: ★★★1/2

Kiki's Delivery Service

Playfulness

All too often, Hayao Miyazaki's films near greatness, but don't attain it. He is either restrainedly creative (which is disappointing like in MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO), or arrogantly idealistic (see HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE). In his early 00's film, SPIRITED AWAY, I found my Miyazaki match of unrestrained creativity and dark silliness. But here, with KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE, Miyazaki has crafted a masterpiece. The film tells of an world that can only be described as an alternate one. There, witches exist in small towns, inhabiting them and providing small public services. They act in olden ways, sending their small daughters off at 13 to learn to be witches. Kiki (Kirsten Dunst), the daughter of a potion-making witch, leaves home with her black cat Jiji (Phil Hartman) and tries to find a home by the ocean. Miyazaki delivers some entertaining sequences centering around Kiki's plight. These are lighthearted and essentially tame sequences, but they contain some tension that TOTORO especially lacked. This tension works perfectly as a statement on city life and importance within it. KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE is especially good at creating this world, and his obligatory creative characters just help to make the film episodically enjoyable.
Kiki's Delivery Service: ★★★1/2

Rubber

Intentionally Nonsensical

The film opens to various chairs arranged across a stretch of road. A car starts down the road, going out of its way to knock over all of the chairs, and finally halting to allow a police chief out of its trunk to introduce the film. This sheriff/chief argues that in every aspect of life, or at least once in every film, something doesn't make sense; it just happens. He declares the following film to be an homage to that idea, he departs, and his listening audience of people turn watch the film from afar using binoculars. They watch everything we do as a tire picks itself up from the Californian dirt in a valley below, and rolls into town using pyscho-kinetic powers to blow peoples' heads off. A few characters aid the story. There is the tire, Roxane Mesquida as the tire's love interest (or the monster's stolen dame reminiscent of 50's horror), the sheriff, the audience, and a young boy who believes the tire is a killer. The film is quite slow to start off, setting up intentionally ridiculous sequences centered around the tire, and a few other offbeat premises that build on the idea that there is an audience watching the "film" in the town go on. RUBBER makes absolutely no sense, but it is not so nonsensical as to not have a sense of humor, or a comprehensible storyline and vague statement. Many of the sheriff's examples from the beginning of the film about how things don't make sense, frankly don't make sense themselves. But that fact alone in a way supports his silly statement, and more importantly, as an audience we can see how things don't have to make sense in order to be fun. There's a level of acceptance you have to have in order to view RUBBER. I didn't find this a very hard level to achieve, and I was pleasantly surprised at a lot of the gratuitously inclined craft within the film. It's damn good summer midnight entertainment.

Rubber: ★★★

House of Sand and Fog

A Depressing Example

HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG is a very good example of how a film can give good examples. It's a film that does many things right: the family drama, the tragedy, good people trying to do the right thing, the things we don't want to know about, desperation, buried racism, and depression. Thus, it shows how well a film can evoke these themes, and in many ways. The film stars Jennifer Connelly as Kathy. Her husband has recently left her, and while in her depression, she neglected letters informing her of imminent eviction from her home. The state claims that Kathy never payed a business tax, but she owned no business. She is wrongfully evicted, and depressively lives in her car seeking help from a lawyer and a friendly cop. An Iranian ex-colonel buys the house in good will from the State. He and his family, who fled from Iran for political reasons, live in the house they bought cheap, and hope to sell it off for what it's really worth (four times the price he bought it for). Kathy, still depressed, wants the house back because it had belonged to her father, but her attempts are feeble and hopeless. The cop gets involved with her, but that takes them down a dangerous road. The cop, whose name is Lester, is involved with Kathy only because he sees her as freedom from a wife he doesn't love. And Kathy relies on Lester in primarily financial respects. Kathy becomes desperate, and her desperation brings the true selves of everyone out into the open. It becomes clear that (almost) everyone in the film is a good person who is misled in some way. Their situation feels cosmic, or fate determined, and it causes for a harrowing melodrama that is intelligent about its fleshed out characters. HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG relies on the performances of Jennifer Connelly as Kathy, and a very natural and convincing Ben Kingsley as the man who buys her house. It's a difficult film, but a very good one.
House of Sand and Fog: ★★★1/2

The Intruder (L'intrus)

Reckless, Unfocussed Thoughts on an Enigmatic Film

Claire Denis' THE INTRUDER is a French film of pure poetry. Reminiscent of T.S. Eliot, her images and storyline seems at first impenetrable. In THE INTRUDER, Denis continues her line of work centered around racism, and race in general. Her main character, Louis Tebor, is a man who lives in (or near) the woods with his two dogs. One night in the darkness he hears stirring outside, leaves his bed, and kills an intruder. He hides the body, he dreams of mass torture / violence, and we can see that he has just had a heart transplant or open heart surgery. He is searching for his son, who is an islander boy he abandoned, he wants to leave all of his money to this boy, he releases his dogs into the wild, he cruelly looks about the screen. This is what happens in THE INTRUDER, and the sequence of events and connections were not always clear. This was only my first time viewing Denis' film, but I could tell that multiple viewings would clarify or enhance the experience. Accompanying THE INTRUDER is a wonderfully dark and modern score: one of the best I've heard to accompany a modern film. Despite its complications, it is not difficult to understand the main narrative at work: 1. Louis Tebor must accept his heart, but his son cannot accept him. 2. This is a visual film which is supposed to haunt its viewer. I concede that I did not fully understand THE INTRUDER, but I was aware of its greatness that hid beneath layered storytelling and images. I will, without a doubt, return to this film, but for now it was merely good.
The Intruder (L'intrus): ★★★

The Ward

In Defense of THE WARD

In 2001, "Master of Horror" John Carpenter released GHOSTS OF MARS: a silly action movie with Natasha Henstridge and Ice Cube that was pretty much about what its title suggested. It was a flop, and despite minor outcries of its brilliance from admirable critics, it sent Carpenter into a depression. For nine years he stayed away from cinema having reportedly "lost his love for it". Now in 2011, 9 years and some-odd months since GHOSTS OF MARS, Carpenter returns. Such a story like Carpenter's loss of love for the cinema, and, with THE WARD a resurgence of that love prompted many critics / fans to expect a masterpiece like HALLOWEEN or other adored Carpenter films. Instead, with THE WARD, Carpenter has delivered his version of the 2000's era horror flick. This disappointed many to the point where they scathingly wrote of his failure.
Carpenter's film stars the Scarlett Johansson look-alike Amber Heard. The film opens to Heard running through woods, and arriving at a farmhouse which she burns to the ground. The police pick her up, she screams, and she ends up in a mental hospital. She is surrounded by various beauties who are all supposedly insane, a stoic nurse, bumbling orderlies, and a sly doctor whose loyalties remain dubious throughout. On the first night in the ward, Amber Heard's Kristen notices her blanket stolen from her room, although it was locked. This occurrence slowly progresses to a realization that there is a ghost in the ward, and that that ghost has a lot to do with the other patients in the ward.
 THE WARD features all of the clichés of the 00's horror films: a hot lead, music used to create surprise when something jumps out at you, nonsensical plotlines, implausible characters, bad acting, the mental ward. And yet, I have an admiration for THE WARD. In reviews, the film is made out to be like these 00's horror films in every way, shape, and form. But I only saw the similarities mentioned above and these things were only referenced rather than being integral. Critics make the film out to be like the 00's horror films: generally quickly-paced, predictable, stupid, and reminiscent to a shopping list when considering "who's going to get it next". These are the true characteristics of the schlocky 00's films, and the hot lead, music, acting, etc. are just lesser aspects. Instead of being fast, gory, stupid, and overly sexual, Carpenter has an admirable control over his scenes. In one scene where the girls of the ward are all showering, his tracking shots over their backs and clay-thick hair is more effective than the topless jaunts in, say, FRIDAY THE 13th or PIRANHA 3D.
In THE WARD, there is true surprise at plot (however silly it may be), and a slow build-up of wonderment over what's going on. Carpenter's direction of Amber Heard is especially commendable. I once heard that there are no bad actors, just bad directors, and Heard's reputation as a bad actress didn't hold up under Carpenter's direction, which composes Heard in scenes of bored frustration on benches and chairs that consistently worked and was believable. I also liked the twist at the end, which was clever and not unlike Darren Aronofsky's BLACK SWAN, put a new light on earlier events, and made me appreciate intentional clichés more than I would have if I had believed that they were unintentional mistakes. THE WARD is not a great film by Carpenter, and I fear he'll retreat into cinematic hiatus at the bad reception THE WARD has been getting and will probably continue to receive. Rather, this is a solid film and easily preferred over a gratuitously stupid / gory horror flick.
The Ward: ★★★

Rear Window

By the time I reached REAR WINDOW, the last of the consensus-great Hitchcock films I hadn't seen, it became apparent to me that Hitchcock does not have a "best" film. While I watched it, I recognized old feelings that Hitchcock had arisen within me in his other films. Namely, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, VERTIGO, TO CATCH A THIEF, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, DIAL M FOR MURDER, and NOTORIOUS. I realize now that Hitchcock's "best" films each do something great in a different light. In REAR WINDOW, for example, voyeurism and a contained space is used brilliantly. But this is very unlike NORTH BY NORTHWEST, which is epic in scale. REAR WINDOW, the 1957 film by Hitchcock, was filmed on a set built by Hitchcock that comprises of the apartment buildings' façades, and a garden between them. Inside of the buildings, L.B. Jefferies, a photographer, sits in a wheelchair with a broken leg. He is quite bored, but looks out his window incessantly at his neighbors; each of which he has learned something about in the past weeks. Jefferies (played by a dark, but pleasant James Stewart) has this routine interrupted by a nurse named Stella (Thelma Ritter) and his girlfriend / fiancé whom he does not wish to marry, but loves. She is obsessed with dresses as a model, wearing a different, expensive one every day. She is played by Grace Kelly: a perfect Hitchcock icy blonde. Jefferies remarks on his observations to these two women, and one night, while obsessively looking through a telephoto lens at a neighbor, he sees what he thinks to be a murder. He does not actually see the murder take place, but sees a broken series of events / images. This is what we, the audience do as well. We see broken pieces of a story and piece them together, and like Jefferies (who is immobile) in this case, we are unable to do anything about what we see through the lens. Jefferies, however, has these two women at his disposal, who eventually develop his ideas within their minds as if they were convinced audience members. Jefferies watches these women venture out into danger, and we feel his anguish at being immobile. Hitchcock's use of a subdued setting and suspense here is masterful.
Rear Window: ★★★★

The Tree of Life (A Return)

A while after seeing THE TREE OF LIFE, I returned to it with a fresh mind, but sturdy opinions / expectations. The viewing experience was pretty much the same: occasionally boring, but often exciting. I have discovered what it is, however, that makes Terence Malick's film merely good, and not great. Here was a film I came into wanting to love, and yet there are only small aspects of it that I admire: Jessica Chastain as Sleeping Beauty, Dinosaurs and the creation/destruction of Earth, Jessica Chastain flying, DDT, the music, Brad Pitt's face, contradictions, the likeness to Kubrick's 2001. For, Malick's film has revealed itself to be deeply personal. I see a close up of a lamp by the house, and see it again later, I see broken sequences of mangled faces at the shops and Brad Pitt's desire to invent and surmise that it must be Malick's own experience that formulated such images that seem misplaced/uneven. This is ubiquitous in the film though, and sequences seem out of place or irresponsive for me because the experiences belong solely to Malick. This is the pretentiousness of his film: that his life experience is ours, and in the cosmic scale scenes, we can apply our own trivial thoughts to his contrast. However, I came to admire the film slightly more for its style. It seemed more "memory-like" than it had before. Still an okay film, but even in the light of his fantastic setting, it seems minor, or like a failure to say that an attempted masterpiece failed at being that.

Steamboat Bill, Jr.

Delving deeper and deeper into the pantheon of films by Buster Keaton is his golden age of total cinematic freedom, it becomes clearer and clearer that the films should not stand alone (although they can), for they encompass an excellent body of work. In STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. Keaton plays a young dandy from Boston. He's traveling, and sends his father a letter saying that he's coming by to visit, as he hasn't seen his hardworking, steamboat father since he was a baby. He says that he'll be recognizable by a white carnation on his coat, but when the train comes in carrying Keaton, his father watches a group of men walking off all with white carnations. The father believes his son, being the offspring of a sturdy worker, will be even bigger than him, but is supremely disappointed when he discovers Keaton prancing about the town in ridiculous, prat-like clothes. He tries to toughen him up, but that doesn't go over well as Keaton undermines the father's plan by falling in love with the daughter of his father's steamboat rival. Keaton sneaks out of the boat to visit her, pushes a lot of people into water, and gets into a bunch of different, equally hilarious shenanigans. The best of the jokes is near the end, when a tornado uproots the town in startlingly realistic and daring effects (especially for 1928). STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. just stands as another great film from Buster Keaton.
Steamboat Bill, Jr.: ★★★1/2

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Wes Anderson's films are generally pretty great. His style is unique and perfected, and in films like THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS or THE DARJEELING LIMITED, his approach results in greatness. THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU, which features many of Anderson's frequent collaborators is not one of his great films. It follows Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) of the title, who goes on underwater adventures and has made countless documentaries on them. Now however, Steve and Team Zissou are all washed up. They're close to being broke, one of their long-time shipmates, Esteban, has been eaten by a mythological shark, and their latest film THE JAGUAR SHARK Pt. 1 was a complete failure. Steve still has his heart in adventuring, and two promising people show up before he sets out to film part two of the Jaguar shark series. One of these is Steve's son Ned (Owen Wilson). Steve isn't connected well to his son, and we learn more and more about Steve's active separation from him, but Ned seems like a good subplot for Steve's next film, and he's briskly inducted into Team Zissou (after Steve changes Ned's name legally to Kingsley Zissou). The other promising person entering the team is a reporter doing a cover story on Steve. She's played by Cate Blanchett, and stirs up Steve throughout the voyage. THE LIFE AQUATIC seems to have so many things going for it: Anderson's direction and quirks to start. But the film is firstly mired by bad sound editing, long stretches of nothing, and the realization that if Steve Zissou is washed up and boring to an idiot public in the movie, then how is it any more entertaining to watch what is essentially a "behind the scenes with Steve Zissou" film, if he considers these scenes unworthy of his documentary? There is undeniable charm and excitement that exists in pockets of the film, but they're too often on the periphery.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: ★★

I Served the King of England

I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND isn't the kind of comedy to throw the jokes in your face, or even make them apparent. Instead, the director Jirí Menzel uses a deadpan style that is occasionally quite subtle. At the start of the film, an old man by the name of Jan Díte is leaving prison. He narrates the rest of the film, remarking as he leaves prison that he was granted amnesty shortening his fifteen years in prison to just fourteen and nine months. He then sighs, and attempts to walk off away from the prison, but his coattail is caught in the prison door. Díte as an old man (played by Oldrich Kaiser) lives a simple life after prison. He reminisces to himself, but remains an enigmatic figure to a pretty young girl living near him. He works tirelessly, and has his eye on her most of the time, but we learn from Díte what this beauty reminds him of. In flashbacks that take up most of the film, a young Jan Díte is seen as a bumbling, innocent-looking waiter who dreams of being a millionaire in 1930's Czechoslovakia. He always wishes to be a part of the elite (the people he serves), and he slowly climbs in stature, going from being a waiter at a coffee shop for posh chess players and drinkers, to being the owner of his very own hotel. Throughout all of director Menzel's comedy in the film, which remains entertaining, an undercurrent of critique is also evident. Like Menzel's understated comedy, this serious vein is also understated, but delightful if (or when) discovered. Díte, for example, will never be accepted into the elite because he will have always have started out lowly. He does not realize this, but we know he one day will from the social standing of the older Díte. Also, Czechoslovakian politics and loyalties are on display. A restaurant won't serve a german before Hitler takes over, but after he does they are bitterly forced to, but resist by attacking defenseless germans and removing their white socks in protest. I SERVED THE KIND OF ENGLAND is a fine, erotic film which is funny, dark, and eventually satisfying.
I Served the King of England: ★★★

On Consistency

I've been seeing less films lately. I don't know why as there isn't a specific reason or change making itself apparent. 1 film in the month of July so far is pretty tame, especially when June saw around 45, which was its self lean. Why the lack of consistency? Sometimes this is a discipline. I'm growing lazy(ier?).

Red Hill

Emerging from the small but strong Aussie cinema, RED HILL stands as an example of the current Australian practice, while also being quite a good film. Given the lack of cinematic strength in Australia up until the late 2000's, filmmakers like the Edgington's have slowly begun to cultivate the cinema. With films like ANIMAL KINGDOM or the excellent THE SQUARE, Australian filmmakers have revealed themselves to be extremely referential. THE SQUARE was very reminiscent of American noir, but it was unique in its own, dark way, and ANIMAL KINGDOM was reminiscent of American gangster  films. RED HILL is more referential of old American westerns, and American horror films. Much of it is referencing this, but a lot of it relies on performance, delivery, and tone. The film stars "True Blood"'s Ryan Kwanten as a policeman who's moved to the outback with his pregnant wife for a more peaceful background. But when he goes off to work by foot, and meets an ornery group of inner-loyal cops, he senses something is awry. This is not a town that is specifically Aussie, but specifically of itself, encompassing a farm terror in the form of an escaped jaguar from a circus, and hidden truths beneath dirty faces. Kwanten is seen reading a book of baby boy names in his cop car, and receives a call of an escaped prisoner (a cop killer). This man moves through the town like NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN's Anton Chigurh: unstoppable. As the film progresses, Kwanten's cop discovers a hidden mystery involving much of the local populace, centered around the escaped prisoner. RED HILL is a fine thriller, knowledgable about where it wants to go with its story, and how it wants to burrow in.
Red Hill: ★★★1/2