By Rick Jackson
To be fair to Woody Allen, this is really the first film where he takes a backseat to being funny. If you've paid attention to all his other films, you'd see there are scenes which are disguised by a sense of humour that makes you laugh. It may be easy to forget these times, butwith his latest, Interiors, there is no such luck because you are left with a compelling, serious performances so specific and open like a deep wound, you are missing out on Allen's deep rooted ruminations about a subject he has talked about in his essays, notably "Examining Psychic Phenomena."
From the opening sequence, the film sets the tone with its series of shots from a house as it looks toward the sea. It seems to be telling you everyone qho lives there is void of emotion, along with the sense of unfulfillment and equally defined fears from the characters you are about to meet. Their commonality and ceaseless accommodation to be seen and heard almost comes from lifeless people personified by the way Allen focuses on their facial expressions and lack of any elegance or charm to match.
Diane Keaton plays Renata, the oldest daughter and a successful poet. She is married to Frderick (Richard Jordan), a successful businessman. Their daughter Joey (Mary Beth Hurt) is a failed actress and artist who lives with filmmaker Mike (Sam Waterston).
Along with them there are these people: Flynn (Kristin Griffith), the middle daughter; Eve (Geraldine Page) , the family matriarch; and Arthur (E.G. Marshall), the family patriarch.
Despite the latter's wealth, his life is coming apart because he has found comfort in a buxom woman named Pearl (Maureen Stapleton). What is going to happen is a heartwarming story of a family caught in a situation which is almost too personal to watch, but Allen maintains a certain amount of levity which allows you to forget the characters' troubles.Each is connected by their inability to understand each other and their irrational emotions that substitute for their basic human flaws.
Arthur spends a lot of time talking about his girls and, in so doing, avoids the real problem by creating a world that existed with harmony and dignity. He never addresses it to himself as if he may be perfect because he is older and more experienced in personal matters.
Eve's controlling behaviour brings resentment because she's a sick woman.
PPearl and Arthur look as if they may reconcile but it is too realistic a thing to happen because it is too easy. You may ask yourself if Allen wants this to take place or is he really trying to use his own personal problems to justify what his fictional characters are going through.
As each member of the family deals with their tortuous concerns, they forget to notice how silly they are by not getting a grip on reality. They are definitely saying Allen's words and they are delivered perfectly for you are caught up in their hysterical outbursts of emotion.
Marshall is more effective in transferring Arthur's lack of perfection in handling his family's problems, while Eve does her best to disguise her true feelings when the two of them argue about love and their inability to come to terms with it as a middle aged couple.
It may be that Allen can't articulate a proper solution for it mirrors his real life, especially when the conversation between Arthur and Eve changes to thoughts of dying.
Renata is obsessed with her job for it doesn't fulfill any real need. Her hopelessness with her life also is intrusive. At the same time, you learn that Joey is bored by the repetition of his job and it all comes to a head when they argue over nothing.
Frederick secretly wishes to be with his wife again but can't say it. Flynn is also obsessed with what's going to happen to her as an working actress.
When Eve returns to the sanitarium, it is the solution for her. Frderick eventually realizes through his own introspection what he actually wants which is to go to Harvard.
The creative process demands your personal attention and Allen's characters realize just how stupid they have become in not understanding and listening to what they are concerned.
Interiors lets you think about their problems and asks you how you would handle them if you had ones that were similar to theirs. When each of them finally begins to use reason to settle their innermost thoughts and fears, it all becomes clear how easy it is to solve them if you try.
Interiors is a remarkable film when you get right down to it.
August 30, 1978
Copyright Rick Jackson 1978
Saturday, July 31, 2010
THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE (ALLIANCE, 2010) ****
By Rick Jackson
In The Girl Who Played With Fire you are, once again, exposed to the amoral universe created by novelist Stieg Larsson from whose novel it is based on. This time around in the second film of the trilogy, you are literally back into the imagination of both the author's and screenwriter Jonas Frykberg's about a girl named Lisbeth Salander. Like them you are fired up by an intriguing world of characters who are living in our world on a different plane envisioned by what director Daniel Alfredson wants us to perceive it all as if it were a living dream where you, the moviegoer and, perhaps, also the reader, now have become voyeurs in a fantastic journey where Lisbeth, the girl with the dragon tattoo, is on the trail of a killer in Stockholm. Thanks to her knowledge of computers, you are reintroduced to her through a police investigation by her and Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), the investigative journalist who believes Lisbeth might be involved.
Like Dragon Tattoo, you don't know where the story is going. The mythic film noir world of slimy people is further evidenced by the procedural data of conventional police work in a confidential milieu governed by violence, secrecy, and a list of notorious players in a contagious manner where the mainstream is constantly interrupted by revelations that immerse you in the deeper reaches of the thrilling, twisted layers of tenderness, mercy and cruelty by a stage set by a supporting cast who draws you ever closer into the author and screenwriter's dimensions of inner torment while you learn more about Lisbeth's past and how she has become almost like a puppet whose strings lead her on the same path as us because our own inquisitive nature as the voyeur is matched by Mikael's and where the camera unravels the unseen and the unseemly in what turns out to be part of a bigger picture in Lisbeth's world of discovery where secrets are finally revealed in her past which, in turn, opens up more questions which you hope will be answered.
In The Girl Who Played With Fire, Noomi Rapace, again, plays Lisbeth as the ever growing mysterious figure who you learn has a family. Frykberg ties the two films together with little touches that are unexpected but welcome because you get to understand why she is the person she has become. However, there is still more for you to discover in the third film which I hope will not take too long to get here.
The rich, textural layers of this detective thriller features a strong supporting cast: Peter Andersson plays Nils Bjurman, the slimy district attorney, Georgi Staykov is Zalaxhenko, a key suspect in the investigation, veteran Swedish actor Per Oscarsson is Lisbeth's legal protector Palmgren, and Lena Endre is Erika.
Like Jacob Groth's music score, the entire film is low key much like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Most of the cast stays mostly in the background land ike a stage play, they come out when it is necessary. Rapace and Nyqvist hold the narrative nicely together and it is not hard to follow. They are the reason why you are hooked by this entire filmgoing experience. They fit right in to the subtle nuances that have been written in to immerse us all in a myriad of events that are only plausible through their eyes. The company they each keep governs their individual worlds which we suddenly have been thrown into without warning. It is, for this reason, all three books are worldwide best sellers, thanks to the popular interest in the films. Readers and moviegoers have ben ensconced in something that hasn't been seen for adults until now. The younger set still has Harry Potter, and young adults have the Twilight series.
Alfredson brings to The Girl Who Played With Fire a different perspective and although it has been criticized for not being as fresh and exciting as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, it remains as equally compelling and unexpected. They complement each other.
Mattias Morheden is responsible for creating those scenes which almost make you hold your breath. The special effects, especially the hornets, prepare you for the third and final film, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, which I can't wait to see. Right now, there is The Girl Who Played With Fire, and on DVD, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in case you missed it.
The Girl Who Played With Fire is rated 18A, with the warnings: violence and sexual content.
July 30, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
In The Girl Who Played With Fire you are, once again, exposed to the amoral universe created by novelist Stieg Larsson from whose novel it is based on. This time around in the second film of the trilogy, you are literally back into the imagination of both the author's and screenwriter Jonas Frykberg's about a girl named Lisbeth Salander. Like them you are fired up by an intriguing world of characters who are living in our world on a different plane envisioned by what director Daniel Alfredson wants us to perceive it all as if it were a living dream where you, the moviegoer and, perhaps, also the reader, now have become voyeurs in a fantastic journey where Lisbeth, the girl with the dragon tattoo, is on the trail of a killer in Stockholm. Thanks to her knowledge of computers, you are reintroduced to her through a police investigation by her and Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), the investigative journalist who believes Lisbeth might be involved.
Like Dragon Tattoo, you don't know where the story is going. The mythic film noir world of slimy people is further evidenced by the procedural data of conventional police work in a confidential milieu governed by violence, secrecy, and a list of notorious players in a contagious manner where the mainstream is constantly interrupted by revelations that immerse you in the deeper reaches of the thrilling, twisted layers of tenderness, mercy and cruelty by a stage set by a supporting cast who draws you ever closer into the author and screenwriter's dimensions of inner torment while you learn more about Lisbeth's past and how she has become almost like a puppet whose strings lead her on the same path as us because our own inquisitive nature as the voyeur is matched by Mikael's and where the camera unravels the unseen and the unseemly in what turns out to be part of a bigger picture in Lisbeth's world of discovery where secrets are finally revealed in her past which, in turn, opens up more questions which you hope will be answered.
In The Girl Who Played With Fire, Noomi Rapace, again, plays Lisbeth as the ever growing mysterious figure who you learn has a family. Frykberg ties the two films together with little touches that are unexpected but welcome because you get to understand why she is the person she has become. However, there is still more for you to discover in the third film which I hope will not take too long to get here.
The rich, textural layers of this detective thriller features a strong supporting cast: Peter Andersson plays Nils Bjurman, the slimy district attorney, Georgi Staykov is Zalaxhenko, a key suspect in the investigation, veteran Swedish actor Per Oscarsson is Lisbeth's legal protector Palmgren, and Lena Endre is Erika.
Like Jacob Groth's music score, the entire film is low key much like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Most of the cast stays mostly in the background land ike a stage play, they come out when it is necessary. Rapace and Nyqvist hold the narrative nicely together and it is not hard to follow. They are the reason why you are hooked by this entire filmgoing experience. They fit right in to the subtle nuances that have been written in to immerse us all in a myriad of events that are only plausible through their eyes. The company they each keep governs their individual worlds which we suddenly have been thrown into without warning. It is, for this reason, all three books are worldwide best sellers, thanks to the popular interest in the films. Readers and moviegoers have ben ensconced in something that hasn't been seen for adults until now. The younger set still has Harry Potter, and young adults have the Twilight series.
Alfredson brings to The Girl Who Played With Fire a different perspective and although it has been criticized for not being as fresh and exciting as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, it remains as equally compelling and unexpected. They complement each other.
Mattias Morheden is responsible for creating those scenes which almost make you hold your breath. The special effects, especially the hornets, prepare you for the third and final film, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, which I can't wait to see. Right now, there is The Girl Who Played With Fire, and on DVD, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in case you missed it.
The Girl Who Played With Fire is rated 18A, with the warnings: violence and sexual content.
July 30, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (MIRAMAX, 1999)**
By Rick Jackson
The Talented Mr. Ripley is predictable, cloying and too clever for its own good. Granted there are good performances from the main cast, there isn't anything new.
Written and directed by Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, it stars Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, an opportunist who assumes the identity of Dickie Greenleaf after meeting his parents at a rooftop party in Manhattan. They assume he met him at Princeton which he politely agrees without batting an eye.
In an interesting plot twist that works, Dickie's parents agree to finance Ripley's trip to Europe and pay him $1,000 if he will bring their son back home. It all seems straightforward enough, but the script makes it possible for Ripley to go through with thischarade to the hilt with too much credibility and fun. The real Dickie (Jude Law) doesn't sense anything wrong and it's too hard to believe it when it is allowed to go on and on.
At a beach in Italy you meet him sunning with Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Palthrow) who turns out to be the femme fatale in this sophisticated tale of deception and evil.
Damon portrays Dickie with a maddening sense of disarray and confusion. When he runs into the real Dickie he has his little parade of tricks which shouldn't work and it is any wonder if anyone can keep a straight face amid the tomfoolery and utter stupidity you witness on screen. The whole escapade becomes a cumbersome mess because Damon's character takes far too long to be discovered.
Law and Palthrow are incredibly resilient in their roles. The former's innocence and charm fit as does the latter's beauty and sense of decency underlying her true wicked nature which isn't revealed until much later.
When Dickie asks Ripley what his talents are, he says "forging signatures, telling lies and impersonating almost anyone."
It is a statement that doesn't give anything away and it's a nice bit of dramatic irony because it is so laughable.
The major flaw in Minghella's screenplay is its lack of shocking scenes which are muted by the actors egos, especially Damon's who is front and centre like a sore thumb. He also looks uncomfortable qhich detracts from any real possibilities to inject suspense instead of letting us know what he is constantly up to.
The Talented Mr. Ripley is inferior to Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 adaptation of another Highsmith novel, Strangers On A Train. Highsmith's Ripley was first filmed as Purple Noon in 1960 starring Alain Delon and it remains superior to Minghella's awkward version.
Damon, Law and Palthrow are part of a new breed of stars and I'm sure they will be around for years to come in other and, hopefully, better movies.
Two supporting roles by Cate Blanchett as Meredith Logue and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the real Dickie's longtime friend, Freddie Miles. Two more stars to watch for.
As a major studio Christmas movie, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a big disappointment.
January 27, 2000
Copyright Rick Jackson 2000
The Talented Mr. Ripley is predictable, cloying and too clever for its own good. Granted there are good performances from the main cast, there isn't anything new.
Written and directed by Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, it stars Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, an opportunist who assumes the identity of Dickie Greenleaf after meeting his parents at a rooftop party in Manhattan. They assume he met him at Princeton which he politely agrees without batting an eye.
In an interesting plot twist that works, Dickie's parents agree to finance Ripley's trip to Europe and pay him $1,000 if he will bring their son back home. It all seems straightforward enough, but the script makes it possible for Ripley to go through with thischarade to the hilt with too much credibility and fun. The real Dickie (Jude Law) doesn't sense anything wrong and it's too hard to believe it when it is allowed to go on and on.
At a beach in Italy you meet him sunning with Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Palthrow) who turns out to be the femme fatale in this sophisticated tale of deception and evil.
Damon portrays Dickie with a maddening sense of disarray and confusion. When he runs into the real Dickie he has his little parade of tricks which shouldn't work and it is any wonder if anyone can keep a straight face amid the tomfoolery and utter stupidity you witness on screen. The whole escapade becomes a cumbersome mess because Damon's character takes far too long to be discovered.
Law and Palthrow are incredibly resilient in their roles. The former's innocence and charm fit as does the latter's beauty and sense of decency underlying her true wicked nature which isn't revealed until much later.
When Dickie asks Ripley what his talents are, he says "forging signatures, telling lies and impersonating almost anyone."
It is a statement that doesn't give anything away and it's a nice bit of dramatic irony because it is so laughable.
The major flaw in Minghella's screenplay is its lack of shocking scenes which are muted by the actors egos, especially Damon's who is front and centre like a sore thumb. He also looks uncomfortable qhich detracts from any real possibilities to inject suspense instead of letting us know what he is constantly up to.
The Talented Mr. Ripley is inferior to Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 adaptation of another Highsmith novel, Strangers On A Train. Highsmith's Ripley was first filmed as Purple Noon in 1960 starring Alain Delon and it remains superior to Minghella's awkward version.
Damon, Law and Palthrow are part of a new breed of stars and I'm sure they will be around for years to come in other and, hopefully, better movies.
Two supporting roles by Cate Blanchett as Meredith Logue and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the real Dickie's longtime friend, Freddie Miles. Two more stars to watch for.
As a major studio Christmas movie, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a big disappointment.
January 27, 2000
Copyright Rick Jackson 2000
THE LAST AIRBENDER (PARAMOUNT, 2010)***
By Rick Jackson
Having just seen The Last Airbender, I was surprised to learn that there is very little written about it. The critics have dismissed this fantasy epic, and movie analysts have pronounced it dead because it hasn't lived up to the expectations of being a blockbuster summer hit. (A week after I wrote this it reportedly made a total of $100 million at the box office.)
I liked The Last Airbender because it tries to inject life in an already insufferable movie summer filled with remakes and sequels.
The main problem with this film is its director, M. Night Shymalan, who has not been the darling of film critics. It was interesting to find out from him in an interview that his films have been more appreciated by those moviegoers who have seen his films on DVD.
His other films are The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, Lady In The Water, The Village, and The Happening. I haven't liked them all but as a film critic you can't be too unfair no matter who the director or stars are in a particular film. I continue to believe in objectivity regardless of how much I like or dislike a movie.
The Last Airbender is a movie worth seeing. By the time you read this, it may well be gone since a scant number managed to see it. If you liked the series of books or the animated TV series, you have a better chance in appreciating it. However, I am not familiar with neither, so my opinion is based on the film as a film which I looked forward to seeing because Shymalan is a decent director.
It stars Jackson Rathbone as Sokka, Nicola Peltz as Katara, Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) as Prince Zuko, and Shaun Toub as Uncle Iroh.
James Newton Howard's music score underscores the action so well it helps rivet you in your seat. It makes the film work and it is a fine contribution to film scoring.
The cinematography celebrates the rich tapestry of amazement and wonder in conveying the subtle nuances of the story.
Written and directed by Shymalan, it focuses on the manipulation of air, earth, water and fire by the person of the film's title. I understand it is set sometime in the future after the apocalypse which means it is pure science fiction.
Despite elementary special effects, it is all watchable and enjoyable. The characters are plot driven even if it is very predictable.
After reading what Roger Ebert said about the film, I agree it would havebeen better as an animated film. Nonetheless, it is all, in my opinion, an honest tale about a young boy named Aang (Noah Ringer) who happens to be the avatar who, in turn, has srrived to save mankind from another apocalypse. Until he reveals himself, which is more dramatic irony for you figure it out first, there is a battle between the firebenders and the waterbenders. It is not all interesting but it is not too hard to follow.
Well paced, The Last Airbender succeeds in entertaining you for two hours. Despite leaving open the possibility of a sequel, it may work better in 3D. As it is in 2D, it is better than you might think if you're open to seeing it.
Regardless of your opinion, I found it fun to watch. Ringer saves it from being a total disaster. It weaves a nice story that puts the forces of good against the forces of evil. Yes, it is an old concept. However, you don't know want to kill a good idea from the point of view of a storyteller who just wants to be appreciated. Here is a film that remains a lot of fun.
It is rated PG/Parental Guidance, with the warnings: not recommended for young children and violence.
July 16, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
Having just seen The Last Airbender, I was surprised to learn that there is very little written about it. The critics have dismissed this fantasy epic, and movie analysts have pronounced it dead because it hasn't lived up to the expectations of being a blockbuster summer hit. (A week after I wrote this it reportedly made a total of $100 million at the box office.)
I liked The Last Airbender because it tries to inject life in an already insufferable movie summer filled with remakes and sequels.
The main problem with this film is its director, M. Night Shymalan, who has not been the darling of film critics. It was interesting to find out from him in an interview that his films have been more appreciated by those moviegoers who have seen his films on DVD.
His other films are The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, Lady In The Water, The Village, and The Happening. I haven't liked them all but as a film critic you can't be too unfair no matter who the director or stars are in a particular film. I continue to believe in objectivity regardless of how much I like or dislike a movie.
The Last Airbender is a movie worth seeing. By the time you read this, it may well be gone since a scant number managed to see it. If you liked the series of books or the animated TV series, you have a better chance in appreciating it. However, I am not familiar with neither, so my opinion is based on the film as a film which I looked forward to seeing because Shymalan is a decent director.
It stars Jackson Rathbone as Sokka, Nicola Peltz as Katara, Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) as Prince Zuko, and Shaun Toub as Uncle Iroh.
James Newton Howard's music score underscores the action so well it helps rivet you in your seat. It makes the film work and it is a fine contribution to film scoring.
The cinematography celebrates the rich tapestry of amazement and wonder in conveying the subtle nuances of the story.
Written and directed by Shymalan, it focuses on the manipulation of air, earth, water and fire by the person of the film's title. I understand it is set sometime in the future after the apocalypse which means it is pure science fiction.
Despite elementary special effects, it is all watchable and enjoyable. The characters are plot driven even if it is very predictable.
After reading what Roger Ebert said about the film, I agree it would havebeen better as an animated film. Nonetheless, it is all, in my opinion, an honest tale about a young boy named Aang (Noah Ringer) who happens to be the avatar who, in turn, has srrived to save mankind from another apocalypse. Until he reveals himself, which is more dramatic irony for you figure it out first, there is a battle between the firebenders and the waterbenders. It is not all interesting but it is not too hard to follow.
Well paced, The Last Airbender succeeds in entertaining you for two hours. Despite leaving open the possibility of a sequel, it may work better in 3D. As it is in 2D, it is better than you might think if you're open to seeing it.
Regardless of your opinion, I found it fun to watch. Ringer saves it from being a total disaster. It weaves a nice story that puts the forces of good against the forces of evil. Yes, it is an old concept. However, you don't know want to kill a good idea from the point of view of a storyteller who just wants to be appreciated. Here is a film that remains a lot of fun.
It is rated PG/Parental Guidance, with the warnings: not recommended for young children and violence.
July 16, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
SALT (COLUMBIA, 2010)****
By Rick Jackson
Angelina Jolie proves, once again, that she can carry a movie. In his screenplay, Kurt Wimmer has written a familiar spy story with a difference. This time it is a woman who could easily fill James Bond's shoes. Jolie is convincing in all her stunts and as you watch her move with ease, fortitude and intelligence, you can almost feel a smile remain on your face. Salt is a first rate action flick with nothing but non-stop action. During the first 20 minutes alone, you almost can't catch your breath. You wonder how Jolie can do it. You know without further discussion that she has prepared for the physical demands of her role and she nicely commands your attention right away. She's almost in every frame and succeeds in conveying what a female star must do to pull off a part any Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger could do without batting an eye. Jolie proved in the two Lara Croft films that she was capable. Since Wanted (2008) she hasn't looked back and carved herself a niche in a genre that has been dominated for far too long by men. Then again, all you need to do is to go back through movie history to see who was there before Jolie arrived on the scene. There was Pearl White (1898-1938), the queen of the silent serials who was a stunt woman. Her circus stunts were amazing for the time.Betty Hutton played her in the biopic, The Perils of Pauline (1947).
More recently in the sound era, there have been three female stars who have impressed moviegoers: Sigourney Weaver in Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), Linda Hamilton in The Terminator films, Anne Parillaud in La Femme Nikita (1990) and Franke Potente in Run, Lola, Run (1998).
The pace of Salt reminded me, too, of Run, Lola, Run because director Tom Tkywer didn't allow you to catch your breath. Each sequence kept your eyes glued to the screen for fear you might miss an important clue in figuring out why she was running.
Parillaud absolutely gave a stunning performance as Nikita with all the instincts of survival that a cat possesses. She made the entire experience unforgettable. Bridget Fonda did her best in the American remake but Parillaud is unequalled and more indelible in your memory.
I can remember overhearing how Hamilton impressed both male and female moviegoers with her athletic prowess in fighting against Schwarzenegger.
In Salt, Jolie brings back the meaning of survival in a fresh new way by tackling a cliched Cold War tale by infusing it with a fresh approach where her gut instincts and training after being captured by the Russians serves as a new beginning for the female action in a modern setting instead of science fiction where the female heroine had to fight against creatures from the future who have returned to terrorize their victims in the past which is, more accurately, our present day.
Jolie presents her latest character beyond the scrutiny of being another B movie with a flawed story that doesn't work for whatever reason you want to convince yourself.
Wimmer takes an old idea and gives us back someone who will remain indelible because she ranks high in a summer fraught with heroes of yesteryear who are struggling for a new generation, including The Green Hornet early in 2011.
Jolie takes us full circle back to the days of Pearl White when stunts and action were the rage among moviegoers who wanted to be entertained by a honest to goodness star. We still need heroes to look up to and Jolie can be added to the list.
I purposefully have avoided telling you about the story for I don't want to be a spoiler. In its simplicity in conveying action it is meant to be seen as a movie for anyone who likes an action film.
The rest of the cast features Liev Schreiber as Ted Winter, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peabody, Daniel Olbrychski as Orlov, and Andre Braugher as the defense secretary. They all give solid and dependable performances well worth the price of admission.
Veteran Australian director Philip Noyce has made the kind of action flick that has been missing from the big screen. His vision as a filmmaker is to make entertaining movies which are well paced, interesting and memorable. He does it again with Salt.
It is rated PG, with the warning: violence.
July 25, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
Angelina Jolie proves, once again, that she can carry a movie. In his screenplay, Kurt Wimmer has written a familiar spy story with a difference. This time it is a woman who could easily fill James Bond's shoes. Jolie is convincing in all her stunts and as you watch her move with ease, fortitude and intelligence, you can almost feel a smile remain on your face. Salt is a first rate action flick with nothing but non-stop action. During the first 20 minutes alone, you almost can't catch your breath. You wonder how Jolie can do it. You know without further discussion that she has prepared for the physical demands of her role and she nicely commands your attention right away. She's almost in every frame and succeeds in conveying what a female star must do to pull off a part any Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger could do without batting an eye. Jolie proved in the two Lara Croft films that she was capable. Since Wanted (2008) she hasn't looked back and carved herself a niche in a genre that has been dominated for far too long by men. Then again, all you need to do is to go back through movie history to see who was there before Jolie arrived on the scene. There was Pearl White (1898-1938), the queen of the silent serials who was a stunt woman. Her circus stunts were amazing for the time.Betty Hutton played her in the biopic, The Perils of Pauline (1947).
More recently in the sound era, there have been three female stars who have impressed moviegoers: Sigourney Weaver in Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), Linda Hamilton in The Terminator films, Anne Parillaud in La Femme Nikita (1990) and Franke Potente in Run, Lola, Run (1998).
The pace of Salt reminded me, too, of Run, Lola, Run because director Tom Tkywer didn't allow you to catch your breath. Each sequence kept your eyes glued to the screen for fear you might miss an important clue in figuring out why she was running.
Parillaud absolutely gave a stunning performance as Nikita with all the instincts of survival that a cat possesses. She made the entire experience unforgettable. Bridget Fonda did her best in the American remake but Parillaud is unequalled and more indelible in your memory.
I can remember overhearing how Hamilton impressed both male and female moviegoers with her athletic prowess in fighting against Schwarzenegger.
In Salt, Jolie brings back the meaning of survival in a fresh new way by tackling a cliched Cold War tale by infusing it with a fresh approach where her gut instincts and training after being captured by the Russians serves as a new beginning for the female action in a modern setting instead of science fiction where the female heroine had to fight against creatures from the future who have returned to terrorize their victims in the past which is, more accurately, our present day.
Jolie presents her latest character beyond the scrutiny of being another B movie with a flawed story that doesn't work for whatever reason you want to convince yourself.
Wimmer takes an old idea and gives us back someone who will remain indelible because she ranks high in a summer fraught with heroes of yesteryear who are struggling for a new generation, including The Green Hornet early in 2011.
Jolie takes us full circle back to the days of Pearl White when stunts and action were the rage among moviegoers who wanted to be entertained by a honest to goodness star. We still need heroes to look up to and Jolie can be added to the list.
I purposefully have avoided telling you about the story for I don't want to be a spoiler. In its simplicity in conveying action it is meant to be seen as a movie for anyone who likes an action film.
The rest of the cast features Liev Schreiber as Ted Winter, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peabody, Daniel Olbrychski as Orlov, and Andre Braugher as the defense secretary. They all give solid and dependable performances well worth the price of admission.
Veteran Australian director Philip Noyce has made the kind of action flick that has been missing from the big screen. His vision as a filmmaker is to make entertaining movies which are well paced, interesting and memorable. He does it again with Salt.
It is rated PG, with the warning: violence.
July 25, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (WARNER BROS., 1997)****
By Rick Jackson
James Ellroy's nearly unfilmable novel has been brought to the screen in a compelling, tough and entertaining adaptation which moviegoers will embrace like The Godfather trilogy.
Writer/director Curtis Hanson along with Brian Helgeland have taken its three main characters (Bud White, Ed Exley, Jack Vincennes) and set them in Los Angeles in the early 1950s. It all becomes an excellent example of film noir in a story about power, corruption, tabloid journalism, mobsters, drugs, and racism. As it touches on each, it raises questions based on fictional events. Like Roman Polanski's 1974 classic Chinatown, it is the story's gentle push into a different direction in a world which keeps coming across more real even if the screenwriters convince you otherwise because Ellroy's literary style has left open a myriad of possibilities which only they know ehere they will end up. Thinking carefully about this you are left wondering still if the darkness, innuendo, and the tabloid mentality speaks through Danny DeVito's character in his Hush Hush magazine.
It is not hard to remember Serpico (1973) and Prince of the City (1981) which were based on true stories and the implications of them as testaments of Hollywood realism. Hanson's latest is more in tune with Donnie Brasco (1995) with its violent overtones and characters who literally made your hair stand on end.
Hanson and Helgeland have approached their collaboration with equal doses of excitement, derision and humour, along with drama and satire in an unquenchable style of film noir updated for today's audiences to accept.
The director's dark side has been explored in his previous films, notably The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Bad Influence, and The River Wild. In L.A. Confidential he and Helgeland have reached the apotheosis of writing a film that slowly develops into something both smouldering and brilliant. The characters literally get under your skin after you are introduced to them. You could almost describe the undercurrent of events like watching a cigarette burning slowly until it is all ashes. The characters in Hanson's world are all heading for a catastrophe which you must have patience in order to see where it will end.
Kevin Spacey's Vincennes is a paradox of virtue as he moves within the confines of his job as a policeman and advisor for a TV show called, "Badge of Honor." The real and fictional attitudes collide in ways Vincennes cannot possibly know. Yet he is smart enough to be calm, cool and collected. His demeanor and ego fits both the actor and his character with an added dimension to his overall portrayal.
Russell Crowe is more explosive in a role which he handles with ease. His virilie personality and persuasive manner give Bud White just what he needs to stand out even if he is impatient in dispensing justice. At the same time he manages to convey honesty and high ideals within a system that is corrupt.
Guy Pearce plays Exley as a green recruit who doesn't realize he is unknowlingly being set up as a pariah of innocence which Capt. Dudley Smith tries to take full advantage until circumstances prove otherwise. Exley's calculating ambitions to move up inside the police department in the first hour lead to a slow and earnest understanding of certain events surrounding the murders of two veteran cops whose cynicism and bigotry turned against them.
You are left watching their moves in order to figure out the ensuing series of events that lead up to the film's conclusion.
In an excellent supporting role, Kim Basinger is perfectly cast as Lynn Bracken, a symbol of beauty amid Hanson's filmic style. Her street smarts and perception of the men in her life leave her vulnerable in the web of corruption that unwinds like a delicate spool of thread.
Ron Rifkin plays the district attorney as a wild card in an arbitrary way of doing business, and James Cromwell is Smith, a player whose presence is both disarming and pleasant.
DeVito is the embodiment of cynicism in his job as a fictitious film director. His manic performance nicely fits in with the rest of the cast and he pulls it off in a clever worldly fashion in a role quite differnt from any other he has played so far in his career to date.
Under Hanson's direction, L.A. Confidential wastes no time in achieving its aim at being a thought provoking film within its complex structure within the sphere of the sociology of film and as an enthusiastic piece of entertainment.
It is rated AA/Adult Accompaniment with the warnings: brutal violence, coarse language, and not recommended for children.
April 24, 1997
Copyright Rick Jackson 1997
James Ellroy's nearly unfilmable novel has been brought to the screen in a compelling, tough and entertaining adaptation which moviegoers will embrace like The Godfather trilogy.
Writer/director Curtis Hanson along with Brian Helgeland have taken its three main characters (Bud White, Ed Exley, Jack Vincennes) and set them in Los Angeles in the early 1950s. It all becomes an excellent example of film noir in a story about power, corruption, tabloid journalism, mobsters, drugs, and racism. As it touches on each, it raises questions based on fictional events. Like Roman Polanski's 1974 classic Chinatown, it is the story's gentle push into a different direction in a world which keeps coming across more real even if the screenwriters convince you otherwise because Ellroy's literary style has left open a myriad of possibilities which only they know ehere they will end up. Thinking carefully about this you are left wondering still if the darkness, innuendo, and the tabloid mentality speaks through Danny DeVito's character in his Hush Hush magazine.
It is not hard to remember Serpico (1973) and Prince of the City (1981) which were based on true stories and the implications of them as testaments of Hollywood realism. Hanson's latest is more in tune with Donnie Brasco (1995) with its violent overtones and characters who literally made your hair stand on end.
Hanson and Helgeland have approached their collaboration with equal doses of excitement, derision and humour, along with drama and satire in an unquenchable style of film noir updated for today's audiences to accept.
The director's dark side has been explored in his previous films, notably The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Bad Influence, and The River Wild. In L.A. Confidential he and Helgeland have reached the apotheosis of writing a film that slowly develops into something both smouldering and brilliant. The characters literally get under your skin after you are introduced to them. You could almost describe the undercurrent of events like watching a cigarette burning slowly until it is all ashes. The characters in Hanson's world are all heading for a catastrophe which you must have patience in order to see where it will end.
Kevin Spacey's Vincennes is a paradox of virtue as he moves within the confines of his job as a policeman and advisor for a TV show called, "Badge of Honor." The real and fictional attitudes collide in ways Vincennes cannot possibly know. Yet he is smart enough to be calm, cool and collected. His demeanor and ego fits both the actor and his character with an added dimension to his overall portrayal.
Russell Crowe is more explosive in a role which he handles with ease. His virilie personality and persuasive manner give Bud White just what he needs to stand out even if he is impatient in dispensing justice. At the same time he manages to convey honesty and high ideals within a system that is corrupt.
Guy Pearce plays Exley as a green recruit who doesn't realize he is unknowlingly being set up as a pariah of innocence which Capt. Dudley Smith tries to take full advantage until circumstances prove otherwise. Exley's calculating ambitions to move up inside the police department in the first hour lead to a slow and earnest understanding of certain events surrounding the murders of two veteran cops whose cynicism and bigotry turned against them.
You are left watching their moves in order to figure out the ensuing series of events that lead up to the film's conclusion.
In an excellent supporting role, Kim Basinger is perfectly cast as Lynn Bracken, a symbol of beauty amid Hanson's filmic style. Her street smarts and perception of the men in her life leave her vulnerable in the web of corruption that unwinds like a delicate spool of thread.
Ron Rifkin plays the district attorney as a wild card in an arbitrary way of doing business, and James Cromwell is Smith, a player whose presence is both disarming and pleasant.
DeVito is the embodiment of cynicism in his job as a fictitious film director. His manic performance nicely fits in with the rest of the cast and he pulls it off in a clever worldly fashion in a role quite differnt from any other he has played so far in his career to date.
Under Hanson's direction, L.A. Confidential wastes no time in achieving its aim at being a thought provoking film within its complex structure within the sphere of the sociology of film and as an enthusiastic piece of entertainment.
It is rated AA/Adult Accompaniment with the warnings: brutal violence, coarse language, and not recommended for children.
April 24, 1997
Copyright Rick Jackson 1997
Saturday, July 24, 2010
HARRY BROWN (E1, 2009)***
By Rick Jackson
Michael Caine gives an undeniably powerful performance as the title character in director Daniel Barber's hard-hitting drama about what it takes for a human being to fight back for justice when the law fails. Rather than preach it, Harry Brown the film conveys the basic frsmework of living a normal life in a normal place until outside forces blamed by society itself make it impossible to do it. In the case of the titular character, it is more the neighbourhood that has fallen victim to the ills of civilization and where his neighbours and friends are threatened by drug addicts and thugs who want to take control by all means they can from intimidation to being beaten up in a scourge of violent episodes that have baffled the local police.
Barber lets you see it all through Brown's eyes as he watches passively behind the safety of an open curtain or a window. It is all innocent enough but Brown sees what is going like we do and it is this convergence of dramatic irony and reality that forces you to get a grip on the outcome as if you are really there, too.
What makes the film work is Caine's strong performance as he slowly seethes inside with silent rage until he must do something about it. His affable personality changes from being docile to the point when action speaks out loud and clear.
This is Caine's fourth film in which he has surprised moviegoers by taking a serious dramatic role. The others are Get Carter (1971), Sleuth (1972) and Mona Lisa (1986).
Although audiences and critics criticized him for playing a mean character in Get Carter,the violence in Harry Brown is nothing like it. I will admit the underpinnings of the violence shares a theme in British Cinema that may remind moviegoers of such films as The Long Good Friday (1980) and the aforementioned Mona Lisa, along with the more recent American film, Gran Torino (2008).
What defines Harry Brown is Caine's portrayal of the mild mannered widower who sticks up for his neighbourhood and does so with such courage, you almost feel like cheering but you don't. There is a hint of pride and dignity in Harry Brown who strugles inside to let the police solve the problems of lawlessness. As he musters enough strength, he compromises his own dignity as a human being to do what he feels is right. It is the first time he has done this since coming home from World War II.
The police are not oblivious to the concerns in their local precinct, but they do not want vigilantes helping them. While they suspect Brown, but again it is irony merging with reality in a sequence that is not entirely out of place. You have to expect to see him play the last proverbial card and after a clue from D.I. Frampton (Emily Mortimer), Brown is able to do what he must if the neighbourhood is to be safe again. If you watch closely, you might determine there is a wakeup call from Brown in finding out who killed his good friend Leonard Atwill (David Bradley).
The director's use of long shots represent how far the police are in capturing the criminals who are terrorizing the suburb. They look innocent enough ut underneath there is a dangerous edge of reality that rears its ugly head, especially at night when the openness of daylight is hidden by the darkness literally and figuratively.
Sound consultant Glenn Fremantle is responsible for the sound effects that hold your attention from beginning to end. They speak volumes when there is no dialogue to tell you what's going on. It also underscores the director's theme of violence in an urban setting.
Harry Brown is a dramatic triumph for Caine.
It is rated 18A, with the warnings: brutal violence, substance abuse, and coarse language.
July 20, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
Michael Caine gives an undeniably powerful performance as the title character in director Daniel Barber's hard-hitting drama about what it takes for a human being to fight back for justice when the law fails. Rather than preach it, Harry Brown the film conveys the basic frsmework of living a normal life in a normal place until outside forces blamed by society itself make it impossible to do it. In the case of the titular character, it is more the neighbourhood that has fallen victim to the ills of civilization and where his neighbours and friends are threatened by drug addicts and thugs who want to take control by all means they can from intimidation to being beaten up in a scourge of violent episodes that have baffled the local police.
Barber lets you see it all through Brown's eyes as he watches passively behind the safety of an open curtain or a window. It is all innocent enough but Brown sees what is going like we do and it is this convergence of dramatic irony and reality that forces you to get a grip on the outcome as if you are really there, too.
What makes the film work is Caine's strong performance as he slowly seethes inside with silent rage until he must do something about it. His affable personality changes from being docile to the point when action speaks out loud and clear.
This is Caine's fourth film in which he has surprised moviegoers by taking a serious dramatic role. The others are Get Carter (1971), Sleuth (1972) and Mona Lisa (1986).
Although audiences and critics criticized him for playing a mean character in Get Carter,the violence in Harry Brown is nothing like it. I will admit the underpinnings of the violence shares a theme in British Cinema that may remind moviegoers of such films as The Long Good Friday (1980) and the aforementioned Mona Lisa, along with the more recent American film, Gran Torino (2008).
What defines Harry Brown is Caine's portrayal of the mild mannered widower who sticks up for his neighbourhood and does so with such courage, you almost feel like cheering but you don't. There is a hint of pride and dignity in Harry Brown who strugles inside to let the police solve the problems of lawlessness. As he musters enough strength, he compromises his own dignity as a human being to do what he feels is right. It is the first time he has done this since coming home from World War II.
The police are not oblivious to the concerns in their local precinct, but they do not want vigilantes helping them. While they suspect Brown, but again it is irony merging with reality in a sequence that is not entirely out of place. You have to expect to see him play the last proverbial card and after a clue from D.I. Frampton (Emily Mortimer), Brown is able to do what he must if the neighbourhood is to be safe again. If you watch closely, you might determine there is a wakeup call from Brown in finding out who killed his good friend Leonard Atwill (David Bradley).
The director's use of long shots represent how far the police are in capturing the criminals who are terrorizing the suburb. They look innocent enough ut underneath there is a dangerous edge of reality that rears its ugly head, especially at night when the openness of daylight is hidden by the darkness literally and figuratively.
Sound consultant Glenn Fremantle is responsible for the sound effects that hold your attention from beginning to end. They speak volumes when there is no dialogue to tell you what's going on. It also underscores the director's theme of violence in an urban setting.
Harry Brown is a dramatic triumph for Caine.
It is rated 18A, with the warnings: brutal violence, substance abuse, and coarse language.
July 20, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
INCEPTION (WARNER BROTHERS, 2010)****
By Rick Jackson
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Inception is a compelling, powerful and original film about the scientific possibilities of invading your dreams where your ideas are stolen from inside your brain. It is done by a person called an extractor. It is science fiction at a new level beyond the simplicity of Dreamscape (1984) and the reality of The Matrix (1999). It even reaches far ahead of the screenwriter's imagination as explored in Being John Malkovich (1999).
In the July/August 2010 issue of Film Comment, Nolan tells Amy Taubin the whole concept of Inception derives from an original idea about breaking into someone else's dream. He also uses the heist film as part of his inspiration. Like The Matrix, Inception presents a world which is not real to begin with and the subconscious becomes the main part of the dream which is exposed to limitless sharing expressed through the person in a dream state.
What you essentially have is an incredible journey through the portals of our own incipient realties and architectural imaginings where our identities are made void by extractors. They design what is going to happen through an intricate display of multiple inducements which force you to understand the gravity of the extractors' ideas without some kind of thought to justify just what you are seeing is real or part of your own dream while sitting in a darkened theatre for over two hours.
Think of Inception as another Fantastic Journey where, instead of going through the blood stream, you are entering the recesses of your basic understanding of science fiction as a general axiom and accepting the idea of being involved in a new concept in the landscape and restorative powers of the brain. You may find yourself thoroughly exhausted or fed up by the entire experience. Nonetheless, this is a trip that allows you to leave at anytime if you can't wait to see where it all ends. Analysis or discussion is unnecessary if you are patient enough and willing to listen carefully to what Nolan asks you to believe on the new beginnings or inceptions of where the film will ultimately take you innocently and persuasively at the same time.
Leonardo Di Caprio plays Dom Cobb, the master extractor who is hired to not steal but to plant an idea in Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) and, in so doing, break up his father's big profitable company. I won't give away the reasons for it, it will spoil the fun that prepares you for an incredible ride where reality converges with the imagination in a complex but simple manner.
Ellen Page (Juno) plays Ariadne, who figures it all out and is given an opportunity to prove her mettle as an actress because her character is a lot more intelligent and determined which comes as an complete surprise. She also contributes to the plausibility of what you're witnessing and it works. You can almost see how her mind assimilates what she knows and where it will take her without hesitation. Her professional acumen serves her well as she conveys an air of authority in every scene she's in.
The rest of the team features Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur, Dom's long-time point man, Tom Hardy as Eames, the forger, Dileep Rao as Yusuf, the chemist, and Michael Caine as Dom's father-in-law Miles, who taught him the dangers of sharing one's dreams.
The logic of what unfolds in the first hour is not difficult to comprehend if you have an open mind. The tense situations that build up quickly are meant to thrill and excite you for this is science fiction and it doesn't matter if you think you are missing the point. Just be patient and follow DiCaprio who gives another strong performance, his second after Shutter Island earlier this year.
The actor whose credits include What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1994), Marvin's Room (1996) Titanic (1998), and Aviator (2004) is able to make you wince and smile. In Nolan's latest he brings his entire craft to the fore by measuring his emotions as he reacts to the restlessness and hysterical nature of his foray into the human mind. Despite the director's use of CGI effects, it manages to sustain you to the end by its sheer sense of entertainment.
Nolan maintains a quick pace throughout and the cast rises to the occasion by delivering their lines in the same tempo. There is ample time to watch the parallel lines get closer between reality and the dream world which is, oddly enough, controlled by your subconscious. I won't explain more because, again, it will ruin all the fun you will have if you decide to line up and see the movie.
Cinematographer Wally Pfister holds you in his grasp with each real and surreal moment when the extractor unlocks the dreams of the intended and you see where it is meant to go or not to go. Your visual perception of it demands your undivided attention if you are to know what is happening more clearly.
The winter sequence was filmed in Calgary, Alberta, and the irector calls it his "Spellbound" moment, after the 1945 Hitchcock classic in which Gregory Peck in a sequence designed by Salvador Dali finds himself on a ski slope after seeing thr image of two fork lines on a napkin and it makes him remember. Just as Peck becomes vulnerable, so do the victims in Inception.
Di Caprio plays Cobb with an alarming sense of mystery as you watch him react and interact with the other characters. Cobb is different from who he played in Shutter Island where he was more vulnerable.
What is amazing to watch is Nolan's intelligent foray into an area where Cobb's consciousness might be the catalyst for what you see. However, you want to be careful in not analyzing it too much for you might miss all the fun. You definitely identify with DiCaprio throughout as he ties everything together. The layers of the unconconscious are meant to be part of the mystery ofwhat lies ahead for even the team working with Cobb is enthralled by the precious moments they have created through their trials. Like Nolan's Memento where you felt the main character through his experience, the same thing happens in Inception with Cobb.
As you watch, pay attention to the fact that five minutes of dreaming is equivalent to ten years of making time. The language of the dream world opens up many questions to think about and as you try to follow each revelation the plot reveals. The narrative takes over from the alleged incoherences of the preceding sequences where time and dreams merge together into a totally different dreamscape. Pace doesn't need to be coherent for the story is reaching levels of meaning which you will eventually discern. You hope.
Editor Lee Smith does a first rate job in creating the visualization schematics between both temporal planes and it is as invincible as the naked eye perceives it, as if the first introduction is not enough. You are so immersed in the story by the second hour, you have to keep your eyes wide open to believe everything.
By the end you may think it is all a dream anyway but the director doesn't pull any tricks like that. There isn't an open ending for a sequel, unless he wants to continue where he left off.
In addition to Ellen Page, there are two fine supporting roles: Ken Watanabe is Saito, who kidnaps Cobb and you learn what happened to him. In makeup to make him look like an old man, Saito remembers the twirling obelisk Cobb has on his person and it is the catalyst for the beginning of the shift in time and experience that occupies the film.
The other is by Marion Cotillard as Mal, Cobb's wife who has already died but returns to haunt Dom in his dreams because of his grief and guilt. It is interesting how Nolan likes to play with his characters by providing us first with the reason why Dom wants to go back to his dream to see if he can talk to his wife but, more importantly, to see the faces of his two children once more.
The use of Edith Piaf's music for Cotillard can easily be explained. She played the singer in the excellent biopic, La Vie En Rose. Tying the past and present together becomes a test for Cobb's emotional state. How many times do you think he is crazy to begin with may be a question to ponder.
There are times when you think he will want to join her. How Nolan wants you to keep watching at this point is so incredible on top of the well crafted scenes where you are trying to figure out if Mal is really dead or is he conjuring her up as part of his dream, or both. If you remember that in the subconscious state anything can happen. It helps justify some of the recurring scenes with Mal and the children. The last shot of them is mind boggling to say the least. However, it leaves you believing in your dreams in that they just might come true. Remember, too, again, this is science fiction and in this genre there is a chance to bend the story a little and, in the process, have fun with it.
Those critics who have been baffled by Inception are being plain ridiculous for it isn't anywhere near incomprehensible unless you want to be a smart aleck about it. Anyone expecting to be left to think profoundly will be disappointed because this is all a fantastic piece of science fiction disguised as nothing but. Here the characters make you learn about your own human failings by expressing them in dreams which can be altered and Nolan's imagination successfully transfers the whole idea by making a movie with the moviegoer in mind as the perfect specimen to be entertained by whatever he can come up with. Enjoy the journey and don't think too hard. You don't want to give yourself a headache over something so wonderful you can go back to watch over and over again to satisfy your wish to relax and have a great night out at the movies.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: language may offend and violence.
July 18, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Inception is a compelling, powerful and original film about the scientific possibilities of invading your dreams where your ideas are stolen from inside your brain. It is done by a person called an extractor. It is science fiction at a new level beyond the simplicity of Dreamscape (1984) and the reality of The Matrix (1999). It even reaches far ahead of the screenwriter's imagination as explored in Being John Malkovich (1999).
In the July/August 2010 issue of Film Comment, Nolan tells Amy Taubin the whole concept of Inception derives from an original idea about breaking into someone else's dream. He also uses the heist film as part of his inspiration. Like The Matrix, Inception presents a world which is not real to begin with and the subconscious becomes the main part of the dream which is exposed to limitless sharing expressed through the person in a dream state.
What you essentially have is an incredible journey through the portals of our own incipient realties and architectural imaginings where our identities are made void by extractors. They design what is going to happen through an intricate display of multiple inducements which force you to understand the gravity of the extractors' ideas without some kind of thought to justify just what you are seeing is real or part of your own dream while sitting in a darkened theatre for over two hours.
Think of Inception as another Fantastic Journey where, instead of going through the blood stream, you are entering the recesses of your basic understanding of science fiction as a general axiom and accepting the idea of being involved in a new concept in the landscape and restorative powers of the brain. You may find yourself thoroughly exhausted or fed up by the entire experience. Nonetheless, this is a trip that allows you to leave at anytime if you can't wait to see where it all ends. Analysis or discussion is unnecessary if you are patient enough and willing to listen carefully to what Nolan asks you to believe on the new beginnings or inceptions of where the film will ultimately take you innocently and persuasively at the same time.
Leonardo Di Caprio plays Dom Cobb, the master extractor who is hired to not steal but to plant an idea in Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) and, in so doing, break up his father's big profitable company. I won't give away the reasons for it, it will spoil the fun that prepares you for an incredible ride where reality converges with the imagination in a complex but simple manner.
Ellen Page (Juno) plays Ariadne, who figures it all out and is given an opportunity to prove her mettle as an actress because her character is a lot more intelligent and determined which comes as an complete surprise. She also contributes to the plausibility of what you're witnessing and it works. You can almost see how her mind assimilates what she knows and where it will take her without hesitation. Her professional acumen serves her well as she conveys an air of authority in every scene she's in.
The rest of the team features Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur, Dom's long-time point man, Tom Hardy as Eames, the forger, Dileep Rao as Yusuf, the chemist, and Michael Caine as Dom's father-in-law Miles, who taught him the dangers of sharing one's dreams.
The logic of what unfolds in the first hour is not difficult to comprehend if you have an open mind. The tense situations that build up quickly are meant to thrill and excite you for this is science fiction and it doesn't matter if you think you are missing the point. Just be patient and follow DiCaprio who gives another strong performance, his second after Shutter Island earlier this year.
The actor whose credits include What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1994), Marvin's Room (1996) Titanic (1998), and Aviator (2004) is able to make you wince and smile. In Nolan's latest he brings his entire craft to the fore by measuring his emotions as he reacts to the restlessness and hysterical nature of his foray into the human mind. Despite the director's use of CGI effects, it manages to sustain you to the end by its sheer sense of entertainment.
Nolan maintains a quick pace throughout and the cast rises to the occasion by delivering their lines in the same tempo. There is ample time to watch the parallel lines get closer between reality and the dream world which is, oddly enough, controlled by your subconscious. I won't explain more because, again, it will ruin all the fun you will have if you decide to line up and see the movie.
Cinematographer Wally Pfister holds you in his grasp with each real and surreal moment when the extractor unlocks the dreams of the intended and you see where it is meant to go or not to go. Your visual perception of it demands your undivided attention if you are to know what is happening more clearly.
The winter sequence was filmed in Calgary, Alberta, and the irector calls it his "Spellbound" moment, after the 1945 Hitchcock classic in which Gregory Peck in a sequence designed by Salvador Dali finds himself on a ski slope after seeing thr image of two fork lines on a napkin and it makes him remember. Just as Peck becomes vulnerable, so do the victims in Inception.
Di Caprio plays Cobb with an alarming sense of mystery as you watch him react and interact with the other characters. Cobb is different from who he played in Shutter Island where he was more vulnerable.
What is amazing to watch is Nolan's intelligent foray into an area where Cobb's consciousness might be the catalyst for what you see. However, you want to be careful in not analyzing it too much for you might miss all the fun. You definitely identify with DiCaprio throughout as he ties everything together. The layers of the unconconscious are meant to be part of the mystery ofwhat lies ahead for even the team working with Cobb is enthralled by the precious moments they have created through their trials. Like Nolan's Memento where you felt the main character through his experience, the same thing happens in Inception with Cobb.
As you watch, pay attention to the fact that five minutes of dreaming is equivalent to ten years of making time. The language of the dream world opens up many questions to think about and as you try to follow each revelation the plot reveals. The narrative takes over from the alleged incoherences of the preceding sequences where time and dreams merge together into a totally different dreamscape. Pace doesn't need to be coherent for the story is reaching levels of meaning which you will eventually discern. You hope.
Editor Lee Smith does a first rate job in creating the visualization schematics between both temporal planes and it is as invincible as the naked eye perceives it, as if the first introduction is not enough. You are so immersed in the story by the second hour, you have to keep your eyes wide open to believe everything.
By the end you may think it is all a dream anyway but the director doesn't pull any tricks like that. There isn't an open ending for a sequel, unless he wants to continue where he left off.
In addition to Ellen Page, there are two fine supporting roles: Ken Watanabe is Saito, who kidnaps Cobb and you learn what happened to him. In makeup to make him look like an old man, Saito remembers the twirling obelisk Cobb has on his person and it is the catalyst for the beginning of the shift in time and experience that occupies the film.
The other is by Marion Cotillard as Mal, Cobb's wife who has already died but returns to haunt Dom in his dreams because of his grief and guilt. It is interesting how Nolan likes to play with his characters by providing us first with the reason why Dom wants to go back to his dream to see if he can talk to his wife but, more importantly, to see the faces of his two children once more.
The use of Edith Piaf's music for Cotillard can easily be explained. She played the singer in the excellent biopic, La Vie En Rose. Tying the past and present together becomes a test for Cobb's emotional state. How many times do you think he is crazy to begin with may be a question to ponder.
There are times when you think he will want to join her. How Nolan wants you to keep watching at this point is so incredible on top of the well crafted scenes where you are trying to figure out if Mal is really dead or is he conjuring her up as part of his dream, or both. If you remember that in the subconscious state anything can happen. It helps justify some of the recurring scenes with Mal and the children. The last shot of them is mind boggling to say the least. However, it leaves you believing in your dreams in that they just might come true. Remember, too, again, this is science fiction and in this genre there is a chance to bend the story a little and, in the process, have fun with it.
Those critics who have been baffled by Inception are being plain ridiculous for it isn't anywhere near incomprehensible unless you want to be a smart aleck about it. Anyone expecting to be left to think profoundly will be disappointed because this is all a fantastic piece of science fiction disguised as nothing but. Here the characters make you learn about your own human failings by expressing them in dreams which can be altered and Nolan's imagination successfully transfers the whole idea by making a movie with the moviegoer in mind as the perfect specimen to be entertained by whatever he can come up with. Enjoy the journey and don't think too hard. You don't want to give yourself a headache over something so wonderful you can go back to watch over and over again to satisfy your wish to relax and have a great night out at the movies.
It is rated PG, with the warnings: language may offend and violence.
July 18, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
THE MICMACS (E1/WARNER BROS, 2009)*
By Rick Jackson
From Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the writer-director of Amelie and A Very Long Engagement, comes an unusual mix of comedy and satire that doesn't quite come together like it should. The shallow plot is hampered further by a cast of characters who are not adept enough at conveying the old-fashioned slapstick mastered by the likes of Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
After opening in the western Sahara in 1979, you meet Bazil and his father, a bomb disposal expert. When he is killed defusing a landmine, the story moves ahead to the present day when, Bazil is all grown up and injured by a stray bullet in his brain which you learn could kill him at any time. What is even worse is the fact that he loses his job and home and is later adopted by a family of misfits who live in a scrapyard. Misfits accurately describes them as you will soon see.
I only wished they were as entertaining as the family in Frank Capra's 1938 classic, You Can't Take It With You. Still, there is something unique for you to watch among each of them: a contortonist, anobsessive ethnographer, a tiny inventor, an orphaned calculator and a stuntman. They are all looked after by a cook named Mama Chow in her own motherly ways.
When Bazil joins them, he sees what we do and, that is, they are strange and eccentric.
If only Jeunet had realized what he had it might have amounted to something hilarious.
Danny Boon's portrayal of Bazil gives you a modicum of hope as you wait for the magic to happen. When he decides to avenge the manufacturers of the landmine that killed his father, the story escalates into a series of misfires where the comedy gets lost in the execution of it due to the lack of plot development and the inexperienced ensemble of actors.
Sound editor Gerard Hardy deserves kudos for creating the great s soundtrack that makes up for the lapses in humour. The effects work better than the actors.
What makes the film interesting to say the least is a clip from the dubbed version of Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep (1946). There is another vintage clip from the 1955 film, The First Bad Man.
If you're an old movie buff like me, you'll also appreciate hearing some great music: Moscow Symphony Orchestra's Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man by Ella Fitzgerald from the musical Show Boat, Adagio by Mozart, Romantic Tango and Pirates from The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944), and Max Steiner's Sneak Thief from the 1955 war film, Battle Cry.
The Micmacs tries hard to live up to its homages to old movies but it fails miserably to be anything equal to it in the present because it flounders badly, especially in the second half.
The rest of the cast features Manon Le Moal as Lola, Julie Ferrier as the elastic girl, Yolande Moreau as Mama Chow, Nicholas Marie as Marconi, and Marie-Julep Baup as the calculator.
Under Jeunet's direction, his latest effort serves up its schtick in such a haphazard style it misses a chance to be really funny. As it is, it simply does not work. I wished it did because I was impressed by the trailer.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: sexual content and violence
July 12, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
From Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the writer-director of Amelie and A Very Long Engagement, comes an unusual mix of comedy and satire that doesn't quite come together like it should. The shallow plot is hampered further by a cast of characters who are not adept enough at conveying the old-fashioned slapstick mastered by the likes of Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
After opening in the western Sahara in 1979, you meet Bazil and his father, a bomb disposal expert. When he is killed defusing a landmine, the story moves ahead to the present day when, Bazil is all grown up and injured by a stray bullet in his brain which you learn could kill him at any time. What is even worse is the fact that he loses his job and home and is later adopted by a family of misfits who live in a scrapyard. Misfits accurately describes them as you will soon see.
I only wished they were as entertaining as the family in Frank Capra's 1938 classic, You Can't Take It With You. Still, there is something unique for you to watch among each of them: a contortonist, anobsessive ethnographer, a tiny inventor, an orphaned calculator and a stuntman. They are all looked after by a cook named Mama Chow in her own motherly ways.
When Bazil joins them, he sees what we do and, that is, they are strange and eccentric.
If only Jeunet had realized what he had it might have amounted to something hilarious.
Danny Boon's portrayal of Bazil gives you a modicum of hope as you wait for the magic to happen. When he decides to avenge the manufacturers of the landmine that killed his father, the story escalates into a series of misfires where the comedy gets lost in the execution of it due to the lack of plot development and the inexperienced ensemble of actors.
Sound editor Gerard Hardy deserves kudos for creating the great s soundtrack that makes up for the lapses in humour. The effects work better than the actors.
What makes the film interesting to say the least is a clip from the dubbed version of Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep (1946). There is another vintage clip from the 1955 film, The First Bad Man.
If you're an old movie buff like me, you'll also appreciate hearing some great music: Moscow Symphony Orchestra's Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man by Ella Fitzgerald from the musical Show Boat, Adagio by Mozart, Romantic Tango and Pirates from The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944), and Max Steiner's Sneak Thief from the 1955 war film, Battle Cry.
The Micmacs tries hard to live up to its homages to old movies but it fails miserably to be anything equal to it in the present because it flounders badly, especially in the second half.
The rest of the cast features Manon Le Moal as Lola, Julie Ferrier as the elastic girl, Yolande Moreau as Mama Chow, Nicholas Marie as Marconi, and Marie-Julep Baup as the calculator.
Under Jeunet's direction, his latest effort serves up its schtick in such a haphazard style it misses a chance to be really funny. As it is, it simply does not work. I wished it did because I was impressed by the trailer.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: sexual content and violence
July 12, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
KNIGHT AND DAY (20TH CENTURY FOX, 2010)*
By Rick Jackson
Written by Patrick O'Neill, Knight And Day reunites Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in a paper thin plot that does not serve either them very well. The plethora of action comes in fits and starts and leaves you shaking your head when it comes to answering the proverbial question: Where is this all going? The plot threads are wrapped up too neatly that there is nothing but the bare bones of a time worn tale. There is meant to be something big happening as you watch the cast play out their roles, but it does nothing but lengthen a short idea that is forced to work thanks, in large part, to Cruise and Diaz.
After the requisite and predictable meeting between their characters, Roy Miller and June Havens, you literally must accept the subplot of being stupified by the FBI agents who chase after them for no apparent reason than to get their adrenalins going and, if you're lucky, you will be believe it. There is hardly any chemistry for these two stars to muster even if they try to make everything exciting.
Director James Mangold (Walk The Line, 3:10 To Yuma) has trouble maintaining the action reins because Cruise and Diaz look like they are having too much fun in the spotlight together for us to care what happens. All of what you see is far too much in the second half when the story explodes in a flurry of excitement where the grins outsmart the bullets, and any kind of reality is replaced by the wooden performances of Peter Sarsgaard as Fitzgerald and Celia Weston as Molly. They really try to inject solidarity but it quickly runs out steam.
By the time the end credits roll, it is summer relief from another bad summer film.
It is rated PG/Parental Guidance, with the warning: violence.
June 27, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
Written by Patrick O'Neill, Knight And Day reunites Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in a paper thin plot that does not serve either them very well. The plethora of action comes in fits and starts and leaves you shaking your head when it comes to answering the proverbial question: Where is this all going? The plot threads are wrapped up too neatly that there is nothing but the bare bones of a time worn tale. There is meant to be something big happening as you watch the cast play out their roles, but it does nothing but lengthen a short idea that is forced to work thanks, in large part, to Cruise and Diaz.
After the requisite and predictable meeting between their characters, Roy Miller and June Havens, you literally must accept the subplot of being stupified by the FBI agents who chase after them for no apparent reason than to get their adrenalins going and, if you're lucky, you will be believe it. There is hardly any chemistry for these two stars to muster even if they try to make everything exciting.
Director James Mangold (Walk The Line, 3:10 To Yuma) has trouble maintaining the action reins because Cruise and Diaz look like they are having too much fun in the spotlight together for us to care what happens. All of what you see is far too much in the second half when the story explodes in a flurry of excitement where the grins outsmart the bullets, and any kind of reality is replaced by the wooden performances of Peter Sarsgaard as Fitzgerald and Celia Weston as Molly. They really try to inject solidarity but it quickly runs out steam.
By the time the end credits roll, it is summer relief from another bad summer film.
It is rated PG/Parental Guidance, with the warning: violence.
June 27, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES (MONGREL MEDIA, 2010)****
By Rick Jackson
From Spanish writer/director Juan Jose Campanella, The Secret In Their Eyes is a drama of such a high octane level of mystery, love, lust and murder, you are literally waiting to see what is going on right from the first frame. The simplicity of the murder which is told in flashback adds an immediate air of suspense. If you think you'll find out who did it, think again. Over the next two hours and nine minutes, you are invited to participate with your own ideas as you watch the main characters introduced in an innocent and seductive manner.
Benjamin Esposito is trying to come to terms with an old murder case that happened 25 years earlier in 1974. He has a case of writer's block as he tries to write down what he hopes will be his next book. It is a murder he can't forget and neither can anyone else. They include Irene (Soledad Villamil who reminded me of Anne Bancroft). Her eyes reveal something else, perhaps, naughty but you never find out. She is able to convey her quiet sense of beauty without overwhelming the big screen with wasted dialogue or romantic fluff. The quiet attention the director pays to her speaks volumes to the point where she just might be the murderer by the way she walks and behaves around men.
Ricardo Darin plays Esposito with a clear conscience and unafraid to expose anything or anyone in order to give himself some peace of mind. His sadness and sense of being in each room he enters is a matter that is not totally oblivious in addressing the questions he needs answers. As he writes down words like "fear," you wonder what mystery lies ahead. The director purposely wants you to ponder each scene as if each one is part of a bigger and unfolding puzzle disguised by another. Campanella directs his cameras at various angles to show you what he can and you have to be prepared to show interest in each character until it peaks your interest at an all-time high as your mind navigates rhrough all the clues. Nothing comes easy to Esposito and so it is for you, the moviegoer.
Campanella, I might add, doesn't give anything away and he forces you to keep watching around every corner of each frame even if may appear to be deliberately evasive for the sake of the narrative's strength in telling this story.
Other characters who aren't obvious are Sandoval (Guillermo Francella), Benjamin's assistant in the investigation; Morales (Pablo Rago), the husband of the dead woman, and Gomez (Javier Godino) who remains the number one suspect.
With the touch of an experienced craftsman, Campanella has written a literate screenplayof such a complex nature, you forget the details of the murder which is why he keeps reminding you along the way in innocent little ways. The characters haunt you; their ambivalence of the attitudes express hold you in their grasp with each breathtaking minute.
The different eyes you see during the first half-hour are meant to confuse you when it comes to sorting out the meaning of the film's title. The murder is the MacGuffin that throws you off the proverbial scent of actually learning what it means. As you slowly and generously are immersed in the murder, you are left with an entertaining and unforgettable tale.
The Secret In Their Eyes is one of the year's most original suspensers and you will leave the theatre completely satisfied. Movies don't get better than this. It's in Spanish, with English sub-titles. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and sexual content.
July 3, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
From Spanish writer/director Juan Jose Campanella, The Secret In Their Eyes is a drama of such a high octane level of mystery, love, lust and murder, you are literally waiting to see what is going on right from the first frame. The simplicity of the murder which is told in flashback adds an immediate air of suspense. If you think you'll find out who did it, think again. Over the next two hours and nine minutes, you are invited to participate with your own ideas as you watch the main characters introduced in an innocent and seductive manner.
Benjamin Esposito is trying to come to terms with an old murder case that happened 25 years earlier in 1974. He has a case of writer's block as he tries to write down what he hopes will be his next book. It is a murder he can't forget and neither can anyone else. They include Irene (Soledad Villamil who reminded me of Anne Bancroft). Her eyes reveal something else, perhaps, naughty but you never find out. She is able to convey her quiet sense of beauty without overwhelming the big screen with wasted dialogue or romantic fluff. The quiet attention the director pays to her speaks volumes to the point where she just might be the murderer by the way she walks and behaves around men.
Ricardo Darin plays Esposito with a clear conscience and unafraid to expose anything or anyone in order to give himself some peace of mind. His sadness and sense of being in each room he enters is a matter that is not totally oblivious in addressing the questions he needs answers. As he writes down words like "fear," you wonder what mystery lies ahead. The director purposely wants you to ponder each scene as if each one is part of a bigger and unfolding puzzle disguised by another. Campanella directs his cameras at various angles to show you what he can and you have to be prepared to show interest in each character until it peaks your interest at an all-time high as your mind navigates rhrough all the clues. Nothing comes easy to Esposito and so it is for you, the moviegoer.
Campanella, I might add, doesn't give anything away and he forces you to keep watching around every corner of each frame even if may appear to be deliberately evasive for the sake of the narrative's strength in telling this story.
Other characters who aren't obvious are Sandoval (Guillermo Francella), Benjamin's assistant in the investigation; Morales (Pablo Rago), the husband of the dead woman, and Gomez (Javier Godino) who remains the number one suspect.
With the touch of an experienced craftsman, Campanella has written a literate screenplayof such a complex nature, you forget the details of the murder which is why he keeps reminding you along the way in innocent little ways. The characters haunt you; their ambivalence of the attitudes express hold you in their grasp with each breathtaking minute.
The different eyes you see during the first half-hour are meant to confuse you when it comes to sorting out the meaning of the film's title. The murder is the MacGuffin that throws you off the proverbial scent of actually learning what it means. As you slowly and generously are immersed in the murder, you are left with an entertaining and unforgettable tale.
The Secret In Their Eyes is one of the year's most original suspensers and you will leave the theatre completely satisfied. Movies don't get better than this. It's in Spanish, with English sub-titles. It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and sexual content.
July 3, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
PASSENGER SIDE (KINOSMITH, 2009)*
By Rick Jackson
Written and directed by Matthew Bissonette (Who Loves The Sun), Passenger Side is an ill-conceived and rambling road movie about two brothers who drive in and around Los Angeles in an old green bimmer. Michael (Adam Scott) and Toby (Joel Bissonnette) try hard to make their trip interesting, but it isn't because of the lack of real plot development. The shots of L.A. hardly matter as they ponder niceties like a birthday party which only matters an iota of difference. Their arguments about the Montreal Canadians give the film its Canadian identity.
After a bad start when the two of them can't decide where they are going, the trip meanders between the sublime and the ridiculous. You don't care whether they both make it or not. Their bickering about nonsense and wishful thinking is interrupted by a transvestite and, later, Theresa (Robin Tunney), one of the brother's girlfriends. As you listen to all the dialogue, you keep hoping for a solid bit of action or drama to liven things up, but it never comes.
The pop music soundtrack is, at first, annoying and reinforces how little there is to salvage from a bland drive in the big city.
Matthew Bissonnette is content to let the actors inject everything by just being there. If only the cast's appearances offered something memorable besides trying to be Canadian with the soundtrack (Wilco and Leonard Cohen). Michael and Toby offer nothing new about the quality of their existence as people. Whatever their dreams or purposes for living they muster are lost in the concomitant adventure of the bland and boring.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language, sexual content and crude content.
June 25, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
Written and directed by Matthew Bissonette (Who Loves The Sun), Passenger Side is an ill-conceived and rambling road movie about two brothers who drive in and around Los Angeles in an old green bimmer. Michael (Adam Scott) and Toby (Joel Bissonnette) try hard to make their trip interesting, but it isn't because of the lack of real plot development. The shots of L.A. hardly matter as they ponder niceties like a birthday party which only matters an iota of difference. Their arguments about the Montreal Canadians give the film its Canadian identity.
After a bad start when the two of them can't decide where they are going, the trip meanders between the sublime and the ridiculous. You don't care whether they both make it or not. Their bickering about nonsense and wishful thinking is interrupted by a transvestite and, later, Theresa (Robin Tunney), one of the brother's girlfriends. As you listen to all the dialogue, you keep hoping for a solid bit of action or drama to liven things up, but it never comes.
The pop music soundtrack is, at first, annoying and reinforces how little there is to salvage from a bland drive in the big city.
Matthew Bissonnette is content to let the actors inject everything by just being there. If only the cast's appearances offered something memorable besides trying to be Canadian with the soundtrack (Wilco and Leonard Cohen). Michael and Toby offer nothing new about the quality of their existence as people. Whatever their dreams or purposes for living they muster are lost in the concomitant adventure of the bland and boring.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language, sexual content and crude content.
June 25, 2010
Copyright Rick Jackson 2010
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