STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof Directed by J.J. Abrams Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Benedict Cumberbatch Kirk: That was a good fight. Pike: Now, there’s your problem right there.
The last time we caught up with the crew of the Starship Enterprise, a new audience was being introduced to some familiar characters who all had fresh faces. J.J. Abrams’ first attempt to boldly go where in fact many had been before, genuinely felt like maybe no one had actually gone there before. The 2009 STAR TREK was an incredible success; Abrams deftly reinvigorated a franchise that many thought was completely played out. He brought in a brand new audience without entirely alienating the original fanbase, which is all the more impressive when you consider how much he changed some of the long established lore of the series. In the follow-up, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, Abrams picks up where he left off and shows us that many of these young Star Fleet academy fledglings still have a thing or two to learn despite their success. The same can be said for Abrams himself.
Captain James Kirk (Chris Pine) has just inherited the Enterprise after a rapid rise through the ranks of Star Fleet. His expedited journey to the captain’s chair may now prove to be premature as we catch up with him, and his crew, breaking as many regulations as he can, all for the pursuit of what he personally believes to be what is right for everyone. Meanwhile, his commanding officer, and complicated best friend, Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto), is facing the fact that though he may try to avoid emotion in most circumstances, he cannot control how others feel about him at the same time. Both must learn that their egos must be put aside from time to time to see what is going on around them and how it affects the people in their lives and, after they are both very briefly demoted and reassigned, they find themselves fighting alongside each other once again. This time, they will need to work hand in hand if they are ever going to defeat their new foe, the infamous Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch).
Original screenwriters, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, brought on frequent Abrams collaborator, Damon Lindelof (PROMETHEUS), to help bring STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS to a whole other level, with mixed results. On the one hand, as Kirk and Spock become more familiar with Khan and his plan, it becomes more and more difficult for them to discern the truth in their mission. Perhaps it is my lack of familiarity with the Trekkie history or perhaps it is Cumberbatch’s incredible ability to disorient the viewer with his nearly impenetrable stoicism, but I was riveted throughout the film while trying to decipher just who to trust. That being said, Abrams also allows the film to make the most of some of its more manipulative moments, sometimes so much so that it almost takes away from the overall credibility of the project with obvious music cues and blatant foreshadowing. The missteps are minor but the crew best not get too comfortable in future voyages. I wouldn’t want the final frontier to get any more mainstream then this.
MUD Written and Directed by Jeff Nichols Starring Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan and Reese Witherspoon Mud: It’s a hell of a thing, a boat in a tree.
Do not be fooled. Just because you see Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon above the title, does not mean you are about to watch another mindless romantic comedy. I’m not sure about Witherspoon but it would appear that McConaughey is done with those, at least for now. MUD, the latest film by independent filmmaker, Jeff Nichols (TAKE SHELTER), is also the latest in a string of films where McConaughey is clearly challenging himself as an actor. Here, he has shed his pristine shine and looks like something that washed ashore years ago and hasn’t bathed since. More importantly though, he is actually succeeding in his quest to reinvent himself and MUD may be his best work yet.
MUD is a fairly straight forward, yet still solidly engaging, coming of age tale. Ellis (Tye Sheridan, fresh off his debut turn in THE TREE OF LIFE) is content with his simple life living with his parents along a river in Arkansas until one fateful week where everything changes. One minute, he’s a normal teenage boy, getting himself into trouble by sneaking off to a neighbouring island at dawn to work on an abandoned boat he found in a tree. The next, he finds himself helping out a fugitive he meets on that island, named Mud (McConaughey). Mud is hiding out until he knows the coast is clear for him to reunite with his childhood sweetheart, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon, giving her best performance since WALK THE LINE), who is laying low at a motel in waiting. Their love is complicated and troubled to say the least but in Ellis’s eyes, Mud’s mission to be with her despite all obstacles is exactly the inspiration he needs, what with his parents just announcing that they are divorcing.
MUD reminds us that to come of age today does not have to mean getting lost is a barrage of social media and sexually explicit marketing ploys. And thanks to honest performances from the entire ensemble, which also includes Sam Shepard, Sarah Paulson and a hilarious turn from Nichols regular, Michael Shannon, we are also able to get away from the distractions of our supposedly modern lives and remember what it means to truly fight for love while having no idea whether or not it is truly worth fighting for.
STAR TREK Written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Directed by J.J. Abrams Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg and Leonard Nimoy
James T. Kirk: Who was that pointy-eared bastard?
How long has it been now? It seems like the last star date was light years ago, that a franchise that had been a cultural mainstay for decades had finally drifted into its final frontier. As the leagues of Trekkies grew older, it seemed that the obsession and admiration for Gene Roddenberry’s benchmark science fiction work would soon die out but one Trekkie would not hear of it. J.J. Abrams, the man responsible for creating a new faction of avid followers with his twisted series, “Lost”, stepped up to bring STAR TREK to this generation. The trick then became how to sell these classic characters to an audience that may widely know them solely as punch lines or wax statues while not shunning those who watched religiously and have had to wait seven years for a new installment. Abrams must be a master trickster then because his reboot feels alive and energized from start to finish. While making a movie to appease particular crowds, both new and old, Abrams has instead made a STAR TREK film everyone can get into.
I never cared much for the original “Star Trek” series and I was only a casual viewer of “The Next Generation”. I have nothing against Trekkies but I most certainly am not one. And I also admit that the thing I was most curious about this film was how Abrams could make STAR TREK relevant again. He did it by owning it. From the very beginning, STAR TREK dives into intense drama. A Starfleet ship is under attack by a rogue Romulan ship that appears out of nowhere and looks like a tentacled mechanical monster. People are dying all around and the situation is grim but the result is instant immersement in an alternate reality that is unfathomable and yet entirely convincing. We proceed to bounce back and forth between Iowa and the planet, Vulcan, as if they were mere minutes apart. Beings, both human and alien, exist in both plains seamlessly and it suddenly isn’t so difficult to relate. Even Michael Giacchino’s score is triumphantly, boldly proclaiming a resounding pride for the project as a whole. STAR TREK makes no apologies for what it is and no concessions to be here now.
Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman’s screenplay is surprisingly concise given their studio background. They were faced with the challenge of reintroducing characters that are cultural icons without desecrating their origins. The truth is that bringing the whole cast of characters from the original Enterprise as is could never work today. They are simply too dated to keep up with today’s pace. And while their new incarnations are much more limber, they also have their original values (and a few hilarious catchphrases) in tact. And Abrams did a fine job weaving the old and new into his fresh cast. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is a cocky self-assured womanizer but Pine plays him with a well-hidden insecurity in the back of his head as to what he truly can accomplish. Ohura (Zoe Saldana) is a beautiful and fiercely intelligent woman on a mission to succeed. And Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto), the child of a Vulcan father and a human mother, is the most fascinating of them all. Quinto strikes the perfect balance of internal turmoil between honouring his Vulcan roots and indulging his human emotions. Perhaps most important though, the cast just seems to be enjoying every second of their time on deck.
Maybe I should just have a little more faith in reappropriating the past. This is the age of the geek after all so it shouldn’t be so surprising to see this resurgence now. I haven’t discussed the plot because it simply isn’t necessary. Suffice it to say, it is intricate and tight and a lot more fun not to know where anything is going at any point in time. It is such a smooth ride that you can just sit back and enjoy the comfortable warp cruising speed. I didn’t think he could do it but J.J. Abrams has boldly brought STAR TREK where no STAR TREK film has ever gone before … past the niche and to the masses.
FRANCES HA Written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach Directed by Noah Baumbach Starring Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner and Michael Zegen Frances: It’s sorta like they say there are all these other realities happening all around us but we can’t perceive them. That’s what I want in a relationship, in life ...
Noah Baumbach has a distinct voice as a director but that voice has been rather heavy handed as of late. This is one of the many reasons why his latest film, FRANCES HA, is such an incredible delight. It is whimsical and insightful and entirely adorable. It is perhaps his best work, as a director anyway, as the man can write a mean screenplay, since his Oscar-nominated THE SQUID AND THE WHALE. And I believe, this is in no small part due to the influence of his latest muse, Greta Gerwig.
Gerwig, who co-wrote the screenplay with Baumbach, and is also dating the director, plays Frances, a 27-year old amateur dancer, living in New York City and struggling to make it. She is, in theory, a total cliche. In reality though, Frances is a fascinating character that is brought to vivid life by Gerwig, in her most illustrious performance to date. When her best friend, Sophie (Mickey Sumner) gets the job, the man and the new apartment necessary to grow up already, Frances embarks on a meltdown that she is completely unaware of. Her struggle is told with so much subtlety and respect, making it very easy to love Frances, despite all of her obliviousness to her very real woes.
Baumbach shot FRANCES HA in stunning black and white, which grounds this otherwise light and airy experience, reminding us the whole time that Frances does have some serious decisions to make in her life. Before she gets there though, and the film is savvy enough not to be too specific about what she really figures out, if anything, we are treated to a charming, witty contemporary tale that dances as freely on screen as Frances does down the streets of Brooklyn. FRANCES HA is purely and simply a vibrant return to glory for Baumbach that will enchant all who are fortunate enough to see it.
THE GREAT GATSBY Written by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce Directed by Baz Luhrmann Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton Owl Eyes: You won’t find him. This house and everything in it is an elaborate disguise. Gatsby doesn’t exist.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is generally considered by authorities on the subject to be one of the greatest American novels ever written, if not the greatest, and a cautionary tale on the more selfish aspects of the American dream. Before this year, it had been adapted for the screen four times, the most famous of which was made in 1974, directed by Jack Clayton, and starring Robert Redford as the title character, Jay Gatsby, a wealthy socialite and mystery to most who meet him. As effective and timeless as the novel is, the film versions have never resonated with that same weight or properly captured the souls of these seemingly soulless characters. Now, yet another attempt has been made to tame this beast of a work, by one of today’s most vivid filmmakers, Baz Luhrmann, and with it, yet another filmmaker fails to capture what actually makes Gatsby great.
In many ways, Luhrmann would seem like the perfect choice to bring THE GREAT GATSBY back to life. The first half of the novel is all glamour and excess and parties that seem to go on for days at a time. If anyone knows how to party on screen, it’s Luhrmann, whose previous films, like MOULIN ROUGE and ROMEO+JULIET, showcased some of the most chaotic and crafty festivities I’ve ever seen. In those examples though, he was still able to cut through the pandemonium to get to the crux of the characters. In his latest, and most expensive, extravaganza, he doesn’t seem the least bit concerned with what’s hiding underneath all the facade. In fact, at times, the elaborate guise he constructs feels forced and, worse yet, often stinks of overcompensation for a glaring lack of depth. Luhrmann has never been one for subtlety but his work has never felt so far removed from reality either. And when you’re adapting a classic of this magnitude, missing the mark to this degree can almost be misconstrued as an insult to its legacy.
Luhrmann also seemed a good fit because of his ability to bridge the gap between the potentially dated and the contemporary. THE GREAT GATSBY is a commentary on class division and the social injustices suffered at the hands of the disenfranchised to allow for the excessive self-indulgence of the well to do. Given the current class issues faced by many Americans, I would have expected these comparisons to be glaringly obvious, but Luhrmann is too busy throwing money at the problem in hopes we don’t notice (which is ironic really, but not all that engaging). There are certainly elements of THE GREAT GATSBY that work, from Leonardo DiCaprio’s charismatic portrayal of the complex title character to the thrilling, and often thumping, soundtrack. Carey Mulligan is magnificent as Gatsby’s love interest; Joel Edgerton is appropriately creepy as her philandering husband; and Tobey Maguire is, well, competent at least, as the film’s narrator. The cast’s grasp of the subject matter elevates the occasional scene past its visual pomp, but ultimately cannot sustain the bumpy ride. In some ways, I suppose highlighting how the parties were meant to mask the emptiness of the era, is actually authentic to Fitzgerald’s message but, while hollowness on the page can often be haunting, on screen, it is often just hollow.
Michael Polley: When you’re in the middle of a story, it isn’t a story at all. It’s a confusion.
It isn’t often that I feel the need to give a spoiler warning before discussing a documentary, but I feel there is no real way to discuss Sarah Polley’s latest (and dare I say, greatest) film, STORIES WE TELL, without giving away the story itself. Polley decides to turn the camera inward, or as close to inward as is physically possible when you’re still the one directing the film from behind the camera. In doing so, not only does she somehow avoid veering into the hyper-egotistical terrain the subject matter could very easily provide, but she also creates a beautiful film that explores perspective and how it shapes all of our lives. This is the work of a very brave filmmaker.
Polley is very guarded with her information at the onset ofSTORIES WE TELL, and when you find out why, it only stands to reason. It isn’t quite clear what she’s trying to show us at first but, little by little, and rather organically I might add, the film’s structure takes shape. Polley is interviewing her siblings, or rather interrogating, as she puts it, and filming her father, Michael Polley, as he reads a story he wrote that involves his daughter. It is the story of Polley’s youth, of her parents’ relationship, and of their difficulties. More specifically though, and this is the spoiler part, it becomes clear at one point that this is the story of how Sarah was conceived out of wedlock.
By having everyone directly and indirectly involved in the film, including her actual birth father, whom I will let the film reveal to you in its own time, Polley is able to piece together a story from so many different sources. As if to acknowledge that she knows that there is no true way to get the real details of this story (as her mother died when Polley was 11), she cuts away to archival family footage of the period her mother would have had her affair, only to later reveal that this footage is staged with actors playing the parts of her parents. Add to this the inevitable filtering Polley has over the overall telling of this story as she sits in the editing room, and you have a crafty and discerning exploration of the art of storytelling itself .The true beauty of STORIES WE TELL though isn’t the scandal or even the insight; no, what resonates most is to see the Polley family still together after surviving what was certainly a difficult story for all of them.
AT ANY PRICE Written and Directed by Ramin Bahrani Starring Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron and Kim Dickens Irene Whipple: Why can’t you be happy with what’s right in front of you?
The world of genetically engineered seeds is about as intriguing a world as you would expect it to be. It’s aging farmers covertly cleaning seeds so that they can be reused; it’s men in suits following men in overalls, making sure they aren’t reselling seeds that are not supposed to be resold. It’s interesting from a historical perspective to see how the American farming industry has changed over the years from the backbone of the country to a corporate controlled and publicly traded commodity. To watch this on film though, is as exciting as say, watching corn grow. Fortunately for AT ANY PRICE, the latest film from independent filmmaker, Ramin Bahrani (GOODBYE SOLO), the farmer tending these particular fields is Dennis Quaid. His turn here as the modern farmer makes these doldrums at the very least watchable.
Henry Whipple (Quaid) does not share the same problems his father did when he was running the farm. He remembers being a kid and living on a family run farm where cows were milked and chickens laid eggs to sell at market. Now it’s his turn to run the fourth generation farm and he can barely keep it all together. His relationship with his wife (Kim Dickens) is strained, to say the least. This might be because he is seeing a former flame (Heather Graham) on the side. One of his sons (Patrick Stevens) has already left their Iowa home to climb mountains, while the other (Zac Efron), is his only remaining hope to inherit the farm. Of course, he has no interest in doing so as he would rather race cars instead. Then there is the nasty business with the seed tampering of course. The manner in which Quaid balances all of this is quite impressive really. There is a smile on his face at all times but you can see his entire life falling apart in his eyes and hear it in his voice. It is certainly one of Quaid’s finest performances, just not one of the best films to showcase it.
The rest of the AT ANY PRICE ensemble does a formidable job, including Efron, who continues to push himself, and expand his audience, with more marginal fare. This is Quaid’s game to lose though and, while years of working his own fields have led to strong performances like this one, it is almost all AT ANY PRICE has going for it by the time the cows come home.
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK Written and Directed by David O. Russell Starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro Pat Solitano: She is my friend with an F. Danny: Capital F. Pat Solitano: Yeah, for friend.
The one thing I took away from David O. Russell’s SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is that you have to deal with the bad in order to get to the good stuff. Always focusing on the silver lining never gives you the opportunity to face your demons and allows them the chance to grow while you’re looking the other way. Russell makes an apt point here as applying this theory to watching this film is really the only way to enjoy it.
There is one other thing I learned while watching this film, that Bradley Cooper has the potential to take on stronger, more dramatic parts. Cooper plays Pat Solitano, whom we meet moments before he exits a mental facility, where he is being treated for bipolar disorder, convincing himself aloud that he’s better now. It is never really clear to either of his fantastically fussy parents, played by Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver, whether he truly is any better but they take him in regardless. Meanwhile, it never needs to be made clear to Pat’s new friend, Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), because she is often just as messed up as he is. Together they learn to heal each other ... through amateur dance?
Considering how visceral Russell went last time out with his Oscar-nominated work on THE FIGHTER, I am genuinely surprised by how tame SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is. A fantastic ensemble elevates Russell’s screenplay, with moments both touching and amusing, but never to the point where it breaks free of its more conventional trappings. But when you weigh the film’s faults against it’s own silver linings, its still worth the experience.
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK BLU-RAY REVIEW
It is time for me to admit that when I first saw SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, I let my expectations get in the way of my enjoyment of the film. I've now had the chance to see it twice more since that initial screening, once again in theatres and once in my living room, and I think I might finally be getting what everyone else is. When the film won the prestigious People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, I was genuinely surprised. Months later though, the only shock I have left is at my own initial disbelief that it had won. Yes, it is a crowd pleaser, but it is also a very real and relatable story that is not often told on screen. The more I see it, the more I cannot help but fall in love with it and want to see it again and again. You can almost ignore everything I wrote about it initially (all the bad stuff, that is). SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is simply one of the best and one of the most endearing romantic comedies of all time.
I always enjoyed the charm this film exudes, which is of course thanks to its fantastic ensemble cast. As previously mentioned, this is the first time I've seen Bradley Cooper show signs of depth and growth. It is also the first time I've seen Robert De Niro truly bring his best in nearly 20 years. While I initially dismissed Jacki Weaver's performance as too minute to matter, I now see that she is the glue that holds this family together and how close she is to coming completely apart. And of course, there is Jennifer Lawrence. Of the film's 8 Oscar nominations, hers for Best Actress, is the only award the film won. Given the competition, it was the only award it had a decent shot of taking, but if it was going to win anything, I'm glad to see it was this one. Lawrence has repeatedly said in interviews that she never felt like she was playing someone with mental issues, but rather a woman who just lived her life honestly and more openly direct than other people. By not reducing her to a set of quirks and bouts of depression, she was able to craft an incredibly fierce and brave female lead, a rarity if there ever was on in this genre.
What I said then ... "A fantastic ensemble elevates Russell’s screenplay, with moments both touching and amusing, but never to the point where it breaks free of its more conventional trappings."
And now? Well, clearly I was wrong. I've admitted as much already. Yes, it follows a conventional path, but it does so in such an unconventional way without ever sacrificing its romantic comedy roots or its characters' intentions. In fact, it honours convention while subverting it in the most subtle of fashions. Watch Pat and Tiffany's interactions again and you will see that every scene they have together furthers their relationship and bond without either one of them fully realizing it.
Cooper and Lawrence with director, Russell
Special Features: The Blu-Ray features are fairly standard fare but while we're going behind the scenes, we are privy to how much love there seemed to be involved in making SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. My initial disappointment with the picture was rooted in my expectations of writer/director, David O. Russell. This is his follow-up to THE FIGHTER, and I wanted it to be more raw but now I know the reality he drew from to form this world. His own son has been dealing with mental issues and mood swings for years now. Russell wanted to make this film to show his son, and people who find themselves in similar situations, that there is in fact a possibility of a silver lining, even for those who feel that their issues may keep them from ever feeling a connection with another person.
You can also learn Pat and Tiffany's entire dance routine, as taught to you by choreographer, Mandy Moore. How awesome is that?!
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is available to rent or own now. Review copy provided by eOne Entertainment.
And now for something I rarely do, I am revising the film's grade to ...
And don't miss my oh so brief push for the film on CJAD 800 ...
THE ICEMAN Written by Ariel Vroman and Morgan Land Directed by Ariel Vroman Starring Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta and Winona Ryder Roy Demeo: You want to complain about life? You’re talking to the wrong fucking guy.
I’ve met Michael Shannon before. He is a friendly fellow but he is just as menacing to meet as one would expect from his ominous presence on screen. And while I wonder when the day might come when we might see Shannon in a comedy or as a romantic lead, for now we can all admire his ferocity in the many tough guy parts that get thrown his way. The latest is Ariel Vroman’s THE ICEMAN, a biopic of one of the most notorious contract killers in American history, Richard Kuklinski. See if you can guess who plays the lead.
Kuklinski is said to have murdered between 100 and 250 people between the years of 1948 and 1986. Somehow, amidst all that murderous mayhem, Kuklinski found the time to marry and have two daughters as well. Vroman’s film covers this entire period, from the moment he goes out on his first date with the future mother of his children (Winona Ryder is a surprisingly impressive turn), through his time as an independent murderer for hire, to his inevitable capture and conviction. Shannon bounces back and forth between family man and maniacal murderer with an eerie ease that eludes to only one of the reasons Kuklinski earned his Iceman moniker. The other is that he froze his victims for months before disposing of the bodies so that no time of death could be accurately determined.
In many ways, and I mean this with all due respect, Shannon was born to play this part. He is as callous and as icy as he would have to be to pull this off. His powerhouse performance helps THE ICEMAN reach terrifying heights it most certainly would not have, if it weren’t for Shannon’s presence. The lean script rolls through the decades of killing as though they meant nothing to anyone and subsequently, the film is just as frigid as the subject matter. And as disturbing as all this coldness is, a little bit of warmth would have given the character insight necessary to take this film from disconcerting to downright harrowing.
THE ICEMAN is now playing in limited US theatres. It comes to select Canadian cities on May 17.
HEMINGWAY & GELLHORN Written by Jerry Stahl and Barbara Turner Directed by Philip Kaufman Starring Nicole Kidman, Clive Owen and David Straithairn
We first meet Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn in the HBO movie, HEMINGWAY & GELLHORN, when they first meet. It’s a bar, it’s the middle of the day, and Hemingway, as embodied by Clive Owen, is a bit drunk on both life and spirits, as he has just caught a giant marlin. Gellhorn, as personified by Nicole Kidman, struts up to him and captures his attention, as well as the attention of every other man in the room with her walk. Before too long, they are each singing a tune, a Spanish song that he knows all the words to. Much to his amazement, she too knows all the words. For a moment, it would appear that one of the greatest American authors of all time may have finally met his match, and for a moment, it would seem like we are about to embark on an incredible journey led by two powerhouse performances. As it turns out though, this moment was nothing more than a fleeting one.
The chemistry between Hemingway and Gellhorn, as well as Owen and Kidman, was instantaneous. Though he was married at the time, to his second wife, he and Gellhorn embarked on a passionate affair while they were each working on a documentary about the Spanish Civil War (THE SPANISH EARTH, directed by Joris Ivens). Gellhorn was a war correspondent for Collier’s magazine so her work often took her to remote war torn parts of the world. On occasion, he would follow and Hemingway, being the man’s man that he is, doesn’t like to follow anyone anywhere, let alone a woman, even one he’s in love with and that he eventually married. This is what screenwriters, Jerry Stahl and Barbara Turner, reduce their relationship to on screen. Basically, Hemingway cannot handle a woman who knows all the words to the same song he does. He finds her beauty, her brains and her bravery to be incredibly attractive but prefers his women docile and obedient. Each actor finds ways to flesh out these very real personalities past these simple constructs, but they are limited by the material and it can be quite frustrating to see them restrained.
As trite as the writing is, which is insult enough to a film about great writers, it is Philip Kaufman’s sometimes laughable direction of the film that ultimately undermines it. Owen, Kidman and the rest of the cast, that includes David Strathairn, Tony Shalhoub and Parker Posey, are often digitally inserted into stock footage from each of the war periods. The effects are glaringly bad at times and the actors often look so lost that it just comes off as hokey, when it was clearly meant to be somewhat innovative. The approach is nothing but a gimmick, and one that doesn’t work very well at that. When Owen and Kidman are finally given a moment to be alone and away from the war, we are privy to some intensely intimate exchanges between two great talents. These bursts of genuineness are too few though and at a two and a half hour runtime, they are not enough to make this worth sitting through.
IRON MAN 3 Written by Drew Pearce and Shane Black Directed by Shane Black Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle and Ben Kingsley
And so Phase Two of Marvel’s Avengers begins with the release of IRON MAN 3. No pressure, of course, for the hotly anticipated return of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, arguably the most popular Avenger in the bunch. It’s been three years since Iron Man’s last solo outing but really only one since audience’s got a significant dose of him, and although Downey Jr. could play this part in his sleep if he wanted to, he doesn’t, which might easily explain why I personally have not yet had my fill of him. Still, while I had great fun at THE AVENGERS, I still remember how little fun there was to be had in IRON MAN 2. Tony Stark is a complicated human being and, if allowed to veer too far toward the morose, he can be a bit much to be around. Fortunately, his former depression has now given way for some mildly crippling anxiety, which somehow has allowed the IRON MAN series to come back from overly cynical to just jovially sarcastic. And just like that, Iron Man is fun again!
The root of Tony Stark’s sleepless nights and tortured nightmares is the increasing sense of helplessness he feels to properly protect what he loves. Ever since he came face to face with dozens of alien soldiers in New York city last year, he’s realized that there are threats that are bigger than even he ever thought possible. Sure he and his Avenger buddies vanquished those guys back to whatever galaxy they came from, but what else is waiting out there for just the right time to attack the planet and, more importantly, will anyone be able to stop them next time? To establish some semblance of control in his life, he decides to take on an enemy he can understand, a terrorist known to the world as The Mandarin (played by Ben Kingsley, with more range and commitment than I’ve seen from him in a decade). With Stark not at his best, The Mandarin is able to set him so far back upon his path that he must practically start from scratch. Finding himself stranded in middle America with no armor to protect him, Stark learns what it means to put one foot in front of the other and come back from extinction. It’s sort of like IRON MAN unplugged almost. Sometimes you have to strip away all the distraction to get back to the soul of the song.
There is a great deal of fresh blood pumping through the IRON MAN veins in this third installment, which could account for its revitalized tone. Shane Black, who came to fame for writing LETHAL WEAPON and essentially rewriting the action genre as we know it, takes over from Jon Favreau, who directed the first two IRON MAN entries (and appears again on screen as Happy Hogan, Stark’s unnecessary bodyguard). Black got into the directing game with KISS KISS BANG BANG in 2005, a film that helped Downey Jr. himself get his troubled career back on track. And even though he hasn’t directed a single thing since, let alone anything anywhere near as large as IRON MAN 3, Black manages to push our hero to great depths of despair without piling on heaps of self pity at the same time. The threats against Iron Man are stacked so high, that he has to dig deeper than he ever has before, to be the most super of super heroes he can possibly be in order to survive them. What then in turn endears him further to us, is that the strength he finds doesn’t come from the iron this time around, but rather from digging deeper within the man himself.
Julie Louis-Dreyfus has tried a couple of times post "Seinfeld" to find a television vehicle that would properly capture her brilliantly sharp comedic savvy. Attempts to fit her into played out network sitcom scenarios, where she plays sympathetic characters surrounded by silliness, were blatantly obvious miscasts. They felt like nothing more than forced, desperate plays to capitalize on her notoriety. Safe sitcoms are not where this girl belongs. It would appear though that she may have finally found her niche on the HBO cable series, VEEP, where she plays the Vice-President of the United States as a reluctantly useless figurehead. Apparently, it is a lot easier to love Louis-Dreyfus when you are loving to hate her.
VEEP was created by the incredibly witty, Arnando Iannucci, who previously skewered American politics with his 2011 satire, IN THE LOOP. It is unfortunately nowhere near as biting or hysterical as that is but the momentum the show develops as it finds its footing and voice gives me great hope for its prospects. All we are told about how Selina Meyer (Louis-Dreyfus) found her way to her VP post is in the very brief opening credit sequence. She was on something of a meteoric rise during the presidential primaries and could have even taken the presidency. Then something happened, something we don't know about, and she began to publicly melt down. And so she was tossed the VP position as something of a consolation prize. Resilience is this character's forte though so she resolves to make her vice-presidency matter. She takes on filibuster reform and clean jobs and quickly realizes that her job is more for show than anything else. She wants to matter, to make change and leave something of a legacy, but her intentions are always so intensely selfish that you would think it would be incredibly difficult to muster any sympathy for her. All the same, Louis-Dreyfus gets it out of us, which is the crux of her genius. Selina Meyer, like Elaine Benes before her, is not that great a person on paper but yet somehow, you still want her to be happy.
Selina's team is a bunch of bumblers but the actors playing them are spot on. From Anna Chlumsky (an IN THE LOOP transplant) as an aid who can hardly keep up with Selina's constant foibles, to Tony Hale, taking his ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT obsessive worship to the next level as Selina's personal assistant and gopher. VEEP finds its focus about five episodes into the first season, in an episode named "Nicknames", in which she learns that her staff has to Google search a plethora of pseudonyms, like Veep Throat or Viagra Prohibitor, in order to stay on top of what the press is saying about her. That being said, there are only eight episodes in the entire season so finding your way half way through may be a bit late for some. Still, this first term has me intrigued to see what comes from the second.
VEEP Season 1 is available on DVD and Blu-ray now. Review copy provided by HBO Canada.
MEHTA’S CHILD An interview with MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN director, Deepa Mehta
I will admit that I was reasonably nervous to meet one of Canada’s most celebrated film directors, Deepa Mehta, but I know now that I needn’t have been. The moment she walked in the room to discuss her latest epic, MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN, all of my hesitation fell away. It wasn’t her stature that put me at ease, even though she is a tiny wisp of a woman, but rather something much deeper than that. There is just something about her spirit that makes you feel welcome. Before long, we would be discussing the merits of THE AVENGERS vs THE MASTER and debating when it is acceptable to cast Robert Pattinson in anything. This was one cool lady.
A healthy spirit, and a belief in that kind of thing, is a useful tool when tackling a work as spiritually engrossing as MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN. The 1981 novel written by Salman Rushdie, long before he became the controversial figure we know him as today, juxtaposes the birth of a child with the birth of India’s independence in 1947. The book, which not only won the Booker Prize in the year of its release but the Best of the Booker Prize on both the 25th and 40th anniversary of the award, has been called unfilmable. That would not deter Mehta in the least from making it but she has no idea how it will be received.
“It might be really well received; it might be really trashed. It might become controversial; it might not. There is no formula to predict how any of this will do,” Mehta explains of her thoughts on the finished product. She then goes into a story about her father that endeared her even more to me.
Mehta, at the Canadian premiere of MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN in Toronto.
“My father was a film distributor in India so I grew up with movies,” she begins candidly. “He said, ‘Remember this always. There are two things in life you will never know about. One, is when you’re going to die. And the other is how a film is going to do.’” We pause for a brief but necessary chuckle at this revelation. Then Mehta concludes, “There is no formula to predict how any of this will do. My dad is right. In a way, you can’t totally give up your expectations. I haven’t been able to give them up 100% but its more realistic to leave it to the powers that be.”
Mehta had wanted to work with Rushdie for some time but MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN was not her first choice to tackle. To hear her tell how it came to be though, it seems almost fated. “I don’t know know what made me ask him, ‘Who has the rights to Midnight’s Children?’ I’ve always loved the book; I read it many years ago. It wasn’t a well thought out question. It was purely organic, purely instinctive.”
She may not have known quite what she was getting herself into at first but Mehta is very happy that it came to be in this particular fashion. “I’m glad I hadn’t thought it out because if it was premeditated, I might have been too scared. It is an epic; it is 60 years of post-colonial history. It is the parallel of a coming of age of a young man and the coming of age of a country. Sometimes it’s good to just jump off the deep end.”
MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN stars, Satya Bhabba and Shriya Saran
Regardless of how far Mehta far would have to jump, there was no way she was going to miss out on the opportunity to work with Rushdie, a man she had admired for years. “It was one of the finest experiences of my life, a very interesting collaboration,” Mehta describes, in what is the closest I can see this composed woman getting to gushing. “Salman, as we all know, has a great mind. He is pretty brilliant. But also, he has a great sense of humour and he is very honest. So if something is not working, you can just explain to him why you think something isn’t working. There is no matter of ego.”
Mehta insisted that Rushdie write the screenplay, something he had never done before. And so he was tasked with pairing down an 800-page opus to a 130-page script.
“The reason I wanted him to do it and he agreed to do it is because only he could be the one who could be disrespectful to his work. It is an iconic novel; it’s the Booker of the Bookers! So, when there are aspects of the story that aren’t working in the movie, only he has the absolute authority to chuck them away.”
Mehta on set with young Saleem, Darsheel Safari
Rushdie’s final script focuses on Saleem Sinai (played as an adult by Satya Bhabba, whom most people would recognize from SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD), as he struggles to find his place in not only his family, but his country as well. With so much history to overwhelm the viewer, Mehta knew that Saleem’s character was the key to the success of MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN all along. “I really wanted to focus on the life of Saleem, who is a whimsical character. We balanced what was happening to him with what was happening to India at the same time. The emotional journey is not the emotional journey of a country, but it’s the emotional journey of a person. We feel emotional about what happens to a human being, not necessarily what happens to a country.”
Not that concentrating her efforts on Saleem was necessarily any easier than painting more broadly. “Once I focused on Saleem and stayed with him, the rest became easy. In fact, it was the particular Saleem, as opposed to the universal, which was much more difficult. I mean, the big scenes are a cinch. You have a lot of extras but you get good assistant directors for that. Yes, it’s overwhelming but it’s those intimate scenes that are tough. Those are challenging and they are very, very satisfying. That’s where performance comes in and you know there is truth.”
Mehta and Rushdie celebrating the film's success
MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN is Mehta’s ninth feature film and her most ambitious project by far. The film is now playing in Canada, the country she calls home after moving here in 1973. In fact, the film also has Indian distribution secured, with a release expected later in the year. We already know that she is leaving the film’s reception to fate but before we conclude our time together, Mehta reminisces one last time at how she had to prepare for this enormous undertaking.
“Somebody asked me once how I prepared for this film and I said I joined a gym. I just looked at the script and said I had better get my act together. I got a trainer and everything. You really need that stamina to survive that kind of thing, getting up in the morning and you know you’re going to work a 14-hour day. It’s not just your wits but it’s how long can you stand on your feet.”
Apparently this lady is not only cool but hysterical too.
MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN is now playing in select cities across the USA and is available to rent or own in Canada.
THE BIG WEDDING Written and Directed by Justin Zackham Starring Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams Don: There’s an old saying about how marriage is just like a phone call in the middle of the night. First comes the ring and then you wake up.
A wedding is meant to be a celebration of love and commitment between two people made in front of their closest friends and relatives. Unfortunately for those two people, bringing together all of these supposedly supportive friends and relatives, and then throwing that beautiful love in their faces, also brings out all sorts of crazy that has been simmering beneath the surface for some time, just waiting for the perfect occasion to boil over. The bigger the wedding, the bigger the potential for disaster, and, depending on where you’re sitting, the greater the opportunity for hilarity. THE BIG WEDDING, an oversized, glossy ensemble remake of the French film, MON FRERE SE MARIE (My Brother Is Getting Married), attempts to recreate both of these possibilities cinematically. While it does have disaster aplenty to speak of, no matter where you sit, it is a serious stretch to find any moments of even mild amusement, let alone actual hilarity.
From the moment THE BIG WEDDING opens on a peaceful, calm lake at dawn, you know that this serenity is about to be rattled beyond any recognition and all you can do is wait for it to come. When your cast is led by multiple Oscar winners, Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams, not to mention fresher faces like Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace and Ben Barnes, you might expect that the inevitable hijinks could prove to be well worth your attendance but sadly, you would be sorely mistaken. Much like a wedding is supposed to be about the couple but is more about the appeasement of the guests, a comedy is supposed to be funny, but THE BIG WEDDING plays everything so broadly that none of its guests are likely to enjoy themselves. For future reference for all filmmakers, the following plot devices are not actually funny: People thinking they’re having one conversation when they’re really having another because neither party speaks the same language, maniacal / alcoholic priests that say things you would never expect a priest to say, rich country club racism that everyone just swallows, people pretending to be married when they’re not to avoid angering Jesus, and 30-year-old virgins. You’ve got to give that last point another ten years before it gets anywhere near funny.
You know there’s a problem with a film when it has such an impressive cast and yet somehow Katherine Heigl manages to give the most emotionally engaging performance of the bunch. The problem is simple; THE BIG WEDDING is just a big paycheck movie for all involved. I can very easily forgive big action stars when they take on a franchise film just to pad their already overstuffed bank accounts, but when the talent is as reputed as this cast is, and the material is as lackluster as this is, respect is lost. You have enough money already; you shouldn’t need to subject fans of your work to this kind of perfectly catered torture. In the end, THE BIG WEDDING, was just like so many other large weddings I have been to before. I never really wanted to attend to begin with but felt like I had no other choice given the sheer size of it. And then, once there, I was constantly searching for an inconspicuous moment to sneak out and be done with the whole tedious affair. The good news for you all is that you’re not actually obliged to attend this event out of fear your family will shun you for staying home.
Starring Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and Tom Holland
On December 26, 2004, a series of horrifically destructive tsunamis struck many land masses touched by the Indian Ocean. Over 230,000 people were estimated to have died and nearly 1.7 million people were displaced during the events. THE IMPOSSIBLE, the first film from director, Juan Antonio Bayona, since his breakout, THE ORPHANAGE, and incidentally also his first in English, tells just one of those stories and, in doing so, provides one of the most emotional experiences I’ve had at the movies in quite some time.
Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts play Henry and Maria, father and mother to three young boys, all under the age of 12, on vacation in Thailand for the Christmas holiday. Dad is in the pool with the two youngest when the torrential tide starts to come in, while Mom is a few feet away with a book, and their eldest, a few feet further away getting a ball. Up until this point, Bayona has allowed us to spend a few moments with the family, to get to know them, even if just a little, so there is actually some connection to them that binds them to us when they are fighting for their lives. Then, he simply lets the natural horror unfold and before long we are immersed in devastation and desperation, and led towards salvation by two strong performances by McGregor and Watts.
THE IMPOSSIBLE is quite an apt title for this film. Not only is the experience this family endures an impossible one to survive, but making this film is in itself an incredible feat that should not have been possible either. With the Indonesian Tsunami not quite 8 year behind us now, this disaster movie could have literally been a disaster if it got anywhere near exploiting the events for the sole purpose of titillating the audience and manipulating our emotions. Bayona flirts with this fine line on occasion but for the most part, he creates an honest space that just allows this powerful story to be told and resonate with the sheer nature of its authenticity.
THE IMPOSSIBLE - BLU-RAY REVIEW
I can understand why people stayed away from THE IMPOSSIBLE in theatres. Watching a natural disaster unfold on film is not the way everyone likes to spend their cinema dollars. I actually saw it twice in theatres but I'm a masochist that way. All the same, if you haven't already seen this film, you are seriously missing out. Yes, it takes you to difficult and scary places but the rewards from going there are so great that it makes the arduous journey well worth any tears you shed. And shed them you will. In fact, just in watching the special features on the Blu-ray, I almost shed a few more myself.
THE IMPOSSIBLE received some criticism when it was released suggesting that telling this one particular family's story in fact takes away from the overall devastation that impacted hundreds of thousands of people. They were just on vacation after all so what of all the people who actually lived in the areas that were destroyed? Weren't their stories infinitely worse and don't their stories also deserve to be told? I never felt that choosing to concentrate on one family's plight pulled focus away from the grander disaster. In fact, I felt that the filmmakers often tried to show that they were not alone in their horror and that the local inhabitants were actually incredibly generous in their efforts to assist those who needed it. The fact remains that this was not the story of the tsunami; this was the story of this family and their story deserved to be told as much as any other.
What I said then? "Bayona simply lets the natural horror unfold and before long we are immersed in devastation and desperation, and led towards salvation by two strong performances by McGregor and Watts."
And now? Well, now, I don't disagree with that statement in the least. Watts went on to earn a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her gruelling portrayal and McGregor received some of the best praise he ever has. I do want to single out one other standout performance though that I think would have gotten much more notice during awards season if it weren't such a busy season to begin with. Tom Holland, who was 13 years old when he was cast in the film, has to carry a great deal of the story once Watt's character becomes immobile. He emotes so much controlled fear while he's trying to remain strong for his mother and completely disappears into the intensity of his circumstances. I predict big things for this promising, young man.
SPECIAL FEATURES: There are a couple of very brief but reasonably revealing featurettes included on THE IMPOSSIBLE Blu-ray. The first discusses casting the film, or the family in the film anyway. This amounts to not much more than actors patting each other on the back for being amazing when it could have addressed the decision to cast white, English actors when the original family this film is based upon is in fact Spanish. The second gives a very precise look at how the tsunami itself was recreated for the film when the budget did not allow for an all CGI experience. There are also some deleted scenes but the best feature of all is certainly the director commentary track. Bayona is very proud of this film, and rightfully so, and he shares that pride with the film's writer and producer as well. Also included in the commentary is Maria Belon, the woman whom Watts portrays in the film and who underwent this awful ordeal to begin with.
I truly hope that THE IMPOSSIBLE finds a wider audience in people's homes. It is a truly great portrait of a truly brave family.
THE IMPOSSIBLE is available to rent or own on DVD and Blu-ray now. Review copy provided by eOne Entertainment.
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS
