This thriller has received poor critical word for its ending following its festival-run. Perhaps director Rodrigo Cortés (Buried) crafted a new conclusion to the film. Either way, I'm curious enough to see this thing through with a cast this talented.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
So it turns out that Quentin Tarantino's movie universe requires an almost insane amount of work. Per a discussion on Reddit, all of Tarantino's films (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Inglourious Basterds) are all interconnected. How nice it must be to live in a world where Hitler got offed in a movie theatre.
As it turns out, Donny Donowitz, ‘The Bear Jew’, is the father of movie producer Lee Donowitz from True Romance – which means that, in Tarantino’s universe, everybody grew up learning about how a bunch of commando Jews machine gunned Hitler to death in a burning movie theater, as opposed to quietly killing himself in a bunker.
Because World War 2 ended in a movie theater, everybody lends greater significance to pop culture, hence why seemingly everybody has Abed-level knowledge of movies and TV. Likewise, because America won World War 2 in one concentrated act of hyperviolent slaughter, Americans as a whole are more desensitized to that sort of thing. Hence why Butch is unfazed by killing two people, Mr. White and Mr. Pink take a pragmatic approach to killing in their line of work, Esmerelda the cab driver is obsessed with death, etc.
You can extrapolate this further when you realize that Tarantino’s movies are technically two universes – he’s gone on record as saying that Kill Bill and From Dusk ‘Til Dawn take place in a ‘movie movie universe’; that is, they’re movies that characters from the Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, and Death Proof universe would go to see in theaters. (Kill Bill, after all, is basically Fox Force Five, right on down to Mia Wallace playing the title role.)
What immediately springs to mind about Kill Bill and From Dusk ‘Til Dawn? That they’re crazy violent, even by Tarantino standards. These are the movies produced in a world where America’s crowning victory was locking a bunch of people in a movie theater and blowing it to bits – and keep in mind, Lee Donowitz, son of one of the people on the suicide mission to kill Hitler, is a very successful movie producer.
Sound good?
(Courtesy: Collider)
Sound good?
(Courtesy: Collider)
This review was originally posted as "People's Republic of Moonrise" on Hollywood Elsewhere
A mail correspondence between Sam (Jared Gilman), a very efficient boy scout, and Suzy (Kara Hayward), the product of two intellectuals, initiates a love that soon sets a town asunder. Suzy and Sam abscond away from their respective families in a New England town to make a life for themselves. Their living in the wild is not as far-fetched as it would be for star-struck lovers as Sam is an expert in the outdoors and Suzy is too cool to care about the problems that come with living in a forest.
Moonrise Kingdom serves as wish fulfillment for its audience. A yearning for a time when children could seek out themselves without the worries and anxieties that come with adolescence in 2012: updating relationship statuses, sexting, pregnancy worries, etc. The island these two have created is infused with all of the positive feelings of the sixties before they were ripped away by the Manson murders and Vietnam. A scenario like this just could not play out in modern day America.
Eventually the freedom that Sam and Suzy have must end as a hurricane threatens to wash their kingdom away. Scoutmaster Ward (a delightfully neurotic Edward Norton) organizes a search and enlists the aid of Cousin Ben (Jason Schwartzman) to find the children. Suzy's mother sends Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) out to find the children as well. Parents and adults in Anderson films are often wildly irresponsible, but Norton and Willis serve as beacons for excellent background characters. These men are not without their own problems, yet they take to the call of action with ease.
Those unaccustomed to love in an Anderson tale, don't assume the romance is overly sweet. Confronted with Suzy's mentions of love, Sam responds in kind by noting "you don't know what you're talking about." When the adults enter the tale, then the fleeting romance becomes clear: love doesn't always last. Suzy's parents, Walt (Bill Murray) and Laura (Frances McDormand) entire relationship can be summed up in this exchange. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself," Laura tells Walt. "Why?" he asks. A loveless marriage can sometimes spring out of the universal condition, but that is not this film's concern. Here at Moonrise Kingdom, all of the wonder, terror, and bliss of life can be experienced without the worries of what comes with age. What Wes Anderson gives us with Moonrise Kingdom is pure unadulterated joy, without all of the neuroses.
It's a slice of life from a simpler time, if just for a moment.
***/****
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Not much has changed in the Men In Black fraternity. K is crotchety, J is busting balls and finding that his knowledge of this universe is infinitesimally small. What makes this sequel different is that K hasn't quite manned up about everything the job requires. There are further secrets of the universe and apparently quite a few of them involve time travel.
Boris (Jemaine Clement) has a vendetta against K, a bone to pick so to say. He was this close to destroying the Earth in 1969 and now he's out of prison. While he's on his way to bringing about the destruction of the third rock from the sun, he wants to make K's life a little more inconvenient. And what better way to inconvenience someone than by killing them back in time? Facing the extinction of the human race and a nineteen hour deadline, Agent J has to save K and the world.
Which brings me the shining portion of the third MIB: Josh Brolin. The repartee between Smith and Jones has gotten a little stale during the previous two installations of the MIB franchise, so infusing the film with a sense of cock-eyed craziness was just what MIB3 needed. Brolin has worked with Jones on No Country for Old Men and In the Valley of Elah, so his younger incarnation of K is less a pale imitation than an embodiment of a persona. Few men can match the Texan gravitas of an actor like Tommy Lee Jones, but Brolin does it with flair.
Men In Black 3 also marks Will Smith's return to the bigscreen in four years. His presence has been sorely missed. Summer blockbusters as of late have had a dearth of charismatic leading men and there is none more charismatic than Mr. Smith. To the pleasant surprise of the audience, the film's success is not entirely dependent upon Smith's charisma. The plot offers enough fun to make this a viable alternative to watching The Avengers for a fourth week in a row.
It's not a completely original film, but it's enough to pass an afternoon. Where Men In Black 2 faltered in its rigidness to recreating the original formula, 3 veers off the beaten path. The main premise is not introducing a rookie to the black suit fraternity, or bringing back a veteran with a wiped memory, this is a hero's mission plain and simple. In a world of revisiting favorite characters and global drama, Men In Black 3 fits like a glove.
**1/2 out of ****
Boris (Jemaine Clement) has a vendetta against K, a bone to pick so to say. He was this close to destroying the Earth in 1969 and now he's out of prison. While he's on his way to bringing about the destruction of the third rock from the sun, he wants to make K's life a little more inconvenient. And what better way to inconvenience someone than by killing them back in time? Facing the extinction of the human race and a nineteen hour deadline, Agent J has to save K and the world.
Which brings me the shining portion of the third MIB: Josh Brolin. The repartee between Smith and Jones has gotten a little stale during the previous two installations of the MIB franchise, so infusing the film with a sense of cock-eyed craziness was just what MIB3 needed. Brolin has worked with Jones on No Country for Old Men and In the Valley of Elah, so his younger incarnation of K is less a pale imitation than an embodiment of a persona. Few men can match the Texan gravitas of an actor like Tommy Lee Jones, but Brolin does it with flair.
Men In Black 3 also marks Will Smith's return to the bigscreen in four years. His presence has been sorely missed. Summer blockbusters as of late have had a dearth of charismatic leading men and there is none more charismatic than Mr. Smith. To the pleasant surprise of the audience, the film's success is not entirely dependent upon Smith's charisma. The plot offers enough fun to make this a viable alternative to watching The Avengers for a fourth week in a row.
It's not a completely original film, but it's enough to pass an afternoon. Where Men In Black 2 faltered in its rigidness to recreating the original formula, 3 veers off the beaten path. The main premise is not introducing a rookie to the black suit fraternity, or bringing back a veteran with a wiped memory, this is a hero's mission plain and simple. In a world of revisiting favorite characters and global drama, Men In Black 3 fits like a glove.
**1/2 out of ****
Friday, May 25, 2012
One of history's most notable characters was born out of Night of the Hunter. More importantly, it is a character that still sets people on edge today. Robert Mitchum's Preacher Harry Powell is so frightening in this film that he seems to be possessed by some uncontrollable evil. All it takes it a little singing and then the little hairs on the back of your neck begin to stand up…
John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce) are left without a father when Ben (Peter Graves) steals $10,000 and kills two men. While serving time before his execution, he meets "The Preacher" Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum). The Preacher is a bluebeard, marrying and killing twenty-five wives because he is sure that this is God's calling. Unfortunately, murder is not why the Preacher is behind bars; he is only serving 30 days for stealing a car. He hears Ben talking about the money in his sleep—but not where the money is hid. Once Ben is hanged, Harry Powell lusts for the opportunity to get out. God has given him the perfect chance: money and a widow.
John is now the man of the house, though still only a boy. He was there when his father came running to the house with the money, and he, along with his little sister, knows where it is hid, but they swore to tell no one. His mother Willa (Shelley Winters) does not know, and when the Preacher arrives in town she is pressured into marrying him, most of all from Mrs. Spoon. Mrs. Spoon says it’s not right for a young woman with two kids to be unmarried, and voilà, the wedding is on. John smells a rat in the form of the Preacher. It’s more than just him trying to take the place of his father; it’s the probing questions that the Preacher asks. John tries to convince his mother, but she is naïve and doesn’t believe him. Everyone in town seems to take the Preacher at face-value. They are blinded by Harry Powell’s posturing and preaching.
It takes a little while before the truth shreds the lies, and the danger is real—real enough to have John and Pearl jump into a boat and float down the river with the money that the preacher seeks without hesitation. The Preacher's greediness lies above all things— even before his wife, whom he leaves at the bottom of a river. And then the boat floats up on the riverbank into the harsh, but loving, arms of Mrs. Cooper (Lillian Gish), who runs a home for wild and abandoned children. The story concludes in an epic showdown, although understated in climactic standards, with Mrs. Cooper with a rifle, and the Preacher Harry Powell with a switchblade, keeping watch and singing “Leaning on Everlasting Arms”.
Robert Mitchum was phenomenal as Harry Powell, and it is one of the best roles that he has ever played. Unfortunately this film was not nominated for any Academy Awards, and neither was Robert Mitchum. At this time in his career he was not looked upon in high esteem for his possession of marijuana arrests, and it hurt the movies he was in. His performance as the Preacher Harry Powell was thankfully rediscovered along with this movie, and now people can watch it in awe. “Let me tell you the story of good and evil,” Preacher Harry Powell says, displaying his tattooed hands and starting the story.
Mitchum was not the only ace casting of the film. Movie legend Lillian Gish was the perfect casting for the modest Mrs. Cooper. She was exactly the fiery actor needed for her character, and I don’t know why she didn’t replace Shelley Winters for the second to the top of the credit roll. Her portrayal brought her back up into films after her absence of stardom since the 20’s. Shelley Winters’ performance wasn’t particularly noticeable as Willa, but when it was, it was when she was underwater in the old model-T. It’s such a beautiful shot, her hair floating and dancing along with the plants.
This movie is beautiful. The use of shadows and light is reminiscent to film noir in the film's use of long shadows, and backlighting that hides the figures creating a sense of unease. Nowhere is this highlighted more than the river trip scene set at night with Mitchum always lurking near John and Pearl in their rowboat. The serene sights and sounds are constantly waiting to be subverted by a cry into the night "children...". Stanley Cortez must have had the most fun photographing this film, and Director Charles Laughton excellent control of the feeling of the movie, creating the perfect atmosphere and getting the most out of his main actors-- it's a shame that this was his only directorial outing.
This film's critical response is surprising—when it came out it wasn’t well received or appreciated. All that has changed nowadays, and I am proud to say that this eerie film will not be easily forgotten. Night of the Hunter is simply too good to be forgotten.
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