Review – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part I)

In Breaking Dawn, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) get married, go on their honeymoon and piss off the Werewolves when Bella gets pregnant on her wedding night.  I have so many problems with this film and it’s only salvation is that the last half of the movie is mildly interesting.

Before the wedding Edward confesses that he used to kill people for their blood.  Bella isn’t remotely fazed by this news and shakes it off because he was killing murderers (“You probably saved more lives than you took.”)  So Bella is pro-vigilante/capital punishment.  On their wedding night, Bella and Edward have violent sex that leaves Bella severely bruised all over her body.  But she doesn’t seem to care because she thought the sex was amazing.  I’m not going to judge if she likes it rough, but I had a problem with it.  I think domestic abuse is a serious problem and by rationalizing the bruises by saying “it’s okay because I know he really loves me” is not a healthy or appropriate response.

One last complaint, and I’ll move on.  Abortion.  (Quite a heavy topic for a movie/book aimed at pre-teens).  After discovering that surprise – a vampire can apparently get a human pregnant, there is a great debate about whether or not the “fetus” should live.  It’s a demon, it could kill Bella, etc etc are all reasons why Edward and others want Bella to abort the baby.  But no, Bella feels a “connection” to the baby and would die for it.  Oy vey.

It’s probably hard to make a movie when the source material is bad.  I thought Stewart and Pattinson were okay, but I could never stand Lautner (it only took 5 seconds into the movie for him to take his shirt off).  The wedding and honeymoon scenes were corny and underwhelming, but I really thought the last half was fairly interesting.  A lot of good things happened at the end, and some of the characters who used to be bumps on a log stepped up and actually did something.  Overall, I’ll be glad when this series is over.

Grade: D

 

Happy St. Patty’s Day

Review: Black Swan (2010)

Black Swan is a dark and beautiful film about Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina obsessed with perfection.  Nina struggles to prove she can dance both the white swan and the black swan in the upcoming production for Swan Lake.  Nina is “ideal casting” for the fragile and fearful white swan, but doesn’t have the seductive and sensual nature of the black swan.  Her obstacles include her overbearing and controlling mother (Barbara Hershey) and new competition (Mila Kunas) who is ideal for the role of the black swan.

After I saw Black Swan for the first time, I really didn’t know what to say.  I obsessed over knowing as much as I could before it came out, and after watching it decided I actually spoiled it by knowing too much.  It was a regret that faded after the third viewing.  Darren Aronofsky has orchestrated such an intricate production, that it’s hard to know where to begin.

Clint Mansell uses Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake as the musical base for Black Swan.  Mansell masterfully places the themes throughout, changing a note or using different instruments to set the right mood.  The Swan Lake theme is everywhere, but is haunting when it’s a broken music box winding down, a digitized cell phone ring or The Chemical Brothers techno-fied version.  If you didn’t know the music to Swan Lake before, you will now – and it really works.

Natalie Portman’s performance is certainly worthy of all the praise.  Natalie stated in an interview that she actually found it harder to play sweet an innocent because she had left that all behind years ago.  (I should find the quote from the actual interview because I’m probably making that sound bad.)  As Nina loses her grip on reality, we see a side of Natalie Portman that was really thrilling to watch.  She has some really phenomenal scenes.  On top of that, Natalie dances 90% of the ballet scenes and is convincing enough that you forget she’s not a real dancer.  

I know some find the mirrors distracting, but they are a necessary evil in the world of ballet.  As Aronofsky said, ballet dancers are always using mirrors to look at themselves and perfect their movements.  While there is probably a mirror or reflection of some kind in every scene, he goes beyond ordinary using multiple mirrors as a means of distortion or disorientation.  Yes, there is a bit of special effects used, but when you see the film it will make sense.

The cinematography was excellent as though it were another dancer, weaving in and out on the stage and around Nina during practice and the performance.  This means the choreography has to be clever, as it’s not just meant for a stage performance, which is where one could draw a parallel to The Red Shoes.  But Black Swan goes beyond The Red Shoes, honing in on Nina and how she is actually feeling during the performance.

The only down side for me were the thriller elements of the film, which seem to have gone a little too far.  But since I’m only referring to about 5 minutes of the film, I’ll let it go.  After watching it again, these elements seem to fit a little better.

In fact, the more I watch it, the more detail I pick up – which is what I love so much about Aronofsky’s films.  I felt the same way about The Fountain, which I didn’t love at first, but appreciate and love the more I watch it.  It’s really amazing how much Aronofsky has packed into Black Swan which is why I can’t wait for the Blu-Ray already, so yes, I can appreciate its beauty frame-by-frame.

A-

Random Thread for December 2010

Happy half-birthday to me…

Review: The Day After Peace (2008)

directed by: Jeremy Gilley

It’s probably not well known that September 21^st is UN International Day of Peace.  Maybe you saw a 5 second bit on the news, or had no clue at all like me.  Even if today is a Day of Peace – what does it mean?  Is it just as obscure and ignored as much as Wife Appreciation Day (September 19^th)?

The Day After Peace is a documentary showing one man’s determination to make September 21^st more than just a day on the calendar.  Jeremy Gilley founded the organization Peace One Day in an effort to get countries all over the world to agree to a day of cease-fire and non-violence.  Faced with cynicism and rejection, Jeremy spent over a decade meeting with different representatives and organizations determined to make the International Day of Peace truly a day of non-violence.

This film played at Cannes and a variety of film festivals all over the world in 2008 but received no theatrical distribution, at least as far as I could tell from IMDb.  I will admit that the film itself is a bit of a mess – with the first 30 minutes seeming aimless and tedious.  The film gradually celebrates small successes, including a media endorsement from Angelina Jolie.  But it isn’t until Jude Law and the World Heath Organization get involved that the film starts to focus on the possibility of real strides in the name of peace.

In the summer of 2007, Jeremy and Jude travel to Afghanistan in attempt to promote the upcoming International Day of Peace.  The goal is to have a cease-fire understanding from all parties so that neutral health organizations can vaccinate children in areas of the country that are typically too dangerous for aide workers to travel.

The breakthrough came in the form of a signed letter from a high-up member of the Taliban movement which stated the importance of the health of the children and agreed to a cease-fire so that aide workers could provide vaccinations.  Because of this, 1.4 million children were vaccinated on the UN International Day of Peace and no aide worker was harmed.  In addition, there were other non-violence successes and celebrations around the world.

Jeremy and the Peace One Day organization continue to promote non-violence on September 21^st with the idea that one day of non-violence is a stepping stone for having world peace every day of the year.  In addition, Jeremy continues to document his efforts which will be included in a new version of the film currently in production.  I hope Jeremy considers making improvements to the structure of the first 30 minutes next time around.  If you want more information on Peace One Day, go to www.peaceoneday.org.

Oh right…I’d give it a C+.

Review: Eat, Pray, Love

Elizabeth Gilbert (played by Julia Roberts) is a writer and finds she is still unhappy after divorcing her husband.  So she sets out to travel for a year in Italy, India and Bali.  Each stop represents something she wants to connect deeply with – food, prayer and…an aging medicine man?  Along the way she still struggles to find happiness, but meets a lot of people who “speak in bumper sticker”.

I imagine there are a few divorcees out there who can, in some small way, relate to Elizabeth Gilbert.  They find a piece of her life that resembles their own and hope that her happy ending can be their own.  I divorced at the age of twenty-two and Gilbert’s last speech to her ex-husband was eerily verbatim to my own at the time.  But I find that Gilbert’s experience is far from practical.  Who has the means or the courage to drop everything and travel for a year?  Instead, these divorcees live vicariously through her book, or the movie and buy some representation of Gilbert’s gained knowledge in the form of prayer beads from World Market.  It’s a small consolation to remind them that they are not alone (and I don’t mean God).

In a good way, sometimes the film felt like browsing through friend’s vacation photos.  Italy, India and Bali all looked beautiful on-screen.  But the scenery alone was not enough to carry this film.  I found it unsettling to watch each grown man Gilbert came in contact with cry at some point.  Was this in the book?  Or a was it a disastrous addition by the filmmakers?  While each man cried for a different reason, they were obviously emotionally fictionalized.  For example, I didn’t think it was fair to represent an immature ex-husband as degradingly childish.  These flaws made the film less “inspired by true events” and more like Nicholas Sparks garbage.

It’s a shame this wasn’t a better movie.  Watching this film, I thought the point was that there are no easy answers.  Gilbert struggles with her guilt and everything she goes through is hard.  But in the end, her medicine man gives her a bumper sticker line, and suddenly she realizes what she needs to do.  I’m afraid to even read the book because if Elizabeth Gilbert truly had a light bulb moment just because of something that was said, then I have lost all hope that any of this is true.  But if that’s the case, maybe I can write a fictionalized version of my life, be a New York Times Best Seller, and help peddle some cheap jewelry along the way.

Random Thread for August

Just because I wanted to post something.

Review – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

My New Moon spoiler alert still applies to Eclipse:

Warning: spoilers contained within.  But if you’re a Twi-hard, you already know everything there is to know about the book/movie anyway (and probably saw the 12:01 showing early last [night]).  If you’re not, then I suggest you don’t bother unless you want an excuse to start cyber-stalking Robert Pattinson or Taylor Lautner.

I saw this in a digital wall-to-wall screen auditorium (sorry girls, Taylor Lautner’s pecs are not in 3D).  Midway through the movie, during a certain romance scene, the volume went out.  The advantage of digital here is that they were able to “rewind” it so we could see it again, this time with volume.  I don’t think the mostly female audience seemed to mind watching that scene again.

Eclipse was moderately better than New Moon, although Bella is still being stalked by the same evil vampire, Victoria (yawn).  This time, Victoria is secretly building an army of “new born” vampires to fight the Cullen’s so she can have a chance to kill Bella once and for all.  The new borns don’t quite grasp self-control yet and are wreaking havoc on Seattle, which causes the Vultori (governing vampire mafia, headed by Dakota Fanning) to notice and you don’t want to piss off the Vultori.  Meanwhile, Bella seems to be on both Team Edward and Team Jacob which introduces the idea of polyamorous love in a very strange way.  Both Edward and Jacob save the day, but in the end Bella is planning her wedding with Edward.

There just isn’t enough depth to the characters, and it’s a bit tiring to see Bella in danger and have the vampires and the werewolves always trying to save her.  We do get a glimpse into two of the Cullen member’s past which is moderately interesting and ties back to Victoria’s secret vampire army.  Overall, Eclipse is a bit predictable and cheesy like the rest of them, but I don’t think it was a horrible waste of time.

Play Review: The Long Red Road

Written by Brett C. Leonard.  Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Performed at the Owen Theatre at The Goodman, Chicago.

I know I have a tendency to overstate how good I think something is, so here is a fact.  Several minutes after the show was over, I called Brian to tell him I was on my way home.  I was crying so uncontrollably that he thought I had been mugged.  Not even The Notebook had this kind of power over me.  Wow.

The Long Red Road is an intimate story appropriately performed in a small theater.  For this production, the stage protrudes into the center of the theater, with the audience surrounding the stage in a U shape.  This set up puts the audience up close and personal that you can even see the contents of the underwear drawer.

The play opens with an intense sex scene between Sam, a hopeless drunk, and his girlfriend Annie.  Sam is hiding out on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota.  Annie tolerates Sam’s apathy because she thinks she can save him.  Meanwhile Sandra (a real-life double leg amputee), her teenage daughter Tasha and live-in father-figure Bob have their own dysfunctional drama in Kansas.  We later discover that Bob is Sam’s brother, and that Sam abandoned his wife Sandra and daughter Tasha after his drunk driving caused a tragic accident.

While the play contained some typical elements of a sappy family drama, nothing prepared me for this kind of intense storytelling.  The Long Red Road is a beautiful combination of  lighting, sound effects and set decoration, but is also so much more than that.  Tom Hardy is exceptional as Sam, taking the audience on an emotional rollercoaster through Sam’s delusions, denial and violence.  There are several long moments without dialogue where the audience gets a chance to absorb Sam’s shame and despair and starts to sympathize with this rotten asshole.

Knowing that Hoffman has taken Jack Goes Boating from the stage to the silver screen, I hope to see the same with The Long Red Road.  I think the intimacy of the theater production would be hard to recreate, but I would look forward to the result.

Review: The Red Shoes (1948)

If it weren’t for Martin Scorsese and his passion for The Red Shoes, I might never have seen the movie and it wouldn’t have become one of my top five movies of all-time.  I own the Criterion DVD, but thanks to Scorsese’s help again there is a new digitally restored print touring theaters now.  Brian and I saw The Red Shoes at the Music Box Theatre here in Chicago last night.  Let me tell you, this wasn’t just a treat, it was the whole treat factory.

First of all, the restored print is absolutely amazing.  I think the presentation quality was even better than what was possible in 1948.  If you’ve seen or have the Criterion DVD you can just throw it out the window.  Even someone such as myself who doesn’t have a keen eye for imperfections can tell a huge difference between the new print and the old DVD.  It may sound like I’m exaggerating, but Brian can back me up on this…the new print is as close to perfection as I think is humanly possible.  I’m told critics were going bonkers over the print quality at Cannes, too.

The Red Shoes stars Moira Shearer as Victoria Page, an aspiring ballerina whose life is dancing.  She gets her break dancing the lead role in The Ballet of the Red Shoes, an adaptation of a story by Hans Christian Anderson.  Finding that there isn’t enough room in her life for both, Victoria must choose between her passion for dancing, or love.

Approximately 15 minutes of the movie is devoted to The Ballet of the Red Shoes, a beautifully orchestrated mix of ballet and the seamless magic of film.  Many of the visual effects would be impossible to pull off on a live stage, but the effects aren’t so obtrusive that they detract from the beauty of the ballet.  Every time I watch this film I am in awe over the imagery.  As Victoria dances she moves from stage to imagination; the audience becomes an ocean of waves crashing as they applaud mid-performance.  I hope that if I become an old woman suffering from Alzheimer’s that I can still remember this sequence.

One might think you need to appreciate the arts, ballet and music in particular, to appreciate this film.  But I have to disagree.  While I am in the art-loving camp, this film is still amazing technically.  I feel like I need to take a class to study the movie, learn the terminology for the different techniques used, and just because I feel like I want to know everything about The Red Shoes.  And would you believe that because of The Red Shoes I can appreciate Citizen Kane a little more (I’ve never been the world’s biggest fan)?

I hope that many of you will have the chance to see The Red Shoes in theaters during its tour as it is a wonderful experience.  If not, I highly recommend checking out the newly restored Blu-Ray when it becomes available.

Review: The Blind Side

The Blind Side is based on the true story of Michael Oher, who went from being a homeless teenager to a 1st round pick in the 2009 NFL draft.  Michael’s biological mother is a drug addict, and he has spent much of his childhood in and out of foster care.  A private Christian high school admits him at the request of a friend he’s temporarily staying with only because it’s the Christian thing to do and he might be good at sports.  One cold and rainy night, Michael is seen walking in a t-shirt and shorts and is invited by Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and her family to spend the night.  The one night stay turns into Thanksgiving dinner, and eventually Michael is adopted by the Tuohy family.  His grades improve and he receives a football scholarship to Ole Miss.

I was actually surprised at how much I liked this movie.  I’m sure some of the story was changed for dramatic effect, but I will still impressed by how much of the story really happened.  It’s a sports drama that’s not going to win a Best Picture Oscar, but it was worth watching.  I do think Sandra Bullock might have a shot at an Oscar nomination.  I think she pulled off the no-nonsense southern woman quite well (I know others disagree).  I blame any flaws with her character on the script.

I did think the “dramatic effect” changes went a little too far when it came to the football scenes.  At first when Michael tries out for football, he doesn’t understand what he needs to do.  Then all the sudden Leigh Anne tells him it’s like protecting the family, and a light bulb goes on and we see perfect tackle after perfect tackle in practice.  When it comes to his first game, the first few plays are a disaster.  But once again Michael is reminded how football relates to being protective and all of the sudden he’s back on his game.  Right…

Some may say that other family members went along too well with letting Michael stay.  But reading an article on the subject, it seems that Sean Tuohy (the dad) and Collins Tuohy (the daughter) reacted quite similarly in real life than they did in the movie, or at least that’s what they say.  It’s not that hard to believe considering other real life examples.  Like Elizabeth Smart’s family who allowed a homeless man to dine with them in exchange for work around the house.  Or all of the people who gave shelter to victims of the Katrina hurricane.  They all think it’s the Christian/humanitarian thing to do.  It’s possible that there might have been a little friction over letting Michael stay, but I don’t mind it being left out of the movie if that’s the case.

The only real problem I had was with SJ’s character (Sean Tuohy Jr).  He was a little too matter-of-fact when teaching Michael about football and demanding when it came to Michael’s college recruiters.  I don’t know much about college recruiting, but do coaches really make promises to little kids they’re not recruiting?  I don’t know, I just thought SJ was annoying in the movie.

In general, I would recommend this movie to most people.  But if you’re not a fan of Sandra Bullock or you are bored with sports dramas, this might not be for you.  I think The Blind Side will be remembered fondly – maybe not as fondly as Rudy, but pretty close.  I don’t think I’d own the movie, but it was an enjoyable two hours.

Review – The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Warning: spoilers contained within.  But if you’re a Twi-hard, you already know everything there is to know about the book/movie anyway (and probably saw the 12:01 showing early last Friday morning).  If you’re not, then I suggest you don’t bother unless you want an excuse to start cyber-stalking Robert Pattinson or Taylor Lautner.

I am a sucker for love story novels.  They’re a quick read when I’m bored.  I only read Twilight after the first movie came out (which I didn’t see right away) because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  Sure, I got interested in the idea of the story.  But if I had a dime for every time I rolled my eyes because of bad dialogue or cheesy plot lines, then I’d be rich.

Before seeing New Moon (and only reading part of the book), I wrote the following summary.  And after seeing the movie, I can tell you it’s not all that different.

Edward leaves Bella. Bella has werewolf friend to protect her. She does dangerous things because it helps her “see” Edward in her mind. Edward’s sister has a vision of Bella diving off cliff and he thinks Bella’s dead, so he tries to commit vampire suicide (i.e. Romeo and Juliet rip off). Bella finds out and tries to save him, putting herself in danger and now he’s back to having to save her. They all end up happily back together again at the end.

The first question I should answer is which is better, Twilight or New Moon?  Twilight.  Bella is really not in much real danger at all this time around.  She’s just caught in a love triangle (or quadrangle if you include Mike).  Woe is her to be loved by three guys – [gag].  The second question is if someone hasn’t read the books, will they understand what’s going on?  Not really, especially if you haven’t seen Twilight.  I only read the beginning and the end of New Moon and I was still a little confused watching the film.  A movie that doesn’t stand on its own without the books is not a very good movie.  Of course, the book could have been just as confusing, which would make it a bad book.

What I couldn’t stand is that Bella, after being dumped by Edward, was in a constant state of depression for 5 months.  To show the passage of time, the camera spins around Bella staring out the window as the season moves from fall to winter.  Really, Bella spent the entire movie staring out a window, or on the ground.  There was very little eye-to-eye contact with anyone she talks to.  There is just nothing interesting about Bella in this movie at all.

I did laugh a little.  Like the time when Jacob tells Bella that he can’t just stop being a werewolf, “It’s not a lifestyle choice.  I was born this way.”  You don’t think that sounds like a conversation a gay teenager might have with their parents?  Or when Bella finds out that he’s a werewolf, one of his friends says, “I guess the wolf’s out of the bag.”  Dakota Fanning’s character looks like one of the kids out of Village of the Damned when she glares at Edward for a few seconds to cause him pain.  And I couldn’t help but think of Frost/Nixon watching Michael Sheen as the head Volturi vampire.

Then there’s Romeo & Juliet.  Edward and Bella are watching the movie in class at the beginning of the film.  So it’s no surprise that Edward wants to kill himself when he thinks that Bella is dead.  I guess I can’t say it’s an exact Romeo & Juliet rip off, because neither of them die and they don’t get married until the next film.  (Whoops, did I give away too much?)

Anyway, there just isn’t much going on in this film.  The dialogue is bad, and the story is very thin.  But the ladies love it because Taylor Lautner is buff, and Robert Pattinson is hot.  Now, where are my “super masochist bonus” points?

Review: Where the Wild Things Are

Directed by Spike Jonze.

Where the Wild Things Are is a film for all ages, but not in the same way as something like Toy Story.  It’s an emotional film that more adults may identify with than kids.

Max (Max Records) is a young boy who runs away after having a fight with his mother (Catherine Keener).  Through his imagination, he ends up on an island and meets the giant creatures known as the wild things.  They decide to make him king because he convinces them he has special powers and can make everything perfect.  After a while, it becomes apparent that Max doesn’t have special powers and the wild things return to their unhappy state.  Max tries to make amends and “travels” back home.

There are no adults in Max’s imagination.  The wild things act how Max would act, which is the true genius of the film.  Everyone wants to be true friends and do everything together.  They run around.  They destroy things.  They build a fortress.  And they have dirt clod fights.  The strained relationship between Carol (James Gandolfini) and KW (Lauren Ambrose) is possibly reflective of Max’s parents divorce, but in a much less mature way.  I also suspect “downer” wild thing Judith (Catherine O’Hara) in some way represents Max’s older sister.

I was thrilled to see the Jim Henson Creature Shop do the costumes.  I’ve always been a fan of Jim Henson, and think the creatures really capture the spirit of his work.  It’s too bad the heads were CGI, but logistically it seems there was nothing else that could be done.

Speaking of Henson, in many ways  Where the Wild Things Are is similar to Labyrinth.  There is a recurring theme of friendship and betrayal.  And instead of songs by David Bowie, we get songs by Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs).  But there is no clear cut divide between good and evil in WTWTA.  Is it possible that Max is both the protagonist and the antagonist?

Spike Jonze does a great job capturing the emotions and imagination of a child (and Max Records is great as Max).  In some ways it brings me back to my own childhood.  My mother used to type up my stories as I told them to her.  I once had a huge meltdown after someone called me names.  And I ran out of the house and went for a long walk before coming back.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who thought of their childhood while watching this movie.  I’m thinking that Where the Wild Things Are will become one of my favorites to be added to classics like Princess Bride and Labyrinth that I will enjoy watching for years to come.

Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror

There are few things more exciting to me than having the privilege of watching a classic silent film in 35mm with live accompaniment.  I have seen The Phantom of the Opera (1925)  (full orchestra), The General (organ) and Battleship Potemkin (piano).  I can now add Nosferatu to the list.

The Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago is playing Nosferatu as part of their “Art of the Remake” series.  Next week they will show Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu.  I’ve seen both films on DVD, but I love having the opportunity to see them in 35mm.

Nosferatu was directed by F.W. Murnau and the screenplay “freely adapted” from Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Henrik Galeen.  Max Schreck infamously plays the vampire Count Orlok.  His long dangling fingers and rat-like teeth were enough to make me uncomfortable that my neck was exposed.  It isn’t the greatest film story-wise, but the use of shadow makes it iconic.  The most unforgettable scene takes place when the shadow of the vampire reaches out and clutches the heart of Ellen, the film’s heroine.

This was a 1996 restoration print on loan from a private collector in Milwaukee, which I thought was interesting.  The film quailty was stunning.  It’s just a shame the projectionist couldn’t keep it in frame the entire time.

The piano accompaniment was pretty good for the most part.  It must have taken a little while for the pianist to really get in the spirit of things because the musical phrases seemed fairly detached at the beginning.  Of course I’m a bit of a music snob, so maybe no one else noticed but me.  Things got better after Count Orlok was introduced.

I’d like to thank the private film collector in Milwaukee, the Gene Siskel Film Center, and pianist David Drazin for making this all possible.  This was quite a treat.

Happy St Patrick’s Day!

The part one video can be found here.