REVIEW: Alice in Wonderland

21 03 2010

No matter your opinion on director Tim Burton, it can’t be denied that the man has some true creativity.  This spark is what gained him notoriety in the late ’80s and early ’90s with hits like “Beetlejuice,” “Edward Scissorhands,” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”  Recently, however, Burton has seemed to have found that creativity isn’t always synonymous with originality, and has mainly spent the past five years retooling other people’s work.

But while Burton puts his own unique spin on these projects, I have felt that each of them has lost a very distinct part of their original identity.  With his remake of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” the movie lost most of its original charm and fun.  His film adaptation of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” dropped a sizable portion of Stephen Sondheim’s songs, and the story lost a great deal of character development.

Unfortunately, “Alice in Wonderland” falls into the same pattern.  This time, Burton has stripped the movie of a lot of its sense.  Granted, this is a fairly non-sensical story, so this isn’t the worst movie to receive this treatment.  But Burton makes it lose even the most basic coherency, and no movie can be excused for that.

It’s hard to describe what exactly Burton’s take on “Alice in Wonderland” actually is.  It is not a remake of the Disney animated classic like I assumed it would be.  But it is not any sort of sequel, prequel, revamping, or modernizing of anything we have ever seen.  This version is just off in its own little world, reminding us of our favorite characters but never giving us any reason to fall in love with them again.

The story follows Alice (Mia Wasikowska) at the age of 19, once again drawn by the white rabbit into the magical world where the impossible is very possible.  The land is now being ruled by the ruthless Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), whose reign of terror is enforced by the fearsome Jabberwocky.  Alice becomes public enemy #1 whenever it is foreseen that she will slay the beast.  To ensure that her head stays on her shoulders, Alice enlists the help of the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) along with a few other oddballs including the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp).

Burton said that his intention was to “try and make Alice feel more like a story as opposed to a series of events” because he never felt an emotional connection between the characters in the original.  In this respect, his version is an utter disaster.  I saw exactly the opposite of what he intended: Alice wandering from place to place with absolutely no plot building.

On the acting side of things, this is obviously Mia Wasikowska’s big moment, and this movie is obviously going to get her noticed.  I’m sure this is only the beginning of many movies that we see this young talent in.  As for the old pros, the only person that seems to be having any fun is Helena Bonham Carter.  She makes the character her own, and it works.  Not to mention, she made me chuckle every time she spat out the Red Queen’s trademark phrase “off with her head!”  Johnny Depp can’t seem to make any more sense out of the Mad Hatter than we can, and in Anne Hathaway’s brief moments on screen, she seems to be fascinated only with twirling around the set like a ballerina.

In fact, the only thing about “Alice in Wonderland” that was executed exceptionally well was the mischievous Cheshire Cat, voiced by British comedian Stephen Fry.  Striking the perfect balance between cute and dastardly, I found myself consistently begging for the blue smoke to materialize into the devilish kitty.  But most of my wishing was not rewarded, much like my wishing for the movie to become something other than a mess.  However, it is a mess that is distinctly Tim Burton – whether that’s good or not is up to you.  C /


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F.I.L.M. of the Week (March 19, 2010)

19 03 2010

It’s been a long time since I have been so enthusiastic about presenting a movie as the “F.I.L.M. of the Week.”

I acknowledge my tendency to sensationalize and exaggerate as a blogger and critic.  In a way, it’s what I have to do to get my feelings across and make it read.  So I throw around a word like triumphant quite a bit.

I’m not sure that I have ever seen a movie that fits the word triumphant better than Julian Schnabel’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”  Simply put, the film tells the story of one of the greatest triumphs of the human will over obstacles that has even been told – no exaggerating.  And it only makes it more extraordinary to think that the movie is based on a true story.

Yes, it is entirely true that Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of Elle in France, suffered a massive stroke that left him comatose for three weeks.  When he woke up, he found himself a victim of “locked-in” syndrome.  All mental and cognitive functions worked, but nearly all physical functions were shut down because of the lack of activity in the brain stem.

But notice that I didn’t say all physical functions were shut down.  Bauby had one functional body part: his left eye.  Thanks to the help of two patient and ingenious hospital therapists, he eventually learned to talk and communicate not with his mouth, but with this eye.  And as Bauby’s confidence in the system grew, he began fulfilling his previous book contract, albeit in a manner and about a subject that no one could have expected.  His strength and determination shocked everyone, but more importantly, it inspired them.

Director Julian Schnabel, deservedly cited by the Academy for his work, does an excellent job bringing this story to the screen.  He begins the movie by showing us life from Bauby’s new perspective; that is, from a fixed position down below.  We feel the frustration as he tries to speak but slowly realizes that no one can her him.  We sense the disorientation as his right eye fails to catch up to his left.  Slowly, as Bauby comes to terms with his condition, our view expands.  We see Bauby as the world sees him.  We see Bauby as he sees himself.  We see Bauby’s dreams.  By the end of the movie, Schnabel ensures that we have fully explored the man, and he uses plenty of technical weapons in his arsenal to achieve it.  The cinematography and editing, both nominated for Oscars, are absolutely phenomenal.

I feel like triumphant is almost an understatement for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”  It’s the kind of movie that makes you wonder why more foreign films aren’t nominated for Best Picture – this easily makes my top five of 2007.  But I digress; I don’t want this to become a discussion of the politics of movie awards.  This is a movie that shows the power of the human will to overcome the most grueling of physical obstacles in a way that stirs the soul, and it needs to be seen.


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REVIEW: The Girlfriend Experience

18 03 2010

I have a great deal of respect for Steven Soderbergh because in all of his directorial projects, he has never played it safe.  Even in his more conservative films, he is never afraid to take risks – for example, he gives “The Informant!” the double punch of a smart satire and a deliberate character study.

But whenever Soderbergh isn’t doing well-received studio movies, he makes a fair amount of experimental cinema.  And the thing about these movies is that they are incredibly polarizing – you either think it works or it fails; there’s not much of a middle ground.

With his latest experiment, “The Girlfriend Experience,” it doesn’t.

I’ve been taught the scientific method throughout my entire schooling career, so I can systematically dissect where the movie fell apart.  I admire Soderbergh’s hypothesis, or the general idea he had for the film.  He wanted to make a movie about how the failing economy affects everyone, even those who you wouldn’t expect.  You know, like call girls and personal trainers.  It’s a movie with ambition, and I would much rather spend my time watching a bad movie with ambition than a mediocre movie without it.

The error is in the execution.  Technically speaking, there’s nothing really wrong about the acting, even from Sasha Grey, whose only previous experience came from the adult genre.  But every performance lacks in urgency, and I felt no reason to care about the fate of any character in the slightest.

The writing also lacks, mainly because it fails to match the movie’s daring premise.  It’s too caught up in clichés and predictability, often the deciding factor of mediocrity nowadays.  We are still in the middle of this financial crisis, and maybe taking such a bold look at it is best served to wait until after it all subsides.  C- /


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REVIEW: The Last Station

16 03 2010

“The Last Station” is a movie that would have played well in ‘20s and ‘50s.

It’s a classic battle of communism vs. capitalism as Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren) fights for the right to the profits from the writings of her husband, famed writer Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer).  Her fiercest opponents are the forces that hope to turn her husband into a saint and his work into a movement, led by the ruthless Chertkov (Paul Giamatti).

Caught awkwardly in the midst of all of this is Valentin (James McAvoy), a secretary for the family hired by Chertkov to document all the proceedings in the Tolstoy’s dwelling.  A devoted “Tolstoyan,” Valentin believes in abstinence and rejects private property.  Yet as he becomes intertwined in the affairs of the house, he finds himself smitten by one of the commune workers and sympathizing with Sofya’s plight.

In “The Last Station,” I saw in Helen Mirren what I feel like everyone else in the world saw in “The Queen.”  As supposed to her passive and gentle Oscar-winning work in the latter, I saw truly powerhouse acting that absolutely commands the screen.  It wasn’t just her reputation that earned her these many nominations; this performance is completely deserving.  I’ve never advocated that screaming plus shouting with some crying equals an Oscar nomination, but plenty of people claimed that the trailer just screamed awards attention for Helen Mirren.  She does plenty of it, but it is executed with the utmost perfection that it never feels like she begs for attention.

Christopher Plummer is charming and delightful as Leo Tolstoy.  This isn’t the best of 2009 or of his career, but it’s another great reminder of what a treasure he has been all the way back to Captain Von Trapp in 1965.  The fact that this was his first Academy Award nomination is truly criminal.

“The Last Station” is a movie that succeeds because of its phenomenal acting, mainly from Mirren and Plummer.  But it’s also one of those movies that can win you over with the stunning beauty of its setting.  In fact, it almost becomes difficult to keep your attention on the actors during the scenes in the forest and not let your eyes drift to the gorgeous foliage.  The movie often tries to focus on love and romance, but the theme isn’t played out with great success.  Thankfully, it plays a smaller part to the conflicting ideologies, and it is here where the film is at its strongest.  B+ /


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F.I.L.M. of the Week (March 12, 2010)

12 03 2010

The “F.I.L.M. of the Week” is Kathryn Bigelow’s “Near Dark.”  Rather than present a conventional review, I simply want to leave you with a “top 10 list” as to why you should watch this movie.

  1. For any of you who cheered on Kathryn Bigelow to Oscar gold a few days ago but had no idea what she had directed other than “The Hurt Locker,” you need to see “Near Dark.”  This is one of her earliest movies, and it’s a totally different experience than her most recent directorial effort.  Nevertheless, it showcases her excellent directorial prowess.
  2. Tired of the “Twilight” vampires and Stephenie Meyer’s romanticization of the blood-sucking creatures who haunt the night, also known as vampires?  “Near Dark” is the antidote to your woes.  It bears a few plot similarities (and I can unfortunately say this from experience because I read the book – DO NOT JUDGE ME), but you won’t see any tender moments in the fields here.  Bigelow makes the vampires fearsome creatures who burn in the sunlight and look disheveled and dirty.  Forget Team Edward, I’m on Team Bigelow.
  3. But for those of you that like “Twilight,” you should know that a remake of this movie was planned yet cancelled in the wake of the release of the vampire juggernaut.
  4. Bigelow superimposes the vampire story over the backdrop of a western town, and she mingles the two genres in ingenious ways.
  5. Need someone with better acting chops than Robert Pattinson playing your vampire?  Does Bill Paxton suffice?  He is the most recognizable actor that “Near Dark” has to offer, but each of the other vampires are equally as terrifying.
  6. If you want something that will capture your attention, just wait until the vampires go hunting for some food in a biker bar.  Bigelow builds the tension beautifully just like she did in “The Hurt Locker.”
  7. It was made in 1987, so it’s got some awesome 80isms about it.  Just  that generally awesome vibe that an 80s movie has is the best thing “Near Dark” has going for it.
  8. Almost the whole movie features the score of a German synth pop band.  It’s a serious movie, so try not to let it distract you too much.  But enjoy it, even laugh at it if you feel so compelled.
  9. And while we are on the subject of the ’80s, enjoy some of the special effects towards the end.  They match the quality of “Avatar” at their most brilliant moments (did you pick up on my sarcasm?)
  10. If you are just looking for an enjoyable moviegoing experience that offers you thrills, chills, drama, and maybe some comedy at the expense of the movie itself, then “Near Dark” is a pick that will suit you.  It veers toward the predictable at times, but who really cares?  It’s from the 80’s!!

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REVIEW: Love Happens

10 03 2010

Ehh.

“Love Happens” is an ehh movie.  There’s nothing that is horribly awful with it, but it doesn’t have anything going for it either.  And sometimes that is just as bad as a flat-out bomb.  The movie is so caught up in clichés that it’s impossible not to see the whole plot from the poster and trailer.  Imagine that.

Aaron Eckhart plays Dr. Burke Ryan, an author of a self-help book about grieving the loss of loved ones appropriately after his wife died in a car crash.  Anyone care to venture what’s actually going on?

If you guessed “the man who gives advice hasn’t taken his own,” you would be correct!  Burke is secretly a wreck, giving off a façade that he has it all together.  The only person that can call it is his father-in-law, played by a scary Martin Sheen.

So how does Jennifer Aniston play into the movie?  If you guessed “love interest with problems of her own,” you would be correct!  She plays Eloise, your typical beautiful girl who always falls for the wrong guy.  After the typical bad first impression of Burke, they begin casual flirtation and start to hang out.

Is there any romantic spark between Aniston and Harvey Dent?  Not in the slightest.  There is no chemistry between the two of them, and it doesn’t help that the story is so poorly written that it doesn’t allow for much affection at all.  I don’t hate Jennifer Aniston by any stretch of the imagination, but “Love Happens” gives me insight into the minds of the people that do.

Don’t let the title fool you.  “Love Happens” is not a movie about love; besides, there would have to be love shown.  This is a movie about overcoming grief, and in that regard, it isn’t terrible.  But it isn’t good enough to redeem the nearly two hours of my time that this movie ate up.  C- /


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REVIEW: The Cove

8 03 2010

I write to you today not out of my obligation as a blogger, but rather out of my obligation as a human being.  We are the most dominant species on this planet, and it is thus our duty to care for all the other creatures with whom we cohabit the world.

The shocking documentary “The Cove” shows our species at its absolute worst.  In Japan, a group of fishermen lead a senseless and barbaric slaughter of dolphins in a cove.  Perhaps even more shocking is how the community meets this with either apathy or the willingness to turn a blind eye.

Leading the crusade against this grave injustice is famed dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, who blames himself for the slaughter.  O’Barry was responsible for training the dolphins on the ’60s TV show “Flipper,” which was the main reason for the large rise of popularity of the animals in America and worldwide.  However, things changed for O’Barry when one of the dolphins that he trained committed suicide in his arms out of depression.  Since then, he has committed himself to working as an advocate for dolphins, even getting arrested for trying to help them escape out of captivity.

In making the documentary, the filmmaking team of “The Cove” found themselves living out a heist film.  The people of the community wanted to protect themselves from the inevitable punishment that would come with discovery of the horrific actions occurring in their cove, and they did their share to obstruct the filmmakers from getting the real story.  They waved signs in front of the cameras and acted rudely in an attempt to illicit a reaction, which could put them in jail.

Using secret cameras and stealthy techniques, the filmmakers managed to capture the horrifying realities of the slaughter.  But the movie doesn’t just stop there.  It simply won’t settle with just pandering to WWF members.  The filmmakers expose the effects of humans, showing how the slaughter leads to dolphin meat being disguised as other meat in supermarkets.  Dolphin meat has about five times more mercury than the maximum allowable rate, and this was being served to children at schools in Japan.  (After the movie’s release, Japan stopped serving it to them.)

“The Cove” took home the Oscar for Best Documentary at the Oscars last night, but this is hardly the movie’s greatest reward. That honor is reserved for the great activism that it has inspired with its powerful filmmaking.  I have seen a few social issues documentaries, and none have gotten to me quite like this one.  “The Cove” is more than just a movie; it’s a courageous act of humanity.  A /

Please take a look at the website for “The Cove” and find out ways that you can help end this senseless slaughter.


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F.I.L.M. of the Week (March 5, 2010)

5 03 2010

The celebration of the Academy Awards here at Marshall and the Movies extends to all corners of the blog, including my weekly “F.I.L.M.” of the Week column.  I felt like this week’s movie should be a Best Picture nominee, so I decided on “In the Bedroom.”  In 2001, this subtle work by Todd Field (director of my personal favorite “Little Children”) lost out to “A Beautiful Mind.”  Yet it still remains one of the most talked-about Best Picture entries from that year, so I have been compelled for a long time to watch it.

“In the Bedroom” was definitely NOT what I expected.  I had heard people call it one of the most forceful and compelling dramas of the decade, so I was anticipating a typical display of strong emotion and grief a la “Revolutionary Road.”  However, other than one incredibly affecting scene, it is a very subtle work.  The movie struck me as strange when I first watched it because it doesn’t really cling to any genre or cliché.  It is an unsparingly honest portrait of a couple dealing with the murder of their son.  Nothing is held back; nothing is candy-coated.

Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson turn in deserving Academy Award-nominated performances as the aforementioned parents, whose twenty-something son (Nick Stahl) gets caught up in a messy love triangle with a single mother (Marisa Tomei) and her jealous and violent ex-husband (William Mapother, Ethan Rom from TV’s “Lost”).  They warn him to get out, but he believes he has something special with Natalie.  His defiance ultimately leads to his death at the hand of her former spouse.  Matt and Ruth (Wilkinson and Spacek) have a lot to deal with following the death: grief, sorrow, regret, longing, loneliness.  These all contribute to the crumbling of their relationship and any sort of peace of mind they might have found.

“In the Bedroom” will shock you in many ways, chiefly with its brutal realism but also with the state that it leaves you in.  I wasn’t quite sure how I felt when the credits began to roll, and I didn’t become more certain in the days and weeks that followed.  It’s not an unsatisfying feeling, and I’m not even sure that I would call it depressing.  It’s certainly unconventional, so I’ll leave it up to you to decide how you feel.  The movie presents the events as they are, void of sensationalism.  Perhaps you’ll feel a little numb – or not feeling anything at all.


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REVIEW: Crazy Heart

28 02 2010

Whenever I wrote about “Crazy Heart” back in December in an Oscar Moment, I lampooned it for its obvious similarities to last year’s “The Wrestler.”  Turns out, I was right.

But “The Wrestler” was a killer movie.  And so is “Crazy Heart.”

Sure, it loses some originality points, but that doesn’t make the character study any less effective or entertaining.  It also doesn’t suffer because it adding elements of another great movie, “Walk the Line,” with its background in country music and some very catchy songs.

“Crazy Heart” follows washed-up country singer Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) trudging through an increasingly insignificance as a performer.  He has gone from packing in crowds in Nashville to empty bowling alleys in Santa Fe.  He certainly isn’t doing himself any favors with his raging alcoholism and his refusal to churn out any new material.  But over the course of the film, he realizes, although somewhat reluctantly, Bad Blake begins to change his ways.  The main impetus comes from a younger journalist (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who looks beyond the singer for her interview.

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REVIEW: Shutter Island

27 02 2010

“Shutter Island” is director Martin Scorsese’s first movie since he floored the Academy (as well as one semi-notable movie blogger) with “The Departed,” which only serves to set the bar sky-high to clear.  It would take another modern classic to surpass “The Departed,” and this isn’t that.  However, this is high-octane, heart-pumping Hollywood entertainment that delivers the chills and thrills.

Keep in mind, though, this is Scorsese we are talking about here.  “Shutter Island” is no Michael Bay movie.  It succeeds largely because of that unique Scorsese vision which has been the driving force behind two of my all-time favorite movies.  It’s important to know that he isn’t trying to make a “Taxi Driver” out of Dennis Lehane’s novel; this is an homage to the classic horror films of Hitchcock and the like.  If you get déjà vu at all, it will probably more to “The Shining” than to “GoodFellas.”

The movie explores the line between insanity and reality as two federal marshals (Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo) investigate the disappearance of a patient at an asylum.  As Teddy Daniels’ (DiCaprio) observations progress, we come to two important realizations.  The first is that Teddy has something more on his mind than merely investigating a missing patient.  The second, and by far the most important, is that there is something more than just lingering seasickness affecting Teddy’s mind.

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F.I.L.M. of the Week (February 26, 2010)

26 02 2010

I set a lofty goal to see every Academy Award-nominated performance of the ’00s by the final ceremony of the decade. I’m not going to reach this goal, but along the way, I have seen some great movies and great acting. This week’s “F.I.L.M.” (First-Class, Independent Little-Known Movie – refresher on the acronym), “The Contender,” is one of those movies.

“The Contender” received two acting nominations in 2000.  The first was for Joan Allen, who plays Senator Laine Hanson, a nominee for the vacant vice-presidential position.  She is a Republican-turned-Democrat and a safe pick for a second-term president looking for his “swan song.”

However, she has strong opponents in her former party, led by the aggressive Shelley Runyon (Gary Oldman).  He and a select group begin to execute an elaborate smear campaign, designed to block her confirmation.  After a comprehensive investigation, they dig up dirty details from her past, designed merely to distract from the real issue and engrain the image of a harlot in the American minds.  One can’t help but see the movie a little differently after Sarah Palin’s vice-presidential candidacy in the 2008 election and her subsequent defamation by the media.

The other nominated performance came from Jeff Bridges as the president looking to polish his profile for the history books.  It’s brimming with typical Bridges precision and poise, but it’s a fairly reserved role up until the rousing climax (more on that in a second).

“The Contender” stood out among similar political dramas for me because of its emphasis on ethics.  Christian Slater’s character, a young and honest politician who joins with Runyon’s crew to take down Hansen, represents the morals that so many of the old Washington cronies seem to have lost.  The movie ends with a killer monologue by Jeff Bridges’ president, and it is an inspiring piece of patriotism that makes us proud in the democratic process that we have.  Maybe the president should start hiring screenwriters to write his speeches…


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REVIEW: Food, Inc.

24 02 2010

“Food, Inc.” is a social issues documentary dealing with a topic that should get Americans up in arms even more than Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.”  The integrity of the food that we shove in vast quantities is something that should concern us greatly.  However, the filmmakers give a surprisingly soft sell to a hot button issue.

The documentary consists of several vignettes, each giving a different perspective on the food industry and the dangers it poses for Americans.  They round all the bases of how their issues affects a wide variety of Americans, and we successfully understand how wide-reaching the situation really is.  The food industry is killing us off, ripping us off, and harming the environment.

However, the vignettes lack connection between each other, and it feels like we are watching a dozen good PSAs instead of one really good movie.  We see a mother whose son was tragically killed by infected meat and her fight to see that his death was not in vain.  We see a farmer who tries to stand up to inhumane conditions in her chicken coop.  We see a struggling family who can give their children either a small piece of fruit or a Whopper with their daily food allowance.  These are all wrenching in their own right, but they share no common thread other than their overall lack of urgency.

The makers of “Food, Inc.” managed to convince me of little other than the futility of the situation.  Most of the vignettes ended showing the “good guys” losing, simply not powerful enough to overtake the massive might of the food industry.  They also took a massive misstep in not weaving in the solution to the problem throughout the movie, instead opting for a few soulless title cards before the credits.  See “Food, Inc.” if you want to be concerned, but not if you want to be inspired.  B /


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REVIEW: Orphan

22 02 2010

So this is what Vera Farmiga does when she doesn’t want to work with A-list directors like Martin Scorsese and Jason Reitman!

Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard headline “Orphan,” a prototypical horror film.  It’s a movie that knows it’s limits, an admirable and rare quality in cinema today.  The filmmakers recognize that they are not abounding in originality or imagination, yet somehow they manage to create a movie that is very thoroughly engrossing.  Although it is horror, almost as notoriously predictable as romantic comedy, we still anticipate with trepidation each event that gets our heart racing a little faster.

Chalk up most of the nail-biting tension that makes the movie so scary to a chilling performance by the young Isabelle Fuhrman, who plays the demonic 9-year-old titular character.  She is scary good, making each violent deed committed more and more shocking.  Making a character that an audience can unequivocally detest is tricky, and Fuhrman makes you hate her Esther practically from the outset.  I felt like jumping into the movie and killing her evil creation.

Farmiga and Sarsgaard get the distinct pleasure to bear their fine acting chops as background music to the diabolical rampage of their adopted daughter.  They play a pretty subplot of marital strife caused by drinking and the death of a child with passion and believability, but no one watches “Orphan” because it is a gripping domestic drama.  It is a terrifying escalation of horror committed by a nefarious young perpetrator, and it succeeds in rattling the audience’s cage.  B+ /


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F.I.L.M. of the Week (February 19, 2010)

19 02 2010

This week’s “F.I.L.M.” is “Garden State.”  Written and directed by Zach Braff, the star of TV’s “Scrubs,” the debut is a wonderfully delightful indie comedy.  It’s filled with its own set of quirks that we come to associate with the genre, but the movie is equally remarkable for its contrastingly somber side.

“Garden State” is constructed upon a beautifully ironic premise.  Failed actor Andrew Largeman (Braff) comes home to New Jersey to attend his mother’s funeral.  At the same time, Andrew decides that it is time to go off the anti-depressants that he has been taking since his troubled teenage years.  These medications have made him feel numb and stoic to life passing by.

But as he wanes off the meds, Andrew begins to open his eyes to all the great things happening around him.  He falls for compulsive liar Sam (Natalie Portman), a fiery chick with a bubbling personality.  He begins to smile again.  He confronts the issues which have forced him into depression.  But overall, “Garden State” is such a remarkable movie because it is a movie about rediscovering the joy of living.

For an enriched viewing experience, I recommend having watched Mike Nichols’ “The Graduate” before seeing this.  Not only will you have seen two great movies, but it will give you great insight into Zach Braff’s influences.  Someone told me that watching modern comedy without having seen “The Graduate” is akin to trying to see in fog.  Now that I have seen it, I agree.

But I digress.  Watch “Garden State” – and listen, too, because it’s got a great soundtrack (which seems to be another hallmark of this genre).


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REVIEW: Moon

17 02 2010

It’s pretty obvious that Duncan Jones’ “Moon” draws a great deal of inspiration from sci-fi classics like “Alien.”  Jones manages to nail one aspect of these movies: their simplicity.  However, this works directly against Jones’ ambitious movie, which tries so hard to have nuances and complexities.  But the unfortunate reality is that the story is actually quite vapid and dull.

Jones’ script is most urgently lacking in emotion.  Sure, it’s a subtle portrait of Sam Bell, the Lunar Industries employee on the moon base, and the steep toll that three years of solitude takes on his mental state.  But is it too much to ask for hints of passion or fire?  I don’t mind a build-up, yet Jones doesn’t give us much of a payoff for our waiting.  “Moon” is tormentingly boring to a point where I had to repeatedly wake myself up while watching it.

The only fascinating thing to watch here is Sam Rockwell.  The movie is his soliloquy, and the only actor that I can think gave a comparable performance in such a situation is Tom Hanks in “Cast Away.”  Hanks he is not, but Rockwell manages to command and excite where the script and movie in general doesn’t.  The two forces effectively cancel each other out, and we are left with a product that is just a smidgeon above average.

I can see “Moon” becoming a cult hit in the future.  It has the fan base, as shown by the great volume of people who signed Jones’ Internet petition for Rockwell’s consideration for the Best Actor Oscar.  It lacks the flavor or originality to score any sort of large public following, but I think a select group sees a lot more in this directorial debut than I do.  B- /


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