Movies, Movies, Movies
"Blue Jasmine"
starring: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Daniel Jenks, Andrew Dice Clay, Kathy Tong, Annie McNamara, Bobbby Cannavale, Max Casella, Ali Fedotowsky, Michael Stuhlberg
written and directed by: Woody Allen
Woody Allen is at his best when his cast is a perfect match to his written word and they can spew it as fast and smoothly as if to make it seem like we are simply peeking in on their lives, almost like an invasion of privacy, but we received an invitation. Woody Allen has said before that Scarlett Johanson has been his most recent muse for his movies, because she just seems to "get it" and works so well within his worlds. Well, now we can see Cate Blanchett as a perfect match, so move over Scarlett Johanson. But, then again, Cate Blanchett is nearly perfect in just about all her movies. There's a reason why she's won awards, including for this film where she channels the real-life experiences of Ruth Madoff (Bernie Madoff's wife) after the financial crisis. She gives one of her best performances as the Park Avenue matron hitting a low point after the financial crisis and seemingly unable to deal with life after money. She's been ill-equipped for years and has to reach out to her sister and brother-in-law for assistance in order to get back on her feet.
Married to a financial whiz (Baldwin) who meets a Bernie Madoff-like end, Jasmine claims to have had no knowledge of her spouse’s swindles. Once he goes to prison, Jasmine decamps to Brooklyn (horrors!) before moving cross-country to crash with her sister Ginger (Hawkins) in San Francisco. A study in contrasts, Ginger is the comfortable lowbrow to Jasmine’s effete highbrow. In particular, Jasmine has taken a strong dislike to all the men in Ginger’s life, from her loutish ex-husband (Clay, in a surprisingly unaffected performance) and her current dolt of a boyfriend (Cannavale) to her fling with a deceptive no-goodnik (C.K.). All the while, Jasmine ranges between unrealistic fantasies and harsh reality checks. Your heart will break for her one second before wanting to slap her silly the next.
I've never been a fan of Allen's abrupt endings, as we are invested in the characters' lives and then all of a sudden, without much care for conclusion, the films tend to end in the middle of something. But I will say, Allen has a keen eye and ear with his observations on the class divides brought out especially in this film.
....................................................................
"Spread"
starring: Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche, Margarita Leveiva, Sebastian Stan, Rachel Blanchard, Eric Balfour, Ashley Johnson, Sonia Rockwell, Maria Conchita Alonso, Derek Carter, Sarah Buxton
written by: Jason Hall
directed by: David Mackenzie
We've seen movies just like this before. Richard Gere played the same character in "American Gigolo." Philanderer and expert mooch who beds multiple women simply because he can, but also out of necessity. Here, we have Ashton Kutcher in the role as Nikki, the bad boy, down on his luck, who it is revealed about halfway through, actually has a heart- it might be simply because of the location (re: L.A.) where people don't generally care about people's feelings.
The land of dreams here is Los Angeles, where the sun always shines and slinky little minxes with low standards and high sex drives abound. Decked out in rolled-up jeans and rakish suspenders, Nikki ambles through the bedrooms of moneyed older women (namely Anne Heche) on a tide of breezy ennui. Then, of course, he meets his match, the frosty Heather (Margarita Levieva). Love swiftly intervenes to knock the playboy to his knees.
The way the film is written, the first half really focuses on Nikki's perverse thrills of the chase and catch of wealthy women, but really he does not discriminate, if there's sex involved. He's clearly a villain, especially when it's clear that he's using Heche's character for a place to live and/or hunker down for his escapades when she's out of town. The filmmaker spends his time and energy making us not like or care what really happens to Nikki, that it feels rather cheap and trite to switch his characterization for the last half of the film. He takes advantage of people, therefore, he should get what he deserves.
.....................................................................
"I Don't Feel at Home in this World Anymore"
starring: Melanie Lynskey, Gary Anthony Williams, Michelle Moreno, Lee Eddy, Elijah Wood, Jeb Berrier
written and directed by: Macon Blair
Netflix decided to roll the dice with indie actor Macon Blair (best known for his roles in "Blue Ruin" and "Green Room" both excellent indie films) by letting him write and direct this bizarre neo-noir comedy.
Nursing assistant Ruth (Melanie Lynskey) is a woman adrift in a world of apathy and petty entitlement. She has found a shaky limbo consisting of antidepressants, Coors Light, and epic fantasy novels to while away her existence. But when her house is robbed, she is shaken out of her paralysis and into action. The police are condescending, offering little hope for the retrieval of her laptop, and more importantly, her grandmother's silverware set.
Ruth teams up with her neighbor and martial arts enthusiast Tony (Elijah Wood), and together they seek to mete out some vigilante justice (or at least just get her shit back). Through their investigation, they run afoul of the thieves led by a creepy David Yow (of Jesus Lizard/Scratch Acid fame). Violence soon rears its head, starting with a broken finger and ending with, well, all manner of gory mayhem.
It's really interesting how this film actually approaches the central themes of utter indifference and outright hostility encountered pretty much every day in minor exchanges or experiences with others and what actually brings someone to their breaking point. It's about the "quiet" people suffering and suffering through daily life.
Melanie Lynskey is an underrated actress who really carries her performances with her body, mainly in her eyes, face/facial expressions, and her shoulders (heavy burdens of her characters). She makes a film worth watching just for her actions and reactions. She's like an everywoman type of actress.
.......................................................................
"Win It All"
starring: Jake Johnson, Edward Kaihatsu, Jose Antonio Garcia, Joe Lo Truglio, Kris Swanberg, Athur Agee, Steve Berg, Cliff Chamberlain, Keegan-Michael Key, Aislinn Derbez
written by: Jake Johnson and Joe Swanberg
directed by: Joe Swanberg
Joe Swanberg grew up as a filmmaker in the same mumblecore genre that the Duplass Brothers helped bring to light. His films have always been rather scruffy and rough around the edges, even just speaking aesthetically. And many of his films' dialogue is sketched out but solely relies on how the actors and actresses interact with each other, the conversations improvised around topics, fleshed out in the moment.
Swanberg is great at showing us the world of his characters, through their eyes, and the way their emotions shape their world. It's sort of a reinvention of the American comedy.
Win It All features another of Swanberg’s arrested-development cases, Eddie Garrett (Jake Johnson), a gambling addict who’s drunk on high risk, booze, and a schedule that allows him to operate apart from conventional nine-to-five society. Of course, these illusory freedoms have a steep price: perpetual debt, which begets perpetual danger, and loneliness. Johnson informs Eddie with a subtle prickliness that’s only relieved when he’s drunk or betting horses or playing cards in his favorite casino—in other words, when he’s home or in the only home he thinks he deserves. Before he meets Eva (Aislinn Derbez), it’s evident that Eddie doesn’t have anything going on romantically, which is another truth about addicts that Swanberg doesn’t cheapen or melodramatize by foregrounding. The texture is simply there in the film’s fabric. And so Eva offers a profound relief to Eddie, matter of factually, without the film going soft or sentimental in the process.
What's great about Swanberg's films is that his characters are not defined by "good" or "evil." He very easily could've made Eddie the villain, screwing up his life and the people around him, as well, as collateral damage. Gambling movies are usually about the effects. Addiction is a curse, etc. Instead, Swanberg's characters, like Eddie, are essentially decent people and I love how he uses the secondary characters as vehicles to steer the lead character away from self-annihilating tendencies.
Swanberg is great at character study films and this one, produced by Netflix, as well as his series "Easy" are great examples of his best qualities as a filmmaker.
...........................................................................
"Gerald's Game"
starring: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Chiara Aurelia, Carel Struycken, Henry Thomas, Kate Siegel, Bryce Harper
written by: Jeff Howard and Michael Flanagan
directed by: Michael Flanagan
Netflix decided to jump into the Stephen King world with a couple of their newest projects- "1922" (which I haven't watched yet) and this one, "Gerald's Game" which is quite an interesting story to put to screen, as most of it takes place to the lead characters head/mind. Although, Mike Flanagan has quickly proven himself as a worthy horror/psychological thriller director. "Oculus" and "Hush" were great films. Seriously, "Hush" is one of the best horror/suspense films I've seen in awhile. Netflix tapped him for "Before I Wake" and this Stephen King adaptation.
There's always more below the surface of Stephen King stories besides just the horror aspects. The psychology and getting inside the head of his characters is the best part. Unfortunately, many of the film adaptations only go for the horror and the jump-scares (re: the new version of "IT"). Here, though, you couldn't escape the head-game and Flanagan did a great job using the character's experience to reexamine the patriarchal atrocities of her past so as to escape them in her future.
Jessie Burlingame (Carla Gugino) is the beautiful trophy wife of Gerald (Bruce Greenwood), a wealthy attorney who takes her to their remote vacation house in Maine under the pretense of working on their troubled marriage. But Gerald actually wants to realize his fantasy of handcuffing Jessie to an elaborate headboard and raping her, though he drops dead at the beginning of the “game,” leaving Jessie trapped in bed and thinking of a pivotal day in her childhood when her father (Henry Thomas) sexually assaulted her. In both the book and the film, Jessie’s father and husband are bluntly understood to be iterations of the same kind of man, a manipulative predator who dogs women all over the world and who coerces Jessie into mistaking his desires and guilt for her own.
Jessie relies on her inner voice to get her out of the bedroom, which contains Gerald’s rotting corpse, a carnivorous dog, and a serial killer who may or may not be a figment of the dehydrated woman’s imagination. In the novel, Jessie’s voice manifested itself as a variety of acquaintances, but in the film her internal rationalizing is embodied by a more confident version of Jessie and, most resonantly, Gerald himself. He usually serves as the devil on Jessie’s shoulder, foretelling of her doom in bursts of macabre poetry that Greenwood delivers with sinister and weirdly erotic aplomb. Occasionally, though, Gerald helps Jessie to strategize her escape, poignantly embodying a dying woman’s fantasy of an abusive husband who can finally see his wife’s humanity.
Flanagan seems to play it rather safe with the sexual exploitation, past and present abuse, where a crueler director like De Palma or Fincher would have a field day exploring the inner-workings of sexual abuse and exploitation in a bit harder to watch way.
................................................................................
"Before Midnight"
starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Prior, Charlotte Prior, Walter Lassally, Ariane Labed, Yannis Papadopoulos, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Panos Koronis
written by: Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy
directed by: Richard Linklater
Full disclosure: "Before Sunrise" is one of my all time favorite films. And that was the film that started this unbelievable trilogy that explores romance, relationships, etc. in such a way, elegant, realistic way that makes you truly appreciate each one. When I first saw "Before Sunrise" back in high school I was amazed at the beautiful words and the easy flow of the dialogue between these two characters, so much, that I romanticized the whole idea of meeting someone at random and spending only a specific amount of time with them. Everything about this movie was perfect, to me, and has still held up over the years, and the movie came out in 1995. Now, it would have been a great film/story by itself, but Linklater and Delpy and Hawke decided to revisit these two people 9 years later, just to check in on them and give the audience a glimpse into their lives. "Before Sunset" was fantastic as well. And now, we have the culmination of the trilogy, another 9 years later, with "Before Midnight."
Each movie is concerned more with the long-takes of conversations that tell us the story of these characters and less concerned with providing us with "action." The action is in the words spoken. In the past, Jesse and Celine talked about the future, their ambitions, fears and dreams, you know, like normal twentysomethings. This time around, they are more interested in their past mistakes (more specifically, Jesse's relationship with his stateside son and the rough, estranged relationship with his ex-wife). Jesse and Celine's is a consummated love and with this chapter they are comfortable in each other's presence. They even have an intense fight in a hotel room when they are supposed to be spending a romantic night away from their twin daughters.
The reason why I love these films and this story in particular is because all three filmmakers/writers present these two people as real as they can, and even though it seemed like a meet-cute, and beautiful love story, they've still had to endure the wear and tear of real life and years of being together and intimately knowing your partner.
.............................................................................
"Michael Clayton"
starring: Tom Wilkinson, Michael O'Keefe, Sydney Pollack, Tilda Swinton, George Clooney, Denis O'Hare, Frank Wood, Jennifer Van Dyck
written and directed by: Tony Gilroy
We've all seen movies like this before. Movies about lawyers. Movies about corporate giants screwing the people and trying their damnedest to get out of it with barely a scratch, financially. What makes this film stand out more than the others (besides the brilliant acting of George Clooney, yet again) is how it asks the question of where a lawyer's ethical responsibility to zealously represent a client ends and a societal interest in achieving justices begins.
In Michael Clayton the truth is a slippery thing, particularly when billions of dollars are at stake in a class-action lawsuit in which an agrochemical corporate giant is accused of manufacturing a toxic product resulting in hundreds of deaths. When the brilliant lead attorney for the corporate defendant suffers a public meltdown during a deposition, his high-powered law firm brings in the titular character to “fix” the situation. Michael Clayton (Clooney) may have a degree in jurisprudence, but he doesn’t practice law in the traditional sense. Rather, he’s the firm’s highly paid janitor, a man who cleans up messes before they become something unmanageable. The irony is that Clayton is unable to clean up his own mess of a life: He is divorced, struggling with a gambling addiction, and financially strapped after the failure of a business venture in which he invested his life’s savings. The plot kicks into high gear when Clayton discovers why his colleague has gone off the deep end. It’s this knowledge that challenges his moral conscience and, ultimately, places his life in danger.
This is an intelligent and captivating thriller and has far less "John Grisham-esque" qualities. There are plot twists, but not enough to distract from the story. The ending seemed a bit too Hollywood, but it was entertaining, nonetheless. Sometimes, George Clooney just makes it unfair for others in his films because he rises to the occasion in pretty much every single one of his films. He is an outstanding actor.
............................................................................
"Brain on Fire"
starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Thomas Mann, Richard Armitage, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jenny Slate, Tyler Perry, Alex Zahara
written and directed by: Gerard Barrett (Memoir by: Susannah Cahalan)
What could have been an extremely interesting look into the science behind the woman's "brain on fire" ended up being a very mild and boring look into her month-long struggle. Chloe Grace Moretz plays Susannah with a brand of ennui that just is not enticing, and although yes, what this woman endured in real life seems absolutely terrible, there isn't much room for empathizing/sympathizing for this character, as everything seems just shoved in your face and down your throat about her and her experience.
When we meet her, Susannah has just started her dream job as a writer for the New York Post, and that's when she starts to exhibit bizarre and unusual behavior, as well as experiencing strange physical symptoms. Doctors are dumbfounded, except for one who does not give up.
Honestly, I think Netflix should've definitely passed on producing this one, as it seems like a much better fit as something you'd see on Lifetime.
starring: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Daniel Jenks, Andrew Dice Clay, Kathy Tong, Annie McNamara, Bobbby Cannavale, Max Casella, Ali Fedotowsky, Michael Stuhlberg
written and directed by: Woody Allen
Woody Allen is at his best when his cast is a perfect match to his written word and they can spew it as fast and smoothly as if to make it seem like we are simply peeking in on their lives, almost like an invasion of privacy, but we received an invitation. Woody Allen has said before that Scarlett Johanson has been his most recent muse for his movies, because she just seems to "get it" and works so well within his worlds. Well, now we can see Cate Blanchett as a perfect match, so move over Scarlett Johanson. But, then again, Cate Blanchett is nearly perfect in just about all her movies. There's a reason why she's won awards, including for this film where she channels the real-life experiences of Ruth Madoff (Bernie Madoff's wife) after the financial crisis. She gives one of her best performances as the Park Avenue matron hitting a low point after the financial crisis and seemingly unable to deal with life after money. She's been ill-equipped for years and has to reach out to her sister and brother-in-law for assistance in order to get back on her feet.
Married to a financial whiz (Baldwin) who meets a Bernie Madoff-like end, Jasmine claims to have had no knowledge of her spouse’s swindles. Once he goes to prison, Jasmine decamps to Brooklyn (horrors!) before moving cross-country to crash with her sister Ginger (Hawkins) in San Francisco. A study in contrasts, Ginger is the comfortable lowbrow to Jasmine’s effete highbrow. In particular, Jasmine has taken a strong dislike to all the men in Ginger’s life, from her loutish ex-husband (Clay, in a surprisingly unaffected performance) and her current dolt of a boyfriend (Cannavale) to her fling with a deceptive no-goodnik (C.K.). All the while, Jasmine ranges between unrealistic fantasies and harsh reality checks. Your heart will break for her one second before wanting to slap her silly the next.
I've never been a fan of Allen's abrupt endings, as we are invested in the characters' lives and then all of a sudden, without much care for conclusion, the films tend to end in the middle of something. But I will say, Allen has a keen eye and ear with his observations on the class divides brought out especially in this film.
....................................................................
"Spread"
starring: Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche, Margarita Leveiva, Sebastian Stan, Rachel Blanchard, Eric Balfour, Ashley Johnson, Sonia Rockwell, Maria Conchita Alonso, Derek Carter, Sarah Buxton
written by: Jason Hall
directed by: David Mackenzie
We've seen movies just like this before. Richard Gere played the same character in "American Gigolo." Philanderer and expert mooch who beds multiple women simply because he can, but also out of necessity. Here, we have Ashton Kutcher in the role as Nikki, the bad boy, down on his luck, who it is revealed about halfway through, actually has a heart- it might be simply because of the location (re: L.A.) where people don't generally care about people's feelings.
The land of dreams here is Los Angeles, where the sun always shines and slinky little minxes with low standards and high sex drives abound. Decked out in rolled-up jeans and rakish suspenders, Nikki ambles through the bedrooms of moneyed older women (namely Anne Heche) on a tide of breezy ennui. Then, of course, he meets his match, the frosty Heather (Margarita Levieva). Love swiftly intervenes to knock the playboy to his knees.
The way the film is written, the first half really focuses on Nikki's perverse thrills of the chase and catch of wealthy women, but really he does not discriminate, if there's sex involved. He's clearly a villain, especially when it's clear that he's using Heche's character for a place to live and/or hunker down for his escapades when she's out of town. The filmmaker spends his time and energy making us not like or care what really happens to Nikki, that it feels rather cheap and trite to switch his characterization for the last half of the film. He takes advantage of people, therefore, he should get what he deserves.
.....................................................................
"I Don't Feel at Home in this World Anymore"
starring: Melanie Lynskey, Gary Anthony Williams, Michelle Moreno, Lee Eddy, Elijah Wood, Jeb Berrier
written and directed by: Macon Blair
Netflix decided to roll the dice with indie actor Macon Blair (best known for his roles in "Blue Ruin" and "Green Room" both excellent indie films) by letting him write and direct this bizarre neo-noir comedy.
Nursing assistant Ruth (Melanie Lynskey) is a woman adrift in a world of apathy and petty entitlement. She has found a shaky limbo consisting of antidepressants, Coors Light, and epic fantasy novels to while away her existence. But when her house is robbed, she is shaken out of her paralysis and into action. The police are condescending, offering little hope for the retrieval of her laptop, and more importantly, her grandmother's silverware set.
Ruth teams up with her neighbor and martial arts enthusiast Tony (Elijah Wood), and together they seek to mete out some vigilante justice (or at least just get her shit back). Through their investigation, they run afoul of the thieves led by a creepy David Yow (of Jesus Lizard/Scratch Acid fame). Violence soon rears its head, starting with a broken finger and ending with, well, all manner of gory mayhem.
It's really interesting how this film actually approaches the central themes of utter indifference and outright hostility encountered pretty much every day in minor exchanges or experiences with others and what actually brings someone to their breaking point. It's about the "quiet" people suffering and suffering through daily life.
Melanie Lynskey is an underrated actress who really carries her performances with her body, mainly in her eyes, face/facial expressions, and her shoulders (heavy burdens of her characters). She makes a film worth watching just for her actions and reactions. She's like an everywoman type of actress.
.......................................................................
"Win It All"
starring: Jake Johnson, Edward Kaihatsu, Jose Antonio Garcia, Joe Lo Truglio, Kris Swanberg, Athur Agee, Steve Berg, Cliff Chamberlain, Keegan-Michael Key, Aislinn Derbez
written by: Jake Johnson and Joe Swanberg
directed by: Joe Swanberg
Joe Swanberg grew up as a filmmaker in the same mumblecore genre that the Duplass Brothers helped bring to light. His films have always been rather scruffy and rough around the edges, even just speaking aesthetically. And many of his films' dialogue is sketched out but solely relies on how the actors and actresses interact with each other, the conversations improvised around topics, fleshed out in the moment.
Swanberg is great at showing us the world of his characters, through their eyes, and the way their emotions shape their world. It's sort of a reinvention of the American comedy.
Win It All features another of Swanberg’s arrested-development cases, Eddie Garrett (Jake Johnson), a gambling addict who’s drunk on high risk, booze, and a schedule that allows him to operate apart from conventional nine-to-five society. Of course, these illusory freedoms have a steep price: perpetual debt, which begets perpetual danger, and loneliness. Johnson informs Eddie with a subtle prickliness that’s only relieved when he’s drunk or betting horses or playing cards in his favorite casino—in other words, when he’s home or in the only home he thinks he deserves. Before he meets Eva (Aislinn Derbez), it’s evident that Eddie doesn’t have anything going on romantically, which is another truth about addicts that Swanberg doesn’t cheapen or melodramatize by foregrounding. The texture is simply there in the film’s fabric. And so Eva offers a profound relief to Eddie, matter of factually, without the film going soft or sentimental in the process.
What's great about Swanberg's films is that his characters are not defined by "good" or "evil." He very easily could've made Eddie the villain, screwing up his life and the people around him, as well, as collateral damage. Gambling movies are usually about the effects. Addiction is a curse, etc. Instead, Swanberg's characters, like Eddie, are essentially decent people and I love how he uses the secondary characters as vehicles to steer the lead character away from self-annihilating tendencies.
Swanberg is great at character study films and this one, produced by Netflix, as well as his series "Easy" are great examples of his best qualities as a filmmaker.
...........................................................................
"Gerald's Game"
starring: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Chiara Aurelia, Carel Struycken, Henry Thomas, Kate Siegel, Bryce Harper
written by: Jeff Howard and Michael Flanagan
directed by: Michael Flanagan
Netflix decided to jump into the Stephen King world with a couple of their newest projects- "1922" (which I haven't watched yet) and this one, "Gerald's Game" which is quite an interesting story to put to screen, as most of it takes place to the lead characters head/mind. Although, Mike Flanagan has quickly proven himself as a worthy horror/psychological thriller director. "Oculus" and "Hush" were great films. Seriously, "Hush" is one of the best horror/suspense films I've seen in awhile. Netflix tapped him for "Before I Wake" and this Stephen King adaptation.
There's always more below the surface of Stephen King stories besides just the horror aspects. The psychology and getting inside the head of his characters is the best part. Unfortunately, many of the film adaptations only go for the horror and the jump-scares (re: the new version of "IT"). Here, though, you couldn't escape the head-game and Flanagan did a great job using the character's experience to reexamine the patriarchal atrocities of her past so as to escape them in her future.
Jessie Burlingame (Carla Gugino) is the beautiful trophy wife of Gerald (Bruce Greenwood), a wealthy attorney who takes her to their remote vacation house in Maine under the pretense of working on their troubled marriage. But Gerald actually wants to realize his fantasy of handcuffing Jessie to an elaborate headboard and raping her, though he drops dead at the beginning of the “game,” leaving Jessie trapped in bed and thinking of a pivotal day in her childhood when her father (Henry Thomas) sexually assaulted her. In both the book and the film, Jessie’s father and husband are bluntly understood to be iterations of the same kind of man, a manipulative predator who dogs women all over the world and who coerces Jessie into mistaking his desires and guilt for her own.
Jessie relies on her inner voice to get her out of the bedroom, which contains Gerald’s rotting corpse, a carnivorous dog, and a serial killer who may or may not be a figment of the dehydrated woman’s imagination. In the novel, Jessie’s voice manifested itself as a variety of acquaintances, but in the film her internal rationalizing is embodied by a more confident version of Jessie and, most resonantly, Gerald himself. He usually serves as the devil on Jessie’s shoulder, foretelling of her doom in bursts of macabre poetry that Greenwood delivers with sinister and weirdly erotic aplomb. Occasionally, though, Gerald helps Jessie to strategize her escape, poignantly embodying a dying woman’s fantasy of an abusive husband who can finally see his wife’s humanity.
Flanagan seems to play it rather safe with the sexual exploitation, past and present abuse, where a crueler director like De Palma or Fincher would have a field day exploring the inner-workings of sexual abuse and exploitation in a bit harder to watch way.
................................................................................
"Before Midnight"
starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Prior, Charlotte Prior, Walter Lassally, Ariane Labed, Yannis Papadopoulos, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Panos Koronis
written by: Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy
directed by: Richard Linklater
Full disclosure: "Before Sunrise" is one of my all time favorite films. And that was the film that started this unbelievable trilogy that explores romance, relationships, etc. in such a way, elegant, realistic way that makes you truly appreciate each one. When I first saw "Before Sunrise" back in high school I was amazed at the beautiful words and the easy flow of the dialogue between these two characters, so much, that I romanticized the whole idea of meeting someone at random and spending only a specific amount of time with them. Everything about this movie was perfect, to me, and has still held up over the years, and the movie came out in 1995. Now, it would have been a great film/story by itself, but Linklater and Delpy and Hawke decided to revisit these two people 9 years later, just to check in on them and give the audience a glimpse into their lives. "Before Sunset" was fantastic as well. And now, we have the culmination of the trilogy, another 9 years later, with "Before Midnight."
Linklater introduced us to the couple when they were 23 years old and had smooth and youthful faces full of dreams and hopes; it returned to find them slightly older and wiser at 32. In "Before Midnight," they're 41. They have wrinkles and seem tired and worried, yelling at their children to "not go too far" while swimming in the sea.
Written by Linklater, Hawke and Delpy, "Before Midnight" is economical from the start. In a single camera movement, it reveals what has happened to Jesse and Celine since the last time we saw them in her apartment in Paris. Now they're the married parents of small twins, in Greece for the summer holidays. After taking his son from his first marriage to the airport, Jesse dives into a small crisis, worrying that he is an absent father and triggering a series of discussions with Celine. This time, however, the film also includes scenes that involve Jesse and Celine talking to younger and older couples, offering different views on love, marriage and romance.
Each movie is concerned more with the long-takes of conversations that tell us the story of these characters and less concerned with providing us with "action." The action is in the words spoken. In the past, Jesse and Celine talked about the future, their ambitions, fears and dreams, you know, like normal twentysomethings. This time around, they are more interested in their past mistakes (more specifically, Jesse's relationship with his stateside son and the rough, estranged relationship with his ex-wife). Jesse and Celine's is a consummated love and with this chapter they are comfortable in each other's presence. They even have an intense fight in a hotel room when they are supposed to be spending a romantic night away from their twin daughters.
Linklater and his actors expose small fissures with an admirable subtlety. As it happens in every relationship that's endured for years, Celine and Jesse have accumulated countless shared memories, hurts and fights. They can instantly recognize the subtext of the most trivial comments made to each other, and use their knowledge of one another to fan a spark of hostility into a bonfire. A single remark made to appease one partner could accidentally awaken resentments that were assumed dead or forgotten. In one scene, Celine makes a joke that is silly on its surface but has a cruel subtext; seconds later, she glances at Jesse to assess the effect of the hit.
Although they have built their relationship from long talks, the two recognize here they haven’t been really talking to each other for years, because they've been too busy discussing the problems of a grown-up couple with kids. When Celine asks Jesse if he would invite her to get off the train if they had met right this instant, his hesitation reveals not his doubt about the love he felt and still feels for her, but his difficulty in re-imagining his wife as an idealized, perfect muse.
The reason why I love these films and this story in particular is because all three filmmakers/writers present these two people as real as they can, and even though it seemed like a meet-cute, and beautiful love story, they've still had to endure the wear and tear of real life and years of being together and intimately knowing your partner.
.............................................................................
"Michael Clayton"
starring: Tom Wilkinson, Michael O'Keefe, Sydney Pollack, Tilda Swinton, George Clooney, Denis O'Hare, Frank Wood, Jennifer Van Dyck
written and directed by: Tony Gilroy
We've all seen movies like this before. Movies about lawyers. Movies about corporate giants screwing the people and trying their damnedest to get out of it with barely a scratch, financially. What makes this film stand out more than the others (besides the brilliant acting of George Clooney, yet again) is how it asks the question of where a lawyer's ethical responsibility to zealously represent a client ends and a societal interest in achieving justices begins.
In Michael Clayton the truth is a slippery thing, particularly when billions of dollars are at stake in a class-action lawsuit in which an agrochemical corporate giant is accused of manufacturing a toxic product resulting in hundreds of deaths. When the brilliant lead attorney for the corporate defendant suffers a public meltdown during a deposition, his high-powered law firm brings in the titular character to “fix” the situation. Michael Clayton (Clooney) may have a degree in jurisprudence, but he doesn’t practice law in the traditional sense. Rather, he’s the firm’s highly paid janitor, a man who cleans up messes before they become something unmanageable. The irony is that Clayton is unable to clean up his own mess of a life: He is divorced, struggling with a gambling addiction, and financially strapped after the failure of a business venture in which he invested his life’s savings. The plot kicks into high gear when Clayton discovers why his colleague has gone off the deep end. It’s this knowledge that challenges his moral conscience and, ultimately, places his life in danger.
This is an intelligent and captivating thriller and has far less "John Grisham-esque" qualities. There are plot twists, but not enough to distract from the story. The ending seemed a bit too Hollywood, but it was entertaining, nonetheless. Sometimes, George Clooney just makes it unfair for others in his films because he rises to the occasion in pretty much every single one of his films. He is an outstanding actor.
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"Brain on Fire"
starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Thomas Mann, Richard Armitage, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jenny Slate, Tyler Perry, Alex Zahara
written and directed by: Gerard Barrett (Memoir by: Susannah Cahalan)
What could have been an extremely interesting look into the science behind the woman's "brain on fire" ended up being a very mild and boring look into her month-long struggle. Chloe Grace Moretz plays Susannah with a brand of ennui that just is not enticing, and although yes, what this woman endured in real life seems absolutely terrible, there isn't much room for empathizing/sympathizing for this character, as everything seems just shoved in your face and down your throat about her and her experience.
When we meet her, Susannah has just started her dream job as a writer for the New York Post, and that's when she starts to exhibit bizarre and unusual behavior, as well as experiencing strange physical symptoms. Doctors are dumbfounded, except for one who does not give up.
Honestly, I think Netflix should've definitely passed on producing this one, as it seems like a much better fit as something you'd see on Lifetime.
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