Winter Vacation Means Movies
"The Gift"
starring: Cate Blanchett, Katie Holmes, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank, Michael Jeter, Gary Cole, Kim Dickens, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons
directed by: Sam Raimi
written by: Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson
What was interesting to me, when I watched this on Netflix recently (after missing out on it 15 years ago when it first came out, with much ado about Katie Holmes baring her breasts in the film, since she was well known at that point for playing the wholesome character, Joey, on Dawson's Creek- clearly she was trying to shed that image a bit with this "edgy" role), was the fact that it was sort of a throwaway film for director Sam Raimi, who had made a name for himself as a horror director thanks to the "Evil Dead" films and then the "Spiderman" trilogy, which seemed to stall his career. He's a great director and here he cuts his teeth in the psychological thriller/suspense genre with the help of a script written by Billy Bob Thornton (who knew?).
Unfortunately, the film and the story tries too hard to pack so many intricate details to a story that never really allows itself to develop into much of anything worth caring about. Because it's a thriller and almost a redneck/backwoods film noir about a mysterious death, the film includes many red herrings in order to throw the viewer off the scent of whodunit, when in reality, it doesn't take more than an educated guess to figure things out quickly. I won't ruin it for you, in case you want to see it and figure it out for yourself, though.
Cate Blanchett, up until this point known best for her portrayal of the Queen in "Elizabeth" plays against typecast as Annie Wilson, a psychic and fortune teller who lives with her two kids in the middle of nowhere, Louisiana.
Annie has the gift of "seeing things," and when she fingers a racist, wife- beating redneck (Keanu Reeves) as the suspected murderer of a town flirt (Katie Holmes), she's branded a witch. We also meet the redneck's abused wife (Hilary Swank, recycling her "Boys Don't Cry" accent), the dead girl's school- principal fiancee (Greg Kinnear) and an emotionally damaged mechanic (Giovanni Ribisi) who hates his dad and grows dependent on Annie's visions and advice.
Aside of Cate Blanchett's understated performance, in which she holds back when the script could have definitely led a different actress to over-act; the film itself though is full of cliches and cheesiness that just comes off as trite. Its a sort of supernatural murder-mystery without much of either/or.
................................................................................
"Iron Sky: Director's Cut"
starring: Julia Dietze, Christopher Kirby, Gotz Otto, Udo Kier, Peta Sergeant, Stephanie Paul
written by: Jarmo Puskala
directed by: Timo Vuorensola
This is a dream for sci-fi-history-comedy film fans, in theory. The premise: since 1945, a colony of Nazis has been hiding out on the dark side of the moon (where's the Pink Floyd soundtrack?), preparing for an invasion of Planet Earth that will establish the Fourth Reich (in Hitler's honor) as the new, new world order. A dying Fuehrer has chosen a successor in Aryan Klaus Adler (Goetz Otto), whom himself as chosen a zealously patriotic schoolteacher/scientist named Renate Richter (Julia Dietze) to be his bride after the impending blitzkrieg, solely based on her eugenic charms (and perhaps her blonde hair and blue eyes). But, Renate starts to feel sympathy for Washington D.C. when the Nazis capture a black man posing as an astronaut but really he's just a good-looking model from the U.S. and ultimately turn him into a white man via an "albinizing" injection.
One way or another, they all end up back on Earth, and through a tortuously silly turn of events, Adler and Renate end up being spokespeople for the president after winning support from her ruthless campaign manager, Vivian Wagner (Peta Sergeant). But when Renate runs into Washington on the streets, he manages to enlighten her about the true history of her Nazi heritage, a process that involves getting her to see the full-length version of Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator,” one of the pic’s better gags.
It's a film that certainly does not take itself seriously at all, which is good and bad, because it could have been a much better film had it really focused more on the satire aspect. It's definitely culturally relevant and since it's an outsider's opinion (made by Finnish filmmakers) about the age of war and terror, it could make someone think, unfortunately that's not the point, as the filmmakers set out with intentions to make something that perhaps Mel Brooks would appreciate instead. It has plenty of laughs, though, especially when it makes fun of itself. It's an entertaining film, with the director's cut on Netflix.
...............................................................................
"A Simple Plan"
starring: Bill Paxton, Bridget Fonda, Billy Bob Thornton, Brent Briscoe, Jack Walsh, Chelcie Ross, Becky Ann Baker, Gary Cole,
written by: Scott B. Smith
directed by: Sam Raimi
Another Sam Raimi film that is a crime drama and thriller mix which has a few similar actors in small roles from Raimi's other film reviewed here (The Gift), but it's the main actors and actresses that drive this film and who do an excellent job with a much better script. All three actors can really shine and let their talents play off each other. This was also one of Bridget Fonda's last films before she "retired" from acting in the early 2000s (that's right, a great actress has been absent from the screen for almost 16 years now).
This film came out in 1998 and is a brilliant and smart film about crime and greed, which pits the characters against each other when they discover a large sum of cash abandoned in a crashed plane in the middle of the woods one day while they are out hunting together.
This was an unexpected great film.
...............................................................................
"Out of the Furnace"
starring: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker
written by: Scott Cooper and Brad Ingelsby
directed by: Scott Cooper
First of all, I must talk about the perfect placement of the song that plays both at the beginning of the film and then again at the end. Pearl Jam's song "Release" off their first album TEN, which came out over two decades ago, is the perfect song to play as bookends to an incredible film about vengeance and redemption, as well as being released. There have been few songs that resonant so well with a film, that make me pay close(r) attention and this is one of those songs (not just because Pearl Jam is my favorite band). Just take 5 minutes and listen to the song, as I've provided for you. Close your eyes while you listen. Truly listen to it. It's powerful.
Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's get to the film.
The furnace referenced in the title belongs to the steel mill in Braddock, Pa. – one of many that belched smoke into the skies of the towns throughout America’s Rust Belt, leaving a permanent fog of gray soot in the atmosphere that grows ever more bleak as the mills and factories continue to downsize and close, leaving the region’s workers as hopeless as the landscape. With its settings and themes, the film that Out of the Furnace calls to mind more than any other is The Deer Hunter.
There's a theme of hunting that may go unnoticed, but pay close attention. There's a scene in which Bale's character goes hunting for deer. He spots a deer, lifts his rifle, eyes it closely, but cannot pull the trigger. This is an intriguing moment that speaks volumes for the character, especially once the rest of the story plays out.
Like his father before him, Russell (Bale) goes to work every day at Braddock’s mill. His brother Rodney (Affleck), however, chooses one of the few paths out of this cycle by joining the Army, and, as Out of the Furnace opens, Rodney is about to head back for his fourth tour of duty due to the military’s unrelenting stop-loss program. There’s a pinched and haunted look on Rodney’s face that speaks volumes about what he’s seen and done and now struggles to live with. There’s a sense of desperation about him that leads him to gamble at the OTB parlor with doomed money borrowed from the local loan shark (Dafoe), and later seek thrills and punishment in the underground sport of bare-knuckle boxing. Meanwhile a vehicular accident results in Russell doing time in the penitentiary for manslaughter. He’s in there long enough for his girlfriend (Saldana) to have abandoned him for the local sheriff (Whitaker) and for Rodney to have returned from Iraq.
Russell's life seems to fall apart so quickly and swiftly. You cannot help but feel sorry for him because he seems like a decent man who got dealt a hard card in life, especially because the accident was just that, an accident. Bale's quiet and somber portrayal should have won him some awards. This was a powerful performance.
Back at the steel mill after his stint in jail, Russell tries to rebuild his life. When brother Rodney goes missing after a bare-knuckle fight in the backwoods of neighboring New Jersey, Russell and his uncle (Shepard) go after the thugs and their leader, Harlan DeGroat (Harrelson). Harlan is one of the nastiest characters Harrelson has ever played.
Even though the film's progression and ending seems rather predictable, you cannot help but be drawn into Russell's journey of vengeance, and that is all thanks to Bale. He is an incredible actor (when given the right material, and lately he has not done much wrong) and works with the right directors.
Watch this film!
..............................................................................
"Homefront"
starring: Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, Kate Bosworth, Izabela Vidovic, Marcus Hester, Clancy Brown, Omar Benson Miller, Frank Grillo, Rachelle Lefevre
written by: Sylvester Stallone (novel by: Chuck Logan)
directed by: Gary Fleder
First off, let's talk about Sylvester Stallone. He tends to write scripts for himself and I wonder if it's because he knows that he is his biggest fan or that no one else can really play the roles he'd rather assign to himself. Either way, the dude can write some entertaining films. That cannot be denied. He's made a name for himself all the way back with "Rambo" and "Rocky." And with this film, "Homefront," which he originally intended to be a vehicle for himself again, perhaps to start another action-packed and explosive franchise based on a novelist's character). Instead, Stallone gave it away to another actor/man's man in Jason Statham who has made a career out of being characters that would make Bruce Lee and Stallone happy and wet themselves. Statham's filmography is filled with some many action films it's hard to keep track and not think they are all the same character. "Transporter" really put him on the map as an action star, and then "The Expendables" (with Stallone). He started out as Guy Ritchie's go-to guy with "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" as well as "Snatch," and it was off to the races afterwards.
If you need the plot, here it is:
Ex-DEA agent Broker (Statham) has retired with his daughter Maddy (Vidovic) to backwater Louisiana in search of the quiet life. Alas, that is not to be as he encounters a meth-crazed redneck (Bosworth), her speed-manufacturing evil brother – the aptly though mysteriously named Gator (Franco) – and his goons. A chance schoolyard encounter gone terribly astray leads her to sic Gator on Broker. Following his sister's admonishment to “mess with their heads," Gator breaks into the house while father and daughter are out riding. There he discovers Broker's past involvement in the killing of the son of an imprisoned biker-gang leader and criminal drug lord. Using his stripper, drug-dealing and -using girlfriend Sheryl Mott (Ryder) as a go-between in exchange for a drug distribution deal, Gator offers the gang leader (Zito) Broker's location.
This is a straight-up action film where the plot doesn't need to make sense. You want to be entertained? Enter. You won't be disappointed.
starring: Cate Blanchett, Katie Holmes, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank, Michael Jeter, Gary Cole, Kim Dickens, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons
directed by: Sam Raimi
written by: Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson
What was interesting to me, when I watched this on Netflix recently (after missing out on it 15 years ago when it first came out, with much ado about Katie Holmes baring her breasts in the film, since she was well known at that point for playing the wholesome character, Joey, on Dawson's Creek- clearly she was trying to shed that image a bit with this "edgy" role), was the fact that it was sort of a throwaway film for director Sam Raimi, who had made a name for himself as a horror director thanks to the "Evil Dead" films and then the "Spiderman" trilogy, which seemed to stall his career. He's a great director and here he cuts his teeth in the psychological thriller/suspense genre with the help of a script written by Billy Bob Thornton (who knew?).
Unfortunately, the film and the story tries too hard to pack so many intricate details to a story that never really allows itself to develop into much of anything worth caring about. Because it's a thriller and almost a redneck/backwoods film noir about a mysterious death, the film includes many red herrings in order to throw the viewer off the scent of whodunit, when in reality, it doesn't take more than an educated guess to figure things out quickly. I won't ruin it for you, in case you want to see it and figure it out for yourself, though.
Cate Blanchett, up until this point known best for her portrayal of the Queen in "Elizabeth" plays against typecast as Annie Wilson, a psychic and fortune teller who lives with her two kids in the middle of nowhere, Louisiana.
Annie has the gift of "seeing things," and when she fingers a racist, wife- beating redneck (Keanu Reeves) as the suspected murderer of a town flirt (Katie Holmes), she's branded a witch. We also meet the redneck's abused wife (Hilary Swank, recycling her "Boys Don't Cry" accent), the dead girl's school- principal fiancee (Greg Kinnear) and an emotionally damaged mechanic (Giovanni Ribisi) who hates his dad and grows dependent on Annie's visions and advice.
Aside of Cate Blanchett's understated performance, in which she holds back when the script could have definitely led a different actress to over-act; the film itself though is full of cliches and cheesiness that just comes off as trite. Its a sort of supernatural murder-mystery without much of either/or.
................................................................................
"Iron Sky: Director's Cut"
starring: Julia Dietze, Christopher Kirby, Gotz Otto, Udo Kier, Peta Sergeant, Stephanie Paul
written by: Jarmo Puskala
directed by: Timo Vuorensola
This is a dream for sci-fi-history-comedy film fans, in theory. The premise: since 1945, a colony of Nazis has been hiding out on the dark side of the moon (where's the Pink Floyd soundtrack?), preparing for an invasion of Planet Earth that will establish the Fourth Reich (in Hitler's honor) as the new, new world order. A dying Fuehrer has chosen a successor in Aryan Klaus Adler (Goetz Otto), whom himself as chosen a zealously patriotic schoolteacher/scientist named Renate Richter (Julia Dietze) to be his bride after the impending blitzkrieg, solely based on her eugenic charms (and perhaps her blonde hair and blue eyes). But, Renate starts to feel sympathy for Washington D.C. when the Nazis capture a black man posing as an astronaut but really he's just a good-looking model from the U.S. and ultimately turn him into a white man via an "albinizing" injection.
One way or another, they all end up back on Earth, and through a tortuously silly turn of events, Adler and Renate end up being spokespeople for the president after winning support from her ruthless campaign manager, Vivian Wagner (Peta Sergeant). But when Renate runs into Washington on the streets, he manages to enlighten her about the true history of her Nazi heritage, a process that involves getting her to see the full-length version of Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator,” one of the pic’s better gags.
It's a film that certainly does not take itself seriously at all, which is good and bad, because it could have been a much better film had it really focused more on the satire aspect. It's definitely culturally relevant and since it's an outsider's opinion (made by Finnish filmmakers) about the age of war and terror, it could make someone think, unfortunately that's not the point, as the filmmakers set out with intentions to make something that perhaps Mel Brooks would appreciate instead. It has plenty of laughs, though, especially when it makes fun of itself. It's an entertaining film, with the director's cut on Netflix.
...............................................................................
"A Simple Plan"
starring: Bill Paxton, Bridget Fonda, Billy Bob Thornton, Brent Briscoe, Jack Walsh, Chelcie Ross, Becky Ann Baker, Gary Cole,
written by: Scott B. Smith
directed by: Sam Raimi
Another Sam Raimi film that is a crime drama and thriller mix which has a few similar actors in small roles from Raimi's other film reviewed here (The Gift), but it's the main actors and actresses that drive this film and who do an excellent job with a much better script. All three actors can really shine and let their talents play off each other. This was also one of Bridget Fonda's last films before she "retired" from acting in the early 2000s (that's right, a great actress has been absent from the screen for almost 16 years now).
This film came out in 1998 and is a brilliant and smart film about crime and greed, which pits the characters against each other when they discover a large sum of cash abandoned in a crashed plane in the middle of the woods one day while they are out hunting together.
On New Year's Eve afternoon, the brothers and their buddy Lou come across a small plane that crashed in the snowbound woods. Inside, they find the $4.4 million in a gym bag stuffed with $100 bills and immediately begin debating the proper thing to do with it.
Hank, a family man with a pregnant wife (Bridget Fonda) and a steady job as a feed-mill accountant, says it's a matter for the police. His slow-witted, sad-sack brother Jacob, still rudderless after their father's death, sees the loot as his only chance for stability. Ditto Lou (Brent Briscoe), a drunk who lives with his nagging wife.
The film plots the three men against each other and tests their shifting/changing notions and beliefs of morality and self-interest as it best fits each of them. They vow to keep the money a secret amongst themselves and try desperately to keep their secret, all the while becoming very distrustful of each other, panicking and stupid about it all. They are clearly amateurs when it comes to crime and the sad thing is they probably would have been given some of the money as a reward had they reported it and the plane crash to the authorities. The character nuances, small-town atmosphere, and drama of ordinary lives torn apart brings to mind "Fargo" and the Coen Brothers. Paxton's character, Hank, is the one man we are made to watch transform the most, since he is the steady, family-to-be-man, with the wife at home, and the moral compass. He changes the most, as he becomes violent and paranoid, one the consequence of the other, and it's less believable that he would shift so drastically from his beliefs at the beginning of the film, but then again, it does beg the question of: what would you do if you got your hands on $4.4 million that was not yours? Would you kill?This was an unexpected great film.
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"Out of the Furnace"
starring: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker
written by: Scott Cooper and Brad Ingelsby
directed by: Scott Cooper
First of all, I must talk about the perfect placement of the song that plays both at the beginning of the film and then again at the end. Pearl Jam's song "Release" off their first album TEN, which came out over two decades ago, is the perfect song to play as bookends to an incredible film about vengeance and redemption, as well as being released. There have been few songs that resonant so well with a film, that make me pay close(r) attention and this is one of those songs (not just because Pearl Jam is my favorite band). Just take 5 minutes and listen to the song, as I've provided for you. Close your eyes while you listen. Truly listen to it. It's powerful.
"Release"
I see the world
Feel the chill
Which way to go
Windowsill
I see the words
On a rocking horse of time
I see the birds in the rain
Oh dear dad
Can you see me now
I am myself
Like you somehow
I'll ride the wave
Where it takes me
I'll hold the pain
Release me
Oh dear dad
Can you see me now
I am myself
Like you somehow
I'll wait up in the dark
For you to speak to me
I'll open up
Release me
Release me
Release me
Release me
Feel the chill
Which way to go
Windowsill
I see the words
On a rocking horse of time
I see the birds in the rain
Oh dear dad
Can you see me now
I am myself
Like you somehow
I'll ride the wave
Where it takes me
I'll hold the pain
Release me
Oh dear dad
Can you see me now
I am myself
Like you somehow
I'll wait up in the dark
For you to speak to me
I'll open up
Release me
Release me
Release me
Release me
Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's get to the film.
The furnace referenced in the title belongs to the steel mill in Braddock, Pa. – one of many that belched smoke into the skies of the towns throughout America’s Rust Belt, leaving a permanent fog of gray soot in the atmosphere that grows ever more bleak as the mills and factories continue to downsize and close, leaving the region’s workers as hopeless as the landscape. With its settings and themes, the film that Out of the Furnace calls to mind more than any other is The Deer Hunter.
There's a theme of hunting that may go unnoticed, but pay close attention. There's a scene in which Bale's character goes hunting for deer. He spots a deer, lifts his rifle, eyes it closely, but cannot pull the trigger. This is an intriguing moment that speaks volumes for the character, especially once the rest of the story plays out.
Like his father before him, Russell (Bale) goes to work every day at Braddock’s mill. His brother Rodney (Affleck), however, chooses one of the few paths out of this cycle by joining the Army, and, as Out of the Furnace opens, Rodney is about to head back for his fourth tour of duty due to the military’s unrelenting stop-loss program. There’s a pinched and haunted look on Rodney’s face that speaks volumes about what he’s seen and done and now struggles to live with. There’s a sense of desperation about him that leads him to gamble at the OTB parlor with doomed money borrowed from the local loan shark (Dafoe), and later seek thrills and punishment in the underground sport of bare-knuckle boxing. Meanwhile a vehicular accident results in Russell doing time in the penitentiary for manslaughter. He’s in there long enough for his girlfriend (Saldana) to have abandoned him for the local sheriff (Whitaker) and for Rodney to have returned from Iraq.
Russell's life seems to fall apart so quickly and swiftly. You cannot help but feel sorry for him because he seems like a decent man who got dealt a hard card in life, especially because the accident was just that, an accident. Bale's quiet and somber portrayal should have won him some awards. This was a powerful performance.
Back at the steel mill after his stint in jail, Russell tries to rebuild his life. When brother Rodney goes missing after a bare-knuckle fight in the backwoods of neighboring New Jersey, Russell and his uncle (Shepard) go after the thugs and their leader, Harlan DeGroat (Harrelson). Harlan is one of the nastiest characters Harrelson has ever played.
Even though the film's progression and ending seems rather predictable, you cannot help but be drawn into Russell's journey of vengeance, and that is all thanks to Bale. He is an incredible actor (when given the right material, and lately he has not done much wrong) and works with the right directors.
Watch this film!
..............................................................................
"Homefront"
starring: Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, Kate Bosworth, Izabela Vidovic, Marcus Hester, Clancy Brown, Omar Benson Miller, Frank Grillo, Rachelle Lefevre
written by: Sylvester Stallone (novel by: Chuck Logan)
directed by: Gary Fleder
First off, let's talk about Sylvester Stallone. He tends to write scripts for himself and I wonder if it's because he knows that he is his biggest fan or that no one else can really play the roles he'd rather assign to himself. Either way, the dude can write some entertaining films. That cannot be denied. He's made a name for himself all the way back with "Rambo" and "Rocky." And with this film, "Homefront," which he originally intended to be a vehicle for himself again, perhaps to start another action-packed and explosive franchise based on a novelist's character). Instead, Stallone gave it away to another actor/man's man in Jason Statham who has made a career out of being characters that would make Bruce Lee and Stallone happy and wet themselves. Statham's filmography is filled with some many action films it's hard to keep track and not think they are all the same character. "Transporter" really put him on the map as an action star, and then "The Expendables" (with Stallone). He started out as Guy Ritchie's go-to guy with "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" as well as "Snatch," and it was off to the races afterwards.
If you need the plot, here it is:
Ex-DEA agent Broker (Statham) has retired with his daughter Maddy (Vidovic) to backwater Louisiana in search of the quiet life. Alas, that is not to be as he encounters a meth-crazed redneck (Bosworth), her speed-manufacturing evil brother – the aptly though mysteriously named Gator (Franco) – and his goons. A chance schoolyard encounter gone terribly astray leads her to sic Gator on Broker. Following his sister's admonishment to “mess with their heads," Gator breaks into the house while father and daughter are out riding. There he discovers Broker's past involvement in the killing of the son of an imprisoned biker-gang leader and criminal drug lord. Using his stripper, drug-dealing and -using girlfriend Sheryl Mott (Ryder) as a go-between in exchange for a drug distribution deal, Gator offers the gang leader (Zito) Broker's location.
This is a straight-up action film where the plot doesn't need to make sense. You want to be entertained? Enter. You won't be disappointed.
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