Review: WALL-E

Disney and Pixar have an unbelievable hit on their hands with WALL-E. This fact is absolutely certain and was relatively easy to see even before the film had been released. However, after seeing it on opening day this past Friday, I can resolutely declare that it was one of the best films I’ve EVER had the pleasure of watching.

It wasn’t really particularly profound. I don’t think it really did anything groundbreaking as far as technical details were concerned. No major filmic accomplishments. WALL-E just told a simple story gloriously well – something that seems so rare these days. Case in point: its box office weekend competitor was Wanted which receives notoriety for looking amazing…and not a lot else. WALL-E set out with a basic directive to tell a lushly rendered story of robotic love in a consumer waste dystopia and do so humorously and intelligently.

And it excelled on all accounts. From impeccably executed geek jokes to rather dead-on science to a heart melting love story, the film was entirely ace.

If you haven’t yet been to see WALL-E in the theatre, go now. Don’t wait. And go again. And maybe again. Buy it on DVD. You’ll want to, I promise.

mini Review: Children of Men

During my visit to State College this weekend, I had the pleasure of helping Hannah & Jay set up their swanky new 7.1 surround sound home theatre system. Not content with just merely the sublime beauty of wires well connected, we completed the job with a screening of Children of Men midafternoon. The following is a short review:

Children of Men is set in what may have been the most bleak dystopian future I’ve seen in cinema to date. The year is 2027 and the world is an absolute disaster following a major collapse of the American empire and its dependent nations. To quote the movie, “Only Britain soldiers on.” We meet our primary character, Theo (Clive Owen) as he walks out of a crowd of coffee shop patrons mourning the death of the world’s youngest human and into the wreckage of London. Moments before a bomb rips through the café, no less.

From here, we are swept into the harsh reality of director Alfonso Cuarón’s imagining. Refugees from across the globe are openly herded into containment cages to be shuttled to ghetto cities turned concentration camps. Worse still, not a single child has been born for 18 years. With so little hope for the continuation of mankind, the last humans are left widening the gap between the ultra rich and the rest of society. A fascist government subscribes heavily to preemption – even against its own citizens. The populace is left to the Quietus home suicide kit and increasingly desperate spiritual and political organizations.

But, what happens when it becomes evident that the incurable infertility may perhaps not be all-encompassing? Can Theo help the only pregnant woman on Earth reach the safety of a mysterious hospital ship called “Tomorrow?”

This film left me with an incredible sense of dread: not for the Sci-Fi idea of global infertility so much as for the dead on depiction of a world more bent on the assurance of Homeland Security than on social justice. I have to say, there were several painful scenes that left me with a lump in my throat and even a tear in my eye. The consistency and believability of Cuarón’s 2027 coupled with a beautiful score and stellar performances was an emotional whirlwind to say the least.

Most definitely four stars.

Review: Volver

I’m really beginning to love Pedro Almodóvar. I was a bit shakey after watching A Bad Education but he’s completely redeemed himself with Volver. I think it’s that he captured – again – the complicated female world of All About My Mother which won him my affections to begin with. But on to the review…

Volver is nuts. “Loco,” if you will. The story twists and turns and falls into and out of itself in so many breathtaking ways. It’s one of those films where you know from the very beginning that there is no way you are going to be able to call the punchline anytime before the 3/4 mark. (I did, by the way, which was enough of an accomplishment to be brag-worthy.)

Basically, the entire premise of Volver is the notion that a departed loved one can come back to us. In this case, it’s Raimunda’s (Penélope Cruz) mother. What would you make right about your past if you had the chance to approach the task with the wisdom of time and loss? It wasn’t this simple, of course. There was the incestual relationship that produced Raimunda’s daughter, Paula. And the murder of Paula’s stepfather, Paco. Let’s not forget the seemingly crazy dying wish of Raimunda’s childhood friend, Augustina, to learn more about a family tragedy that only the dead could remember. And the list goes on.

The whole film takes place in between Madrid and Raimunda’s childhood village. It glitters with ornate Spanish tiles. It shocks the eyes with vibrant dresses and stark white stucco. And it positively glows with the radiant personalities of Almodóvar’s characters. As flawed as they all are, you want to be embraced into their world…and into their families. I mean, who hasn’t buried the husband their daughter has killed in a freezer stolen from the restaurant they’ve illegally taken over? It’s a universal story.

100% recommended. You should add it to your Netflix Queue (if you are so inclined) or pick up a copy from the local video store. I’d even venture to say it’s good enough to own. 4 stars, dear readers, 4 stars.

Review: Babel

Okay, so I have seriously done nothing but watch movies recently. How do the unemployed do it? Filling all of this time is really, really hard and probably more “work” than having a job! I guess I’m going to have to get the knitting bag out again. That’s neither here nor there so on to the review…

I’m not really sure where to begin with Babel because there is so much to cover. But a film set on three continents will kinda make it difficult for even the best reviewer to pin down. There are three stories happening with this movie: one in Morocco with American tourists, Richard and Susan (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett,) one in the U.S. and Mexico with a Mexican nanny, Amelia (Adrianna Barrazza) and the couple’s two kids, and one in Japan with Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi.) Alejandro González Iñárritu has a name with enough accents to tackle such a complex, international film and delivers relatively well.

The lives of Richard, Susan and Amelia are all very clearly intertwined from the beginning. Susan is shot while on holiday with Richard in Morocco and Amelia is in charge of the children stateside while all of this goes down. Fair enough. However, things get more complicated when we throw in Chieko, a deaf-mute Japanese school girl with a self-destructive streak. Why is she in this plot at all, you’ll ask? I mean, I’m okay with watching Rinko Kikuchi flitting about on screen and being a nympho, but it is a little confusing. It takes Iñárritu until 3/4 of the way through his work to get to an explanation, but it fits in very, very nicely (and you can figure it out with a detail revealed in Morocco at 1/2 way through, if you are paying attention.

Since I watch movies for the imagery before all else, I really enjoyed Babel‘s look. Things were very detailed and great attention was paid to the sets and consistency between shots. Additionally, the visual language made it immediately evident where we were in all scenes. Best of all, when Amelia’s nephew, Santiago (Gael García Bernal…yes, again. No, I didn’t know. He’s pretty, but I swear I didn’t pick it because he’s in it!) breaks through the U.S. border and leaves her in the desert, the existing connection between Morocco and the U.S. reaches a beautiful new level with only a change of scenery. Bravo, Iñárritu!

The part where I say negative things: okay, the twists that tie everyone together are really not all that astounding. In fact, they kinda feel fudged. I think that perhaps someone just wanted a reason to shoot on location in Tokyo. But that’s okay, because it was well worth it, since the scenes there were my favourites by far. Cate Blanchett was not on screen anywhere near enough and I really wanted to know more about her character. A lot of the dialogue between Susan and Richard could have used some explaining. And, by the end of 2 and a half hours, I was feeling as jet-lagged as if I had traveled from location to location in reality.

Definitely worth watching, especially if you don’t mind feeling a little bleak about the world when your movie viewing has ceased. Not really something you should watch if you want to be amazed by a really clever web of events (it’s no The Constant Gardener) but it definitely deserves points for being so ambitious. And for landing Cate Blanchett, because she’s a goddess.

I would rate it 3 stars. Maybe three and a half, but it was really too long (and I don’t know if Dusty made half stars or not for sure. I think he did. Help?)

Review: The Science of Sleep

Michel Gondry is an artist of fantastic talent, both as a director and a writer. The Science of Sleep, the story of Stéphane Miroux’s (Gael García Bernal) losing battle with reality, does an absolutely superb job of making you feel as though you’ve not slept in weeks. As the film progresses, the characters and situations get harder and harder to make sense of, ultimately leading to a complete breakdown between Stéphane and Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg.) What’s most interesting, at least to me, was the way in which Gondry explores Stéphane’s mental state. The more worn down and tired he gets, the less effectively he is able to deal with his father’s recent death and his frustration with Stéphanie. I won’t really go into detail because I don’t want to destroy all of the surprises…

Visually, The Science of Sleep could be a continuation of Björk’s “Human Behaviour” video. (Remember, the one where she is eaten by a giant teddy bear?) The plot is interspersed with trippy dream sequences that look completely hand made. It’s beautiful, textured and rich but also conveys the artistic styles of the characters. And it makes the film seem more like an art installation than major motion picture. It had this cool, white-lit look that conveyed a gallery to me, for some reason. Coupled with the dreary, white stone walls of Paris, the movie felt like it was a trip into a European art museum…which is probably what being inside Michel Gondry’s brain is like.

Anyway, there were a few shortcoming with the plot. I’m assuming that Gondry chose to spend more time on the amazing dream sequences than he did on the writing because there were gaping holes and things were sometimes hard to follow. This is beyond what would have been necessary to get across the disjointed atmosphere of Stéphane’s world. I really, again, can’t explain specifically, but there were a few times where you just have to assume that you knew what the characters were talking about because it really was not at all clearly exposed beforehand. Oh, and some of the sentences are in at least three languages, so have fun with that! However, I would still watch it over again and it very well may end up back in my Netflix queue in the very near future.

3 stars for being beautiful and thoughtful! Minus 1 for being a tad hard to follow!

Update: Added a link to Björk/Gondry’s video. Sorry, it’s YouTube – her QuickTime gallery has only a crappy low res version.

Review: Marie Antoinette

Did you see Lost in Translation? Did you like it? If you did, consider yourself a shoe-in for Marie Antoinette because it’s the exact same ambiance just transported back 200 years and moved half a planet West. This makes it sound like the film was boring. And I won’t lie, there were times when it was. But in the way that Coppola’s other film was boring: the boredom of reality. What you see in Marie Antoinette is not a retelling of a dramatic moment in time or a period piece about romance or tragedy. You see random days in the life of a girl made queen, of an outsider in a strange culture.

What’s more than the ambiance of feeling is that of vision. Holy hell. This film is a visual overload: mirrors and silk and flowers and velvet and fondant and….. Many reviewers mentioned how you would be absolutely dizzied by the endless layering of beauty. They were not exaggerating. It was like a pastel Moulin Rouge in broad daylight. My new HDTV is arriving tonight and I’m absolutely watching for a second time just to see what the set can do. It’s that kind of experience.

And the soundtrack! Aphex Twin and Siouxie and the Banshees in one place? Yes, sir…you are right. Little anachronisms like this made for a quirky vibe that lent itself to life at Versailles under Louis XVI.

What I like most about Sofia Coppola’s films is the way they are so repeatable. She does not force you to follow one emotional path through from start to end but instead lets you create whatever feelings you want by filling your mind with nuanced glances and deafening silences. Marie Antoinette reminded me of visiting a gallery full of sublime art…so good that you will visit again and again just to uncover what else you can possibly draw from what’s on display.

In short, unless you are looking for a film that does the storytelling for you, you’ll love it. 4 stars!

Review: The Black Dahlia

A few minutes in and I had to descibe to my brother what film noir is because The Black Dahlia is a pretty excellent example of the genre. However, more generally, it’s not really an excellent movie. The characters seemed a little blank and the plot didn’t exactly come together in a grand sweep of genius…more like the story’s key points were shaken up in a hat and then randomly arranged as the “conclusion.” I guess you get that with the tale of an unsolved murder. Redeeming qualities: Scarlett Johansson in old Hollywood style, Hilary Swank looking decidedly less manly than usual and a few (unintentionally) hilarious lines. Well worth watching if you are in the mood for a good old fashioned detective story. Josh Hartnett pulls off the jaded cop thing well, Aaron Eckhart is fantastic and who doesn’t like the 1940s aesthetic?

About a holiday break…

First off: I need to stop eating *burps* because I’m going to be rockin’ an Ethiopian-stylee pot belly in about five seconds if I don’t. Seriously. *looks disdainfully at empty leftover macaroni and cheese bowl*

I’ve had a very good break thus far. It’s been a lot of doing nothing bolstered by knitting and playing with Clyde/Nintendo. Tonight, I actually got myself out of the house. Twice, really…I went for pizza with Hoover this afternoon and then to Dusty’s for wine…er, film night. Keith had us watching M by Fritz Lang. I don’t like old movies all that much, but this one was okay. Definitely made the most of what limited post-production technologies were available. I’m an editor, what can I say? It was a bit preachy at times and full of silent film “acting,” so you had to weed through that to get to the underlying human drama. Bonus points for gorgeous restoration in black and white.

Tomorrow I depart for shopping in Erie with my mom, sister and Flora and then I return home for an early birthday dinner. 23! I’m old. Then, on Friday, I’m heading back to Bellefonte to drop off Catface Meowmers before heading to Philadelphia to visit the always-phenomenal Lindsie. That will be ridiculously fun…galleries, shopping and fine dining smothered in a creamy booze sauce. MMMmmm…

Yeah, I’m tipsy. Yes, I should go to bed. Must remember to call Beth tomorrow…