Author Archives: matterspamer

REVIEW: A Single Man

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Image courtesy of Cinematic Passions

A Single Man
Directed by: Tom Ford
Written by: Tom Ford & David Scearce (screenplay), Chris Isherwood (novel)
Starring: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, and Matthew Goode

Looking for that depressing British movie about interesting broken people?  In A Single Man, director Tom Ford’s impressive debut, you’ve found it and then some.

After his lover (Matthew Goode) dies, George Falconer (Colin Firth), an English professor in early 60’s L.A., falls into a deep sadness.  Much of the film revolves around his plan to kill himself and the different things distracting him from it or holding him back.  He goes over to his best friend Charley’s (Julianne Moore) house to get boozed up and talk, has an encounter with a gay James Dean-wannabe outside a liquor store, and has an interesting chat with the neighbor’s daughter at a bank.

All of these events, combined with a prospect at a rebound lover in a young student (Nicholas Hoult), prevent George from pulling the trigger.  I went into this film expecting an Oscar-worthy performance from Firth, mostly just because he was nominated for one.  Though he delivers a quietly devastating portrait, I’m not sure he would’ve been nominated on a year with more memorable lead performances.

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ARCHIVE REVIEW: Y tu mamá también

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Image courtesy of Time Out New York

Y tu mamá también
Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón
Written by: Alfonso Cuarón & Carlos Cuarón
Starring: Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Maribel Verdú

Alfonso Cuarón’s sexed-up road movie had every critic buzzing back in 2001 when it was originally released.  Not in outrage over it’s sleazy, over-sexed characters, but its expert handling of mature themes in a vibrant, entertaining way.  It’s hard to see how the producers of the Harry Potter franchise looked at this film and said “There’s our guy.”

The film begins with teenage sex.  Tenoch (Diego Luna) is saying farewell to his girlfriend as she prepares to depart for Italy with the girlfriend of the other main character, Julio (Gael García Bernal).  It’s an erotic start to a movie that has the highest sex scene to run-time ratio (more than five in 105 minutes) I’ve ever seen.

Once the girlfriends are out of the picture, the two horny best friends let loose.  From partying and getting high at a friend’s bungalow to getting smashed at a relative’s wedding, the two boys admire the notion that time you enjoy wasting is not wasted.

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REVIEW: The Vicious Kind

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Image courtesy of Rama's Screen

The Vicious Kind
Directed by: Lee Toland Krieger
Written by: Lee Toland Krieger
Starring: Adam Scott, Brittany Snow, J.K. Simmons, and Alex Frost

New film discoveries during the earlier months in the year are always a must until Hollywood does its spring cleaning.  Luckily, I’ve found one such film that will hold you in its sinister grasp from start to finish.

Lee Toland Krieger’s The Vicious Kind, spearheaded by a wicked tour de force from relative unknown Adam Scott, is a provocative breath of fresh air for both the holiday-set family drama and the  rotting garbage at the cinema.  Set around Thanksgiving, the film focuses on brothers Peter (Alex Frost) and Caleb (Scott), Peter’s girlfriend Emma (Brittany Snow), and their now-single father Donald (J.K. Simmons).

You think you know how this movie should go.  Mom should be dying of cancer, brothers should resent not only each other but also dad, and they should all reconcile because of the holidays.

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DVD Must-watch: Spike Jonze’s Oscar snubbed Where the Wild Things Are

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Image courtesy of Screen Rant

The biggest crime perpetuated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Peter Travers of Rolling Stone prefers “Farts and Biases” and I tend to agree) this year is ignoring Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are. Today, you have the opportunity to partially correct that mistake by going out and renting or buying the film yourself and seeing what great work he has done.

Jonze had the audacity to adapt a 12-page, mostly illustrated children’s novel to the silver screen.  Guess what?  He succeeded admirably.

Wild Things is a beautifully told vision of childhood.  The fears, anxieties, tribulations and joys told through the eyes of a young boy named Max (portrayed by terrific child actor Max Records) are all brought to vivid, beautiful light in this film.

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Oscar Acting Up Close: Quite a bit Country, not enough Rock ‘N Roll

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Image courtesy of Alt. Film Guide

As it stands now, it looks like the four winners for for acting Oscars this weekend will be Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Christoph Waltz, and Mo’Nique.  One washed-up country singer, one modern country belle, one Jew Hunter, and one mom from Hell- see any similarities?

The acting categories usually go to four very distinct roles from very different styles of acting.  Not so this year.

If you were to look at the supporting categories this year, you’d see that.  Waltz gives his tour de force in four languages layered with charm and menace, while Mo’Nique gives hers in one language, amps up the menace, takes away charm, and adds insanity.   Different styles of acting?  Yes.  But, both of these roles are antagonists.

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BEST PICTURE NOMINEE: Inglourious Basterds

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Image courtesy of IMDB

Inglourious Basterds
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Written by: Quentin Tarantino (screenplay)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent, Eli Roth, and Diane Kruger

I consider myself to be a rather big fan of Quentin Tarantino.  Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and Jackie Brown all have their place on my list of favorite movies.  I am disheartened to announce, then, that Inglourious Basterds is without a doubt Mr. Tarantino’s worst film.

By no means does this mean it’s a bad film, it just lacks that all-important vibe of urgency and humanity that brings his other genre pieces to such vivid, unmistakable life.  Is it cool?  Sure.  Is it entertaining?  You bet your ass it is.  But it just doesn’t resonate.  I watched it in the theater and then kind of forgot about it until it was coming out on DVD.  It’s like Avatar in that way.  I liked it, but I won’t remember it.

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What’s the future of 3D? Not much.

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Many people suggest that the 3D revolution didn’t start until Avatar came along.  Though the concept had been executed as far back as the early 20’s, never had the experience been so seamless and engaging as it was in Avatar. However, with the recent announcements of 3D movies, I’m beginning to think that Avatar may be the peak, and that it’s all downhill from here.

During the commercials of Avatar, audiences were treated/tortured with a commercial for Piranha 3D. The plot outline on the IMDB page reads as follows:

A tremor under the surface of Lake Victoria unleashes scores of prehistoric piranhas, an event which rallies the local sheriff who will risk everything to save her townsfolk.

It was then, seeing that this new technology would return to its roots: the endless concept films with ‘3D’ tacked onto the end of the titles or the latest Dreamworks release put into 3D just to jack up the ticket price. Continue reading →

BEST PICTURE NOMINEE: An Education

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Image courtesy of New York Daily News

An Education
Directed by: Lone Scherfig
Written by: Nick Hornby (screenplay), Lynn Barber (memoir)
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, and Rosamund Pike

Warning: boring period piece this is not. Adults looking for a time capsule back to the early 60’s should stick to AMC’s Mad Men.  Though evoking that same atmosphere, An Education is a decidedly modern film, especially thematically, and that atmosphere will most likely be one that those growing up in the period don’t remember.

A wise-beyond-her-years 16 year old falls for an older man in pre-Beatles London. It sounds like a boring premise, but it couldn’t be more exciting, hilarious, and well-executed.  Director Lone Scherfig, working with an excellent adapted screenplay by Nick Hornby, makes sure of that.  Scherfig is yet another female director to emerge out of the 2009 renaissance.  Along with Kathryn Bigelow’s film, Scherfig’s movie is the best to come out of it so far.  Those at the top questioning whether or not female directors have the capability to do more than low-brow  romantic comedies should look here.

While Scherfig’s film is both romantic, and a comedy, it does not fall into either of these genres.  In a way it is anti-romantic, and the humor arises more naturally than the stupidly forced punchlines of The Proposal or The Ugly Truth.  Also unlike those two horrible films, it comes second to the character development, refusing to make caricatures out of its characters.

Newcomer Carey Mulligan gives  the greatest performance of 2009 as Jenny, pressured by her father (Alfred Molina) to go to Oxford and rebelling by having fun instead. Mulligan does the type of acting that many veteran actors still can’t do.  The raw, youthful nature of Jenny is perfectly captured.  She can say more with a look and the way she holds her cigarette than Sandra Bullock does during the whole movie in The Blind Side.

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The Hurt Locker vs. Avatar: Stuck Between a Bomb, and a Blue Face?

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Image courtesy of New York Daily News

Even though there are 10 Best Picture nominees this year, as usual it comes down to a couple front-runners. As the March 7th air date approaches, two films, one of which is unexpected, have emerged as clear front-runners.

In this corner, the people’s champion; James Cameron’s high budget, jaw-dropping 3D epic Avatar. In the other corner, the critic’s darling; Kathryn Bigelow’s low budget, highly praised, action face-melter The Hurt Locker.  So, how did it come to pass that these two films made it to the top?

Avatar was always a front-runner.  Ten years in the making, big twelve million dollar camera, 3D visuals to die for- combine these three things with James ‘Titanic’ Cameron, and you have yourself a sure-fire hit.  However, it was initially speculated that either Up In the Air or, way earlier in the season, Precious would square off with it.  As the many daunting awards ceremonies have shown though, Jason Reitman’s film is really only going to expect a screenplay award, while Lee Daniels can only expect Mo’Nique’s Best Supporting Actress win for his film. How did Bigelow edge them out then?

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REVIEW: Shutter Island

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Shutter Island
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Written by: Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay), Dennis Lehane (novel)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Patricia Clarkson, and Michelle Williams

Martin Scorsese’s first narrative film since his 2006 masterpiece The Departed had a lot to live up to.  Then again, anytime people in the film business hear that Scorsese is doing a film, he has a lot to live up to.  The master behind the aforementioned Boston crime epic as well as classics like Taxi Driver and Goodfellas puts a violent stroke of genius on almost everything he touches.

Shutter Island is no exception.  The fantastically directed, acted, and edited film comes alive like no film in the movie-dead winter months should.  Will it be one of the best films of 2010?  It may very well be, but typically the earlier ones get drowned out by the falling leaves of Oscar bait in the fall.

Teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio for the fourth time, Scorsese adapts a Dennis Lehane novel about a mental institution that is hiding more than meets the eye.  Washed up premise?  Yes, but it is constructed so well that you won’t really notice until you think about it later.

DiCaprio plays Teddy Daniels, a  federal marshal sent to investigate the disappearance of the patient Rachel Solondo on the maximum security psych ward known as Shutter Island (San Francisco’s Alcatraz penitentiary with even more fog if that helps you visualize).  Daniels is a tragic character, seasick when we first meet him and grief-stricken over the suicide of his wife Dolores (Michelle Williams).

The dream sequences and flashbacks Scorsese constructs featuring DiCaprio and Williams are some of the most hauntingly beautiful images the filmmaker has ever created.  Daniels revisits the events of her death in his nightmares, watching as she bleeds out and collapses into ash.  Those thinking Scorsese is only capable of violent crime epics will be stunned at the raw feeling and cinema poetry he creates in these dream sequences.

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