A friend and I went to see Michael Clayton last week. I was supposed to go with two friends, but one was overtaken by the allure of an American League playoff game. Now while I take as much joy in watching the Red Sox and the Yankees of the world lose as much as the next red blooded non-east coast American male, it's still the American League, and that's inexcusable.
Moving on.
I anticipated a decent socially conscious suspense drama, as that's mostly what George Clooney does these days. Why wouldn't he? I don't think he needs more money. For some reason, I thought it was based on a true story, but apparently it's a complete work of fiction by Tony Gilroy. He wrote the screenplays for the Bourne Franchise (that should be the name of the next movie, by the way) as well as Armageddon and The Devil's Advocate. This was his first big screen original since The Cutting Edge, a figure skating drama (really) and also his directorial debut.
I mentioned that I anticipated a socially conscious suspense drama, and though that's what it was, the socially conscious part of it was not of the preachy variety, and likely wasn't even the purpose of the movie. It was, however, an excellent popcorn-eating flick.
Clooney convincingly plays the title character, a somewhat washed up attorney, part time father of one, and recovering poker addict (hey, I'm not an addict, so just get your mouse cursor off the Comment link). Tom Wilkinson is excellent as Michael's brilliant, yet clinically nutty attorney friend Arthur. Arthur stopped taking his meds, and some of his resulting behavior leaves a high-profile client feeling just a tad miffed. Michael's job is to clean things up and make everything better, which is apparently where he really excels. Tilda Swinton is chillingly realistic as Karen Crowder, who doesn't think much of the job Michael is doing.
The movie starts at a key point in what turns out to be near the end of the movie, chronologically. Don't worry, it all eventually makes perfect sense. Sit back and enjoy it. My imdb rating: 8/10.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Review: 3:10 To Yuma
I admit that I don't like westerns -- never have. They're dusty, full of drama I can't relate to, and the acting is just plan bad. Maybe this is a reflection on the crappy "B" westerns (in Technicolor!) that always played on the tube when I was a kid. Anyway, It's sort of a a rule, so I don't know why I went to this movie. I suppose it was because I was bored, wanted to see a movie, got indecisive, and just decided to see the highest ranked movie on imdb.com showing in Des Moines. So there's that.
3:10 to Yuma is a remake of the original produced in 1957 starring Glenn Ford, who died shortly before filming began (the remake, not the one he starred in). Russell Crowe stepped into Glenn's shoes (acting shoes, not the ones he was buried in) as Ben Wade, the worldly bad man, yet charming, but need I remind you that he's very bad, yet good with women. Ben robs and kills people for a living, which isn't the worst job you could have in the 19th century desert southwest. I mean, it pays well and all, and it beats working for "the man".
Opposite Crowe is Christian Bale, who plays the apparent wuss named Dan Evans. He owes money to someone, who would apparently rather foreclose on Dan, because he keeps doing petty little things like burning down his barn and threatening his family. But is Dan that much of a wuss? And is Ben really all bad?
Rounding out the cast are Peter Fonda, as a gritty old bounty hunter, and Ben Foster, who previously played Claire's bisexual boyfriend Russell on Six feet Under. He serves quite well as Ben Wade's creepily lethal number two.
Okay, I admit I liked the movie, even if I found one turn in the plot a little unbelievable. There's good character development, rounded off off with decent action and suspense. The child actors don't make you want to puke or anything, which is another plus. And kudos for avoiding trite, predictable, and convenient endings. My imdb rating: 8/10.
3:10 to Yuma is a remake of the original produced in 1957 starring Glenn Ford, who died shortly before filming began (the remake, not the one he starred in). Russell Crowe stepped into Glenn's shoes (acting shoes, not the ones he was buried in) as Ben Wade, the worldly bad man, yet charming, but need I remind you that he's very bad, yet good with women. Ben robs and kills people for a living, which isn't the worst job you could have in the 19th century desert southwest. I mean, it pays well and all, and it beats working for "the man".
Opposite Crowe is Christian Bale, who plays the apparent wuss named Dan Evans. He owes money to someone, who would apparently rather foreclose on Dan, because he keeps doing petty little things like burning down his barn and threatening his family. But is Dan that much of a wuss? And is Ben really all bad?
Rounding out the cast are Peter Fonda, as a gritty old bounty hunter, and Ben Foster, who previously played Claire's bisexual boyfriend Russell on Six feet Under. He serves quite well as Ben Wade's creepily lethal number two.
Okay, I admit I liked the movie, even if I found one turn in the plot a little unbelievable. There's good character development, rounded off off with decent action and suspense. The child actors don't make you want to puke or anything, which is another plus. And kudos for avoiding trite, predictable, and convenient endings. My imdb rating: 8/10.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Lessons Learned
I learned a variety of lessons at this years festival, both from the films and the experience in general. Here's a recap of the ones I can remember in my jet lagged state:
I should take a day off to spend some more time picking my films, or arrange for therapy while I'm there. Minimally, I should mix the different types of trauma, maybe start with a blown heist, move on to a bloody war, and then after a brief stop at hopeless drug addiction, wrap things up with a terminal illness. But I know it sucks to keep on the same depressing theme. By the way, I learn this lesson every year.
Never forget your lock pick kit.
No gimmick films next year. If it actually turns out to be stupendous, I can catch it on DVD.
It's really all about the director. I knew this, but got confirmation this year.
Never, under any circumstances, kill innocent people for personal gain. Even if it seems like a good idea, it will just end with the destruction of you, your family, and of course the person you kill. And you'll probably feel bad, too.
Something will go wrong on the way to Toronto. Accept it and move on.
Someone always forgets to turn off their cell phone, no matter how many reminders the festival programmers give you.
Comments aren't questions, but people will give them during the Q&A anyway.
Further west on Bathurst, there are groovy restaurants:
I should take a day off to spend some more time picking my films, or arrange for therapy while I'm there. Minimally, I should mix the different types of trauma, maybe start with a blown heist, move on to a bloody war, and then after a brief stop at hopeless drug addiction, wrap things up with a terminal illness. But I know it sucks to keep on the same depressing theme. By the way, I learn this lesson every year.
Never forget your lock pick kit.
No gimmick films next year. If it actually turns out to be stupendous, I can catch it on DVD.
It's really all about the director. I knew this, but got confirmation this year.
Never, under any circumstances, kill innocent people for personal gain. Even if it seems like a good idea, it will just end with the destruction of you, your family, and of course the person you kill. And you'll probably feel bad, too.
Something will go wrong on the way to Toronto. Accept it and move on.
Someone always forgets to turn off their cell phone, no matter how many reminders the festival programmers give you.
Comments aren't questions, but people will give them during the Q&A anyway.
Further west on Bathurst, there are groovy restaurants:
- SAN, a Korean joint
- Chehoskey, a fusion restaurant just a little further west with good beer
- Cocoa, Tapas & Brazilian food across the street from Chehosky
- Terroni, Italian joint even further west
Sit downstairs at the Elgin. The sound isn't all that great in the balcony.
Keep notes on lessons you learn as you learn them. Later you might forget.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Review: Weirdsville
After seeing countless acts of senseless destruction, especially later in the week, I needed a break. Fortunately, I anticipated that scenario and scheduled Weirdsville for my last movie of the festival. After a good dinner at my favorite restaurant and a few drinks to boot, I was all ready for a good Canadian stoner flick. Furthermore, I hadn't had great luck with Canadian movies this year, so I was looking for this one to pick up the slack.
Allan Moyle directed this one, and though I'd noticed when picking this movie that he had directed Pump Up The Volume, which I enjoyed back in my college days, I hadn't noticed that he hasn't really done anything else notable. But what was done was done. And I set out to enjoy the experience.
The movie centers around two stoners, Dexter (The Ideas Man played by Scott Speedman) and Royce (The Quiet and Introspective One played by Wes Bentley). They owe money to some drug dealer guy, because this is a stoner flick with a plot. However, their quest to get the cash gets sidelined when they find their friend Matilda dead of a drug overdose. They decide, of course, to bury her in the basement of the drive-in one of the guys used to work at because it's closed.
That's when things get silly. There's more drugs, little people dressed as knights kicking ass, inept Satan worshipers, a guy who gets accidentally stabbed in the top of his head with a large icicle (don't worry, he lives), and much, much more.
I liked the movie quite a bit. Yes, it's just a stoner comedy, but it never takes itself too seriously, and the leads have pretty decent comedic timing & on-screen chemistry. Who knew that Wes Bently is funny? Admittedly, the raucous crowd and the drinks probably assisted my enjoyment, so I suggest getting together a large groups of your rowdiest friends, having a few pints (except for the designated driver, of course) and heading to the theatre. My imdb rating: 7/10.
Allan Moyle directed this one, and though I'd noticed when picking this movie that he had directed Pump Up The Volume, which I enjoyed back in my college days, I hadn't noticed that he hasn't really done anything else notable. But what was done was done. And I set out to enjoy the experience.
The movie centers around two stoners, Dexter (The Ideas Man played by Scott Speedman) and Royce (The Quiet and Introspective One played by Wes Bentley). They owe money to some drug dealer guy, because this is a stoner flick with a plot. However, their quest to get the cash gets sidelined when they find their friend Matilda dead of a drug overdose. They decide, of course, to bury her in the basement of the drive-in one of the guys used to work at because it's closed.
That's when things get silly. There's more drugs, little people dressed as knights kicking ass, inept Satan worshipers, a guy who gets accidentally stabbed in the top of his head with a large icicle (don't worry, he lives), and much, much more.
I liked the movie quite a bit. Yes, it's just a stoner comedy, but it never takes itself too seriously, and the leads have pretty decent comedic timing & on-screen chemistry. Who knew that Wes Bently is funny? Admittedly, the raucous crowd and the drinks probably assisted my enjoyment, so I suggest getting together a large groups of your rowdiest friends, having a few pints (except for the designated driver, of course) and heading to the theatre. My imdb rating: 7/10.
Review: The Tracey Fragments
The festival programmer who introduced the director of this film, Bruce McDonald, called the film "innovative". I quote Dictionary.reference.com: "being or producing something like nothing done or experienced or created before." I've seen split-screen movies before, as far back as 2000's Timecode, and I'm betting it wasn't the first. But I can't hold that against the director or the film.
It stars Ellen Page, who I once saw in the Canadian flick Wilby Wonderful, and she'd just finished filming her scenes in the upcoming X-Men: The Last Stand before filming The Tracey Fragments. She plays Tracey, a 15-year old girl in Winnepeg, who lives in a somewhat challenging home environment. When her little brother Sonny goes missing, she runs away from home in a desperate attempt to find him. The film shows, in different frames on the screen, various thoughts in Tracey's mind at any given moment. The film is further fragmented through its chronological jumping about.
Page is a good actress and at about 20 years of age, plays a pretty good 15-year old, though the script helps her out by supplying plenty of naiveté. You get the feeling throughout the film that some moments are poor and/or creative memory on her part, but the truth of her situation comes through in the end. The editing method will cause some frustration for some, though McDonald uses it to create the feeling he was going for. Nonetheless, I think I'm probably done with this style of film. My imdb rating: 6/10.
It stars Ellen Page, who I once saw in the Canadian flick Wilby Wonderful, and she'd just finished filming her scenes in the upcoming X-Men: The Last Stand before filming The Tracey Fragments. She plays Tracey, a 15-year old girl in Winnepeg, who lives in a somewhat challenging home environment. When her little brother Sonny goes missing, she runs away from home in a desperate attempt to find him. The film shows, in different frames on the screen, various thoughts in Tracey's mind at any given moment. The film is further fragmented through its chronological jumping about.
Page is a good actress and at about 20 years of age, plays a pretty good 15-year old, though the script helps her out by supplying plenty of naiveté. You get the feeling throughout the film that some moments are poor and/or creative memory on her part, but the truth of her situation comes through in the end. The editing method will cause some frustration for some, though McDonald uses it to create the feeling he was going for. Nonetheless, I think I'm probably done with this style of film. My imdb rating: 6/10.
Review: Reservation Road
Director Terry George developed the screenplay for Reservation Road from the book of the same name written by John Burnham Schwartz. Fresh off of the critically acclaimed Hotel Rwanda, he reloaded with a cast that included Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly, and Mira Sorvino. Faithful readers may recall that I chose this one based mostly on the criteria that I had once almost read the book. Hey, I was pinched for time.
Dwight Arno (Ruffalo) is the irresponsible two-bit attorney, ex-husband of the remarried Ruth (Sorvino), and father with occasional "overnight rights" to his son (and he should be lucky he has that!).
Ethan (Pheonix) and Grace (Connelly) Learner have a perfect family; two sickeningly sweet children (one boy, one girl), a nice house, Ethan is a professor, things are just great. Until the one fateful day when Dwight takes it all away from them. The director reaches further into the cliche bag and pulls out a number of plot-convenient coincidences. It seems that the fibers of these characters' lives are intertwined like those of a taut rope! Oh, miserable fate!
Meanwhile, Ethan goes insane with anger, because those cops just don't even care. He ignores his wife and daughter, and everything just gets miserable. Dwight becomes overwrought with guilt and wants to confess... maybe tomorrow. But throw in a couple more coincidences and everything comes to a head.
The ending is what it is; it's not the worst part of the movie. Ruffalo and Pheonix give good performances, and Sorvino and Connelly are equally decent in less demanding roles. The script could have used a lot of work. Maybe starting from a different book would have improved things, but I haven't read it, so what would I know. My imdb rating: 5/10.
Dwight Arno (Ruffalo) is the irresponsible two-bit attorney, ex-husband of the remarried Ruth (Sorvino), and father with occasional "overnight rights" to his son (and he should be lucky he has that!).
Ethan (Pheonix) and Grace (Connelly) Learner have a perfect family; two sickeningly sweet children (one boy, one girl), a nice house, Ethan is a professor, things are just great. Until the one fateful day when Dwight takes it all away from them. The director reaches further into the cliche bag and pulls out a number of plot-convenient coincidences. It seems that the fibers of these characters' lives are intertwined like those of a taut rope! Oh, miserable fate!
Meanwhile, Ethan goes insane with anger, because those cops just don't even care. He ignores his wife and daughter, and everything just gets miserable. Dwight becomes overwrought with guilt and wants to confess... maybe tomorrow. But throw in a couple more coincidences and everything comes to a head.
The ending is what it is; it's not the worst part of the movie. Ruffalo and Pheonix give good performances, and Sorvino and Connelly are equally decent in less demanding roles. The script could have used a lot of work. Maybe starting from a different book would have improved things, but I haven't read it, so what would I know. My imdb rating: 5/10.
Review: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
The title Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (or Complete and Utter Destruction of a Family which I'm sure had to be a working title) indicates that someone in the movie is going to hell. Depending upon your religious beliefs, you'd be correct in your assumption. Sidney Lumet directs this movie whose 50-year career spans such films as 12 Angry Men (#13 on the imdb top 250 list), Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon (#158), and Network. Of course, his career also includes such gems as The Wiz and A Stranger Among Us, so I had to be on my guard. He had a great cast though, including Philip Seymour Hoffman (Andy Hanson), Ethan Hawke (his brother Hank), Albert Finney (their father Charles) and Marisa Tomei (Andy's wife Gina).
The movie opens with Andy and Gina completely nude and in a sexual position that I'll leave for suspense and to your imagination. I'll go on the record as saying that Marisa Tomei looks much better in the nude than Philip Seymour Hoffman (I know, that's a bold statement). Anyway, that's about the last good thing that happens to anyone in the movie.
Andy is a wreck. The aforementioned sexcapade with his wife was a rare occurrence (it seems Andy's got ED), which may or may not be related to his drug problem (if you consider coke and heroin to be "problems") , he's getting to be on shaky ground with his job with a commercial real estate company, and there are other problems he doesn't even know about yet. Hank isn't doing too much better, though he's just three months behind on his child support payments.
Andy has an idea, though, that will get them both out of their doldrums. It's a fool proof plan, they'll make some good coin, and then happily ever after. Guess what? Things don't go as planned. Then they get worse.
The film frequently jumps back in time to follow events from another character's point of view, occasionally intersecting with a previously told piece of the plot. Lumet uses this method to peel away the plot like an onion, and onions make you cry. You know it doesn't end well, because I already told you the only good thing that happens. Anyway, if that non-chronological storytelling thing bothers you, consider yourself forewarned.
I liked the movie, in the same way that I like a painful massage, except you don't that nice relaxed and happy feeling after the movie. Okay, the massage analogy was not well chosen. I just meant to say that the movie is well done, Hoffman gives a great performance (including a scene for which I nominate him for the "Most Lethargic Temper Tantrum" award at this year's festival), and the rest of the cast is spot-on as well. It's just super depressing. My imdb rating: 8/10.
The movie opens with Andy and Gina completely nude and in a sexual position that I'll leave for suspense and to your imagination. I'll go on the record as saying that Marisa Tomei looks much better in the nude than Philip Seymour Hoffman (I know, that's a bold statement). Anyway, that's about the last good thing that happens to anyone in the movie.
Andy is a wreck. The aforementioned sexcapade with his wife was a rare occurrence (it seems Andy's got ED), which may or may not be related to his drug problem (if you consider coke and heroin to be "problems") , he's getting to be on shaky ground with his job with a commercial real estate company, and there are other problems he doesn't even know about yet. Hank isn't doing too much better, though he's just three months behind on his child support payments.
Andy has an idea, though, that will get them both out of their doldrums. It's a fool proof plan, they'll make some good coin, and then happily ever after. Guess what? Things don't go as planned. Then they get worse.
The film frequently jumps back in time to follow events from another character's point of view, occasionally intersecting with a previously told piece of the plot. Lumet uses this method to peel away the plot like an onion, and onions make you cry. You know it doesn't end well, because I already told you the only good thing that happens. Anyway, if that non-chronological storytelling thing bothers you, consider yourself forewarned.
I liked the movie, in the same way that I like a painful massage, except you don't that nice relaxed and happy feeling after the movie. Okay, the massage analogy was not well chosen. I just meant to say that the movie is well done, Hoffman gives a great performance (including a scene for which I nominate him for the "Most Lethargic Temper Tantrum" award at this year's festival), and the rest of the cast is spot-on as well. It's just super depressing. My imdb rating: 8/10.
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